#especially since when we see her outside of costume she seems to wear more full coverage outfits | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sassylady1103 · 10 months

Text

The Road to Charleston

It’s our third day on the road. What a trip it’s been! I’ve been too exhausted at night to write, but we’re in Charleston now, staying at the apartment Colleen wants to clean up and use as a base.

This trip has been amazing! I mean, it was dangerous in spots, but with Colleen, it felt like nothing. I had no idea what a warrior she was! I know she spent most of her time with Papa training in the gym, even more after he’d gone, but I just never knew what a fighter she’d become. She’s so sneaky with her silencer, the scorched and ferals we came across didn’t even know what hit them! I only had to use my shotgun a few times when there was a mob that caught on to her. I was in awe of my sister, and I know Papa would be so proud of her.

The morning we left was foggy, and it made the forests look soft and dreamy, and dampened the sounds we made. It felt like it was enveloping us in a hug. Colleen didn’t like it much, as it gave her less warning of enemy approach, but it burned off as the sun rose higher in the sky. It was a beautiful day for our trip otherwise.

I had only been to Morgantown, which is a little north of us. We headed south, so everything I saw was a new experience. Colleen was sure to point out points of interest, and I found a nice patch of blackberries that I made a mental note to come back to. We picked enough for each of us to enjoy as we traveled.

The next town over from us is a small grouping of houses, a hardware store and a Red Rocket station along the river. I didn’t see a sign remaining that told us the name. Maybe it never had one, as people there likely commuted to Morgantown or even Charleston before the war. There were a lot of scorched, but Colleen quickly dispatched them. I wanted to check out the hardware store to see if there was anything useful, but Colleen said she’d been in there previously and there wasn’t much left, so we pressed on.

We weren’t on the road much longer before we came to a small town called Helvetia. Colleen said we’d stay the night there, in the old hotel. According to the historical marker near the bridge over the river, the town was founded by German and Swiss immigrants who were craftsmen and artisans in 1869! I was amazed it was still standing. It is the cutest town with its German themed shops! Along with the hotel, there was a community hall that looked to be a meeting or dance hall, a church, a Honey Haus, Cheese Haus, post office and Freya’s Haus Restaurant. I especially loved the museum, where a few old Civil War costumes were still on display. I would guess because they were very delicate and almost falling apart from neglect they that were never looted. There was a dress that was long and had such a full skirt, with long sleeves and what looked like lace detailing at the neckline. We tried to imagine having to wear such a thing and how heavy it must weigh with all that fabric!

Colleen thinks there were settlers here until very recently, since this place looked to be abandoned recently. There was still dishes on the table and moldy food in the kitchen of the restaurant and some instruments left at the bandstand by the river. Most buildings looked as if someone had just stepped away. It was a mystery since this town seemed very suitable for a settlement.

We passed on the moldy food, but picked some Starlight berries and made a nice cobbler with dry goods at the restaurant. It was a very pleasant place to spend the evening watching the sun go down behind the mountain and hearing the river running under the bridge. That was until we heard the unmistakable sound of the scorched. “When you hear ‘Not Us’, assume they’re talking about you, and not in a welcoming way”, Colleen said as she reached for her rifle. She told me stay put in the restaurant, and I could hear some movement outside. Shortly, the movement stopped and Colleen was back. “It was just a few, but I’ll keep watch regardless tonight. Guess we solved the mystery of the missing townsfolk. I’m really glad we’re getting you vaccinated soon.” Colleen was grim when she said this. Those burned up, mindlessly wandering things were once people….people like us just trying to survive who caught an illness that affected their minds and bodies and changed them into monsters. I was glad I was getting vaccinated too.

The night was uneventful, and I woke early. Colleen was eager to get on the road again, so we had a little breakfast and packed up our gear. It was warmer than the day before and being on the road so close to the mountain meant fewer trees to shade us. As we got further from Helvetia, the landscape softened and we had some shade again. Still following the river, the road took us past an old water treatment plant. There were large tanks still full of rank water that we could smell long before we saw it. I was just wondering why no one had come along and drained the things when suddenly we heard a robotic voice saying things I couldn’t understand. Colleen told me to duck down and I followed her to a tree that could shield us from being seen from the plant.

“There’s Liberators inside the fence. I’m not sure if they can get out, but they’ll be able to shoot their lasers this far. We must have alerted them. They’re looking for us.” Colleen told me as we crouched behind the tree. She had her rifle at her side and I wondered if I should pull out my shotgun. Colleen waved me back. “They think it’s a false alarm now. We’re okay as long as we move slowly and quietly.” “Wait, you understand what they’re saying? It sounds like gibberish!” I whispered loudly to her. Colleen turned and winked at me. “It’s Chinese. Dad taught me years ago. I’m rusty, but I remember enough.” “Hold on, Papa knew Chinese? Why?” I was shocked. How did I never know this? “All the military officers had to learn. Remember there was a war in Dad’s time and the threat of more Chinese attacks on America. Which obviously happened, but I guess knowing Chinese wasn’t real helpful, was it?” She smiled sardonically, and I just nodded. I was reminded how little I must know of the family I spent everyday of my life with in a two room suite in Vault 76. No wonder Colleen still considered me a naive child.

Colleen started moving along the tree line, crouched low and moving slowly, watching where she stepped. She motioned me to follow. We did this until we were clear of the plant. I was glad when she said we were out of danger, because my back was starting to ache from the awkward crouching. We walked in silence, me lost in thought as I wondered what else I’d learn about my parents and sister, and Colleen keeping watch for danger.

As the sun was getting low in the sky and our shadows were lengthening beside us, we saw another town coming into view. Colleen said it was Summerville, and that we’d stop here for the night. “There’s Blood Eagles in town, and I’d rather not try to get around them in the dark. They are the nastiest of the Raider groups I’ve come across.” There were houses on both sides of the river in Summerville. Some were boarded up, but some were open, again as if someone had just stepped out of them. “Are there Scorched here, too?” I asked her. Colleen shook her head. “I’ve never seen them here, but there’s some wicked overgrown crabs down near the riverbed. We should be fine if we stay near the road. Here, I’ve stayed in this house a couple times. It should still be safe.” Colleen led the way to a smallish house on the edge of town. Inside was a living room and kitchen area, with bedrooms upstairs, like any other house. What made my mouth drop was that every shelf, surface and stair had piles of books on them. Books were everywhere.

“Colleen, why did you never tell me there was a library outside the Vault?” I was grabbing titles and scanning pages. “It’s not a library, really, just someone’s collection. Someone who really loved books, I guess.” She said as she picked one up, glanced at the title and set it down again. “Hey, Col, how about I keep watch tonight and you get some rest?” I offered, keeping my eyes on the pages of the book I held. “Well, just make sure you don’t get so involved in those books that you aren’t listening outside. It should be safe enough though, so call me if you need me. I’ll be upstairs. Have fun with this mess.” She shook her head as she climbed the stairs. I found a lantern, lit it and curled up on the ratty couch. I flipped through some books on the coffee table, choosing one. I was just finishing the last chapter when I heard Colleen coming down the stairs. “Okay, bookworm, we need to get going soon.” Colleen said as she was opening cabinet doors in the kitchen, hoping to find some coffee or tea. “Sure, I’m almost finished with this one, but I want to grab a few to take with me.” I said as I hastily finished the last paragraph. I started selecting books I wanted to take with me. “Whoa, remember you have to carry those to Charleston, then home again, and they’re going to get really heavy after awhile.” Colleen had a point. I had a stack. I tried to narrow it to just three books. In the end I chose four. “I know, I’ll regret this later.” I grinned at Colleen. She shook her head. ��Here, give me the food. I guess I can help lighten your load some.”

We left the house and walked along the river for a bit, then Colleen cut through the houses to the river and we climbed down the rocky slope to cross to the other side hopping on some large rocks. “The crab things are more upstream. Crossing the river avoids downtown, where the Blood Eagles hang out.” Colleen explained. We climbed up the other side, which was made more awkward by my heavy backpack, but it got easier once we were back on pavement. “This road goes into Charleston, along what used to be Summerville lake.” Colleen pointed ahead. “Used to be? Did you rename it?” I teased. Colleen just shrugged. “I’ll let you decide.”

The sun was shining directly down on us and my backpack was starting to dig into my shoulders. Soon, I saw what Colleen must have been talking about. Summerville lake was a field of dried, cracked mud. “Wow, did the lake just evaporate?” I asked. Colleen answered, “It was drained. Apparently the lake was formed when a dam was built closer to Charleston. This area flooded and became the lake. Apparently there was a town that was under water until the lake drained. Now it’s overrun with Super Mutants.” Colleen stopped at what was probably the bank of the lake. We looked out over the vast lake of mud. If was the closest thing I’d seen to a wasteland since we left the Vault. “Come on, we’ll keep on the road. That lakebed is too open.” Colleen started down the road that formed to the right away from downtown Summerville. “We should be at the apartment this afternoon if we don’t run into any issues.”

We continued down the road, past some old vacation cabins that must have been nice when the lake was there. Then we passed some docks and boat houses that extended out over nothing now that the lake was gone. There were some Scorched wandering about, but they didn’t notice us up on the road. Coming around a bend, I saw what looked to be a broken dam. “Oh, Col! Do you think that dam just failed from age or lack of upkeep?” Colleen stopped, looking over the ruined dam. “No, it was destroyed by Raiders. Nuked it. Some act of revenge for the capture and killing of the leader’s girlfriend.” I stared at her. “But all those people….How do you know all this?” Colleen just shrugged. “Lot of terminals and holotapes out there with bits of the story. You can fill in the blanks pretty well by looking at the mess in Charleston. Come on, we’ll be there soon.”

Colleen got us to her apartment without running into any locals. She’s learned the routes to take that will avoid those areas. I’m excited to check the big city out! The capital building is stunning, even after all this time. I’d seen pictures of the famous gold dome, but seeing it shining in the late afternoon light was surreal.

The apartment is more like a penthouse on the rooftop of a stately brick building that housed some businesses and a cafe. It’s a lot of glass, and in amazingly good shape. It’s just a one bedroom loft, and already furnished. We were both so tired when we got in, that we just crashed for the night. We decided to take the day to rest before heading to AVR medical center for my vaccine.

It’s been a nice lazy day with time to write and record our journey. I’m almost overwhelmed by everything I’ve seen the last few days. It’s a big world out there for this Vault kid, and it’s been amazing!

More soon,

Mags

#fallout #fiction #gaming #journal

0 notes

moved2usagiiboo · 3 years

Text

Daydreaming

Def; Daydreaming is the stream of consciousness that detaches from current, external tasks when attention drifts to a more personal and internal direction.

Synonyms; Trance, fantasy, Hallucination

Chifuyu x fem!reader

Minors DNI, thank you.

You were stunning, enticing, gorgeous. You were a angel sent down from heaven with the job of blessing young men's hearts. You shined bright like the rays on a sunny day.

You were his everything and yet you weren't his. As a matter of fact, he barely knew anything about you but you have him wrapped around your delicate finger. He was whipped.

Chifuyu met you one day, when he had been tasked with a mid-day coffee run for him and his co-worker. He walked into the café, the smell of coffee and pastries engulfed his noise, it was a small cat café not too far from where he worked. Nothing more than a five minute walk, Chifuyu heard cats meow and purred as they rubbed against his pants.

He bent down rubbing the head of the nearest cat to him, he lifted the cat up cradling it as he walked towards the menu.

"Hi! Welcome to Neko-Sama, what can I get for you today." You beamed at him from behind the counter with the softest smile. Your voice rung in his ears like a soft melody, your smile made heat rush to his face in an instant.

You had your hair in pigtails with pink and white cat ears, and a frilly maid costume draped over your body. You shuffled your body feeling Chifuyu's eyes look you up and down eyeing your attire.

You were adorable.

You stared at the man with cat like eyes, you catched your eyes with his before turning away and giving an awkward cough to clear the air.

"Wow, Tuba doesn't really like anybody..." You drifted off, "Much less let people hold her, you must be a great guy!"

"Tuba?" He questioned earning a small meow from the ginger cat that was in his arms nuzzling his head on his arm. "O-Oh! Well, I do work with animals, that's probably why." He chuckles softly petting the cat.

"That's amazing, I got this job here to work with animals. I adore cats, they're just so cute." You practically squealed, "Sorry! M'rambling" You looked down with a slight your ears slightly red from embarrassment.

The only thing that ran through Chifuyu's head was how adorable you were. Would it be weird if he asked for your number? You both just met, but he can't help but want to know more about you.

"N-No, no, not at all. Honestly, I thought it was cute..." He says the last part ever so softly, tightening his grip on the cat due to nervousness. The cat bites Chifuyu's hand in response jumping out of his arms, "Oh.. Guess I pissed him off." You both laughed at the cat as you watched him lick himself in spite.

For a split second you both lock eyes, you turn your head down to the iPad on the counter before beaming a smile at him.

"So! What can I get for you today?"

Ever since then Chifuyu has found reasons to make his way to the café. His co-worker caught onto him leaving work to bring back coffee and various snacks, one day he asked him about it.

"I like the coffee." He plainly replied, he would repeat this phrase over and over not only to those who asked about his constant ventures to the café but to convince himself that it wasn't because he wanted to hear your voice and see your face.

Totally not because he hopes that his constant visits would bring upon something. Something more than small talk as you prepared his drink, he convinced himself that he didn't want to be the reason you smile everyday.

You weren't running through his mind, he couldn't be in love with a girl be barely knows.

But the way you blush when he gives you small compliments, it's just too cute to ignore.

Over the course of a few months you and the man got closer, you learn his name and he yours. You were both around the same age, 23, you still being in college working towards your degree and him owning a animal shop.

One day, on a cold winter evening Chifuyu found himself at the café once again. So far he has been to Neko-Sama almost everyday. Naturally, being the animal person he is, he has created a bond with the cats there. Especially Tuna.

Tuna meows the loudest whenever Chifuyu is in the establishment, that's when you begin to prepare his drink. His order changes with the season, as any good barista does, you remember his orders for each season.

Being that it's winter you prepare his drink, a medium peppermint hot chocolate with extra whipped cream. You found it cute how a grown man would order such a cute drink.

"Good evening Chifuyu-san." You smiled placing his drink at his regular table. He takes off his coat setting it down on the seat next to him.

"I told you to drop the formalities, we're the same age Y/n." He sighs, softly thanking you for preparing his drink. He blows the steam away before taking a sip.

"I can't help it, you just seem so much older " You giggle before sitting next to him on the booth couch.

"Should I call you Fuyu' from now on?" You tapped your chin with a hum pretending to think.

"Do what you want, dummy Y/n." He mutters, hoping you're unaware of the burn on the tip of his ears.

Tuna jumped his way onto the seat laying on Chifuyu's coat, his purrs nothing more than a background sound as you and Chifuyu indulge in a conversation.

"And look at this, the new cat is so playful," Chifuyu chuckles pulling his phone out, "Look, she basically destroyed this toy we gave her." He shows you pictures of the cat along with the aftermath of her playtime. You giggle as he swiped through his phone.

This wasn't your fault. You could barely see the screen because of the glare from the lights, you shift your body closer to him. Chifuyu freezes as he feels your clothed breasts push up against him as you stare at his screen unaware of your actions.

"You okay?" You ask staring at his face, cupping it with your hands. His whole body locked up at your touch, his face was bright red with sweat heading down the side of his temple. "You're burning up!" You half screen putting the back of your hand on his forehead, "Are you sick?" You frantically ask while gripping the man's face.

"M'fine.. Just" He trails off, looking at your glistening lips, "Dizzy...."

"Fuyu, you idiot. You need to go home when you don't feel well..." You sighed, "Come on let me walk you home, my shift is over anyways."

Chifuyu waited outside feeling dizzy off of your touch, his head throbbed and his heart pounded. Maybe he was sick.

"Sorry it took so long, Tuna didn't want to go in his cage..." You sigh locking up, you looked at Chifuyu and worry spread across your face. Chifuyu's chest heaved up and down heavily, he looked out of breath as if he ran a marathon.

You quickly take off your scarf and wrapped it around his neck, he softly gasped at the sudden action.

"Let's get you home, yeah?" You lock arms with him and following him as he walked to his apartment. You missed the way his face got brighter as he smelt your scent on the scarf. You said your goodbyes telling him to take medicine and get a good night's rest.

He kicked off his shoes and stripped down on his way to the shower feeling lightheaded, after his shower he took his medicine like you told him to, he wasted no time getting into his bed not before grabbing your scarf and wrapping it around his neck. He ignored the cries of his cat as he tried to drift off to sleep trying to forget the throbbing pain in his head.

ミ❣️That night he couldn't sleep, maybe it was the throbbing pain in his head or the nauseous feeling he'd get everytime he would shift his body.

ミ❣️Or possible it was the fact that everytime he closed his eyes he saw you, your smile, heard your voice, felt your touch.

ミ❣️Your hands were soft, oh so plush.

ミ❣️And your lips, the way they glistened due to the lip gloss you would constantly put on for worry your lips would dry out.

ミ❣️He couldn't forget your whines and pouts when he would call you, "dummy y/n" a nickname you acquired after spraining your ankle slipping while trying to give Tuna a bath.

ミ❣️The way you would stick out your bottom lip, your eyes would shine as if you were about to cry when he had to leave early...

ミ❣️You were adorable, his perfect little angel.

ミ❣️He drifts off daydreaming about every aspect of you that he loves, its a innocent little crush.

ミ❣️He begins to drift off about the way you dress, those pink cat ears that jingle everytime you move. That slutty maid costume that barely covered your ass. Those adorable stripped thigh highs that covered your thighs, pushing up the fat to the uncovered part of your upper thighs.

ミ❣️He nuzzled his flushed face into the scarf engulfing his nose in your sweet scent. It smelt like the fragrance you would constantly wear...

ミ❣️What was it again?

ミ❣️Fuck, he can't think straight trying to remember the name of your perfume makes his head hurt.

ミ❣️But thinking about how you would bend down he would get a full view of your plush cheeks made his cock hurt.

ミ❣️The way you would shake and sway your hips with each step you took.

ミ❣️He isn't in the right headspace, his mind has drifted away from his body. He's long gone, he lost all control of his actions.

ミ❣️Chifuyu is needy, the thoughts go right to his cock. His length twitched with every memory of you.

ミ❣️When did he pull his pants down to his knees?

ミ❣️When did his breath become broken and eratic?

ミ❣️He doesn't know how he ended feeling his dick through his underwear, how he began to fist his dick, all curled up in a ball, trying to release.

ミ❣️His other hand pulling the scarf closer to his nose to take deep inhales.

ミ❣️Chifuyu's voice becomes audible as soft groans leave his mouth.

ミ❣️Nothing more than pre-cum dripped from the tip of his angry cock as he aggressively jerked his hand up and down the length of his shaft, gripping it harder trying to get friction.

ミ❣️He just needed to cum.

ミ❣️It wasn't working. He spat in his hand, rolling into his back. He pr sses his thumb onto his tip. He hissed in pain as a electric jolt shot through his body.

ミ❣️His proud cock standing tall as he moved his hand up and down while simultaneously slightly thrusting his hips upwards. He clicked his tongue in annoyance when it just.. wasn't working.

It wasnt you

ミ❣️Chifuyu pulled his pillow from his head, shifting his position once more, laying back on his side, putting his cock onto the surface of the pillow. He slowly humped his pillow, grinding his dick into the pillow.

ミ❣️He found himself wondering what you were doing right now, if at night you played with yourself.

ミ❣️No, no, not that. He wondered how well you would take him, if you'd scream his name, begging him to go faster, calling him all sorts of names,

ミ❣️Daddy

ミ❣️Master

ミ❣️ They would sound so pretty coming out of your mouth

ミ❣️As he claimed your pussy as his spraying your insides with his cum.

ミ❣️Nah, you were too innocent for that... You were the type of girl to blush when somebody accidentally touches your hand of gives you a compliment.

ミ❣️If anything you would fail to understand why your core was heating up, desperate to feel something inside you but not understanding the meaning.

ミ❣️That's it, you'd come to him crying asking for him to help you feel better.

ミ❣️He groaned at the thought of him placing his hand around your throat while tongue fucking your mouth. You would struggle to kiss back as he roughly explored your mouth with his tongue. Your knees would buckle from the pleasure. He would pick you up, holding the back of your knees, gently grinding his hard cock against your sex.

ミ❣️He would treat you like a princess.

ミ❣️Laying on your back as you hurried to take your soaking panties off, your slick juices leaving a single string that was attached to your panties, proof that you were wetting your undergarments like a dirty slut.

ミ❣️Your face would be red as you shamelessly tell him in the softest tone.

ミ❣️"Want you so bad Fuyu'"

ミ❣️Fuck, his thrusts became more erratic, his knuckles turning white from his tight grip on his pillow.

ミ❣️Yeah, you'd call him by his nickname as you begged him to claim you, ruin you.

ミ❣️He imagine him sinking his fingers, he'd start with one not wanting to hurt you. Your tight untouched cunt tightly squeezing his finger. You would already be a moaning mess, Fuyu was talking all your firsts.

ミ❣️Your slightly loosened sex would take in another finger. You would try your best to muffle your slutty moans as he fingers your soaking pussy. You'd cover your mouth with your hand as his finger curled inside of you hitting that spot that made your toes curl and eyes widen.

ミ❣️You'd moan his name, begging him to stop. It felt weird, felt too good, something was coming.

ミ❣️He'd give you your first orgasm with his fingers, you had drool dripping from the corner of your mouth, your face was red. You were already so fucked out on his fingers.

ミ❣️He felt his cock twitch with these thoughts. He mindlessly began to fuck his pillow into the mattress, his body now on top of the pillow as he grinded on top of the pillow.

ミ❣️He'd have you suck on his fingers tasting yourself as he began to eat you out. His tongue slipping in and out of your slit, naughty slurping sounds emitted from the room as he throat fucked you with his digits that were once in your pussy. His nose would occasionally hit your lip causing you to arch your back pushing his tongue deeper inside you.

ミ❣️You love being eaten out huh? Love it when daddy fucks you with his tongue. Such a dirty little thing.

ミ❣️All the dirty things he could think of seeps from his mouth, while eating you out. He'd bring you to another orgasm with ease.

ミ❣️"Y/n, fuck, m'gonna cum" Chifuyu grunted out in a out of breath voice, he felt his cock spurt out his cum into his pillow, yet he wasn't satisfied.

ミ❣️He leaned back onto his shins, his knees pressing into the bed as he lifted the pillow up, slipping his cock into the pillow cover.

ミ❣️He wasn't done yet, your pussy would be twitching, eager to take his cock. You eyes would be begging him to fuck you into the mattress.

ミ❣️"Gonna fuck my princess dumb." He muttered out to nobody as he thrusted upwards into the pillow. His thrusts were shameless and aggressive as he pounded his pillow like a dog in heat.

ミ❣️His moans were loud as he muttered filthy things about you.

ミ❣️He would slip his cock into you, kissing away the tears from your eyes.

ミ❣️His cock was just too big, his dumb baby couldn't take it. The stretch hurt. Daddy made it fit though. Daddy will make you feel so good. Pretty girl.

ミ❣️He'd let you adjust waiting for you to give him the okay, he would start of slow, giving you small thrusts to get you used to the size of him. Deep passionate thrusts that said how much he loved you.

ミ❣️You would have the most beautiful moans and whines, he could listen to them all day. He would kiss you and your body till it bruised.

ミ❣️You'd beg him to fuck you, he would do just that. Slamming his hips into yours causing you to scream out his nickname, one of his hands would be on your thigh squeezing it oh so tight getting a good grip for when he pulls his cock out and slams your bodies into each other, fucking you senseless. While the other kept your mouth busy, occasionally taking his fingers out of your mouth to kiss you deeply bruising your lips with his.

He'd watch your every expression.

ミ❣️"Your pussy was made for me, look how well you're taking it. Doing so good"

ミ❣️Your eyes would cross as your tongue rolled out, you'd pants and beg for him to slow down. You didn't really want that, no, not when he was making you feel this good. The way you would arch your back, grind your hips into his, wrap your arms around his neck and grip his hair as you moaned louder with each thrust told him everything he needed to know.

ミ❣️You wanted more, you're greedy aren't you?

ミ❣️"My pretty little cocksleeve"

ミ❣️Chifuyu felt himself getting closer to his high, but he wanted to cum with you.

ミ❣️No, you weren't here.

ミ❣️His hand would make it to your clit giving it a soft slap before his thumb rubbed it in circles. You'd start cursing because of how good it felt. Telling him you wanted more, how you were about to cum, how much you wanted him to cum in you.

ミ❣️You would adore it, he knows it. You'd be such a cum hungry slut for him, no matter when or where you'd want him to cum in your tight pussy.

ミ❣️"Fuck, fuck— so good, Y/n— yer' pussy so good" Chifuyu cursed out as he imagined you creaming his cock the same time as he slammed his dick in you once more before spraying your insides white with his cum. Your body would shake as you had your final orgasm feeling so full.

ミ❣️"Fuck... Fuck, fuck, shit, fuck!" Chifuyu cursed out realizing what he just did, he felt a wave of guilt as he felt his dick go limp after fucking his pillow to the thought of you like a madman.

ミ❣️He rushed into the shower, almost falling off his bed in a panic mode. He tried to wash it off, tried to wash off the sin of moaning your name while he fucked his pillow like some highschool horn dog.

ミ❣️He hoped you'd forgive him, he prayed you would.. You couldn't ever find out what he did, you'd label him as a pervert.

ミ❣️Maybe he was one.

ミ❣️He couldn't look himself in the mirror, too ashamed to face himself.

ミ❣️Chifuyu threw the pillow away before curling back in bed chanting soft apologies to nobody. He'd wrap his body in his blanket nuzzling his face back into your scarf as he drifting off final able to sleep.

ミ❣️The next morning you didn't understand why Chifuyu refused to make eye contact with you...

It was supposed to be a short drabble.... 500 works max 🤧🔫 anywaysssss

@baji-kuns hope you liked it 🙄 #Chifuyu'sAHoe

#chifuyu imagines #chifuyu smut #chifuyu best boy #chifuyu x y/n #chifuyu matsuno #chifuyu headcanons #chifuyu x reader #tokyo rev #tokyo rev x reader #Tokyo revengers smut #tokyo revengers x reader

422 notes · View notes

marauderundercover · 3 years

Text

Day 6: Party

WARNING: GRAPHIC VIOLENCE

Continuation of days two and three

Marinette grins at her reflection in the mirror. The costume was perfect- close enough to the original that you could tell who she was, but also with her own touch so that she didn’t hate looking at the costume. She’d even curled her hair slightly. The knock at the front door makes her squeal in excitement, knowing exactly who it is.

“Cass!” She cheers, opening the door and grinning widely at her best friend. Sure, Cass didn’t talk a lot (she was like Luka in that way), but she always seemed to know when Marinette needed help out of her own head. And she was eternally grateful for that. She was even more grateful that Cass had agreed to do a duo costume with her since Jason apparently didn’t want to dress up. He was ‘too old’ or something. Well, Marinette wanted to have fun and wear a damn costume.

