#anyway morning sketch before going to work on commissions

[keefwho]

April 16 - 2024 Tuesday

11:11pm

5/10

This morning I super cleaned my shower. I wiped it down with shower cleaner and then with pine sol. Feels good. For breakfast I made pasta shells and some doritos, I wasn't really hungry. I think I've been eating a lot lately and not exercising. I watched a lot of Moral Orel at DS's recommendation. TK ranted to me this morning about a jealousy problem her boyfriend was having.

On stream I warmed up with peacocks which was 57's suggestion. Then I finished TG's commission and sketched GZ's. Then I took an old sketch that was supposed to be me and converted it to a YCH since I wasn't feeling the personal attachment to it anymore. 57 seemed a little upset at that because I think he thought he had a good chance of the other character being him, even if paid for. We watched the Christmas episode of Ed today and I thought it was very good.

After work I watched more Moral Orel. Then I joined TK and friends while I made stew. They were playing PoE in call as usual. I also played Wild Horse Islands while I hung out there, just grinding the snowy island. I told DS I wouldn't proceed without her and she always says it's okay to keep going ahead but I don't want to. I never like continuing on alone unless I know someone is never going to play again. And sometimes at that point I just stop playing anyways. I like experiencing things together and will wait forever to do it.

Lunch was good, I made 2 servings of stew out of this single bag of stew vegetables I got which was convenient. I had to be a little late for work since it took so long to cook. I did today's request and I think I did a good job. Then I drew an emote for myself and started working on another pic of my otter of him in the hotel cuck chair. I had time to work on my avatar too, I made a little progress on a version with dog gear.

After work I had to start a fire at my parents house which was a little annoying. I finished season 1 of Moral Orel just today. I joined AE and friends while making dinner and playing my horse game. I accidentally bought bone in buffulo wings so I'm gonna try to freeze the bones to make stock out of later. I found a couple of really cool horses in the horse game. I also got my Minecraft set up to play on BR's friend's server. I found where I think I want to put my house and started building a shed.

I got off to enjoy myself before bed and do my dishes.

#journal #diary

[keii]

m'lady~

#i said i was ready for season 4 but remember how the last one left off kills me #i hope it comes out on netflix so that me and my friend can scream about it at my house LOL #anyway morning sketch before going to work on commissions #chat noir best cat boy i said it #art #fanart #miraculous ladybug #chat noir #killamonart #digital art #artist on tumblr

[zuluc]

summary: he needs his rest a lot more than he thinks. he’s used to late nights in his lab, looking into new experiments and discoveries but these things will never compare to the feeling of waking up with you

pairing: albedo x gn!reader

style & genre: written; fluff

warnings: none

notes: i really love albedo. childe you��re off the roster 😀

It’s his slight movement against you that causes you to open your eyes to finally wake up to the day. Last night you had planned on sleeping alone, knowing that the Chief Alchemist was going to have another one of his late nights doing whatever he normally did. But lo and behold, here he is snuggled into your chest. 

You peer down and it seems he’s trying to suffocate himself with how he tightens his arms around you. This is all in his sleep mind you, and something about him wanting you so close even when knocked out was quite endearing. When you shift his hold allows you minimal movement and when you settle he secures you to himself once more. 

“Albedo...” you say softly, your voice smaller than usual due to you just waking up. His hair is out of it’s usual style and you can hear his soft breaths, slow and controlled to indicate how he’s still deep in slumber. Your hand comes up to brush a few strands away from his forehead to press a light kiss on it.

It wouldn’t hurt to let him sleep for a few moments more. You could just be a little late today and all would be fine. 

But he wakes anyway. 

Albedo hums and his eyes flutter open to reveal those teal irises you adore. He stares blankly for a few moments before collecting himself, slowly blinking with eyes softening seeing you. It never fails to get your heart racing at the way he looks at you, not too much unlike how he views new discoveries, but unique in how instead of being calculative and cold there is an unmistakable warmth for you only. 

The few times others have commented on it, Albedo simply sent them away when he turned to stare at them with a bored expression.

You break eye contact first and peek out the window left open in the night. The room is chillier with it being the beginning of spring and you notice that there is a thicker blanket laid on top of the both of you. Your lover buries himself further into the comforters while pulling you along.

“I was too preoccupied to close it and this was hanging off the edge anyways.” It was as if he could read your mind. You quirk a brow.

“Preoccupied with what exactly?” You ask. If he finally came home at whatever time, you were sure that he’d leave most of his work, or at least his alchemy work, at his lab. He only chuckles and moves lower to hug around your hips, your head and collarbones above his head.

His face is pressed into your stomach when he says, “Look behind me.” Your eyes trail in curiosity and they land on his sketchbook placed neatly on the bedside table. It’s open and you have to blink out more sleep in your eyes for you to realize what was on it.

He had drawn you as you slept.

The lines he drew were soft and light, the shading against your face not covered by the moonlight more faded than all his other drawings. It wasn’t like the scratching of his pencil against the paper was loud, but he wanted to capture the essence you gave off. Off to the corner, he included his own crossed legs making it as if the sketch were in first person. He wanted to capture the experience as well.

You were ethereal. You were safe. You were his.

Of course, you wouldn’t know this unless he explicitly stated it. And he did, now bringing you down under the covers with him. The blanket is still thin enough to allow light to pass through and shine on your faces. Here, you see that loving look again accompanied with the rays of morning sunlight.

One arm is still around you as his free hand cups your face. He whispers your name, commits your face to memory, and savors the feeling of you. 

“You’re touchy today,” you muse and he closes his eyes, a relieved sigh coming from him with a slight grin. He leans in to kiss you and he pours all that he can’t say to you in it. You melt into his embrace with ease.

The rest of the morning consists of you both holding one other, basking in mostly silence. You would make small conversation here and there, you would be talking about things you’ve seen on your commissions and he would say things about what he was currently working on around Mondstadt.

When you ask him about Dragonspine, however, you notice that his arms hold you just a bit tighter. But he answers you about how he managed to sketch out a few things and how annoyed he was with others, namely Pallad. That adventurer was a handful for you and Albedo is thankful for you making comments about him as well.

The morning was cold but now you couldn’t feel any warmer.

--

Bonus:

“Albedo,” Sucrose’s voice cuts through his thoughts. He looks up from his book and acknowledges her. “Y/n dropped this off for you.” She places a basket on top of his desk and returns to her own work. He’s elated upon removing the cover and seeing a batch of sweets inside along with a note.

“Make sure you’re taking a rest and not overworking. I’ll see you soon, love you!”

He smiles and ducks his head, eyes landing on the drawing he made the night before. 

It doesn’t disappear for a while.

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact headcannons #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact scenarios #genshin impact fluff #genshin impact albedo #genshin impact albedo x reader #albedo #albedo x reader

[yostresswritinggirl]

Hello, may I request for Albedo hcs for an s/o who is inattentive? For example, the reader has difficulty reading long sentences or paying attention for a short time span, and ends up zoning out a lot? (If you're comfortable with this request of course, since it comes from me having inattentive adhd, or if you aren't too busy...) (But other than that please take care of yourself (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)) Thank you ( ╹▽╹ )

:DD

Somehow these requests are pulling out my Psychology teachings ahahha- this is honestly such a nice prompt cuz I miss my college roomie, I love her so much and she has adhd. I might be projecting but I'll be using her techniques in this too! This was so cute and fun to work on awwwwwwwwww thank you anon!

The Curious Case of S/O

Albedo with a Reader that has a hard time focusing

I saw someone hc Albedo as an autistic character and I actually agree with it, so some of that aspect will seep in to this answer eheh-

SO!

When it comes to things Albedo is passionate about, he keeps himself grounded and focused on it for an unhealthy period

So when Albedo found out about your curious case, safe to say he was intrigued too, and sometimes frustrated

You’re all over the place and it kind of irks him when you can’t stay put and just- keep moving to different stuff?

But Albedo knew this before you got together and he took it upon himself to make sure you’re taken care of whenever such episodes happen, he’s your lover and a genius, he can and will find a way

Reading: Albedo loves reading literature and will offer to read out the text for you if you get frustrated enough over it. He may not have all the time in the world, but if it’s important that you understand this text he will make sure you do so

His voice is really nice and calming, but sometimes- you get so lost in them that you ended up just focusing on his voice instead of uhhh paying attention to what he was saying

big sigh

If that approach doesn’t work then he’s got another trick up his sleeves!

Doodles, sketches, all that cute artistic stuff!

There’s a chance you already do this but he’s gonna make this 95% more effective!

When taking notes for big texts, he’s gonna draw little doodles to the side so you can get a good grasp of what it means just by looking over it.

If the text is especially long, he’ll give it a quick once over, and then rewrite it just to highlight the most important parts you need to remember

He’ll take it up a notch and use different colored pens to write over it so you would know what you need to read without going through the whole chapter

If he wills it, Albedo would find himself incorporating such techniques on his notes as well and he’ll just chuckle at his antics (smiling every time he remembers you through his lil notes)

Being inattentive also makes it so you forget or not take note of important stuff

Chief Alchemist also has a good remedy for this!

Given, this was established after numerous trials and errors of finding the best route

F I N G E R  R I N G  B A N D S

This boyo had this genius enlightenment of an idea one day and prepared the necessary materials

Ngl you actually thought he was gonna propose when he offered that golden ring, you were about to cry

until you see him bring out ten more rings, multi-colored

w h a t

And so he explains as he grasps your non-dominant hand:

“Your thumb represents the early morning, from when you wake up after the sun.

Your index finger signifies the period of 12PM, the moments the busy-ness starts, never forget to eat lunch always, darling.

Your middle finger is the longest and busiest hour, the middle of the afternoon where the sun is high up in the sky. You’ll find yourself running around a lot during this period, and I won’t always be there to remind you.

Your ring finger,” he pauses to give it a gentle kiss, “someday. But anyways, this is the period when the darkness starts to devour the sky in place of the sun. You should be cleaning up and finishing all other tasks at this period.

And finally your pinky finger, almost at the dead hours of the night, god knows what you’ll be doing at this time when you should be ready for rest. I don’t want to see a lot or any rings here, for you should be in my arms by this time.”

After that heart-warming, proposal-like dialogue, he’ll offer the rings and explain as best he can

The red ring represents deadlines; blue stands for commissions; white is for meet-ups; pink is for self-care or routines

He holds up the gold rings with a soft smile, placing one in each finger as he explains, “This one stands for me. Make sure that on every finger I am there, to remind you that I wish to know how you are, to accompany me so that I can remind you that I love you every day of the year.”

If you’re still alive after this, good for you

OTherwise I’m dead, this man is so cheesy and hnghhh-

After all that, Albedo wakes up with you and helps you organize your rings for the day <3

It looks nice and glamorous on your hand, and even if you get distracted by it, you’ll find yourself being reminded of what you need to do

Genuis boyo

But that’s not even 100% of his power

nononono he has another solution and this was something he picked up after spending time with you

His pretty t e a l eyes (just look at that damn banner)

You seem to stop everything when he focuses his eyes on you, eye contact, like you’re grounded or crystallized

Somehow when you see eye-to-eye it gives him enough time to remind you that you’re focusing on the wrong thing, go back to your notes

It’s just- so pretty :((

Works 99% of the time!

The rare 1% it doesn’t work tho, you get this very rare moment: before you can even move away from your task, finding yourself not caring about it again, he’ll just wrap his arms around you from behind. They’re comfortably tight, grounding your feet to the floor as he whines against your hair, scolding you and telling you to finish your stuff first

You couldn’t say no to a cute whiney Albedo

You can’t

//brings out knife// You better not-

Bonus: Albedo likes to focus on the important things, but he’s easily intrigued by curious things too

And with your tendency to lose focus and notice other things, this becomes a chaotic series of events

You’re both silently sitting in his laboratory, him sketching a diagram of his current research

You look up from the papers you were reading as you lose focus and the movement would easily catch Albedo’s attention, ready to move his lips to call you back-

“Oh, is that Crystalfly changing colors out there?”

“Huh?”

You’re both rushing to the window where you saw the phenomenon

And then you’re both running out to investigate further <3

All of Mond watches you two’s antics and finds you just to be the cutest couple in existence. Albedo has two Klee’s to take care of, is what it would look like sometimes.

PS. This is not an Albedo Blog

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact albedo #albedo #albedo x reader #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact scenarios #exile.goblet #exile.flower #followers special #hope you like it! #I enjoyed writing about Albedo even tho I'm very worried that im turning into an albedo blog sksksksk #next req is also albedo hngh #i hope you guys know i dont just write for albedo hhh #no hate tho #just curious why it's all ALBEDO #gender neutral

[liquid-luck-00]

Habits

Bio!Dad Bruce

Day 4: Habits

@biodad-bruce-month

First ~~~ Previous ~~~ Next

~~~~~~~~~~

The bat boys went out of their way to make Marinette feel included into the family. However she seemed to always get lost in the manor. Little did they know that she was using the horse miraculous to travel to and from Paris and still hasn't had enough practice with Kaalki.

Yet when they do happen to find her she seems to always be lost in thought while sketching or designing.

They had noticed early on that they could still hold a conversation with her and she would respond and remember the conversation.

---

Marinette hadn't been at the manor for two days when the first incident occurred.

It was Jason who first caught her completely focused and to say it was a shock was an understatement. He had walked into the living room, trying to find her and Tim to play Mecha strike, so when he saw she was designing and Tim was sitting on the other couch reading.

"Hey Replacement, Bluebell who wants to play UMS III?" Jason asked the room.

"I'll play," Tim responded looking up from his book. Both boys then looked at Mari, who seemingly didn't hear them. Tim got up and walked over to her along with him. While

Marinette seemed to be hyper focused on her design that she didn't respond when Jason asked her again. So Jason decided it would be smart to tap her on the shoulder to get her attention. That was a bad idea. . He had snapped her out of her thoughts, but as he did she glared at them.

"Holy Fuck" Jason screamed as he backed away from her.

"What is wrong with you. You break my concentration and then scream. Like seriously Jason." She was holding her head covering her ears while glaring at him.

That was when Tim seemed to find his voice again. "Well if genetics hadn't proved you were Bruce's daughter, you giving Jason his signature glare would prove it."

"Well I guess that explains a few thing now" she hummed.

"That is all you get out of this?" Jason asks.

"What else was to get out of this?" she asked tilting her head, "so what did you guys want anyways?" she went back to her sunny personality.

---

The second incident occurred later that same day but with only Dick. He had gone to find her for dinner, so he went to her room. He had heard from both Jason and Tim that she could pull out the Bruce 'Batman' Glare so he did the smart choice of first knocking on the door.

"Come in" was her only response.

She was sitting at the desk staring at one of her sketchbooks. Her chin was resting on her arm her nose was scrunched and eyebrows furrowed concentrating on the image in front of her.

It wasn't the Batman Glare but she looked just like Bruce when he was in deep concentration.

"Dinner is almost ready" he answered after entering the room.

"Dick thank goodness" She snapped her head up and looked at him with her full attention. "I can’t decide on a color for this blazer. It would look nice in an emerald or in a sapphire blue. I know I want to use gold as an accent around the main part that is black stitched with holographic music notes but I don't know maybe"

"Mari" he interrupted her. God she even over thinks like Bruce, that was why he had stopped her. "Breathe please. Now is this for a certain person or no one in particular?" He asked breaking her slight panic.

"It is for a commission so a certain person." she answered calming down.

"So would the person's hair or eyes clash with those colors" Thank god Barbara always dragged him shopping and complains how certain colors clashed with her hair.

"Neither would clash necessarily, but the sapphire blue would complement his hair and skin tone better" she finished writing something in on the page.

"Okay now that, that is settled why don't we go down for dinner Little B" Dick gave her a smile.

"Little B?"

"Little Bruce" be elaborated, really be meant little bat, but she doesn't know that yet so he improvised.

"Why?"

"The way you scrunch your nose and eyebrows when concentrating is just like him. That and completely overthinking and over analyzing things is just like him"

"It's a habit I've been trying to break" she answers sheepishly.

"Don't, just ask yourself questions to not get sided tracked, it is one of the best qualities a person can have" he answered honestly. "God only knows Bruce wouldn't come up with half of what makes up WE if he didn't overanalyze every little thing" she seemed to cheer up a bit at this and he is glad he could help his little sister.

---

The third incident happened with Tim to say he was surprised when he saw her awake in the kitchen at 3 in the morning as he came back from patrol was shocking.

Honestly the only people awake at that hour were either the Bats, criminals, or him well him or even Bruce who would still be working. But here she is completely awake making, wait is that.

"Is that coffee?" He ended up asking out loud.

She turned to face him "Yes. Want some?"

"Please!!" he practically begged.

"Fair warning this is my special blend, I haven't found anyone else who could handle it" she warned him, but he took it as a challenge.

"Try me" and she did, she set a cup down in front of him and also poured herself one. After the first sip he realized it was strong, much stronger than his usual, and that usually had an entire cup of espresso. "That is good. You are making this again if you don't give me the recipe" she giggled.

"Let's see if you can handle a cup and make it to breakfast." she countered and she left to her room.

When morning came he was still wired in fact he was practically bouncing in his seat while having breakfast and everyone was staring at him. Granted he was usually a zombie in the morning so this was new, actually functioning properly that is.

"You okay there Timmy" Dick asked him, and that was confusing.

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" Tim asked.

"Now your beginning to scare us. Wait did you actually sleep, Replacement?" Jason asked him.

"I don't think he did Jason" everyone turned and stared at Marinette. "Half a cup" she said staring at him.

"Care to explain Bluebell." 

"So turns out I'm not the only one awake late. Someone" she stared at Tim, "caught me making coffee last night, drank a single cup and still seems to be wired" she shrugged "so half a cup next time Tim"

"Wait, he is the most awake he has ever been in the, almost six years I've known him, and he hasn't slept." Damian stated bored. "what did you put in the coffee?"

"Nothing much, but if you know how to roast the beans right anything is possible" she rose the mug she was holding. That was when they all noticed the mug in her hand.

Out of concern, he is guessing, Dick and Jason moved to take the mug from her. They turned around to face each other with a smirk and they saw that they were both holding identical mugs to the one in, wait Marinette still has a mug.

"Enjoy the cocoa" she smiled as she took a sip from her cup.

"You really are Bruce's daughter if you can pull that with little to no sleep." Tim replied. Her only response was a head tilt. "I swear not sleeping and still being able to function absurdly well is genetic. You, Damian, and Bruce are alike in that."

---

The fourth incident happened and was witnessed by Damian. He was sure that he would be able to have the gym to himself as everyone was out on patrol but he was mistaken.

There was Marinette a headset on, with her hands wrapped moving between punching a bag and a sequence of movements. He watched her until she seemed to finish her set. She looked up and when she noticed him he walked towards her. She wasn't being her usual bubbly self, in fact it looked to him that she was upset.

"I didn't think anyone else would be in here" he stated."

"Oh, really" she answered lowering her headset ”I won't be a bother and did you want to take the punching bag." she said a slight frown on her lips. Okay he may not be the best at dealing with emotions, but he was extremely good at perceiving them on others.

"Something is bothering you, isn't it?" he was blunt sure but he wasn't expecting her to freeze and look around before taking a breath and schooling her features.

"No, everything is fine"

"It. As if I would believe that"

"Really now why don't..."

"Either you talk or we spar" he cut her off. He was expecting her to speak not take off her headset completely, set it down, and take a stance. The two began to spar and after almost two hours they were both lying on the mat exhausted.

"Thanks Damian, I needed a good spar"

"Any time you need, ask" he got up and began walking back to his room.

If he didn't already know she was a Wayne then that would prove it. Only a Wayne would rather not face their emotions and would rather fight.

His sister was his and he would be damned if he didn't at least help her. Albeit it he wasn't the most mushy of the family but she already was the most bearable of his sibling. Maybe he'll teach her to sword fight, then maybe someone would be an actual challenge for him.

Next

