#at this point im not even worried about my recommendation letter i have three others already | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dork-empress · 3 years

Text

Singing In The Dead Of Night Ch 2

Harley and Barman set up a playdate for their wards.

forgive the long post, i'll edit and clean it up when im home. chapter can also be found on my ao3, url in the description.

Harley made it back home, which was actually the manor of some billionaire who only really used the house for tax purposes. Harley had taken it over when Lucy came to live with her, deciding she needed more room, and they quickly changed it to suit their needs.

“Luuuucyyyy, I’m hooooome,” Harley called out to the manor, heading through the living room/gymnasium.

Lucy was balancing on the beam by her hands. “Never heard that one before.” She went into the splits and stayed on one hand.

Harley looked over her form. “Point your toes more...there ya go.” Lucy did as recommended. “I got candy for dinner!” She dumped her stolen lollipops on the table.

“I already ate, Aunt Harley,” she said, “I made extra pasta if you want.” She pointed over to the kitchen, before switching hands and flipping herself over.

“Oh,” Harley said, going over to make a plate, but feeling like ants were crawling in her skin. “You know, you don’t have to call me your aunt when it’s just the two of us,” She said, swirling her fork through the noodles.

Lucy shrugged, “Force of habit. Plus it’s a good idea in general, ya know, in case someone’s secretly listening in or we mess up some other time.”

Harley shrugged her shoulders. “Makes sense,” and it did, but it still kind of hurt. “You can have the lollipops for dessert though. You like cherry?” She tossed her the red candy.

Lucy looked down at the wrapper a second. “Can’t, I’m allergic to the red dye.”

“Oh,” Harley said, silently cursing herself. That was something that mothers should know about their kids, allergies and crap. “Well. Lemon then?”

“Sure!” They traded the lollipops, and Harley sucked on hers between bites of the pasta. Sweet and savory combined, delicious.

Lucy swung her legs as she sat on the beam. “Does...my father have any allergies?”

Harley blinked at her. Did Joker have any allergies? It was hard to say. Even now, Harley didn’t know a lot about the Joker. That’s how he liked it. “Best not to talk about it,” she said instead, “In case of those listening things or whatever.”

Lucy hummed, but didn’t seem satisfied. “Hey,” Harley said, trying to distract her from the ‘dad’ talk, “You wanna go out with me tomorrow?”

Lucy brightened, jumping a bit, “Where are you gonna go?”

“I dunno,” she said, “Go lookin’ for trouble. Let the trouble find me. Punch out a couple people but only if they REALLY deserve it!” And maybe if they only kinda deserved it, Harley thought.

Lucy hummed again, thinking. “I dunno. I think violence often begets further violence, and while it is occasionally necessary, efforts should focus more on the community building and personal improvement area.”

Harley blinked at her. Right, she was a reader, Delia had mentioned that. Not unlike Harley at her age, really, although Harley had focused on psychoanalysis instead of philosophy. “Ah, of course,” she said, “Well, what do you wanna do?”

Lucy thought for a second. “Well, there was this girl I wanted to go inspire to fight her eating disorder.”

“Oh,” Harley said nodding. It was a noble cause, really, but...also seemed really, really boring. “I...sure!” she smiled.

The truth was, when Lucy came out to live with Harley full time, she had really thought they would be a lady dynamic duo, a proper partnership mother/daughter team. But Lucy wasn’t much like Harley. Or, she was but, she was different, a goody two-shoes. Or, a goody tutu. Ha.

More than that, she followed a strange sense of logic that was oddly reminiscent of...Harley didn’t even finish the thought.

“You don’t want to go, do you?” Lucy asked.

“Hmm? Of course I do!” Harley said, “I��d do anything with you sweetheart,” she gave Lucy a wink, then went to the kitchen to hide her facial expression.

She didn’t see that Lucy had followed her until she was directly behind her. “Oh, Jesus!” She said, clutching her heart, “Gotta look out there, sweetie. Almost brained ya!”

“Is Dad like me at all?” she asked, head tilted to the side.

Harley blinked at her. She felt like her bones were shaking inside her skin. “Why would you ask a thing like that?”

Lucy spun a little in place making her tutu swish. “I’ve been reading about him. People think he’s crazy. I mean, he says it. But that’s not what your records say.”

Harley frowned, backing away as though physical distance would get her out of the conversation. “What’re you goin through my records for? What, are you a snoop?”

“They got published after one of your arrests,” Lucy said, “Other people were more interested in the little notes you left in the margins, but--”

“Alright, stop.” Harley said, hand clutching her lollipop stick so tight it might break. “Look, Mr...your father is mean and cruel and manipulative, and nothing like you! He wants to drive other people crazy, and for some people, self included, he succeded. But I grew out of it as best I could and now...you don’t need to worry about him, ok? He ain’t ever gonna know about ya, and he ain’t ever gonna find ya. Got it?”

Lucy hesitated a second and there was something strange in her eyes. Something familiar. “Got it,” she finally said.

Harley lightened, smiling at her. “Why don’t we play a game or somethin? You like Monopoly? I make up my own rules!”

Lucy smiled, “That sounds nice,” she said, all bright again. As they set up the game, Lucy said, “You don’t have to come with me tomorrow, by the way. I can take care of myself.”

“You sure?” Harley asked. Lucy nodded. For the rest of the evening, Harley felt like something was…off.

She slipped the burner phone out of her pocket. She typed, ‘Wanna set up a playdate?’

“She called it a WHAT?!” Damian said, nose wrinkled in disgust.

“Aww,” Tim said, over by the batcave computer, “Little Damian’s got a plaaayydaaate.”

“I will end you, Drake.” Damian snarled, fingers twitching for his sword.

“Enough,” Bruce interrupted the both of them. “Damian, if it helps you can think of it as a mission.”

“I thought I was forbidden from Robin duties for the next two months.” Damian said, arms crossed.

Bruce groaned. “Harley has taken in a ward, her niece Lucy. She has some petty crime charges, but from my recon, she’s not a villain. Harley wants her to spend time with someone her age, and I need someone who will watch over her.”

“Watch out for her, or watch out because of her?” Damian asked, scowling.

“Oooh, good question,” Tim said, still at the computer. “Hey, how come you didn’t set me up with vigilante kids?”

“Because you found them on your own,” Bruce shot back, “Look. Damian, you just have to spend the day with her. Follow her around, help her out as long as it’s not hurting anyone. Don’t let her get killed. Invite Jon if you want.”

“Uggh, Jon’s off world with his Dad,” Damian said.

“Oh right,” Bruce said, massaging his temple. “Why do interdimensional crises have to happen at the worst times?”

“Why is it we need a plural for interdimensional crisis?” Tim asked.

Bruce gave him a side glance to let him know he was coming up on the line that breached from ‘annoying’ to ‘problem Bruce will deal with.’ “Damian…”

“Fine, I’ll do it,” he said, “But I won’t be her friend by you forcing us.”

“Fine.”

They met up with Harley at a neutral location downtown on top of a party goods store. “Hiya Batsy, Hey Bird Boy!”

Despite himself, Damian liked Harley. She was usually of a like mind about which villains did or didn’t deserve to live, but he didn’t tell Batman that. “Harley,” Batman said, “Where’s your niece?”

“Just doin some high-wire practice.” Harley said, “Lucy-goosey!”

From the side of the building, a girl faulted up from where she was hanging on the flagpole. A girl wearing a tutu and white paint. “Nice to meet you, Batman,” Lucy said, “Aunt Harley’s told me….a lot of mixed things.”

“YOU!” Damian said, before he could stop himself, and all three of the others turned to him.

Lucy trotted forward on her tiptoes. “Have we met?” She asked, tilting her head, and looking him up and down.

Damian swallowed. “Uhh….”

“Blackbird!” Lucy said, and swooped him up into a hug, “Oh, I knew you were a Robin, why’d you lie to me?”

“Blackbird, huh?” Batman said, and he couldn’t see, but he knew there was a very pointed eyebrow being raised at him.

Damian, still being swung like a ragdoll by Lucy, tried to gain his balance. “I didn’t...I mean I wasn’t…”

“We’ll talk about this later,” Batman said, “You kids go on, I have something to talk about with Harley.”

“Kids?!” Damian said, offended, especially that he was going to be left out of whatever this conversation was. But in doing so, he left himself vulnerable as Lucy pulled on his cowl to the edge of the building.

“Come on, birdy, whatever color you are. The city awaits!” And she jumped from the roof, grappling on outcroppings to reach the street safely. Damian grumbled, but eventually followed.

Harley looked to Batman, and her face fell. “He’s out there, isn’t he?”

Batman gave one slow nod.

Lucy skipped everywhere. It was very irritating, because it was faster than walking, but slower than running, so hard to keep pace. Also,it was just very perky, which made it hard to sulk.

Lucy claimed she had deliveries to make around town. Something about girls who were bullies in high school and were treating others poorly, but it was only because of the societal pressures that were put on young girls of America and...and thats about where Damian lost interest.

She carried a cartfull of boxes like a damn girlscout, and left them on the girls doors. Damian could have followed in his sleep...except there was something about one of the boxes….

“What’s in that one?” Damian asked as she brought it to the next home.

“Huh?” Lucy said, “Same thing as in all of them, some cookies, a letter, balloons of course and--”

“It’s beeping,” Damian said.

“What?”

Damian didn’t wait any longer, he grabbed the box out of her arms and tossed it as high into the sky as he could, tackling her to the ground. The box then exploded.

Lucy gasped in excitement, clapping her hands together. “Birdy, look at it! It’s fireworks!”

Damian growled, jumping off of her and taking out his sword. “I knew it, I knew you were up to no good.”

Lucy tilted her head. “Whatcha talkin about, Birdy?”

“You--” He pointed to where the box was still smoldering. “You were going to put a BOMB on that girl’s doorstep!”

“I didn’t put that there,” Lucy said, getting up with no care of the sword pointed at her.

“You-” Damian stammered. “What?”

Lucy bent down and picked up a scrap of paper from the ruins. “Change of plans for the evening, Birdy!” Lucy said, “We’re going puzzling!”

She tossed the paper at him and he grabbed it quickly. It read ‘I’ve the tallest of trunks and thickest of stumps, a switch in the breeze, but I’m no tree. What am I?’”

They came quickly to the elephant pasture at the zoo. Damian couldn’t help it, he held out his hand for the elephant. She reached out her trunk and wrapped it around him. He couldn’t help but laugh.

Her baby came forward this time, trotting on new steps. He was already the size of a small horse, but he stole Damian’s heart all the same. He tried to bowl Damian over like a large puppy, and Damian couldn’t help but laugh. “Didn’t know you could laugh, Birdy,” Lucy said, kneeling over a shady patch in the enclosure.

Damian’s scowl returned. “Stop calling me ‘Birdy,’” he said, “You can just say ‘Robin,’ if you want.”

“But aren’t there other Robins?” Lucy said, fiddling with something, “I’d love to call you something unique to you.”

“There’s already a Blackbird, you know.” Damian said, continuing to pet the baby elephant.

“There is?” Lucy asked, “Picking a superhero name is HARD. I’m still trying to get Commedia to stick. You know, like, Commedia del arte? But I’ll end up getting called ‘Tutu girl’ or something if I don’t watch out.”

Damian gently pushed the elephant away, seeing what she was doing. She was hands deep in another box like the one they’d found in her cart. “Careful, it could be another bomb.”

“Fireworks,” Lucy corrected, “and I already diffused it.”

Damian leaned down, looking. She had indeed done so, quite efficiently. “How did you know to do that?”

Lucy smiled, “An uncle of mine taught me. You’ll meet him.” She dug further into the box. “I wouldn’t mind some more fireworks, but I don’t want to scare the elephants.” She pulled out another slip of paper.

“This has all the hallmarks of The Riddler,” Damian said, “We have to be careful. He might have bombs all over the city.”

“Fireworks!” Lucy corrected again, “And, probably. See, we already have the next clue!” She waved the paper and read out “Can you hear me make a sound, only when you are around.”

“Of course you can only hear things when you’re around.” Damian said, frowning.

“But only when someone’s around does it make a...Oh!” Lucy said, jumping to her feet, “An echo! We have to go somewhere there’s an echo!”

Damian sighed, “I have an idea.”

Technically they weren’t IN the Bat cave. They were at a far entrance to it, another end of the cave system. So he wasn’t breaking any rules. “Hey, is that Wayne Manor?” Lucy asked. “I tried to break in there once, but they have some crazy rich person security system.”

“Funny that.” Damian said, trying to seem completely ordinary.

Lucy stood at the edge of the cave and yelled into it. “ECHO!” listening for the echo in return. She skipped into the cave, humming all the way, the sound bouncing off as she went.

“Lucy?” Damian said, following her, “Don’t go too far, there’s all sorts of--” He heard a squeal and rushed forward.

He stopped short, his flashlight falling on Lucy. She waved at him to put it down, squinting. “Look here!” She brushed aside some dirt to find some rusted over metal. “Isn’t it fascinating! This cave system must go on for miles! Maybe people hid treasure there!”

“It’s just the old mining system,” Damian said, truthfully. “It’s all blocked off.”

“That can’t be hard to undo,” Lucy said, intrigued by whatever lay beyond.

Damian grabbed her hand before she could continue. “We have to catch the Riddler. There has to be another package here.”

Lucy sighed, but nodded. She took his arm with the flashlight and swung him around the cave. “Ah! There.”

She took the package and skipped out of the cave. “Careful!” Damian urged. “Come on, just diffuse it.”

“Nope, not these ones.” She tossed the package high in the sky, and Damian saw the fireworks light up.

He felt his phone buzzing, no doubt Tim could hear an explosion out here, not to mention Alfred. They’d come investigating fast enough. He leaped up, grabbing the fallen slip of paper, and grabbed Lucy again to pull her along. He read it quickly and passed it to her as he made his way away. “Even in the city scape, nature comes to take its place.” Lucy read. “It must be the park!”

“No,” Damian said, still pulling her, “I mean, yes, that is the answer to the riddle, but that’s not where we’re going.” He texted the police to inform them of the location of the hidden package so they could diffuse it, and dragged Lucy away.

The original Gotham Ice Cream shop was one of the oldest remaining buildings in Gotham, although was clearly closed for the night.

Damian saw a flash of green from the kitchens and rushed inside, finding none other than the Riddler standing there. “Stand down, Riddler,” Damian said, holding out his sword, “We’ve got you now!”

Riddler snarled, backing into a defensive stance. “Robin! How did you possibly find me?”

Damian smirked, “The beginning of each clue was clearly spelling out your final location. I-C-E. I didn’t need to follow 5 more clues to figure that out.”

Riddler cursed. “Those clues weren’t for you! They were for--!”

Lucy came skipping up to join Damian. “Hi, Uncle Eddy!”

“Lucille!” Riddler said, immediately warming. “I had so many sights around Gotham for you to see, why’d you go skipping to the end?”

Lucy skipped up to him, and Damian was once again left dumbfounded. “My friend Birdy here isn’t much for riddles, I think,” she said, “Although he enjoyed the elephants! And he knew about the mining carts in the caves, I want to explore those later.”

‘Uncle Eddy’ hugged Lucy, and Damian came to his senses, “THIS is your uncle?!”

Lucy shrugged, “I mean, that’s what I call him. I met him when I was visiting Aunt Harley a few years ago.”

“I heard you had moved to Gotham full time,” Riddler said, “I wanted to be sure you saw the sights. But the bat-brats have to ruin everything I suppose.” Riddler glared at him, and he glared right back.

“I don’t-” Damian started, but cut himself off, “You can’t just be leaving BOMBS around the city!”

“Fireworks!” Lucy and Riddler both corrected.

“Whatever! They’re explosive and they’re dangerous!” Damian hated having to be the safety one. It felt wrong.

Riddler rolled his eyes. “He’s just as much a barrel of laughs as the big one.”

“Aw, he’s sweet, really,” Lucy said, coming over to Damian and linking their arms. “Aunt Harley and Batman set us up on our own little playdate.”

“It is NOT!” Damian said, squirming away from her, “It is NOT a playdate.”

“Uncle Eddy, can my friend Birdy have some Ice Cream too?” Lucy asked, ignoring him.

Riddler and Damian glared again. “Fine.” He pushed his own bowl of ice cream towards Damian and went to get his own. “It’s MYSTERY flavor!”

Damian looked at it hesitantly as Lucy sat down to enjoy. Riddler went back to the kitchen. “It’s coconut,” Lucy said, “But Uncle Eddy likes to think it’s a mystery, so I let him.”

Damian frowned at her. “You’re really weird.”

“Thank you!” Lucy said, patting the seat beside her. “Come on, even you had to admit you had fun today.”

Damian thought about the elephants, and skipping around with Lucy, and watching the fireworks at the mouth of the cave, and seeing her all excited about mining carts for some reason. “Fine,” he said, “But it’s NOT a playdate.”

“Alright, alright,” Lucy said, digging into her ice cream. “Just a regular date then.”

“I--” Damian started, his head exploding with so many protests that he ended up just short circuiting. Lucy continued chowing down on ice cream like she didn’t say anything of importance. So, Damian just sat beside her, and ate his own.

#lucy quinzel #damian wayne #batman #harley quinn #dc fanfic

29 notes · View notes

theonlygamergost · 4 years

Text

A tattoo for a lost bet - Fd!au (1/3)

This fanfiction is based on the Family Dynamic au made by @antarctic-bay if you would like to know more, go check them out!!!

Also please bear in mind that the things written in this might not be canon!

This fic was corrected by the lovely @im-default

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

Techno and Skeppy bet on stupid things, and sometimes their bets can have very severe consequence if lost.

If you want to, look at what Minetra’s desing of Techno tattoo

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

Tw! Betting, swearing. Btw, this is very long

Next part --->

Enjoy~

Childhood friends usually have that one thing they used to do or say when they were young, maybe even a habit they caught together and never got rid of. Techno and Skeppy used to bet on the stupidest things when they were young… Well, they still do bet on the stupidest things, but there is a difference from when they were young: they have some money now.

It was very normal for them to bet a couple of dollars on the stupidest things.

“My bus is going to arrive earlier than yours” Bet

“I’ll finish my homework before you” Bet

“I’m betting that you can’t finish your burger before I do” You’re on.

And these are just some examples, they really betted on everything, and Techno won half of them.

That’s why Skeppy stopped betting too much money when playing with him, literally half of Techno’s income was his won bets against him.

That’s why Techno barely stepped down from a bet coming from Skeppy, he was so confident that he also would bet the stupidest things to gain some dollars.

They didn’t bet only money though, they bet other things like objects or small things they had to do if they lost.

And honestly, Techno was so confident he could win a 1v1 in Minecraft against Skeppy, even though if he lost, he had to get a tattoo.

He hadn’t played in a few days due to all-nighters for last-minute tests, but Skeppy was worse than him anyway, it would have been fine… Right?

“You should get something edgy... like a skull!”

“I hate you”

Skeppy laughed as they stood in the waiting room of a tattoo place in town, Techno had lost the bet, and now, he had to get a tattoo.

“Look, you’re lucky I didn’t specify what tattoo you had to get” Techno took off his glasses and allowed his head to fall into his hands, “I know, if it was for you I’d have a dick tattooed on my forehead” Skeppy laughed again, Techno just exhaled in exasperation, out of all of the times he had to lose a bet, why this one?

The customer before them got up and entered what they guessed was the studio, Techno tensed up a little bit

“Do you already have an idea of what you’re getting? I’m pretty good at suggestions” He announced proudly placing his hands on his hips, gaining a death stare from Techno. “You are the last person I’d ask for a suggestion” Skeppy whispered “Ouch” before both of them smiled.

“To answer your question, yes, I do have something in mind”

I mean… after passing an entire night up, looking at tattoo ideas, he had an idea of what he could get, he just couldn’t find a photo or a drawing of what he wanted.

“By the way… “ Skeppy slipped his phone out of his hoodie, “... did you tell Phil about this?”

He froze

Skeppy noticed

“Don’t tell me… “ The boy with the light blue hoodie didn’t finish the question, scared of the answer.

Techno sighed…

and nodded.

“OH MY GOD TECHNO!!!” Skeppy bounced out of his seat, “ I THOUGHT YOU TOLD PHIL ABOUT THIS!!!” Techno gestured at him to be quiet, Skeppy sat back down.

“Phil would have never agreed to this! I had to do this without telling anyone” The customer and the Tattooist came out of the studio, “Plus, I’m doing this somewhere I can hide it pretty easily” he reassured, but mostly himself.

“Dude, you sound like you’re getting it on your butt” Techno pushed him lightly in response.

As the customer left, the tattoo artist came up to them and asked who of the two were here to get tattooed, Techno took a deep breath and got up.

No turning back now

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

“I applied a layer of petroleum jelly and put on a bandage, you’ll have to keep it for about twenty-four hours” Techno carefully listened to the tattooist after stepping out of the studio, “To avoid getting an infection, wash it with an antimicrobial soap and water, you can find it in any store, I recommend patting it dry instead of scratching it, put vaseline on it and keep it moisturized,” Skeppy was comfortably sitting on the couch, half-listening to what they were saying.

“For how long do I have to do this? Techno gently placed a hand on his left shoulder, “It’s a pretty big tattoo so...about four weeks” Skeppy’s eyes widened, p-pretty big? Four weeks? What in the hell did Techno get?

“Remember to do the whole process two times a day and don’t expose it to the sun, if you ever have any questions or insecurities, come see me kid, no worries.” Techno politely thanked him and gestured at Skeppy to follow him out, oh boy did Skeppy have questions for him.

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

“THERE WAS NO NEED TO GET IT THAT BIG!!!” Skeppy freaked out when Techno had told him the tattoo went from his left shoulder all the way to his elbow, he could have just gotten a letter or a dot and it would have been fine for him.

“To be honest, I was thinking of getting it smaller, but then the tattooer showed me a design he drew and… “ Rubbing the back of his head, he explained to Skeppy what happened in the studio while he was deciding what to get tattooed. Skeppy calmed down hearing his friend happy about the choice he had made, hoping that he wasn’t going to regret it later.

“By the way… can I see it? Now you’ve made me curious!” Techno shook his head and Skeppy frowned in disappointment.

“I can’t show it right now, the bandages are on it and I can’t take them off for a day, maybe tomorrow at school” Techno smiled subtly, he will never admit this but he couldn’t wait to show Skeppy his tattoo.

Making their way to the bus stop, they shared earbuds to listen to some music, right now they were using Techno’s phone meaning that Monstercat was playing it their ears, specifically, “Call me” by Subtact.

But the music was just a background to fill in an eventual moment of silence, they had been talking since they left the coffee shop and the tattoo argument never left the conversation.

“Would you ever get a tattoo Skeppy?” Techno asked curiously, walking side by side with his best friend, his hands were casually placed in his hoodie’s pockets.

