#drats this was supposed to be done a little earlier

[traditional-with-a-twist]

liii. Beauty and Her Beast

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“Big brother!”

Rona dashed across the marble tiles of the audience chamber, skirts and curls flying, her face a picture of consternation..

Eugene scampered in her wake, equally anxious in his quieter way.

...

Raj flinched back a step, then snapped, “Stop, you’ll muss my new dress coat!” to cover his weakness.

It mostly worked — Rona jerked to a halt and glared, forgetting her fear. “Is that all you can think of,” she demanded, “when dear Lady Shirayuki is in danger?”

...

Raj winced, feeling a cold sweat break out on his brow. He snatched a lace handkerchief from his pocket and buried his nose in it, inhaling the astringent scent. 

Sakaki had liberally dosed it earlier that day, after delivering the news.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” Raj asked his sister, voice muffled. “You’re too young to preside at criminal cases.”

“We were waiting for you,” Eugene put in, taking advantage of a momentary lull as outrage reduced Rona to squawking. “Big brother, what will we do?”

...

A pounding in his temple replaced the dizzy fit. Raj lowered the handkerchief hastily.

Where had Sakaki gone off to, just now in the middle of a crisis?

The twins were staring at him, like oversized kittens who didn’t know what to do with the mouse they had cornered.

He summoned his bossiest voice. “You two! Keep quiet and let the adults handle these matters.”

...

As Raj spoke, his eyes raked the room, searching for assistance.

There! Clusters of soldiers and advisors stood around the throne, talking in low voices and pointing at maps.

His father was not present, of course, but there was Sakaki, with that dratted gray cloak blending in perfectly with the subdued field uniforms.

...

“Sakaki!” he boomed. “Come here at once and explain the situation to m—er, these two.”

His attendant bowed assent and approached, serious as always but with a new line creasing his brow. 

“Your Highnesses,” he hailed the young prince and princess respectfully.

...

“Oh, Sakaki!” Rona burst out. “It’s so dreadful—how will we ever save her?”

Sakaki paused. “I believe the intent is to recapture her, princess,” he said carefully.

“No, no —” Raj waved his handkerchief. “It’s all a muddle —she’s gotten it into her head that this means trouble for our friend, for Lady Shirayuki.”

He shot his attendant a sharp glance as spoke, gauging for himself whether Rona’s fears might have found any basis in the latest reports.

Sakaki looked serious —as always.

...

“Please do not upset yourself, Your Highness,” he said. “It is difficult to speak with certainty, as Lady Shirayuki’s exact whereabouts since her wedding are unknown—”

Rona gasped, her eyes filling with tears.

“---but there is every reason to believe that she remains in Clarines.”

...

“So?” Raj demanded, forgetting that he was supposed to know all of this already. “So what?”

“Therefore,” continued the implacable Sakaki, “there is little reason to fear. The trail appears to lead east.”

Raj let out an explosive breath. Rona sniffled; Eugene was patting her arm.

“Clarines lies to the north,” Sakaki added.

“We know that!” Raj snapped.

Sakaki smiled.

...

Glowering at him, Raj turned to his sister. “There, you see, enough nonsense—it is all a matter of patrols and search parties and no danger at all. Now go find something to play with.”

Rona stopped sniffing and gave him a look of deep disgust. “Eugene and I are too old for games,” she said, lifting her nose.

Then she marched away, her brother at her heels.

...

As soon as they were out of sight, Raj rounded on his attendant. “Now, tell me the whole truth, at once! What is being done? Have they sent messengers to Wistal? Who is standing guard over Lady Shirayuki?”

Sakaki bowed. “It is as I said to the young prince and princess, Your Highness—no one knows where the lady may be found.”

Sakaki did not add that dispatching troops across the border to Clarines without prior notice would not be smiled on as a diplomatic gesture, particularly as the matter involved a straightforwardly domestic case of a criminal tried, charged, and suffered to escape, all within the royal jurisdiction of Tanbarun.

...

Raj groaned and covered his face with the handkerchief again.

The thought of his friend in danger again, at the mercy of that devil of a woman, sent hot and cold flashes down his spine.

Worse, though he would never admit it out loud, he worried that in no small part, this whole mess might be his fault.

...

After they had secured the pirate ship and taken its crew prisoner, Raj hadn’t troubled himself to supervise. There were courts for that sort of thing, with their magistrates and bailiffs and prison wardens.

It was one thing for the crown prince to concern himself with bandits and ambassadors, but as for the boring business of trials and prosecutions, that was quite another matter.

The great might of the crown reigned; there were laws in the books, people read them, justice was served, and no one complained.

...

Now, suddenly, he found that comfortable vision of life upended.

Ages ago, Sakaki had wanted approval for some sort of prison transfer—why not? What was all the fuss about, if the thing was done properly?

As it turned out, the thing hadn’t been done properly at all.

In spite of whatever routine precautions one presumably undertook when undertaking such dangerous tasks, something had gone amiss—that is, someone had gone missing.

As Sakaki had put it to him that morning, quite succinctly: “The prisoner has escaped.”

Umihebi, the pirate queen, was free.

...

She had slipped through their fingers, as oily as her name and twice as fearsome — a nightmare Raj thought they had all put to rest that day in the dank caves festering in the underbelly of his kingdom.

He shuddered.

“What does she want, Sakaki?” he demanded, seeking something to turn his thoughts away from the memory of her poisonous looks. “Why east—what could she possibly want out there?”

...

Sakaki hesitated then admitted, “The lands to the east are no friend to Tanbarun, Your Highness. We received the report from a patrol troop. They are stationed at the border now, on guard for her return.”

“At the border?” Raj echoed. “On guard? What are they doing, lazing about there?”

A sense of relief and purpose suffused him. There were guards; they had her in their sights. The nightmare was as good as ended.

He drew himself up and waved a finger. “Order them after her at once, to the ends of the earth if need be!”

...

Before replying, Sakaki paused to scan the usual hiding places, assuring himself that Rona and Eugene hadn’t lingered to eavesdrop.

Then he said, “They cannot, Your Highness.”

“What!” yelped Raj. “What do you mean!”

“We have no such treaty arrangements with the lands to the east. Their border guard has refused to grant our soldiers passage.”

...

“But–but–letters! Yes, a letter to the prince of Clarines.” 

Sakaki bowed. “A messenger was dispatched this morning.” 

“Ah–ah, good. Then…” Raj began to pace. 

...

On the third turn, he stopped and snapped his fingers. “I have it! The Lions! Fetch my writing desk — I will write to…” 

He trailed off. Sakaki hadn’t moved. 

“Already done?” Raj asked faintly. 

Sakaki nodded.

...

Raj’s shoulders slumped, his energy melting away. “Then you mean—”

Sakaki lifted his hands. 

“There is nothing to be done, Your Highness. We can only wait.”

#obiyuki #Akagami no Shirayukihime #Prince Raj #Sakaki #Beauty and Her Beast #PurePassion #he’s baaaaack #and so is this story #many chapters are nearly ready to publish #promise

[talkingtothetallman]

What the Fob?

Okay.

I know this title is incredibly misleading, cavalier to a degree. Please know that it is only a pun. Know that I use it in full humor and jest, not in any way that is intended to be offensive; it is said in pure irony. So, why "What the Fob?" Well, allow me to introduce the theme of my day: The key fob.

Nifty little things really. Just press a button - unlock. Press another - lock. Yet another - open the trunk. The list can go on depending on the car, but regardless, it is certainly a convenience to have!

That is, unless it doesn't work. That's where our story starts today dear friends.

Our UPS trucks have a key fob designed with body longevity in mind. The idea is that rather than turning a key in the ignition switch two or three hundred times in a day (and thus putting wear and tear on your wrist), our trucks have a key fob that hangs from our belt strap that, with a push of a button, does a few things - one tap arms the truck's start switch, one press-and-hold opens the bulkhead door to go inside via the cab, and two clicks unlocks the back roll-up door. Pretty nifty. Makes it a heck of a lot easier to have to deal with jingly keys all day; just the press of a button!

I got to the building this morning knowing we'd all have big dispatches due to staffing issues (a whole other can of worms), but my planned day was honestly terrible, the worst in the center. I was going to areas that I wasn't supposed to, I was up on stops and miles, and was semi bulky. I knew I'd be fine, I told Perry that. I went into my truck to work on sorting my first 20 stops or so and help my loader get all tidied up so that he could go home sooner and I could get on road to start my day. Well, everything was all put away and went to pull my truck out of my parking spot. I grabbed my little key ring containing my spare ignition key, bulkhead door key, and key fob, clipped it to my belt loop, and clicked the button to arm the start switch.

Nothing. No red and green lights. Hmm... I tried again. Still nothing.

Assuming the battery was dead, I went to the little back box located above the jump-seat to grab my spare fob and tried it; nothing. Drat! I hopped down the steps and went to find one of my bosses. Jake sprung up to help and surveyed the situation. Upon trying it for himself he said, "Go do your walk-around and I'll find a new battery." So, using the ignition key, I drove my package car to the yard and did my pre-trip. Once done, I went to find Jake. We swapped out the battery, but still nothing. After fiddling with both the fobs for 20 minutes, he passes the keys to me and says, "Looks like you're going old-school today."

And thus my day began. Heaviest day in the building, leaving late, and using a slower method that I wasn't used to. Fan-tastic. A few stops go by, and I decide out of pure curiosity to try the fob again.

It worked. The freaking thing worked.

For like one delivery. Then it stopped. Oh, but then it starting working again. And this time it kept working for a solid 50 stops or so, aaaaaaand then it stopped again. It was the darnedest thing. It was so inconsistent in when it would function correctly. But finally, it ceased entirely. I cut my losses and continued my day, working towards my pickup string. Praise the Lord I was able to open the back of my truck for my pickups, because my dear old buddy Ben had plenty for me today and it would have been awful to try to take the 60-odd packages through the front of my truck.

But I digress, I dropped my air at the building and had 41 stops to go, a solid 20 more than usual. One of the kickers of my day that I said earlier was having extra miles. Those came from having eight stops in an area that I never have, and especially not in a big truck like mine if I can help it. It's doable, sure. But it's more difficult in a bigger truck. So when I spotted a smaller truck at the building to do those stops in, I figured it would kill two birds with one stone; it would make the deliveries easier, and I wouldn't have to deal with those annoying key fobs. Win-win, right? Well, guess which one of those wins became a loss.

You got it. Alex, I'll take key fob issues for $1600.

Neither of THOSE key fobs worked! Goodness me, what a nightmare. Of course, I found this out after I transferred all my other stops to the smaller truck, so I just rolled with it and used the keys instead. Fast forward a couple hours later and I'm punched out and heading to my car. I grab my keys out of my lunchbox and press unlock. Nothing. I try again. Nothing.

Hey, come on now. I see your smile. I see that wry and painful smile spreading across your face. I know you know where this is going. Just sit tight, it gets better.

I chuckled to myself, and noticed the irony of the day. I grabbed my car key and put it into the door lock... to find that apparently my ignition key is NOT the right key for the locks on my car. "I just talked to the mechanic about my situation today, I'll go ask him for a new battery for my fob. That's the problem." Brandon the mechanic so kindly changed my fob battery and I set out triumphantly to my car to go home.

Except that apparently wasn't the issue either. I was hose-bagged, a knock-out punch that was called Jack's Day. All I could do was muster a sheepish grin filled with irony and defeat. Today was just that kind of day. To the glory of God, with the help of one of my bosses, Carter, we finally got a gap in my window and were able to push the door lock open... only after 30 minutes or so. So now my car sits in the driveway, unlocked, ready for the taking. Wouldn't be shocked if I woke up to it gone (Lord, please don't let that happen!).

Golly if today wasn't trying! But the Lord is good, and hey, days like these build your perseverance right?

And besides, I get to tell a really good story to boot :)

Thank you Lord for the bad days, because without it them I wouldn’t know the good ones!

[helpistolethesecharacters]

I'll Be Your Romeo If You'll Be My Juliet

Lucius Malfoy x Male Reader

Word Count: 1911

This was a request from an anon for a Lucius x male reader.

I hope this is everything you wanted from your request anon, if it isn't, feel free to send me another request!

---------

It was time for the annual Yule gathering. The Black family had the honor of hosting it this year, and they had taken every opportunity to remind everyone of that fact.

The heirs, the ones that mattered anyway, had been almost insufferable on the lead up to the yule break.

Lucius had mixed feelings on the whole subject, not that he could let that show to anyone.

Luckily, it looked like his betrothed was of a similar mind. The lovely Andromeda Black had been as quiet as he had been lately. If they had had even the smallest bit of interest in each other, they might have brought their concerns up.

Lucius thought fleetingly of a world where they could be in love. They would spirit themselves away to an abandoned classroom where they could talk uninterrupted about all of the things that were bothering them. They would take comfort in not being alone. It would bring them closer together and they could fall in love all over again.

But reality was a cruel mistress, and rarely allowed for such flights of fancy.

As it was, Lucius and Andromeda were just two teens who had been promised to each other from before they had even been born. There was nothing more between them.

Lucius sighed silently as he exited the floo into the receiving room at the Black Manor.

He barely registered an elf banishing the soot from his dress robes as he moved out of the room.

"Heir Malfoy, a pleasure to have you in our humble home this evening. And of course you as well Lord and Lady Malfoy!"

Lucius nodded at the welcome and stood obediently by his parents' side as he waited for the greetings to end. Sometimes he tired of all the stiff pureblood airs and graces.

After the obligatory back handed compliments they moved off into the party proper. With a last terse command to not embarrass the family name, courtesy of his father, Lucius moved away to see if he could find someone a little closer to his age.

He absently took a glass of sparkling cider from one of the floating trays that dotted the ballroom. The Blacks really had outdone themselves this year. The room was done in shades of white, sliver and blue. It really was stunning, but nothing seemed to be able to knock Lucius out of the numbness he had slipped into.

It had started at the start of that school year with the arrival of a transfer student. The other boy was their age, and the most enchanting creature that Lucius had ever laid eyes on. He had watched his sorting with longing, but the dratted hat had put Y/n into Ravenclaw. It wasn't really the end of the world, Lucius shuddered to think if he had been put into Gryffindor, or worse, Hufflepuff. Unfortunately, Lucius was already betrothed, but even if he wasn't, Abraxas Malfoy would never allow him to sully the Malfoy name with a male partner.

So Lucius had had to swallow his feelings as best he could. It hadn't worked very well, so he had allowed himself to pine from afar just a little.

He was jolted out of his daydream by the object of his thoughts. Lucius inhaled his mouthful of cider at the sight of Y/n.

He looked amazing in his dress robes, dressed up all fancy for the ball. Lucius thought to himself that if this was the cause of his death it would be worth it.

He was aware, once he managed to stop choking, of three things. One, everyone was looking at him, two, his face was probably red enough to shame a Weasley's hair, and lastly, that Y/n had the brightest e/c eyes possible.

He was struck with the awful thought that this was probably the first time that Y/n had known that Lucius existed.

'Well, that was a fantastic first impression,' Lucius thought to himself. He pointedly looked everyone who would meet his gaze straight in the eyes. As he had thought, it was enough to discomfort them into looking away.

Lucius raised his chin and moved off into a different area of the ballroom.

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

Ever since Y/n had realised that Lucius Malfoy was at the party as well, he had been jittery. The other boy was always looking at him. He had been the cause of enough distraction before this, when he was just someone who lurked at the fringes of his awareness while he studied in the school library. Now, Y/n was sure that he would never be getting rid of the image of Lucius in dress robes. How was he ever going to be able to concentrate again?

He shook himself slightly and tried to focus back in on whatever it was that the Greengrass heiress was talking about. He was supposed to be making connections here, maybe paving the way for a betrothal contract. As the first Pendragon to be seen in this and the previous generation, there was a lot of pressure to make the right political connections. A marriage to someone who was already politically powerful in this community would go a long way toward putting them back on the map in this magical community.

It was the Gods eternal joke that he was the only one that could do this. He only had one other relative, and his uncle wasn't exactly all there anymore. His parents had made it clear that this was their only chance to become the powerful family that they had once been.

Sure, potions had made it possible to have a male pregnancy, but it was still looked down on pretty harshly by most purebloods. Y/n had no idea how he was supposed to get his family back to its former glory, when to do it he would have to marry a girl. Why did he have to be gay?

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

Lucius was slowly going out of his mind. He had moved around the party doing his best to ignore Y/n, but he couldn't get him out of his head. The other boy was still standing where he had first spotted him, entirely surrounded by everyone their age.

What was worse was that these were people Lucius had grown up with. He had known these people for his whole life, and it was this that allowed him to see what was happening.

They were all flirting with Y/n.

Lucius was almost certain that some of them, most notably his friends, were only doing it to irritate him and not because they were genuinely interested in Y/n.

He had been shooting furtive looks over at the group for the last half an hour, and still they kept it up. Lucius just didn't know what to do. Oh sure, he knew what he wanted to do, but he also knew that there was no way he could actually pull it off.

For one thing, if he showed his hand by going over there and making a fool of himself he would face serious consequences when he got home. He was sure he would already be in trouble for his incident earlier that night, but if his father heard even a hint of a whisper that his only heir was gay, well, Lucius wasn't sure he would survive that particular punishment.

He was pulled up short at the realisation of where he was. He was in a room with some of the biggest gossips in the magical world, all of which could just about smell weakness. He shot his eyes around the room and realised with a start that it was already too late.

He recognised the look in his fathers eyes when he met them. Someone must have said something about his preoccupation with his classmate to Abraxas. Lucius swallowed, noting his suddenly dry throat.

He looked away from his father, toward Y/n and his friends. There might be a way to salvage this, pretend to have been watching another of his friends. He would still be in trouble for lusting after someone who was not his betrothed, but much less than if it had been the very male Y/n.

There was a commotion over by one of the doors, but Lucius was too busy thinking. He was realising that he was done. He couldn't live like this anymore, and he was done pretending that he could.

He squared his shoulders and moved over to his friends.

"Excuse me, may I borrow Y/n for a moment. We won't be long."

He didn't even bother waiting for a response, just grabbed a hold of him and started off in a random direction. The only thing in his mind was getting as far away from other people so he could have this discussion in peace.

He pulled Y/n out of the ballroom and down hallway after hallway until he decided they were lost enough that only a house elf would be able to find them.

He turned back to the other boy after making sure that the area was empty. They were both panting a little after their impromptu jog.

Y/n was looking at Lucius cautiously.

Lucius surged forward and connected their lips.

They were gasping for breath again when he pulled back.

"You know we can't do this."

Lucius cut him off before he could continue.

"I'm done. I'm done being the perfect heir for parents that don't care to know the real me. I'm done pretending that I'm not head over heels for you. Most of all, I'm done holding back from the things I want just because society wants so badly to tell me no."

He pulled in a deep breath, still standing in Y/n personal space. Neither boy had moved back.

"I want you, Y/n, and I think you've known that for as long as I have. If I haven't missed my guess, you want me too. I'm certainly not alone in all the looks I've sent your way, and I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't at least find out if you could feel the same way as I do for you."

Y/n sighed and shifted back a step.

"Those are pretty words Lucius, easy to say them here, alone in a secluded corner of someone else's manor, but how will you feel walking into Hogwarts next week, and letting everyone see. How will you feel when your parents cut you off?"

"I'm not totally helpless Y/n, I'll find a way to survive. I know for sure that if I have you by my side there isn't anything that we can't face."

He softly took Y/n's hand and stroked the back with his thumb.

"So what do you say? Can you feel the same way I do?"

Y/n shut his eyes in resignation.

"You know I do."

They stood at the end of their silent hallway for some time, just holding each other.

"You know this will be the second scandal of the night?"

Lucius pulled back to look at Y/n.

"What do you mean?"

Y/n looked at Lucius, shocked.

"What do you mean, what do I mean? Didn't you hear, just before you pulled me out of there, one of the older Blacks ran in and caused quite the scene. By the looks of things Andromeda is missing. From what I managed to gather, she's run off with that muggleborn from Ravenclaw, you know, Tonks-something, or something-Tonks."

#Lucius Malfoy x male reader #Lucius Malfoy #Male reader

[thewildwaffle]

The Gardener - Part 3

Continuing from this story     Part 4

How the human had managed to land this hunk of junk without getting themselves killed was some stroke of dumb luck. That was clear the moment Nipti pulled the drat thing into the shop. It was even more clear as he crouched into it to look at the ship’s meager engines. He’d had to teach himself the basics of small engines and different machines he used around the various gardens. However, that didn’t mean he was any sort of expert, especially when it came to something as big as a ship’s engines. That being said, even he could tell that the ship was going to need parts. A lot of them. “What is this- uhg, is this being held together with tape?!?” That was not up to any code he knew of. In fact, the more he saw of this ship the more he realized it was less of a ship and more of one giant collection of safety, engineering, design, and who knows what else protocol violations! This was hopeless. At least, for Nipti. He was a gardener after all, not a mechanic! Not to mention he still had his chores to do today. He sighed as he straightened his back and stretched. Well, might as well head back to the green garden. Make sure the human hadn’t gotten into anything too dangerous. They may be from the same planet as many of his specimens, but that didn’t mean they were completely immune to their dangers. And also, maybe he could get them to help out with his chores there if their offer to do so was genuine. Nipti carefully retreated from the trash scrap the human called a ship and started up the hoverbike. When Nipti arrived back at the Green Gardens, he didn’t see the human. He watched the raspberries, waiting to see moving branches or signs of their presence. The leafy plants only moved gently with the wind. Where had they gone? As Nipti parked the hoverbike, he noticed the pails the human had retrieved from the supply shack. They were filled with red, purple, and golden yellow fruits. Well, nearly full. The human must have eaten about half of one of the buckets. Or maybe they just had finished picking and put the bucket with the others. Nipti looked up and around again for where the human had gone, now a little worried. They said the raspberries were fine for them to eat, he hoped they hadn’t been overestimating their ability to process the xylitol in them. Maybe they were sick and had to lie down. But where?