~~~~~~~~~~

Tag list:

@mochinek0 @justafanwarrior @abrx2002 @ranger-gothamite @fantasiame @moonystars14 @mochegato @bigbeautifulandfullofsugar @maribat-is-lifeblood @iglowinggemma28 @miraculous-ninja @talutah0 @vixen-uchiha @danielslilangel @witchsblackfox @pawsitivelymiraculous @lizziejay @marinettepotterandplagg @colorfulmongerpsychicranch @dast218 @sassakitty @miyla-lokidottir @lilkymilky @tazanna-blythe @tired-butterfly @lozzybowe @smolplantmum @queencommonsense @loopingtangent @chez-pezeater @paintedhope7 @technicallyburninggarden

#bio! dadbrucewaynemonth2020 #bio!dad bruce wayne #b ! dbwm2020 #bruce wayne #maribat #marinette dupen chang #miraculus ladybug #dc x miraculous #dc x mlb #mlb x dc #miraculous x dc #dick grayson #jason todd #tim drake #damian wayne

[dessarious]

What Makes a Family? Pt1

So it seems like almost everyone is good with me posting whatever randomness pops up, and I did tease a bit with the BioDad!Bruce thing so here’s the beginning of that mess. 

AO3   Next

At seventeen Marinette had gotten very good at ignoring things. She ignored Lila and all the garbage the girl spouted. She ignored her classmate's insanity in not paying attention to what the girl said about Marinette, but believing everything else that came out of the liar's mouth. As Ladybug she ignored her partner's advances and all the people who kept telling her to give him a shot. He'd actually got Alya to help him set up a social media campaign in favor of it. So when she looked up to find her entire class looking at her with pity or concern she had no idea what was going on.

"Oh Marinette, I'm so sorry! I completely forgot the DNA test showed that you were adopted." Lila's insincere apology just made her roll her eyes and go back to sketching.

"You didn't forget but it doesn't matter anyway. Whatever jab you're hoping to land isn't going to hit but feel free to keep going." Lila teared up and half the class ran to comfort her while the others seemed frozen in their seats. No one really knew what to do in this situation, and it had been happening more often as Marinette decided she just didn't care anymore.

"That was uncalled for! You should apologize." Alya's stern tone just got another eye roll.

"That was a bit harsh dude." Poor Nino. Always caught in the middle with no real understanding what exactly he was in the middle of. Out of her peripheral Marinette could see Adrien giving her a disappointed look. Something else she'd gotten good at ignoring.

Finding out he was Chat Noir hadn't been nearly as devastating as she would have thought. It actually made everything make a lot more sense. She didn't have much respect for him, but she did feel sorry for him. That more than anything was why she hadn't taken his Miraculous back. If she found Plagg's true holder all bets were off, but for now she left things the way they were.

"Marinette, just because your birth parents didn't want you is no reason to take out your frustration on me." Oh Kwami, she was still going. It was kind of pathetic that she thought those words would hurt. Marinette put on a condescending smile.

"That's rather presumptuous. For all you know my birth parents could have died, or given me up to give me a chance at a better life. But for the sake of speeding this along let's assume you're right. There are plenty of parents out there that don't want their kids. Many keep them simply because they feel obligated or think it will look bad. They ignore or even abuse them because they're a reminder of the things they had to give up." The entire room had gone silent as she spoke and more than one person flinched. It wasn't her intention to make people feel bad about their own situations but maybe recognizing it would allow them to get help. "On the other hand my real parents, the people who raised me, not only want me, they chose me. They love me unconditionally and have always been there for me. I'd say I'm actually really lucky, wouldn't you? "

Just about everyone was shifting uncomfortably and avoiding eye contact. Lila was glaring at her and Marinette just gave her a bright smile before returning to her sketching. Sure the revelation that she wasn't biologically related to her parents had been surprising, but they'd talked it over and she understood why they didn't tell her. She'd been only a few months old when they found her on their doorstep with a note from her birth mother, and they'd wanted so desperately to have a child. That note was now carefully hidden in Marinette's room.

In class, the rest of her day went rather well. In between was another story.

"Girl I know Lila rubs you the wrong way but you can't just go after her like that. I know you saw the look Adrien gave you. Do you want to ruin your chances with him just so you can snark at Lila? It's not worth it and if you'd just get to know her I'm sure you'd be friends." Same stupid argument for over three years. She had Alya's lecture memorized at this point. Of course hers wasn't the only one.

"Mari, you know that going after Lila is just going to get her Akumatized. Not to mention what will happen to me if she complains to my father. Do you want him to ban me from seeing you? Or pull me out of school?" Same damn guilt trip for three years too. Yes, Adrien was in a crappy position but she was done with him acting like it was her fault or her responsibility.

By the time she made it home she was ready to just be done with the day. As she trudged to her room the list of things she still needed to do ran through her head making her even more annoyed. When she opened the hatch to her room and saw Luka and Kagami sitting shoulder to shoulder on her chaise and holding hands she decided to be the drama queen Kagami liked to accuse her of being and face planted across both their laps.

"Rough day?" The only response she could manage to Luka's amused voice was an incomprehensible whine. She felt more than heard the pair of them laughing at her.

“If you two aren’t nicer to me I’m revoking your snack privileges.” Her mumbled complaint just produced more muted laughter.

“Your dad will give us the entire bakery no matter what you say.” So what if Kagami was right? She could probably get her mom after them but her dad would still just find a way to sneak them food. She felt Kagami begin running fingers through her hair while Luka rubbed soothing circles on her back and she melted into them. Okay, maybe no snacks was a bit harsh.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Luka’s question caused her to groan. Same crap different day so there wasn’t really anything to talk about.

“No. I just want to stay here and pretend nothing outside this room exists for a while.” Luka started humming something that sounded like a lullaby as he continued to rub her back. Kagami started using both hands and gently used her nails to massage Marinette’s scalp. She loved them both so much even if she still couldn’t seem to pinpoint the moment they’d gone from three friends hanging out to three people in a relationship. Of course maybe that was why they worked so well together in the first place.

Marinette was moments from giving in to the pull of sleep when all of their phones went off. This time all three of them groaned.

“How bad is it?” Marinette felt Luka reach for his phone before he gave a sigh.

“It’s Lila again. We’d better head out before she comes here looking for you.” Great, not only did she have to deal with an Akumatized Lila she’d also have to deal with Adrien’s smug ‘I told you so’ in the morning. Maybe her parents would let her skip so she could finish some of her commissions. It was worth a try at least. She got up reluctantly and was met with worried looks from her partners and all the Kwami.

“I’m fine, just drained, I promise.” That didn’t seem to put any of them at ease. “Let’s go. The sooner we get there the sooner we can come back and make fun of whatever outfit and powers Hawkmoth gave her this time.” That at least got an eye roll out of Kagami and a gentle smile from Luka before all three transformed and headed off to save Paris, again.

AO3    Next

Ko-Fi

#maribat #bio dad bruce wayne #marinette dupen chang #lukagaminette #self indulgent drivel #mari needs sleep #mari needs a hug

[unmaskedagain]

Yeah, I’m done

I got in this prompt in November, if I remember right. I didn’t really look at it because… What the hell is a fall out fic?!!! I thought maybe it meant Lila exposed but I’ve done quite a few of those. However, I don’t really think I ever focused on it too much; usually, I stray to all the wonderful things Marinette does without them. This came from someone anonymous so It's not like I can just ask the sender… SO I decided to wing it.

Marinette could honestly say she had waited a very long time for Lila to be exposed as the liar she was. Over a year in fact. A very long fourteen months.

           If Marinette was honest with herself, she would also add that she stopped waiting for any reason other than the fact she hated lies about… seven months, three days, and seven hours ago.

           Why did she remember that so well?

           That was the moment Marinette stopped trying to save everyone. Don’t get her wrong; she was still Ladybug. Ladybug was still a kickass hero. She did her job better than ever before.

           However, Marinette decided to take a step back, breathe, and let the chips fall where they may.

           Her fellow students, her once friends, had been trapped in the spider web of Lila’s tales; awestruck and utterly hypnotized into believing everything the Italian girl had to say. Even the ones about a girl most had known their entire lives.

A bully, they called her.

A selfish jerk.

A jealous bitch.

           Her! Marinette! The girl who had done so much for them; had gone to bat for them more times than she could count, and obviously more times than they could remember.

           Slowly, one by one, her friendship with each and every member of the class withered and died until there was nothing left but ashes.

           It was then Marinette realized some things weren’t worth saving.

           Marinette had no trouble forgiving them; it was who she was. But she promised herself she wouldn’t forget.

           And if they could treat her like this, after everything, that she didn’t want to be friends with them anyway. Not now, not ever.

           When Marinette stood up and announced her resignation from being Class President at the end of the prior school year, the entire class cheered. Like they did when Chloe was forced out of office. (…That only broke Marinette’s heart a little.)

           The bluenette changed her number the day after school officially let out for summer. It wouldn’t matter, she knew. She doubted they’d even realize. Most hadn’t so much as texted her in months. Unless they needed something; a favor.

           But Marinette was done with favors. Done with free commissions that no one ever seemed to realize cost her an arm and a leg; the fabric was expensive, art supplies for banners were expensive, designing was time-consuming. She was done with any free babysitting. She was done to bring in free sweets on big test days or when the class had a hard week prior. Marinette was done fundraising for class trips and events Bustier would exclude her from at the behest of the rest of the class for her “poor attitude” and “negative energy”. She was done with planning birthdays, making special presents, when no one in class even bothered to wish her a happy birthday.

           And most of all, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was done fighting for people who didn’t fight for her. She had tried for months and months to get them to listen to her and what did she get in return? Deemed a green-eyed Liar! As far as she was concerned Lila and Chloe could have at it; do whatever they wanted.

           She didn’t have a single friend in class.

           They weren’t her concern anymore.

…

           It took about a month into the new school years for the class to really understand that. Lila had originally voted in as class president, and had feigned a few tears while thanking the class for the honor but had declined due to being too busy. So Alya was voted in next.

           Alya handled the first two birthdays, Ivan’s and Alix’s, really well; she decorated their desks, gave them a birthday card. However, the usual tray of baked goods that were usually brought in for every birthday never showed.

           When Alya inquired if Bustier had forgotten to order the cupcakes, the teacher had looked confused.

           Marinette tried not to smirk as she sat in the back of the class, pretending to look over her sketchbook.

“I’ve never ordered any before,” Bustier said. “Marinette always did. She was class president. It was her job.”

           The two looked back at Marinette; expectant looks on their faces.

           The Asian girl snorted. It was never the class president’s job. Chloe never did it in all the years she ruled the class with an iron fist. Marinette had done it because she had been their friend. And she didn’t order them. She bought the ingredients and made them herself.

“It’s the job for the new class president,” Marinette corrected and watched Alya’s face fall. Normally, at that point, Alya would try to ask Marinette for a favor; for Marinette to do it instead.

           However, the glasses-wearing girl had taken to ignoring her ex-bestie as much as she could.

“Fine!” Alya huffed. “I’ll do it myself.”

           The next thing the class realized had changed was when Bustier announced, “Maybe it’s time we start planning for any class field trips?”

           Alya had nodded earnestly, and started making outrageous plans for all the trips the class could take; one to Paris Disney world, another to England, New York, L.A, and so many other very costly ideas.

           Ideas, when Marinette was Class president, she would’ve quickly shot down as being impractical, expensive, dangerous, impossible, and any whatever other reason she could think of so the class wouldn’t get their hopes up.

           Alya did no such thing.

           Marinette just shook her head, and let her ex-friend dig her own grave.

           The announcement happened in the morning. Alya had stayed behind when the bell rang for lunch to talk to the teacher and had blatantly glared at Marinette as she said so

           And Marinette knew exactly what Alya was planning on talking to Bustier about.

           Sure enough, at the end of the school day, Bustier had made another announcement; in front of the entire class.

           Marinette really hated how unprofessional the teacher was.

           Bustier made it clear that, once again, Marinette was excluded from the class trips that year until her behavior changed. This caused half the class, specifically Lila and Alya, to send her smug looks.

           Marinette had nodded, “I understand, Miss Bustier. I can’t say it won’t be a relief not to have to help fundraiser.” The smug looks didn’t entirely disappear but a few faces looked confused instead as if they didn’t realize that meant Marinette wouldn’t help. “I always hated all the planning it took,” And doing all the work, she didn’t add. “Fundraiser after fundraiser. Coming up with the budget, making reservations, clearing it with the school board, clearing it with the parents, getting chaperones, actually raising the money.” She gave a fake sad sigh. “Oh well. Hope you guys have a blast though.”

           Then it came time to plan for the first fundraiser. A bake sale.

           Marinette had nearly fallen out of her chair laughing when Alya brought it up. Because the bluenette had always hated doing bake sales as she was the only one who ever brought in any baked goods. It was like the entire class thought that just because Marinette lived in a bakery it would be easy for her to get all the food needed.

           It wasn’t. She made most of it herself and bought the rest with her own money.

“So who’s going to bring what?” Alya asked. She looked straight at Marinette and seemed to wat for the bluenette to speak. Only for Marinette to raise an eyebrow as if daring her to ask. Alya looked surprised for a moment before she seemed to remember that Marinette wasn’t going to help out. “We’ll make a list.”

           No one said a word.

           Marinette leaned back in her seat, with a smirk on her face. Alya had said they needed to raise at least $2,000 for the bakery. A highly unrealistic goal. Marinette had only ever raised $423 from a bake sale before.

“I can bring in cookies,” Alya offered once the silence and confused looks continued. “Anyone else? Nino?” She asked her boyfriend.

           Nino’s eyes went wide, “Uh, I usually just play the music.” Alya glared at him. “But my mom has a killer blondie recipe. I can ask her to make some.”

           Alya nodded, “Sweet. Rose?” And then, one by one, Alya called on each member of the class to see what she could force them to bring.

