#also the cast was absolutely STACKED and they had them doing such random things. a joy i got only from the knives out franchise LOL | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

anemo-writes · 3 years

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hello travelers! again, thank you for putting up with my inactivity, it’s been hard to write lately haha. anyways, i thought this would be something fun to post and for everyone to enjoy, whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day or not :) (note: this will probably be more fanon than canon so please bear with me, i’ll make it as canon as it can be :’) i also kept this pretty short, so hopefully that’s okay too,, and sorry for this being late haha—i wrote this very late at night so don’t mind any typos you find please)

much love,

~ anemo-chan <3

(The Playable) Genshin Impact Characters on Valentine’s Day (Romantically)

super romantic; gifts you a bouquet of flowers and takes you out to eat at a fancy restaurant/cooks for you.

Diluc

He is nervous. He’s never paid close attention to the countless amount of people who have lined outside the tavern to ask him to be their Valentine, only to be rejected. There was absolutely no way that he would turn to Kaeya for advice, so unfortunately this was something he would have to figure out for himself. He figures that it wouldn’t hurt to go traditional, so that’s what he does; he buys a large bouquet of roses (which he had to get from Donna, seeing that at the hours that he ended work were very late and Flora’s shop was not open at the time—yeah, that was not fun) and presents himself outside your doorway, to which he invites you to join him for a late dinner—which he makes!

Lisa

She leaves a letter on top of your nightstand, paired along with a singular rose. The letter states for you to meet her outside of Good Hunter, where you find her sitting at a table with a candle dimly-lighting up the surroundings. She greets you with a warm smile, gesturing for you to sit down—the two of you enjoy a candle-lit dinner as well as bolognese she specially requested for Sara to make for the two of you to enjoy together why does this remind me so much of Lady and the Tramp,,

Tartaglia

Oh boy. It’s always a fun time spending a holiday with him, seeing that it could go two ways; one, he would be too busy to celebrate it with you on the day of, and he would take you out the day after, or two—have a store’s entire line of merchandise presented to you outside your doorstep, in which a very, very smiley Tartaglia hidden within the pile (after all, he was the best present!) After you’re done moving all of the gifts into your house (it took up the space of your entire living room), he tells you to cover your eyes and follow him. He takes you to one of the most well-known restaurants in Liyue (which currently doesn’t have a name because it is very late here!), and insists that you order whatever you want, and however much you want.

Zhongli

Over the years, he’s witnessed many, many couples celebrate this holiday and every year he’s wished to do the same. He finds the perfect opportunity to do so when Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and boy does he plan it out for the two of you. He’s even made sure to have his wallet on him at all times—it would be extremely rude for you to have to pay if he happened to forget his wallet. He makes sure to stop by to pick up a bouquet of flowers, as well as a bottle of perfume (not in a bad way, just to clarify) from Ying’er’s shop that he recalled you liked. He makes sure to pick you up early from your work place to make sure you made it to your appointment on time; after all, being late to an appointment was similar to breaking a contract, no?

surprises you with homemade sweets.

Fischl

Oh, she is so nervous—of course, she doesn’t show this. The entire week, she spent researching recipes to create a special batch of chocolate-dipped strawberries just for you—she even sent Oz to the nearby farms to “borrow” the freshest strawberries for the treat (the farmers were too scared to confront the talking bird who “borrowed” their strawberries, so luckily they got away with it). She dips them in a purple-colored chocolate (because what other color would she use, really?) and drizzles on a dark-chocolate syrup to top it off. She’s too shy to actually give it to you herself though, so she has Oz drop it off for her.

Ganyu

Even though she’s quite busy, she’s somehow found time to whip up a special batch of chocolate just for you! She shapes them into Glaze Lilies (which she found quite hard, which is why there are so few of them) and presents them to you in a neatly-sealed box. She’s quite modest when your eyes widen and tell her it’s the best chocolate you have ever eaten, claiming that she only followed a recipe, when she really made it from scratch.

Keqing

Like Ganyu, you have no idea how she finds time to create a perfect array of chocolates, which she made herself! However, with her tightly-packed schedule, she has to drop it off at your house in advance, to which you accept happily. She tried to decorate them with designs of cartoon-versions of your faces, but they’re a bit...messy. Nonetheless, they’re tasty, and to her relief, you enjoy them.

Mona

Somehow, she’s managed to scrape up enough mora to buy you a necklace; yes, a necklace, and a real one at that—none of that fake, costume jewelry stuff! She even added a pendant shaped like star, just so you could be reminded of her whenever you fiddled with it or even glanced at it. She’s quite flustered when she gives it to you, ignoring the way you ask how she managed to save this much mora to be able to buy something like this, changing the subject on how you should never-ever take it off (because it looks great on you.)

Noelle

One word: pancakes. (Have you seen the ones she makes for her special dishes? They’re frigging amazing) As a dutiful maid should, she wakes up especially early to prepare a homemade breakfast just for you, to which she serves to you just as your wake up in bed. The fluffy stack of pancakes are decorated with fruits cut up in heart-shapes, as well the words, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Y/N”, written neatly with chocolate syrup—it’s quite a sight to see, to be honest, and utterly delicious. Lucky you!

Xiangling

The day before, she tells you to meet her at the restaurant around noon. When you arrive, the restaurant is adorned with Valentine decorations, as well as a terrifying amount of food; she insists that she only made it for you, so you better eat up! Before she can show you the other dishes, the restaurant is suddenly filled with a strong, bitter smell—something burning. With a yelp, she runs into the kitchen, coming out a few minutes later with a tray of half-scorched cupcakes, their Gouba-shapes adorned with...a lot of burn marks. Oh well, it’s the thought that counts, doesn’t it?

buys/makes a present for you.

Albedo

Without your knowledge, Albedo has been creating a collection of artworks throughout all the time you had spent together. The pieces include portraits of you, portraits of you and him (sucrose helped with this), as well as just random sketches of the little things that remind him of you, such as the bare, snowy-white terrain where the two of you first met, as well as its flora and fauna. If you request it, he’ll even make the painting come alive (literally), and the two of you run to Sucrose’s dwelling, who is very shocked to see the pair of you running from a Frosted Lawachurl when she peered out her window to see if she could pinpoint the sounds of distant screaming.

Amber

Is there anything better than a matching set of wind gliders? Not only that—they were homemade! She spent the last couple of weeks putting together a pair of gliders for the two of you, customizing them to your tastes (which she nailed!) She quite literally drags you to the nearest hill to test them out, and the two of you end up challenging each other on who can get back to the Knights of Farvonius Headquarters the fastest—spoiler alert: she did.

Barbara

Oh, she would make the cutest card for you—the envelope is decorated with cute stickers (some of them even had her face on it; there’s nothing like promoting merchandise, am i right? jkjks) She also pairs it off with a box of chocolates that she bought from Sara—however, what she didn’t know was that in the box was a special-edition spicy chocolate truffle. With your luck, that was the first one you chose—and boy, were you met a surprise (it was so bad that you were begging Barbara to use her Vision on you, which she refused of course). Fun times.

Chongyun

He’s real sweet. After his expeditions and commissions, he opens the freezer (yes he keeps them in there, don’t judge him) to an array of ice sculptures, shapes varying from flowers, hearts, and such—although it’s quite the simple gift, he’s put a lot of effort into them, even putting in the extra effort to cast a spell to make sure they would not melt; it’s all worth though, when he sees the absolutely giddy expression on your face, and the look of pure awe as you pick one up and study it closely, admiring all of the details and work that’s he put in.

Ningguang

She sends out informants to find out what you like, whether it be something that your gaze settled on for too long or something you’ve mentioned while talking to her—on the day of, you open your door to a mountain of gifts, with Ningguang herself peering out from behind it with a calm smile and a wave (which was the opposite of your reaction, because who has that much mora to purchase all of these gifts?!?)

Razor

He doesn’t have a clue on what the holiday until Lisa asks him if he’s planned something for the two of you during one of his lessons. When he shakes his head no, Lisa suggests that he make you something, to which he sets out on an adventure to do, looking for flowers and flower stems to weave into a pair of matching bracelets—they’re not the prettiest, but he is pretty proud of it; after all, it was his first time making something like that. He’s quite nervous to present it to you, afraid that you might not like it, but all feelings of worry melt away when you slide it on with a huge smile on your face, insisting that he wears his too.

Sucrose

At first, she considers gifting you a present that she created herself; of course, with her work being alchemy, she isn’t sure if that would be the safest option, despite being talented herself. And so, she resorts to buying a present for you—she is very picky with the present though, insisting that it should be perfect since she could not make one herself. She even consults Albedo when selecting some of the presents (he doesn’t help her unfortunately; he believes that she should figure it out herself haha). Like Razor, she’s quite nervous to give it to you, but lets out a huge sigh of relief as you thank her happily for the gift, wiping a bead of sweat from across her forehead (sucrose bby anything you give us would be perfect,,)

whisks you away somewhere sentimental, where the two of you can enjoy a special date.

Beidou

It’s ungodly early in the morning when Beidou presents herself in front of your doorstep, announcing that you’ll be joining her and the crew on a special ride. She tugs you along beside her until you reach the harbor, where you are met with the sight of her ship adorned with streamers and banners, varying between shades of pink and red. Onboard, there is a table filled with goodies the crew collected and made, and boy do they look delicious. The group sets out to sea, and you take your place next to the captain, who even lets you steer the boat (momentarily, at least.)

Bennett

He takes you to meet his dads; yes, yes—he knows that it’s not the most romantic thing to do on a day dedicated to lovers, but he figures it’s just as important. Besides, they’ve been asking about you for quite a while—they even set up a small party within the Adventurer’s Guild, with the help of Bennett, of course. You spend the day listening to their old adventuring stories, as well as bits from Bennett’s childhood (poor boy is flustered from all the information his dads are spilling, but he’s still happy either way; after all, he’s with the most important people to him.)

Kaeya

He quite literally kidnaps you; one second you’re walking in the streets of Mondstadt on your way to work when suddenly someone grabs you by the waist and pulls you into an alley way (that sounds so creepy but i swear he means it in a good way). He only chuckles and shields himself with his arms as you punch him lightly, retorting that he scared you. He doesn’t care that the two of you have an overwhelming amount of work to do—after all, Valentine’s Day only comes once a year, right? Surprisingly, he doesn’t take you the tavern, but instead...Dawn Winery! Diluc received quite the surprise when he is met with the two of you standing outside his gates, with Kaeya requesting a wine/grape juice taste-testing. Yeah...you guys didn’t get any of that, but you did manage to snag a couple of grapes on your way out! Good for you!

Venti

You wake up in your bed, opening your eyes to see a very-smiley Venti laying beside you, chin propped up against his hand as he watches you yawn sleepily as you force yourself out of bed. You’re then presented with a handpicked-bouquet of Ceceilias, the freshest of the bunch, if he may add. You barely have time to thank him before he hoists you up in his arms and out of your dwelling, gliding over the city of Mondstadt as he whisks you away to Starsnatch Cliff, where he’s prepared a special performance just for you (and no, you don’t need to pay.)

Xingqiu

While he’s not the most romantic, he does have a clue on what people look for on Valentine’s Day; after all, that’s what cheesy-romance novels were for, right? Unbeknownst to you, he takes you on a date very similar to the one the main characters in his favorite novels partook in—and you don’t find out until you catch him peeking into the pages while you weren’t (you were) looking. Again, it’s the thought that counts—

doesn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day.

Jean

Sadly, she probably forgets about the holiday. She’s too busy holed-up in her office to notice the couples gathered up in the courtyard, sharing moments with their lover. It’s not until she walks out to take a breather that she notices the commotion—she immediately calls you over, apologizing frantically. Of course, to this you respond that’s it’s okay, but that you would much rather her take the rest of the day off to spend time together, to which she reluctantly agrees.

Xiao

“I do not have time to celebrate silly human traditions like that.” He would say as you bound up to him, exclaiming that it’s Valentine’s Day, the day where you can give sweets to your loved ones, and asking if he had someone special in mind to spend it with. He’s irked when your gaze falters and the grip on the object you’re hiding behind your back tightens—he only grows more irked as you mutter to yourself how you’ll give the chocolates you made to someone else. He scoffs loudly, avoiding your gaze as he lays out his hand in front of you to accept the chocolates (just because he doesn’t celebrate the holiday doesn’t mean he can’t get jealous!)

#anemo-writes #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #genshin impact #genshin impact scenarios #genshin impact imagines #THE WAY THIS IS A DAY LATE #can you tell that i’ve never written for zhongli before :’)#bennett’s is my favorite i almost cried while writing it because it was so wholesome #diluc x reader #Childe x reader #zhongli x reader #chongyun x reader #razor x reader

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pappydaddy · 3 years

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ivy (f.w.)

A/N: Here here the first piece for the Folklore/Evermore collection - ivy. This ended up being 13 pages (whoops!). It is clear in the piece that Y/N’s family, the Malfoy’s, and the Weasley’s are in no way related so, I just wanted to make sure everyone knew that! Anyway, enjoy lovelies💛!

Paring: Fred Weasley x Fem!Reader/Draco Malfoy x Fem!Reader

Show/Movie: Harry Potter

Not Requested

No Voldemort AU, but there is blood-supremacy but it’s not like in your face, it’s just because of the arranged engagement.

Warnings: Lucius being a jerk, being trapped in a loveless engagement, arranged marriage, cheating, breaking off an engagement. Lucius kills a owl, but it’s briefly mentioned.

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She never saw this coming. This was not supposed to happen - any of it. She wasn’t supposed to be forced into an arranged marriage, she wasn’t supposed to be with Draco, and (most importantly) she wasn’t supposed to fall in love with Fred Weasley while she was engaged to Draco Malfoy. She could guess that she deserved this. Her life was relatively easy until now. Even when she was sat down with her parents, Draco and his parents a year following their departure from Hogwarts and told she was to marry Draco since she was part of one of the only pureblood families not related to the Malfoys at all, her life was rather uncomplicated. It wasn’t until she bumped into Fred Weasley (another pureblood her family was oddly not related to), an old friend of hers from Hogwarts, one day in Diagon Alley when she was out shopping for a new owl since her and Draco’s had died from Lucius’ spurt of anger a few weeks prior.

The second her face met the broad chest of Fred, she felt heat crawling along just under her skin, tingling through her entire body in seconds. Looking up at him, his face glowed incandescently. Soon, she found her other thoughts cloudy in comparison to the thoughts of him. Despite everything within her telling her that those tingles and clouded thoughts meant no good, she agreed to be accompanied by him to help her choose a new owl. “You know, Errol finally kicked the bucket, it was quite sad,” Fred told her as they stepped into the cluttered shop. “Miss the poor bugger.” He muttered, letting the door softly close behind him as he followed her farther into the shop.

“I’m sorry, I know how much Errol meant to you guys,” Y/N sympathized. For only living with Draco for six months, she grew oddly attached to their owl, feeling like she was the only one she could confess her true feelings about the marriage to. When Lucius had hit the bird with the curse, she felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest, but she didn’t dare react. When he and Narcissa had left a few hours after, she had immediately run up the stairs, locking herself in her and Draco’s shared bedroom for the rest of the night. “It sucks when they go.”

Fred hummed in agreement, looking around at the multitude of caged owls around them, all clicking their beaks and cocking their heads at them as they passed. “That it does, Y/N/N. That it does,” He spoke, reaching his finger out to stick a bent knuckle between the golden bars of one of the cages. The snowy owl lunged at it, snapping its jagged beak at his finger in an attempt to bite it. “Hey!” He exclaimed, jerking his hand back away from the cage before he could get caught by the beak.

Y/N turned to look at him, snickering when she saw him clutching his hand to his chest, leaning away from the cage as he eyed the bird. “Teach you not to put your finger in a random owl’s cage, Fred.” She chastised, turning back to inspect the owl in front of her. She heard the sound of Fred’s feet shuffling along the old floorboards towards her.

“She looked friendly enough,” He defended, coming to stand beside her, bending down to also inspect the owl she was considering. She tried to ignore the rush of dizziness she felt from him being so close to her, the heat of him waving across the small space to hit her. “Who do we have here?” He asked, not noticing her switching to breathe through her mouth in an attempt to block his intoxicating smell of gunpowder and firewood from wafting into her nostrils. She could feel his gaze settling onto the side of her face, but she tried her best to also ignore that. She reached her hand out, tapping the little information tag attached to the table below where the cage sat.

“She doesn’t have a name yet, but she’s a decently young Barn owl-”

“Just like your owl from Hogwarts! Whatever happened to her anyway?” Fred inquired. Y/N swallowed, her hand fiddling with the sparkling engagement ring that sat on her left ring finger. She didn’t want to tell him the truth, but she had nothing else to tell him. She wasn’t prepared to spend the day with Fred, let alone having him ask her questions like that.

“I had to get rid of her when I moved in with Draco, Lucius’ orders. I couldn’t have any possessions of my own that should be shared between a couple. So no owl, no dishes, nothing like that.” She muttered, casting a look down at her ring, watching as it caught the sunbeams pouring through the window of the shop. It was an extravagant ring. Tiny diamonds surrounded the large oval diamond and dotted all the way along the silver band. It took up so much room on her finger that it was a bit odd-looking. She thought it was an absolutely gorgeous ring, but she much preferred simpler rings compared to gigantic ones that nearly blind you in the morning sun.

“That’s insane, your parents couldn’t have kept your things if he requires you to follow that ridiculous, archaic rule,” Fred asked, bewildered. “Does that mean you had to get rid of your favourite teacup? The floral one that your grandmother gave you?”

“Unfortunately so.”

“Where did it go?” Fred blurted the question out immediately, a look of determination on his face. Y/N finally glanced at him again, her eyes catching on his jawline before stopping at the freckles that littered his face. His red hair burned brighter and his skin glowed in the golden rays, looking like one of the paintings you would find hanging in the Hogwarts corridors.

“I sold it to an antique store here on Diagon Alley, don’t know much more than that,” She clicked her tongue, reaching out to grab the ring on top of the owl’s cage. “I think I’ll take this lovely lady, she looks so calm,” She cooed, noticing how the owl barely shifted when she picked the cage up. “Wanna stick your finger in her cage?” She directed the last question to Fred, looking up at the older wizard with teasing eyes.

“Yeah, no thanks, I learned that lesson already today.” He scoffed, following her towards the cash in the middle of the store. Y/N let out a boisterous laugh, gaining the attention of the lady tending the cash. The older lady sat up straighter on her stool, tucking her copy of The Daily Prophet off to the side.

“Good morning, Mr. Weasley,” She greeted him kindly, reaching under the counter to grab a tin, setting it onto the counter and extending it towards the pair. “Sweet?”

“Don’t mind if I do Mrs. Echers,” Fred lit up, plucking one of the individually wrapped sweets from the tin, unravelling it and stuffing it into his mouth quickly. “Thank you.” He spoke through a muffled mouth, chewing on the taffy-like candy. The lady, Mrs. Echers, slid the tin towards Y/N, looking up at her with expectant eyes.

“How about you dear?”

“If you insist. Thank you.” She smiled, gently taking one between her pointer finger and thumb, tucking it into the pocket of her jacket before placing the cage on the counter. Mrs. Echers put the tin back under the counter, looking between Fred and Y/N.

“You didn’t tell me you were engaged-” She paused, squinting her eyes at Fred to figure out which twin he was. Before Y/N could correct her, the lady sighed. “I’m sorry dear, I still can’t tell you two apart.” She shook her head, defeated.

“Don’t worry Mrs. Echers, I’m Fred,” Fred waved her off, looking down at Y/N with a goofy smile. “But I’m not engaged, she’s an old friend I bumped into.” He said the words with an almost disappointed voice that Y/N was sure she was imagining. Why would Fred be disappointed that she wasn’t engaged to him? He was Fred Weasley. The boy two years older than her, and her friend’s older brother. There was no way that Fred Weasley was disappointed about her getting married to someone else.

“Oh, really,” Mrs. Echers gasped, looking between them again as if she didn’t believe it. “I’m sorry dears. You guys just meshed so well together, I had just assumed,” She apologized, laying a gentle, frail hand on her chest, her shoulders drooping. “Now that I’ve embarrassed myself enough, will this girl be it today or do you need some food or anything?”

“No thank you, she’ll be all. We’ve still got plenty of supplies leftover from our last owl to do us for a bit,” Y/N told her, digging through her bag for the money Draco had given her. Before Mrs. Echers could tell her the total, she was already placing the exact amount on the table, Draco having given her just enough for any owl. “My Fiancé’s father is quite strict about how much money he should give me,” She admitted bashfully as Fred and Mrs. Echers gave her odd looks. “Very traditional.”

“Of course,” Mrs. Echers cleared her throat, sharing a look with Fred as Y/N looked down to zip her bag back up. The older lady placed the galleons into the tray before taking a piece of paper from the stack, slamming a stamp upon it. “Here is your receipt dear,” She smiled kindly at Y/N, handing her the slip. “Have a great day you two.” She waved to them as Y/N went to take the cage off the counter.

“Let me take her,” Fred told her, his hand beating her to grip the loop again, picking the cage off the counter himself. Y/N looked up at him, startled before she nodded. “See you, Mrs. Echers.” He nodded at the lady. Y/N smiled, waving in parting as she walked towards the door. The pair stepped out in the cold, making Y/N regret not wearing her travelling cloak this time round. She shivered slightly, the winter chill running right through her.

“Well, I guess I best be heading home, Draco will be wondering where I’ve gone to or if I’m buying the whole shop!” She joked, trying to take the cage from Fred, but he moved it out of the way, his brows furrowed in displeasure.

“How can you buy the whole shop if he limits how much money you can carry on you per trip?” He questioned.

Y/N sighed, dropping her extended arm. “It’s not Draco as much as it’s his father, he thinks that I shouldn’t be able to spend Draco’s money since I didn’t make it and we’re not married yet.” She explained, starting to walk along the snow-covered cobblestones. Fred scoffed, shaking his head.

“Why don’t you just work?”

“Because Lucius says that I shouldn’t work, that Draco should be the one controlling the money and he can’t control the money if I make my own,” She disclosed, her eyes trained on the path in front of her. “But Draco doesn’t agree with him, he always tells me that after Lucius has scolded me for doing something wrong.” She was quick to defend her Fiancé.

“If he didn’t agree then he should stand up for you,” Fred pointed out, walking slowly beside her, ignoring the path in front of him - instead, he was watching her. The conversation came to a natural end with that, bathing them both in a comfortable silence as they thought. Y/N tried to not think about how easy it was to be with Fred, how comfortable and relaxed she was with him compared to Draco, the same school-girl feelings kicking up from where they had settled at the bottom of her heart like dust. “Would you join me at The Leaky Cauldron for a drink or two?” He suddenly asked, looking back at her.

She looked over at him, shocked to see him already looking at her. “I really should be getting back, besides, I don’t have any more money on me.”

“Nonsense, you are your own person and I can pay for your drinks!”

“Then wouldn’t that make this a date?”

“That so bad?” Fred wondered flirtatiously. Y/N laughed shaking her head gently, a large smile covering her face as she tilted her head to the ground before looking back up at him, the smile still on her face, her eyes twinkling.

“It would be since I am engaged to get married, I can’t really be going on dates with another bloke.” She pointed out. Fred nodded, looking away to look ahead, his lips pressing together tightly as he nodded.

“Well, if you won’t let me treat you to a few drinks on me, would you like to come to my apartment for a free drink? And if you want, you can send me some knuts for the teabag or whatever you drink if that makes you feel better.” He offered, earning another laugh from her.

“Sure, why not,” She shrugged. “But you better expect to see this owl tomorrow morning.” She teased, pointing to the owl in the cage he still held. She felt excitement ignite within her as they saw the purple painted outside of the Twin’s shop appear. She had never been in the shop since it opened, she was excited to see how much it had changed in its success.

____

Y/N sat on the couch of the grand library, a book open on her lap, but she wasn’t paying any attention to the words on the pages. Instead, her mind was on the same fiery locks she gazed upon a week ago. Even in the big, silent house, her head was filled with the sound of his voice, easing the heaviness of her heart. Before she bumped into him, she was perfectly fine playing the doting wife to Draco, to accept her fate willingly, but now she couldn’t shake the pain she felt when the thought of the life that awaited her when she got married. Suddenly, being alone in this mansion felt like she was trapped up in a tower, far away from anyone who wasn’t her family or her Fiancé and his family.

Sighing, she blinked at the page, trying to unblur the words and take her mind off the man she most certainly shouldn’t be thinking about like this. For the week following their little encounter, she couldn’t get him out of her mind, every little thought was consumed either by the feeling he ignited within her or him himself. She was sure that their meeting was an off thing, never to happen again, especially since he hadn’t sent her another letter since she mailed him a few knuts, having had to lie to Draco and tell him that she had accidentally broken something when she was buying the owl and had to replace it. Even though Lucius had berated her for a good ten minutes afterward as Draco stood back silently, she found herself willing to tell a lie again if that meant that she could just contact Fred in someway.

Two clinks against the glass of one of the large windows of the library startled her. She looked towards the window, seeing a Tawny Owl perched just outside, pecking the window. Carina, her and Draco’s owl, chirped happily, shifting on her perch, her wings flapping as she waited for Y/N to let the other owl in. “You know this owl, Carina,” Y/N asked, gently closing the book and setting it on the empty cushion beside her, rising from the deep green velvet couch. Walking through the dust particles that danced in the heat of the morning sunlight, she unlocked the window, opening only half of it enough to let the light brown owl into the house. “Come on in,” She spoke gently, watching as the owl spread its wings and glided into the room, going right towards Carina and perching itself right by her. “Is this your friend?” She directed the question towards Carina, earning a small, happy chirp in return. Giggling, Y/N grabbed treats out of the jar, leaving the window open, allowing the cold winter wind to gush into the room.