The brown-haired boy had his hands behind his head in a very anime-like pose, “Maybe, I think it would be way smaller than yours though” the sky over the city was grey, the sun’s light was barely able to pass through the immense stretch of clouds, summer was ending and school had already started.

The two young boys arrived at the bus stop and kept chatting until their ride home arrived, Techno’s bus arrived first so they waved their goodbye’s and went their own way.

While looking outside of the window, he started thinking about how to avoid any possible questions about the bandages in the bathroom that his brothers could find.

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

He opened the front door to find two brothers playing cards on the coffee table, both of them too absorbed in the game to greet him.

“What are you guys doing?” Techno passed next to them to go leave his bag into his room, “Waiting for you to get home, dinner is ready and Phil won’t be coming home until later” Wilbur spoke up, eyes fixed on his cards, “Don’t disappear Technoblade, I just need to heat the food and we can eat” Techno nodded and entered his room, opening his backpack to grab out the bandages and soap he bought before parting ways with Skeppy, he knew there was vaseline somewhere in the bathroom and Will had a moisturizing cream he never admits he has and uses, there was no point in buying them since they were at home already, he could just borrow them.

After taking his shoes off and slipping in his slippers, he exited his room to sit at the counter to eat with Wilbur and Tommy, placing his glasses by his plate and rubbing his tired eyes before taking his first bite.

There were about two or three minutes of silence before anyone started talking.

“Tubbo said that he, Nikki and Eret are planning on a movie night next Saturday, they invited us” Tommy broke the silence, the Berry siblings loved doing movie nights, they had a small projector which served as a monitor and a big ass couch where them plus the Pandel could all fit if squished a bit, reason why they usually invited them.

“I already said I’m going, you guys coming too?” He looked at his older brothers, but his gaze fixed on Techno’s left shoulder… was it just an impression or…?

“I don’t have anything to do so, yeah I’m down” Wilbur replied after taking a sip of water, “You Techno?”

Now both of their gazes were on the pink-haired brother, who was currently munching on a vegetable. “Yeah sure,” he shrugged it off, “Have you asked Phil yet?”

Tommy’s eyes were still fixed on Techno’s left shoulder, “No… I was thinking of…asking him when he came- Techno wh-why is your left shoulder bigger than usual?”

He almost choked on his salad.

“What are you- Oh… yeah, you’re right” Wilbur also looked at his shoulder, welp, fuck.

“I… uh…” Techno almost stuttered, he had forgotten how vigil and attentive to details Tommy could be… what could he tell them…

Saying that he got in a fight was the worst idea ever, knowing his brothers they would have asked him the name, grade and address of who did this to him, so that idea was out of the question.

Eh, just deny it.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” he took another fork of his salad, trying to play it cool, “But I swear it looks-”

“Maybe it’s this hoodie” he quickly interrupted him, he had to get the attention somewhere else, fast.

“This hoodie is pretty fluffy and I didn’t use it for the entirety of summer so… “ He trailed off, leaving Tommy very suspicious.

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

The day at school wasn’t too different from others, the only “unnatural” thing he had to do was go get a violin and carry it from one side of high school to the other, thank god he usually carried stuff mostly on his right shoulder.

Speaking of carrying, he had to carry his backpack on only his right shoulder, a thing he despised and never did, but placing any type of weight on the new freshly-made tattoo stung a little bit, hopefully in a couple of days he could go back to using both shoulders normally.

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

“Bandages… vaseline… the soap is already in the bathroom… “ It had passed twenty-four hours from when he got the tattoo, it was time for him to change the bandage, and to do so, he wanted to be a hundred per cent sure he had everything he needed before going to the bathroom.

He grabbed all of the necessary things and peaked into the living room, Wilbur was in his room and Tommy wasn’t home yet so he took a deep breath and silently DASHED to the bathroom.

First thing first.

Lock. The. Door.

He wasn’t about to get walked in on by one of his brothers, so he locked the door and took another deep breath, he was now partially safe.

Underneath his hoodie, he had changed after arriving home into his only tank top, aka Wilbur got gifted one but he didn’t like it, so much that when doing laundry he had placed it in the stack of Techno’s clothes, so now it was his.

He didn’t want to do the whole operation shirtless so I guess the tank top was pretty convenient.

Stripping out of his hoodie, he looked at the bandages wrapped around his arm and the deep bags under his eyes: if someone else looked at him, they would think he was part of a gang or something.

Carefully peeling off the bandages, he realized that the skin around the tattoo was pretty red, the bits that were getting exposed to the air felt hot, it was going to be a big problem if he had gotten an infection.

As the last part came off, Techno looked once again in the mirror, the beautiful floral tattoo that he had seen drawn on paper by the tattooist look way better on skin, his skin.

Techno was afraid of regretting his decision, getting a tattoo this big from a day to another was careless of him, but god it looked pretty, he loved it.

Realizing that he was smiling at his own reflection, he shook it off and got back into a more concentrated state.

As the tattooist said, with a glass, he poured over the black ink cold water, his shoulders loosened up at the welcome sensation of chill washing over him.

He took the soap he bought and started making slow and soft circular motions, pressing as little as he could-

The sound of the handle trying to open the door made him jump, oh no no no, please…

“What do you want?” he recomposed himself and spoke with his usual unbothered voice, “Did you lock the bathroom Techno?! Why the fuck would you do that?!”, a high voice came from the other side of the door, Tommy must have arrived home from practice and he usually takes a shower right after entering the apartment so…

“It’s called privacy Tommy, plus I just got out of the shower, and no, I’m not rushing, I’m taking my sweet time” A loud groan could be heard right before footsteps walking away, Techno sighed, close one.

He continued taking care of his tattoo with extreme caution, washing away the soap, applying the vaseline, and wrapping it back up again. He threw everything in his drawer ( who usually only had the gel he occasionally used and his trusted comb), put on the hoodie again and shouted at Tommy that the bathroom was free.

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

After that, he went straight back into his room to work on the unusually low number of homework, unfortunately, it was French, so it didn’t matter how much stuff he had to do, it was going to take a long time either way.

He finished around the time that Phil got home, the older brother had the habit of greeting every brother one by one, so when a “Hello Technomate~” arrived from the slightly open door, Techno smiled and replied with the least dead-inside voice he could make: “Welcome back home Phil”

He was about to close his textbook as Phil’s voice in the distance asked him a question he wasn’t expecting.

“Hey Techno… Why do you have bandages in your drawer?”

Time stopped and Techno froze, a shiver shot up his spine. Why did Phil open his bathroom drawer?

“Uh… Well… Tommy sometimes comes home with cuts and bruises so I bought bandages in case he ever needs them” It wasn’t a lie, Techno would always patch up Tommy if he got hurt when his protect-the-weak vigilante moves failed him and he got some bruises, his voice was a little shaky but he was so far away from Phil that he probably didn’t notice.

“Huh… That’s… awfully empathic of you… “

Techno stood completely still for a couple more seconds waiting for him to find the antimicrobial soap and the vaseline, but it never happened.

He exhaled after taking off his glasses, throwing himself on the bed, turning to face the ceiling.

He didn’t regret getting this tattoo, but for how long could he keep it hidden from his brothers? For how long would he be able to lie to his brother?

Only time could tell.

#technoblade #tommyinnit #wilbur soot #ph1lza #the eret #nihachu #tubbolive #my writing #my fanfiction #fanfiction #writing #fd!au #fd au #mcyt #mcyt fanfiction

219 notes · View notes

traincat · 4 years

Note

im pretty new to spider-man comics so i was wondering if their are any comics focused/centered on harry osborn or gwen stacy? or both of them? and if there is what are some of your favorites?

Hi anon! Welcome to Spider-Man comics. I have a Gwen Stacy reading list here. It’s relatively straightforward reading Spider-Man comics for Gwen -- unfortunately she’s alive for such a brief period of the canon that you can cover it fairly easily. I thought I had a reading list for Harry, but I can’t find it, and the one I’ve used before that was made by someone else appears to be gone now. So a quick Harry Osborn reading list!

Harry, like Gwen, first appears in Amazing Spider-Man #31 -- they knew each other before the start of the series and were friends in high school. While there’s a pretty immediate push and pull between Peter and Gwen, Peter and Harry’s relationship isn’t immediately magnetic. He and Peter first begin to become friends in Amazing Spider-Man #39. In Amazing Spider-Man #40, Norman rants about his relationship with Harry to a captured Peter, with Norman’s words clearly contrasted against flashbacks: Norman claims he was a great father to Harry where the flashbacks show he was, at best, emotionally neglectful. In ASM #46, Harry asks Peter to move in with him while they attend college and Peter accepts. In ASM #74, Harry debuts a horrible mustache. I wouldn’t necessarily count this as important-important, but it’s just something everyone needs to see.

The mustache is very short lived. In ASM #96-98, cracks in Harry and Mary Jane’s relationship begin to show and Harry’s drug use increases, leading Peter to beat up his dealers, while Norman Osborn’s buried memories of the Green Goblin begin to reassert themselves. In ASM #119-122, Harry relapses, unwittingly setting in motion the events that would lead to Gwen’s death at the hands of Norman Osborn. Harry is in the throws of an overdose when Peter confronts him while searching for Norman immediately after Gwen’s death. The stress caused by Norman and Gwen’s deaths is evident in Harry in ASM #125. In ASM #135-137, Harry discovers Peter’s Spider-Man costume and plots his revenge, believing that Spider-Man killed his father. This is the first appearance of Harry’s own Green Goblin persona, and he’s institutionalized following a confrontation with Spider-Man.

Harry next appears in ASM #151, appearing to have lost or repressed all his memories related to Peter being Spider-Man. He first meets Liz Allan, his future wife and Peter’s former classmate, in ASM #156, at Betty Brant and Ned Leeds’ wedding. He and Liz start seeing each other in ASM #157 and announce their engagement in ASM #166. In ASM #172-180, Liz is arrested following the reappearance of her stepbrother, Mark “the Molten Man” Raxton. She subsequently breaks up with Harry and Harry goes a little off the rails before he and Liz reunite. Not too long after this point, Harry and Liz get married off page and move to New Jersey. In Spectacular Spider-Man #63, Mark Raxton returns and threatens the Allan-Osborn home. In Spectacular Spider-Man #85, Harry and Liz announce they’re expecting a child.

In ASM #249-251, while Peter is attending a party at Liz and Harry’s place, Harry receives a disturbing letter attempting to blackmail him for his father’s crimes. This story is a big step towards Harry accepting what his father did as the Green Goblin. In ASM #260-261, Liz and Mary Jane are taken hostage and Harry unsuccessfully attempts to rescue them, leading to one of my favorite Harry moments which I think showcases that, deep down inside, Harry is an extraordinarily gentle person -- and that this tendency towards gentleness hurts him as much as it is an admirable quality. I think it’s an important trait when comparing him to Peter, that Harry is essentially a weak person, and that that weakness isn’t inherently negative -- it might even, in different circumstances, make Harry a more admirable, definitely a more inherently gentle person than Peter, but that it doesn’t serve Harry in their circumstances and leads him to unfairly and unfavorably compare himself to Peter, much to his own detriment.

In ASM #263, Harry and Liz’s son Norman “Normie” Osborn Jr. is born. Things are quiet for Harry for a bit, until Marvel’s Inferno event begins. (It’s a good event, don’t worry. It’s primarily an X-Men event and I recommend the whole thing. Daredevil fights a vacuum cleaner in it.) The relevant Spider-Man issues for the whole event are ASM #311-313, Spectacular Spidey #146-148, and Web of Spider-Man #47-48. If your primary focus is Harry, you can stick to the relevant Spectacular and Web of issues -- this is an important moment in Harry’s history, where Norman’s influence and memories of the Green Goblin begin to reassert themselves on Harry, and at one point an Oscorp building is the scene of the Inferno action. In ASM #321, while helping Liz and Harry move into a new New York home, Harry invites Peter and Mary Jane, currently without a permanent address, to move into the top floor of the building. Liz’s brother the Molten Man makes a reappearance in Web of Spider-Man #62, where Harry offers him a job with Oscorp. In Web of Spider-Man #66-67, Harry dons the Green Goblin costume again, this time to try and be a hero before Spider-Man intervenes.

Things at this point go downhill for Harry very quickly: he begins, depending on your interpretation, either hallucinating his father or having visions of his ghost in Spectacular Spider-Man #178-183, in a storyline called The Child Within.

This is in my opinion one of the strongest Spider-Man stories ever written and a very critical storyline for Harry in particular, but as a warning it deals fairly explicitly with childhood sexual abuse of a minor character who is, I would say, deliberately paralleled against Harry and Harry’s experiences in childhood. It’s amazingly done -- J.M. DeMatteis wrote it and he’s one of my favorite Spider-Man writers -- but it is very, very intense. This leads to a confrontation between Peter and Harry, during which the apparition of Norman urges Harry to kill Peter, but Harry cannot. In all honesty, I would recommend reading from The Child Within straight through to Spectacular Spider-Man #200, which is Harry’s death. Harry’s not present in every issue, but he lingers over every page like a threat, and it’s some seriously well done comic book storytelling. But if you just want the issues where Harry is present: Spectacular Spider-Man #184, #188, #189, #190, #199. But whatever you do, don’t miss Spectacular Spider-Man #200. It’s hands down my favorite single issue of Spider-Man.

So at this point Harry’s dead. You’d think there wouldn’t be very much to read between this point and his resurrection in Amazing Spider-Man’s Brand New Day but there’s still a few points to hit: Harry’s video will is read in Spectacular Spider-Man #204, and there’s some elaborate Osborn family flashbacks in Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #14. Harry also arranged, although it was carried out posthumously, for the whole Robot Richard and Mary Parker debacle, which you can read using this guide from the Complete Marvel Chronology Order + Amazing Spider-Man #390.

Harry returns to the pages of Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #545, following the erasure of Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage that came with Peter’s deal with Mephisto in the wake of Civil War. Recently returned from Europe, Peter and Harry spend a lot of time together as Harry does his socialite thing and engages in a relationship with Lily Hollister, the daughter of a New York mayoral candidate. Relevant issues are ASM #546-549, #552, #554, #557-561, #565, #567-569, #571-573, #581-588. Amazing Spider-Man #595-599 is one of my favorite Harry Osborn stories, American Son. A rare can’t miss where Brand New Day is concerned. With Dark Reign in full swing, Norman Osborn is on top of the world and in charge of a new Avengers team -- and he wants Harry to come work for him. (Not to be confused with the three issue limited series called Amazing Spider-Man Presents: American Son, which Harry is in, but which I don’t necessarily recommend.)

Amazing Spider-Man Extra! #3′s “Nice Things” focuses on Harry’s childhood and on Harry in the wake of American Son. Harry also appears in ASM #602-605 (enjoy the plotline where he dates Peter’s hot cousin), #609-610, #621-622, #630, #642-647 -- which details the birth of Harry’s second child, Stanley Osborn. Harry disappears from the pages of Spider-Man for a bit at this point as everything goes completely to hell with the Superior Spider-Man plot, where Doc Ock steals Peter’s body. Harry makes a reappearance when Peter, who has taken back his body, is left to deal with the aftermath of Doc Ock’s actions, finding himself the CEO of a huge tech company. Harry goes to work for him. I don’t think any of this is particularly worth reading for Harry, certainly not in comparison to any of the previous comics mentioned, but Harry is present for Amazing Spider-Man (2015) #3, #7, #10-15, #25-28, ASM #789-791, and #797-800. Some of this is event territory, and a lot of it is just not very good. The one part of it I would recommend is ASM #789′s Harry scenes, which are about him and Liz getting back together. And that’s where we stand currently for Harry! Thanks a lot to Spencer’s run for neglecting him for like fifty whole issues now.

My other Harry and Gwen rec would be for the current Gwen Stacy series, written by Christos Gage and illustrated by Todd Nauck. This is my current favorite Spider-Man book on the shelves, even though we’ve only gotten two issues of it so far. It’s set during Gwen and Harry’s high school days, before they meet Peter, and fits perfectly into the Spider-Man canon of the time. The two issues released have had a big focus on Gwen and Harry’s relationship, with Gwen running for class president and Harry as her campaign manager/hype man.

Please return to the shelves, Gwen Stacy solo.

#gwen stacy #harry osborn #marvel comics #spiderman #comic recs #traincat talks comics #long post/#*replies

90 notes · View notes

rkshion · 4 years

Text

200630 [V-LIVE]: Shion’s Roof ⭐⭐ (Audio Only)

it's the last day of the month, and it's already been three months since their debut. a bit wild to think about. considering how long the road had been up there, maybe three months is not too much. considering he's now an idol in the eyes of the public, any little bit of time feels like a lot to im. he's unsure why he hadn't tried one of these before. the idea of doing it by himself got him a bit nervous, but he also didn't want to bother his other members to do something together.

he has fans now, though, it seems. again, wild to think about. he's not the most active in social media, but he'd still like to keep in touch with them. he's seen other idols name their lives something unique and special so jihoon's certain he wants to do something like that too. it takes some brainstorming to finally decide on something, but soon he starts the first edition of "shion's roof."

the boy had adjusted the settings for the live to be audio-only. this means he could lay down on his bed without having to worry about how he looks and what those watching could see around him. it'd also help take away some of the nervousness of someone who hadn't done one of these before. "hello~" he greets the first few people to join him. it'd be awkward if no one showed up, but it brings a smile to his face when the number starts going up. "wow, it's everyone here? there's a lot of you already." jihoon keeps repeating 'hello's during the first minute so that everybody can get some time to settle in.

"welcome to shion's roof! it's the first edition... isn't it special?" his eyes try to keep up with the comments, but he guesses that fast reading is a skill he'll need to work on starting today. "you're all here with me! on our first day... this is... our first day?" he chuckles. he's seen people say that before. it's usually used for a couple's first day, so the boy can't help but feel a little awkward about it. "everyone! don't get any wrong ideas!"

💬: are you in a roof right now??

"eh?? i'm in my room right now. the roof is... is metaphorical. it's our roof." while jihoon tries to explain himself, his hands start to move, even if no one can see him. "i wanted to have a cool title. other idols do that too, right? i wanted to take everyone to somewhere sunny. our roof is filled with flowers, okay? flowers and other plants. and it's always sunny... unless we don't want it to be. rain can be nice sometimes too, right? the plants would like that. i personally prefer sunny days."

💬: who are your roommates?

"my roommates are sinjae hyung and reno hyung. i'm the room maknae." he chuckles. "de:code rooms are separated by age. there is the hyung room and the maknae room. everyone, i'm not the maknae, okay! our a.c is our youngest member. the ace..." he takes a short break. "i'm alone in my room right now. i don't know what the other ones are doing. i told them i was doing a v-live before starting."

💬: what did you do today?

"ah, you want tmi?" he asks back as if he's actually into popular trends and whatnot. "i practiced all day long! with the other members... i'm working hard! to become a better shion and make you proud."

💬: were you practicing for comeback?

jihoon laughs. "no! i was practicing for something else..." he lets it hang in the air for a bit. "i don't know if i can share, i'm sorry! some of the other members and i are preparing something. you'll see it soon! it's not that secretive. you'll know when it comes out!"

💬: when is the comeback?

"i don't know!" he answers honestly. "i wasn't practicing for the comeback. i was practicing for something else." jihoon feels bad lying, but he knows that some things need to be kept a secret. he's also unsure if whatever he's said so far is enough to conclude anything. the fans are quick to come up with their own assumptions, though.

💬: is this audio-only to hide a new hair color?

"wow... you guys are really smart!" jihoon gasps, actually impressed. never would he have thought about that from anyone else's live. he touches his hair gently before continuing. "but it isn't true! is that a common thing to do? do people hide their hair colors with audio v-lives? i never thought of that..." he pauses. "that's really smart, thank you! i'll remember that for when i need!" he chuckles sheepily.

💬: are you doing station? / solo debut? / when is the comeback?

"wow, everyone... it's nothing like that! let's talk about something else, okay?" jihoon turns around on his bed and lays down on his stomach. "it's the last day of the month today! did everyone achieve a lot? i think i learned a lot of things... i've been working hard... i really want to get better!" his eyes keep following the comments. "it's okay if it takes some time, everyone! you can't become a master in a few days. as long as you worked hard, i'm proud of you! let's all work hard, okay? i want you all to achieve your dreams!"

💬: i'm learning korean

"ah, really? your korean is really good!" jihoon puts the phone down to clap his hand a few times. "keep working hard, okay? next time, write me a letter on fancafe! and then next time, we can have a full conversation. face to face! i can't wait to meet everyone again. i want to get up on stage. it'll come soon, right? are you waiting for it too? all the other members are working hard, too. since before debut, we're all working hard."

💬: can you sing your english line from 'what time is it now?'

"sincerely... i don't speak english very well." he laughs wholeheartedly. "did i sound good? did i do well?" jihoon pauses, considers it, then proceeds to try speaking a few words in english. "hello... i'm fine, thank you and you?" he chuckles. "was that good? do i speak it well? please let me know..."

💬: do you have song recommendations?

"mm..." he stops to think about it. "a recent song that came out... 'god's menu' is really good, isn't it? the rap is really impressive... and of course, our sunbaes, luxe, released 'up & down'! did you listen to it well? it got really popular, right? please show it a lot of love, too! they're really talented sunbaes." jihoon stops a moment to think about it more. "and*roma’s meiqi sunbaenim danced to our song, right? i saw it. she's really good! i like 'pepe' too... since it's summertime, shouldn't you listen to 'very nice'? or 'me gustas tu'? those are popular songs too, right? 'very nice' makes me want to have ice cream."

💬: are you close with any sunbaes?

"i don't know the luxe members too well... cheri sunbaenim is really nice, though! luxe's leader! this was some time ago, but she gave me lunch once. it was really good! i don't know many other idols... ah, but i know junju! per_se's junju! he's younger than me but we went to the same school. he's a good kid! i think he's really funny." he chuckles. "he was... a good student." he laughs a bit too honestly. junju was, actually, not a very good student at all, but he had promised not to share that fact.

💬: what will you have for dinner?

"that's a good question! i'm not really sure... we have members who like to cook, but sometimes we just order. we're a lot of people." he can't help but laugh again. "do you have any recommendations? ah, pizza?" jihoon reads surprised. "that's not very healthy!"

💬: i can cook for you!

"will you, really? but how will i get the food?" he chuckles. "should we have a picnic on our roof? we can all just bring whatever we want to eat... even pizza..." jihoon sits up straight and checks the time. now that they had mentioned it, he was starting to feel hungry. "we can take photos of what we eat and post it online. should we use a hashtag?"

