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#hello followers this account has been silent for a long time but today i bring you whatever this is
janecrockeyre · 3 years
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scum villain is a greek tragedy disguised as a regular tragedy disguised as a comedy disguised as a danmei
this is going to be long, and this is only PART ONE.
a.k.a, Analysing the plot of Scum Villain’s Self Saving System through Aristotle’s Poetics, because I Have Mental Issues
Part One: Introduction and the Tragic Hero
Scum Villain’s Self Saving System is a tragedy disguised as a comedy, unless you’re Shen Yuan, in which case it’s a mixture of a romance and a survival horror. It's a fever dream. It's a horrible, terrible book that made me feel new undiscovered emotions when I finished reading it. 
The thing is... SVSSS shares characteristics with some of the most famous tragedies in the West, such as Oedipus Rex, Medea, Antigone, the Oresteia... if you haven’t read these, I’ll explain everything. But the gist of my argument is this: SVSSS is the perfect tragedy. In triplicate. 
Tragedy as a genre is old as balls and so it has meant slightly different things to different people over the last few thousand years. I'll be focusing on ancient Greek tragedy, which was performed at the yearly Festival of Dionysus in Athens during the 500-350s BC (give or take a hundred years). Aristotle, when writing about this very specific subset of tragedy, had no idea that one day Scum Villain would be written, and then that I would be using his work as a way to look at Shen Qingqiu’s Funky Transmigration Mistake. Anyway!
Greek tragedy greatly influenced European dramatic tradition. I have a lot of opinions about white academics idolising and upholding the classics as the "paragon of culture" but I'll withhold them for now. I have no idea if MXTX has read Greek tragedy or not, so don't take this as me saying they are writing it. 
In my opinion, tragedy is a universal human constant. We are surrounded by pain and hurt and none of it makes any sense, so we seek to process that pain through drama, art, literature, etc. We want to understand why pain happens, and how it happens, and try to make sense of the senseless. The universe is cold and cruel and random. Tragedy eases some of that pain. 
On that note: Just because I am analysing Scum Villain through a Greek lens doesn't mean that it was written that way. I'm pasting an interpretation onto the book when there's probably a very rich and deep history of Chinese tragedy that I just don't know about. If you ever want to talk about that, please, god, hit me up, I would love to learn about it!! 
Anyway, tragedy. MXTX is excellent at it! Mo Dao Zu Shi? Painful dynastic family tragedy. Heaven Official's Blessing? Mostly romance, but she managed to get that pure pain in there, huh? 
But in my opinion, Scum Villain holds the crown for the most tragic of her stories. MDZS was more of a mystery. TGCF was more of a romance. Neither of them shy away from their tragic elements. 
Scum Villain would fit right in between the work of Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus. How? Let me show you. Join me on my mystery tour into the world of "Aristotle Analyses Danmei..."
Part One: The Tragic Hero
What is a tragic hero? Generally, Greek tragic heroes are united by the same key characteristics. He must be imperfect, having a "fatal flaw" of some kind. He must have something to lose. And he must go from fortune to misfortune thanks to that fatal flaw. 
There are two (technically three) tragic protagonists in SVSSS and all of them are tragic in different but formulaic ways. Each protagonist has their own version of “hamartia” or a “fatal flaw”. 
Actually, hamartia isn’t necessarily a flaw - rather, it is a thing which makes the audience pity and fear for them, a careful imperfection, a point of weakness in the character’s morality or reasoning that allows for bad things to happen to them. For example, in Oedipus Rex, the king Oedipus has a “fatal flaw” of always wanting to find the truth, but this isn’t exactly a flaw, right? Note: this flaw can be completely unwitting, as we see with Shen Yuan. It can also be something that the protagonist is born with, some kind of trait from birth or very young. 
Shen Yuan
Shen Yuan’s “hamartia” is his rigid adherence to fate and his inability to read a situation as anything but how he thinks it ought to be. He believes that Bingmei will grow into Bingge, and it takes several years, two deaths, and some truly traumatising sex to convince him otherwise. 
Shen Jiu
Shen Jiu’s fatal flaw is his cruelty. It is his own sadistic treatment and abuse of Binghe which directly leads to his eventual dismemberment. This is kind of a no-brainer. Of course, it isn't all that simple, and as an audience we pity him for his cruelty as much as we fear it because we know it comes from his own abuse as a child. This just makes him even more tragic. Delicious. 
Luo Binghe
Luo Binghe’s fatal flaw is a complicated mix of things. It is his position as the “protagonist” which compels him to act in certain ways and be forced to suffer. It is his half-demonic heritage, something entirely out of his control, which sets in motion his tragic reversal of fortune when he gets yeeted into the Abyss. He also, much like Shen Yuan, has the propensity to jump to conclusions and somehow make 2 + 2 = 5. 
As well as having their respective “flaws”, all three protagonists match the rough outline of a good tragic hero in another way: they are in a position of great wealth and power. Even when you split the different characters into different “versions”, this still holds true. Yes, Luo Binghe is raised a commoner by a washerwoman foster mother, but his dad is an emperor and he also ends up becoming an emperor himself. 
Yes, Shen Jiu is an ex-slave and a victim of abuse himself, but Shen Qingqiu is a powerful peak lord with an entire mountain’s worth of resources at his back. 
Shen Yuan is a second generation new money rich kid. 
Bingge is a stereotypical protagonist with a golden finger. Bingmei is a treasured and loved disciple with a good reputation and a privileged seat by his shizun’s side. 
In a tragedy, having this kind of good fortune at the beginning of your story is dangerous. Chaucer says that tragedy is (badly translated into modern english) “a certain story / of him that stood in great prosperity / and falls out of high degree / into misery, and ends up wretchedly”. If we follow this line of thinking, a good tragedy is about someone who has a lot to lose, losing everything because of one fatal point of weakness that they fail to address or understand. 
If we look at Shakespeare, this is what makes King Lear such a fantastic tragic protagonist. He is a king in control of most of England, who from his own lack of wisdom and excess of pride, decides to split his kingdom apart to give to his daughters, favouring his murderous, double crossing progeny, and condemning his only actually filial daughter to death. He loses his kingdom, his mind, and his beloved daughter, all because of his own stupidity.
This brings us to:
Part Two: Peripeteia
This reversal of fortunes is called peripeteia. It is the moment where the entire plot shifts, and the hero’s fortunes go from good to bad. Think of it like one of those magic eye puzzles, where you stare at the image until a 3D shark appears, except you realise the shark was always there, you just couldn't ever see it, waiting for you, hungry, deadly, always lurking just behind that delightful pattern of random blue squiggles. 
Each tragic hero has their own moment of peripeteia in SVSSS, sometimes several:
Shen Qingqiu
In the original PIDW, SQQ’s peripeteia presumably occurs when he finds out that Bingge didn’t perish in the Abyss but has actually been training hard to come and pay him back. There’s really not much I’m interested in saying here - as a villain, OG!SQQ is cut and dry, and the audience doesn’t really feel any pity or fear for him. As Shen Yuan often mentions, what the audience feels when they see OG!SQQ is bloodlust and sick satisfaction. There is also the trial at Huan Hua Palace, which I will talk about in Shen Yuan’s section. 
Shen Yuan (SQQ 2.0)
One of SY’s most poggers moment of peripeteia is the glorious, terrifying section between hearing Binghe for the first time after the Abyss moment, and getting shoved into the Water Prison. 
“Behind him, a low and soft voice came: “Shizun?”
Shen Qingqiu’s neck felt stiff as he slowly turned his head. Luo Binghe’s face was the most frightening thing he had ever seen.
The scariest thing about it was that the expression on his face was not cold at all. His smile wasn’t sharp like a knife. Rather, it showed a kind of bone-deep gentleness and amiability.”
This is the moment of true horror for Shen Yuan, because he knows what happens next: the plot unfurls before him, inevitable and painful, and he knows that death awaits him at Luo Binghe's hands (lol). Compare it with the bone deep certainty with which he faces his own downfall during the sham of a trial later in the chapter (I’ve bolded the important part):
“In the original work, Qiu Haitang’s appearance signified only one thing: Shen Qingqiu’s complete fall from grace. [...] Shen Qingqiu’s heart streamed with tears. Great Master… I know you’re doing this for my own good, but I’ll actually suffer if she speaks her words clearly. This truly is the saying “not frightened of doing a shameful deed, just afraid the ghost (consequences) will come knocking”!”
After the peripeteia is usually the denouement where the plot wraps up and the threads are all tied together leaving no loose ends, but because this tragedy isn’t Shen Yuan’s but the former Shen Jiu’s, it’s impossible to finish. 
Shen Yuan cannot provide the meaningful answers that the narrative demands because 1) he doesn’t have any memory of doing anything, and 2) he wasn’t the person who did them. Narratively, he cannot follow the same path as the former SQQ because he lacks the same fatal flaw: cruelty. 
This is why Binghe doesn’t kill him - because he loves him, rather than despises him. And this is why Shen Yuan has to sacrifice himself and die for Luo Binghe in order to save him from Xin Mo: because the narrative demands that denouement follows peripeteia, and SQQ’s fate is in the hands of the narrative. 
(Side note: I believe that this literal death also represents the death of OG!SQQ's tragic arc. The body that committed all those crimes must die to satisfy the narrative. SQQ must die, like burning down a forest, so that new growth can sprout from the ashes. After this, Shen Yuan's story has more room to develop instead.)
It must happen to show Bingmei that SQQ loves him too. And this brings us to Bingmei.
Bingmei
Bingmei has two succinct moments of utter downfall. The first is a literal fall - his flaw, his demonic heritage, leads his beloved shizun to throw him down into the Abyss. From his point of view, SQQ is punishing him simply for the status of his birth. He rapidly goes from being loved and cherished unconditionally, to being the victim of an assassination attempt. 
He realises that he is totally unlovable: that for the crimes of his species that he never had a hand in, he must pay the price as well: that his shizun is so righteous that no matter what love there was between them, if SQQ sees a demon, he will kill it. Even if that demon is Bingmei. 
The second moment is when SQQ dies for him. Again, from his point of view, he was chasing after a man who was struggling to see him as a human being. Shen Qingqiu’s death makes Bingmei realise that he has been completely misunderstanding his shizun: that SQQ would literally die for him, the ultimate act of self sacrifice from love: that SQQ loved him despite his demon heritage. 
Much like King Lear holding the corpse of his daughter and wailing in sheer grief and pain because he did this, he caused this, Bingmei gets to hold his shizun's cold body and cry his eyes out and know that it was his fault. (Kind of.)
(Yes, I’m bringing Shakespeare into this, no I am not justifying myself)
Maybe I'm a bit sadistic, but that scene slaps. Let me show you a comparison of scenes so you get the picture. 
Re-enter KING LEAR, with CORDELIA dead in his arms; EDGAR, Captain, and others following
KING LEAR
Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones:
Had I your tongues and eyes, I'ld use them so
That heaven's vault should crack. She's gone for ever!
I know when one is dead, and when one lives;
She's dead as earth. Lend me a looking-glass;
If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,
Why, then she lives.
[...]
 KING LEAR
And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life!
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life,
And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more,
Never, never, never, never, never!
Pray you, undo this button: thank you, sir.
Do you see this? Look on her, look, her lips,
Look there, look there!
Dies
Versus this scene in SVSSS: 
Luo Binghe turned a deaf ear to everything else, greatly agitated and at a loss of what to do. He was still holding Shen Qingqiu’s body, which was rapidly cooling down. It seemed like he wanted to call for him loudly and forcefully shake him awake, yet he didn’t dare to, as if he was afraid of being scolded. He said slowly, “Shizun?”
[...]
Luo Binghe involuntarily held Shen Qingqiu closer.
He said in a small voice, “I was wrong, Shizun, I really… know that I was wrong.
“I… I didn’t want to kill you…”
PAIN. SO MUCH BEAUTIFUL PAIN. Yes, I know Shakespeare isn’t Athenian, but he was inspired by the good old stuff and he also knew how to write a perfect tragedy on his own terms. Anyway. I’ll find more Greek examples later.
This post was a bit all over the place, but I hope it has been fun to read. Part Two will be coming At Some Point, Who Knows When. This is a bit messy and unedited, but hey, I’m not getting paid or graded, so you can eat any typos or errors. Unless you’re here to talk to me about Chinese tragedy, in which case, please pull up a seat, let me get you a drink, make yourself at home.
ps: if you want to retweet this, here is the promo tweet!
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whiteqnn · 3 years
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Pairing: Corpse Husband x Fem! Reader
Summary: Sean invites one of his good friends - Y/N - to play with him and the group. She has a lot of fun with them, but at the same time is too oblivious, too nice, and too pure to notice that one particular Among Us player has taken a liking to her the moment he heard her voice...
Notes: Hello everyone! This is the very first time I’m publishing something bigger in here, I’m honestly still figuring out how Tumblr works, even though I’ve had this account for quite some time now 😅. That being said, please don’t expect anything super impressive. I tried my best though just so you know. 🥺
A/N- It didn’t turn out as I expected, but I really hope at least some of you find it enjoyable :(
Y/C/N - your channel name
part 2
part 3 
part 4 
part 5 
PURE [1]
“Did you guys find anybody?” Felix asked, as the number of players still showed just 7 of them. They could just start now, but the game would be way more fun with a full lobby. 
“Yeah, Lily’s joining. I just texted her the code, so she should be here at any moment.” Sykkuno replied after receiving a text message from the said girl. “Oh, and Corpse also said he’d be joining soon.” 
“Great. Anyone else?”
 “I think Jack was also bringing someone, right?” Dave asked.
“Huh? Oh yeah, I have one coming, she’ll join us in a few” the asked man replied at the same moment Lily’s character appeared in the lobby. 
“Who you’re bringing Jack?” 
“Y/N” he said, causing Felix to gasp in shock and yell into his mic:
“How the fuck did you manage to convince her? I’ve been bugging her about this game for the past week and she always had some excuse!” 
“What can I say, my charm is irresistible” Jack replied nonchalantly, causing everyone in the lobby to laugh at his fake deep voice.
The number of participants changed to 9, as a little black astronaut with horns on his helmet appeared in the lobby. 
“Corpse, you’re here!” Rae’s character ran up to the man, circling him excitedly. 
“Hey man!”
“What’s up, Corpse?”
“Hello everyone” his deep voice sounded out “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“All good man, we’re still waiting for one person.” Felix reassured him “Sean, why is she not here yet? Are you sure you’ve sent her the right code?”
“Of course I am!” he all but shouted at Felix “And about that, she just texted me to give her a few more minutes and that we should start without her.”
“We can just wait, right?” Lily offered, earning a few hums of approval from the others.
“I think it might take a little longer than a few minutes, she has some problems with her microphone.”
“Who are you guys talking about?” Corpse asked, completely unaware of who Jack was referring to.
“Wait, Jack, you mean Y/N from Y/C/N?” Sykkuno asked suddenly, only then realizing why this name sounded familiar
“Yeah, the one and only” Jack replied, a smile evident in his voice.
“Oh my god, I love her videos!” Rae exclaimed at that “She’s so funny and sweet!”
“Yeah! Her new video is so freaking cute, I wish she’d upload more often.” Poki agreed. 
“Right?” Jack said, clearly very proud of his friend. “But don’t let that sweet demeanor fool you guys cause she’s one of the best players I’ve encountered in this game.”
“That’s true, she’s a secret big brain genius” Toast confirmed, making Pewdiepie gasp once again. 
“wHAT??YOU TWO PLAYED WITH HER?!” Felix’s offended voice boomed through everyone’s headphones “HOW DARE YOU. HOW COULD YOU NOT INVITE ME?!” 
“That’s for not inviting me to your latest Cringe episode!” Jack was quick to respond, making others in the lobby laugh at their mini fight. 
“Oh, so that’s where I recognized her from!” Sykkuno nearly shouted when he finally put two and two together. “I can’t wait to meet her, she seems like a really nice person.”
“She is! When she got impostor for the first time she refused to kill me” Toast explained, earning himself a couple of Aww’s from his friends. “So we just ran around the emergency button until I called the meeting and voted her off.”
“Yeah, only to be her first victim in the next game.” Jack all but giggled, clearly very amused at the memory of Y/N going into a full berserk mode. No one except for him and Toast knew how good she really was at this game... 
“She’s basically the wolf in sheep’s skin” Felix concluded with a chuckle “Very soft wolf, however.”
“She’s like the complete opposite of Corpse, both in voice and personality” Jack suddenly said, making Felix laugh wholeheartedly at something only two of them understood at the moment. 
“I don’t know how should I take that” Corpse admitted with a chuckle. He remained silent for most of the conversation since he didn’t really know who the guys were talking about. But he would lie if he said he wasn’t intrigued by this girl at least in the slightest. Although he heard about her channel, he hasn’t seen any of her videos, so he didn’t really know what to expect. But hearing what gamers like Sean and Felix said about her, he knew he’s not gonna be disappointed once the girl joins them in the game. 
“Imagine Corpse and Y/N talking.” Felix said suddenly with a seemingly very amused voice.
“Imagine Corpse and Y/N both being Impostors” Toast said, which resulted in many of them shouting over each other at how crazy that would be. 
“Alright, now that you mention this I start fearing the moment two of them meet” Jack confessed with loud laughter following the sentence. Corpse chuckled deeply under his breath, at the same time glancing at the questions his audience was asking him in his stream. He could hardly read any, as there were quite a lot of people asking, so all he saw was just a bunch of comments moving at the speed of light in his chat. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he was slightly nervous, seeing the growing number of people watching his stream. It was still a rather new thing to him, and he feared he'd say something inappropriate, or just make a complete idiot out of himself. 
"At least no one can see me..." he mumbled under his breath after muting his microphone. 
"Oh! Y/N just texted me! She's joining the call right now!" 
"Fuck yeah!" Felix shouted excitedly "Just so you know Jack, I won't forget that you two played without me."
"Uh-oh. Is that a threat? Are you threatening me now?" 
"It's a warning" Felix replied, receiving a series of gasps from other players. "If I get impostor, you're the first one on my list."
"Okay, everyone heard that! You know who to vote off when I'm dead!" 
"It's so cool to play with someone new, I wonder if she's as good as you guys depict her" Sykkuno spoke up, but before anyone could answer his question, a new character popped up in the lobby.
*** 
"Hi everyone! I’m sorry I left you just like that, but this stream would be completely useless without me being able to answer your questions. Fortunately it wasn’t anything serious, I just had to readjust my mic and go through the settings to find what was wrong. Took some time, but here I am now!” Y/N chirped into her microphone, smiling apologetically at her webcam. At the moments like this, she really appreciated how supportive her audience was. No one was hating on her when she had to get off the stream for a couple of minutes, and everyone was just so understanding that it made her heart melt. Perhaps her audience wasn’t very big, but it felt almost like a second family to her. 
“Anyway, as you already know from my twitter, today I’ll be playing Among Us with my friends and their friends! I can’t wait if I’m being honest, last time I played this game was so much fun, and there was only a few of us.” she admitted with a genuine smile on her face. “Let’s just text Sean now so we can get into the lobby...”
Y/N: Ready to play with you guys ^^
Jackaboy: Great! You got that mic fixed already? 
Y/N: Yes, everything is fine. I’m sorry you had to wait so long.
Jackaboy: It’s all good kiddo, no worries. I’ll call you and send you the code in a sec. 
Y/N: Perfect, thank you Sean :)
Jackaboy: Btw, everyone can’t wait to meet you ;-)Y/N stared at the screen for a moment, only now, seconds before joining the group, realizing how nervous she felt. From Sean’s tweets she saw earlier, she figured that the lobby was right now full of many famous streamers, those she wouldn’t even compare herself to. It’s not that she thought of herself very low, but... being among such youtube celebrities like them made her panic a little bit. She didn’t want to look like a complete fool amongst them. 
Playing or recording with Sean and Felix was something else because she knew those guys for years (and yet still sometimes found herself thinking how lucky she got to be able to call them her friends). She felt good in their company, not worrying about choosing the right words. But amongst the rest of the players, she knew only Toast and talked with Rae maybe once in her life... 
What if the rest won’t like her? 
Y/N cleared her throat, realizing that she was still staring at her phone like hypnotized and her audience was already asking her what’s going on. She quickly typed in the code Sean had texted her and readjusted her headphones, before joining the discord chat.
“THERE SHE IS” screamed Sean, making her grin from ear to ear, hearing how excited he was “Little wonderchild!”
“I think you meant little TRAITOR” Felix corrected him with a scoff. A silence settled in the lobby as everyone was waiting for Y/N to speak up.
“Um... hello everyone..” she said softly, almost inaudibly, a sudden wave of shyness taking over her. “I’m Y/N” 
“Oh, you were right about that Corpse thing!” replied another, also very soft and very sweet voice, and Y/N saw the image of someone named Lily pop up. “It’s like the exact opposite!” 
“See? Told ya. Everyone, meet Y/N/N, the little angel from Y/C/N.” 
“Hey Y/N!”
“Hi there!”
“Hey, what’s up?”
“H-Hi, so great to meet you, Y/N!” a very friendly sounding voice said, and a little lime astronaut with the name Sykkuno above it started running around her. “Can’t wait to play with you!”
“That’s so nice, thank you” she replied with a wide smile on her face, moving around his character as well. “I can’t wait to play with you too, actually with all you guys. It’s so great to be here with you.”
“Jack I swear she’s the cutest little thing I’ve ever heard. Where the hell did you find her?!” Poki all but yelled at the man, making Y/N giggle to herself and in-process loosen up a little bit. They all seemed like someone she’d happily be friends with. 
“Or rather, where do you get one?” someone else commented, making them all burst into laughter, Y/N included. 
“Guys, what did I say about that sweet demeanor...” Jack said after calming down from his fit “Don’t put your guard down just because she sounds like that!”
“Wait- what did you tell them about me?” Y/N asked confused, the tone of her voice making him laugh even more “Jack!”
“Don’t worry, only the good stuff” a very deep, low voice spoke up, leaving her taken aback for a moment. Her eyes widened slightly and she glanced at the name of that person, reading out CORPSE. Now that’s something she didn’t expect... 
“Corpse, mind your manners! You didn’t even introduce yourself!” 
“Oh, shit- yeah, sorry. Um, I’m Corpse, it’s very nice to meet you Y/N” he replied right after, making her lip corners curl up into a smile. 
“Nice to meet you too Corpse, you have a really pleasant voice.” she spoke sweetly, completely unaware of the chaos that was taking place in her stream chat. She didn’t even think of it the way her audience did, she just simply spoke up her mind, and being an incredibly nice person - turned it into a compliment.
“Oh- wow. I mean, thank you so much. I love your voice too, it’s really sweet” he replied, nervously chuckling at the end, before muting his mic. It was, however, enough for Felix and Sean to start teasing him, as the two immediately screamed:
“SIIIMP!!!”
“It’s the voice Felix, I told you he’d fall into her trap!” 
“Wait- he was just being nice, guys! Stop making fun of him” Y/N immediately defended the man, trying to speak up over the hysterical laughter of the other players. 
“Oh my god, but what if they both get impostors and they both pull the voice cards on us?!” Rae managed to yell through all the noise, making Y/N even more confused.
“Wait, what? What do you mean? I don’t understand.” 
“Don’t worry Y/N, that’s how I feel all the time around them.” Sykkuno seemed to be the only one who heard her question, as the rest continued their gabbing without giving her as much as a glance. 
“Alright, let’s start the game maybe. I might have a few old scores to settle” Toast cleared his throat theatrically, his astronaut coming face to face with Y/N’s. 
“Oh, you mean me? I thought I already apologized!” she replied frantically. “You gave me no choice Toast, I didn’t even want to kill you in the first place...”
“BUT YOU DID. IN THE VERY FIRST ROUND” 
“I’m sorry!” 
“Alright, enough! Toast, just don’t kill her right away, okay? Let her run around the map, fearing for her life for a moment.” Y/N gasped upon hearing Jack’s words, clearly sensing the smirk behind his voice. 
“Wha- Jack?! Since when are you against me?!” 
“Don’t worry Y/N, I won’t let them hurt you. You haven’t played with us yet, I’ll protect you.” 
“Oh, thank you so much Sykkuno! I’ll protect you too!” 
“Great. Another one simping...” was Felix’s last words, before the game began. 
Y/N sighed in relief upon seeing the word crewmate forming on her screen, but at the same time feared Toast’s inevitable revenge. She thought they'd already buried the hatchet, but it seemed that he was desperate to make her pay for the last time they played together. 
“Aw, Sykkuno was serious” she mumbled with a smile, when his lime astronaut started circling her white one, so she would follow him. “Okay, let’s do some tasks.”
They both made their way towards the medbay, Sykkuno patiently waiting nearby as she did the scan, then Y/N waiting for him to do the same. The moment his little character stepped towards her, a meeting was called by none other than Felix.
“What happened?” Rae asked.
“I called the meeting because I’m afraid of Jack” he responded, causing everyone to laugh. “Seriously though! Dude’s been following me around the whole time.”
“I was just making sure nobody kills you.”
“Yeah don’t go all Sykkuno on me!” Felix screamed, making the call erupt into even more laughter. 
“Alright, are we skipping?” 
“Yeah.”
“Guys, my life is in danger!” Felix wouldn’t give up. “Come on, show some support! Y/N? You played with him, you know his techniques!” 
“Sorry Felix” Y/N giggled, clicking the skip button. 
When the next round began, Sykkuno was quick to join Y/N on her way towards admin, where they both found Poki doing the upload. They did the card swipe and left her there, when the lights suddenly went off.
“Uh-oh. Let’s head the opposite direction, Sykkuno” the girl murmured, dancing around his character and heading towards Comms instead of going to Electrical. It was the easiest way to die, after all. 
Once they entered the room and waited for someone to fix the lights, Y/N could see another figure appear in the same location. She couldn’t recognize whose character it was, but upon seeing the horns on the helmet she smiled to herself.
“Hey there, Corpse” she said, walking up to the black astronaut, who was standing still in the same place as if he was just watching her and Sykkuno run around Comms instead of doing their tasks. 
They stood like that for a couple of seconds until Corpse turned around and ran away, and that’s when the first body was reported. 
“Oh no, Jack!” 
“Poor guy. He’s gonna haunt us now.”
“Where’s the body?” 
“Navigation” replied Rae, who was the one to find Sean’s green astronauts’ body “Didn’t see anyone around, but I’m pretty sure someone just vented right in front of my eyes...”
“Any suspicions?” Toast asked.
“Um, not really sure, it was the exact same moment the lights went off. I was doing tasks with Jack and then he just died. I only saw the vent close, nothing or no one else.”
“Okay, where are you guys right now?” 
“I’m in admin with Dave, we only passed Poki when we got there.” Lily’s voice sounded out, quickly being joined by Poki’s explanation.
“Yeah, I was finishing the upload when you guys came in, Y/N and Sykkuno saw it”
“Did you see her?” Toast asked, addressing his question towards the white and lime astronauts. 
“Yes, we were doing the card swipe before going to Comms. Corpse joined us for a moment and then left.”
“Yeah, I was on my way to fix the lights when I stumbled upon them in Comms, the body was reported the exact moment I left.”
“Can someone confirm this? I mean, did someone see you besides the two of them?” Toast continued his questioning. 
“I think I only saw Felix in Medbay.”
“Hmm, so no one really knows where you were this whole time. You could easily lure Jack into Navigation and kill him there. Is that what you did, Corpse?”
“Woah, that’s some serious accusation” Corpse replied in his usual, low and calm voice. “Where were you Toast? You seem the only one who still doesn’t have an alibi”
“Neither does Felix.” Y/N spoke innocently, and the mentioned man quickly started his explanation.
“Okay, I was with Jack at the beginning but he clearly can’t confirm this since someone snapped his fucking neck. We’ve split up in O2 after doing our tasks and then he must’ve gone with Rae. I just wandered around the map, escaping from the death.”
“Hmm, so not only were you one of the last people to see him alive, but you also admit to not doing your tasks” Y/N said, trying her best to keep her voice steady and stop herself from laughing. She was sure Sykkuno was doing the same thing, they both refused to do any tasks after the lights went off, after all.
“Yeah, but does that already makes me an Imposter? I’m just scared for my life, that’s all.”
“Y/N has some good logic, but I’m not really sure it’s Pewds. I mean, I saw him in Medbay and he really seemed to be just jogging around.” Corpse said, his voice almost immediately doing its magic, as people more or less willingly agreed to skip this round as well. 
“I think it’s Felix. I mean, I haven’t played with him yet, but I have this feeling that he’s just acting.” Y/N said to her chat after muting herself. She went towards Weapons to do another task, seeing Sykkuno’s little character follow her once again, but the doors were suddenly locked and his lime astronaut remained in Cafeteria. “Oh no, Sykkuno” she sighed with a pout on her face, deciding against waiting for him and risking getting her neck snapped. She finished her task in Weapons and moved towards another location, when suddenly Corpse appeared in front of her, coming right out of nowhere. 
“Oh- Corpse, you scared me to death” Y/N breathed a laugh, watching as his character stood still for a couple of seconds, before circling around her white astronaut. Y/N nodded her head with a smile, even though he couldn’t see her, and followed him in Shields, where they found Poki’s dead body. 