“Marley?” Nipti called out. He kept telling himself that the human was fine. They were from Earth, they knew these plants potentially as well or even better than he did. He wasn’t sure why he felt so worried. He decided it must just be that he really, really didn’t want to deal with a sick or injured human in his gardens. That was definitely a good reason after all. “Marley?!” “Over here!” he could just make out their voice farther back in the foliage to his right. He gave a small sigh of relief, then shaking his head, donned his protective gear, and headed toward the sound of the human’s voice. He wondered if maybe they had found something else edible. That might be nice. Until their ship was fixed or a replacement procured, it was looking like they’d be here a while and he wasn’t quite sure what humans ate. Raspberries were one thing, but surely they needed more to their diet than that. As Nipti carefully pushed aside bushes and plants that he noted looked like they were in desperate need of trimming, he twisted his way into where he had heard Marley’s voice. As the human came into view, he stopped dead in his tracks. His plants. They were torn out of the ground, their scraggly, branching roots spreading out every which way except down in the dirt where they belonged. Plant after plant in the clearing looked like they’d been ripped up, bunched together, and thrown down. It was like something out of a horror story. “My plants!” Nipti cried, rushing forward and grabbing the human as they tried to pry up another specimen. “What have you done?! Why would you do this to my plants?!” Surprised, Marley released the plant they’d been pulling at and fell back onto Nipti who in turn fell back and landed on a pile of pulled vegetation. “Dude, what the heck? What was that for?” Marley rolled off of Nipti and pushed themselves back up onto their knees. “What was that- what do you think that was for?!” Nipti gestured at the carnage around him. He frowned down at the small crushed bunch of flowers his plants had started sprouting. Such a waste! Such a tragedy! Perhaps he could replant some of them, it might not be too late for some. “What, do you mean the weeds?” Marley’s eyebrows lifted at different angles as they looked between their mess and Nipti’s devastated expression. “I thought you’d be happy. You have quite an infestation of garlic mustard, you know.” “Infestation?! I planted these! What do you think you’re doing by ruining my garden like this?” Marley frowned and stared at him for a moment. “You mean you meant to plant these? Like, on purpose?” “Of course I did! You know I get plenty of tourists who come through my gardens and step on things here or pull a plant there, but never, in all my time, have I ever had someone go as far in their destruction as you, you monster!” The human looked hurt, and perhaps a bit unsure of themselves for a moment. They looked around the clearing again and their eyebrows squinted together. “Nipti, I’m sorry about angering you. I was trying to help.” Before Nipti could cut in, Marley held up a hand to silence him. “I do have one question though. Or actually two. First, how many of these did you plant?” Nipti frowned. What? What did that matter? He looked down at the crushed plants beneath him again. Then around the clearing where there were more piles all around, and more still that hadn’t yet been picked. “A little more than half a dozen or so.” Marley nodded. “Second question. How long ago did you plant them?” Nipti turned his attention from the numerous plants around him to Marley. The realization was starting to dawn on him, but it was slow coming so far. “About two and a half solar cycles ago.” Marley nodded as if that was that. Nipti, still not quite understanding what the human was getting at and still not quite ready to let go of his anger and shock, stood back up. “What does that matter? You still had no right to ruin my gardens as you did.” Marley’s eyes did a small spin in their sockets as they too got to their feet. “This garlic mustard propagated this much in that short amount of time. I’m saving your garden. I know a noxious weed when I see one.” Nipti’s retort stopped in his throat. What? “Noxious weed? What do you mean?” Marley gestured to their surroundings. “Noxious weeds. They’re what happens when a plant that’s taken out of their native environment and put into a new one where they turn invasive and can cause damage or even kill native plants or wildlife that compete for resources. They can destroy ecosystems if left unchecked.” Nipti frowned as Marley bent down to grab one of the plants by the roots. “Garlic mustard can choke out undergrowth and releases toxins into the soil that kill vital networks of fungi that other plants and trees need.” Marley ripped off a handful of triangular leaves. “They’re edible though, so I guess there’s that.” Nipti nodded slowly as he took it all in. “Noxious weeds,” he repeated quietly. “But if they’re that bad, then why do they not completely overrun all of Earth?” Marley arched their back in a stretch and leaned on a nearby shovel. “Well, they try. The places they’re native to have the right conditions where they’re naturally kept in check. Outside those conditions, they put their survival mechanisms to use and overwhelm ecosystems that aren’t adapted to deal with their tactics. People try to fight them and cut ‘em back, but sometimes it becomes a bit of an uphill battle.” Nipti silently gasped. Battle? Were the humans really at war with the plants from their own planet? He looked around at the clearing they stood in. Well, he supposed it did kind of look like a battlefield of sorts right now. Marley looked around as well and exhaled. “I don’t think they’ve done too much damage yet though. We’ll have to keep an eye around the area though. Garlic mustard seeds spread on the wind, but I don’t know how many of these have gone to seed just yet.” They walked to another patch of garlic mustard, pausing at the large pile they fell in earlier. “Do you have a place to put these? Like a bag or something? I can eat some, they’re still pretty young, the bigger ones I’ll have to cook the cyanide out.” “Cook the cyanide out?!” “Yeah, I can add them to a stir fry or make a sauce or whatever out of those. We just need to get them out of here.” Nipti sized up the number of large piles of pulled plants. This was a lot to take in. First, his garden was torn up, then he was told that the plants growing there were trying to kill his other plants, and now he has to figure out a way to clean all this up and prevent some plant infestation? He had done so much research when selecting specimens for his garden, what soils were necessary, watering information, light, humidity, pollination needs, on and on and on. He looked into everything he’d need to make sure every plant in his garden could thrive. He just never realized that some plants would go on to thrive at the cost of killing off other plants. He provided everything they needed, after all, there was no need for that. But the plants didn’t know that. They were created on Earth, a known category three death world. Survival of the fittest was hardwired into their DNA, and no luxurious life in his or anyone’s garden was going to change all that. “I’ll go get some bags and wagons to carry these,” he turned and headed back in the direction of the hoverbike. “Oh, before you go, real quick,” Marley called out. Nipti turned. “Did you happen to notice anything… odd about my ship when you were looking it over?” Odd? Nipti wondered. Odd was the least to worry about with that ship. “In my honest opinion,” he responded, “your ship is a piece of junk and you’d be better off selling it for scrap and parts. If there are any working parts left that is.” Marley made a low noise that sounded like a mix between a growl and a whine. “That bad, huh?” “I’ve never seen anything so malfunctioned before in my life.” The human’s shoulders dropped. They looked so sad, like a fledgling kuipik that’s forgotten where its den was. Nipti sighed. “If you really have it in to fix the drag blast thing, you’re gonna need a complete overhaul. Those do not come cheap, nor am I anywhere near qualified or capable of doing anything more than a tune-up. You'd have to hire a mechanic. And a good one at that.” “How much are we talking?” “Almost as much as it would cost to buy a ship that size new.” “Ouch.” Marley closed their eyes and tilted their head back up to the sky. After a silent moment, they nodded and began pacing. “Okay, okay. I’ll figure that out. In any case, I’m going to need money, and lots of it then. More than what I’ve got now, that’s for sure.” They stopped. They stared at the pulled plants around them. Nipti didn’t have much experience with humans and their wildly varied expression, but even he could see that Marley was thinking hard. After a few tiks, they nodded. “Nipti? You said you have a lot of tourists pop in, right?” “I do. They can be a real pain in my tail most of the time.” “I don’t suppose those tourists would mind a bite to eat while they peruse the gardens.” Nipti narrowed his eyes. Marley continued “And if they didn’t bring a snack, or if they wanted to sample some exotic foods while visiting exotic plants, made by what may be to them an exotic alien, they might be willing to pay some real tourist-trap level prices.” “I don’t know if I like where this is going.” “It’s just an idea,” Marley stopped pacing. “Like you said, fixing my ship isn’t going to be cheap. I know you love your gardens and having a human literally fall from the sky suddenly be your problem wasn’t part of your plans, but I’m willing to help you with your plants and dealing with tourists, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get my ship fixed. Maybe I can kill two birds with one stone?” “I’m going to assume that’s an Earth idiom.” “Yes it is.” Nipti sighed. Putting his head in his hands, he slid his slender fingers over his nasal ridge. “Okay. That may be a good idea,” he conceded, “but as of right now, it’s just an idea that needs a lot of thinking through and careful planning.” Marley’s face split into a toothy expression, the corners of their mouth turned upwards. They raised their hand up in a fist, except their opposable fifth digit was extended upwards. He stared at them. They stared back. “I’ll go get those bags then,” Nipti once again turned back toward the hoverbike. Thankfully, he had left it in the sun to recharge. He had already made more back and forth trips from his workshop and quarters to the Green Garden today alone than he had any time in recent memory. And by the looks of all the garlic mustard he would now need to transport, he would be making a few more before the day was done.

Part 4

#humans are weird #space orcs #garden #the gardener #aliens #space #plants #garlic mustard #noxious weeds

[alirasworlds]

Our Life: Cast my home aside, lead me into the skies....

(A/N: Still working on if I’m going to have Eve have a custom backstory different from the background given in game, buuut, this can be a AU thing if I go with base game MC for Eve’s background! Our Life and all characters besides Eve belong to @gb-patch​ !)

(P.S. Since I am able to insert myself so much into the MC of OL, for this Eve has... Part of my own background, not fully cause I’ve not done what she did here, but still. Be warned Eve’s not coming from a nice household prior to being adopted by Pamela and Noelani. Also, this is sort of my take on the first scene in OL with Eve having a custom background, also to help me figure out how to write Eve with that context.)

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

Aching, the little eight year old felt every limb and bone of hers aching as she trekked further into the town she found.

Her backpack was lighter than when she started her journey, snacks, drink and food she packed having been long since eaten or drank by her, that didn’t mean she didn’t get more as she....

Ran, she supposed.

Much to her growing guilt she had taken water bottles and any food she could find from any table or picnic blanket she came across, either packing it away in her backpack or outright eating or drinking it due to how hungry she was.

She was certain she was dirty as heck(even if she washed herself in ponds or the rain as best she could) and she could feel her ribs at this point if she pushed her fingers against her skin enough, hair much longer than she liked, but she still refused to turn back.

She still remembered that night that made her pack her backpack and run. Shouting, screaming, a BAM, another hole in the walls, nothing she did could ever-

And no one cared she was all alone-

She sniffled, forcing the thought out of her mind. She honestly didn’t know where she was at this point, she just picked a direction and ran that way.

All she really knew was it had been winter when she set out, or near it, then it became spring and now was summer, the heat in the air told her that much.

Anything else other than that she didn’t know.

Huffing a puff of air, she pulled her brush out of her pocket and brushed her hair, a habit she still had and when she looked in the reflection of a puddle, she was a bit proud she looked really decent despite not having had a proper home for what was likely months. 

Sure she was a touch messy, but no one would take a look at her and immediately think she had run away from her old home.

She continued walking, looking for an alcove or awning or something to rest under for the night, only to pause as she saw a person sitting on the curb in front of a house. He was sitting with his head in his hands, his whole body slumped over.

She tilted her head, confused a bit as why was an adult was sitting on the curb, did someone kick him out of his house?

She noted a… Tattoo, she thinks that was the term, on the arm that was facing her, pitch black against his tan skin, it looked like a sea creature, but she didn’t know what it was. His pale blond hair was pulled into a ponytail it seemed, like she tended to have her hair now that it grew out so much.

Though he wasn’t really in her way, she could walk around him if needed, she felt…. Nervous. Yeah, that was the term she was pretty sure, so she wanted to sneak around him unseen, but how….

She felt her gut lurch when he suddenly shifted and there was a brief moment where their eyes met before she quickly averted her gaze to look at a bird that was hovering nearby.

“Hey!” Drat, he noticed her and there was no mistaking her startled jump showed she heard him.

The bird landed on a nearby gatepost, its black feathers ruffling gently in the breeze. She couldn’t keep her gaze on it when the man got up and began making his way to her, making her eye him warily.

She had run from more than a few police people who tried to approach her, fearing they were going to make her go back and was more than ready to run if needed, he didn’t look like a policeman though.

Since he didn't seem to be like any of those sternfaced police people, she offered a polite smile and he grinned back at her.

“Do you live around here?” He asked once he was in front of her, kneeling to be on even eyelevel with her. “What’s your name?”

She felt a spike of panic shoot through her system at his questions. The first one was easy to answer, as from what she could tell unless she turned around she’d meet the ocean like she did earlier(and found a fair amount of shells and sea stuff she couldn’t help but put in one of her backpacks pockets), and frankly she was done walking so much, so, she could stay here.

As for her name…. That damned name….. She had heard more than once that with a name as unique as her birth name, it would never be hard finding her, same went for her last name.

She didn’t WANT to be found though. She didn’t want to go back.

She looked the mystery man up and down as she tried to think of an answer to give him, taking in his tanned skin and relaxed appearance. Well, only partially relaxed. At least his clothes were relaxed; the way he was acting certainly wasn’t.

He had sharks on his shorts and that sea creature tattoo, and she wondered if he was obsessed with the ocean or something.

While she made her assessment, he looked at her expectantly, waiting for an answer to his questions.

“...Yeah, I live around here.” She answered after a moment, trying to think of any name to give him other than her birthname, running through the very few stories she heard growing up.

Hermione? No, she didn’t know how to spell that. Alice? No…. Belle? Not that one either.

“And my name is, Eve.” She decided to go with the name she remembered from that book her birth parents got from the religion they were a part of. It was three letters, and simple enough she knew how to spell it and there was no difficulty like with her birthname in how it was said or spelled.

“Great! Nice to meet you, Eve.” He gave her a broad smile, relief settling on his features. He then reached into a pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill, it crinkled in his hand as he held it up to her.

She furrowed her brow at him in confusion, looking between him and the money with the pure confusion only a child could have.

“Well… Could you do me a favor?” He asked, but then realized he should probably explain better than that and rushed to add. “Nothing bad! Sorry, I should have…. Let me start over.”

He cleared his throat, straightening his back a bit before explaining. “I have a son-his name is Cove-who’s just about your age.”

She tilted her head, Cove…. That was not a name she heard before, it sounded… Nice. She never met anyone with that name.

“We moved in across the street. See?” He pointed across the street to the house opposite the one they were standing in front of.

She nodded, looking back to him with confusion as he continued.

“I don’t know where your parents are, I don’t think I’ve met them, but you look around his age, so…” He shook the twenty dollar bill to bring it back to her attention, a hopeful smile tilting his lips at the corners. “Can you try to be friends with the boy? Just give it a chance and you can keep this! He’s a good kid. You’ll like him.”

He… Was wanting to pay her to be friends with his son?

“But you’ve gotta keep it a secret, too, okay?” He winced. “It wouldn’t be friendly to say his dad sent you.”

She blinked, feeling a bit sorry for the boy she hadn’t even met yet. This was not the normal way kids made friends, her limited exposure to anyone outside of the Hall didn’t stop her from knowing that.

“What’d’ya say? Want to make a deal?” He asked, watching her as she thought about it.

She was conflicted, sure she could likely use that money to get better clothes, food even than what she was now used to dealing with, but……

….She wanted to meet this Cove without the lure of money, and she knew she’d get looks if she wandered into a store with a twenty dollar bill without any parent with her.

So, she shook her head no. “No, I don’t want to be paid for that.” She then raised her hands in a placating way as she saw him deflate a bit. “But…. I do want to meet Cove, he sounds nice.”

He nodded, seeing his initial strategy wasn’t going to fly and tucked the bill back in his pocket as he stood up. “Would you be more comfortable with he and I coming by for a normal visit? No money involved.”

She nodded, then paused and added. “And I can come over as well.”

She didn’t want to mention that she currently did not have a home, or parents, no, that’d… no. Just no. No risking them sending her back, no.

His smile got bigger again. His eyes crinkled at the sides. “I’ll bring him by tomorrow or you can come over. I wanted him to meet and greet with the neighbors today, but…” He hesitated before admitting. “Well, I don’t know where he’s gotten off to!”

Well, that’s… Concerning. Cove’s dad had laughed when he said that, but with the way his face looked Eve thought he actually wanted to cry instead.

“I’ll help find him.” She said without hesitation, puffing up a bit with a grin. 

He seemed a bit relieved at her words. “If-If you see him, can you tell him to come on home? He’s got a pink cast and glasses, you can’t miss it.”

She nodded, this definitely was not the normal way kids made friends, but she was still going to help.

He smiled and reached over to pat her on the head, paused before doing so, then pulled his hand away instead.

“I’ve already got the neighbors in the house besides us checking around, such a thoughtful group, they are.” He gestured to the house they were in front of before smiling. “Now I better go look, too! Can’t put everyone else to work while I keep sitting here. I thought he might come back, and…” he shook his head. “That’s not what’s important. I have to go.” he gave her another grin. “Thanks again, Eve! So much.”

He jogged off down the street without another word, leaving Eve to think to herself on where Cove could have gone.

If he was anything like her, he likely would have gone somewhere adults wouldn’t think to look first, and while she doubted he ran away like she did, that same logic she used could help her find him.

She decided to go behind the house she was in front of, finding a series of hills with flowers stretching out before her as the sun fully descended into the horizon.

She couldn’t recognize the type of flower, especially now at this time without the sun to provide the majority of the light, though she thought they looked nice from what the moon could illuminate. 

The chirping of crickets in the tall grass greeted her, a familiar sound from her traveling that eased her nerves a touch as she wandered to the top of a hill. 

From the top of the hill she could see the ocean. As she walked, she listened to the crash of the waves on the shore, and the seagulls squawking as they settled down for the night as she peered around.

Idly, she remembered loving hearing stories about the merfolk and sea serpents and anything else she could imagine living far beneath the waves. Maybe now that she was near the ocean she’d get lucky enough to see one at some point.

She sighed as she came to a stop. She wasn't sure what, but something told her that she wasn't alone, so she glanced around warily, only to nearly jump when she turned to her right.

There was a boy sitting at the top of the hill she was standing on, almost completely hidden within the long grass and white flowers surrounding him.

He didn’t seem to notice her, probably just that he wasn't paying attention, his head was buried in his knees, staring ahead by himself.

She watched him for a few moments, feeling as if she found a deer in the wild, although….

‘Deer don’t have sad frowns, or green hair...’ She thought to herself, expression furrowing at the thought, She wondered what upset him to cause him to look like that….

After a few more seconds, she took a step forward, then another. And then he glanced her way, making her freeze.

His aquamarine eyes reflected the light of the moon. Eve stopped, raising a hand to acknowledge him and show him that she wasn’t scary.

Even if she likely didn’t look like a normal kid with her backpack on and likely mussed up hair.

“Heyo.” She greeted him.

With a start, he jumped to his feet, his hands balling into fists at his sides. He didn't say anything, just stared at her in a strange way.

He'd been crying. There were traces of tears on his cheeks and his knees, soaking the hem of his shorts, and his eyes were still shining with a few more.

She restrained wincing, or hugging him on reflex to sooth him. She had obviously caught him off guard.

His pink cast seemed to glow in the twilight, though when he caught her staring at it, he hid his arm behind his back.

Hmm. could this be….

“Cove?” She said his name cautiously, watching his reaction to see if she was correct. 

“Ah-” She was, as his eyes widened and he studied her. “How'd you know that?”

Well, no use hiding it. She shrugged. “I met your dad.”

“Oh.” He frowned. ”So... is this your hill?” He gestured with his uninjured arm to the patch of grass surrounding them both, his face falling at the prospect. “I can leave if it is.”

She shook her head, she didn’t own it, especially since she just arrived in town today.

“Oh.” He sat back down with a thump, resting his chin on his knees again.

Curious about the strange boy with the odd dad, and not having anything else to do or wanting to leave him, she sat down on the patch of grass next to him.

The pure white flowers that covered this hill rocked back and forth gently as the stars twinkled above. The way they dotted the sky made them seem like the flowers around them too.

The silence didn’t last long, as she then asked softly. “Why are you hiding here?”

A quiet hiccup escaped Cove as soon as she asked the question. Almost like they'd never stopped, his tears started up again with a vengeance.

She almost immediately retracted her question, but Cove spoke up before she could. ”My parents… They don't want to live together with me anymore.” The tears kept coming as he continued. “My mom made my dad leave and he took me with him and now we have a house here and I want to go home!”

The outburst took her off-guard. By the time he was done, Cove's chest was heaving with exhaustion.

He sniffled and removed his glasses, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand before he put them back on again. “...I hate this place. I want my real life back. I want my mom.”

Eve frowned, unsure how to calm him down and chewed on her cheek in thought. To an extent, she did understand where he was coming from, but….

She also wouldn’t go back if she could help it, she didn’t want to go back to that…. Hell.

“I’m sorry….” Was all she could say, and hoped it helped somewhat. He slipped his hands underneath his glasses and pressed his fingers against his eyelids. Cove wound himself up again for another long crying fit.

She felt bad for him, being forced to come here with no choice at all. She could and had lived without both of her parents for months now, but to have no choice but to be with one or the other…

The mere idea made her crumple internally and she immediately decided she hated that very thought.

She jolted when, from way off in the distance, came the shouts of several adults.

”Cove!” That was Cove’s dad, she recognized the voice.

“Kid, where did you go?” That was a woman’s voice, Eve didn’t recognize it.

Cove looked at her, tears still clinging to his cheeks. ”Don't tell them we're here!”

He sniffled. “I don't want to go back to that house. I wanna go home.”

"....It will be okay!" She found herself saying, struck by a sudden need to reassure Cove. Her expression twisted as she continued. “It... It's not gonna all be fun. But, he- isn't he your family too?”

“Yeah... I guess.” Cove nodded and she felt emboldened to continue.

“Then you can count on him when you really, really need him!” She shot him a grin, and pushed herself to her feet.

...Even if Eve could never count on her own family anymore, it didn’t mean he couldn’t count on his dad.

Slowly, Cove stood up with her, still looking a little reluctant. His dad's voice rang out again.

“Cove! Can you hear me?”

He looked toward the sound of his dad's voice, silent, then turned away while rubbing his not bandaged arm. “...Sorry. I still don't want to go.”

She frowned before whispering to him quietly so the adults didn’t hear her. “It’s alright, I get that.”

He turned back to her, regarding her with a shocked expression. ”You do?”

Before she could explain, she heard Cove's dad, even closer than before. “There you are, bud!”

The trio of adults appeared over the curve of the hill. Instantly all their eyes landed on the two of them and they rushed over.

She noted Cove’s dad immediately scooped him up in a hug, and gave a sympathetic smile as Cove immediately began to squirm and wiggle in his hold.

“Thank god Cove’s alright…” one of the two women sighed, her skin was a dark color but her gold eyes were warm as she looked at Eve. “Are you the little girl Cliff asked to help find Cove, Eve, was it?”

Eve nodded, adjusting her backpack straps and ignoring how it bit into her collar, the pad it had in it was worn down and no longer prevented it from biting into her skin.

“Your parents must be so worried with you out this late.” The other woman said, skin pale but she had brown eyes and hair like….

Eve put the image of her own mother out of her mind as she shook her head. “No, they aren’t.”

They wouldn’t be, they more often than not were more concerned with yelling at each other.

That earned her a concerned glance between the two women as the brown eyed one then asked. “Did you take a tumble down one of these hills? You’re dirty.”

Again, Eve shook her head, frowning as she muttered to herself. “I scrubbed off in a river yesterday though….”

Another concerned look was shared between the two women, then the one with gold eyes knelt down and gently asked. “Where are your parents? What street do they live on?”

Eve frowned and shook her head, speaking bluntly as only a child could. “Not here, elsewhere.” She crossed her arms in an attempt to look…. Well, like she wasn’t a runaway very far from where she started. And she was at least smart enough to not say where she came from, can’t send her back if they don’t know where to send her.

That made the women frown, another shared glance that Eve thought must be them telepathically communicating, before the other woman knelt down as well.