💬: #shionsroofpicnic

"ah, that's perfect, right? should we do that? i'll do it too! make sure to bring something yummy, okay? i want to see it!"

checking the time again, he nods. "should i check with the other members what we'll eat? this means the v-live will end... i promise i'll do this again, okay? ah, and with the camera on! should i turn it on right now just for a quick goodbye?"

after touching the screen a few too many times to make sure he was doing the right thing, the camera turns on for what will be the last minute of the live. "can you see me? can you see my hair?" he makes sure to point it out. "it's still brown, right?" the boy chuckles. "thank you for watching! let's meet on the roof again, okay? this was... our first day." he gives the camera his typical bright smile. "bye bye~!"

#( activity : june 2020 )#rkvlive #( tagged bc mentioned!#jaehyunrk #rklino #rkseonho #rkmeiqi #rkcheri #haknyeonrk

8 notes · View notes

warmau · 5 years

Note

could i request a royal dowoon au ? i love your work 😔🙏🏼

prince!dowoon + his new bodyguard!you

prince!dowoon doesnt expect to be ruling a country at his age

but when life gives you a crown,,,,,,,,,,just wing it i guess????

well not really,,,he’s lucky to have a super smart - but super snappy consultant named youngk who gives him all the information he needs in terms of well politics

and wonpil helps dowoon dress “proper” because ,,,,, prince um,,,,,no sweatpants in the royal ballroom

and even chef!sungjin and stable boy!jae are there to give him all his support

but still - dowoon is a mess - he just looks good in his all white regalia and whatnot

but he doesnt know what he’s doing,,,,,,,,,he just reads off the notecards youngk writes and hopes that the manner lessons wonpil read bout in a selfhelp book at least sorta come off convincing

and when you’re sort of a fake-it-till-you-make-it kind of prince,,,,,you dont pay much attention to those around you who want to steal the thrown from you

which, in dowoon’s case, is pretty common

in the last week there’s been three kidnapping attempts, twelve threatening letters, and even someone caught trying to sneak into the palace after dark

all of which has been making everyone panic with fear - except,,,well,,,,dowoon

who sort of lacks the understanding of the situation

because his people love him, why would anyone want to take the crown from him?

youngk, deadpan: because the crown is worth like one billion dollars

but ,,, seeing as dowoon is oblivious and probably cant use a sword on his own ,,,, jae pitches the idea to youngk that maybe he needs a ,,,, bodyguard

and he knows just the person

the person - turns out - is you

you show up to the palace on account of jae’s recommendation and youngk looks you up and down before turning to dowoon and going

“what do you think? do you want to see them use a sword? shall we have them battle one of your knights?”

dowoon just shakes his head

“can you do a handstand?”

he asks and you nod, ready to bend over when youngk stops you

“sorry, the prince is just joking.”

“no im not, i wanted to see a handstand.”

you look between the two

and wonder for a moment,,,,if youngk actually might hate his job

but you get hired - mostly because dowoon likes you from first glance

you’d always been a relatively fun person to be around, you know lots of little tricks and jokes

and dowoon finds you exciting and different from the four other people who’ve ever been close to him

youngk is suspicious of your,,,,qualifications to keep dowoon safe

but that all goes away when there’s an attempt to capture the prince and you land a knock out kick in the culprits face

dragging their unconscious body and tossing it at the feet of the thrown

youngk raises a pleased eyebrow while dowoon jumps out of his seat

nearly tripping on his cape

to grab your hands in his and go, with shining stars in his eyes

“can you show me how to kick like that?!?”

sure,,,,,you think the young prince is a bit silly but that just makes you want to protect him more

plus the pay is good (just like jae promised)

the only thing is,,,,sometimes,,,,the prince is a bit,,,,,,,,,,,much

he doesnt think twice about holding your hand in public, introducing you as if you’re his spouse and not his bodyguard

he praises you endlessly and invites you to sit at his side for dinners

youngk warns you not to get too close - a partner will be chosen for the prince from a royal family

and you snap back that you arent the one being flirty, he is ,,,,, but youngk assures you he’s just being nice

you think about it, and it does make you a little sad

i thought he really was starting to like me,,,,,but i guess he’s just a benevolent person,,,,,

the job gets progressively easier as dowoon becomes better at well - being a prince

people stop thinking he’s easy to attack - because he’s getting smarter but also they’re terrified of you

so now you just sort of follow him around just in case of the rare opportunity anyone tries something funny

but dowoon, when it’s mentioned that maybe they dont need you anymore, slams a hand down on his thrown

“you can’t take my favorite person away from me!”

the statement makes your heart almost leap out of your chest, but you keep a straight face

while youngk puts a hand to his forehead and mutters that he does not like where this is headed

and he’s right about where it’s headed

because one night as you’re walking back from the stables to go and stand guard outside of the prince’s bedroom

you’re surprised by dowoon

who sneaks up behind you, grabbing you by the waist and getting himself trapped in your headlock before he can even say a word

“o-oh my highness! im sorry!”

you let go and flush when you realize what you’ve done

but dowoon just laughs

“no, no! i love your headlocks!”

you look away, avoiding his eyes which you’ve grown way too fond of

“do you need me for something? is there an emergency?”

you ask, but dowoon just shakes his head, putting his hands back out and pulling you into a surprising hug

you panic, worried youngk will see or someone else

but when you tell dowoon to respectfully let go so there wont be trouble

he mutters against your neck that there isn’t any trouble

wonpil told him that if he liked someone - he needed to seize the moment - hug them and never let them go!

you redden even more

“am- am i the person you like?”

“of course! so im never letting you go, just like wonpil said!”

you giggle into the hug, returning it but also telling the prince that at some point he’d have to let you go - for safety reasons and also because it would be impossible to live like this

he sighs, pulling back only a little

his boyish features have turned handsome with time, and his face is illuminated by the light of the slightly glow of a new moon in the sky

“wonpil also said i should,,,,,,,,i should kiss the person i like,,,,but before i did i would have to ask them if that’s ok-”

you take his face in both your hands and grin

“of course it’s ok - but lets hide behind a bush or something”

“wonpil said i should do it in front of everyone so the world knows you’re mi-”

“we can do that later, right now we should do it behind a bush so youngk doesnt have a heart attack in case he walks by”

dowoon agrees and you guys share your first kiss ducked behind a berry bush

your hands on the prince’s face

his hands on your waist

youngk, witnessing the whole thing from a window in the palace: they’re so cute,,,,,,but what am i going to tell all those princesses i called about marriage meetings,,,,

wonpil about to suggest that maybe the princesses should instead just go out and hug the person they truly love

youngk: dont

more dowoon | more day6 | buy skye a kofi

#day6 scenarios #day6 imagines #day6 au #dowoon imagines #dowoon au #dowoon scenarios #member: dowoon #sfw #prince!au #dowoon #day6

494 notes · View notes

maplestreetsims · 5 years

Photo

get to know me tag!

so, i came to catfish you all with my updated simself, also i made her with alpha cc bc why not?

I saw @galaxsims did this and i thought it might be fun, so the point of this is to make a simself and answer some q’s so people get to know you better

I’m going to tag anyone who wants to do this, Just go crazy

- trash under cut -

1. What is your full name? Constanza

2. What is your nickname? most people call me coti, i had a few friends that called me constance tho

3. Birthday? July 1, 2000

4. What is your favorite book series? i dont read as much as i used to so i dont have one

5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? aliens yes, ghosts...maybe? just for the spookines of it all tbh

6. Who is your favorite author? i dont read dont come for me

7. What is your favorite radio station? i never listen to the radio, mostly spotify

8. What is your favorite flavor of anything? anything cheese flavored, or like pizza? idk im thinkin chips here

9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? amazing, cool!

10. What is your current favorite song? literally queens entire discography??? like i saw bohemian rhapsody last week, i liked queen before but now im like on hyperdrive or something

11. What is your favorite word? chaos

12. What was the last song you listened to? Somebody to love, by (you guessed it) queen

13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? hmm... i dont know, skam, maybe freaks and geeks

14. What is your favorite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? pride (2014) always makes me feel happy when i watch it, i really like it

15. Do you play video games? yes

16. What is your biggest fear? Ending up alone, but not romantically, more of like no friends, or family

17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? i dont know... i just try to be a good person?? like i put myself in others peoples shoes and treat them how i would like to be treated i guess, bc i know how its like being treated like shit and i wouldnt want that for anyone lol

18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? my socializing skills? or lack thereof

19. Do you like cats or dogs better? i like them both the same

20. What is your favorite season? i dont like any season sjdjsdk

21. Are you in a relationship? nope

22. What is something you miss from your childhood? just.. happiness?? not only my own but like everyone in my family (yikes) also my innocence

23. Who is your best friend? haha ha

24. What is your eye color? brown

25. What is your hair color? Dark brown

26. Who is someone you love? no one honestly, maybe my pets?

27. Who is someone you trust? literally anyone who is nice to me, that’s bad

28. Who is someone you think about often? my friends, classmates

29. Are you currently excited about/for something? nothing currently

30. What is your biggest obsession? The sims, life is strange and detroit become human.....also queen?, weird combinations

31. What was your favorite TV show as a child? Art attack! also the cocodrile hunter??? that was my shit!!

32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? I know i just said i trust everyone but like....i dont open up, like ever

33. Are you superstitious? No

34. Do you have any unusual phobias? Elevators?? and cars...are those phobias?

35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? Behind

36. What is your favorite hobby? Editing, playin sims... u know

37. What was the last book you read? I cant remember fghjkljhg probably something for school

38. What was the last movie you watched? Bohemian rhapsody rip

39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? i wish i could play any musical instrument, but i suck tbh

40. What is your favorite animal? cats and dogs™

41. What are your top 5 7 favorite Tumblr blogs that you follow?

@pollinationqueen @cosmic-espie @omiscanking @bloomlet @gunthermunch @cowberrys and @mellocakes ♥♥

42. What superpower do you wish you had? telekinesis??? um hell yeah why would anyone want anything else

43. When and where do you feel most at peace? this is weird but when im riding the bus home, listening to music

44. What makes you smile? my simblr, youtube videos...

45. What sports do you play, if any? i wish

46. What is your favorite drink? coca cola beech!

47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? I dont even remember, but i had to write something like that around this year at least

48. Are you afraid of heights? yes

49. What is your biggest pet peeve? it used to be hearing people chew, but i think im over it

50. Have you ever been to a concert? no, never

51. Are you vegan/vegetarian? No

52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? a vet

53. What fictional world would you like to live in? idk sis

54. What is something you worry about? my future, and my life

55. Are you scared of the dark? sometimes

56. Do you like to sing? yes, only when im alone

57. Have you ever skipped school? yeah, but i tried not to, it felt like i was missing out and that kinda made me feel like shit??

58. What is your favorite place on the planet? i dont think i have one, but more like a bunch of them? and only at specific times if that make sense, like the outside of that theater at nightime when i went to see a play with my friends a while ago

59. Where would you like to live? mmm maybe the usa? or anywhere where i could get to speak english all the time

60. Do you have any pets? a cat and a dog, Mercury and Candy!

61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? Night owl, def

62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better? Sunsets, im never up for sunrises anyways, unless i stayed up all night

63. Do you know how to drive? no but i hope that i do at some point, although im scared of cars

64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? headphones

65. Have you ever had braces? nope, my teeth are as straight as me

66. What is your favorite genre of music? rock, indie...maybe pop rock?

67. Who is your hero? i dont have one

68. Do you read comic books? not really

69. What makes you the most angry? myself sometimes

70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book? Real book all the way, when i do read that is

71. What was your favorite subject in school? cinematography class???? idk how it translates properly but that was my fave, although the teacher fucking ruined it for all of us tbh

72. Do you have any siblings? nope

73. What was the last thing you bought? a bus ticket

74. How tall are you? 4′9...yikes

75. Can you cook? not at all

76. What are three things that you love? this blog, my family and my pets

77. What are three things that you hate? hooo boy

78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends? i have 0 friends what does that mean? jk i actually would say its pretty equal

79. What is your sexual orientation? yes

80. Where do you currently live? Uruguay, montevideo

81. Who was the last person you texted? my dad

82. When was the last time you cried? last week

83. Who is your favorite YouTuber? jenna and julien, and probably every sims youtuber(seriously)

84. Do you like to take selfies? not so much

85. What is your favorite app? tumblr, or youtube

86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? its alright

87. What is your favorite foreign accent? portugeese

88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit? mmm all of them

89. What is your favorite number? 7

90. Can you juggle? Nop

91. Are you religious? no

92. Do you find outer space or the deep ocean to be more interesting? The ocean

93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? hahah no

94. Are you allergic to anything? i used to be allergic to a bunch of shit when i was a kid but im not allergic to it anymore?? like chocolate, oranges....cats, and dust

95. Can you curl your tongue? Yes

96. Can you wiggle your ears? Yes

97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something? always hopefully

98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach? Forest

99. What is your favorite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you? i dont really ask for advice that often so...idk

100. Are you a good liar? No, but i try

101. What is your Hogwarts House? Hufflepuff

102. Do you talk to yourself? i used to talk to myself all the time, but now i barely do it, thats a good thing right?

103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Introvert

104. Do you keep a journal/diary? no, i used to when i was a kid but it was pure garbage

105. Do you believe in second chances? Depends

106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? look for an id to see if i cant turn it in, if not....well

107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? Yes, but only in certain things

108. Are you ticklish? i dont even know, probably not

109. Have you ever been on a plane? no

110. Do you have any piercings? yeah, my ears

111. What fictional character do you wish was real? idk

112. Do you have any tattoos? No, but hopefully i will some day!

113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? i dont know....

114. Do you believe in karma? yeah

115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? no

116. Do you want children? yeah why not

117. Who is the smartest person you know? honestly i don’t know

118. What is your most embarrassing memory? doing a cindirella theatre play for my school when i was 12, i was cindirella, i dont wanna talk about it njxkcfxf

119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? not that i remember, i always end up falling asleep, dosent matter if its like 10 minutes

120. What color are most of you clothes? green.........i dont even like green

121. Do you like adventures? yeah maybe, depends on what it is

122. Have you ever been on TV? yeah i have actually lmao, it was on a kids tv show

123. How old are you? 18

124. What is your favorite quote? “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents”

125. Do you prefer sweet or savory foods? savory!!

#tag game #saviorhide #me stuff #non sims #simself #get to know me tag

33 notes · View notes

thelifetimechannel · 6 years

Text

This week’s bonus content brings us Jake and John discussing the likelihood of a robot apocalypse:

JAKE: Hey there pal! JAKE: So youre jades... brother? JOHN: that's right! JOHN: compared to how confusing everyone else's family trees are, we are very straight forward. JOHN: even if we did not know we were related at first... JOHN: i wasn't sure how YOU were related to her, back when you were pen pals. JOHN: do you remember sending me that letter? JAKE: By jove i almost forgot about that. It feels like ages ago. JOHN: i don't know how long it was for you, but i got it three years ago. JAKE: I mean from my point of view it was only a couple of months but a lots gone on. JOHN: it arrived on my birthday so it was right on time. JOHN: it came in handy in a tight spot. JOHN: you were right in your letter, i DO love movies. JOHN: even if i am not into wrestling that much. JAKE: Oh well ive had my fill of fisticuffs for awhile anyway. Movies on the other hand i havent had much time to dig into! JAKE: By the way did you like your present?? And little terry kiser? JOHN: um... JOHN: well, i named her liv tyler, actually. i didn't know you already named her, or him. JOHN: anyway, she saved my butt in a big way! JOHN: and then she flew off on a ship heroically, but ran off again i guess? JOHN: and then she somehow joined dave and rose on their even more heroic mission to blow up a sun. JOHN: which they failed to do mostly because they actually MADE the sun, but the important thing is that they tried. JOHN: they came back, but i think the bunny didn't make it. :( JAKE: I live by the philosophy that when a stuffed toy changes hands its appropriate to change its name. It gives things a history like that. JAKE: At least she died doing something i presume she enjoyed. JOHN: blowing up? JAKE: No!! Being a hero and dicing up bad guys! JOHN: was the robot sentient? JOHN: maybe we should have treated it with more respect, so it would not turn evil and destroy us like a watership down version of skynet. JAKE: I mean dirk helped me a little in making it and all of his projects seem to enjoy that kind of mayhem. JAKE: Not as much as his own version of the rabbit but i think in giving me advice at least a couple of his engine greased fingerprints are on it. JOHN: man, everyone is some sort of robotics genius around here. JOHN: if we hadn't already had an apocalypse ushered in by rogue technology i would be worried. JAKE: I briefly suspected hal but no worries. JAKE: I think if he were going to attempt a robopocalypse he wouldve done it a long time ago when he was bored and had less to do. JOHN: he and terezi would get along. they both seem to enjoy wreaking mayhem for fun, although she says she's sorry now. JAKE: They might try but dirk would go spare. JAKE: And I think hes tossed out all his spares for today already. JOHN: everyone has learned their lesson about devious deeds! JOHN: i'm confident that will not happen in the future. JOHN: instead we can relax and do things like watch that movie you were recommending. JAKE: Oh yeah!! JAKE: Which one did i recommend again? I think it was weekend at bernies. JOHN: the one about the corpse getting moved around to trick people? JAKE: Oh yes! Two gentlemen discover that their boss has died shortly before throwing a party and try to convince people hes still alive by puppeting his body around! Its really quite hilarious! JOHN: it sounds good. JOHN: although apparently i'm already locked in to watching a few others. JOHN: including dave's? JOHN: i can't believe he became a big deal movie star in your world, that's hilarious. JAKE: He did. Ive got one of his characters tattooed on my arm! JOHN: um JOHN: you do? JOHN: wow. JOHN: have you told him that? JAKE: Not yet. Should i? JOHN: you might actually make him speechless, which would be a first. JOHN: definitely try it. JOHN: wait, which one is it anyway? JOHN: also, how did you get a tattoo? JOHN: i thought you grew up alone or something, like jade did. JAKE: Ive got sweet bro. Dirk gave it to me after we met up! JAKE: Hes got hella jeff. We match! JAKE: Let me tell you it was a harrowing thing getting it! Id heard getting a tattoo really hurts but you know what i just closed my eyes and before i knew it it was over just like that. JOHN: ... JOHN: huh. JOHN: well, that sounds exciting. i'm sure he'll be thrilled. JOHN: none of us have ever shown that level of devotion. JOHN: mostly we just repeat his shitty memes. JAKE: Dirk takes memes to a whole new level pal. JOHN: i haven't really had a chance to meet him before this. JOHN: i've been missing out on so many reunions today, maybe because i keep bouncing around taking people places. JOHN: out of you guys i've mostly talked to jane and roxy. JOHN: and i only talked to jane once! JOHN: i'm already behind. JAKE: Oh im sure youll get along great! Hes a cool dude and super smart. A little odd but he genuinely means well. JOHN: i'm looking forward to meeting everyone! JOHN: wait, i did meet him once, that's right. JOHN: back in the bad timeline, i saw him floating in space and asked him what happened, because i'd just come back from fighting calliope's brother. JOHN: but all he said was 'i failed' and then he... turned into glitter? JOHN: there were lots of glitches floating around, it was a hazard. JOHN: hopefully we can overcome that first impression. JAKE: ...yeah that sounds like dirk. JAKE: He can be pretty dramatic. JOHN: rose and dave are super dramatic too, he'll fit right in. JOHN: with all of us together it's going to be all drama all the time. JOHN: it will be up to us normal people to keep things under control. JAKE: He grew up all alone so sometimes i think he only knows how to act from movies too but who knows. Maybe it runs in families. JAKE: Family. Weird. JAKE: Hey that means were family too arent we? JOHN: i guess so! JOHN: you're my... JOHN: hm. JOHN: relative. JAKE: Relative. I guess. JAKE: I cant exactly go calling you great uncle john even if i still call jade "grandma". JAKE: Has a ring to it though! Great uncle john! Its all folksy like poppop crocker. JOHN: that's right, i was jane's grandpa in your universe, i guess. JOHN: which is also weird to think about. JOHN: and i was sort of everyone's dad, by mixing our slimes. JOHN: so it keeps getting more outrageous. JOHN: as for knowing how to act from movies... JOHN: i didn't even grow up alone, and i think sometimes i have that problem. JOHN: you want your life to make sense that way! JOHN: but real life is a lot more complicated sometimes. JAKE: Yeah!! JAKE: God yes it is. ESPECIALLY when it comes to romance. Good grief. JOHN: i know! JOHN: the movies make it look like it's essential or something, when usually in real life it mostly seems to cause trouble. JOHN: but you can't get a good ending otherwise, unless you accomplish that and a bunch of other arbitrary criteria. JOHN: most of which we haven't accomplished ourselves, but i think we're going to get a good ending anyway. JOHN: still it can mess with your head. JOHN: real life is not like the movies, that's for sure. JAKE: Its hard to have a romance going when your life is constantly under threat by skeleton monsters. JAKE: Also your first time seeing another person in ten years and your first boyfriend happen on like the same day. JOHN: see, that's how it happens in the movies sometimes. JOHN: the main characters meet up and get together right away, and i guess you have to assume it all works out, because the movie ends. JOHN: but when you're actually doing things it is not that convenient, you have to keep going. JOHN: although i hope we're going to get a break soon. JOHN: i would be happy for the credits to close on the constant heroics and dying for a while. JAKE: Me too. JAKE: I want a nap. Without an evil spider troll waking me up. JAKE: Movies also dont tell you how tiring the whole rigmarole of adventure is. JOHN: the main characters always look great, if fashionably ruffled, and they can keep going no matter what. JOHN: but i'm kind of tired. JOHN: especially since i've lived through the same hours twice in places i think? JAKE: You and your weird time travel nonsense again huh? JOHN: i will probably be mostly retiring that, i wouldn't want to cause any more trouble. JOHN: for now it looks like everything is turning out fine on its own. JAKE: Yessir i think were on the right path now and as soon as were done here im gonna take a long nap and anyone who cares to wake me up can throw down about it even if they are a hitherto-perfectly nice troll lady. Or human lady. Or anyone else. JAKE: The suplex of slumber justice is unisex. JOHN: that's the spirit! JOHN: we will all pass out and righteously beat up any one who disturbs us. JOHN: except hopefully once we are settled somewhere a little less exposed. JOHN: if we were asleep here someone might roll off. JAKE: But we can fly? JAKE: Where would we even fall? Towards the frog since its like a planet? Or... down? Were being pulled down by gravity i guess but how can we fall down if theres just space? JAKE: Would we float in our sleep? Maybe just get sucked back to the victory platform? JOHN: that sounds like a question for jade, she's more interested in how this works. JOHN: i told her science was dumb and boring if it didn't work the way i wanted, which made her upset, but i guess i got what i wanted. JOHN: so hah. JAKE: So science works how you want now? JAKE: Are you ganking my power set young man?? JOHN: not all of science, just space and time i guess. JOHN: and all of the scientific laws i am violating with my wanton displacement of matter and energy. JOHN: what ever those laws might be. JOHN: i am not a scientist or lawyer. JOHN: or science lawyer. JAKE: You fiend. Ah well as long as you dont go abusing your power im sure nothing terrible will happen. Like you flap your windy hood and cause a hurricane down south like an errant butterfly of causality. JOHN: well, i sort of lured lord english here, but i had to to save calliope, and we had to fight him anyway, so hopefully you can let that slide. JOHN: like i said, i will be taking it easy from now on. JAKE: I hear you there. Im over here asking myself do i even want to go wandering around this wonderland of dreaminess or do i just want to curl up over in that edge of the lily pad and have a nice snooze? JAKE: You know i can nap almost anywhere. I consider it a talent. JAKE: I have fallen asleep on clear grassy hills except thats probably not a good thing because centaurs can track through at any moment and they arent too careful about where they step! JOHN: jade was like that too! JOHN: although it MIGHT have partly been a troll messing with her brain again? JOHN: trolls sure are meddlesome. JOHN: anyway, this is probably our last chance to explore the dream bubbles, so maybe hold off on the naps until later. JOHN: also, centaurs? JAKE: Centaurs! JAKE: Oh yeah did i never say my island was full of alien monsters? JAKE: Because my island was full of alien monsters. JOHN: wow, your life actually WAS like a movie. JOHN: no wonder it was tempting to see yourself as an action hero. JOHN: everyone else had such weird and dramatic childhoods. JOHN: i don't have many bragging rights but JOHN: i liked mine. JOHN: i guess i'm one of the people that actually... left something ok behind? JOHN: but that's fine! because there can be ok things in the future too. JOHN: or hopefully more than ok. JAKE: I hope so. JAKE: I mean most things would probably be better than having to keep an eye out for monsters while walking to the pantry for canned friggin beets. JAKE: Not that i couldnt handle myself but beets arent worth that much. JOHN: bluch, no. JOHN: jade kept trying to make us eat our vegetables. JOHN: it was terrible. JOHN: she doesn't even know about lunchables. JAKE: My grandma ONLY stocked veggies. JAKE: And this weird stuff called spam. JOHN: i think our jade would probably have a heart attack if she saw spam. JOHN: although she does like raw beef these days. JOHN: which is a little alarming if you see her eat it. JAKE: I think she mostly included it as a courtesy to me and also i dont think theres many other great ways to keep meat. JAKE: So i hunted! Hopefully most of those creatures were edible and i didnt give myself any weird diseases. JOHN: the rest of you were like man versus wild! JOHN: including dave and rose kind of, even though they lived in real houses. JOHN: i will have to catch up if we are in some sort of survivor situation in the new universe. JOHN: i'm not really sure how that will pan out. JAKE: Youll be fine. Well watch your back! JAKE: Dirk will probably like. Invent a house if you give him long enough. JAKE: Just stick with jane and youll be fine. Shes kind of like you in that she also had a pretty cushy upbringing if you count out the assassination attempts. JAKE: Not that i hold it against her anything. We all take our lumps as theyre given. I mean she also has a dead grand- JAKE: Wait a minute. JAKE: Did you say you were...? JAKE: *Suspicious squinting.* JOHN: what? JAKE: Janes... JAKE: Poppop? JOHN: i... guess so? JOHN: that would make sense, she was my nanna. JOHN: oh man, was i also crushed to death by a flying baby? JOHN: that would be so undignified. JAKE: But hold the damn phone!! JAKE: You were ALSO jades brother in my timeline! JAKE: So if you were siblings and youre also janes poppop... JAKE: Would that make her and i... related?? JOHN: um... JOHN: not genetically? JOHN: but i think you were adopted siblings in our world. JAKE: !! JOHN: she grew up with a brother under a wicked alien queen. JOHN: which was betty crocker! JOHN: and the troll empress. JOHN: it is all connected. JAKE: So we were always family! JAKE: Gosh shell be so surprised to find out i bet. Just over the moon. JOHN: who doesn't want more family? JAKE: Of course! Good gravy aint that just like a movie. So many of us grow up without any family to speak of and we find out we were all family all along! JAKE: Consarnit id even call that some kind of irony. JOHN: at least it's a pretty crazy coincidence. JOHN: except since skaia set it up that way it's not a coincidence at all. JAKE: The chilly wind of fate whips through our unshielded undercarriages. JAKE: Get out of there skaia that zone is closed for business! JAKE: Its not enough to be whipping round my legs its gotta go and nab my shorts too... JAKE: Well ive had the last laugh. Ive got PANTS now! AND family! HAH! JOHN: well, fate or coincidence or whatever, I'M happy about it. JOHN: and i think both pants and family are important.