“The body is in Shields” Y/N replied right after reporting the body, only to gasp in shock when she realized more than one person was killed. Red crosses decorated not only Poki’s name but were also visible next to Dave and Lily. 
“What the hell?!” Felix all but yelled into his mic, obviously shocked just like everyone else who was still alive. 
“Now that’s... a lot of bodies” Sykkuno mumbled under his breath. 
“Alright, who’s in Shields? Y/N, you said you found the body there, which one?”
“Poki’s, Corpse was there with me” her reply was followed by his short and low hum. 
“Sykkuno, where are you? I didn’t see you anywhere since the last round.” Felix asked, clearly accusing the lime astronaut of being a murderer. 
“I was... doing the wires in electrical, Toast was there for a moment as well.”
“Yeah but I was only searching for the body, so I saw you maybe for a second” Toast replied, building even more suspicions around Sykkuno.
“But- guys, you know I wouldn’t kill two people in one round, let alone four of them.”
“No one says you did that, I only mentioned that you were nowhere to be seen. You could’ve been sabotaging the map for the other Impostor” Felix said nonchalantly.
“Guys, I-”
“It’s him! It must be him!” Rae shouted through her mic. 
“Sykkuno is 100% innocent, I can vouch for him” Y/N’s voice sounded out in everyone’s headphones “We were together since the start of the game and he didn’t kill me, even though he had quite a number of chances to do so.”
“Weren’t you with Corpse this time?” Felix asked suspiciously.
“I was! But at the beginning, I was with Sykkuno, until someone locked him in Cafeteria. That’s when we split up.”
“And you haven’t seen him ever since?”
“Well, no, but-”
“Then I can assure you it was only a matter of time before he’d stab you in the back” Toast concluded, making Sykkuno gasp in confusion.
“Wha- No, I would never do that! Y/N is our guest, I was just making sure she was okay!”
“Sykkuno, simping won’t save your life right now” 
“Wha- I- Guys!” he tried to stutter out some logical explanation “Y/N, don’t believe them!”
“I don’t, I know you’re innocent! C’mon guys, he wouldn’t do it!” 
“Yeah yeah, let’s kick him out. Corpse, who are you voting?” Toast asked, and Y/N could see the I voted sign next to his character. 
“I kinda feel like Felix tries to shift the blame onto Sykkuno. He didn’t even tell his location, and was already throwing accusations on someone else.” Corpse replied after a moment, making the smile widen on Y/N’s face. Someone was finally on her side! 
“That’s because he can’t even explain himself!” Felix exclaimed, voting as well. 
“Besides, I’m pretty sure if it wasn’t for whoever locked that door, Y/N would be dead as well!” 
“No, I told you I-!”
“Guys, we have ten seconds to vote. Rae?” 
“I think it’s him as well. He was acting suspiciously since we started this round. I vote Sykkuno”
“But..!” 
“No, Sykkuno...” Y/N whispered with a pout on her lips, when she saw the number of people who voted for her lime friend. 
Sykkuno was ejected. 
“Alright, I’m pretty sure it’s Felix. I saw Rae multiple times and she didn’t kill me, Toast also doesn’t act very Impostor like, but maybe that’s just one of his strategies... Corpse is with me again, I don’t think that’s him, I mean, he followed me around last round, but still didn’t do anything, and even vouched for me and Sykkuno when we were both clearly chilling in comms. It can’t be him... right?” 
 Dead body reported.
 “I just saw Corpse kill Toast, then vent!” Rae’s voice blared through Y/N’s headphones, as she looked in shock at the red cross next to Toast’s name. If not him, then..?
“What?” the accused man asked calmly “That’s a self-report, she’s trying to frame me. You guys can’t possibly believe her.”
“I believe her. I saw you enter the Electrical with Toast, then he’s suddenly dead” Felix said. 
“That’s because she vented in there and killed him.”
“No! I swear, Y/N/N you have to believe me!” she directed her words towards the girl who remained silent during their discussion, processing her accusations over and over in her head. “I was fixing the wires, Toast was doing another task, and then boom! I see Corpse snapping his neck!”
“How could you see that if the lights were off?” Y/N suddenly asked, making Rae cut her own sentence off “No one went to fix them, they were off the entire round.”
Silence. 
“It’s Rae, it must be her” Corpse couldn’t help but laugh wholeheartedly at how small was the mistake which completely blew Rae’s cover. “We’re voting Rae, right Y/N?”
“No! Guys, I mean, let me explain, I-!”
Rae was ejected. 
“Now that was something I didn’t expect. I would’ve never thought it was her, I even suspected that Sykkuno might really have been the other Impostor, but now... It’s just me, Corpse, and Felix. I’m clear, clearly, so it must be one of them. And since Corpse protected me for the past few rounds, there’s no other option than...”
Her eyes suddenly widened when the realization hit her, and she quickly turned around to speed towards the emergency button. Fortunately, no one was around to stop her from calling the meeting.
“Felix.” Y/N started, trying to contain her excitement and sound seriously “Where were you when Sean was killed?”
Neither Corpse of Felix said a word, as it was probably the last question they expected her to ask. Felix cleared his throat, however, and finally replied:
“Y/N, that was literally the beginning of a game. How am I supposed to remember what I did then?”
“Well” she said nonchalantly “I, for example, clearly remember the things you said even when we were in the lobby.”
“What are you implying?” 
“Wasn’t it you, who told everyone that Sean was your number one if you get Impostor?” she asked with a wicked smile on her face. Felix was dumbfounded, he obviously didn’t expect her to pull that card on him, hell, he didn’t even know how she knew about it since she wasn’t even in the call at the time. 
“FELIX” Corpse suddenly broke the silence, simultaneously breaking the said man from his train of thoughts. 
“Okay, first of all- YOU WEREN’T EVEN IN THE CALL WHEN I SAID THAT” he yelled through his mic, making both Y/N and Corpse laugh, as it only confirmed their suspicions. 
“See? You only proved my point.” 
“Oh, fuck’s sake- I was just joking okay?!” he tried to defend himself, but hearing how he couldn’t even contain his own laughter anymore, it was clear he already accepted the defeat. “It wasn’t serious, god damn it!” 
“You know what to do, Y/N” Corpse’s voice asked through her headphones, and surely, she knew exactly what to do.
“C’mon Y/N, that’s not fair! At least let me explain myself!” 
“Bye Felix” she said in an overly dramatic tone before Corpse voted as well. 
Soon enough, the sign VICTORY could be seen on her screen, which made her squeak and joy. This game was really fun, even though she was so scared of being killed first. 
“I knew it! I knew you would figure out it’s him! That son of a bitch who murdered me!” Jack basically yelled out, clearly very happy about the result. 
“Y/N, seriously now, how did you know I’ve said that?” Felix asked without even hiding his surprised tone.
“Let’s just say I might’ve stolen some of your viewers, Felix” she admitted, winking at her webcam, a new wave of comments landing on her chat. “Thanks guys!” 
“Okay, that is rude and not fair!” 
“It helped me win, so I’ve got nothing else to say” Y/N grinned from ear to ear, before muting herself for a moment to finally answer some of the questions from her chat, while the rest took a quick break to eat something or go to the bathroom.
She was halfway through telling the story of how she met Sean when she noticed she got a message from a private discord chat. 
CORPSE: That was really impressive :)
Y/N smiled to herself upon seeing his text and quickly typed out the answer. 
Y/N: Thanks!! I wouldn’t have done that without you though, you stood up for me and Sykkuno and all
Y/N: Also, thanks for protecting me from being murdered ^^
CORPSE: No problem, I knew you were innocent right away. 
CORPSE: Anyway, good game, Sean was right saying that you’re one of the best players
She couldn’t help the blush that arose on her cheeks, it was very sweet of him to say that, even though she didn’t actually do much except for exposing Felix. 
Y/N: I wasn’t an Impostor though, so you didn’t really see much :)
She watched the three dots beside his name, that signaled he was still texting. The chat was completely forgotten, but people seemed to quickly notice that small, shy smile on her lips, and the pink tint decoring her cheeks.
CORPSE: Okay, now I’m intrigued... 
Y/N: Maybe we’ll both be Impostors one day ^^
CORPSE: Can’t wait for that to happen.
Soon enough, they returned to the lobby to begin another game. Y/N glanced at her chat for a second, and the moment she returned her eyes to the game, her jaw basically dropped. 
IMPOSTOR was written in bold letters in the middle of the red screen, right above her name.
Corpse’s little character was standing beside her. 
4K notes · View notes
fruitcoops · 3 years
Note
So this is sort of similar to the people writing fanfic about the lions but can you imagine the YouTube edits? Like the videos that are just "Cap having heart eyes for Loops for 10 minutes straight" or "Loops lovingly dragging Caps name through the mud for 3 minutes" like those kinds of things and I can just imagine them doing reaction videos and it just being funny and the world just loving coops
Okay so this wasn't a specific fic request but I got carried away with imagining videos and....here you go. SW credit goes to @lumosinlove, but Grace and Anna are mine! Bonus points to anyone who remembers the easter egg in this one!
Message From: Gracie
ANNA HOLY SHIT
Anna frowned at her phone screen, squinting to read around the spiderweb crack decorating the upper corner. She had tried to convince herself that it was cool, goth, edgy, but in the end she had to admit that it was just irritating. In a tragic turn of events, packing tape couldn’t fix everything.
Message To: Gracie
Wtf did I do
Two weeks of radio silence, then unexplained accusations. Anna shook her head as the grey bubble disappeared for a third time and turned back to her computer. Grace may have been her favorite cousin—and favorite person, if she was being honest—but very few things came between Anna and video editing. Especially editing for a Lions meme video. She had a whole 2,341 followers to attend to, after all.
Message From: Gracie
DID YOU SEE THE FUCKING INTERVIEW???
Message To: Gracie
Wow thank you so helpful
Message From: Gracie
Skip to 2:45 bestie
A link popped up just as Anna cut a segment from the sleep study video, where Loops’ heart eyes were in full effect. It was a rare, precious find for fan editors like herself.
“Come on,” she groaned. Maybe introducing Grace to the deepest parts of her hockey obsession was a mistake. But, really, what else was she supposed to do when she learned her cousin, who didn’t even live in Gryffindor, got to meet her favorite players just by chilling in a café? What kind of cosmic joke was that?
She narrowed her eyes at the embed of the link, then stifled a shriek. Impossible. How had she missed an upload?
As if on cue, her computer pinged with a new notification from the Lion Pride channel. “Oh, fuck me,” she muttered, scrambling to save her half-done video and pressing play.
The interviewer asked basic questions, ones she had heard the answers to a million times while curating her content. It always felt funny to hear people refer to Cap as ‘Sirius’—it was too official, too formal. She had spent countless hours on the compilations of his softer moments, and they were her most popular videos. Cap Having Heart Eyes for Loops for 10 Minutes Gay. Cap Being an Actual Puppy for Six and a Half Minutes. Everyone Wanting Cap Cuddles for Fifteen Minutes. Every Time Cap Smiles When Someone Mentions His Godson. The list was endless. She loved it.
She did a silent fist pump when she saw the interviewer had snagged both Cap and Loops; that would give her a whole new stream of workable content. If she was lucky, she could expand on her series of Loops Lovingly Roasting His Friends, part…fuck it, who was even counting anymore?
Anna was so caught up in her excitement that she nearly forgot about Grace’s suggestion. I’ve never skipped through a video on the first watch before, she thought hesitantly. But maybe just this once…
Her cursor hovered over the 2:45mark. She closed her eyes, and clicked it.
“—have you been adjusting to life as a celebrity?” the interviewer asked. Anna nearly rolled her eyes when Loops laughed. That question had been used far too often to be interesting anymore.
“It’s had its ups and downs,” Loops said with a smile. “Mostly, though, the fans have been incredible and just knocked my socks off with their support.”
“Really? What’s your favorite part of the Lions fanbase?”
He didn’t miss a beat. “Their creativity, for sure. There was a video a while back where we reacted to some of the comments people left, and this person on Twitter made an absolutely beautiful collage of photos.”
“I have it saved to my phone,” Sirius added.
One more clip for the simp video. Anna made a note on the small corner space of her European History notes. The degree can wait for ten more minutes.
“Do you have a favorite creator?”
The interviewer was clearly teasing, but Loops’ smile was genuine. “I don’t know about a favorite, but there’s this person on YouTube who makes a shit ton of videos and they’re hysterical. I saw one the other day about—god, what was it again?”
“Every time I smile when people mention Harry,” Sirius answered around a laugh. “Can you blame me?”
Anna didn’t hear the next question. A ringing noise filled her ears as she sat, frozen, on her shitty dorm mattress and listened to her literal heroes talk about her dorky little channel. “Holy fuck,” she blurted after a moment of silence. “Holy fuck.”
“—subscribed?” The man’s voice snapped her back to reality.
“Of course I am!” Loops said. “You think I’m passing up a chance to watch a compilation of my friends making stupid decisions for the entire internet to see?”
A noise that would have been a shriek if Anna had any breath left in her body escaped her lungs; she clamped a hand over her mouth and shakily exited from the video before going to her YouTube account. 800 new notifications. 700 new followers in the last quarter hour. She was pretty sure she blacked out for a second from sheer shock and joy.
Message To: Gracie
What
Message From: Gracie
You’re famous!
Message To: Gracie
What
Message From: Gracie
I bet he knows your stuff better than he remembers me tbh
“They know me,” she whispered, staring at her computer. The unfinished video showed a perfect frame of Loops’ soft smile as he watched Cap get his toothbrush stuck in his pajama shirt. Somehow, the thought was both exhilarating and horrifying. What if they thought she was a creep? She wasn’t, not really, just a bored college student with not enough free time for a job but too much to keep herself busy with schoolwork. Her 2,341—no, 3,052—followers were just other hockey nerds looking for time to kill.
And the subject of those videos was one of her subscribers.
Anna slipped her headphones back on and began to edit like it was her last day on earth. Her fingers flew across the keyboard on muscle memory while her brain fizzed. Perfect, she thought. It has to be perfect.
In four hours, it was done. She sat back, panting, then hunched over again and began tapping out a title card.
Hello. Idk if anyone saw the new Lion Pride video today (linked below if anyone wants to see why I’m dying right now) but apparently Remus Lupin is subscribed to this channel and has been for a while.
Hi Loops. I’m Anna. You met my cousin once and she said she liked your sweater.
Now that that’s out of the way, please enjoy the next five minutes of our new rookie being the sappiest mf in existence (except for his fiancé). Mr. Lupin, please tell Hattie I say hello.
She pressed upload, peeled her headphones off, and collapsed backward on her bed.
Message To: Gracie
If I die here, tell the world I did it doing what I loved
Message From: Gracie
Will do
OH FUCK YOU FOR BRINGING UP THE SWEATER I SOUND LIKE A CREEP
Anna covered her itchy eyes with her forearm and settled in for a long, long nap. Her brain still needed to repair a few circuits.
310 notes · View notes
amythedvdhoarder · 3 years
Text
Storm in a Teacup
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Pairing: Bucky x Divorced Reader
Word Count: ~2K
Warnings: Fluff, a monster of an ex-mother-in-law
Summary: You’re on your first date after your divorce. Who should you run into? Your ex-mother-in-law.
A/N: This comes from a request sent in by a lovely nonnie, who wanted a fic based around a divorced reader who runs into her ex-mother-in-law whilst on a date with Bucky. Before that point, Bucky didn’t know about her divorce. Embarrassment ensues and Bucky has to make up his mind about what to do next. I hope I have done your idea justice. Sorry it took me so long.
Thank you to the wonderful @drabblewithfrannybarnes​ for beta reading for me. Ily hun 😘
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It had taken a long time for you to get to this position, to feel comfortable enough to be dating again. But you had been separated from your now ex-husband for two and a half years, your divorce finalised 6 months ago. It was time to try and have some semblance of a life. You felt guilty about not revealing your divorce to Bucky, but when you moved to New York you really wanted a fresh start, so you didn’t tell anyone about your past. Of course, if there came a time when Bucky needed to know then you would tell him, but this was just a coffee.
Bucky and you had begun talking a few months ago. It started when he was dropping off mission reports with small smiles, progressing to hello’s and then to you making him coffee whenever he stopped by during your lunch break, which he always seemed to arrive in time for. He had realised quickly that you weren’t a New York native, so traded your museum recommendations for tv, film and music recommendations. Each time you met you discussed your latest weekend museum trip and he told you his thoughts on the latest thing he had watched or listened to.
It was clear that you two had a connection. Your co-workers had even commented on how well you and the notoriously silent super-soldier seemed to get along. They were surprised that you hadn’t been on a date already. But you had reservations; perhaps it was too soon. Plus, there was no way Bucky would be interested in you. He was just polite and maybe enjoyed having someone who wasn’t a superhero to talk to. It was a shock when he asked you out for coffee the next time you saw him. You were even more shocked that you had agreed without any hesitation.  
You were nervous. In fact, nervous was an understatement. Sick to your stomach was a more accurate description. It wasn’t the fact that it was a date with Bucky Barnes, it was the fact it was a date. Your first, first date in nearly 10 years.  
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Bucky was leaning against a lamppost, outside your apartment waiting for you. When you saw him you felt yourself instantly relax. He gave you his signature lopsided grin that you had come to crave and ambled over to you.
“You look great,” he said as he stood back and admired you.
“Thanks, you don’t look too bad yourself for an old man,” you teased. That was the understatement of the century. He looked like a model in his dark wash jeans, dark blue henley layered over a black t-shirt and a leather jacket in his hand.
He shook his head and chuckled to himself. “Theoretically we’re about the same age you know.”
You raised an eyebrow at him. “Hmmm well I don’t know about that, but we better get going otherwise we’ll be out past your bedtime.”
“What happened to respecting your elders?” Bucky winked.
“Maybe elders that don’t act like teenage boys, but you and Sam are like high-school kids.”
Bucky looked confused for a second and then remembered that you had caught him and Sam hiding Steve’s shield under your desk the other week.
Bucky threw his hands up in surrender. “Alright, you win.”
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The coffee shop was only a couple of streets away, on a corner opposite one of your favourite parks. Bucky and you ordered together and found a table near the window.
Both of you were chatting away about an art gallery you had visited the day before when you were suddenly interrupted.
“You,” that was a voice you would recognise anywhere, a voice which still haunted you. One of constant criticism, one that drove a wedge between you and the person you thought you would spend the rest of your life with.
“Hello Eliza,” you said through a forced smile.
Bucky stood and politely offered his hand to Eliza, but she ignored it leaving Bucky to sit down awkwardly.
“What brings you to New York?” you asked curtly.
“Well Leon and I are visiting my sister,” you balked, glancing quickly around the room, checking for any sign of him.
“He’s not here so you can stop looking. My son had a lucky escape by all accounts,” she sent a sneering look towards Bucky and then back to you. “Barely divorced and already moving on. I always suspected you were a whore; this just confirms it.”
Tears sprang to your eyes; she was publicly humiliating you. Calling you out for being a whore, when you had done nothing but be faithful to her son throughout your marriage and in fact whilst going through the long and bitter divorce. It was her son who couldn’t keep it in his pants. Anger took over and just as you were about to respond Bucky stood up and moved in front of you.
“Sorry I don’t know who you are, but you have no right to speak to anyone like that,” his voice low and urgent, his metal hand clenching and unclenching quickly by his side.
Eliza smirked, eyes flicking up and down at the man standing in front of her. “Ah I recognise you off the news, you two make the perfect match. Both damaged goods that no normal person could want.”
You stood up and went to stand by Bucky’s side, gently taking his arm in your hands. “That’s enough Eliza, we aren’t family anymore, you have made it evidently clear you want nothing to do with me. The feeling is very much mutual. We have nothing more to say to each other so goodbye.”
She let out a little exclamation of shock, but she quickly recovered her sharp exterior. Without saying another word, she just turned on her heels and left the coffee shop.
Bucky gently led you back to your seat, ignoring the people staring at both of you. You looked like you were in shock.
“Hey…” his thumb caught the tears that had begun to roll down your cheeks, “she’s not worth your tears.”
This seemed to finally snap you out of your daze. You look at Bucky and everything just seemed so overwhelming. He was being too kind. Eliza had been right, you were damaged, Bucky deserved more than you, someone who could at least be honest about themselves.
‘I’m sorry Bucky…” you grabbed your bag and tore yourself away from him, running out the café and onto the busy street.
He didn’t follow you immediately like he wanted to, he knew you needed some space. Bucky didn’t know you well but wanted to, he was going to be there for you if you let him. Besides he had an inkling about where you were.
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You were exactly where he thought you would be, sat on a bench in the park, covered by a weeping willow.
“Mind if I sit,” you jumped at the intrusion. Bucky stood in front of you, holding two take-out cups from the coffee shop and what looked like a very chocolatey cookie.
All of you could do was nod, the shame of Eliza’s words and your own dishonesty still coursing through you.
“Here,” Bucky offered you the cup and you numbly accepted. “Do you want to split this?” he held up the bag and you rolled your eyes at him. “I mean, I’m quite happy to eat it all,” he sent you a lopsided grin.
You couldn’t help the little snort that escaped you. “We’ll split it, would hate for you to have to spend an extra hour in the gym burning off a whole cookie.”
“You’re too kind,” he teased, opening the bag and poking out the cookie for you to snap off half of it.
Both of you sat and ate without uttering a word to one another. You couldn’t believe he was being so nice to you; you certainly didn’t deserve it.
“I can see why you like it here so much,” Bucky commented, breaking the silence.
“Bucky, how did you know I’d be here?” You turned to face him and took a sip of your coffee.
“I’ve seen you here before. But before you think I’ve been stalking you let me explain. I grew up around here, a couple of blocks away actually. I like to come here for a walk sometimes to remember the happier more carefree times. I spotted you one day but you looked so content in your own little world, I didn’t want to interrupt.” His cheeks flushed slightly with his admission.
He cleared his throat and looked at the coffee cup in his hands before continuing. “Then I started coming here more regularly, hoping I would see you, but I never plucked up the courage to come and talk to you.”
“I’m sorry Bucky” you said quietly.
“That’s the second time you’ve apologised to me today and I still don’t know what you’ve got to be sorry about. It’s not your fault that woman was way out of line. You don’t owe me an apology for anything,” His brows knitted together with concern and it made you feel even more guilty.
“I should’ve told you about the divorce,” smiling ruefully, placing your empty coffee cup between you on the bench.
“I already knew,” he shrugged.
“What? How? I hadn’t told anyone at work,” you spluttered in shock.
“That’s how,” he nodded to where your thumb and forefinger were twisting around where your wedding ring used to be.
You let go immediately and shook your head. “Why did you ask me out for coffee if you knew about my divorce?”
It was perplexing to you that anyone would want to come anywhere near you after your divorce. You had just assumed you would be alone forever. No one had two people out there meant for them. Well, maybe Leon hadn’t been your one.
“We can’t help our past,” Bucky flexed his metal hand, “I know that better than most. All we can do is make the most of our future. I like you, have since I met you. In fact, Sam got so fed up of me talking about you, that he threatened to ask you out himself if I didn’t hurry up and get on with it. Not that I didn’t want to, it’s just thought you could do so much better that an ex-brainwashed assassin.”
“You’re a good man Bucky, anyone would be lucky to have you” you whispered.  
Bucky leant over and wiped away the tears you hadn’t realised had begun to roll down your cheeks. “I don’t just want anyone though,” His deep blue eyes peered into yours trying to get across his meaning.
“I like you too Bucky, but we’ve got to take this slow.” His face lit up at your words and he took your hand and pressed it to his lips.
“I’m over 100 years old, slow suits me. But seeing as our first date was hijacked would you like to get some dinner with me? I know a diner around the corner has the best burger in the city.”
“Sounds perfect, but only if you let me get it this time. I owe you for the coffee and the cookie.” You offered.
“I think I just about agree to terms of that deal,” Bucky laughed, scooped up the rubbish and got to his feet. “Shall we?” he asked, offering you his free hand.
You put your hand in his and got to your feet. “Let’s go.”
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Gif not mine, credit to the creator
Divider made by the talented @firefly-graphics​
Taglists are open. Let me know if you want in or out
Everything:
@stargazingfangirl18 ,  @silentcoyotesong, @queenofstarliqht, @buckys-henley, @lonelyheartsm @alexa-lightwood-blog, @angrythingstarlight, @drabblewithfrannybarnes, @rogueheretic555, @rebekahdawkins, @chrissquares, @pumpkin-and-pine, @hereforbuckyandsteve, @drakelover78, @baddie-barnes, @cas25214, @pandaxnienke, @thehumanistsdiary, @saiyanprincessswanie, @ladyacrasia, @sweeterthanthis, @joannie95, @lennon-knox, @navybrat817
Bucky:
@its-izzys, @archy3001
209 notes · View notes
rivalsforlife · 3 years
Text
The AAI Cast Takes On Twitter
Hello! For the release of ace attorney investigations 2 ten years ago, on the official AA twitter account, Capcom posted a bunch of tweets that were made to sound like they came from the characters themselves. You can still find them if you dig far enough, but it’s a bit of a pain to find and especially a pain to understand in English, so I decided to compile them all here and attempt to translate them. (They have also been “localized” in true ace attorney fashion.)
First, a disclaimer: I am absolutely NOT a translator and my understanding of Japanese is abysmal. I put the original tweets through google translate and then went through trying to make them legible, including looking up words and phrases when they didn’t make any sense. As a result, I can’t guarantee that this is completely accurate, and I definitely messed with phrasing a bit to get things to flow better or sound more in character. Hopefully the general gist of things should make sense! I’ll put the original Japanese text below the English one, and if you actually know Japanese and would like to properly translate it, please do so! I just wanted to get this out here as fast as possible.
If you want to view the original tweets, I’ve filtered them (mostly!) here in reverse-chronological order. There are tweets from the game staff at the end that I did not “translate”.
With that said, here are the tweets. (It is long, so most of it is under the cut.) The breaks are things I added that I believe were breaks in time on the actual account, and represent new scenes.
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<Edgeworth>: I was told to “tweet” what I usually think about to commemorate the release of “Ace Attorney Investigations 2”... What should I do?
<Kay>: Come on, Mr. Edgeworth! First, you need to introduce yourself!
<Edgeworth>: Oh. Sorry for the late introduction. My name is Miles Edgeworth, a prosecutor at the District Attorney's Office. Kay informed me that this is “Tweeter”. 
<Kay>: No! It’s pronounced "Twitter"!
<Edgeworth>: Is it "Tweeter"? I'm not very good at this kind of thing ...
<Kay>: Okay, moving on. Ace Attorney Investigations 2 is about to be released, and Mr. Edgeworth has a lot to say, right?
<Edgeworth>: Mm. Certainly, there are few opportunities like this, so this should be a valuable experience.
<Kay>: Then this Great Thief, Kay Faraday, will teach Mr. Edgeworth the fun of tweeting!
<Edgeworth>: I’m not very interested in that… but alright. More importantly, Kay, do you want to start working soon?
<Kay>: Yes! Then, we can play later!
<Edgeworth>: (Well, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to tweet.)
<Kay>: Mr. Edgeworth ... Your inner voice is in the tweet! Isn't that neat?
<Edgeworth>: Ah! Tweeter… I shouldn’t underestimate it. 
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<Edgeworth>: It's already 12 o'clock ... I wanted to take a break for lunch, but it seems that I won’t get the chance. The detective just reported a new case. I'm heading to the scene right now.
<Edgeworth>: Detective Gumshoe seems to have been in a hurry. He said he “lost something important”... It’s probably not something to worry about. I should concentrate on the investigation first. It takes a careful investigation to find out the truth hidden in the scene. There are many things that cannot be understood from desk work alone.
<Edgeworth>: I've arrived at the scene. Mm? It seems that some pencils have fallen near the victim.
<Edgeworth>: Search for the connection between information. That is the pursuit of "Logic". Assembling "Logic" is the key to the investigation even in Ace Attorney Investigations 2. “Something lost by Detective Gumshoe” and the “pencil left on the scene” ... There is one answer that can be derived from the two pieces of information.
<Edgeworth>: Detective Gumshoe! It seems that we found your lost pencil. ‥‥ Don’t leave extra evidence on the scene!
<Edgeworth>: Hmm ... Finally, the truth of the scene has come into view. This case will likely be resolved soon.
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<Kay>: Good evening! I came to play as promised!
<Gumshoe>: Welcome, Kay!
<Kay>: Huh? Gummy, are you also on Twitter?
<Gumshoe>: It’s popular among my detective friends. As long as my number of followers keeps increasing, I’m happy!
<Edgeworth>: What is a "follower"?
<Gumshoe>: Well, people who read your tweets. To put it simply, it’s like a friend group.
<Kay>: It seems that there are many people who are watching this tweet! Ehehe. That makes me kind of happy!
<Edgeworth>: Hmm. Friend group...? That sounds a little embarrassing, but thank you, followers.
<Kay>: Hmm. I feel that followers and friends are a little different. Well, as long as he’s happy.
<Edgeworth>: Let’s say that tomorrow we’ll spend more time with our followers on Tweeter.
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<Gumshoe>: I've been waiting for you, Prosecutor Edgeworth!
<Edgeworth>: Mm. Good morning Detective Gumshoe. It's rare for you to get to court earlier than me.