Stroking the mysterious owl’s feathers, she extended her flat hand towards it. Clicking happily, the owl took the offered treat gently. Extending her hand towards Carina, the treat was swiped from her hand. Carefully, she took the rolled up piece of parchment from the owl’s leg, unravelling it. Walking back to the couch, her eyes skimmed over the messy but neat scrawl, the sight of it making her heart jolt. Slowly, she sunk down onto the couch, but still remained poised in case Lucius decided to swing by to ‘make sure she was acting appropriately’ while Draco was at work.

Dearest Y/N/N,

Fred’s letter started.

You must be wondering why I still haven’t sent a reply to your letter in the past six days. I was unable to continue correspondence due to the booming business the holidays are bringing to the shop, but I also had my own mission I needed to complete before I could send any sort of letter to you.

She smiled down at the little paragraph before her eyes flowed to the next one.

I am very sorry that I couldn’t have written a more formal letter and put it in an envelope, but sadly, with how busy the shop has been, I could only manage to scribble this down on a spare piece of parchment. It also didn’t help that it was George’s turn to grab stationary this month and he forgot. But despite the lack of supplies and time, I needed to write to you.

Now, to get to the point of this letter. I am requesting your presence at either my apartment or The Leaky Cauldron. I give you the choice because I know how you feel about the idea of me paying for your drinks. Bring sickles if you need, but I beg you to agree to meet me at eleven at your choice of location.

Much love,

Fred Weasley

She couldn’t help but smile down at the parchment, her body weightless as if she was floating around the sky among the clouds. The pain and loneliness of the cold mansion vanishing. Warmth wrapped around her like a warm blanket. “He wants to meet me somewhere,” She whispered, feeling a giddiness rise within her. She tried to squash it, to push it down. It was the same giddiness she felt when he had smiled at her in the hallways back in their school years. “He probably wants to catch up some more, that’s all,” She told herself, rising from the couch once again to make her way over to the writing desk by the open window. “I would love to go to The Leaky Cauldron, but Draco would never give me money if he knew I was meeting Fred there, best go to his apartment I guess.”

She sat Fred’s letter off to the side, noticing a scrawl on the back of the parchment, making her flip it over.

P.S., This is Earl the Tawny owl, George and I’s owl for the apartment. He took quite a liking to Carina, I think they are quite good friends already.

Shaking her head, she glanced up at the two owls sitting calmly on the perch, tilting their heads at each other. “Earl, nice to meet you.” She nodded at the light brown owl. Earl looked towards her, clicking as if returning the greeting. Nodding, Y/N grabbed a piece of clean parchment and an envelope, plucking the quill from the desktop and uncapping the inkpot. Dipping the end of the quill in, she wiped the access along the lip of the bottle, a bit of black ink rolling down the side of the jar. The quill scratched on the parchment as she elegantly wrote a greeting to Fred, a soft smile on her face as she wrote.

____

The next day at eleven, Y/N wandered into the Twin’s shop, spotting Fred right away. Standing behind the counter, he slid a big bag of products across the counter to a tired-looking man. Her feet easily made their way towards the tall ginger, the same soft smile that she usually wore around Fred taking its place on her face. The man walked past her, the strangers sharing a greeting nod in passing. “Eleven o’clock right on the dot,” Fred commented, stepping out from around the cash, showing Y/N his deep purple suit. “Always so punctual.” He teased, crossing his arms over his chest.

“One of us has to be, and it’s certainly not going to be you, now is it?” She teased back, pushing the thoughts of how good Fred looked in deep purple. Fred chuckled at that, nodding in agreement.

“Too true, Y/N/N,” He shook his head gently, nodding his head in the direction of his apartment. “Come on, I’ve got something to show you.” He told her, turning on his heel and striding towards the stairs. Y/N followed after him, taking the shop and its contents in as she passed shelves practically bursting with all the Twin’s inventions on them.

“Should I be scared? You’re not going to try and test a product out on me like when we were in school, are you?” She posed the question nervously, eyeing Fred’s back as they climbed the stairs to get to the apartment door. Fred let out another barking laugh, glancing back at her to throw her a wink that made her knees nearly give out from under her.

“Guess you’ll just have to wait and see,” He teased, not easing any of Y/N’s nerves. Even while she was nervous, she still felt the ease of calmness Fred’s presence cast over her. Fred opened the door, stepping out of the way to let her through first. The small apartment greeted her for the second time. Though it was crowded with furniture, products, and other things, she felt something she never could feel in her house. It felt warm and cozy, like a home, not just a house to sleep in. “Take a seat on the couch, I’ll get us some tea.” Fred told her, not even feeling the need to direct her to the couch. She didn’t feel like he needed to either for she already felt like she knew the space better than she knew her own house. Shedding her travelling cloak and her winter jacket, she draped them over the back of the couch, perching herself neatly on the edge of the cushion as if Lucius would pop out of nowhere and scold her for not sitting properly.

“So what’s this thing you need to show me so bad?” She called behind her towards Fred. She could hear the clanging and the shuffling from him in the kitchen behind her, but she couldn’t hear his reply until she heard him walking up behind her.

“You’ll find out in a second, but first,” He paused, setting two teacups on the coffee table in front of them. “You have to let me sit down,” He joked, lowering himself onto the couch beside her, sitting much more relaxed than she did. He took a sip of his tea, eyeing her, waiting for her to take a sip of hers. Catching is drift, she grabbed the cup, bringing it to her lips and taking a dainty sip. Nodding, he set his cup back down and reached for a bag neatly placed by the coffee table. “Happy Christmas, Y/N/N!” He smiled brightly, handing her the gift bag. She gasped, looking at it.

“A Christmas gift,” She asked, looking at him with wide eyes. “Fred, you shouldn’t have,” She continued, but he brushed her off, placing it in her lap insistently. “But I can’t get you anything in return, Draco won’t let me.” She pointed out sorrowfully, playing with the bit of tissue paper sticking out of the bag.

“Nonsense,” Fred waved his hand in the air before pointing at the bag. “Your reaction to this gift is enough for me,” He insisted. “Now open it or I will open it for you.” With a sigh, she pulled the tissue paper out of the bag, gasping when she saw what was settled at the bottom of it. Looking over at Fred with wide eyes, she looked for a way to know that it was actually what she thought it was. Fred nodded, smiling at her reaction.

“Fred, I-I,” She stammered, reaching in to grab the item, slowly pulling it out for them both to see. “It’s my teacup,” She breathed out in disbelief, looking at the light blue floral cup all over. “And the saucer,” She exclaimed, noticing the small plate also tucked in the bag. “I don’t know what to say, this is simply amazing,” She continued to gush, gently placing it back in the bag. “Where did you find it?”

“Well, I went to all the antique stores in the Alley to see which one you might have sold it to. When I did find it, they had already sold it but turns out, they sold it to Mrs. Echers from the pet shop and so I asked her if I could buy it back for you and she just gave it to me.” He retold the story. Y/N sat the bag down on the coffee table, lunging towards him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders without thinking. She was flat against him as he held his hands away from her in a stunned shock before he let his arms loop around her waist, holding her to him tighter, his eyes closing at the feeling of her warmth.

It was the explosions of mini fireworks under the skin of her lower back where his hands rested that pulled her back to reality and caused her to pull away, remembering that she shouldn’t be holding someone like that when she was engaged. “But, I can’t keep it, Draco and Lucius would never let me bring this into the house.” She remembered sadly. For a moment, she felt like she was free from the weight on her chest, free from this marriage that she and Draco clearly didn’t want.

“I know,” Fred told her, a smirk playing on his beckoning lips. “That’s why I think you should leave it here. You can come over for tea when Draco is at work and you can use it here. Whenever you like,” He suggested, snatching the bag from the table and walking over into the kitchen. Y/N stood, following him. Her heels clicked against the floor of the apartment, not having the same empty echo they did on the floors of the mansion. “That way, we won’t lose touch with each other again.” Fred pointed out, taking the cup and the saucer, placing it in the cubert with their other teacups.

“I wouldn’t mind that,” She admitted, looking down at her feet as Fred turned to face her, the cubert door closing quietly. He gazed down at her, noticing the faint blush that appeared on her cheeks and nose. “I’ve missed talking to you.” She finally looked up at him when she was sure the rosy colour had faded, but her cheeks burned once again when she saw him gazing at her like that.

“I missed talking to you too.” He whispered. She was so wrapped up in the realization of how easy it was to talk to him, how easy it was for the pain and the stress from her life to fit in his hand as he relieved it from bearing down on her. It frightened her, but she couldn’t stop. She knew full well that she was falling for Fred Weasley again, but despite her telling herself not to, she couldn’t help but let the butterflies flutter. While preoccupied with her thoughts, she failed to notice how they grew closer together. On some level, she was aware of it and she wanted to lean closer to him, to press her lips to his, but her rational self was oblivious.

Finally cluing in, her rational self made no move to move away from him was his intoxicating scent flooded her senses. His breath fanned over her face the closer they got to each other, their feet shuffling and closing the distance slowly. She didn’t want to stop this. She wanted to do it even though she knew it was wrong. “Hey, Fred! You gotta come back down, we’re swamped-” George barged into the apartment. Y/N and Fred jumped, but they barely moved apart, their shocked faces only turning to look at the intrusion. “Oh, hello, Y/N, how’s Malfoy?” George wondered, having heard about her engagement from Fred.

“Uh, he’s, uh, good,” She nodded, her eyes darting around in panic. “He’s busy at work, but we think that will clear up after the holidays.” She sputtered nervously, stepping away from Fred hurriedly, coming back to her senses.

“Did you have something in your eye?” George wondered, watching her scramble towards the couch and grab her coat, pulling it on frantically.

“I’m sorry?” She blinked.

“Did you have something in your eye, was that why you guys were standing so close when I came in?”

“Oh, uh, yeah,” She nodded, throwing her travelling coat over her arm and grabbing her bag. “I better go and let you guys get back to work.” She smiled towards Fred sadly, not actually looking at him.

“No, Y/N, you can stay, it won’t take long, we can have the rest of our tea when I come back.” Fred pleaded, not wanting her to leave. She shook her head, rushing towards the door.

“No, no, it’s alright, I have things to tend to at the house anyway. I’ll send you a letter, Fred.” With that, she escaped out the door, leaving a defeated Fred and a confused George behind.

Later that night, laying in the large bed, staring up at the silver moonlight lighting up part of the ceiling, she couldn’t help but think about Fred. Think about how it would feel for him to hold her as they fell asleep, think about how it would feel to kiss him, how it would feel to be wrapped up in his scent. Huffing, she turned her head, spying the dark figure of Draco laying next to her, his back to her. Even in the already large bed, she felt cramped laying next to him, but she also felt lightyears away from him. Sighing, she turned her eyes back to the glowing ceiling, her mind unable to stop thinking about Fred. She had tried so hard not to let him into her heart, not to let him plant himself into her perfectly laid plans, but here he was, slowly climbing up her tower like ivy, almost reaching her.

____

It had been weeks since the incident, and though Y/N had been around Fred, she hadn’t let herself be expressive, instead, she pushed all her feelings to the bottom of her heart and did her best to keep them there until she left his apartment. Even with the tension, their conversations flowed smoothly. But all of those meetings were alone, there was nobody else there, just them. This one was different. This one wasn’t really even a meeting. This was the Ministry’s Christmas party. Y/N was forced to go because of her Fiancé and her future father-in-law both worked with the Ministry. Fred had to go because his father and his brother worked there. The small bit of knowledge that Fred was going to be there both excited and scared her.

His presence at the party was part of the reason she chose to wear this green, wrap dress with the thin straps, and sweetheart neckline. She looked amazing in it and felt amazing in it. She wanted to feel wanted and Fred was the only one she wanted to feel that from. Draco had barely looked at her when she finally descended from the grand staircase in their mansion, too busy talking to his father about how to act at this party. Draco’s hand on her lower-back didn’t ignite the little fireworks that Fred’s did. She didn’t have the same tingling spreading through her body as she did when Fred touched her. Her thoughts weren’t clouded like they were with Fred.

Even before they left the mansion, Y/N found herself longing to have some borrowed time with Fred. She wanted to sneak away with him, seeking the relief he brought her. When they finally arrived at the party and she spotted him across the room, his eyes already on her from the second she stepped into the room, that feeling only intensified. Draco, her Fiancé, was standing right next to her. She should have wanted to have his eyes on her, to feel his touch, to stare into his eyes, but she only wanted Fred. She wanted his eyes on her, she wanted to feel his hands on her lower back, she wanted to stare into his eyes. He had consumed her finally, his ivy growing to cover her tower, reaching inside to save her from her isolation.

“Yes, Y/N and I are still planning our wedding. I’ve just been so busy with work that I haven’t had much time to work out a budget for her and mother to work with,” Draco was locked in a conversation with some old Ministry official, a conversation that Y/N took no part in. Instead, her eyes were locked on Fred across the room, watching as he talked with his twin, sipping at his champagne fluke. “What season were you thinking of having the wedding, Y/N?” Draco asked her, pulling her from her daydream.

She pulled her eyes away from Fred, looking between the man and Draco, Lucius glaring at her subtlety as if to warn her not to mess up. “I was thinking of a spring wedding-”

“A spring wedding,” Lucius repeated in an outcry. “You cannot have a spring wedding. There is mud all over the place. It’s a mess!”

“Yeah, I forgot. Maybe a summertime wedding would be better.” She corrected herself, taking a sip of her fluke.

“Summer weddings are amazing, but they get fairly warm so it would have to be an outdoor wedding,” The man nodded along. “But that doesn’t matter as long as you two are married and start having babies, that’s the main thing, right Lucius?” He exclaimed loudly making Y/N nearly choke on her champagne. The man’s exclamation gained Fred’s attention, making him look over at the group. He saw Malfoy’s arm around her waist, looking rather limp. It was as if he didn’t want to touch her. Y/N on the other hand looked like she wanted to escape his hold and escape this party in general, but she plastered on a fake smile and powered on.

“If you would all excuse me, I have to go powder my nose.” She wiggled out of Draco’s hold, none of them protesting her exit. Setting her champagne down, she exited the main ballroom, wandering through the empty halls, trying to get as far away from the party as she could. She failed to notice Fred following her in a distance, glancing behind him to make sure that nobody noticed or was following him. The slapping of dress shoes interrupted the clicks on her heels, startling her. Scared that it was Draco, she held her breath as she turned around, being pleasantly shocked when she saw Fred running towards her.

She stood there, shocked as he closed in on her, stopping in front of her as he panted slightly. “Hi.” He smiled down at her, breathless and still looking amazing in his black dress robes.

“Hi.” She said, equally as breathless just by looking at him.

“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t not tell you how great you look tonight, it just wouldn’t be right if you didn’t hear that,” He told her bashfully, stepping closer to her. “And that I missed you.”

She took a step back to create distance between them. “I missed you too, but we can’t do this here, what if Draco or Lucius saw? I would never be able to see you if they saw us.” She worried, looking down the vast hall towards where the party was, not seeing anyone. She let out a breath, looking back to Fred, their eyes connecting and her falling under his spell yet again.

“Why would that matter, we’re just friends catching up.” He asked.

“You know that we’re not just friends talking,” Y/N insisted, shaking her head. Fred bowed his head, licking his lips as he nodded, figuring that she would have brought this up sooner or later. “My life is a bloody fire and you’re the one who started it! I would have been fine being forced into this marriage, not knowing if there actually was someone out there for me to love and to love me, but then you reenter my life and that just shatters everything because no matter how hard I tried to fight this, you managed to plant yourself into my life.” She ranted, her chest heaving up and down as she started to panic, having just confessed that she loved Fred. She hadn’t even come to terms with that, let alone think about telling him that.

“And you think I wanted to do that? You think I wanted to fall in love with the woman who was already promised to another bloke? My feelings for you had never gone away and when I found out that you were engaged, it broke me, but I would rather you be in my life married to another than not be in my life at all. You think you’re the one with the problem? Think about how I feel, the woman I love is going to get married to another man and I can’t do anything about that-”

“Tell me to run.” She interrupted him, catching him off guard.

“What?” He blinked.

“Tell me to run,” She repeated. “If you tell me to run, I will leave Draco, leave the engagement and be with you, but I won’t go if there isn’t a chance of us being together because you’re it for me, Fred. You are the one I love, the only one I love.” She expressed, waiting impatiently for him to speak.

“I-I-”

“Fred, if you don’t tell me to run, I can’t leave. You’ll have to watch me become a Malfoy, watch me drink my husband’s wine like the doting wife I would have to be, watch me be by his side and bear his children. If I told him that I loved another, his father would destroy my house, destroy my family, destroy my owl again, destroy me. He would burn everything to the ground, but if I leave and be with you, I would have the courage to leave. But if you don’t tell me to run, then I will stay right where I am.”

Suddenly, his lips were on hers, moving passionately, their eyes closing as his tongue darted into her mouth. Pressing her against the cold stone wall, she slung her arms around his neck, pressing herself to him, her lips moving hungrily in time with his. Wedging his leg between her legs, she hiked her leg up to his hip. Her buttery smooth, dark red lipstick smudged against his lips and face as they lost themselves in each other, finally subcombing to their desires. She pulled away, panting, her head resting against the wall, her legs wrapping around his waist as she struggled to reach the ground due to his height. “So, was that you telling me to run?” She whispered, her eyes dancing between his as she waited for his answer.

“That was me telling you to run.” He confirmed, smiling down at her. She beamed, her fingers playing with the hair on the nape of his neck.

“Then let’s run and get my stuff out of that place before Lucius can even think about ruining it.” She smirked, pressing a lingering kiss to Fred’s lips.

“But, what about Draco?”

“I’ll take care of that later, first, let’s get me out of that house.” With that, they pulled apart, Fred setting her gently on the ground before taking off down the hall towards the floo networks, their hands connected and wild laughs echoing off the walls around them.

#pappydaddy's writing #folklore #evermore #taylor swift #fred weasley #pappydaddy's collections #fred weasley preferences #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley x fem!reader #fred weasley imagines #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy #draco malfoy x fem!reader #draco malfoy imagines #draco malfoy preferences #Harry Potter #harry potter x reader #harry potter imagines

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cupcakemolotov · 3 years

Text

Far From the Shallow Now

Synopsis: Caroline needs to get her head on straight after the ball and is still awake when Klaus drops by.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence × Pre-Relationship × Technically Tyler and Caroline Are Still Together × No cheating × Still Mostly Tyler Friendly × A Moment After the Ball × a what if × Domestic Fluff × Sort Of ×

A tiny pieces would be part of the random snippet series. Just a bit of a what if Caroline had been up when Klaus dropped off the drawing. You can read it here on A03 if you prefer.

The kitchen smelled like her childhood. Warm brown sugar and melting chocolate, the memory of afternoons spent baking with her dad were precious moments that still ached. Pre-vampire Caroline has really hated cooking, and she’d found her opinion hadn’t changed much over the past few months. But baking? With its necessary precision and attention to detail, even the most finicky of recipes soothed her. It had been her dad that had first put a wooden spoon in her hand, who had sighed at her scrunched nose and red face and smoothed her bangs.

“Come on, Care Bear. Let’s try a new recipe today. I’ll let you pick.”

But those memories had been filled with afternoon sunshine and the blare of a radio, and they had been a long time ago. Long before the silence between her parents had grown cold and Bill’s business trips had taken longer and longer. Her childhood was bittersweet and it clogged her throat to think of all the things she’d lost.

But that was for another night.

Tonight, all she had was the silence of her home and the shadows of the neighborhood around her. With her mom working the graveyard shift, she had the house to herself. It had been a relief to come home to shadows and silence after the noise and color of the ball. A chance to process and detox, push away the memory of Klaus’ hands on her skin, the boyish, curling smile on his face and the anger as she’d walked away from him. Breath shuddering in her throat, she stirred the cookie dough a little more thoroughly.

A little pre-baking cleaning had helped calm her juggling nerves and here she was, getting worked up again. The fridge was stuffed with sympathy casseroles, and she’d thrown out dozens of wilting flower arrangements. The cards were neatly stacked and organized in piles alphabetically and according to whom she still needed to reply to.

Her mom probably wouldn’t even notice.

Tomorrow’s project would involve freezing what was left of the food that her mom would eat, she’d already packed the leftovers into Tupperware so she could return the pans to her neighbors. But her dad had taught her to never return a dish empty, so at least her midnight baking would have a purpose. Absently licking at a smear of cookie dough, Caroline watched the clock on the oven click over past 3 AM, and mentally counted her blood bags. She’d need an extra tomorrow, to offset her lack of sleep, but her mind couldn’t stop spinning.

Is it so hard to believe I fancy you?

She’d showered as soon as she’d gotten home, needing to remove Klaus’ lingering scent from her skin. She scrubbed herself pink with her favorite soap, and stood in the shower far longer than needed. The dress was already folded and packed in the box it had arrived in, her bra and underwear at the bottom of her dirty clothes hamper. Now she was sitting in her kitchen in old cheer sweats, and surrounded by two dozen cookies while she worked on the next batch.

And nothing had managed to stop the wheels spinning in her head.

Running a hand down her face, Caroline tried again to decide how she felt about the fiasco that had been her night. The dancing, the hunger and lust in his gaze, those falsely boyish smiles and the rage that had burned when she’d flung his diamonds back at his face.

Klaus had meant every word he’d said and none of it. That was the game he played. Perfection and coercion, falsely sweet words that clung like poisoned honey. It’d been easier to push aside her curiosity, that niggling fascination for how his brain worked before he’d turned his gaze towards her.

Klaus was a monster. But he was a smart one, always steps and steps ahead of his enemies. She didn’t want him, she needed to not want him, and she was pretty sure he didn’t want her either, and it stiffened her shoulders to think he saw her as the distraction Damon insisted she play or his very own potential Trojan horse.

She would never betray her friends.

But Caroline didn’t want to die.

Eyes closing at the thought, she took a careful breath. The games Damon played were dangerous. Esther, Bonnie, all his siblings were spinning on a course that could only lead to collateral damage, and she was sick of it.

Tyler too sometimes only saw her as useful. Her dad had died helping him and still the last time they’d talked he’d wanted her to play more games. As if she wasn’t drowning in grief and what if’s, as if her world hadn’t been twisted as violently as his, as if she wasn’t trapped in a spiderweb she had no idea how to escape. Her fingers tightened on the wooden spoon, and she exhaled slowly.

She and Tyler hadn’t chosen what had been done to them but they could choose how they responded and she was starting to feel less and less comfortable about the bitterness he carried. The hard edge of rage. Whatever had happened when he left and found Hayley had sharpened parts of Tyler she hadn’t known were there and she wondered what he saw when he looked at her. If what he saw made him as uncomfortable as it made her.

Lips flattening at the thought, she reached for the bag of chocolate chips and froze at the sounds of her front door opening. Eyes snapping up, body going taut at the potential threat, her stomach knotted at the sight of Klaus stepping into her home.

For a long moment, they just studied each other.

In the hours since she’d left the ball, he’d ditched his jacket and bow tie, his white waistcoat nowhere to be found. His hair was no longer so perfectly arranged, he’d rolled his shirt sleeves to bare his forearms, and if that wasn’t enough to spike her blood pressure, he still wore his suspenders. Hidden behind the counter-top, her nails dug reflexively into her palm. He’d been stupidly good looking earlier at the ball with his sly smiles and dimpled promises, but this? Rumpled, lips bitten red, his gaze dragging along her body with a slow perusal that set her nerves of fire was something else entirely.

Klaus smiled slow, cheeks creasing, all of the anger from before tucked beneath charm and guile. “I’m surprised you’re still awake, love.”

“Your family is exhausting,” she agreed tartly, straightening her spine. “But of the two of us, I’m the only or who is expected to be here at all. Kind of rude, just bargaining in, don’t you think?”

He gave an elegant little shrug and strolled closer. Her jaw flexed, and he reached into his pocket, pulling out a velvet box and setting it on an empty space on the counter. “I do have an invitation. And perhaps it is also just as rude, don’t you think, to return gifts?”

Shoving the wooden spoon back into the cookie dough before she was tempted to smack him with it, Caroline settled a hand on her hip and faked her bravado. “It’s way ruder to offer gifts with so many strings in the first place.”

An amused glance from beneath his lashes before he peered at her cooling racks of cookies. “Most women enjoy apology jewelry.”

“I must have missed the apology.”

One dimple peaked high on his smile and he snagged a cookie. “I didn’t realize you baked.”

She narrowed her eyes as he took a bite, his clear dodge. This entire conversation felt surreal, a little bit domestic, and a lot concerning. Wasn’t she just thinking about how dangerous he was? This, this charm, only highlighted that danger. He slipped so easily from mood to mood, as mercurial as the wind and she needed to remember that.

Promises or no.

“It’s not like we really exchange small talk. And that’s the only cookie you get. I have a dozen dishes to fill and I need this done before mom gets home.” She tipped her chin towards the dining room table where the clean dishes and tinfoil were waiting for her. She was willing to bet he'd already noted the dishes, but so what. “So why don't you get to your point and leave?”

Klaus made a thoughtful noise as he finished the cooking, dusting his hands of crumbs. “Need help?”

“From you? Absolutely not.” The words slipped out before she could catch him and find something politer to say. This was her grief, her method of coping. He didn't get an opinion and he didn't get to pretend they were friends. Not when he wold kill all of them if he thought it necessary. This? This mess and this grief and this small thing to help her mom was hers.