#bonus content #jake english #john egbert

9 notes · View notes

awfullyhorriblybadfantrolls · 6 years

Text

i hope im doing this right

Name: Caprin Lustri (Caprin comes from the name of the subfamily for sheep, caprinae. Lustri comes from the term lustratio, where Ceres was honored in May of the fields at the Ambarvalia festival, at harvest-time, during Roman marriages and funeral rites.) [That all sounds neat!]

Nicknames: AF, Rinny, and Cloudhair

Gender: transboy [!!!]

Species: Troll

Age: 6 sweeps

Blood Color: Burgundy

Symbol: ⚳ (Symbol of Ceres, roman counterpart of Demeter. Demeter is the Goddess of Agriculture, corn, grain, the harvest, earth, and fertility in general.)

Clothing: Black oversized hoodie with burgundy sign on it, dark grey (knee-length) shorts, black sneakers with burgundy shoelaces, and black lipstick.

Physical Appearance: Caprin is very small, around 4’11” and weighs around 110 pounds. He is generally thin and has a feminine build that he tries to hide with his big and baggy hoodies. [Same though.] Has burgundy colored freckles all over his body, dull fangs and gap in between his two front teeth. Band aids everywhere on his body, including three on his face.

Personality: Caprin is very cautious about who he talks to. He is very anxious and tends to let his anxiety control what he does and does not do. He is fairly introverted and worries a lot about what people think of him. He is generally hypervigilant and thinks more positive of others than of himself. Despite his anxious tendencies, he is capable of defending himself and taking on various responsibilities, even if he thinks he isn’t.

He has self image problems, and thinks pretty badly of himself. He daydreams a lot, and because of this often trips, stumbles, and hurts himself. He thinks nothing of this (he’s just a klutz) and slaps a bandaid over those cuts and bruises, even if he just bumped his elbow on a counter. Can talk to you about what he loves for hours once he’s comfy with you. Caprin is Introspective, and doesn’t notice when he is, until someone points it out. He tries to stop, but he can’t help it. He feels that it’s his fault he’s like this and must stop. [Same though how is he so relatable?]

He probably comes off as moody at first, but he swears he’s not!! He’s just observing you!! To tell if you’re a good person!! Gets easily excited and tries really hard to be nice to everyone. He views himself as easy to please, since it doesn’t take much to make him happy. He wants to be on everyone’s good side and would probably cry if someone yelled at him.

His eventual character arc would be him slowly learning to be more independent, learning to accept that it’s okay to say no to people whenever you’d like to, and learning to accept that he doesn’t have to be anything different than himself for anyone.

[All that looks great! It especially makes sense for someone that low on the hemospectrum to act this way.]

Trolltag: anstyFlowerbed (Ansty is a feeling of uneasiness or restlessness, which he feels more often than not. Flowerbed is a reference to his love of gardening, and plant puns.)

Quirk: Drags out his b’s and sometimes a’s to sound like bleats. Letters are sometimes missing. Doesn’t use periods and uses faces to express how he feels because he usually can’t describe how he’s feeling.

Lusus: Four eyed woolbeast. She’s technically SheepMom, but is affectionately nicknamed Thea, short for Amalthea. She loves her son very much.(Named after Amalthea, who in some cases, was viewed as a goat-tending nymph in Greek Mythology. She was also believed to be an earlier nurturing goddess. Sometimes, Amalthea is represented as the goat who suckled the infant god Zeus in a cave in Cretan Mount Aigaion [“Goat Mountain”]. ) [Nice.]

Dreamer: Prospit

Likes: agriculture, botany, writing poetry, Dungeons and Dragons, soft touches, the feeling of his moms wool on his face (they cuddle a lot), repeating things he thinks sound weird, musicals, making plant terrariums with his moirail, and watching his moirail make sculptures.

Dislikes: the feeling of his chest tightening, the wild lusii that try to scavenge his garden, people he don’t know trying to touch him, douches, arrogance, and loud noises

God Tier: I’m not sure what his aspect would be, but I’m sure that I want him to be a Knight. What do you all think?

[Hmmm, well, knights are warrior classes that exploit their aspect. Maybe heart would work for him? Heart players are concerned with forging an identity for themselves, which matches with what you want his arc to be. For aspect help i recommend this page right here.]

Fetch modus: sprout - any Captchalogued items will be stored into a seed. Caprin will have to water and care for the soon to be flower until it blooms if he wants any of his items back. The rarer and larger the item the longer the process will be. [That sounds rad!]

Strife specibus: spadekind(its basically a hand shovel)

♥: n/a ♦: yelloweblooded transgirl (in the middle of rewriting everything about her, she was a really bad sollux-ripoff Mary Sue with canon relationships) ♠: n/a ♣: n/a

Extra:

• He says sorry a lot. [Same.]

• Flaps when he’s happy or excited!!

• Gets overwhelmed and overstimulated easily. Cries and locks himself in his room.

• Probably bites himself subconsciously

• He tries to be nice to the wild lusii, but they take advantage of him.

• his fave plant to grow because are vibrant ones because he loves how they look aesthetically

• He takes little strips of clear tape and writes little compliments and doodles (like plants, stars, little constellations,) and then sticks em’ to his moirail’s prosthetic arm (don’t write on peoples arms with permanent marker thats mean)

(I’m on mobile currently and I don’t think I tagged correctly!! Can a mod please check it! Thanks in advance.) [You did a fine job with the tags!]

[I love him and want to protect him with all my heart.]

Rules broken: [None that i can see!]

Fantroll Rating: [A very supportive thumbs up out of ten.]

#review #kind and caring #submission

10 notes · View notes

fivewrites · 7 years

Text

TIPS ON WRITING NON-LINEAR NON-CHRONOLOGICALLY

Wow, sorry, tumblr messed up the formatting of that ask

anonymous asked:

Hello! Im planning on writing a fan fic in where the reader has abilities but I would like to start in an action scene, If I were to write it like that, How would I do it? Right in the beginning, middle or just at the end?

The reader has abilities? (Just FYI, I’m pretty unfamiliar with second-person fic)

In terms of literally getting ideas down, I try to get past “blank page syndrome” as fast as possible and I write a fast gush of all the ideas I have so far. You might call it an outline, but it’s not pretty or bulleted. It’s just word-gush.

My advice would be to start with what is the most vivid image to you, the part or parts that are the most developed.

This is my “outline” that I wrote down for one of my zine fics, featuring Hunk and Keith. I wanted to do a story from Keith’s perspective, who realises his friendship and appreciation for Hunk.

–

“It’s got a notch in it.”

“I can help you fix that”

Sharpening video japanese knife https://youtu.be/3XW-XdDe6j0

knife skills

shows Keith how to cook

Early season 1

“Yeah, I saw how you were living in the shack. It was, um, rustic.”

“I had other priorities.”

“Let me show you a couple things.”

–

Next, I knew how I wanted the story to wrap up, in a nice little tidy end. You can start anywhere for your end, or even just leave it at a note of “Keith learns to cook and appreciates Hunk.”

And suddenly they were in the kitchen and Keith was swathed in a bright red apron and Hunk was beside him, carefully laying out instructions as butter sizzled in a hot pan on the stove behind them.

And it was as Hunk was showing keith how to julienne a bright blue carrot-like tuber that Keith suddenly realised it.

Hunk really was a good friend.

If it doesn’t work for you to write the end, you don’t have to. I really like having an end in mind because “all roads lead to rome”. In other words, your story can twist and meander a bunch, but it will always eventually work towards and end at the place you have decided.

–

Now, that’s just physically writing things down. In terms of story placement, starting at the end or middle is a creative choice. personally, I enjoy it, I think it’s much more powerful than reading about a character getting up and eating breakfast and only getting to the main story 9,000 words in.

I would recommend writing your most important scenes first, and then reading them over and seeing what needs to be filled in. Read this next bit in terms of size first, to see what I mean when I try to explain not writing chronologically. If you cover the most important, pivotal points in your story first, it won’t lag and you don’t have to worry about it dragging on and on. You can also have an easier time connecting two points rather than always building outward one way.

You have your main point one, two and three as those BIG parts. then you build the rest around it, augmenting and editing as you go, cutting back and forth and writing to connect rather than to extend. The big points can be anything important. An action scene, a romantic declaration, a death, a religious relaization, etc. They just need to be important. No breakfast and brush teeth.

Now, once you have your ideas jotted down, it’s time to play cut and paste. I recommend pasting your entire WIP into a new document to play around with it. Experiment with cutting the middle section out and placing it at the very beginning, starting us in media res. Play with time skips and jumps, and see if you can still follow the story when it becomes less linear. if it’s too confusing, you cna always go back, but it’s fun to experiment and see how far you can push the story for interest and impact.

Remember those IMPORTANT POINTS that are the main pillars of your story? See how much impact they have when you move them around. Maybe you should keep the big reveal until the very end, but put all the action up front. Maybe you start with a quiet letter, but cut to a car chase scene. The options are limitless!

I hope that helps at all, feel free to send me more asks for specifics!

#Writing tips #writing advice #writing help #tips #text #ask #not voltron

191 notes · View notes

bwicblog · 6 years

Text

>HANDS UP (and touch the sky)

While a global-spanning fishing attack has the Alternian internet glitching, Vadaya connects to the BWIC servers through his helming device. When Riccin IMs him and pushes him, he discovers he's able to make certain changes to the server - like punching a hole in the coding to allow a third person to be invited into his PM.