<Gumshoe>: That’s because I have to set a good example for my followers! I skipped dinner last night so I wouldn't be late.
<Edgeworth>: What does skipping dinner have to do with getting up early?
<Gumshoe>: Well, it sets a “belly clock”, so you wake up at breakfast time!
<Edgeworth>: (There are too many problems with that, and I don't feel like pointing them all out... I’ll just stay silent.)
<Gumshoe>: Mr. Edgeworth ... We can see the tweets of your inner voice, you know…?
<Edgeworth>: It's about time for the court to open. I'm heading into court without any uncertainty today.
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<Kay>: Hello everybody! I'm Kay Faraday, also known as the Great Thief Yatagarasu. Fufufu ... I’m actually in the gallery right now! I wanted to see Mr. Edgeworth and Gummy in court, and keep an eye on the enemy!
<Kay>: Oh! Mr. Edgeworth screamed, “Objection!” This is the 5th time today. The other lawyer is sweating now. The judge’s gavel is getting fierce! Eh -- what? “You can’t tweet in the courtroom…?” Hey!
<Kay>: Uh ... I was kicked out of the courtroom. As expected by the new rival of Ace Attorney Investigations 2, Justine Courtney! She seems like a kind judge, but also very observant.
<Kay>: This is an unexpectedly strong enemy! Mr. Edgeworth, are you okay ...?
<Edgeworth>: Kay. What were you doing in the gallery today?
<Gumshoe>: I was surprised to see Kay being kicked out of court!
<Kay>: I didn't think that tweeting was prohibited. As a Great Thief, this is the ultimate mistake!
<Edgeworth>: If you have time to regret breaking the rules of the court, use it to learn a little more about them.
<Kay>: If I had to leave the court anyways, I wanted to have a cooler exit, befitting of a Great Thief!
<Gumshoe>: … I don’t think she regretted breaking the rules. 
<Kay>: Anyway! You’ve already finished your work today, right?
<Edgeworth>: Yes, I finished my work in the courtroom today. It looks like we can have a nice holiday.
<Kay>: So, why don’t the three of us go play together! Bowling, karaoke, game centers, etc.!
<Edgeworth>: No ... I'm not very good at such things.
<Gumshoe>: Since it’s Friday night, why don’t we play around and recover from working hard! I think watching movies would be fun!
<Kay>: Yeah, you worked so hard this week! Now, let’s go play!
<Edgeworth>: *sigh*. Whatever I say, it’ll be a waste of time… If we must, at least make it a movie.
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<Gumshoe>: This Saturday morning is a nice time for a walk! I sometimes take a walk with Missile to build strength and give him training. As the “partner” of Prosecutor Edgeworth, I want to be useful in Ace Attorney Investigations 2!
<Gumshoe>: When investigating with a metal detector or collaborating with Missile, I will be second to none! Hey, Missile! Hmm? Is a scent bothering you? Aaaaa! Mi-Missile has run away! He must’ve smelled food.
<Gumshoe>: When this happens, I have to rely on the odor to chase after it! This is part of the investigation process! Uh… I lost him right away. When this happens, I have to prepare sweets that Missile likes to lure him in! …  I’m so overwhelmed.
<Kay>: It’s a shame to keep Missile as a police dog. He stole away Samurai Dogs from this Great Thief and ate them…! I was trying to eat with Ema.
<Gumshoe>: Sorry about that, pal. By the way, what were you doing together? Collecting fallen leaves…?
<Ema>: We’re grilling Samurai Dogs on this fire we made from scientific chemicals!
<Gumshoe>: Huh. Scientific chemicals, pal…? Mi-Mi-Mi-Mi-Missile! Do you feel alright?
<Kay>: It’s fine! He ate it before we started the fire.
<Gumshoe>: Oh. I wish I got to have some...
<Edgeworth>: It’s not good to use chemicals to play with fire, Ema. Scientific research is important, but please use moderation.
<Ema>: Yes! Moderation! By the way, are you going somewhere?
<Edgeworth>: Yes. I have some business. ... I don't have much time, so excuse me.
<Kay>: ... Mr. Edgeworth, where are you going?
<Ema>: Fufufu. In this case, we can follow his footsteps! Using the power of science… in moderation!
<Kay>: Alright! Let's follow him… in moderation!
<Gumshoe>: They both have a strange definition of “moderation”...
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<Kay>: That overwhelming scale! I think I’m going to cry! That’s a first for an orchestra concert!
<Ema>: The powerful sound of brass instruments and the splendid melody of woodwind instruments! Scientifically speaking, changing between different sounds is what makes music good.
<Edgeworth>: Umm. While I was looking forward to today, I didn't expect you two to follow me.
<Kay>: I wanted to bring Gummy as well, but he had to walk Missile, so he couldn’t come with us.
<Edgeworth>: The detective can still hear the “Ace Attorney Investigations 2 Orchestra Arrangement Collection” CD. You can pre-order one at E-Capcom.
<Ema>: I already pre-ordered it, of course! I’ll also get the 1:10 figure of Mr. Edgeworth!
<Edgeworth>: A 1:10 figure of myself? I don't remember measuring my height, but ...
<Kay>: That's because I stole Mr. Edgeworth's height perfectly!
<Edgeworth>: I'm a little hesitant to say it in the orchestra hall, but let me just say one word.
<Kay>: "Objection!"
<Edgeworth>: Wha…? How did you --!
<Ema>: This must be the famous technique of the Great Thief, stealing the words right out of his mouth! How informative!
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<Edgeworth>: I have no plans today, so I will spend my time reading at a nearby coffee shop. Naturally, I want to relax on Sundays.
<Edgeworth>: I’m drinking high-quality black tea in a comfortable sunny place. Today is going to be a good day off.
<Edgeworth>: Speaking of which, the other day, a follower named “Wendy” greeted me here on Tweeter. I don’t know how to return messages, so I haven’t done so yet. Let me thank you here. Ms. Wendy, thank you for following me.
<Oldbag>: E… Edgey-pooooooo! I finally found youuuuuuu!
<Edgeworth>: Gah! What are you doing in this coffee shop ...!?
<Oldbag>: No way, Edgey-poo! Just now, didn’t you say this on Twitter? Didn’t you just say “Ms. Wendy, thank you”? You made this old lady so happy! I just ran around all the coffee shops and searched for you everywhere, Edgey-poo. The power of lo
<Edgeworth>: Do you talk too much to fit on Tweeter? So, “Wendy” was you! No matter how many coffee shops you visit, there’s no way you found me so easily… Are you hiding something?
<Oldbag>: If you say that without evidence, you’d tarnish the title of “prosecutor!” I have nothing to hide from my dearest Edgey-poo!
<Edgeworth>: Hmm… Even without evidence, if I read your reactions and feelings, I can expose the truth while only using my words.
<Oldbag>: Oh, I heard about this, Edgey-poo! Isn’t it called “Logic Chess”? I know everything about you, Edgey-poo!
<Edgeworth>: What do you mean by “I know everything?”
<Oldbag>: You see, it’s because I’m a security guard. Recently, because the whippersnapper who was there before me got fired, I was temporarily guarding the prosecutor’s office. At that time, I just so happened to see your address, Edgey-poo.
<Edgeworth>: …………… I didn’t even need to pull out information, and you’re already telling me the answer!
<Oldbag>: Oh. It was a slip of the tongue. I thought I would get to see Logic chess.
<Edgeworth>: Well, could you see it in Ace Attorney Investigations 2? Please excuse me, I have very important business to attend to.
<Oldbag>: You mentioned that you have no business today! Today, I will never let you go!
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<Edgeworth>: Ngh… That was quite the disaster today.
<Edgeworth>: I was too careful just because it was a holiday. I was neglecting my remarks and wasn’t vigilant of those around me ...
<Edgeworth>: Mm? Now “Tweeter” is showing something from “Wendy”. … “Sorry. - Wendy.” … I’m not going to respond to that!
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<Gumshoe>: Prosecutor Edgeworth, did you hear? Agent Lang is coming from the Republic of Zheng Fa!
<Edgeworth>: Hm. Is he also involved in an international case? I didn’t have the opportunity to talk to him for long the last time. If I have time, I’ll go greet him.
<Gumshoe>: The last incident was a difficult one. I couldn’t talk much with Agent Lang’s subordinates, either.
<Gumshoe>: There are 100 people who know about it.
<Edgeworth>: If you tried to talk to everyone, the sun would set before you did.
<Gumshoe>: To be honest, I gave up trying to remember my own face and name.
<Edgeworth>: That’s just being lazy!
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<Lang>: Yo, Mr. Prosecutor. It's strange to see you in a place like this.
<Edgeworth>: It's been a long time, Agent Lang. I never thought we would meet again at a restaurant like this.
<Lang>: I just happened to see this place while I was looking for somewhere I could go alone.
<Edgeworth>: Alone ...? That’s unusual for you. Aren’t you usually with your subordinates?
<Lang>: Well… Lang Zi says: “To know the feelings of a lone wolf, you should leave the pack.” Sometimes I do things on my own.
<Edgeworth>: Is that so? However, I see a contradiction right there on your table.
<Lang>: Hah! Is that the prosecutor’s famous “deduction”?
<Edgeworth>: For someone eating alone, you ordered a lot of “platters”, which seem to serve over twenty people.
<Lang>: Arooooooo! ‥‥Oops. It seems I have a habit of ordering too much. If you don’t mind, Mr. Prosecutor, would you take a little?
<Edgeworth>: It seems that you’re not very good at acting alone.
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<Kay>: Eh? Agent Lang’s coming here again?
<Edgeworth>: Ah, yes. Unlike before, though, it seems like he’s acting alone for some reason.
<Kay>: Isn’t that because it’s difficult to sneak around with too many people? It’s an important rule for a Great Thief!
<Edgeworth>: He is an “international investigator”, not a “Great Thief”. … Anyway, he seemed to come to this country for some purpose.
<Kay>: Then, we might meet him again at a crime scene.
<Edgeworth>: Even if we both desire to pursue the truth, our paths often run counter to each other. If I meet him in the field, we may argue.
<Kay>: That’s nice. I also want a rival that will change me as a person! Ahh… I wonder if they’re out there… the rival who wants to hunt down the Great Thief!
<Edgeworth>: If you want to be arrested so badly, ask Detective Gumshoe.
<Kay>: Ugh! You just don’t get it!
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<Kay>: It's finally February!
<Edgeworth>: Oh. So it is...
<Gumshoe>: I'm looking forward to February 3rd!
<Gumshoe>: At our police station, we will sow beans for the bean-throwing festival! February 3rd is a precious day when you can eat soybeans for free!
<Kay>: Every year, I challenge myself with how many beans I can throw! “Out with the demons, in with the fortune, and in with the Great Thief’s treasure!”
<Edgeworth>: Did you forget the most important thing?
<Kay>: I was just kidding! Of course I remember what’s happening February 3rd!
<Gumshoe>: There is no reason to forget the release date of Ace Attorney Investigations 2!
<Edgeworth>: Mm ... I hope.
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<Edgeworth>: It’s three days before the game goes on sale. I hope the followers look forward to it as well.
<Edgeworth>: Investigating in winter is necessary, even if it’s cold, and you can’t catch a cold before the game goes on sale. Ergo, please take proper measures against the cold.
<Edgeworth>: Speaking of which, Detective Gumshoe wears the same coat all year round. Doesn’t that get cold? Ah… maybe it’s just that his salary is too low to buy anything else.
<Edgeworth>: ……… Should I invite Detective Gumshoe for dinner? What little I know about his eating habits worries me. I don’t think he’d eat instant noodles in winter… 
<Edgeworth>: There is a handmade udon restaurant near the prosecutor's office. The taste is satisfying for a reasonable price. ‥‥‥‥‥‥ Though, when it comes to inviting Detective Gumshoe, I shouldn’t limit myself to just noodles.
<Edgeworth>: Mm. I tweeted that it was only 3 days before the game’s release, but it was 2 days. I worked all night in the office yesterday. It seems my sense of time has gone haywire.
<Edgeworth>: What I tweeted then was contradictory… Pardon me. Thank you, followers who pointed that out.
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<Gumshoe>: This pork roast is delicious! This is my first one of the year!
<Edgeworth>: Detective Gumshoe. Stop eating while tweeting!
<Gumshoe>: I've been eating only plain pasta this year. I couldn’t help myself!
<Kay>: I could, but I still tweeted!
<Edgeworth>: It may not be instant ramen, but his eating habits are always in crisis.
<Gumshoe>: Ugh... every time I make a mistake while investigating, the cost of living becomes a crisis.
<Kay>: But the one who is in the most danger right now is Mr. Edgeworth, isn't it? I saw it in a commercial! He’s having his “biggest crisis!”
<Gumshoe>: I heard it too ... What kind of mistake did you make, sir?
<Edgeworth>: Don’t compare me to you! I don’t know what it is, but I’m not afraid of any crisis. No matter what happens, I simply do what I think is right.
<Kay>: As expected of Mr. Edgeworth! Well, you can always count on this Great Thief to help you in an emergency!
<Gumshoe>: Of course, I will help too! If you want to manage your living expenses in a crisis, sir, just leave it to me!
<Edgeworth>: First, could you try helping me as a detective?
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<Kay>: By the way, Mr. Edgeworth, what kind of person is your father?
<Edgeworth>: … Why would you suddenly ask such a question?
<Kay>: I just asked Mr. Shields. He said your father was a very good person! I also respect my dad, so I was a little curious about yours.
<Edgeworth>: When I was a child, he was someone I highly respected, and… the kind of man I aspired to be.
<Kay>: Huh? Is it different now?
<Edgeworth>: ……… About that… It’s difficult to explain. If you want to know the answer, please wait until tomorrow.
<Kay>: I see! The answer is hidden in Ace Attorney Investigations 2. I’ll be sure to steal the truth about Mr. Edgeworth!
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<Kay>: Gummy! Please decorate it from the right side!
<Gumshoe>: Here it is! Oh no, the decoration fell!
<Edgeworth>: What are you doing in my office in the middle of my workday?
<Gumshoe>: I’m off duty, but since today’s the eve of the release date, I’m preparing a party!
<Kay>: It's almost time to tweet! Mr. Edgeworth, please work and just ignore us!
<Edgeworth>: If you truly want that, then please stop climbing on my desk. … I’ll finish work soon, so please wait until then. 
<Kay>: Eh! Are you going to help us?
<Edgeworth>: I would like to celebrate.
<Gumshoe>: That’s helpful, sir! Then, I’ll be sitting on the sofa and waiting until it’s time!
<Edgeworth>: ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Just wait in the corridor.
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<Gumshoe>: Cheers for the release of Ace Attorney Investigations 2!
<Edgeworth>: Hmm ... This party for the eve of the release is rather nice.
<Kay>: Ehehe. Tomorrow, we’ll give it our all!
<Edgeworth>: Umm. Thank you very much.
<Kay>: This is the last of our tweets ... It's a little regrettable.
<Edgeworth>: But I’m glad I had this opportunity to directly express my gratitude for the week. Those who were watching our tweets… let me thank you again.
<Gumshoe>: I still have something to talk about, but we’re already out of time!
<Kay>: But the eve of the release has only just begun! After this, you can talk to the development staff of “Ace Attorney Investigations 2” directly!
<Gumshoe>: Oh! Is that the plan?
<Kay>: I’m certain, because it’s information I stole from Capcom! It seems like it will start around 18:00!
<Edgeworth>: I do have a lot to ask, but let's leave that to the followers. Well then, excuse us for now.
<Edgeworth>: If you have any questions for the development staff, please quickly send them in!
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Translation notes first:
The localized foods are as follows: 
dorayaki -> Samurai Dogs (since Missile also has a habit of eating those, though I don’t believe the original was dorayaki?)
somen -> instant ramen
katsudon -> pork roast
shirataki -> plain pasta
The “bean-throwing festival” is Setsubun, a festival where you toss soybeans and eat some in order to toss out bad luck and bring in good luck (to my understanding, please correct me if I’m wrong). What Kay said (minus the Great Thief part) is one translation of  a phrase you shout while throwing the beans. I obviously gave up on trying to localize this.
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Original Japanese (minus breaks):
〈ミツルギ〉:『逆転検事2 発売直前記念』として、私が日頃思っていることを“つぶやく”ように言われたのだが‥‥どうすればいいのだろうか?
〈ミクモ〉:ダメですよミツルギさん!まずは自己紹介からしないと!
〈ミツルギ〉:ム。紹介が遅れてすまない。私の名前は御剣怜侍、地方検事局で検事をしている。ミクモくんに教えてもらったのだが、これが“ついたー”というものなのだな。
〈ミクモ〉:違いますよ!“ツイッター”ですってば!
〈ミツルギ〉:“ついったー”か。こういったアレは、あまり得意ではないのだが‥‥。
〈ミクモ〉:まあまあ。逆転検事2も発売間近ですし、ミツルギさんも言いたいこといっぱいあるでしょ?
〈ミツルギ〉:ム。確かにこういった機会は少ないから貴重ではあるな。
〈ミクモ〉:それじゃ、この大ドロボウ・一条美雲ちゃんが、つぶやく面白さをミツルギさんに教えちゃいますよー!
〈ミツルギ〉:そちらはあまり興味がないが‥‥まあいいだろう。それよりミクモくん。そろそろ仕事を始めたいのだが?
〈ミクモ〉:はーい! それじゃ、また後で遊びに来ますね!
〈ミツルギ〉:(まあ、気になったことがあれば気軽につぶやくとするか)
〈ミクモ〉:ミツルギさん‥‥。心の声がつぶやきに出てますよ!興味津々じゃないですか!
〈ミツルギ〉:なッ!ついったー‥‥あなどれんな。
〈ミツルギ〉:もう12時か‥‥優雅にランチといきたいところだが、そうもいかないようだ。先ほど刑事から新たな事件の報告が入ったのでな。いま、現場に向かっているところだ。
〈ミツルギ〉:イトノコギリ刑事は、“大事な物をなくした”と慌てていたようだが‥‥どうせたいした物ではないだろう。いまは捜査に集中するべきだ。現場に隠された真実を知るには、入念な捜査を必要とする。デスクワークだけでは分からないことも多いのだ。
〈ミツルギ〉:‥‥現場に到着だ。ム?被害者の近くに“えんぴつ”が落ちているようだな。
〈ミツルギ〉:情報同���の共通点を探す。それこそが《ロジック》を追うということだ。逆転検事2でも《ロジック》を組み立てることが捜査の重要なカギを握っている。現場に残された“えんぴつ”と“イトノコギリ刑事がなくした物”‥‥2つの情報から導き出せる答えは1つ。
〈ミツルギ〉:イトノコギリ刑事!キミが無くしたというえんぴつが見つかったようだ。‥‥現場に余計な証拠品を残さないように。
〈ミツルギ〉:ふむ‥‥‥‥ようやく現場の真実が見えてきた。この事件は早急に解決できそうだ。
〈ミクモ〉:こんばんわ!約束通り遊びにきましたよ!
〈イトノコ〉:いらっしゃいッス!ミクモちゃん! 
〈ミクモ〉:あれ?ノコちゃんもツイッターやってるんだ?
〈イトノコ〉:刑事仲間の間でも流行ってるッスよ。フォロワーもどんどん増えて、うれしい限りッス!
〈ミツルギ〉:‥‥“フォロワー”とは何なのだろうか? 
〈イトノコ〉:えーと。自分のつぶやきを読んでくれる人たちのことッス。簡単に説明すると“トモダチの輪”って感じッスかねえ。
〈ミクモ〉:このつぶやきを見てくれている人たちも、たくさんいるみたいですよ!えへへ。なんだかうれしいですね!
〈ミツルギ〉:ふむ。トモダチの輪‥‥か。少々恥ずかしくもあるが、ありがたいことだな。
〈ミクモ〉:うーん。フォロワーとトモダチとはちょっと違うような気もしますケド‥‥。ま。喜んでいるみたいなのでいいや! 
〈ミツルギ〉:明日も“ついったー”で、フォロワーに恥じぬ時間を過ごすとしよう。
〈イトノコ〉:お待ちしてたッスよ!御剣検事!
〈ミツルギ〉:ム。おはようイトノコギリ刑事。私よりはやく裁判所に着くとはめずらしいな。
〈イトノコ〉:フォロワーのみんなに、カッコ悪いとこを見せられないッスからね!遅刻しないように、昨夜は夕飯を抜いておいたッスよ。
〈ミツルギ〉:夕飯を抜くのと早起きをするのに、何の関係があるというのだ。
〈イトノコ〉:すさまじい“腹時計”で、朝ご飯の時間に目覚めることが出来るッス!
〈ミツルギ〉:(問題が多すぎて、指摘する気にもなれん。‥‥ここはあえて黙っているとしよう)
〈イトノコ〉:御剣検事‥‥。心の声のつぶやきが自分にも見えるの、分かってやってるッスよね‥‥? 
〈ミツルギ〉:そろそろ開廷の時間だ。余計なセンサクをしていないで、法廷に向かうぞ。
〈ミクモ〉:みなさんこんにちは!大ドロボウ・ヤタガラスこと一条美雲です。ふっふっふ‥‥実はいま、傍聴席にいるんですよ!敵情視察も兼ねて、ミツルギさんとノコちゃんの法廷姿を見ておこうと思って! 
〈ミクモ〉:あ!ミツルギさんがまた『異議あり!』って叫んでる!今日はこれで5回目ですねー。相手の弁護士さんも汗だらだら流してますよ。裁判官の木槌も激しくなってます!えーとなになに?“法廷内でのつぶやきは却下しま‥‥す?”え。ちょ、ちょっと! 
〈ミクモ〉:ううう‥‥‥‥法廷内から追い出されちゃいました。さすがは逆転検事2の新ライバル“水鏡 秤”さん!優しそうな裁判官だと思ってユダンしていました。
〈ミクモ〉:これは思わぬ強敵ですよ!ミツルギさん、大丈夫かなあ‥‥? 
〈ミツルギ〉:ミクモくん。今日は一体傍聴席で何をしていたのだ。
〈イトノコ〉:法廷から追い出されるミクモちゃんを見て、ビックリしたッスよ!
〈ミクモ〉:まさかつぶやきが禁止とは思いませんでした‥‥。大ドロボウとして、一生の不覚です!
〈ミツルギ〉:後悔するヒマがあるのなら、法廷のルールについてもう少し学んでおきたまえ。
〈ミクモ〉:どうせ退廷させられるのなら、もっとカッコ良く立ち去りたかったです!大ドロボウとしては! 
〈イトノコ〉:‥‥そっちで後悔しているとは思わなかったッス。
〈ミクモ〉:それはともかく! 今日はもうお仕事終わりなんですよね?
〈ミツルギ〉:今日の法廷で仕事は一段落ついたからな。気持ちよく休日をむかえられそうだ。
〈ミクモ〉:せっかくだから、いまから3人で遊びに行きましょうよ!ボーリングとかカラオケとか‥‥ゲームセンターとか!
〈ミツルギ〉:いや‥‥私はそういったものはあまり得意ではないのだが。
〈イトノコ〉:まあまあ。金曜日の夜はパーッと遊んで、仕事の疲れを癒すものッスよ!映画とかもいいッスねえ!
〈ミクモ〉:今週もお仕事お疲れ様でした!さあさあ。遊びに行きましょう!
〈ミツルギ〉:まったく。いまのキミたちには何を言ってもムダのようだな。‥‥せめて、映画にしてくれたまえ。
〈イトノコ〉:土曜日の朝は散歩日和ッスねえ!ミサイル。体力作りとミサイルの訓練も兼ねて、たまに一緒に散歩してるッスよ。御剣検事の“パートナー”として、逆転検事2では自分も役に立ちたいッスからね! 
〈イトノコ〉:金属探知機を使った捜査やミサイルとの連携なら、誰にも負けないッス!ねー。ミサイル!ん?何か気になるニオイでもあるッスか?ああああッ!ミ、ミサイルが走って行っちまったッス!ミサイルは食べ物のニオイがすると突っ走っちゃうッスよ。
〈イトノコ〉:こうなったら自分もニオイを頼りに追いかけるしか!こっちも捜査のプロッスからね!うぅ‥‥‥‥‥‥さっそく見失っちまったッス。こうなったら、ミサイルが好きなお菓子を用意しておびきよせるッス!‥‥本末転倒な気もするッスけど‥‥。
〈ミクモ〉:警察犬にしておくには惜しいですね、ミサイル。まさか大ドロボウから“どら焼き”を盗み食いするなんて‥‥!せっかく、あかねちゃんと2人で食べようとしてたのになあ。
〈イトノコ〉:おどろかせてすまねッス。ところで、さっきは2人で何をしてたッスか?落ち葉をこんなに集めて‥‥。
〈アカネ〉:ヒゾウのカガク薬品でおこした火を利用して、あったか~い “焼きどら焼き”を作ろうかと!
〈イトノコ〉:え。カガク薬品ッスか‥‥?ミミミミミサイル!お腹の調子は悪くないッスか!
〈ミクモ〉:大丈夫だよ!火をおこす前に食べられちゃったから。
〈イトノコ〉:ほっ。だったら良かったッス。
〈ミツルギ〉:ぜんぜん良くないだろう。カガク薬品を使って、公共の場で火遊びなど。あかねさん。カガクの研究は大事ですが、ほどほどにしていただきたい。
〈アカネ〉:はい!ほどほどにします!ところで、どこかにお出かけですか?
〈ミツルギ〉:ええ。少し用事がありまして‥‥。あまり時間がないので、失礼します。
〈ミクモ〉:‥‥ミツルギさん、どこに行くんだろうね?
〈アカネ〉:ふっふっふ。そんなときは足跡を辿ればいいんですよ!ほどほどにカガクの力を使って!
〈ミクモ〉:よーし!ほどほどに尾行しましょう!
〈イトノコ〉:2人とも‥‥ほどほどの使い方がおかしい気がするッス。
〈ミクモ〉:あの圧倒的なスケール!涙なしには語れません!オーケストラコンサートなんて初めてです!
〈アカネ〉:金管楽器の力強い音と、木管楽器の華麗な旋律!音のカガク変化を起こすことで、音楽は作られているんですね‥‥。
〈ミツルギ〉:うム。この日を楽しみにしていたかいがあったというものだ。‥‥まさか、キミたちまでついてくるとは思わなかったがな。
〈ミクモ〉:ノコちゃんにも聞かせてあげたかったな−。ミサイルの散歩があるから、一緒に来られなかったんですよね。
〈ミツルギ〉:刑事には、サウンドトラックCD「オーケストラ・アレンジ楽曲集 〜奏でられし逆転〜」を聞かせるとしよう。いまからでもイーカプコンで予約出来るだろう。
〈アカネ〉:あたしはもちろん予約済みです!御剣検事さんの“1/10フィギュア”もバッチリゲットしますよ!
〈ミツルギ〉:私の1/10フィギュア?身長などを測られた覚えはないが‥‥。
〈ミクモ〉:そりゃもう、わたしがミツルギさんの情報をバッチリ盗んでおきましたからね! 
〈ミツルギ〉:オーケストラホールで言うのはいささ���ためらわれるが‥‥一言だけ、言わせていただこう。
〈ミクモ〉:“異議あり!”‥‥ってね!
〈ミツルギ〉:な‥‥なぜキミが言うのだ! 
〈アカネ〉:これが有名な大ドロボウの技“言葉を盗む”ですね。勉強になります!
〈ミツルギ〉:今日は特に予定が入っていない。近くの喫茶店で読書をして過ごすとしよう。‥‥さすがに、日曜日ぐらいは落ち着いて過ごしたいからな。
〈ミツルギ〉:心地よい日の当たる場所で、上質の紅茶を飲む‥‥。今日は良い休日になりそうだ。
〈ミツルギ〉:そういえば、先日“カオルさん”というフォロワーから、ついったーでアイサツされたのだが‥‥。アイサツを返す方法が分からなかったので、まだ返せていないのだ。ここで改めて礼を言わせていただこう。カオルさん、フォローしていただき感謝する。
〈オバチャン〉:ミ‥‥ミッちゃぁああん!やっと見つけたよぉおおお!
〈ミツルギ〉:ぐッ!ど、どうしてあなたがこの喫茶店に‥‥!
〈オバチャン〉:やだよミッちゃん!こないだこのツイッターとやらでアイサツしたじゃないか。さっきも“カオルさん、感謝する。”って言ってくれただろう?オバチャンうれしくなっちゃってねえ。ついついそこいらの喫茶店を巡ってミッちゃんを探しちまったのさ。愛のチカラっ
〈ミツルギ〉:は、早口すぎて“ついーと”におさまっていないではないか!しかも、“カオルさん”とは‥‥‥‥あなたのことだったのか!いくら喫茶店を巡ったといっても、こんなにカンタンに見つかるワケはない。‥‥何か隠していることがあるのではないか? 
〈オバチャン〉:ミッちゃんったら、証拠もないのにそんなこと言っちゃ検事の名がすたれちゃうよ!オバチャンがミッちゃんに隠し事なんてするわけないじゃないのサ!
〈ミツルギ〉:フッ‥‥証拠品がなくとも、あなたの反応や感情を読み取り“言葉のみ”で真実を引き出してみせよう。
〈オバチャン〉:ああ。それならオバチャンも聞いたよ、ミッちゃん!《ロジックチェス》っていうヤツだろ?オバチャン、ミッちゃんのことなら何でも知ってるんだからね!