“The suit is amazing! I’m not sure the cowl I made will be good enough for it.” Marinette says worriedly, examining the stitches on Cass’ costume. “Where’d you say you got this?” She asks, frowning. It was definitely higher quality than the Halloween store downtown. Cass just smiles, the one that basically says ‘not telling’. Mari just grins, used to it by now. She passes the cowl to Cass and grabs her own domino mask, sliding it on. Posing next to Cass in the full length mirror, Marinette takes a picture and sends it to the group chat that Jason had recently added her to. Dropping her phone into her purse and grabbing her keys, she turns to Cass.

“Ready?” She asks.

“Ready.” Cass says. Marinette grins. Look out, Gotham, Batman and Robin are out on the town.

---

Dick squeals as the picture comes through on the groupchat. He was beyond relieved that Jagged had scheduled his Halloween party two weeks before the actual holiday. It meant that he, and the rest of his brothers, could actually go instead of being on the extra patrols they always had to schedule around the holiday. Grinning, he opens twitter.

@flyingrayson

Look at my little sisters! Aren’t they the cutest?! #halloween #Waynefam #jaggedstone

[image description: One girl stands with a hand on her hip, dressed in what is obviously a spin on a Robin costume, including: a domino mask, black tights, dark red tunic with a Robin logo, gold belt, knee high emerald boots, and a dual sided cape black on the outside and gold on the inside. Another girl stands next to her with her arms crossed over her chest, dressed in what is obviously a Batman costume, including: black catsuit, yellow utility belt, black cape, and a redesigned black cowl.]

---

Marinette pecks Jason’s cheek and grins.

“What, not a Robin fan?” She asks teasingly at his frown. He huffs.

“Not really. More of a...Red Hood guy.” He says, and she snorts.

“Of course you’d like the one with guns.” She says, shaking her head with a smile. “His costume is actually probably one of my favorites. Well, besides the whole helmet thing.” Jason grins, pulling her in and giving her a sweet kiss before he glances behind her and groans.

“My brothers just walked in.” He says and she smiles.

“Go say hi, I’ve gotta go ask Uncle Jagged a question really quick. I’ll be right back and Cass and I can show your brothers our awesome costumes in person.” She says, pecking his cheek before walking away. She looks around for Jagged, but frowns when she doesn’t see him in the main room. Pulling out her phone, she sends him a quick text asking where he is.

In the garden with Fang!!!!!!!

She shakes her head fondly. Of course he skipped out on his own party to spend time with his crocodile. Smiling, she heads out to the garden to try and get to him. She’d wanted to see if the man planned on being in the US around Thanksgiving. Bruce had already invited her (probably to get Jason to show up) and said she could invite any of her family as well. Since her parents and superhero partner were both dead and her grandparents didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, she decided she’d really love Jagged and Penny to come instead. As she walks outside, she’s shocked that Fang doesn’t immediately run up to her.

“Uncle Jagged?” She calls, frowning. Where was he? And why was it so dark out here? Fang was scared of the dark. Jagged never would have brought him outside without more lights on, he was too protective of him. She tenses when she notices a slumped figure next to the bench Jagged had put in the gardens for when she visits. It was one of her favorite places to sit and design.

“Hello?” She calls, watching the figure for any movement. Seeing none, she steps closer and her stomach drops. Immediately she runs over and checks her Uncle for a pulse. She sighs in relief when she feels it, but the gash on his head is worrisome. How-

“Hello, Birdie!” An amused voice rings behind her, making her blood run cold. She whirls around and manages to catch a glimpse of the man’s pale face before a thick piece of metal flies at her head and the world goes black.

---

“Jaybird! Where’s Mari and Cass? They’re blowing up on twitter, even MDC liked my tweet!” Dick says happily, making Jason scowl.

“Did you seriously post my girlfriend all over your twitter?” He asks grumpily. Dick nods.

“Oh yeah. Her and Cass looked too cute to keep it to ourselves. Where are they anyway?” Dick asks, scanning the room.

“M said she needed to go talk to her Uncle about something. Personally, I think she was just avoiding you guys. You all crowd her every time you see her.” Jason reprimands, crossing his arms. Replacement rolls his eyes.

“It’s ‘cause she’s so much cooler than you. And she’s not an asshole like you are.” He says.

“Something’s wrong.” Cass says, suddenly appearing at Jason’s side. He jumps slightly, but then frowns at her.

“What?” He asks, surprised to see the deep scowl form on her face.

“Don’t know.” She huffs.

“Well if Cassandra believes that something is wrong, we should investigate.” Damian says, looking relieved that he wouldn’t be asked to socialize with anyone. A startled scream from outside makes the five vigilantes tense before running towards the noise. Jason curses when he realizes it’s Penny Rolling, Jagged Stone’s….something. She’s kneeling by a slumped figure, shaking it until a groan escapes it. Jason feels his blood run cold when the figure’s hair catches the light. It’s Jagged. Then where-

“Where’s she? Where’s she at?” Jagged slurs out, blinking wildly.

“Who?” Penny asks, gently holding the man’s face. Jason frowns at the gash.

“M. He wanted ‘er.” He says, and though the man is looking around crazily and slurring his words, Jason can tell he’s completely serious. And M-

“Do you mean Marinette?” Jason asks, stepping forward. Jagged frowns, but nods.

“Crazy clown.” He adds before turning and throwing up in the grass. Jason growls and turns on his heel, ready to go hunt the damned clown down. Out of everyone in this damned city that he could’ve targeted, why did he choose her?

“Jason, wait.” Dick says, grabbing his wrist. “We need to have a plan. Come on. You can’t just go out like this.” He reminds him lowly, Jason’s eyes narrow but he follows anyway. Might as well use the good tools. That fucking clown won’t make it to morning.

---

Ice cold water falls over her and Marinette sits up, gasping in shock at the sudden temperature change.

“Little cold, Birdie?” A voice asks before walking around and standing in front of her- a huge smile on his face and a thick piece of metal in his hands.

“Nothing I can’t handle.” Marinette says, trying not to let her voice shake. This was the villain. The one she never wanted to meet. The one that gave her boyfriend nightmares that he couldn’t explain to her. And now she was alone with him.

“If you’re sure, we could have some...fun before Batsy arrives.” He laughs.

“Why would Batman show up?” She asks. “You do realize this is just a Halloween costume, right?” She flinches as the piece of metal- a crowbar, she thinks shakily- stops inches in front of her face.

“How stupid do you think I am? Of course it’s a costume. A costume posted by one Dick Grayson. You’re a Wayne, somehow. And Batsy always shows up when a Wayne is involved.” Joker says, his twisted grin making her sick to her stomach.

“I’m not a Wayne! Batman isn’t going to come for me.” She argues, cursing her decision to not wear her earrings today. Some days were harder than others, especially leaving in a mask. Even if the mask was a costume. Every time she tried to put on her earrings today, she shook and started to panic. Granted, it was probably for the best. Because she would definitely be tempted to transform and she did not want to give Joker that kind of knowledge.

“Wayne or not, one of the bats will come. You have friends in very high places, Birdie.” Joker tuts, twirling the crowbar in his hand. She flinches as it nears her face, making Joker laugh. “If I wanted to hit you, I would.” He says. She doesn’t even have time to figure out what he means because her shoulder explodes in pain. The pain is blinding and she wants to scream but no sound will come out of her mouth as she gasps for breath.

“That’s no good. A silent bird is a dead bird. So sing, Birdie.” Joker demands, and he aims slightly lower this time, shattering her left arm. And she screams. The pain tearing at her throat nothing compared to the pain in her arm, her shoulder. She sobs, the shaking making the pain worse, but she was unable to stop. It hurt.

“S-stop!” She manages to yell, nearly biting her tongue when Joker grabs her chin and forces her to look up at him.

“Hmm. You’re right! The internet should definitely see this.” He laughs, pulling a phone out. She shakes her head, flinching as he whacks the crowbar against the floor near her chair. He points the phone at her, and she knows he’s recording. The bastard.

“Hello Gotham! Look at this little Birdie. I’m afraid she flew too far, and now we have to clip her wings.” He says, sighing as if he’s actually apologetic. He sets his phone up on the table and stalks over to her before turning and waving at the camera. She watches him move the crowbar around warily, her breathing shaky. God, she hoped Jason wasn’t watching this. Hoped he was somewhere safe, not trying to go do something stupid. She winces as Joker acts like he’s about to hit her, only to stop before the crowbar actually connects with her good arm.

“I told you, I’d only hit you if I wanted to.” He chuckles.

“Go to hell.” She spits out, ignoring the voice in her head (that sounded suspiciously like Tikki) telling her to shut up. To not antagonize the crazy man with the crowbar.

“Gladly.” He says with a grin, rearing back and swinging the crowbar out to hit her in the ribs. Her scream echoes around the room and she has no time to catch her breath before he’s attacking her ribs again. Tears stream down her face, but she can’t scream, she can’t even catch her breath. I’m going to die, she thinks, and the thought is terrifying. She didn’t want to die, she wanted to live.

---

“Do we have a fucking location or am I about to go shoot up every goddamned warehouse in this city?” Jason growls as he zips through the streets on his bike. He knew Babs and Alfred were back at the cave, watching the livestream and working to locate Marinette. And even though he couldn’t see the video, the audio playing through the comms was enough to make his stomach churn.

He didn’t give one singular fuck what Bruce said. He was going to kill that goddamned clown the minute he saw him.

---

Marinette glares at the Joker, barely able to keep her head up. For some unknown reason, he’d decided to use his fists on her face instead of the crowbar. Not that she was complaining. She wouldn’t have survived multiple hits to the head. Not with the force he had. She watches him, and she knows he’s saying something, but she can’t tell what it is. She’s too tired, too hurt, to care what he’s saying anyway. Unless it’s some magical cure to stop her from feeling like she’s broken into a million pieces, she doesn’t want to hear it.

Eyes wandering behind him, she’s relieved when she notices the costumed figure. The cowl, the cape- Batman did come. How strange. Though, she had assumed that Joker was live streaming. So that could definitely explain that one. Deciding she was out of immediate danger, she lets her eyes droop shut, reveling in the darkness that surrounds her. She let’s it stay, and she can feel things slipping away, some of the pain lessening. It’s nice, until someone is poking her and talking much too close to her. She lets out a whine as the person forces her eyes open.

“‘m tired.” She mumbles, wincing at the pain that comes with breathing, with talking.

“I know, kid, god I know. Just keep your eyes open.” A voice says. She blinks, the blue marks on the suit in front of her helping her to identify the vigilante.

“Couldn’t fight.” She spits out, tears springing to her eyes as her attempt at conversation makes her chest ache.

“But you’re fighting now, you’re staying awake. You’re doing such a good job, I’m proud of you. Stay awake kiddo.” Nightwing says quietly. She vaguely feels the ropes slide off her wrists and ankles. Fighting to stay sitting up, because slumping will hurt more than she’s willing to allow, she sighs.

“Jason’s gonna worry.” She mumbles, and Nightwing hums.

“Ambulance is almost here, kid, just stay awake.” He says instead of asking about Jason. She hopes Jason is okay. Hopes he isn’t mad at himself for letting her go talk to Jagged alone. Suddenly, sirens are close and she lets the world finally slip away.

---

The pain is the first thing that clues her in. She isn’t dead. Which is a relief. But the way her entire body aches, is not a relief. Forcing her eyes open, she sighs at Jason’s slumped form in a chair next to her bed. She wished she knew how long she’d been in the hospital so she could scold him. Because he was still wearing the outfit he had on at the party. Which meant he hadn’t given himself a break. Just as she’s trying to decide how to ask the nurses for pain medicine, Jason’s eyes open.

“Marinette!” He gasps, starting to lunge forward, then stopping himself. “I thought, god, M, I thought-”

“‘m okay.” She says softly, and he frowns.

“Okay? You were nearly beaten to death with a goddamned crowbar. You’re not okay.” He argues. She sighs.

“I’m alive, and I’m with you. I’m okay.” She insists, wincing. He looks like he still wants to argue, but stops himself. He scoots closer and holds her hand, kissing the back of it softly.

“I’ll never leave you.” He promises. She smiles softly, before falling back asleep, finally safe.

Tag list: @maribat-october-rarepairs @stainedglassm @kittenmywaythrulife @laydeekrayzee @doll246 @queenz-z @deathssilentapproach-blog @literaryhiraeth @unoriginalmess

#angst #maribat #maribat oneshot #jasonette #maribat marinette dupain cheng #maribat jason todd #maribat joker #maribathalloween21 #maribat dick grayson #maribat tim drake #maribat batman #maribat damian wayne

142 notes · View notes

xsugarysweetsx · 3 years

Note

hehe the way I smiled when I saw that your requests r open!!Thank you😗

May I request Cherry X Reader where they r in an arranged marriage. Like maybe the reader is from a traditional family and she agrees to it anyway since she loves her parents but is low-key scared of being his wife/a mother. They have a rocky start but end up falling in love. Maybe one day cherry takes her to S to see him race and meet the gang and she loves it. You can make it spicy at the end if you like 👀

idk why but I always think about this when I see him and also braiding his hair coz it's so much prettier than mine 😒💖

A/N:I don’t understand how a man can be so beautiful// much longer than I expected it to be....

Please enjoy~🍰

Warnings; Some mention of smut; Nothing too detailed, but it’s there

*******************************************************

“Come here your kimono isn’t tight enough“ your mother said as she went behind you to tighten it even more than before

“Mom! I can’t breath if it’s this tight!“ you said almost wheezing for air.

“You have to make sure your waist looks small and appealing” she said, even though, looks are not everything in a relationship. As much as you didn’t want to, you had to look your best today, it was important. You were going to meet the man you were to marry. You were part of an important family in Japan, and of course your family was very traditional. This only meant you were already expecting an arranged marriage.

Today you were meeting with him for the first time. From what you heard, he was a successful calligrapher, and popular with women. You didn't quite know how to feel with that, but this was your future. Most people wouldn't agree with arranged marriages but, you love your parents and this is what they wanted.

They told you that he was a gentleman, and very respectful. Well your hopes were up now, hopefully you’re not disappointed. Could you possibly end up in a good marriage? walking into the home you were greeted not by someone work there, but by a voice.

“Welcome, master Kaoru is waiting for you in the meeting room.“ for someone who is traditional he sure had a good AI system. Walking off to the right your father opens the sliding door and there he was. A young man with long pink hair and glasses, he wore traditional clothing and seemed very proper.

“Mr & Mrs Y/L/N, welcome please take a seat.” Not a hint of emotion on his face.

He was stoic but not cold. He poured you all some tea and your parents begin to discuss the marriage. Now that you say there and listened to everything, it really started sinking in. You were getting married to a complete stranger. You didn’t know the first thing about marriage! Or being a wife! Oh gods.....what if they expected children??

A million things were flooding your mind, you felt so lost. In all honesty, you were scared of what was to come..

“Y/N..” you were brought out of your thoughts by your mother gently shaking your shoulder “are you alright? You look sick”

“O-oh, yes I’m fine!“ you assure her swallowing the lump in your throat

“If you say so, we need you and Mr.Sakurayashiki to sign the papers as well. In 2 weeks time there will be a wedding ceremony but for now, we must fill out the papers.“ you watch Kaoru take the pen read the line and signs his name next was your turn.

He hands you the paper and pen, you bite your bottom lip as you read ‘spouse sign here’. You let out a shaky breath as the ink forms your name on the paper. After some more discussions on the wedding it was your time to leave. You all thanked him for tea and his time. Before you walked out the door he asked t speak with you for a moment, making your heart drop. You parents wait outside as you have a word with the pink haired man.

“Y/N, I just want you to relax, I noticed you were nervous before and you should know I won’t mistreat you and will try to be a proper spouse“

“Oh, uhm thank you Mr-“

He interrupts you “Please call me Kaoru“

<><><><>

Just as planned the wedding happened 2 weeks from then. You couldn’t stop blushing that day, from anxiety, to shyness, to even Kaoru. He looked very handsome that day, and he was just as much as gentleman. The ceremony was calm and heartfelt, friends and family gathered to witness your union. He saw you were very nervous that day so, instead of a general kiss he gave you a quick peck.

Only for you to duck you flustered face, he found it quite cute actually. He thought you looked beautiful that day in traditional wedding attire. He took mental note son how you were as a person. Although you seemed somewhat intimidated, you were considerate and kind. You helped people who needed it, and you put others before yourself. He just hoped this marriage will have a good outcome.

———

“We don’t have to do this” he simply said beginning to disrobe

“But-“ usually it was on the first night of the wedding when. It should happen

“If we get to that stage in our relationship, then you can tell me. You don’t have to force yourself. I can leave the room until you’re done getting changed” he left the room so that you can change. You take a moment to assess the situation, and you smile to yourself

“How considerate...“ you think to yourself. after changing, you both ordered room service and have dinner for the night. He was nice to talk to, it had some interesting topics to share with you. Even his calligraphy job seemed interesting. He offered to take a different room while you slept in this one's may be comfortable, but you said it was okay and you were fine with sharing a bed.

he's not like most men I hear about an arranged marriages. He's not forcing you to do anything, he's asking if I'm comfortable with everything. All the stories really kind of scared me into this, maybe it won't be so bad....maybe....

<><><><>

“Y/N, get dressed we’re going out tonight“ he says coming to you and kisses your cheek. It has been about 11 months, almost a year, since you married and it has been better than you thought. of course you had fears of Nami and expectations of a “good wife”. He made sure to tell you how much of a good job you were doing, even if you didn't do much. He thought you were perfect the way you are. He also believe that he could trust you enough to share secret with you--he was taking you to “S”

Usually you both go to events together, especially ones that associated with his work. But tonight was different he had different attire on. He wore his hair in a ponytail, no glasses and a mask covering the bottom portion of his face.

“Where are we going? A costume party?“ you joke

“After seeing one person you mat think that“ he said but was still serious about you getting ready ““make sure you dress comfortably you don't need to wear kimono for this.” he gave you more detail “Now listen to me, where we are going you cannot speak of after. Not to me, nor to your parents or anyone else if they know about it.“

“Huh? Are we joining some secret society?“ you giggle coming back out in some jeans and a t shirt with a sweater.

“In a way, let’s go.“ if you thought tonight was strange you only got stranger, you would expect a person like him to have a motorcycle. Or to be carrying a skateboard for that matter, just who was this person and was he really your husband. Holding on to him you take off into the dead of night. eventually make it to the gate where he showed an s-shaped sticker and was granted entry. There multiple women started to scream

“Cherry!!” “Master Cherry!!” Were they referring to Kaoru?

“Yo Cherry, ya made it- and you finally brought a girl with ya. It’s about time” a tall muscular man with green hair said patting Kaoru on the back roughly. Next came a man with dramatic makeup and a cape. Two boys who seemed to ebe in high school, one with red hair and the other with blue. Finally a much younger looking boy with a cat hoodie. Huh, interesting crowd...

“Get off me!“ he said kicking him in the ass “This is Y/N, she’s my wife“ he said standing next to you and all their jaws drop

“Cherry is married?!“

“Huh, she’s pretty quiet compared to these girls...it’s kinda nice“

“Damn, and to think you could have gotten anyone but got married.“ Kaoru seemed very annoyed at this point

“Yes I am married, she’s better than the screaming women here, and I will not toy with women like you do!!“ he answered all their questions in one go “Y/N, this is a place where skateboarders come to race, it’s called ‘S’, these are JOE, MIYA, Reki, Langa, and SHADOW“

“H-hello..“ you wave to the small group and they waved back

“Y/N, do you mind stay here with Reki and Langa? I need to race and I’ll be back“ he asked laying hand to the top of your head and you nod. He leans down and places his covered lips to your forehead. He then picked up his board, it was black with some purple lining and goes to the start.

There he and JOE get ready to race as a traffic light counts their start. After it turns green they were off like rockets. It was still a lot to swallow...how he kind of had a double life and you were just now finding out about it. It was a bit overwhelming when you really watched him go. The way he picked up speed and rounded corners, made you hold your breath and gasp with each trick he did.

When they approach the finish line he had won and the crowd was chanting his name. They both made their way back bickering about who was the best skater, when they were both equally amazing. Crowds joined around them but you just stayed behind still processing everything. It wasn’t a bad thing, but you were just wondering so many thing. Cherry pushes his way through the crowd and to your side lifting your head without warning captures your lips in a kiss.

This was the most intimate you had been with him, and in public! The crowd went quiet and some of the girls there complained or whined about not being in your place. After he pulls away he whispered to you

“Let’s go home...“ and you were on your way back to the comfort of your home. That night he had made love to you for the first time ever. It was passionate, and steamy, and full of love. He was your first ever so he made sure to go slow for you. Everything about it just felt so good, the way he held and kissed you. He handled you like glass but did not fail to meet your pleasure.

That night was when you opened up about your fears of being his wife

“..and seeing how amazing you were tonight only made me more aware of who you were. I just...hope I can live up to your standards as a wife, and don’t get me started on children. Imagine having a plain mother“ you vented to him as he held you close

“Don’t say that,“ he snapped back “You’re an incredible wife and you’d be an even better mother one day. When I heard about the arrangement I was honestly nervous. And the day I saw you only raised my anxiety, I thought you were stunning, and your shyness only made you cuter“ he admits with a chuckle

“I guess....we’re both nervous wrecks who married each other then?“ you giggle looking up at him as your head lays on his chest

“You’re my nervous wreck“ he said poking your nose with his finger “...I have something else to tell you...“

“What’s that?“ you ask. He cranes his head down toward you

“...I love you“ he whispered as he catches you lips in a kiss

*******************************************************

I hope this was okay!❤️

#cherry blossom x reader #sk8 the infinity x reader #kaoru sakurayashiki #sk8 the infinity fanfic #sk8 cherry blossom #sk8 the infinity #cherry blossom #anime #anime x reader #fanfiction

574 notes · View notes

theyreonlynoodlesmike · 3 years

Note

Hey! Love your stories on Ao3 and I’m so happy that I found some more of your work to read!❤️ If it’s okay can I make a poly request? I was thinking of a girl from our time being sent back to the lost boys and them falling for each other. There can be some angst if you want, such as her being sent back to her dimension but maybe finding a way to go back to their time after months of being away? Thank you for giving us some of the best stories ever! 💕

So, this is a pretty big request (possible spanning over multiple chapters), so I’m gonna actually write/continue this on my ao3 account! I may post the later chapters on here later, but for now I’m gonna keep them on ao3. Here’s the first chapter!

It’s Just a Movie (Fem!Reader x poly!Lost boys) fic

Next Chapter ->

Warnings: Cursing

Word Count: 1504

It had been a simple night. Sure, it was halloween and, sure, it was a full moon. A blue moon at that. But that didn’t mean anything, right?

You sure as hell didn’t think so as you went to see a showing of one of your favorite movies, the Lost Boys, with some of your friends. With everything going on with covid, the theaters were empty and your local one had been showing older classics for the past few weeks. They had a selection of horror lined up for halloween night, and your group had chosen to see your favorite vampire movie.

You had even dressed up for the occasion, donning a dark, almost gothic look. Hell, you practically looked like one of the extras in the opening sequence. You and your friends jammed along to the soundtrack, laughed at Sam’s antics, and nearly cried when you witnessed your four favorite vampires meet their inevitable end. A movie’s gotta have an ending, right? After Grandpa delivered the classic ending line, you and your friends packed it up to head outside.

Well, they did. You had forgotten your wallet, and you ran back into the theater to grab it. Your friends had promised to wait for you, and you fumbled to put your mask back on as you searched through the dim theater. You used your phone to find it half stuck in one of the chairs, and you quickly jogged out of the auditorium, and then the theater, to find that your friends weren’t waiting for you. And that the streets were far more packed then they had been a second ago.

Sure, there were people in halloween masks and costumes littered about, but you nearly scoffed when you saw that no one seemed to be taking any of the social distancing rules seriously. You took a step, planning on looking for your friends when you noticed that the theater had almost...changed. The outside didn’t look the same as it did before. Instead, it had the old sign outside, broadcasting what movies were playing inside. Sure, you had expected some older movies, but some of these you hadn’t even heard of. You thought it was weird, considering the theaters would probably want to stick to the most popular ones during a pandemic.

You looked back around, but your friends were nowhere in sight. You thought to walk to the parking lot, but you paused. You heard a whistle, and a wave of relief washed over you. You turned, expecting your friends, and, instead, you were met with a different familiar face. This night couldn’t have gotten any weirder.

You looked him up and down. Teased blonde hair, blue eyes, straight nose, slight stubble on his sharp jawline, a black coat paired with white pants and a mesh shirt? He was even wearing those calf things that your friends had made fun of that one time, because what the hell type of 80s fashion things are those supposed to be? You shook your head, touching one side of your forehead while thinking that perhaps you had hit your head or something while looking for your wallet. There was no way you were looking at Paul from the Lost Boys. He sent you a grin, flashing rows of straight, normal, non-vampire looking teeth, and said,

“Well, hello there to you too, doll-face. Need some company?” He asked, and you nearly thought about pinching yourself. Holy shit. Before you could answer, you heard,

“Who’s this?” And you wouldn’t have been surprised if this whole sitation wasn’t boggling your mind. As all the fans knew that where one Lost Boy was, the others weren’t far behind. You turned, and found yourself looking directly into the face of the other natural blonde. You met big, hazel colored eyes, and your eyes instinctively fell to his lips. Just in time to watch his thumb be pushed between them. Clean jaw, cherub face, golden curls, a heavy, colorful jacket, jeans, and leather chaps? There was no mistaking him. The second half of the blonde duo had arrived, and you almost wondered if the others weren’t far behind.

“I don’t know. She seems shy.” Paul said, a smile on his face as he reached out to brush a hand against your cheek. Cold fingers barely brushed against you, and you leaned back. Almost into the blonde on your other side, who had taken the spot right next to you. “I’m Paul, and that’s my buddy Marko.” Paul added, pointing at the blonde with his eyes. Before they trained themselves back onto you. Marko leaned in a bit to say into your ear.

“Your turn.” And it nearly caused you to flinch. He laughed, steadying you. “C’mon, we don’t bite.” He said with a grin, and a shiver nearly ran down your back when the taller of the blondes laughed. Too hard. If you hadn’t been so caught up in the complete and utter shock you had been experiencing you probably would have been thinking more about how these boys were vampires. Sure, it had been fun to talk about them on forums and on different apps, but suddenly you were hit with an urge to run. Especially before the other half of their gang arrived.

“I’m- I’m just looking for my friends.” You quickly blurted. You started walking, but your brain was on hyper-drive. If this was real, if this was really happening, then you were in a horror movie. And the killers had already taken an interest in you. They quickly started following, staying just as close as they had been before.

“Ooh, are they as pretty as you? We can help you find them.” Paul offered, and you almost wanted to accept. He sounded like he was just trying to be helpful, albeit flirt a little. It was the eighties, so you couldn’t quite blame him for being so persistent. Part of you really wanted to accept, but you reminded yourself. Horror movie. Killers. And they probably wanted to make you apart of the menu. You had only taken a few steps, but the shorter of the two jumped in your path. He walked backwards and said,

“C’mon, you don’t wanna walk alone, right? It’s halloween, and all the weirdos are out.” Marko started, and Paul was quick to waggle his fingers and make a spooky sound to accompany his claim. You faltered. You hadn’t necessarily thought about where you wanted to go, and the parking lot was dark. Far darker than the front of the movie theater. And emptier. You gulped, reminding yourself once again. Horror movie. Killers. You looked between them, trying to think of a way to not end up as a juicebox for the two unfairly attractive vampires in front of you.