Even though all but one person in the class promised to bring something; it still wasn’t enough. It wasn’t a very big class. Theirs were the smallest in the entire school which was why new kids always got stuffed with them. In addition, flyers and a banner still needed to be made to promote the fundraiser.

It was clear as she looked at the list that Alya knew they were in trouble. And again, her eyes went to Marinette, a little bit more pleading now. Marinette just shook her head and started sketching a new dress.

She was done with always coming to the rescue.

Marinette didn’t go the bake sale. However, she heard about how much of a disaster it was from Aurore, her new friend from Mendeleiev’s class.

Half the food was burnt and overpriced. The flyers were terrible. And then it rained halfway through.

Suffice to say, the fundraiser was a bust.

And so were the fundraisers that came after it. Never once did the class meet their goals; though admittedly, their goals were never realistic, to begin with.

Marinette knew for certain by December that there was no way the class was taking any of the “oh so amazing trips, and it’s such a pity you can’t go, Marinette” they had planned. Or any good trip for that matter.

It took months for the school board to approve big trips; weeks to approve small ones. Paperwork needed to be filed with detailed plans ready to present. If a big trip got approved, and then for some reason, they couldn’t go and decided to do a smaller trip instead, new Paperwork would need to be filled out. The new trip would need to be approved. It wasn’t like Bustier could take the class somewhere without permission. And if it wasn’t done in time, there would be no trip.

In late October, Marinette posted a flyer on the class board, and around the school, promoting her new website. It got curious glances but only Adrien asked about it.

Adrien, who was neither enemy nor friend, but a neutral party who refused to get involved. His version of the high road, Marinette guessed.

“What’s that?” He asked. “You starting your own business?”

           Marinette nodded, “MDC designs. I designed a bunch of clothes over the summer and got a few friends to model them; Aurore, Marc, Luka,” Juleka looked up at the mention of her brother “Kagami, Ondine, Claude Mireille; and a bunch of girls from the fashion club. People can choose the premade designs already promoted on the site and I can send it to them in their size. Or they can contact me for a custom piece; dresses, scarfs, nearly anything really. That’s a lot more expensive, though. Not at much as it would’ve been, say last year, but now that I’ve stopped doing free commissions, I could lower the price.” She said the last sentence louder than polite but she wanted the entire class to hear.

           No one in class blinked twice at her statement. However, Marinette knew they would.

Adrien nodded happily, “Cool, that’s kind of what my dad did in the late 90s when he was starting out. Computers were like barely a thing he said.”

           Marinette couldn’t picture a time without computers or her smartphone and couldn’t imagine a life without the internet. She shivered at the thought. “Aurore’s become really well known as an Instagram model. I gave her a few outfits in exchange for her promoting my stuff. She even got a few of her model friends to promote my clothes as well. It’s going really well. If the trend continues; I was thinking of doing a live, online, runway show. I’ve already been scouting places.”

           That got some envious looks. Whether it was because Marinette was doing so well or because others would be used as her model, she didn’t know. She didn’t care.

           Marinette was done caring about every stupid little thing.

           The blond just nodded with enthusiasm, “You’re a great designer. I’m sure you’ll be a hit in no time.

“Hopefully, rather than later,” Marinette smiled. “It’ll go even better when Nadja promotes me on her show. I just have to babysit Manon for free for five random days of Nadja’s request that she could request … any time.” It had been a steep price but Marinette had been willing to pay. “She’ll even promote my runway show if I ever have it.”

           The first time someone, Mylene, realized just what Marinette had meant when the drama club inquired to her about getting more costumes for the school play and she had no one to turn to. She took one look at commission prices for local tailors for custom pieces and nearly threw up. Marinette’s website, while still expensive, was a much better deal. Still, Mylene couldn’t afford it.

           Nino needed a gift for his mom and remembered how much she loved the scarf he got her last year. He thought it was a good idea to get her something similar. But then he remembered Marinette had made the scarf. And Alya would kill him if he bought anything from Marinette’s website. So Nino settled on something small.

           When the school dance came, for the first time the majority of the girls in class would have to buy their own dresses. They came from a store, were cheaply made, and were not nearly as amazing as the ones they previously wore.

           All in all, it wasn’t the greatest year for Bustier’s class. Midterms had taken a heavy toll. It tense and everyone was clearly frustrated. So were Marinette’s friends from other classes. So during Lunch, Marinette surprised her table with delicious baked goods as a pick me up. The ones she normally would’ve brought just for her class.

           Marinette pretended not to notice the hopeful looks on her classmates faces when she walked by with the iconic light blue Dupain-Cheng bakery box. And ignored the crestfallen looks on their faces when she headed them out to just her friends.

In April, it was clear that the trip to New York had fallen through as they didn’t have enough money. Alya had to rush to get something small approved before the end of the year; a trip to the local amusement park. Marinette didn’t laugh when Alya announced it to the class who looked really bummed all their hard work didn’t pay off. She didn’t even blink twice. It had nothing to do with her after all.

           In May, the truth finally came out. It happened on a Thursday.

           Lila had forgotten her lunch bag at home. Her mother brought it. Lila’s eyes went wide at seeing her mother and she did everything she could to get her out of the class as soon as possible.

           Rose asked Mrs. Rossi, “How the meeting in Achu went?”

           To which Lila’s mother replied, “A what now? I’ve never been to Achu.”

           Marinette had merely leaned back in her seat to watch the fireworks.

           And it was beautiful.

           It was an even bet as to who had the bigger meltdown.

           Mrs. Rossi: when she learned just how much her daughter had been lying; to her, to the school, to her classmates, and basically everyone she met since moving to Paris. Apparently, it wasn’t the first time and it caused a lot of trouble in the past which was why they had to move to France. Mrs. Rossi was quick to refute any rumors about celebrity meetings, traveling around the world, and ever meeting any royalty. And that Lila had no medical issues whatsoever and didn’t participate in any charity organization.

           Lila: she had nearly been Akumatized when her mother started to reveal the truth. Luckily, Ladybug had been nearby to catch the little butterfly. (Marinette had just left to the bathroom, not that anyone had really noticed). The hero refuted ever knowing Lila outside of stopping her akuma forms.

           And Finally Alya: who had burst into an angry rant and furious tears at being lied to. It was another near akumatization. Alya had to be physically restrained from attacking Lila once the realization hit her about her blog being discredited for lies.

           A lot of the class yelled and made accusations but no reaction was nearly as extreme as the other three. Lila had taken advantage of her classmates for almost two years. They carried her books, remade plans so she could be included, took notes for her, threw parties to celebrate her newest accomplishments.

           However, Marinette noted, not one of them mention the friendship they had destroyed because of their belief in Lila. She shouldn’t have been surprised.

           The bluenette had long since realized she wasn’t ever as important to her ex-friends she once thought.

           The entire class was still angry the next day. Lila didn’t show so vented to each other.

           Marinette still sat in the back of the class, content to come up with designs to present to a nice lady who wanted a killer dress to wear to her sister’s wedding, and let the class deal with its own drama.

           Unfortunately, some people didn’t get a clue.

“Marinette,” Adrien said brightly. Marinette fought not to look up at the sky and ask god why. “What do you think about the Lila situation?”

“I don’t really care,” The bluenette said. “I was done with the whole thing a while ago.”

           Suddenly everyone remembered Marinette was there. Marinette who swore Lila was lying for months. Marinette who they had ostracized and exiled. Marinette who they had ignored. Marinette who had once been their friend.

           Rose gasped, her hand over mouth, tears welled up in her eyes, “Marinette! I’m so sorry,” She cried.

“I can’t believe we were so mean to you,” Juleka said.

“Dudette, I had no clue what I was thinking,” Nino said.

           More apologies came, each one more heartfelt than the last. Alya had been last. She looked like she had been stabbed from the pain her face. Eventually, the glasses-wearing girl cried, “I’m so sorry girl! I’ve been the worst bestie ever. I should’ve believed you over Lie-La.”

           Marinette looked at her classmates, shrugged, and said, “Okay.” Then she went back to looking working.

           That was it. However, clearly by the silence that came from the class. They had been expected a bigger reaction. Tears of joy and relief. Happiness to have her friends back. Anything but they got nothing.

           Alya frowned, “Didn’t you hear us? We’re sorry. We should’ve trusted you, we know that now. We’ll make it up to you, we promise.”

           Marinette sighed but shook her head. “No. Thank you. I don’t need you to make it up to me,” She said. “I don’t want you to make it up to me. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing.”

“But, but…” Rose looked around for help. “We’re friends again.”

“Yeah,” Adrien said brightly. “It can go back to the way it was.”

           At that, Marinette put down her pencil. She gave the class a hard look. “Let me make this clear because I have no intention of repeating myself: we are not friends. None of you,” She gave pointed looks to her ex-friends, the longest to Adrien and Alya. “Are my friends. You were mean. You called me names. You spread nasty lies about me because Lila told them to you. You excluded me from all class activities; despite the fact that last year I did the majority of the fundraising, the planning, and the work. You hurt me. Things will not go back to the way they were. I don’t trust you. We are not friends. And we will never be friends again. No amount of apologies will change that.”

           Alya went to protest, “Girl, we’re-”

           Marinette interrupted her, “Just move on. I have.” Then put her headphones in until Bustier managed to get control back over the class. As far as Marinette was concerned there wasn’t anything left they could say.

           …

           That didn’t stop them from trying.

           No one in the class seemed to believe that Marinette, their everyday Ladybug, wouldn’t forgive them. Lila had been withdrawn from school and no one knew what happened to her. And without Lila’s presence, the class was sure Marinette would have no problem moving on from the drama the Italian girl had caused.

           They never even considered the fact that Marinette had never been angry at Lila. She hadn’t been happy at her lies. But she had been furious that her friends had fallen for them so easily, particularly the ones about the bluenette.

“Hey,” Alya said brightly stopping in front of Marinette’s desk the following Monday morning. She thought Marinette just needed the weekend to calm down. “All the girls are planning a slumber party at Rose’s on Friday, you in?”

“No,” Marinette said firmly. “I’m busy,” She offered politely.

           And she would be “busy” every time they wanted her to do something.

           Too busy to go to all the parties she had been previously excluded from. Her ex-friends still hadn’t realized Marinette had never wanted to go after she realized they just weren’t worth it anymore.

           Too busy hanging out after school. Or go to Adrien’s photoshoot. (Alya just wouldn’t understand that Marinette was so done with her crush on Adrien.)

           Too busy to help with the school play.

           Too busy to watch Kitty Section preform.

           Too busy to go play video games.

           Every day, every moment they could; her ex-friends were trying to pressure her into being their friend again, hanging out with them again, forgiving them. They just wouldn’t take no for answer.

           Honestly, Marinette was just done with their antics.

           Particularly the incessant need to make sure Marinette was on the “big” class trip; as if they believed if Marinette went it would make up for everything.

           Marinette made it clear she really, truly was way too busy to go some random beach trip. She really did have plans and she couldn’t back out of them. They were too important.

           But her ex-friends kept bringing it up, with Alya leading the charge, over and over again. They didn’t care what Marinette wanted at all. And once more, Marinette was reminded why she was glad they weren’t her friends anymore.

Eventually, once again, they got the teacher involved. Bustier had so “nicely” announced in front of the class, that Marinette was more than welcome to go on the class trip with them and that they looked forward to coming along.

And as far as Marinette was concerned that was the final straw.

“I’m good,” Marinette said. “Seeing as my behavior hasn’t changed. I think its best I don’t go; right Miss Bustier? That was what you said? And obviously to you thought it was a good reason.” She reminded the teacher. Bustier flushed a pink color at being called out. “It wasn’t like you, an adult woman, caved into peer pressure from your students and a childish need to avoid confrontational situations.”

           Silence from the class. No one had expected Marinette to react as she did. In their minds, she was still their “everyday ladybug”; the nicest and sweetest girl in school. The idea made Marinette scoff. Where was that mindset when Lila got ahold of them?

           The bluenette glared at the teacher, the woman who should’ve never let the Lila issue get as far as it did; never let Marinette be ostracized and bullied. “I mean, you called me out in front of the entire class to tell me I couldn’t go. Not the first or last time, by the way, you did something so… crass. Not the most sensitive way either.”

“Well, I think-” Bustier had tried to say but was cut off.

           Marinette wasn’t going to let her have a word in, “I’m so glad I started to record lesson last year, for you know notes? You know after that expulsion incident? I worried about what I’d miss. It made it so easy for my parents to understand why I was excluded from class events because they could watch it. I mean I have months and months of video evidence they just… loved. They got to see exactly what this class is like on an everyday basis, and exactly how you run it. So did our lawyer, who seemed rather interested in my school. It turns out that physically harming, via tripping or pushing them into walls as you walked by just hard enough for it to hurt. Or destroying private property; like a phone, spilling water on a laptop, or sketchbooks filled with work for commissions. Or verbally bullying someone. Or sending horrible texts daily, all of which I saved and printed out, can be considered harassment. Which is illegal and the perpetrators involved could face criminal charges as well as be sued for the destruction of said property and for emotional ramifications I suffered. But a teacher would never let anything like that happen in front of them so it wouldn’t be on any of the videos I have, right?”

           She let the words fill the room. Bustier had paled dramatically and looked ready to faint. The rest of the students who had taken to bullying Marinette instead of ignoring her looked sick. Marinette had no sympathy for any of them. They got themselves into this mess.

           Marinette shook her head, “I asked them to chill for now because you’re the teacher. You did what you did for a reason. It’s not like you’d shirk your responsibilities on the class representative. Or force some poor student to be a model example and mediator for all class issues. Or god forbid, cater to the bullies and blame the victim; allow one of your students to be verbally and physically harassed daily. The videos I have surely would never show anything like that; let alone prove it in a court of law… No matter what my lawyer says. But again, you don’t have to tell me why.” Marinette already knew why after all. And she was so done with Bustier. “You had to have had a good reason. Otherwise, I would have to take this to the school board. And a judge in a court of law. And see if you can explain it to them. Maybe I’ll even send them to my mom’s best friend Nadja so she can put them on her show and the world can see too. And we can find out what everyone thinks of you and your teaching methods.”

           The threat was clear to all.

           Bustier better back off. Or Marinette would make her back off.

           The teacher only had to slip once, and she was done for.

“Enjoy the trip,” The bluenette smiled cheerfully, in a way that reminded them eerily how she used to smile at them when Marinette was still their friend; still their “everyday Ladybug”. But instead of bringing warmth as it used to, all they felt was shivers. “It might our last one altogether. After all, who knows where we’ll all be in September. May be separated into different classes. Or different schools. With the way Damocles expels students with no procedure whatsoever, you never know. Or have a new teacher. We can only guess. I think its best if we just… leave things alone. With the way things are, if you push, you might get pushed back… right off a cliff.”

Marinette was done playing games.

           When the class left for their “big” trip, Marinette had finally let out a sigh of relief. Next, she was so transferring to Mendeleiev’s class.

           She was done with Bustier’s class.

           While the students of Bustier’s class were playing at the beach and plotting their next move to get Marinette to forgive them, Marinette was fulfilling one of her biggest dreams.

           The bluenette did have for her online runway show. She had spent weeks and weeks promoting it on her website. Aurore, some of the fashion club, and other rising Instagram models walked the runway in Marinette’s new line. Jagged hosted. It hadn’t been Marinette’s idea, but Jagged complained to Penny when Marinette turned him down the first time and Penny talked to Marinette.  

Chloe made a deal to her mother to watch the runaway show to review in exchange for Chloe being one of the models. Again, Marinette expressed concerns but couldn’t turn down the chance of Style Queen seeing her clothes.

Marc helped designed the runway; to give it an artistic, futuristic, edgy look. Claude brought in a smoke machine and his laser machine that the used for his short films to make everything really pop.

Clara Nightingale let Marinette use her music as the runway music. The superstar performed a song during the show and promoted it on her social media feed in exchange for a few custom pieces and Marinette getting Ladybug to do some selfies with her. (Tikki had to be bribed with an entire tray of chocolate chip cookies, and to be left alone with the TV in Marinette’s room for the night; something about finally catching up on Game of Thrones.) Marinette was quick to agree. Though Jagged had been in a huff until Marinette agreed to let him close out the show.

           The world took notice, albeit mostly because of Jagged and Clara. But Audrey, the Style Queen herself, had raved about how cutting edge it was. She claimed that an underground, exclusive, fashion show was the new big thing in fashion. The clothes were marvelous too. All in all, MDC’s runway was exciting, sophisticated, and fresh, just like her new line.

           Not long after Style Queen’s review posted, the orders had come flying in on her website. Everyone who was anyone seemed to NEED to be seen wearing the MDC brand.

           Marinette had smiled ear to ear for the rest of the weekend. She looked forward to what the future would bring.

           It was a new day.

           Which was great because…

           Marinette was so done with yesterday.

#ml fic #ml salt fic #ml salt #Marinette deserves better #marinette dupain cheng #class salt #alya salt #A bit of Adrien salt

[starshine583]

could you do A for the soul mate thing with felinette?