〈ミツルギ〉:“何でも知っている?”‥‥とはどういうことだろうか?
〈オバチャン〉:ほら。オバチャン警備員だからさ。このあいだ、前に勤めてた子がクビになったっていうから臨時で検事局の警備をしてたんだヨ。そのときにミッちゃんの住所がたまたま目に入っちゃってサ。
〈ミツルギ〉:‥‥‥‥こちらから情報を引き出すまでもなく、自分で答えを言っているではないか! 
〈オバチャン〉:あら。つい口が滑っちまったヨ。せっかくロジックチェスが見られると思ったのに残念だねえ。
〈ミツルギ〉:そ、それは逆転検事2で見ていただけないだろうか。私は用事があるので失礼する!
〈オバチャン〉:今日は用事がないってつぶやいてたじゃないか!今日という今日は、オバチャン絶対に逃がさないヨッ! 
〈ミツルギ〉:く‥‥今日はさんざんな目にあった。
〈ミツルギ〉:休日だからといって気を抜きすぎていたな。自分の発言や周囲の警戒を怠っていたとは‥‥。
〈ミツルギ〉:ム?また“カオルさん”から私あてに“ついーと”が来ているな。『残念無念 カオル』‥‥と言われても、断じて誘いに乗るつもりはない!
〈イトノコ〉:御剣検事、聞いたッスか?ロウ捜査官が西鳳民国から来ているみたいッスよ!
〈ミツルギ〉:ほう。また国際的な事件に関わっているのだろうか。彼とはあまりゆっくり話す機会が無かったからな。時間があればアイサツぐらいは行くとしよう。
〈イトノコ〉:前回の事件は大変だったッスからねー。自分も、ロウ捜査官の部下の皆さんとはあんまり話せなかったッス。
〈イトノコ〉:なんせ知ってるだけでも100名はいるッスからねえ。
〈ミツルギ〉:‥‥全員と話そうとすれば、日が暮れてしまうだろうな。
〈イトノコ〉:正直、顔と名前を覚えるのもあきらめたッス。
〈ミツルギ〉:すべてをあきらめているではないか! 
〈ロウ〉:よう。検事さん。こんなところで会うとはキグウだな。
〈ミツルギ〉:久しぶりだな、ロウ捜査官。まさか、このような飲食店で再会するとは思わなかったが。
〈ロウ〉:どっか1人で落ち着ける店を探してたら、たまたまここが目に入ったんでな。
〈ミツルギ〉:1人‥‥?キミにしてはめずらしいではないか。いつもの部下たちは一緒ではないのだろうか? 
〈ロウ〉:まあな‥‥。狼子、曰く!“単独犯の気持ちを知るには、群れを離れるべし”ってな。オレだって1人になるときはあるさ。
〈ミツルギ〉:ほう?だが、それにしてはキミのテーブルにはムジュンがあるようだ。
〈ロウ〉:ハッ!検事さんお得意の“推理”ってやつかい?
〈ミツルギ〉:1人で食べるにしては、注文した料理は“大皿”ばかりで、量はどう見ても20人以上に見えるのだが?
〈ロウ〉:うおおおッ!‥‥しまった。いつものクセでつい頼みすぎちまったようだ。よければ検事さん、少しもらってくれねえか? 
〈ミツルギ〉:‥‥1人で行動するのは、あまり得意ではないようだな。
〈ミクモ〉:ええ!ロウさん、またこっちに来てるんですか?
〈ミツルギ〉:ああ。以前と違い、なぜか1人で行動していたようだ。
〈ミクモ〉:それは、やっぱり大人数だと忍び込むのが難しくなるからじゃないですか?大ドロボウの鉄則です! 
〈ミツルギ〉:彼は“国際捜査官”だろう。‥‥なんにせよ、彼には目的があってこの国に来ているようだったな。
〈ミクモ〉:それじゃ、また現場で会うかもしれませんねー。
〈ミツルギ〉:真実を追い求める気持ちは同じでも、時にはぶつかることもある。もし現場で出会うことがあれば、戦うことになるかもしれないな。
〈ミクモ〉:いいなあ。わたしも自分を高めてくれるようなライバルが欲しいです。ハア‥‥どこかにいないかなあ。大ドロボウを追い詰める好敵手!
〈ミツルギ〉:‥‥逮捕されたいのなら、イトノコギリ刑事にでも頼みたまえ。
〈ミクモ〉:もう!そういうことじゃないんです! 
〈ミクモ〉:ようやく2月になりましたね! 
〈ミツルギ〉:ああ。いよいよだな‥‥。
〈イトノコ〉:2月3日が楽しみッス!
〈イトノコ〉:ウチの警察署では、節分の豆まきをやるッス!2月3日は、タダで大豆が食べられる貴重な日ッスよ!
〈ミクモ〉:わたしは毎年、投げられる豆をどれだけ受け取れるか挑戦してるんですよ!“鬼は外、福は内、大ドロボウは盗み”って感じで! 
〈ミツルギ〉:‥‥一番大事なことを、忘れているのではないだろうか?
〈ミクモ〉:冗談ですってば!2月3日といえば、もちろんアレですよね!
〈イトノコ〉:逆転検事2の発売日を忘れるワケないッス!
〈ミツルギ〉:ム‥‥ならばいいのだが。
〈ミツルギ〉:発売まであと3日。フォロワーの方々も楽しみに待っていてくれたまえ。
〈ミツルギ〉:冬場の捜査は、寒くてかなわないな‥‥。発売前に風邪を引くわけにはいかん。しっかり防寒対策をしなければな。
〈ミツルギ〉:そういえば、イトノコギリ刑事は年中同じコートを着ているが、寒くないのだろうか‥‥。ああ‥‥単に、給与が下がりすぎて買えないだけかもしれないな。
〈ミツルギ〉:‥‥‥‥夕食はイトノコギリ刑事でも誘うとするか。彼の食生活は、はた目から見ていても不安になる。まさか冬にそうめんを食べていることはないだろうが‥‥。
〈ミツルギ〉:検事局の近くに手打ちのうどん屋がある。リーズナブルな値段の割に、味も満足のいくものだ。‥‥‥‥いかん。イトノコギリ刑事を誘うとなると、ついつい麺類にばかり考えがいってしまうな。
〈ミツルギ〉:ム。さきほど発売まであと3日とつぶやいたのだが、発売日はあさって‥‥あと2日だったか。昨夜は、執務室で徹夜仕事だったのでな。日付の感覚が狂ってしまったようだ。
〈ミツルギ〉:私としたことが、つぶやきが“ムジュン”していたとは‥‥失礼した。指摘してくれたフォロワーの方、感謝する。
〈イトノコ〉:カツ丼美味いッスぅううう!今年初めてのトンカツッスよ!
〈ミツルギ〉:イトノコギリ刑事。つぶやきながら食べるのはやめたまえ!
〈イトノコ〉:自分、今年は水炊き鍋で“しらたき”ばかり食べてたッスからねー。
思わず叫んじまったッス!
〈ミクモ〉:叫んだんじゃなく、つぶやきですけどね!
〈ミツルギ〉:ソーメンではなかったが、彼の食生活はいつも危機的状況だな。
〈イトノコ〉:うう‥‥捜査で失敗するたびに、生活費がピンチになるッスからね‥‥。
〈ミクモ〉:でも、いま一番危機が迫っているのは、ミツルギさんのほうなんじゃ?
CMで見ましたよ!“最大のピンチ”だって。
〈イトノコ〉:自分も聞いたッスよ‥‥。いったい、どんな失敗をしちゃったッスか! 
〈ミツルギ〉:キミと一緒にしないでくれたまえ!
身に覚えはないが‥‥ピンチを恐れていても仕方がないだろう。
私は、自分の信じる道を行くだけだ。
〈ミクモ〉:さっすがミツルギさん!いざとなったらわたしも力を貸しますからね。大ドロボウとして!
〈イトノコ〉:もちろん自分もッス!ピンチな時の生活費のやりくりならお任せッス! 
〈ミツルギ〉:‥‥せめて、刑事として力を貸してもらえないだろうか。
〈ミクモ〉:そういえば。ミツルギさんのお父さんって、どんな人なんですか?
〈ミツルギ〉:‥‥なぜ、いきなりそんな質問を?
〈ミクモ〉:さっき信楽さんに聞いたんですよ。ミツルギさんのお父さんは、すごく立派な人だったって!わたしもお父さんを尊敬してたから、ちょっと気になっちゃって。
〈ミツルギ〉:幼い頃の私にとっては、尊敬すべき相手であり‥‥目標でもあった。
〈ミクモ〉:あれ?いまは違うんですか? 
〈ミツルギ〉:‥‥‥‥どうだろうな。一言で説明するのは難しい。この答えを知りたいのならば、明日まで待ってくれたまえ。
〈ミクモ〉:なるほど!逆転検事2に真実が隠されている‥‥と。ミツルギさんの真実、私が盗んじゃいますよ!
〈ミクモ〉:ノコちゃん!そっちの飾りは、もっと右よりでお願い!
〈イトノコ〉:こっちッスね!あ、飾りが落ちたッス! 
〈ミツルギ〉:昼間から、人の執務室で何をしているのだ。
〈イトノコ〉:今日は非番ッスからね!明日の発売日に向けて、前夜祭の準備をしてるッスよ! 
〈ミクモ〉:そろそろ、つぶやく時間もなくなって来ましたからね!
ミツルギさんは気にせず仕事をしててください!
〈ミツルギ〉:そう思うのなら、机の上にのぼるのはやめていただきたい。
‥‥もう少しで仕事が片付くから、それまで待っていたまえ。
〈ミクモ〉:え!ミツルギさんも手伝ってくれるんですか?
〈ミツルギ〉:私とて祝いたい気持ちはあるのだ。
〈イトノコ〉:助かるッス!
それじゃ時間までソファーに座って待ってるッスよ!
〈ミツルギ〉:‥‥‥‥‥‥廊下で遊んでいてくれないだろうか。
〈イトノコ〉:逆転検事2発売に向けて、乾杯ッス! 
〈ミツルギ〉:フッ‥‥前夜祭というのも良いものだな。
〈ミクモ〉:えへへ。明日には、わたしたちのカツヤクをお見せできるんです��! 
〈ミツルギ〉:うム。感慨深いモ��があるな。
〈ミクモ〉:わたしたちのつぶやきも、これで最後になるんですね‥‥ちょっと名残惜しいです。
〈ミツルギ〉:だが一週間のあいだ、このような機会をいただけて良かった。直接、感謝を伝えることが出来るのだからな。私たちのつぶやきを見ていた方々。‥‥あらためて礼を言わせていただこう。
〈イトノコ〉:まだまだ話したいことはあるッスけど、もう時間ッスからね!
〈ミクモ〉:でも、まだ前夜祭は始まったばかりですよ!なんと!このあと「逆転検事2」の開発スタッフに直接質問ができちゃうんです! 
〈イトノコ〉:へえ!そんな企画があるッスか!
〈ミクモ〉:カプコンから盗んできた情報だから、確実ですよ!18時ぐらいから始まるそうです!
〈ミツルギ〉:私としても聞きたいことはたくさんあるのだが‥‥そこはフォロワーの方々に任せるとしよう。それでは、私たちはこれで失礼する。
〈ミツルギ〉:開発スタッフに聞きたいことがあれば、どんどん追及してくれたまえ!
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Of black cats and lessons to be learned
Summary: Someone is meddling with Y/N Shelby’s work at Shelby Company Limited and Tommy jumps to conclusions that he’ll later regret.
Word Count: 2242
A/N: I honestly still don’t know if I like this ending, but let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy it!!
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The rain poured down outside the window of her office at Shelby Company Limited, and occasionally a large drop would bounce loudly off the glass. Normally Y/N would find the sound comforting, but today it was just downright fucking annoying. But as the door to said office bangs open, Y/N knows that the rain is going to be the least of her worries.
No one ever enters her office without knocking but Tommy.
And Tommy never lets the door bang unless he's pissed off.
Despite refusing to look up at her elder brother and boss, Y/N felt his glare on her as he stormed over. When Tommy slammed last week's accounts onto her desk, she slammed her pen down and glared right back at him. 
"What the fuck is this?" Tommy demanded. 
"Last week's accounts," Y/N deadpanned, not breaking eye contact. 
"This isn't the time for jokes, Y/N, this is serious. They're riddled with mistakes for the third week running. Mistakes that could be lethal to this company and people's view of us" 
"Well everything was correct when I handed it over to your secretary, I checked and double checked everything," as usual, Y/N added silently. "I keep telling you, my work is being meddled with!"  Whilst Y/N appeared calm, her blood was boiling. 
Tommy slowly took out a cigarette and lit it, in what she assumed was supposed to be an intimidating manner. It would be, to anyone but her. 
"I've been having dreams about a black cat. Someone is trying to steal my crown." He sighed. "For someone so intelligent, I'd have expected better from you, Y/N" The woman in question was stunned into silence. 
"Seriously, Tommy, me? I'd have expected better from you than to go around making accusations like that, both as your employee and as your sister.  I've supported you through everything. When everyone turned against you, I was there. And you have the nerve to stand here and say that I'm trying to overthrow you." Y/N's anger was starting to seep through into her words, and a tidal wave was sure to follow. "You know that I loved Grace when you married, but GOD you were completely blinded by a good fuck all those years ago, and do you know what?" Y/N leaned forwards, menacingly, "I think the same has happened again." 
With those few words, Tommy reached the end of his tether, slamming his hand onto the solid wood desk. "ENOUGH! If that's what you think of me, let's get the truth out in the open, eh? I think you've wanted this since the start. I think you've wormed your way around the company and the rest of this family and, blinded by your ambition -" 
"My ambition?!" "you've forgotten the one main obstacle in your way. Me. And I'll tell you something else: I’m not moving for anyone." 
A tense silence fell in the room.  Y/N, holding back her tears and refusing to show any signs of weakness, simply nodded. "That was quite the speech, Thomas. Rather hypocritical too, might I add, lecturing me on being blinded by ambition. But I'm not even going to try and defend myself against those ridiculous claims because, when it's too late, you'll realise just how wrong you were." Y/N's voice was icy cold, and she picked up her coat and bag. "I only have two things left to say to you. As your employee, I resign, you can sort this fucking mess out on your own this time. And as your sister, well, you're not my family anymore." With that, Y/N stormed past him, out of the building and let the rain disguise her tears. 
*** 
The only family member that Y/N had spoken to since the incident was Esme. She informed her sister-in-law that she was going to spend some time on the road with the Boswell's, a gypsy family who Y/N had become very well acquainted with, but they hadn't spoken since.  It wasn't running away, it was an attempt to break free. That's what Y/N kept telling herself anyway. 
Her time on the road had been exactly what she needed. The freedom, the open air, all the things that Y/N never realised that she had missed so much. Yet it was still tainted with memories of Tommy. Memories of happier times, when he would chase her around and play games and smile.  Y/N had accepted that the war had changed her older brother, but the day she stormed out he was completely unrecognisable.   
They used to always have each other's backs.  She always wanted to make her beloved brother proud, but never wanted to be 'just like Tommy', despite Arthur and John's endless teasing.  They were each other's rocks, the one reliable thing, and now that feeling of security had faded away like the smoke from his cigarettes. 
Y/N was destroyed by the incident in her office, even though she hid it well. Now, two months into her time on the road, she was ready to be busy again and so set out to find a new job. 
*** 
It had been four months since any of the family had seen or heard from Y/N. 
Tommy had discovered that, as usual, his sister's instincts had been right and there had been someone trying to bring the business down from the inside. And it was the secretary.  And she was part of another criminal gang who were rapidly expanding.  A black fucking cat if ever Tommy saw one. 
The traitor had had the nerve to tell him that the way to tear the company apart was to, quite simply, shatter the relationship between the two people who had the greatest minds and the strongest relationship: Y/N and Tommy. 
It was the truth and Tommy knew it, having already felt the impact of her absence dearly, both on the efficiency of the company and on himself.  But the it was too much for him to handle, and had let Arthur and John see to it that the secretary couldn't reveal any more truths to him. 
He had never realised how important his sister was to him, how loyal and how much he needed her.  With every day that passed without hearing of Y/N, Tommy became more and more anxious. If anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself and the rest of the family wouldn't forgive him either. 
But the day that Tommy did get news of his beloved little sister, he almost wished he hadn't. 
'A sister for a sister, seems fair enough, don't you think, Mr Shelby? We'll be in touch.' 
Along with the note came a bullet.  A bullet with Y/N's name etched into it, wrapped in her bloodied handkerchief. 
*** 
Sheffield had been the nearest city.  That was why Y/N chose to stop there. What she didn't realise is that it was a city rife with gangs. 
She had fallen in with another gang, the last thing that she wanted to do. 
And now she was locked in a cold, damp basement and, though she hated to admit it, Y/N wanted Tommy more than ever.  
Beaten and bruised, she felt like a little girl again with her desperate need to be enveloped in her older brother's arms once again.  But despite her wants and her needs, she had refused to break, even when she had been battered to the point of unconsciousness in her kidnapper's attempt to get information out of her. 
She would protect her family and their company until her last breath.  She would protect Tommy as he had protected her so many times in the past. 
But it wouldn't come to that, because Y/N Shelby was far too stubborn to die whilst being guarded by a man that couldn't even count to ten. And so, with this new found strength and resolve, she planned her escape. As much as she wanted her brother, she damn well refused to let him come riding in like her knight in shining armour... 
*** 
Days had passed since Tommy had received the note.  The Shelby clan had all reacted in their own ways, but no one was as torn up as Thomas Shelby.  He was drinking more, lashing out more, and no one knew when he was going to completely snap. 
The family had poured all of their time and energy into searching for their sister, and yet they still didn't have a single lead. All they knew was that the traitorous secretary hailed from Sheffield, however there was definitely more than one gang based there. 
But one day, a gloomy day where the rain poured down outside the Garrison, the people of Small Heath were able to stop living in fear of the leader of the Peaky Blinders' next outburst. 
Thin, trembling, black and blue, Y/N Shelby stumbled through the door to the pub, where her family were gathered. Crystal blue eyes locked with hers, widening in shock and relief. But that was the last thing she saw before letting the exhaustion take over her, and her body collapsed to the floor. 
*** 
The hours that followed were a blur for Tommy. Not caring that everyone was watching, he had scooped Y/N into his arms and refused to let her go as John had driven them to Tommy's house; even though it was only a few streets away, he didn't want her getting any colder than she already was. She was as pale as death, and Tommy was scared. 
Polly had come round, he remembered, to tend to Y/N's wounds and settle her down into his bed.  She had shooed him out of the way as he tried to stay in the room, not wanting to leave his sister's side now that he finally had her back. 
After she had gone, well, Tommy didn't know how long he sat by his sister's bedside.  It could've been minutes, or hours.  He couldn't remember the last time he had seen Y/N look so vulnerable. Since he had come back from France, she always seemed so strong. Maybe, Tommy mused, she really was too much like him sometimes.  In his dedication to the company, he'd started to forget that she was his little sister first and foremost, and not just his best employee. 
The next morning, Tommy was still so consumed with his guilt and worry that he didn't even notice when Y/N first woke up.  Yet at the small voice saying "Tom?", his attention moved completely to his little angel. 
"Hello, trouble," he said, a glimmer of a smile passing over his lips as his sister glanced quickly around the room and then straight back to him.  
"I made it," she sighed softly, tears finally beginning to pour down her cheeks. "I'm home." 
"Shhh now. You're here, you're safe, and I'm not gonna let those bastards touch you again." Tommy brought her hand, which he had been clasping tightly since the moment that Polly had finished, up to his lips, placing a soft kiss on the back of it. "And I am so, so sorry, sweetheart. You were right, you're always fucking right. If I'd just listened to you, you wouldn't be in this state now. I love you so much and I'm so sorry..." Tommy continued rambling quietly to himself, and Y/N was alarmed to feel his tears hitting her hand.  She was also amazed to hear the Thomas Shelby say the word 'sorry' - he usually said it through his actions, and never actually said it out loud.  But here he was, unable to stop whispering it to her. 
"Tom..." 
"Don't you dare fucking tell me that this isn't my fault." Y/N was brought to silence by the severity of his voice. "I failed you, Y/N/N." 
"You've taught me so much Tommy, and I love you more than anything, but speak to me like you did all those months ago and I will leave again. Maybe it's time the roles were reversed and you let your little sister teach you some things, yeah?" The siblings chuckled at that. Tommy knew that he couldn't cope with her leaving again. He just couldn't. His entire world had crumbled in the time that she had been away, but at the same time he knew that Y/N was right. Painfully, he added, he knew that she'd be right to get away from him if he ever became like that again.  
Y/N saw the tear tracks left on her brother's face and the look in his eyes that told her that he was scared that she was going to vanish right before his eyes. She knew that, as much as this conversation wasn't over, it could wait for another day, and she patted the space next to her on the bed. "Come on, you big old softie." 
"Oi, watch it." Tommy replied, sternly. However Y/N saw the teasing glint in her brother's eyes as he gently wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to his chest, and placed a kiss on the top of her head. 
As they lay there, the sun gently began to break through the clouds.
***
Both of them had a lot to learn, they knew that. But they'd do it together in their typical Y/N and Tommy way. 
And the first lesson that Y/N learnt was that when Tommy Shelby said that he wasn't going to let you out of his sight for a while, he really fucking meant it. 
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honeytama · 4 years
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St. Patrick
Spinner (Shuichi Iguchi) X Fem!Reader
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A/N: ‘St. Patrick’ by PVRIS goes really well with this fic, enjoy!
Commission for @dittomckiddo
Summary: It’s a miracle that you had been saved from an oncoming car. Plus, it also led to you meeting the guy of your dreams, one you’d never expect. After offering your services as a masseuse to him in return, you both end up growing close and come to realize the purpose in each other’s lives.
Warnings: Smut (18+), cussing, reader has a vibration quirk, meet cute, strangers to lovers, first time, tending wounds, praise kink, body worship, oral (giving/recieving), double penetration
Word Count: 7.5k
The cement of the sidewalk crunched under your work shoes on your way to the luxury spa in the middle of the city. The sun is just about to come over the horizon to break in the morning. Even though it was early, many people in your area usually came to open their stores and restaurants. Every morning you’d pass by the familiar donut shop owner who turns on their Open sign to start their day. Lugging your bag over your shoulder, which contains your spa uniform and toiletries, you walk block after block while half asleep.
You’ve always been in love with your job having the quirk that you do. It has made your life rewarding to be able to help people through your birth given trait. However, walking alone before sunrise to prepare the spa for clients every morning can feel redundant.
You walk along the same trail, the same path… make a right there, make a left here, and cross this street. Nothing ever changes, you think as you step out off the curb—  Honk!
“Ah!”
“Ain’t watching the road, asshole?” the man holding you yells at the trunk of the speeding car escaping down the street.
You push yourself back into his chest into a hug with your arms thrown around his neck. “Thank you! Thank you, thank you. You saved me,” you squeal. “I can’t believe I wasn’t watching.”
Pulling away, you notice the flustered look in his expression as he looks around the rest of the block for something or someone. He mumbles something about “the morning” before trying to walk away.
“Uhm, wait! I feel like I need to repay you somehow.” The zipper of your bag is swiftly opened and you rummage through your belongings while he turns back to you.
He tries to stop you by placing a hand on yours but quickly pulls it away. “No, no, I don’t need your money—,” You pull out a small white slip of card stock from the bag and hold it out for him to take. “What’s this?”
“My business card! My name's Y/N, I’m a masseuse at the spa down there,” you point near the end of the street at the glass doors to your store. “I’d like to give you a free massage in return for helping me out.”
“You want me to call you?”
“Yeah, we can set up a session.”
“Fine.” He slides the card into his back pocket. “Just, don’t get hit by any cars on the rest of the way there. I gotta go.” He pulls his hood further down his face and shoves his fists into the front of his jeans.
“I won’t! Bye!” You watch as he quickly makes his way to a nearby alley.
The most gorgeous girl flung herself into my arms… and in front of everyone. I can’t believe I didn’t ask her name myself or give her my number. But, I had to get out of there. Damnit.
He reads off the business card you’d handed to him while laying in bed the same night you had met, F/N L/N, Professional Masseuse for the City Spa. Phone number and email...
Fuck it. It's a free session, she was nice to me, and my body hurts like hell.
You lay watching a movie and mindlessly scrolling through your phone near midnight. Tapping through your different social accounts, your phone vibrates and your screen darkens. The Caller ID ‘Unknown’ is written in white lettering across the top.
You tap on the answer button quickly, silently hoping it would be a call from the interesting man you gave your card to earlier that day.
Bringing your phone up to your ear, you wait for a moment in silence before speaking up yourself. “Uhm, hello?”
“Uh, hi, hey.” A deep, gruff voice comes to your ear. ”It's the guy you gave your business card to earlier today. Sorry, I was kinda nervous to call.” He explains. “Call me Shuichi, by the way.”
“Hey! It’s no problem, Shuichi. How has your night been?”
“Uhm, good?” He questions. “I just wanted to call to let you know I’d like to take you up on your free massage thing? It might be an inconvenience, though, uh I can't really— I mean, I don't really like going out. That’s why I left you so quickly this morning.”
“Oh! Well, it’s fine. I understand. The whole point of my job is to make people feel comfortable, so how about we do the session at your place? I can bring my massage table and everything else!”
Fuck. “No! No, uh, I mean. I have roommates and, uh, I don't know how they would feel about me bringing in a stranger.” Yeah, that's it.
“Hm, well I wouldn't mind you coming over to my place then? If you're fine with that?”
“Yeah! Good, that sounds good. Uhm, do I need to bring anything?” Her place?
“Nope! Just bring yourself on over. How does tomorrow evening sound? I can send you the exact time and place through text.”
“That sounds good then. I'll see you, uh, Y/N.”
“Great! Goodnight, Shuichi. Uhm, thank you… again.”
“That was nothing but, uh, you're welcome. Have a good one.”
The soft crackling ambiance of his location and voice cut out as he hangs up. You sigh before pulling the covers over yourself and getting really to rest up for tomorrow’s venture.
You had set up the massage table in the living room that morning. Right now, it’s about fifteen minutes until your new ‘client’ Shuichi would arrive at your door. You scurry around your apartment preparing warm face towels and pulling his robe out of the drier. You’d spent your time creating the right amount of mood lighting in the space you have using lavender-scented candles. You dressed in a clean pair of the usual massage uniform you wear for work. It’s a white top that wraps with a tie in the front and a pair of comfortable white linen pants.
Your stomach turned over on itself several times waiting for him to arrive. You want to make his session as amazing as possible, even though it's for free. He had saved your life.
You roll up the warm towels on the decorative side table in your living space and fold the plush robe to place on the sink in the bathroom. You check your phone seeing you have five minutes until he could show up at your place.
The second you pocket your phone in your pants, you hear three knocks at your front door. “He’s early.” Ok, relax. “Coming!”
You rush to the door from the bathroom and brush down the front of your shirt before opening the door with a smile.
Shuichi stands there with his elbow against the door frame with his head covered with a hoodie. When he notices you standing there, his arm falls from the door nearly knocking him out of balance.
“Hey, Y/N.”
“Hey! Come on in,” you wave him inside to lead him to the small foyer. “You can take off your shoes here.”
“No problem.” He stumbles trying to take off his sneakers and you just watch him in awe. “Uh, wow, you have a great place.” He throws the gray hood off of his hair and light pink, voluminous locks fall to his shoulders. You didn’t get a good look at him the other morning, and now you can already tell this will be a long night.
He catches you staring at him and averts his eyes to admire the living room and its furnishings.
“Well, thanks! I, uh, spent the day setting everything up. The massage table is over there in the corner, and then I have some warm towels and candles set up just for the occasion.”
“Smells good.” His snout twitches a bit as he tries to catch the scent. Again, he catches your eyes looking at him as if you’ve never seen someone like him before. He clears his throat, “Uhm, where do I—?”
“Oh yeah, I left a robe in the bathroom for you to change into. Then you can come back in here and lay on the massage table face down. Just pull the sheet over your back, to uh, cover up. I'll be waiting in my bedroom until you call me back in here. Sound good?”
“Yeah, sounds good,” he rubs the back of his neck and follows you towards the bathroom past the kitchen.
“I’ll see you soon, then.” You point finger guns at him before walking quickly into the back hallway toward your bedroom.
Pacing around the room, your mind splits to tens of questions and thoughts about the man you’ve brought into your home. How did you not notice how attractive he is? He’s sure different from anyone you’ve met before, but you’re so intrigued? And he’s in your apartment. Getting completely undressed in the room beside you. Being a professional, you’d never thought about having a relationship with a client. But, he’s not a client, right?
You feel slightly embarrassed about your reaction to seeing his full face. You hope he wasn’t offended by the way your eyes trailed along his features.
You hear him walk out of the bathroom in the slippers you had provided him and wait patiently for his call out to you.
“Uh, Y/N, I’m ready!”
You breathe out and leave the bedroom to meet him. Coming out from behind the corner, you see him lying on his stomach with a white sheet laying gracefully on his backside.