“Sweetie, your parents must be worried sick,” She began, brown eyes looking over Eve worriedly. “You should probably go home-”

“No!” Eve’s sudden outburst had her clamping her hands over her own mouth, eyes wide in fear as she realized how loud she was, trembling faintly and tears springing to her eyes as she took in the shocked expressions on the two women.

Shaking her head, she stepped back, only lowering her tiny hands from her mouth to say much quieter. “I’m not going back, loud, loud, yelling, holes in the, the walls, screaming-” She shut her eyes and pressed her hands against the sides of her head as she tried to force the memories out of her mind.

She flinched when one of the women placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, making her open her eyes and shake a little, only for the gold eyed woman to give her a gentle smile.

“Okay, how about you come with me, my name is Noelani, and Pamela for the time being?” She offered gently. “You can take a proper bath, we have food and a bed you can use.”

Eve blinked, rubbing the tears that accumulated in her eyes before nodding, then pausing and adding. “C...Can I see Cove if I do?”

The women blinked before giggling, Pamela nodding. “Of course you can.” She then winked. “We also have a daughter you might get along with.”

Eve nodded, then looked back over to Cove, who was still wiggling against his dad's tight hug and pushing at his arms.

She noticed Cove was looking in her direction despite the hold his father had on him and gave him a reassuring smile.

That seemed to appease Cove, though it wasn’t until his father finally let go of his squirming, scowling son and turned to the three that she was able to give Cove a thumbs up.

“Thanks very much for finding him. I really don't know this neighborhood.” He said to both Eve and the two women, looking between the women and child.

“Good thing we know this whole area so well.” Noelani nodded. 

“Absolutely. We should be getting home now. It's been a long day for us all.” Cove’s dad said, resting a hand on Cove’s shoulder. “You two are gonna get her home to her parents?”

“Well….” Pamela frowned, looking to the side. “How about we explain once we put the kids to bed? I’m sure Eve and Cove are exhausted, I’ll call.”

“Huh?” Cove’s dad tilted his head before realization dawned on him. “Oh. Right then, say goodbye, Cove!”

“Bye.” Cove said, looking more towards Eve than the two women beside her, and Eve smiled, waving bye.

The two of them walked off into the darkness, heading toward the neighborhood. She watched Cove’s back until he disappeared.

“Hm, tell you what - we'll have a proper playdate tomorrow, okay?” Pamela suggested, and Eve grinned, nodding.

“Your new friend's dad wanted to bring him by to see Lizzie, but if you’re with us he can see you too.” Pamela added, watching how Eve nodded before yawning into a hand. “C’mon buckaroo, let's get you washed and then into bed.”

Eve nodded, letting the two women lead her to their house, the next events were a blur, mainly due to how tired Eve was, but she was washed(hair included and that was not as hard as she thought it would be considering she kept her hair tidy for the most part) and then put to bed in a cozy and soft bed with soft sheets.

A far cry from the ground she had been sleeping on for months prior even if it was a bit big for her, so she quickly fell asleep when she got comfortable.

…….

“Pam, I think she’s a runaway.”

“I think so too, though, it seems she’s not from here, and you saw how thin she was….”

“We should get her into a doctor, check and see if she’s had any blood work done and hopefully find her parents…..”

“But, what she said about her family…. It doesn’t sound like she ran away for no reason….”

“....If nothing comes up, if she’s somehow avoided any documentation in any system, we can….Adopt her.”

“Yeah, she seems like a sweet girl, Lizzie may like her.”

“And Cove, it seems like they got along well. And we probably couldn’t send her back without either of them arguing against it.”

“Hehe…. …..Do you think ‘Eve’ is her actual name, though, ‘Lani?”

“....Hard to tell….”

#Our Life #our life beginnings & always #Our Life MC #Our Life Fanfic #Eve Oak(Our Life OC) #cove holden #Aaaa Idk if I wrote Pamela and noelani correctly but I tried! #(also safe to say the Runaway moment is likely gonna be different with Eve being a former runaway herself) #But I hope this is okay for my first attempt at a OL Fic at least!

[shipaholic]

Omens Universe, Chapter 13 Part 1

We’re in Heaven! Crowley’s got to access his blending-in skillz.

Warning for slightly creepy mind control.

Link to next part at the end.

(From the beginning)

(last part)

(chrono)

---

Chapter 13

There was a noise like a twang of a harp, but in reverse.

Two men (seemingly), a child, and a small green dog in a space helmet popped out next to the reception desk.

Noone was there. Crowley hung back while Aziraphale went up to the desk. It was pale mahogany, as smooth and clean as a surgical tray. The only things on it were a tiny golden bell, and programmes for The Sound of Music on stands. There was a plaque in front of the bell, that said:

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.

Bit forward, Crowley thought.

Aziraphale turned back.

“Good, nobody’s here. That will make things easier. Now, what we’re looking for is -”

There was a musical chime, and an angel appeared behind the desk.

Aziraphale jumped, then tried to look as though he hadn’t. “Um, hello. I believe we spoke a moment ago?”

The red-haired angel gave them a frozen smile. “Welcome to Heaven. Please sign in.”

A ring-bound blue folder appeared on the desk in front of him.

“Er. Certainly.”

Aziraphale stepped forward. Crowley shifted so that Aziraphale’s body blocked him from view. He was unsuccessful. The receptionist’s eyes flicked from each member of their party to the next. First they took in Aziraphale’s disheveled appearance from his fight with Michael. Then the eleven-year-old child, the floating green dog, and then -

“That is a demon!” they shrieked.

Aziraphale froze, pen in hand. He could feel the situation topple out of control like a stack of books on an unwisely rickety table.

“Do something, Crowley,” he stage-whispered.

Crowley looked around, wondering if there was any point trying to duck out of sight. “You’re the one who just took out an Archangel, why are you looking at me?”

The receptionist’s hand flew out towards the little bell.

Adam stepped forward. A terrible, booming voice came out of his mouth.

“Don’t move.”

The red-haired angel froze. An eerie blank look stole over their face, smoothing away the panic. They straightened up and let their arm fall to their side.

“Have a pleasant apocalypse,” they said, in a high, toneless voice.

A chill ran up Crowley’s spine and set up camp there.

Aziraphale set the pen down and turned around, avoiding Adam’s eyes.

“That’s, um, well. Thank you, I suppose. How… how did you know to do that?”

Adam shrugged. He held the Book tighter against his chest.

“He did it back in the garden,” Crowley muttered to Aziraphale. “While you were. You know. Indisposed.”

The receptionist kept gazing forward with a faraway expression. By unspoken agreement, they all inched away from the desk.

“Right,” Aziraphale said. “I suppose I should lead the way. Crowley, you’ll need a disguise.”

“Yeah, could have done with one five minutes ago.” Crowley eyed the angel behind the desk and concentrated. His body glowed. His hair sprouted a few extra inches down to his shoulders. The darkness leached out of his clothes, leaving them white as bone. They morphed into a floaty blouse and smart suit-trousers. It was a good facsimile of what the receptionist was wearing. Crowley could have got it closer, but looking at the angel gave him the willies. He morphed a long earring that would pass for a gem as long as nobody looked too closely, and tucked a strand of hair in front of his ear to hide his own gem.

He turned to Aziraphale and made his best churchy face. “How do I look?”

Aziraphale rolled his eyes. “Yes, dear, very fetching.”

Crowley reckoned he could get away with one white glove under his shirt. It might be a little fashion-forward for Heaven, but at least it was discreet.

They turned to Adam.

“I have no idea what to do about him,” Crowley admitted.

“The green dog is quite difficult to explain away,” Aziraphale said.

“It’ll be alright,” Adam said, vaguely.

His nose was back in that Book. What on Earth was in that thing? Crowley tried to get a glimpse at the title. It was in a curly font, which always played havoc with his eyes, especially with the sunglasses - oops. He would need an explanation for the sunglasses if anyone challenged him.

“I reckon,” Adam said, slowly, “if we all just walk around like we’re supposed to be here, then nobody will say anything. I think they just won’t notice I’m there.”

“Psychologically, there is a basis for that…” Aziraphale said, sounding doubtful.

“I think he means something a bit more… occult,” said Crowley.

Aziraphale coughed. “I suppose, if push came to shove, he could always. Well. Do… that again.” He gestured vaguely back at the reception desk.

Nobody had a better plan. They exchanged uneasy glances and set out.

~*~

Crowley despised open-plan offices.

They were the kind of thing his side ought to have devised, by right. Technically the nasty, cramped, dirty space occupied by Hell down in the basement qualified as open-plan, even though in practice everyone siloed themselves off in makeshift half-walled cubicles constructed out of anything they found lying around. This was something else, though. He felt himself going cross-eyed as he contemplated the vistas of white, airless space. It was like walking around inside a lightbulb.[1]

Spacedog trotted at their feet. His back legs whirred and clicked. He gave loving looks to Adam’s dirty, untied shoelaces as he sloped along. Adam’s guess earlier seemed to have been right. They’d met a few angels, and their gazes had slid pleasantly past their group without questioning their presence at all.

Aziraphale led the way. Crowley knew he should have some idea what everything was, but it had been so long since he’d been up here. He’d probably missed a few thousand restructures, too. Good.

They entered another blindingly bright open space with a bank of desks set up every half a mile. Crowley glowered from behind his shades.

A group of angels were clustered together. Aziraphale walked past them, head down. Crowley followed.

“Excuse me,” someone called out.

Aziraphale’s steps faltered. Crowley meant to keep walking, but against his better judgement, he glanced over at the group. With a jolt, he realised one of them was beckoning him over.

He stopped. Mistake.

“Hello, excuse me?” The voice brooked no argument.

Crowley stood frozen. A tiny voice screamed in his ear.

“Uh. Yeah?”

Aziraphale gave him a desperate look over his shoulder. Crowley pretended not to see.

The angel crooked her finger at him. Mouth dry, he walked slowly towards her.

“Yup?”

She had a sternly benevolent expression. They all did. It was becoming his least favorite expression.

“Are you any good with Powerpoint?”

Something in Crowley’s brain broke.

“Pardon?”

“You’re on the front desk, aren’t you? I’d be ever so grateful if you could help me. We’ve all got presentations due before the big push. It’s been ages since I’ve used the dratted thing - beg your pardon -”

She pressed a hand to her lips, as if blotting them.

“Also, if you could help us set up the projector, that would be super,” she added.

Crowley looked over his shoulder at Aziraphale. The angel spread his hands, helplessly.

“Erm. No problem,” he mumbled.

There was no way out. He drifted over to the huddle of angels as though walking to the guillotine.

~*~

Aziraphale, unlike some, was not an accomplished lurker. He could feel himself drawing unwanted attention as he tried not to hover. He suspected the only reason no-one was questioning him was because of Adam. Suspicious gazes began to be directed at him, but turned vague and distant as they failed to register Adam’s presence, before wandering back to their work. Crowley, at least, gave the impression he knew what he was doing as he clicked away on the angel’s ultra-thin desktop computer.

One of the few advantages of the extremely open-plan office was that it was easy to see threats coming from a great distance away. Aziraphale spotted Gabriel, flanked by Uriel and Sandalphon, the second he got out of the lift.

Aziraphale grabbed Adam by the shoulder and scurried behind a printer.

“- We need to be dramatic, but sombre. Maybe some lightning? And crank up the wind machine. I want my coat to billow when the first round of smiting kicks off.”

Gabriel swooped down towards the knot of angels. Aziraphale looked at Crowley, heart in mouth. Crowley was still in the middle of the group, explaining how the projector worked.

“- Has anyone heard from Michael? She missed a video-conference. It’s not like her.”

Aziraphale could not think for the life of him how to extract Crowley. He, on the other hand, was about to be right in Gabriel’s line of sight if he glanced over. He had to move. He’d have to trust in Crowley’s disguise and pray for luck.

He tiptoed backwards, towards the fire exit, and felt behind him for the handle.

The door gave a polite click and swung open without a sound. Aziraphale beckoned Adam. The boy jerked his head at Spacedog. The three of them slipped out and onto the fire escape.

When the door clicked shut behind them, Aziraphale felt a wave of relief for himself and fear for Crowley. He was nauseous with guilt for leaving him back there. But there was nothing to gain from dwelling. He held up his ring hand, and with a glow from his gem, summoned a piece of chalk into his hand. He marked the wall next to the door with a C.

Adam looked around, unmistakably bored.

“This isn’t how I imagined a spaceship,” he said.

“Ah.” Yes. They were still keeping up that fiction. Aziraphale was losing patience with it, if he was being quite honest. “Well, this is more of an… interim location. We’re really trying to get to Alpha Centauri.”

Adam’s eyes lit up. “Oh, I know about Alpha Centauri. It’s cool.”

Aziraphale smiled. “Talk to Crowley about it. He’ll tell you all sorts.” Not necessarily true all sorts, although Crowley told them with great confidence.

Adam had rallied, now that he knew their destination. “So, how do we get there?”

“We need to find the Department of Stars and Systems.”

In fact, the fire escape wasn’t the worst way to get there. It might even be faster, provided they encountered nobody. Aziraphale began the climb up to the next floor. Adam and Spacedog trotted at his heels. He marked the walls with chalk as he went.

He’d have to hope that Crowley caught up with them as fast as possible.

~*~

Many flights of stairs later, Aziraphale dragged himself up the last few steps, thinking with great nostalgia of the lift.

They were, at last, on the right floor. Aziraphale listened at the door, mostly as a formality. No-one was ever up here.

He opened the door and emerged onto floor 4004.

Its official name was the Department of Stars and Systems. Its unofficial name was The Universe.

“Woah,” Adam said.

The corridor they’d arrived in was, in one way, the polar opposite of the rest of Heaven. It was black. Endless black, the kind that made your eyeballs feels like they were being turned inside out. Aziraphale could see himself, and Adam, and the dog, as clearly as if they were standing in a well-lit room, but their surroundings were a deep, light-eating darkness.

Aziraphale groped for the wall and chalked a C onto it.

“Nearly there,” he said.

They walked carefully, unsure whether there were still walls to bump into. Eventually, as if cut into the night sky, letters appeared at head height, hanging in midair.

Gen 1:1

Aziraphale stretched out his hand towards them. They touched the raised letters, and behind them, a smooth steel surface. It was a door, invisible in the blackness.

When he touched the door, there was a musical beep, and a keypad lit up just where a handle would normally be.

Aziraphale’s face fell.

Adam hovered at his elbow. “Try one-two-three-four-five-six.”

Aziraphale contemplated the keypad,[2] his heart sinking away into the darkness. Stupid. Of course there would be security clearance. And of course they’d never give it to him. He looked around in the vague hope there would be a post-it note somewhere with the passcode written down.

“Oi,” came a voice from the other direction.

Aziraphale spun around. Crowley sauntered around the corner.

“Crowley!”

Crowley squinted, his shades dangling from one hand.

“This is weird. It’s not like proper darkness. More like light that happens to be black.”

He was still dressed like the angel from the front desk. He had dropped the sickly sweet expression, though, and looked properly Crowley-like again. He’d also reverted to his usual walk. Aziraphale loved that walk. The sight of it brought happy tears to his eyes.

“You escaped then, I take it?”

Crowley grinned as he sashayed over. He had a sparkle to him that meant a bad job well done.

“Eventually. I got their projector working. They thought I was so helpful they gave me a couple more tasks to do around the office.”

That sounded like the opposite of escaping, and also the opposite of Crowley’s general vibe. Aziraphale eyed him with suspicion.

“Then I issued an automatic update to all their devices with no deferrals. Slipped away in the chaos. Turns out angels can swear just as well as demons. I reckon it gets pent up if you go too long without.”

Aziraphale laughed.

“Well, at least you spotted the chalk,” he said.

“Chalk? What is this, the Famous Five? I went to the monitor room and saw you on the security cameras.”

Aziraphale blushed. He blamed everything currently happening to him on silly technological nonsense.

Crowley squinted at the keypad. “Ah. I’m assuming you don’t have the door code?”

“No,” Aziraphale admitted.

“Who’s in charge here nowadays?”

“Well. Nobody really comes up here. It’s an archive, but it’s self-regulating, so…” Aziraphale thought. “I think technically Gabriel’s in charge.”

“Right. Try one-two-three-four-five-six.”

“I really don’t think -”

Aziraphale heard beeping. Adam was already tapping numbers into the keypad.

“Wait, you don’t know -”

There was a click, and the door swung open.[3]

“I’m telling you,” Crowley said cheerfully. “Always underestimate that man’s intelligence, you’ll never go wrong.”

Aziraphale gave his most dignified eye-roll.

They stepped, one by one, over the threshold.

They emerged into a room with the Universe inside.

---

[1] Demons could do that, but why would you want to?

[2] It had thirty-one buttons, not all of which were numbers. One through six did appear on there, in some fashion.

[3] If anyone had asked Adam, not that they’d bother to, no reason to bother asking him anything after all, he’d have showed them prophecy 1511: the numbere of the Univerfe is the numbere of wone-thorough-sixe. But they didn’t.

(Link to the next part)

#omens universe fic #omens universe #good omens #good omens fic #ineffable husbands #steven universe #crowley absolutely only has the most rudimentary grasp of powerpoint #and the fancy heavenly projectors probably baffled him after the elderly tech he had to wrangle in hell #but he's good at blagging. so #they should have asked Adam

[perspective-series]

Vampire Perspective (3/17)

By: @arc852 and @hiddendreamer67

Warnings: Death threats, kidnapping, fear, blood, hypnotism

First Chapter || Previous Chapter || Next Chapter

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 Logan, admittedly, was starting to worry. He knew Roman had gone out despite his warnings but it wasn’t like this was the first time he had done this. However, he should have been back by now and yet, there were no signs of Roman. Logan couldn’t shake the feeling that something had happened.

 He watched through the vents as the human settled into bed before scanning to room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. No boxes or cages and he certainly didn’t hear any muffled shouts. He doubted the human had found Roman but that left little idea in Logan’s mind of where he could be.

 He let out a sigh. Roman was really going to make him search the whole apartment, wasn’t he? He double checked his bag and the human’s room before stepping away from the vent and back into the walls. Roman better be in some real danger or he was going to get quite the lecture once Logan found him.

-------- 3 days later -------------

It had been days and Logan’s worry had increased tenfold during this time. He had searched the entire building twice and yet Roman was nowhere to be seen. He even watched the human during the day, just to be sure he didn’t have him and no, the human didn’t. Logan was really at a loss for where the other borrower could be.

At this point, Logan didn’t hold a lot of hope that Roman was still alive. However, this was Roman he was talking about. He was strong, even for a borrower and Logan knew he couldn’t give up quite yet.

But, with the building properly searched, that really only left him one other option. Outside. He loathed the idea but if it meant finding Roman then he would look around the outside of the building for his friend. Hopefully he would not find him half eaten by some rapid animal.

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

Virgil sighed, circling the building one last time in his bat form. It had been a couple days since Patton found the borrower, and Virgil had been holding off on his meal in the hopes of finding one of his own. But, it seemed the little things were smart enough to stay inside. Drat.

Well, no use in putting it off now. Virgil flew over the street, spotting a human dawdling on his phone on a park bench. What he was doing was of no consequence to Virgil, the bat swooping down gracefully to land in the shadows. Virgil transformed, creeping up on his target from behind. 

A slight gasp came from the human’s mouth as Virgil plunged his fangs into its neck, holding his hand over its mouth to keep it from screaming. Virgil moaned, intoxicated by the familiar taste after holding out for so long. Vampires only had to eat once or twice a week, but even still this was a long time coming.

Virgil continued to drink, feeling the human go limp in his arms as the blood loss made it dizzy. Typical. Virgil drank his fill, licking at the wound so the saliva would heal the wound. Then, Virgil came around the bench, meeting the glazed over gaze of the human being. 

“You’ll remember none of this.” Virgil murmured, his eyes glowing more red than was natural. The human gave a small nod, before completely passing out on the bench. Virgil didn’t bother adjusting it into a more comfortable position.

Now full, Virgil took his time lazily strolling down the street, grateful for the lack of mortals. He was feeling uncharacteristically optimistic, and perhaps that’s why he decided to circle back to the fated apartment building. 

As Virgil reached the front steps, he froze. Was that…? Virgil gave a cautious sniff, confirming the scent now floating through the night breeze.

A borrower.

 Logan pushed against the underbush, looking around for any sign of Roman. There didn’t appear to be any so far. No footprints or dropped objects but he couldn’t expect it to be that easy. At least he had yet to find any shredded clothes, that was a good sign, at the very least.

Virgil crept around the side, the scent growing stronger as he approached the foliage. He kept his footsteps soft in the grass, moving as silent as the night until he stopped where it was almost overwhelmingly concentrated. This had to be it.

Virgil knelt, shoving the branches aside to get a clear view of his prey. “Gotcha.”

 Logan let out an undignified yelp as the bushes were suddenly ripped aside and a giant face loomed over him. Body tense, Logan wasted no time in turning and running away, hoping to reach the hole that led back into the house. How had the human even found him?

“Oh no you don’t.” Virgil growled, determined to not let it get away. With catlike reflexes Virgil pounced, easily gripping the borrower in his clawed grasp.

 “No!” Logan let out an involuntary shout as he was grabbed. He knew humans to be fast but that had been almost impossibly fast. He struggled in the grip despite knowing it wouldn’t work. His instincts forced him to try something, however.

Virgil ignored the borrower’s protests, squeezing a bit tighter to make sure he didn’t lose his grip as he stood up. This one had given him a bit of trouble- why couldn’t it had shown itself earlier in the evening before Virgil went and got himself all full? No way he could stomach a borrower now.

“Ugh.” Virgil groaned, realizing what he had to do. He shoved the borrower into his pocket, keeping an eye out for any prying eyes as he dashed off into the night.

 Logan went from being squeezed to being shoved into folded fabric that he could only assume was a pocket. His heart rate picked up as he felt the human run. Away from his home and away from any chance of finding Roman. He shoved against the fabric but he did it more for more room than to get out. Even if he managed, a fall from this height would surely kill him.

 How had the human even found him? He had been all but silent and he hadn’t even been aware of the human’s presence until he was pulling back the bush. It was...unnatural, to say the least.

Patton blinked, surprised to see Virgil arriving through the door instead of the window. He quickly hid his doggy bag of food behind his back. “You’re back early.”

“Uh, yeah.” Virgil was just as on edge, creeping around Patton to the stairs. He knew Patton would just try to convince him to let the borrower live- he also knew Patton had been keeping his own around still, but sooner or later Patton would get hungry.

“I’m just gonna- my room…” Patton gestured vaguely behind him, before dashing down the hall.

Virgil blinked. Well, at least Patton’s suspicious behavior kept him from noticing Virgil’s own. 

Virgil opened the door to his own bedroom, where he had fully embraced the vampire stereotypes. It was a dark and gloomy lair, just how Virgil liked it.

Virgil pulled out the borrower, getting a closer look at his find.

 Logan yelped and trembled in the grip despite his own wishes, However, his body froze as he finally met the human’s gaze.