You had to admit. You had no idea where you could go, and it wasn’t exactly like you knew what the hell was going on. As far as you were concerned, these were some of the only familiar faces you would find. That, or the Emersons. But you had no idea what time it was in their- what could you call this? Dimension? Or was this just some weird dream? Whatever it was, you had no idea if the Emersons even arrived yet or where to find Grandpa’s house. So, you were shit out of luck. You supplied your name before you quickly added,

“My friends and I- We were going to meet on the boardwalk.” You said, and the boys grinned. You knew it had to be one of their favorite places, since they went there every night. At least that's what the movie made it seem like. Maybe, just maybe, you could get there, let the boardwalk distract them, and figure out what you were going to do. And have some fun with two of the biggest heartthrobs from the eighties.

“Sweet! We can totally take you. We just need to wait for the rest of our friends.” Paul said, and suddenly every last bead of hope slipped from your body. Two vampires already had the odds against you, but all four? Especially one of them being David? You would be screwed! Before you could make something up, Marko said,

“Yeah, here they come.” And you wished that whatever this was would end. That you could go back and be in your own dimension. You turned, seeing a brunette wearing just a leather jacket, jeans, and sneakers. His dark, brooding eyes practically shined in the night, and his resting face made you want to shrink in on yourself. To avoid them, your eyes flicked to the blonde besides him. Blue eyes, scruffy cheeks, and a leather jacket-trenchcoat combo paired with leather pants, boots, and leather gloves? Oh, you were so screwed. If you had any doubt in your mind that this was happening, you were sure now.

As the rest of the vampires approached, you tried to calm your oncoming panic attack with a mantra of it’s just a movie. But now you weren’t so sure.

#the lost boys #the lost boys 1987 #the lost boys paul #paul the lost boys #david the lost boys #the lost boys david #dwayne the lost boys #the lost boys dwayne #marko the lost boys #the lost boys marko #the lost boys imagines #the lost boys x reader

509 notes · View notes

janamelie · 3 years

Text

Dimension Jump XXI Report

I suppose I’m a DJ veteran now as this was my fifth consecutive one and the fourth at the Nottingham Crowne Plaza which is an expensive four-star hotel. Sharing with a friend helps keep the cost reasonable and honestly, it’s worth it for the sheer convenience of being right there in the hotel and being able to nip back to your room as required. (To be clear, you don’t have to stay in the hotel to attend the con. There are plenty of other hotels nearby.)

Plus there is always the chance that you’ll see a guest at breakfast as I did Danny once. He picked out a few pieces of fruit and nibbled at them before wandering over late to his photoshoot. What else would you expect from a cat though?

Friday

Myself and @downonthepharm-red-dwarf (Amy) had arrived the previous day so had plenty of time to be near the front of the queue for registration. Which meant we saw Hattie Hayridge arrive in a stunning designer coat and with smart luggage. She really brought her outfit A-game and looked great the whole weekend.

Once we’d presented our respective proofs of full Covid vaccination or a recent negative test, we were given our DJ passes and booklets. The latter has spaces for signatures from guests, an Order Of Events and various handy tips for the weekend.

The con kicks off at 5pm with an hour of gradual build-up in the Main Hall - they show videos from previous events, specially made titbits with various guests past and present such as Mark Dexter doing a mock guide to DJ and Rebecca Blackstone voicing Pree. It all helps with the atmosphere, as do the numerous RD posters dotted around the hotel.

Then it was time for the Opening Ceremony featuring various Fan Club team members and an overcrowded stage full of cardboard boxes - the joke was that they’d had too much time on their hands during lockdowns and bought loads of stuff online. It was obviously also a nod to Lister’s hoarding in “The Promised Land”.

The sketch featured a specially made shot of the AA adverts’ Starbug model landing outside the Crowne Plaza and an 80s computerised version of the lovely convention logo. You could tell a lot of loving effort had gone into the whole thing.

Once the guest line-up had been announced (I’ll get to that not-really-a-surprise-guest shortly), we went straight into the RD Pub Quiz, hosted by Hattie. DOTP and I had been joined at our table by Lapsang and Barbs from our Discord (No Kind Of Atmosphere) plus various other attendees we’d befriended.

Someone in the crowd yelled “I love you, Hattie!” to which she quipped “I’ve pulled already!” Another bloke shouted “Fuck off, she’s mine!” which led to a few shouts of “Fight!” When neither seemed keen to do so, Hattie joked: “Only two? That’s a bit pathetic!” and then we got started.

The quiz is hard, by design, but I’m good at quizzes and my team - No Kind Of Atmosphere after our Discord - came joint third which was gratifying. (I was on the winning team a few DJs ago, to blow my own trumpet for a moment. This is my report, after all.)

And then it was time for the first guest Q&A with - surprise, surprise - Johnny Vegas aka the Crit Cop in “Timewave”. Not a great episode but he more than made up for that with an appearance I can only describe as chaotic. Warning - DO NOT attempt to heckle him unless you want to be singled out and humiliated in front of the entire audience in a “Can’t look away” fashion which was nonetheless entertaining. The man in question tweeted about it afterwards and seems to have taken it in good spirit.

Once we’d moved on from encouraging people to leave unpleasant things in room 429, it turned out Johnny’s a big fan of the show and owned it on VHS (so did I). He thinks of the main characters, Holly would win at “Taskmaster” and had good reasons for that conclusion.

He was dubious about the pink costume he wore in “Timewave” as he thought it might take away from the character but said he eventually decided he needed to get over what he was wearing and just go for it. He also said one of his worst working moments was on “Benidorm” when he had to hold his breath underwater in a freezing swimming pool and his co-star kept forgetting her two lines so they had over 30 takes. Ouch.

Johnny left commenting that he got less love at his 50th birthday party. But we hadn’t seen the last of him by any means as people kept buying him drinks during the Auction, leading to him successfully bidding for one of the items on offer.

And then he was back for the Karaoke. Now if you - as he informed us - had to undergo emergency dental surgery in the morning and had practically lost your voice, would you sing karaoke? And not only that, would you sing a version of “Love On The Rocks” which lasted 11 minutes according to someone on Twitter (I wasn’t timing it, but I can believe it), followed by the full-length version of “American Pie”?

If you answered no, you’re clearly not Johnny Vegas. He went to bed so late that the unfortunate Fan Club team member assigned to look after him got a grand total of 90 minutes’ sleep.

Saturday

DOTP and I had paid for the Photoshoot with Mr Vegas, Danny John-Jules and Ray Fearon. We got in the queue at 9am which was when it was supposed to start. An hour later we were still waiting. Yep, Danny was late.

Once he made it to the hotel, I got my photo in front of a Science Room backdrop. You might think Mr Vegas would be hungover and rushing through it, but on the contrary, he was still enjoying the hell out of proceedings which was refreshing to see. Since he’d been added to the line-up too late to be in the souvenir booklet, he signed extra inserts for the Fan Club which they handed out to everyone at the later Autograph sessions so attendees got his autograph after all even though he’d finally left. That’s what I call throwing yourself into an event.

Next up was a combined Q&A with Danny and Ray (originally separate but Danny’s lateness meant they were teamed up). This wasn’t a problem at all though - on the contrary, it worked really well as the chumminess between them added to the vibe. Also it was Ray’s first convention so he probably preferred to have Danny backing him up, especially since the poor man tripped on his way to the stage and almost fell. I don’t think he was hurt but I cringed with secondhand embarrassment and empathy. He wasn’t the only one to fall foul of the edge of the stage that weekend; I think it was the slightly raised dancefloor in front of it.

As is usual for Danny, we were treated to over half an hour of what you can only really describe as a stream of consciousness as he pontificated about various things. He and Ray did also talk about working together on “Death In Paradise” and Ray described his worst working experience there - he had to play a scene in a club in 45 degree heat with a live snake wrapped around his neck!

Ray is attractive in a “Hollywood hunk” way and Danny was clearly conscious of this, joking that he’d “brought his own security with him” and muttering “I’m better-looking anyway!” But all in a jokey way as they’re clearly friends.

Danny had come from filming and dropped a heavy hint that he’s appearing in a Dickens adaptation which I imagine will be shown at Christmas as they generally are. He also complained that Craig Charles never answers his phone: “You send him a message and he answers it on Twitter a month later!” (Interestingly, Chris Barrie later mentioned a recent phone conversation with Craig so make of that what you will.)

Ray was quieter but happy to talk about the vagaries of showbiz and typecasting - he said that due to his Shakespearean background he gets a lot of serious roles so people were genuinely surprised that he could also do comedy but “I was always funny!” He also gently teased Danny about the age of some of his references before admitting he still finds Tommy Cooper funny.

Danny usually performs “Tongue-tied” with a good grace when inevitably asked to by an audience member but perhaps it’s finally starting to pall as this time he did it in the style of Oliver Reed’s Bill Sykes and included a lot of X-rated references to cunnilingus etc. It was entertaining though.

Next up was a live Q&A (over Zoom) with Chris Barrie. Danny decided to stick around as he wanted to show Chris something he’d ordered online. It took a while to get the cameras in the right position for Chris to be able to see it and Danny needed a knife to open the parcel, leading Chris to quip “Is this a good time for me to step out for some lunch?”

However, it turned out to be worth it as it was a custom-made Ace Rimmer doll which impressed Chris with its quality and he complimented the maker.

Danny and Ray then departed for their lunch and to take part in the Coffee Lounge which this year had reduced its numbers for Covid-related reasons and held a ballot for entry in the interests of fairness. Amy and I didn’t get in but happily stayed for the rest of Chris’s Q&A.

In the “working from home” spirit, Chris was in a hoodie in his living room as opposed to his more usual smart suit. He was suitably relaxed and revealed he got through lockdown by concentrating on the things which make him happy, such as his hobbies, his garden and his family. His favourite episodes are “Marooned”, “Dimension Jump” and - less predictably - “Twentica”. He also referred to a recent “mannerly, as he would call it” phone conversation with Craig. No details but it had clearly been a positive experience.

Amy decided to liven up the ending of his Q&A by asking a vitally important, “TPL”-related question. Whom would Rimmer find more attractive, a female version of Lister or a female version of Cat?

Once the laughter had died down and Chris had bought some time by pointing out that “neither of them are women”, he gave the question appropriate consideration. He pondered whether Rimmer would be more taken by the “simple charms” of Lister or the “feline grace” of Cat. This next bit is courtesy of Amy as my memory isn’t infallible: He said it’d be a choice between a feline form or a rounder, a bit more slovenly woman - he wouldn’t want the perfectly feline woman because she might not like his imperfections, but he also wouldn’t want someone who ate curry three times a day. “Basically, a balance would be ideal.”

That was the last question but Chris provided a little more entertainment as he had a “How do you turn this off then?” moment a la Gordon the computer in “Better Than Life” and made amusing faces as he figured it out. If it was anyone but Chris I’d think it was a deliberate reference to that but I think he was genuinely befuddled.

We then broke for lunch, followed by Autographs with Hattie, Danny, Ray and Norman Lovett. I got the latter three to sign the “TPL” poster I’d brought with me but gave Hattie the booklet instead as it seemed more tactful. She complimented the dress I was wearing and I returned the compliment, telling her how much the fans appreciate the effort she makes with her DJ outfits.

Norman commented how there’s a version of the “TPL” poster he isn’t on, bemusedly. Fortunately mine was the version including him.

I spent the rest of the afternoon chilling in the bar with Amy, Lapsang and Barbs, chatting to other attendees. Graphic Designer Matthew Clark was now in the Merchandise Room with various props from Series XII and “TPL” including the Starbug manual used onscreen. I got his autograph on my poster but it’s an incomprehensible squiggle. Oh well. He was very friendly and easy to talk to.

After a break for dinner, the Main Hall reopened for the Costume Competition. This seems to get better every DJ, with an amazing “Greyscale Rimmer” who was discomfiting to be around due to the corpse-like makeup, a Natalina Pushkin, a Nirvanah Crane who could almost have been Jane Horrocks herself and a Diving Suit Cat from “BTE”. Other entries included Rimmer’s Mum, “Giraffes who were armed and dangerous” and a Confidence And Paranoia who were later pictured at the bar chatting to Paranoia himself, Lee Cornes.

We then had a special video message from Doug Naylor which I won’t go into as I’m sure everyone’s already heard the details. Suffice to say, his tone was positive.

The second Auction was hosted by Ian Boldsworth who made it more entertaining by adding his own commentary to each item. This was followed by a stand-up set from Norman. It was amusing but he misjudged the mood a bit, I feel. When you’re waiting for a disco to start and it’s already hours late due to Danny’s tardiness, you don’t particularly want to contemplate your own mortality. We were here to get away from all that, as much as possible.

Anyway, the Disco was a lot of fun even if Dave Benson Phillips’ presence as host was sorely missed. Hattie danced for the best part of an hour alongside everyone else. The stand-in DJs did their job and I stayed until the end. The final two songs were “Bohemian Rhapsody” and … “Tongue-tied”.

Sunday

Not being in the Sunday Photoshoot, Amy and I had a nice leisurely breakfast and got over last night’s festivities before the first Q&A, live over Zoom with Robert Llewellyn.

This was hosted by Ian Boldsworth who in his capacity as Dave era audience warm-up knows Robert well. Clearly well enough to get away with teasing him relentlessly about not being at the con in person until poor Robert was a mess of Krytenesque guilt.

His protestations that he’d been scheduled to be in Munich this weekend but no longer was (he was at home) only made things worse. Ian: “Oh, so that’s two sets of people you’ve disappointed now! Stop saying yes to things!” It was hilarious and Robert took it in its intended spirit. Also Ian was getting a measure of revenge for Robert - in character as Kryten - dry humping him at recordings. One attendee asked “With the groinal attachment?!”

Robert admitted that he finds Kryten’s various groinal attachments hilarious and if he was writing the show they’d be in every episode. He praised Doug’s restraint.

He also admitted that in “TPL” he had an earpiece to have his lines fed to him. Since it’s controlled by an iPad, certain unscrupulous cast members took great delight in feeding him rude ones.

He still intends to update “The Man In The Rubber Mask” but atm “Fully Charged” is consuming a lot of his time as it’s become much more successful than he anticipated and he’s in charge of several people.

Surprisingly, he would hate appearing in RD without the Kryten makeup, both because it’s become much quicker to apply and because it provides him with a shield and he becomes Kryten and forgets stagefright. He still can’t watch “DNA” for that reason.

Lapsang, who played Kryten in “Into The Gloop”, asked Robert if he’d seen it. He hadn’t but said he was now very curious and would find a way to.

Next up was Lee Cornes aka Paranoia who said he originally auditioned for the lead roles and like the other unsuccessful actors got the consolation prize of a guest appearance. Upon being asked if he’d gone out for a drink with Craig Ferguson’s Confidence, he said no because at the time they had a frosty relationship due to rumours that Craig was plagiarising other comics’ jokes. Lee said it was all very silly and he’s since apologised.

Interestingly, Lee is a qualified science teacher and carried on with that career alongside his media one, leading to surreal situations where his pupils would ask: “Sir? Were you on the telly last night?” “Yes.” “Are we on the telly now, sir?”

Someone asked a good question - what would Lister’s Paranoia be like now 33 years later? Lee would be willing to reprise the role but isn’t sure it would work as the original had a childish quality whereas he feels now the character would be a lot darker and less funny. Lee was both thoughtful and entertaining in his responses.

He was followed onstage by Hattie and Norman, who resolutely refused to rise to the bait of an audience member attempting to stir up a rivalry between them. That only works when one isn’t the nicest person you could meet.

A tactless audience member asked both if they’d watched “TPL” instead of directing the question at Norman. Luckily Hattie had seen it and particularly enjoyed the cat flap joke although she felt there was a little too much focus on the guest cast.

Norman didn’t really watch RD after he left but Hattie has seen Norman’s early episodes as he lent them to her back when she was originally cast as Hilly for research purposes. Bear in mind this was 1988 when they weren’t even available on VHS so presumably he recorded them off the TV.

Hattie confirmed with a sigh that she’s simply never been asked to return in any capacity: “That’s the short answer.” What the hell, I’ll say it one more time - Bring Back Hattie! One episode, that’s all I ask. As it stands, it’s starting to look like a pointed and deliberate snub which mystifies me.

We then broke for lunch, followed by Rob Grant and Paul Jackson. For obvious reasons they didn’t go into the current legal mess, opting instead to entertain the fans with the story of how they met and their early pre-RD work (Rob and Doug as freelance writers for Paul’s producer).

We saw some clips from their early shows including “Three Of A Kind” with Lenny Henry, Tracy Ullman and … later magician David Copperfield; apparently they all had the same agent and Paul took on David as a favour. For a 40 year old show it held up pretty well and was in much better sound and picture quality than older shows often are. “Carrott’s Lib” was just as funny.

It’s a bit hard to summarise but this session was entertaining and gripping. Rob still wants to write another RD novel and I believe there’s nothing actually stopping him as both he and Doug had an option to write a second solo novel. So we’ll see.

The final Q&A was Matthew Clark who was very informative and interesting, showing us numerous production stills from Series XII and “TPL” and talking us through them. There was a groan when time was called before he was finished.

By now time was running short and Amy and I went back to the room to pack and leave our luggage with reception before watching the start of “Dibbley Family Fortunes”. Since I knew I wouldn’t have time to watch it all, I instead nipped upstairs to Autographs with Lee and Ian, timing it perfectly as the queue had almost vanished.

Ian was still performing, drawing scornful attention to the fact that Lee had a longer queue: “Can you imagine all these people queueing to see Lee Cornes?!” It sounds rude out of context but he was clearly joking.

I decided to ask Lee what flavour the yogurt Paranoia eats was. He said it didn’t really taste of anything as it was the cheapest, nastiest canteen yogurt available and was also starting to curdle under the studio lights so eating it can’t have been much fun.

Since I now had about 15 minutes before I had to go, I caught a bit of Dibbley Family Fortunes, said goodbye to Amy, Lapsang and Barbs and then dashed off to catch the tram to the train station. Another great DJ.

#red dwarf

33 notes · View notes

deleteddewewted · 3 years

Text

Incel!Shinsou Oneshot: "Why are you acting like that?”

To keep busy I just thought that a oneshot of Shinsou getting self conscious/needy would be cute since we already have his redemption arc rolling in. The next part of the Incel!Shinsou series (Part 3) will have him proving his worth at the Sports Festival. So in thinking of how he will prove himself to you I thought of how will all of those people affect him, especially you. ( This oneshot takes place pre changes, so Shinsou is still his disgusting self but he's figuring out how to woo a woman, especially of your caliber.)

Incel!Shinsou Series:

Part 1: Incel! Shinsou x F!Reader

Part 2: Incel! Shinsou x F!Reader

Incel!Shinsou Headcanons

"I know what you're doin' here. Made your intentions clear. Oh you, you terrible thing, you. Terrible thing, you. Terrible thing, you. Beautiful thing"

TW: Strong Language, Mild Sexism

People were never an obstacle when it came to the things Shinsou wanted. He’s aware that others would do anything for him if he played his cards right. The right words with the right question did wonders for him. So why the fuck couldn’t he have what he wanted when it came to you? You drove him up the wall with the kindness you showed him. He didn’t deserve it and you’re existence almost felt like a punishment from whatever deity that existed out there to make him suffer. You guys were suppose to be studying for your upcoming project that required a poster, a slide show, and one influential person that would help prove your projects point. You left him running circles within his own mind as to how you were so willing to challenge him. He wanted you to obey him not see through his bullshit. It wasn’t like you didn’t listen to him vent, or didn't give him attention, but he wanted to hold you under his control. To be the person you listened to.

In class you where both seated on the extreme ends of the room on opposite sides. You never realized this (you do), but his head would periodically turn towards your direction to look at you, to figure you out (liar). This time, you managed to catch him do it.

“What are you doing?” You asked plainly. You honestly didn’t care that he was staring, everyone does when you dress like you're attending an MCR concert in the middle of autumn.

“You look different....today.”

“Nice.” It was difficult to care. Shinsou was just some guy in your class that you had to deal with. Nothing special really....ok, maybe it wasn’t fully true. You didn’t really know him all that well or anything (Unless it was mocking and belittling everything you did, that was normal behavior for him so it wasn’t surprising to find out he was like that outside of campus.) but he wasn’t all that bad? If he cared for himself a bit more, hygiene wise he would be considered handsome or at least a competent human being (you weren't going to call him a man, men don't act this childish. At least the ones you knew.) Maybe then you would take his opinion seriously, but for now you’ll ignore his...interesting comments he's been throwing towards you today.

“It’s rude to ignore someone when their talking to you, you know?” The neutral face he had now possessed a frown and a furrow to his brows. You still couldn’t process how he took the time to make sure his hair stayed purple but didn’t care for his body odor. (This man dyes his hair purple yet cant bother to shower or use deodorant for once in his life.)

“I’m not ignoring you, I’m just not interested in anything you have to say.” With that you get up and take your things and leave. There was no point in wasting time on someone who couldn’t even look at you directly and had to also sneak glances at you. "Do I really look that unbearable?" you thought to yourself. In the end you didn’t care anymore, everyone was entitled to an opinion and the last thing you need is feeling self conscious because of your out of place classmate.

Shinsou was fuming. How the fuck did you just get up and leave his ass while he was trying to complement you. You should have been more appreciative that he was giving you his attention for once. A bitch like you wasn't even worth it so he doesn't understand why he even tried with you.

He never goes directly home after school but instead to the local theater. It was one of the few places where he could be around others and could genuinely be himself. It was weird, he didn't feel like himself when he was speaking with his "friends", friends that he's never spoken to verbally, never seen, and never would meet. He knew that he didn't deserve this, to have a safe haven when he acts like an ass, yet here he was.

"Good morning Shinsou! How are you? Are you ready for rehearsals? You did remember to read your lines, right?" Shinsou rolls his eyes at his theater mates antics. Monoma never seems to stop but he does know when to tone it down and when it comes to Shinsou he tones it down a bit. (Because Monoma is canonically considerate of others, look back the Sports Festival and the Joint Training Arc.)

"Im good man, yes i did read and memorized the script, dont worry about it." What an odd friendship, the most chaotic gentleman like man out the bunch with the quietist incel in the group. Shinsou should have seen it coming when he was adopted by Monoma but he's running on 2 to 4 hours of sleep so he doesn't really care.

Believe it or not Shinsou does take showers (only for theater) but very quickly and with no care (no shampoo or soap, fucking why man.) Theater means more to him and so making his character look the best they possible can was his first and foremost priority. He puts on his costume, gets to makeup (the minimum, because it's "gay" for him to wear makeup and since the world is unfair and cruel he has perfect skin for a greasy headed asshole.)

"Everyone get a move on! Kodai, Tsuburaba, and Awase! Go to stage left! Light techs, how's it up there?" One of the tech heads shouted out. Shinsou and Monoma got to their positions on the stage and the rehearsals began.

Love, the play was about love. Love that wasn't rejected but also not accepted. He didn't understand the concept fully. Was it romantic? Platonic? Familiar? Admiration? He loved his dad, but he mostly admired him. He worked long hours and middle resents him for not being there for him, yet he realizes that his dad works to give him the world, a home with all the things he wanted. He never had a mother so he never had parental or familiar, again his dad was there but he wanted a parent that would hold him when he came back from school everyday. He didn't have a girlfriend, so he doesn't know romantic. So far all of his characters where villains, or evil in some way. He was starting to get sick of them. Shinsou wanted something more, wanted to play a character that wasn't how everyone saw him as on his day to day life. He wanted a challenge, he wanted....affection. Just to show it. He wanted attraction. Just to abuse it. He wanted...love. To just...maybe...feel...enjoy...understand it.

"You terrible thing you. My love, you're so cold. You've left me hanging on every one of your words. You've made me loose my self, lose my self-control because of you!" He pours everything into his performance, his loneliness, his regrets, his experience. He's been told by his co-performers and directors that he has a great future in the arts, in theater. If he just took care of himself more he would be an amazing actor, not only incredibly talented but also attractive. He would have the world kneeling, bowing to him just from his words alone. He could have anything he wanted just because of his existence.

" You've made me do things i don't want to do...for you." Kodai stands there looking horrified. He's covered in blood, the blood of her lover, the one she left him for.

"No, i-i didn't-"

"YOU MADE ME-MADE DO THIS FOR YOU! You terrible, terrible, terrible thing! You beautiful thing, I've done this for you!...and you still cant and won't love me." He doesn't see Kodai anymore. It's not her face he sees, nor her voice that he hears.

Its you...its your voice. You. You looking back at him while he slowly lowered himself to kneel and crawl towards you. It's you who backs away from him as he starts to cry and hiccup.

"You wreck me, you made me. You leave me in your wake, please let me go!" He sees you and feels you grabbing his wrists back, pushing him into himself.

"Don't you ever let me go...."

You terrible beautiful thing, you.

And here we are again. This was a lot fun to write since it feels more concrete when it comes towards his personality and his full thought process. In many cases people like Shinsou just want attention or some sense of validation, which there is nothing wrong with wanting those things but it's more about the manner you go about it. You shouldn't pressure or force others to spend time with you, but there is always someone out there that will like to give you those things.

Tag list: @blossominglark

86 notes · View notes

quinncupine · 3 years

Text

Taken Chapter Two: A little Help

Chapter word count: 5,983

Link: A03

Relationship: Izuku Midoriya/ Reader

Notes: This is part of the first fanfiction story I ever wrote earlier this year. I decided to post them on here so please excuse the janky writing. I had no idea where I was going (still don’t) with this. Anyways, it was a blast to write, so please enjoy!

Previous Chapter: One

Next Chapter: Three

MASTERLIST

...

Izuku couldn’t even tell All Might what happened, not over the phone anyway. He was having trouble forming the words, it didn’t even seem possible but his worst nightmare was quickly becoming his reality. All he could do at the moment was stare at the small crack in the floor, covered in your blood.

Izuku dropped to his knees and hung up the phone, not even bothering to say goodbye, he could apologize later, when you were back in his arms, safe. Thinking about this rationally was becoming harder and harder when his head just kept filling up with the horrors he could imagine were being inflicted on you, because of him. Him! The one person in the world that you should have been able to rely on and when you needed him most, he failed you.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there in a trance, but eventually a hand gripped his shoulder and All Might knelt next to him.

“Young man.” He whispered gently.

Izuku couldn’t bring himself to look at All Might, not when he failed as a hero, no, as a husband. “Y/N.” He choked out. “She’s gone...kidnapped.” He barely managed to utter the last words.

All Might was quiet for a moment, digesting the news.

“Stand up.” He directed him. “You can’t wallow in the past. You’ll find her, after all, there is no finer hero.”

Izuku swallowed the lump in his throat and stood up, finally meeting All Might’s eyes, they were full of pity and steely anger. Izuku had introduced you to All Might years ago and ever since then, just like all his friends, you were able to worm your way into their hearts.

He tried to blink the tears out of his eyes without success. “I wasn’t here, I was supposed to be here.”

“Come here,” All Might dragged him into the living room. “I’m calling Tsukauchi. Stay here."

Izuku stood back up the moment All Might tried to make him sit on the couch. “I can’t just sit here and wait All Might, I need to go look for her.”

“Do you know where to start looking?” He asked, phone to his ear.