The smile died on his face but she didn’t flinch. She didn't know what he read on his face, but his head tipped in a silent acknowledgement. Instead of baiting her more, his hand returned to his pocket, and this time he produced a rolled up piece of parchment.

Caroline looked at it warily. “What is that?”

“Part of the apology,” he murmured as he set it delicately on top of the box holding the diamonds. “The bracelet is yours love, no strings. Do with it what you will. As for the rest.” He paused, blue eyes narrowed as he studied her, a hint of gold burning the edges of his iris. “The games my mother plays are not kind to her pawns. Be sure you don’t find yourself in over your head, Caroline.”

She lifted her chin to hide her tremble. “Threats?”

“Call it a warning.” Klaus said. “Likely the only one you’ll get.” Just as quickly, that sense of danger melted under another smile and he snagged a second cookie before turning and sauntering away at her protest.She slid her tongue between her teeth at the sight of just how well his pants were tailored and the way the suspenders highlighted the length of his back. The image was going to be burned behind her eyes for days.

As if he could sense her gaze dragging down his spine, he cast one more boyish smile at her as he opened her door. “The cookies were delicious, love. I do so look forward to learning what other secrets you're keeping.”

She watched him go, barely breathing, a mix of alarm and arousal mixing with adrenaline. So many layers. The hidden threat in his words, the reminder that he could walk into her home whenever he wished. The return of the bracelet, that little bit of claim he’d laid on her life.

An apology.

Swallowing, she wiped her shaking hands on her sweats and reached for the parchment. It unrolled to show the familiar lines of her face and the perfect image of a horse.

Thank you for your honesty.

Swallowing, she set the drawing down and didn’t know what to think.

#my fic #klaroline #klaroline fanfic #I am on a roll #woot #only a billion more files to go #oh well #one at a time and all that

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dontasktheradiodemon · 3 years

Text

Quasi-Confession

Alastor visits @hiss-and-vinegar Sir Pentious in the boiler room and then shit hits the fans.

Listen. Some of y’all are following for the relationship drama, right? For the soap opera action? That good good telenovela shit? This is the thread you want to read. This is the thread you’ve been waiting for. It’s got what you want. It’s got what you crave. It’s got this:

Sir Pentious moves back, out of the way suddenly, staring at Alastor like he's a different person. Was this even possible? He.... "ARE YOU IN LOVE WITH ME, ALASSSTOR???"

Brace yourselves for an emotional roller coaster.

Sir Pentious

Local snake is waiting in the boiler room, which is still pretty difficult to navigate. Watch your head, you might bump it on a pipe or cable. Or some slab of metal. Sir Pentious has an easy time moving around in here, CLEARLY you are just clumsy. He's flicking about on his phone, sending another message to Alastor to let him know where he can be found.

He sends his usual tophat :3 emoji along with it.

Alastor

It’s mere seconds before Alastor replies with a “🎶 ✔️✔️✔️” and only a few more seconds after that before he’s arrived, knocking on the door before letting himself in with a cheery “Hello~!”

He COULD have just teleported straight into the room rather than in front of the door. But he remembers how that went for his double. He’s not risking it.

Sir Pentious

Ah! There's that familiar radio voice. Penny's head swivels towards the source and he leans back against a workbench, flicking his tongue as he waves to the deerman.

"GREETINGSSSS, ALASSSTOR! GIVE ME YOUR HAND! OH, AND, I WANT TO SSSSEEE THE MUG, AS WELL."

Alastor

"Of course!" He offers over the travel mug with stacked layers of unhappy sinners depicting the rings of hell printed around it. "All of Hell, just for you, as well deserved. And mercifully free of any sad excuses for watered-down tea."

Although he was briefly tempted to fill it with hot water and claim it was one-second tea.

“Left or right?” He holds out both hands anyway, Sir Pentious can take whichever one he wants. (Also check out that bling on his left wrist. He’s got that watch Sir Pentious stole for him.) “You know I’m always eager to lend a hand, but I didn’t think it was going to be so literal!”

Sir Pentious

Sir Pentious reaches over to take the mug, purrrrring as he looks it over. It is absolutely just a travel mug, but it was an offering! He is going to put it on his workbench.

Oh, and he does notice that watch! A large toothy grin spreads upon his face, and he takes hold of Alastor's left hand. That's more common for rings, isn't it?

The ring from Valera is clearly visible on his own hand. It shines in the warmth of the boiler room's lights.

Sir Pentious adjusts those multiple lensed glasses of his to get more accurate measurements, careful yet at the same time, rough. He squeezed at finger joints and pinched skin... He could be taking measurements for all kinds of things at this rate.

"GOOD TO SSEE YOU'RE GETTING USE OUT OF THE WATCH, ALASSSTOR! HAS IT HELPED YOU?"

Alastor

He got a horrible rasping cobra purr! He'd steal every tacky gimmicky mug from every cheesy souvenir shop in Pentagram City if he thought they'd earn him more purrs. (He didn't *buy* the mug, obviously.)

“Yes indeed!” He’s enjoyed admiring it. And listening to it tick. Sometimes he even checks the time with it, although he’s generally got a razor sharp internal clock. A big help. “And quite a handsome accessory it’s made, too! But then I knew I could trust your sense of style.”

He tries not to get overly lost in the sensation of his hand being manipulated. Those were such PRECISE measurements... By this point he has no idea what in the world Sir Pentious needs these measurements for, but considering the quantity he’s taking... After a moment of hesitation, Alastor asks, “How precise do these measurements need to be? Would taking my glove off help?”

Sir Pentious

The question stirs him, and Pentious tilts his head in thought. "WELL, NO... I CAN BUILD ANYTHING *UPON* YOUR GLOVE." There's that grin again, "I'VE NEVER SEEN YOU WITHOUT THEM! IT WOULD BE *INVASIVE*, WOULD IT NOT?"

Alastor

What in the world is he building? Alastor’s current best guess is a weapon. Some kind of mechanical robot glove. Something that needs fairly precise but not skintight dimensions. “It would only be invasive if you *demanded.* I’m freely volunteering it! But, no, I wouldn’t take my gloves off around just anyone.”

Sir Pentious

Tongue flick. Once. Twice. Sir Pentious takes the other hand, checking for any inconsistencies.

"UNLESS YOUR HANDS ARE GROTESQUE IN SSSSOME WAY, I NEED NOT SSSEE THEM! MY CURIOUSSSITY ISS NOT PIQUED!"

Is it weird to offer that? He's going to think on it idly later.

Alastor

“They’re shockingly normal,” he reassures him. “So if your measurements don’t need to be that precise, there’s no need for it!”

He’s not quite sure if he’s disappointed or relieved. Relieved, probably. He said it wouldn’t be invasive, but in truth he would feel more than a little exposed with his ungloved hand in someone’s grip.

Sir Pentious

He finally seems to finish up, and Penny scribbles down all the measurements he'd taken, with a barely legible scrawl. This was not the writing he used for letters, this was definitely his engineering scrawl.

"THERE WE ARE!! ALL FINISHED!!" Prr prr prr prr, "WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO NOW?"

Alastor

He’s studying Sir Pentious’s handwriting off and on as he scribbles, until he stops writing and Alastor focuses directly on his face as he speaks.

Oh—happy sounds. Alastor automatically echoes them in pulses of static. “Well—a fine question! What’s there to do down here?” He glances around the boiler room... then settles his gaze on Sir Pentious’s throat. “How about you give me that bow tie you promised me weeks ago, hm?”

Sir Pentious

Oh the eyes on his neck get a squint out of him, but the words that follow are more reassuring.

"OH, THAT OLD THING? I'D NEARLY FORGOTTEN."

Luckily he kept a bunch of random things in his jacket, and he began to fish around for it, "YOU SURE ARE GOOD AT REMINDING ME ABOUT THINGSSSS THAT HAPPENED WEEKSSSS AGO, ALASSSTOR."

Alastor

He opens his mouth to snark back—something about *having a working memory*—before he realizes Sir Pentious is referring to Alastor’s referring to Broadway. His mouth shuts with a click of his teeth like a dial turning off. “Hm.”

Sir Pentious

He's right, Sir Pentious' working memory is generally tied to the immediacy and things that pissed him off. The serpent continues digging around before he retrieves his old bowtie, holding up the accessory and looking at the yellow pendent in the center. He holds it up as if he were dangling a piece of meat, "HERE YOU ARE, OLD CHAP. THISSS ISS WHAT YOU ARE SSSEEKING, ISS IT NOT?"

Alastor

He feels a little bit like a dog being prompted to beg for a morsel. “If that’s what you’re offering!” He holds out his hand, palm up, for Sir Pentious to drop the bow tie in. He’s got a sneaking suspicion that if he tries to grab it, Sir Pentious is going to jerk it back.

Sir Pentious

*He would be right because Penny is that bitch.* But instead he drops it down into Alastor's waiting hand, "I HAVEN'T WORN IT SINCE I REMOVED IT WHEN I PUT ON YOURS. BUT I HAVE KEPT IT WITH ME, SSO! SSTILL WARM. NYA HA!" That's a weird thing to say. He won't think on it anymore.

Alastor

Alastor won’t think on it either. Which is to say, he will think on it A WHOLE LOT, RIGHT NOW, just not on the implications of the fact that Sir Pentious felt the need to point it out.

He tugs off his current bow tie with a flourish and slides the new one in place. “I’ll have to start wearing a little yellow so it doesn’t look out of place.” As he ties the bow tie, he casts a critical gaze down at his red-on-red-with-red-trim outfit, looking for something he can switch out or somewhere he can accessorize.

Sir Pentious

He's wearing a lot of yellow and black himself, so the red bowtie does have a bit of an out of place look, but to Sir Pentious, it was the prize that mattered. He had something of Alastor's, and those who were in the know would be able to recognize that much. A symbol, a victory, perhaps. Spoils and all that.

"A LITTLE YELLOW WOULD SUIT NICELY! MIGHT I SUGGEST A BLACK COAT WITH YELLOW PINTRIPES? NOT THAT YOU COULD SSSTEAL MY LOOK IF YOU TRIED! YOU'D NEED MORE EYESSS FOR THAT."

Alastor

He’s not quite so bold to ask if Sir Pentious has any old coats he’s willing to hand off—although the thought crosses his mind. “Ha! And look like one of your minions? Not if you don’t plan on hiring me full time.” He finishes with the bow and drops his hands, tipping up his chin to show it off. “Am I straight?”

Sir Pentious

A SHARP laugh, and Sir Pentious gestures to Alastor fondly. "NOT AT *ALL.* BUT YES, YOU LOOK FINE!! VERY STRIKING."

Alastor

He blinks a moment as he tries to work out why he’s being laughed at; then huffs. All right, fair enough. “Good to hear!” He stows away his recently-removed bow tie in the collection he’s been carrying around in his pocket.

Sir Pentious

What a shit eating grin from Pentious, who leans in suddenly VERY close to Alastor, much larger than the twig of a man.

"YOU MAKE IT SSOUND LIKE YOU'D ENJOY WORKING FOR ME! BEING BOSSED BY BETTERSSS? NYA HAHA, I MEAN THAT *AFFECTIONATELY*, OF COURSE. YOU'RE NO SSSTRATEGIST."

Alastor

He doesn’t lean back an inch. He just tips his head back, smiling up at Sir Pentious. “I don’t have betters.” And for a moment, his smile is very menacing. There are ways of teasing he’s fine with. That’s not one of them.

But the moment passes. It was, after all, intended affectionately. “However, I also don’t have ambitions! Not any more glamorous than entertaining myself. And I won’t lie, I’ve never found better entertainment than assisting with someone else’s grand ambitions. The drama! The pathos! It’s why I’m here, after all!” He gestures vaguely above them, indicating the hotel.

Sir Pentious

While others might realize their teasing fell flat, Sir Pentious remained in that competitive space, looking over The Radio Demon's wide, dangerous grin. He was no stranger to danger, not at all. Though Alastor did not consider him a rival, Sir Pentious couldn't help the sheer thrill he felt from the possibility of the two at one another's throats. Part of being in Hell, you know.

He follows Alastor's vague gesturing and makes a face, "YES, WELL, EVERYBODY KNOWS YOU DON'T ACTUALLY *CARE* ABOUT THE BETTERMENT OF *SSS*SINNERS. YOU ARE ALWAYS IN IT FOR YOUR OWN ENTERTAINMENT. BUT IF YOU WORK FOR ME, A MAN OF YOUR POWER, I WOULD PREFER IT IF YOU *DID* CARE ABOUT WHAT I AM TRYING TO DO!" Though he doesn't get too uppity about it, preferring instead to adjust his bowtie, "YOU'VE PUT IN A LOT OF EFFORT TO HELP ME WITH MY AIRSHIP, SO, I SHOULD HOPE IT ISSSSN'T A LONG CONFUSING GAME."

Alastor

A game? At that, Alastor draws back a little. He still thinks—? Well, of course, still. Of course still. It’s only been a few months. He’s going to be proving himself for years. He’s going to be proving himself for DECADES. “Oh, I get most of my entertainment from schadenfreude, that much is true—but with the hotel, I’m hoping to get my schadenfreude by watching it crash and burn. Around YOU, I get my schadenfreude from all the people you’ll be crushing on the way up.” A dark smile—almost a conspiratorial one, as if they’re discussing secret plans rather than goals that Sir Pentious regularly announces at top volume. “There’s very little interesting about man challenging the devil and losing—it’s what everyone expects, isn’t it? It’s the inevitable, the status quo. I can watch an overlord fail at that any day of the week. But man OVERTHROWING the devil—a mere mortal, rising up from the mud, becoming something greater than one of the very celestial powers that govern the universe—now THAT, that IS a show worth seeing! I want to see hubris rewarded!”

His eyes are glowing brighter as he leans closer to Sir Pentious. “And all of us who are so strong because of our postmortem superpowers, we dealmakers and bargainers—I don’t think any of us stand a chance. We’re just borrowing a measure of the power of infernal demons and fallen angels. A moon can’t outshine the sun whose light it’s reflecting. The only one who can do it must be a master of the one completely human power of creation: invention. It’s you or nobody. And ‘nobody’ is a terribly boring story.”

Sir Pentious

Their faces are practically together, these weird old men. His hood floops outward, and he stares at Alastor with all of his glowing red eyes. Menacing man. Sir Pentious cannot hold back the shrill cackle of glee that escapes his throat. "OF COURSE, YOU ARE CORRECT, ALASSSTOR! I BROUGHT INNOVATION TO THIS INFERNAL CESSPOOL-- EVERYTHING THAT I HAVE, THAT I AM, I BUILT IT MYSSSSELF, I WORKED FOR IT!!! THEY WILL ALL REGRET LAUGHING AT ME ONCE MY FACE IS *EVERYWHERE.*"

He loved to be praised, so much. Look at him preening again, it gave color to his patterns and his ego hungered for more. Power coursed through his veins at the mere thought of being better than everyone else. His blood would taste sweet with ambition.

Alastor

“If one knows where to look, in one way or another your influence is visible in every building down here. You’ve already shaped Hell! Anyone who doesn’t recognize that is an idiot!” And that kind of technological prowess MATTERS to Alastor, whatever the TV/satellite/computer/Internet bozos think to the contrary. He lived a life on the technological cutting edge. “Once your face is everywhere, if you command it, they won’t be AROUND to regret it anymore.”

And oh, he can’t wait to see it.

In the meantime, seeing Sir Pentious with his ego freshly fluffed is nearly as good a sight. For a moment Alastor swears Sir Pentious looks more *vivid.* Alastor has to force himself to lean back before he does something stupid.

Sir Pentious

He's polishing his talons on his suit, then admiring them as if they were freshly painted. Sir Pentious *purrs*, looking over to Alastor without turning his head, and all of his eyes follow suit.

"MM. YOU KNOW JUSSST WHAT TO SSSAY. I'VE MISSED HAVING YOU AROUND, MY FRIEND."

Alastor

“I’ve missed *being* around.” There’s an edge of desperation to his tone before he reels it back in. Professional charismatic radio host voice. “Everyone else down here is so boring. You can’t imagine!”

Sir Pentious

"HA!" He wiggles his talons as he begins to slither around, over and under various pipes and cables, maneuvering his lengthy body with ease and fluidity. "OH, I ASSURE YOU, I CAN! I HAVE BEEN HERE MUCH LONGER THAN YOU, ALASSSTOR. THERE WAS A TIME I USED TO BE EAGER TO ENCOUNTER NEW ARRIVALS, TO SSSEE HOW THE WORLD HAD CHANGED AS TIME WENT ON, BUT THEY BECAME SSO MUCH MORE **BORING**. TRUE CLASS AND SSTYLE HASS BEEN LOSST TO THE LIVING WORLD, YOU UNDERSTAND."

Alastor

"True enough! Everything's so... *cheap* these days." He watches Sir Pentious slither around. "Somebody's got to show these sinners some proper class and style. And if you want something done right..."

Sir Pentious

Glowing eyes in shadows, anywhere that's not lit up by the extra lights Sir Pentious has added. It's a stark contrast from light to shadow, and he beams, coming up behind Alastor, though carefully. He doesn't touch him, "YOU NEED ONLY LOOK TO SSSIR PENTIOUS! HA!!"

Alastor

He glances back over his shoulder without turning, beaming back just as brightly. "And truer words were never said."

Sir Pentious

Just two guys being dudes.

"ALASSSTOR, IT REALLY IS INTERESTING THAT YOU DON'T WANT *MORE.* YOU REALLY COULD HAVE IT ALL... OH, BUT THEN WE REALLY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO CHAT LIKE THIS, EH? WHAT A SHAME! CAN'T HAVE THAT."

Alastor

“Can’t have that!” He turns to lean back against a table so he can see Sir Pentious directly again. “I COULD, but I don’t WANT it all. I’m an entertainer, not a... a mad scientist warrior king. YOU could have a stupendous career as a circus contortionist, but I doubt you’d be any more content with that than I would be stuck on a throne making tedious decisions about infernal infrastructure and Hellish cabinet posts. I don’t want subjects—I want an audience.”

His smile twitches toward a grimace. He mutters, “I wouldn’t mind more of *that*—but I certainly wouldn’t get it as a conqueror.”

Sir Pentious

"WELL, I COULD GET YOU AN AUDIENCE! ONCE I'VE TAKEN THIS EMPIRE FOR MYSELF, THERE SHALL NOT BE ANY EMPTY SEATS TO WORRY ABOUT!" He beams, spreading out his arms, "AND THEN! OH, WELL, WE'D HAVE TO CHANGE THINGS UP EVERY FEW YEARS, SO IT DOESN'T BECOME BORING."

Alastor

"Would you?" Alastor brightens again. "I mean, I know you COULD do that, no doubt there—but would you really?"

Sir Pentious

Look at him smiling. He's smiling so much at Alastor. "WHY, OF COURSE! IF WE ARE WORKING *TOGETHER*, THEN I HAVE NO ISSUE WITH THAT. IT WILL BE *FUN* WATCHING WHATEVER YOU DO TO THEM!"

He flicks his talons this way and that, slithering through the pipe maze again. *Enrichment.*

Alastor

His eyes glitter at the thought of it. A captive audience, provided by no less a personage than the ruler of Hell. True, he’d rather his audience listen to him out of adoration rather than fear—he’s an entertainer, after all!—but they can work out the details later. He was adored before. All he needs is to be listened to again, to be given a chance to prove himself, and he’ll be adored again. He’s sure of it.

“I’m counting that as a promise!” Oh, he’s excited just as the THOUGHT of it. He taps a foot on the floor as some bouncy Harlem stride plays in the background under his words. “If you’re irritated now at me for remembering things you did weeks ago, you’re going to hate me when I remind you about this promise in a few years! Ha!”

Sir Pentious

A cackle from the rafters as Sir Pentious slithers around up there.. He finally hangs upside down in front of Alastor with that large familiar grin.

"OH, I AM CERTAIN I WON'T HEAR THE END OF IT! BUT I CANNOT IGNORE THAT YOU HAVE *HELPED* ME. I DISLIKE BEING INDEBTED TO ANYONE, BUT I CANNOT PRETEND OTHERWISE!"

He tips his hat, which is miraculously staying on his head.

"I DO NOT SHAKE HANDS WITH YOU, BUT I COULD PUT IT IN WRITING."

Alastor

“Oh, that’s entirely unnecessary!” Pause. “But I’d love it if you did!” He scoops up the nearest blank-looking piece of paper and a pen, steps sideways into an unexpectedly large shadow, and somehow emerges from it next to Sir Pentious, standing upside-down on the ceiling next to him. “So it’s to be a formal agreement, then, is it!”

He looks all dramatic standing there upside-down for a grand total of three seconds, before his clothing remembers gravity and the tail of his coat fwoofs down to dangle around his head.

Sir Pentious

Sir Pentious watches him standing upside down, and he smirks, waving a dismissive hand. "A *PROPER* CONTRACT, ALASSSTOR. I AM A BUSINESSMAN! NO BLANK PAPERSSS HERE. I DIDN'T RUN MY FACTORIESSSS ON BLANK PAPERSSS."

Alastor

“Well, you need a blank paper in order to write the contract on it, don’t you?” He offers over the paper and pen, go on.

Sir Pentious

"I CAN'T WRITE THAT *HERE*, AL! WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR??" He huffs, "I WON'T FORGET, AND IF I DO, YOU WILL REMIND ME!"

Alastor

"Not if you're going to get on my case about reminding you." He drops the pen and paper. The paper flutters slowly down to the ground. "It was a nice sentiment, all the same."

Sir Pentious

Oh look at Alastor getting huffy. Sir Pentious frowns, slithering down to retrieve the paper and pen, "DON'T THROW A *FIT*, I AM NOT GETTING ON YOUR *CASE.* I SAID WHAT I MEANT! YOU WILL REMIND ME, I AM COUNTING ON YOU."

Alastor

Only very lightly huffy; and more for the drama of it than anything else. Still, the idea of being *counted on* makes him perk up. Doesn't that sound all official.

He melts back into the shadows to reappear again next to Sir Pentious. "Then I guess I'll just have to pester you about it sometime!"

Sir Pentious

"YESSS, THAT ISS THE POINT. I HAVE A LOT OF THINGSS TO KEEP TRACK OF. ONCE I AM PROPERLY IN MY AIRSHIP, AND IT ISS OFF THE GROUND, I WILL SET UP THE CONTRACT AND TYPE IT UP ALL NICE. SCRIBBLING IT DOWN ON SSOME BLANK PAPER HARDLY BEFITSSS A HELLISH GENTLEMAN SSUCH AS MYSELF." He gestures to Alastor's suit, "YOU MIGHT ENJOY A PATCHWORK SSTYLE, BUT I DO NOT! NONE OF THAT 'MAKE DO' ATTITUDE, SSSIR."

Alastor

"I happen to like handwritten legal documents! It makes them feel important. Like the Declaration of Independence." He pauses and thinks that over. "That doesn't carry much weight with you, does it? All right, typewritten it is! But I expect to see a draft before you ask me to sign. I have to make sure the terms are equitable, after all."

Sir Pentious

He leans all close to Alastor again.

"OH? EQUITABLE HOW SSSSO? WORRIED I'LL SSSIGN YOU INTO FORCED LABOR, ALASSSTOR?"

Alastor

"Worried you'll let me off too easy," he says dryly. "What if you do something like say you're going to do this big favor for me on the basis of our current friendship and my prior services rendered? What about future services? What if I never do anything else for you ever again, but this contract still holds you to helping me out? No no no, I won't stand for it! You're offering me an enormous favor, my friend, and I intend to earn it properly!"

Sir Pentious

... Oh. Usually people were expecting Sir Pentious to be the one to pull the rug out from others--this was something he... Somehow didn't see coming at all! Alastor wanted to make sure that he was held to the right standards. Don't mind Sir Pentious, he's just going to be having Feelings over here, looking away. Friend...

"YES, WELL. GOOD! THEN. IT WOULD BE A BIG MISSSSTAKE TO TRY TO MAKE ME LOOK THE FOOL, ALASSSTOR!"

Alastor

"I wouldn't dream of it!" He hesitates; then decides, well, all right, as long as he's saying friendly things already—and knowing Sir Pentious keeps asking for directness—

"Truth be told," he says, casually examining his claws like he's only half paying attention to what he says, "if I ever offered to shake with you on something—and I know you've already said you'll never shake with me, that's fine, but IF I did—that's what would be on the line. No souls. Just an unbreakable guarantee that I can't—betray you." He leaves off the *again* and adds a shrug, like it's no big deal. "I don't think you'll ever want to shake even under those conditions. But, all the same, I thought I'd let you know! Since you keep bringing it up like you think I'm just waiting for some clever opportunity to trick you out of your soul!"

Sir Pentious

There's a sound in his ears, like *ringing.* Sir Pentious could swear he could feel his heart pounding in his ears but only briefly. What was *that* sensation? Generally, he felt aches in his chest like that with Valera when she said something *particularly* caring...but this was Alastor. This was probably just another example of a good friend, and what good friends do. Good friends don't betray one another! Yes, of course.

But he couldn't let it go that easily, his brow creased as he looked the deerman all over. "*WHY?*" It was extremely likely that this Alastor had betrayed the Pentious of his own Hell before. Penny was certain every Al was guilty of that at this point... But why try SO hard? Why be so afraid of angering him? Could guilt alone be such a driving force? It felt like there was a very obvious piece of a puzzle missing to him.

"WHY ARE YOU... WHY DO YOU CARE *SO* MUCH?"

Alastor

"Because you're thirty-three percent of my circle of friends—and the only one of them I viciously, violently backstabbed!" He laughs shortly, and his stomach twists and churns as they delve back into that topic that he always feels lurking just under everything they say.