 His eyes...they were a bright red.

 Logan was positive that was not normal for humans. “Fascinating…” He couldn’t help but comment, forgetting about his fear for a brief moment.

Virgil blinked, not expecting that reaction. “...what?”

 “It’s just, well...your eyes.” Logan spoke, once more forgetting who he was speaking with. “They are red. Not an ordinary human color for sure. It’s possible you could be wearing contacts but looking closer, that doesn’t appear to be the case.” Logan hummed in thought as he continued to stare into the red eyes.

 “So...either you have a birth defect or...you aren’t human.” Logan hypothesised.

“Of course I’m not human.” Virgil snarled, showing off his fangs to remind the borrower who was in charge here. “My eyes reflect my lust for blood, growing more powerful when I’m sedated with that aromatic essence.” Virgil gave an emphasizing sniff, raising the borrower higher. “And I’ll give you one guess who’s my next morsel~”

 Logan yelped as he was brought higher and his mind went back to the fear as soon as his captor had snarled at him. His mind, however, still put the pieces together. “Y-You’re a...a vampire.”

“Yeah no shit, Sherlock.” Virgil spat, and if it weren’t for the soundproofing on his walls Virgil was certain Patton would be scolding him for his language.

 “B-But that isn’t possible. Vampires and such creatures don’t-they don’t exist.” Logan stuttered, his body going back to trembling. 

“People say the same thing about you.” Virgil retorted.

 “I...well...I suppose that is a fair point.” He supposed, to humans, he was also some sort of mythical creature. He thought back to the vampire’s threat earlier.

 “Wait, are you...are you planning on consuming me?” He asked, fear clear in his voice.

“Yup.” Virgil grinned, popping the ‘p’. “You sure are slow at catching on.”

 “B-But I would hardly satisfy any sort of hunger.” Logan tried to reason. “I would be less than-than a snack to you. Surely that cannot be worth it?”

“Even as just a snack, the taste alone would be worth it.” Virgil gave a pleased hum, able to hear just how that little heart pounded. “But borrower blood is some of the most potent in the world. It’s said to be more powerful than any human, and ten times as delectable.”

 “Wh-What? How? That’s...That makes no sense…” Logan trailed off, looking down in terrified thought. His mind was racing just as much as his heart in trying to wrap his head around all this.

“Maybe it’s just all that concentrated magic keeping you alive.” Virgil shrugged, lifting the borrower above his head to dangle. He opened his maw. “I don’t make a habit of questioning the logistics of a midnight snack.”

 Logan kicked his legs as his eyes went wide. “No! Stop!” He twisted and turned every which way, uncaring if he fell from such a height as long as long he got away from the vampire’s mouth and sharp fangs.

“Stop what?” Virgil let out a dark chuckle, feigning a yawn as he closed his mouth. He had to admit, it was fun messing with someone so small.

 “D-Don’t eat me, please.” He never thought he would have to worry about something so human eating him. An animal, most certainly, but not a human. Of course, this creature wasn’t a human, so that logic really flew out the metaphorical window.

“Aww, don’t worry, I won’t eat you.” Virgil brought the borrower back down, a dark gleam in his eye. “Tonight, at least. I already had a meal more filling than you’ll ever be. But, in a few days when the hunger pangs return…” Virgil licked his lips meaningfully.

 A few days...Logan only had a few days left to live. And then he would be eaten by this monster.

 Logan had to figure a way out of here. Somehow. In the meantime, it might be best for him to learn as much as he could about vampires. And this one in particular. “How…” He swallowed down his nerves. “How did you even find me?”

“Your scent.” Virgil put a clawed nail underneath the tiny chin, tilting its head up to inspect further. “It’s impossible to ignore. That, and Patton found your little friend a few days ago. Wasn’t exactly difficult to realize more of you were lurking around.”

 Logan’s eyes widened. He had been intrigued by the scent information but all that flew out the window at Virgil’s next words. “N-No…” It couldn’t be...all this time Roman had been caught by a vampire. It had been days already, which meant…

 The other vampire must have already gotten his fill. Logan shivered at the thought.

Virgil smirked, knowing where the borrower’s mind went but not bothering to correct it. Hopefully, for Patton’s own good, that would soon be the case. Borrower blood was said to permanently increase a vampire’s strength. Because Patton rarely fed on humans, he was quite weak as far as vampires were concerned. Virgil worried for him, but now a solution had fallen into their laps. One way or another, Virgil was determined to make Patton drink his fill, and maybe get a little of his own as well. 

“Now, just where to keep you quiet…” Virgil prowled his room, already having his eyes set on his prize. It was a Victorian bird cage, one Virgil himself had used back in that era to keep a pet owl when it was all the rage. It had sat empty for many decades, but Virgil figured it was time it got a new occupant. 

Virgil creaked open the door, giving a good puff of air to clear off some of the dust. It didn’t really matter, considering it wouldn’t be used for long. Satisfied, Virgil dumped the borrower into the cage.

 Logan groaned as he hit the ground with a hard thud. He slowly lifted himself up, looking at his surroundings and at the very old birdcage. He wondered exactly how old it was. He turned to look at the vampire again. “Please...Please, don’t do this.” He said but, honestly, he was probably better of talking to a brick wall. The vampire probably didn’t have any sort of heart or feelings other than hunger and malice.

“Cute puppy dog eyes you’ve got there.” Virgil commented, looking unfazed as he turned the key in the lock. “Might even work if I had a soul.”

 Logan deflated, falling into a seated position as far from the vampire as he could get. For the first time in a long while, he had no idea what to do. And with the knowledge that Roman...that Roman was gone, it made it even more difficult. If Roman, the most charismatic borrower he had ever met, couldn’t charm and convince his way out of being eaten...then what chance did Logan have?

“What’s the matter?” Virgil gave the cage a tiny shove, watching it swing slightly. “All the fight left you already?”

 Logan held onto the bars at the slight swing in order to keep his balance and he glared at the vampire but didn’t say anything. What could he say?

“...pity.” Virgil sighed. Whatever, it didn’t matter if the borrower decided to be all boring and lifeless. It would probably make him easier to eat in a few days. 

Virgil turned his back, mulling that over. It might be even harder to commit to that after seeing the borrower in his room for a while, but Virgil would just have to stand strong. Weakness is what made him hesitate last time, too. He couldn’t be weak, not in this kill or be killed world. 

#vampire perspective #vampire!virgil #vampire!patton #borrower!logan #part 3 #it's fiiiiiine #vp #perspective series

[yellow-pigeons]

The troupe gains a member - A WillNemi Fic

London looked marvelous today.

If she wasn’t forced to be on her way to a certain place, hours wouldn’t be enough to fully admire the beauty of the slowly developing city, currently basking in the first, warm rays of dawn. Sunlight dusts over the grey and brown buildings like snow, gradually showing their outlines, and shines from the stained windows in the most abandoned areas.

Rain is no more, at least for the time being, unlike in her realm, which is also far more pleasant than having to walk around everywhere with her heaviest coat and a scarf. How annoying, even after all these years she cannot help but nearly freeze when rain or storms occur.

Sighing upon that wandering thought, the blue Shinigami bolts towards the already set up circus square, jumping down from a roof to seem a little less suspicious to the gloomy, still drowsy English.

Drat, this skirt was far from comfortable to be running in, if only times allowed for her to be wearing her usual one in public…

“Mornin’ to ya madam! How may I be of service?”

A loud, resonant voice reaches her ears, as an orange haired male towers over her, smiling in a friendly, harmless manner. Just now, she realizes she has been standing there for quite a while, not noticing him observing her since she came as well.

“Oh, pardon my mindless staring good sir, but... May I ask you something?”

Her chartreuse eyes pierce right through him, as the man widely known as Joker walks with her for a small while. Humans are indeed very interesting, they are careful around strangers, however are fooled by the commonly known façade of good looks and sweet words. Their ways of speaking also varies with each ones’ personality, but that is pretty obvious.

“Is there a problem, luv? Whatcha doin’ around here, with such heavy baggage?”

The fellow asks, to which she purposely looks away with a distressed frown, rubbing her arm a little. Clad in a teal blue shirt and dark grey skirt up to her ankles, she looks no different from some regular woman in the current era, with the exception of her unusually colored irises.

“I have found myself in a bloody bad space for years now, and have heard that you are looking for new circus members. Would it be much of a drag if I-”

“But of course! We been lackin’ ladies in the crew recently, so yer a perfect fill up for our troupe! Come, come, I shall introduce ye to the others!”

He is affable, unsuspecting just as she expected him to be. This is good, she thinks to herself, holding her head down as she walks by the man’s side all the way towards one of the big, greenish-brown tents.

“What’s yer name lass? Ye can choose one that will be yer stage name, and we shall call ye this way.”

“I’m not keen on being called by my real name, so just please call me ‘Nemi’”

Joker grins widely, patting her back in an assuring gesture.

“Of course! Yer secrets stay private in this place! Quick question before ye accommodate yerself here though.”

His eyes turn over to her as they suddenly cease the slow marching, Haruda stopping and immediately looking up at him. She sees a glint of mischief in his gaze, which makes her tilt her head to the side questioningly, morning breeze threading through her hair.

“What are ye good at? Certainly ye have a special talent that would be beneficial for tha circus.”

“Oh my, I simply don’t know where to start, mister…”

“Joker, the name’s Joker.”

 ----------------------------------

“Oi! Gather all around! We have a new acrobat in tha troupe!”

At the sound of Joker’s call, the circus members began walking into the white and blue tent, usually in small groups to see what was the show all about. Noemi was swinging downwards from a trapeze on one leg, curiously eyeing the poor, unfortunate souls that happened to end up here. What a shame she couldn’t bring herself to somehow feel bad for them, the mystery behind the disappearances of children were far more important though.

Swinging from one trapeze to another, she easily made a few flips in the air, earning herself a satisfying applause. Landing beside the purple eyed man with the last leap, she bowed politely to the cheering audience, them soon being shushed by Joker.

“Everyone meet Nemi! She will be one of our newest, and probably most skilled freshman acrobats. Peter, Wendy, better step up yer game if ye want to remain the main attraction.”

The male laughed, as the bluenette eyed everyone with a calm smile. Where was he, for Rhea’s sake? She wasn’t supposed to be here earlier. What she did notice was the Queen’s Guard Dog, and his…

“Demon...”

She whispered to herself, not dropping her stoic mask, feeling an elbow in the arm from Joker.

“What would ye like to say to yer new mates? No need to be shy!”

Haruda looked around, and after a while of thought, she finally spoke up, as she should’ve done before, instead of the sketchy whisper.

“I will be most happy to be working with you all! It’s a pleasure to be here.”

She smiled widely, earning an applause once again, as well as some silent comments.

Of course, there was one thing about her appearance that she could never fully hide, which was more than troublesome with her kind of outfit. The scars on her neck and chest were an issue, but people were kind enough not to ask too many questions. She made up a story of how her husband spilled boiling hot coffee on her, and she had no idea how to care for open wounds.

Ah, another wonderful thing about the people from this era. Immense stupidity and misinformation. Any story was good enough to be shoved in their faces with enough drama to that and they were on their knees.

Ha ha, what a silly world we live in.

“Ye sure space out a lot, lass. I wanted ye to meet some other skilled new members of our troupe, since they were much of bloody ignoramuses to come n’ greet ya! Black! Smile! Show yer new colleague around! And where’s Suit?!”

The male rambled, as the two approached her eventually. Not the first time she saw a demon in her life, however this one seemed to be oddly put for a starving vermin. She was told he had some sort of contract with that spoiled child. How utterly atrocious for him to prey on brats.

However, this was not the time to be revealing her true identity, so keeping a good face to a bad game was her task now. And obviously fulfilling her mission, which was making sure that Spears wasn’t going to screw up his task. This was quite a few souls after all, and with a starving demon lurking around to that he could be in potential danger.

Smiling softly as they finally closed the distance between one another with around six feet, the bluenette scanned them both properly, before the blue eyed child’s demon spoke up, his crimson orbs focusing on her with curiosity.

“Hello dear, you must be the Nemi everyone is talking about now. Welcome to the troupe. I am Black, and this little fellow here is Smile.”

“It’s a pleasure, Black, Smile. I am a tad lost with all the ruckus around here, would you be so kind and show me my place to rest?”

Smoothly, she escaped the kid’s suspicious glare, as the demon nodded and took her luggage. Huh, that was unusual, however if he were to check it, there was nothing really special inside, apart from spare clothing items, her favorite book and some daily care routine things, like a toothbrush or comb.

“Joker assigned you the tenth tent, which means you’ll be there alone. Such a shame I couldn’t be your company; you look dreadfully gloomy to me.”

“I am just fine with that, dear Black. Surely you have wonderful mates in your own one, I believe.”

She jabs back at the demon with a sly smirk, as he nods and sets down her trunk beside a bunk bed.

The tents’ inside is dim when the lamps are out, morning sunlight sneaking inside and somewhat making it more appealing to the eye. It’s a simple setting, with the beds set in the right corner and a few stacked up wooden boxes serving as a nightstand.

Before she notices, they swiftly leave, allowing her to accommodate herself into the new sleeping spot. Taking out an old-fashioned alarm clock, she places it on top of the boxes, setting it for five am with a few cracks of the cogs inside it. Despite the rather rigid, barbarian surroundings, she feels at ease, considering this yet another mission to complete.

This one just requires a little bit more effort and spying, which for her sounded more than just interesting. That was why she agreed after all. Besides, she was in charge of monitoring the Retrieval Division manager, so there wasn’t much of a choice either. Understaffment was truly a thorn in the side these days.

So, Suit. This was his stage name, eh? The blasted moron couldn’t come up with anything better, how typical.

“Tch. Always in a need to be controlled even though he was supposed to be fine on his own. What a waste of a perfectly fine reaper.”

She grumbles to herself, walking around in her ‘human’ attire, slowly catching sight of how the tents were placed, and where everything was. With her skirt swapped for trousers, she stumbles upon a training tent, being invited to stretch and work out a little before next week’s show.

Everything goes just fine before the last evening falls, the dress rehearsal after sunset being one of the last moments where she could focus and somehow catch sight of him. Up until then she was doing quite alright, slipping out of the suspicion range of the demon and the kid, whilst William apparently struggled with remembering what he was over a hundred years ago.

She hides from his sight, not allowing him to discover that he’s being watched.

Days fly as she trains and helps around the circus, each day being so strangely similar to what was once of her, somewhere in her motherland. Hard, physical work, but also some new friends, that sadly were to die in the nearest months. Despite that, she enjoys her stay, while being merely a week in.

Just now, she is in the middle of a pirouette in mid-air, when she hears a familiar voice. With a purposeful fail in her trick, she falls onto the white net, staying in it to avoid an unavoidable encounter with one person she was not supposed to encounter during her stay. Hoping for him to leave as soon as possible, she is quickly disappointed as silence falls in the huge tent.

“Just what are You doing here, Noemi Haruda. Are you not supposed to be sitting behind your desk, instead of fooling around here like some sort of monkey? You are one reaper I would never expect to be doing this type of work.”

Darn it.

She climbs out of the net, piercing the raven haired man with a dagger throwing gaze, shaking her head. This is no good. If the kid and the butler find out about her true identity her whole plan will go to absolute bollocks!

As an ultimate method of defending herself, the blue haired female blurts out a laugh, holding her abdomen before flopping back into the net, mentally kicking herself for choosing the biggest tent for practice.

“Oh four-eyes, your jokes are always spot on, are they not? I don’t believe we have been properly introduced to one another yet. I know no such person as Noemi Haruda. I am Nemi.”

The male frowns deeply, turning around and walks away from the tent.

What the devil is she doing here?

Did she send herself here to monitor his actions? Probably yes, judging from the undercover she is in. Unsurprisingly, the humans consider her to be one of them, which makes up for his poor attempts to blend in.

Hmm, did the demon fall for her trick as well?

Apparently yes, since he’s probably never seen her before. Can’t demons smell Shinigami? That wasn’t for him to wonder about, though.

As soon as the training is considered to be over, the blue haired woman follows after William to the back of the circus, grabbing his wrist. He pulls it away immediately, turning around to face her. It’s obvious her presence makes him far away from pleased, with his arms tightly pressed to his sides and jaw nearly snapping off from the strength he put in gritting his teeth.

Clad in his white trousers and green vest, he nearly spits venom when audibly snorting at her short, black and white striped dress and knee high boots.

Honestly.

“You look like a prostitute.”

“You look like a homo.”

“What makes you think I am not one.”

“I don’t know, maybe because we’ve slept together more than you’d like to admit?”

“Don’t start with that again. Better tell me what in the seven circles of Hell are you doing here.”

She turns her head away from him, grimacing ever so slightly at his immediate coldness. But what could she expect from a dense son of a dog like him. Ugh, is this barf bubbling at the back of her throat just now? Ah no, it’s only hatred. Burning, bitter disgust towards the reaper she not so long ago claimed to be her only reason to live.

How stupid can a woman get for the wrong man?

“It is none of your concern why am I here. We were not supposed to meet during your mission here, yet I have made a mistake with choosing the wrong tent, it seems.”

“How long have you been here?”

He drew through clenched teeth, as the blue haired reaper kicks at the ground a bit, unwilling to reveal more to him than he had already discovered. She is in trouble already for interfering with her mission, however this was an agreed idea among all the members of the headquarters, so in reality he doesn’t have much to say about her here, to be frank.

“It’s been a week since I joined. I have been monitoring your progress because of me and other chairmen deciding it would be a good thing to do. And since I am your superior, I was chosen to be the one having to work undercover as well.”

“This is plain idiocy. I am a grown man, why should I need someone to watch after me, let alone control my actions.”

“Maybe because Sutcliff went on a murder rampage and you saw nothing, you bloody moron!”

The woman snaps, summoning her scythe and directing a blow at him, Spears dodging before the blade hits his head. Growling, he grabs a hold of her death scythe, pulling her closer with a stronger, unexpected tug.

“Keep it down, it’s enough that they know I am a reaper. You don’t want to have a demon on your arse as well.”

“Ha! Since when do you care what will happen to me?”

He looks away, letting go of the double bladed pole, making the woman flop onto the ground with a growl. Pushing up his glasses, Spears scoffs, shaking his head at her repetitive accusations. How long is she going to hold a grudge? Of course, he is still going for a long while, but the fiery Italian seems to still have an itch for simply beating an apology out of him.

“I don’t. However, your injury will be cut out of my pay. I wish to avoid that, as well as overtime.”

“You will get overtime whether you want it or not. I decide about it. Better have a good contact with me, instead of throwing me around like a rag doll.”

Spears’ head cocks to the side in anger, as he approaches her in a rather quick, heavy manner. Despite her usual fearlessness towards his frustration, she flinches in a long-forgotten habit, mentally kicking herself for doing so. He smirks in return, grabbing her by the neck and rising upwards, until she grips his hand and huffs.

“Watch your tongue, missy. I have no concern in causing you harm, but I will if the occasion strikes.”

“I despise you.”

“So do I. Now get out of my sight before it gets bloody.”

With that, she is set down fiercely, the ravenet staring for a while before turning on his heel and making his way towards the tents. Something in her bubbles up, making a few tears prick at her eyes, before she wipes them away, leaping at him with an inhuman strength, knocking the other reaper on the ground with a thud.

As her hands wrap around the man’s throat, she holds him down with her whole body mass, eyes lighting up in a sudden outburst of power. She thanks Rhea that he isn’t that angry yet, but this surely puts her in advantage when it comes to a ‘fight’ with him. It is certainly not a time to be settling matters with Spears, but such disrespectful addressing will not be tolerated.

The evening is chilly, wind sometimes blowing and successfully muting the quieter words that escape from people’s mouths. Stars shine bright above them, slightly covered by the tall oaks and birches, that surround the circus. It almost feels like they are alone, yet the feeling is illusory, since one wrong move and…

“Listen here, agent 1398. I am your superior, and this type of ridicule is repugnant. Consider this to be your final warning, otherwise the rest of the headquarters will get to know about the shit you’ve been doing on the terrain of Dispatch. I’m not your colleague, nor underling.”

Words leave her in a low, venomous hiss, as she delivers a harsh slap across William’s face, making him finally cease his writhing. With his fluorescent gaze focused on her only, he scrunches up his nose, placing his hands on her wrists.

“That will be enough, Noemi. Fighting will cause a scene to occur. Let’s leave it to the day when the mission shall be completed. Pardon my behavior, however I am unwilling to spend another long night in my office because of your approach to my person.”

She sighs helplessly, standing up slowly. Lending him a hand, Noemi dusts her stockings off, locking eyes with him one last time.

“Maybe you will understand my motives one day, but what I know for sure is that you do not despise me. I see it in you, no matter how much you deny it. Do what you want with that. I will not be pushing myself somewhere where I am not wanted.”

And with that, she ports away, leaving Spears in the dreadful silence, sometimes interrupted by circus music and crickets.

Damn it.

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May contain strong language, read on your own responsibility <3 This is part of Noemi's canon story!

I will start posting just the links o any fanfics as soon as I get my Ao3 account activated, so sorry for the inconvenience TwT

#kuroshitsujioc #kuroshitsuji #william t spears #sebastian michaelis #ciel phantomhive #joker #fanfiction #their love hate relationship makes me lmao

[huilian]

i’ll cover you

AO3

Characters: Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, cameo by Commissioner Gordon

Summary: 

“Come on, then, chum.” Bruce shifted his grip, allowing Dick to burrow into the warmth of Bruce’s chest. Then, almost as an afterthought, Bruce swept his cape to rest on top of Dick. It was warm, and Bruce was even warmer. Dick relaxed. _ Dick was cold and tired, but thankfully Batman was there, so Dick can rest, right?

A/N: 

there's not enough fics about dick hiding underneath Bruce's cape. this is my attempt to fix that. Title is from Rent

Dick’s teeth were chattering. He wanted to cross his arms across his body, but that would jeopardize his movement, and that was absolutely unacceptable on patrol. Thankfully his hands were already gloved, so he did not have to worry about his fingers being too stiff to hold on to the grapple gun. 

Maybe the leotard was not such a good idea after all. Dick thought he could handle it, he had performed in costumes like this for years, come summer or winter, but winter in Gotham is a different breed. He had tights on, of course, but it was not nearly enough to keep the cold out. Pre-patrol warm-ups were normally enough to keep him warm even before all the jumping around rooftops started, but tonight it was not enough, even as he ran and jumped at full speed trying to catch the robber that had run away. 

Batman was negotiating the hostage situation inside the bank, and GCPD has not shown up yet, so the job of trying to catch this robber fell to Robin. Honestly, it wasn’t too hard. Dick might be small, but he was faster than the robber. Even if he wasn’t, the robber had to run around buildings, while Dick had the shortcut of just running on top of them, so he was still faster.  

Dick calculated that he just needed to clear one more building before he can jump on the robber. The guy had slowed down. Probably because he didn’t see anyone coming behind him. Little did he know, if Robin was chasing you, you better look up. 