(Sorry it took me so long to reply! I’m still trying to keep up with my schedule for the “New Girl on the Block” fic, but rest assured that I’m totally writing all of the requests for this when I can! The next one I’m going to be working on is V for Daminette. I hope you enjoy the snippet and thank you for the ask!!)

If someone had the choice between technical immortality and certain death, it should be safe to assume that that person would accept the former. Technical immortal was the only logical option, after all. No one wanted to die. And yet, people chose death everyday. In fact, they were obsessed with it, because certain death guaranteed one thing that immortality couldn’t: a soulmate. 

When a person turns eighteen, their aging process freezes due to some strange magic that scientists still can’t explain. From then on, that person will remain eighteen until they find their soulmate, specifically until they touch their soulmate directly with bare skin. Once their soulmate is found, they will begin aging as usual, as if they’d never become temporarily immortal in the first place. Some people speculate that this gives the two soulmates a chance to grow old together.

Felix, personally, believed that it gave him a chance to harbor an unlimited life span free of charge. Who needs a soulmate when you can explore all of the things in the world that are normally hindered by the aging process? There were too many things that he wanted to accomplish for him to worry about something as fickle as love or relationships. 

One of those things happened to be building up the fashion empire that he had inherited.

It was hard to gain the respect that he deserved at first considering his physical appearance made him seem like a child, but once people found out that he was in his late twenties, it made things much easier. Now, three years has passed since his accepting the role of acting CEO, and the company’s success rate has been steadily rising until their profits were through the roof. He’s quite proud of it, if he’s being honest.

Felix straightened the papers on his desk and set them to the side, catching the glimpse of his golden wrist watch as he did so. The little hand pointed towards one in the morning, telling him that he’d spent another late night at the office. He didn’t mind, though. These were the things that needed to be done for his company to excel.

However, he also needed sleep for the company to excel, and this seemed like a good stopping point if ever he saw one, so Felix stood from his rolling chair to begin gathering his things to leave. 

“Hey, Sir, are you up there?” A voice crackled across the intercom. Felix paused his preparations to smile at it. It was the unmistakable voice of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, his personal secretary for the last two years (and his close friend for the last year and a half). They always happened to work late on the same nights, didn’t they?

He pressed the glowing red button on the intercom. “You know I am. What do you need?”

“I’m working on another piece for a fashion show. I want your input.”

Felix chuckled. How many of her pieces had he given his input on now?

“I’ll be down there in a second.”

“You’re the best!”

Felix set his stuff back on the desk and moved towards the door to his office. He hesitated briefly when he spotted his black, leather gloves on the edge of his desk- he made a point to wear them constantly, along with a number of other pieces of clothing, so he could avoid direct skin contact with others. No sense in taking any chances -but decided to leave them alone for once. Marinette should be the only other person in the office, anyway. It wouldn’t make a difference.

He took an elevator down to the second floor, where most of his top designers worked, and walked over to the desk that had its lamp turned on. He’d know which desk was hers either way- could probably find it in his sleep at this point -but it was a nice give away.

Marinette was crouched on the floor when he got there, stabbing a needle into some material that was draped across a mannequin. Her eyes were narrowed with concentration, and her tongue was poking out of her lips as it always did when she was working hard. Felix held back a snort at the endearing sight and glanced around her desk while he waited for her to notice his presence. 

When she first joined his company, she was a budding fashion designer, someone who had been gaining a bit of fame for working with Gabriel Agreste, Jagged Stone, Aubrey Bourgeois, and many other note-worthy people. Apparently, she thought it was time to build a business of her own, and therefore, applied for the job as his personal secretary in an effort to gain experience on how a business should be run before actually starting anything. 

The notion admittedly impressed Felix. People rarely thought to find personal experience in running a business before actually starting one. They normally just took a class and hoped that it paid off. Someone with that kind of rational thinking was someone he knew he wanted in his company, though, so he agreed to hire her, even if she would still be working independently on personal commissions.

Now that two years had passed, she would probably be leaving any minute now to become her own boss. It might be in a week, or in a few months, perhaps even a year, but he found himself dreading it no matter how long she continued to work for him. He’d grown quite accustomed to having her in his life, be it getting lunch together or going over the morning schedule or giving each other advice on their work. The quiet moments they shared made work life a little more enjoyable and made those rare nights of loneliness from refusing a soulmate a little more tolerable too. 

“Oh, Felix!” 

Felix’s eyes dragged back down to Marinette, who was staring up at him with wide eyes.

“When did you get down here?”

A small smile crossed his lips. “You know how it used to be one in the morning?”

Marinette tisked, picking up on his light-hearted tone. “Oh, whatever. If you don’t want to get stuck waiting then tell me when you get here. Now, come look at this and tell me what you think.”

She stood up and moved away from the mannequin, then gestured for Felix to step closer, which he gladly obliged to do. The outfit hanging on the mannequin was a dress that appeared to have several layers and a few frills. It seemed to be made out of silk on the inside, and on the inside was another material that had an antique, flower pattern. The way the materials were sown together, though, and the things she must have added to the flower pattern, didn’t  give off the impression of it being old or outdated. It was a mix between old and new that created a unique combination.

“I think it looks fine.” He said after studying it.

Marinette groaned. “Fine doesn’t help me, Felix. What does it strike you as? Stunning? Charming? Old-Fashioned? I know you have more descriptive terms than ‘fine’ in that word bank brain of yours.”

Felix laughed. “Work bank brain?”

“You know what I mean.”

He does.

“Alright, Alright.” He knelt down next to the outfit again. “Might I inquire about your purpose for this garment?”

“See, there are fancy words you use all the time.” She remarked teasingly, even though she often used the same words herself. “I’m trying to create a modern Victorian type of style for my next show.”

Felix hummed. “Can I see the sketches?”

“Oh, yeah, they’re right over here.”

The pair moved back to Marinette’s desk, and she sat down in her rolling chair to slide a paper towards him. Felix leaned towards Marinette, placing his palms on the desk for balance.

“So, if you look at- oh!” Marinette had just started explaining her original thoughts for the design, when their hands brushed against each other. She drew her hand back immediately, surprise reflecting in her bluebell eyes.

“You’re not wearing any gloves.”

“Ah.” Felix drew his hands back as well. “No, I’m not. I figured they were a waste of time tonight, since it’s only us here.”

“Oh..” Marinette said. “I don’t think I’ve ever touched your bare skin before.. N-not that I’m keeping track or anything! Wow, that sounded so weird-”

Felix, being used to her ramblings by now, only chuckled. “It’s alright. I don’t think we’ve ever touched like that either.”

In fact, he knew they hadn’t, because he does keep track of who he does and doesn’t touch with his bare skin. So far, he’s managed to maintain a low count of five or so, but he supposed adding one more to the list didn’t hurt.

“Anyway, I like the way it looks. The colors combine nicely, and I can certainly see where you’re coming from with the modern, yet old-fashioned design. I’m sure people will enjoy them, especially for costume parties.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Marinette smiled. “Thanks for your help.”

“Of course. I’m actually on my way out the door, but don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything else.”

“You know I won’t.”

Felix laughed and pushed himself off of the desk to begin making his way back to the elevator. “Make sure you leave soon too.”

“Yeah, yeah, I will.. Eventually.”

Felix threw her a playful glare over his shoulder. “I’m not kidding, Dupain-Cheng. If I see bags under those eyes tomorrow, you’re going to be fired until you get a proper night’s sleep.”

“Thank goodness for make-up then.” She joked back.

Felix rolled his eyes and bid her farewell as he entered the elevator, and her soft call of “Goodnight, Boss” managed to reach him right before the doors slid closed.

-

The next morning began as any other morning. Felix woke up to his blaring alarm clock, forced himself out of bed, and started the brew for his morning coffee. He then dragged himself over to the bathroom to get ready for the day, starting with his hair.

The mirror provided a picture of his sluggish figure as he combed his platinum blond locks to the side. His hair didn’t seem to care to cooperate that morning though, because his cowlick was refusing to lay aside as they were told. No matter how many times he combed over it, the chaotic locks refused to budge.

Felix huffed and leaned closer to the mirror, but before he could continue furiously coming his hair, something caught his attention.

At the front of his bangs, dangling loosely to the side of his face, was a single, grey hair.

Felix frowned, moving even closer to the mirror to get a better. It was definitely a grey hair, but why on earth would he have one? People at the age of eighteen didn’t get grey hairs, and he’d never gotten one before. The only reason he could possibly get a grey hair out of the blue like this was if-

Felix froze, his eyes blowing wide. No.. no, it couldn’t be. There’s no way he found his soulmate. It was impossible. The aging process only started when he touched them directly, skin to skin, and he’d been horribly precise not to do so with anyone under any circumstances. 

Well.. anyone except..

A knock came from the front door.

Although his mind was racing for answers, Felix pulled himself together enough to throw on a robe and go answer the door. 

Imagine his surprise when he found none other than Marinette standing right outside.

She looked up at him, her figure tense, and a certain anxiety painted her features. He wanted to ask what she was doing there, or why she hadn’t called to tell him that she was coming, but all he could do was stare. Perhaps it was because a part of him already knew why she’d come to visit him. She was the only person he’s touched directly in the last year, the only person who could have caused his hair to change.

Slowly, Marinette held up a strand of her hair. It was hard to make out, being a single strand, but Felix didn’t need to see it know it was grey too.

They stared at each other, both floored by the discovery, but then Felix almost had to laugh. Because of course it was her. Of course the person who he had come to know and adore and yearn to be around daily would be his soulmate. He should have known that soulmates would find each other eventually, whether they had “Soulmate Magic” to guide them or not.

Before he could say anything, Marinette let out a grieved sigh and buried her face in her hands.

“Oh, Felix, I.. I’m so sorry!”

For a moment, Felix stalled, and worry started to set in. She’s sorry? Why would she be sorry?

“What do you mean?”

Marinette looked up from her hands. “I know you didn’t want to find your soulmate and start aging. I should have noticed your ungloved and been more careful, but I just wasn’t thinking, and-”

Felix blinked as she continued rambling. This girl was apologizing to him because she accidentally found out that they were soulmates. She wasn’t thinking about how much she’d wanted to find her soulmate- because he knew that she did -or that she would have gone without a soulmate for the rest of her life had she not made the discovery. No, she was thinking about him and what he had wanted, just as she always did.

“Marinette.” He said, taking her by the shoulders. “Marinette, stop.”

The ravenette paused, glancing up at him with her beautiful, concerned eyes, and he felt himself smile. 

“If anyone had to be stuck as my soulmate.. I can’t express how delighted I am that it’s you.”

A wonderful blush tinted her cheeks. “R-Really? But I thought- what about being immortal?”

Felix chuckled, and he reached out to cup her cheek. “Immortality’s a small price to pay to have you.. if you’ll have me too, that is.”

Marinette exhaled, looking completely baffled, but that didn’t stop her from grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him into a kiss.

“Yes.” She breathed, a shining smile coming to her features. “Yes, of course I’ll have you.”

Felix couldn’t help grinning as well, and as he pressed another kiss to her lips, he wondered how it could have taken him so long to realize what the soulmate magic was really all about. It wasn’t a choice between immortality or death, but rather a choice between immortality and life. All of the things he’d been searching for- fame, fortune, glory -and the experiences he’d been chasing meant nothing without Marinette by his side. She was the one who made him feel truly alive, and he never wanted to live without her again.

(Send me a letter and I’ll write a thing!)

#asks #Felinette #Soulmate AUs

[meruz]

Aforementioned long ask post please excuse me while i try to figure out tumblr's new text editor. I’ll get into the art meme questions first and then the rest at the end.

Ok first of all thank you all for sending in questions! Giving me an excuse to talk hehe. I’ll address these in number order. Here’s a link to the ask meme for reference but also I’ll restate the question for ease of reading.

1. When did you get into art?

Super cliche answer but I don’t remember a time where I WASN’T the weird art kid! I started keeping a dedicated sketchbook when I was about 12? But here’s a page from my kindergarten journal about what I want to be when I grow up.

2. What art-related sites have you ever signed up for? 

LOL this is a weird question. Not sure why so many people want to know. Anyways I definitely had a dA. more than one dA account. I used to browse oekakis when I was a kid but I think I was only signed up to some small ones that internet friends owned. What else...? Mangabullet,Tegakie, Paintberri, iscribble back when that was a thing, instagram if that COUNTs, I used to post art on livejournal and dreamwidth too. Patreon, I guess. Gumroad, inprnt, bigcartel, storenvy all for selling stuff.

In terms of resources.. I have a schoolism account that I’m sharing with friends. Used to take classes on coursera for free. I signed up to textures.com for work recently haha. I can’t remember if I ever had an account on posemaniacs. Did they have accounts...? I definitely used to visit all the time.

3. Show us your oldest piece of art you have on hand.

Alright here’s me actually logging into my old deviantart account. These are from September 2008 So I was 13 years old. I don’t have a deviantart account from before then because 13 was the required age for having an account and I didn’t want to lie about my age because I wanted people to be impressed by how young yet clearly incredible at art I was LOL.

4. What defines your artistic style?

You guys are probably more equipped to answer this than me but uh... I wanna say... Focus on colors. And... a slightly heavy hand? Like confident... not always well-considered mark making HAH...

Also I think I have a pretty healthy mix of american comics/manga influences. I feel like people who are into american comics always think my art is too manga and people who are into anime/manga always think my art is too american. And I’m taking that as a good sign.

5. Do you practice other styles/have you tried other styles in the past?

I like to think I switch it up a bunch! I mean, these are pretty different, right?

I think I’ve mentioned this before but one thing I really took away from art school is that, for an illustrator at least, art style shouldn’t be consistent. Your greatest weapon is changing the aspects of your style based on the task, the emotions and message you want to illustrate etc. So depending on the project I’m working on, the fandom I’m drawing for, whether I want something to be funny or serious or dramatic, I’ll change things about my style all the time.

One thing I don’t rly post on here is really tight polished work and that’s because I do that for my day job haha. If you’re not paying me... I’m probably not gonna color in the lines.

6. What levels of artistic education have you had?

I have a whole ass diploma LOL. Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. from the Rhode Island School of Design. And I had a great college experience tbh. Besides the student loans. If any of you guys are thinking about art school feel free to e-mail or message me questions or concerns, I’ll be happy to help. Be as honest as I can be.

7. Show us at least one picture you drew or sketched recently that you did not put on a public site.

heres the wandavision kids. Uhh what else do I have...I feel like I’m rummaging for loose change here...

assorted valentines prep doodles

8. What is your favourite piece that you have done?

Well, obviously this is gonna change all the time and generally it’s gonna be my most recent piece LOL. So yeah, why the hell not. I’ll say it’s this one. I have a pretty short memory which I count as a blessing for an artist. I don’t dwell that long on older work and it keeps me moving forward.

10. What do you like most about your art?

I like that it’s something that only I would make! I had this thought fairly recently and I wrote it down in my sketchbook, it’s pretty cheesy and rambling but it felt revolutionary at the time:

So yeah. I like my art best when it’s the most me and for me. And I like it least when it feels like I’m just making something for social media or for other people’s expectations or whatever.

14. What do you like drawing the most?

Kids in baggy clothing are like my go-to LOL idk if that’s obvious. but also I like being challenged so lately I’ve really loved drawing multi-character compositions, environments, weird angles, etc.

oh i LOVE drawing the underside of shoes lol. And bandages. People that are kinda beat up.. I think it comes from getting a bunch of cuts all the time. I’m always patching myself up and I want to patch characters up too.

15. What do you like drawing the least?

mmm I try to find something to like in every drawing but lets see... I don’t like doing commissions of people’s dogs. Just because it’s normally like... a family friend and my mom volunteered me without my consent and I don’t even really know what they’re expecting me to draw and I don’t even get to meet the dog. Also I’m not that great at dog anatomy. Trying to learn though.

18. What is your purpose for drawing?

This could have a million answers! Uhhh to GIT GOOD??? But also to express myself... and also to make money... I mean it depends on what the drawing IS. I draw fanart mostly to connect to people in the fandom so if you ever see me drawing fanart please take it as like an open invitation to talk to me about the character haha. 

20. How would you rank your art? (poor, mediocre, good, etc.)

Good!!! I have a lot of self-confidence primarily born out of ignorance and a short attention span. If I don’t think too hard about how many other artists are mindblowingly unfathombly good... its easy to think I’m good too! LOL

In all seriousness though, I think the opinion a person has of their art is like a crazy balancing act, right? Like you have to think you suck enough to want to get better but also you have to think you’re good enough to not want to give up. I think we’re all walking that line, I know I am! But also I’m a glass half-full type of person so. Most of the time I feel good about it.

22. List at least one of your “artspirations.”

This is a good question because I’ve been trying and failing to put together one of those “influence map” memes for like a full month now. What’s giving me a hard time is I feel like none of these are actually really obvious “““influences”““ in my art? Like it’s hard to see a lot of them in the work I make...? But idk maybe you guys’ll see what I can’t.