Izuku opened his mouth but closed it again. All Might was right, he didn’t know where to start but that only further dragged his guilt and fear deeper into the abyss. All Might left the room to talk, leaving Izuku standing there, alone with his thoughts again.

He glanced around the room, his eyes landed on a framed picture of the two of you sitting in the entertainment center. He walked over and picked it up. This one was newer, only a few months ago, when the air was still reasonably warm. You loved your date nights but the only problem was the fans and paparazzi that would follow your every move. So, a few years ago you came up with the idea of incognito dates. He was up for whatever you had in mind and in no time you had him dressed up in the most ridiculous disguise, but he got his revenge in your costume. You both looked absolutely ridiculous. It was one of his favorite moments with you.

Izuku must have been staring at the photo for a while because when All Might stepped back into the room, Tsukauchi was standing behind him. Last year, he was finally promoted to chief of police, and Izuku had fostered a good relationship with him. He was one of the few people entrusted with the secret of One For All.

They walked back into the kitchen, surveying the scene as Tsukauchi explained that he came alone because he didn't want to send word to the station yet, he feared it would cause bigger problems if the public found out that the number one hero’s wife was kidnapped right out of his own home. No, better to keep this private. Bring in guys he could trust, speaking of which, All Might had called one more person.

“Oi, tell me what the fuck I got called here for!” Bakugou called from the entryway.

Izuku leveled a glare at All Might but he just squeezed his shoulder.

Bakugou walked into the kitchen looking pissed. “Someone better explain why-” He stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the crack and the blood on the floor. “That yours?”

No one said anything. Izuku watched Bakugou as he put two and two together.

“Y/N?” His expression softened, just slightly.

It might be hard to believe that you got along with Bakugo but he’d mellowed out a lot over the years, humbled, marginally, as he landed himself in the number two hero rankings. He still acted all pissy whenever Izuku was involved but when he met you, you tossed back whatever he threw at you. He would never admit it but he was surprised Izuku had actually managed to find someone like you.

Bakugou crossed his arms. “Well someone better fucking explain!”

They all turned to Izuku but he was afraid if he spoke, he wouldn’t stop himself from crying. Instead, he elected to lead them to the monitor to see for themselves. They watched the video, the small office growing tenser and tenser by the minute.

“How’d they get past the alarms? I thought you upgraded security after last time.” All Might asked.

Izuku quickly flipped through ground footage but he couldn’t find anyone outside. They only seemed to appear on the interior cameras. It must’ve been a quirk but what kind? If they could narrow down quirks, they could narrow down suspects.

Tsukauchi examined the footage, leaning in close. “See here, it looks a bit distorted. It either has to be some sort of cloaking quirk or technological. Can I download this, I’d like to examine it further.”

Izuku nodded and copied the footage onto a hard drive.

“They wanted you to see it.” Bakugou finally spoke up behind them.

“What?” Izuku almost forgot he was there, he’s never silent.

Bakugou grumbled and rolled his eyes, pushing Izuku out of the way. He stopped the video at the end when Blondie waved to the camera. “She knew you would watch, they’re baiting you. They weren’t trying to hide, they want you to track them down.”

“Do you recognize any of them? Any of the features stand out to you?” Tsukauchi asked.

Izuku rubbed his head. “No. I’ve fought a lot of villains. A lot of people want me dead but no one’s tried to target Y/N. Not like this anyway.”

“Not like this?” All Might asked.

Izuku stepped away from the monitor and took a deep breath. “She’s received death threats before.”

“What?” Tsukauchi and All Might exclaimed together.

Bakugou narrowed his eyes. “Did she know?”

Izuku looked at him. “I tried to keep them from her. She didn’t need that on her plate, it’s already stressful enough for her.” He rubbed his face. “She did find out, but I don’t think those people would actually act on it. I made sure they wouldn’t be able to.”

“I’m going to get started on this.” Tsukauchi excused himself. “For now Midoriya, please stay here, at least until we know more.”

“What? I can’t stay here! I have to go look for her.” He stepped away from everyone as if they would try to restrain him.

“You don’t know where to look dumbass,” Bakugou growled. “We need to find a lead first.” He turned away from them, pulling out his phone. “I’ll call some contacts.”

Tsukauchi left, All Might escorted him out while Bakugou walked away to make his call. That left Izuku standing alone, staring at the still of the woman in the gas mask waving at him. The only thing distinguishable about her was the messy blonde pixie cut; the mask and loose dark clothing covered everything else.

What was he doing? He was a hero, he couldn’t let everyone else do this for him. It was his fault, he needed to find her, to save her. With a grim frown, he snuck downstairs, through the back door and flew off, literally.

The problem occurred to him when he landed on a building near the town center that he didn’t know where to start looking. There were a few villain gangs that covered this territory, nothing happened here that they wouldn’t know about, but there would be no way that Deku would be able to talk to them without starting a fight and he didn’t have time for fights.

Deku.

That was another problem, he had left his hero garb at the office, his spare suit was at home in his closet, neither of which he was currently at. He could stop back at the office but Shoto was most likely still there and he wasn’t sure if he could face him, on the other hand, he would feel more confident wearing the suit, especially if he had to face off against villains.

It was decided, he would stop at the office and try to avoid anyone at all costs. It wasn’t too far either, just a few blocks south. He leaped off the building and in no time, landed on the roof of his own office. Through the roof access and down a few flights of stairs and he opened the stairwell door into his office floor. It was nearing five and most of the desk jockeys had clocked out by now. That left only a few sidekicks and...Shoto, who was still in Izuku’s office, filing the paperwork he’d shouldered him with.

Izuku took a deep breath and straightened himself, trying to look calm and natural but he looked more like a stiff board as he walked through the office. Shoto turned around when Izuku entered looking slightly surprised that he was back.

“Just came back to get a few things.” Izuku’s voice sounded strained, even to himself.

Shoto stared at him without saying a word as Izuku opened the little closet in the corner, pulling out a fresh costume.

“Where are you going?” He asked, setting the papers down.

Izuku bit his lip. He was torn between telling Shoto and not. Shoto would want to know and help any way he could, which would be useful but he also had this growing sense of shame bubbling in his belly and the thought of telling someone he looked up to how hard he had failed...well he might just break down right there.

“It’s-” Izuku clenched the fabric in his fingers and lowered his head.

Shoto got the message and closed the door and lowered the blinds, getting a few strange looks from some of the passing sidekicks. Then he waited for Izuku to continue.

A few deep breaths and Izuku finally turned, tears streaming down his face. “She’s been kidnapped, from our own home.”

That news took Shoto by surprise, his eyes widening slightly. “When?”

“This morning.” He ripped the suits from the closet and slammed it shut. “I should have known something was wrong! I should have, I should’ve been there for her!”

Shoto took a step forward, trying to figure out best how to console his friend. Izuku let the tears flow freely now, he didn’t care about shame anymore, all he cared about was finding you.

“Have you called the police yet?” He finally asked.

“Tsukauchi knows.” Izuku nodded. “I called All Might and he called Kacchan.”

“Why would he call Bakugou?” Shoto asked.

Izuku wiped his eyes. “Kacchan is good at finding people, if he wasn’t a hero, he would’ve made a great detective.” He dropped the suit on the desk chair. “Besides, he and Y/N are friends, he wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to her either.”

“Well, she’s my friend too.” Shoto narrowed his eyes. “You should’ve called me."

Izuku only nodded. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking clearly, I just need to find her.”

Shoto was about to say something else when Izuku’s phone rang. He scrambled for it and answered with a quick “Hello?”

“Oi, dumbass, where the hell did you go?” Bakugou barked on the other end.

“Kacchan, did you find anything?” Izuku put the phone on speaker so that Shoto could listen as well.

“Of course I did.” He growled. “Get your ass to the Dandoran District. Block nine.” He hung up.

“Dandoran? That’s just across town.” Izuku unbuttoned his shirt. “You want to help, get your suit!” He yelled.

In a matter of minutes, the two of them were back on the roof. Izuku wasted no time in grabbing Shoto and leaping off the building. Dandoran was halfway across the city, they would take too long in the traffic and Izuku was much faster airborne. Shoto grumbled as they were launched into the air but didn’t protest.

It took all of seven minutes for them to arrive at the edge of the district. He landed on an unassuming building in block nine and looked down.

“There.” Shoto pointed.

Leaning against a street sign was Bakugou, better known as Ground Zero when in costume. He was staring up at an unimpressive building before him. It was slightly smaller than the rest surrounding it and seemed to be under construction.

The two met him at the doors. Ground Zero glowered as Shoto walked beside Deku.

“What’s half and half doing here?” He crossed his arms.

“I’m here to help,” Shoto said simply. “What are we doing here?”

Ground Zero looked up at the decrepit building. “One of my sources said they spotted three suspects fitting the descriptions dragging some cargo into this building. Two men and one woman.”

“How long ago?” Deku started for the building but Ground Zero roughly pulled him back.

“five hours. They might’ve left or this might be a trap. Think this through fucking nerd.” He glared at Deku but Deku glared right back.

“I know it’s a trap but I can’t just leave her in there. Stay here if you want, I’m going in.” He shook Ground Zero’s hand off his arm.

“Deku, think about it,” Shouto spoke up. “You’re always the one with a plan, don’t be rash now and risk the both of you.”

That stopped him. He was right, going in without a plan would be reckless and foolish and might get you hurt. He took a shaky breath and examined the building again. About ten stories, all of which the lights were off or blinds covered the windows. On the upper floors, most of the windows were boarded up. They could go in through the roof but they didn’t have a floor plan and they didn’t know which floor you might be on if you were even in the building. They only had the three of them, unless Bakugou called for backup, which was unlikely.

“Two possible escape routes,” Deku put his hand to his chin as he thought it over. “Possibly more we don’t know about. We need to block the roof and the ground floor, in case they try running. Someone needs to keep watch out here. We could launch a double assault but that would alert them, or we could sneak in but we have no way of communicating with each other...” Deku continued to ramble until Shoto grabbed his shoulder.

“I brought these.” Shoto held out three small communicators. “I figured they would come in handy.”

Deku took one and secured it in his ear. “Okay, I think I have a suitable plan.” He looked to Shoto. “I need you to stay out here. Freeze the exits on the roof and ground floor. Kacchan,” He turned to him. “You take the first floor, I’ll start at the top, work your way to the middle. Radio if you find anything.”

Bakugo nodded stiffly, obviously not liking to take orders but he also knew when to take things seriously.

Deku bent down, ready to jump. “Kacchan.” He whispered.

“I know, just get your fucking ass up there.” He said.

He entered the floor, keeping low and a sharp eye on any sort of movement. The building wasn’t all that big and this floor was still being remodeled. Big sheets of plastic swung slightly in the slight breeze from one of the unfinished windows. Buckets of plaster sat unused in the corner and half the floor was torn up. He made a wide arc around it, not sure how stable this floor actually was. That’s when he heard it, a soft drag of something on the floor and a small huff. He stiffened and crouched lower, trying to target where exactly the sound came from. Across the room, he heard a sniffle and risked peeking over a half wall.

Deku took a deep breath and jumped, easily clearing the building and landing lightly at the top. He took in the surroundings, nothing out of place, but the door at the top was locked. As quietly as he could, he ripped the lock off and cracked the door open. It was dark inside. He slipped in and shut the door, sealing him in darkness. Outside he heard the familiar sounds of Shoto’s ice trapping him in.

With slow movements, he made his way down the stairs, feeling for each step until he came to a landing. The top floor. He opened the door enough to peek inside, it was dark as well, except for the bits of the evening sun trying to slither through the boarded windows. He listened for any sounds but heard none. He debated whether to check the rest of this floor or keep going. The exit was blocked but he also didn’t know what kind of quirks these guys could have.

He saw black plastic peeking out from behind another half wall, some sort of material that could’ve been a bag big enough to fit a person. His spirits raised and he had to take all his willpower not to rush over. He had to be very careful, one wrong move and you could get hurt, or worse.

As quietly as he could, he made his way over, swiveling his head to keep vigil. Just a few more feet and he was there. The bag shifted and a small puff of a groan sounded. He leaped around the wall, hands held out in defense of whatever was waiting on the other side.

“Freeze!” He yelled and scared a homeless man so bad he almost wet himself.

“I’m sorry! I just wanted a dry place to sleep!” The man crawled out of his sleeping bag, quickly gathering his things.

Deku’s hopes fell and he dropped his hands. “No, stay here.” He glanced around the room. “Did you see anyone enter the building? Hear anything unusual?”

The man stopped and looked up at Deku, his eyes widening in recognition. “You’re Deku! What are you doing here?”

Deku forced himself to remain calm. “I’m looking for someone. Have you seen anyone enter this building, or leave it?”

The man shook his head. “Sorry, I’ve been sleeping, didn’t hear nothing.” He hesitated with his stuff. “I can stay?”

The man nodded fast. “Thank you.”

Deku weighed his options. If he did end up in a fight, the building would be a danger zone but if this man left, he could alert the villains. Also, the exits were blocked.

"Stay here for now, but leave the moment you hear anything, got it?”

Deku left the man and headed back out into the stairwell. He checked the next two floors with painstaking cautiousness. He hadn’t heard from Ground Zero, which meant he must have been coming up empty as well.

On the seventh floor, he entered the room and slipped along the wall. These floors were finished and it would be harder to navigate the cluster. It looked as though someone had stuck all their unwanted junk here and left it to rot. Halfway through checking the room, Ground Zero's voice crinkled in his ear.

“We got runners, coming up on you fast!” He yelled.

Deku made for the door but when he opened it and stepped out, something slammed the door shut on him and he was sent sprawling into the closest pile of junk, everything toppled over on him. He cursed and dug his way out.

He kicked the door open, looking around murderously. He heard feet pound up the stairs above him. With a burst of speed, he chased after them. Whoever they were, they were fast. On the door to the rooftop, the one sealed shut with ice, he heard a crash.

Below him Ground Zero was sprinting up the stairs, yelling a slew of insults at the runners. Deku rounded the last flight and saw an enormous hole where the door used to be. The chilly fall air rushed in and in the last vestiges of the sun, he saw two people running across the roof.

“Stop!” He roared but they didn’t listen.

He propelled himself out of the stairwell and plowed into the man on the right, the one with the bright blue hair. The two tumbled over each other, Deku landing on top with the man’s arms pinned behind him. It was the same man from the video, the one that smashed you into the floor, the one who hurt you.

“Where is she?” He snarled, pulling the man’s arm back painfully.

The man grunted but refused to speak. The other man, the one wearing a black trench coat turned, pointing a gun at an oblivious Deku. He was about to shoot when Bakugo sailed into him, pummeling him into the concrete.

“Die!” He screamed.

Deku glared down at the man he’d pinned. “You have three seconds to tell me or I break your arm.”

The man stayed silent and Deku pulled back the arm, eliciting a small whine from him but he refused to speak.

“Fine.” In one swift motion, he broke his index finger and the man bit his lip. “There are a lot more bones to break, believe me. Talk.”

The man closed his eyes. Deku narrowed his own and broke another finger but the man only flinched.

“TELL ME!” He screamed, breaking his wrist.

The man finally cried out and looked up at him. Deku moved his hand to the elbow and was about to break that too but when he made eye contact with the man it felt like someone stabbed him in the eyes. His vision went completely out and he loosened his grip on the man. Blue Hair took the advantage and bucked him off.

Deku fell backward rubbing his eyes but his vision was gone, he couldn’t even tell light from dark, everything was black. A fist connected with his jaw and he slammed into the ground. The tables turned and now the man was on top of Deku, slamming his unbroken fist down on his face. Deku held his hands out to block the barrage of the fists and took a moment to collect his thoughts. He needed to focus, to hear where the man was. He listened and grabbed the fist that was headed for his head, twisting so hard he heard the snap and the man flew off him. He took a deep breath and pushed himself off the ground, listening around him. Bakugo was still fighting the other man but the air smelled weird. He didn’t have to see to know it was gas, most likely the same gas that affected you.

Pulling his mouth guard up he whipped his head around at the sound of Bakugo’s explosions and headed that way. “Ground Zero sto-” Deku tried to warn but a huge blast sent him sprawling across the graveled rooftop.

The gas only added to Ground Zero’s blast. Everything was quiet for a scary moment, Deku had no way of knowing if everyone was okay or not. His skin felt singed. He pushed himself off the ground with a groan, the sharp gravel digging into his palms.

Across the roof, he heard Ground Zero yelling at someone. That was a relief, that meant he was still kicking. Deku made his way over to him, navigating by sound until he ran straight into Ground Zero.

Ground Zero shoved him back. “Watch it.”

“Where’s the other one, the girl?” He asked. “There were supposed to be three.”

“The bitch wasn’t with the others. It was just these two fucking idiots.” He said.

Deku rubbed his eyes again, his vision was slowly coming back into focus but not enough to see clearly. “Did you find anything out?”

Ground Zero kicked the unconscious villain. “No, they refused to talk.”

Deku huffed and looked at Ground Zero's blurry outline. “Is Shoto still down there?” He gestured to the edge of the building.

He glanced over the edge. “No.” He flicked his communicator. “Hey, bastard! Where did you run off to!”

Static filled the comms unit and Deku’s stomach flipped. Something had to have happened down below but his eyesight was coming back too slowly to tell. Just then, his phone rang. He shuffled around his pocket until he found it and answered.

“Hello?” He asked stiffly.

He heard labored breathing. “Izuku!”

That was your voice.

“Y/N!” Izuku pressed the phone into his ear trying to hear you better.

There was what sounded like a scuffle and you grunted. “I’m do-” You started to say but the sound of something heavy dropping cut you off.

“Stop, you cant!" A woman yelled before your shouts were muffled.

He called your name again but instead of your voice, a high pitched metallic squeal tore into his ear. He staggered back, dropping the phone and clutching his ear. The metallic whine only seemed to grow louder before Ground Zero snatched the phone and turned it off.

“The fuck was that?” He inspected the device.

Deku caught his breath bringing his hand away from his ear. It was sticky with fresh blood, that much he could tell. His ears were ringing and he felt himself talking louder than he needed.

“I don’t-” A powerful force kicked him in the back and sent him flying off the building, too stunned to react.

His vision was still blurry and the sun had set, which meant the only light sources now were the street lamps far below. His quirk didn’t want to cooperate with him, which meant he was falling helplessly down to the unforgiving cement. He tried desperately to activate his quirks but they simply refused. The ground came closer and closer and his breath hitched. If he hit the ground from this height, well, no more Deku.

“Kacch-” He yelled out as his back hit something cold and the words were pushed back into his throat.

A large icy construct formed a curved wall for him to slide back safely to the ground. He tumbled out on the concrete and looked up. Shoto was staring up at the roof, breathing heavily, holding his shoulder.

“What’s going on up there?” Shoto helped Deku stand.

“I don’t know, I still can’t see that well.” He rubbed his irritated eyes again.

“Still?” Shoto asked.

“A quirk, he left me blind for a while but it’s coming back. Ground Zero is still up there.” He looked back at Shoto. “What happened to you?”

“It was an ambush, they were waiting for us to arrive.” He gestured to the number of bodies lying unconscious on the sidewalk. “I was coming to assist you.”

Deku nodded, flexing his hands. His power was still not working but why? Someone had to be canceling it out, but how and where? He glanced around but it was too dark to try and find someone lurking in the shadows.

On the roof, a series of explosions were set off, no doubt the work of Ground Zero. That meant he was fighting someone else.

“We have to get back up there, can you give us a lift?” Deku turned to him.

Shoto blinked and nodded. From his feet shot a pillar of ice that boosted them into the air, high enough that they easily made the jump to the roof. On the roof was a nightmare, about twenty more people had appeared and surrounded Ground Zero who was barely dodging all their attacks but what worried Deku the most was the slowness with which he moved. Normally, Ground Zero could move quite fast when he wanted to, but right now, he was sluggish and took a hit every so often.

“The gas!” Deku touched his mask. “It’s not dispersing!”

Gas was still coming off in waves from Trenchcoat, even though he appeared to be unconscious. He knew from experience that the gas was flammable, which meant Ground Zero couldn’t fight properly, not without accidentally incinerating his teammates.

Shoto pulled out a mask of his own and quickly fastened it to his face. The two heroes jumped into the fight. Even though Deku couldn’t use his quirk didn’t mean that he couldn’t fight. He was a terrifying foe, with or without his powers. For years he had honed his body and his skills, he wasn’t the number one hero for no reason.

The rooftop was becoming crowded now, more and more foes were filling up all the available space, leaving little room to move freely. Where they had come from was anyone’s guess. Different quirks shot out from everywhere, some even hitting their allies but Deku managed to dodge them for the most part.

After what seemed like hours but really only mere minutes, the black-clad foes were subdued. Bakugo bent over, breathing heavily but swatted at his teammates when they tried to help. Deku stared at the sheer number of people lying on the roof, where did they come from? They couldn't have all been hiding in the building could they?

Deku looked at the various wounds he’d received, minimal at best but it didn’t comfort him to know that his power still wasn’t coming back but at least his vision was back. Shoto picked up Deku’s phone that was lying forgotten near the short wall.

“Thanks.” He took it back and examined it, the screen was cracked but it was still working.

You managed to call him which meant that you were awake, alive and lucid enough to fight back. But what caused that awful noise? It must have been whoever you were with. He called back the number, shifting on his feet as he listened to the ringing. It rang once, twice, four times before someone answered.

He froze, not expecting that. No one said anything, but he knew someone was listening, he could hear the small even breaths on the other end.

“Y/N?” He asked softly.

A long pause before a man's voice chuckled. “She can’t come to the phone right now, you’ll have to leave a message.”

Deku grit his teeth and had to mentally tell himself to remain calm. “Who are you?”

“Me?” The man sounded amused. “Oh, no one special. But I suppose you could call me, hmm, let’s go with Kioshi. Yeah, that’s got a nice ring to it, wouldn’t you say Deku?”

“Where is Y/N?” His tone was deadly calm.

“Oh, if you’re worried she’s hurt, don’t be. I’ve been taking the absolute best care of her. She would come to the phone but I’m afraid she’s a little busy at the moment. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Kioshi said.

“Wait!” Deku broke his calm. “Why did you take her?”

“All in due time my boy, all in due time.” He hung up the phone.

Deku stared at the phone, willing the man to call back but he didn’t. He tried to call again but was sent directly to voicemail. He paused and listened to that all too happy voice telling him to leave a message, his chest tightening so much he had trouble breathing.

“Deku?” Shoto said, bringing the hero out of his stupor.

“Kioshi, he said Kioshi.” Deku muttered and called Tsukauchi.

Tsukauchi answered straight away. “Midoriya.”

“Does the name Kioshi mean anything to you?”

There was some shuffling on the other end. “Uh, not at the moment. Why? Is that the one that-”

“Yes. Please, if you find anything on that name, tell me right away.” Deku said.

“Of course.” Tsukauchi hesitated before going on. “You’re okay, right?”

The green-clad hero sighed, dropping his gaze. “Just let me know what you find and...thanks.”

He hung up and looked at the other two staring at him. Ground Zero was strangely silent this whole time but now that Deku could see clearly again, Ground Zero looked really pale and was swooning slightly. The gas must have affected him more than they realized.

“I’ve alerted the police, they should be here any moment...” Shoto's sentence trailed off as he looked around again.

The unconscious enemies were all gone. Deku rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing right but it was true, every one of them, except for the two they chased onto the roof, were just...gone.

"Someone's messing with us." Ground Zero finally growled out.

Deku frowned, the people they were fighting felt so real, how was it possible to just disappear without sound, to the degree that they didn't even notice.

"It must have been the gas." Deku finally said. "It was an illusion.

“An illusion that fights back?” Shoto asked.

Deku looked down at his bruised hands. He could feel his power surging through him once again. Whatever had happened, it was temporary. Now that the fighting was over, his body felt tired and overtaxed but he couldn’t get the call out of his head. This wasn’t a normal kidnapping, he didn’t even seem to want anything. There was no ransom or some sort of demand of him. He’d assumed this was because of who he was but was that still the case? No, it had to be, you lived a normal life, or as normal as you could have with Izuku as a husband.

Trench Coat groaned and slowly blinked open his eyes, coming face to face with two enraged emerald eyes. The man struggled to get free but Deku held him fast.

A groan broke him from his thoughts. Lying near his feet was Trench Coat, he twisted in on himself as much as he could with restraints tying his hands behind his back.

“Hey,” Deku growled, pulling him up by his collar. “Who do you work for?”

“Don’t make me ask again.” He threatened.

The man pulled his head as far away from him as he could, but he refused to talk.

“No one has spoken a word yet.” Shoto pointed out. “I tried to question those below but received the same result.”

Deku growled and threw the man back on the ground. “I’m searching the building again.” He stalked off, leaving Shoto and Ground Zero standing there.

“Whoever these jerkwads are, their boss has ‘em wrapped tight around his finger.” Ground Zero finally spoke up, glaring at the spot Deku disappeared through. "I've never seen him act like that before." He murmured the last bit.

Shoto brought out his own phone. "I think we should call in help on this case.”

Ground Zero crossed his arms, staggering slightly but he caught his balance. “People you trust.” He muttered. “People he trusts.”

Chapter 3

265 notes · View notes

mcwriting · 3 years

Text

The Marriage Project (11)

I'm baaaaack :) Sorry it's been so long y'all but I'm finally on break so hopefully I can push out more content soon! Pls enjoy!

Masterlist

Word Count: 2130

Warnings: little bit of language, mild mentions of alcohol

% approximately the last weekend of October/first week of November %

Sunday, you went wedding dress shopping.

Kinda.

It was for homecoming court. Your school had a tradition where the ladies in the running for queen wore white wedding dresses, so your mom and you went out in search of one.

You’d already gotten your dress for the actual dance weeks prior, so you started at the same store.

It didn’t take long for you to stumble upon one you liked, a slim a-line that accentuated your muscles and curves. There was a draped neckline and a somewhat low back. The entire dress had a grecian feel with the small silver accents dusted across it.

The second you put it on you fell in love, so you made the purchase and set off for shoes, easily finding a pair of heels that would put you at a similar level with Tom.

The next day, you made your way to class for another round of praise and congratulations for the tournament that weekend. The trophy was already sitting in the school display case, the plaque yet to be made with your school’s name and the year.

It was spirit week, so everyone was dressed in clothes that fit the day’s theme.

All morning, people were coming up and asking you about the tournament and homecoming, many of them pledging to vote for you.

Things felt nice.

You and Tom didn’t talk much throughout the morning, but exchanged a few jabs and laughs here and there.

Later, you sat around the lunch table with your girlfriends as usual, this time discussing the homecoming nominations.

“Y/n, there’s literally no way you won’t be queen. I’ve talked to a ton of people and all of them are saying they’re gonna vote for you,” one of them said.

“Aw shucks, you’re making me blush. Obviously I’d like to win queen, but we’ll see. It’s whatever. If Harrison wins king I’ll drop out.”

“As if. No one even likes him. I’m pretty sure he was voted in as a meme. Everyone knows Tom is gonna win,” Alexis stated. “And if Tom wins, you’ll win too with everyone thinking you’re together.”

“Hmm. I honestly hope Tuwaine gets the vote. He’s so sweet and totally deserves it.”

“I think we all know you’d prefer Tom as your royal counterpart,” one friend suggested, causing you to roll your eyes.