-- obstructedAntiquity [OA] is now trolling unruffledVanquisher [UV]! --

OA: cOUSIN, DID I HONESTLY GO AND OFFENd? OA: bECAUSE THAT AIN'T MY INTENTIOn. UV: Oh. UV: That is how you start a private chat. OA: UV: No Riccin. UV: My apologies. UV: I did not mean to be so blunt. OA: OA: cOUSIN, ARE YOU DRUNk? UV: Incorrect. OA: hIGh? UV: Also Incorrect. OA: UV: Oh. UV: I made a capitalized letter. OA: tESTING DRUGS ARE STILL DRUGS, YOU KNOw. UV: How. OA: OA: hm. UV: My apologies. UV: I am unused to this. OA: dON'T YOU START FUCKING APOLOGISING TO ME. WHY, SHIT THROWS US ALL LOOPY THE FIRST TIME, COUSIN. GOTTA BUILD UP YOUR MOMENTUM. GET YOUR FEET IN THE RIGHT FUCKING ORDER, 'FORE YOU START WALKING STRAIGHt. UV: I am not on drugs. UV: That is incorrect.(edited) UV: I am currently drugged. OA: UV: But not on those kinds of drugs. OA: rIGHt. OA: yOU GOT ANY TECHS IN THERE WITH YOU? IT'S THAT TIME OF THE PERIGEE, AIN'T It? UV: Correct. OA: tO WHICH PART, COUSIn. UV: I am in testing. UV: But i recommended that i was also allowed to do training. UV: Oh. UV: Both. OA: rIGHt. OA: wELL, GOOD, THEY GOT YOU WOUND UP LIKE A KITE, BETTER BE KEEPING AN EYE ON YOu. UV: I am not a kite. UV: I am just trying to learn speaking through computer systems. OA: OA: what. OA: like. they got you hooked in? UV: Correct. UV: I am very hooked in. OA: aW, SHIt. OA: hOLY SMOKES. NAH, WAIT, FUCK THAT: HOLY FUCKING SHIt. OA: tHAT HAS GOT TO BE THE MOST GODDAMN WICKED THING I HAVE EVER LAID THESE UNFORTUNATE VISIONSACKS UPON. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, VADAYa. OA: tHAT'S SO FUCKING COOl. OA: bUT, LIKE, FUCk. OA: hOw? UV: How. UV: Question mark. OA: aND FUCK, HOW THE FUCk -- OA: tHEY WON'T EVEN LET ME DO THAT SHIT YET, HOW THE FUCK ARE YOu? OA: hOw. OA: qUESTION MARk. UV: I have not figured out question marks. OA: pRESS AND HOLD SHIFt. OA: UV: OA: wAIT, SHIt. OA: tRY THINKING IT REAL LOUd. UV: QUESTION MARK. OA: gODDAMNIt. OA: tRY THINKING IT LIKE IT'S A QUESTION, BROTHER. THINK IT LIKE YOU'RE SCREAMING IT. THINK IT LIKE IT STOLE YOUR FUCKING MATESPRIT, AND NOW YOU'RE ON YOUR KNEES, EDGE OF THE FUCKING DOCKS, HAND REACHED OUT TOWARDS THE SHIP THAT'S ALREADY ZOOMING TOWARDS A GALAXY AS FAR THE FUCK AWAY AS YOU COULD EVER EVEN IMAGINe. UV: Why did that not send. OA: tHINK IT LIKE YOU FUCKING MEAN It. OA: qUESTION MARk!(edited) OA: bUT WITH A ?. UV: I cannot do exclamation points either. OA: aRE YOU SCREAMING It. OA: pUTTING ALL OF YOUR FUCKING LUNGS INTO It. UV: I can not scream. UV: I am watching my body. OA: 'cAUSE YOU GOT NO MOUTh? OA: hm. UV: My mouth was not removed. UV: I simply can not use it. OA: yEAH, BUT YOU AIN'T GOT ACCESS, COUSIN, THAT'S ALL I MEAn. OA: aCADEMY SLANG. FORGIVE Me. UV: Oh. OA: hmmm. OA: hmmmmm. UV: Comma. UV: SIGH. OA: hEY, LOOK, YOU GOT ALL CAPs. :o) OA: sHIT, I WISH I WAS THERE. YOU TRIED GOING ON THE NET, COUSIn? OA: tRIED STRETCHING OUT YOUR LEGs? UV: I was told not to. OA: OA: OA: mm. UV: Because of viruses. OA: vIRUSES AIN'T NO BIG TO DODGe. OA: wHY, HALF THE ACADEMY BRATS ARE WIRED UP, AND THEY AIN'T NABBING VIRUSES LEFT AND RIGHt. OA: jUST DON'T GO TOUCHIN' NOTHING YOU DON'T WANT TOUCHIN' YOu. UV: I am in the bureau intranet. UV: It is quite vast. OA: hUh. UV: I will be able to integrate with ships. UV: Why are my messages appearing elsewhere. OA: i AM SO JEALOUS, I COULD FUCKING SPIt. OA: dON'T SUPPOSE I COULD COME TAKE A GANDER AT YOUR SETUp? OA: gOT RULES AND SHIt. OA: sHAMe. OA: aND 'CAUSE YOU AIN'T SURE WHAT YOU'RE DOING, COUSIN, THAT'S ALl. OA: oR OUR LOCAL FUCKING MODERATOR'S FINALLY GOT MALWARE INTO HIS poor, poor little pan. :o) UV: Let me borrow the speaker system to ask. UV: Oh. UV: I forgot to turn off audio again. UV: Feedback. OA: nAH. YOU'RE LEAKING, SURE AS SALt. UV: Incorrect. UV: My other chat room i do not leak. OA: bECAUSE IT'S THE INTRANET, COUSIN. WHY, THEY GOT YOU WIRED STRAIGHT INTO THAT SHIT. IS IT ANY WONDER YOU FIND IT EASy? OA: tHIS IS THE FUCKING INTERNEt. OA: gOTTA SAY, MAYBE IT is FOR THE BEST, YOU KEEP YOUR ASS OFF THE MAINWAYs.(edited) UV: I suppose not. UV: I have not considered it before. MH: But it looks like I'm banned from lowbloods right now. UV: The main internet seems. UV: Oh. OA: ! OA: lu? OA: :o? OA: wHAT THE FUCk. OA: hOW THE FUCk - OA: wHAT SORT OF HAVOC YOU WRECKING, COUSIn? OA: yOU TRYING TO GO DIGGINg? UV: I did not do that. UV: I am offended you thought i would dig. OA: iT WAS ANOTHER JOKe. :o) OA: dON'T START FUSSING, COUSIN. YOU ARE THE FINEST MOTHERFUCKER I HAVE MEt. OA: tHE MOST STRAIGHT-LACED OF MOTHERFUCKERs. UV: My apologies. UV: I think i find jokes harder to determine like this. OA: bUT AS IS, YOU'RE PERFECTLY FUCKING UPSTANDINg.(edited) OA:(edited) OA: wELL, SHIT, IT ATE MY MESSAGE. HOLD On. OA: iF YOU WERE LACED ANY TIGHTER, SHIT WOULD BE ruinous. BREAKING BONES. RUINING PANS. CUTTING OFF ALL SORTS OF BITS THAT A MOTHERFUCKER MIGHT NEED, ALL WILLY-NILLY, WITH NO CONSIDERATION FOR A SINGLE FUCKING THINg. OA: bUT AS IS, YOU'RE PERFECTLY FUCKING UPSTANDINg. OA: aND DON'T YOU WORRY NONE ABOUT MY JAPEs. :o) UV: It sent to my other private conversation. OA: OA: :o? OA: hOW MANY CONVOS YOU GOT running? UV: Two private ones. UV: Another chat room. UV: Highblood and general chat. UV: Delete. UV: Sigh. MH: Tell Riccin I say hi. UV: Images are strange to look at like this. UV: Look is the wrong word. OA: hUh. OA: yOU TALKING TO LU? SHIt. OA: yOU OUGHT TO SEE IF WE CAN TURN THIS INTO A PROPER THREESOME, COUSIn. OA: sHE HOPS OVER HERE, I HOP OVER THERE, DON'T SEE WHY NOt. OA: jUST, Mm.(edited) OA: sHOVE AT THE WALLS A LITTLe? UV: I am unsure how much shoving i can do. OA: wHY NOT GIVE IT A TRy? :o) UV: I am unsure. UV: Oh. UV: That is. OA: OA: :o? :o??? UV: If i JUST. -unruffledVanquisher has started trolling mistingHafgufa [MH]!- MH: OA: ! MH: What. UV: Success. MH: Is this glitching again. MH: Because now I can see Riccin. OA: nAH, SISTER, JUST GOT VADAYA HERE TO THROW AROUND SOME FUCKING WEIGHt. OA: hOW SWEET IS THIS SHIt? MH: What the hell did he do? UV: It was not weight. MH: I feel like this isn't how the chat should be. MH: I'm not complaining but. MH: What. MH: I think ID closed the other chat. MH: Between just me and you Vadaya. UV: Oh. MH: .... They're letting me stay in highblood chat though. OA: wHAT? FUCKEr. OA: bIASED MOTHERFUCKEr. OA: tELL HIM TO LET ME INTO THE HIGHBLOOD CHAt. OA: dON'T SEE WHY I SHOULDN'T GET TO GET MY BUSINESS IN THERE, TOo. UV: At least he did not close this chat. MH: He gave me permission to stay, do I want to lose my own permission by trying to bother him for it? No. He's fickle. MH: Sorry Riccin, you're going to have to fight him yourself.(edited) MH: Or wait for a window to open. Apparently that's how others are getting in. MH: That's how I got in, and apparently I lost my lowblood privileges too. OA: :o( OA: fINE. I'LL GO FIGHT OUR PINK FUCKING OGLIARCH. WHY NOt? OA: gET MYSELF ALL UP AND BANNED, JUST 'CAUSE HE'S ALWAYS GOT TO GO PLAYIN' FAVORITES WITH THE rusts. MH: Then wait for a window. UV: Windows. UV: Yes. OA: bOO ON BOTH OF YOu. OA: uh.(edited) OA: 'kAy. UV: Boo. OA: hm. UV: Boo. OA: hOW LONG YOU TWO KNOWN EACH OTHEr? OA: sHIT, HOW WELL YOU TWO KNOW EACH OTHEr? :o) OA: dON'T YOU BOO AT ME, MOTHERFUCKEr. OA: i AM BOOING AT YOu. MH: Hahaha. MH: We chat on and off. OA: hUh. UV: Correct. OA: sO YOU AIN'T FLESH PALS, HUh? OA: OA: rEGULAR OL' FUCKING BOSOM BUDDIEs? OA: wHAT YOU TALK ABOUt? UV: Chess. MH: MH: Never say flesh pals again. OA: :o( UV: Oh. MH: Sometimes we play chess. MH: Sometimes we talk about books. MH: It's on and off. OA: hUh. OA: wHAT KIND OF BOOKS, GIRl? OA: sHIT, IS EVERY MOTHERFUCKER HERE ALL UP ON THE READINg? OA: gOT YOUR NOSE IN THE PAGEs? MH: ....Yes? MH: I read a lot on war tactics and the like. I also read a lot of engineering books. UV: Yes. UV: I recommend books and we speak about ones that we have both read. OA: sWEET MESSIAHs. OA: dUNNO WHY EVERY MOTHERFUCKER I KNOW'S SUCH A GODDAMN NE MH: ...Nerd? OA: nUANCED LITERATe. OA: nAh. MH: Uh huh. OA: wHY WOULD I SAY NERd? OA: gIRL, THAT SHIT's MEAn. OA: sTONE COLd. OA: uN FUCKING NECCESSARy. :o) MH: Yes. It is. OA: ha. UV: I have been called worse than nerd. MH: Have you? MH: What have people called you? UV: A troll without a personality. OA: MH: Why? OA: wHAT SORT OF MOTHERFUCKER WOULD EVEN PULL THAT SHIt? MH: That's stupid. UV: To be cruel. UV: I imagine. OA: dID YOU SET THEM RIGHT? CLOCK 'EM IN THE SNOUt? UV: No. UV: I did not damage them. UV: I sometimes think they wish i would damage them. MH: Why not indulge them. UV: Unprofessional. MH: If they have the spine to go around picking fights, then maybe they - ah. OA: nAH, NAH, HE'S GOT A POINt. OA: iNDULGE THEM, AND LET THEM GO WEEPING BACK TO THEIR CLADE? WRINGING THEIR FINGERS? KNITTING THEIR GODDAMN BROWS? PUTTING ON A SHOw? OA: aIN'T NO NEED FOR ALL OF THAt. OA: wHY NOT HAVE SOMEONE ELSE DO IT, COUSIn? MH: That's true. MH: Though it might not help the situation. UV: I do not think that would stop them. MH: Because if someone off the streets comes up and hits them, they won't even know why they're getting hit. UV: Have you done such a thing before:question: UV: MH: That's great. MH: Have I done such a thing as pay someone to hit someone else for me? Or hit someone for saying things about me? OA: oH, COUSIN, I HAVE HIT FOLKS FOR TALKING SHIT TO THEIR BETTERS ALL THE GODDAMN TIMe.(edited) OA: mIGHT AS WELL SAY IT'S A HOBBY, AT THIS POINt. MH: I've hit people for it too. MH: Sometimes wigglers won't learn not to touch fire unless they get burned. OA: nO HARM TO IT. WHY, IT'S PRACTICALLY A FUCKING service. MH: They get a warning, then they get the consequences of not listening to that warning. UV: I understand. UV: I have never considered it. UV: Mostly i just ignore them. MH: You said you don't say hit them because it's unprofessional. Are they a coworker? UV: Of sorts. OA: a MOTHERFUCKER GOES SPILLING THAT TEA ON YOU AGAIN, COUSIN, JUST GIVE A HOLLEr. OA: iT AIN'T UNPROFESSIONAL IF someone else GOES STRIKING THEm. :o) UV: I would not wish to get you in trouble. UV: But. MH: Well. I think I heard that you're head of your group, correct? MH: Can't you file a formal complaint? Or disciplinary action? MH: I think that went into general, Vadaya. UV: It did. UV: It is complicated. MH: Huh. MH: Sorry to hear that then. MH: They sound like an asshole. OA: eh. OA: wHAT TROUBLE CAN I GET INTO? I'M IMPERIAL, COUSIN. AIN'T NOBODY HOLDING MY LEASH, BUT MY PROCTOR HER FUCKING SELf. OA:(edited) OA: wHAT TROUBLE CAN I GET INTO, COUSIN? :o) I'M IMPERIAl. MH: I'd also offer to hit them but unfortunately, I am not imperial. MH: I doubt a backwater hick like me striking an Imperial will go down well. MH: So you'll have to take my support instead. OA: nOW, GIRL, DON'T YOU GO DOWNPLAYING It. OA: pRETTY THING LIKE YOu? OA: wHY, JUST SAY THE WORD, AND EVERY KIND OF MOTHERFUCKER WOULD JUMP THROUGH A FLAMING GODDAMN hoop, JUST TO net YOUR approval. ;o) OA: nEVER MIND YOUR support. UV: Oh. UV: You are pretty? MH: MH: Thanks. OA: OA: nAH, SHE'S DUMPY AS FUCK, I'M JUST PLAYIn'. UV: You are aware. UV: How? OA: uh. OA: i THOUGHT SHE WAS THE WRONG KIND OF GAL, THAT'S ALl. OA: sHIT, WEREN'T YOU THERE FOR THAt? OA: aLL SORTS OF UNFORTUNATE GODDAMN MISTAKEs. OA: fELT LIKE A RIGHT AND PROPER CHUMP, MIXING UP EVERY HUE OF RUSt. OA: OA: hEY, YOU GOT YOUR NOODLES ON, COUSIn. :o) UV: Hmm. UV: Yes. UV: I did. OA: wELL. THAT'S FUCKING WICKEd. OA: um.(edited) OA: rEAL WICKEd. MH: Indeed. MH: So what are you up to today Riccin? I know Vadaya is doing his certification. working. What about you?(edited) OA: hIDING FROM THE LEGIs. MH: Smart plan. OA: gOT SOME HARDWARE GLITCHES GOING ON WITH THE HANDHELDs. OA: sO I AM FUCKING free, IF I KEEP MY HEAD BOWED LOw. :o) OA: ha. OA: aIN'T IT JUSt? MH: From what I saw of the legis you HAVE been working with, they're a trashfire. MH: I can't imagine what it's like to work with DS. UV: Oh. UV: Them. MH: The trashfire. MH: I find it hard to respect someone like that, if I'm honest. OA: oH, COME, NOW, AIN'T NO NEED TO START DRAGGIn'. OA: bROTHER IS THE MOST USELESS SHADE OF MOTHERFUCKER, BUT HE'S A SUBJUG, THROUGH AND THROUGh. OA: sUPPOSE IT'S MY place TO BOW MY HEAD, TAKE THE SHIT HE LEVIEs. OA: aIN'T It? MH: I mean. I guess. MH: But I don't believe people in authority should have that authority if they haven't earned it. MH: Authority is authority but it defeats the purpose if the person who has authority can't MH: MH: Well, I won't start dragging. MH: I have my feelings on it, but I'll keep them to myself. UV: Yes. UV: Lets not argue about such things. UV: It is not every night we have what amounts to our own private chat. UV: No need to waste it with debate. MH: Exactly. OA: hm. OA: wELl. OA: tHAT'S TRUe. :o) OA: bUT YOU KNOW ME. I AM JUST SO AWFULLY mealy-mouthed WHEN YOU HAUL ME OUT IN PUBLIC LIKE THIS SHIt. OA: wHAT THE FUCK CAN WE EVEN TALK ABOUT IN HERe? UV: I am uncertain. UV: I have no idea. UV: You wanted to see about making a threesome chat. UV: So i did. OA: OA: ha. OA: sO I DID, AND YOU SO KINDLY OBLIGEd. :o) OA: wELL, SHIT, Uh. OA: yOU MOTHERFUCKERS WANNA SEE THE ISE OFFICe? OA: aIN'T EXACTLY HEADQUARTERs. OA: bUT SHIT, I CAN GIVE YOU THE TOUr. MH: Considering I'm just sitting around on waterfront doing nothing, sure. MH: Since this was Riccin's idea, I say they should be the ones leading the conversation train here. UV: Make sure it does not get broadcasted to the general chat. MH: I can keep an eye out to let you know if any messages slip so you can delete them. OA: aIN'T YOU A FUCKING DEAr. OA: lET ME JUSt - OA: there we fucking go. speech to goddamn text. and they said technology was hard. ha.

-- obstructedAntiquity [OA] has started up a VIDEO CHAT! The camera's actually remarkably crisp, and it goes on a slow pan around the room they're in. It's.. a fairly standard legislacerator dorm, all things considered. There's a picture of the Imperial Symbol standing on the mantle. The ceiling tiles are a fetching shape of neon red. -- -- There's a tealblood on the opposite bed, studiously ignoring them. --

OA: where to first? we got all sorts of spots in here. OA: training rooms, and shit. UV: Why not the training rooms?

-- There's a long jostling pan through the hallways! So much red. SO MUCH RED. Tall, swooping archways, in a tacky, 1920's bank kind of way: it's less utilarian and more clearly repurposed from an older building. The phone pans over a cluster of subjuggulators near a statue, some neophyte legislacerators gossiping near a doorway, someone with a drone on a leash --

OA: wait. wait, shit, which training room? OA: guess we could go snooping on the clowns, cousin. ain't no big. why, pull up my scarf proper, ain't nobody gonna pay no mind. OA: or we could look at the legi's shit. OA: you know they got an actual fucking courtblock? MH: Is that a drone on a leash? MH: Why does someone have a drone on a leash? UV: Hm UV: Why not the Mirthful first? OA: huh. OA: didn't you know, girl? OA: jades fuckin' breed 'em. the little ones. OA: should have that motherfucker on a full harness, though. OA: keep it from going feral on someone. MH: Well, I knew they came from the caverns. But why do they have one. UV: I am sure they can be handy in that line of work. UV: If for the intimidation factor alone. MH: You know what, that's fair.(edited) OA: hahaha. OA: because it's the legis office, sister. imperial.. uh. shit. let me check the sign. OA: OA: imperial social enforcement. we got some cavewretches in here, all dressed up in teal. OA: caverns need their watchdogs, after all. OA: otherwise folks start thinkin' the dark blinds the empire's eyes. OA: and naaaah. MH: Ah. Sounds about right. MH: They hunt rebels and mutants, right? UV: I believe the ise do all sorts of things. UV: Depending on the branch. OA: the two i'm with, yeah. OA: proper fucking hunters. OA: hold up -- OA: aLRIGHT, SWITCHING BACK TO VOICE, THESE CHUCKLEFUCKS DON'T NEED TO KNOW I'M FUCKING NARRATINg. MH: Yeah. MH: Might be for the best.

-- The camera pans as they wander through one door, and into.. the indigo training area. It's very clearly set up for subjuggulators: there's spotted carpets on the ground, enough indigo draped across the walls that it looks like a tent, and recruits in various states of uniform wandering between the stations, and through a pair of open archways in the back. Some are wearing crowns. The center of the room has a pit, and Riccin steps towards it briefly, before treating back to a corner. It's still easy enough to see the stations, though, and the indigoes settling on psi-crowns at them. --

OA: ha. OA: tO SAY THE VERY LEASt. :o) OA: tHEY DO AL SORTS OF SHIT, SISTER. COUNSEL QUADS. HUNT DOWN REBELS. I'M WITH THE HUNTERs. OA: aIN'T NO NEED FOR ME DOING PAPERWORK, OR QUAD COUNSELLING, OR TAXES, OR ANY OF THAT SHIt. OA: iT'D BE A PROPER WASTE OF TALENt. MH: What's up with the trolls at the stations? What are they doing? OA: aIN'T YOU EVER SEEN A GUNNEr? OA: i CAN'T GET TOO NEAR TO TAKE A VID, SISTER, LESS YOU WANT ME SPRINGING A LEAk. OA: yOU PUT ON THE CROWN, SHIT AMPLIFIEs. OA: tESTS YOUR PSYCHIC SHIT, PULLS IT OUT STRAIGHT, AND SEES HOW FAR YOU CAN GO - HOW FAR IT CAN BE pushed - BEFORE THE STRING SNAPs.(edited) UV: I doubt lu has much experience with those sort of thing. UV: Hmmm. MH: I don't. OA: :o? OA: hUh. MH: It's the first time I've seen something like that. MH: Sounds. Interesting. MH: I'm sure it's not as painful as you made it sound to be though. MH: Right? OA: wHAT, PAINFUL FOR THEm? OA: iT'S A STRESS TEST, GIRL, YOU AIN'T GONNA GET NOTHING MORE PAINFUL THAN THAt. OA: aMPLIFIERS ARE THE EMPRESS'S OWN PUNISHMENt. MH: Riccin. I know nothing about psionics or the technology used on them. MH: So you'll have to be patient with me if I sound a bit ignorant. OA: :o? OA: hUh. OA: mY BAD, GIRL. FORGET YOU FUCKERS AIN'T ALL.. EDUCATED ON THIS SHIt. OA: OA: sHIT, GOTTA GO. I'LL FINISH THIS LATEr. OA: oR JUST SEND PICS, HELl. :o)

-- obstructedAntiquity has left the PM! --

UV: Ah. UV: It is probably for the best. UV: I should not have been watching a stream. MH: Aw. MH: Yeah. You've been on a long break haven't you? Or have you been sneaking into the chat this entire time? UV: I have been multitasking. UV: The testing is. UV: Simple. UV: Boring. MH: .... Do you want me to leave you to it or would you like me to stick around? UV: I should focus. UV: I will let you go. MH: Very well. MH: Good luck. I hope it goes well. UV: Thank you.

-unruffledVanquisher [UV] has stopped trolling mistingHafgufa [MH]!-

In the aftermath of the server glitching, Vadaya messages Riccin while helming, and ID pops up to browbeat a perceived saboteur in his server.

-unruffledVanquisher [UV] has started trolling obstructedAntiquity [OA]!-

UV: Good evening comma riccin. UV: Failure again. UV: lol OA: hA. WELL, AT LEAST YOU'RE FUCKING TRYINg. :o) OA: sHIT'S WHAT FUCKING COUNTS. OA:

-unruffledVanquisher [UV] has started trolling obstructedAntiquity [OA]!- -unruffledVanquisher [UV] has started trolling obstructedAntiquity [OA]!- -unruffledVanquisher [UV] is no longer trolling obstructedAntiquity [OA]!- -unruffledVanquisher [UV] has started trolling obstructedAntiquity [OA]!- -unruffledVanquisher [UV] is no longer trolling obstructedAntiquity [OA]!-

UV: What?

- iconicDisquiet [ID] is now trolling unruffledVanquisher [UV] !-

UV: ????? UV: oh what the fuck UV: who is this UV: whats going on ID: You! UV: you! ID: I cannot believe you have the AUDACITY to show up in my server again. ID: After last time! UV: who the hell are you! UV: Ah. UV: ...... oh no theyre squishy ID: No~ooo, space cadet, you've gotten the script all confused! ID: That's what I'm here to ask YOU. UV: Correct. UV: oh no UV: vadaya UV: Why would you use a name at a time like this? ID: D'you think just because you're coming from some dinky little imperial server, sweetheart, you get to swan in here and start testing out your wings? ID: Clipping other folks feathers? ID: ID: Are there two of you in there? ID: Oh, for fuck's sake. ID: It's a handle, darlings, not a clown car! UV: your name has been used all over in conjunction with your handle on the server UV: are you telling me the helm who runs this cant just search your name and boop :heart_exclamation: find you? UV: There are two of us. ID: Lovely! Stupendous! I am just ecstatic with joy, sugargrubs, just flushing pink with it all the way through. ID: Two of you, and you still didn't have the common sense not go trying to punch poor, innocent sysop's, just trying to do their job, right in the horn! UV: alright alright UV: so like UV: My apologies. UV: whats happening now UV: like whats going on here going forward UV: are you coming to yell at us ID: Am I yelling right now? UV: metaphorically UV: I do not think they are yelling. ID: Of course I'm here to yell at you! UV: and there we go UV: I am incorrect. ID: p(●｀□´●)q UV: ..... UV: thats adorable UV: i cant even be mad ID: You are destroying ID: ID: Isn't it just? UV: Ah. UV: That is hard to understand. ID: But, oh, don't think complimenting my emojis will save you from this! (๑•̀д•́๑) UV: view it as a picture not text UV: wait UV: How do you view it as a picture. UV: Question mark. ID: UV: °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖° ID: How are you so bad at this, sugargrub? Good heavens! ID: Just do your head a little tilt and convert it! UV: thats because he IS new UV: why do you think im here ID: I don't know, since it obviously isn't to keep him from punching holes into my server! UV: its all just for shits and giggles UV: i wasnt here for that! UV: That was my first time in the system. UV: My apologies. UV: he had no idea what another helm felt like UV: and now im here! to tell him what to do and not do ID: So you hooked up some poor little wriggler, and promptly set him loose on the internet, to go nipping at my vines, tearing at my wires? UV: well no not you UV: not anyone UV: he did it for shits and giggles ID: My server isn't the testing ground for ID: ID: Oh, well, that's better. UV: I did not do it for. UV: That. UV: hold on hold on UV: okay hold up UV: it was an accident UV: he didnt know what he was doing UV: and now hes supervised! UV: hes expressed a lot of remorse for punching you in the brain and weve yelled at him a lot for it UV: Ellipses. ID: Ellipses indeed! (๑•̀ n •́๑)✧(edited) UV: seriously though i hope he didnt hurt you too hard? UV: i mean with all of this glitch shit going down i cant imagine its really helping ID: He did diddly squat, my little worrywart, except fan the fires of my poor temper. (◞ ‸ ◟ㆀ) ID: And a little hackers in the wires aren't bothering the server, anyway! Or won't be, as soon as I move it somewhere a little more secure than this lovely little hellplanet. UV: I am glad that i did not damage you. ID: But I'll tell you want, Vadaya, my grapeblossom. If you promise - absolutely promise! cross your pumpbiscuit and hope to die! - not to pull such complete, raucous bullshit again in my server, then I won't ban you, and every other schmuck connecting from a helmsport, how's that? UV: me too (;´Д`) ID: Or you, and your clowncar mentor. (╯︵╰,) ID: I was getting there! UV: no that wasn't what i was me too-ing about UV: the i'm glad you didn't get hurt thing UV: thats a fair warning though UV: Grapeblossom. UV: I understand. UV: I will not cause damage to the server again. UV: It was reckless and inconsiderate of me to push on the server to begin with. ID: It was! ID: Imagine if I was in space when you did that! Why, who knows what sort of business I do? What sort of ship I might be piloting? ID: You could've caused frontline deaths, elderberry, and then where would we be? UV: shit outta luck (´ཀ`」 ∠) (edited) ID: Overtaken by Steelborn, and eaten alive by their fetid, horrible young! ಥ ^ ಥ ID: And it would've been all your fault. ID: Think about that! UV: (-@Д@) UV: Mentor. UV: You are not helping right now. UV: Those emoticons are distracting. UV: I understand. UV: ive realized i have not been sending them at the speed needed so i will stop UV: I am probably slowing you. UV: My apologies. UV: dw about it UV: o o o ohh you asshole :anger: (howfuckingdareyou) UV: (ಠ ∩ಠ) UV: I wanted to stop slowing you. UV: ლಠ益ಠ)ლ ID: Well! This is delightful, and bizarre. (´-ω-`) ID: Why are you duel-piloting, dears? ID: What's your spaceship classification? UV: nnnnnoneeee UV: Ellipses. UV: shits shits shits shits and giggles :rofl: UV: Sorry ゞ◎Д◎ヾ I'm terrible ble ble ble bleeee at keeping my words straight UV: doesnnnn n n n n't translate over well (idiotwaskeepingmestable) UV: Mentor has a hard time keeping his thoughts straight. UV: fraid i think more in tangents and pictures than straight words(edited) UV: That is why i am here. UV: practice makes perfect UV: he figures out not to punch people in the head and i figure out how to get my shit sorted ID: Well, alright! ID: I'd ask further, but I just don't think I need to know. Especially now that you've got me feeling all bad for you. ヾ( ￣O￣)ツ ID: What is it, burnout? UV: Classified. ID: You just punched me in the brain! UV: Mentor did not. UV: He is the classified one. UV: whats burnout? how messed up my text is? ID: Yes, yes, that. UV: Quiet MENTOR. ID: No need to go hushing him! ヾ(`ヘ´)ﾉﾞ Why, we're just having ourselves a friendly conversation. ID: I could go rummaging on your connection, much like someone went rummaging through my server, but instead, we're just drinking our metaphorical tea, making ourselves a pleasant little time of things, because we are civilized. UV: Ellipses. UV: its fine UV: its been a busy night - probably not as busy as yours buuuuuuut i think were almost up on our alloted shits and giggles time??? UV: what time is it UV: I did not want you to become stressed comma MENTOR. ID: Hahaha. ID: Time for you to go, obviously. (个_个) ID: So sad! Have a safe trip back! Try not to trip on anyone else on the network on your way out. (｡•́︿ ~ ｡)(edited) UV: we understand your terms and conditions though and we do promise we're not going to go around and mess up your stuff. UV: (☍﹏⁰) ID: Well, gosh golly, as long as you promise. UV: so maybe we can all still enjoy ourselves while being respectful of the boundaries around us?? UV: (✿ヘᴥヘ) UV: we won't bother you a bit! i'll make sure of it! (ﾉﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ ID: There you have it! (๑˘︶˘๑) Respect my boundaries, and I'll respect yours, darling. ID: Now shoo! UV: we're shooing! ID: Don't make yourself strangers! UV: Farewell. UV: ヾ(☆▽☆)