You stop at the side table to grab your bottle of massage oil and a moistened towelette you throw over your shoulder. “I was planning to focus mostly on your back, but it looks like you work out a lot, huh?” You smile down at him.
“Oh, yeah, whatever you think is best,” he shimmies his full body making himself more comfortable.
“Of course, I’ll lead through all I'm doing. Please let me know if anything I do makes you feel uncomfortable, alright?”
“Sure, yeah,”
You can’t help but gaze at the deep divots that cause muscles in his back as you warm an amount of oil between your palms. You cock your head slightly at the long and short scars that are sprinkled down the length of his exposed back. The green tint is slightly lighter than the rest of the forest shade of his scales.
��Getting started, now,” you place one hand on either side of his back and massage in small circles. You usually don’t try to talk too much during your professional sessions at the spa, but maybe talking with him will calm your nerves. “So, I see you work out a lot? Is it a part of your job? Or a hobby?”
“Uhm, yeah, I guess you could say that. I practice sword-wielding and, uhm, self-defense?”
“Ohh, that sounds really cool. You’ve definitely got a nice physique.”
“Nah, that's just what everyone looks like in my line of work.”
You hum as his denial of your compliment. He has a body he should be proud of; he needs to care for it a lot better than he has, especially under such stressful work conditions.
You bring your hands to his lower back and decide to finally use your quirk. Energy pushes down your arms to the expands of your palms and fingertips. Your hands start to vibrate at a low speed as you run them back and forth away from your stomach on his back.
“Is that your hands? Doing that?”
“Yeah, it’s my quirk, it got me into the line of work at the spa,” you explain.
“Feels... good,” it almost sounds like he doesn’t know if he should be feeling good.
“I have to say I’ve never met anyone like you before, Shuichi, your scales are so damn cool. You have an awesome quirk.”
“I have to say I’ve never met anyone like you before, Shuichi, your scales are so damn cool. You have an awesome quirk.”
He huffs at your comment. “No need to butter me up.“ Silence floats around the room while he thinks about the unfamiliar kindness you’ve shown to him. “I guess… I’ve learned not to think about myself in that way.”
“How come?” You keep your hands moving along the muscles in his back. The energy from your quirk continues to work at the tights knots underneath his shoulder blades.
“I just want to be seen for all of me, exactly as I am. I don’t admit it to many people but, I sometimes don’t like just being known as the guy who looks like a lizard. I do so much more— I wanna be so much more, than that.”
“Well, I see you. And, I’ve only known you for a day. I'm already intrigued by who you are as a person,” you reassure him softly. “Even if no one else respects you, know that I do.”
“That’s… that’s really nice of you,” he says with breaks in his voice.
“If I pried too much, I—,” you start.
“No...Sorry, I’m just not used to respect. Thanks.”
“Anytime,” you smile.
You spend the rest of his session massaging him in silence after that.
After you finish, he’s directed back to the restroom to get changed while you wait for him in the foyer of your apartment.
You shuffle around near the front door with butterflies in your stomach. It didn’t occur to you that you’d end up feeling such strong things by the end of the night. But, now, you’re pacing in some slippers while trying to find the right words to ask him out.
“I think I should get going,” Shuichi says, startling you.
“Oh, yeah, of course! I hope you enjoyed the massage.”
“I did,” his toothy smile warms you up.
You watch him retrieve his sneakers and sit on the arm of your sofa to put them on. Now’s the time.
You clear your throat. “I was wondering… Would you like to go out sometime?”
He shoots his head up, “A date?”
“Mhm,” you nod while wringing your hands nervously.
“I— Yes. I’d like that, Y/N.” A blush sweeps across his snout and cheeks. Your heart squeezes seeing this for the first time.
“Cool!”
“Cool,” he repeats. He points to the door. “Well, I gotta get home before my roommates suspect somethin’.”
“Oh, yeah!” You open the fort for him to go. Your meeting ends with a nice wave goodbye before he disappears again.
Over the past two months, Shuichi and yourself got to know each other through long phone calls, picnics in empty parks, and movie nights in the living room of your apartment.
One week ago, you spent an hour building the most comfortable pillow fort with him before watching his favorite action movie. Shuichi came to your door with your favorite take-out meals, a portable projector, and a pack of fairy lights in hand. You had given him the biggest hug after praising him for remembering you had dreamt of setting up this sort of date before. However, you had the gut feeling to ask where he had gotten those things. The urge to question him about it was stamped out by the immensity of your excitement to share the night with him.
You used all the blankets and sheets you had in the house to create a canopy over the couch and a couple of bar stools. The projector sat on a tower of books and faced one white wall of your living space. The ground was covered by your bed comforter and pillows were propped comfortably against the bottom of the couch.
That was the first time he had the courage to pull you into his chest as you cuddled on the floor. The remnants of your meals were scattered at your feet as you both enjoyed the film. He had watched you caress his chest with your fingertips.
By the third quarter of the movie, you both were all over each other; exploring one another’s bodies for the first time felt like nothing you had ever experienced. You had your first kiss early on, but you could tell he was nervous to get even rougher with you. After you made out and felt each other up for another hour, Shuichi left your apartment in the late of the night with a kiss to your cheek.
Even sitting alone in your apartment tonight, you had regretted not convincing him to stay with you. You sit on your couch watching your favorite show eating a bowl of pasta. You had checked your phone several times today waiting for a call, or even a text, from Shuichi. Your mind wandered to the worst thoughts all day. Was he just using you for your quirk? The massages? To keep you around until you put out for him? Though you know in your heart that something is there between you two.
You stare mindlessly at the television until your phone starts buzzing to your side. You’re pulled from your thoughts and you grab your phone expecting his name to be on your screen. You sign, realizing instead that it’s a message from the city you reside in. You tap to play the automated voice message:
“Citizens, by our information, we are currently aware of the presence of the League of Villains in your residential area. Please, stay inside and stay safe. There are currently heroes handling the situation.” 
“What?” You grab the TV remote and turn the channel to the news. The luminescent screen shows streets burning in blue flame and people run for cover. You watch as heroes search the roofs and alleys for the League’s members; the commotion maybe only ten blocks from where you live. Nothing like this has ever happened this close to you before.
A hard knock at your front door pulls your attention away from the distressed news anchor. Even with this situation, you hope that it’s Shuichi coming to check on you, to see if you’re alright.
You rush to get up and open the door. And to your luck, he’s there leaning against the door frame in the same manner as the first time he came over. But. he falls into your chest the second he realizes you’ve let him in. With his chest against yours and his arms thrown around your waist, you can feel exactly how labored his breathing is.
“Shuichi, oh my god, are you ok?” You rub his back comfortingly.
“Y/N, I—I’m so sorry,” he groans against your neck.
“Look at me,” you pull away to pick up his chin from your shoulder. Facing him head-on now, you see the raw gashes on his forehead and bicep. “Holy shit, did you get caught in all that?” You point to the chaos demonstrated on the TV.
He walks over to the remote sitting on the armrest of the sofa and clicks the TV off. “I’ve got to explain something to, Y/N.
“You’re part of all of that… the League of Villains,” you repeat him. “And they call you Spinner? When were you going to tell me?
“I—I tried convincing them not to come to this area,” he laments. He sits in front of you hunched over your knee, distracting himself with the material of your pajama pants as you tend to his wounds. “Ah,” he hisses as you dab his forehead with a rag dampened with hydrogen peroxide. “I understand if you’re mad at me, Y/N. If you never want to see me again—,” he huffs.
“I understand why you didn’t tell me right away,’ you whisper. “From now on, can we promise to tell each other everything, no keeping secrets?”
“From now on?” He looks up to face you. “You want to keep this going?”
“I really like you, Shuichi, I don’t want to let go of you after this,” you kiss his cheek to reassure him.
A deep blush rushes to his cheeks. “I—I really like you, too. I’ve liked you since you said you liked my scales,” he laughs. “So, yeah, no more secrets, I promise you, Y/N.”
“Good,” you smile and take his hand to help him up. “I’m gonna run a bath for you.”
He watches your hips sway as you walk to the bathroom to set up the tub.
With the bath filled with a layer of fluffy, lavender bubbles blanketing the surface, you call Shuichi in from the living room.
He peaks into the bathroom before smiling at your kind gesture. “Are you gonna stay in here, while I—uh, ya know?” He stammers while pulling at the edge of his shirt.
“I was thinking I could give you a massage to help you relax. If that’s ok?” You watch as he pulls his top over his head in one fluid motion. His arm muscles ripple with the smooth movement. He drops it to the floor and then combs out his lilac hair with his fingers.
“Yeah, I’d like that. Uhm, could you maybe—?” He cocks his head to the side while rubbing the nape of his neck.
You giggle at his modesty before spinning around toward the wall. You hear him drop his pants and disrobe from his arm wrappings and eye masks. The costume he came to you with today was much more sinister than the cozy ones he usually wore.
The water splashes a bit as Shuichi gets into the tub. He settles himself to the side of it for you to get access to his shoulders. His mind silently thanks you for adding the bubbles prematurely.
You turn and he’s leaned back against the glossy, white porcelain of the tub. You run your fingers along the skin of his shoulders and he shutters as the surprise of your touch. You set both of your hands flat on his swelled shoulders and activate your quirk. He immediately lets out a breathy, relaxed noise. You move your hands back and forth and delve deep into the muscles of his arms and neck in a circular motion.
“Mmm,” Shuichi lets a pleased groan go out of his throat. He lets his head rest against your chest and takes note of the beat of your heart against his scalp. “Thank you, Y/N.”
“Of course,” you say softly. Leaning down, you give him a gentle kiss to the side of his neck. You move your kisses to his jaw and cheek next. You watch as the water moves from under your lashes. Under the water, he rubs the tops of his thighs with his palms.
He clears his throat before stammering out, “Do you wanna, maybe, get in?”
You perk up at his offer. “You sure?”
“Yeah, c’mon in,” he confirms.
You deactivate your vibrating hands and stand up completely to take off your shirt and bottoms quickly. All of your shredded clothes form a puddle on the tile floor of the bathroom. You hook your thumbs to pull off your underwear and let them fall to the floor. It’s not cold in the bathroom at all, but you can feel your limbs shake slightly as you walk towards the edge of the bathtub. Goosebumps coat your bicep and neck as you carefully step into the water while grabbing the edge in order not to slip. Lowering yourself into the water, Shuichi faces away from your exposed body. A blush paints over his cheeks and snout. You sit across from one another, but he’s still so close.
“Hey,” you smile while flowing your arms through the water trying to get used to the temperature.
“Hey,” he responds. Shuichi holds out a hand out for you to take. “C’mere.”
You take his hand and he leads you to sit in front of him against his chest. You settle yourself between his thighs and clench your own legs to your chest.
“Can I tell you something?” His tone feels as warm as the water pooling up the middle of your chest. The soft fragrance of the bath relaxes you the most you've ever been in a long time; you melt into the cushion of Shuichi’s chest.
“Mhmm,” you hum while letting your eyes fall closed.
“I—uhm,” he stammers before taking a deep breath that you could feel against your neck. “Thank you for all you’ve done for me,” he says with a smile. “I didn’t have anyone to protect… to look forward to seeing before you came into my life. I’d be happy if just being here to save you from incoming cars,” he chuckles.
“I said it wouldn’t happen again!” you laugh and throw your hand back to press into his shoulder.
“Mhm,” he smirks, taking your hand and bringing it to his lips for a kiss.
“I’m glad to have met you too, handsome,” you turn and smile up at him. “You’re so sweet to me.” You lift yourself just enough to place a chaste kiss on his cheek.
“Stop,” he shakes his head.
“But, you look so good,” you sing.
“I look good?” he laughs. “You’re the girl of my dreams.” You feel both of his arms wrap around your midsection and his thumbs massage small circles underneath your chest. He leans into your ear to kiss the crest of it before whispering, “I’m sorry to have worried you, baby”
“Are you going to make it up to me?” you softly say.
Shuichi’s eyes widen as you turn your body in full to face him. If he wasn't already involuntarily sporting a hard-on with your body pressed up against him, he definitely is now. He catches a glimpse of your glossed nipples and watches as water cascades down the valley made between your breasts.
“Fuck,” he places his hands on your hips to guide you to straddle his lap. “Look at you.”
You rest your hands on his firm shoulders before leaning into his exposed neck.  
He holds his breath and holds onto your body tightly, his nails starting to dig into your flesh anticipating your soft lips against his scales. His neck is tickled by your tongue giving hesitant kitten licks to the side of his neck. Shuichi feels himself melt into your body further yearning for your lips to close over his muscle.
You both moan as your lips begin to suckle on the prominent segment of his neck stuck out for you to ravage upon. The scales that coat his entire body create overlapped edges that you can feel as you drag your tongue along in small circular motions. You pull at him with the suction of your lips and then give soft kisses to the darken spots you leave along the way. “Just kiss me already,” Shuichi concedes. He takes your chin between two fingers and brings them to his lips. He holds back for a second to admire the clouded, sultry eyes looking at him from under lashes before pushing through the wall of tension to kiss you greedily.
You feel Shuichi’s hand on your hip start to guide you deeper into his lap, but the sudden movement makes you pull away. The shallow sweep of his strong thighs against your aroused center makes you yelp against his mouth. Eager for more, you lift yourself slightly before starting to grind against his thighs his time of your volition. The bathwater moves around both of you in shallow waves. They splash against your back in a similar tempo to your motions.
“Mmm,” he groans against your lips. His hands leave your body before returning in front of your chest in front of him. “Can I?”
You nod and put both of your hands on the side of the tub to the sides of his head. You feel his fingers for the first time on your tits and only a second passes until you're completely comfortable. He explores your skin and nipples as you both kiss passionately; with his eyes shut, he searches for your nubs to roll in between his padded fingertips.
“Y/N,” he pulls away breathless.
“Mhm?” You continue to softly grind on his thighs and he starts to speak.
“I’ve never done this before,” he stammers. You quirk an eyebrow at him with a sly smirk plastered on your lips. “Y/N, not like that.” Shuichi shakes his head with a laugh. “I want to ask you… Would you—will you be my girlfriend?”
You can't help but stop in your tracks to give him the tightest hug possible. “Yes, of course!”
He blushes at your immediate response. His hands caress your back and slowly run down the length of it towards your thigh and ass cheek. “Your skin is so soft,” he squeezes the flesh between his fingers and palm.
“Spinner,” you let his secret alias slip from your lips as a moan while massaging the section between your rear and thigh.
“Shit.” It feels so good to finally let his hidden life be free, but how was he to know you would use his identity against him in this way? He feels himself pulsate underneath the surface of the bathwater.  
While pulling away from his embrace, the hardened tips of his cocks brush against your lower abdomen. You hear his throat catch at the minuscule touch. “You—your, uhm—.”
“Yeah…,” he sighs, covering his face with his palm. “I know it’s weird. You don't have to—.”
“It’s not weird!” You reassure him while pulling his hand away from his face and towards your chest. “I actually,” you run your opposite hand up the top of his ridged thigh. “I think it’s really hot.”
He gulps once he feels your thumb run over the smoothed tip of one of his cocks. “Seriously?”
Looking in his eyes, you bite your lip and nod. “I want you,” you whisper while leaning into his chest until your tits press against his skin.
A guttural groan rumbles in his chest before he grabs your wandering hand lightly to stop you from going further. “C’mon,” he offers in a low voice. His scaled hand rubs the globe of your ass and then squeezes. “Let’s go to your bedroom.”
He helps you up from your sitting position in the tub to standing. The lavender foam sticks to his thighs and abdomen as he steps out onto the bathmat. Your breath catches at your first sight of his perfectly sculpted ass. The speed of your heartbeat quickens as you watch him saunter over to the counter for two fresh towels.
Once he turns around, Shuichi can’t help but permit himself to catch glances at your exposed breasts. “God, you’re so fucking beautiful,” he smirks while handing you the towel. You feel the heat of a blush come to your cheeks while you wrap the towel around yourself. He offers you a strong hand to help you out of the tub. “Careful.”
Unwrapping yourself, you dry your limbs quickly while hoping to get back to being pressed against his strong body again soon. Once dry, you both throw your towels into the hamper.
“Alright, c’mon!” Your waist is pulled into his side and you feel your body being lifted in one fell swoop.
“Ah!”
Shuichi holds you against his chest with an arm hooked underneath your thighs and an arm holding your back. You swoon at his ability to carry you bridal style without breaking a sweat.
Once in your dimly lit bedroom, you're set down to stand on the carpet. Shuichi spins you around and walks against you until you both reach the end of your bed. Your lips lock together and you pull him by the neck to meet you on top of the soft duvet.
He settles himself between your spread legs and kisses you in fervor. You feel one of his hands roam back to your tits and he uses the heel of his hand to knead into you. Another hand grips the curve of your hip and his thumb rubs the skin above the bone there.
“Shuichi,” you moan against his cheek. “Feels good.”
“So… gorgeous…,” he peppers kisses along your collarbone and chest. “I want you so badly, Y/N.” He lets himself slide down your body while giving kisses to every piece of skin available to him. He ends up on his stomach with his head between your thighs. You rest your hands in his hair and watch as his lilac locks get wrapped in your fingers. “You okay with this, Y/N,” he mumbles against the muscle of your inner thigh.
“Mhm, please,” you whine. “You look so good with your face between my thighs.”
He groans at the sight of your already wet cunt spread in front of him. He quickly realizes it might be okay to be rougher with you; taking your physical arousal as a signal that you’re actually into him. You feel a nip at your thigh and it only makes you want him closer to your core even more.
Shuichi lets his tongue lull out of his mouth before licking a thick stripe against your thigh. The feeling sends a shiver down your spine and your pussy clenches in anticipation. “Who would have thought you’d be such a tease— ?” All of a sudden, his tongue explores your soaked folds and then latches onto your puffy clit. “Oh my, God,” you whine.
He groans at your sweet taste on his tongue. The vibrations of this sound travel straight to your sensitive nerve endings. You pull his hand to come back to one of your breasts as he continues his precise movements. You move two of his fingers to pinch your nipple and he obliges by rolling the peaked nub.
“Your tongue feels so good,” you whimper as you begin to grind on his tongue while tugging hard on his hair in your hand. “Shuichi?”
“Mmm?” He hums with his tongue pressed against your clit.
“Have you— ever used both?” you stammer. Your toes curl as you try to focus on his response.
His crimson eyes widen at you from between your legs. “Both?” he mumbles. “I haven’t.”
“I—I want to take all of you,” you feel heat rush to your chest as you admit to him the fantasy you've had since finding out what he’s been packing.
He hums deeply against your clit again before using a finger to pull one of your folds to the side. “I need to prep you real good for me then, baby,” he says proudly.
You nod and brace yourself for him to prod at your tight hole. Since dating you, he started to trim his claws down in fear of accidentally scratching you, and now that fact is even more important in this situation.
The suddenness of one of his thick, ribbed fingers enters your cunt easily with the amount of arousal built up. You gasp at the abrupt fullness of his long digit inside of you. The roof of your cunt is massaged by him slightly hooking his finger and pumping slowly.
“I’m gonna add another, you’re taking this too easy,” he says gruffly before nipping your inner thigh.
Shuichi pulls out and enters back in swiftly with an extra finger and continues to pump your pussy in a more quick pace. The soft padding of his fingertips hit the ridged, spongy section of your cunt repeatedly and it's like nothing you've felt before. You can’t help but bring your other hand down to help get you closer to your release.
He watched you bring two fingers to your hooded clit and turn on your quirk. The vibrating digits sound like a buzz in his ear, but how could he mind when you’re lewdly pleasuring yourself right in front of him. “Holy fuck, yes,” he retracts his tongue back into his mouth to allow you to handle your sensitive nub while his pumps into you vigorously. “Touch yourself for me, beautiful.”
That feels amazing,” you stammer. “Please, right there,” you whine. You rotate your pulsating finger in small circles.
“So fucking hot,” he says roughly. “Keep going, baby,” he attempts to encourage you towards your first orgasm of the night.
“Spinner, I can feel it,” you grind on his thrusting fingers. “You’re gonna make me cum.”
“Shit, baby, cum for me,” he adds another finger effortlessly. “Cum all over my fingers.” The tips of his fingers move together as one to knead the squishy flesh of your cavern.
“Mhmm,” you moan loudly as you feel the build of your climax being reached within you. All of a sudden, you feel it coming. You bite your lip as your legs start to shake; you fight through the intense feeling to pursue rubbing yourself to maximum pleasure. “I’m coming, fuck!”
“There you go!” He watches as your chest rises and falls quickly. The muscles of your cunt clench hard on his fingers. “Such sweet sounds.”
“How many—How many fingers was that, babe?” You breathe out with the air you have left.
He holds up four, glistening digits and pulls them apart to watch your arousal drip onto his palm. “That was super sexy, babygirl.” You watch him take his soaked hand to his cocks and stroke himself languidly. “Could I do down on you?”
“Yes—yeah, sure,” he says enthusiastically. You help him switch to the position you were in on the bed. He lays back against your pillows stacked against the headboard. He relaxes his brawny arms behind his head and spreads his legs slightly for you to settle yourself between.
You sit back on your calves and admire the ripples of his muscular form all laid out for you. The tips of your fingers trace the divots formed by his prominent abs; you drag your fingers tantalizingly down the lines that make a V to his phallus.
You observe him from underneath your lashes as you lean over his leaking cocks. Holding his heavy package as one in your small hand, you pump them in tandem.
“Is this ok, handsome?”
He’s focused so intently on your motions that all he does is a nod in response.
Two clear beads of precum perch on the outside of his cockslits. As your first move, you lick the beads away from his tips and let your tongue move in a circle over the two heads slowly.
“Oooh.”
You smile at his content before widening the O shape of your lips to take his cocks into your ready mouth. Letting saliva drool from your lips, you use your hands to coat his cock while moving your wrist in a twisting motion. You wrap your lips around his combined cockhead and drag your tongue along the sensitive slits.
“Fuck, you’re lips feel so good around my cock,” he whines. His muscles flex involuntarily as you suck hard on his cocks. The stimulation of his nerve endings send mini shocks to all places of his body in response to your movements. To pleasure what you can’t take between your lips, your hands pump him in upward, winding actions. You decide to turn on your quirk in turn for not being able to take his package completely into your mouth. Your tongue buzzes against his heads and your hands jitter while stroking him in full. The intense stimulation makes him create large amounts of precum; it drips and oozes from your lips down his shaft.
You hum against his hot muscles pleasingly, the taste of his sweet precum mixes with your saliva and coats the expanse of your mouth. You watch him as his eyes widen at the lewd use of your quirk, but he thanks the heavens that you could do this at all for him.
“Baby,” he says lowly. “I don’t want to cum just yet, I’m getting too close— too fast,” he groans.
A soft pop of your lips comes when you pull off of him. Proceeding to stroke him in one hand, you lift yourself to place a hand on his firm chest. Leaning down to meet his gaze, you whisper, “Do you want to cum in me?”
His eyes widen at your offer the second the words fall from your lips. “Yes, yeah, baby.”
You giggle and kiss the tip of his snout before straddling his waist
“I promise to make you feel so good, Y/N,” he groans against your neck. “I’m so turned on by your body, you have no fucking clue.” He holds your legs to his waist and rolls with you until your flat on your back against the mattress. You wrap your arms around his neck and let him spread your legs to the side. “Are you ready, Y/N?”
“Mhm, please,” you whine. “Fuck me, Spinner,”
“You got it, baby,” he holds his two, large pricks together in one hand. You hold the creases underneath your things and pull them as close to your chest as possible. He presses a hand into one of your thighs as he hovers over you. He rubs his cockheads over your clit and slit to collect the residual arousal before pressing softly into your tiny entrance. You both moan at the first touch.
“How are you— still so tight?” He questions. “Mmf,” he groans, attempting to push himself further.
“Oh, I’m a virgin,” you explain. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“Wha—what?” He exclaims. “I thought you said we weren’t keeping secrets?”
“I thought it was obvious,” you laugh while playing with your breasts innocently.
“And, you wanted to take both of me? First try?” He brushes his hair from his face.
“Yes, Shuichi, I want you as you are,” you say sweetly. “I wanted to at least try.”
“I can’t even believe you wanted to spend your first time with me,” he admits.
“Of course,” you hold his cheek in your palm. “I actually have some lube in the drawer. We can use it,” you smile sweetly up at him.
“Ok, baby,” he kisses your nose and crawls to the night table before returning with a clear bottle. “I said I’d make this amazing for you, but now I promise it.”
You nod and hold his biceps in your hands as he settles by your thighs again. Repeating his process, he rubs the lube from his cock onto your slit and presses down onto your thighs so they go to your chest. He presses into your cunt all too easily this time.
“Oh my, God,” you moan together.
“You ok?” He asks.
You nod and Spinner pushes his hips deeper into yours. His cocks stretch your pussy slowly as he slides all the way in. “Feels—so good,” you squeak out. Your boyfriend starts his thrusts once he feels the back wall of your core.
“Damn,” his hot breathe hits your face. “You’re taking me so well, baby,” he moans.
You bite your lip as tears form in the corner of your eyes from pleasure. His hips rock slowly, but the girth and length of him are able to hit every perfect spot inside of you. “Please, go faster, Spinner,” you plead.
“God, you look so gorgeous under me,” he praises.
“You look so good,” you compliment. “I love your cocks, Spinner, please.” He smirks before grabbing your hips with his strong hands and pistoning into you at a more quick pace. Your breasts bounce as you’re pulled into him continuously. “Fuck, thank you, baby, thank you-,” you whine.
“Take my throbbing dicks, baby, good fucking job,” he encourages. “Your cunt is amazing. Clenching so nicely for me,” he says roughly.
“For you, baby,” you say as a moan. You hold your breasts in your hands and roll your nipples with vibrating fingers.
“Are you gonna cum on my cocks? Just for me?” He groans.
“Yes, yes, yes, please,” you plead loudly. “I wanna cum all over your dicks!”
“Then do it, babygirl,” he foments. “I wanna feel you clench on me all over again. You’ve got it in you, huh?”
Your eyes widen as you realize his words have triggered something inside of you. Electricity rushes to your center and you can’t hold back. “Fuck, I’m— coming!” Ecstasy encases your entire body as your eyes roll back into your head. You try to push your arm down between you both to use your hand as a vibrator for your clit and the base of his cock as he continues to trust into you with fervor.
“Ugh, fuck, me— too,” he grunts. His thrusts come to a slow before he releases his load into the back of your cunt. Ropes of gooey cum spurt into your cavern and coat your walls completely.
Shuichi rolls onto his back beside you and lets an arm fall over his eyes. Your heart beats loud enough for you to hear as you both lay together in silence for a moment.
“Fuck,” he groans.
“Yeah,” your voice is small and your throat feels dry. “Spinner?”
“Hey, don't pull that on me again,” he laughs. He gets up from the bed to go retrieve his clothes from the bathroom.
You giggle at him and crawl to the end of the bed to meet him before he leaves the room. “I was wondering, would you like to spend the night?”
“What?”
“Honestly, we don’t know the current situation out in the city right now, and I’m kind of nervous to let you go. I want to be able to protect you, too.”
“I’d love to stay here with you,” he smiles. “Wanna protect me from my own crimes, huh?”
“Just come back to bed, please,” you whine.
“Ain't gonna get in without my pants, baby,” he taunts. “Unless you want your second time, now?”
“Shuichi,” you cover your face with the sheets. “Can you at least bring me my underwear too?” You plead. He nods and walks out of the room. You lay there alone in the dimly lit room for a minute. All you can do is smile to yourself at how lucky you feel.
Shuichi comes back and the mattress bounces as he hops into bed with you. You put on your undergarments quickly and then snuggle up close to your boyfriend.
“Goodnight, Spinner,” you say into his chest.
You earn a quick kiss to the forehead. “Goodnight, baby.”
Tag List: @knifeewifee @lilli-chae @thedreadthreadanomaly @ivymemnoch @beauty-in-ferality @cannibalchan @bnhabookclub @bakatenshii @gallickingun @hawks-senseis @royal-after-dark @wakaoujisenhime @shinsotired​ @lovelusional​
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blackberry-gingham · 3 years
Note
Hello there! How about John x Reader where Lennon began to notice her shy gestures whenever they got the chance to hangout, and since the reader was usually comfortable with him and suddenly, her manners turned into a delicate one, at the same time, now barely speaks with him. John never asked the reader why and suspects by himself she fancies him. He’s certainly not sure about his thought so, he soon pulled his bandmates to help him find the real reason out.
Oooo interesting! John needs the whole squad to figure out your feelings lmao. So on brand tho ??? I love it 😂
Enjoy!
---
The sun beams proudly overhead, framed by sparse clouds. It's a surprisingly mild summer day and you are relaxing pool side with your best friend, John Lennon. You're at his place and he's reclining in his yard chair completely at ease, eyes closed behind his dark sunglasses.
You sneak yet another glance over at him, trying hard to play it cool. With a quiet but deep breath in, you turn your attention back to the clouds.
What's wrong with me? You think to yourself.
You see, you and John have been friends for ages now. Before Hamburg, before the Quarrymen, before the Beatles... There was just you and him.
All this time, you've both been comfortable in your friendship together. After all, it's hard to find someone who gets you quite like you get each other. And yet... you feel different somehow.