“How many times do I have to tell you guys! Nothing is going on! On another note, though, I got my white dress,” you mentioned, trying to steer the conversation away.

“Really? Let us see!” Caroline exclaimed.

“Ah, ah, ah. I’m saving it as a surprise for Friday. The only person who’s seen it is my mom, and it’s staying that way until the parade.”

You continued talking about the upcoming festivities and your excitement for the week, and the announcement of who would be crowned queen Friday at the pep rally.

That afternoon, you went to study hall with Alexis. Now that you were between sports, you had a free period to go do art, work out, or just “study,” so you chose the latter as a way to take a breather from everything that had been going on.

“So tell me everything about Johnny’s this weekend. Loved the costumes,” you started as you plopped down at two desks in the very back of the room.

“Not much to report. We mostly just hung out but I heard one dude had to go get his stomach pumped or something after the cops got there. We dipped out before it was busted because it was obvious they were coming. Now how was your weekend, since we’re finally alone?”

You thought about how much you’d actually tell her, especially considering that you hadn’t told her really anything about yours and Tom’s interactions in past weeks.

“Pretty good. It was mostly just volleyball.”

“Oh yeah? What all went down with Tom? Anna told me you seemed pretty close.”

Your face burned.

“We hugged after winning the tournament. Not a big deal. Oh and we maybe kinda pretended to be a couple Friday night.”

“What? You didn’t think to lead with that?!”

“It was for like a minute while we went up the elevator. This drunk couple was harassing us so we just played along for a little bit. Whatever,” you shrugged.

“Did you do anything couple-y? Don’t tell me you guys kissed.”

You tried not to cringe before somewhat telling a lie.

“I kissed him on the cheek and he put his arm around me. I swear it was nothing serious, Lex.”

“Hm. I still think you’ve gotta be hiding something, but I just don’t know what. And I’m gonna get to the bottom of it.”

Good luck with that. I’m not about to crack yet.

Spirit week continued with people coming up to let you know their votes had been cast for you. The voting ended Thursday so that votes could be counted before the pep rally.

When Friday did hit, you woke up early and tucked your volleyball jersey into some jeans and tossed on your letter jacket, as the day’s theme was school colors and jerseys.

You popped on some mascara and lip gloss, then headed to school, becoming more nervous as you got closer.

The pep rally would be right after lunch, but almost everyone was so excited for the weekend festivities that teachers basically gave everyone a free day so that the students in charge of the event could continue their planning and the athletes could prepare for the rally.

The pep rally was mostly for the football game, but they were also going to recognize the volleyball team’s accomplishments, so you prepared for that and the whole homecoming court thing.

In home ec, Mrs. Flynn let those that needed to help set up for the pep rally eat your lunches in class and then leave early.

You and Tom finished about the same time and went to your lockers to grab your things.

“Ready to win?” Tom asked as you walked towards the gym.

“Nope. You?”

“Yeah, actually. Maybe it’s just because I love winning so much.”

You gave him a little shove as you continued walking. Tom had his jersey on without the pads, so it fit big on him. You admired the way it draped over his thin, toned frame.

A bit later and the pep rally had begun with the dance team doing their routine, then came athlete recognitions.

They started with the volleyball team, calling you all out to the basketball court to wave as everyone cheered. After you all, the cheer squad hyped everyone up for the football team to come out.

You stood in a corner of the gym with Zendaya, as they would be announcing the homecoming court next. You both talked a little bit, but things were somewhat awkward.

Finally came the time to announce the winners. As with nominations, things went in order from freshman to senior, eventually reaching the king and queen announcement. The six of you stepped out onto the basketball court, the pit in your stomach bigger than before.

“Alright ladies and gentlemen, I know that this is the moment you have all been waiting so patiently for!” Mrs. Johnson looked around the bleachers at the cheering students, holding up her paper with everyone’s positions.

“We’re going to start with our third place, the duke and duchess of homecoming! May I have a drumroll please!”

Everyone stomped their feet and clapped.

“This year’s duke is Mr. Harrison Osterfield, and the duchess is Daisy Ridley!”

Cheers went up, not completely enthusiastic for the pair. You felt a little bit of satisfaction knowing the people you liked least had gotten third place.

“Now for our runners up, the prince and princess!” She paused for effect. “Tuwaine Barrett and Zendaya Coleman!”

More cheers rang out than before. Your jaw dropped as you looked at Tom.

“And that means that your senior king and queen are Tom Holland and y/n y/l/n! Congratulations to all of you. Can’t wait to see you at the parade, game, and dance!” Mrs. Johnson called out, dismissing everyone back to class.

Someone came and placed the crown on your head and slipped a silver sash which read “homecoming queen” over your body. You couldn’t help but slap a hand over your mouth.

“What did I tell you! I knew you’d win!” Tom exclaimed, holding out his hands. You so badly wanted to hug him, but decided not to in front of the whole school, at least not until tomorrow night.

Your friends rushed up and congratulated you, fawning over the crown and sash and laughing. Before you left, you had to return the two items to a teacher so you would have them for later that night.

As you left school that afternoon, you felt like you were floating on air.

You were back at the school later that evening, the game just over a couple hours away. There were families lining the street prepared to watch the parade make its way down.

Since leaving the school before, you’d put your hair in loose curls and done a full face of makeup. You tossed on some sweats and zipped up your varsity jacket, taking your dress and shoes along in the car to change there.

You waited until the last minute to slip on the outfit, causing people to fawn over you when you stepped outside to see everyone who was waiting.

Someone pinned the crown to your head and helped you slip on the sash, then led you to the convertible where Tom was waiting. You’d get to ride around sitting on the back waving like you’d always dreamed of doing.

Your heels clacked on the sidewalk as you confidently stepped. Sure, you didn’t wear heels much, but you sure knew how to work them.

It felt like slow motion when Tom turned around and you saw each other for the first time. He was wearing slacks and a sport coat and his curls were perfectly placed around his own crown. You both gasped a little.

“Y/n! You look… you look like-”

“Let me guess. A princess?” you smirked, raising a brow.

“I was gonna say queen.”

You rolled your eyes and chuckled, giving him a little shove. He helped you climb into the back of the car, and someone went to hand you his letter jacket.

“What’s this for?” you asked.

“Usually if it’s cold the queen wears her partners’ letterman over her shoulders if he has one.”

You thought about it. It was pretty chilly, after all.

“You don’t have to wear mine, y/n. Did you bring yours?” Tom asked, making you smile.

“Yeah, actually. I did. Would someone mind going and grabbing it from my stuff? It’s just inside.”

One girl ran and brought it back in a few minutes, and Tom helped drape it over just your shoulders.

“That’s more like it,” he said, giving you a smile as he fixed the neck.

A few minutes later, the cars and floats began moving and families cheered as you passed, waving with a smile on your face.

You and Tom talked to each other quietly as you looked around both sides of the street. When you reached the end, someone had you pose for a couple pictures in the daylight before the football players headed off to get ready for the game.

This was not only homecoming, but senior night, so they all wanted to be on their A-game.

Different people came up to congratulate you and you took pictures with friends, family, and even a few little kids. You were talking with the girls when you felt a hand on your shoulder.

You turned around to find the Holland family, including Nikki’s parents and a woman you assumed to be Dominic’s mom.

“Well I sure am glad to see that people have some decent sense around here,” Grandma said, giving you a warm smile. You gave her a hug then greeted the rest of the family.

“You look beautiful, dear. Congratulations,” said Nikki as she gave you a squeeze.

“Oh, y/n, this is my mother,” Dom explained, gesturing to another elderly woman.

“Just call me Nana, dear. I’ve heard a lot about you.” You smiled as she held your hands in hers.

“Thank you! Tom’s told me about you, too.”

Nikki shot some pictures of you with their family. It felt weird to be in their photos without Tom, but also comfortable, like you’d known them your whole life. You had to hold back a laugh when you took one kissing Paddy’s cheek and making him blush.

Eventually your parents also came over and talked to them, and everyone made their ways to the stadium.

A/N: omg it's been way too long since I updated TMP! I just wanted to pre-warn that next chapter will have the heaviest themes of this story. It will have adequate warnings but I want to make everyone aware!

Thanks for reading!

Send a message or ask if you’d like to be added to my permanent or series taglists so I can verify you’ve been added!

Story tag list: @jackiehollanderr, @one-big-fangirl, @l0lmk, @primadonnasdream, @bookworm06, @thenoddingbunny-blog, @agentnataliahofferson, @spider-babe, @stxfxniexreads, @justafangirlduh, @supraveng

#the marriage project #tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #tom holland imagine #tom holland au #tom holland series #tom holland fic

59 notes · View notes

seasonofthewicth · 4 years

Text

kings and queens

a smutty rowaelin halloween oneshot

(if smut isn’t your thing you can still read, just finish when Aelin says ‘you’)

my masterlist

------

The clear gems on her crown shone in the dim, evening light. She had found the crown a week ago in a thrift store and the moment Aelin had seen it she knew it was perfect. It rose up from her golden waves to reach three peaks, the middle slightly taller than the two either side, and they were each topped with shimmering imitation diamonds. A far better find than any useless piece of trash she could have found in a costume store.

Aelin didn’t do costumes by half. The dress she wore was a deep red velvet, with a corset style top that helped to give her chest a boost and a gold lace trim that she knew would draw the eye. It had a short but flowing skirt that hit mid-thigh, showing a peek of the border of her thigh high stockings. She had painted her lips a bold red to match the dress and her eyes were lined with heavy black.

Dressing up as a queen for Halloween didn’t mean she had to be a maiden.

Aelin always went all out for Halloween, but her costumes were never gimmicky. She could find a way to make the dorkiest of ideas sexy to make sure she felt good and more importantly, looked hot.

“You ready?” She heard her roommate and best friend Lysandra call. “Aedion just texted asking where we are.”

Aelin grabbed her small shoulder bag off her bed, her only out of character item for the evening, and left her room to meet Lysandra in the hallway between their rooms. They shared a small two bedroom apartment off campus, it was far from luxury, but it was their space and she loved it. Since meeting Lysandra in her first year of college she hadn’t lived with anyone else.

Lysandra was leaning against the wall, fully dressed in her own costume. She wore a dress with a tight green bodice and a short but full skirt that flowed as she moved. Her hair was piled atop her head in a messy bun and her make-up was peachy and subtle. Tinkerbell.

Aedion had invited them to the party he was hosting in his own house off campus that he shared with a few roommates. Aelin had spent most of her first and second years at college tucked away in that house spending time with her cousin and his friends, she loved his friend Fenrys who shared her appreciation for all things devilish and she had been close with his other housemate Dorian. She and Dorian had shared a mutual attraction but had quickly moved past it to become as thick as thieves and he had been one of her best friends.

The time she spent there had plummeted in her third year when Dorian moved out after his graduation and Rowan Whitethorn moved in, filling the spare room. Aelin hated Rowan Whitethorn with a burning passion. He was arrogant, hot-headed and spiteful, all traits she despised.

The first time they had met she had thought they could have been friends, he got along well with Aedion as did she, but he had opened his mouth to let her know his thoughts on the opinions she had shared in a political theory class she hadn’t even known he was in, and that had been it.

Since that day she noted his presence in the same class, and they would share verbal barbs and taunts every week. She knew it made the other attendees of the class uncomfortable and even the professor leading the sessions seemed at a loss with the sparring students. Aelin couldn’t even understand why they would argue, no matter whether or not she agreed with his point the sound of his voice, the rich and swirling Wendlyn accent would set her off.

Aedion had tried to bridge the gap somewhat, playing moderator to their fights whenever they crossed paths, but ultimately even her easy-going cousin couldn’t fight the fire Rowan made her burn.

She knew he would be there tonight, but she wouldn’t let him ruin what was predicted to turn into a great night, especially not on Halloween when she looked so good. Aedion’s teammates from the football team would likely be there, and it wouldn’t take her long to find someone to distract her from Rowan’s presence.

------

The music at the party could be heard from down the road, and as they walked up the path she took in the decorations in the front yard. Someone had strung spider webs through the branches of the twisting tree in the corner and there were fluorescent lights shining orange and green in all directions. There were people in all kinds of costumes spilling into the street as she and Lysandra battled their way into the front door.

They edged their way into the kitchen, pushing past groups of already intoxicated revellers to fix themselves a drink.

Once in the kitchen a loud cry caught their attention.

“Ladies!” Fenrys shouted to them, his voice booming over the music. He reached them and tugged them each under an arm, pulling them into an extravagantly painted but otherwise bare chest.

“What are you?” She yelled.

“I’m your dreams come true,” He gave her shoulders a squeeze as she and Lysandra both rolled their eyes at his proclamation. Fenrys was an ass but they loved him for it.

“Have you seen Aedion?” Lysandra yelled in his ear as she twisted to search for a cup and a drink.

“So desperate to leave me when you’ve only just arrived?” He raised a hand to his chest in mock offense but released them and turned to find them each a drink.

“The vision of you is burning my eyes so bad I’m desperate to get away,” Lysandra told him as they accepted the drinks he handed to them. Fenrys only stuck his tongue out at her, seemingly too drunk to bother trying to come up with a better response.

“I think he was in the main room with Rowan and Lorcan.” He told them before saluting them and venturing back into the throng of moving bodies.

Aelin raised her glass in a toast to Lysandra before taking her first sip and tugging Lysandra to find her cousin.

It only took a minute to spot her cousin, his golden hair spilling out of a small brown cap tucked onto the top of his head. She took in the green tights and tunic before sending a sharp glance at Lysandra. She hadn’t known they had planned a couple’s costume, but one look at Aedion told her he was clearly the Peter Pan to Lysandra’s Tinkerbell.

She took in the two males stood next to her cousin, opposites in their exterior, light and dark, Rowan and Lorcan. Lorcan had made the safe choice, a black mask pushed up onto his forehead the only part of his Batman costume that was out of place.

The sight of Rowan Whitethorn had her blood boiling. He wore a deep green velvet cape and a glowing golden crown atop his silver locks. She was going to kill him, how dare he come as a King to the same party she was dressed as a Queen.

She was vaguely aware of Lysandra slipping up to Aedion and Lorcan’s brief greeting and dismissal as he sought out his crush, Elide, before she was marching up to Whitethorn and hissing in his face.

“What are you wearing?” Her voice was tight.

“Hello to you too, Princess,” He drawled, tipping his chin down to look her directly in the eye.

“I’m not a princess,” She snapped, feeling her anger bubble in her throat. “I’m a Queen.”

“You look like a princess to me,” His voice was as smug as the smirk that spread across his face, showing rows of straight white teeth, canines flashing in the light. He reached a hand up to poke at her crown. “Especially with your little tiara.”

She slapped his hand away. “It is a crown!”

“Sure it is, Princess.” He was making her blood pound in her ears, the sounds of the party fading into the background and she stepped closer to him again, trying to crowd into his space, no matter the fact that he towered over her. She took a deep breath in, readying herself for the barrage of insults she could throw at him when a voice behind her pulled her out of the spell.

“Aelin, hi!”

Aelin turned her head to the side and spotted the source of the voice. Feyre Archeron. She and Aelin had shared an art class in the previous year and Feyre had been a natural, painting with smooth strokes of her brush where Aelin was all pointed jabs.

Failure in her artistic endeavour aside, Aelin liked Feyre, and she knew Aedion ran in the same circles as her boyfriend Rhys.

“Oh hey,” She smiled at Feyre with a small wave. Feyre seemed to take a moment before approaching, glancing between Rowan and Aelin.

It was then that Aelin noticed their proximity. Her body was fully pressed against the length of Rowan’s where she had managed to back him against the wall. The hard planes of his body sending an aura of warmth into her. Their faces were close enough to share a breath as she leaned up and he down. An outsider could easily assume they were lovers, and to Aelin’s horror it seemed an outsider did.

“I didn’t know you guys were together!” Feyre exclaimed and Aelin’s mouth dropped open. “And a King and Queen costume? Gods, such a great idea, I’ll have to tell Rhys for next year.”

Aelin couldn’t find the words. Her and Rowan? Her eyes flicked to his face and he seemed in a similar state of shock, pink lips slightly parted as he stared at Feyre.

When neither of them spoke Feyre blushed and before Aelin could find words she had disappeared into the crown. Aelin immediately took a step back, putting space between herself and Rowan, trying to ignore the way her body moaned at the lack of contact. It was Rowan rutting Whitethorn for Gods’ sake.

He seemed in a similar state to herself, arms frozen where they hovered at his sides, and she glanced around desperately seeking Lysandra but her and Aedion were gone.

“Fuck you,” She spat at Rowan and turned on her heel, pushing through the crowd, putting some much needed space between them and ignoring the way she desperately wanted to turn back.

------

She spent most of the party slipping between groups of people she knew, refilling her drink each time her cup emptied. She didn’t see Rowan again and spent at least an hour catching up with Yrene Towers and Manon Blackbeak in a toilet.

She shook her head, laughing at the unusual combinations alcohol and loud music could bring out in people. She was still yet to see Lysandra and Aedion again, poking her head into each room and looking for her best friend.

Once back at the kitchen, having searched each room she resolved to take a look outside, musing that as long as she spoke before she arrived she’d be unlikely to stumble upon anything she wished she wouldn’t have to witness between her cousin and best friend.

“Lysandra?” She called, wrapping her arms around her body as the chilled October air bit at her skin.

There was no response from her best friend, but a male voice reached her as she tucked the door shut behind herself.

“Unlucky for you, Princess, I’m the only one out here.”

Just her rutting luck. Rowan Whitethorn leaned back against the wall of the house, the butt of a mostly burned cigarette dangling between his fingertips. He threw it to the side as she took a step closer to him.

“Stop calling me princess,” She snapped, crossing her arms across her chest. She didn’t miss the way his eyes darted down to her chest, lingering a second before dragging themselves back up to her face.

“Why would I do that,” He pushed off from the wall taking a single step closer to her, “When it suits you so well?”

She rolled her eyes. “Suits me how?”

“Well, I think most people would probably describe princesses as spoiled and entitled.”

Despite his close proximity she unwrapped her arms from her chest and flashed him her middle finger. His own hand came up as fast as a flash of lightening, to grab her hand and wrap her fingers up in his own as he tugged slightly, knocking her off balance and she stumbled into him slightly.

“I’m not spoiled or entitled.” She mumbled, unable to draw her eyes away from his lips, now close enough that his warm breaths washed across her face.

“I’d beg to differ, Princess. Seems to me like you always get what you want.”

Her breathing had quickened, coming in short pants and gasps where he had her pressed against the cold wall of the house. His hand still wrapped around her own, burning her skin where he touched.

“I don’t always get what I want.” She whispered as he leant into her even further, bracing his free hand against the wall by her head. He cocked his head at her words.

“What could you possibly want that you haven’t got?” His voice was a seductive caress against her neck where he tilted his head down.

She didn’t let herself break eye-contact, her unyielding gaze staring him down.

“What I want,” She began, voice weak.

“Mhmm,” He hummed, the sound sending vibrations through her own chest.

“What I want is for you to take that damned costume off. I’m the Queen.”

He laughed; a dark sound filled with promise.

“Princess,” He drawled. “If you wanted me to take my clothes off you only had to ask. Don’t pretend it’s about some dumb costume.”

She gasped, frustrated to no end that he always managed to rile her so. Always left her speechless, her mind swimming with rage. Her body drowning in arousal at his closeness. Fuck.

She stared him down, his body now pressed along every inch of her own as he blocked her into the wall. His eyes flashed to her lips and she couldn’t hold herself back from doing the same. He seemed to be warring with himself, his expression pained as he stared into her eyes.

She took a breath, begging herself to do something, anything, but she was frozen.

A beat passed, and then he crashed his lips to hers.

He kissed her as furiously as he argued, his hand grasping her face hard and plunging his tongue into her mouth. She gasped and twisted her fingers into his hair in response, holding his face to her own, and she registered the clunk of his crown hitting the floor. Good.

A fire spread through her veins as he kissed her, taking control and owning her completely. She allowed him, opening her mouth to him greedily as he nipped at her lips. She knew they would already be swollen.

He kissed her as if she was a prize to be won, as if he needed to or he would shatter. The desperation spreading through his hands as they roamed her body, slipping down her sides and back up to lightly brush the undersides of her breasts with his thumbs and back down again to tug her hips against his own.

He slid a thigh between her legs, and she writhed against the pressure, letting out a small cry as the sensation sent a jolt through her entire body, finishing with a flood of heat below her bellybutton.

He drew back with a gasp, panting. He only got as far as she let him, her fingers still twisted through his silver strands as he pressed his forehead against her own.

“Fuck.” He growled, tucking his chin to bury his face in her neck. She tugged at his hair, begging for him to do more than just press his lips gently against the soft skin of her throat. “What is it that you want, Princess?” He asked again.

She tugged his face back to meet her gaze, vaguely aware of her crown slipping from her head as she looked up at him.

“You.”

------

Back at her apartment he crowded her against the door, his heat behind her and a delightful pressure against her lower back had her fumbling with her keys in the lock. She had managed to shoot Lysandra a quick text letting her know she was leaving, knowing her best friend would be safe with Aedion when Aelin left.

When Aelin left with Rowan Whitethorn. Shit.

He had been a storm she hadn’t seen coming, kissing her with a passion that burned all the way to the soles of her feet. He pressed her back against the door once they were inside, leaning down to kiss her hard and fast. His tongue lavishing sweeping strokes that lit a fire inside of her.

He pressed his knee between her legs and this time she didn’t hold herself back from rocking against it, letting out a breathy moan as she pulled back, tilting her head back until it hit the door with a thud.

He pressed hot and wet kisses down her jaw until he reached her neck, nipping and sucking his way down. The sensation sent her wild, drawing short gasps from her lips with every press of his tongue and scrape of his teeth.

His hands burned a path down her side, not stopping with a brush against her chest this time, instead wrapping her breast in one of his large hands and squeezing sharply. She bucked her hips against his thigh as he rubbed a thumb across her nipple. Rowan let out a dark rumble of laughter at her reaction and did it again, timing it perfectly with a swipe of his tongue up the side of her neck.

He bent down slightly, sliding a hand down her thigh until he reached the crook of her knee and straightened, wrapping her leg around his waist and pressing his hips firmly into the gap he had created.

She let out a moan, slamming her head into the door again as he pressed his lips to hers again. The pressure of his hips was firm, burning against her core, and his lips were relentless as he licked into her mouth aggressively as she fisted her hand in his cape.

She pulled back, panting.

“You need to take this off.” She yanked even harder on the cape and he grinned, hands leaving her leg and chest to loosen the clasp at his neck. He didn’t stop there, reaching down to the hem of his shirt and pulling it off his body in one sharp motion.

Her mouth went dry at the expanse of tanned skin now exposed. His chest was covered in firm muscle and down his left arm swept a swirling and intricate tattoo. She traced a line across his shoulder with a finger, transfixed by the beauty of his body.

His hand flashed out to grab her by the chin, tilting her face up to look at him.

“You too, Princess.”

His fingers left her chin, trailing a torturously slow path down her neck and across her chest to rest at the knot at the top of her corset top. The sheer possession in his touch had her grinding her hips against him, desperate for any kind of relief.

Undeterred, he slowly wound one of the laces around a finger and bit his lip as he took in her heaving chest. Her skin was flushed as her heart pounded beneath.

Torturously slow he pulled the string, unravelling the only closure of her top. His deft fingers loosened the ties as the red fabric slid away to reveal her heaving chest and full breasts. His dark eyes devoured the exposed skin and his tongue darted out to moisten his lower lip.

His head ducked down as he slowly wrapped his lips around a peaked nipple, tongue swirling around the sensitive flesh. Her head fell back to the door again as she moaned and her hand flew behind her, trying to find any purchase on the flat surface.

He hummed against her skin, the vibration sending sparks down to her core. His thumb found her other breast, flicking her nipple hard. She groaned, pressing her hips into his own, becoming desperate.

She laced her hands through his hair as he looked up at her, lips still around her, and she groaned pulling his head up.

“Bedroom, now,” She said breathlessly as she pushed him away from herself and pressed away from the door, dropping the rest of her dress to pool around her feet. Rowan was silent as he took her in, his eyes trailing a burning path from her face to the tips of her toes.

At the sight she trailed a feather-light touch across the front of his trousers where they strained against his hardness. He groaned at the touch, his head tipping back and the vein in the side of his neck straining.

“Bedroom,” He growled and grabbed her by the waist.

------

Rowan laid her down on her bed, having lost his trousers along the way. She lay bare for him, only a thin pair of black panties prevented her from being exposed entirely.

His head tilted as his predatory stare assessed her.

“You look so good like this Princess,” his voice was raw as he crawled up the bed between her legs, resting his weight against her body and pressing her into the mattress. “We really should find you that tiara again.”

She rolled her eyes but tugged his face to hers. Pressing her lips against his firmly, his short stubble scratching against her cheeks in the most delicious way. He braced a hand by her head, supporting his weight, and the other brushed down her body, starting at the base of her throat until his index finger pressed gently against her centre.

He let out a moan at the dampness of the dark fabric and he swiped a long stroke over the line of her folds. Aelin bit her lip, trying to hold in the moan that his electric touch elicited. Her hips shifted at his teasing, raising them to try and press further into his touch, but he only laughed against her lips.

He nipped her lower lip, the pressure almost painful, but it sent another wave of arousal through her.

Slowly he slid his finger beneath the fabric, pressing a finger into her and the heavy pressure had her fisting her hands in the sheets. His tongue swept into her mouth again as he pumped his finger inside her, slipping a second in a moment later. His thumb came up to press against the apex of her thighs, the friction sending sparks through her entire body as he swirled his thumb against the sensitive bundle of nerves.

She broke away from the kiss to moan, twisting her face to the side, unable to focus on anything other than the sensations he was creating. The delightful pleasure his fingers were creating as his mouth pressed hot, open mouthed kisses down her throat.

“Please,” She gasped, and she felt his lips against her neck curve into a smile.

“Please what?” His voice was playful as he teased her, pulling his hand back leaving her clenching around air.

“You know what. Dick.” She snapped, tugging his head up to look at her.

“Now, now, princess,” He carded his fingers through her hair, twisting them into the strands at the base of her head before pulling hard. “Remember to use your manners.”

She gasped again, back arching off the bed to press her body against his. He ground his hips against her own, the hard length of him catching against the spot she needed most.

He nipped at the skin on her neck before pulling back, tugging her panties down her legs, wasting no time before shucking off his own briefs revealing the full length of him to her. Her eyes rolled back at the sight.

He tucked himself back between her legs, pressing the tip lightly at her entrance. Her hips bucked up as he grabbed a hold of her chin.

“Condom?” He asked, his voice low.

“I’m on the pill.” She breathed, rolling her hips, urging him to hurry.

He groaned, lining himself up and pressing into her as he crashed his lips to hers.

Her mind cleared at the sensation, thinking only of where he filled and stretched her. The brief flash of pain sinking into a burning pleasure. He paused his hips, allowing her to adjust, but still pressed his lips to hers. His togue sweeping into her mouth.

She sank her nails into the skin of his broad shoulders, urging him to move and he eagerly obliged, snapping his hips into hers with a force so strong the bed crashed against the wall, rhythmic thuds in time with his thrusts.