"I don't know how bad things went in your universe, but here—I... it's no exaggeration to say you might well have been ruling Pentagram City by now—maybe more—if not for me. And if we're going to be friends again, we—I know you still don't trust me fully. You can't. You shouldn't! *I* know I'm not going to betray you again, but am I just supposed to say 'take my word for it'?

"On the other hand, a bargain that means I can't betray you is *cheap* for me—in fact, it's *absolutely free*—because all I'm doing is promising not to do something I wasn't going to do anyway! But for you, why—it would give you a little reassurance without your needing to trust me a lick more! And if it costs me nothing but gives you that much... Speaking as a professional dealmaker, that's a bargain if I've ever heard one."

Sir Pentious

Well, that settled that, didn't it! For friendship. Alastor said it himself! And he made quite a big deal (pardon the pun) of it too. He always talked so much, you'd hardly want for a conversation with him around.

.... Except. That feeling gave Sir Pentious some *concern*. It was still lingering, not as strongly but it was there. He's thinking over something the talkative deerman had said...

".... NOT *ME.* I WAS BETRAYED, YES, AN ALASTOR BETRAYED A SIR PENTIOUS, INDEED.... BUT IT WASN'T *ME*." That was something that had always stuck around, lingered in the pit of his own long intestines. The serpent wrung his hands together, unconscious of his own idle fidgeting.

"IF THE ONLY REASON WE ARE FRIENDSSSS ISSS BECAUSE OF *RESIDUAL* GUILT, ISSNT THAT BOUND TO FAIL, TOO?"

Alastor

He shrugs and nods, granted, yes; they’ve both been content to treat each other as substitutes, even though each knows the other is different. Haven’t they?

But he doesn’t get a chance to address that before a question demands his full attention. “*No!*” The question horrifies him enough that he takes a step closer to Sir Pentious, hands half raised, like he’s bracing to try to stop him from swinging around a knife. “No no no, I—w—if I was motivated by avoiding guilt, then I’d be avoiding *you!* I’ve felt more guilt in the last two months than I have in the last twenty years! No. We’re friends because I *want* your friendship.”

He lets out a rattled laugh. “And you can see how well I’m proving that! I try to reassure you, it makes you worry about something else, now I have to re-reassure you.” He gestures between the two of them. “*This* is why I’m trying so hard. Because I can’t quite get it right yet.” He holds up a finger. “*Yet.*”

Sir Pentious

He's startled by the other's sudden movement, and his hood opens up. Alastor's insistence, that earnest way of speaking. It made that feeling even *stronger.*

He almost expected Alastor to grab his hand, but that didn't happen. Sir Pentious rubbed at his arm.... He's feeling guilty, too. For being so paranoid, skeptical. *Afraid.* It was a lot to think about.

"YET..." He looks away. "... I. AM SORRY, THAT I AM. LIKE THIS."

Alastor

Alastor blinks, then leans back against a work table again. Taking in the apology, turning it over in his mind. It feels like needles lining the inside of his ribs, stabbing when he tries to inhale. “For—for what, a little healthy suspicion? I didn’t get you and you didn’t get got by me, but—your suspicion is more than justified. I don’t hold it against you.” The corner of his mouth twitches weakly. “I’m amazed you’re giving me a chance at all.”

Sir Pentious

A little healthy suspicion? Sir Pentious makes a face, digging his talons into his arm further, scratching now.

"IT *ISN'T* HEALTHY, THOUGH. IS IT." This was a.... Decidedly more vulnerable topic, but this was the boiler room. No one came down here anymore, not since Penny set up shop.

"I AM NOT HEALTHY, NOT IN THE LEAST."

Alastor

Alastor tenses as he sees Sir Pentious’s talons tighten on his arm. He wants to reach out. Instead he just grips the edge of the table with both hands, claws digging into the bottom of it.

“If I were the one in your sh...” No shoes. “... If I were standing where you are? I would never so much as *speak* to a Radio Demon again. No matter what dimension he’s from or what promises he makes. So... I know you've said your mind is unhealthy, but *that suspicion*, I don’t think *that's* unhealthy.” He leans a little closer, not quite getting off the table. “If *you* think it is, I won’t know how unless you tell me.”

(He’s dimly aware that the radio distortion modulating his voice has been ebbing and flowing like waves on a beach—but like the tide going out, steadily declining. He can’t remember the last time he spoke so plainly for more than a sentence or two.)

Sir Pentious

Sir Pentious doesn't lean back this time, but he's scrunching up more. His skull is *abuzz* with activity, and what feels like pressure on his brain.

".... YOU WOULDN'T, AND YET, WHEN I BECOME SSSO SSSKEPTICAL, I CAN... *FEEL* LIKE I'VE FAILED. IT TURNSSS ME AGAINSSSST THE ONES I." Love. "THE ONES THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO ME. AND I." Lose them.

He can't even finish his sentence, dragging his talons down his arm, a grounding technique that was more self punishing than helpful.

Alastor

Alastor automatically guesses what the first word left unsaid is. His heart leaps into his throat. He swallows it back down; the word isn’t meant for him.

He can’t watch that clawing anymore. “Maybe I can’t help—I think I’d make a poor alienist—and I can’t speak for everyone else important to you” (he feels daring just including himself on that list) “but, for what it’s worth... I’m hard to break and harder to scare off.” He’s gonna. Just. Carefully reach out, and put a hand on Sir Pentious’s wrist. Hi, can he take that? He’ll even let Sir Pentious claw up his arm instead if he wants. It’s fine if not, he’ll just wait and see.

Sir Pentious

The second his wrist is taken, Sir Pentious' eyes widen *considerably.* There's that rush in his chest, a dull *aching.* The puzzle piece was just out of reach, he could *feel* it.

He doesn't even fight it, even as his mind screams at him, *you failure, you absolute failure, look at you! Might as well offer your neck for the chopping block, you miserable failure.* He *winces*, though it isn't at Alastor. Stressed out tongue flicks, he's having a hard time maintaining eye contact.

".... YOU. PROMISE. YOU HAVE TO *PROMISE* ME THAT YOU WILL NOT... LEAVE." With every second that passes, it is like an eternity of ache in his chest. Similar to when Valera held his hands, rubbed them and spoke to him so softly. Grounding him.

Alastor

Alastor flinches when Sir Pentious winces, but Sir Pentious isn't pulling back, so Alastor isn't either.

"I promise." His voice is so blatantly, embarrassingly human. "I promise that I won't leave." He'd seal it in magic if Sir Pentious would let him. Instead, he just squeezes a little more firmly. "I'm your friend and your ally. I promise."

Sir Pentious

*But why?*

Why did Valera have so much patience? Why did Alastor not hate him? By all rights, he should infuriate them, but instead, they always reached out to him...!

... His eyes snap open wider than ever, and he feels like the last puzzle piece slips into place.

"ALASSSTOR. ARE YOU...?" OH, boy. He wants to be wrong, right now, more than ever, he wants to be wrong. If he *isn't* wrong, then... All of those moments, all of those playful snuggles and schemes.... Well they weren't just friendly, were they?

He's looking very pale, suddenly, a grit teeth sort of look. He's realized it. The reason why he stuck around was the same as a Valera's.

*Love.*

Alastor

Something went wrong. He can see it. "What?" What did he do? What did he say? Was it—?

Is his hand too close to Sir Pentious's? He jerks his hand back. "Sorry! I'm sorry, that was—It's a unilateral promise, not a bargain, I wasn't trying to shake on it."

In his heart he knows that's not the problem. But he can't see what the problem is—unless it's the worst.

He hopes it's not the worst.

Sir Pentious

Sir Pentious moves back, out of the way suddenly, staring at Alastor like he's a different person.

Was this even *possible?* He.... "ARE YOU IN *LOVE* WITH ME, ALASSSTOR???" Even if the deer said no, Pentious wasn't sure he'd believe him this time. Everything they did together, the way Alastor had warmed up to him, sooner than most others ever would consider...!

He liked him *like that.* And Sir Pentious, lonely Sir Pentious, had never questioned it.

Alastor

His stomach lurches. What did he say wrong? What pushed it over the line? He tries to deny it but all that squeezes out of his throat is static. After months spent trying to reassure Sir Pentious that he DOES value him, that he IS his friend, that he would NEVER betray him again... denying the accusation now would be too much a rejection of everything he's tried to prove.

He sinks down on a bench. He didn't say anything wrong. He said what Sir Pentious needed to hear him say. This was unavoidable.

He tries to give the same response he did to Valera—*no, I'm not; just with someone who looks the same*—but words catch in his throat as he suddenly realizes they're not true anymore. He knows this Sir Pentious too well to still see him the same as his own; but that's done nothing to break his fever. *Damn it.* He twists his hands together and stares down at them, defeated.

Just a few minutes ago, they were...

But Sir Pentious is never going to touch his hands like that again.

Sir Pentious

Of all the things Sir Pentious had expected to come out of this meeting, he couldn't have predicted that Alastor, the Radio Demon, was in love with him. This explained *everything...* Eager for friendship? Wanting so desperately to be around him, to not anger him, to spend as much time as possible?

Love was the *only* answer that made sense. Friendship was difficult enough with the serpent, but love! Oh, this was so much to process. He could only stare down at the deerman. For once, for *once* in his entire unlife, he'd never seen the other so *silent.* Unable to speak, unable to say a thing. Static choking up from his throat, and Sir Pentious found his hands at his own, remembering how it felt to be unable to speak. What to even feel? What could he feel?

Shouldn't he be laughing right now? Feeling so *powerful* for being the object of *Alastor's* affections? This should be making him feel unstoppable, but instead it felt like daggers plunged into his back, dragging down. Every breath wrung with *pain.* Sir Pentious' teeth grit, and he glared, flexing his talons out toward Alastor.

"I LET YOU *TOUCH* ME, I THOUGHT WE WERE *FRIENDSSS*, BUT YOU WERE JUSSSST USING ME, WEREN'T YOU!?" There it was--that hatred for himself bubbling up, paranoia clawing its way out of his throat, "YOU SSSSAY YOU WANTED TO BE MY FRIEND, BUT YOU WERE TRYING TO-- YOU JUSSSssT WANTED--" Wanted what? Alastor hadn't *lied,* he just hadn't been forthcoming. But here, Sir Pentious felt wave after wave of feelings that he couldn't describe. Why did he feel so *betrayed?* "FROM WHENCE DID IT **BEGIN???** HAVE YOU ALWAYSSS BEEN LUSssssTING AFTER ME!? I AM *ENGAGED*, ALASSSTOR!"

He was starting to be so cruel, and he could taste his own venom on his tongue now. Why did it matter this much?

Alastor

He can already see how this is going to end: with Sir Pentious throwing Alastor out of his afterlife completely; with Alastor alone again; with Alastor having merely been taunted for two months with the hope of getting back the best friend he's ever had, before being rewarded for his audacity in daring to think he'd found a cross-dimensional loophole around his rightful punishment for his betrayal.

He can save them both time by apologizing for inconveniencing Sir Pentious, walking out the door, and never coming back.

"I'm sorry." Start there. But he can't let go. (Isn't that the whole problem?) And he can't be the one to turn his back on Sir Pentious. If Sir Pentious throws him out, so be it—but this time, at least, it's going to be for the truth, not for what Alastor leaves Sir Pentious to assume. "For—for what little it's worth—lust never factored into it. And I never—I do—we *are* friends. I've never thought otherwise. I'm not trying to come between you and your fiancée. I've always—I've tried to let you take the lead, to... to decide when and how to touch—*because* we're friends, I—it was your right to set the limits."

Sir Pentious

*For what little it’s worth … we are friends.*

These few words were enough to send stabs of agony through his chest, and Sir Pentious wasn’t much for subtlety. His eyes widened again, and he clutched at where his black heart ought to be. He shouldn’t be feeling enraged, betrayed at all! He shouldn’t be! *Penley, you idiot, what are you doing? So obsessed with yourself, you’re making this all about you, too. Looking for reasons to be alone again, aren’t you?*

But it DID hurt. It *did* hurt. There was something here, something that hurt beyond all measure–if Alastor truly wanted to be his friend, if Alastor, of all damned sinners in this inferno of suffering, truly loved him… wasn’t that a lie? It wasn’t him that he loved, it was… a different man. The same man, but different.

Rage wet his eyes, and he brought up a sleeve to wipe at them–*no*, do not *cry* in front of ~~*your enemies*~~ *anyone else* you damned old fool. Least of all The Radio Demon! Do you want to get laughed at???

*He wouldn’t laugh at me. He is my friend.*

*HE IS NOT* YOUR *FRIEND. YOU ARE A* SUBSTITUTE.

With that wicked quickness the King Cobra is known for, Sir Pentious closes the gap between them, his hood flared out as he bares those yellow fangs of his, “DON’T **FUCK** WITH ME, YOU BASTARD! HOW COULD I SET LIMITS WHEN I THOUGHT ALL IT WAS WAS SSOMETHING WITHOUT SSSUCH FEELINGSSS INVOLVED!? THOUGHT YOU COULD GET A LAUGH OUT OF ME, THE LONELY INVENTOR!!! I WAS JUSSST A SSSSSUBSSSTITUTE FOR YOUR SSSSERPENT. IF YOU HADN’T **FUCKED THINGSSS UP** BACK THEN, THEN WE’D NEVER HAVE BECOME FRIENDSS!!!!”

Oh, he was going for the jugular now. All of that pain was coming out now! And though he’d wiped his eyes, the tears brimming were unmistakable. Lonely Sir Pentious was crying.

Alastor

Alastor leans back when Sir Pentious looms over him, gripping the edge of the bench as he fights down the automatic instinct to defend himself.

*If you hadn't fucked things up*—He flinches like he was slapped. Sir Pentious is right. He's right, and Alastor knows it, and they're the same words he's told himself for the past fifty-four years; but they hurt so much more in that voice. They hurt so much more seeing the fury and pain and tears in Sir Pentious's eyes. The last time he saw Sir Pentious like that, it was among the ruins of his flagship, begging Alastor to explain why he'd just destroyed everything they'd worked for.

And yet, Sir Pentious is *wrong.* "You—think I've been laughing at you?!" He lets out a high, nervous, hysterical laugh—NO that is the EXACT WRONG PANIC REACTION for this situation—he claps a hand over his mouth with the sound of a radio dial firmly clicking off and just shakes his head *no* until he's sure he can control his voice.

"Maybe we wouldn't have met—and maybe you started out as a substitute for mine, but—you aren't now! I know you, not well enough, but well enough to see that the things I value in him *do* exist in you, and where you differ, I value you on your own merits! And if mine slithered in right this second, said all was forgiven, invited me onto his airship, and promised everything I've ever wanted—it would hurt to leave! I'd *miss* the picnics, sitting around watching ASMR videos, sparring with you, figuring out how to cook for you—even how you *breathe.*" He's digging himself the deepest grave Hell's ever seen. At least let Sir Pentious hate him for the right reasons.

Sir Pentious

That was most assuredly the worst possible panic reaction, and it would have ruined whatever it was Alastor was trying to do here–had he not continued. Sir Pentious stared, watching him explain himself, watching him dig a hole so deep he might as well have ended up in Heaven after all.

Perhaps that hole would have made Penny hate him more, but instead… he felt his chest ache further, and he grabbed at his hood, *pulling* it *harshly* to compensate for the pain, to try to keep himself grounded. Alastor was listing off things about him, things that he and Al had done together. Things that were somehow special between the two of them.

Picnics and silly little videos and making ridiculous jokes about things nobody else would care about nor have reference for. Alastor had been the closest in years for someone that Sir Pentious could have related to—he wanted so badly for that companionship, that *understanding* with another demon in Hell who *really understood him.* And now, more than ever, he really had it.

Valera would often list things that Penny did, talked about how much she loved him. The way he is always making some kind of sound, his mannerisms for talking, the way he cares so deeply for her… Every time she’d do so, he could feel his chest swell with such love and passion. It was always too much for him to handle in those moments… words always failed him, he could think of naught to say except “Thank you”, which scraped the bare minimum of how he felt about her.

And Alastor… he had begun to do it, too. It was obvious now, to Sir Pentious, that Alastor had since stopped talking about things that likely *any* Genius Inventor Supervillain had done, and rather had began to talk *specifically* about him. It made him feel seen in ways only Valera had made him feel before.

They *loved* him, and he *hated* himself.

One hundred and fifty years of self loathing

was having a difficult time combatting all of this **love.**

Sir Pentious leaned back, and attempted to speak–he pointed a finger at Alastor, fangs bared as he prepared to let loose into another barrage of insults, of *cutting* words… only to find himself *unable* to speak.

He tried again, and again, to no avail with each attempt. Here he was, forcibly speechless, as panic began to steal him away. His eyes widened further, and he began to scratch at his throat, *furiously ashamed* with this total failure he was showing himself to be. *How pitiful, Sir Pentious. And you wonder why █████ left you. You can never be counted on when you’re needed most.*

Alastor

It's a barbed wire-wrapped sword through his heart when Sir Pentious's expression of fury melts into panic and he starts clawing at his own throat.

"No, oh no." He automatically reaches up, grabs Sir Pentious's hands, and pulls them down. His hands feel like they're holding red hot irons.

"*I'm sorry.* I shouldn't touch you. But I'm not letting you hurt yourself on my account." It's the first time this whole conversation he's felt like he sounds like himself, albeit an unusually serious version of himself. "If you need someone to claw up, let it be me."

Acid blood, Sir Pentious had called it; brain-storms, they were called in Alastor's time—temporary bouts of madness brought on by distress too great for a rational human mind to endure. And Alastor is the one who pushed Sir Pentious into this one. His mind races as he tries to figure out how to fix his damage. (Stupid question. He doesn't fix it. He knows that. Didn't he himself tell Sir Pentious he's better at knocking things down than setting them back up? Didn't Sir Pentious call him a wrecking ball?)

Sir Pentious

They might as *well* have been red hot irons–Sir Pentious’ eyes were glowing brightly, wide as they were. At this proximity, Alastor would be able to feel the tremor running under that grip–He tried so hard to mask it, but he was trembling from the intensity of his emotions.

Still, that *smile.* It wasn’t quite as strong as he knew Alastor was capable of, but the fact he could see it at all cut him to ribbons on the inside. Sir Pentious, in his haze of self loathing and fear of being a joke, took that smile as confirmation despite Alastor only saying the opposite. How many times must he say it before you *believe* him, Penny?

So close now, and he could easily pull away–but instead, he sought to cause pain. This was his way of coping, and he always managed to hurt the ones he cared about. Why should now be any different? He had bitten Valera when he was like a feral beast, and here he would tear Alastor apart in just the way he wanted. After all, he *offered.*

His hood flaring out and a monstrous *hiss* escaping his throat, Sir Pentious lunged his head forward, burying his fangs into the base of Alastor’s neck, right where it met the shoulder. He easily penetrated the flesh, sinking in to the gums as his eyes carried *madness.* Not only had he bitten him, but it was the same place he’d bitten him before, two months ago.

Alastor

He gasps in with an awful feedback noise, pain shooting across his neck and over his shoulder. On some level, he isn't surprised. On some level, he realizes, he was hoping for this.

He doesn't know if Sir Pentious intends it as his forgiveness, his penance, or his punishment.

And between the pain and the uncertainty and the knowledge that even though it's agony he's still not worthy of it—he finally breaks. He bursts into noisy, crackling sobs, his voice hardly audible under the distortion, shaking so hard he might not be able to sit up if Sir Pentious himself wasn't inadvertently holding him up by the shoulder.

"I'm sorry!" He clings desperately to Sir Pentious, he can't stop himself. He's talking fast, words spilling out, trying to get it all out before Sir Pentious stops listening to him for good. "*I'm sorry.* I know you hate how I feel, I hate it too. I'd shut it off if I could! It's why I ruined everything and *ran*, because I'm a *coward* and I was *afraid* of what love would make me—I was afraid of being *this.* I'm sorry you have to put up with it too!"

One hand curls clawlike into Sir Pentious's lapels to pull him closer and his fangs deeper. This is going to be the last time. He has to make it hurt. "I wish it—I *wish* it could have been something good for you. I'd fantasized about confessing someday—when you needed proof of my loyalty, I could have made some—some grand gesture—"here, here's your proof, here's how you know I'll never betray you!" Even if you don't reciprocate, I'd hoped you could—could draw strength from it! Here's one more person who esteems you so highly! Here's one more more person who would give you Heaven and Hell! Here's one more person who would do anything to see you happy and triumphant! But I can't even do that much for you, I—I'm so *sorry*—"

He can't get any more out. His last few words break up like a signal in a tunnel, and all he's left with is wordless sobbing and shaking.

Sir Pentious

Sir Pentious had a chance now, to spill his venom into Alastor. He had a chance to watch him *writhe* in physical agony to match the swirling intensity that the serpent felt inside. But it was clear, from the way the deerman broke so suddenly in his jaws, that Penny realized there was no need.

Alastor was *shattered* in a way that Penny had never, ever seen him. Never heard him. This man, who carried himself with such superiority and class, now a broken, sobbing ruin of a demon clung to the hellish gentleman’s body. He wasn’t goading him, he wasn’t boasting. He wasn’t destroying everything he’d built only to run off or laugh in his face.

He was just… miserable. And it was misery that Sir Pentious could not enjoy… it reminded him of his own wretched wailing when Valera had been there to hold him, too. Suddenly, Alastor stopped being The Radio Demon to Sir Pentious, and had become something else.

*Al. My best friend. You’re not so bad, you old bastard.*

But he wasn’t in the right mind to forgive him, just yet. Forgiveness… what a laughable thing for a *demon* to consider. He pulled his teeth from Alastor’s neck, staring him hard in the face as tears of his own ran down his cheeks. That horrid smile of Alastor’s, twisted with intense sadness…

“Ssstop *sssmiling*, you imbecile.”

He brings his hands up, grabbing at Alastor’s face with both of them, and *forcing* the corners of that mad grin down, to the best of his ability, even if his talons pinched that face. Once he was done with that, he’d return the hug, tightly, his tail slowly wrapping up the other as the most grounding thing he could think of. Emotional intimacy was not his strong suit, but Valera had taught him some things, too.

“… JUSSST… BREATHE… AT THE SAME TIME AS ME. FOLLOW *MY* LEAD.”

Alastor

He can't meet Sir Pentious's gaze; he squeezes his eyes shut automatically. And immediately opens them again when Sir Pentious touches his face. He's distantly surprised to be told he *is* still smiling. He can't feel it at all. The crumbling remains of his smile collapse effortlessly under Sir Pentious's hands and he bites his lower lip, the corners of his mouth twitching like he doesn't know what to do with them when they aren't twisted up.

Why is he being *held*? He doesn't deserve this. But he leans into it, eyes shutting again, face pressed to Sir Pentious's shoulder, arms wrapped tight around his back. He can feel Sir Pentious's chest rising and falling with each breath—it's the most reassuring feeling, the most reassuring sound in the world. He can breathe. He can do that.

His shuddering reduces, his sobs slowly stop. He isn't sure if he's still crying or if it's just the old tears clinging to his face. But he's breathing. And he's—god, how did this happen?—he's exactly where he's wanted to be for the last fifty-four years.

He croaks, "If you're planning to exterminate me, please make it now." Cue the world's tinniest laugh track.

Sir Pentious

Satan himself, it actually worked. He managed to… calm Alastor down. He’d done exactly what Valera had done for him before, and… well, he sold himself short, now didn’t he? He’d calmed down Valera before, too. Maybe he didn’t destroy everything he touched. Maybe… he was good at maintaining his relationships, after all. Why, these two thought he was good enough to willingly be around, so… maybe he could give himself a chance, too.

The love aspect that was added on… Pentious still wasn’t sure what to do with that. Could he handle knowing that Alastor loved him? That every action between the two of them had this tension? Or would it only have tension if he allowed it to? Sir Pentious bumped his forehead to Alastor’s, a little rougher than usual to at least show he was irritated…

“YOU ARE OFF THE AIR. GIVE YOURSSSELF A BREAK.”

He adjusts the deerman’s monocle, and straightens up his suit, before he reaches into his own suit jacket and pulls out a handkerchief. Penny moves to undo the neck portion of Alastor’s suit, so that he could place the handkerchief inside and on his shoulder–but he stops himself, instead just handing him the cloth.

“…I AM ANGRY WITH YOU. I AM FRUSSSTRATED AND I DO NOT KNOW WHEN I WILL FEEL ABLE TO BE COMFORTABLE WITH YOU AGAIN. BUT I WILL WANT THISSSS HANDKERCHIEF BACK, DO YOU UNDERSSSTAND? SSSSO. DO NOT RUN AWAY FROM ME, ALASSSTOR. I WILL NEVER TALK TO YOU AGAIN IF YOU EVEN *THINK* ABOUT RUNNING AWAY FROM ME.”

His own voice was hoarse, despite how loud it was, and he was clearly tired from crying and shouting. Sir Pentious looked thoroughly tired, as if he had been drinking and yet he’d had not a drop. Emotionally drained, and all out of spoons.

Alastor

Alastor is more than capable of tidying himself up, and under any other circumstances he *would,* irritably pushing off whoever dared try to fuss over him—but it's such a shock that *Sir Pentious* is doing it, and it's so *nice*, he just stands there in stunned silence, letting him.

He numbly takes the handkerchief, and for a moment stares blankly at it before figuring out what it's for. He quickly undoes his bow tie—his fingers twitch when he remembers whose it is—and then hastily undoes his collar and slides the handkerchief under.