You glance John's way one more time. He's begun to stir a bit and after so many years of knowing him, you sense he'll want to find some fun soon. But for now, you continue resting.
For all this time that you've known him, it may surprise some to know that deep down, the tough and witty John Lennon everyone knows is actually something of a romantic. John's had his flings here and there on his search for lasting love, but nothing seemed to stick for him. Of course, things have worked about the same for you.
Normally it gives you both just another thing to commiserate about, but you've got to thinking lately...
It's probably stupid. After all, if it were possible, surely he would've realised it by now, or at least said something... right?
You sigh and play with your hair, a bad habit of yours, you know. The thing is, you can't help but wonder if there would ever be a chance for maybe... You and John to be together. Of course there's no guarantee things would work out, but you'd never know unless you try...
"Alright, enough of that", John sits up abruptly and takes off his sunglasses. He ruffles his hair and turns to you. "Want to cool off with me?", He nods to the water, "Then we can clean off inside. I know you have to be getting on soon"
You smile, a bit proud to have your hunch proven right. With a big stretch, you sit up as well and turn your sunny gaze to him, "Sounds like fun"
John smiles a cheeky grin and leaps up from his chair. Before you can inquire what all the rush is about, he tears off towards the water and over his shoulder he yells, "Last one in is a rotten egg!"
You gasp in playful disbelief, but you aren't about to let him win. In less then a second you're up and right after him. John slows down a touch just before the waters edge, and for a moment, you think he might let you win.
He comes to a stop right at the lip while you yourself slow down from your head of steam to join him. But, before you can stop completely...
"Ladies first!", John gives you a playful push and sends you on your way into the water. This end of the pool is shallow enough for you to stand with your head comfortably above water, so you shoot back up just in time to get splashed as John cannonballs in beside you.
You splutter and wipe the chlorine water out of your eyes quick as you can. Once you think you're safe, John reemerges and shakes his mop top out, sending another sheet of water your way.
"Oh, you-!", You clear your eyes and then, for the briefest of moments, you bring your hands to action.
John is wading there with a grin plastered on his face, as though he wants you to retaliate. Call him a name. Splash him with water. Perhaps give him a little shove... This is his idea of fun and games. Annoying people, that is.
Normally you quite enjoy it actually, but ever since you've been second guessing your feelings for John, you're not sure how to act. After all, you can't risk giving your feelings away! What if he catches on and rejects you, and then doesn't want to be around you anymore?
No, best to not do anything that could even remotely be interpreted as flirtation or teasing or anything of that sort.
You instead use your hands to tread the water and head back to the lip of the pool, "You are such a child!", You laugh.
John's grin falters as he watches you wade away. After being by your side for years, he can safely say that is very strange behavior for you. He's so comfortable and use to you returning his shenanigans that to see you just... Not, bothers him deeply.
In fact, now that he thinks about it, this is far from the first time you've acted this way. It's actually become a bit of a pattern with you over the last week or so, and John can't stand the mystery.
He sighs sadly, disappointed that his plan to get you to act like your old self didn't work, and crawls out after you. The two of you clean up and part ways for the day. John doesn't bring up his concerns to you, and yet he does want to know the truth...
All that evening he can't escape his thoughts.
By all accounts, nothing should be wrong! Nothing's changed between you two, no ill words or actions, so that's out. There's no outside life issues causing problems, or at least nothing that wasn't already there, so it can't be that either!
But then... What's left?
John pulls the blankets up close as he lays down for the night. The clock on the wall says 11:48, and even now he's still worrying over all this. He rolls over with a sigh. The bedside lamp is still on.
He reaches to click it off, but hesitates for a moment. Instead he finds himself digging in the messy table drawer until finally... Yes, here it is.
Out comes a little polaroid photo. It's a bit aged and ragged by now, but it's perfectly clean and one of John's most prized possessions. Within the frame of the picture, your beautiful face stares back at him, smiling sweetly. You gave him this photo as something for him to hold onto while he was away in Hamburg.
He's never told a soul, but even after all these years, he takes it with him on all his tours since.
He smiles back at your picture. He's never been so love sick in his whole life. For a minute, he dares to wonder... What if, you liked him back? It might explain why you've been acting strangely, but...
Well, that's just rediculous. John frowns and, with a little hesitation, begins to return your picture to the secrecy of it's drawer. There's just no way you could fancy him.
After all, he knows you. Just as he knows that, while he's many things, being worthy of you is not one of them.
He closes the drawer with a gentle click and turns out the light. John rolls over and falls asleep, dreaming a dream that you were here with him.
The next day, John is in the studio with the other lads. They're tuning their equipment and gearing up for the day. As such a close friend of John's, you're on friendly terms with the other Beatles as well of course! So when John tells them about the goings on with you, they're quite dumbfounded.
Even they know something is up.
Paul and Ringo suggest a few silly things, all of which John waves off. After some back and forth between those three, George speaks up and suggests something that John has been too afraid to ask.
"Well I think it's obvious... John, she likes you", George's tone is teasing, but the seriousness of the suggestion is quite apparent.
The room falls silent at George's words.
Slowly, Paul begins to nod. "Yeah... Yeah! Have you thought about that John? You two have been mates a long time, makes sense she'd might fancy you after a while"
"Exactly", George adds.
John's heart skips a beat at the idea alone, but he quickly shoots them down. However, the boys are persistent. They ask for more details on your behavior, and with every scenario John describes, they only grow more adamant. Even Ringo agrees!
There's a bit of back and forth to convince John, but... Maybe... Maybe they're right. Even if they weren't, how long was he going to lie to himself? He knows who his heart belongs to, and no one else could take your place.
He has to at least try.
It's a couple days at least before John sees you again. You must admit, you've been purposely trying to keep your distance. To what end, you don't know. But today you have no excuses to fall back on.
You arrive at John's place right on time and when you arrive at the door, he greets you with a bright smile, just as always. But today, John follows it up with a hug, something a bit unusual for him. He takes you by the hands and pulls you inside after you've said your hellos.
"John, wha-?", you laugh.
"Sh, I have something to tell you!"
You laugh some more and follow him briskly to the living room. John takes a seat on the couch and pats a spot beside him for you. First though, you have to take in the view.
There's a soft and low record on in the background and the room smells fragrant and fresh. A far cry from it's usual scent of cigarettes and musk. On the coffee table sits two cups of tea, a fresh vase of roses, and a small flickering candle.
"What's all this...?", you approach the couch slowly as you bask in the environment.
"Oh, well I um... I hope it's not too much, it's just I-I've been meaning to ask, er uh, I wanted to tell you-"
The look on your face is unreadable, and John's words begin to falter. This was a dumb idea, he's ruined everything. But then...
You lean in ever so slightly. A light dances in your eyes, a smile tugging gently at the corners of your lips. This is everything you've ever wanted...
"Yes?", You ask with baited breath
John sits in stunned silence for but a moment. Then, "Well, I-I love you"
Finally.
The tension seems to melt in an instant. You throw your arms around him, "You've no idea how long I've wanted to hear that"
"Really?", John looks utterly surprised.
You laugh and reassure him, and any last traces of his anxiety is gone.
"In that case... You've no idea how long I've been waiting to do this"
He leans in close and there, in the candle light and amongst the flowers, you share your first, tender kiss.
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Text
Jim’s Best Friend
Part Seventeen - What We’ve Resorted To
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Word Count: 3160
Author’s Note: the tensions are high, and the world is changing. I should let you all know that after I reach part twenty, I’ll be taking a little break for a week, for a mixture of bulk writing and relaxation before I post the next chapters (also I am watching the office as I go and I need to watch season four and five through). 
WARNING: none.
For previous chapter click here.
July, 2007.
The silent agony that was working beside Jim Halpert day in and day out had become a very real struggle. Watching him flirt with Karen, laugh with Pam, prank Dwight, all while feeling excluded from his bubble had started damaging your work: your sales had dropped, and even when you tried working in the annex, it was still impossible to find the motivation to get back into a work flow that led to anything positive.
When Michael called you into his office mid-summer, you were at a low you hadn't felt since your mom died, and you were certain you had hit the end of the line. Not only was it depressing to know you were failing miserably at your job, but being so aware that it was all your own fault made it all worse, somehow.
You closed over your files, Pam giving you a thumbs up and a smile as you headed into the office, but it faded as Michael closed the door and blinds: closing the blinds was never great.
"So, this is where you fire me, right?" You said bluntly, beating Michael to the punchline. He looked up from his files with a frown, gesturing for you to sit down, and you complied.
"I'm not firing you Y/N. I need you out in the field, doing something that forces you to smile." Michael informed you, his brows furrowed as he scanned you over. "But Jan has been talking about this being your last chance..." He added, and you sighed, running a hand through your hair.
"Let me take Dwight?" You asked, picking up one of the toys from Michael's desk and playing with it mindlessly.
"You're going with Jim." Michael said decidedly, and you sat up straight.
"You can't be serious..."
"I am! You need to talk to him at some point. So you'll do it on this sales call. Topaz. I need you to show face, and since you and Halpert started comanaging the account, I deemed it appropriate you worked together."
"This is the day you decide to act like an adult? Really Michael?" You hissed, sitting the toy back on his desk and standing up, opening the door suddenly to find Jim and Pam by the door, trying to listen in, with Karen on the other side. You rolled your eyes, forcing a smile onto your face and pushing past them for the kitchen, making yourself a cup of coffee as Michael pulled Dwight and Jim to the side.
"You're both out with Y/N today... Jim, it's the Topaz account. Get your stuff sorted, you'll be leaving in five. Dwight?" Michael dismisses Jim to finish off any outstanding tasks, leading Dwight into his office. "I want you to keep an eye on Y/N." Michael ordered, and Dwight nodded.
"Like a secret mission?" Dwight's eyebrows raised as he spoke, and Michael took a second to breathe.
"I need you to track her actions while you are out... Jan is thinking of letting her go, I would like to keep her here." Michael explained, opening the office door once more, and Dwight walked out with purpose, collecting his things.
You finished the coffee in your cup, hands shaking a little. The caffeine wasn't good for your nerves, you knew that, but it was the middle of the work day, so alcohol wasn't an option. You heard the door open and looked up to see Pam standing there, arms folded and a sad smile on her face.
"I'm done for." You laughed, quickly washing out your cup and setting it down to dry.
"You'll have Dwight as a buffer." Pam tried to keep positive, and you walked over to her, leaning in to speak quietly.
"He won't even look at me anymore, and if this call goes to shit I'll be gone by next week..." You reminded her, and Pam just sighed, walking with you back to her own desk while you grabbed the few things you needed for the sales call.
You had told Pam everything a few days after Phyllis' wedding, the pair of your taking the weekend to hole up in your apartment and watch sad movies. You needed to come to terms with it, and while Pam tried to convince you to just tell Jim how you felt, you couldn't.
"Ready to embark, Y/N?" Dwight asked, waiting by the door. You sighed and nodded, frowning a little as he scribbled something into his notebook. He caught you, and smirked. "Lack of motivation for work."
"Oh, go fuck yourself, Dwight." You muttered, quickly walking out the office and into the elevator, Jim and Dwight following.
"Inappropriate use of language to a superior." Dwight commented again.
"She doesn't work for you Dwight..." Jim corrected, and the pair of you shared a glance. After weeks of avoiding you, now was when he decided to talk?
The three of you headed out to your car, you jumping in the driver's seat. Jim took shotgun when Dwight insisted on sitting behind you for safety reasons.
"In the event of a crash, driver's always protect their side first... And we are statistically more likely to crash with Y/N driving." Dwight commented as you reversed out the parking spot, and you gripped the wheel tighter, making the split second decision to slam on the brake and send Dwight's head flying into the back of your seat. "OW!" Dwight yelled as Jim let out a laugh. "Dangerous driving." Dwight spike up again as he scribbled down another note.
"Keep it up, Dwight, Y/N will have you fired instead." Jim joked, a small smile on his face.
"You don't get to do that." You said quickly, pulling out into the main road, beginning the drive to the Topaz HQ on the other side of Scranton.
"Do what?" Jim asked, and you turned a corner.
"Act like we're friends." You informed him, the conversation ending there.
The drive was too long for anyone's liking, with Dwight continuing to meticulously take notes on your every move. When you arrived at Topaz, you kept the car doors locked, looking at the pair of them.
"This is a courtesy call, a hello and discount offer since they have a new Resources Manager. Nothing more." You reassured them, unlocking the car and handing Dwight the keys. "Jim, you start. Jeffords likes talking to you on the phone. Dwight, be quick." You and Jim stepped out of the car, leaving Dwight to his rituals as you opened your handbag and took out a cigarette, bringing it to your lips.
"Really, Y/N? They'll smell it on you." Jim scoffed, walking over and taking the smoke from your lips before you even had a chance to light it.
"Hey!" You snapped, glaring at Jim as you sighed, putting away your lighter. Jim kept the disappointed look on his face, throwing the cigarette into the nearest bin, no doubt trying to figure out what was going on with you. In the background, Dwight's heavy metal cassette vibrated your car.
"It's like you’re trying to get fired." Jim hissed, and you rolled your eyes, looking down at your shoes. Were you? Maybe you were, better than feel this terrible all the time. You pushed yourself off of the car, brushing shoulders with Jim as you headed towards the Topaz HQ. You ran a hand through your hair, catching your reflection in a window as you passed, and you stopped to fix your smile, perfecting the look before heading in.
Dwight and Jim caught up to you, and the three of you rode up to the tenth floor in the elevator, Dwight still writing down your actions as you walked into Henry Jeffords office. You glanced at him to put the folder away, and Dwight complied with a frown as Jim started up conversation with Jeffords.
"Thank you for taking the time to meet with us today, Mr Jeffords. I suspect that life in the new position is rather hectic." Jim shook Jefford's hand and sat down beside ight, Y/N standing behind them, distancing herself from the situation. She was meant to be leading this, it was her client, Jim had only taken them on after he got back from Stamford. But she gave him and Dwight the floor, and the reason wasn't clear to Jim, making him a little annoyed.
"No a problem, gentlemen. I was planning to contact Dunder Mifflin this week anyway." Jeffords sat down as well, getting down to business. "We'll be removing ourselves from the Dunder Mifflin client pool by the end of the month." He spoke with a smile on his face, and Jim did his best to not respond with shock. Dwight looked over at Y/N, who nodded as the phone in her pocket started to vibrate. She quickly apologised to Jeffords, exiting the room.
"Can I use your phone?" Dwight asked, and Jeffords nodded, Jim clearing his throat and regaining his composure.
"Sir, Topaz has been with Dunder Mifflin for coming on five years now... Is this a problem with our service to your company?" Jim asked, and Jeffords sighed.
"1..." Dwight said loudly into the phone. "3. 7." music began to play softly through the phone speaker, but Jim ignored it, so Jeffords did the same.
"It's nothing personal, but it makes more fiscal sense to go with one of the bigger companies." He explained with a shrug, and Jim nodded along.
"It's true, we can't compete with larger companies when it comes to price." Jim sat back in his chair, letting out a soft 'yeah' as he did.
"And I know we've talked before Jim, and while the discounts you offer are good, I need to make cuts somewhere." Jeffords continued to explain, and Jim smiled.
"Can I ask you something?" Jim sat forward again, and Jeffords nodded. "How important is customer service to you here at Topaz?"
"Well, we're a direct to customer based company. Customer service is what we do." Jeffords smiled, and the phone spoke up.
"Thank you for your patience, we'll be with you shortly. Your call is very important to us."
"If I recall from your files, it's the reason you guys agreed to signing on with us in the first place." Jim smiled, pointing out the door. "Y/N signed you on as her first big client, she keeps a picture on her desk of your CEO and her at one of the Christmas parties." Jim lied through his teeth, but how would Jeffords know different? The machine spoke up again, thanking Dwight for his patience, and Dwight sighed.
"Right now, we're on hold with one of those big companies." Dwight informed Jeffords, and Jim pulled out his mobile.
"And this..." Jim spoke as he pulled out his business card and dialled the customer service number of Dunder Mifflin on the bottom. "Is Dunder Mifflin." He pressed to call, and the phone rang twice before picking up.
"Dunder Mifflin customer service, this is Kelly. How can I help you today?" Kelly answered the phone in her chipper voice.
"Hey Kelly, it's Jim."
"Oh my God Jim hi what's-" Jim shut his flip phone, ending the call. Jeffords couldn't help but smile, the wait music still playing through the speakers. Dwight stood from his chair, handing over his own business card to Jeffords.
"That card has my work, mobile, pager, and second pager numbers on it. I'm never sick, I have never missed a day of work, and I don't celebrate any holidays." Dwight informed, and Jeffords let out a chuckle.
"I get the picture. But I still have to make cuts, gentlemen."
"We have great discounts on recycled paper and laser point 3." Jim lifted a catalogue from his bag, placing it on the desk in front of Jeffords. "We can find you the best quality solution for the cheapest price we offer before that phone gets picked up." Jim promised, and Jeffords took the bet, letting the men pitch to him as the waiting music continued to play.
When Jim and Dwight walked out the building twenty minutes later, having kept the client and sorted a new contract with them for the next three years of paper supply, they found Y/N outside the building, ending a phone call.
You had been trying to get in touch with Jan for at least a week now, and this was the first time she had picked up the phone to talk. After ten minutes of back and forth about the branch and her asking for information on Michael, you had asked her about an email you sent, regarding a transfer to Rochester. It was a long shot, sure, but you wanted out of Scranton. Instead of being met with an answer, Jan started to complain about her job, about having to do everything for you, and you just took it. You had hoped that coming back home would mean more face time with Jan, a solid insider at Corporate, so you could be aware of promotions, make new contacts, but Jan had barely spoken to you for at least two months. You didn't want to press, but this was your out, to get away from the Scranton branch in an amicable way.
Instead, you ended the call with no clear answer, feeling worse when you saw the proud look on Dwight's face.
"We just saved your client. Negligence." Dwight taunted you, pulling out his pad and writing down another note on your performance. Jim fell into step with you as you all headed for the car.
"What happened today? This was your client." Jim asked, concern in his voice. You couldn't stomach it, knowing you had let him down, so you said nothing, walking quicker and getting yourself into the car. Jim followed, not saying a word, and you pulled out of the parking lot to head back to the office, Dwight nattering in your ear about proper conduct and behavioral issues.
"Dwight, go inside." You ordered, resting your head on the steering wheel. The car clock read 17.12, and you knew it would be only minutes before your colleagues started to leave.
"I don't work under you." Dwight argues, and Jim looked back with a glare.
"But you work under me. Out, now." Jim ordered, Dwight giving in with a few angry grumbles. Once he was through the front doors of the building, you and Jim looked at each other.
"I'll drive you home." You suggested. You had both brought you work bags out on call with you, there was no need to go back into the office.
"Yeah, sounds good." Jim sighed, and you pulled out of the parking lot once more, driving towards Jim's place. It had been months since you had been over to his house, for obvious reasons, and you started to wonder if you should have just left it, let the avoiding continue for a little longer.
"You just stopped talking to me, Jim. Out of nowhere." You spoke up, the silence of the car becoming too much.
"It wasn't out of nowhere." Jim corrected, and you exhaled through your nostrils, trying to keep calm.
"I apologised for what I did. Karen said it was fine... Karen is nicer to me than you are now, in fact." You said quickly, slowing down to take a turn. Jim shook his head in your peripheral vision.
"You just don't get it."
"What don't I get?" You snapped. "You don't even attempt to be friends anymore Jim! And had I known that a drunken kiss would have led to all of this..." you gulped. "I would have stayed in Europe. Taken the severance package..." You admitted. It was the truth. Had you known coming back meant losing your best friend, you wouldn't have done it. Never in a million, billion years.
"Focus on the road, Y/N." Jim muttered, and you let out a cold laugh, shaking your head in disbelief. He had the audacity to act like friends on call, and like this private? You pulled up to his house a few minutes later, parking the car and turning off the engine. Your arms folded, your foot tapping incessantly.
"I'm quitting." You finally said, Jim head snapping to look at you.
"What?"
"I can't work at Dunder Mifflin anymore..."
"You can't work at Dunder Mifflin or you can't work with me?" Jim asked, and you looked down, falling silent. It wasn't just him, you knew that. Your job had become worse by the week, with Jan going A-wall, Paul never listening to your advice... but you couldn't deny that Jim was a very large factor.
"We-we aren't even civil anymore Jim... And everyday I come in feeling like shit and I leave feeling worse because the one person who got me through that fucking job was you. And now I'm nothing, at all." You felt tears filling in your eyes, and you took a shaky breath.
"We can't be civil, Y/N." Jim said after a moment, running a hand through his hair.
"Why not? Why can't we just go back to how it all used to be before I fucked it all up?!"
"Y/N, please..."
"No, tell me!"
"No!"
"Tell me, Jim!"
"Because I kissed back!!" Jim shouted, and your heart skipped a beat. "I... I kissed you back Y/N. And every time I look at you I think about how I kissed you back and cheated on Karen and it tears me up inside because-" Jim paused, looking down, not quite sure if he could say his next thought out loud. You listened, and turned the engine back on. "What are you doing?"
"Going home."
"Y/N..."
"Jim, I'm sorry. And I want you to be happy. With Karen. So, go inside, call her up." You insisted, planting a smile on your face that hurt to put on. He felt guilty because he loved her, and suddenly your feelings of frustration with him vanished. You loved him, he loved Karen, and there was nothing to do about it.
Jim got out of the car, walking round to your window, gesturing for you to roll it down. You did.
"I want you to be happy... And for the next little while, you need to focus on you, and not our friendship. That's ok. I'll be ok." You assured him, and he took your hand in his, giving it a squeeze. He didn't know what to do, or to say.
You drove down the road, dialling Jan on your hands free, and when you got her voicemail, you sighed and took a breath.
"Jan, it's Y/N. I want to thank you so much for everything, but I won't be back at Dunder Mifflin tomorrow. I'm gone. I don't expect the severance package, I'm leaving because I need to. I'll ask Pam to pack up my desk for me." You said slowly and clearly into the phone, and you took a moment.
"Tell Michael I'm sorry."
--
Tags: @imsuperawkward​ @poppirocks​ @rosie2801​ @onceuponahuntersrealm​ @aziggya
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candicewright · 3 years
Note
Hello Candice, it might not be the right time and place to vent my opinion in, since it mainly includes twt and ytb and might cause some controversy, but you are very reasonable person and won’t slam me so I’ll just do it. I am both XZ and WYB fan. I am not an yizhan shipper yet the majority of accounts I follow are bjyx related. Why? I cannot stand most of the solo stans. The last straw for me was today’s announcement of USXiaoZhanFans🇺🇸 twitter account and all the comments below. If you want to spend the rest of the evening peacefully, do not look it up. So there is this thing... Whether you are just XZ’s fan or WYB’s fan you will occasionally come across a content that involves both of them. And that is alright, isn’t it? Since CQL has been such a huge success, and let’s be honest ~ XZ hit a jackpot with his popularity especially thanks to his outstanding acting in the said drama, it should be all well. Yet, especially XFX, are trying to either wash XZ’s part in filming CQL or wash WYB’s existence in general. They would mention almost everyone XZ has ever associated with except for WYB, claiming there are just protecting him. But are they really? Isn’t it partly their fault XZ and WYB can’t publicly interact anymore? If XZ sees his fans disliking WYB’s presence around him, what will he logically do then? And I am not even talking about those XFX slamming WYB. Before anyone can come at me for complaining just about XFX, I would like to say I did a big research on things, watched tones of toxic solo videos and content, stuff involving the 227 incident, not because I like to torture myself, but because I wanted to make my own opinion. The funny part is that I have seen just minority of MTJJ talking badly about XZ but I have seen tons of XFX slamming WYB, acusing him of not supporting XZ or even participating in the 227 incident. Of course, this might be different on various platforms, especially on weibo, but I just find this very interesting. I immediatelly dismiss all the people blaiming WYB for taking part in the 227 incident. There is no point in interacting with them because what would he achieve by that? I’m not blind, I know WYB has valued his friendship with XZ over everything else. If you don’t see it from their interviews, and choose to ignore it from the bts clips (because if they didn’t like each other they wouldn’t have interacted at all; it’s not like they were forced to do so) then you are just a big idiot. As for people slamming WYB for not supporting XZ after the hate.. Well, is that even a question? First of all, I doubt that XZ, as WYB’s senior, would like him to suffer as well. Second of all, wouldn’t it make it even worse? Third of all, silence is better than bullshit. I believe that they supported each other privately. I’ve been a long time k-pop fan so this silent treatment is nothing new for me (as some of the k-pop idols get slammed for even more ridiculous things). XFX blaiming WYB for not being dragged down by the incident as well (yeah, you see this right) are just on another level. Did he really not suffer? Didn’t he loose his good friend...? “Why the antis attacked just XZ, not WYB?” Maybe because WYB has already gone throught this and got stronger and wouldn’t keep up with their bullshit at all? It was only logical thing to tear XZ down as his popularity was insanely increasing and in the antis eyes he was the weaker prey. (Don’t get me wrong here. I am not saying XZ is a weak person, I am just stating the fact that WYB has already gone throught this and is more experienced.) .... I could go on and on but I choose not to do it. The main point of submiting this wasn’t just to “vent my anger,” but mainly to thank you guys. As I said before even though I don’t ship them I have never seen more love and understanding than here. I can clearly see you care for both of them, without being biased, and that’s what I want, what I was looking for. And how do I deal with stuff I don’t like to see or don’t feel comfortable with on bjyx blogs? I simply skip it, ignore it. 😊 It’s not that hard😊🖤 TY
Hey! It's absolutely okay to vent here. In fact, I encourage it💜 I completely understand your frustration. If I was in your shoes, I feel like I too would follow bjyx blogs because I've seen way too many toxic solos trying to bring each other's idol down. There are some really sweet solo fans though! I could name many here on tumblr and they are a delight to talk to.
I didn't have to look up that drama because it popped up on my Twitter tl. I'm glad they made that statement and the QRTs and replies are just a free block list. But yes, it's disheartening to see so much hate in fandoms that would be so much better together.
I agree that wyb had nothing to do with 2//27 and it always makes me sad to see people saying that they wish he had done more because he probably wishes so himself. But yes, It would have just made things worse if he had, and I think it's obvious that he gave xz his support privately.
I am glad that you can find a comfortable place here! We really do love them both and you can always ignore our screaming and CPN if you need to lol😂 I wish you all the best, anon💜
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errthel · 3 years
Text
Four, just Four
This is the fourth installment of my fanfiction that is twisted (hehe) from @tri3tri 's Second Wife AU, Tempest.
I have reached peak procrastination, and will continue ignoring my requirements until I have no choice than to do them, don't be like me, I have really bad habits.
To Florius, it was the first time in his immortal life that he was ever startles by a mere question. His golden eyes moved over to the freshman, he had a relaxed aura around him but his (e/c) eyes had lost it's glow making him look eerie.
"Hm... what do you want to know, surely you aren't interested in everything?" Florius' curiosity for the freshman had peaked even further and he was very much getting more interested in him
"Yeah you're right Florius-senpai, I wanna know who rule the Valley of Thorns." quick and calm
"It's a monarchy, like most kingdoms in Twisted Wonderland. The ruling family is the Draconia family and they're direct descendants of Maleficent."
"Maleficent?"
"One powerhouse of a magician she's one of the top five magicians in all of the lands."
"Is that so? Then did she use to rule over the Valley of Thorns?"
"Yeah, it's now passed down to her grandson, Malleus Draconia, he's also a part of the top five."
"Malleus..." Lucien felt an overwhelming amount of pressure when the name rolled off his lips
"Mhm, well right now the family has I think at least six members. Maleficent, Malleus, Malleus's parents, his concubine, Bellatrix and their son the heir, Victor..."
"A concubine? What about the queen?" Lucien said getting more interested in the royal family of the Valley of Thorns
"Well yeah, there is a queen, no one really knows anything about her though, not her name or what she looks like, nothing. Malleus seems keen on keeping the queen inside of the Valley of Thorns."
"Do they have any children?"
"Hm... now that I think about it, there are rumors that they have two daughters, one leading their military and the other leading magic studies. But it's weird, those two girls are older than the heir, they don't discriminate the gender of the heir in the Valley of Thorns, I wonder if anything happened."
"I see... then, thank you Florius-senpai, I will be going now..." Lucien said before walking back to his cottage
"I don't know why, but he seems a bit familiar... must be my memories getting mixed up, I am starting to get older after all..."
~
Lucien walked to his cottage in deep thought, he felt like he had spent an eternity to get there.
Malleus Draconia.
He remembers his grandmother wheezing that name after her nightmarish vision.
Is that person supposed to be his father? A sick psycho? One who just couldn't let go of an obviously hurting person? His behaviour is akin to that of a zoo keeper ignoring the sick animals.
Lucien couldn't take it, he wanted to do something, but being patient is a virtue, he should formulate a plan to get them out of that cage. He just regrets his stupidity when he forced himself to forget what his family looked like.
He sighs.
It seems he has to take things into his own hands.
~
The gloomy atmosphere of breakfast spoiled her appetite. Sitting beside her sister, who seemed like she was about to die of boredom. Infront of her was her father's concubine and infront of her sister was their half-brother, deeming them boring, the black haired lady looked over to one side of the long table and a monotonous scene greeted her eyes. Her father, in all his glory just staring off into the distance, he had barely touched his food and she was sure it was already ice cold.