Her skin was on fire as he pounded into her, drawing breathy moans from her throat as she clung to him in desperation. Rowan’s hands tightened on her hips, owning her with his touch as he moaned low in her ear and nipped her lobe with his teeth.

Rowan tugged one of her legs up to tuck it over his hip, changing the pace and thrusting into her wildly. Aelin clung to him, fingernails pressing crescent moons into his shoulders as his hands dug into the flesh of her thighs.

His pace became frantic as he brought one hand around between their bodies, swirling his thumb over her clit. Her breath hitched in her throat as he growled.

“Come on, Princess.”

His words sent her over the edge, shattering around him with a cry. She felt him increase his pace and he bit sharply into her shoulder as he came sending another wave of pleasure through her.

He ghosted his lips over hers a final time as he pulled out gently before lying next to her on the bed and pulling her into his side, wrapping a broad arm around her shoulders. She pressed her face to his chest, hiding her satisfied smile.

“I still think you’re a dick,” She muttered eventually, interrupting the easy silence.

His laughter rumbled through her, shaking the bed they lay on.

“That’s okay,” He said squeezing her hip. “I still think you’re a princess.”

#rowaelin #rowaelin smut #throne of glass #rowan whitethorn #aelin ashryver galathynius #rowaelin oneshot #rowan x aelin #halloween rowaelin #this got way out of hand i can only apologise for the length #aedion ashryver #lysandra #lorcan salvaterre #fenrys moonbeam #throne of glass fanfic #i'm sorry i'm too drunk to deal with tags but i'll do them in the morning

243 notes · View notes

thr-333 · 4 years

Text

Mismatch- Part 8

Bio Dad Bruce Wayne Month 2020

Meeting your Dad! Again!

First< Previous> Next

----------

“She’s ok,” Marinette informs Marion, rechecking her bruised forehead.

“Already called the cops and ambulance,” Marion bounces a crying baby in his arms, humming a random tune.

Marinette nods, she doesn't try to move the lady. She leaves her to check that the goon who attacked the mother was still securely tied up, even if they were unconscious. The baby's cries calm, replaced by giggling as Marion makes faces. Marinette smiles at the scene. Hearing the quiet touch down of feet behind her she pivots coming face to face with the Batman.

“Who are you,” He demands in his usual growling voice.

“We-”

“Shush!” Marion hisses as the baby starts to wail again.

Marinette rolls her eyes, trying not to feel nervous that Marion told the Batman off.

“We’re just passing through the city, and decided to help out a bit,” Marinette explains, as Marion walks up to stand next to her.

Marinette checks the entrance to the alley. More out of habit than actual concern. Someone she assumes to be Robin by the costume was blocking the way out. As If Marion was going to make a break for it holding a baby.

“This city-”

“Uh! No, no, no, I need that to stay on thank you,” Marion interrupts him, trying to gently stop the baby from pulling down his mask while holding both up.

Marinette can practically feel the irritation rolling off Robin. Batman surprisingly seemed to be perfectly fine with being interrupted, likely because the baby was very cute. Marion manages to keep his mask up, holding the baby down and away from his face now.

“Um… sorry…. Please continue,” Marinette turns back to Batman. Marion bouncing the upset baby, trying to make up for his lost toy.

“This city is dangerous, it already has plenty of protectors, you aren’t needed here,” Batman looms over them, as if just his presence would make them instantly agree and send them packing.

“Really? Then where were these ‘protectors’ five minutes ago?” Marion snaps, the tension in the air sets Marinette on edge all to aware of negative emotions, “If it wasn't for us these two would be dead,”

“We had our eyes on the situation,” Robin speaks up for the first time.

“While we were doing something about it,” She had lean't not to let anyone discredit you in her early time as Ladybug. Marinette meets Batman's glare, channeling her inner Ladybug to do so. “Even if you could have saved them, it doesn't change the fact we did , also-”

“No, no- wait these are dirty, ah!” Marion exclaims, all eyes turning to him. Marinette watches in disbelief as he completely ruins the moment trying to wrestle his gloved hand away from the baby’s open mouth.

“Could you maybe not?” Marinette hisses to him. He breaks free pulling his hands away from the reaching baby, who starts to sniffle.

“These gloves have touched the buildings, alley floor and punched that guy, which by the looks of it is the dirties of all, I am not about to let this little one get anywhere near those germs,” Marion finishes, pulling off his gloves with his teeth. Giving the baby his fingers to happily chew on.

“You are such a mother!” Marinette hisses, snatching the glove he couldn’t put down with his hands full.

“Thank you,” Marion says once he is free to. Marinette isn’t sure if he meant the insult or taking the glove, probably both. He turns to Batman, as serious as a person being eaten by a six month old can be. “Look, the point is we helped people tonight and isn’t that what matters?”

“Not if-” The sound of sirens in the distance interrupts Batman again, “Let’s discuss this on the roof,”

With that both Batman and Robin deploy their grappling hooks and are gone in a matter of seconds.

“I guess we follow them?” Marinette turns to Marion, “They’re rather confident we won’t just leave, aren’t they?”

“They could catch us easily,” Marion shrugs, “You follow, I’ll drop this little trouble maker off,”

“If you insist,” Marinette leaves him before the vehicles park outside the alley, scaling the building.

“Your friends not joining us?” Batman asks as soon as she flips onto the roof.

“What was he meant to do?” Marinette tries not to seem out of breath, this was easier with a yo-yo, and magic powers, “Leave the baby on the floor?”

Batman doesn't say anything. They peer over the edge of the building, watching as the cops and medics show up. The cops seem cautious of Marion, but don’t do anything as he holds the baby. Marion ignores them talking to the medics instead as the check over the mother. Marion follows them out of the alley. He tries to hand off the baby to one of the medics but it starts crying loudly enough that they can hear it from the roof. Marion takes back the baby, calming it down in a matter of seconds.

“I think this could take awhile,” Marinette informs the company, still keeping an eye on the people below.

“Then I’ll ask you again,” Batman turns to her, “Who are you?”

“Like names?” Marinette asks, getting a curt nod, “Don’t have any, can’t decide,”

“You don’t have codenames?” Robin scoffed, Marinette wasn’t sure she liked his tone.

“We get by just fine without any,” Marinette watches as Marion starts talking with an officer, as the other pushes the goon into the car.

“You are completely unprofessional,” Robin spits out, thats it.

“Oh excuse me, I wasn’t aware there was a hiring facility for vigilantes, whats their motto, ‘vigilantes: we took the law into our own hands and beat people up in dark alleyways, but if you aren't named after a flying animal you are being unprofessional!” Marinette may be a little overtired and jet lagged at this point. Especially since she thinks she heard a laugh somewhere.

“I have formal training,” Robin seethes, “And at least I’m wearing armour,”

“Good for you, you know, I have both those things, just try and shoot me, see what happens, cause I guarantee I- both of us are covered on both accounts,” Marinette challenges, glancing down at the street to see Marion still talking with the officers. She throws in for good measure “You’d think with all your ‘training’ you’d be able to tell,”

With the way Robins glaring, Marinette is sure he’s going to take up her challenge. Good. If that's the only way to get through to them so be it.

“That’s enough,” Batman breaks through the tension, “We will discuss this further when the other one is here,”

Marinette looks down at ‘the other one’ just as the mother starts to wake up. She looks around panicked. Marion rushes to her side still holding the baby. She cries in relief taking the baby from him. Marinette watches as Marion rubs his neck, a gesture she knew as him being embarrassed over praise. With a wave over his shoulder he leaves, scaling up the building like Marinette did.

“I gave the police my statement, since the woman may be concussed, she seems ok but- wow it's chilly up here,” Marion cuts himself off coming to stand next to Marinette

“Your armour isn’t insulated?” Robin sneers, with a pointed look at Marinette.

“Not what I meant, but thanks for clearing that up,” Marion takes in the way Marinette bristles at the comment.

She hands back his glove, still glowering.

“As I was saying earlier,” Batman tries to redirect the conversation, as Marion wipes dribble off his fingers before slipping his glove back on. “Gotham is dangerous, there is no need to put yourselves at risk,”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Marion smiles down at the Mother still holding her baby tightly, “We want to help while we're here, what's wrong with that?”

“You wont be helping anyone if you get yourselves killed,” Robin warns.

“We can handle back alley thugs,” Marinette addresses Robin with a scowl.

“And what happens when it's not, when you run into an actual villain?” Batman asks, the sounds of the car and ambulance leaving in the background.

“We can handle them too,” Marinette says a touch proud, with the confidence that Ladybug always carries.

“You have no idea what you’re dealing with,” The severity to Batman's tone makes his words feel heavy despite being so cliche.

“That's pretty standard at this point,” Marion shrugs, “We’ve learnt on the job,”

“Even so, I won't allow you to risk your lives,” Batman decides, the twins exchange a glance of disbelief.

“You won't allow us?” Marinette asks, “What makes you think we care?”

He seems taken aback, Marinette continues before he can answer.

“The fact of the matter is, we are vigilantes, just like you, if you agree or not we are going to help people,” Marinette preaches, not letting him protest, “Your approval doesn't matter to us,”

Marinette walks past them, followed by Marion. They are about to reach the opposite side of the building when a man dressed in blue and black emerges from the shadows. Nightwing, Marinette recognises the costume, the only costume he's had ever had as far as she's concerned. Nope, she definitely had never found any other horrendous costumes when researching for her designs, nope.

“How long have you been there?” Marion startles, getting a friendly smile, the first friendly smile of the night(baby not withstanding).

“I’ve been listening for a while,” He tells them, “I know you want to help, but we are able to protect just fine Gotham, there's no reason for you to take unnecessary risks, even if you are capable,”

“Even so I-we cannot stand by and do nothing,” Marinette calmly declares, he being the first one to not act like they were clueless idiots, “Not when we are able to help people, and bring a smile to them,"

Nightwing doesn't respond but its clear he has no intention of letting them pass. He doesnt stop them as they walk away to the left side of the building, only to be stopped by Red Robin.

“Oh no, by all means don’t come out all at once or anything, please,” Marion snaps, turning on his heels not even waiting for his speech. Marinette shrugs and follows.

“You should listen!” Red Robin calls, Marinette has to stop Marion from flipping him the bird.

They strike an interesting balance. It was times like this she wondered if the miraculous affected their behaviour, or if it was because of their behaviour that they received their miraculous. They walked to the right side of the building and were predictably stopped once again, this time by Red Hood.

“How many of you are there!?” Marion shouts, Red Hood chuckles. Marion’s anger is only slightly offset by the sound.

“Here? Just me left,” His mirth turns serious “This job ain't all fun and games,”

“For fuck sake! Don’t you think I know that!?” Marion swears, letting Marinette know his patience had finally snapped, “I’ve watched people die, a lot of people, all because I wasn’t good enough! Well now I am and I’ll be damned if I waste that and let more people die when I can do something about it!”

Marinette cringes. She knew Marion still carried the guilt from his earlier days as Chat Noir. The ladybugs always brought people back, but that doesn't change what happened. Marion goes around Red Hood, no one stopping them this time. They jump over to the next roof, getting far away as quickly as possible.

“You ok?” Marinette asks, after they had gone a decent distance.

“Yeah, you?” Marion doesn't quite meet her eye, “I’m sorry for leaving you alone,”

“Don’t worry about it,” Marinette tells him, “Any of it,”

Marion nods, but they both know he will. They continue on with their patrol, less light hearted than usual, memories flashing through their heads.

“We’re being followed,” Marion glances at the direction of their pursuer.

“Ignore them, it’s probably just Robin or something,” Marinette decides, walking in the opposite direction.

They continue on their patrol, going later than they would like because of their follower. It was worth it when they came across another situation in a diffrent alley. ‘What's with this city and alleys?’ Marinette wonders dropping down. They both quickly defuse the situation. Marinette can feel a gaze from above and gives in. When they climb back up from the alley she snaps.

“Are you planning to let us go home tonight, or just keep stalking us?” Marinette asks the empty space.

“Wasn’t planning to, just wanted to see what you could do,” Red Hood walks out from the shadows, Marinette makes sure Marion isn't melting. He is.

“And?”

“You’re completely unprepared,” He shrugs, face hidden by his helmet.

“Great, more lectures,” Marinette turns to walk away.

“No it's not,” Red Hood insists, making her pause, “I can tell you have skill, but you don’t have the tech you need or the support, what are you planning on just walking around the city every night waiting for crime to wall in your lap?”

“This is Gotham,” Marinette accepts the responsibility of leading the conversation. Marion being able to do little more than stutter, probably realising he shouted at his crush about how he weak he is.

“Even so, if you want to help people there are better, more effective, ways to do it,”

“I know, but we don’t exactly have many other options,” Besides transforming, but that was off the table.

“That’s why we’re offering help,” He told them, “Do you want to work with us?”

“What? Why?” Marinette runs the conversation through her head. Wondering when that became an option.

“Why do I want you to? Because you yelled at Batman, and that's hilarious,” Red Hood was probably smiling under his hood, “The others probably just don’t want you to get hurt or something, although Bat's is always looking for new kids to adopt”

“Hm,” Marinette hums, she had to carefully consider their options.

They couldn’t risk revealing any of their identities. However it was also probably a good idea not to piss them all off more. They could use some new gear but they didn’t necessarily need it. The main purpose was to be able to protect their class and friends, now that the Gotham vigilantes knew they were around suddenly showing up wouldn’t be suspicious. They really could get by without the help, it would put too much at risk. Any way you sliced it the answer was-

“Yes!” Marion blurts out, before Marinette can say the opposite.

“What?” Marinette hisses, of course that's when he recovered his ability to speak.

“Great, meet at this location tomorrow night, all the details are on here,” he hands Marion a piece of paper and Marinette swears he internally combusts as their(gloved) fingers brush.

With that Red Hood disappears leaving behind the shell shocked twins, both for very different reasons.

“Why! Why did you say yes!” Marinette practically screeches, turning Marion to face her and shaking him out of his stupor.

“It’s Red Hood! Red! Hood! He asked us personally! We have to do it!” Marion shakes her right back.

“No we don’t!” Marinette yells, breaking away from his grip, shaking her head at the lovestruck look, “Did you actually consider what you were agreeing to? How much did your crush affect this decision?!”

“100%!”

187 notes · View notes

bookandcranny · 3 years

Text

Entertainer in a Minor Key

Pale light filters in through tears in the canvas. Rows of bleachers and folding chairs stand sentinel over a ring of sawdust, where in the center sits a wooden box with a star painted on the side. A prop chest or maybe a crate of old costumes, forgotten like the rest of it. Whoever left this place in such a state must have been in some hurry, Tanis muses.

Curious, she steps into the ring to investigate. The look of that box brushes against another of those deep-down memories and brings to mind a child’s toy chest. The big padlock is a bit atypical though. Mindlessly she reaches for the multitool in her back pocket and kneels to fiddle with it. As she fits it into the lock, the lid props open an inch and a round, blue eye peers out at her from the shaded darkness.

summary: When you’re traveling across the country on foot in a world overrun with every kind of horror movie monster the mind can imagine on an ill-fated quest to go beat up your former boss, it’s important to maintain a sense of humor, as well as an open mind.

content warnings: descriptions of violence and gore

length: about 9k words

The fairgrounds have been long since abandoned by the time Tanis stumbles upon them. A big top tent sways gently in the wind, its candy-colored stripes looking faded and grim under the shadow of the oncoming storm. A loose bit of canvas flaps against the dark mouth of the entryway in a two-four rhythm. Pap-pap, pap-pap.

Tanis’ inclination is to duck inside before the lazy drizzle of rain has the chance to start falling in earnest, but first, the test. Rolling up the sleeve of her flannel reveals a list written on her forearm in black marker.

NO:

Abandoned houses

Dark caves

Graveyards

Wax museums

The last bullet point is underlined. Never again.

“Well it doesn’t say anything about old circuses,” she says to herself. “But that’s probably because I’ve never been to one.”

It’s not what she’d call an inviting looking place, but neither does it seem especially dangerous, and the longer she spends deliberating outside the entrance the colder and wetter she’s getting. With no sign of any other half-decent shelter to be found, she steps inside.

There’s something oddly nostalgic about this place, she thinks. Odd because she doesn’t remember ever going to the circus as a kid. Maybe it’s the smell: wood chips and an unidentifiable sugary sweetness that reminds her of playing on the playground behind the school, the ice cream truck that parked there during the summers, popsicles melting onto careless sticky fingers.

“Oh, um. Hello in there.”

“Please let me out,” a voice whispers from inside.

“Aw, ‘course I will. It can’t be too comfortable in there.” After a tense minute of probing with the head of a screwdriver, the lock springs open. “There we go! How’d you even manage to…”

A bone-white hand crams itself through the gap, fingers skittering spider-like over the clasp. The lid creaks open and from within rises a doll, a slender circus clown with long ball-jointed limbs tucked into its chest, unfolding like the petals of a flower. It’s taller than Tanis by a head at least and its painted face looms over her with an open-hinged smile.

“Ah. I see now.”

“Ooh, thank you thank you!” the doll trills in the voice of a bubbly young woman. She raises her legs out of the box with the wobbly grace of a drunken ballerina, head bobbing above a moth-eaten ruffle collar, causing her eyes to roll from side to side in their sockets like pale marbles.

“No need to thank me. I just popped in to catch a show but it looks like I missed my window so I’ll just be on my way.”

She makes to leave the way she came but the doll leaps in front of her with surprising speed.

“Don’t go yet. Play with me,” she says. “Oh won’t you please play with me?”

Tanis thinks about it, weighing her options. She reaches for the guitar case slung over her back. “Yeah, alright.”

“Really?”

“Sure, it’s been a while since I had a good jam sesh. What do you play?”

The doll freezes, then with the crackling creak of stiff wooden joints it bends its body backwards and begins rifling through the crate. She fishes through frilly costumes, loose kernels of stale popcorn, packing peanuts, and emerges with a bright red toy piano. It makes a bouncy, tinny sound as she strikes the keys.

“Avant-garde. I like it.”

“If you could do me the kindness of turning my key.” She turns around and points at a brass windup key jutting out of a whole in her leotard.

In for a penny, in for a pound I guess. Tanis gives it a few twists. It clicks, spins, and the doll jerks forward, striking a shrill note.

“Oh that feels so much better!”

She lays her rosewood fingers across the piano keys and this time a full, rich sound echoes from the little toy. Suddenly a spotlight shines down from somewhere above them, piercing through the shadows. Tanis’ blinks against the glare. She squints up at the rafters but can’t for her life figure out where the light is coming from.

“Nice trick. You’re a performer of many talents, Ms Clown.”

“Silly! My name is Caroline!”

She nods, strumming a few experimental chords. “Tanis. What’re you doing in a gloomy place like this?”

In lieu of a response, Caroline begins to play faster, and as she plays the circus seems to be transported back in time. The ubiquitous signs of wear and age fade before Tanis’ eyes and the empty tent begins to fill up with cheers and laughter and the awed murmurs of a captivated audience. When she tries to look at them, however, like a half-remembered dream the faces of both the patrons and the other entertainers alike are replaced by churning mass of blurry gray features.

“I was the secret show-stopper, the dancing doll! The ringmaster had me made special. But one day, the show was stopped for good, and I was left alone.”

No intonation betrays her thoughts, yet as she speaks the ghosts of the past begin to fade, returning the tent to its dour state.

Not sure what to say, Tanis replies, “That’s a shame. Is that why you were all shut up in that box?”

She takes her hands off the keys, but the music keeps playing. A new vision appears; the hazy forms of strangers, travelers like Tanis whose curiosity or search for shelter drove them to this place before her. They murmur amongst themselves as they peer and point at the oddity in the ring. Caroline reaches for them and they recoil in horror before vanishing like smoke.

“No one wanted to play.”

Tanis shifts uneasily on her feet. This is awkward. “Aw jeez, I’m sorry about all that. But things’ll look up soon, I’m sure.”

No reply. Tanis’ hands still. She doesn’t really feel like playing anymore.

“Anyway, thanks for the song but it sounds like the rain’s letting up so I better be on my way.”

The music cuts out. Suddenly all is silent but for the quiet clicking of the spinning key.

“You don’t want to play anymore?” Caroline asks softly.

She put up her hands. “No offense. I just gotta keep moving. I’ve still got a long way to travel, you see.”

Once again she tries to leave and once again the doll bars her way. Standing up from the piano she twists her dexterous fingers into Tanis’ shirt collar and lifts her off the ground.

“You can’t go,” she implores. “You mustn’t go. It’s so very dangerous out there.”

Tanis struggles in her grip. “Seems pretty bad in here too.”

“Oh but I don’t want to harm you! I only wish to entertain!”

The spectral spotlights return twice as bright, causing the woman to wince. She kicks at her captor’s wooden limbs. The thing doesn’t so much as flinch.

“Come on now, let’s be reasonable and put-” Thunk. “Me-” Thunk. “Down.”

“You’re quite spirited, Ms Tanis! I’ve so missed having a lively audience.”

She spins her around and pins her up against the bleachers. Sneaking a hand into her back pocket, Tanis pulls out the multitool and jams the knife edge into her side. This at last gets a reaction from her. She makes a small startled noise, closer to offense than pain, and throws the woman to the ground.

The fall itself isn’t bad, but she doesn’t relish the feeling of her guitar slamming into her torso. Tanis groans and pushes herself up while Caroline continues to fret over the pocket knife lodged in her. She pulls and pulls but it's gotten all twisted up in her frilly costume and every seam she tears with her tugging makes her whimper like a distressed child.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Tanis picks up her guitar, the closest thing to a weapon she has on hand, and swings it at her head. There’s a satisfying pop as one of her marble eyes shoots out of its socket and rolls under the stands. The doll bends double with a piercing wail.

“Sorry about this, Caroline. You seemed alright.”

With that, she reaches over and rips the brass key out of her back. The clown-creature slouches, then falls to her knees. The hole in her back oozes with a trickle of something-- not blood, thankfully. Something darker and more viscous, almost like molasses.

Tanis sighs and plops down on the sawdust floor. She’s relieved to find her guitar not much worse for wear in spite of her rough handling, although she’ll need to replace a snapped string. She lays it gently back into its case and fishes out a marker from her sparse bundle of belongings.

NO:

Abandoned houses

Dark caves

Graveyards

Wax museums

Circuses

She rolls the dancing doll’s key around in her hand. After a moment’s deliberation, she lifts the oversized toy up over her shoulder and drops her back into her box. She plugs the smooth chunk of brass back into the weeping wound; Caroline shudders but otherwise remains dormant.

“There we go, no harm no foul,” she tells her limp form. “You rest up now.”

Tanis has come across her fair share of monsters already but rarely has one shown so much emotion. Most of the beasties she encounters don’t seem to know more than the bottomless hunger that drives them. She hasn’t had much reason up until now to consider what they might’ve been before, but now that the seed is sewn, she can’t help but feel a bit bad for the poor thing.

Loneliness is a bitch and to be a performer without any audience is a plight she’s all too familiar with. She remembers the desperation, the despair, the things it could drive a person to do.

With the weight of the case back on her shoulders and the firm earth back beneath her feet, the traveler sets off again.

It feels like she’s been trudging through the mud for an age and a half before she reaches the next human township. Her burdens feel twice as heavy today and she’s eager to find someplace to lay them down if only for the night.

The quaint settlement is surrounded on all sides by a high wooden wall and there’s an exposed duct trailing around the perimeter, the stagnant water turned pink from where the red soil flooded in with the rain. A tired looking soldier waves to her from his perch above the gate.

“Hello down there. What’s your business?”

“I’m just looking for a place to stay the night. If you can point me in the direction of a boarding house or a shelter I’ll be right out of your hair, sir.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I can’t let you in until I know you’re not a monster.”

She scoffs. “You guys get many monsters that look like me?”

“You never know these days. Last month we had some… troubles.” His expression turns dark. “We’re still recouping from our losses, you understand. Can’t take the risk.”

Tanis shrugs. Fair enough. “My name’s Tanis Lahey and I’m a traveling musician.” She gestures to her guitar. “I ain’t got much in the way of money and even less to barter, but I’m not expecting luxury, just a place to rest my head and maybe a hot meal to keep me going.”

“Where do you come from, Ms Lahey? And where are you going?”

“I come from over west; Ohm Town, Oklahoma. Destination: Bigge City.”

The guard scratches his stubbly chin. “That’s a hell of a trip, especially to make on foot.”

“I had a car but it broke down as I was crossing the state line. A pack of ghouls spiked the highway. I dipped out before things could get messy.”

He nods, only half listening, she suspects. She isn’t expecting sympathy for her tale; it’s hardly one of a kind.

“Any weapons?”

“Nothing but my razor sharp wit, sir.”

He levels her an unimpressed look. “What’s your business in Bigge? Family?”

She shakes her head. “Work, sort of. I’m meeting with my manager to renegotiate a contract.”

“Good on you. Good work’s hard to come by these days.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“You said you’re a musician, right? We haven’t got much for music here. There’s an inn in the center of town that’d probably put you up in exchange for a good show.”

He turns and makes a motion behind him for whoever’s working the crank on the other side and the gate begins to rise. The wooden creaking stirs a feeling of discontent in Tanis, too reminiscent of recent events.

“Thanks for the tip, I’ll be sure to do that.”

Finding the inn isn’t hard, considering it’s one of maybe four buildings that’s more than a pop-up shanty. Settlements like this aren’t so unusual: a group of refugees from an infested district cobbles together some cheap homes, a couple municipal buildings, maybe even a business or two, and most importantly, a hefty monster-proof security system. In a few decades if the place is still standing it becomes a destination for those unlucky few like herself who are caught out traveling the wilds and secures a tidy profit in trade and touristry, if you can call it that.

It’s clear however that this particular patch of civilization has hit some hard times, even by the usual standards. It’s almost startlingly easy for Tanis to strike up a deal with the innkeeper: room and board in exchange for a few hours of music in the pub downstairs, or until the night’s patronage dries up, and she even gets to keep the tips.

“It’s been a hard winter,” says the manager. “Folks walk around as if in a fog or else mad as hell at every little thing, just looking for a reason to start a fight. Some music might lift their spirits.”

“That’s what I’m here for, ma’am,” says Tanis. “Just give me a few minutes to tune up and get my things in order.”

She guides her to her room and then leaves her be, telling her she’ll try to get the local rumor mill turning, get the word out about her before she takes the floor. Alone now, Tanis sets her things down on the bed and opens the case, falling on her ass for the second time today when out climbs none other than Caroline the dancing doll.

“You-!” She sputters and looks around for something to put between the two of them.

“Surprise!” The one-eyed puppet throws her arms wide, wiggling her hands for emphasis. “Oh wait don’t-”

Tanis lobs her shoe at her. It hits her in the face, but she doesn’t seem bothered, or else it’s simply that she’s not capable of expressing a very wide range of emotion with her painted on expression and nutcracker-like jaw.

“No no no, don’t be afraid,” Caroline insists.

Tanis reaches down to untie her other shoe. “I’m not afraid, I’m pissed. Serves me right for taking pity on you.”

“It was fairly foolish from a strictly objective standpoint, but also very kind.”

Her narrow shoulders tuck in close, creating an almost sheepish effect.

“Nobody’s ever done a thing like that before. Nobody’s ever taken the time to play a song with me and listen to my story.”

Slowly, Tanis lowers the shoe.