"I can send it back this evening after I launder it." His voice is filtered through a radio again—Sir Pentious is wrong, he's *always* on air—with the crackles and pops like an old phonogram record complimenting the hoarseness of his own voice. He looks down to avoid meeting Sir Pentious's gaze, realizes that doesn't solve the problem, and glances to the side. "If you're trying to use the handkerchief to say that you see this ending some way other than never wanting to speak to me again... then be more direct."

A few members of the invisible studio audience weakly chuckle. Alastor waves them off with his free hand, muttering, "Shut *up,* not the time," then winces as the gesture makes his shoulder sting.

Sir Pentious

Ah, he was called out. It gets a frustrated look out of him, but… you know. That’s exactly the kind of thing he’d have said to Alastor, before. Sir Pentious folds his arms, flinching a little as the pain from having scratched at himself reminds him that it is still present.

“… I DON’T WANT YOU TO RUN AWAY FROM ME, BECAUSE I WANT TO SSSEE YOU AGAIN, ON MY TERMSSS. BUT IF I SSEE YOU TOO SSOON… I MIGHT HATE YOU FOREVER.”

A deep inhale, and slow exhale. Sir Pentious slowly unravels his tail from around the other demon, though it remains behind him in case he cannot stand on his own, “… I REQUIRE TIME TO PROCESS THISS, ALASSSTOR. PERHAPSS YOU ARE RIGHT, THAT I SHOULD NEVER WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU EVER AGAIN. BY ALL ACCOUNTSS, I OUGHT TO AGREE WITH THAT AND NEVER SSSPEAK TO YOU AGAIN!”

His tail lashes with some irritability, and now it’s his turn to avoid any kind of eye contact. “… But. I sstill want to. I do not want you to leave. I have… *fun* when you are around. The kind of fun that I never had before… Because. I do not have friends. There are very few people who would want to be around me.” Blast it he was rambling on again. He covers his face with a hand, grimacing as all he can taste on his tongue is Alastor’s blood. It made him dizzy with misery. “I will be on Okkylk. When I am ready to take back the handkerchief, I will pick it up in *person.*”

Alastor

He listens to the half-threats as stoically as he can with his smile missing—he feels naked and raw and exposed—and he fears that with his face twitching after every sentence, it's not nearly as stoic as he'd like to think.

His heart nearly leaps into his throat when Sir Pentious says he wants Alastor to stay—then plummets back down. It's not because it's Alastor's friendship, specifically, that he values; it's because he needs anyone's friendship, and Alastor's the one offering it. Piss-poor and putrid though it is. He already knew that, didn't he? Hadn't he said to Valera that Sir Pentious doesn't like Alastor—he just likes that Alastor likes him? He wishes he could bring anything more to the table than this desperate last resort friendship—but he shot any chances of that in the head decades ago.

He nods wearily. "You know where to find me. You won't hear a peep out of me until you come calling, barring emergencies—overheard assassination plots or the like."

Sir Pentious

How they hated themselves. If he'd known that Alastor had come to that conclusion, well... maybe he'd have said something else. But as it stood, right now, Sir Pentious was beyond exhausted. He wanted nothing more than to wrap himself up in his fiancee, to breathe her in and feel some form of comfort after all of *this*...

It wasn't fair to think of it that way, he knew that Alastor was suffering, but what could he do? His cup was empty, and he could not pour from it. His eyes looked back up to see that pitiful expression, and... he gestured with his index talon--a smiley face. "... YOU CAN SSMILE AGAIN, ALASSTOR. YOU'RE NOT DRESSED WITHOUT IT." Ha...ha. Ha. He immediately looks like he regrets the sentence before he turns, and begins to slither back through the piping.

How he hated himself, but they loved him.

Alastor

He attempts a smile. He fails. He isn't surprised. He almost responds "*No, I can't,*" but Sir Pentious is dealing with enough of Alastor's personal problems. He doesn't need another.

He watches Sir Pentious go; pulls the bow tie out from around his collar, drops it on the workbench beside the travel mug; and then melts into the shadows.

#hissandvinegar #chat log

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firstagent · 3 years

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Review! Digimon Adventure: (2020) Episode 44: Hikari and the Moving Forest

In this episode, the group puts its quest on hold to help out a random Digimon just for the hell of it. If you’re thinking that’s the same thing as always, you’re wrong! This one features Hikari!

The lack of character in the main cast has been a hindrance all season, but lately they’ve been able to make up for it in two ways. One is to shine so much light on a single character that what they lack in actual depth is answered by overwhelming raw personality that makes you cheer for them anyway. The other is to take the spotlight away from the main cast to feature a one-off Digimon who’s far more interesting. Both tricks are attempted here, with Hikari eerily desperate to meddle in the affairs of a Petaldramon, who silently and stoically pursues a vengeance that favors style over substance. When the style doesn’t land either, there’s not a whole lot left.

It’s another drawback to stacking all these meaningless episodes one after another, at an awkward point in the story where the early rush of intensity makes it difficult to trust this changed pace, while also makes it too late to still be learning about the cast. The base concepts too frequently approach halting their journey upon meeting one or a group of Digimon and helping them fend off whatever bully they’re struggling with. When these Digimon are charming or it brings out the best in the kids or it’s just plain entertaining, we forgive the lack of progress. This one banks on all three applying and doesn’t quite succeed on any of them.

Of the three, the character focus is the most successful, but only because featuring Hikari has historically brought out the show’s most novel and most mysterious moments. Suffice to say it would have worked better had it been done back when this Hikari was actually novel and mysterious. But we are back to Hikari being attune to beasts crying out in secret and responding in ways nobody else can understand. It shouldn’t be out of place for this normalized post-Tailmon Hikari to be uniquely empathetic and pick up on these signals, but it certainly feels unusual based on what we’ve seen. Although it’s nice to see this weird, sort of creepy side of her again, in the end it’s really little more than one of the kids getting very emotional over the plight of a Digimon they’d just met. We’ve seen that before.

As far as Digimon charm and entertainment value, it’s a total loss. Petaldramon falls into the same trap as ElDoradimon, manufacturing the impression of grace and nobility just by virtue of being very large and not trying to kill the children on sight. Like ElDoradimon, someone needs to tell us his life’s story to try to get us to care. What we see is a lot of lumbering, and one time responding to Hikari’s sympathy with flower and fruit. The concept of a creature constantly pursuing an enemy isn’t that novel, and there’s no surprise that the kids agree to help him because they always do. The battle against Entmon is slow and plodding and consists of the two colliding with each other in slow motion as Koshiro feels the need to narrate whatever intricacies are behind what’s happening.

The one action he doesn’t need to narrate is the one that perpetuates the show’s problem of artificially excluding anyone that isn’t featured. When they agreed to fight with Petaldramon, the plan assumed everyone would able to fight together. This would be just the second time it’s happened in seventeen episodes: the first time they were almost beaten by a sentient potato. But no, Entmon separates everyone except Hikari and Tailmon from the fight. That hangs the entire climax on those two and Petaldramon, and they just aren’t up for the challenge. Hikari’s passion and Angewomon’s intervention aren’t in the least bit surprising, and Petaldramon’s inability to win us over leads to an ending that feels like it’s just going through the motions. The previous episode worked not just because it had two entertaining guest appearances, but because all of the Digimon were allowed to join in the madness. When it’s Hikari on her own, it takes a lot more.

Attempting a graceful story isn’t a bad idea. It worked wonders with Mimi and Guardromon. But assisting that was that it came at a busy time when the kids were experiencing their first wave of difficulty and only starting to gain the tools to fight it. In the middle of a run where absolutely nothing is happening, the only known real enemy is still in gestation, and the kids are running unchecked through the continent, it’s another side story in a string that’s become as tiresome as the run of intense story was overwhelming.

My Grade: C-

Loose Data:

You know it’s getting bad when even the kids are looking bored traveling on Komondomon’s back. They’re grateful to hit the forest just for the change in scenery, not because they expect anything interesting to happen.

There’s something very off-putting about the way Petaldramon is drawn and animated. It moves like a robot in almost all of his exterior shots, making him hard to sympathize with, or even connect him to the gentle forest creature generating offerings for Hikari.

ElDoradimon had Patamon fangirling over him to lend him some sort of credibility. Petaldramon has Palmon. I’d rather see a Digimon prove its legendary status through its actions than by having good references.

Tailmon points out that even though they’re in a hurry, they need to rest once in a while. They’ve been pursuing this FAGA place for eleven episodes now and have gotten absolutely nowhere.

It’s not that surprising, but it looks like Patamon can still become Pegasmon. It’s hard to say whether he actually can choose which form to take or Angemon is only available in especially dire moments. Either of those would be interesting to discuss. Let’s hope they do.

See reviews of every Digimon episode at Digimon: System Restore! Support the site by joining our Patreon!

#digimon #digimon adventure:#digimon adventure (2020)

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imjeralee · 3 years

Text

Comfort in Despair: Chapter 16 - Leon with Flowers

Leon x F!Reader

Disclaimer: Do not own Pokemon

Summary:

Galar is rich in folklore and tales of the supernatural.

As a Pokemon Researcher who specialises in ghost types, this is a great opportunity for you to investigate and learn more about the paranormal.

Along the way, you meet Leon (in the most awkward way possible) who becomes embroiled in your adventures.

^ Basically this story is about ghosts :/

Rating: General/Teen

@marydragneell - here is the latest update

@crikeygatormate, @alisakagi - apologies for the late update

Leon with Flowers

…

["We're just two lost souls Swimming in a fish bowl Year after year."

- Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd]

…

Leon arrives outside the Wild Area Pokemon Nursery and pushes open the door. It jingles with a light tune upon his arrival and he sees a lone nursery worker behind the counter. It's Raihan's girlfriend and her Goomy and Dreepy huddle together on one of the sofas, watching TV whilst she works, juggling several large canisters of baby pokemon food and moomoo milk in hands.

“Hi Leon,” she greets him politely as soon she spots him, despite the hectic atmosphere. Her voice is very soft on the ears.

“Hi,” he replies, and Goomy and Dreepy gurgle and chirp at him happily; Goomy uses one of its horn to press down on a random button on the remote control beside them, changing the channel from a drama to a cartoon show.

Throwing a quick glance to the clock on the wall, she says, “You’re early.”

“Ah, yeah, I managed to get everything done…I can come back if you’re not ready.”

“Not at all, give me a minute.”

“Sure.”

“Please have a seat,” she gestures to an empty couch and so he plops himself down.

Raihan’s girlfriend finishes filling up the shelves on the wall with the bottles and the milk before she ducks behind the counter and he hears more glass containers rattling within and she stacks two or three more on the shelf before she says, “Would you like some tea?”

“No, thank you.”

"Okay."

Leon casually glances around the small waiting room until he casts a glimpse at her; Raihan’s girlfriend is a pokemon breeder and she’s the complete opposite of the dragon tamer: calm, quiet and certainly not flamboyant in any manner. Apparently she’s good at handling him and there are rumours flying around that he is madly in love with her. Despite her meek outward appearance, looks can be deceiving because Raihan’s girlfriend is also an EV trainer with an arsenal of high-levelled, competitive pokemon.

And he’s asked her for help.

She dries her hand on a Bellossom tea towel and finally heads to the gate, opening it. “Thanks for waiting! Well, come on in. Sorry about the mess.”

“No problem,” Leon gets up from his seat - looks like she trusts Goomy and Dreepy to be left on their own - and he closes the gate behind him, follows her inside the interior and often unseen part of the nursery.

She leads him towards the baby pokemon room; it's covered with pastel yellow wallpaper dotted with little stars and moons and there are plenty of baby mobiles hanging from the ceiling, soft play toys, alphabet play cubes and various squeaky toys and Leon is greeted with the sight of Cleffas, Pichus, Smoochums, Magbys and Bonslys running rampant around the available space and generally causing mischief. She runs inside at once, pulling at a Mime Jr that’s about to leap off a high shelf before she separates two Munchlaxes who are squabbling over a bowl of berries.

“So sorry,” she exclaims as Leon glances around, unsure where to really look due to the chaos, “I swear they can be very well-behaved. So…what do you think?”

Leon chuckles and folds his arms. “Of course, but…” as the babies bawl and drool and roll around the playmats, he puts a hand under his chin to ponder, “...Something’s not quite right. I’m not saying she won’t like a baby pokemon but…it’s not really her.”

Her shoulders droop. “Oh, r-really? Well…maybe not a baby pokemon then?” Copying his action, an Igglybuff taps at her calf as she rubs at her chin. She glances down and it points to a bottle it cannot reach on the table. She picks it up and hands it to it and Igglybuff rolls away, and she says, “What about an abandoned pokemon?”

Leon raises a brow. “There are abandoned pokemon here?”

She nods sadly; a Riolu tugs on her leg next, wanting to be held, “Unfortunately, yes, the number of pokemon dropped off at the nursery and subsequently being abandoned has risen," she says glumly as she picks the fighting pokemon up and pats him on the head.

“Where are they? Can you show me?”

“Of course,” she puts down Riolu, goading him to play with the others and all the baby pokemon look at her expectantly, “You guys be on your best behaviour, okay?”

There’s a response of chirping, squeaking, high-pitched trilling and a few nods of the head. She looks at them worriedly but has no choice but to leave the room for now. Regardless, the baby pokemon don’t seem to be intent on wreaking too much havoc.

She leads Leon out of the nursing room and further along the corridor, stopping at a random door and opening it; she holds the door open for him and his eyes grow wide when he sees a dozen or so pokemon littered around the room, resting in baskets or perches. However, there is something terribly gloomy about this room and he realises the dullness is emanating from the Pokemon within.

An Eevee in the corner is tightly curled up against the wall but looks up when they enter and its large eyes meets Leon’s. Its ears are flat against its head and its fur is dull and matted. It's clutching a squidgy berry toy to itself.

It’s….miserable.

Raihan’s girlfriend sighs under her breath, “We initially put them together with the other pokemon, but they seem to be doing better with other abandoned pokemon so…my boss put them altogether in one room. Some pokemon have actually broken out and run away…these are the ones that are still waiting for their owner.”

Leon glances around, inspecting the remaining pokemon; a Corvisquire with rough-looking feathers sits on the perch with its head under its wing. A Skwovet hides underneath its thick tail, its wet eyes looking up at the duo. A Minccino is crying in another corner; she runs to it immediately and scoops it up in her arms.

“…This isn’t new, but the numbers are growing rapidly,” she replies as she holds the small pokemon tightly to her chest. It responds to her embrace, closing its eyes.

“What’s wrong with Eevee?”

“We diagnosed it with a permanent leg injury. It can no longer battle.”

Leon bites down on his lip; the sight of abandoned or injured pokemon makes his heart clench with grief. “Arceus, I want to take them all.”

“You can’t. Not yet. They’ve actually not passed the period yet,” Raihan’s girlfriend replies, “My boss set a month, at least. If their owners don’t return, the pokemon are officially under our care."

Leon emits a sigh under his breath until he spots a small and malnourished fox pokemon sitting quietly by the window, staring outside at the scenery. It hasn’t seemed to have noticed their presences and he observes it for a fraction longer than usual before he takes a step forward. Once he's at its side, it turns round and a single, glassy brown eye blinks at him whilst the other appears to be missing. Furthermore, it only has one tail.

Leon moves to crouch on one knee before the small creature and it regards him silently before throwing its gaze to the window once more, though it wags its small tail.

“Oh! Vulpix…” Raihan’s girlfriend murmurs, “….Poor thing, she's been here more than a month and her owner never came back. She's absolutely lovely, she would be a great choice if it suits your friend."

“I’ll take her,” Leon says, without a moment of hesitation, “Will that be alright?”

She nods with a wide smile. “Of course! I'll get the paperwork ready."

"Paperwork?" he realises he's beginning to dislike that word.

"Yes, it's mostly for our records, then you can pick her up in three days minimum."

"Thanks, I'm looking forward to it!" he exclaims, and she grins in response, picking Vulpix up and off the ground.

"Thank you, Leon!! Isn't this wonderful? You're going to have a new home soon," she coos, lifting one of her paws and wiggling it gently. He can't help but grin.

Raihan's girlfriend hands him the Pokemon and slips her into his arms; their gazes meet and Vulpix blinks her single eye, wags her tail gently, then reaches over and licks his cheek.

She's perfect.

...

Although you’re not quite sure how you managed to get a wink of sleep for the remainder of that night considering what had happened between you and Leon in the garden, you wake up in time for further checkups and the doctors inform you that you will be discharged by end of the day. It's good news, though you will need to make routine visits to get your dressings replaced for a further week or so.

And when you check Rotom, you have received several messages.

Graves will come to pick you up before you are formally discharged and instructs you to get packing. He also briefly tells you his findings about Edward Rose: he was not a satanist but he did not have a good reputation amongst the Rose family. Being one of the lesser known 'Rose', he was remembered for his descent into madness and there is no record on how he obtained or why he chose to use human blood, skin and hair for his painting.

Fifteen paintings are alleged to exist and he was about to complete one more, but this final piece was apparently incomplete and subsequently went missing following his death. The existence of these paintings are bordering mythical. No-one has seen them before and there is no evidence. Just rumours.

But they do exist, and you tell Graves you had found the final painting in the basement of Rose's art gallery, but Graves remarks that there was no such thing when they searched it.

Therefore you realise Rose has already taken it and with that in mind, your fist curls until your knuckles turn white. Realising anything to do with Rose sets you off into an irrevocable rage, you move on and try to think of other things.

Magnolia and Sonia will visit you.

And so will Leon.

You hold your breath as you nervously swipe his message open, letting your eyes roam over the screen. Your mood lifts in a split second and your heart beat speeds up. He asks how you are doing and that he has returned to his duties but he will do his best to visit you before you leave hospital. On this occasion, there is one emoji included but the remainder of the message remains rather professional and straight-forward. You reread it a few more times before a smile worms its way over your face and your heart flutters.

However, you're able to subdue this profound giddiness and your response is a very neutral sounding 'okay' and you hope that's a satisfactory enough answer.

Thus your day begins and it starts off with Sonia and Magnolia visiting as promised; they’ve bagged the first slot and somehow your poster that says 'One Visitor at a Time' no longer applies as they've also brought little Yamper, Cutie and Poltea with them and once they enter the room, you are pounced on as everyone is simply dying to embrace you. Overjoyed to see them, you hug for a lot longer than usual, before Magnolia tells you off again for the danger you had put yourself in but you tell her you will no longer be working on cases and that you will be taking a break.

Pleased with your decision, Magnolia nods to herself.

"I had a dream," you murmur as Cutie and Poltea move to sit on your shoulders, "when you came to pick me up from the psych ward."

Magnolia and Sonia watch you quietly.

"...And I'm really grateful," you add, your fist clinching over the sparse, thin duvet, "for everything. For taking me in, for looking after me. Thank you."

Sonia reacts with a cheerful smile and throws her arms around you again, holding you as tightly as possible and you do the same, whilst Magnolia nods briefly as she balances her cane with both hands.

“That was such a long time ago," Sonia replies, "Don't think about it; it was a bad chapter of your life."

You can only nod.

"How are you feeling anyway?" she adds, when she finally lets go of you.

"I'm okay," you say, and you show her your arm, "...could be better, I guess."

"Hmm... at least the doctors say it's gonna heal. And I heard Leon stayed with you most of the night."

"Yeah, he saved my life."

Sonia giggles whilst Magnolia tells her to keep her voice down, thoroughly reminding her that they're in a hospital. You chuckle as Sonia pouts in response.

They’ve brought you breakfast and lunch in case the hospital food is not sufficient (and it is) and unfortunately they cannot stay for long; their visiting time is over. You and Sonia exchange a long hug and soon, they depart; though you long to tell Sonia what has happened, you feel it’s not particularly the right moment.

In your empty room, Gengar appears from your shadow and though you're aware he dislikes emerging during the day, you're glad he's here and he is happy to see that you are well too; floating over to your side, you and Gengar proceed to share an embrace. You sprawl your arms around his rotund body and back and rest your cheek over the top of his spiky head whilst stubby arms cling to your sides.

"Aww, I missed you too,” you say, and Gengar looks at you with a concerned expression, "I'm fine."

Gengar lets go of you, then puts his hands on his hips and waggles them for a bit and you're wondering what he's trying to say until he glances around the room for a while before he spots an old magazine left on one of the counters. He grabs it, returns to your side and after flipping through some pages, points to you again and then to a random page.

And Leon is on this random page. It's some kind of advert, where he is sitting on a throne with a crown atop his head.

It can only mean one thing.

"Did you see us??" you ask nervously.

Gengar nods and grins mischievously, before he uses a hand to sweep his imaginary hair back and catwalks down your room with a hand on one hip. You didn't realise Gengar had this much sass.

"What's that supposed to mean?" you huff, as his feet leave the floor so he can float up into the air to chuckle. Pointing to you and then to Leon's picture on the magazine, he then clasps both hands together and bats his eyelashes and performs a full three hundred and sixty degree circle in the air.

You roll your eyes in response.

"Harhar, yes, very funny," you reply, but you're smiling.

Gengar returns to rest and you realise you’re missing your other pokemon so you search your room briefly but to no avail; you can’t find the ragdoll anywhere so you leave your room only to see Mimikyu seated outside on one of the empty chairs with her head drooped, crying.

Alarmed, you head over to the pokemon at once, crouching in front of her and big, fat tears drip from the two glowing dots where her eyes should be, staining the dull fabric of its disguise.

“Mimi? What’s wrong???" you exclaim, "Are you hurt? Did someone hurt you?”

“Mi…mi….” she squeaks as she shakes her head, weeping, “Me show you.”

“Okay,” you reply, and as you lower your good arm, she takes a few tiny steps forwards, hops over your elbow and climbs up to sit on your shoulder.

"Mi...are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about."

"Mi...it's okay," she replies, and she uses a shadowy tendril to pat you on top of the head.

"What do you want to show me?"

"This way, mi mi."

She stops crying as she leads you away from your room and out of your ward in its entirety, guiding you to the direction of the paediatric ward and though you’re not sure if you’re allowed inside, Mimikyu asks you to stop at a certain corridor and as you glance at the nearby nurse's station, the nurses don't seem bothered with your presence at all.

“Mi…look,” Mimikyu says, pointing at the wall.

It is covered in crayon drawings of many pokemon that stretches all the way deep into the children’s play area and into the visitor’s hall which you cannot enter. There's even a crayon drawing of a purple pokemon that says 'eKaNs is SnAkE sPeLlEd bAcKwArDs'.

“Me saw,” she adds as you inspect the wall carefully, “No Mimikyu. Other Pokemon, yes. Pikachu…lots of Pikachu. No Mimikyu. Mi….me hatePikachu…” Mimikyu growls before her eyes gleam furiously with murderous intent under her disguise and a dark, wispy miasma begins to escape from her body. Her shadowy tendril twists into a tight claw in response to her anger, shaking with rage, “Me kill Pikachu…”

You try to reassure her but she shakes her head, trembling fiercely with hatred. Underneath the rag, the sounds of teeth grinding can be heard along with a bizarre clicking noise.

"Hey Mimi?"

"What is it, mi?"

"Why do you not want to look like Pikachu?"

Mimikyu blinks at you in shock before her eyes narrow, the glowing dots burning brightly, "....Mi...me wear the skin of the enemy....?" she growls, and this time her voice positively turns low and demonic, "Me think not..."

As Mimikyu hisses and seethes, you place a finger to your chin as you contemplate how different your Mimikyu is compared to others. Considering Mimikyu is upset that there are no pictures of any Mimikyu here, an idea hatches in your mind and you carefully comb through the ward until you pass a room full of screaming children who jump in their beds and throw pokemon dolls around in the air.

A little girl sitting on her own at a play table is busy doodling princess castles on pieces of A4 paper (and unfortunately, onto the table) captures your attention and you head over.

"Hi."

She looks up at you, blinking her big blue eyes. Then she proceeds to stick a green crayon up her nose. Lovely.

"Can I borrow these?" you ask, gesturing to a pack.

She nods, then grabs a brown crayon and sticks that one up her remaining, empty nostril.

Luckily for you, you don't need those colours so you grab several clean crayons and untarnished paper off the play table closest to you and leave the ward and return to your own; you close the door shut and climb over the bed.

“Mi…what are you doing?” Mimikyu asks, baffled, as you spread the paper over the table and lay the crayons out.

“I’ll draw you,” you utter and Mimikyu looks at you with shock.

“You…draw mi?”

“Yep.”

Mimikyu blinks at you blankly before she lets out a high-pitched squeak of glee that makes your eardrums rattle and a lurid snap rips through the room and you throw your glance to the window where a small crack has appeared in one corner. As Mimikyu continues squeaking, albeit at a lower pitch, tears of joy stain the fabric of her disguise once again and two shadowy tendrils proceed to slither out from her mouth and ensnare your head. It's a rather bizarre and cold, clammy sensation as Mimikyu hugs you.

Whilst you smile at her reassuringly, the door to your room opens and you look up to see Jace and two others you didn’t expect to see: Tanner and Cole.

“Duckie!” Jace exclaims with relief and he dives for you but Mimikyu hisses at him, her ragdoll features contorting horrifically and he comes to a skidding halt, letting out a rather high-pitched shriek in progress. "W-what is that?"

“Mimi, this is Jace," you say as you flick a casual glance to the pokemon, "Jace is good.”

“…Jace good?” she says.

“Yeah.”

“Mi…okay.”

"Jace, this is Mimikyu. She prefers being a ragdoll disguise than a Pikachu one."

"Oh, I see."