There! Dick cleared the top of this building, then jumped. Higher height meant higher velocity when he hit the robber, and Dick needed all the speed he could get to successfully drop this guy. He did a somersault in the air, because that’s what he did when he fell from somewhere high, and because the somersault would further increase his velocity. Like he said, he needed all the speed he could get. 

The poor guy did not even realize he was being jumped upon. No reaction at all. Dick’s foot connected to his head before he even knew what was going on. The guy passed out instantly. 

Dick reached for his comm. “Batman? I caught the runaway.” 

Bruce grunted.

“We’re on Glasglow Avenue. He’s down.” 

“Stay with him, Robin. GCPD are on their way,” Bruce said. 

That means the hostage situation hadn’t been resolved. Drat. Dick was looking forward to being home already, preferably drinking Alfred’s hot chocolate. He was cold, and he was going to be colder by the time GCPD arrived. The little running stint had not done much for that. 

Dick was tired, too. He stayed up all of last night finishing his homework. One of the conditions of him being allowed out on some school nights was that his schoolwork would not suffer. Dick was trying to persuade Bruce and Alfred to allow him out as Robin on all school nights, and so he needed to keep up with all his work. 

(It didn’t help that all the work needed to be done in English, a language he did not even learn before Haly’s decided to tour in America.) 

Dick tried walking around. It kept him warm, for a while. But then exhaustion overtook him, and he no longer has the strength to walk. Then, as time ticks on and no GCPD in sight, Dick sat down. 

He swore to himself that he was not going to fall asleep. He was Robin! He was better than this. He could keep watch of a single perp! Dick kept his eyes open, but it must have closed, because he opened them when he heard Bruce’s voice from his comms. “Robin. Robin, come in.” 

Dick answered, even before he was fully awake. “Yeah, B?” 

“Is the GCPD there yet?” 

Dick blinked. Once, twice. He looked around. Thankfully, the robber was still out cold. Good. He mustn’t have slept for long then. No police cars in sight though, but he could hear the siren. He said so to Bruce. 

“Come back as soon as GCPD gets there,” Bruce said. 

“Copy that, Batman.” 

As soon as he said that, a police officer showed up. 

“We can’t get the car in here, the street’s too narrow. Can he walk, Robin?” the police officer said. 

“He’s out cold, ma’am.” Dick smiled apologetically. 

The police officer sighed. She was clearly unhappy with having to haul the guy to the police car, but she said, “That’s alright, Robin. Can you stay with him while I get my partner?” 

“I stayed with him this whole time, didn’t I?” Dick gave her his brightest smile. That’s what Robin did. Robin smiled even he was tired and cold, because if he didn’t, who would? 

It worked, too. The police officer smiled a bit, nodded to him, then ran, presumably to get her partner. Dick stood up, and then, after checking no one was seeing, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Then he watched the robber, blinking hard every once in a while to keep the sleep out of his eyes. 

The car must have been near, because the police officer came back fast, with her partner, as promised. Between the two of them, they made quick work of hauling the robber to the police car. 

“Do you want to come with us to the bank, Robin? We have to get back there too,” one of them said. 

Dick should refuse. Batman would want Dick to refuse. But Dick was tired and cold and he just wants the night to be over already, so he agreed. 

The police officer, the one that found him first, smiled. Properly, this time. “Come on, then,” she said. 

Dick could have sworn that he had just sat down inside the car, but apparently they had arrived on the bank. Batman must have seen him before he arrived, because the hands that opened the door was the gauntleted hands of Batman. 

“Robin? Are you hurt?” Bruce asked, low enough that only Dick could hear. 

“I’m fine, Batman.” Dick was not hurt. He was cold and tired and very sleepy, but he was not hurt. 

Bruce hummed. He lifted Dick up from the car seat, and said to Dick’s ear, “Are you cold?” 

Dick nodded. 

Then, Dick must have been very sleepy, because he saw Bruce’s lips curved into a smile. A small one, but still. Batman does not smile. Bruce smiles. Batman does not smile. 

“Come on, then, chum.” Bruce shifted his grip, allowing Dick to burrow into the warmth of Bruce’s chest. Then, almost as an afterthought, Bruce swept his cape to rest on top of Dick. It was warm, and Bruce was even warmer. Dick relaxed. 

Dick could feel Bruce moving, but his grip on Dick never wavered. Dick tried to stay awake, at first, because this was still a crime scene and he was still Robin, but Bruce was here. Bruce was here, and so he would take care of everything, and Dick can just, clock out for a while. Dick put his head to the broad, steady shoulder of Batman, and rested it there. 

Bruce must have done the entire debriefing with Commissioner Gordon with Dick on his arms. Dick could hear them talking, but he didn’t know what they were talking about. He was too far gone to spend the mental energy needed to understand English, and furthermore, he could not care less at that moment. He was tired, and Bruce’s arms are comfortable, and what’s more, they were warm. Add the cape that covered Dick almost like a blanket, and Dick couldn’t have been moved from that spot if the world was ending. (Except not really, because he was Robin.) 

After a while, Bruce shifted his hold on Dick, and Dick protested, because he was comfortable the way it had been before, thank you very much. The voices stopped, then the Commissioner let out something that must have been a laugh. He said something, and Dick could feel Bruce nodding. Dick burrowed in even deeper to Bruce’s chest. Bruce nodding had disrupted the peaceful lull he had been in. 

Dick felt Bruce move again, and then he felt Bruce’s breaths near his ear. “Are you asleep, Robin?” 

Dick’s answer was another sound of protest. 

Hidden behind Dick’s hair, Bruce laughed. Dick could feel the air tickling his ear. There was something wrong with Bruce laughing, but Dick couldn’t tell what it was. 

“What would Commissioner Gordon say to that, huh? Sleeping on the job?” 

Distantly, Dick realized that Bruce was not speaking English, because Dick didn’t have to spend so much energy into understanding him. Then, the full meaning behind the words hit him. Sleeping on the job! Dick startled awake. That’s what was wrong with Bruce laughing! Batman does not laugh, and Dick was supposed to be Robin right now! 

“Hush, Robin. Relax,” Bruce continued. “It’s fine. Let’s go home, shall we?” 

Dick realized that they were in front of the Batmobile. Bruce opened the passenger door, then positioned him in the passenger seat. Dick could feel Bruce’s hands strapping him in. When Bruce left, so does the warmth. Dick whined. 

Then, something was placed on top of him, returning the warmth of earlier. From somewhere in his mind that was still working, Dick realized that that something was Batman’s cape. Dick could feel his mind working, but right now, he was comfortable, safe, and warm.

Dick slept.  

(Later, it became a habit. Whenever he was cold or tired or just apprehensive about the situation, Dick would go under Bruce’s cape. It was long enough to hide him without any trouble, and Bruce didn’t seem to mind. Commissioner Gordon quickly learned that there might be a bird underneath the Bat’s cape, and learned not to trip over the cape.) 

(Later, much later, Dick would stand in front of Commissioner Gordon again, wishing that he could hide underneath Batman’s cape, where it was safe and warm and comfortable. He couldn’t do that, though, because this time, the cape was around his own shoulders.) 

#dc #dick grayson #bruce wayne #fic #lian writes

[chierafied]

The Affect (SKW2019d2)

Prompt:  Iris - Good news, glad tidings, loyalty + Humor

Modern AU.  1,585 Words.

This story is a sequel to my earlier one shot The Errand!

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Sesshoumaru stared at the retreating form of Miss Higurashi until Rin's cheerful, slightly hoarse voice brought him back to the present.

"Pretty lady," she declared. 

Sesshoumaru tightened his grip, cradling Rin closer to his body and pulled the door shut.

"I suppose she is," he intoned, distracted as he headed back to the kitchen and the rice porridge he was cooking for Rin. 

He had not really thought about Miss Higurashi's appearance or attractiveness before – there was no room at the workplace for such unprofessional thoughts. 

Besides, he highly admired and respected Miss Higurashi. She was very good at her job, always had a friendly smile at the ready and – as she had demonstrated today by coming all the way to his house to collect his seal on the document – her work ethic was commendable.

Seeing her appear on his doorstep and stand in his kitchen had been a little startling, though. 

"Daddy's friend," Rin continued.

"That's right. "

That's what he'd told Rin earlier, before Miss Higurashi arrived.

"Can pretty lady come play?"

"No, Rin. Miss Higurashi had to go back to work." He tapped the tip of her nose with his finger. "And you, young lady, are ill."

"Tomorrow?"

"Depends on if you're feeling better tomorrow and if Miss Higurashi has the time," Sesshoumaru said.

Of course, he wasn't even going to ask – that conversation would have been right out bizarre. 

He could picture it now, walking up to Miss Higurashi's desk and going: I wonder if you're available tonight my daughter would like you to come over to play. Right. Because that wouldn't be weird at all.

So he would avoid and dodge around the topic until Rin would forget all about it.

It couldn't take long, could it? 

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Unfortunately, Rin still remembered the next day – and worse yet, babbled about the "Pretty lady visiting" to his mother. As Rin was still too ill to go to daycare, Sesshoumaru’s mother had graciously volunteered to look after her one and only grandchild, though now Sesshoumaru was regretting his choice of a babysitter. 

She appeared in his bedroom doorway while Sesshoumaru was putting on his tie, and raised a knowing eyebrow. 

"Now who is this pretty lady who paid you a visit yesterday?"

"No one," Sesshoumaru said, doing his best not to meet his mother's piercing gaze. "The faculty secretary dropped by very briefly to get my seal on some very important documents. That's all."

"I see." A meaningful pause. "And is she?"

"Is she what?" Sesshoumaru asked,  straightening his tie.

"Pretty."

"Mother."

His mother huffed. "No need to use that tone, I was only asking."

"No, you weren't," Sesshoumaru replied through gritted teeth. 

His mother shrugged her shoulder. “Have a good day at work.” She turned to leave, but couldn’t resist adding over her shoulder: “And say hi to this ‘pretty lady’ for me!”

After a send-off like that, it was no wonder that Sesshoumaru was still vexed when he strolled into work. His mother had an uncanny ability to get under his skin. 

Good thing he didn’t have a class to teach today – he was thoroughly looking forward to holing up in the lab for the whole day. 

But then… An impulse nagged at the back of Sesshoumaru’s mind and his steps slowed until he turned into another direction entirely.

In no time at all, Sesshoumaru was striding towards Miss Higurashi’s desk.

The secretary looked up from her work, appearing to be just as startled to see him as he felt at the sight of her.

Seeing her, in the usual context of sitting behind her desk in the faculty office, just served to remind him how bizarre their encounter had been yesterday.

Not only had she witnessed him in what had been a far cry from his finest hour; it had been the first time he’d ever seen her outside of the workplace. Seen her at his home. 

For some reason, he felt strange about that.

“Professor!” Miss Higurashi greeted her, a slight flush rising to her cheeks even as she offered him a hesitant smile. “Can I help you with something?”

“No,” Sesshoumaru replied. He cleared his throat. “That is, I wanted to thank you again for yesterday and apologise for the inconvenience.”

He stared into the curious blue eyes, took in the dark wavy hair, soft smile and lovely complexion.

Drat it all. He’d never admit it to his mother but Rin had certainly been right – Miss Higurashi was pretty. 

“Oh, well, I was only doing my job,” Miss Higurashi said. “The important thing is that we managed to submit the paperwork on time.”

“That we did,” Sesshoumaru acknowledged, “thanks to you.”

“Really, Professor Taishou, there’s no need to thank me.” She paused briefly, then tilted her head. “I hope Miss Rin is feeling better today?”

“She is, though she’s still unwell. Her grandmother’s looking after her today,” Sesshoumaru said, unsure even as he spoke why he was offering so much information.

“I hope she gets better soon.”

“Thank you.” Sesshoumaru looked at her for a moment longer, then mentally shook himself. “Well, I should head to the lab.”

Miss Higurashi smiled at him. “And I should get back to work.”

He held his gaze while his lips twitched into an answering smile. “Indeed. Good day, Miss Higurashi.”

“Good day, Professor Taishou,” she replied, her kind voice warmer than he’d heard it before.

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

It had been nearly two weeks since the day Kagome’d had to run the errand and go to Professor Taishou’s house to collect his seal on the research proposal. 

And boy, had work been different since then.

Kagome wasn’t sure if it was because seeing Professor Taishou in such an unguarded moment had banished any fear she had previously felt for him, or if Professor Taishou’s manner towards her had softened so that he was treating in a more friendly way now.

Either way, there had been a change in their working relationship, significant enough that a couple of Kagome’s colleagues had commented on it or asked her about it.

Kagome had tried to not really answer any of their enquiries – she didn’t really know what was going on any better than her colleagues. 

Some balance between her and Professor Taishou had simply shifted and frankly she was happier for it.

Well, mostly happier for it, Kagome amended.

Because now that she was no longer intimidated by Professor Taishou, it had become impossible not to notice how ridiculously handsome he was.

Some days it was hard to look him in the eye when her wayward mind started regarding him in a not-quite-professional fashion. 

But it was no matter. Kagome was sure she’d get over that embarrassing awareness of Professor Taishou’s appearance soon enough.

Getting into work, Kagome decided to stop by the coffee room first. A very good decision that turned out to be, as there was cake for the grabs in the middle of the table.

“Morning, Higurashi!” her colleague wished her. “Grab a slice!”

“Morning! Don’t mind if I do,” Kagome replied. “Whose birthday is it?”

“No one’s,” her co-worker replied. “The cake is courtesy of Professor Kawata. The news just came through this morning that their research got funded.”

Something warm quivered in Kagome’s belly, as she carefully set a slice of cake on her plate. “That’s great news, I’m so glad for them!”

After a few more moments of chit-chat while Kagome enjoyed the cake, she headed into her office.

She’d sit down behind her desk, booted up her computer, sipped idly at her tea and was currently going through the morning routine of scanning through her inbox when there was a knock on her door.

“Yes?” Kagome called, distracted by the e-mail.

“I hope I’m not disturbing you, Miss Higurashi,” a deep and very familiar voice intoned.

Flustered, Kagome looked up – which didn’t help at all since the sight of Professor Taishou in her doorway only served to make her heart beat faster.

“Not at all, come on in,” she told him, hoping the smile she offered him looked natural. 

It said a lot about the effect he had on her that she didn’t notice the flowers until he was offering her the bouquet.

“What’s this?” she stammered as she automatically moved to accept the flowers, particularly admiring the vivid and regal irises.

“A poor token of my gratitude and appreciation,” Professor Taishou replied.

Appreciation? Kagome swallowed.

“Thank you, Professor Taishou. These are lovely. Though I’m still not sure what exactly I have done to earn them.”

He raised his eyebrow. “I assume you have heard the news? That our research has been granted funding?”

“Yes, I heard it just now and got the faculty e-mail.”

“Well, since you were largely responsible for turning in that funding proposal on time and with the correct dates, I believe we have you to thank.”

Kagome blushed.

“I think the credit goes to you and Professor Kawata for writing such a good proposal,” Kagome insisted.

Professor Taishou smiled.

“Perhaps, but you have my gratitude nonetheless.”

“Thank you,” she said, coaxed by his rare smile to beam right back at him.

Professor Taishou bowed his head and left.

Kagome down at the bouquet of flowers, and smiled again as she bent to inhale their sweet scent.

Soon enough she would be panicking about how her colleagues would react to this latest development… but for now, she was content to savour the moment and let her heart soar.

#sesskag #sesskagweek2019 #skw2019 #skw2019d2 #chie writes #fic: sk

[shadowsong26fic]

Milestone Bonus Fic #2: Electric Boogaloo

Title: Box of Memories (Precipice Bonus Fic)

Author: shadowsong26

Rating: PG

Fandom: Star Wars

Characters: Leia Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker

Warnings: Just the general background stuff going on in the fic proper–war, separation, etc. Nothing on-page.

Summary: Anakin and Leia and a box of letters/mementos of Luke and Padme.

Disclaimer: All characters are the property of their respective creators.

Note: In honor of this fic lasting three whole years omg.

Leia was up even earlier than usual--probably just ‘cause her brain still wanted it to be whatever time it was on Alderaan--and found herself way too restless and awake to go back to sleep. Or stay in bed.

Not that there was much she could do about it. Pacing back and forth in her room probably wouldn’t do much good. But the rule was, she wasn’t supposed to go outside alone after dark; and even if it was probably technically before light at this point, she didn’t feel like testing that loophole right now.

Besides. She had a real Opportunity here. Aunt Beru had mentioned veldtberry cookies, and if no one was awake to catch her snooping…

That decided, Leia slipped out of bed and crept over to the door, drawing on all the sneaking lessons that Aunt ‘Soka had given her over the years. The door slid open with a very, very faint whoosh; the hall outside was empty and quiet. Just like it should be, at three-thirty in the morning.

Still, she very carefully reached out with her senses, checking for any kind of trouble--Aunt ‘Soka and Uncle Rex had made it in sometime while she was asleep; but they were on the other side of the house so she didn’t have to worry about waking them up. Same with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. Uncle Obi-Wan was on this side, but she was between him and the kitchen, so as long as she was very careful with this first bit, she’d be fine.

That just left sneaking past Dad.

Who was awake, drat.

…why was Dad awake at three-thirty in the morning, anyway?

Even if she didn’t make it all the way to the kitchen, Leia decided, that was a question she should probably answer.

She crept down the hallway without any trouble, picking a spot to hover just outside the little rectangle of light spilling out of his open door, but where she could just barely see inside. It wasn’t Cover, like Uncle Rex had taught her how to find, but it would hopefully  be enough for this.

Dad was sitting on his bed, with his regular leg tucked up under him and the metal one hanging over the edge, so it wouldn’t dig in in weird spots. Just like she’d seen him a thousand thousand times before.

Except, instead of working on one of his mechanical projects, he was going through a box she’d never seen before, filled with what looked like holos, and maybe bits of flimsi, or other things she couldn’t see too well from her angle.

She could probably still sneak past, if she wanted to try for the cookies--he seemed pretty focused on what he was doing--but she was even more curious now. Especially ‘cause the holo he pulled up next, of a little kid all covered in yellow paint, looked an awful lot like Luke…

Before she could make a decision, Dad looked up and raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you be in bed, princess?” he asked. “It’s late. Early. …whatever.”

“I woke up,” she said. “Couldn’t get back to sleep.”

“Time change?”

“Think so.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I get that. But it’s easier to readjust if you at least lie down and get up as close to the right time as you can.”

“I know,” she said, rolling her eyes a little, because she did. She had done this before. Maybe not as much as he had, but still.

Dad smiled a little, then glanced over at the holo. “…well, as long as we’re both up…”

“Yeah?”

“C’mere,” he said, shifting over and moving the box to his lap so there was room for her to join him. “I wanna show you some things.”

She didn’t need to be asked twice. “That’s Luke, right?” she asked, pointing at the picture.

“Mmhmm,” he said. “Senator Organa gave that one to Uncle Obi-Wan not long after it was taken. I don’t have very many, but that’s one of my favorites.”

Leia tilted her head, considering it. “I like it too,” she decided. “He looks…happy.”

“He does,” Dad agreed. “And I think the color suits him. Nice and…sunshiney.”

Which meant something different than the baking heat of the suns here, at double noon. She could tell just from the way he said it.

“Yeah,” she said.

He skimmed through a few more holos--not many of Luke, like he’d said, but a couple more of Mom, probably from back during the Clone War; one of what was probably their wedding day, in the green place from Leia’s dreams. “Here, this one,” he said, stopping on one of Mom, looking serious and standing next to Senator Bail, holding what must’ve been Luke, with one tiny hand sticking out of the pile of blankets.

“Oh,” she said. “I guess…”

That was the last time we saw them, ‘til Alderaan.

“Yeah,” he said. “…uh. Right. Sorry, that’s a sad one, not sure why I stopped there.” He set the holos aside, and dug into the box instead.

It was full of all kinds of little things--pressed flowers; a few shards of crystal or pieces of metal that seemed pretty; a ring on a thin golden chain; scraps of lace that looked like they came from the dress in the maybe-wedding picture.

And there were, like she’d thought, stacks of flimsi, covered in delicate handwriting, all tied together with yellow ribbons.

She looked up at him, and he nodded, giving her permission to take a few of the things out, and handle them.

Leia didn’t have the--she forgot what the name of it was, but there was a Force gift, where you could touch things and read their history. But even without that, holding these little things, the lace especially, she felt…warm. And sad. And a little bit lonely. But mostly…mostly loved, something pure and powerful that echoed through the Force even to her.

All from these tiny little things--these bits and pieces of Mom and Dad’s life, the one they’d started to build for her and Luke to share--the one they all could have had, if the Emperor hadn’t ruined everything…

She closed her eyes, breathed out, and set the lace back into the box.

“I probably shouldn’t keep these,” he admitted, resting his hand on one of the flimsi packets. “But…I like having them. It’s a way of keeping your mom and Luke close to me.”

“Yeah,” she said, softly, leaning into him a little. “Can I read them sometime? The letters?”

“Uh,” Dad said. “Not…right now, princess. But maybe someday.”

“Okay,” she said, a little disappointed--but not a whole lot. There were at least ten years’ worth of memories in that box. It was probably better to take her time going through them.

…huh. Maybe Aunt ‘Soka’s lectures on patience are actually paying off…

“Okay,” Dad said, then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a gentle hug. “Love you, princess.”

“Love you too, Daddy,” she said, wriggling to get her arms at the right angle to hug him back.

He kissed the top of her head then let go, before glancing over at the chrono. “…what do you say to some breakfast, princess, huh?”

She blinked at him. “It’s really early,” she said.

“Sure,” he said. “But I get the feeling neither of us is gonna get anymore sleep. Besides, breakfast at 0400 is one of my favorite things. Something about it just tastes better when you beat the suns.”

She wasn’t so sure about that, but it would be nice, to have a little more time with just the two of them. Since it didn’t happen all that much, ‘cause he had to be away a lot.

And it would be…good, probably. To do something normal and here and now, after looking at that box of memories.

“Waffles?” she asked.

“I can do waffles,” he said, standing up and stretching. “Maybe some eggs…”

She made a face. “I like waffles,” she said, firmly, and he laughed.

“Yeah, well, I like eggs. You don’t have to eat them.”

“Okay,” she said, hopping off the bed to join him.

He paused a few seconds to put the letters and holos back in the books, then took her hand and led her through the dim house towards the kitchen.

And if there were two empty places beside them…

They had each other, and breakfast at four in the morning, and a little box of memories, hidden away somewhere safe.

That would tide them over, ‘til they finally saw Mom and Luke again.