“I don’t mean to harm you or cause you any trouble,” Caroline continues. “It’s only, you’re a terribly strange human, and I wanted oh so much to keep playing with you. I thought to myself, ‘if I can’t keep Ms Tanis from leaving, I’ll simply have to go with her’. So when you weren’t looking I curled myself up all teensy tiny and climbed in with your lovely instrument and away we went! In addition to my myriad musical abilities I also happen to be a fabulous contortionist, you know.”

She demonstrates this by tipping forward and pulling her legs behind her head in a position that would’ve been truly disturbing on a flesh and blood body.

“No wonder my case felt so heavy,” Tanis grumbles, standing up. “Look, sweetheart, you can’t be here. This is a strictly no-monster zone. We could both get in a huge amount of trouble. Not to mention I’m still not positive you won’t kill me in my sleep.”

“Please don’t leave me! We can play more music together! Or, turn my key and I’ll show you another magic trick! We can play cards or do each other’s makeup. I’ll make you look like a tiger.” She shuffles forward on ball-jointed knees, pleading. “You’re the only one who’s not afraid of me.”

Tanis can’t help but smirk at that. “Yeah, well, there’s a reason for that.”

“Oh I know, it’s because we’re best friends.”

She frowns. “No, no it’s… it’s a long story, hon.”

“I love stories!”

“Not a fun story, Caroline.” She shakes her head, rakes a hand through her short curls, growing longer and messier by the day it seems. “I’m not scared of you because I physically can’t fear any fear. Someone took it from me.”

She cocks her head. “Took… your fear?”

“It’s a little more complicated than that I guess. Sort of hard to explain.”

“Perhaps you should start with ‘once upon a time’. All the best stories start like that.”

Tanis sighs through her nose. “Agree to disagree but I’ll give it a shot. Once upon a time, in the far away land of Oklahoma…”

Once upon a time there was a young musician named Tanis. She worked in her parents’ bakery in a town where nothing ever changed, not in summer or winter, not in rain or blizzard or tornado. Even when the monsters came and the natural order of the world was turned on its head, for the most people still went on about their business as usual, just with an added tinge of constant dread, and even that wasn’t off-beat enough to endanger the status quo.

Tanis had big dreams of making it as a rock star and leaving her small world behind, but the people around her didn’t quite see things her way. Eventually she struck out on her own, intent on proving wrong all the naysayers wrong. Unfortunately, talent and raw gusto aren’t enough to make a star, and passion doesn’t pay the bills, as she soon discovered.

After only just scraping by for more than a year, fameless and friendless, she was about to call it quits and head back home in shame when she was approached by a strange gentleman.

He called himself Mr Slyme, which maybe should have been a red flag on its own. But Tanis didn’t care. She was willing to do anything for success and he was promising her not only a paying gig but, if the show went well, an entire sponsored tour.

The very first time she stepped onto that stage she knew she’d gotten in over her head. In their dealings Mr Slyme had failed to mention that she’d be playing for an audience entirely of monsters. Still, if she shut her eyes while she sang the screeches and howling cries didn’t sound so different from the cheers of an adoring crowd. Skin warm from the limelight and stars in her eyes, she knew she couldn’t go back to the way things were, whatever the risk.

Mr Slyme was very pleased with her performance and had her sign a contract with his company right away. After that it was tours and autographs and show after show after show. Time seemed to blur together in a single crashing wave of euphoric adrenalin. She felt like she could go on like this forever.

Then, that last concert. The one where it all went wrong. A darkened auditorium and the metallic tang of blood in the air. She hadn’t thought to ask questions before stepping on stage, and by then it was too late. The ritual was already underway.

It felt as though her hands were not her own. A chant bubbled up from her throat in a voice she could barely recognize. The lights were fiery hot yet her blood ran cold when she heard, above the hysterical clamour of the crowd, the word “sacrifice”.

Tanis was never entirely certain how she made it out alive. Maybe someone up there was still looking out for her, despite it all. All she knew was by the time she escaped she was in a bad state, her clothes in shreds, her hair coming out in chunks, her whole body shaking as the blood cooled on her skin, much of it her own. She got in her car and drove, no destination in mind except home. Facing her family might be the worst part of all, but there was nowhere else to go.

She prayed that it was all over now.

The morning after her final concert Tanis woke up in a motel with a strange feeling of absence, like the tugging in your brain when you can’t remember what you’ve forgotten. She was jolted into awareness by the sound of her phone ringing, and when she answered she was greeted by the sneering, insidious voice of Mr Slyme dripping into her ear.

By refusing to see the performance through, he told her, she’d breached the terms of her contract. As recompense, he had taken something of hers. Something precious.

Tanis wasn’t one to put her faith in the intangible, the mystical. Or, she hadn’t been back then. Even if she had paid proper attention to what she was signing she probably wouldn’t have given the clause very much thought, perhaps written it off as a joke. As it was, the sudden loss of her mortal soul wasn’t quite what she might’ve expected. No demons appeared in her motel room to drag her down into a fiery pit. To tell the truth, she didn’t feel very different at all. Still, something had changed.

As days went by Tanis began to notice herself becoming more careless. She burned herself cooking simply because it didn’t occur to her to not touch the hot pan with her bare fingers. Where pain used to be a teacher now it only made her indignant. The daily dangers of reckless drivers and unfriendly dogs and strangers coming too close to her as she walked down a darkened street no longer gave her any sense of unease. Several times she had to consciously stop herself from walking into a busy crosswalk simply because she couldn’t remember why the outcome might be undesirable.

It may have been more tolerable, she thought, if she simply wanted to die. That’s what people tended to assume of her anyway in the wake of this new affliction. But there was no sadness or suffering in her, not even when she remembered the events of the ritual that she’d thought would scar her forever, only a slow creeping apathy which grew stronger every passing moment.

Against the odds, she did come to relearn fear, the basic mechanics of it if not the actual feeling, and stopped regularly endangering herself in such ridiculous ways. Fearlessness, she realized, didn’t have to equal reckless stupidity as long as she remained mindful of it.

Still, this couldn’t go on forever. Mr Slyme wasn’t taking her calls, naturally, and so she set off for the one place she knew she could find him: the main offices of Slyme House Incorporated.

“So, that’s me,” Tanis finished with a lackluster shrug. “I’ve managed to keep myself in one piece so far but it’s kind of difficult when you have zero sense of self preservation and there are monsters literally everywhere. I’m not sure what’ll happen to me if I die or if I even really care, only I figure if I do kick it I won’t be able to play music anymore.”

She gives her guitar an idle strum as she finishes tuning.

“Music is pretty much the only thing that ever made me really happy. If I couldn’t do that, I don’t know. I can’t feel fear but I can still feel happiness and sadness and all the rest.” She clenches her fist. “Anger too, definitely. I’m angry that I was duped like that, the kind of angry that I don’t think’s gonna let up until I put my fist all the way through Slyme’s ugly face.”

“I’m sure you’ll be quite good at it! You’re very strong.”

Tanis snaps out of her stewing, sparing a guilty glance towards Caroline’s empty left socket and the cracks still faintly visible through the tear in her leotard.

“Listen, I’m sorry about what happened back there. I’m not really used to meeting monsters that don’t wanna, you know, kill and eat me, and my fight or flight response is pretty much just fight at the moment.”

Caroline laughs, or rather, she vocalizes a robotic sounding “ahaha!” that must be her version of laughter. “I would never eat you. I don’t even have a digestive system!”

Tanis presses her lips together. “Right.”

There’s a knock on the door.

“Oh shit, right, I’m supposed to play.”

Caroline jumps up. “I want to come too! Please please pretty please!”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” She pauses, considers. “Unless… do you think you can pretend to be, you know, a normal doll for a while?”

“Pretend? I love to play pretend!” She claps her wooden hands together. “Lead the way, Ms Tanis!”

There’s an itching at the back of her brain that tells her this may be a mistake, the ghost of her good sense hanging on by a thread. But without concern for her own wellbeing her sympathy for the dopey doll takes the reins, and together they take the stage.

It’s a sad crowd, both in terms of size and demeanor. Hopefully, she thinks, they’re deep enough in their cups to not question the windup automaton that stands before them.

“Good evening, folks, my name’s Tanis and this is Caroline the fantastic dancing doll.”

Caroline gives a robotic jerk and bows at the waist. It’s a surprisingly convincing performance, but then, it probably comes naturally to her. A few patrons give an amused chuckle at Caroline’s antics. Tanis takes it as a good sign and begins the first song.

Despite not having the time to rehearse, Caroline manages to play her part well, improvising along to the music the other provides with sweeping, exaggerated movements that hold the crowd’s attention. It’s actually sort of nice, the guitarist thinks, to share the stage with someone else for a change. Even if the “stage” is just the corner of a dingy inn stinking of bathtub booze.

The atmosphere is infectious and after a few songs the crowd has doubled in number, everyone bobbing their heads or tapping their feet along with the music. It feels good. It feels better than most things have felt in a long time.

Halfway through the night Tanis breathlessly declares that they’ll be taking a break. In her excitement, she’d put some more pepper on those last few numbers than usual. The place is packed now, the staff happily passing around refills and lining their pockets.

Caroline pretends to wind down to stop while Tanis takes a seat at one of the tables to recover. A server brings her a glass of water and she downs it in seconds. She makes a point of staying in practice while on the road but she’d forgotten how intoxicating it could be to play for a crowd, and one where no one wanted your head on a platter to boot.

While she flexes her fingers and rolls her neck in preparation for the next set, Tanis happens to overhear a conversation taking place amongst a group at the next table over.

“All I’m saying is, we know what it's after. Why are we sitting around when we could set a trap and finish the thing off once in for all?”

“If you’re looking for someone to be the bait, I call not it.”

“I don’t think something like that can be killed. My grandpa always says--”

“Nobody cares what the old man says, Jonah. I’m telling you, if it bleeds, you can kill it. That’s just common sense.”

“Excuse me,” Tanis pipes up. “Am I hearing you right? You folks are monster hunters?”

If she were looking, she would see Caroline’s head roll to the side, her good eye following her warily.

“Something like that,” says the woman at the table with a rumbling laugh in her throat. “I’m Luanne and this is Phil, and the kid is Jonah.”

Jonah, a young man with rusty red hair, grumbles under his breath. Phil gives her the barest nod of acknowledgment before launching back into his argument.

“I can’t get to sleep at night knowing those things are still out there, lurking around, feeding off our scraps all fat and happy.”

“If it keeps them from breaking down the wall and carrying us off instead…”

“What’s the point of the wall if monsters are just gonna get in anyway!”

“Ignore the boys. What’s your interest in monster hunting?” asks Luanne. “You thinking about quitting the music business? Trust me, this job doesn’t have as many perks as you’d think.”

“Nah, that’s not for me,” she says. “I’ve run into monsters aplenty on the road, but never on purpose. I just have a knack for getting into trouble, and I was hoping you could point me in the direction of someplace I could get myself a weapon. After tonight I might actually be able to afford it.”

“Don’t waste your money,” Jonah insists sharply. “Monsters can’t be killed, I’m telling you. You can hurt ‘em, sometimes real bad, but they just come back in a new shape.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means what it means. I’m just saying.”

“What are you saying? You think it’s pointless?”

“No, man, you know I’m not. Just that we need to be looking for long-term solutions instead of just shooting or building walls that’ll fall down in another few years. We’re not cavemen. We ought to be studying monsters, finding out what makes ‘em tick.”

“And where are you gonna find a monster to study?”

The younger stammers at that, coming up empty. Tanis smirks against the lip of her glass. Have you ever tried playing music for them until they follow you home?

Soon her time is up and she takes the stage again. By the end of the night she’s collected a hefty bit of coin and she’s more than ready to retire. A couple of the lingering townsfolk meander over to try and make conversation as she finishes collecting her dues, the trio of ameteur hunters among them.

“Don’t quit this music thing,” Luanne tells her. “If you get yourself killed tracking some beasty the world’s gonna be down a damn good singer. You write those songs yourself?”

“Some of them. Most of them are covers. People don’t usually seem to care one way or the other, and writing’s not really my forte.”

“Don’t say that, kid. You put on a hell of a show. Especially with that whole dancing doll shtick.” She gestures at Caroline who’s playing dead on the floor. “Where’d you find this crazy looking thing?”

“Oh, well, she- it used to be a circus prop. I just kind of found her.” Sticking with half-truths feels like the safest bet. She has no idea how she’d explain her away otherwise.

Phil nudges Caroline with the heel of his boot. “Kind of creepy if you ask me.”

“No one asked you, Phil.”

He grunts and turns away. Caroline pops her head up and makes a face behind his back.

Biting back a laugh, Tanis says, “Sorry to cut this short but I am beat.”

She hefts the doll up over her shoulder-- she’s not exactly lightweight, but no heavier than the big bags of flour she would drag out of the storeroom for her mom in the mornings.

“Can we count on catching another show tomorrow night?”

“Sorry, I’ve got to be on my way first thing in the morning. I’ve still got a long road ahead of me.”

“That early? You’re sure in a hurry to get out of dodge.”

There’s something strange about the way he says it. Tanis frowns.

“I just like to get an early start. With that said, goodnight folks.”

She hustles Caroline upstairs and shuts the door tight behind them. The moment she does, the doll springs up, fully animated once more.

“That was great fun!”

Tanis huffs a laugh. “Yeah, I guess it was.”

Under the golden lamplight Tanis sorts her bounty of bronze and silver coins into neat piles. Tonight was a better night than most; the folks here aren’t exactly wealthy but with so little trade coming and going what coin they have hasn’t been going anywhere except perhaps into the hands of the bartender, who’s probably faring even better than she.

After a moment’s deliberation she pushes a stack towards Caroline. It’s not quite an equal share but then, she reasons, what’s the doll going to spend it on anyway? Even so, the thought of keeping all the spoils to herself doesn’t sit well when Caroline’s certainly put in as much work.

“For me?” she asks.

“Yup. You did good tonight and no one suspected a thing. Don’t spend it all in one place.”

Caroline, if possible, looks even more joyed than is her default state. “I won’t!”

She then tips back her head and pours her earnings down her throat. Tanis can’t claim to understand the creature, but whatever makes her happy.

“I’m ready to turn in. What do you wanna do about this… whole arrangement here?” she asks, yawning as she nods towards the bed.

“Not to worry! I don’t require sleep, nor desire it. If you need me I shall be in your instrument case.”

Her brow wrinkles with a frown. “You sure? It looks like kind of a squeeze.”

“I’m used to resting in boxes. Frankly I prefer it. I suppose you could say it’s in my nature.”

“Whatever floats your boat.” She sheds her outerwear, stripping down to tank top and boxers. The weather’s due to turn before she makes it to Bigge, she thinks; might be worth it to invest in a real coat, maybe some nice thick socks. “‘Night, Caroline.”

“Goodnight, Ms Tanis!”

She puts out the light and closes her eyes. Sleep comes easy, tired as she is, and as dreamlessly as it has been ever since that fateful final show. Nothing short of a new apocalyptic event could get her up once she begins to drift, which is why she’s unpleasantly surprised to find herself awake not a few hours later. That, and the gun barrel tucked underneath her chin.

“God, this better be good,” she groans as the bliss of well-earned rest leaves her.

In the dark she can’t make out the figures standing around her bed. She reaches for the lamp and the shotgun at her throat cocks a warning.

“If you’re here to rob me, couldn’t it at least wait until morning.”

“We don’t want your money, hellspawn,” a voice rasps.

“Well,” says a second. “I wouldn’t say no to--”

“Shut it!”

Tanis recognizes the voices now. The monster hunters, Phil and Jonah, and she’d bargain that’s Luanne hanging back blocking the door.

“What’d I do to you guys? You didn’t like the music or something?”

“Quiet!” Phil shouts. “I knew there was something off about you the moment I saw you, so I decided to do a little investigating. Why don’t you say it again, how ‘no one suspected a thing’.” He gives her another jab with the cold metal of the barrel. “Who were you talking to, all alone in your room? Ain’t nobody here. What devils do you answer to, you traitoring rat?”

Tanis puts up her hands. “Whoa whoa whoa, I think you’ve got the wrong impression of me.”

“I said quiet!”

“You asked me a question.”

Phil continues, “You’re not a monster, not all the way through anyhow, I can tell. But you’re not all the way human neither. I can see it in your eyes. Empty eyes. And that doll of yours, that’s your familiar, isn’t it?”

“Are you gonna let me answer this time or--”

He smacks her hard across the face. She hisses in pain-- that sensation certainly hasn’t run empty.

“You’re a traitor to your own kind, bringing that darkness in past our walls. But now at least we got that live bait we’ve been missing.”

There’s a sudden sound of movement, a scraping against the bare floor from across the room that makes Tanis’ aggressors freeze. It’s Luanne who breaks the tense silence.

“Uh, fellas? What was that?”

On cue, Caroline rises from her makeshift bed with the gravitas of a movie vampire awakening from its crypt. Tanis should’ve expected she’d be the type to relish in dramatics. She cocks her head, surveying the scene around her, and then without further preamble grabs the closest person-- poor unlucky Jonah-- and thrusts him out of her way as casually as if she were rearranging the furniture, crashing him into Luanne and sending them both into the wall.

“No more songs tonight,” she says cheerfully. “I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

Luanne staggers and pushes the young man off of her, thrusting a large hunting knife in the monster’s direction. “Get back, creep!”

“Silly billy, knives are dangerous. Not to me, of course, but to you.”

She knocks the blade out of her hand. Jonah drops his own weapon before she has the chance, his hands trembling too hard to keep his grip.

“Hey!” Phil barks. Caroline’s head swivels towards him. “Maybe I can’t hurt you, but I can sure hurt your master here.”

He grabs her chin and presses his thumb to her swollen lip, swiping up a drop of blood.

“If it bleeds, you can kill it,” he murmurs under his breath like a mantra.

“Silly,” Caroline repeats, taking a step closer. “That’s not my master, that’s Ms Tanis!”

The hunter’s eyes move frantically back and forth, from the doll to the woman. He affects a false bravado and demands, “Then who- who do you answer to, monster?”

“Oh he’s quite dead,” she replies. “I killed him!”

Before he can react, a hand shoots out and grips the man’s neck. His companions, recovering some nerve, shout and grab at her from either side. Their combined weight unbalances the dainty doll but, with her grip unrelenting, she takes their leader with her. His finger locks on the trigger but the panicked shot goes wide. A chorus of frightened screams sounds from outside-- the manager and another couple guests that had gone to fetch her when they heard the sounds of a fight.

Tanis leaps from her bed to wrestle the larger man off of Caroline. The other two have her arms pinned down and for a moment she goes very still, but as Jonah leans in to investigate, a bizarre whining noise sounds from deep in the doll’s throat and a stream of coins begin to shoot out of her mouth. Jonah screams and falls backward clutching his face, Luanne soon to follow.

“What demon do you serve!” Phil howls.

Tanis grimaces as spittle flies into her face. “You are really stuck on that, huh?”

She grunts and puts all her strength into shoving the man over, cracking his head against the nightstand.

“I don’t fucking serve anybody.” She spits. “Asshole.”

When the manager finally gets the door open, the scene is not a charitable one. There’s a man unconscious on the floor with a probable broken nose, his friends scrambling for the door in terror, a bullethole in the ceiling, while the traveler and her seven foot living wind-up toy stand amidst the chaos.

“Okay, I can explain.”

“Is that blood,” the manager deadpans, going pale.

Indeed a sizable puddle has formed around Phil’s head where he lies. Tanis sucks in a breath through her teeth.

“I didn’t mean to hit him that hard,” she mutters under her breath. “I mean, he deserved it, but still.”

She nudges him with her foot and hears a faint, gurgling groan.

“No worries, he’s still alive.”

“I don’t care about that!” hisses the manager. “Shut the window, fool! Monsters can smell fresh blood from miles away!”

Tanis looks to Caroline as if to say, Did you know about this? Caroline shrugs.

“I think that’s just a myth.”

There’s a loud, guttural shriek from somewhere outside the inn, followed by the shuck shuck shuck of claws piercing the walls, coming rapidly closer. A toothsome muzzle crams its way through the window and starts snapping blindly at the air. The onlookers scatter, and even Tanis has the wherewithal to leap back and out of the way of those grasping jaws. It sniffs wolfishly and a long barbed tongue protracts from its maw, flopping onto the floor.

“Geez louise,” Tanis remarks. “Just can’t catch a break tonight. Caroline, can you, I dunno, talk that thing down?”

“I shall try!”

She walks over to where the creature’s head remains stuck in the window.

“Pardon me, but you are being very disruptive and I--”

The monster’s tongue lashes out and smacks her in the face. It probes into her exposed socket and, apparently deciding that whatever the doll has in place of blood is good enough, begins straining to pull her into its mouth. Tanis yanks her away just in time.

“Oh dear, that was not very polite.”

“Why’s it wanna hurt you? You’re a monster too!”

“You’re a human, and those other humans were hurting you.”

“Huh. Fair enough.”

The wooden panels around the window begin to strain dangerously as the bloodsucker starts to push through.

“Okay, we gotta go.” She rushes to collect her things and then, with a sigh, grabs onto Phil’s unconscious body to drag him out of the room. “Help me pull.”

Caroline does so, but not before asking, “Are we rescuing this man? Even though he wanted to hurt you and called you nasty names?”

“Yeah,” she huffs. “It kind of sucks, but that’s just what people do.”

Together they drag Phil into the hallway and slam the door behind them, though it’s anyone’s guess how long it’ll hold. Hopefully the pool of blood will keep the creature occupied for a short time while the other guests evacuate. Luckily there are few of them, so a short time is just enough.

Drawn out by the commotion, townspeople begin to pour out of their homes and into the street. In the chaos and confusion, nobody seems to notice the traveler and her doll fleeing the scene.

Tanis makes a beeline for the gate. “I don’t know about you, sweetheart, but I’m ready to get the hell out of dodge.”

“Will they be safe?” asks Caroline.

Tanis stops and stares at her. “What?”

“With that large bitey fellow on the loose? Will the audience be alright?”

It’s hard to divine much emotion from Caroline’s wooden features, but in this moment Tanis can tell she’s being sincere.

“Why do you care about something like that?”

“It’s a good entertainer’s responsibility to make sure the audience is happy.”

She points at the crowd that’s forming in the town square: a handful of soldiers-- if they can even be called as much-- with their meager armory of shotguns and spears and some assorted farm tools, and the huddled mass of paralyzed civilians trying to think of where to run to. Many are still recovering from the last attack of this kind. They don’t have the means to defend themselves the way they need, nor to flee the way they should, and the resident monster hunters are either unconscious or god-knows-where.

“They don’t look very happy.”

“What am I supposed to do about that? No, really, Caroline. If you’ve got an idea, I’m all ears. Just because I’m fearless doesn’t mean I’m suicidal.”

The doll seems to think on this for a moment before she simply says, “Turn my key.”

Tanis gives her a dubious look. “The key that makes you act like even more of an evil Looney Toon? The last time I did that you kinda tried to kill me.”

“I did not! I wanted to keep you from the danger.” She actually sounds offended at the accusation. “I wanted to keep you safe in my circus forever. I couldn’t understand why you would want to go out into the big scary world, where people are unkind and ever so unhappy.”

She doesn’t frown necessarily, but she hangs her head, one lonesome blue eye staring into her own.

“But when you sing, you make people happy. When you make them happy, you are happy too. I do not think you want to run away.”

Tanis watches Caroline. She listens to her speak. She groans, frustrated to realize that, against all odds, the big goofy clown doll is right. “Turn around.”

Caroline claps her hands with glee as Tanis grips her key, still faintly tacky to the touch. She turns it once, twice, thrice, until she can’t turn it anymore. The doll spins around with a revitalized sort of glow and begins bounding towards the beast as it bursts through the wall of the building.

What else is there for Tanis to do? She follows after her.

“Ladies and gentlemen, honored guests, this is the greatest show on what’s left of earth!”

A spotlight shines from nowhere, brilliantly illuminating the daring dancer. As the soldiers’ weapons glance ineffectually off the bloodsucker’s hide, Caroline overtakes them and kicks it square across the face, causing the beast to stagger a few steps backwards.

At her command, a swarm of chattering windup dolls appear out of the night. Spectral and red-eyed, they pile their porcelain bodies on top of the ravenous creature. When crushing one knee-high nuisance doesn’t yield any blood or ichor, it hisses its displeasure and tosses the rest off. It stomps and snaps them until they return to nothingness, but the attack disorients it, enough for Caroline to gain the definitive upperhand.

She seizes it by the scruff, wrenches its mouth open, and rips out its long propping tongue. The beast howls in ear-splitting pain, more of that syrupy dark substance dripping from its fanged mouth. Caroline pulls the tongue taught in her hands and cracks it against the creature’s forepaw like a whip. She faces the townsfolk.

“And now, a spectacle unlike you’ve ever seen! The dancing doll tames the ferocious beast!”

She evades another snap of its jaws and climbs atop its back, straddling it and wrapping its own tongue around its meaty neck. The monster begins to rear back, swiping at the doll with its claws. Those grasping paws, clever enough to scale walls, find purchase on her leg.

“Uh oh!” the doll remarks.

It flings her to the ground.

“Caroline!” Tanis yells. “Just kill it already!”

“Oh but where’s the fun in that?”

Nevertheless, she pulls back her free leg and jabs her heel into one beady black eye with a gruesome squelching noise.

“Now, for my final trick, I’ll make this rude fellow disappear!”

The mystical spotlight goes out, in fact every light in town goes out, and from somewhere Tanis can hear the sound of a drumroll. When the lights return, the monster has indeed vanished, replaced by a pile of ichorous innards which have been strewn about the town square. A few members of the “audience” begin to retch.

“Ta-da!”

It’s probably not the reception she was hoping for, but there’s one person in the crowd clapping. The fantastic dancing doll takes a sweeping bow, more gore sloughing off and onto the cobblestone below.

“So that’s a town we can never go back to.”

Caroline pouts, as much as she can. “I thought it was a lovely show.”

Tanis shrugs. “You can’t please everybody.”

She’s back on the road, strumming a few notes on her guitar as she walks along. She’d offered to hold onto it so Caroline could have some more wiggle room as she rode along on her back. The extra baggage wasn’t exactly ideal, but despite single-handedly taking down a monster twice her size, traversing wide open spaces still made the doll nervous after so long spent confined to one place. It was the least she could do for her, she figured.

Besides being a real powerhouse when it comes to fighting humans and other monsters alike, Caroline had become an invaluable addition to Tanis’ little traveling act. She made more than twice the tips as she usually did when Caroline was dancing along to her songs. Everyone was always so perplexed: how did she make that doll move like that? It was almost like she was alive!

Yeah, almost. She snickers to herself.

“Are you thinking of a joke? May I hear it?”

“Nah, just getting lost in my own head again,” she says.

Privately, there’s another reason she’s glad to have kept Caroline by her side. It’s strange, she thinks, to have found a companion in a creature like her. A friend, even.

“Where will we be touring next, Ms Tanis?”

“For now we just keep heading east.” She glances back at the doll. Her head is poking out of the case, watching her again. It’s probably a good thing she’s physically incapable of finding that as creepy as it undoubtedly is. Instead, she just shoots her a sideways grin and says, “You know, you don’t have to keep calling me ‘miss’. Just Tanis is fine.”

“Okay, Ms Just Tanis!”

“Oh so she’s got jokes.”