And these are just a couple! God there’s so many more. I could talk about other artists for ages, from all different genres of art. Daumier, Rockwell like every illustrator out there, Dana Gibson, Alex Toth, Hiroshi Yoshida, a lot of the Brandywine School. Lots of current working artists too, Karl Kerschl, frikkin Masashi Kishimoto lol, Jake Wyatt, Richie Pope, Edouard Caplain, Matt Cook, Sachin Teng, - lots of big internet artists, Sophie Li, Freddy Carrasco, Milliofish, Angela Sung... like all my friends from art school too. I could just keep going but I’ll stop for now lol.

24. Do you have a shameful art past? (recolour sprite comics, tracing art, etc.)

I mean if that’s how we’re defining shameful?? sure LOL. It’s not sprite comics but I used to do pokemon sprite recolors all the time. And I used to trace manga panels and color them... Granted this was all when I was like under 12 yrs old so it’s not even embarrassing. Can you really call it shameful when a 7 year old wets the bed or whatever? Not really. In fact some of these are cool as fuck. Look

25. Draw a picture!

Man I’m so tired now but here.

I used to get a lot of compliments for drawing people smiling lol but I don’t think I’ve drawn a lot of smiling lately.. here’s proof I’ve still got it.

OK MEME DONE. onto the rest.

I read this ask first thing when i opened my computer in the morning and it made me really emotional.. I’m so glad my sketches could help you!!

I think a lot of artists on social media talk about the struggle of making art but imo not enough people talk about the joy! Like I know it’s corny but. I really meant what I said at the beginning of that sketchbook about re-contextualizing art around process and progress > product and perfection. I think its super important..! The strength of messy, unfinished, and energetic art! For the feeling of it, for the love it!

That's crazy!!! I hope you like 'em. The whole line of x-books is really good rn imo.

Hi! I totally have the answer for digital stuff on my faq lol. But in terms of drawing on paper.. it varies! I tend to use sketchbooking and any on-paper doodling I do as a way to loosen up/warm-up or experiment. But right now my go-to aresenal is:

from top > bottom

- kuretake no.55 doublesided brush pen

- tombow fudenosuke

- muji 0.38 ballpoint

- medium size poscas

- grey tombow double brush pens

- good ol bic mechanical pencil

not EXACTly sure which inking you referring to from my sketchbook but if I had to take a guess it'd probably be the kuretake no55. That's been my main inker, lately. Great for sketching with the thin end too.

You can print out and eat my art if you like. Just please don't mass produce or re-sell. <3

Thanks! I've come to accept that my art is always gonna be sort of gestural and painty naturally. It's getting it to tighten up enough to be legible that's hard lol...

uh yeah lol I agree actually. I think yolei is great.

I assume these asks are related? LOL

1) Yeah totally true. I love David.

2) I don’t take requests, sorry! But if you want to commission me to draw Legion i would be MORE than happy to. Just e-mail me at [email protected].

<33333333333333333333333333

#ask #anonymous

[gwennavierre]

Doki doki

Adrien realizes something about his everyday ladybug.

Ladybug realizes something about her kitty.

-----

Marinette was a busy person. School, crushes, liars, bullies, akumas, friendship drama... those were things most teens in Paris dealt with, but Marinette was also Ladybug, the Guardian of the Miracle Box, and a budding fashion designer.

While others ran to hide from akumas, Marinette transformed into Ladybug to fight and defeat them with the help of Chat Noir and the occasional temporary miraculous holder.

While her classmates got to go to bed at a reasonable time after doing homework, Marinette stayed up for hours getting to know the kwamis and work out who would best be suited to be a temporary holder for them when needed.

And while other teens practiced their passions in waking hours, Marinette worked tirelessly through the nights and over weekends to finish commissions. Her non lucrative hobbies tended to get pushed aside, which was frustrating since they helped her relax...

She decided she could kill two birds with one stone (so to speak... Orikko wasn't a fan of that phrase..) by sharing her own interests with the kwamis while working on her current fashion projects.

A few of the kwamis had taken a shine to the anime shows and manga collection Marinette had. Some preferred reading the Japanese comics out loud to their Guardian as she stitched or crocheted. They delighted in making different voices for the characters or taking turns reading, emphasizing the sound effects and even acting out the fight scenes (Tikki especially liked acting out the romantic scenes solo and making Marinette giggle uncontrollably as she passionately kissed the air space in front of her own tiny face).

Marinette hadn't realized just how much more time she was spending watching anime and reading (or at least listening to) manga until a normal morning of class was about to start.

She had gotten there early for a change! Not planned, Tikki had simply set her phone alarm for earlier while she slept in an attempt to get her holder to class on time for a change. It worked, though Marinette realized what had happened the moment she burst through the classroom door. She had been scowling at her purse every few moments while idly sketching at her desk since then.

Her anger at her clever kwami dissipated however, when a certain blond boy waltzed into the room with the grace and energy of a gazelle. She couldn't help the love sick sigh that escaped her as he made his way to his desk, a small smile on his lips growing into a full grin as his eyes met hers.

"Good morning, Marinette!" His voice was sunbeams and she wanted to curl up in it and take a cat nap.

"G-good morning Daydreaming. I mean Adrien. Sorry.. I was daydreaming. Not that you're not a daydream because you are! Not, I mean. You're just a regular dream. I mean person. I... what I meant was... um..." Marinette wished more than anything else in that moment that the desk would turn into a black hole and suck her I to it.

Until she heard Adrien laughing softly. Until she saw the crinkles at the corners of his eyes. Until she heard his next words to her...

"I'm sorry for laughing, Marinette. I promise I'm not laughing at you, though. Not exactly anyway... it's just... you tend to get flustered like this sometimes and while I usually just pretend I don't notice so you don't get embarrassed, I... I honestly think it's adorable. Like... utterly ridiculously freaking cute and I had to tell you. I... I hope you don't mind me saying that." His voice had gotten quieter towards the end, his eyes glued to the sketchbook on Marinette's desk, his right hand rubbing the back of his neck, and his cheeks lightly flushed with pink.

Marinette had noticed all of this, somehow, and was staring at him in mild shock, eyes wide and unable to close her jaw for a moment.

When she came back to her senses (debatable), the first thing she did was clutch her chest dramatically and whisper just loudly enough for Adrien to hear: "doki doki"

...

...

Shocked green eyes snapped to mortified blue ones.

Marinette slapped a hand over her mouth in horror.

Adrien grinned like a kid who was given free reign in a candy shop.

Before he could stop her, however, Marinette stood up and shot to the classroom door, nearly colliding with a few classmates making their way in. She didn't return until the bell rang and steadfastly avoided Adrien's gaze whenever he turned around in his seat.

____

Shortly before class was supposed to get out, there was a muffled commotion from down the road.

Great. Akuma. Marinette made a quick request to use the bathroom, leaping out of her seat before the teacher could respond. She didn't notice Adrien leaving the classroom shortly after.

____

"Good job!" The superhero duo bumped fists after the miraculous ladybugs had cleaned up the mess made by the akuma. It had thankfully been a quick one. Ladybug had seemed a bit preoccupied during the battle. Chat didn't seem to mind, though. In fact... he looked quite pleased with himself. Ladybug raised an eyebrow at him.

"You're in a good mood today, kitty." She smiled at the smirk on his face, happy to have something else to think about other than her embarrassing blunder in the classroom earlier...

"Is it that obvious? Heh. I guess I am." Chat Noir searched Ladybug's face, wanting to tell her what happened but only if she genuinely wanted to hear about it. She tilted her face towards him and smiled expectantly. Good enough for him!

"So, uh... today, um. Do you read manga?"

Ladybug frowned in confusion. "Yeah? But... what does that have to do wi-"

Chat waved his hands in a mildly impatient gesture. "Getting there, just... context will help. So! I got to class and there was one person there already. This girl... I... I've been kinda crushing on her for a while..."

Ladybug felt something tighten in her chest at that, but dutifully chose to ignore it. She was happy he had finally started moving on. She was proud of him. This girl in his class was probably no where near as cool as her anyway. Wait, what? Ladybug shook her head to rid the intrusive thoughts and paid attention to her partner again.

"... she's always been like that around me but I thought it was because she hated me at first, or just felt uncomfortable because I'm fam- er... familiar or uh... something." Chat cleared his throat awkwardly. Ladybug gave him a look that seemed to be encouraging him to continue though her smile seemed a bit... off.

"Anyway. So today I say good morning to her and she starts fumbling over her words. They seemed so... I dunno... She kept accidentally calling me a dream, a daydream actually... and I just... I started laughing because it was sooooo cuuuute!" Chat had brought his closed fists to rest under his chin and his eyes glazed over at the memory of Marinette's earlier word salad.

Ladybug's brain was buzzing. It was driving her nuts. She knew what it was but it couldn't be... so that meant it wasn't. Right? Isn't that how things work? Oh, he's still talking. About that girl. Who just so happens to have done the same thing she did this morning. Funny thing, coincidences.

"... she ACTUALLY SAID 'doki doki'!! Can you believe it? Like... her eyes could have literally had hearts in them. There's no way I misinterpreted that, right? She likes me, right?? I mean... it makes sense, all the times she got flustered. It wasn't because she doesn't like me after all!!"

Chat had started pacing in a circle around what apparently was a lifelike statue of Ladybug, seemingly unaware of the switch.

"She ran out of the room right after and then left right before the akuma so I haven't had a chance to talk to her since, but I think, no wait, I KNOW she likes me and I want to ask her out and now I won't feel awkward asking to marathon an anime or something because she obviously likes that kind of thing too and I can't believe I didn't know that about her before but now I DO know and that means I can... um.... Ladybug?"

He stopped and stood directly in front of Ladybug, a look of concern and mild embarrassment on his features. Ladybug's eyes that had appeared to be staring into a void snapped to his. Her mouth clicked shut. Her face blossomed into a deep blush and she took two giant steps back from Chat, stumbling slightly. It was Chat's turn to frown in confusion.

"Ladybug, what's wrong?"

"N-nothing. I have to fo gome. Go home.

Chat's eyes narrowed. "Your school is already out for the day?"

"Yes" she lied. "Shirt day today."

"Um... okay? You mean short?"

"That's what I said."

Chat scratched the top of his head between the cat ears. Ladybug was acting really strange... it's almost like she's... no. It can't be. Can it?

"Ladybug... are you...."

"Chat..." It was a warning. But Chat Noir had to know....

"Are you jealous?!"

__________

Shall I continue this or leave it as a one shot?

#adrienette #miraculous ladybug #miraculous les aventures de ladybug et chat noir #ladybug and cat noir #ml ladybug #ladybug and chat noir #marinette dupain cheng #tales of ladybug and cat noir #ladybug #chat noir #miraculous chat noir #ladynoir #ml marinette #adrien x marinette #mlb fandom #mlb fanfic #anime memes #manga #ladrien #cat noir #miraculous fandom #miraculous crack #miranette #miraculous lb #miraculous ladybug tikki #lucky charm #tikki the kwami #mlb fic #mlb marinette

[keefwho]

January 16 - 2024 Tuesday

10:59pm

5.5/10

This morning I took my last shower at my parents. They weren't home so I was able to blast the GDQ stream over my phone while I got clean. For breakfast all I ate was a can of spaghettios warmed up by the heater so I could produce as few dishes as possible. I made and uploaded a few avatar pics as well.

In stream I warmed up with Ena sketches again. Then I worked on the big nanachi commission. A few of them had joined to watch and were apparently in a Discord call. They were fun to have in chat. I wanted to keep streaming when I was done but I had other things to move on to. After stream I took an hour to focus on cleaning up the place now that I got hot water back. I wiped down the sink/mirror, kitchen, and fireplace. Also removed some boxes and stuff laying around and vacuumed very thoroughly. I did this instead of jerking off which I regret.

Lunch was some really good rice a roni. It's cooking time ate into my afternoon work time and instead of wait until it was done cooking, I started my work anyways. I did half of a request before it was done cooking, I ate, and then I finished that request while in Ena's server VC. Then I worked on a Hitch x Misty pic for an hour and almost finished it. I left the call to do my yoga which was hard since I missed a few days and they tend to get harder as they go on. Then I moved onto my project which is when Daisy became free. Once again I think I need to step back and start over with what I'm doing, I didn't have as much of a plan as I needed. We watched a really rough episode of Bojack tonight and then continued our pony text adventure. I found it very hard to be creative with it tonight as much as I wanted to. We did that until bedtime which I played Kingdom Hearts during. Had some frustrating battles but I got through them.

I once again put on my MarsMiner persona and it works great, it just feels easier to do what I gotta do without the complications of how I 'feel' or what I 'think'. That can be saved for the appropriate times. I don't feel like I did the best job enjoying my free time though, I still felt a need to perform. I was also very horny today since I finally have the facilities back to clean up properly but instead I did my chores and chose not to stay up late to do it. I know better than to let those kinds of feelings make decisions.

2:11am

I woke up to jerk off because I couldn't ignore it. I really gotta listen to my body more. It's only natural to be sexual. I'm always hesitant to talk about it like it's an important thing in my life because there can be so much shame in being too sexually active even though there shouldn't be. It's not even a huge thing for me, not like it is for some people I know. But still I feel like I should never talk about it or if I do, I can't treat it like it's important. In this case it was important because my body needed it and I had to interrupt my sleep for it. I should have taken care of it earlier instead of keeping it at the bottom of my priority list. This is like a self care thing for me, I gotta do this for myself.

On another note I had some crazy deep post nut shower thoughts about my life and my past and what it all means to me. Sometimes I wish I could individually talk to everyone in my life that isn't here anymore for what feels like no reason. Like all the people I feel like should still be there. It feels like there's been so many. Maybe I can talk to some of them and just be open about feeling bad about how it all went. All I really want is closure, but I also can't bank on ever getting it. Closure might mean re-adjusting to what life actually is now instead of dreaming about what it could have been. I often find myself living a different reality and it holds me back so much.

#journal #diary

[imaginedhaven]

Reluctantly Rooming: Part Two

Link to Masterpost

So I realized today I hit 50 followers! Wow. That’s amazing, and I love you all so much. Plus, it was so inspiring I got to work on some more prompts for this wonderful little AU. I combined two prompts in this part:

1. “Are those slippers?” / “Is that you being mean? AGAIN?” 

-and-

2. “You don’t know how to change a tire?” / “Give it a rest, would you?”

As I mentioned last time, I am still taking prompts for this universe! It’s been a great time playing in this particular AU, and of course I have the rest of the story vaguely sketched out but it’s been way too much fun incorporating these prompts. Hope y’all enjoy!

~*~*~

Aelin was still marveling at the turn in her morning as she got dressed for work in the afternoon. She and Rowan had spent an hour or so finally getting to know each other a little like they probably should’ve when he first moved in, only stopping when he had to leave to go on a run with one of his coworkers. They still had quite a ways to go, but Aelin already felt more at ease than she had previously.

She still felt a twinge of embarrassment at how it had happened, but she had gotten herself into more awkward situations before and Rowan had seemed content to not bring it up further.

Aelin hummed along with the music playing on her phone as she wriggled into the dark pants that served as the bottom of her work outfit and then sat to braid her hair back. In her month and a half working behind the bar at her current job, she had learned in a single shift that leaving her hair down was absolutely not worth it; the golden waves that she was so proud of had an annoying tendency of getting in the way while shaking drinks, and choosing to tie them back instead left her hair much neater at the end of a long shift. Lately she had taken to braiding the long strands into a crown around her head, the style elegant enough to please her but practical enough to survive the night.

Smiling with satisfaction, Aelin pinned the last few strands in place and stood to leave. She took a few extra moments to glance in the mirror and make certain that her shirt was presentable enough for work before grabbing her keys and heading down the stairs.

She made it all the way to the driveway before her good mood evaporated.

“Fuck,” she whined as she stared at her car. It had been fine when she had gotten in, or she thought it had been. But now in the daylight the left rear tire was obviously flat, almost cartoonishly so. There was no way she would be getting in to work on time, not with her car out of commission.

If he had been home she would have asked Aedion for a ride, but he was absent and his car was garaged wherever it was he put it while away so that he could save on his insurance payments. That left trying to get in touch with her coworkers to see if they could pick her up.

Taking a deep breath and preparing to grovel, Aelin scrolled in her phone to Lysandra’s contact information and was about to press the call button when she heard a surprisingly welcome voice from the edge of the driveway.

While Rowan’s voice was a relief, his words certainly were not. “Are those… slippers?” he asked.

Aelin crossed her arms, not ready to deal with this kind of interaction when she was still trying to figure out how she was going to get to work. “Is that you being mean again?” she retorted, shuffling her feet. The motion only served to draw attention to her choice of footwear, however, and when she looked back up at him she was met with an expression she could only call amused exasperation. She sighed and decided to end this probable fight before it could begin, if only to preserve the remnants of her sanity after an already-stressful day. “I always wear slippers when I drive to work,” she admitted. “My work shoes are great when I’m actually on my feet, but I hate driving in them.”