"Renata, your mother didn't come down for breakfast."
Renata perked up when she heard her father mutter those words before she relaxed a bit and took a bite of her food.
After chewing for a painstakingly long time, she said "I don't know what is happening with mother, because it seems like someone is preventing me from meeting her." her response was as sharp as a whip as she glanced at the lime green haired guard beside her father
She heard the chair beside he screech indicating that her sister had had enough boredom and was ready to just leave.
"True, how can we know what mother does when some ridiculous person prevents us from even saying a hello. It's been like that for a few days, dear Father." hidden malice dripped from Sherry's mouth as she walked to the door of the dining room
Renate followed closely having enough of the sour soup that was served and shut the door with force.
"Waka-sama! Those two are getting out of hand, you should try to punish them." the lime green haired guard said in a small harsh whisper
"Now, now, Sebek, they are rather tame today. Also Victor, we are truly sorry for requesting for you to have breakfast here when you have just started out classes at Night Raven College. We'll prepare a mirror immediately." the deep polite words of the ancient being eased the people in the room
"Mhm."
"I am sorry, Lillia-sama!"
The ruby eyed Fae looked off into the open window. He sighs, he had a feeling that a great storm would pass over soon.
The two sisters walked synchronized, each carrying malice towards the king. They separated ways and left to their respective posts.
The lime green haired guard's gaze hardened, those two girls! They don't act like the princesses they were supposed to be. He knew that that woman was the worst person his lord could have children with, their children are uncooperative and rude.
The concubine bade her son good bye as he was escorted to a mirror leading to Night Raven College, she held a small smile in her youthful face, proud that her son was chosen to go to Night Raven College, just a bit angry that he was sorted into Pomefiore and not Diasomnia.
The heir clenched his teeth together, even when he was there, his father only talked to his daughters! What was the point of him being there?! Just an afterthought? No, he was done being an afterthought.
The king stayed silent before he sighed. It had been ten years since he got his wife and children back, they had tantrums even worse than this, but why does he have a sickening feeling like it's starting to get worse than this.
~
Lucien's lessons were surprisingly easy for him to comprehend, sure it had been only a week, but he was sure that he could survive. But one thing he wasn't so sure about was money. He wasn't able to find a place to convert his money to madols so he was basically broke. He wasn't so sure on how to gain money though.
Lucien walked around the campus after school to try to rack his brain for ways to get money.
Sell stuff? No, the school already has a school store.
Try to become a servant to one of these princes? No, he's very used to having his whole day to himself.
What could he do?
"Hey! Hey freshman!" realizing that the voice was referring to him, he quickly looked behind to see a short male with black hair and porcelain skin
"Ee- yes?" Lucien gave a lopsided smile making the other male's eyes sparkle
"Ohh! So it is true! You really are handsome! Why not join the Modeling Club?!" he said, extreme optimism exuding from his straightforward request
"Eh? Uh, I don't really think I'm cut out for that kind o-"
"You can earn money in this club."
"!"
"As I said, Lucien-chan, you can earn real money through this club, you need money don't you? Oh and also I'm Noel LeBlanche, a second year here." he gave Lucien a knowing smile making Lucien just look at him like he grew two heads
"LeBlanche-Senpai. You're right. I need money, so I guess I join the club?"
"Hm... LeBlanche-Senpai sounds weird, just call me Noel-Senpai or... Noel-chan?" he said using one of his long porcelain fingers to rub Luciens left pec through his uniform as he smirked a little
"Noel-Senpai!"
"Fine~ suit yourself. Well then, I'll bring you to the club room so you can start earning money as soon as possible!" he said grabbing Lucien's hand and just running off with him in tow
Lucien felt powerless in Noel's hand, he felt like paper just being aggressively carried by the wind, or in this case, Noel. He feels like he's going to barf.
~
The blond freshman entered his cottage with a tired face, he came back from club work and was exhausted.
He looked over with a smile to his friends desk to see that Lucien was missing and he screamed.
"Lucien! Where are yo?!-"
"Brier-sama, he's over there." the newly showered Linden said gesturing over to the first years bed
"Eh? But he always did his homework at his desk after classes."
"Well, he recently joined a club." Hawthorne said popping up out of nowhere, dispite that, it phased no one
"I can't really see a club exhausting someone that much..." Brier trailed off
"Yes, but we have to take account that Lucien has half the energy and motivation of a regular human, so club activities will definitely tire him out." Hawthorne said while Linden nodded
"Oh, is that so? Well we should prepare some tea to boost his energy! Let's go Hawthorne! Linden, you can watch over Lucien if you want!" the two louder cottagemates sprung to go to the central cottage to get some tea ready while Linden approached Lucius who layed pitifully exhausted on his belly
"I do wonder what club you joined." he said after crouching on the ground and rocking a bit
"The Modeling Club..." Lucien managed to wheeze out
"...You have my condolences..." Linden muttered unceremoniously while Lucien wheezed like a dying alpaca
Lucien's mind drifted off to what his life did for the last two hours.
~
"Ohh! You really are handsome!" a boy with lovely blond hair and glowy brown eyes said, he greeted Noel and Lucien when they came inside the expansive club room
The clicks of cameras, people practicing their walking, eating snacks together, taking selfies on their phones, gave the club room an energetic feel and was something Lucien didn't expect at all.
"Lucien, this is Asher. He's the vice president of the Modeling Club!" Noel gestured to the blond haired boy which Lucien greeted
"Nice to meet you Asher-senpai."
"Ohoho! The rumors were true after all! This one's a dandy! Alrighty, let's get you camera ready! Give him something like a suit!"
"Eh! Right now?!"
"Yes right now Lucien-chan. Today will be the start of your blossoming modeling career ;) ~"
~
"That's how I got to model outfit after outfit for two hours."  Lucien said whilst eating up the soup Brier and Hawthorne got for him
"Ohh! I heard about Noel-senpai, he's a really big influencer! No doubt will people start to flock you when he posts picture of you!" Brier said
"Mhm, Noel is pretty cool." Hawthorne said while whistling
"I only really joined for the money..." Lucien confessed
"Eh? Lucien, you are a person who calculates everything, but you accepted for money?"
"Well, I am broke, it's more for security than actually spending, but I feel like I made a big mistake."
"Mhm, thinking of Lucien-san's personality, you definitely won't catch a break." Hawthorne said monotonously
"What's with that monotone expression?!"
"Hmm, well, since Lucien-san is handsome, I wanna see what the pictures look like." Linden said with a small, knowing smile
"They'll be posted tomorrow from what Noel-senpai said."
"Mhm! I look forward to seeing them!"
So, um, I just realized that there was a limit for posts. This was just like 23 pages in Samsung Notes. Yeah, so I had to cut down the last part but okay man.
Alrighty, we finally get some tea about the Valley of Thorns and boy was I like lollollollollol when I wrote this down yesterday.
That's most of it I guess, so part one of chapter 4 or just chapter 4 and the rest will be part of chapter 5, yeah, I guess it has to be like that. Frick this is going so fast and it's still Lucien's first week of classes,gotta slow down a bit.
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calypsoff · 3 years
Text
Sixty Four. Part 3
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Watching Robyn walk off to the bedroom, dragging my eyes to her butt as she did. She look good as hell right now but she is driving me crazy, I read the blogs and yes I have fucked up but in no way shape or form I cheated on Robyn, I would never do that to her but I guess the general public have made it look so bad, I fucked up. I shouldn’t have laughed and smiled with these girls because clearly they have got me in trouble, Robyn is always so quick to bring up that she made me who I am which is wack on her end but she isn’t wrong but also I don’t want to hear it and now she is going to make me suffer. Maybe I did get married too quick, maybe I did because now, I just don’t know I feel like maybe I jumped. Yes she is the love of my life but it’s just too much, I can’t move in any way now. It’s just so dramatic, leaning down to pick up the envelope from the floor, she threw that at me. I mean this could be divorce papers right now, what the hell do I know. My dad thinks everything is easy, like having girls like that in front of you is easy to resist, it really isn’t but I did it because I wouldn’t do that to her. I just looked and that was it, I am a little scared to open this actually because if this is divorce papers I will be heartbroken as fuck, I don’t want that and I would choose Robyn over anyone, I just feel it’s a little dramatic with everything. Leaning over at the table, opening the envelope sighing out. Pulling out the polaroid squinting my eyes reading the text at the back “a girl” I breathed out, turning the polaroid over. My face softened and it hit me “what?” I said to myself, turning the polaroid back over again and again. This is untrue, like this is wrong right “what” looking back at the picture, I breathed out laughing with tears forming “what, no way” she got a big head like me, a girl.
Wiping the tears as I got up from the seat, she really found out without me. Taking the polaroid with me, making my way to the bedroom. She has probably locked the door, but I cannot believe she went without me, I am going to try and be calm about this but how fucking dare she go without me, I am going to blow any minute about this. Jiggling the door handle “open the door” I said, knocking on the door as I did, I stepped back from the door “bye Chris!” she spat “you are so fucking childish, you went there without me!? You saw our baby without me, you fucking real right now Robyn. How dare you!” I shouted “be quiet! I am trying to sleep, what do you fucking care. She is just another Bajan to you and your coons” I clenched my jaw “fuck you” punching the door “that is my daughter too! I hurt you! Not my baby, remember that!” I spat, rubbing the top of my head feeling like shit “not my daughter Robyn, I didn’t hurt her!” I hit the door again as I walked off, I fucked up bad. I fucking hate this shit, she fucking did me wrong, how fucking dare she.
Robyn hasn’t come out of the bedroom, but it is midnight so more then likely she is asleep, but I am angry, I am angry that she did me like that. Over the fact I went to Drake’, I made the fucking mistake, but I didn’t deserve to not be there. Tapping on the comments on India’ account, looking at the picture of her and I, I am just curious on what is being said. I cringed; they are really going in with the comments ‘Look at this bird behaviour’ scrolling down ‘A married man? Sis this is not it’ tapping on the replies ‘the married man entertained it?? Ri is the clown’ frowning at it, this is crazy. This is so out of hand; I wasn’t doing what people assume I was doing. Robyn’ fans are fucking crazy, they are cussing her out, I can only imagine my comments. Tapping on my page, seeing the last post was of Drake and I, tapping on the comments ‘Two cheating dirtbags’ I rolled my eyes ‘How you cheat on @badgaririr? This is beyond me!!!’ I breathed out, this is really bad, and I didn’t even mean this to be this bad. What if Robyn is going to leave me, what if that is actually happening and that is it, Robyn is going to make sure I don’t see our daughter. I can’t believe she took that away from me, she really took that moment from me.
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I have been waiting for Jay Brown to call me, I am so hungry right now but I have packed my stuff, I am going home but I needed Jay to call me “morning, sorry for harassing you” he chuckled “it’s fine, I have been doing the same with you, have you caught up with the wanderer” I sighed out “I have, I am travelling back to California today, he will be with me. We will be walking through the airport, have my bodyguards meet me at the airport. We will be landing around four” time to clean this mess “walk of shame huh” Jay Brown laughed “yep, he won’t know what hit him. He really doesn’t see the bigger picture, but he will, I don’t even need to walk LAX but I am. Just for him, we haven’t spoke on that part actually, but I know he will be flying back with me so set that up for me, paparazzi and whatever. Time to do the walk of shame with him, I am not ashamed because I have done nothing wrong so I will be walking with my head high, him on the other hand. He will be doing what he does best now. But I need to eat, so thank you” my daughter is not happy, I feel her moving a lot I need to eat “you go and eat, I will speak to your publicist, operation clean up his mess, so you staying with him” good question “erm, he is here” that is my only answer “doghouse then, ok no problem. Speak soon” he put the phone down, Chris has never been through this so he can have nice time with this, I have had this before and I am not even going to hold his hand through it, I am not even mentioning it because they are going to hound him, it’s literally a walk of shame and he will feel it when they say the things they say to him.
Opening the bedroom door pulling my suitcase along with me, I am eating and going to be honest. Chris is right there, like just stood there in my face. I wonder how long he has been there for “I have not ate, do not even look my way” pulling my suitcase as I made my way to the dining table “the keeper came and cooked” placing my case in the corner “I know that” I don’t need him breathing down my neck, not after his shit “Miss Fenty, do you want me to warm your breakfast?” shaking my head “no thank you, this is fine. I am leaving early, thank you for your hospitality, it was nice” he bowed his head, pulling the chair out to sit down. I knew I would cry myself to sleep and I did, he has really hurt me. Everything he did and said was so hurtful and he didn’t care, he wanted me to break, he was trying so much but I got it, I did it. watching him sit down across from me, not like I asked for that, my phone started ringing and it’s my publicist “hello” I answered “morning, got your message so four is fine?” I knew they would be on it “yeah, I will deal with the rest after on what I want being said, speak soon” disconnecting the call “is she healthy?” Chris asked “who? India? She is fine, you should know that” grabbing a plate “I am being calm here, you deadass wrong” looking over at him “don’t speak to me, I am trying to have some peace” he is going to continue to talk shit.
He has been watching me eat intently, he has been silently just watching and is waiting for me to finish “I want your phone” wiping my hands “for?” he questioned “I don’t trust you, so give me your phone” I held my hand out, he is just staring at me like I slapped him “mhmm, you and these girls having a nice text about me? You think I am stupid; I know these hoes. So you are messaging girls yeah?” raising an eyebrow smiling lightly “I don’t have anything to hide, India messaged me asking if I was in trouble and I said I don’t know yet, she was still saying that she wanted me. But I just shrugged it off, I ain’t in that” he is responding, and it makes it worse “what do you want Chris? Let’s be honest, you are pushing me further and further away, you are messaging other women, I don’t care who the fuck she is. Do you not think this is bad, I mean I am not understanding your mindset” I am confused “it is bad, this is why I am telling you. Other then that I have nothing to hide” I want to slap him “now if you block India it just makes me look insecure and that I made you do it because you are messaging her, oh my god. I can’t even, you are a nasty person” getting up from the chair, I just had a feeling he was messaging her “Robyn please, you got me back. Please, I am sorry” waving him off “don’t follow me, we are going home. Don’t even touch me either” I spat.
He really messaging this chick, you know what he publicly shamed me and made people think I am the dumb bitch, he making it seem like I am the weak bitch, these bitches thinking I am the joke. I really want to kick him off this jet, let him fucking go economy but I need him to be there with me at the same time. He really playing in my face “am I a joke to you?” I asked, now he is being all innocent. I know him, I know his face and his persona. Like he is the lost puppy “no, I don’t think that of you. I wasn’t doing anything malicious I promise you, she asked a question and then said that to me, I am telling you because I have nothing to hide with you” I laughed “I look like a joke, I really do. Don’t respond I don’t want to hear it; I don’t forgive you Chris. Let’s start there, when I get home I will clean the shit you didn’t do but I don’t want you in the bed with me” I don’t want him near me “I will clean it” now he wants too “stay out of my way, what do you want? Be truthful Chris, maybe Barry is right. You have changed” he frowned at me “for having fun!? Fuck Barry” I pointed at him “lower your tone, it’s you that is in the wrong in this” who does he think he is, I swear I just didn’t expect him to say that on top of everything.
Rich and Frank are both here, Rich just stared between Chris and I because he doesn’t know what to do, pulling my midi dress down, I wore the tightest and shortest dress “you look happy” I am not sure if Rich is being sarcastic “thank you” looking behind me and Frank has got my suitcase “so we doing it the long way” I sniggered “could say” Chris can follow along like he does “I have Ben too, just it will be a little busy so we just leaving him behind?” nodding my head “they can see him behind me and attack him about it, what else do they want. He thinks they are not hating him, he needs to realise that he has upset me and the people that love me, set his ass up with the walk of shame” Rich chuckled “you look well” I needed that “a scorned woman, this is the outfit. Thank you anyways” the airport security held the door open; this is going to be long winded for us all but this needs to happen because he made it public that we have issues, he invited the public into our marriage now it has to be dealt with publicly, hope he has fun while he is at it because he made the fucking mistake in the first place.
It’s a bit long going through security, but it was quick for me, they can lock his ass up if they want. You never know with that court case he maybe; he probably needs it. Chris is not happy, they searched him the longest and questioned him, well he wants to be funny “let’s go, keep close bro” Rich said to the airport security ahead of us, turning the corner and I just felt regret because there is a lot of paparazzi. I wanted to see behind me but well, I am thinking of me “Rihanna! Rihanna! How are you?” I just laughed as both Rich and Frank kept close to me “are you and Chris in talks, Chris!” half of the paparazzi ran to him “what made you cheat on Rihanna?” overhearing them say “love you riri” oh I have fans here too, waving at them as I continued to walk. Looking behind me smiling just to peep but of course there is security there for him, I expected that because of who he is to me “how can you cheat on Rihanna loser!! This man is a loser!” someone shouted “man fuck you bro, you bitch ass. Come and say that to my face” to say the least I didn’t expect my fans to be here “I am! How do you cheat on the queen?” I just laughed putting my head down, that is funny because he is being harassed “move out, move out” seeing the SUV finally “love you Rihanna” Frank opened the SUV door, I climbed into the SUV and waved before I got inside.
He has a face on, to me I find it funny because I got the love and they hate him “are you going to tell me how my daughter is?” he spoke “my Bajan queen is fine” I mumbled “childish” I would pop him in his mouth, now that would be childish “I don’t know what you don’t get Chris, you fucked up! You know what, you are so fucking close to losing me. I still ain’t decided if I want you, you hear that? If I want you! Until you realise my worth then maybe, I don’t want you to be with me because I am having your baby” he is getting on my nerves when he keeps saying childish “I am sorry Robyn, I said to you I am sorry. I want you! Just you!” he spat “then act like it, don’t fucking think I am just going to want you already, please. Miss me with that, I hope you feel like shit not knowing how your daughter is. You are nothing like your dad, more like a Ronald” I spat “nah, because I wouldn’t do what your dad did to your mother so don’t do me like that. I am sorry and I mean it, I want my wife, I want you” not like I care “ok, let’s see if you last being publicly hung to dry” looking over at him “I regret it already” reality hitting him in the face, that is good.
I didn’t expect Mel to be home, I am so shocked “what the hell” hugging her “yes bitch, I cleaned up anyways” Mel looked at Chris “hey Chris” she said but it was forced more then anything “don’t bother” he walked off “he spat his pacifier out” I rolled my eyes “how is my niece?” she touched my bump “how you know? How you know she is having a girl” Chris turned on his heels, he stopped walking to look at us “she knew before you” I answered for Mel, I didn’t want Mel to be here because I knew he would go on some war path towards Mel “you were there weren’t you? Of course you were, this is your little revenge for Barry, because I knew about that shit. Oh yeah, I see it now. I see this shit clearly, you came running to Robyn when I fucked up and made shit worse, you probably gave Robyn the idea to run too Mexico and made her find out, you’re sick you. You’re obsessed with Robyn, you ain’t happy for her like that. You want to be the person she has to rely on, I see you Mel. You ain’t got nothing else going besides being in Robyn’ shadow, I came here, and I am doing better then you. You’re hateful” my mouth fell open “are you fucking real right now!? You fucked up and now you’re attacking me? You’re foul as fuck like your friend, you right I was there and you was where? Oh yeah, looking like a clown” walking around Mel “walk away now Chris, I am being deadass. Go!” I spat; this is why I wanted Mel not here.
Following behind Chris to the living room, closing the door behind me “how dare you attack my friend, don’t do that!” I said, Chris sniggered turning to me “because I am right, she came here. You said she did right? So her ass is involved, she has been after my ass since that Barry shit happened, your stupid ass was in her room with her and ditched me. I should have known” pressing my lips into a hard thin line “so you taking up for her then me huh?” he is switching this shit up “this is about you fucking up, do not bring her up. Do not make it about Barry, this is you and me. Calm the fuck down, watch your fucking mouth too. She didn’t do or say anything to you, she was there for me when I was crying because of you!” I shouted “I am just angry that I missed it, you both took that excitement from me. She knew before me, how you think I feel?” he is acting like I care “don’t bring Mel into this, I am asking nicely. This is between you and me, I ain’t forgiven you yet and you do this. You just don’t want me, it shows” he put his head down “I do, I seen the hate. They hate me out there, I am sorry” his sorry does actually mean nothing to me “then show me you’re sorry” I said before walking off, Mel cannot be here during this time.
I asked Mel to go, he’s using her to divert the mess of the situation and I don’t need that right now so I told her to go and she did. It was nice of her to clean up but she can’t be here, not with this situation and how nasty his mouth was with Mel too. I am in the bedroom just laying atop of my bed reading TMZ, seeing the pictures of Chris and I, I am smiling so much and Chris looks like he’s been slapped. He does look very sad, he looks very harassed by it all. They was harassing him about cheating that he didn’t do but he needs to understand it looked like that, his behaviour looked like that “Rihanna and her husband in crisis talks” I read out the headline to myself of course, scrolling down but least they call him a cheating rat here. Least he looks sad, I needed that to be honest. Looking over at the door as there is a knock, it’s Chris because he’s the only person here “what?” I said out loud “can I come in?” I would say no but I can’t “ok” I mumbled but he heard it “I don’t like being called a cheater when I didn’t do that, this is all wrong” he came to say this “but you’re messaging women, you might as well be. I want to see actions Chris, you invited the public now fix it publicly too” I know his ass don’t know what to fix “but I’m not a cheater, I didn’t cheat on you” looking over at him “and I believe you didn’t but it doesn’t excuse the fact on how you handled it, what don’t you get?” He’s stood like a lost child “I miss you” rolling my eyes “please close the door behind you” I don’t want to hear it.
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nctzendreamz · 4 years
Text
Psycho — Bae Joohyun
Irene really, really loves you. Too much, you begin to realize.
Warnings: Psychotic!Au, mentions of abuse, murder, language, and in general dark themes.
Word Count: 7k
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January 16, 2020 — 9:45PM
She might as well have been a celebrity, as she was the key reason that this coffee shop got visitors. Her silky smooth skin, complimented by her sparkling eyes and perfect build was everything the masses needed to get up early in the mornings before work.
She couldn’t count all the numbers she had recieved in just the couple of months she had been employed at Velvets; the coffee shop that rested in the center of the city. It’s red and pink decor, followed by the hand crafted decorations from so many visitors in the past, was exactly where Bae Joohyun, more frequently referred to as Irene belonged.
She always had the same greeting. It was in the protocol, after all.
“Hello! Welcome to Velvet’s. How are you doing today?”
And today is no different. She always tries her best to look right at the customer as soon as she hears the familiar bell, indicating the door had opened, but her nail was chipping, and it was driving her nuts. She says her line, still fiddling before she realizes that it can’t be fixed until later.
“I’m so sorry! It’s been a long—“
And then she stops. She has seen a million people come and go to her place of work. Most of them found her beauty to be enchanting, but even the finest of them could barely make her blink. No matter how hard they tried to merge the conversation onto dinner, or what she was doing after her shift, her facial expression stayed the same—dull and unimpressed.
But you. You’re standing here in all of your glory, hair perfectly sculpted to your face. She loves this look on you. It’s the perfect color to compliment your perfect skin, and daring eyes as they swallow her whole. Usually, she did this to others, yet here you were, snatching her soul—seemingly without even trying. 
“A long day.” She finally breaths out. Her heart is racing at a dangerous pace, and she knows she looks like a creep right now. Her dark eyes are trying to break you down, and bring you to your knees, but it’s not working.
“I understand that.” You giggle. You seem tired. The bags under your eyes are slight, but still drooped enough to which she can tell you’re either a student, or you work a nine to five. Regardless, you’re not always free. Your clothing is simple. Sweats, a hoodie, and some ugg boots to shield you from the cold weather. “Your nails are so cute, by the way.” You smile, and it’s calming. It’s not a full on cheese session, but that makes it even better. It’s simple, just as you seem to be.
“Don’t flatter me.” She begins, showing them to you in full form over the marble counter. “It’s chipped.”
“And still cute.” You assure, smoothly moving a sole finger across the nail. “Is it gel polish?” You question with an adorable head tilt. Absolutely priceless. You’re probably very good at getting what you want. You know exactly how to move, and lighten your voice to make people feel what you want them to feel.
“It is. You know—
“It stays on longer.” You finish for her.
“Exactly.” She can’t hold in her smile. Was her heart...warming? If so, that meant her cheeks were turning pink, which also meant that you could see clearly that you were doing it right. If you were flirting with her, you were doing it so well, and so respectfully.
“I’ll just take a hazelnut.” You breathe out. Your hands are in your pockets, and you’re shifting the weight from your toes to your heels repeatedly. You must be cold. When you’re cold, you get jittery it seems. That’s why you’re in here in the nick of time. You’re definitely in school. You probably just got out of class, and have a shit-ton of homework to finish. That’s why you need the coffee and that’s why you seem so exhausted; although you’re trying to hide it from her.
“Hazelnut!” She shouts, turning around and giving the ticket to the real worker in here. She doesn’t even look at him as reaches out to snatch it from her. “Is that your favorite?”
“The only coffee I will drink.” You admit, covering your face with your hands. You’re embarrassed. You probably feel somewhat uncultured, and childish for even saying that out loud.
“Have you ever tried another?” She says in a light tone, tilting her head just as you did a few minutes ago. Still, you’re unfazed. You actually close your eyes for a moment before snapping them back open.
“I have. I think it was roasted chestnut? Whatever it was it was not good at all.” And now you’re laughing. Your laugh—it’s beautiful. It’s not a subtle, shy chuckle that would indicate you don’t laugh often. You laugh all the time. She can’t tell if it’s a boyfriend that always has you geeked like this, or maybe your friends. Maybe, even your girlfriend, but that would break her heart too much.
“Well, coffee isn’t the only good thing here. We’re not Starbucks, but our frapachinos are pretty good.” Irene mentions, eyes flicking to the frap menu to the left of her. She lets the red sweater she spotted slip off her shoulder ever so slightly, and you’re looking at it. It was for a mere second, but she saw it.
“Here you go.” Josh—the chef of this shift interrupted, handing you your coffee quickly.
“That’s the fastest you’ve ever done that.” Irene seethes, shooting an annoyed look to her co-worker.
“Trying to close. No offense.” Josh nods to you, already starting the trials and tribulations that closing involved. He’s wetting a rag in preparation of wiping all of the counters down.
“Oh, none taken. I hate to be that customer that comes in late like this. I just have all this work to catch up on and I figured buying aderall from the guy who sits beside me in Psych wasn’t the best idea.”
Irene breaks into a fit of laughter. Truthfully, she wasn’t faking it. You were so funny. But she was also right. She hit the nail right on the head, actually. Josh couldn’t believe his ears as he had barely seen her smile a genuine cheese. Of course he stayed silent. “You’re funny!” She coughs out through her fit.
“Don’t flatter me.” You smile brightly. Your smile is so pretty, just like you. God, she was running through too many scenarios on how she could make you stay. “Thanks for this pleasing experience. Today sucked and I needed it so badly. Do you guys have like a manager or something? Or like a survey?”
She had never been asked this before. No one had ever cared to commend them on their excellent service and caffeine recovery program they had in place for the addicts. “Um...no. But what you can do is come back. To repay us.” She whispers the last part.
She needs your name. She just knows someone like you has the most goregeous name.
And the heavens answers her request. She already saw that you had a necklace hiding under your hoodie, but you’re pulling it out now. It’s a name; she just needs to know who it is.
“That necklace, I love it.” She leans over the counter, squinting to see the name. “Y/N.” She mumbles. “Is that your name?”
“It is.” You respond. “People say it’s stupid to wear your own name, but it’s comforting to me. Plus, I don’t have someone else’s name to wear so.”
So, you were single.
“Don’t get too discouraged. Someone could come and change that. Very soon, actually.” She purrs, and she finally does it. She’s getting in your head. You’re seeing her.
You leave, your walk mezmorizing her in ways that makes her tingle. She barely follows the procedures of cleaning, as all she wants to do is go home. She needs to know everything about you.
“Y/N L/N. Twenty four years old. Younger than me.”
It wasn’t that hard to find your all your social media. All public, minus your Facebook account. Your Twitter consists of retweets of memes that probably made you scream, and your own little comedy that your select friends liked as they felt obligated.
She can’t lie; she was expecting to see a tweet about her. Something about a beautiful girl in the coffee shop. But there was nothing. Not a peep. Then again, maybe this was a good sign. Maybe you liked to keep your loves private. She’s searching through your pictures, embellishing in the sight of you until something stops her scrolling.
It’s a picture of you, and another guy. His hair is black, but his features are far from plain. He’s not impressive to her, but she knows to you, he’s everything. He seems to be just your type.
It’s been two years, and yet, it feels like a thousand.
The caption is so short, yet so sweet and gentle. It’s telling a million stories with one sentence, and even she can tell there’s real love in the photo. On your side, at least. She feels sick now. He’s tagged on the photo.
Lee Taeyong. That’s his name. The first place she searches is his likes, where she knows she’ll find proof of him being a scumbag. The way you addressed your necklace; it’s almost as if it was a mere replacement for a previous. It was a somber, silent story.