-unruffledVanquisher [UV] is no longer trolling iconicDisquiet [ID]!-

ID checks back in on Vadaya, curious to see if he can pry out what the deal is with this indigo helm:

-- iconicDisquiet [ID] is now messaging unruffledvanquisher [UV]! --

ID: You know what? I was just sitting here, looking over my to do list, figuring out what a busy fellow like me was going to do with his evening, when I thought to myself - ID: Why, ID, you scoundrel! You haven't checked in on the little space cadet in weeks, and weeks, and weeks! (╯^╰) ID: And here I was, meaning to see how you were doing absolute ages ago. A pox on my bloodline, blueberry, because I have done wrong. But rending my garments won't fix that! Sometimes you just have to say: well, gosh, and move right on. ID: So how are you? （＾ω＾）(edited) UV: Ah. UV: Well. A busy. Fellow does not always have time for such minor things. UV: I would not call you a scoundrel for it. UV: But I would not call myself a space cadet either. UV: I am. Well. And... Yourself? ID: Oh, you wouldn't? You could just colour me pink, I am so flattered. ID: Should I be saying helm cadet? ( ~ ω・) UV: Mmm. I can not stop you from calling me anything. UV: But I would prefer my name. ID: Do you think just because I own this server, I know everyone's names on here? ╭∩╮ ID: I'm wounded, blueberry. I do do more things than just reading people's chats! Why, especially when they're so uninteresting. UV: My apologies. Mentor used it in our last. Conversation. UV: I was unaware that you had forgotten. ID: Oh? ID: I assumed you wouldn't go using a real name in that sort of conversation, that's all! (•ω•) But, why, if that's the case.. ID: My night is positively swell, Vadaya. ID: And thank you kindly for asking! o(〃＾▽＾〃)o UV: Mentor is. A bit scattered. And difficult to reign in at times. ID: Is that so? Poor thing! Well, I'm sure the two of you will get the hang of it, right as rain. ID: Helming isn't too hard, after the first few tries! ('▽')♪ ID: How is it treating you so far? Easier now than it was at first? ( ~ • ^ ) UV: Correct. It was just a matter of learning the ropes. UV: I apologize again for my error against you. ID: Oh, there's no need to apologise a second time! I'm just checking in on the name of solidarity, Vadaya. ID: Us helms have to stick together, don't we? (¯ u￣๑) ID: It's practically the foundation of our little community! We have to guide every fresh new wriggler to the interweb, just to ensure they don't go doing anything too foolish!(edited) ID: But stars and garters, it's so nice to hear you're picking it up! I was just awfully worried at first about how you were going to manage. UV: ...Yes, well. UV: I have Mentor now. Who has been doing their duty well. There is no need to concern yourself with me. UV: As you said. You are a busy troll. There is no need to put more on your plate by worrying about me. ID: Oh, don't you worry about me worrying! I'm like a furry mammalian predecessor to every pupa on my chat, and you are all as dear to me as my very own hypothetical, hideous offspring. Worrying is just the burden I bear! ID: If it weren't over you, why, it'd be over the disquieting sort of shenanigans people get up to in general. (￣^￣;) Fermented eggs. Really! ID: So, Vadaya, my blueberry, how long have you been rigging up? UV: Your chat is mainly pupas. And you do not seem to worry too heavily over them. I believe I have seen you more in private chats like this than I have in actual chats. UV: I would rather not discuss it. ID: No? Did I step onto an NDA? ╮(╯▽╰)╭ ID: I didn't think they usually gave folks of your caste pan nannies! ID: And nonsense! I'm in plenty. When I need to be. (｡･ω･｡) UV: Incorrect. I simply do not wish to speak about it. UV: No need for a nanny. UV: My apologies then. To an untrained eye, and the murmurings of the chat itself, you seem absent. ID: Oh? No, no, I should be the one apologising, then! I didn't mean to go stepping on your toes - why, it's just usually the first thing people share. Ship codes, time rigging, pilot details.. ID: Are you equally clammed up on those, too? ╮(╯▽╰)╭ UV: Usually one introduces themselves before they ask about the other. ID: Why, you want my name? UV: Just trying to maintain good manners. ID: Well, gee whillickers. What would I do if a little sprout like you wasn't here to remind me of those? ID: Would you believe my first name is Iconic? (•ω•) UV: I would wonder if you were from Barcino. ID: Oh, a shot to the heart! ID: (╥﹏╥) ID: Not at all, dearheart! Why, I have a perfectly respectable last name, rest assured, but I think manners says that a highblooded troll like yourself is supposed to do the honor of sharing that first. (≧u≦) UV: I was unaware that coming from Barcino was such an insult. UV: I think we are fine with staying on a first name only basis. ID: Were you really? ID: Why, then that's good! You've learned something tonight. ╰(´︶`)╯ But hopefully that won't be the only thing you learn. Pull out your notebook, Vadaya, I have some advice, straight from my own glorious mentor, back when I was first hooking up. And, if you can just believe it, she practically built the tech. ﾍ(￣▽￣*)ﾉ ID: Or do you think you've got it all already? Why, it has been practically perigees and perigees. ID: You might be a bonafide expert! ( ° △ °) UV: How prestigious. UV: You must be an important helm. UV: I am certainly no expert, but I am learning well enough. I have plenty of guides, you do not need to concern yourself with offering more advice. UV: I am sure you have much more critical things to focus your energy on. ID: Why, Vadaya, I bet I'm only as important as you. ʕ•v•ʔ ID: And nonsense! Like I said before: the most important thing is making sure our fellows know what they're doing. Offer up some advice! Lead them on the right path! ID: Smooth over little things before they happen, just because no one warned you it's impolite to go slinging fists. ╰(´︶`)╯ UV: ...Honestly, you do not need to worry about it. UV: I was made aware of my mistake. And I am glad that you and the server have not suffered any long lasting effects from it. ID: Maybe I want to worry about it! Why, you and I and your mentor are the only helms on this entire little server. ID: I thought we could share some camadery. ︶︿︶ ID: Maybe even plant a seed of friendship, given your awfully kind concern about my servers well-being. ID: And mine. ID: So generous! ╮(╯▽╰)╭ UV: Incorrect. UV: There is The-Beat-of-an-Egret’s-Wings-as-it-Breaks-into-Flight-From-the-Shore. ID: Oh? UV: Perhaps you could offer them your advice. They did not seem very. Happy. ID: And what handle is that, Vadaya? (￣▽￣) Why, I can't believe I missed a big relevation like that! UV: Can you not find it on your own? UV: I am sure you were occupied with other more important things at the time. ID: I could, but I thought you might know off hand, if you typed up her entire ship name. ︶︿︶ ID: And I'm a little occupied right now! I'm just making time in my schedule to talk to you, on account of our solidarity, but I have some naughty wriggler on the line, getting a scolding even as we speak. ID: But if you don't know, why, I suppose I can just go look.. UV: My apologies. I am unsure of how you run your server. I did not think it was much of a task to look someone UV: UV: Okay, which one of the wrigglers is this? UV: You can be pink on this chat room? UV: A bit garish really. ID: I do work a job outside of this server, you know! ￣へ￣ Don't most of us? ID: And ID: - oh! A new face! ID: Why, hello, there. UV: Yes yes, hello to you too. UV: Can we wrap up whatever business is going on here? UV: We're a bit busy. ID: Why, sure thing! ID: I'll just make sure to let Vadaya know how Egret's holding up later, since they were so worried. ฅ'ω'ฅ ID: Have a good night of.. well, whatever business you're getting up to!

-- iconicDisquiet [ID] is no longer messaging unruffledvanquisher [UV]! --

Another night, another try: ID pries for more information, only somewhat successfully.

-- iconicDisquiet [ID] is now trolling unruffledVanquisher [UV]! --

ID: Vadaya! ID: Are my little eyes fooling me, or is someone plugged in? ʕ•^•ʔ ID: I guess you could just be switching things up. Stretching out your fronds. Trying out a new quirk! ID: But that sure does look like the sort of talk you get from pupa's first speech-to-pan. UV: Elipses. UV: If i am disturbing anything and i was unaware of it. UV: I will leave. ID: Disturbing things? No, not at all. ID: Why, Steamy's having just about the best night of her perigee out there, chattering about all this techno junk. (๑˘︶˘๑) ID: I was just curious! UV: Well she seems to have. UV: Fallen asleep now. UV: I believe. UV: Curious about what? ID: She does that, poor dear. ID: If you were plugged in to chat, sugargrub! If you've got a cord in your neck, or spine, or forehead, letting you send all of these twee little messages straight from your pan to my monitor. ( ˙꒳˙ )(edited) UV: I believe you answered that question yourself. UV: If you did not believe that i was plugged in. UV: You would not have contacted me about it. UV: Correct? ID: Maybe I was just looking to get some validation! You know what they say about assumptions, Vadaya. ID: Nothing good ever comes out of those. ID: So, on the topic of questions: if you're really plugged in, and you're really indigo - ID: - which I'm sure a good, upstanding kind of bloke like you definitely is - (o´v`o) ID: - does that mean you're one of those fancy new bootleg psis? ID: Because I have to say, I just wasn't ever expecting to see one of you make it all the way out to the field. ID: Good job, space cadet! ( ❛ᴗ❛ ) UV: Of course i am indigo, i UV: Elipses. UV: Apostrophe bootleg apostrophe? UV: I am not a space cadet. UV: Either. ID: See, I knew you were an honest fellow! ID: It's just something about your face, sweetheart. (▔◡▔) ID: And no? Not a cadet? ID: All helmscapable pupas are cadets, dearheart, unless we went and changed up our structure while I wasn't looking. ID: Which I guess is possible! Why, there's nothing like a commander getting ideas to go and make everything confusing for us poor common folk. (╯︵╰,) UV: Noise of disgust. UV: I am not a. UV: Bootleg anything. UV: I hope this has helped sate your curiosity. ID: Oh, well! ID: It's not that I'm doubting you, dear, but - are you positively sure about that? Not just pulling my frond for the sake of pulling? ID: Because I just know the Carnifex's paying for some cobalts to come through. Some indigoes, too, if they can finally figure out the right measurements. ID: Why, the last one they tried, they cracked her poor pan open, set her all up, and then went and got the temperature wrong. UV: Elipses. UV: You seem to know quite a lot about these things. ID: Hahaha. ID: Well, gosh, do I? ID: What can I say! ID: Just between the two of us, I'm a pretty important fellow. (~ ω •) UV: I understand. UV: It must keep you busy. UV: Perhaps i should let you go so you can focus on it. ID: Oh, you don't have to scamper on my account! All the shrines are keeping my office all tied up, with nothing to do. ID: It's downright tragic, that's what it is. (ˇヘˇ) ID: You sure you're not one of Shep dear's little projects? Hatched out of the slurry, all right and proper? UV: I am not a project. UV: And certainly not of SHEP. UV: Shep. UV: Sigh. UV: I was hatched as i am. ID: Hmm. ID: Hmmm. ID: Hmmmm. ID: Well, I guess you'd be the one to know, sugarplum. ID: And if you were one of her little gene projects, why, you'd be at the institute, not at.. wherever they've placed someone as unique as you! UV: Yes. UV: I would. UV: Is that all you were curious about? ID: Of course! ID: Thank you just for being so awfully obliging. UV: Elipses. UV: Of course. ID: Don't think I've forgotten you wanted me to talk to mister Egret, by the way! ID: Why, I never forget anything. (´｡• ᵕ ~｡`) ID: I'll be sure to let you know how that goes, sugarplum, but in the meanwhile - why, have fun with your little helming. ID: And ta!

-- iconicDisquiet [ID] is no longer messaging unruffledVanquisher [UV]! --

Another night, ID checks in with Vadaya again:

-- iconicDisquiet [ID] is now messaging unruffledVanquisher [UV]! --

ID: Hey there, elderberry! UV: Oh. UV: It is you. ID: Well! UV: Good evening. ID: What a way to greet a fellow. ( T ^ T)(edited) UV: oh look it's you again!!! :heart:⃛ヾ(๑❛ ▿ ◠๑ ) ID: Here I came bearing news and greetings for my favorite helm, and I get - it's you. ( ˙ ^˙ ) UV: what a delight it is to see you! ID: Oh! It's you! ID: My other favorite helm, bless your little biscuit. (〃＾▽＾〃) UV: I doubt we are your favorites. UV: what's going on now, did something happen again? ꒰๑•̥﹏•̥๑꒱ UV: c〳 ݓ ﹏ ݓ 〵੭ ID: Oh, space cadet, why would you go saying that? ID: Have I gone and given you the wrong sort of impression? (╯︵╰,) UV: well!! UV: the only other time i saw you was when dear sweet poor vadaya here had come and caused you some bodily harm! how could i not assume the worst?? (´；ω；`) UV: I did accidentally assault you. UV: It does not usually endear a troll to another. UV: What news did you have? ID: Oh, but we are so far past that, dearheart. Why, didn't I tell you before, when we were nattering on about poor little Egret? ID: Us helms have to stick together! UV: ╰(✧∇✧╰) UV: Dearheart. ID: I can't call you both elderberry, when only the one of you's indigo. ID: It's just not right! UV: and how do you know we're not both a delicious shade of elderberry ₍՞◌′ᵕ‵ू◌₎♡ ID: Statistics, mostly.! ╮( ︶▽ ´)╭ ID: Vadaya here already said he's not one of Shep's little pet projects. So, why, what're the odds that there's two of you, going about, getting all strapped in? ID: Though, gosh, I guess you could be a pair of gunners. UV: へ[ •́ ‸ •̀ ]ʋ do i really not seem like I can be??? UV: We are getting distracted from this. UV: News. UV: (๑◕︵◕๑) ID: Well! Anyway. I've moved on past the whole little punching business. We ought to be friends! ID: Goodness only knows there aren't a lot of us on here. ╮(︶▽︶)╭ ID: And right, right, the news.(edited) ID: How could I ever forget? ID: Have you two met our exciting new fellow? ID: The delightful Overseer? UV: the who ID: We have an Overseer now! All offishial, if you know what I mean. UV: don't you mean UV: offishoal(edited) ID: Perfect! ( ´ ▽ ` ).｡ｏ♡ UV: (ง ͡ʘ ͜ʖ ͡ʘ)ง UV: Ellipses. UV: I have already been speaking with the overseer. ID: Oh! Is that so? ID: Are the two of you already practically bosom buddies, then? UV: Incorrect. UV: But i am aware of his existence. ID: Hmmm. ID: Hm, hm, hmmm. ID: Well! ID: If you are, that makes things awfully easy. ID: Vadaya, how would you feel about doing me a little bit of a favour? ╰(´︶`) UV: What kind of favor. UV: 【・_・?】 UV: ɾ◉⊆◉ɹ are you trying to network through us? UV: ⍨⃝ ID: ID: I feel like that little thing warrants a star for effort, dearheart, or a suggestion to maybe not drink and helm? ID: One of the two! ID: And not at all, my little bundle of grapes. (・`ω´・) UV: ٩̋(ˊ•͈ ꇴ •͈ˋ)و UV: I think it is better than mentors second one. UV: That does not look much like a face. UV: Σ(‘◉⌓◉’) ID: If I was networking, why, I'd have to go much higher than just some stodgy little overseer. ID: And go a little stronger than some internet chatroom! ID: No, no. ID: If you're just wiling away the hours, nattering away with him anyway, though, why - it's no velvet off your horns to just ring a bell if anyone starts getting a little too antsy at him, now, is it? (҂ `з´ ) ID: .. and that's not a face, that's a computer. (＃￣ω￣) UV: You are asking me to moderate his interactions. UV: Ellipses. UV: For you. UV: i bet you could!! you're nothing but sweet silver tongue and absolutely as sweet as pie (灬ºωº灬)♡ ID: Moderating suggests you'd have to intervene! There's no need for you to go playing clubs, when that's us moderators jobs. UV: us??? is there more of you?? (•̀o•́) ID: I'm just asking you to ring a bell, that's all. ID: And aww, aren't you just the sweetest little thing? (｡・// ᵕ //・｡) I'm just tickled pink you've got so much gosh darn confidence in me. ID: Especially because, why, I can't exactly disagree. (・`ω´・) ID: But I've already got one queen! I don't think she'd like it much if I went schmoozing with overseers. ID: .. of course there's more of me! ID: Haven't you seen mini-me? (･ω UV: a queen! Σ(゜ロ゜;) UV: Mentor meant are there more moderacullers. UV: Are there? ID: So many questions! ID: You never struck me as the curious sort, sugarplum. UV: Not as many answers. UV: we're a curious bunch! ˓˓ ⍥⃝⃝ ˒˒ ID: Why so curious? (￣ω￣) UV: You have asked questions of me in the past. UV: I thought it was polite to show interest back. ID: Well, who went and told you that? (o´ω`o) ID: Our darling CC is one of the moderacullers! UV: Is it best to ask questions revolving more around you? ID: Haha, oh my goodness gracious. Are we that sort of friends, now? ID: And here I was worrying you were feeling all bothered!(edited) UV: Well. UV: Perhaps not friends. UV: But for who told me to ask questions. UV: ID: Oh? No, no, I should be the one apologising, then! I didn't mean to go stepping on your toes - why, it's just usually the first thing people share. Ship codes, time rigging, pilot details.. UV: My apologies. UV: I asked the wrong questions. UV: What is your ship code? ID: Well, those are the more typical sort of questions. ID: But there's no need to go and get feisty on me. Quoting my words back at me! (`n ´) ID: Who says I have a ship?(edited) UV: (｡☬０☬｡) then where are you helming from?! ID: Space! ID: Same as you, isn't that right? (=`ω´=) ID: Or are you planet-bound? ID: ID: Why, am I talking to genuine wrigglers? UV: You are not speaking to wrigglers. UV: We are in space. UV: What are you operating? ID: The chat, mostly. ☆⌒(ゝ。∂) ID: Tell you what, I'm answering an awful lot of questions here, but you still haven't answered mine. UV: I just answered two of your questions. ID: The first, dearheart, about ringing the bell! UV: I will attempt to contact you if anyone seems to be distressing the overseer. ID: Perfect. (´• ω •`) ID: Well! Sounds like we're all wrapped up over here, then, unless you've got more questions? ID: Why, I guess that's only fair, to give you pit for pat like that. UV: Thoughtful noise. UV: Mentor? UV: (๑°艸°๑) what's your name?? clearly we MUST have a name that we can call you!! UV: unless you told vadaya but not me?? ID: Haha, oh, gosh, I did! UV: (ノ﹏ヽ) ID: So I'm afraid you'll just have to ask him! ID: And in the meanwhile, there's your question, so: ID: Until next time! UV: ꒰๑•̥﹏•̥๑꒱ but wait! UV: what if i want to come chatting again?(ఠ్ఠ ˓̭ ఠ్ఠ) ID: ID: Why, that's adorable. ID: My handle's right there, you goopy-eyed rascal. UV: so i have permission?! ID: Of course! Never let it be said I'm not a magnamious ogliarch. UV: gasp!!!!!!!! UV: Magnanimous oligarch. ID: ID:

-- iconicDisquiet [ID] has stopped messaging unruffledVanquisher [UV]! --

#[c:vadaya]#[c:id]#rebatrolls #bwic

3 notes · View notes

breeeliss · 7 years

Text

[Miraculous Ladybug]: we write kindness in marble

im very behind on @thinkoutsidethelovesquare but hopefully filling out these prompts slowly throughout the month will be ok with you all? sorry about the delay, this week has been very hectic

Link to Archive of Our Own: [AO3]

Prompt: Day 2 - “Study Date” Pairing: Lilanette (Lila x Marinette) Title: we write kindness in marble Summary: Paris is new, strange, looming, and empty, and Lila doesn’t know if she’ll ever find one thing to like about it. When her frustration peaks and her grades start slipping, Marinette comes to try and bring in a kind gesture to soothe the ache.

we write kindness in marble

-fallimento // échec

If she was being brutally honest with herself, Lila expected a grade much lower than a 9. She supposed it was rather silly to feel proud of herself over that, especially as Mme. Bustier tapped her nails against the insuffisant that was written in red letters across the top of her exam, but even being one point away from a passable grade was the only thing keeping Lila from crying in frustration right in front of her teacher’s desk.

“Are you fluent in French, Lila?” Mme. Bustier asked.

Lila swallowed and waited a beat, a hesitation that always came before she dipped into French. “I can speak it pretty well,” she explained quietly. “And I understand all of it. It’s the reading and writing bit that I never got to practice much.”

“Your oral exam was wonderful,” Mme. Bustier explained. “And you follow along in class very well. But this didn’t seem like you didn’t study, dear. This seemed like you didn’t really understand the book very well.”

“It just takes me a long time to get through it all,” Lila admitted. “A lot of the words I don’t recognize and I have to always look them up. Even then, sometimes I only get the gist of what’s happening.”

“Have you tried reviewing with some of your other classmates?” Mme. Bustier recommended. “A lot of students tend to form small study groups to help them before exams.”

Lila bit down on the inside of her cheek and tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice. “I’m….not very close with anyone in class yet.”

Mme. Bustier picked up another pile of tests and flicked through the grades. “Well, if you’d like, I have a student in mind who’s doing rather well with the material who has tutored other students in the class. She’s a very sweet girl and I know she’d be able to help you catch up. I think you two would get along rather well.”

“I-It’s fine, madame,” Lila insisted. “I’ll just study harder next time. Start homework sooner.”

“Dear, I know this is frustrating. But I really do think you’d benefit from asking for someone else’s help. Just for a short while, and if it doesn’t help we can figure something out. This isn’t meant to punish you. It’s meant to help.”

Lila sighed and tried to ignore the ache in the back of her throat when she reached for her failed exam and stuffed it carelessly into her bag. “Alright. I’ll give it a try. Who’s the student?”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” Mme. Bustier smiled. “Our class representative if you remember. Give me just a moment and I can write down a quick study schedule for you both.”

-errore // erreur

Lila never really saw the point in making friends.

Her father moved around with such frequency that they were only ever in cities for a handful of months before his job had them packing up and sending them off somewhere else unfamiliar. It got Lila used to never unpacking all of her boxes, never decorating her rooms, never bothering to memorize the streets around her neighborhoods, and never bothering to make close friends that she was only going to leave after a few short months. She’d made that mistake too many times already, and it was more effort getting used to the sting of losing your friends than electing to keep them at a respectable distance.

Of course that all changed when her father excitedly told her about a position he found in Paris that would be much more permanent than anything he’d found in the past. If all worked out well, they wouldn’t need to move for a very long while, and that opened up a prime opportunity for Lila to finally build something permanent.

She heard that the mayor’s daughter and the son of a very famous fashion designer would be in her class, and admittedly the desire to make new friends and fit in convinced her that it would be a good idea to pretend she was equally as well connected. It was almost too easy, lofty stories slipping off her tongue easier than she ever thought they would. But lies can only stretch so far before they snap. Lila just didn’t think that it would be Ladybug of all people to ruin that for her.