“All right,” he allowed. “I can’t say I relate, but I suppose that makes more sense than anything else I was coming up with. Doesn’t explain why you’re staring at your phone like it’s your only lifeline instead of actually driving to work, though.”

At the reminder of exactly why she was stuck here and not at work, Aelin sighed and wordlessly gestured to her tire. He glanced down at it and then back at her, clearly confused, and began to laugh.

“Oh, what is it now?” she demanded, immediately on edge again.

He crouched beside the tire and braced his hands on his knees, inspecting it as he continued to chuckle. “You don’t know how to change a tire?”

Just as it had a few hours ago, Aelin felt heat flood her cheeks. “Give it a rest, would you? So what if I never learned, I didn’t exactly have anyone around to teach me.”

Aelin bit her lip to stop the words from coming out, though she had already revealed far too much. Even if it was true, and even though the theme of the day had been building some kind of camaraderie with her roommate, she firmly believed there was such a thing as oversharing and that had been it.

A small part of her brain noted that she felt more exposed now than she had been literally exposing her backside to him just that morning, but she carefully stifled that thought to be dealt with hopefully never. Instead, she blurted out, “And I’m not sure I have a spare anyway.”

Rowan gave her a skeptical glance. “Open your trunk.”

“What?” Aelin asked, stunned. “Why?”

“Just do it.”

Deciding to humor him, she did, and in less than five seconds he had opened a compartment and revealed exactly what he had been looking for, a spare tire as well as a few tools. “Oh.”

Rowan shook his head. “Most cars have the essentials in case this happens on the road. The replacement isn’t meant to be driven long-distance, it’ll only get you to the nearest repair shop. I’m assuming you don’t have time for that.”

Aelin nodded. “I’ve only got about an hour before I’m supposed to be at work.”

“All right. You have tomorrow off?”

Aelin checked the picture of the schedule she’d saved to her phone. “Yeah, tomorrow and Monday are my ‘weekend’,” she replied.

Rowan pulled the tools out of the compartment and straightened. “Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to put the replacement on now, because that tire’s flat enough that you’re risking damage to the rim if we let it sit and that gets expensive fast. I can drive you to work tonight, and tomorrow we can take it to someone to see if you can get away with patching the tire or if you need new ones.”

Aelin stared at him, surprised. “Wait, you’d drive me to work?”

“Would I say I’d do it if I wouldn’t?” he retorted.

Before today, she would’ve bristled at that comment and perhaps even snapped back at him. However, through their talks after his aunt had left she’d learned that he had an incredibly dry sense of humor bordering on outright sass. With that knowledge in mind, she bit back her immediate urge to fight back and instead simply said, “Thank you.”

Rowan’s head spun around to stare at her, and she shrugged, uncomfortable under the intense focus of his gaze. “What?” she asked. “You didn’t have to offer, but I appreciate that you did. Honestly, before you got here I was running down my list of coworkers, trying to decide who was most likely to pick up.”

“You may still want to see if one of them can bring you home,” he cautioned. “I’m not saying I won’t do it, but I’m not exactly used to staying up that late and I can’t promise I won’t fall asleep.”

Aelin laughed at the admission. “And here I thought you were the life of the party. Have you ever done something just because it was fun?”

“Says someone who is currently reaping the advantages of my lack of a social life,” he snorted. “I thought you were supposed to be grateful.”

“I can be grateful and still comment on your life choices.”

Rowan carefully set one of the tools next to the tire and got to work, pointedly ignoring her and leaving her with nothing to do but watch him.

Even before today she’d noticed in a distant kind of way that her roommate was unfairly attractive, for all that he didn’t seem to do himself any favors. That recognition was only affirmed as she watched the muscles of his shoulders and back while he worked to change her tire. He hadn’t even had the time to change out of his running clothes, and sweat lingered at the back of his neck, darkening the short strands of his hair.

She’d never bothered to ask if he’d naturally gone completely grey at a strangely young age or if he simply dyed his hair that color, but either way she could admit it suited him in a way she wasn’t sure would work on anyone else. Paired with piercing green eyes and angular features, what would have been a noteworthy feature on anyone else was a stunning combination on him.

It was really too bad that they barely tolerated each other. And now that they were roommates, she knew too much about him to be swayed by looks alone. All it took was one recollection of him reorganizing their living space and those thoughts retreated to the back of her mind where they belonged.

It was just in time, too, because she realized belatedly he was speaking to her. “—got lucky,” he was saying. “I’m no expert, but I think they should be able to just patch this and you won’t have to get new tires.”

“What makes you say that?” she asked, curious.

Wordlessly, he rotated her tire—which she noticed was now freed from her car—and pointed at a large nail driven right through the rubber.

“Oh.”

“Here, stuff this into your trunk while I get the spare on and then we’ll get you to work,” he said, rolling the tire in her direction. She rushed to comply, and by the time she had tucked it away as neatly as she could manage he had finished his part of the job as well. “All right, get what you need and we’ll go.”

“I already have what I need,” she replied.

He looked at her, gaze moving from her braided hair down to her slippered feet, and said, “Your work shoes?”

“At work,” she said.

“And you’re not bringing food when you’re working a full shift?”

“Rowan, I work in a bar. They have food there.”

Her statement granted her a withering look that promised a painful end to her admittedly-unhealthy usual diet. “Do you even have food in the house?”

“If you’re going to judge me, I’m not going to answer that,” she evaded.

“Fine. We don’t have time to fix that right now anyway,” he muttered. “Get in my car, and I’ll get you to work.”

They drove in silence the entire way to the bar, but it was somehow less uncomfortable than Aelin would’ve expected. Maybe there was something to be said for utterly humiliating yourself in front of your roommate, after all. She could only go up from here.

As they arrived, before she could slip out of his car she turned to face him. “Hey, thank you,” she said. “I mean it. You didn’t have to do any of this.”

He waved off her thanks with a single gesture. “I know you have my number. Just text me if you need me to pick you up as well.”

As it turned out, Lysandra was able to get her back home after her shift and she texted Rowan about a half an hour before her shift ended, receiving no reply. But as she crept into the house, she noticed a sight that made her freeze and then smile. Rowan was passed out on their couch fully clothed, phone prominently placed on the coffee table as though he’d fallen asleep waiting for her message.

Not willing to risk waking him, she quietly crept up the stairs to her room, but the image lingered for quite some time as she prepared for sleep herself.

~*~*~

Tagging:

@ireallyshouldsleeprn @queen-of-glass @fangirlprincess09 @sassys-world @morganofthewildfire @superspiritfestival @perseusannabeth @sis-it-dont-add-up @jlinez @julemmaes @emilyoftheshadows

#rowaelin #haven writes #reluctantly rooming

[ultimatetornshipper]

Daminette December day 11- Snowglobe and 12- Soulmate au

@daminette-december2019-2020

Okk sooo like I said I wanted to make a separate lil one shot for this one because I have a nice lil idea in mind and my medieval au does not work with the snow globe and soulmate thing so I decided fuck it.

Also Tim isn’t it the series yet so I decided to do some brotherly shenanigans that included him.

This one shot actually worked out really well like I love it.

I get to be slightly more… hmm what’s the word?... stupid?

It’s the writing on skin, appears on soulmate's skin, soulmate au btw.

Honestly I love this, it did not go as expected lmao.

Anyway I hope u guys enjoy this!

Previous- Princes and Pedestals Chapter 10

Next- Princes and Pedestals Chapter 11

The Permanent Marker

The first time Damian saw a snow globe it had been during a fight with Tim, who'd decided to throw him with it.

It was safe to say that the item that was thrown ended their fight. The side made of ceramic hit his arm. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it landed on the floor, the glass shattered. The tiny fake snowflakes scattered all over the place.

Before then he had only heard of one thing that, in his mind, worked similarly…

“Drake, I will skin you alive!” he said jumping on his brother, Jason pulled him off and held him back, “Todd! Release me at once! The imbecile just attacked me with a glitter bomb!”

The entire manor went silent for a few seconds before they all burst out laughing.

To this day, he was still being teased about it. Even though the incident had happened years ago.

It resulted in him having quite the distaste for snow globes.

So imagine his annoyance when he woke up four days before the anniversary of The Incident with a picture of a snow globe on his hand.

As if that didn’t make the message clear enough, there was a snow globe and a glitter bomb on his bedside table, each labelled mockingly.

He growled and turned his gaze back to his hand.

He had no idea how his brothers had managed to draw it on him without waking him up but he was absolutely livid.

His soulmate must be incredibly confused as to why there was a crudely drawn snow globe on her hand.

He got up and stomped to the bathroom, washing it off. He got ready and walked angrily to the dining room.

He found them all there and when they saw his sour expression they burst out laughing.

He glared at them all through breakfast, his temper far shorter than usual.

He just hoped his soulmate wouldn’t ask about the snow globe or better still, that she hadn’t seen it.

Every morning for the next two days, he woke up with an ugly little snow globe on his hand. And each morning he would wash it off.

He was bordering on the edge of murderous.

Meanwhile in Paris, Marinette was in a similar state.

You see, for three days she had been trying to remember the damn stupid snow globe Alya had forgotten at her house over the weekend.

She’d drawn a nice little snow globe on her hand to remind herself. But apparently her soulmate was hell bent on not letting her return the damned snow globe.

Each time she drew the little picture, he would wash it off it sometime before she got home.

Because of course he would.

She knew he was a tidy person and he’d established that he had no wish to meet her back when they were small, but usually he at least didn’t wash off her drawings.

She huffed in annoyance as she rode the train back home.

It would’ve been easier to return the snow globe to Alya when they were still in Collegé Francious Du Point, where she lived only a street away. But nooooo, their lycee was far enough away that she had to take the train there and back. Just having Alya pick it up wasn’t as easy as it used to be.

She took out a pen and redrew her snow globe. He had already washed off the one she made earlier that day.

When she got home she realized that he had also washed off the one she made on the train. She huffed in annoyance and groaned.

Why was everything against her?

She eyed her drawer.

Maybe…

No, that wasn’t fair, she didn’t know why he erased the snow globe each time. There could be a very good reason.

Her pettier side didn’t care though. She was sick of him. He’d hurt her so much when they were kids, refusing to even try to get to know her. Not replying to any of her writing or doodles.

Eventually she stopped writing but doodles found still their way onto her skin. And they arrived at a silent truce of sorts, he would let her draw, and she wouldn’t expect anything.

Until now apparently.

Why couldn’t he just give her – give them - a chance?

Why couldn’t they just be normal? Why did he have to be such an ass? Why couldn’t they just write to one another?

She was reminded of the only time he'd written more than a few words to her.

The day she’d accidentally used the wrong kind of pen. The kind that had ink that didn’t wash off properly until after three days.

A permanent marker.

She didn’t known it was a permanent marker, and it wasn’t like she’d drawn anything too big with it. Just a medium sized heart on her wrist.

She was eight, she didn’t think it would be a problem.

Well apparently it was, because that day he let her have it. That day he made it clear that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with her.

But to hell with that.

If he wanted to break their truce, the weird set of rules they had somehow established…

Then so would she.

She stood and opened the drawer, she took out the permanent marker she hadn’t touched in years and removed the lid.

She smiled as she drew her snow globe again.

This time she would remember the snow globe.

And she did, the next morning she saw her snow globe still on her hand, slightly smudged, but there. She smiled victoriously.

She returned Alya's snow globe and spent the rest of the day on cloud nine. Maybe it wasn’t the nicest of things to do, but it wasn’t like he took her into consideration. She figured this, at most, made them even.

What caught her off guard however, was the neat writing in black ink that appeared on her wrist later that night

The words ‘I’m sorry’ were etched onto her skin in handwriting that she recognized as his.

You see Damian hadn’t noticed the sketch when he got home. Hadn’t noticed it when he’d put on his gloves for patrol or when he’d gone to bed.

He never saw it until morning.

He lost it when he realized his brothers had written on him with a permanent marker.

The one think he’d basically forbade her from doing all those years ago and they did it.

They crossed a line. And Damian made that perfectly clear.

By attacking them and beating them up until they apologized.

He still felt it was necessary to apologize to her.

For the permanent ink. But also for all the years of silence, for all the years of ignoring her.

He settled on a small ‘I’m sorry’ on his wrist and hoped for the best.

That tiny apology, though, opened up a line of communication between the two.

They started talking regularly, growing closer and closer through their words. Eventually they met and started dating.

They helped one another, through trauma and superheroing and liars and villains, they were there.

They became a dynamic duo, he helped her run her label while she did commissions and designed her days away.

They were happy, one of the success stories. And while they hung up the capes and cowls, they were always available for emergencies.

They would tell their children and their grandchildren the story of the snow globe. Dick, Jason and Tim often liked to take credit. Earning a disgusted ‘Tt' from Damian and a laugh from Marinette.

The moral of the story, Marinette always liked to say, was that sometimes even the smallest, insignificant thing could make the biggest, life altering difference.

Taglist:

@animegirlweeb @loysydark @toodaloo-kangaroo @forgottenfriends @wolf-for-life @heyitsbugette @f-rget-lt @fusser90 @editorofeverything @thenillabean @sunflowers-and-mooncakes

#awwww #look at me being sentimental #kinda angsty in the middle for a bit but not really #mari being petty #but rightly so #i mean #she gets to be petty here #this is like shakespeare level misunderstanding #chaos and coincidences that somehow make sense #i love that #it's kinda more sarcastic than my medieval au #soulmate au #snow globe #the imbicile attacked him with a snow globe #lmao i loved writing this #nice little happy ending #maribat #marinette #damian #utp writes #daminette december #daminette #damian x marinette #I'm ngl i lowkey work through my trauma by writing these fics #i mean not this chapter specifically like no one threw me with a snow globe #but like yeah #fuck i love this fandom #lil sentimental lesson thrown in #like the old fairytales that raised us #except

[alexiessan]

Never alone - Chapter Eleven - Soulmate AU

AO3

Previous - Here - Next

Master List

Tumblr must hate me or something ‘cause it seems to love deleting my chapters and other posts from the tags. You may have missed Chapter Ten, so don’t hesitate to go read it and give me your opinion.

In other news, my back has seized and I’m hurting so much... I swear I’m going to have back problems like old people... Anyway, here is Chapter Eleven!

Marinette smiled as she hung up from her call with Robin. Summer vacations have been very busy for her. She has done commissions for Jagged: an outfit, a poster and the cover of his new album. Marinette was not a professional, so it took her more time to do, but Jagged was very satisfied in the end.

But that meant that Robin’s outfit has been delayed since her trip to Gotham. She managed to send it to a safe address he gave her only last week and he showed her the result during their video call — it was so weird for Marinette to see him in a regular outfit, even if he had his mask on.

During the summer, she also made a lot of plans with her friends: several outings with Alya and Nino — and Adrien when he was allowed and in town. She also watched Kitty Section repeat at least once a week and would go get ice cream with them. She would take Kagami out to get out of her home and her mother’s influence as much as possible.

That summer where she got to see all her friends almost made her forget that their class would change when they would go back to school in September, the very next week.

Max and Adrien would be in Première S, in a class with a science specialty. Rose, Juleka, Nathaniel, Mylène, and Ivan would be in Première L, in a class with literature specialty. The rest of the class all chose to go in Première ES, in a class with economics as a specialty. But even with this same speciality, there was no way to know if they would be in the same class.

She could do without Lila, Chloé, and Sabrina, but she would like to stay in the same class as the others.

For once, the Eurasian girl was organized, and all her things were ready for their first day in class. She just had to pray that no one would get akumatized again. Hawkmoth had a habit to take advantage of someone’s feelings about going back to school, and it was not good for her record to miss an hour or two on the very first day of school.

Luckily, Marinette got the people she wanted in her class. Unfortunately, Chloé and Sabrina were still in her class, but Lila was in the other ES class.

So for this year, she would be in a class with Alya, Nino, Alix, Kim, Chloé, and Sabrina. Aurore Beauréal, Mireille Caquet, and Jean Duparc from Mrs. Mendeleiev’s class were also in her class along with three other students that she didn’t know: Claude, Allan, and Allegra.

It was a small class of thirteen students but Marinette preferred it that way. The professor could help their students better when there was a small number of them in the first place.

Like usual, Marinette brought macarons from her parent’s bakery and shared them with all her classmates. She got to get to know them and had a feeling that they would all get along well.

As for Chloé, well… She still had hope that the girl would start to be kinder.

She was Queen Bee once, so she had the potential to be a good person/ She just had to put the effort into it.

The Akuma didn’t strike during class, but at the end of the day. A kid that didn’t get to be in the same class as his best friend. Chat and Ladybug did a quick job in defeating him and got to talk a little about their first day in class.

Chat was sad as he only got one of his friends in his class. All his other friends were scattered in other specialties and his close group of friends was in the same class.

He told her that he was scared that they would grow apart from him since he wasn’t with them all day anymore.