“I know lots of jokes. What’s big and grey with lots of great big horns?”

“I don’t know but I hope it’s not following us.”

“An elephant marching band!”

God, that was terrible. “Ha. Good one, Caroline.”

“I know more!”

“Why don’t you hold onto those for now. Wouldn’t want to waste ‘em all on me before you’ve got a proper audience.”

“I will, but not because it would be a waste. Even if I was to never have another show, I should enjoy telling them to you very much.”

It’s quiet for a while after that, and Tanis, more than used to the solitude, has almost forgotten about her passenger until she pipes up once more.

“Ms- Pardon me, Tanis. What’s that tune you’re playing?”

Without hardly noticing Tanis’ hands have been feeling out the shape of a familiar melody, a slow and sentimental thing.

“Ah, it’s just this old country song I used to practice with a lot when I was still just learning. It’s funny, I can’t actually remember the last time I played it. I wanted to be a rockstar for so long, you know. But then once I was on my own again, after everything, it’s these sort of songs I ended up coming back to.”

She expects Caroline to request something more cheery, but she merely settles her head against her shoulder and lapses back into silence. For the first time since that night Tanis finds herself thinking of what the peculiar doll had told her. She had said that her singing made people happy. What did that mean for someone like her who was always happy anyway? Or seemed to be, that is.

Does my singing make you happy, Caroline? Is that the real reason you started following me?

Softly, uncertain as the kid at her first audition she could barely remember being, Tanis lets her voice rise.

“This world is not my home

I'm just passing through

My treasures are laid up

Somewhere beyond the blue…”

#my writing #horror #comedy #original fiction #writeblr #monsters #clowns

25 notes · View notes

peaceoutofthepieces · 3 years

Text

Sink Or Swim

tag list: @cleocc @feeling-kinda-so-so @hopelessromanticvirgo @dreamy-slytherin @adora8 @lockerfivethreefive @painfully-oblivious @poeticinemaa @jjustonemorething @saraben00 @wedarkacademia @coolguyssyndrome @hischbabe @suckerforsobbe @tayspots @starmansander @theah0lt @zoenneforever @invisibleme @chibibanane

~^~

Saturday, 19:08

Song: Mark Diamond - Monster

Lucas checks the messages again as he walks, just to make sure he didn’t imagine anything. But it’s all there. Jens inviting him to go trick or treating with him and his little sister, with the condition that he has to wear his costume once more, complete with a winky face.

So, naturally, Lucas is skating to Jens’s house in his full princely form.

He’d thought it was a weird offer, at first, though he has come to understand that it’s more of a request. Robbe usually goes with him, Jens says, but he wants to spend the night with Sander and Jens refuses to complain about that, this time. Lucas is honestly honored to even be his second choice, especially when it seems to be a tradition.

Plus, he’d never pass up an opportunity to see Jens.

He’s given up denying it to himself. It seems to have gotten easier, now that it feels slightly out in the open. Noor had placed it under the light and made it impossible to ignore. He’d thought it would terrify him more, but he still only feels relieved.

He is also very confused, and a little anxious, because he definitely can’t be imagining what happened after. He didn’t imagine Jens staring at him at the party, and he didn’t imagine how they’d almost kissed.

He refuses to believe he misinterpreted it. Jens is the one who started to lean in first. Jens was going to kiss him. Jens had wanted to kiss him.

At least, this is what Lucas desperately wants to believe.

The hope has been blossoming there since they’d met, the irritational little sprout of hope, telling him that this time he may be in with a real chance. Telling him that the signs he’s been seeing are real, that every time Jens’s gaze or touch lingers, that every time he smiles extra wide or laughs extra loud, it’s not just Lucas’s head playing tricks. It’s real. It means something. He’s not imagining it. His own interest might not be for nothing. His feelings don’t have to be ignored. He’s not setting himself up to be torn down.

He also thinks he’s stuck up in the clouds and treading a very thin, dangerous line.

As he makes it back to Jens’s street for the second time in twenty-four hours, he reminds himself that now isn’t the time to think about it.

Jens is already stood outside, back in his skeleton costume and gesturing dramatically through the door at someone Lucas can’t see. Lucas slows to a stop a few houses down, planting his foot on the pavement and kicking up his board. The sound is enough to alert Jens to his presence, and the line of his shoulders softens as he turns to look at Lucas. Lucas smiles and offers him a wave as a little girl trudges out to meet Jens.

Lucas takes a few slow steps closer and hears Jens say, “Lucas is here, Lies, can’t keep him waiting.” He ushers the girl—his sister, clearly—out to the gate, and she follows without much protest.

Lucas’s smile grows as he watches them, almost missing the other person peeking their head out the door. “Don’t I get to meet him?”

Jens looks back and Lucas follows his gaze to see an older girl at the door, possibly older than them. He lifts his hand in another wave as she grins excitedly at him and Jens makes a sound of protest. “Nope, already late.”

Lucas snorts as they reach him. “Late for what?”

“Well, do you want to introduce yourself?” Jens raises a brow. He’s plain-faced today, foregoing the makeup he’d worn the previous night. Meaning, if Lucas touched him, he’d be met with nothing but smooth skin, soft and golden under his fingertips, warming the closer Lucas allowed himself to get.

He shakes the thought away and with it denies Jens’s offer. He looks instead at the younger girl already staring up at him, dressed as a little fairy, complete with a small set of wings sprouting from her back. She bears little resemblance to her brother, eyes and hair both a few shades lighter, but there’s something in the curve of her smile and her curious expression that makes their relation unmistakable. He asks Jens, “Are you at least going to introduce us?”

Jens sighs, as if it’s a much bigger task than a few words. “Lucas, this is Lotte. Lotte, this is your second babysitter for the night.”

Lucas rolls his eyes and then smiles at Lotte, oddly nervous as she gazes up at him.

“Jens, he’s a prince, that’s way cooler than you.”

Lucas laughs as Jens grows instantly offended, flicking her head lightly. She shies away and glares up at him. Lucas decides they’ll probably get along quite well.

“Yeah, Jens, I’m way cooler than you,” he teases, gratified at the face Jens pulls at him in response.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s super uncool to be trick-or-treating with your big brother, but who is the one who brought you the pretty prince, huh?”

Lucas blushes at the words and has to pretend he isn’t as Lotte examines him once more before shrugging in acceptance. “I don’t think princes skate though,” she wrinkles her nose.

“Cool princes do,” Jens mutters, but he takes the board from Lucas’s hands. “I’ll leave it just inside the gate so you can get it when we get back.”

Lucas watches him jog the few steps back to his house and tuck the skateboard against the front wall. In the minute he’s gone, Lucas does his best to ignore the still-stuttering beat of his heart and Lotte’s probing gaze. Maybe he should have given himself more time, before seeing Jens again, he thinks. Maybe then he would’ve had himself under better control. His blood wouldn’t be rushing so quickly to his cheeks, his head wouldn’t be spinning so much, his hands would stop shaking.

More likely, it’s his permanent condition around Jens now, and he’s fooling himself if he thinks otherwise.

Jens makes it back to them and sets a hand on Lotte’s shoulder to begin guiding her down the street, and within minutes her paper pumpkin basket is filling up with various treats. There are a few other kids running out, mostly all a little holder and in groups of at least three, but Lotte seems unbothered, skipping around on her own. Jens and Lucas follow along side by side, making up mini ghost stories inspired by the various decorations adorning the houses.

“How come you have nothing outside your house?”

Jens shrugs as Lotte runs up and eagerly rings another doorbell. “We wouldn’t have had any at all if Lies hadn’t come home. My parents don’t really think about these things.”

Lucas nods. “I didn’t think mine did, either. I’m surprised my dad put in the effort, but I think that’s what he was hoping.”

He has noticed that Jens has never asked him about his father, or his lack of any mention of his mother. He appreciates it more than he could say, this silent understanding Jens allows him. Even though he wants to tell Jens. Out of everyone, he would want to tell Jens.

He just isn’t sure he’s ready to go there. They haven’t reached that level of personal. Not quite yet.

It doesn’t stop Lucas from wanting to kiss him, though.

“Are you a fan of Halloween then?”

Lucas looks over at him with narrowed eyes. “Yeah? Aren’t you?”

Jens shrugs, smiling, and gestures to Lotte as she comes back to their side. “This is my Halloween. Are you a fan?”

“I would have preferred it if we at least got some treats ourselves,” Lucas admits.

“You can have some of mine.” Lotte suddenly looks up to him, eyes wide, the picture of innocence, and his heart melts slightly.

He shakes his head softly at her. “That’s okay, Lotte. You deserve them all. You look way cooler than me and him combined.”

It’s enough to make her beam, and she latches onto his hand to begin dragging him to the next house with her. “You should just come up with me. I know the lady who lives here. She’s nice.”

“Hey,” Jens calls from a few steps behind them. Lotte doesn’t pay him any attention. “Don’t I get offered some treats?”

“You get to hang out with your friend,” Lotte says simply.

Lucas is a little pleased when Jens doesn’t argue further. He gives Lotte’s hand a tug. “Why aren’t you trick-or-treating with your friends?”

She pouts at the street in front of her, swinging Lucas’s hand. “Mama says I’m too young and they live in a different place. But she said maybe next year.”

“Double digits,” Jens agrees, “then we’ll see.”

Lucas doesn’t go up to the next house with her, even when she turns her pout on him. But when she comes back, she does grab his hand again, only this time to place her tiny handful of sweets in it. He grins down at her, thanking her quietly, and then she’s back to beaming and skipping up to the next house.

Lucas looks at Jens and finds him gazing back softly, eyes bright and lips just slightly curved upwards. He’s still one of the prettiest people Lucas has ever seen, even in the dull glow of the darkening sky and the scattered streetlights. Lucas’s heart still takes a few beats out of rhythm.

Jens snaps his gaze away as he follows after his sister, but he walks closer to Lucas now, leaving their hands bumping every few steps. He only abandons Lucas’s side for a moment to chase after Lotte, ignoring her complaints as he crouches down to adjust one of her wings where it has folded back. He smooths down a few strands of her hair while he’s there and she finally offers him a smile, tugging at his hand now to get them moving again and still checking to make sure Lucas follows.

It’s odd for Lucas to realise there’s nowhere he’d rather be.

#van der stoffels #vds #wtfock #skam nl #sink or swim #vds season fic #sos clip

69 notes · View notes

kurts-still-here · 3 years

Text

SongFic #3 Of The “Kurtbastian Singing Adam Lambert” series. “Sure Fire Winners”

This one is just Sebastian and Kurt having fun and being sexy together 😎😎. Songfic #4 will be up in a few days most likely but I hope you enjoy!!

Please leave any comments you have etheir on here or on A03 or FanFiction.Net !! 😁😁🤗🤗 Thank you!!

Archive Of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32874553

FanFiction.Net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13927358/3/Kurtbastian-Singing-Adam-Lambert (Chapter 3)

“We are so going to win this,” Kurt exclaimed as he walked out of the bathroom stall and looked at his outfit in the mirror. He was wearing a black leather jacket, a skintight black shirt, black leather pants and black, knee-high laced up boots. He had on sunglasses even though it was indoors and his hair was spiked up with hair gel. He had drawn a star on his cheek and had blue and purple glitter on his face along with guyliner.

“Well they might as well just give it to us now with the way we look,” Sebastian said, walking out of his stall and up to Kurt. Him and Kurt were matching except Sebastian wasn’t wearing the laced-up boots. He looked his boyfriend up and down and smiled. “We look hot.”

“I know we do babe,” Kurt said, kissing him on the cheek. “And our performance is going to be even better, I know it.”

“Yeah well we better get going, don’t want to keep everyone waiting. Do you think Mr. Schue and Artie have everything set up?” Sebastian asked. They had asked Mr. Schue if they could have some special effects and props for their performance and their teacher had happily agreed.

“I don’t know,” Kurt said, taking out his phone. “I’ll text Artie and ask him.”

The week’s assignment in the glee club was to sing a song about victory and Kurt and Sebastian had admittedly known the perfect song for them to sing. It was upbeat and full of energy. The assignment was a competition and whatever group won got the duet at Sectionals. Sebastian didn’t really care about winning since he had been the lead soloist for the Warblers and had sung solos at the competitions but he knew that Kurt wasn’t as lucky as him even if he was the most talented performer in the group. He knew how much a duet would mean for Kurt so they went all out with costumes, make-up, special effects and props. They also came up with matching choreography and Sebastian had to say that it was the most work and effort he had ever put into anything. But it was all worth it because he knew they were going to win and he really wanted that duet for Kurt. His boyfriend deserved it.

Kurt had told him about the glee club’s duet competition last year and about how he ended up singing a duet by himself because Finn didn’t want him to sing with Sam. It had just hurt Kurt even more when Sam and Quinn had won the competition and Kurt had told him that even though he loved singing “Le Jazz Hot” that he was glad he had a partner this year. Sebastian had seen the video of Kurt’s performance and thought that Kurt would be the only person in the world who could pull off singing a duet as a solo.

His costume was so creative and so was the background he had designed. He had also designed costumes for the Cheerios he had paid to act as background dancers for him and the choreography was stunning. Sebastian thought that he should’ve won but Kurt told him that Finn and Rachel were acting fishy the whole time so they probably had something to do with Sam and Quinn’s win. Not that they didn’t deserve to win but even Santana and Mercedes’ performance of “River Deep, Mountain High'' was mind blowing. Kurt didn’t care about winning so much as having someone to sing with and made a joke saying that he may be able to sing a duet by himself but that he didn’t want to have dinner by himself. But last year didn’t matter anymore because this year they were going to win a duet at Sectionals and not some stupid dinner at a cheap restaurant when Sebastian could easily pay for his own date and could take Kurt to a 5-star restaurant.

Plus this time the group couldn’t vote for themselves so as long as they blew it out of the park then they were for sure the winners. They were the last to go this week seeing that they had spent so long preparing themselves and that they had just finished up their performance the previous day. Brittany and Santana had sung “Try Everything” by Shakira, Finn and Rachel had sung “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus, Sam and Puck had sung “Victorious” by Panic! At The Disco, Tina, Mercedes and Quinn had sung “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift as a trio and Mike and Artie had sung “On Top Of The World” by Imagine Dragons. All the performances were good but Sebastian thought that the only competition they really had was against Sam and Puck since they had picked a song similar to theirs, the only difference was they didn’t put in the extra effort. They had it in the bag.

“He says they're ready,” Kurt squealed. “Oh, I’m so excited, Seb, just imagine us singing a duet at Sectionals. Together. It’d be so romantic and fun and we would win the competition for the New Directions.”

“Well you won’t have to imagine much longer. You deserve this more than anyone else Kurt. Don’t go down without a fight, okay?” Sebastian told him. Sebastian thought that sometimes Kurt went too easy on his friends and let them push him to the side when Kurt was a star. He needed to stand up for himself more and go after what he wanted.

“I won’t, I promise.” Kurt said and grabbed ahold of Sebastian’s hand. “Now let’s go win this duet.” He cheered and they grabbed their stuff before walking out of the bathroom.

They walked to the choir room hand in hand, mentally preparing themselves for their song. They couldn’t help but worry a little too much, especially Kurt. The choreography was a little complicated and it had taken them some time to really nail it down but it would be worth it in the end. It was fast, just like the music and they had to mind the spacing in the choir room also.

Once they reached the choir room they stood outside of the doors, Kurt to the right and Sebastian to the left. They were planning to come into the room when the music started to surprise everyone and to add an effect. They would storm into the room, grabbing everyone’s attention and the lights and the costumes and the choreography and the singing would be a crowd pleaser.

“Okay, why am I so nervous?” Kurt asked, pacing back and forth, fidgeting with his hands.

“I don’t know, why are you?” Sebastian asked. Kurt had no reason to be nervous right now. He was amazing and he could and would pull this off. “Hey, look at me babe,” He told Kurt and took his hands to hold them. “We’re going to win this and we're going to perform at Sectionals. Don’t worry about it, you’re going to psych yourself out.”

“I know,” Kurt nodded. “I just… things are never certain and I really want this Seb. It’s my last Sectionals and I want it to be really special.”

“I know you do and I want this for you too so just calm down, focus, breathe and get your head in the game.”

“I will,” Kurt said, doing what Sebastian told him to do and taking a deep breath. “Artie says that he’ll text me when they're ready inside but the band is still setting up.”

Sebastian nodded and gave Kurt a kiss before going back to the other door to the choir room. Inside everyone was talking to each other about the setup of the room.

“Of course this is for Lady Hummel and Fivel, gays always go full out,” Santana said, looking around the room.

“Well doesn’t this seem like a little too much?” Rachel asked the group who just shrugged in response. “I mean it’s not like they’re going to win over me and Finn.”

“You know what Man-Hands,” Quinn snapped. “Just for that I’m not voting for you. And The Climb was the worst. How is that about victory?”

“It’s about overcoming obstacles in life. My obstacles being you guys and how hard it is working with people who are less talented than you.” Rachel said, nonchalantly.

“Rachel, babe, you can’t just say things like that.” Finn told her. “It’s not nice. But anyways, this does seem like something Kurt would do. Remember his “duet” last year?”

“You mean the duet he did by himself because your homophobic ass couldn’t handle him singing a song with Sam?” Quinn asked, raising an eyebrow. “I remember and he nailed it. You guys better watch out because now he has Sebastian and we all know how badly he wants a duet.”

“Hey, I wasn’t being homophobic, I was looking out for the team. Sam knows what I’m talking about right dude?” Finn asked Sam who shrugged.

“I don’t know man, some of the shit you said was really offensive. And I was all set to sing with him and then you talked to us and he set me free. I would totally have still done it if it wasn’t for you.” Sam explained, narrowing his eyes at Finn. Sam liked Kurt a lot and they were really close with one another. Sam treated Kurt like he was one of the guys and they had only bonded more when Kurt had helped him out the previous school year with his siblings. He had really wanted to sing with him but then Kurt had let him go and Sam was too worried about his popularity at the time to try and get Kurt to keep their arrangement. Up until now Kurt and Sam had only sung one or two lines together in a group piece and Sam had always thought that maybe he could still see if Kurt wanted to sing with him. He’d have to ask him.

“That’s not what I meant, it’s just…” Finn’s voice trailed off and threw his hands in the air, frustrated. “... you just don’t get it,”

“It doesn’t matter now anyway. Kurt has a partner this time and it’s obvious that he’s in it to win it with Seb,” Tina said. “He should’ve gotten this a long time ago.” She rolled her eyes at Rachel.

“Yeah well he could’ve gotten a solo at Sectionals two years ago if he would’ve hit the high F but he couldn’t despite saying he was able to. It’s not my fault that I have a superior vocal range.” Rachel sneered.

“You know what Berry I’m sick of your shit,” Santana yelled, pointing her finger at Rachel. “Let me give you a little newsflash here. First of all, half the people in this room like Artie, Mercedes and I have a better vocal range than you. Kurt can sing just as good as any of us but no one ever gives him the chance to shine. He can hit that note, he’s hit it several times before right in front of you but you never noticed because your ego’s ten sizes the size it should be. We weren’t going to tell you because we didn’t want to risk you throwing a hissy fit and blabbing your mouth but we already decided that we’re voting for him. He deserves this and he’s the only member of this club that hasn’t had a chance to shine yet. So shut up, suck it up and deal with it you selfish bitch.” Santana fell back in her seat and folded her arms across her stomach as she watched her friends' (and Rachel’s) expressions.

All the girl besides Rachel looked proud of her (and why shouldn't they be), the boys looked surprised and shocked (which they shouldn't be because that wasn’t the first time she had told Berry off) and Finn and Rachel looked like she had just slapped them (and they were lucky that she didn’t because she really wanted to).

The room was silent for a few seconds before Artie and Mr. Schue came out of Mr. Schue’s adjoining office. “Okay everyone, I think we’re all ready to watch our last performance from Kurt and Sebastian. Artie you can get Kurt to tell him that we’re all ready for him.” Artie pulled out his phone to text Kurt while Mr. Schue continued talking. “Now after they are finished we’ll be voting to see who wins the competition and remember, you can’t vote for yourselves this time.”

“Is there even a point in voting?” Rachel muttered and everyone except Finn shot her a death glare.

“Okay, he says that they’re ready,” Artie said. “Let’s start up the smoke and then he says they’ll come in when the music starts playing.”

“Alright then,” Mr. Schue said, going over to the smoke machine and staring it up. “Hit it you guys,” He said, referring to the band who started playing the background music for the song.

“Wait,” Kurt said. “I hear the music,” He told Sebastian. “Ready babe?”

“Born ready babe,” Sebastian assured his boyfriend. “Let’s do this,”

And with that they opened their doors and walked into the choir room like they had planned to. They admittedly started singing while going through the choreography like they planned. The scene was perfect. They were blue and purple lights flashing around the room and Mr. Schue and Artie had properly set up the smoke machine so that the room was misty. Kurt and Sebastian felt like they were at an actual rock concert which got them in the mood for their performance even more.

We're coming up like killing machines

Our big guns gonna shatter your scene

It's pandemonium on the floor

'Cause everybody wants a little more

They wanna ride on the rocket ship

Ride around the moon for a velvet kiss

'Cause all the girls and the boys wanna know

How far this bad wild child's gonna go

Everyone seemed to be enjoying their performance already except for Rachel who had a stony expression on her face and who sat there in her chair with her arms crossed. They kept dancing and Kurt felt a sort of high when he realized that they were hitting the moves exactly like how they had planned. Kurt turned into Sebastian and then Sebastian took his arm and spun him back out. Then they had prepped themselves before going into a roundoff back handspring in the choir room, earning clapping and cheering from their friends.

We are the sure fire winners

Uh-oh yeah big time hitters

We are the sure fire winners

Uh-oh yeah big time hitters

Bringing the heat and the word is out

Giving you something to shout about

We are, yeah, we are, we are the sure fire winners

Sure fire winners, sure fire winners, sure fire winners

They both sang the chorus and walked around the room and interacted with their audience, Sebastian high fived Puck and Sam while Kurt danced with Quinn and Brittany. ‘So far so good’ Kurt thought to himself, excitedly. He was so happy that they seemed happy about him being so extra about the performance and that they seemed to love it. He was just a few minutes away from winning the duet, he could feel the feeling of victory already and the song just pumped him up even more.

Flick the switch and the missile will fire

I'm a heat seeker when I'm full of desire

We're all drawn to the heat of the flame

'Cause you wanna be a star in the hall of fame

I was born with glitter on my face

My baby clothes made of leather and lace

And all the girls in the club wanna know

Where did all their pretty boys go?

The boys went back to the center of the room and Sebastian quickly glanced over to Kurt and was happy to see how into it he was. He was moving along with the music, adding his own pizazz to their dancing. He put his hand on his face and dragged it down his face to emphasize the glitter and then took his jacket off his shoulders slightly, matching with the lyrics. On the last line they stood back to back and sang it together as the audience continued to cheer and holler.

We are the sure fire winners

Uh-oh yeah big time hitters

We are the sure fire winners

Uh-oh yeah big time hitters

Bringing the heat and the word is out

Giving you something to shout about

We are, yeah, we are, we are the sure fire winners

Winners winners

They started singing the chorus again. They stood on opposite sides of the room and swung one leg forward before forcing it back and flipping over into a backflip. Then Kurt slid to the floor in a split and swung his legs forward to spin himself around on the floor. Sebastian walked over to him and took his hand spinning him around in the floor before helping him up off the floor. Kurt stood up gracefully and Sebastian dipped Kurt back. They held the pose as Sebastian took over the lyrics and then Sebastian lowered Kurt down so he could fall into a backbend. He let go as Kurt kicked himself over and then they started singing the bridge.

Ooh yeah, take a walk on the wild with me

Gonna take you to the top to the brink of what you believe

Never gonna stop 'til we reach the top

You'd better get out of the game it's never gonna be the same

Move over 'cause a new boy's calling it time

They both hit the high note and Kurt had to resist the temptation he had to ditch the choreography and to jump up and down with excitement. They walked around the room, clapping their hands together and the rest of the glee club even Rachel joined in on the clapping. There was no way they weren’t going to win. Everyone was loving them and they were doing amazing. They were on fire, they were pumped up and they were going to finish out strong.

We are the sure fire winners

Uh-oh yeah big time hitters

We are the sure fire winners

Uh-oh yeah big time hitters

Bringing the heat and the word is out

Giving you something to shout about

We are, yeah, we are, we are the sure fire winners

They pumped their fists up in the air as they sang the lyrics. Mercedes, Tina and Quinn were singing the lyrics along with them, Mike, Brittany and Santana were doing their own moves in their seats, Puck, Sam and Artie were pumping their fists along with Kurt and Sebastian and Finn and Rachel were quietly observing the scene but Kurt could tell that they were both impressed with him and his boyfriend.

Ooh yeah yeah-oh yeah yeah yeah

Mr. Schue’s expression was the best though. He seemed shocked with Kurt’s and Sebastian’s dance moves and singing, like he didn’t know they had it in them. There was nothing more that both boys loved more than proving people wrong while also proving themselves.

We are the sure fire winners

Uh-oh yeah big time hitters

We are the sure fire winners

Uh-oh yeah big time hitters

Bringing the heat and the word is out

Giving you something to shout about

Yeah we are, yeah, we are, we are the sure fire winners

Kurt walked over to Sebastian and they stood next to each other as they finished out their dancing, ensign off with a series of complicated footwork. They got it right, matching it up with music and ended their song, posing, back to back again, with their arms crossed and their heads bowed down a little so that their sunglasses slipped down to the bridge of their noses.

Gonna take you to the top to the brink of what you believe

The music faded out and they held their pose as they got a standing ovation from their friends. Everyone cheered and clapped for them and Kurt finally gave in to his temptation and jumped up and down, holding hands with Sebastian. They hugged each other and Sebastian lifted Kurt off his feet.

“Wow,” Mr. Schue exclaimed. “That was amazing boys. The costumes, the special effects, the energy, kudos to the both of you.”

“Thank you,” Kurt said, still full of energy. He was so happy at the moment, he wouldn’t even be that upset if they had lost. Of course, they weren’t going to though because they had kicked ass but nothing was written in stone yet.

“What do you say guys?” Mr. Schue asked his students. “Are we ready to vote?”

“Actually Mr. Schue, I don’t think that’s necessary,” Rachel said, standing up. “We all decided that we want Kurt and Sebastian to sing at Sectionals. Kurt really deserves it and I think that his performance with Sebastian just goes to show that even more.” Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and Sebastian squeezed Kurt’s hand. He was getting his duet!

“I couldn’t agree more Rachel,” Mr. Schue said as he turned back to the two boys. “Well, congratulations you two, you won the duet. Start brainstorming some ideas and we'll talk about it tomorrow. Oh, and try to incorporate some of those moves. That’ll guarantee us a win alone. Well done gentleman.”

“We did it Seb,” Kurt said, hugging him again. “We did it. We’re gonna sing at Sectionals. Oh my god.” Everyone laughed at how excited Kurt was and clapped for the boys again.

“I know, I know,” Sebastian told him. “This is great. You did great. You were amazing babe.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you, Seb” Kurt smiled and they kissed each other before going to sit down in their seats. They would have to do this all over again and they both couldn’t wait.

#glee #glee fanfiction #kurt hummel #sebastian smythe #kurtbastian

8 notes · View notes