It wasn’t as if the class was angry with her. It was more a reluctance to interact with her past what was necessary and polite from a fellow classmate. No one sat next to her in class, no one invited her out to lunch, no one offered to study with her, and Lila wasn’t sure whether to be angry at herself for thinking lying would help or angry at Ladybug for toppling the popularity she’d managed to build up. She had no plans for fixing what was broken yet and had only been focusing on keeping her head down and doing well in her classes until she figured something out.

Figures that it would backfire marvellously in the form of her failing literature and needing the help of one of her classmates just to pass.

She only knew who Marinette was because she was often making announcements to the class, handing out surveys, and holding meetings to hear complaints from the class that she could bring to the principal. Pretty girl, very outspoken, always had a kind word to say to and about her classmates. She supposed it could be worse.

Lila rested her head on the kitchen table while she watched her father sign off on the study schedule that Mme. Bustier had given to Lila this morning. He reached over and patted her on the head. “Don’t worry, tesorina . You’re a smart girl. You’ll be able to pull your grades up no problem.”

She shielded her face with her arms and signed petulantly, not sure if it was worth telling him that all of this grade nonsense was only one of her problems.

-promessa // promesse

Their schedule had them meeting after school three days a week until their next literature exam in a month and a half. Lila swapped out her books, trudged to the library, and found Marinette reserving an entire study table for them by the windows.

She had her earbuds in and was nodding along to her music while she sketched in her pink, monogrammed notebook, and it took Lila clearing her throat a couple of times and pulling out the chair next to her before Marinette sat up and pulled her music out. “Hey, you made it!” she exclaimed, reaching across the table and pulling their assigned novel in front of her.

Lila rested her bag on the table and pulled out her own novel and all of her notes. “Sorry I got held up,” she said. “I couldn’t find the library for a bit.”

“You’re fine,” Marinette smiled. “I was just killing time. Do you have all your things?”

“I just brought my book and my notes. Do I need anything else?”

“That’s enough. I don’t think we’ll need much anyway.” She reached down to where her bag was resting on the floor and shuffled through it until she pulled out her own notebook. “Do you want to just get started? If you need to run out and get a snack or coffee or something I can wait.”

Lila shook her head. “I’ll feel a lot better if we can just get this over with as soon as possible.”

Marinette nodded once. “Fair enough. You wanna start by going over your test first?”

Once Lila swallowed back the embarrassment of needing another classmate’s help with a subject she couldn’t pass on her own, Marinette was a rather pleasant teacher. They spent most of their time going through all of the incorrect answers on Lila’s exam and writing out a detailed correction sheet for her filled with notes on characters, major plot points, notable symbols, and recurring themes that Marinette promised her would be repeated on the next exam. Then Marinette dragged her chair closer, opened Lila’s book to the reading that was due tomorrow, and managed to help her get through half of it, circling words for her that Lila didn’t know the definitions to and teaching her how to mark up her book so that she could keep track of what was important. By the time an hour had gone by, Lila had four pages worth of notes and a pseudo vocabulary list of words that tripped Lila up.

“We’re not going to meet again until Friday, so see if you can finish the rest of the reading by yourself. If there’s a word you don’t know, write it down after you look it up. And always make a note next to the thing you underline so that you know why it’s important when you go back to study. You can bring your vocab list back Friday and I can quiz you on them before we try doing that day’s readings. Is that alright?”

Lila nodded as she finished writing down the end of her sentence. “Yeah, I think I can do that.”

“Great,” Marinette replied. “I think we only have two really short writing assignments coming up before the test aside from all the reading we have to do, but if you need help with the assignments just bring them to me and we can work on them together. You have any questions?”

“No questions, just….processing,” Lila sighed. “We went over a lot.”

“Yeah, I know,” Marinette winced apologetically. “Don’t try and retain it all right now. Take a break when you get home and come back to it. I think our block is up anyway.”

Lila blinked and looked over her shoulder at the clock hanging over the entrance of the library. “Wow, that went by quick.”

“I guess that’s a good thing,” Marinette chuckled. “Before you go, mind if I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“I know you tend not to sit next to anybody during any of the lessons, but would you mind if I sat next to you during literature? I can help you if you get lost, and you can take copies of my notes for the first couple of weeks if it’ll help you.”

Lila raised a brow. “You don’t mind?”

“Why would I mind? I’m offering.”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but no one’s really flocking to sit next to me or chat with me after class. It’s sort of been that way for the past two weeks. Don’t think I need to tell you why.”

“No, I noticed,” Marinette mumbled, looking down at her notebooks and suddenly looking discomforted for the first time since they sat down. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to talk to everyone about that. It’s not fair to you.”

“It sucks, but I’d say it’s fair. Besides I don’t need you standing up for me. I’m fine.”

“You’re new,” Marinette said firmly. “No one should be avoiding you and making your time here uncomfortable. And it’s not like I’m treating this as a charity. It bothers me personally so I want to say something.”

Lila snorted. “That’s oddly noble of you.”

“Not noble. Just kind.”

“I sort of lost any right to kindness, don’t you think?”

“No I don’t,” Marinette countered. “I’m not going to sit here and coddle you and tell you that you didn’t do anything wrong. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to be cruel to you. You’re not some criminal that needs to be punished.”

Well, that was certainly something about Marinette that Lila hadn’t been expecting. Lila noticed the way Marinette’s eyes hardened with earnesty and her body leaned in close to Lila as if to convince her that she wasn’t repulsed and that she was serious. It was strange that Marinette would care this much, but maybe this was just how the girl was and Lila was meant to get used to it. “You don’t have to get so uppity about it.”

Marinette swallowed and leaned back in her chair, noticing her position. “Sorry. It’s just….it’s been bothering me.”

Lila almost wanted to thank her simply because feeling sorry for her was much preferred than feeling apathetic towards her. But the point of these study sessions wasn’t so that Marinette and Lila could have a heart to heart. “Look. Can you promise me something? Can we just not talk about this while we’re studying? I kinda don’t want to have to think about it unless I have to.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Marinette apologized. “I just figured since I’m helping you, you should know. I’m doing this because I want to, not because madame forced me or because I feel bad. But I won’t bring it up anymore, I promise.”

“Thanks,” Lila sighed in relief. “And, yeah, I guess sitting together in class will help.”

“Perfect,” Marinette grinned. “Oh, make sure you take my number too! If you need help with homework, just text.”

After they swapped numbers, Lila pretended that she was going to stay for a couple more minutes to go over her notes so as to avoid the awkward and probably silent walk the two of them would make leaving the building together. Marinette wished her good luck on the homework before jogging down the steps to the library. While Lila slowly packed up the rest of her books, she chanced a look outside the window and saw that Marinette lived above the bakery across the street from the school. She smirked, remembering that the baguettes she’d bought from there on her first day in Paris was the only good memory she had of that day amidst all the homesickness and laborious unpacking.

Lila flung her back over her shoulder and checked her pockets for her bus money as she left the library. What a funny coincidence, she thought.

-rivedere // réviser

“ Pourri….Marcio.” Rotten.

Lila flicked the index card by her feet and read the french word on the next one before pressing it to her chest. “ Étonant…..” She bit her lip and pressed a hand to her forehead. “ Sorprendente?” Surprising? She flipped the card and sighed in relief when she’d gotten it right.

She was laying in her bed in one of the bathing suits she’d bought when they moved back to Sicily a few months ago, mainly because it still smelled like sand and sea salt and she woke up missing the beach today. The space heater in her room was running full blast, and despite the fact that it dried up the air and made her room feel stuffy, but if she closed her eyes and pointed her desk lamp directly at her, it almost felt like she was sunbathing on the beach. Of course, the effect was ruined when Lila looked out the window and saw the overcast Parisian skies and the trees shaking with the chilly, autumn wind starting to roll in, but it was one of her better attempts at trying to mimic the warm, Southern weather she was used to.

“ Aveugle. Cieco.” Blind.

The homesickness hit her a little later than it usually did, but yesterday her grandmother had express shipped a small case of cannolis to their apartment in Paris along with a small box full of all her Italian dessert recipes, and Lila just started crying right in the middle of the kitchen hard enough for her father to pull her into his lap and try to calm her down. She felt silly about it afterwards, but in the moment it felt like her chest was about to burst with all the tears that felt like they weren’t pouring out quick enough. All she could think about was being able to walk just two blocks down to her grandmother’s house in Sicily, smell sardines cooking on the stove, and hear her singing old songs in beautiful Italian while she swept her terrace.

Lila had the ocean, had the sun constantly tanning her skin, had children running with water guns right outside her house, had gelato carts rolling along the beaches with bells attached to their carts. Now she came home from school feeling so tired because it felt like everything that felt inextricable from her was slowly being sapped out and physically slowing her down.

“ Veuve. Vedova .” Widow.

The worst part was that all the glossy photos that Lila had seen of Paris when she was younger that had then seemed so beautiful were now completely ruined. Everything hurt too much for her to appreciate it and it often felt like she was missing so many wonderful things that were slipping past her, just out of reach, too far away for her to grab and hold up close. Lila needed beautiful things right now. Needed to feel like even in a place so devoid of everything she loved, there were new things she could stuff into her heart to make it feel full.

And she was desperate for it. Especially now that it seemed farther away from her than it ever had before. Some days, she didn’t even blame Ladybug for anything — she mostly blamed herself for being stupid enough to think that beautiful things came to you with lies.

She just wanted to be able to stare at the Seine without wanting to scream. She wanted to be able to take the bus through Paris without wanting to scratch out the windows. She wanted to be able to comfortably say her French r’s without feeling like they were sticking to the back of her throat and making her choke.

Lila pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes, counted to ten, and blinked away the pressure.

“ Prière. Preghiera.” Prayer

-liberare // libérer

“Are you okay?”

Lila lazily lifted her head from her book and turned to Marinette who was sitting next to her and reading out loud. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she mumbled. “What’s the matter?”

Marinette kept her brows furrowed at her for a few seconds before she tapped the words in the book that Lila had been trying to read for the past half hour. “You know that word,” Marinette stated. “We went over it last week and you’ve gotten it right after that. You’re circling it now.”

“I forgot it,” Lila shrugged, too lazy to copy the word over into a list of unknown words that just kept growing longer and longer, a testament to how far she still had to go to catch up to everyone else.

But the excuse didn’t seem to stick because Marinette pulled Lila’s list of words over and dragged the end of her pencil down the last few ones she’s written since they started studying that afternoon. “You know more than half of these I know you do,” she insisted. “You’re distracted, what’s the matter?”

“Nothing’s the matter,” Lila sighed, dragging a hand down her face. “And even if something was, it’s none of your business.”

“If it’s getting in the way of you studying and getting better, then yeah, it is my business.”

Marinette admittedly didn’t deserve the glare that Lila sent her from the corner of her eyes, but to her credit Marinette didn’t flinch and waited for Lila to give her a more satisfying answer that unfortunately Lila wasn’t in the headspace to give.

They’d been studying together for a little over a week and so far it was perfectly seamless. They kept up their meetings in the library after school and Marinette was pretty good about only discussing homework when they sat together. She interrupted only when she was explaining a word to Lila or correcting her about a plot point in their book. While sitting together in literature class turned a few heads the first day, it became a new normal for Lila as well. Marinette took ridiculously detailed notes that Lila was thankful to have access to, and it was nice to have someone she could discreetly whisper to in the middle of class when she needed clarification on something their teacher said without getting lost. It was familiar without it being personal, and Lila was surprised to find that following along in their book was getting just a little bit easier.

But so far Lila was taking this tutoring as a necessary evil and not an opportunity for making friends, which is why she tended to subtly steer conversations in different directions when Marinette asked how her weekend was or asked her what she thought of their difficult math lecture earlier that morning. It was just easier to separate the two, and a part of Lila really just wanted to get her grades up before she started pulling her hair out over friends.

It seemed like her homesickness was a flu that was making her more depressed and more irritable and a part of her really wanted to just scream about it but Marinette didn’t need to know what was festering inside of her and she was going to keep it that way. So she shut her book and turned her chair towards Marinette. “No, it’s still none of your business. You’re not privy to what’s going on in my life. We study together. That’s it.”

“You don’t have to pour your heart out to me,” Marinette said. “But it’s obvious you’re upset and it’s obvious you’re not really focused on working at the moment. So if something’s the matter — if you want to talk or you want to just stop for the day — you can tell me.”

Lila pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in her arms. “I’m fine,” she said, her voice choking up with the weight of her annoyance. “It’s nothing.”

Marinette sighed as she reached over and shut all of Lila’s books. “You’re not fine. Come on. Tell me what’s up. Maybe I can help.”

“You can’t help, Marinette!” Lila snapped in frustration. “I’m serious. Just leave it alone. Just give me a minute I-I….I’m tired. Okay? I have a lot going on, that’s it.”

“I mean, I figured as much,” Marinette frowned. “You look like you’re about to scream.”

“I’m going to scream if you keep pushing….”

“I’m not pushing! I just want to know—”

“ Cazzo , what do you want to know!?” Lila hissed, all of her words spilling out in Italian and shocking Marinette back until she was pressed against the back of her seat. “That it feels like the longer I’m in this stupid city the more I hate it? That I can’t stand the weather or the people or where I live or this stupid school full of people who won’t even talk to me anymore because they think I’m some kind of selfish brat? That I just wanna be back where my family is and where my old friends are and where everything is familiar and not some huge, lurking thing to get used to?”

She reached forward and picked up their novel, waving it angrily in between them. “And I’m tired of reading this stupid book! I’m tired of feeling like an idiot because this isn’t my first language and it takes me longer to catch up. I don’t care about French and I don’t care about understanding everything I just want to fucking go home!”

Her voice had gotten loud enough for the librarian to come over and scold them, but Marinette had quietly promised them that they wouldn’t be any more trouble while Lila pressed her face into her hands and pushed her hair away from her face. She wished the floor would just swallow her whole, and she was barely paying attention to Marinette packing up both of their books and slinging both of their bags over her shoulders. Marinette tapped Lila on the shoulder and yanked on her hand. “Come on.”

Lila snatched her hand back. “Stop it. Please stop it.”

“No, you’re coming with me,” Marinette instructed. “Come on. Get up. We’re done for the day.”

She wanted to tell Marinette to buzz off, but it didn’t look like Marinette was a person to be crossed when she was staring at people with eyes that told everyone she wasn’t taking no for an answer. It wasn’t as if staying in the library was any more appealing, so Lila rolled her eyes and got up from her seat, following Marinette out of the library and back towards their locker rooms on the bottom floor. Marinette stopped them at her locker, looked through her books on the top shelf and pulled out an unopened water bottle that she pressed into Lila’s hands. “Here, sit down and drink.”

“I’m not thirsty,” Lila mumbled.

“Don’t care,” Marinette shrugged. “Sit down and drink at least half of it.”

Too tired to argue, Lila relented and sat down on the floor of the locker room right in front of Marinette who sat cross legged on the floor as well. Lila took her time downing the water bottle and pressing her head back against the locker she was leaning against while Marinette patiently sat with her and waited until her expression smoothed out and she had a moment to herself to breathe and clear her head. They sat like that together for about fifteen minutes before Lila handed off the empty water bottle to Marinette and pulled her hair back into a ponytail so it was out of her face and allowed her to feel fresh faced and clear headed.

“Better?”

Lila nodded. “Yeah.”

Marinette smirked. “Felt good to yell, huh?”

Lila laughed. “I guess so. Yeah.” She dropped her hands in her lap and cleared her throat. “Did you catch any of that ranting earlier, or….?”

“Sorry, don’t know a lick of Italian,” Marinette chuckled. “But judging from the fact that you’re struggling with the language, just moved here, and haven’t really made friends yet….I can guess why you look so miserable. But if I’m wrong, then forget what I said.”

“No, no,” Lila said. “That’s….pretty much right.”

Marinette wrinkled her nose. “I know it’s not really going to help, and I can’t say I totally understand what you’re going through. But I’m sorry. And if you want to really talk about it — you know, not just scream in my face in Italian? I’m always here.”

“I don’t need friends to come and coddle me over this,” Lila replied.

“And that’s fine. I’ll just be your tutor and we don’t ever have to be more than that. But if you want a friendship and you want someone to complain to, you can always have it with me. I promise I won’t bite.”

Lila snorted. “I guess that’s comforting.”

“Get home and rest a little bit,” Marinette suggested. “Nap before you start your work up again. If you do that for me, we’re cool.”

“Are you going to check in on me or something?”

“I have your number so Facetime is a thing. I’ll totally bug you to make sure you’re in bed napping, but I was hoping we could just work on the honor system here.”

It was such a silly response that it left Lila smiling harder than she remembered doing in weeks. And that was a silly almost horrifying realization to come to, and it wasn’t until just then that she realizes how awful it was to just move through her routine of school, home, homework, and sleep without anyone else there to ease the mundanity and unfamiliarity for her. Marinette was brilliant and sweet, but she was also stubborn and pushy and not one easily crossed. Not the type of person that Lila thought she’d get close to during her first few months here at school, but she supposed it wasn’t the worst she could do.

Besides, Marinette had matched her own smile, and just being able to sit there in that locker room after school with the both of them grinning up their ears helped alleviate some of the aching in her chest that had been paining her for days.

-visitare // visiter

A few days later, a student two classrooms down was akumatized right after the lunch pause.

It pretty much destroyed the library and the entire courtyard near the entrance of the school, but Ladybug’s magic had at the very least restored everything to its original splendor once the fight was over.

Lila had heard stories of Papillon, Chat Noir, and Ladybug and had seen akumas in the news before coming to this city. At the time it had seemed like such a terrible and horrifying reality for the citizens of Paris, but strangely enough it was the first thing that Lila had become accustomed to. This was the fourth akuma attack she’d seen, not counting the attack where she’d been the victim herself. A lot of her classmates had been akumatized as well, and it was treated as an unconventional but normal reality for all of them now. Lila merely stayed holed up in one of the physics rooms and watched the news on her phone until it was over.

But when Lila had started to head to her next class, Marinette had found her in the hallway and gently took her elbow.

“School’s always cancelled after akuma attacks happen inside,” Marinette explained.

“But everything’s been fixed.”

“They still close the school earlier. I guess just to give everyone a break after all the excitement? But yeah, we’re probably not going to be able to use the library today to study.”

“We have a writing assignment due tomorrow,” Lila said worriedly. “I still need help with it and I’m afraid to turn it in without you looking at it.”

“Don’t worry, I know,” Marinette soothed. “I figured if you’re willing to hang around for a bit you could just come and study at my house if that’s alright with you? I’m just across the street. My parents should still be in the bakery working, so we’ll have plenty of peace and quiet.”

Lila blinked, not expecting the sudden friendly gesture. “Oh. Um. Yeah, so long as it’s okay.”

“It’s not a huge deal,” Marinette shrugged. “My parents won’t mind.”

Marinette’s apartment smelled like bread and the fresh linens that were still folded in a basket on the floor by the couch. It was small, but it looked lived in — bottles of spices were still on the counter and not put away, the dishes from breakfast weren’t done, and the refrigerator was covered in notes, reminders, notices from school, and a couple of très bien ’s Marinette had gotten from school. She could just barely see photos of Marinette as a toddler, family vacations, and reunions were dotted about the apartment and it made Lila smile despite the small flit of nostalgia she got when she realized her house in Sicily used to look like this too.

When they went up to Marinette’s room, Lila realized that it was a completely different monster — it was like a quick preview of Marinette that Lila hadn’t been privy to before. There were dressforms, half-made dresses draped over her chaise, and a sewing machine sitting on her desk, meaning she probably did a lot of sewing and designing. Her walls were covered in design sketches, tear outs from fashion magazines, and photos of her friends from school. Her desk was cluttered with cork boards, small drawers, mason jars filled with pencils and charcoals, and about five mugs of cooled tea and coffee that she hadn’t bothered to take downstairs.

Marinette cleared all the fabric and clothes from her chaise and dumped them all on her desk chair. “Sorry about the mess. I never got a chance to clean it this morning. You can sit on the chaise. Oh, and feel free to throw your jacket on my bed.”

Lila sat cross legged on the chaise and shook her head. “No thanks, I’ll keep it on. It’s a little chilly in here.”

“Chilly? It’s only seven degrees out.”

“Well, that’s the dead of winter where I’m from.”

“Oh sweetie,” Marinette chuckled. “This is nothing. It drops down to zero in the wintertime. Sometimes lower than that.”

“Are you serious?” Lila exclaimed.

Marinette sat down in front of her and brought over her own bag. “Where are you from again?”

“Sicily,” Lila grumbled. “And I’ve lived in Spain, Portugal, and Greece. It was never that cold there.”

“That’s because you probably lived in the Southern parts of all those countries. Is this the first time you’ve been this up North before? You know it snows here, right?”

“Don’t remind me.”

Marinette frowned and leaned back behind her chaise and plugged something into the wall. “I mean, I can turn on the space heater for a bit if it’ll make you feel better. Not for too long, otherwise I’m going to start sweating to death.”

“Your room is freakin’ cold Marinette, are you insane?”

“You’re going to get throttled by the weather when it starts to really get cold out. Please tell me you have a jacket thicker than that.”

Lila pouted. “What’s wrong with the one I’m wearing?”

“It’s not thick enough. You need warmer autumn jackets and proper winter jackets. Boots, thermals, tights, hats, gloves, and scarves.”

She groaned and leaned back against Marinette’s pillows. “This country is an oppressive tundra,” she muttered in Italian.

Marinette snorted and looked around her room. “Alright, how about this. Let’s start with a hat and a scarf, huh? Do you like orange?”

“Wait, what?”

“I’ve been starting to crochet stuff for the winter. Leg warmers, scarves, hats, and other things like that. My aunt dumped some orange wool on me that I used to make a scarf and a hat, but none of my friends like orange so I’ve just held onto them.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

Marinette looked back at her and rolled her eyes. “Do you want them?”

“You’re giving them to me?”

“I mean, you’re still in your jacket and I have the heat running even though it hasn’t even hit five degrees. That’s possibly the most pitiful thing I’ve ever seen, how could I not give them to you?”

“Oh shut up! At least I wouldn’t sunburn beyond recognition if I spent two minutes back where I’m from.”

Marinette winced as she looked through the drawers in her desk. “I bet you’d get some sick pleasure from that, wouldn’t you?”

“It would fill me with unimaginable joy.”

“Maybe when we’re done I’ll show you pictures of the time we went to Southern France for a vacation to all the really warm beaches. I forgot my sunscreen and came home looking like a tomato. After that I hated the summer and any warm weather.”

“That’s disgusting. People die in the cold.”

“People die in the heat!”

“It’s easier to die in the cold, I’m sure there’s research that says that.”

“Oh just hush up and take your scarf and your hat.”