Ladybug tried to reassure him that if they were really friends, that wouldn’t happen. After all, she thought, she would never allow Adrien to drift apart from them, and she will do everything in her power to maintain her friendships.

A month passed and Marinette was once again elected as the class representative. Except, this time, Alya wasn’t her deputy, but Aurore was.

Aurore was the former class president from Mrs. Mendeleiev’s class and did a very good job, so the fashion designer was confident that they would both work well together.

October was also the month where her parents took a week off from work to travel a little. This year, they would spend a week in Ireland.

Marinette was a bit envious, but she was happy that they could take a little time off for themselves now that she was old and mature enough to stay at home by herself for a week. Her parents made sure she had enough stock of everything to last her for a week so that she didn’t have to buy groceries. They left her some money for emergencies too, but the bluenette knew that she wouldn’t need it.

She hugged her parents tightly and waved them goodbye.

Damian’s new school year, so far, has been pretty good. His new classmates were still idiots, but they were tolerable. He talked to some of them, but he wouldn’t call them friends. At least, they knew that him calling them by their last name meant that he held some respect for them, and they didn’t look for more.

So, yeah, it was good, contrary to his former class where they were always trying to befriend him and would take offense every time he opened his mouth.

Calling Marinette every week made it more tolerable too, as she told him that he didn’t have to be friends with them if he didn’t want to, but should still refrain from insulting them when they didn’t do anything that would deserve such words.

It took a bit of work, but he eventually managed to not insult the people that tried to talk to him.

In September, his best friend, Jon — he would never say that to him, the youngest Kent would never leave him alone if he knew that — found out about him finding his soulmate. He asked questions, a lot of questions, and Damian reluctantly answered. The bespectacled boy wouldn’t shut up until he got answers, so he gave him just that.

He didn’t want to think about the similarities between Jon and Marinette.

Those two should never meet, he promised himself. It would be his end if they did.

Damian came back from school, thinking about Marinette. He wanted to call her after dinner. He knew her parents were gone for a week, so she probably won’t be sleeping until the early hour of the morning back in France.

He didn’t expect to find his family reunited at the dinner table, all looking solemn and worried.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Todd looked at him, handing him his phone. The youngest Wayne took it, seeing a video from the Ladyblog — the blog from Césaire, Marinette’s best friend.

“Take a seat and look at that.”

He really didn’t like the look on his brother’s face so he did just that. As he looked at the phone, the video waiting to be played, Damian suddenly got a bad feeling. He could feel knots in his guts and he looked up at his family once again.

Marinette has “met” Red Hood a few times on their video call. Todd thought it would be funny to crash his video call with his soulmate and to Damian’s misery, the two got along very well and were now thick as thieves.

Like her getting along with Drake wasn’t enough, she had to get along with Todd too.

He knew that Jason liked her a lot, and his face right now made him worry more than he would like.

He finally pressed play.

The video began like any others from the Ladyblog. Césaire explained the situation: a boy from their high school has been akumatized because he got bullied for his love of mangas and animes. The Akuma was named Animechara and his costume looked like this character from Naruto, the one with black hair and red eyes with a sword.

Damian watched, satisfied as Ladybug fought him. She took his advice to heart and took martial art classes. She was fairing very well and he couldn’t help but wonder how much she had progressed since the last time they sparred.

He watched as the Akuma took notice of Césaire.

He watched with dread as Ladybug and Chat Noir noticed that the Akuma’s attention shifted.

He watched as the cat-themed hero tried to distract Hawkmoth’s victim, only to get knocked a few feet away.

He watched with widened eyes as the Akuma threw the sword towards Césaire.

He gasped when Ladybug pushed her friend out of the way and she screamed from the pain as the sword impaled her.

Screams from Chat Noir, from Césaire and from the witnesses could be heard. There were a few more seconds of video, showing Ladybug on the ground, a pool of blood slowly appearing under her as Chat Noir tried to get a response out of her.

Then, the video stopped.

He was silent for a few moments before he looked at his family.

“Do-” he cleared his throat, trying to get his voice under control, trying to not show how worried, how scared he was. “Do we know if she’s ok?”

Todd shook his head and Damian didn’t wait for a verbal answer before he took his phone out, calling Marinette.

The dial tones seemed to last for hours for Damian, until, finally it stopped.

“Marinette! Are you-”

“Salut ! Vous êtes bien sur le répondeur de Marinette Dupain-Cheng ! Je ne suis malheureusement pas disponible pour le moment, mais laissez-moi un message et je vous rappellerai !” (Hi! You've reached Marinette Dupain-Cheng's voicemail! Unfortunately I'm not available at the moment, but leave me a message and I'll call you back!)

Dread settled in Damian and his stomach was in knots. He hung up, not leaving a message.

“I got her voicemail, she’s not answering.”

He tried to call her a second time but to no avail.

“Why- Why is she not answering?!”

He had to calm down. He could not panic. Marinette was probably fine, the Miraculous Cure healed every injury. She must not be near her phone, that must be it. She’s alive and healthy, and probably sketching in her room.

A hand to his shoulder almost made him jump, and he turned to see his father’s hard face.

“Go change into your costume. Take the Zeta tubes and go see her.”

“But, the zeta-”

“I know that we can’t use them just like that, but it’s an emergency. Go.”

He didn’t wait for his father to tell him a second time.

Marinette was in her bed, agonizing. The Miraculous Cure healed her after Chat ended the fight in record time and handed her the akumatized object, but as usual, the pain was still there.

The sword has impaled her right between her breast. Without her suit, she would have been dead in less than five minutes, but the miraculous’ magic kept her alive enough for her to purify the akuma and to cast the cure.

She didn’t tell Chat how much pain she was in. She told him goodbye after telling him to have a talk with Alya about her safety and went back home.

Thankfully, he didn’t try to get her to stay.

So, here she was, two hours after the fight, feeling like her chest was burning from the inside. She took painkillers an hour ago, but it didn’t work at all.

She was glad her parents weren’t home, she didn’t know how she could explain that to them without revealing her identity.

But, maybe she should. She would have to talk about it with Tikki first, and she knew that she wouldn’t approve at all, but the girl was the new Guardian, so she could set new rules if she wanted, right?

But it was a discussion for another time, she thoughts as she couldn’t hold back tears of pain. Right now, she wanted the pain to stop.

She felt guilty about the two phone calls she received. Her phone was on her desk, and the blue-eyed girl was in too much pain to move and answer it.

As she closed her eyes trying to sleep when she knew it wouldn’t come, she heard three knocks. Groaning, thinking it was Chat Noir, she opened her eyes, ready to tell him to go away.

But it wasn’t Chat Noir.

It was her soulmate.

“Robin?”

She could feel tears in her eyes once again. Both from her pain and from the happiness to finally see her boyfriend after five months apart.

Tikki flew up to open the skylight. With her tiny body, she only managed to open it a few inches, but it was enough for Robin to slip his finger in and lift it.

In a few seconds, he was by her side, his hand stroking her cheek. She could see the worry in his eyes.

“I saw the video on the Ladyblog. How are you feeling?”

She gave him a small, strained smile. Taking his hand in hers, she kissed his palm.

“The Miraculous Cure healed me but the pain is still there. It hurts so much.”

“Did you take something for the pain?”

She nodded. “It didn’t work.”

She saw him looking around.

“Do you have a heating pad or something? It won’t make the pain go away, but heat can appease it a little.”

She pointed at a dog plush at the end of her bed.

“It’s actually a… a bouillotte. You can put it in the microwaves.”

He frowned, trying to remember what a bouillotte was.

“Oh! A heat-storing cushion! But as a plush.” he smiled at her. “It’s cute.” He kissed her on the forehead and stroked her hair. “I’ll be right back.”

Robin came back from the kitchen after heating the plush. He handed her the dog plush and lied beside her, bringing her closer to him and resting his hand on her hip. He watched as she sighed when she put the plush on her chest. He could see she was still in great pain, but at least the heat appeased it a little.

She looked at him with eyes full of happiness, and he couldn’t understand how she could be so happy and in so much pain at the same time.

“Hey.” she stroked his cheek and kissed him on the lips. “I’m so happy to see you.”

His only answer was to kiss her again, longer this time. He hoped that she knew it meant he was happy to see her too.

“I wish it was in other circumstances, though.” he said after breaking the kiss.

“Yeah.”

He looked around, taking in her room.

She laughed.

“I know, it’s a lot of pink.”

“Yeah, but that’s totally you. Can’t say I’m surprised.”

She yawned.

He kissed her temple. Then, her jaw, her nose, her neck, and finally her lips.

“You should get some sleep.”

She nodded, grasping his cape, as if not wanting him to go.

He took the hand grasping the clothe in his, kissing the top of her head.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

He felt more than saw her nod and took her in his arms when she tried to get closer to him. he waited until the pattern of her breathing changed and he was sure that she was asleep before he closed his eyes too, taking in her scent.

He fell asleep five minutes after she did.

Tag List:

@bigpicklebananatree @animegirlweeb @crazylittlemunchkin @northernbluetongue @cutechip @justafanwarrior @iloontjeboontje @resignedcatservant @maribat-is-lifeblood @i-like-fairytail-and-stuff @toodaloo-kangaroo @mikantsume @dast218 @amayakans @zestyzealot @lunarwolfspn @corabeth11​ @marinettepotterandplagg​

#maribat #daminette #maridami #damian x marinette #ml x dc #miraculous x dc

[doodle-zombie]

Lamia Bonding #6: Coral Appreciation

Gotta say, I really love the boys I got from @vex-bittys and I think I feel confident enough in their personalities to, perhaps, make a fic about my lamia/bitty journey!

It was a productive evening. Valerie had finished a commission for several concept sketches in the latest contract she’d signed into and she had put the final touches on a larger piece she’d done freelance. She had even put something in the slow cooker for her and Currant to eat later since Marmalade was out hunting and would likely catch himself something to eat. There wasn’t much worry when her Chain went out to hunt since he was close to being the largest predator roaming the woods around her home. Currant was curled within the blanket nest she had set up when she was drinking her first cup of coffee that morning, following Marmalade waking her at a normal hour since she had a deadline. It wasn’t uncommon for her Coral to snatch up any comfortable spot she vacated.

The house was pretty quiet. She’d been so in the zone that the video playlist she’d queued had reached the end and autoplay was turned off.

Luckily, Val knew how to crush the silence and she was due to give Currant his favorite mustard chips to snack on. His snacking times were carefully regulated since she didn’t want him to get so big he couldn’t move but she didn’t want him to suffer either. Currant had developed a deep affection for his favorite chips and he loved when she made him sample platters so he could try new things dipped in mustard. It was about time for a break anyway and what better way to spend it than giving Currant some love.

She opened her music program and queued up a random playlist to fill the resounding silence before pushing away from the desk and shuffling towards the kitchen. Red eye lights followed her along but Currant made no move to follow… yet. It was a bit of a game to be played because Currant could be fairly lazy when he wanted and getting him to exercise was out of the question. But he could be convinced to do some things to keep him moving, so long as she was sneaky.

Currant knew what she was doing, of course. He wasn’t stupid. But he humored her more often than not.

The effort to keep him active was maximized today, however. A song that Valerie loved came on. Currant was small enough she could have just snatched him up but that would just make him less likely to indulge her. Instead, Val grabbed one of the pre-portioned bags of his snack and set it on the edge of the desk. The lemon-yellow color was immediately recognizable to Currant, whose red eye lights darted to where she was standing with her arms out towards him and where she had put the food.

He could bypass her entirely and get his snack with no consequences. Val never made them do anything but she especially let Currant know he could refuse at any point.

But if he refused her hands and went for his snack he would miss out on more one-on-one interaction with his human. Valerie would be disappointed and she would go back to work quicker. Marmalade wasn’t in the house to see if Currant did anything uncharacteristic for a Coral (not that the Chain cared, he just loved how anything Currant did made Val’s SOUL brighten).

Currant got up, grumbling as was expected of him, and slithered up to Val. He didn’t grab her hands, though. Just offered his own bare-boned phalanges and withheld the little quiver when she held him. There might not have been a bond between them just yet but Currant could feel just how proud she was, encouraging him to wrap around her so she could sway to the music. He had to maintain just the right amount of pressure to keep himself from falling but it wasn’t so rigorous that he would lose magic through sweat.

“I’m a little O.D.D.,” she sang, wrapping her arms around his ribs so he didn’t fall. “I see the way they look at me.”

Honestly, Currant had never met a human that went through so much trouble for a Coral. They were venomous, considered ill-tempered, and could be very distant to the inexperienced. But Valerie had been caring and understanding from the very moment she’d brought him home. Even though he wasn’t the only lamia in the house he still got more than enough affection and she wasn’t phased by even his grumpiest moments. He could hiss and spit all he wanted and her voice stayed gentle when she told him she’d leave him be until snack time. The house wasn’t the only place he could go, either. There were caves decorated around the outside that he could retreat to.

Valerie enjoyed the subtle weight of Currant around her, petting the back of his head and feeling the way he tensed and coiled whenever he thought he might slip. It was a trust exercise and he was doing awesome. When a few songs had passed she gathered the snack and Currant so they could collapse onto the sofa in a tangle of limbs and tail. There was a brief hiss of displeasure but nothing serious and she got the glorious privilege of hearing the happy purrs of Currant enjoying his snack.

Of course, Marmalade chose that moment to appear.

Unlike Currant’s carefully regulated snack times, Marmalade had free reign of the chocolate that he could find. Because Marmalade was much more active and spent a lot of time patrolling outside the house, he had absolute access to any food item he wanted in the house. He was careful to avoid whatever Currant liked best, the darling that he was.

“Such a sweet boy,” Val greeted, feeling the nuzzle against her temple before she had even seen her Chain. She could vaguely feel the relaxed emotions he was feeling and had no doubt he could tell that she was beyond ecstatic to have them both around. “Terrorized the local rabbits enough, eh?”

“For now,” was Marmalade’s smug reply.

Stars, he was going to be a menace to the wildlife when she adopted a Mamba…

#zombie writes #currant #marmalade #lamiatale #my precious boys <3

[beholdme]

All the Many Shades of Gerry - Chapter 19

Chapters: 19/19

Fandom: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Gerard Keay/Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, Martin Blackwood/Gerard Keay, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, Gerard Keay/Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist

Characters: Martin Blackwood, Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, Gerard Keay, Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives), Sasha James, Gertrude Robinson, Elias Bouchard

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Library AU, Librarian Jon, Artist Gerry, Trans Male Character, Trans Martin Blackwood, Canon Asexual Character, Asexual Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, Ace Subtype - Sex Positive, Polyamory, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Romantic Fluff, Falling In Love, Boys in Skirts, Kissing, Demisexual Gerard Keay, Minor Character Death, Past Character Death, Canon-Typical Child Neglect, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Flirting, Minor Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist/Tim Stoker, Adventures in Hair Dying, Happy Ending, Banter, Gerry has a lot of sass, Gerard Keay is Morticia Adams, Jon is a very grumpy Librarian, Martin adores them anyway.

Summary: In which Gerry is a kaleidoscope and Jon and Martin can’t help falling in love with him.

He happens to love them back.

Find it on Ao3

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]

"It’s skew.”

“Come and straighten it, then.”

“I’m spotting, you’re hanging.”

Gerry growls at him. Jon looks rather pleased about it.

Martin, who doesn’t want Gerry to hit their infuriating lover with a hammer, goes over to where he’s hanging the massive painting and tilts it minutely to the left. “Better?”

“Perfect!” Jon pronounces, clapping his hands.

Through some sort of witchcraft, the artist has hung the painting in such a position that it emulates where a window would be in a traditional room. It opens up the space in such a way that it seems less like a store room, and far more like a creative space that someone would actually enjoy spending time in.

The lightning helps too, warm light filtering from the ceiling and corner lamps, and LCD strips illuminating the bookshelves from inside.

All in all, considering this was a utilitarian storage space just a few weeks ago, it seems like a downright miracle.

The three of them lean back against Jon's desk, free of clutter for the first and only time in its life. The bookshelves are empty, and except for his new painting, so are the walls.

The piano occupies one wall, and Gerry hopes to hear it being played often.

Jon reaches out and takes Gerry's hand, drawing them close together affectionately. "How long have you been planning for us to move in?"

"Well, I wasn't planning, per se. Only considering the possibility." Gerry smirks confidently. "I know we're all a little bizarre, but this is the course of most relationships, and we could only spend so much time sleeping over before paying for three flats became superfluous."

"Besides," Martin continues for him. "There's no harm in planning for something you hope will happen eventually. Especially when your new flatmates will be this wildly good looking."

He gestures to himself dramatically, doing a small turn in place. Gerry and Jon laugh with him happily, until he stumbles back into Gerry's side, where he gets wrapped up under an arm.

"So do you like your new space, Jon?" Gerry cuddles around him, twisting the three of them into an odd sort of snuggle pretzel.

"I absolutely adore it." Jon utters happily, sighing in contentment as they all lean there together.