#shadowsong26fic #shadowsong writes star wars #precipice verse #anon

[unladylikc]

｢ oh no, he’s onto me... ｣

     Against the bitter winds that threatened a late spring, the once grand and immaculate buildings had become dull, faded, and cracked. { Beneath } the yellow glare of the sun that loomed above the dry earth and the scattered rubble, the white brick had become beige and looked off-putting against the lush interior of the handful of buildings that had gone largely untouched by the war, but still not entirely spared. Where familiar faces had once gathered, they were now gone with some dead or alive, and others being shells that were not truly alive, but not quite dead just yet. And the handful of former students who had dragged themselves back to this place were war-weary, tried, and looked like they had aged more than the meager five years that had passed since they had believed their professor dead and gone. ‘Haunting’ was a word that could have been used to describe the scene stretched out before him, but even more so, it would have been an understatement to claim that the monastery had clearly seen better days when they had all, clearly, seen better days, he supposes. During days that hadn’t been bogged down by war and battle after battle, they were fighting for a lost cause alongside a prince who was better off dead.

      A sigh tumbled past his { rosy lips }. Aside from the childhood friends he had grown up with, it had been years since he had last seen the majority of his former classmates and he was just cynical enough to say he was both dreading the reunion and looking forward to it in the same breath, if only so he could see who had even made it out of these past five years. It was a morbid thought, but it paled in comparison to the condition of their prince, and to the shock of many, despite his faith in them, the professor was truly well and alive. Shaking his head, he made his way along the winding stone pathways, retracing the countless steps { he } had taken as a student here, this time to a much quieter backdrop and less lively audience. There were a handful of soldiers who were in decent spirits, all things considered, that were still guarding their posts or making their way towards the dining hall for a meal - one that { was } likely better than what they had eaten in years, but ugly compared to the lavishness that had once been commonplace on these unholy grounds.

      He was mixed in amongst them, listening to their idle chatter, but never contributing. He had already greeted a small group of familiar faces, visited his old room, and spoken to the professor. He had nothing to say to Dimitri, and, frankly, their prince had nothing to say to anyone, but especially not the likes of him. Of the group he had grown up with, he had always been the one that had been the most distant from the prince. If he spoke to him now, as he was, he would only serve to make the situation worse for everyone. The dining hall seemed as good a place as any to go - he could toss a few, sweet words around; break a heart or two. Just like old times, but he supposed he hadn’t changed that much - he still pester the soldiers, the villagers, and the nobles who would look his way; who would admire him from a afar, and dream of the wealth and fortune he could bring them with that damnable crest of his. It was a cycle he had never quite been able to break, even amongst the carnage and isolation of war, he was still { rotten } at his very core.  

       As he crossed into the dining hall, he greeted the small number of cooks that had remained behind with a charming smile and brief wave before walking past them. The lights had dimmed considerably in the five years since he had been there, and they cast a yellow-orange glow onto the scarce tables that remained, and the faces of those gathered here were no longer bright { and } cheerful as they discussed the day’s lecture, but rather tired, weary, or frightened as they whispered about the prince or argued about the war. As far as he was concerned, everything that came out of their mouths was entirely pointless. In the end, Dimitri and the professor would be the ones to decide their fate, and he doubted the prince was of sound mind enough to listen to the suggestions of anyone else, assuming he would even give their old professor the time of day.

    Among the crowd - which could barely even be considered a crowd, there was a black-haired woman he could only vaguely recall from his time at the academy. His eyes caught hers briefly, and that moment was all he needed to realize she was staring at him; her gaze trailing up and down along his body (and a smirk slipped onto the very edges of his lips). With little warning, he made his way over to her, careless of the others gathered in the hall; his ebony armor { eerie } beneath the awkward lightening. He despised everything about the way she had been staring at him, but he still plastered a charming grin upon his features as he leaned forward; hand against the wall beside her head (he hadn’t changed; he hated himself just as much as he hated her in that moment). “If you’re going to give me a dressing down with your eyes like that, I can’t just ignore you, can I? Bet you like what you see.”

     Now that her father was assassinated and she became chieftain in his place, it seemed inevitable Cornelia would seek out Malrixia’s subjugation; regardless, Vivian managed to prevent that somehow. With each attempted invasion by the Imperial army, she alongside the highly trained faction of nuns, monks, and saints were able to force them away through sheer strength and willpower alone. In doing so, however, Cornelia refocused her brute attempts  ELSEWHERE  and wreaked so much devastation, Vivian couldn’t help feeling that she must have been partially responsible. Why, had she not strongly opposed the Empire with such brazenness back then, then perhaps Fhirdiad and the other domains wouldn’t have been violently retaken or at least lived to thrive another day.

     Either way, what’s done was done. Naturally, upon remembering the promise she made five years ago, Vivian had begged her older sister to look after the village while she traipsed off back to the monastery in the hopes she might find a few of her classmates there. What she hadn’t expected, on the other hand, was both the crown prince and their professor fighting at the same place. Then again, such happiness was short lived when it occurred to her Dimitri was no longer the same kind boy she recalled him being, despite him remaining the embodiment of manliness she admires; nevertheless, Vivian swore she’d follow him until the very end, even if her  FONDNESS  towards him diminished somewhat, after he became cruel and dismissive. Then again, it wasn’t like she didn’t understand his need for revenge, since to this day, she developed a grudge against not only Cornelia but Edelgard, the latter of whom practically ruined her quiet academy days. Why, she’d love nothing more than to bring her majesty such unimaginable suffering, it would make even Dimitri proud.

     As of currently, though, Vivian found herself in the dining hall, with her gaze and thoughts never really lingering on a single spot. Since she had already finished her meal earlier, she couldn’t help getting distracted by how... attractive some of her former classmates were. Rather than leave, however, she remained riveted where she stood and it wasn’t long until Ashe left that Sylvain caught her attention, causing her to maneuver her stare up and down along his armor clad body. Ah, not bad. Granted, Dimitri was way handsomer, yet at the same time, she reckoned Sylvain might be a close second when it came to dreaminess. By then, Vivian figures he must have gained a few notches on his belt; otherwise, his smirk wouldn’t have oozed out that much  CONFIDENCE.  Still, the moment Sylvain sauntered suspiciously closer, owlish blinks would roll off her lashes. No way! He couldn’t have caught her staring, could he? Sure enough, her eyes widened, once he nears at a faster pace.

    By that point, her face grew warmer and small, sweaty rivulets coursed down her cheek. Considering how her heart was thumping away wildly inside her chest, she couldn’t help the way her shoulders immediately flinched back when his arm shot out, half caging her to the wall. Goddess, there was no running away, was there? Drat! Why, oh why did Sylvain have to choose this present moment to humiliate her in front of everyone? “ Wh-Who, me? ” Vivian eventually stammers out. “ Surely, you must be mistaken, Syl-puff! I-I would never ogle you in broad daylight like that... no sirree Bob. ” Mere moments later, she frantically shook her head. Try as she might, she couldn’t stop herself from referring to him by that old nickname he probably forgot all about, a habit she struggled to repress.

    “ M-More importantly, er... would you mind terribly putting your arm down? There are children watching, you know! Can’t have them thinking scandalous things about us. ”

@thornplucked / continued from here ;;

#thornplucked #three houses tw #▓ ▌❛ ⋯ VERSE 📨 ◢ they call her a strumpet!! #⊰ interactions ⋮ ☇ ❦ ⊱ #⊰ queued for the library ⋮ ☇ ❦ ⊱ #[ ahdkjsahkjdsajskda I'M SORRY SHIRO ] #[ i had to continue this ] #[ because my guilty pleasure is seeing vivi suffer ;; ] #[ ANYWAYS THIS IS GREAT... i love it ]

[startistdoodles]

How did you meet your wife, Hyde?

(I was in the mood to write something and I’ve always wanted to tell the story of their meeting so I put this together :3 Hope you enjoy!)

‘Where’s Joey?’had gone from the most asked question to the least asked question in a matterof months once the boy figured out he could sneak away from home when hischores were done. And the worry that his parents once displayed was turned toa simple roll of the eyes as they figured he was off to that place again—his sanctuary.His spot where the grass had split in accustom to him sitting himself downagainst the rough bark of the grand oak tree behind.

It was a small, tranquil space just outside of town and up andover the hill where lush trees and soft grasses had made themselves a littlehome of their own among the wildflowers. It was the perfect spot for watchingthe butterflies dance over yellow blooms and listen to the trees rustle as ifthey were speaking to one another. Joey may not have believed in magic, but if therereally was any, he knew that this spot was where it called home.

And that spot was exactly where he sat on this Septemberafternoon, its harvest skies shifting from cool blue to a warm orange and soon,violet. Which meant that if Joey didn’t want to be carried home by the seat ofhis pants in the firm grasp of his father, he should be making his way back downthe hill.

But the boy dismissed this thought as his legs curled to sitmore comfortably, sketchbook in his lap. One more sketch is all, he decided.Then, he’ll at least start thinking about heading back.

Maybe.

And he would forever be glad he stayed.

The lead of the pencil scratched against the page, outlininga small, horned monster among various other sketches, its large mouth curvedinto a sharp-toothed snarl with a slender, arrow-tipped tail trailing behind itsback. Joey smiled to himself in pride of his work. He had always had afascination with the strange and mysterious. Perhaps this would make a goodcharacter to add to his little brother’s bedtime story.

But his daydreaming thoughts were interrupted by a swish ofblonde and a button nose very nearly smushing against his own as a kid—a girl, swung from a branch above like ananimal and hung her head down in the face of the young creator below. And wasthere ever a louder or more pathetic scream to come from him.

The dark, doe-like eyes of the girl stared into the shaken duel-coloredones of her terrified victim, his hand over his chest as he took deep and heavybreaths. His face flushed bright as he could hear his screech echo through thetrees.

“Why did you–!” he began once had caught his breath,turning his fear into frustration. But he wasn’t allowed to answer.

“Are you a alien?” The girl tilted her head to the side, herface scrunched in almost exaggerated questioning.

“…what?”

“You have weird eyes,” she explains, her hands reaching downtowards her reddening face as blood began to rush to her head. “Are you aalien?”

Joey scrunched his brows at this comment. And though hehated to admit how insecure he was about people pointing out his odd eyes, hedecided now wasn’t the time to waste explaining such feelings to this…kid.

“No, I am not an alien,” he huffed. “I’m a person. Like you.Although you appear to be more monkey than human if I’m to be honest. You’regonna pass out, kid.”

The girl appeared to agree and after a moment of haulingherself upright on the branch, she slid herself back down to reunite with theearth beneath her feet. Her hair was able to be quite easily compared to anatural disaster after what it had gone through what with all the swinging aroundand such, but it seemed not to bother her as she waddled over next to the boyand settled down at his side. Joey, however, was already scooting himself awayas he stayed close to the perimeter of the wide trunk.

“What are you drawing?” she inquired as she continued tocrawl alongside him as he inched himself around the tree uncomfortably.

“…Nothing.” He mumbled.

“Show me!”

“No!”

“Show me!!”

“No, leave me alone, kid!”

The girl made a final grab for his arm in an effort to makehim stop moving. And it worked, as Joey turned to look at her red face anddesperate, curious young eyes.

“…Please?” she asked more quietly. And despite him notknowing this girl or where she came from, what she was doing in his tree in thefirst place, he offered her a low sigh and finally settled down again.

“Fine. If you…really want to see, I guess.” He agreed as hebrushed off the cover of the sketchbook with another small huff through hisnose.

“I do!!” She chirped happily, snuggling closer into his sideand looking over his shoulder with a bright smile—a smile so curious and kinddespite lacking two front teeth.

Joey winced a bit as she curled next to him, the red in hischeeks returning. But as he opened his sketchbook, all attention that mighthave been drawn to his face was instead hooked to his doodles.

“Wow,” she breathed as the boy slowly turned the delicatepages of the worn book. “You’re the best artist I’ve ever seen,”

“It’s just a hobby,” he mumbled, flattered as he continued flippingthrough. He listened as his admirer and possibly biggest fan next to Henry ‘ohhh’and ‘ahhh’ at his work, his lips curling into a proud smile and cheeks pressingup into his eyes.

It wasn’t long until he reached the last page in his book,revealing the sharp-toothed monster he had drawn just minutes earlier. This one,however, made the girl frown a bit.

“…It looks mean,” she admitted.

“Well of course it’s mean,” Joey explained matter-of-fact. “It’sa demon-monster. Like the ones they teach us about in church.”

“Not all demon-monsters have to be mean,” She replied as herhead tilted up to look at him, her hand brushing stray, pale strands out of herface. “Some can be…good, right?”

“I don’t think you understand—”

“Can I try?”

The boy winced at this question—kids always want to have achance to do the same as older kids do. Which is why it didn’t necessarily surprise him that she wanted a chance todraw, but it did still make him laugh nervously as he tried to stall for timeand think about how to feel about someone else drawing in his sketchbook.

“…Okay,” he finally sighed after handing her the pencil. He supposed hecould always erase it later if he needed.

And as the young girl took the pencil, she gently erased thesnarl from the monster, replacing it with a wide and friendly toothed grin andadding scribbly rosy cheeks for good measure.

“There,” she said finally, leaning her head on Joey’sshoulder once she had finished her work. “She’s perfect now.”

“’She…?’” hemuttered questioningly before fixating on the drawing. And after a moment, hiseyes softened as he took a hand to gently ruffle the hair of the girl at hisside.

“…Yeah,” he admitted, the smile in the drawing beginning to reflecton his own lips as well as the ones on the girl’s face. “She is.”

“What’s her name?”

“She…doesn’t have one.”

“She has to have a name, you know.”

“I know, but I’m not too terribly good at names.”

“That’s alright, name her whatever you want!”

The pressure began to sink as he desperately looked aroundfor inspiration. But there was nothing here, just plants and shrubs and mosslaced together with ivy as they climbed up the tree trunks…–

“…Ivy,” he saidsuddenly.

“Huh?”

“Her name is Ivy.”

The girl took a glance back down at the drawing in his lap,her lips pursed in thought before her head nodded excitedly. “I like that name,”she agreed with a small yawn. “It’s…pretty.”

Joey smiled to himself before he looked back down to thedrawing, only to notice it was getting a bit harder to see. And almost as if itwas on queue, he could hear the gruff voice of his father calling his name inthe distance. Drat–

“Listen, kid,” he said suddenly, rising to his feet andbrushing off clinging bits of grass from his overalls. “I gotta get back homenow. My father is calling and if I don’t get back, I’ll…uh…I’ll get in trouble.”

“Oh,” she replied softly, wiping sleepiness from her eyes asshe pushed herself to her feet. “Ok then…I guess…”

The boy only had to take one step before he turned back tothe younger child, almost hesitantly.

“What’s your name, kid?” he raised the question to her asher head lifted back up slowly.

“Charlotte,” she answered gently. “What’s yours?”

“Joey,” he said with a smile. “Joey Drew,” and once again hetook a hesitant step away but not able to pull himself to go back home. Justyet, at least.

“Uhhh…Charlotte, huh? Will you, um…be here tomorrow?”

At that, Charlotte’s eyes lit up with surprise and her headnodded excitedly, long strands of hair bouncing on her head.

“Yeah! Yeah, of course!” She agreed with a bright smilepaired with eager bounciness in her feet. “Wh-when? Tomorrow night?”

“Oh anytime,” the boy grinned as he took a few steps backtowards home and his father’s voice. “I’m always around.”

#ask #ask star #startist tries to write #charlotte drew #joey drew #hyde #writing #thefallenmidnight #now back to brush asks

[ratretro]

NaLu Angst Week Prompt 5: Insanity

Title: Shots Fired

Pairing: NaLu

Prompt: NaLu Angst Week 2018 - Insanity

Rating: M;

None of these characters are owned by me, they are all owned by the wonderful Hiro Mashima!

 A/N:

Sometimes writing is a struggle today is one of those times since I start back to Starcrossed tomorrow haha the struggle is real fam

FF.net

           Insane. This was the definition of insane. Lucy toyed with the knife in her hands as she stared through the skylights and straight into the bedroom of a man. Who even had skylights in their ceiling? Was he just a cocky asshole, or did he just like them? Personally, the idea annoyed her to no end. That wasn’t a surprise since she did most of her work in the cloak of night, and most of her rest came during the day. If she slept at all.

             “Are ya going to keep broodin’ up there or do ya want some coffee?” the voice startled her causing a near fall to her death. She’d been wrapped in her anger of skylights and allowed herself a moment of weakness.

             “Why would I do that?” she called down to him. She was hired to kill him, and Lucy never failed an assignment. Not even that one history essay that she also threatened to shove down her 6th grade teacher’s throat.

             “Ya don’t have to. But you’ve been sitting there for an hour looking like some dirty thief. People are gonna start calling the cops. This isn’t the east side.” He wasn’t wrong. This was a slightly classier neighborhood. Though, that was unsurprising since the man below her was none other than Natsu Dragneel, the son of the head of one of the most terrifying local crime mobs. The blonde herself was just a mercenary. She liked money, and paying rent, so why not do a trade. She had an unfortunate set of skills, and they had the cash. Win-win. Lucy’s father had been the head of the Heartfilia Konzern and had decidedly forced her to learn skills more befitting of a murderer than an heiress.

             She’d always had a natural talent for rage induced freak outs, and the training just solidified her skill to channel those episodes into something far more useful. Surely, there were better ways she could live she just didn’t care to find them.

             “Why not.” She was here to kill him. The closer she got the better the shot, she figured. She leapt from the top of the building and onto his balcony with a soft thud. Tonight, had been a scouting night but if she was close enough to get the deed done now then it probably didn’t matter much.

             “So, do you look into the rooms of guys you don’t know often, or just the ones you’re supposed to kill?” she wasn’t sure she could make a recovery from an accusation like that. While it was correct she couldn’t have been that obvi—

             She literally just spent an hour staring at him through a window while fiddling with a knife. Literally, what other excuse could there be for that. Deflect, she decided.

             “Drat. You caught me. I’m a stalker with a penchant for cute men with pink hair and abs.” she sighed in defeat while shaking her head. Even though it had been two hours since her last caffeine fix when he brought the coffee to her she still waited patiently with the mug in her hand. She wouldn’t take the first sip. It would be survival of the fittest. From the looks of his toned body she felt he might’ve actually been the fittest in the room.

             A soft mewl caught her attention, and she turned to stare at what appeared to be a blue cat with a fish hanging from it’s mouth. She stared in shock, and wonder, while she watched him trot off and throw the fish on the couch. What an… interesting creature.

             “Don’t.” his voice was sharp, but that held no effect on her.

             “Why is it blue?” she questioned still eyeing the cat with astonishment.

             “He. His name is Happy. He’s blue because he’s blue.” He’d replaced the chipper demeanor from earlier with one befitting of the man who held the title ‘E.N.D’. This man was supposedly a demon in the field, and if the tone he gave her was just the top of the barrel she wondered what the bottom would be like.

             “I’m a mercenary, not a monster.” She said simply before bringing her eyes back to him. His eyes caught hers immediately. She froze on the spot as she watched the man before her. He had a primal look in his eyes, and not like the ones she’d seen from men she’d seduced to get them alone for the purpose of their death. No, this was one that reminded her of her father. The ice emanating from just his gaze was one that promised the end. Perhaps that was why he was called E.N.D.

             Natsu took stock of the girl as she eyed him warily. Many female assassins had come to his home previously, but none of them were like her. He’d watched her out of the corner of his eye for an entire hour. She’d spent 95% of it arguing with herself about what show to watch when she got home, and then the other 5% actually watching him. Either she was underestimating him, or she hadn’t even wanted the job in the first place.

             “A mercenary? I thought you were just a stalker who liked my pink hair and my abs?” he was teasing her, he realized. Natsu Dragneel did not tease. In the first place, he didn’t even bother with women. They were annoying, and if he got too close they’d call him drunk. His mind did a flashback to the night prior when his childhood friend Erza had called him out of the blue with enough alcohol in her system to kill a horse. Jellal had assured her safety before Natsu hung up, but that didn’t mean Natsu hadn’t been worried. He didn’t feel like dealing with that for some stranger.

             “Can’t I be both? I am a stalker AND a mercenary.” They were nearly the same thing so he supposed she wasn’t wrong, but that didn’t make him happy about it.

             “And here I thought I was special.” She laughed. It was a laugh he could get used to hearing. It was soft, and Natsu didn’t have soft things in his life; except for Happy. Speaking of, the cat was eyeing the blonde curiously. Curiosity killed the cat held quite a different meaning here.

             “Ha—” he hadn’t even gotten the words from his mouth before the blue furball had launched itself right up on the counter, and the little shit even began to sniff her coffee. Sniffing her drink held no meaning to him, but if she hurt his cat she’d be nothing but blood splatter.

             Lucy, as chill as she tried to appear, in the midst of her target immediately panicked. She moved from the counter and crossed over near the coffee pot. She set the mug down before approaching Happy and skritching behind his ears. He liked that apparently since his purring shook his body and was loud enough that she felt like it was echoing the entire room. She let out a breath of relief until she saw Natsu’s position. He was poised like a tiger ready to strike, and boy did his eyes emanate death. She supposed she should call it a night.

             And she did. He made no move to attack her, and she made delicate movements to the balcony she’d entered from. A tight grip on the railing was all she needed to throw herself into the alleyway, and then she was moving with a speed she didn’t know she possessed. Still, he wouldn’t follow. Lucy Heartfilia took pride in her instincts, but she still couldn’t stop moving. Blood pounded in her head and her limbs screamed at her to never stop.

             Lucy Heartfilia prided herself in her instincts. And her instincts told her to run.

 ---------------- 

             She kept still, this time her body hidden behind a brick chimney. It was a shade of midnight black like her closest friend’s hair. She was whole-heartedly considering bringing Gray into this, but that would cut deep into her profit. She also wanted the glory of being E.N.D’s killer. It would bring in more jobs than she could physically handle. She nibbled her bottom lip as a feeling of excitement rushed through her body.

             “Care for another cup?” his voice sounded into the dark, and she wondered if he’d seen her arrive or if he was just that attuned to his surroundings. She sank further into the shadows. Her blonde hair had always done wonders when seduction was an option, but she had always struggled with stealth missions. Especially now as the moonlight shone bright off her pale locks. She wondered if she’d look good as a brunette.

             “Not gonna come down?” why’d he want her to? She may still be considered an heiress, but she wasn’t stupid. She wasn’t some trophy woman hanging on the arm of some boring man. She’d never fall for some stupid ploy.

             “Huh? Weird. My instincts are never wrong.” He was mumbling to himself. He’d thought she was there, but he could have been wrong. Though, Natsu Dragneel was never wrong. He was the son of the great Igneel, and as such his training was second to none. Still, he could have sworn he saw strands of gold on the roof across from him just as he had the night she’d first joined him for coffee.

             He’d scared her then. Maybe ‘scared’ was the wrong word, but she’d retreated under his gaze. He’d been absolutely sure of her intent to harm Happy, until after she’d left and he took a moment to actually consider the scenario. Mercenary for hire joins him for a cup of coffee – likely intending to catch an opening or study his movements – but she never takes a sip of the drink offered. Which he realized made sense. Mercenary hired to specifically kill him doesn’t take a single drink of the coffee offered to her by her target. Her target is him, the local mob boss’ son with specific training, and his reputation on the streets is one of incredible violence. She thought he’d try to poison her.