“That thing can talk,” Tanner says with wide eyes as Mimikyu slowly releases you and slides down to occupy an empty space on your bed, her tendrils slither back inside her mouth which closes up, the stitches returning to their proper place and Jace is free to approach and embrace you with no issues.

“Yeah, she can talk,” you reply, and Tanner and Cole stare at the ragdoll, bewildered. Regardless, you’re more occupied with Jace.

“Are you okay?” you ask as you let go of each other.

He nods wildly, rubbing at his eyes and nose which is very wet. “I’m fine! Are you okay?!!!”

“Yep.”

As you pat Jace reassuringly on the back, the Ghostbunkers glance at each other awkwardly as they stand in the room and everyone looks at each other and it’s as though everyone is thinking the same thing.

“I had to bring these guys,” Jace moans aloud as he jabs a thumb to their direction, “They wanted to tag along.”

Tanner steps forwards. “Yeah. Um, I know you probably don't wanna see us. Me, in particular, which I can totally understand....but we wanted to apologise. We’re really sorry. I’m sorry,” he murmurs. He looks badly battered and sickly in his fraying chalky-white hospital gown. The possession must have taken its toll on him.

“Me too,” says Cole. Unlike his best friend, Cole is in better shape.

“Can you forgive us?” Tanner asks morosely, and he gulps as though he's terrified of your response but you nod and he emits a huge sigh of relief. “Thanks. Oh god, I can't really explain it but I was still conscious when…” he gestures to your poor, bandaged arm, “I’m really sorry. Like so, so sorry. Hell, I don't think sorry's good enough so I brought Runerigus. I think he should stay with you. He's actually really nice... a totally chill guy. Cole, bring him here.”

“Yeah, sure," Cole searches in his pockets and pulls out the capsule which Tanner scoops up; he takes a minute step and leaves it for you on your table then returns to stand sheepishly before you with Cole at his side.

“We’re sorry,” Tanner says again, hanging his head low, “I’m not gonna let this slide, you know. Rose is a double-crossing, no-good Raticate bastard.”

You and Jace nod in agreement.

“I made him richer,” you murmur, “I can’t believe it.”

Cole and Jace appear confused and toss their gazes to you.

"His ancestor Edward Rose was a painter," you explain, "and he died before he could complete a painting, which was the one we found in the basement. It was a map, and it led to a treasure. I asked Chief Inspector Graves to investigate the art gallery but he says they didn't find any painting so obviously Rose has taken it and now there's no evidence of its existence. By now I'm pretty sure Chairman Rose has used it to find the hidden treasure, sold it or hid it away."

"Damn it, he's a clever bastard, I'll give him that," Tanner grunts out, "Cole, what about our video? We recorded it, right?"

"....I hate to say it but the video footage doesn't work. The moment we went into the basement, the recording went fuzzy."

"Yeah, that was probably Edward Rose's doing," you reply, “Rose will make sure it’s as though it never existed so we can’t persecute him or claim compensation.”

“Well, we’re not going to let him get away with it. I’m still going to press charges. Two can play at this game, ya know? I’ll let you know what happens, okay? It’s not fair on us. He used us. We’ve all been played and what happened last night was…crazy, it was so crazy, man.”

“Yeah, it was crazy,” Cole echoes, nodding.

And Tanner shrugs helplessly, lifting a hand and pinching the middle of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “I have no words, man. I mean I don’t really wanna Ghostbunk anymore,” he admits, “Cole doesn’t want to either.”

“Yeah, I don’t wanna Ghostbunk,” Cole says, nodding again.

Although it is of no particular interest to you, you discover Cole is different on his own; once he is paired with Tanner, he seems devoid of personality and reliant on the more confident and boisterous Tanner.

“Anyway. We’ll let you know how we get on,” Tanner finishes.

“Sure. Good luck.”

“Thanks. Good luck to you too. Here, uh…this is our number, if you ever need our help.”

“I doubt it,” Jace whispers, only for you to hear, but you elbow him and smile politely at Tanner.

“Thank you.”

Without anything else to say, Tanner and Cole apologise once again...for almost everything - for making fun of you, for mauling your arm etcetera; you accept their heartfelt apology and they leave your room silently.

"Wow, they were so sorry." Jace says and you nod. "Damn, I should've recorded it."

“Jace-"

"I'm kidding!"

"Well...I’m sorry too,” you mutter.

“Huh? What...? No, no, what are you apologizing for? You did nothing wrong, chuck.”

“It was too dangerous. I should’ve known. You got hurt because of me.”

“Oh c'mon, look at me. I’m fine!!! I'll always be fine,” he says, before he plops his hand atop your head and ruffles your hair; you muster a weak smile as he punches you in the elbow and shoulders playfully, “So...Leon saved you…?”

“Yeah. I’ve told him to stay away from me.”

Jace crosses his arms and nods to himself. “Good, he’s partially responsible for this.”

“I didn’t have to take the case; it was my decision.”

“Yeah, but if you didn’t, you would’ve made Leon look bad.”

You sigh gently. “It’s not like that at all, Jace. Look, it’s happened and no-one’s to blame. Magnolia and Graves don’t want me to work on these cases anymore and I'm going to listen to them. I’m going to go on a break. Well, there's still Spiritomb to catch but from now on, I'm just going to take it easy.”

Jace seems surprised with your resolution. “…I see."

“So, let's not dwell on this anymore. What’re you going to do now?”

“Oh, uh, I've been told I can go home," Jace utters, rubbing the back of his head, "and my friend from Sinnoh is actually coming to visit Galar, he's gonna be a guest judge for the Beauty Pageant, he's got some kind of exhibition match, he wants to try and see a Galarian Zapdos. Oh, and he's also here to inspect the Energy Plant."

"He sounds like a really busy guy."

"He is! Did I mention that he's a gym leader too? And he’s gonna stay at my place so I gotta clean up my flat and-"

You wait for Jace to finish only to see that he is staring limply into space before he whips his head to you and you stare at him in confusion. "What’s wrong?”

“By Jove, I’ve got it!” he exclaims loudly, his jaw hanging open, “Duckie, now that you're not gonna take on any cases, I take it you're pretty much free for the next couple of days???”

“Yeah, I guess…”

“Okay, okay, I’ll give you a call, alright?”

“…Uh, sure.”

“Right, I gotta go. Will you be okay on your own? Anyone picking you up?”

“Yeah. Graves.”

Jace hesitates, then says, "Arceus help you."

"Thanks," you reply, with an all-knowing nod.

After exchanging goodbyes, Jace dashes off and you’re on your own again; glancing at Runerigus’ capsule, you will deal with him at another time. Apparently he's a chill guy.

You’ve still to finish your drawing of Mimikyu and she’s been sitting quietly and very patiently beside you on the bed, occupying herself by playing with some loose threads of your blanket so you resume your sketch of her before colouring it with the crayons and once you’re done, you lift the paper high in the air with a grin and show Mimikyu who looks up and she hops onto your shoulder again to peer at your drawing, pleased with your efforts.

“Mi mi,” she croons, “Me look good.”

You giggle as she squeaks with delight. “Come on, let’s go hang this up,” you say with a grin, and Mimikyu nods.

Leaving your room for the second time, you make your way to the children’s ward and find the same room where you had asked to borrow the paper and crayons, and with the box in hands, you swiftly return the items where the little girl from before is now sticking crayons into her ears and a nurse is trying to stop her.

Returning to the main corridor, you locate the wall with the drawings and scour for an empty spot and once you’ve pinpointed an empty space, you use some blu-tack from another portrait, splitting some of it up, and use it for your own drawing. You proceed to stick Mimikyu’s picture on the wall, pressing hard on the corners to ensure it’s sticking well and Mimikyu nods with happiness and claps using two tendrils.

“Thank you, mi mi,” she says, nodding vigorously with gratitude.

“You’re very welcome, but it would be nice if I could see what’s under your disguise and draw the real you.”

Mimikyu blinks at you, then shakes her head vigorously, “...If you see mi, me will kill you and me....me don’t want that. Me actually like you.”

You stare at your Pokemon in surprise then giggle lightly.

It’s time to return to your ward but Mimikyu tears off several of the children's drawings of Pikachu along the way, prompting you to run and escape the ward as quickly as you can and before you're spotted although you're certain there might be CCTV around. It's too late to reprimand her anyway and as you pass the communal area where you see the door that leads to the yard, you remember last night’s events where Leon had tried to kiss you and your cheeks flare up.

You had almost kissed if Oleana didn’t interrupt.

“I wonder what Leon is doing...” you forlornly utter under your breath before you could help yourself.

You miss him, and you hope he's doing well and you’re brought out of your reverie when you hear someone ‘pssst psst psst’-ing at your direction and glancing over, an old man in a robe seated at a chess table by the window is beckoning you over. You look left and right, then point to yourself.

He nods. “Do you know how to play chess?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh lovely. Would you like to play against me? None of these bozos can.”

Graves won’t be coming for another three hours.

“Sure,” you say, with nothing to lose and tonnes of time to spare.

Thus you head over and sit down on the drab-looking chair, staring at the worn pieces before you pick them up one by one and begin fixing them into their appropriate positions on the board. The old man helps, setting up his own pieces on his side.

The old man looks familiar and he too seems to recognize you. He says, “Aren’t you Leon’s girlfriend?”

“Uh, no, we're not...we're not together.”

"Yet," he says.

You cringe.

“I remember you were together though,” he adds.

"Yeah, I was visiting him when he was in hospital.”

“And now it’s your turn.”

You nod as he snorts with laughter; he asks you what happened but you tell him it’s a long story, to which he tells you he has all the time in the world, so you recount the tale of Rose and the haunted art gallery as the game begins.

“Uh-huh, I see, then what happened?” he asks; he moves his pawn to forward to which you counter.

You tell him about Runerigus, Tanner, Cole, the possession. Everything.

“What other cases have you worked on?” he asks. You're surprised he's listening and not questioning your sanity as most do.

You tell him about the ghost of South Miloch as your game progresses and you're taking the lead and soon, your story has caught the attention of a passing old lady using a walking frame.

“Did you just say the ghost of South Miloch?” she says with a slight, nasally pitch to her voice, and she turns to you and the old man questioningly before she adds, “I saw it with me own eyes!”

“Sally, this young lady solved the case and broke the curse,” the old man says, and the woman subjects you to an incredulous look.

“Oooh, did you, sweetheart?” and old Sally hobbles to the closest seat nearest to your chess table and plops herself down. “Molly, come here! This is the girl who solved the Miloch case! I told you I wasn’t seeing things! I told you I saw a ghost!”

She’s addressing another elderly woman who’s seated near the telly on a plushy couch with today’s newspapers propped up in her withered hands. Upon being called, Molly looks away from her paper behind her spectacles and glances over; Sally excitedly beckons her over to join with a little wave and a toothy grin and she sighs and gets up slowly, then shuffles over and joins her on the couch.

Glancing at the OAPs, it seems you have gathered an audience who are interested in listening and learning about all your exploits.

“Well? Go on then, dear, tell us more,” Sally says with a gummy smile, and you blink wide-eyed at them.

“Oh, um…well, it was to do with a will and a massive family inheritance..."

And so you share with them the details about the case, from the very beginning of the investigation, through to the middle and to the very end though you do omit names for privacy; the chess game seems to have become forgotten and before you know it, you’ve attracted a small crowd so you move to one of the sofas near the television which grants you a full view of the entire communal area so your small group can listen and gather around you properly. They nestle themselves on the couches, listening keenly as you eagerly recount your tales of hidden treasures, lost loves and spooky phantoms.

Suddenly, a nurse enters the room and calls your name loudly.

Pausing in mid-sentence, you glance over and see Graves standing beside her. He takes one look at you, then at the elderly patients who have gathered around you and raises a brow.

“We’re going now,” he barks.

Time had flown by so quickly.

“Okay,” you rise and leave your seat and your crowd of elderly patients begin to whine but they’re quickly dispersed by the nurses. You tell them your online blog contains more details though you’re aware that they probably don’t really know how to work the internet and they should ask their tech-savvy grandchildren.

Checking the clock on the wall, it's then you realise Leon hadn’t come to visit you after all.

...

Leon has been trying to visit you but is always prevented to do so at the very last minute. He's had a photoshoot that's taken up his entire morning and afternoon, then once he's finished and he thinks he has time to go to the hospital, if it isn’t a fan asking for a photo and autograph, it’s Rose asking him to head over to a route to help sort something out before he's directed to a city or another route for something else.

He’s keen to visit you and checking the clock on his phone, he sees the hours trickle one by one yet the moment he thinks he has a minute to spare, he is lulled into a false sense of security as something else crops up and he’s forcibly whisked away.

You got him a gift last time and so he is set in his mind to get you a gift too; he’s already got Vulpix but she isn't available to be collected yet so he's keen to get you something else.

Aware that you’re going to be discharged soon, if not now, he quickly finishes up his task and uses this opportunity to venture to the hospital before he's missed. He sends you a quick message to let you know that he is coming.

On his way, he enters a gift shop on the outskirts filled with quaint décor and with Charizard, he commences some casual browsing where he eventually settles to purchase a bouquet of multicoloured flowers which he is quite certain you will like. The florist has reassured him on this, too.

Without further ado, Leon heads to the hospital.

And as you’re packing your bag in your room, Graves knocks on the door, enters and asks, “You ready?”

“Yeah,” you say, as you sling the bag over your shoulder and you make sure you have Runerigus and Mimikyu’s capsule whilst Gengar lingers in your shadow.

You try one more time to message Leon but your reception suddenly decides to go kaput and you have been unable to get through to him or receive messages for the past hour or so.

Graves waits outside as you spare one more glance to your now-empty room, at the pristine bed, the empty table and chair. The blinds are pulled up and the sun’s setting, casting a beautiful orangey glow within and your face falls when you check the clock again and throw your glance to the door as though you’re expecting a certain purple-haired someone to come rushing in, panting and looking adorably sweaty and breathless whilst unnecessarily and continuously apologising for being late and you will smile and tell him it’s fine and –

“Alright then, let’s go.” Graves says, swinging a set of car keys with one finger.

"Did you talk to Rose?"

"I did. I'll fill you in later. Let's grab something to eat first.”

"Okay."

You leave the room with Graves carrying your bag for you and promptly head down the corridor, arriving at the lift. Graves presses the button, whistling. He spots a nurse who smiles at him and he clears his throat.

“Good evening, ma’am.”

“Hello, Chief Inspector Graves. Is this your daughter?”

“Uh….sort of.”

The nurse passes sweeping looks between you and the much older Graves, and he appears to have also realised his mistake; whilst you roll your eyes, Graves splutters out an explanation but the nurse leaves with no further follow up.

“When’s this stupid lift coming,” Graves ends up complaining loudly. “Hurry up, damnit.”

There are two lifts but it seems they are exceptionally slow.

Downstairs and Leon with flowers anxiously waits for the lift to arrive, hoping he’s not too late.

People are actively staring and he will wave and smile but they appear to respect his privacy and so he's mostly left alone though the massive bouquet in his hands causes some brows to raise. Charizard helps preen him, licking his claws and tidying his hair, pinching loose strands together and flattening them over the sides of his head. Leon grins at his pokemon and Charizard attempts to give him a thumbs up.

The lift arrives and he steps in; the lift begins to ascend.

Upstairs and the lift doors open and Graves mutters, “Finally, took it long enough,” he grumbles and grunts but lets you enter first and then hops in himself, pressing the button for the basement where the carpark is.

And as the doors begin to close, you hear the sound of the lift opposite yours opening with a loud ‘ping’ and as you look up, the doors of your lift slide to a close, but through the tiny one inch gap, you think you see a familiar shade of purple -

- and Leon steps out, just as the doors to the lift opposite his has closed and begins descending.

He rushes towards the direction of your room with flowers in hand but the door is open and the bed is neatly made and the room is empty.

Confused, he returns to the nurse’s desk and asks for your whereabouts.

“Oh, she just got in that lift,” the nurse says, pointing to the aforementioned elevator, “Literally one minute ago. You just missed her.”

For the first time in Leon’s life, he was devastated.

...

#pokemon #pokemonshield #pokemonsword #pokemonswordandshield #jeralee #fic #fanfic #reader #reader insert #archive of our own #pkmn #dande #leon #Leon x reader

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bee-s-honey · 3 years

Note

Hi it’s me again 😭 I feel bad because I keep asking for kurapiia hc’s but I just adore your writing style💗💗🥺. I was wondering for a scenario. Ok so you know how kurapika is in the nostrade family business and all, what if he and his crush worked together helping the nostrade family. But like he doesn’t know he has a crush on them- he’s oblivious to his own feelings and all. 💗 what if on Valentine’s Day- their crush gets like flowers from someone- and like they sent the flowers to the nostrade office and all. The flowers were like a gift for them and thanking them for helping. And like the flowers were roses and it has a small box of chocolates with it💗. How would kurapika react? What would be his impression and would he be lowkey mad at their crush?😭. Thank you so much and I only thought of this ask because Valentine’s Day is near and happy Valentine’s Day to you your my fav writer on this app I wish you a good day🤍🤍💕💕💕🌸🌸🌸🌙🌙✨✨🥺💗💗💗

I'm literally DEAD 💗 ugh you are just the sweetest honestly this message has made my entire month and it makes me feel so good to know you like my writing.

When you said sanario my brain clicked a little so this will be in a fic style and not hcs I hope that's what you wanted 🥺 I used a random name for the extra person because I didn't know who else to put

Also I have really bad timing with things and this took a few days sorry if you had to wait too long. I have issues with completing things in one day 💕

The courtyard in the front of the Nostrade house was being eaten up my flowers and greenery after you'd asked to plant some. Of course you'd went a little overboard but everyone seemed to love it and Neon just absolutely adored the blue tulips. They were the only thing in a neat row considering you didn't perfectly plant anything else.

Today was an off day, well to an extent. You all had to be there mainly because Neon was stuck in her room with a girlfriend she'd gotten a few weeks ago and she wanted to take valentines day to watch movies. Word got out and Mr. Nostrade was worried someone might think it was a good day to do something considering valentines day was always when people were "a little too comfortable. With their guard down." Maybe he was a little paranoid but at least you could just walk around with no major tasks.

You hadn't seen anyone come through the gate with anything, so suddenly getting a call asking for you to come up to the office for a gift from someone made you a little confused. You didn't want to walk all the way up to Nostade's office but who wouldn't want a gift?

It turned out to be anonymous but...something about it made you think of someone, the fashion of it seemed a little too home-made to be store bought and that very much sounded like someone. Dario was a young man who'd recently joined the guarding job and worked at the house the entire time. Whenever you were there he seemed to be interested in talking suddenly. He really was so charming so the thought of him bringing you these pink roses was just wonderful. There were at least seven if not 10 in the big bouquet and chocolate bites individually in small boxes were attached to each rose.

"Who's the lucky guy?" Basho chuckled from a fine leather chair near the wall. You gave a nervous giggle but honestly there was nothing else to say. Maybe it wasn't Dario- maybe it was? He wasn't there currently so it wouldn't be a surprise.

You grabbed it and held it silently for a few minutes longer before thanking the front guard who beought it in and walking back out into the hallway. How beautiful. The roses pink was opaque and bright, must've been thoughtfully picked since this simply wasn't a kind of bouquet you'd find at the store.

Just as you were about to walk down the carpet draped stairs to the outdoors again the door across the hall opened. Outstepped Kurapika, wearing a long red skirt with golden lines down it, and the same type of top tribal throw he always wore, but a fully golden yellow with the shapes and lines now maroon red.

"Why are you staring at my clothes?" He asked. It was a little harsh and without too clear of a teasing tone but you were used to that. He wasn't the best and making feelings clear but it was obvious he was being friendly.

You were about to answer but his eyes caught on the roses. For a second he cocked his head slightly, confused, before walking over just a bit more, still pretty far away.

"What are these?" He asked quietly, "Did you get them for someone?"

"Nope, actually someone gave them to me. I don't know who though, they didn't want their name to be given."

Kurapika's face dropped slightly, it wasn't too obvious but it was clear something changed. Eyebrows hanging lower and lips dipping down. "Oh, that's cool." The tone was blank and breathy, like how he always spoke but something sad had been put on the intention. Maybe it was best to leave it for a while and ask later. He hated getting asked emotion-based questions on the job so a "are you alright" was always best for on the way out.

It was silent before he said something again to your surprise. He normally didn't speak multiple times in a row without even more participation from the person he was talking to-

"What are you doing? Are you going to put them somewhere?" Kurapika asked.

"Hmm, actually I don't know. I'll just keep them in the guard's resting area and hope nothing happens while we're here. I don't wanna cary them around everywhere." You walked up to him a little closer before walking past to go to the guard's personal quarters. Kurapika followed far behind, getting slightly close but not like he usually did.

A new, tense energy was in the air and you couldn't tell if it was a telling of bad fortune, your own mood, or a feeling radiating from Kurapika appearing kind of dis-hearted today.

After setting it down you gave him a smile and patted his shoulder, the touch a comforting flutter of affection. After looking at him to make sure he was alright for a second you walked silently out of the room and back to go out in the field.

Inside the quarters, Kurapika stood swaying on his feet and staring down the rose bunch. One of the chocolates was gone from you eating it and the rest were subtly weighing down the flowers from their stems. Something shot through him, he couldn't- couldn't quite give it a name, but it made him get stiff in the upper back and breath out of his nose like a cat sighing after getting barely inconvenienced.

"why not just put the chocolate in one box? You're weighing down these poor flowers." He muttered to himself, taking each box off their rose and stacking them on top of each other next to the bouquet. As he looked over the blush roses he saw something far into the little red cloth that wrapped around them to keep them together. There was a note all the way down in there.

His eyes averted to the side. What was he doing now? He'd already done enough! And these are yours, he shouldn't be snooping, but as he set the bouquet back down the note he just noticed fell out like it was calling for him.

'I know you won't fined this note until at least a couple days after, but these are from Dario. I just didn't want you to know right away ^_^'

Something in Kurapika flared and he had to put a hand over his heart. It was rather obvious but somehow this discovery still froze warmth and made him step back, note still in hand. Before he could feel anything again or think rationally the trash caught the paper and he walked out of the room. It's not like it mattered much anyway. With the way it was hid maybe you would just never find it so throwing it away only really had a 50/50 chance of ruining whatever could happen. What a stupid little note. If you loved someone you should tell them, and only a fool of a man would hide it. If Kurapika loved someone he'd tell them upfront wouldn't he? Yes! Yeah he would, 'Because I'm not a fool at least. I Know when I love someone and I wouldn't hide it.' He huffed at his own inner monologue. Why was he even upset? Wait-

The day drug on for only an hour or so before Nostrade started letting the guards that weren't permanently in the mansion go. After hurrying to get the roses you saw Kurapika walking out in the door, stepping down the stone steps in small strides, like he was waiting for someone and wanted to walk slower. From here the sun that was on the horizon right infront of the mansion casted orange around the land. Kurapika's eyes were probably getting shined horribly but at least from the angle you saw him, the moment looked like a photograph from heaven. The gold from the sunset made the light honey color of his hair glow. You quickly ran up beside him so you could talk while walking away.

He didn't look upset at all, maybe what you saw was just a quick feeling that went in a flash. "Hi." You offered gently. He sighed, smiling and then looking forward once more.

"Hi."

"Was today ok? You looked a little off when we were talking earlier."

"Oh! I'm fine, don't worry. It was just...a little bit of funk. I didn't get good sleep last night." He rushed out. It was clear the wheels in his brain were turning because his eyes didn't even wonder your way, he was looking straight forward and clearly coming up with an idea of some sorts. Maybe something to say?

"Do..you want to meet up at the coffee shop on adams street tomorrow? I know it's short notice but I was getting pretty bored and we never...really hang out other than work." Kurapika asked. For once today his eyes fully met yours and he greeted them with a smile. That look he gave always did warm your heart. He rarely smiled in general but he tried to more around you. It was just a gentle tug of his lips and a gleam in his eye. Ot was rare but it was raw and real.

"Of course I'd love that. I would love to talk some more and we never finished our last book conversation." You agreed, nearing the turn where you would go to get your car. He grinned a little and walked off without another word.

Half way to your car you stopped and giggled a bit before running back over to the other path. You stopped right behind him and the sound of your footsteps suddenly coming up startled him a bit.

"What time should we meet? We didn't quite work it out." You huff out, laughing a little bit.

"Oh! Yes, does..hmm...12 work out? That way we can have lunch there too?"

"Oh of course that sounds great."

"Ok." He said, waving before walking off. It always was hard to tell exactly what he was thinking, but he was clearly deep in whatever it was.

(a/n)I'm switching to an easier HC format here:

Later the next day you go to the cafe and you're there first. The smell right as you walk through the door is of creamy coffee and there's solid brown shaded paintings on the wall that go from dark to a creamy white to represent the coffee, but as you sit down at the spot not taken the smell fades away because of how far the seat is from the counter. It's replaces by a simple flowery smell from the insence fountain they put in the corner there.

After setting your things down you return to the smell of coffee and sound of people talking loudly. After ordering whatever you wanted and two cake pops, they said your order will be ready in a bit. Just as you were going to slide into your chair again the bell rings and Kurapika comes in.

His hair is tied back in a small ponytail and he's holding a singular red rose in his hand, the tips of his fingers both around it instead of a tight grasp you'd kind of expect. He had on his small smile again and practically skipped over.

It was quite silent, he sat down and looked at you with the same look. Not exactly nervous but prepared. He handed you the rose from across the table and smiled.

"I think one rose is better than a bunch because it feels more romantic." He states simply, clearly still some sort of dig at Dario's decision in gift.