Lila stuck out her tongue, but held her arms out and accepted the matching beanie and scarf that were thrown at her. They felt ridiculously warm, and wool was a beautiful burnt sienna that reminded Lila of a warm sunset. She flipped the beanie inside out and observed the stitches. “You made this yourself?”

“Mmhm. Crocheting was the first thing I learned how to do before my mom taught me how to use the sewing machine.”

“You sure I can have them?”

“I insist you have it,” Marinette replied. “I crochet mostly because it’s relaxing, and I wind up with all of these projects I never wear. You’re doing me a favor, don’t worry. Hopefully that’ll keep you warm in this freezing weather.”

“Thank you. And bite me.”

“You’re welcome. And rude. Feel like starting our homework yet?”

Lila shut her eyes and winced. “Is it obvious I’m avoiding it?”

“It only has to be a page,” Marinette soothed, patting Lila on the head that felt incredibly friendly but not altogether unpleasant. “It’s not that bad. I’ll help you.”

Two hours later they were surrounded by all of their literature books, arguing over their annotated copies of the books, and crumpling up drafts of their assignments and throwing them around the room while they tried to reach the word count. Because Lila refused to stay if Marinette turned off the space heater, Marinette wound up loudly complaining as she changed into a tanktop and an old pair of shorts and begging to leave at least one window open a crack while Lila hummed happily as she worked. She recognized that Marinette could’ve easily shut the thing off for the sake of her own comfort — this was her room after all — but Marinette had said something about not wanting Lila to freeze her precious little toes off and left it at that. It was a miniscule gesture in the grand scheme of things, but Lila appreciated it. Besides, she was sure the scarf Marinette had given her would come in handy when it started raining tomorrow.

That kind of thoughtfulness was added onto the ever increasing list of things Lila was learning about Marinette now that she was getting to spend the afternoon with her in her natural habitat. She was funny , and their strange habit of picking fun at each other was ridiculously fun to fall into and often left one of them laughing so hard they accidentally knocked books and binders to the ground. She also had this terrible habit of fidgeting while she studied and she needed to always be clicking a pen or rolling an eraser in between her hands to get her to concentrate long enough to get some actual work done. When she offered to go downstairs to make them fresh coffee, Lila found out she dumped a ridiculous amount of sugar inside and also that she painted all of her mugs herself one afternoon when she was grounded. It sharpened the edges of this blurry and tentative impression that Lila had of Marinette this entire time, and by the time they both successfully finished their assignments, Lila actually found herself getting disappointed at the thought of going home.

“You didn’t do that bad!” Marinette encouraged when she read Lila’s assignment over. “Just a few grammar things and word choice issues, but everything else was so great.”

“I don’t feel like I’m getting better yet,” she frowned. “You helped me with it a lot.”

“I’ve only been helping you for about two weeks. Besides, you’ve improved plenty. You’re understanding a lot more of the book now then you did before. That’s improvement.”

“It doesn’t feel quick enough,” Lila complained. “Our next test is coming up and I really want to do well on it.”

Marinette reached over and tapped Lila on the side of the nose until she was looking up at her. “You’re going to do well,” she said, sounding staunch and determined. “You’re really smart, and you try hard. You’ve got time to get your grades up.”

“I hope you’re right,” she frowned.

“I have faith in you,” Marinette smiled.

By the time Lila had to go back home, Marinette had somehow convinced her into taking home a free sample of some of their best pastries in the bakery downstairs along with a small tin of the coffee she’d served Lila that she’d found so delicious. She wasn’t sure if Marinette realized the significance of essentially sending Lila back home with a care package filled with homemade gifts, but Lila still appreciated how pleasant it felt to finally have someone from this new city think of her in such a way. She’d have to think of a way to pay her back for it all somehow.

Perhaps she’d be interested in taking a peek at her grandmother’s recipe box. There were some good Italian sweets that she might be interested in trying out.

-spostare // déplacer

lila: i failed

marinette: you didnt fail. pay attention

lila: im p sure i failed

marinette: there is no proof of that. i quizzed you the nite before myself. you did fine

lila: i forgot to include the weather symbolism. im screwed

marinette: you didn’t have to mention that shush and pay attention

lila: marinette i FAILED

Marinette subtly smacked Lila’s knee under the desk and gave her an exasperated look before pointing at Lila’s notebook. “Stop stressing,” she whispered, using the person sitting in front of them as a cover. “Just pay attention to the lesson and whatever happens happens.”

“I can’t,” Lila frowned. “It’s been bothering me all week.”

“There are going to be two more tests this year. Even if you did do badly you have other chances to do better and you can make it up then.”

“Oh great!” Lila said, giving a pained smile. “A bigger target for me to miss.”

Marinette rolled her eyes and pushed Lila’s notebook against her hand while she typed out another text from her lap.

marinette: so you have it in writing: i swear on my sewing machine that you did well on this exam and that you will continue to do well in the rest of the class. screenshot for your reference

lila: thats like swearing on the bible for u

marinette: exactly. so shut up

Lila let out a small whine and dropped her head on her desk, not caring much about taking notes or paying attention when they were only ten minutes away from getting their grades back from their latest exam and finding out whether Lila was doomed in this class. Mme. Bustier had set a goal of an 11 on this exam so that she’d at least have a passable grade that she wouldn’t be embarrassed to show her father. The logical part of her mind was telling her that everything was probably fine. Marinette had spent close to a week helping Lila prepare for it — testing Lila on her vocab, practicing her writing, practicing her oral, and quizzing her on every conceivable portion of their novel that they could think of. But Lila wanted to stop feeling like a stranger in this new place she was meant to call home, and part of that involved being able to do well in her classes because she actually had a good enough handle on the language to be able to hold herself up.

She wasn’t usually this anxious about grades, and the way her stomach was twisting around in her gut was making her want to crawl under her desk, but Marinette was rubbing comforting circles against her back and quietly trying to give her all the reassurances she needed.

That was new for them. Ever since that first afternoon they spent studying at Marinette’s house, something had shifted and grown between them. They stopped spending time at the library and started the routine of going to Marinette’s house after school instead. The two of them sitting a foot apart on the chaise had now turned into the two of them lazily laying out on Marinette’s carpet or on Marinette’s bed while they played music, took snack breaks down at the bakery, and spent their downtime laughing and talking. Marinette loved talking about her designing, Lila loved talking about all the places she lived before, and the both of them always had conversations that kept Lila at Marinette’s house for hours. They even extended their tutoring sessions to include doing the rest of their homework together, and Lila enjoyed the fact that she was just a little bit better at maths than Marinette was.

Texting in and outside of class became a common occurrence too, and it wasn’t a full day until Marinette sent Lila links to possible pairs of real snow boots — “no, you cannot wear suede in the snow and those boots will not keep your feet warm, we talked about this Lila” — and until Lila sent Marinette entire photo albums of Sicilian fashion as inspiration for all of the clothes she was starting to make in preparation for when the summer finally came. Lila couldn’t remember the last time she’d ever stayed up until three in the morning texting someone about nonsense and been happy to lose the sleep the next morning.

Lila wasn’t an expert on friendship, but she figured that once you laid your head in another person’s lap during a study session, laughed at their music collection, and shared private jokes over text late at night, you sort of had to assume the label. They’d never expressly spoken about it, but Lila found that the two of them didn’t need to. Sometimes you could look at a person and just know from the feel of their touches and the sincerity of their eyes that you were both on the same page, and hanging out with Marinette never needed any clarifications.

And perhaps that was another reason that Lila was gripping the edges of her desk nervously as Mme. Bustier announced how the class did on the test as a whole. She didn’t want all this studying and closeness to all be a waste because Lila hadn’t improved on her schoolwork like she wanted to. She had a feeling Marinette wouldn’t be angry or annoyed with her even if she did do poorly, but there was a still this feeling that she’d disappoint her if she didn’t perform a certain way. Because, as much as Lila wouldn’t have admitted this a few weeks ago, she was incredibly grateful. School wasn’t terrifying, waking up in the mornings wasn’t exhausting, and staring out her window at the Parisian cityscape no longer made her feel like she was trapped in a strange world she’d never grow to love. Marinette deserved to have some of that kindness handed back to her.

The moment Mme. Bustier left Lila’s exam face down on her desk, she snatched it up and pressed it to her chest, counting down the moment before she flipped it over. “I don’t want to look at it.”

Marinette quickly stared at her own grade, set her exam aside, and reached out for Lila’s hand. “Here. Squeeze as hard as you can. And count down from five.”

“Count down with me.”

Marinette laughed, but counted down with Lila until she flipped over the paper and quickly searched the top of the page for her grade. Once she found it, she gripped the sides of the paper hard and felt her smile stretch wide enough for her cheeks to hurt. Marinette squealed and covered her mouth with her hands while Lila started laughing in complete disbelief. It was a 13.

“ Grazie dio!” Lila exclaimed in relief as she leaned over the back of her chair with her arms above her head while Mme. Bustier smiled at her and offered her a quick congratulations. “Oh man, I thought I was going to have a heart attack.”

Marinette wrapped both of her arms around Lila and rested her cheek on her shoulder while they both flipped through her exam. “I told you you’d do well on it!” she gushed. “This is so great, I’m so happy for you!”

“I got some questions completely right,” Lila gasped. “Like some of them were completely right, I can’t even believe this.”

Marinette sat there laughing at Lila’s complete delighted confusion over her test and couldn’t help but laugh as she said, “I’m so proud of you.”

“Please,” Lila said with an eye roll. “There was no way I could’ve done this without you helping me.”

“So? You sat for that test all by yourself, and you did a hell of a lot better than you did before we started studying together. You deserve that grade.”

“I’m not going to pretend you weren’t a huge help,” Lila pointed out. “I’d have failed this without your helping me.”

“Nope, don’t you do that,” Marinette announced haughtily, pulling Lila’s chair around so that it was facing her while Lila tried her hardest not to laugh at the antics. “Listen to me, you foolish coldphobic girl.”

“That’s still not funny. Especially when you’re heatphobic.”

“That is not even true, and you’re distracting me from my point,” Marinette teased, flicking Lila on the nose. “I just mean that….I’m glad I could help you, but I still say this was mostly you. Considering everything you’ve had to get used to — the move, the new city, the new language, everything — that’s enough to make anyone stress out enough to not do well in school. You’re really smart and you work so hard to do well, so be proud of yourself and let me be proud of you, okay?”

It was said so sweetly and with a such a pure and honest smile that Lila’s chest started to grow warm and spread down her arms and all the way to her fingertips. Her smile felt too big and she knew that all the giddy energy in her body was leaking out onto the expression on her face, but she didn’t quite care. Working for weeks and getting to spend time with Marinette all led up to this and she suddenly felt like running outside in the frigid weather and letting her nose freeze off just to burn off all the excited energy. She settled with dipping her head and peeking up at Marinette from underneath her lashes. “I….thank you. Seriously, thank you.”

Marinette grinned and nodded. “Anytime. You know I’ll always be here to help you study.”

“No but not just that,” Lila insisted. “The homesickness felt so terrible when I first got here and now it doesn’t feel quite so awful when you have someone to hang out with who has your back. So just...thank you. For everything.”

Marinette gave her another one of her sunny smiles and reached down to squeeze Lila’s hands again. “No problem.”

And right there, in the middle of their literature class, in the midst of the entire class gossiping about their grades, Lila felt something else move in between them. She felt another shift.

-amore // amour

Lila fell for people very easily.

She still remembered being six years old, receiving a flower from the boy next door, and knowing in the span of five seconds that she wanted to marry him. Oh, and she’d been heartbroken when he’d moved away and left her feeling like a jilted lover when she was barely old enough to pass her father’s waist. But she still remembered it as one of her first loves and always held onto that memory as a humorous reminder of all the people who’ve touched her and given her a vital piece of themselves that she slowly absorbed into herself and cherished.

Once she and her father started moving around, her brief moments of romance were always ones she kept to herself — fleeting, passionate feelings that overcame her thoughts at night but ones that she was smart enough to know wouldn’t amount to anything. It didn’t matter to her much at the time since it often felt like having a precious secret that was powerful simply because it only belonged to her.

Her love for the beautiful girl who sat next to her in school while she lived in Portugal — the one with the dark hair, the light eyes, smelled like a different perfume every day, and had such a sweet, sweet voice — felt strong and lasting even though Lila only ever got to share a couple of kisses with her before she moved away again. The same could be said for the boy who sold jewelry at the store across from her apartment in Spain — with his wide, crooked smile, the earrings he wore everyday, and his beautiful guitar playing late in the evenings before the store closed — even though he only ever got the courage to speak with her the day before she was set to leave again.

It was all fine, because Lila knew not to make friends and knew not to get attached. Acquaintances and brief loves were all that Lila knew and she loved counting them all on her fingers before she went to bed. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked for her because there was no other way to keep her heart intact.

Marinette made falling for her ridiculously easy. She was gorgeous, and Lila had said that about her the moment she laid on her eyes on her despite her reservations about the two of them getting too close. But she was a girl that was filled to the brim with that sort of everyday beauty that you missed if you blinked too quickly and didn’t stop to stare. Pretty soon, every little thing she did enchanted Lila — the fact that she only wrote with blue pens, that she spoke with her hands and often too loudly, that she’d rather die than drink her coffee black, that she wanted to be a designer when she was older, that she was also scared of being alone and ached at the thought of Lila enduring the same.

And that was really what was so special about Marinette — that her kindness was deep and enduring, carved into marble and preserved for years so that Lila would never stand to forget it. Suddenly, it was as if everything that had injured her when she first came to school had been swept away in favor of every second Marinette spent smiling at her, staring at her, making silly pinky promises, and being close enough for Lila to feel safe and wanted. The best part was that none of that ever had to go away. Lila wasn’t going anywhere — wasn’t moving to a new country to meet new people and new places and find a way to slot herself into that strangeness all over again. Lila would keep waking up and Marinette would keep being there. They had all the time in the world with each other, and suddenly Lila felt herself wanting more.

Then, everything came crashing down and collapsing into a single point, an enduring thought, an impossible question with an unreachable answer.

Did Marinette ever find herself in a position where she stared at Lila, felt her whole body light up, and wonder if they could also be more?

-bacio // baiser

“Alright, what about meravigliosa?”

Marinette bit her lip, laying out on her floor on her back with her feet in the air. “Ummmm…. is it merveilleux maybe? Marvellous?”

“Not bad! Good job.”

“Yay!” Marinette leaned her head back and opened her mouth. “Chip me.”

Lila leaned over the edge of the chaise she was sitting on and carefully dropped a chocolate chip from the bag she was holding right into Marinette’s mouth as a reward. “We’re gonna get sick eating all of these.”

“Chocolate helps prevent heart attacks you know.”

“In moderation, you maniac. What about estate ?”

Marinette winced. “Oh, crap. Um. État? Like the condition of something?”

Lila winced and popped a chocolate chip into her mouth. “Close. Éte . Summer.”

“What?” Marinette frowned. “That makes no sense. I’m pretty sure that means a third separate thing in English too. Like a bunch of land or something.”

“Oh that’s a good one! Terra .”

“Wait, isn’t that just terre ? Land?”

Lila smiled and dropped another chocolate chip into Marinette’s mouth. “Yup. Nice job!”

“Huh,” Marinette said with her mouthful. “You weren’t kidding when you said parts of the languages were similar.”

“Spanish is more more intuitive if you know Italian though. Being in Spain was a breeze. French sort of gets away with it until you start coming up with words that have seven vowels and only one syllable.”

“At least our grammar is similar and pretty simple,” Marinette pointed out. “You ever try to make sense of Chinese grammar? It’s such a learning curve.”

Lila raised a brow. “Wow, you know Chinese?”

“Eehhh,” Marinette winced. “Know is a strong word. I’m learning. It’s slow going but I’m optimistic.”

“I know four languages, my dear. It’s possible. Just have to study up and practice.”

“Wait until you see my Chinese flashcards you’ll change your mind about it.”

Lila laughed. “Alright, how about this? When we have a break, I’ll help you study your Chinese flashcards and reward you with sweets whenever you get words right. Sound fun?”

Marinette smiled and laced her hands together under her chin. “My angel.”

“Ah, another good one. Paradiso .”

“ Paradis! ” Marinette said. “Paradise!”

“Ladies and gentleman, Marinette Dupain-Cheng knows Italian.”

“Barely,” Marinette snorted. “For every pair of words that are practically identical, there is another pair that looks nothing alike. I’m still not over this summer thing.”

“Welcome to the pain that was literally my entire semester in French literature.”

Marinette reached over and yanked on the end of Lila’s hair until she collapsed on the floor next to her in a pile of pillows and blankets. They had the day off for a long weekend and Lila decided to come over to Marinette’s house and surprise her so that she wouldn’t have to spend the entire day in her room on the Internet all day. Luckily Marinette had excitedly said that she was thinking of calling a friend for a sleepover if they were interested, so Lila was quick to pack an overnight bag, kiss her father goodbye, and bring some treats to Marinette’s house while they spent the afternoon camped out in her room. She’d been chatting with her father over the phone in Italian at one point and Marinette had excitedly proclaimed that she was pretty sure she understood at least ten percent of what Lila had said, hence their little game that had currently been going on for the past hour.

“Wanna hear something crazy I just realized?” Lila said, now that she was laid out on the floor right next to Marinette. “I think this is the first sleepover I’ve had in years.”

Marinette turned her head. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah, it was when I was still in Portugal,” Lila explained. “I was like twelve I think? It was my last week in the country and I slept over at my friend Alda’s house. And that was my last sleepover?”

“What did you do?” Marinette grinned. “Anything you haven’t crossed off your bucket list yet?”

Lila chuckled, “Oh it wasn’t anything too crazy. We stayed in her living room and brought all of her bedsheets down so that we could build forts in the living room. She had a pear tree in her backyard so she just brought a basket of them inside with us and we ate them while we watched movies. But then once we ran out she went and bought hard candies from the store down the street and we ate them until we felt sick. It was hilarious because we were just laid out against our pillows and couldn’t move an inch.”

“Yup, that sounds like a sleepover alright,” Marinette laughed. “Her name was Alda? Do you guys still talk?”

“Nah,” Lila said, looking down at her nails. “I’d lost her number at some point and my letters always got returned. I still say it’s not a big deal, but I guess now that I think about it it’s a little sad. I really liked her.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Lila smiled. “She sat next to me in class and always braided my hair during lunch when we ate together. She was a delight.”

Marinette paused for a long moment and Lila didn’t realize she had chosen to stay silent until she turned her head and saw Marinette giving her a knowing smile. “How much did you really like her?”

Lila rubbed her neck and started fiddling with the ends of her hair. “Actually, she was, uh….she was my first kiss. Happened at that sleepover.”

Suddenly, Marinette’s gaze grew softer and she shuffled closer to her. “Oh wow.”

“Yeah, it was really late, past when we were supposed to go to sleep. And it sort of happened really suddenly, like….like she’d been thinking really hard about it and just decided to do it out of nowhere. She finished her thought, stopped for a moment, and just leaned over to do it. And it was nice. Really nice. And when it was done we just laughed about it and kept eating candy. Like there was nothing complicated about it.”

“That sounds so lovely,” Marinette breathed out. “I don’t think any of my sleepovers ever went like that.”

“Oh really?” Lila said, pretending to sound disappointed. “I thought it was common practice for all sleepovers.”

“Sorry,” Marinette shrugged. “I didn’t really plan any kisses for today. Must have slipped my mind.”

“That’s a shame,” Lila said without thinking. “Would’ve been nice to have one.”

She felt her heart jump a little bit when she words slipped out, and she carefully looked at Marinette from the corner of her eye to make sure she hadn’t said something that would make her uncomfortable. But Marinette merely dipped her head and gave a shy smile, a small flush painting her cheeks that made Lila stare longer than she meant to. Marinette cleared her throat nervously. “I mean….it wouldn’t too much trouble to arrange, would it?”

Lila bit her lip. “No it wouldn’t, I guess.”

“I….” Marinette hesitated. “I could try a quick one? I don’t want to be bad at it.”

“You don’t have to,” Lila mumbled. “I was only half joking.”

“Can I try it for the half of you that wasn’t joking?”

Marinette was leaning on her elbow, looking down at Lila with her hair falling in her face and worrying her lip like she was about to jump into a deep pool without knowing how to swim. It was the first time Marinette looked unsure and scared the entire time Lila had known her and she quickly slotted it away as one of the other pretty things about Marinette that were quickly beginning to grow in number. She carefully lifted a hand and threaded her fingers into Marinette’s hair before gently pulling her down into a short, simple kiss that only lasted as long as it took for Marinette to sharply inhale, tangle her fingers in the pillow underneath her and blink her eyes shut.

Lila pulled away, but kept her face close enough to Marinette’s until their noses were just brushing together. She waited for Marinette to open her eyes and drop her gaze to Lila’s lips, and then suddenly Marinette was leaning into her again for another kiss, one where Marinette bravely moved her lips over Lila’s bottom lip and carefully opened Lila’s mouth into a kiss that was deeper, slower, and sweeter than anything Lila ever shared with anyone.

Suddenly, it was like month’s worth of affection and enthusiasm broke loose between them because Lila suddenly couldn’t get her arm around Marinette’s neck quick enough to pull her back down against the pillows with her, and Marinette was laughing against her lips and rubbing her thumb along Lila’s cheek and resting her other hand on her hip. Everytime Lila imagined kisses like this, she always thought they’d be hot, heavy, and romantic. But Marinette’s hair fell in between their mouths a couple of times to interrupt their kiss, they paused every minute or so to smile at each other and stare before leaning back down, and their teeth knocked together whenever they both leaned in at the same time and didn’t tilt their heads enough. It was so perfect and Lila kept ruining it by smiling into the kiss and thinking that there was no way she would’ve ever thought the two of them would end up like this months and months ago.

Marinette slowed their kiss until she was just leaving short pecks against Lila’s lips until they were holding each other with their mouths hovering close. Lila snickered. “‘I don’t want to be bad at it,’ huh?”

“Leave me alone,” Marinette giggled. “I didn’t want to make it bad.”

“It wasn’t bad,” Lila assured her, pressing two quick kisses to her lips. “You’re wonderful. I feel like I tell you that all the time.”

Marinette rested her forehead against Lila’s. “Well, now a few things make a lot of sense.”

Lila’s hands were tracing Marinette’s shoulders, her back, and the dip of her waist. “Is this okay?” Marinette asked. Always kind, always patient, always something beautiful about her that Lila couldn’t help but marvel at.

She pulled Marinette down again and tried to memorize the feeling of her heart racing and her cheeks aching. “Of course it’s okay.”

#miraculous ladybug #outsidethelovesquare #lilanette #lila rossi #marinette dupain-cheng #lilanette fanfiction #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #my writing #week 1 #day 2 #study date #we write kindness in marble

319 notes · View notes