             A fair thought when he went over the scenario in his head. However, that hadn’t really bothered him. It’s just that she’d abruptly moved from Happy, but then returned without cup in hand. He hadn’t quite noticed it then since he was under the impression that she’d harm anything to get at him. Except, her coffee. The missing link. Happy had gotten too close to the coffee, and she’d panicked because she thought it was poisoned.

             “I’m a mercenary, not a monster.” Her words had repeated in his mind. She said that, but her face for a moment flickered to something darker. Perhaps, he’d imagined it but honestly he figured she was just a moment away from destroying something – anything.

             Lucy wasn’t coming out of the shadows tonight, and she guessed she’d have to bring Gray in, but how she’d get him in was a different story. He did work undercover in a strip club for his current job, and she’d bet an entire mission’s worth of money that she could hire a show. The only issue was E.N.D himself. She wasn’t sure she could take him alone, but she was damn sure Gray would have a little trouble without a place to hide his weapon properly.

             She shoved the thought aside for now. It would just have to wait for a bit while she studied. After all, she may not be as physically strong as other mercenaries, but she was intelligent. And damn if she didn’t know how to make a situation work for her.

 ------------------------------

             It was another night with a missing blonde, Natsu mused. Or so he’d originally thought. He knew she was lurking in the night, and he was almost certain that yesterday she’d brought a friend. Yet, she still wasn’t taking this seriously. Her argument with her friend was nearly the same as the one she’d had with herself. They were arguing the semantics of which character of a show had the better power. It boiled down to some thunder guy named Laxus, and a man who could control the Earth itself. He learned after a rough screaming match that the man they decided to fold and choose was the former: Laxus. He still thought Jura had potential. That was the exact moment he’d decided to watch the show.

             He’d barely caught the name in their screaming match, and he was currently binge watching it with the full intent of finishing the series to its current episode. Fuck, it was a damn good series. The sound of his porch door creaking open caused a smirk to grace his lips. Not that he didn’t have a reason for watching it in full view under his skylights.

             “Finally gonna join me for that coffee?” he’d been waiting for her the entire time. He’d lured her here with something she was familiar with, and he’d hoped to at least apologize.

             “You wish.” Natsu Dragneel hadn’t realized how much he’d wanted to hear her voice until that moment. He felt like he’d missed out on something the entire time she was gone.

             “Then, why are ya here?” There were a million different answers that Lucy could give, but none were satisfactory.

           ‘I’ve come to kill you.’ Was one.

             The other was rather devastating.

             She’d spent so much time watching him that she came to like him. He seemed like a good guy who loved his cat, and simply wanted to live by himself. She’d watched his movements when he fought every assassin sent his way. She’d watched the demeanor of E.N.D become the demeanor of plain old Natsu at the end of every fight. He was like a different person when it came down to it.

             They both were. Heiress Lucy Heartfilia the mercenary, and Heir of The Mob Natsu Dragneel had their own goals. Lucy who wanted to fall in love, and get married. Lucy who wanted to leave this life behind. Natsu who seemed to want to live in peace with his blue cat without having to worry about dying. They all had a wish, but there was no genie in a bottle for something like this.

             “I have a penchant for men with pink hair and abs.” was all she said. She came around the couch to plop down beside him. Other than curling her knees to her chest she wasn’t really making any moves, but he didn’t think she even would. He hoped she wouldn’t anyway.

             There was a loud mewl to Lucy’s right, and he knew it was that damn cat again.

             Lucy shifted her position to being cross-legged instead of curled up to allow Happy a place to rest. The blue cat had readily accepted her into his life and she was hoping the pinkette would too. She let her mind trail aimlessly in thought as she stroked the small cat’s body without any ill intentions.

             In the end, she’d turned down the job to kill E.N.D even though the money was enough to let her retire on some island in the middle of the ocean. Tenrou was mostly empty besides a few tourists here or there, and she felt comforted by the idea of an empty land to live out her days. Alas, her retirement would have to wait.

             Natsu himself wasn’t worried about his predicament. He had two things to be happy about. One: his cat had taken a liking to the girl who’d considered murdering him. Two: the girl who’d considered murdering him was sitting on his couch watching her favorite show with him. He hadn’t realized he’d wanted this scenario until he was in it.

             “Oh? So maybe I am special?” he was teasing her now. He’d gone back to teasing, and the blonde was giggling. This one wasn’t soft, it was a little loud, and sometimes it would mimic the sound of hiccups. He wanted to hear more of it.

             “Who knows? What if I come across someone else with pink hair and abs?” it wouldn’t be unheard of in a party town like this, but that didn’t matter because none of them would be him. The idiot who argued with his own cat about feeding schedules and had ultimately lost. That had been her favorite scene.

             “Damn. I guess I’d hafta kill him.” He said it so nonchalant that Lucy snorted before shaking her head in exasperation.

             “You can’t kill everyone with pink hair, Natsu.” He could. He wouldn’t, but he could.

             “Was that a challenge?” Natsu was more than aware that it wasn’t, but he was enjoying their conversation. It had a similar feeling to the first night they’d met. It was comfortable.

             “You know it wasn’t.” still light-hearted banter. They were becoming quick friends it appeared. She couldn’t be happier than this moment as she stroked the soft fur of the sleeping cat cradled in her lap. It reminded her of the blanket her mother had gotten her when she was born, and the memory pricked at her heart.

             She traced from his little pink nose to the top of his fragile skull. Honestly, if someone touched this furball she’d have to kill them mercilessly. Slender fingers traced circles before moving to his little ears. She rubbed one gently between her index finger and her thumb. The ears twitched relentlessly until she let go, and the cat gave an angry growl.

             “How ferocious.” She mused before returning to the basic motions of petting an animal in a state of sleep. Soft enough to enjoy it, but not hard enough to wake it. The only issue now was that she couldn’t move until he left. Pet rules.

             “Oh you don’t know the half of it. The little shit scratched me the other day when I didn’t pour his food fast enough.” She’d seen that from the roof. It’d been hilarious, and she’d laughed so hard she woke the neighbors.

             “Oh? Who’s a good kitty?” she was using the pet voice on him now, “You are. You’re a good kitty.” She gave him an extra good chin rub before letting the cat be.

             “Ya know.. You know my name, but I don’t know yours.” He was feeling out what he could get away with here. He wanted to know more about the elusive mercenary dressed in all black.

             “It’s Lucy. Just Lucy.” No last name, he noticed. But not for the normal reasons a specialist hid their name. From the expression in her eyes there was nothing but fleeting hatred, and what was obviously a break down waiting to happen.

             “Okay, Just Luigi.” She whipped around so fast with a look of disgust on her face.

             “It’s Lucy! L-U-C-Y.” he was nearly laughing as she spelled out her own damn name. This woman was stubborn. He liked that. He liked a lot of things about her. Her laugh. The way she played with Happy. Her hair shining in the moonlight. The way she was decked in black, but he was so certain her closet was full of bright colors. They had to be just as bright as she was when she joked with him. When he looked at her all he could see was a normal life in a normal town with a normal house and his blue cat. They’d be surrounded by sunflowers the shade of her hair, and they’d never have to face another assassin again.

             That wasn’t in either of their deck of cards. They both had too many red stains on their bodies for there to be any other option for them. What would they put on their resumes anyway?

             ‘Mercenary – xx years – will work for money’

             ‘Mob boss’ son – 21 years – will also work for money’

             Neither of them were exactly qualified for what was considered acceptable to society. It was at that moment that Natsu Dragneel’s brain halted. He’d been thinking in terms of a future with this girl. The girl he barely knew who had spoken to him all of two times. Somehow, that really didn’t bother him much. It was the connotations behind the thoughts that had forced him to a stop, and caused him to panic. He wanted a future with her that included white picket fences, and stupid PTA meetings at a stupid high school.

             “Natsu. We’ve got company.” Her voice snapped him out of it, and he stood quickly. His eyes seemed to haze over, and what had previously been a deep shade of forest green was now a dark onyx. She’d seen both of those looks. She’d seen the tender glances to the roof she sat upon, and the murderous rage that came to be when his homestead was threatened. Right now, she missed that shade of emerald that had comforted her when she’d come to his side tonight. Green meant safety, and midnight meant something wicked this way comes.

             She recognized that this was not the best time to be quoting Macbeth, but honestly it felt right and she was not ashamed. Men came crashing through the skylights – those damned skylights – and she jumped out of the way falling glass with Happy in tow. He was hissing, and struggling to get free of her grip.

             “Oh? A girl and a cat? This will be easier than I thought.” Lucy grit her teeth, and backed up slowly. There was a bedroom door behind her, and if she could just get this damn cat behind it they’d be fine.

             It took a lot of struggling, and Natsu wailing on the assailants with bloodied fists clenched before she finally shoved the cat in the room. She was cursing the fur ball internally, because goddamnit why couldn’t it just go behind the door? Regardless, she was free to join in the mostly finished escapade in front of her. Natsu was down to the last guy, and she was ready to pounce once the opportunity arose. Mostly, she just wanted to hit something. She had been in such a calm state before they’d come crashing through the glass.

             She’d been thinking of him. His hair was bright pink – her favorite color if she was being honest – and he had abnormally long canines which had made her uncomfortable at first, but then she found they were kinda cute. Especially, when he smiled. When he smiled it was like the sun was shining, except she didn’t hate these rays. She loved them. It made her think of what normal would be like. Would normal be a small home in some small town in the prairies? Would normal be waking up at 10 a.m. and not being exhausted from watching people from the roof tops? Would normal be waking up to snoring, and pink hair shoved into her neck with a blue cat trying to suffocate her? Would normal be eating breakfast with a certain pinkette shoveling food down his throat because he was late for work again?

             What would normal be? She didn’t know how families worked, but she wanted stupid high schools, and PTA meetings with hotheaded soccer moms. She wanted all of that. So when she saw the red dot on his back she was moving before she’d even realized what was happening. Her hand reached out, and her voice screamed out a warning that she couldn’t hear. It was all drowned out by the pounding of her heart so loud in her chest, and the adrenaline rushing through her veins.

             So, she dove.

             He was turning as fast as he could, because maybe that meant he’d be quick enough to move out of the way if he could catch the trajectory. The sound of the gun cracked in the air, and glass shattered as the bullet came crashing through his happy ending. Just like that her body fell to the ground with a deafening thud, and it wasn’t long before blood filled the space around her like a lake. If he could find the wound maybe he could stop the bleeding. He could still save their future.

             “No. No. No. No. No. Please no.” he whispered over, and over again like he was saying a prayer to something – anything – that would hear his pleas. He’d never been so desperate for a fairy tale ending until he’d met her. He thought anything was possible as long as they were together.

             The bullet was lodged deep into her back, and it was not a through and through no matter how much he wished it was.

             “C’mon Luce, ya gotta stay with me here.” She was in and out of consciousness, and could barely catch his words. He was fighting her death like he’d fought Happy. It was a losing battle just like then. Her hand twitched, and she barely had the energy to lift just a single limb. She persevered, and her fingers grazed his cheek. A hand gripped hers tightly as a signal that they were there. That everything would be alright.

             It wouldn’t be. There was no genie in a bottle to keep her from leaving him. Her eyes flickered open, and finally she was able to see him. It was for a fleeting moment, but still the smile that graced her lips was the happiest he’d ever seen. But he didn’t want that under these circumstances. He’d wanted that in their stupid house, in their stupid town, at a stupid PTA meeting.

             Lucy was merely happy that he was okay, and hopefully unhurt. Most of all, his eyes were the color of leaves in the spring. She was leaving the world in his arms, and that was enough for her. Even if she’d wanted their future she was okay with being the past if it meant he’d live.

             They were insane after all to think that after all this time they could live a normal, happy life.

A/N: Special shout out to my coworker who consistently gives me input about my fanfictions you a true bro fam I appreciate you

ALSO A SHOUT OUT TO RAMON, MATT, AND MICHAEL BC I SHOVE MY WRITING DOWN THEIR THROATS ALL THE TIME AND THEY LOVE ME ANYWAY

#nalu angst week #nalubookclub #nalu #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #bae #dorkneel #fairy tail #ft #nalu ff #otp: welcome home #i tried my best tbh #this one is my favorite #my writing

[percontaion-points]

Zodiac Fighters Chapter 5

The secret room was dark, and smelled like it had been shut up for a long time. Nettie flipped a switch right next to the hidden door, but nothing happened. “Drat, the lights must have died some time ago,” she said. “You girls stay here, and I’ll go scrounge up a spare bulb or two.” She turned to leave, but Alex stopped her. “Wait, we can’t just leave this door open,” she said quickly. “Somebody might come in.” “Yes, you’re right,” Nettie said after a slight pause. She then came to a complete stop. “No. I know! I’ll put up the ‘closed for cleaning’ sign. Then nobody will come in.” She went out into the hall and unlocked the small maintenance closet between the two bathrooms. Then, she hung the “closed for cleaning” sign on the door. “There! That’ll keep everybody out until I get back. You girls hang tight, okay?” Alex leaned against one of the sinks and eyed Sabrina and Fern. Sabrina met Alex’s stare, but Fern just awkwardly looked around the bathroom. “So…” Alex started casually. “What’s up?” “Not much,” Sabrina said with equal casualness. “In a bit of a fight with my sister. Oh, and I just found that I was born with some sort of ancient powers? So I’m apparently a superhero now. You know, the usual.” Fern giggled slightly, and both the brunette and the black-haired girl turned to look at her. “Look Fern, I’m sorry about earlier,” Alex said slowly. “Melissa was a little upset with me when I started to talk to you. She thought that I was trying to upset you.” “No, it’s okay,” Fern said quietly. She laced her fingers together and stared down at her interlaced hands. “I understand now what you were trying to do. I can’t say that I wouldn’t have done the same thing. Except, I like to think that I would have had more tact about it.” “She’s got you there,” Sabrina said with a snort. Alex glared at the other girl for a moment before she shifted her attention back to the blonde. “So we have different ways of approaching the same situation. That’s fine. We’re going to have to get along for an undetermined amount of times, and we might as well try to understand one another. I’m not going to say that we should be BFFs now or anything, but an attempt would be nice.” “I’ve always been civil towards you, Alex,” Fern said quietly. She still didn’t look up from her fingers. “And I you,” Alex said with a slight nod. An awkward silence fell over the three of them. After a moment, Sabrina clapped her hands together. “Well, who’s excited to be a super hero? I know I am!” She flashed grins at both of them. “I am a little nervous,” Fern said. She released her fingers and looked up a the brunette. “I grew up watching Zodiac Fighters. I know that we’re all stepping into very big shoes. And apparently, it’s not just Nettie’s generation, but something that goes back further than any of us in the fandom could have ever contemplated.” “Okay, can I ask you something Fern?” Alex said sharply. “I suppose so,” she said with some hesitation. “It’s just… I read some forums about the validity of Eliza’s story. And a lot of it was along the same sort of stuff as the entire ‘aliens are out there!’ X-Files stuff. You seem like a really smart girl, Fern. How did you get swept up into all of that?” “Most of those people online are extremists, I will admit,” Fern said. “Most of us just enjoy the story for what it is. We get into debates over what might have happened to them after they left Germany. There’s even fanfiction.” “Ugh,” Sabrina said with a roll of her eyes. “It’s creepy to hear about that now that I know that it’s based on a true story.” “Yeah, but a lot of people online are convinced that this isn’t true to begin with,” Alex said. “I was still on the fence until this appeared on my forehead this morning.” She pushed her bangs back and rubbed the foundation from her mark. “Wow,” Fern said breathlessly. “What?” Alex said sharply. Fern shook her head slightly. “It’s just… Even after talking with Nettie, and finding the mark on my own body, I’m still… It’s still…” “It’s just sinking in?” Sabrina said with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah,” Fern said with a slight nod. “I feel like I’m just going to wake up at any minute, and find out that this was all just some cruel dream.” “I don’t think that I would have sat through all of my classes being not-canceled today because of the earthquake,” Alex said with a roll of her eyes. “I can assure you that this is very much real, and it’s happening. Whether any of us like it or not.” “I’ve written a lot of Zodiac Fighter fanfiction myself,” Fern admitted rather sheepishly. “You know, stuff where I wake up and find out that I’m a Zodiac Fighter. I was always a little too shy to post it, though. I’m afraid of what people would say. Even though the fandom is full of self-insert stuff like that.” “People online can be cruel,” Sabrina said with a slight nod of her head. Alex nodded with agreement. Neither of them thought that Fern could stand up to the cruelty of people calling her out on her obvious self-insert. “But now I feel like I’ve fallen into one of my stories. Except… I was always friends with the rest of the team. They seemed so close in Eliza’s book.” “Hey come on, don’t be like that,” Sabrina said sharply. “We’re trying to be friendly with you.”

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#percontation-points writes stuff

[quicksilversquared]

Plagg and the Butterfly Costume: Ch 8

Plagg is willing to do a lot in order to get more cheese. When he’s spotted one too many times en route to the kitchen, he decides that a disguise is in order. One purple costume later, and Plagg is free to flit down to the kitchen without people thinking that he’s a rat.

And then he gets caught.

PATBC: (1)  (2)  (3)  (OT:1)  (4)  (5)   (6)  (OT: 2)  (7)  (OT: 3)  (OT: 4) (OT: 5) (OT: 6)

(AO3) (FF.net)

The next time Adrien and Plagg walked into Fu's office, they came face-to-face with not one or two but three other kwamis.

And none of them were Ladybug's.

"We figured out the spell to get unpaired kwamis out properly," Wayzz announced rather unnecessarily with a wide grin. "Adrien, this is Trixx, and this is Pollen."

"It's nice to meet you," Adrien said politely. Then he frowned and pointed at Trixx. "Hey, I thought the Fox already had a holder. We met her a few weeks back."

Trixx pouted. "That was just temporary, apparently," he whined. "Which is no fun at all. And now I'm back here."

Adrien smacked himself in the forehead. "Oh, right. I think I knew that. So you'll be helping us, then?"

"Oh yes! And Master Fu and Wayzz have already caught us up to speed," Pollen assured them. "So we're going to be learning how to hack a computer and alter security camera footage? Why not just bring this boy with us on the raid instead?"

"We gotta be able to make a fast exit if Nathalie comes back earlier than expected," Adrien told them as he headed for his seat on the far side of the screens that Fu already had set up. "...and we aren't actually telling Max who Hawkmoth is. We don't want anyone knowing outside of this circle until after he's been defeated. The chance of someone saying something because they want to 'help' is too high."

"We might end up telling Ladybug's parents right before the final attack," Fu corrected, appearing from around the corner. Plagg perked up when he saw the baked Brie on the plate Fu held. "After all, you'll need somewhere to stay as things are getting figured out afterwards. I get the feeling that they would be happy to help."

Plagg tore his attention off of the mouth-watering cheese for long enough to snigger at the starry-eyed expression Adrien had for several seconds before he shook himself out of it. "But- are you sure that Ladybug would be okay with that? I mean, she doesn't know that I'm me-"

"I'm sure that Ladybug will be fine with it once she knows who you are," Fu told him. "She has already expressed concern about where Adrien will go after Hawkmoth is defeated."

Plagg didn't even need to look to know that Adrien had magically perked up at the information. He would probably hear no end to the gushing about how "my lady is concerned about me!" once they got back home, and it would be exhausting.

Plagg needed extra cheese just thinking about it. He dove onto the plate and scooped up a pawful of the oozing goodness.

"I suppose it would be wise to not tell many others," Trixx acknowledged. He draped himself over the screen and watched as Adrien settled down and picked up the black mask next to the cushion he sat on. "So we'll be learning? I suppose it's a good idea to learn the new technology, at any rate. Master Fu has been telling us a little about the new things that have popped up since our last holders, but I suspect that we've barely skimmed the surface."

"Yes, quite a lot has happened in the last couple decades," Fu said with a laugh, setting the cheese down on the low table. Plagg had already made a hole in the crust and was sitting surrounded by melted cheese. "It was quite an adventure trying to keep up with all of it! I know some people have a hard time adapting to change, but I suspected that it would be quite hard to catch back up again if I didn't at least try to make an effort to learn."

There was a light knock on the door, and the two new kwamis went zipping over to investigate. Moments later, Tikki's squeal cut through the air as she pounced on her siblings. Ladybug's laugh followed, before she was shushed by Wayzz.

"Chat Noir has arrived already," Wayzz told her. "Master Fu wants to talk with you two briefly before we go."

There was a shuffle as Ladybug closed the door, crossed the room, and settled on the floor, pulling on her voice-changing helmet as she did. She pushed a bag of treated towards Master Fu, who accepted it graciously. Plagg perked up for a moment- was there anything in there for him?- before slumping back to the table again. She hadn't brought cheese bread.

"Max said that the virus should be nearly ready to go," Ladybug reported. "He told us yesterday after the fight was over."

"Fabulous!" Fu exclaimed. "So we shouldn't all have to meet up again after you're done there. I have the scrolls complete- though Plagg, I will require your assistance for the final touches- and the book is done and in my hands. We can do the office raid soon, unless there are any objections."

His eyes slid towards Adrien. Adrien bit his lip and glanced down towards his lap.

"Would this weekend work best?" Ladybug asked. Plagg cringed- no matter how many of these meetings they had, he would never get used to the sound of those helmets- and tried to bury himself in what remained of the cheese plate. "Instead of a weekday, I mean. Saturday is only two days from now, so we would be more likely to remember whatever Max tells us."

"Yeah," Adrien agreed. "But do you think it would be hard to find someone that could get Mr. Agreste out at the end, then? Like, would he be stuck for the entire day?"

"I'm guessing whoever comes out wouldn't fix the elevator, just get it out enough for him to become unstuck," Fu told Adrien. "They do have on-call people for emergencies on weekends. And that could work in our favor, actually- you wouldn't have to deal with an akuma attack until sometime on Monday if you break the elevator Saturday and he can't get someone in to fix it right away."

Plagg gave a small sigh of bliss as he imagined all of the extra cheese-eating time he could have if Adrien didn't need to spend hours transformed for an Akuma attack. He could properly savor that lovely Brie that he had seen Adrien stick in his hidden mini-fridge instead of inhaling it down like he normally had to do when Adrien needed to transform.

"If there's absolutely no one available, I can slip in and fix it," Tikki piped up from next to him. "I would just undo the rusting that Plagg did. We would probably have to do an akuma fight right afterwards if I do that, but we wouldn't leave anyone trapped for more than a couple hours, even Hawkmoth."

"Couldn't you try to snatch the Miraculous from him while he's stuck in the tunnel?" Pollen wanted to know. "Then we wouldn't have to worry about all of this sneaking around. An ambush attack has worked for us before."

Plagg made a face. That tunnel wasn't anywhere near big enough to do any fighting in. It was barely even big enough for an adult-sized human to turn around in.

"The tunnel is too small, and Hawkmoth would probably just transform if he thought someone was coming after him," Tikki told Pollen. "It's too dangerous. And being stealthy now gives us an advantage for when we attack. We'll be operating entirely on our terms, not being forced into a final fight when we're not ready."