In that time at the cafe you both talk about what happened and your feelings. Kurapika said the entire time he knew you, he'd never really considered that he was in love with you but after he left the room from throwing away the letter he took some time to think about why he did it.

To you, Dario wasn't an exact crush. More of a person who you would occasionally flirt with just for fun. Maybe he did like you more, but really, it wasn't something big or special, because Kurapika was always there. It was as if subconsciously you could never really develope a crush on another person. Kurapika's heart had made it's way onto your list of needs and you didn't even know it. Despite the fact that he could've hurt something that could've been with Dario, it wasn't likely to happen anyway.

This made his day.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY. THIS TOOK SO LONG I'M SORRY. I really wanted to make it special but I also was having a lot of mental health problems and things involving personal life but I'm so glad I could get this out! You deserve it and I hope it was good 💗💗

If it has any spelling errors or something like that is wrong I apologize again I just wanted to get this out as fast as possible.

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angstyaches · 4 years

Note

what if Elliot’s stomach for some reason is bothering him from the moment he wakes up one day and just slowly gets worse as the day goes on but they have stuff to get done so he doesn’t mention anything to Felix, instead he accidentally falls into “ignoring” Felix but it’s actually him just being sort of distracted by his insides. Finally, Felix gets his attention but not in the nicest way, maybe being just a bit to hyper or annoying to Elliot in the state of mind he’s in and (1 of 2)

(2 of 2 sorry it wouldn’t fit in one 😂) he snaps at him kind of meanly. But before he can explain what was wrong Felix storms off, refusing to listen to a word Elliot is saying

Okay Milo, AS USUAL your prompt has sparked plot and character development for my Bois. Elliott’s not going to thank you for this. I, however, do!

CW: pain, anxiety,

“Now, the thing is,” Felix mused, leaning back in a plush white chair, “if it were up to Ryan, everything would be black and silver, right? But our task here is not to choose what Ryan would choose. What we’re trying to decide here is what Nancy would pick for Ryan. She’d want Ryan out of her comfort zone just slightly, so maybe she’d go with something – something like this off-purple, with the satin-y finish.”

Elliott grunted, not lifting his head from his fist. All of the colours in the book were starting to look the same to him, and there was no way he could focus hard enough to read the name of the shade Felix was pointing at. Felix had been extremely talkative all day, acting like an excited puppy ever since Nancy had asked them to take care of the colour scheme for Ryan’s birthday party, and Elliott had been able to tune it out until now. For some reason, hearing him ramble on and over-analyse the decision like that made Elliott roll his eyes.

“Good Lord, Fee,” he sighed, the words grating in his throat. “It’s starting to sound like you’re talking just for the sake of saying something.”

“Pardon me?” Felix folded his arms over the front of his t-shirt, which was loose and faded and exposed about a hand’s width of his chest. “Am I talking too much? You want me to be quieter?”

“Yes.” Elliott’s head spun when he realised what he’d said, and how bluntly it had come out. Felix’s face reacted as though he’d just hit him in the stomach. In reality, it was Elliott who felt like something had crashed into his gut, sending his organs into disarray.

Oh god, say something. Elliott pressed a hand against his stomach below the table, desperate for a moment of relief so he could just think straight long enough to make this better. The cramps weren’t letting up though, and probably wouldn’t while he was so tense.

“Oh, perfect,” Felix sang. “I’ll shut up, shall I? And we’ll just be two idiots sitting here, looking at colour charts in complete silence.”

“Great.”

The book of colour charts swam in his vision as he watched Felix slowly bringing a hand up to flip over the cover and slam it shut.

“Fee,” Elliott mumbled.

“No, no,” Felix said, shoving the heavy book across the table so it bounced against the arm Elliott was supporting his head with. “You barely speak to me all afternoon, and the first thing out of your mouth is this? I must really be driving you crazy, so... You know what, El? I’ll take myself off your hands.”

“Fee, I - hang on, I just -” Elliott sighed, watching the boy get to his feet and sling his jumper over his shoulder. He got to his feet to go after him, but that was when he was incapacitated by a horrible cramp that made his throat contract and his head spin. He had to put his hands down on the table to keep himself from swaying. As the pain ripped through his stomach, he prayed that Felix would still be there when he looked up.

He wasn’t altogether surprised when he wasn’t.

Wincing, Elliott lowered himself back into his chair, sweat coating his face and neck as he flipped open the book of colours. He hurriedly looked for the pale purple shade that Felix had been talking about, kicking himself for not paying more attention. He thought he was going to start blacking out any second, but that was when the party planner came back. He forced a smile and pointed to one of the light purples at random, telling her they’d be pairing it with black. Then he told her that would be all for today, and waited for her to leave the room before trying to get up again.

Outside the manor, it was starting to get cold. Elliott’s stomach churned when he saw that Felix had taken the car. He sat himself down on the curb by the parking lot, curling one arm around his aching gut and supporting his head with the other.

He and Felix had stopped for lunch on the way to meet the party planner, and though Elliott’s stomach had already been upset then, he’d put it down to not having enough blood lately. He’d ended up ordering two double-stacked burgers, hoping the red meat would compensate for it. He’d ended up finishing some of Felix’s food too, as Felix’s appetite often shrank a lot when he was excited or hyper-fixating on something.

He’d also noticed his blood cravings coming on a lot more sharply in recent weeks, but he’d been brushing it off in the hopes everything would just go back to normal. He didn’t want to consider the alternative, and what that would mean for his body, and for his relationship with Felix.

In the time he waited and choked back sobs of pain, Elliott saw several staff members go to their cars and leave, and some others arrive to start their shift. They would cast him a glance and look away again right away. Elliott had always been good at being unapproachable.

The cramps in his belly dropped from agonising to tolerable and then shot back up again, more times than he cared to keep track of. Sitting hunched up was probably making it worse, but standing and walking would have taken too much energy, energy that was already being sapped by the pain.

When it was finally his own car that crunched the gravel in the elaborate driveway, Elliott wasn’t sure if his eyes stung from the pain or from relief. He waited until Felix had parked before trying to stand up, and even then, it was an ordeal.

“Elli?” Felix called out, the spike in his voice indicating that he’d realised something was wrong.

He left the driver’s side door open and rushed to Elliott’s side, offering him his arms. His eyes were reddened from tears, which made Elliott’s heart twinge on top of everything else.

“Fee,” he gasped, reaching for him and collapsing forward. “Fee, my – my stomach hurts, it’s - it’s really horrible.”

“Oh my gosh. I’ve got you, I’ve got you.”

Elliott shouldn’t have believed him, and absolutely shouldn’t have let so much of his weight lean against Felix as they staggered towards the car; in terms of height, Elliott was nearly a foot taller, and in terms of weight, Elliott weighed almost two of Felix. Yet somehow Felix got him into the passenger side seat of the car, closing him in and sprinting around to crawl into the driver’s seat. Elliott let his head hang forward, gasping with muted pleasure as Felix stroked light fingers across the back of his neck.

“Darling,” Felix whispered, drawing Elliott’s head against his neck. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice something was wrong. I was being childish, I – do I need to take you to a hospital?”

Elliott’s teeth chattered, and he let out whimpers into Felix’s soft, mint hair. “Just get me home?”

“Hmm. Okay.” Felix pressed a long kiss against Elliott’s temple, stroking a hand over his arm since he didn’t usually like external pressure on his stomach when it hurt. “But I’d like for us to tell Ryan about this. We need to know if this is –”

“Don’t,” Elliott gasped out. “Don’t – don’t say it, Fee, I – I can’t.”

Felix let out a shaky breath before he nodded and moved away from Elliott and reached for the ignition.

“Don’t bite me,” Elliott mumbled, settling his arm against the passenger side door and tucking his head into his elbow. ‘Don’t bite me’ was a rule he and Felix had invented so that they could be objectively honest with each other, but it could only be used sparingly. “Try to drive smoothly, if possible.”

“Oh, I’ll do my best, darling,” Felix promised. “Close your eyes and try to imagine we’re on a boat on a lake.”

Boat on a lake, Elliott thought with a weak, private smile. Boats on lakes didn’t lurch violently on bends or jerk forward at traffic lights. Elliott wrapped his other arm loosely around his waist, bracing himself and his aching stomach for a rocky forty minutes with Felix at the wheel. But god damn, if he didn’t love that boy, if he didn’t want to spend the rest of his existence –

“Hey, Fee?” Elliott’s voice trembled as he felt the car begin to reverse out of the parking spot. “If it won’t distract you too much from the road, can you sing something while you drive?”

“Oh, darling, you’re going to regret giving me permission for that.”

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seeaddywrite · 4 years

Text

slaughter in swan lake

for @christchex, who had the brilliant idea of Liz being a huge fan of a certain mystery series, & realizing Max wrote them when they move in together. if you’ve got echo prompts, feel free to send ‘em my way.

a couple of notes: sasha jiminez is the name on Liz’s fake ID in the flashbacks from right before rosa’s death. liz says she’s a dancer. also, cunningham is a random last name i picked as ann evans’ maiden name.

"You do realize I’ve successfully moved all of my own stuff across the country twice now, right?” Liz calls acerbically, watching as Max lifts a stack of boxes from the bed of Michael’s borrowed truck and starts toward the back entrance of his house. “I think I can handle carrying a few boxes on my own!”

She’s seated on the patio, cheek leaning against her palm, as she watches. Max had insisted Liz take a seat as soon as they’d pulled up at his house, and had taken her shoulders to redirect her back to this spot every time she got up to try and help. He’d already carried more than half of the boxes from her room above the Crashdown into his -- their -- house on his own, and at this point, Liz has pretty much given up any hope that he’ll let her help.

“I told you,” he calls back, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of a hand before reaching for the next box. “I’ve got it. You just relax.”

“You’d better be careful, Max,” Liz calls back, her smile wide and showcasing all of the joy and contentment she feels in that moment. She’s moving in with Max today. Officially. Only a few weeks after Rosa’s teasing comments about deserving her own room had blossomed into a real, adult conversation that ended in, “The idea of waking up next to you every day is the best thing I can imagine, Liz. Let’s do it. Move in with me,” and a resounding, “Yes!”

It’s crazy, it’s too fast, and a million other things that probably mean she should stop and think, but Liz is tired of over-analyzing every moment of her life. Being with Max is the first thing that’s felt right, and she’s done running from it. “If you keep treating me this way, I’m going to start expecting it! Today you carry all the boxes, tomorrow you move all the furniture to make room ... the next thing you know, you’ll be bringing me breakfast in bed and carrying me everywhere on a litter or something.”

Max rolls his eyes good-naturedly, but Liz recognizes the pleased glint in their depths. It’s been there every time she’s mentioned living together, every time she’s referenced the two of them sharing time and space permanently. And that’s how Liz knows she’s made the right decision. Easily.

“Oh, come on, let him play macho man for a while,” Isobel insists, rejoining Liz on the patio with two glasses of white wine. She settles herself into the opposite patio chair and hands one of the glasses to Liz. “It’s not like moving boxes is going to hurt him if his heart can take the sort of athletics you two have doing in the bedroom, after all.”

The sly smirk stops Liz from glaring at Isobel; she’d like getting a rise out of Liz way too much, and Liz refuses to give her the satisfaction. So instead, she just shrugs, a smirk of her own playing across her lips. “True. And he does look damn good all hot and sweaty, doesn’t he?” she asks, batting her eyelashes dramatically until Isobel’s expression twists to one of disgust.

“Okay, okay, you two,” Max interrupts, a bemused grin on his heat-flushed face that makes something flutter in Liz’s abdomen. He loves that Isobel and Liz are friends now, she knows -- it appeals to the strong desire for family that he’s always had, and it makes Liz happy to know that she can give him that, even if Isobel still drives her absolutely insane, some days. “Could you stop discussing my sex life and open the door for me, maybe?” There’s several boxes stacked in his arms, the one on top balanced precariously. Liz stands and opens the door, letting Max go through -- but that box scrapes the top of the door frame and tumbles from the pile, striking the ground with a loud thud.

“Sorry!” Max says immediately, setting the rest of his burden down to kneel and start gathering the spilled contents.

Liz only chuckles and joins him; the box was obviously full of books, which weren’t likely to be harmed in a fall. “That’s what you get for not letting me help,” she teases, dropping a hand to the back of his neck to squeeze gently. Max turns his head to brush a soft kiss to the inside of her wrist -- then freezes, lips still pressed against Liz’s skin, as wide eyes stare in Isobel’s direction.

“Oh my god,” Isobel chokes, and Liz turns hurriedly to see what’s causing such a dramatic reaction from both of them. In one perfectly manicured hand, Isobel holding an obviously well-loved paperback. The spine is cracked and worn, and the cover is dog-eared and nearly torn in one corner. Liz recognizes it immediately from all of the rough nights in Denver when she’d lost herself in its pages. She snags it from Isobel’s grip a little defensively, and drags it back in against her chest.

“What?” Liz demands. “I like mystery novels, so? Like I didn’t walk in on you reading a Harlequin romance novel last weekend?” She’ll admit, her favorite mystery series isn’t exactly cerebral, but the novels got her out of her head and pulled into a world where every problem was solved and tied off in a bow by the end of it, which, considering Liz’s life, had sounded pretty damn good. The author is funny, and wrote in a way that made Liz want to hide in the words and turns of phrase for as long as she could -- which is why all three books in the series bear the marks of being read and reread during several long years of Denver living.

Green eyes dart from the cover of the book to Liz’s face, then to Max’s wide eyes, and Isobel bursts into laughter hard enough to make her curl forward, clutching her stomach. “Oh my god,” she repeats, still cackling, while Max inexplicably buries his face in his hands. “Slaughter in Swan Lake? In which a beautiful, brainy, Latina dancer solves a murder with the help of a handsome, heroic Sheriff’s deputy in a small town?”

Liz blinks. “Yes? You’ve read them?”

Max groans from the other side of the box as Isobel guffaws, waving the paperback around in the air. “Oh, come on Ortecho, you’re smarter than this! A Sheriff’s Deputy in a small town? A Latina heroine who dances professionally and uses science to solve mysteries in her free time? Written by M.E. Cunningham?”

“Isobel, didn’t you say you needed to meet Mom this afternoon? You should probably get going,” Max interjects, and when Liz turns to look at him, she’s bemused to find that the tips of his ears are red. “Liz and I can take the moving from here.”

But Liz’s mind is already working, putting together the clues that Isobel had so helpfully laid out in front of her. “Wait a minute,” she says, turning an incredulous stare on the book still in Isobel’s grasp. “Are you saying Max wrote those books?” She doesn’t wait for an answer before turning to the man she was about to move in with -- the man from whom she’d long ago thought she’d extracted all secrets. “Max Evans, is your sister trying to tell me that you’re the author of my favorite books?”

Max rubs the back of his neck with one hand awkwardly, looking away. “I need to give you some better things to read if those are your favorite books,” he mutters, and that is definitely not a ‘no.’ He finishes shoving the rest of the box contents back inside and stands up, long legs carrying him swiftly into the house before Liz can ask anymore questions.

She casts an incredulously look at Isobel, who only grins back and lounges against the side of the house, unconcerned. Liz snorts and hurries after Max, hands on her hips. “You do realize there’s no way you’re getting out of explaining yourself, right?” Liz says, once she’s cornered him in the library, where Max is sliding her book collection onto the shelves with his own, far more extensive one. The mystery series, she notes, are still in the bottom of the box, ignored. “Why wouldn’t you tell me you’d already published something? And why were you still working as a deputy when you actually are a writer, like you always wanted?”

Max snorts, and glares down at the battered paperbacks. “Those are not what I want to be known for writing,” he explains firmly. “It’s why they’re under a penname --” he glances at Liz and sees the question in her face. “Cunningham is my mother’s maiden name. And M.E --”

“Yeah, I think I can figure that one out on my own,” Liz cuts him off dryly, and grabs both of Max’s hands before he can try to busy himself with another task or walk out of the room on the pretense of getting more boxes to upack. “Come on, Max. Why didn’t you say anything? We’ve talked about your writing before. That seems like it would have been a perfect time to mention this.” Liz isn’t angry, but it is a little jarring to learn that Max still has secrets from, even now. Especially about something that she would have loved to celebrate with him. Becoming a published author with the amount of fans the Dancing and Death series has? That’s a big deal. Why wouldn’t Max want to share it?

There’s a moment of silence, and Liz starts to wonder if Max is going to answer her question. He leans back against his desk, his fingers toying with hers absent-mindedly as he gazes around the room, hopefully working to collect his thoughts for a response. “I wrote the first book about three months after you left town,” he says finally. “Michael hated my guts, Isobel had just met Noah -- and I really, really missed you.”

Liz thinks of the brilliant main character, of her Mexican roots and her love of science despite her career in the performing arts. The thought that the woman who Liz had empathized with, had laughed and cried with, is based on her makes an odd rush of warmth flood her chest. “So you created Sasha Jiminez?” she asks, naming the heroine with an affection smile tilting her lips.

Max nods, sighing. “Sasha. And Todd,” he agrees, looking at her sideways. Liz can’t help but laugh at that -- the lovable Sheriff’s Deputy who spends the entire book looking after Valeria while she solves his cases is pretty obviously based on another small town hero she knows pretty damn well. “I never meant for anyone else to read it, but my mom caught me writing late one night, and somehow, one of her friends in the city ended up with a copy ... and the next thing I knew, I was looking at a publishing contract.” Max shakes his head, looking a bit bewildered, even now. “It’s embarrassing. It’s not even good literature. I wrote it to make myself feel better, and I knew I couldn’t sign my real name to any of it. Not without everyone in town realizing exactly how embarrassing it was.”

Glancing down at the book again, Liz considers her words for a moment, then leans in to rest her head against Max’s chest. His arms enfold her automatically, like he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it, and she takes another moment to thank whatever -- or whoever -- might be out there that this man had never given up on her.

“You told me when we were kids,” she starts, still pressed against his chest. “That you just wanted to write books people could get lost in.” The memory evokes others of dancing on that mountaintop, their almost-kiss and the sweet, too-short bliss of believing that when she left Roswell, Max Evans would follow her. The persona she’d given him that day of a dancer with a fake name had come alive in his mind when Liz herself was long gone, and though Liz isn’t a romantic, she couldn’t help but feel a little weak-kneed in the face of such devotion.

“Those books ... God, Max, I must have read all three a hundred times while I was in college, and in grad school. I lost myself in them over and over, and they made the real world a little more bearable. I didn’t have to think about Papi, or Rosa, or whatever stupid project or assignment was stressing me out. I love those books, Max. And knowing that you wrote them? That the people in those pages are really us?” She grins, and leans up on tip-toe to press her smile against Max’s lips. “It makes me love them even more. It’s like you followed me after all, in some ways. Or like I never left, because you had a huge part of me in your head while you were writing.”

Max brushes his lips against the crown of Liz’s head. “Not in my head,” he says quietly. “My heart. Always.”

The words still bring a flush to the tips of Liz’s ears, even now, when she’s confident in the love Max has for her -- and that she has for him. They’re moving in together, planning a future and a live as a unit, and still, hearing the romantic proclamations he loves to throw her way make her blush like an awkard teenager.

“Even better,” Liz responds, and kisses him one more time, allowing herself to linger a little before she pulls away to finish unpacking the box at their feet. She puts the mystery series on the top shelf, displayed proudly for all to see, worn-out covers and all.

Max glances at them uncertainly, and Liz wonders if her paperbacks will disappear mysteriously in the coming days -- but they’re still there, watching over Liz and Max three months later when he gets down on one knee. He never finishes the series, but Liz likes to think that Sasha and Todd are as happy in their world as she and Max are in the real one.

#my fic #rnm fic #echo rnm #roswell new mexico fic

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yes-i-am-happyaspie · 4 years

Text

I Scream for Ice Cream

Summary: Tony falls asleep in the lab and has a nightmare. One that involves buying his favorite spider-kid copious amounts of ice cream and then... Well, the end results have him jerking awake with a shout. Peter tries to be comforting but in the end, all he can do it laugh... [This is not going to go how you think it's going to go.]

Warnings: None

Tags: Fluff and Humor, Nightmares, Precious Peter Parker, Random and Short... ....

Word Count: 2123

Link to Post on AO3 I Scream for Ice Cream- happyaspie

"Hey, Mr. Stark? Can we get some ice cream?", Peter enthusiastically inquired from the passenger side seat of Tony's favorite Audi.

Seeing as he couldn't think of anything else that required his attention at the moment, Tony shrugged his shoulders and pulled in to the next ice cream shop they came across. "Sure, kiddo. What do you want?", he asked as the little bell on the door rang out to notify the employees that they had entered.

"Can I get a double scoop?", Peter returned with a grin and Tony was quick to nod his head. The kid could have asked for a quadruple scoop and he would have been fine with it. He knew the kid could eat it and even if he couldn't the cost of a heaping pile of the frozen confection was like pennies to him.

As soon as the young man reached the counter, Peter placed his order for two scoops of double-chocolate-chunk in a cone while Tony requested a single serving of chocolate chip in a cup. It didn't take long for the man to collect their order and once the tab was paid, they walked out the door. Then, just as they reached the car, Peter leaned in to lick his cone but as he did so, the stacked portions went tumbling to the ground with an audible splat.

"Whoops.", Peter sheepishly spoke as he looked down at his ice cream that was now melting into a pool at his feet.

Tony rolled his eyes and waved his hand towards the nearby trashcan. "Just throw that away. I'll go get you a new one.", he flippantly replied and began to wander back into the shop where he purchased a duplicate of the kid's previous order. Then, on a whim, he grabbed a stack full of napkins on his way back out. "Here you go.", he said as he handed over the cone to his favorite spiderling. "Let's take it for a walk, though. I'm not sure I trust you with that in my car.", he continued with a smirk.

Chuckling in response, Peter carefully licked around the cone where the chocolate was starting to drip and accepted the wad of napkins the man was holding out for him to take. "That makes sense.", he said with a smile and started down the sidewalk.

As they continued on their way, Tony watched as the kid oh so cautiously ate his ice cream and smiled. It was so hot out that it was already dripping over his hand and no amount of licking or napkins was keeping up. It was turning into a huge syrupy mess. "Are you getting any of that in your mouth?", he teased eliciting a small frustrated noise from his young mentee's mouth.

"I'm trying, Mr. Stark but it's really hot out here and it's melting faster than I can eat it.", Peter explained with indignance.

Shaking his head, Tony looked down into his own cup and saw that his treat was fairing much better. It just wasn't making a mess. He ended up eating the last few semi-solid bites with the pink plastic spoon before tipping it back and drinking what was left while Peter continued to struggle. "Look, how about we ditch the cone, you wash up and I'll get you a something in a bowl.", he suggested and could see the wheels in the boy's head turning.

After some thought, the kid reluctantly agreed and they ended up backtracking to the same store, where Tony made a third purchase. The ice cream shop employee had just stuck the spoon into the cup when Peter exited the bathroom looking far less sticky. Nodding in satisfaction, Tony handed over the cup and for some unknown reason, they decided to resume their walk rather than sitting inside the air-conditioned building until the snack had been consumed.

Peter walked ahead, peeking into all of the shop windows, commenting on the various items he saw inside between bites as Tony followed causally behind. He'd just paused to look at something himself when he heard Peter start shouting and looked up in surprise. The kid was standing there waving the hand that wasn't holding onto the ice cream filled paper cup towards several pigeons who seemed to have decided that they too wanted something to cool down with. The boy was only able to dodge them for so long before the brightly colored container was being dropped, landing on its head, thus rendering the remainder of the treat inside inedible.

"You're just not to meant to have any ice cream today, huh, kiddo.", Tony howled with laughter as Peter frowned back at him. "I swear this kind of stuff only happens to you."

Peter huffed and kicked the cup aside, startling the birds that had happily surrounded it and pouted. "It's fine. I got to have some of it anyway. We can just go home."

"Nope. You wanted ice cream. You're going to get ice cream. We'll make it a milkshake this time.", Tony said, then walked into the cafe that just so happened to be right there and ordered a large chocolate shake. "The good news is, you can have this in the car. It has a lid. What could possibly happen?", he teased as he passed the handspun milkshake over with a smile.

Though he soon found out exactly what could possibly happen when they got almost back to the car and Peter tripped over his untied shoelaces, sending the cup flying. "I give up.", the kid grumbled as he picked himself up and leaned down to tie his laces. "You're right. I'm not meant to have ice cream today."

"Yeah, well I don't give up. Look, the ice cream shop we started in is right there. We'll give it another try. Maybe this time we'll sit down and let you finish it in there. No heat, birds or untied laces.", Tony suggested as he looked down at his disheartened mentee. "Maybe we'll buy you some light up velcro shoes while we're out.", he added with a playful grin.

Rolling his eyes, Peter stood up and crossed the distance between himself and his mentor. "It's fine. You don't have to buy me anything else.", he said, ignoring the obvious jab.

Tony scoffed and threw his arm over Peter's shoulders, leading him right back into the small shop they'd started in. "I'm a billionaire, kid. I think I can afford to buy you another bowl of ice cream.", he said as he deposited the kid at one of the white, cast-iron parlor tables and made his way back to the counter.

"One more time. Double scoop, double-chocolate-whatever in a cup.", Tony told the man as he chuckled lightly at the situation. The ice cream there wasn't cheap and he was pretty sure his patronage had just paid the stores light-bill at minimum. Not that he was complaining. It was good ice cream and the place was nicely kept. Besides, he had boatloads of money to cover the costs. With that in mind, he strode up to the register and ran his card through the machine. 'Declined' Giving it very little thought, he wiped the magnetic stripe on the back of the card off with a napkin and ran it again. 'Declined'

"There must be some sort of a mistake.", he mumbled under his breath before pulling out another card. 'Declined.' Then he pulled out another, also declined. Followed by at least three more, all instantly declined.