***

At the end of June, Jon hands over his keys and the three of them officially live together.

There's still a lot of settling to be done, even though they've been moving in together for almost six weeks by that point. The boxes are unpacked, but they still need to make it a comfortable home for all of them, a certainty that comes only with time.

Martin and Jon both love their studies, a matching pair that look and feel completely opposite.

Martin opts for a small bedroom, keeping the bed from his old flat, his painting hung opposite. He finds an antique writing desk at a charity store, and installs it for writing poetry or working on his laptop in the evenings.

He adorns the walls with pictures and posters, and random pieces of poetry and music that he loves.

It's a cozy space that he adores, even though he opts to sleep in the master bedroom almost always. The option makes him feel like he has his own breathing room, even if he rarely needs it.

Jon's is more of a true study, with a large desk taking up the majority of the space. His walls are lined with shelves, and he promptly fills them with books and knickknacks. The odd collection includes first edition classics, next to mass market paperbacks and music books, with non-fiction nature and animal books scattered throughout. These are interwoven with seashells, tiny mechanical statues and several flowers preserved in resin, gifts from Martin throughout their relationship.

On the wall above the piano, he hangs framed photos of his parents, himself with Gerry as a teen, and all three of them together as adults. The photo he once took of Martin, Gerry and Tim hangs right in the centre, all his favorite humans in one frame. He hangs the sketch of him and Martin in the park from when they were all courting, as well as the others he has stolen from Gerry over time.

Gerry embraces the chaos and upheaval as if it's all he ever wanted, and really, it is. A home, with the people he loves, noisy and frenetic, loving and comfortable.

In the middle of July, he quits his job at the bar in the middle of a shift, with very little contemplation or preamble.

He smiles at his lovers radiantly when he comes through the door several hours early to find them watching a movie.

"What happened?" Martin queries, clear concern lining his expressive face.

"I quit." Gerry flops down between them, snuggling down immediately.

"But why?" Presses a sleepy Jon, trying to hide a yawn behind his hand.

Gerry shrugs. "I got the job because I was bored, essentially. I wanted to interact with interesting people and I didn't know anyone in London anymore. But tonight I realized how badly I wanted to be right here, with you two." He smiles at them, trying to explain without conveying too many of his sappy emotions. "l honestly couldn't think of one reason to be working at midnight on a Saturday, instead of at home, or out on a date, or literally anything else we could be doing together. So I quit."

"Oh Gerry." Jon whispers, both of them carefully tuned to his moods, regardless of his attempts at seeming unconcerned.

"I don't feel the need to fill my time and chase inspiration anymore. I just want to be with you. Both of you." He kisses first Martin's hand, then Jon's, grinning at them all the way.

"I love you. I'm happy you're home." Jon whispers to him, sleepy and content.

Martin hums an agreement, squeezing his hand and smiling down at him lovingly.

They watch their movie and then go to bed all together, and Gerry knows he's made the best choice of his life.

***

Gerry finds himself with an odd amount of time on his hands while his partners go to work during the day, like normal people.

He decides to take on several art commissions from clients he's actually interested in working for, which thrills Gertrude. He doesn't think it entirely makes up for his boyfriend hitting Peter Lukas in the middle of a showcase, but it's a start.

He also indulges himself and buys a new tattoo machine.

He's not really interested in taking clients again, but… well, he wants it and so he gets it. If it's only to use on himself or the occasional visitor, then that's fine by him.

"You have everything you need to give tattoos now, right?" Martin asks him one early morning.

Gerry is still mostly asleep, clutching a cup of tea and petting Saturn where he perches on his lap. He blinks at Martin, confused.

"I think so. I mean, I haven't used my machine yet, but there's really only one way to test it out." Gerry tilts his head curiously, sunlight glittering in his hair, dyed back to its original black. "Why do you ask?"

"Do you want to give me one?" Martin grins at him a bit shyly.

Gerry sits up straight, instantly wide awake. "Yes. So much."

Martin laughs warmly. "You have the same look on your face that Luna gets when we take out the catnip toys."

Uncaring about how eager he might look, Gerry shoos Saturn to go over and kneel by Martin. "I would be honored to have your tattoo virginity. Do you want me to draw something?"

"Yes," Martin tells him with a grin, "that's exactly what I want. A Gerry Delano original, right on my skin."

"What do you want it to be?" Gerry's teal eyes are bright and slightly manic, and Martin glories in the sensation of producing a new reaction in his lover.

"It's entirely up to you." He responds, pressing a firm kiss to Gerry's mouth. "I want to see what makes you think of me."

"Oh, I like it." He declares, jumping up and going off to find a sketchbook.

Martin sips his tea and smiles to himself, very pleased indeed.

***

"You're just going to let him give you whatever he wants to?" Jon blanches when Martin tells him.

"Relax Jon, it's Gerry, not some evil mastermind. He'll draw something I like. And if I don't, it's not hard, I just tell him no."

Jon, who rather considers that Gerry is an evil mastermind, does not look convinced. "But…"

"Hush, love." Martin tells him firmly.

Gerry, drawing under the window nearby, takes no notice of them. He has a focused frown on his face as he concentrates on the careful lines appearing on his page.

Martin considers it a rare pleasure to just watch him draw, and tries to guess what might be forming on the page before him.

He completely trusts that Gerry knows him exactly well enough to draw him the perfect tattoo. And then he can have his own piece of Gerry, inked right into his skin.

When he sits back down with Jon and Martin a little later, he has a smudge of charcoal above his eyebrow, and Martin gently rubs it away before Gerry has a chance to start talking. He blushes quite uncharacteristically, and Martin knows it means he's been swirling in the frantic rush of his own creativity.

"So I have a proposal for you." Gerry starts, body humming with excitement. "A tattoo in two parts, if you will."

"Yeah?" Martin encourages him, just as interested.

Gerry collects Martin's hand in both of his own, running a thumb over a spot on his wrist. It's the same place that Jon has his own tattoo, which immediately makes Martin pleased. "A small crescent moon, right here. The placement to match with Jon, the symbol for Luna."

Gerry pushes a scrap of paper forward, an elegant crescent moon filling space.

"For the other…" Gerry turns over the larger page, handing it to Martin.

There's an immeasurable beat of silence as Martin contemplates the design before him. A set of waxing and waning moons, connected by a series of dots, lines and more dots making a background of geometric shapes.

He… feels it. He understands now, what Jon had meant, when he described seeing the inspiration for his own tattoo for the first time. It's a representation of some inner part of himself, normally hidden from the world, but carefully unearthed for his lovers, over the course of many months and endless intimacy.

"Martin?" Gerry entreats, leaning minutely closer to him.

"I love it." He whispers, pulling the goth over to kiss him fiercely. They tangle together pleasantly, for several moments, everything else falling away as they get absorbed in each other.

"Not that anyone asked me, but I like it as well." Jon informs them pertly.

"Your opinion is as important to us as ever, baby." Gerry replies, grinning proudly. He turns back to Martin. "Where do you want it?"

Martin considers for a moment, before getting up and pulling off his shirt and jumper, leaving himself bare from the waist up. He still feels a small pang of shyness to be naked in any way, but confidence born of time and perspective drown most of it away now.

He and Gerry stand facing each other. Martin lifts the other man's hand, placing it on his sternum, over his softly pounding heart.

"Right here?" Gerry asks, voice soft.

"Right here." Martin affirms.

***

In the end, Gerry takes them over to Melanie's tattoo shop to work on Martin. He lists a number of reasons, but really, he finds a certain amount of comfort working under the stark lights and amid the buzzing of other machines.

They do the small tattoo first, and Martin sits for it exceptionally well.

Before Gerry starts the sternum piece, an endeavor of several hours, Georgie arrives and drags Jon off to drink coffee and catch up in a nearby coffee shop. Melanie goes into the next room to take another client, and Gerry and Martin are left alone together.

"Ready, love?" Gerry asks as he finishes placing the stencil, bisecting his chest.

"I'm nervous," Martin confesses softly.

Gerry doesn't move his gloved hands, not wanting to contaminate them, but he does press their foreheads together gently, taking a moment to sooth Martin with his companionship.

"Do you want to take a break? You can just sit with the stencil for a while." Gerry leans forward and places a swift kiss on Martin's nose, before retreating from his personal space.

"No, I'm ready." He smiles, biting his lip a little. "I just- I feel like this is a big moment, you know?"

"It is. You're embracing who you really are." Gerry runs a finger along one of Martin's chest scars, considering. "You're choosing to love yourself instead of just tolerating him."

"How can you always tell?" Martin whispers the words, voice heavy with emotion. "How can you put things into words like that, so simply."

"I know you. You think I don't see when you avoid looking in the mirror. You hope I don't notice that you used to hate being naked, even with Jon and I." Gerry pauses, tripping Martin's head up with the tip of a finger, minimizing contact still. "But I see you, Martin. I love you just the way you are. And I want you to love yourself just the same. I'll tell you everyday, show you constantly, if I need to."

Martin is crying for real now, tears streaming down his face. Gerry abandons his sterility, pulling Martin into his arms. He rocks his lover gently, and they are just together for a moment, no need to rush, no distractions. Just them, and the comfort they find in each other.

"I love you too." Martin tells him simply, when they pull apart.

"Good," Gerry grins, kissing him thoroughly, the taste of salty tears on his lips. He stands, pulling off his ruined gloves and going to wash his hands again.

Martin takes a sip of the tea Jon made him before he left, smiling because Jon always makes it with a little more sugar than he allows himself. "I'm ready."

When Jon returns, they're just finished up, the last few moments of buzzing filling the air. He watches them together, artist and canvas, and loves them fiercely.

"How was coffee with Georgie?" Martin queries, taking his offered hand.

Jon relays the details as Gerry finishes, and then cleans up.

Jon and Gerry stand on either side of Martin in the mirror as he looks at it for the first time. Martin nods wildly, when Jon asks if he likes it, and they hug him from either side as he sheds a few more tears.

Jon had once thought that tattoos seemed very boring in comparison to Gerry's normal work, but seeing the design come alive on Martin's skin, full of feeling and depth, he can't help but think of it as the best thing his lover has ever done. Gerry can't help but agree.

"Let's go to the park!" Martin exclaims as they leave, after saying their goodbyes to Georgie and Melanie.

"The park?" Jon asks, laughing. "It's so windy."

"I don't care, I want to feed the ducks and eat ice cream with my boyfriends." He insists, giddy with happiness and adrenaline.

"Okay, but you're picking the flavours this time." Gerry says, taking one of Martin's hands. Jon takes the other.

"Deal."

***

Jon and Gerry find themselves watching Martin once again feed ducks as they sit beneath a tree, more than a year after the very first time.

"Why don't we come to the park more often?" Jon asks from where he reclines between Gerry's long legs.

His arms snake around his waist, and Jon feels very content and comfortable, despite the cutting wind.

"Because," Gerry kisses under an ear softly, "we live in England and it rains more than 100 days a year."

"He looks so happy here." They watch as Martin stoops to offer a piece of bread to a curious toddler. The child is inordinately pleased, and her mother watches on gratefully from nearby as they feed the rowdy birds together.

"Are you happy?" Gerry asks him, unexpectedly serious. "With your life, with me?"

"Gerry! Of course I'm happy with you." Jon sits up, turning in the tangle of Gerry's limbs to face him.

"I'm only checking on you." He runs a gentle finger down Jon's face, then cups his cheek affectionately. "I know how much stress work puts you under and I hate that for you."

Jon looks away from his intent gaze, fiddling with his fingers nervously. "Well, yeah. My job sucks. The worst part is, I love being a librarian! Being surrounded by books, helping people choose something to read or guiding them with their research. But that's so little of my job now, and Elias just finds new and interesting ways to put pressure on me. But I'm not qualified and I know I probably won't get another job in a library, especially not without a glowing recommendation from Elias-"

"And we both know that's never going to happen." Gerry finishes for him.

Jon nods and they just sit together a moment. Gerry lifts one of his hands and kisses each of his fingers and then his palm, until Jon blushes and smiles at him.

"I know you think it's annoying, so you keep your feelings about work inside, a lot of the time. I don't want you to do that anymore, okay? If you have a terrible job, then we all carry that."

"But-"

"Nope, no buts. We are all partners. That means more then dinner dates and living together and sex."

"And punching rich fuckers who hurt our Martin."

Gerry laughs, still reveling in Jon's unexpected protectiveness- and the violent manifestation of it. "Yes, that too. There will be other jobs, for all of us, probably. But our relationship, the three of us. We're forever."

"Like those tattoos that you gave Martin today?" Jon asks, pert glint in his eye.

"Yes, much like that." He smirks brazenly back. "And the one I gave you, and the ones I've given myself, over the years."

Gerry continues, squeezing Jon's hand, "I know that the idea of not being able to provide for yourself scares you, but we're in this together now. You don't have to cling to a job that you hate in case you're left without one at all."

"I-" Jon looks away, uncomfortable to be so well understood. Gerry stits with him, energy easy between them, just holding his hand, loving and supportive.

"I have been considering, that is, maybe becoming a school teacher." The confession is halting, and he offers it with a small shy smile.

"I think that's a wonderful idea." Gerry responds, gentle encouragement colouring his voice.

"I would probably have to go back to school for a year. Get a post-grad in Education. I wouldn't be working for most of that time, and my savings will only go so far, even without having to pay rent." Jon whispers, as if the words will be any less offensive to him if they are quiet.

"You know I can float you, especially for just a year. And Martin too."

"It just doesn't seem fair to burden you with that."

"It's not a burden, it's a part of life. You think you're so old, that you should be settled, but you're barely 30, Jon. You still have time to make new life choices occasionally, and the point of being in a relationship is that you let us support you every now and then." Gerry is earnest and focused, and Jon can't help but believe him, long fingers cupping his face and teal eyes holding his gaze.

Martin arrives then, plonking down next to Jon and giving him a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"What are we talking about then? Such serious faces."

Gerry nudges Jon, who haltingly offers Martin the same idea he told Gerry.

“Oh, I think that’s a great idea.” He says, eyes alight. “Like, high schoolers, right?”

“Yes, of course. Anyone under 10 is an alien and I don’t want to hear any arguments.”

They laugh at him, their contentment surrounding him warmly.

"You don't have to quit right away." Martin offers. "There are plenty of part time degree programs, and you have to apply first. It all takes time."

"You seem pretty clued up about it." Jon observes, narrowing his eyes at Martin suspiciously.

"Well, if you must know. I've been thinking about getting a business degree."

"Oh my God! Martin, how is this the first we're hearing about this?" Gerry demands, sitting up straight.

"I didn't want it to be a thing until I was sure, and the move was over." He confesses, "It's gonna take a lot of my free time and I wanted to discuss that with you both carefully."

"I'm gonna be living with two thirty year old students." Gerry mutters, shocked. He leans back against the tree again, running his fingers through his long hair.

"I haven't agreed yet-" Jon starts.

Martin speaks up at the same time. "You could get a degree too. We could all be students together."

"No, but thanks anyway." Gerry shudders, grimacing. He perks right back up. "I'll be your sexy study partner though."

"Gerard!" Jon cries, scandalised.

Gerry shakes his head. "As if I've never felt you up while you were trying to study for a test."

"Exactly!" Even Jon struggles to keep up his prim expression at that, and they tumble into pleasant laughter together.

"So," Martin hazards, "are we gonna do this?"

"Well, if you're going to. I suppose we should both get it done at the same time." Jon responds, still hesitant but clearly warming to the idea. "You're really okay with this, Gerry?"

Gerry beams at them both, a soft, special look in his eyes. "I'm more than okay with anything you want to do with your lives. In case you haven't noticed, I'm really very fond of you both."

Jon leans forward in the circle of Gerry's legs, pressing their lips together in a gentle kiss, before turning back to lay against his chest.

Martin shifts around to lean into his side, and Gerry tucks one arm around him, the other around Jon. Jon reaches out to take one of Martin's hands, and the three of them sit wrapped up together.

As ever, their own mutual magnetism draws them forever closer and closer, binding them to one another in an inexplicable tangle of love and affection.

"Do you think it will always be like this, between us?" Martin whispers gently, as the sun begins to set and the landscape sets ablaze before them.

"Probably not," Jon responds, voice warm and content. "Life will keep shifting like a tide, and we'll move with it, but the great thing about us is- we're moored together. Nothing can keep us apart, because what we have is stronger than whatever shifts and eddies might try to take us away."

"The gravity between us is fiercer than any storm, any disaster that might try to shake us." Gerry picks up Jon's train of thought, pulling them both minutely closer.

"Good," Martin says simply, fiercely in love and the happiest he's ever felt.

They watch the sun as it drops below the horizon, sometimes quiet and occasionally sharing some errant thought or another.

They eat ice cream on the way home, holding hands and laughing.

It's warm, and soft and peaceful.

And they're all, finally, home.

#the magnus archives #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #gerry keay #jongerrymartin #fic #also on ao3