"This is so exciting," Trixx piped up, wriggling on the table eagerly. "It's not often that the kwami play an active role in taking down a supervillain! We've done some spy work, of course, and some busting open locks, but never this level of involvement!"

Plagg wondered if Trixx would feel the same if he were the one always spending her nights roaming around the Agreste mansion trying to see if Mr. Agreste had any other magical artifacts in a place other than the safe or reading through the cramped handwriting in the Agrestes' journals. This whole thing had gotten very old very fast, and he hadn't found anything that important in either the rest of the house or in the journals. Mr. Agreste kept everything in the heavily-guarded study, and he and his wife had focused recording more on the lore about the Miraculous and any possible leads they had rather than on why they wanted the Miraculous, at least in the first journal.

It was boring wading through all of the pages, and it meant that Plagg was missing out on trying to bug Adrien into getting a second bedtime cheese snack, since his chosen was long since fallen asleep by the time Plagg got back to Adrien's room. He couldn't even explain what he was doing and why he deserved extra cheese, which meant that Plagg went woefully uncompensated.

"Yes, it is quite unprecedented," Fu acknowledged. "Most of the time, our opponents are best faced in the battlefield. This time, we have an opponent that is a planner, and we need to change our strategy accordingly."

Plagg yawned loudly as Fu started talking about what he had in mind for the raid on Mr. Agreste's office. He didn't need to listen; after all, his role in that would just to break the elevator, and then to listen for when Mr. Agreste got stuck and let Adrien know. Easy-peasy. Adrien would let him know later when exactly they wanted to start.

Curling up on the empty plate, Plagg snoozed lightly as the other kwamis chattered. He had a full belly, the room was nice and warm, and the scent of cheese surrounded him. He could sleep like this all day and be perfectly content.

So naturally, it couldn't last long. Plagg woke up with Tikki jostling him.

"C'mon, lazybones, it's time to get up. They need to transform."

Plagg groaned and cracked open one eye. Drat, right when he was getting properly comfortable. "Right now? In here?"

"Yes! We're going to sneak out the back door afterwards. That way Ladybug and Chat Noir don't have to try to each find their own place to transform before meeting back up again. Now come on!"

Plagg groaned and floated up into the air towards his Chosen. Apparently he couldn't ever catch a break.

  For Plagg, the day of the raid dawned bright and early- or, rather, at seven thirty in the morning.

He didn't particularly like being up at such a time. Normally he only got up when Adrien did so Adrien would remember to feed him, and then he went and curled up in Adrien's bag for a nap. For him to get up and stay up at that time was unheard of. But Fu had insisted on getting an early start so that they wouldn't be delayed by an akuma attack, and that meant that Plagg had to stay awake, even after his morning cheese was polished off.

That meant that at eight thirty-seven on the dot, Plagg phased through several walls and rusted out some of the gears in the elevator in a way that was guaranteed to bring the whole thing to a halt and keep it stuck there until a repairman could arrive. Pleased with his work, he phased back out and was rewarded with a large chunk of warmed, gooey Brie.

"Now we just have to wait for Father to try to use it," Adrien said, tucking Plagg into his jacket and heading back towards his room. "He has a meeting right now, but it doesn't end until ten."

"Maybe he won't even try to use it today," Plagg suggested. He licked off the cheese that had gotten smeared around his mouth. "I can't fix the thing if he decides to take the day off, just so you know. Tikki could, though."

"He almost never takes the day off," Adrien grumbled. "I'm looking forward to having nice uninterrupted weeks of school after this is over. I'm missing way too much class right now, and it's all his fault. And speaking of school, I have homework to get done. Come on, Plagg."

Plagg spluttered as he followed Adrien back to his room. "Really? You're gonna do schoolwork right now? How are you even going to focus when the raid could be today? C'mon, let's just watch TV or something."

"Not happening. I'm behind right now in Literature because of that last akuma fight on Friday, and I have to catch up before Miss Bustier throws another pop quiz at us."

  As soon as the clock hit ten o'clock, Plagg started lurking behind the painting in the atrium, listening for the sound of Mr. Agreste's secret elevator. Much to his disappointment, Mr. Agreste seemed too deeply interested in whatever he was doing on his computer to try going down into his lair.

"Most of the attacks seem to be in the afternoon, anyway," Adrien commented when he fetched Plagg as he headed down for lunch. "And hey, look! Macaroni and cheese, your favorite!"

Plagg perked up.

As usual, Mr. Agreste didn't join them- well, didn't join Adrien- for lunch, instead having it brought to his office so he could continue working. That meant that Plagg couldn't relax entirely with his delicious bowl (well, technically Adrien's delicious bowl, but he was sharing) of cheesy macaroni goodness. He had to keep listening for the faint sound of Mr. Agreste's nearly-silent elevator whirring to life.

"Master Fu said that everything is ready as soon as my father gets stuck and Nathalie leaves," Adrien whispered. He was clearly starting to get anxious with the wait. "Ladybug isn't transformed, but she is close by."

"Yes, yes, hanging out in the park nearby like you all planned," Plagg finished with a yawn. He really should have taken a nap earlier when he had the chance because now he couldn't sleep until after the raid, but there was no way to go back and fix that now. He had to listen for the elevator. "I know."

Once lunch was finished, Adrien headed slowly back up to his room, dragging his feet the entire way. Right before he opened his bedroom door, Plagg perked up.

"Hold on a second," he hissed. "Listen!"

Adrien froze. "I don't hear anythi-"

"Of course you don't! Shush for a moment!" Plagg turned his head, flicking his ears so he caught the quiet wrrrrr of the elevator as it sprung into motion. "He's going to the lair!" Then he paused and sniggered. "Well, he's trying to, at least. Wait for it...wait for it..."

Plagg listened with great satisfaction as the elevator stuttered several times, then ground to a halt. His sensitive ears could pick up the sound of hearty cursing coming from below, so faint and muffled by the walls that Adrien, who was standing next to him, didn't react at all.

"He's stuck," Plagg reported with a hiss, and Adrien startled.

"Really?"

"Really. He should be caught right where the elevator starts heading upwards towards the lair. He'll have to stand on that little circle of floor until someone gets him out." Plagg was rather proud of that placement, actually. It ensured that Mr. Agreste wouldn't simply get off of his little elevator thing and try to fix it himself, or get off and walk back to the office entrance and have Nathalie open the hole for him. It also meant that he would be so stuck that it was possible that Nathalie would have to step out of the office again after coming back from fetching a mechanic to go get lunch or use the bathroom.

So if they didn't get absolutely everything on the first try, they could very well be time to go back for another shot.

Right on schedule, Nathalie's phone rang. She answered and Plagg listened in to their conversation as Adrien texted Fu, who was with Ladybug. They would be moving into position now.

"Sir, the man who built that- he lives an hour outside of Paris!" Nathalie said, alarmed. "It would be faster to find someone in the city-"

Plagg snickered as Mr. Agreste cut her off. Apparently any old repairman in the city simply would not do. He required the man who lived a ways out, probably because he would be less likely to put the pieces together and realize (or care) that Mr. Agreste was Hawkmoth.

"I- I will call him then, sir," Nathalie said, sounding suitably cowed. "And then I'll let you know how soon we can expect him."

There was the sound of the phone being dialed, and then Nathalie spoke again. "Hello? Mr. Angelo? Yes, this is Nathalie Sancoeur, Mr. Agreste's assistant. The floor elevator that you built for him has broken down, and he's trapped- yes, and in the worst spot too, he's in that tube that heads upwards, so he really can't move at all." A pause. "You're nearby? Really? Perfect! Half an hour out- actually, we can come and get you, so that your crew can keep working on the project and keep the van with them. I understand if fixing the elevator properly has to wait for another day, we just need to get Mr. Agreste out."

Plagg suddenly realized that the we Nathalie spoke of might actually just mean the Gorilla. There was a possibility- a large possibility- that she might just stay at her desk and coordinate things from there.

...bugger. Maybe he should have coordinated some sort of electrical failure to try to force her out of the office.

"No, she's coming out," Adrien whispered. Apparently Plagg had been muttering his thoughts out loud. "She loves getting out of the house. She can keep working on the road from her tablet."

Sure enough, Nathalie was grabbing a light jacket from behind the desk and dialing the Gorilla. She shut off the lights in the office and closed the door, pressing some buttons on her tablet to engage the security system.

Plagg smirked. He was sure that everything looked perfectly normal on her system feed, but in reality nothing had engaged. Over the past couple days, he had made sure that every one of the motion detectors was broken just so, so that nothing would register as being wrong. There would still be the camera to deal with, but Trixx was meant to be in charge of that.

"Adrien?" Nathalie called. She turned away from the door and started towards the stairs. "Adrien?"

Adrien gulped and pressed back against his door. He opened it and then closed it so she wouldn't realize that he hadn't been in his room before stepping out into view in the hallway. "Yes, Nathalie?"

"Your driver and I have to go and fetch someone to repair something of your father's," Nathalie told him. "We'll be gone probably an hour. Is there anything you'll need while we're gone?"

Adrien made a show of thinking about it. "I don't think so? I'm just working on some of my reading for class, and then I might work on my Chinese or piano or something."

"Okay. Just stay out of trouble," Nathalie told him, and Plagg muffled a snigger. Adrien was going to be stealing from his father, messing with the security system, and introducing a virus to his father's computer. That was hardly staying out of trouble. Still, Adrien wouldn't be running off at all, which was probably what Nathalie was concerned about.

Well. Chat Noir would be leaving the house to go have a short meeting with Ladybug and Master Fu about how the raid had gone afterwards, but that wasn't running off, not really. After all, he would be coming right back.

"Of course," Adrien promised, and then Nathalie was off. Adrien watched the car leave, and then headed back into his room. After all, he could hardly transform in the atrium, since there was a security camera there. As soon as his door closed behind him, Trixx zipped past them, headed for the office.

"You realize that if Nathalie reviews the security stuff, she's gonna be listening for your piano, right?" Plagg demanded as they waited for the signal that Trixx had been successful in looping the video. "And I don't know how we would work that into the camera loop without it sounding weird."

"That's why I said I might work on my Chinese, too," Adrien pointed out. "After we're done with everything, I can go back to my room and put on a tape or something and actually work on my homework. I just wanted to include enough activities that she wouldn't try to call me partway through to make sure I was staying out of trouble. She's assigned stuff for me to do before and then check on it later to make sure I was actually doing that and not off somewhere else. If I say I'm busy already, she won't do that."

Plagg decided to be impressed that Adrien had gotten so good at evading his secretary's tricks, and all on his own, too! Plagg hadn't even needed to encourage him. There were times when his Chosen was so goody two-shoes that Plagg almost despaired, but clearly Adrien wasn't quite as straight-laced as he would lead people to believe.

Adrien's phone beeped, and he whipped it up to read the message. "Trixx gave Fu the signal! It's time to go in! Plagg, transform me!"

 ~~~~~~~~~~

 Later that day, once they had gotten to Fu's place, Plagg heard about how the raid had gone. With all of the cameras they had to pass on loop and the security in the office disabled, it was easy enough for the superheroes to go in. Pollen popped the safe open, and Ladybug switched out the scrolls and book out for fakes and snagged the peacock pin. Meanwhile, Chat Noir went straight for his father's computer. Mr. Agreste had actually left it logged in to the superhero research user, and he had several tabs open for research as well.

"It was perfect," Trixx sighed happily as he remembered it. "One of those sites looked a little suspect, so it's not that much of a stretch to think that he might have gotten a virus from that. It took a while to transfer all of the files onto our flash drive, but then no time at all to get the virus going afterwards. Then once Ladybug left, I took the security feeds off of loop. It really wasn't hard at all! I don't know why humans think that it is."

Plagg was of the opinion that Mr. Agreste's security perhaps wasn't quite as top-tier as he believed. Besides, knowing the passwords to get into the security system probably helped make the whole thing easier.

"It is very fortunate that everything worked out so perfectly," Fu commented from his spot at the front of the room. "I worried that Mr. Agreste's assistant might decide not to leave, or- what?" Trixx and Pollen (along with both Adrien and Ladybug) had made a funny little noise.

"Nathalie did come back in while we were there," Ladybug said, and Plagg choked on his cheese. What?

"She was a bit surprised to find us there," Adrien chimed in, and even with the distortion from the mask, Plagg could hear the amusement lacing through his Chosen's voice, and a bit of happiness, too. "But even though she knew about Mr. Agreste being Hawkmoth, she wasn't on his side at all. She's being blackmailed or threatened or something- or at least she worries about it, and I don't blame her- into keeping quiet, but she wants him taken down. She was the one who told us about the backup flash drive for the Miraculous files, and one of the scrolls that had been stored in his desk."

"And she made certain that we took the pin," Ladybug added. "And then she asked if she could help with the security footage, but we told her it was under control."

Plagg's eyes bulged as he listened. He knew that he was picking up some weird signals from Nathalie when he hung around the office, but he hadn't expected her to not be working with Mr. Agreste. He definitely hadn't expected that she would actively work against her employer.

...granted, he had definitely heard her lie once or twice about knowing where Adrien was during an akuma attack. He had always assumed that she hadn't wanted to get in trouble for losing Adrien. That was still pretty likely, but maybe she had suspected who Adrien was and had wanted to protect him from his father.

"She was telling them the truth," Pollen confirmed. "I was keeping my feelers out the entire time she was there. She was relieved that they had figured things out."

Fu's eyes were wide as well. "Well! She could be an interesting one to talk to once Hawkmoth is defeated. I'd be interested in learning what she knows about all of the research that Mr. Agreste and his wife did about the Miraculous and why they were looking for the missing Miraculous in the first place."

"She might only know the bare minimum," Wayzz pointed out. "From what I've heard, Hawkmoth is the kind to keep his cards close to his chest. I wouldn't be surprised if she only knew that he's Hawkmoth and he wants to change the moment his wife was lost."

Fu shrugged. "Perhaps. It's worth asking, at least. But for now, we have to turn our attention to defeating Hawkmoth and getting Nooroo back," Fu continued. "I would like to avoid a full-out public battle, if possible, so surprise is key. If we can corner him somewhere public enough that he cannot simply transform and escape, that would be best."

"You want to try for the least amount of media attention," Ladybug guessed. "Will that even work, though, considering how big of a name Mr. Agreste is?"

Fu chuckled. "Not everyone is interested in fashion, Ladybug," he reminded her. "Yes, he is famous in the fashion world, and yes, he is rich, but there are a lot of rich, famous people in Paris. To most people, he will likely not be hugely familiar."

Plagg made a face. He wasn't so sure of that. Mr. Agreste was a big name. He wasn't just a local designer, he was head of a multi-country fashion empire. Maybe not everyone cared a whole lot about fashion, but the name would be recognizable to pretty much everyone in Paris. Maybe the old man wasn't terribly familiar with Mr. Agreste, but somehow Plagg doubted that Fu paid any attention to any celebrities at all.

"Does he ever take the Miraculous off?" Ladybug asked. "If we could just sneak in and take it- or, actually, could the kwamis-?"

Fu shook his head. "The kwamis can't pick up or move the Miraculous most of the time, not even their own. The only exception would be if their Chosen died and the kwami had to keep the Miraculous from being buried with them or otherwise lost forever."

"So one of us would have to sneak in," Ladybug said, automatically glancing towards Adrien and instead looking straight at the screen instead. "If he ever takes the Miraculous off, that is."

"He doesn't," Plagg said immediately. He had spent forever watching Mr. Agreste to try to figure that out. It had been boring, and he hadn't even brought any cheese with him to snack on while he watched. "He keeps it on him at all times if he can. During the day, of course, and then at night he pins it to his sleep shirt. The only time it's not on his person is when he's taking a shower, and unless one of you wants to try slipping in to take it-"

"No!" both Adrien and Ladybug practically shouted in unison. "Ugh, no," Adrien added, shuddering. "I'd rather not be scarred for life, thanks."

Ladybug nodded frantically in agreement.

Fu was clearly trying not to laugh at their reactions. "So we stick with retrieving the Miraculous from him during the day while trying to attract as little attention as possible. Ideas?"

"We could contact the police first, so that they're sitting nearby and can cart him off before any disturbance catches people's attention," Ladybug suggested. "And if we caught him at his house, by the front door, then we could just walk him to the gate and have the police take him without a whole lot of people seeing."

"But is that public enough to keep him from transforming?" Adrien immediately asked. "If he already has one staff member who knows, then maybe he doesn't care about if the others know, because he can just threaten them into silence."

"One person is easier to control than three or five," Ladybug countered. "And the mansion is right next to a park area. If we can somehow get him outside first, then maybe he would feel too exposed. We would just have to station someone inside to keep him from coming back out." She dropped her head into her hands and groaned. "This would work better if there were more of us, but it wouldn't make sense to bring new holders in now. I still think they would get too excited and mess things up."

Fu smiled at that. "Perhaps, yes. But you forget that, even with as old as I am, I am still a Miraculous holder, and I can still transform."

"Master-" Wayzz started to object.

"But perhaps I need to tone down my transformation sequence," Fu added. Wayzz sighed and looked rather resigned. Plagg tried not to laugh. The old man was so tiny now that it would be a miracle if Mr. Agreste even noticed him.

"I still don't understand how that would work," Adrien said. Even with his face hidden, Plagg could tell that he was frowning. "Unless it's Master Fu inside attacking from behind, Fa- er, Mr. Agreste is going to suspect something. And how are we going to get him to come out? Ask him? He never goes outside on his own."

There was a pause.

"Actually, I like that," Fu said slowly. "If we go up and confront him like 'you have something you aren't supposed to have, hand it over', then maybe he'll realize that he's been found out and be intimidated into giving us Nooroo."

The waves of incredulity coming off of Adrien grew. Clearly he couldn't picture his father simply being intimidated into doing anything. Plagg had to agree.

Gabriel Agreste would not be intimidated into anything when the people doing the intimidating were two teens and a tiny little man dressed as s turtle. However, if there was an actually intimidating Turtle...

"Uh, no," Plagg said before anyone else could chime in, because he had just had a fabulous idea and he wanted to get the credit for it. "You're about as intimidating as a kitten now, old man. Lend someone the Miraculous for the day. I recommend Ladybug's dad, he's big enough to intimidate anyone that doesn't know him."

Adrien spun around immediately to stare at Plagg. Or at least Plagg was assuming his Chosen was staring. He couldn't tell for sure, because Adrien was still wearing that ridiculous helmet. "You know who her dad is?!"

"Kid, I learned who Ladybug is during the Dark Owl attack, remember?" Plagg reminded him. How had Adrien forgotten? Plagg had had to put up with Adrien sighing over how Ladybug's untransformed hand had brushed his own for an entire week after that particular akuma attack. "Did you hit your head or something?"

"I know that!" Adrien protested, his voice starting to go a bit high-pitched and squeaky. "But knowing who Ladybug is and knowing who her dad is are two different things!"

On the far side of the screen, Ladybug was giggling.

"Plagg has a point," Fu said. The expression on his face suggested that he hadn't ever expected to say that. Plagg resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at him. "I am...perhaps less intimidating than I used to be. Ladybug, do you think that you dad would be willing...?"

"I think Papa would help," Ladybug said immediately. "Even if he doesn't know that I'm Ladybug. He might be a little hesitant at first since he doesn't like fighting, but he always talks about how Hawkmoth is a bully and how he wishes he could do something for- well, for us."

Fu looked pleased. "Fabulous. We'll approach him once we have more of our attack planned out. Plagg, do you have any other ideas? Any suggestions for a temporary Fox or Bee, maybe, or should we simply stick with three?"

Plagg blinked up at Fu slowly as he yawned widely. All of this planning stuff was making him tired. And hungry, of course. "No. I don't do work. I don't do thinking. The Turtle thing was just obvious."

"Do we have to have to have more Miraculous holders on top of that?" Adrien asked. He didn't sound even remotely convinced. "I mean, if we have to train in a whole slew of people, even if they're just temporary, that could be a lot of work."

"The Turtle honestly takes very little explanation," Fu said. His lips twitched up in a small smile. "It is meant to be a protector and a tank. There are some specific attacks and special defenses it has, but they take a fair amount of training to master and really, the basics are all we should need."

"And if we had a temporary Fox, they wouldn't even have to fight," Trixx added eagerly. "They could use Mirage to make illusions of Ladybug and Chat Noir to stand with Ladybug's father, so you two could be hiding in the house and Mr. Agreste won't even think to expect an attack from behind. And I could have my temporary Fox back for real this time. Please? Please? Can I?"

Tikki made a face at that. "I think the previous temporary Fox might be a little too excitable for this. I know she did a great job before," she added before Trixx could argue. "And if we need a permanent Fox for whatever reason afterwards, then I think we should definitely go with her. But I think she might be really likely to want to charge in and be part of the proper fight herself here, or want to help with akuma attacks between getting the Miraculous and the final attack, and if she met Master Fu then she might get distracted with asking questions. We need someone who is a little less headstrong and risk-taking, I think. She's a little too used to the idea that superheroes can't get hurt, when they could be here."

"I agree with that," Ladybug said. "As great as it was to fight alongside her last time, she did take some time to focus after she transformed. And she already takes so many risks during normal akuma attacks..."

"Wait, who was the temporary holder last time?" Adrien asked. He glanced at Fu. "Am I even allowed to know?"

Fu thought about it. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt. After all, she doesn't have the Miraculous now, and if she receives it afterwards, the need for secrecy won't be so great. Ladybug?"

"Rena was the Ladyblogger," Ladybug said. "Alya Cesare."

"Really? Oh, no wonder she was so excited about it!" Adrien paused. "...but yeah, you're right. Doesn't she, uh, know Mr. Agreste's son? That might make her more likely to want to jump in to the fight."

Fu nodded. "Then we will have to pick another. Perhaps we should ask your mother, Ladybug. I'm sure she would be around when we ask your father to be a temporary holder and so she would find out about you and about me anyway. That way, we can limit the spread of knowledge for now."

Trixx pouted.

"Why are we only considering people from my family?" Ladybug wanted to know. "I mean, I'm sure Mama and Papa would be willing, and that makes sense about not letting a lot of people know about us, but what about Chat Noir's family? Surely there has to be someone who- why are you laughing?"

Plagg was absolutely howling with laughter. Wayzz was snickering. Tikki, Pollen and Trixx had all started to giggle. Even Adrien had cracked a small smile.

"I'm sure it will become obvious to you eventually," Fu assured her, though there was a hint of laughter in his voice as well. "But for now, we'll plan to stick with your family."

Even though he was still doubled over snickering, Plagg couldn't miss the confusion coming from Ladybug. It turned into something closer to worry as she turned to look in her partner's direction, and she scooted closer to the screen separating her from Adrien. A hand snuck around the edge.

Adrien's smile was visible even under the helmet as he reached forward to twine his fingers with hers.

#Miraculous Ladybug #My writing #Plagg and the Butterfly Costume