"Looks like you've hit the bottom of the bank account.", the man behind the counter taunted and Tony could feel his heart-beat quickening as his breath grew short.

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.", he whispered in horror as he started to rapidly type commands into his phone. While he waited for the information he'd requested to come up, he glanced across the parlor at his smiling companion. Then with a hard swallow, he looked back at his phone. 'Current balance $3.14' All he could do was scream.

...and that's how he woke up. Screaming.

"Are you okay, Mr. Stark?", Peter asked having been startled from his task by the man's shouting.

Having already jerked his neck up off of his arms, Tony wildly searched the room for confirmation that it had all been nothing more than a dream. "Yeah.", he finally panted out, once it had registered that he was in his lab and not in some over-priced ice cream parlor. Then just to be on the safe side, he hurridly checked his bank balance and stocks, finding them to be just as he would have expected. Relief washed over him as he leaned back in his chair. "Oh, thank God."

Giving the man a scrutinizing look, Peter closed the distance between himself and his mentor. "Did you... have a nightmare?", he asked, his brows wrinkled with concern. While the man had told him he'd had nightmares in the past, he'd never actually been there to witness one before.

Tony cut his eyes towards Peter and sighed. The adrenalin was starting to wear off and he was finally beginning to catch his breath. "Something like that.", he responded as he ran his hand over his sweaty forehead. God, it was hot in the lab. He really needed to check the cooling system in there.

"Oh. Well, do you want to talk about it? You always tell me it helps to talk about it.", Peter questioned because that seemed like the right thing to do. As many times as the man had been there for him, he wanted to be there to return the favor.

Now feeling ever so slightly flustered by his reaction, Tony tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling. "It was nothing. I'm fine. I don't even know where that came from.", he honestly replied. He had no idea why his sub-conscious would come up with something like that.

Feeling more intrigued than ever by the man's evasive answers, Peter tilted his head to the side and smiled with curiosity. "If it was nothing, then why can't you tell me?"

While he knew he absolutely could have made something up and that Peter would believe him, he couldn't bring himself to do it. So, as frustrating and marginally embarrassing as it was, he broke down spat out the gist of it. "I went broke okay! I tried to buy something and my card was declined. All of them.", he said with a roll of his eyes that turned to a half-hearted grumble when the kid began to cackle beside him. "Stop laughing! It was... horrifying.", he exclaimed but now that the teenager was laughing he was having a hard time not laughing, himself.

Nodding his head, Peter tried to get a hold of himself. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark it's just that... that's so extra.", he said before losing it and started to laugh all over again.

For a few seconds, Tony let the kid have his fun. Then he peered towards his watch and sighed. He'd not realized how long he'd been asleep. "Oh, hush you.", he began with a smile. "Why did you let me fall asleep on you like that anyway? Look, it's already time for me to drive you home."

Peter shrugged his shoulders and sat down in the chair directly beside his mentor. "I figured if you fell asleep your head on your desk then you must have been pretty tired. Besides, I had it under control. See? They work now.", he said as he snapped his most current web-shooter design onto his wrists and shot and web across the room.

As he watched the web float down from where it hadn't attached its self to anything, Tony smiled with pride and remorse. He was supposed to have helped with that. "Good job, Buddy. I'm still sorry I konked out on you instead of hanging out with you though."

Not feeling the least bit daunted by this mentor's impromptu nap, Peter looked at the man with a huge grin. "It's fine. You can make it up to me by buying me some ice cream on the way home.", he declared with a nod of his head. It was typically pretty easy to get the man to agree to buy him some sort of treat during their trip back to Queens but the way the man was looking at him with wide eyes didn't go unnoticed.

"Nope. No way. No how. I'll buy you absolutely anything but that.", Tony promptly replied and when Peter raised his eyebrows at him he crossed his arms defensively over his chest. "Don't ask and I'll buy you a few slices of pie instead."

______________________________

Author's Note: This story was written at the request of my fifteen-year-old son who wanted to see Tony go broke buying Peter ice cream. Seeing as that was too audacious to be 'true' I made it a nightmare. 😂

#Marvel #MCU #ao3fic #tony stark and peter parker #peter parker #tony stark #attempts at humor #cross-post

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justanotherdeadgirlwalking · 4 years

Text

That is Just the Saddest F**king Thing I Have Ever Heard.

TW obviously DEH is about a kid’s suicide, so it has those themes

other parts :)

Part One.

Cynthia said I had to go to school today. “It’s your senior year Connor,” she said, “you can’t miss the first day,” which was just complete bullshit. I tried to compromise, “I’ll go tomorrow,” I told her. No, I had to go. Mom just wanted to get me out of the house after watching me sleep and sit in my room all summer. “Today’s a chance to go make some friends” she told me.

Look it’s not my fault that I don’t have any fucking friends, and it’s not my fault that I can’t make friends because everyone thinks of me as big, bad Connor Murphy, the freak. I’m not a freak. People just have this false idea of me in their head and have never taken the time to actually get to know me. I’ve always been a hot topic of rumors, even though I’ve never done anything really worth talking about. Except the incident in second grade. Someone explain to me why something so stupid that happened when I was 8 years old is something people still use to talk shit about me. It is still a story that gets told from time to time, “oh stay away from Connor Murphy, he’s batshit crazy. He once threw a printer at Mrs. G. because he didn’t get to be line leader” That’s not the whole story. No one knows what really happened because they weren’t even there. I mean, yes I was upset that I didn’t get to be line leader, even though it was my turn, and yes I did shove the table that the printer was on, which caused it to fall. So, I mean, I guess I threw the printer in a sense, but what does it matter? I was a child. Do you know how much embarrassing shit people did in elementary school that doesn’t get talked about because, well geez, they were children, and they’ve grown since then. Fucking Alana Beck peed her pants probably seven times that year, but we don’t talk about that. Whatever.

Most likely, no one is going to be telling that story this year. There’s some new hot gossip about me. See, I spent my junior year at a private school. It was awesome, I actually had a friend, and I was doing well, but I got kicked out. They did random locker searches, and I had weed in my locker, barley half a gram. The best part is, the weed wasn’t even mine. Not that anyone cares, not that anyone is going to ask, or listen to my side of the story. Ironically, they found so much Adderall, in probably 50 lockers, and they got away without so much as a warning. So, pills are okay, I guess, but marijuana isn’t.

Look, unlike what my parents might think, it isn’t dangerous or addicting or bad. Newsflash weed doesn’t hurt anyone. You can’t die from being too high, but pills, you can die from taking too many pills. I told them that too, I showed them statistics and research to convince them marijuana isn’t bad, they sent me to rehab to help with my ‘addiction,’ but all it did was teach me new, worse habits and prescriptions for mood stabilizers.

I’ve always been on medications to try to help me with the depression and paranoia, but I don’t like how they make me feel. Usually, I keep the pills hidden so Mom and Dad don’t catch on that I’m not taking them. I just prefer weed anyways; weed just calms me down, while the other crap I’ve been prescribed puts in a zombie like daze. I just smoke a little weed every now and then to help me get through the day.

People are going to say whatever they want, but I guess that it doesn’t help that I smell like pot anyways. That smell, no matter how many times you wash your clothes or spray your belongings with ferbreeze, never goes away. Regardless, I know I’m not the only stoner, not that I’m a stoner, but most people act like it’s a fucking personality trait to smoke. They’ll go online and post pictures of their bowls and blunts, thinking that they’re cool, but I’m a burnout freak because I smoke.

Despite my protests, I found myself in the passenger seat of Zoe’s car as she drove me to school. Some people might think it’s lame to be driven around by their little sister, but I fucking hate driving. I get too distracted, plus, other people drive like absolute nimrods. I got enough stress in my life, why add the stress of driving.

The first day of school is always a waste; you never do anything meaningful or important. People just spend the day catching up with friends, talking obnoxiously loud about their trip to Italy, or how they built houses for the homeless, and you just do ridiculous ice breakers and make nametags. It’s not like I’m going to learn anything, I’m just going to sit through hours of “two truths and a lie.” Plus, I’ll have to sit through the embarrassment of no one volunteering to guess which of my statements is the lie. No one wants to waste their time with that. Though, I will admit, I came up with some good ones this year, “My birthday is 420, I like to draw, and I have a dog.” The lie, obviously, is that I have a dog. I’ve always wanted one, but Larry has always said no, “they’re too messy.”

I try not to let other people bother me. I just focus my gaze straight ahead, walking as quick as I can to my first class, avoiding obstacles the best I can. In my opinion, people that stand in the middle of the hallway to have their conversation do not deserve rights. Hi, you, and your conversation is not more important than me trying to get to class. Have some fucking decency and at least move over to the side, Jesus Christ. On the bright side, people do tend to move out of my way. It might be out of fear, but it’s convenient. I put my head down as I cut through the middle of two people. “Hey Connor” a boy calls, “Nice hair length,” he continues, “very ‘school-shooter’ chic.” Wow, was that really necessary; did they really have to stop me to tell me that? That’s what I need too: Connor Murphy, not only a freak, but also looks like a school shooter.

I stop in my tracks with a heavy thud as my boots hit the ground. I whip around to face the voice. I look up with a narrow gaze and see Jared Kleinman and Evan Hansen. They are two nobodies like me, but I guess they think they’re better than me.

“I was just kidding” Jared stutters, “It was a joke.”

“Oh, I know.” I say, with no emotion, “I thought it was funny, I’m laughing can’t you tell?” I close the space between us until I’m in his face, towering over him. I’m not a scary person, but I am 6’3”, so my height tends to intimidate people, plus I really like wearing all black. My physical appearance is really a shell of armor, no one knows how sensitive I really am. At least, people can’t walk all over me if they are scared of me. I stare him down, “Or am I not laughing hard enough for you” I say.

I found, that if you stare at someone long enough, they will leave you alone. Mostly, because they are creeped out. It must be working, because Jared takes a step back, “you’re such a freak,” he says as he turns to make a run for it.

Evan’s still standing there, laughing quietly to himself. “What the fuck are you laughing at” I snap at him.

“N-nothing” he stutters.

I turn to him, “do you think I’m a freak.” He’s still laughing to himself. “You’re the fucking freak,” I yell as shove him.

I pause for a moment, looking down at Evan, who is now on the ground. He looks scared, like really, scared. Does he think I’m going to beat him up? Has he been beaten up before? Who hurt him? I scan his body quickly; this kid is already in a cast. Great, I just pushed an injured kid. Maybe I really am a freak. What the fuck is wrong with me? I collect myself and quickly walk away. I don’t have time to deal with this. It’ll probably be a few hours before this goes around the school.

I make it to my locker, my eyes are still on Evan, who is still on the ground. He’s been on the ground for a while, surly he should’ve stood up by now. Fuck, did I break his legs? Zoe walks up to him and helps him up. He’s fine. I watch as Zoe talks to him for a few minutes. Even my own sister isn’t on my side. Thanks Zoe, I’ll remember that the next time you want me to cover for you when you sneak out. Mom and Dad might think I’m the fucked-up child, but they have no idea what kind of shit you get into.

Each class is a blur as I sit through hours of introductions. Finally, its time for lunch. I don’t have friends to sit with, and I don’t like to give people the satisfaction of watching me sit by myself, so usually I spend the period in the library. I’m safe among the stacks. Books can’t judge you, but they can be an escape from your fucked reality. I can’t find a place to sit in the main library, so I go in the back by the computers. There’s a kid talking on his phone, but I don’t think he’ll mind my presence. I find a seat in the corner and lose myself in a book.

Suddenly, I’m snapped back into reality when the printer goes off. It scared the shit out of me. I look at the paper the printer is spitting out, “Dear Evan Hansen” the top reads. I look over to see Evan hunched over a laptop, talking to himself. I don’t think this kid has any friends either, besides Jared, but Jared’s a dick. Evan isn’t a freak like me, but he’s just someone always in the background. Everyone knows who he is, but no one cares.

I should probably apologize to him about earlier.

I grab the paper and walk over to him, “Hey.” He looks up at me, startled. “So, what did you do to your arm anyways?” I ask him.

He looks down at is arm as if he’s confused as to what I’m talking about. “Oh”, he stammers “I fell out of a tree.”

I look at him, expecting him to say more, he doesn’t. “Well, that’s just the saddest fucking thing I’ve ever heard” I tell him.

“I know,” he says.

I look at his cast, its blank. I guess it makes sense, since he doesn’t have any friends. “Hey, no one’s signed your cast yet; I will,” I say.

“No, no you don’t have to” Evan whines.

“Do you have a sharpie?” I ask. He stares at me for a moment before he starts digging in his backpack and pulls out a marker, handing it to me. I grab his arm, and he winces. I ignore that and write my name as large as I can along the side of his cast. I figure, no one else is probably going to sign it, so I might as well take up as much real-estate as I can. “There,” I say, “now we can both pretend that we have friends.” Evan stares at his cast.

I remember that I still have his paper, “is this yours?” I ask, holding it out to him, “I found it on the printer, it says ��Dear Evan Hansen,’ that’s you right?”

“Oh, that’s nothing, um, it’s stupid.” He tries to grab the paper from me, “It’s just an assignment”

I pull it out of his reach and look at it, my eyes land on Zoe’s name, “because there’s Zoe” I read aloud, “Did you write some freaky shit about my sister?”

“No, no” He stutters, trying to rip the paper out of my hand, “Why would I do that?”

“You wrote it because you knew I would find it” I snap, “So I would freak out and you can tell everyone that Connor Murphy is a fucking freak.”

“No” Evan cries.

I shove the paper into my pocket, “Fuck you” I say as I storm away.

I walk out of the library, and right out of the front door of the school. There’s still two periods left, but I don’t care, I’ve had enough of today. I keep walking, I don’t even know where I’m going. Eventually, when I’ve put enough distance between me and the school, I pause to pull out my headphones and put on some music. I don’t even care what I’m listening to, it just has to be loud enough to block out my thoughts.

I don’t feel bad about pushing Evan anymore; honestly that kid deserves way worse. He had to know I was in the room with him. No one is that oblivious to the world to not even notice that they’re not alone. Why would he write about my sister? Like does he have a weird fantasy about her that he just had to get down, and print out? Look buddy, most people keep their private thoughts in their head, where they belong.

I eventually reach a park, its oddly empty, but I guess all the children are still at school. I sit on a bench and throw my bag onto the ground, it rattles with impact. I pick it up to investigate the sound; I dig around until I find the source: a prescription bottle. I forgot that I had put my meds in here. I hold the bottle and read the label, it’s good old Prozac. I have refused to take it ever since it was prescribed to me. If you look it up, it has so many warnings and side effects listed, it doesn’t even seem worth it. Like there’s a small chance this will make you feel better, but there’s an even bigger chance that it might kill you, or make you want to kill yourself. The irony! They give you the medicine because you think about killing yourself, but the medicine makes you want to actually kill yourself. Do doctors even care about you, or do they just write you a prescription, so you go away?

I’ve never taken a single dose of this medication, outside of the hospital where they basically force it down your throat, but now seems like a good time to. I feel so numb, what does it even matter, it’s supposed to help me right? I swallow a pill, dry, and then another, and another. I keep swallowing them until I run out of pills. I throw the empty bottle on to the ground. Suddenly, I have a killer headache; I can feel my heart pounding, thoughts are racing in my mind. I lay down on the bench and take a deep breath.

#DEH #DEH fanfic #Dear evan hansen fanfic #deh fandom #dear evan hansen #dear connor murphy #connor murphy #mike faist #ben platt #musicals #fanfiction #fanfic #dear evan hansen fandom #connor murphy deh #zoe murphy #please validate me #trash

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hufflly-puffs · 4 years

Text

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Chapter 13: The Muggle-Born Registration Commission

“‘Ah, well. It’s only a matter of time,’ said Thicknesse. ‘If you ask me, the blood traitors are as bad as the Mudbloods. Good day, Runcorn.’” – First of all, the term ‘Mudblood’ has now become acceptable. The Minister of Magic uses it in public, a word that a few years ago was generally seen as an incredible hurtful insult. Second, we know that Thicknesse is under the Imperius Curse and that me wonder how exactly that Curse works. Do you only cast it once, do you have to renew the Curse? I guess that depends on the victim and how strong their will is to fight back. How precise do the instructions have to be? I mean Thicknesse isn’t just forced to do a single action but instead to completely change the Ministry policy. How much of the old Thicknesse is still there? Did he already agree with many of the ideas of the Death Eaters, which would have made him an easier target? Controlling the Minster and at large the entire Ministry is a really complex task, especially in the way Lupin described: that people would get suspicious of the new Ministry policy, but not enough to openly rebel against it.

“Panic pulsed in the pit of his stomach. As he passed gleaming wooden door after gleaming wooden door, each bearing a small plaque with the owner’s name and occupation upon it, the might of the Ministry, its complexity, its impenetrability, seemed to force themselves upon him so that the plan he had been carefully concocting with Ron and Hermione over the past four weeks seemed laughably childish. They had concentrated all their efforts on getting inside without being detected: they had not given a moment’s thought to what they would do if they were forced to separate.” – They are completely underprepared and they lack the resources to get more prepared. Not just by infiltrating the Ministry but with their entire plan to hunt down Horcruxes and destroy them. It was simply a chance of luck that they found out who R.A.B. is (they could have hide anywhere else than Grimmauld Place) or that Umbridge would be wearing the locket instead of keeping at safe at home for example. There are still just three teenagers, not even fully educated, stumbling into this, not knowing what they do, leaving a mess everywhere. Thanks Dumbledore.

“They were all waving and twiddling their wands in unison, and squares of coloured paper were flying in every direction like little pink kites. After a few seconds, Harry realised that there was a rhythm to the proceedings, that the papers all formed the same pattern, and after a few more seconds he realised that what he was watching was the creation of pamphlets, that the paper squares were pages, which when assembled, folded and magicked into place, fell into neat stacks beside each witch or wizard.” – It was at an episode of the ‘Witch Please’ podcast (I think this one) where they had wondered why the Ministry would make every single pamphlet individually instead of using a printing press or something like that. It seems like an incredible dull repetitive work, so perhaps it is meant as a punishment and degradation to those doing it.

“MUDBLOODS and the Dangers They Pose to a Peaceful Pure-Blood Society Beneath the title was a picture of a red rose, with a simpering face in the middle of its petals, being strangled by a green weed with fangs and a scowl.” – Again, the term ‘Mublood’ is used, this time on an official Ministry pamphlet, which therefore makes it socially acceptable now to use it everywhere. Also the red rose of course is a symbol for England, so subtextually the new regime in the Wizarding World is associated with nationalism. Which kinda makes sense given that it resembles every fascist regime ever known.

“The witch glanced towards the shining mahogany door facing the space full of pamphlet-makers; Harry looked too, and rage reared in him like a snake. Where there might have been a peephole on a Muggle front door, a large, round eye with a bright blue iris had been set into the wood; an eye that was shockingly familiar to anybody who had known Alastor Moody.” – Using body parts of defeated enemies (or rather their victims) is – what a surprise – also a thing Nazis did. It displays a complete lack of empathy and respect for the deceased. Also, I wonder how exactly the eye works. Apparently it does not need access to a body in order to work; the way Harry describes it later it almost works like a peephole. Of course we don’t know if the magical eye had completely replaced Mad Eye’s natural eye or if enough of it was still left to use the new eye as reinforcement.

“‘Undesirable Number One,’ Harry muttered under his breath as he replaced Mr Weasley’s folder and shut the drawer. He had an idea he knew who that was, and sure enough, as he straightened up and glanced around the office for fresh hiding places, he saw a poster of himself on the wall, with the words UNDESIRABLE NO. 1 emblazoned across his chest. A little pink note was stuck to it, with a picture of a kitten in the corner. Harry moved across to read it and saw that Umbridge had written ‘To be punished’.” – That little note makes the whole thing so ridiculous, as if they were still at Hogwarts and Umbridge would still be fighting her own little vendetta against Harry, instead of Harry becoming a public enemy, with a death sentence hanging over his head.

“Harry opened the book at random and saw a full-page photograph of two teenage boys, both laughing immoderately with their arms around each other’s shoulders. Dumbledore, now with elbow-length hair, had grown a tiny, wispy beard that recalled the one on Krum’s chin that had so annoyed Ron. The boy who roared in silent amusement beside Dumbledore had a gleeful, wild look about him. His golden hair fell in curls to his shoulders. Harry wondered whether it was a young Doge, but before he could check the caption, the door of the office opened.” – I think this moment works great by comparison to the moment when Harry had found the photo of the Marauders in Sirius’s old room. Back then he knew all the people in the photograph, he knew what would later happen to them, how one would betray the others. He knew the context. But at the same time he had wondered if he had projected something in this photograph because of his knowledge. This time Harry does not know who the second person in the photograph is, the relationship between the two men, ect. He is lacking context. He only sees two friends, without knowing what will happen to them in the future, only a single moment captured in time.

Arthur Weasley confronting (who he assumes is) Runcorn is less brave and much more recklessly stupidity. He knows that his family is being watched, that despite being a pure-blood he is not safe, as he (and his family) are considered to be blood traitors. On top of that he is also in the Order and it is known how close the Weasley family is to Harry Potter. And yet Arthur confronts a very powerful member of the Ministry, a man that we know shows little to no mercy to people this new regime considers not worthy enough. Sometimes it is the best to say nothing at all, despite your anger, in order to keep yourself (and your loved ones) safe. Choose your battles.

“He did it instinctively, without any sort of plan, because he hated the sight of her walking alone into the dungeon: as the door began to swing closed, he slipped into the courtroom behind her.” – I mean it is kinda your fault that her husband isn’t with her today. But this is also who Harry is; deciding on instinct alone, doing something because it is the right thing to do, without a detailed plan.

“At the foot of the platform a bright silver, long-haired cat prowled up and down, up and down, and Harry realised that it was there to protect the prosecutors from the despair that emanated from the Dementors: that was for the accused to feel, not the accusers.” – This is such a cruel display of power. The accused are there to defend themselves, to fight for their lives, and yet they are surrounded by Dementors, as if they are already found guilty, with every kind of hope and strength drained from them. I sincerely doubt that any of the accused leaves this court room as a free man or woman; this is nothing more than a show trial, to demonstrate the absolute power the Ministry has over these people.

“The Patronus, he was sure, was Umbridge’s, and it glowed brightly because she was so happy here, in her element, upholding the twisted laws she had helped to write.” – And this is the reason why Umbridge is the best villain in the series to me, the most frightening, not Voldemort. Voldemort is abstract, almost like a comic book villain. Umbridge though is very real; everyone knows someone like Umbridge. She does not care about ideologies, she only cares about power, and she does everything to abuse said power. She is a sadist through and through, feeding on the despair of others.

“‘I’m behind you,’ he whispered into Hermione’s ear. As he had expected, she jumped so violently she nearly overturned the bottle of ink with which she was supposed to be recording the interview, but both Umbridge and Yaxley were concentrating upon Mrs Cattermole, and this went unnoticed.” – One of the differences between Harry and Hermione is that Hermione hates to do anything unprepared. She always needs to know as much as she can before entering a new situation. Harry is much better as her at improvising and adjusting to new situation. He thinks quick and makes decisions in the heat of the moment, without thinking about the consequences. He needed to learn that skill in order to survive. In the middle of a fight you don’t have the time to analyse the situation and figure out what to do next. You act on instinct. Which is why Harry in this moment is much calmer than Hermione.

“‘T – took?’ sobbed Mrs Cattermole. ‘I didn’t t – take it from anybody. I b – bought it when I was eleven years old. It – it – it – chose me.’” – In this book we learn quite a few things about wandlore and especially the ownership of a wand. We also learn how special the relationship between a wizard/witch and their wand is – the wand becomes a part of them, without it (or when they forced to use a different wand) they feel incomplete. What Mary Cattermole describes here is such an essential part in every wizard/witch’s life – the moment you get your wand, the wand that chooses you, to make it your own. And Umbridge (and the Ministry) takes this moment away, abuses it and reframes it, to fit their own propaganda.

“‘Expec – expecto patronum,’ said Hermione. Nothing happened. ‘It’s the only spell she ever has trouble with,’ Harry told a completely bemused Mrs Cattermole. ‘Bit unfortunate, really … come on, Hermione …’” – We know of two spells that Harry is particularly good at that Ron and Hermione aren’t. Harry is able to fight of the Imperius Curse and he was able to produce a Patronus at a very young age. Both requires a strong will. However I think the reason why Hermione has trouble doing the Patronus Charm is because she is the most emotional of the three. She cries easily and she constantly puts herself under pressure. Even though Hermione has not lived through the same horrors as Harry the Dementors influence her more. Harry has through all the trauma he has experienced built up resilience. And after all this is only the second time Hermione encounters Dementors (the first time she fainted).

“Hermione’s Patronus vanished with a pop as she turned a horror-struck face to Harry. ‘Harry, if we’re trapped here –!’ ‘We won’t be if we move fast,’ said Harry. He addressed the silent group behind them, who were all gawping at him. ‘Who’s got wands?’ About half of them raised their hands. ‘OK, all of you who haven’t got wands need to attach yourself to somebody who has. We’ll need to be fast – before they stop us. Come on.’” – Again we see how different Hermione and Harry react in an unknown situation. Hermione panics – her Patronus vanishes because she can no longer concentrate. Harry on the other hand immediately seizes the initiative and takes over a leader role and gives commands, making sure everyone is safe. He has all the qualities that will make him later a great Auror.

#Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows #the muggle-born registration commission #chapter notes #dh

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