A lot of his likes are filled with hip-hop. Viral dances, artist appreciation, funny memes just as you enjoyed. You two probably found love through a similar interest. She continues to scroll though, where she finds something that truly twists her stomach. A quote.
Do you ever wish you could turn back time? Fix a mistake? Go back to when everything was perfect? When you could hold her and she was yours? Because same.
He hurt you. She didn’t know what he did, but she knows he hurt you. Her first guess was cheating, and she was going to stick to it. Maybe your chill nature was because your walls were up so high. Maybe your intense laughter wasn’t because you laughed all the time, but instead because you hadn’t laughed in a while. And it was all his fault—fuck Lee Taeyong.
He works at a video game store. No—he owns an arcade to be exact. She was going to see him. She needed to observe him in person. See his vibe. In the mean time, she can follow you on Instagram. That’s not too weird, right?
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January 17, 2020 — 7:30PM
“Welcome to T’s.” A dull voice speaks.
Although the lighting in the arcade is practically blinding—all the neon creating a cool atmosphere, their customer service is awful. Probably a telling to his personality if that’s the kind of people he hired.
She waited for a moment, waiting for more. How can they just assume she knows what she’s doing? What kind of place was this? It’s a Saturday afternoon, and it shows because people are everywhere. Kids are running around, and adults are talking trash to eachother as they bet money on who will win the car game. “Men.” She sighs. But with her sighs brings the man she’s looking for. He’s almost blending in with his all black clothing, but she knows it’s him. He’s hard to miss, but not because of his features. It’s because she hates him.
Her current outfit; a tight red dress and dangerous heels aren’t really arcade attire, but she doesn’t care. She clacks her way over to Taeyong, who is surrounded by many people. He must be popular. He definitely cheated on you. The girls around him were ridiculous. So much for missing you.
She knows approaching so quickly would be foolish. It wouldn’t make sense. She decides instead to creep around, wanting to know who these people are. As she gets closer, she can recognize almost all of them. Chungha—your seemingly bestfriend was here, some guy with his arm around her shoulder. The Johnny she had seen pop up on your feed a few times, the Ten, and lastly, the Momo. Momo also seems to have some unspoken feelings about you.
She could feel it in the way she comments under your pictures. You couldn’t notice her flirtatious nature, but it was there.
The most beautiful human in the world.
My favorite.
Can I be you?
More like—can I be with you?
“Excuse me.” Irene finally speaks, interupting their laughter. She was hoping they’d give her a dirty look, so she could have even more of a reason to turn you against them, but they don’t. They look at her in synch, smiles still on their faces.
“What’s up?” Johnny says, a dashing grin on his face. Another who thinks she’s too beautiful. Exactly how she felt about you. “Are you new around here?”
Chungha punches him in the shoulder promptly, clearly not a fan of his approach. Irene can see why she was your chosen best-friend. Then again, was she really your friend? I mean, all of these people were hanging around your ex boyfriend and the only person who wasn’t here is you?
“Sorry about that.” She apologizes. “Us pretty girls are hard to come by, and they get extremely thirsty.”
She’s funny, but not as funny as you.
“Oh it’s fine. I’m Irene.” She introduces, placing her frail hand out. It connects with Chungha’s, and it’s genuine. “He’s right. I am new here. I’m a tad overdressed, I see.”
“I’m not complaining.” Johnny adds, receiving a punch from Taeyong this time.
So, he’s somewhat of a woman supporter too. I mean, he didn’t have to stop him from his words, but he did.
“I’m Taeyong.” He sighs, but he doesn’t place his hand out. That’s odd. The glow of games is making all of them look nothing less of models, but that doesn’t mean she’s impressed. No one was better than you.
“You know, you’re allowed to touch a girl other than your family and Y/N.” Johnny jokes.
The mention of your name makes everything in Irene’s body spike. They were acknowledging you, even though you weren’t here, which means maybe you didn’t mind them being here without you. Or maybe you and Taeyong weren’t exactly broken up. Something complicated instead.
He doesn’t say anything, just squints at his friend in an evil manner.
“Y/N.” Irene interrupts, putting a hand on her chin. “I met someone with that name last night.” She says. She knows exactly what she’s doing. “I work at Velvets, and this girl came in. She was wearing a necklace with that name.”
She watches for Taeyong’s reaction, and she gets what she wants. The mention of the cafe makes him almost flinch. Velvets must have been a place you two frequently visited together when you were dating. But then again, why did you seem so clueless about the menu? No, you weren’t. You mentioned you tried other coffee. It must have been with him. The way you laughed, it all makes sense now. You were thinking about him. A memory popped up.
She wants to ask if you were his ex, but that would be crossing the line. She had only known them for two minutes. It would seem too odd.
“Was she wearing sweat pants and a hoodie?” Momo questions now. Her hands are crossed over her chest, and Irene can’t read her. She doesn’t like that. Momo somewhat has her guard up.
“Yeah. I think she was.”
“That was definitely her. She’s been dressing like a complete bum lately.” Momo giggles now. If she didn’t already know this was her competition, she knows now. Momo is giggling just from thinking about you. You must make her laugh a lot. Irene doesn’t like her judgemental nature. You would be perfect in every state if she was a real one, but she’s not. So maybe she isn’t going to be a problem after all.
“You described her perfectly.” Irene seethes, quickly switching back to her normal state. The bright smile, and pink lip.
“How was she?” Taeyong questions. He still cares. She can see in in his eyes, but even if she was blind, it wouldn’t matter. His voice was so frail when talking about you.
“Oh brother.” Ten sighs
“I have a right to know.” Taeyong argues. He’s frustrated. He’s hot headed; at least when it comes to you.
“She seemed perfect to me. Laughing a lot, making jokes and stuff. I apologize if I’m out of place for this, but what’s going on? Is she okay?”
All of their faces seem to freeze for a mere second. They’re not uncomfortable with her question, but it seems like they’re wondering do they have permission to tell your buisness like that. They’re looking at Taeyong, presumably because it’s technically his buisness too.
Chungha is the first to speak. “She’s fine. These two,” she points to Taeyong, and then seemingly to thin air, “they broke up.”
Momo is oddly silent. She’s seemingly fuming, but no one is paying attention to her. That means none of these people know about her feelings for you. She’s been keeping it bottled up this entire time.
“Oh...sorry for asking.” Irene quickly scrambles, tucking her hair behind her ears. “I should’ve put that together by myself—
“It’s okay, beautiful.” Johnny places a hand on her shoulder, and she wants to slap the stupid grin off of his face, but he was going to be useful. He was stupid, and naive. One pull down of her panties, and he would tell her everything she needed to know. She moves into his touch, giggling just a tad.
The vibration of her phone distracts her, and she quickly searches for it in her Louis purse. You followed her back. One by one, you’re liking her pictures, and she can feel her heart beating hard through her little chest. Was her fairytale going to happen? Was she finally going to be able to fall in love again? God, she loved you already. Your sexy demeanor, your perfection. She needed you, and she would do anything to get it.
The bell of the shop dings, indicating that more people are walking in. From the way that they all freeze once again, she knows exactly who it is. She turns around and there you are. Her knees so badly want to get weak, but she controls herself. Today, you’re wearing an oversized t-shirt. She can’t tell if you have shorts on under, but she hopes you doesn’t. The shirt is from some band you listen to, and you have white converse on your feet. High top.
Momo is the first to greet you. She practically jumps into your arms, and Irene notices the way you don’t seem to mind. Her brain is starting to shock her, jolting her anger to all the wrong places. She could fucking kill Momo right now. The two of you are spinning around, Momo’s legs around your waist and you inhaling her scent. Everyone else is looking at the scene with a soft smile—they’re so stupid. How can they not see?
Momo finally returns back to the floor, and now you’re looking at her. She quickly fixes herself up, so quick, that you don’t even notice.
“Irene?”
The way you say her name is causing her to pool. She wants to hear you say it for the rest of the night. She takes a deep breath, not hiding it this time before she strides to you, hugging you. She knows this won’t make you uncomfortable. You seem to be willing to catch some affection for people you like. When she feels your hands on her middle back, she inhales you. You smell like spring, even in the winter, and that’s so beautiful. You’re so beautiful. She allows her cheek to graze against yours ever so slightly, and your noses to touch before she backs away. She sees the way you bite your lip. No one can see you but her, and she likes the thrill. It’s dangerous.
“Johnny.” You sigh, walking past him without a look. You don’t like Johnny—that’s obvious. Was he possible the reason for you and Taeyong’s break-up? “My Tenny!” You screech, putting his face in your hands like a baby and kissing his cheek softly. You have a soft side. “Chungha~” You sing, embracing her tightly. Now it was the big reveal. Would you speak to Taeyong? Or would you two do the awkward stare.
He still loves you. It’s obvious in the way that the love practically pours out of his eyes, and his hands shake. “Y/N.” He whispers. It’s like no one else is in the room. You must have not seen any of them in a while, based on the way they stare at you admiringly.
“Hey.” You whisper back, slowly moving to hug him. He closes his eyes for a mere second, and it’s all over. Now you’re back beside Irene, who’s very pleased.
“Irene was just telling us that the two of you know eachother.” Johnny speaks. He’s trying to get back into your good graces. It’s so obvious it’s painful.
“Yeah.” You smile, but not at him. “I was at Velvets getting my usual, and then we met. Surprised to see you here though.” You’re looking at her now.
“What? Just because I’m in a dress means I can’t be a gamer?” She jokes, and everyone around laughs. Everyone but Momo.
“No. Momo wears dresses.” You say, slapping her thigh gently. Why do you keep touching her? She’s standing right here, looking good for you, and you’re flirting with Momo? “There’s just a lot of assholes in a place like this. You don’t seem to be interested in that.”
“Well, how about I prove you wrong? Loser has to buy the other coffee.” She prompts.
She hopes everyone else looks jealous. Especially Momo. Knowing you, even if you wanted to say no, you weren’t going to deny her.
“Any coffee?” You question with a raised eyebrow.
“Anything you want—that is, if you win.”
“I say we have a tournament.” Momo adds in. “I mean, it’s been a while since we’ve all been together lile this.”
Shut up, slut. God, Irene just wants to wrap her hands around her neck. She had to get you away from her as soon as possible.
“Sounds good to me.” You agree. “Is that cool with you?” You look back at her. You’re already hooked enough to have to ask permission when you had only known her for 24 hours.
“Does it matter if she is?” Johnny mentions.
“Johnny!” Chungha screeches. “Why are you being such a dick!”
“Don’t answer that.” Ten prompts, taking his friend by the hand and leading him outside.
“Anyways, that sounds like a great idea to me. Let’s roll!” Chungha yells in sorority fashion, and now all of you are going to where the fun is. There’s a million games to choose from, but it seems like you guys have a section you’re leading her to.
“As you can see, the games only get harder and harder from here.” You explain to her, placing a hand on her lower back.
“So like, kids shouldn’t be going this far.” She giggles.
“Exactly. Consider yourself privileged.” You wink.
“Just because I’m short and cute does not mean I’m a child.”
“You’re going to have to prove that to me.”
You’re definitely flirting with her now. And to make it even better, more fiesty than she had expected it to be.
“What are you doing after this?” She flirts back, placing her hand on your back now.
“You’re taking me to get coffee.”
“Velvets will be closed.” She pouts.
“I didn’t say you had to take me to Velvets. They sell hazelnut coffee everywhere.”
“You really think you can beat me, can’t you?”
“No. I know I can.”
And you did. You beat the clean breaks off of her in every single thing. The whole tournament went to hell as you and Irene were completely in your own world. You ran from game to game like children.
You weren’t rude enough to not say goodbye, but it was quick. You knew exactly what was going to happen after tonight, and you needed it. It had been too long.
“You’re not coming over?” Is the last thing you hear right before you and Irene head out. It’s Momo again, and her eyes are sad as she seems to know exactly what’s going on. “We haven’t had the big sleepover in so long, and I cleaned my house.”
Irene is reading you like the open book you are, and you’re fighting it. You haven’t seen your friends in a while, and you want their attention. You love the fact that they miss you, and you miss them even more, but you don’t crave them like you’re craving her right now.
“I promise next weekend.” You try to plead.
“But I got drinks.”
“A promise is a promise.” Now your pinky is out. The way Momo seemingly gives up on her complaining shows that your promises held weight. She connects her pinky with yours, before lightly caressing your knuckles with her thumb. You don’t think anything if it, but Irene knows, and her eyes are burning holes into her skull.
As soon as the two of you reach the car, you’ve forgotten about the coffee.
With a slammed hand on the foggy window, Irene is in bliss.
“So much for that hazelnut coffee, huh?” She purrs, kissing you once more.
“You still owe me.” You giggle.
“You’re absolutely right.” She’s now crawling down your body, fully prepared to repay you for your victory. More like her victory. She had won, and it was easy. You were easy, and yet she still loved you. She would never let you go, and anybody who got in the way of you two being together forever will feel her wrath.
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February 17, 2020 — 2:00PM
“Wait wait, so you’re telling me that I leave for two seconds, and Y/N and Irene are fucking?”
“Not just fucking—fucking dating.”
Johnny and Taeyong were catching up, just as brothers did. After being pulled out of the arcade by Ten, it had been decided that Johnny needed a break from his crew. There was clearly some animosity—rightfully so within the group, and a month break was much needed.
“I didn’t even know Y/N...”
“Exactly.” Taeyong finishes for him, taking an aggressive sip from his coffee. With the slam, some of it splattered on the table. He can’t help but think about how you would immediately clean it up as little things like that bothered you, if you were here that is.
“Well, how do you feel about it?”
“I don’t understand how this happened so quick. I mean, think about how long it took me and Y/N to start dating. We talked for what felt like years before you guys pushed us to make it official.”
“You mean pushed you.” Johnny corrects, sipping his Americano with shade.
“Whatever. I just don’t like it. I mean, this Irene girl just shows up, and takes Y/N away that quick? That quick?”
“I mean, she is fine as hell. Are you saying you wouldn’t be down for that?”
“Can you not be gross for like two seconds?” Taeyong fumes.
“Shh.” The congregation of the library says in unison, causing him to throw his head down in shame.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Month of meditation actually did something I can assure you.”
“I want to look into her.”
“As in, like stalk her? Do you really think you’ll find anything?”
���I don’t want to, but this all happened too coincidentally. I know you think I’m crazy,” a nervous habit formed as a little boy, Taeyong is scratching his elbow like a manic. His rash has appeared, and rash equaled bad news.
“Well, you know I’m on your side. You might be stupid and crazy, but as your best friend it’s my job to make sure you don’t do it alone.”
They weren’t alone, even when they thought they had found a secluded area. She was there, disguised as a typical college girl. She sported a bob that made her look extremely basic, and her ears heard every drip of that conversation. Of course, being the idiots that they were, a bathroom break included them leaving all their belongings on the table.
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February 21, 2020 — 12:00AM
“Do I know you?” The blonde girl says in a low voice. She’s scared as she approaches her vehicle. She worked the late shift tonight, and deep down she knew it was a horrible idea, especially when her boyfriend was too drunk to come and get her.
“You don’t need the extra money—I got you, babe.”
But she ignored him.
“No, but I know you.”
“Did my boyfriend sleep with you? Because if you want revenge, I’m not the one you need to be speaking to.”
“What would make you think that?”
“Past trauma.”
“So he’s cheated before.”
“No, past trauma.” She doesn’t know why she’s entertaining this stranger. Maybe it’s because she’s so beautiful. You can’t help but to trust her, even in such a suspicious predicament. I mean, she was leaning on her fucking car like she pays the note. “Are you an addict or something? I barely have anything for myself, okay? Maybe next week.”
“You’re Johnny’s girlfriend, aren’t you?”
“I’m calling the police.”
But Irene snatches her phone from her, slamming it on the ground. The black gloves that cover her hands secure her non-existent finger prints, and the phone shatters.
“Literally what the fuck!” The blonde screams, but it doesn’t matter. They’re in a parking garage and there’s no one here to save her. She tries to run away, but Irene is just too quick. The knife that was behind her back connects to the back of her neck, and she haults.
“This is for your nosy fucking boyfriend, who believes that he can somehow find out about my past and make Y/N leave me. How foolish of him.” She chuckles, letting the blood trickle down her arm.
She’s crying and screaming, but as stated, it’s irrevlant. Irene 2 — Johnny 0.
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February 18, 2020 — 9:00AM
“I just...I just can’t believe it. I told her not to work that stupid fucking shift.”
“It’s not your fault, Johnny.”
“Yes it is. If I wouldn’t have been drunk out of my ass, I could’ve saved her somehow—I don’t know. But now she’s gone. I loved her. I loved her so damn much and I was finally pulling it together because of her.”
The rest of you sit on the couch, struggling to find the proper words for such a tragedy. Johnny is sobbing into his hands now, while Ten is rubbing his back gently. Taeyong is off to the side staring into space. You’re familiar with this look. He was thinking heavily about something, but you obviously would never find out what it was. Chungha is sitting on your right, rocking back and forth. Her nails are chopping at her fingers—a clear sign of her fearfulness. Similar to Taeyong, Momo is silent. You expected her eyes to be on you in search of some answers, or silent suspicions, but she refuses.
Finally, Irene is beside you to the left. You didn’t know Johnny’s lover that well, but you knew she was a decent girl. She didn’t deserve this, and you couldn’t even imagine what would it would feel like to lose someone you loved. Anyone sitting in this room. Her frail hand is locked on your elbow while her thumb is trying to soothe you.
“I’m so sorry.” She whispers. Her lips find your shoulder in something sweet and comforting. “Who would do something like this? Did she have an ex boyfriend?”
It takes a minute for Johnny to find a response.
“She did tell me about some guy who began to get a little possessive, so she broke it off. But she never mentioned him coming back.”
“Maybe it was him.” Irene says quietly. You can tell she’s trying not to say too much, as she hadn’t been hanging with the crew for too long. You’re grateful that she’s here for you.
“Let’s just let the police do their job.” Momo finally speaks, standing up from the loveseat she sat on alone. Something is wrong with her, but you’d have to figure that out later.
“Let’s order some food.” You decide, standing up as well. “I know you might now want to eat right now, but it’ll clear you head even if just a little bit. We are all under a lot of stress right now.”
“I agree, babe.” Irene commends, smiling at you sadly.
“Alright.” Johnny sighs. He also rises, but he goes straight into the back of his apartment instead. None of you were worried about him hurting himself. You knew he needed time to let his emotions out, as he was constantly trying to be society’s definition of a man.
Your phone vibrates, and it’s Irene who’s hitting you up.
I think you should check on Momo. Was she friends with her? She just seems really upset and I know how close you two are.
You have to contain the smile that wants to come out for the sake of the situation, but she was so perfect. She didn’t get jealous about anything. And she was so in love with you. It had been too long since you could confidently admit that this wasn’t a one-sided situation.
Your feet are approaching the kitchen softly, trying not to make such a scene. Momo is leaned over the counter at first, but when she sees you she tries to straighten up.
“Hey.” She whispers, preparing for eavesdropping.
“Hey.” You say back.
Why was this so awkward? It was never like this before.
“I just wanted to check on you.”
“I’m fine.”
Which means she’s not. You see her observing your current outfit—yoga pants with a shirt she had bought you years ago covering your body.
“Do you want to talk later?” You offer, putting a tiny smirk on your face remembering that usually made her feel better.
“I think that would be good, actually. I don’t know if we’ll have the time, but maybe when everyone’s asleep?”
“The best thing I’ve heard all day.” You open your arms out, and you know she won’t deny you. She lets out what seems to be all the stress from her week as she lets you engulf her. It had been so long since the two of you were close like this. On your nights where you couldn’t sleep from past thoughts, it was Momo who would come over and hold you until you could.
“I’ve missed you.” She mumbles into your shoulder. “So much.”
“I missed you too. I’m sorry I haven’t been exactly here as much.”
“Irene...I know.” She pulls away at the mention of her name, and it’s odd timing. “Let me just ask you something— as one of your best friends?”
“Go ahead.”
“Don’t you think the two of you are moving a little fast? I mean, we saw the girl for the first time a month ago, and now you’re all committed and in love with her. I’m just concerned.”
She made several points. It wasn’t that you made people wait for you in the past. This whole scenario was just too quick, especially since you had just gotten out of a relationship not too long ago.
“Are you insinuating that I’m not over Taeyong?”
“No.” She’s confident in her answer. “I don’t want you to be with him anyway. He cheated on and is a fat jerk.”
You snort at her last two words, and she’s punching your shoulder lightly even though she’s laughing as well.
“You’re so negative minded.”
“Continue.” You breath out, covering your mouth.
“I just feel like—
The door flies open, revealing Irene on the other side. “Sorry to interrupt, but have you ordered the pizza yet? We’re all starving.”
In reality, she wasn’t in the mood for food. Ten and Taeyong had went to the back to check on Johnny, and Chungha was using the bathroom. She had heard your whole exchange and to say she was pissed was an understatement. Why didn’t you try and defend her? You should have walked out of the room, and straight into her lap the minute the slut tried to question you on something she knew nothing about.
Both of you look like you’ve been caught, and she relishes in that. The fear that is in both of your eyes.
“Yeah I got you.”
That’s all you have to say to her? First, Momo was able to get you to open up that fast, when you hadn’t even revealed to her any details of you and Taeyong’s relationship.
“Or, you can order it if you want. Me and Y/N were just catching up I’m sorry to take her away.” The slut speaks. Her voice bleeds cockiness, even though her face is soft and sweet. She knows that Irene is mad. She’s enjoying it.
“Okay.” Is all Irene mumbles before going back to the living room.
“What was that about?” Momo is looking at you in confusion and fear. She had always had suspicions about Irene. She just seemed too nice—too willing to be everything you needed, when in reality she didn’t fit the role.
Momo had been in love with you since she met you. Your smile, the way you loved everyone no matter their differences, and your seemingly never ending talent of making her laugh. You were magical, but she was okay with being on the sideline. She had done it for two years straight while you were with Taeyong, and even during your nights of crying over she kept it to herself.
She knew keeping it to herself was only hurting her, but she was willing to be hurt for the sake of your happiness as you were happy with Taeyong. She could see how much the two of you loved eachother, and even after everything went down, she didn’t want to stop your journey of loving herself to have to figure out a way to reject her feelings nicely.
“Guess I’ll have to find out later.”
You seem frustrated as your leg is tapping up and down—even though you��re not sitting. Your breathing is getting faster and faster, and she knew this picture. This is exactly how you used to react when Taeyong made you upset, or neglected your feelings.
“Does she know what pizza you like?” She decides on, trying to pick your mood up with her bare hands as you were always able to do for her. She finds herself dancing slightly—her go to when she didn’t know what to do.
“I should probably go find out.” You smack her exposed stomach before walking back into the living room, where everyone has returned. Momo is behind you, and Irene is staring straight at the wall.
“The pizza should be here soon.” She whispers without removing her eyes.
“That’s goo—
By soon, even she didn’t seem to have meant this soon. The door is being knocked on quite aggressively, and all of you are looking at eachother trying to decide who’s going to answer.
“I’ll get it.” You step up. You were always the one in the group who would rise to the things you knew they were scared to do. Before you can even put your hand on the knob though, the banging is coming again, this time even louder. “I’m coming!” You spit full of attitude, and at the same time, everyone but Irene is rising to the occasion to stand by your side. You would always protect eachother—even from the pizza man. Johnny steps infront of you, opening the door himself.
It’s the police, and they don’t look happy.
“Are you Johnny Suh?” The chubby officer questions.
“Uh—yes.” He stutters. “The police said I wasn’t getting questioned until tomorrow.”
“Oh cut the crap.” The other offer says. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Cierra Valdez.” He rips the handcuffs from his belt, and he’s trying to turn Johnny around, but Johnny will never go down without a fight.
“What are you talking about!”
“Get off of him!” You yell, immediately trying to pull him in your direction. Everyone else follows, together more powerful than the police. Johnny is out of their grasp for just a few moments before a gun is pointed towards all of you.
“Drop your hands now!”
“You’re not gonna fucking shoot us!” Taeyong screams. It was the most passion Irene had heard come from his lips, and she was quite entertained. She was entertained by all of this. If you wouldn’t have been letting Momo flirt with you, she would’ve gotten up to shield you, but you didn’t, which is why she’s sitting on the couch in fake shock.
“Y/N get over here!” She yells. She doesn’t even have to wipe the sly smirk off her face as nobody is looking at her.
But you ignore her.
“I didn’t kill her!” Johnny is crying all over again, his whole face soaked in tears. “I loved her. Why would I kill her?”
“Anything you do or say will be held against you.” The Miranda rights are flowing out of the officer like he does this all the time, and now they’re dragging him out. His back is scratching on the cement.
“Y’all have to help me!” Johnny screeches. The whole apartment complex can hear what’s going on, and it’s killing him inside. He didn’t kill the love of his life. He didn’t. “I loved her.” He cried once more. “I fucking loved her!”
Continued
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loveafterthefact · 3 years
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Love After the Fact Chapter 70: Making Long-Distance Calls
Tfw you haven’t heard from your kid in a while and part of you is really worried and the other part of you wants to kill him yourself to save your enemies the trouble… and then that mf just says he ‘forgot’.
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“Okay, so do you two see each other?” Lance asks.
“I see a Balmeran.” Thace cocks his head curiously. “Quite different from the race that I am familiar with- Ulaz! Get out! Patient confidentiality!” There’s a snicker in the background, followed by a door opening and closing.
“Excellent!” Lance chirps, typing in another code, waiting for it to pick up. “Tavo, are you there?”
“I am here. Hello, your Majesties. Crown Prince Lancel, I've heard the kings are quite bitter that they have not heard from you.”
“Oh, fuck.” The prince pales, then brushes it off. “I need to call them anyway. They can scold me for spending too much time in the sun or not wearing socks.”
Keith glances at his mate, noting his darker complexion, the little brown spots creeping from underneath his skin. An Altean, blessed by Daibazaal’s sun. It’s perfect. He’s perfect.
Keith really needs to reboot his brain.
“So what are we here for, then?” Tavo asks, pulling his chair closer to his desk.
“We’re planning on having a kit,” Keith says, cutting right to the chase. He’s already done too many of these calls this quintant.
“I see. How soon do you expect to conceive?” Tavo accesses his desktop, fingers sliding over the glass table.
“I go into season in a few quintants- Shut up, Thace.” The medic scowls, shaking his head in silent disapproval.  “I will hopefully conceive sometime in the following movement.”
“Understood. What are your concerns?” The Altean medic casts his dark eyes around the group.
“Nutrition, complications at any point during pregnancy, and predicting needs of the kit once born,” Thace clarifies. “Your majesties, we can carry this conversation without you.”
“You can,” Lance agrees. “But you won’t.” Keith smiles, delighted by his mate’s enthusiasm. “All we want, for today, is to make considerations regarding how we help Keith -and the baby- stay healthy. Starting with nutrition.”
“Right. Excellent.” Thace pulls up several holographic panels. “In your particular case, your Majesty, nutrition is definitely where we need to begin. Your metabolism is extremely fast for a Galra.”
“Is it?” Hunk asks. “Alteans have high metabolisms, but I’ve just been making as much as Keith will eat.”
“Your average Galra consumes roughly one sixth the amount of calories that Kei- Prince Yorak requires to maintain his current condition. That amount in turn does not account for growth spurts, season, pregnancy, or any increase in muscle mass. Basically, anything more than the normal amount of physical output creates strain upon his body that our species is not naturally equipped to deal with.
We’re meant to go for a long time on nothing. Prince Yorak goes for a short time, and only on a great deal.”
“Basically, how do you keep me and a fetus alive and healthy without stuffing me like one of those weird birds you people always eat,” Keith clarifies. “I’ll be stuffed enough.”
“Damn right you will,” Lance snickers. Keith promptly whacks him with the back of his hand with a scolding, while Thace chokes on a laugh and Tavo shakes his head in disappointment.
“Well, my wife is going into labor any dobosh now, so let’s get to work on some meal ideas and then I’m gonna duck out.” Hunk grins. “Your Majesties must come visit once he’s born.”
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Keith promises. “Let’s get to work!”
“Okay! So for the sake of this discussion… Let’s divide nutrient sources into three categories: proteins, fats, and carbs. Carbs should further be divided into starches and cellulose. During pregnancy, you may require more fruits and vegetables as Alteans are primarily vegetarian, so we’ll need to ensure a balanced diet both for you and a your hybrid fetus-”
It takes two vargas to come up with some kind of meal plan, which will probably change a million times anyway, but at least it gives them something to work with -and gives the princes headaches, but whatever-. It’s worth it, and Lance knows it will relieve some of Keith’s anxiety.
“Well, if we’re done, I’d better head out. Rosie is being an absolute monster today, so-”
“Just one thing.” All eyes fall to Keith. “We’re keeping this quiet. There are too many risks to say anything until we’re sure there’s a chance of having a viable fetus. Basically, all of this is a secret until I say otherwise.”
“Understood.” Hunk bows his heads. “We look forward to seeing you home, your Majesties. Farewell.”
“Farewell,” the princes chorus.
“On to complications, then.” Thace decides. “Complications include embryotic miscarriage, fetal miscarriage, stillbirth, birth defects, underdevelopment, excessive bleeding, parasitic placental syndrome-”
“I’m sorry. What did you just say?” Lance leans forward, visibly horrified. Tavo lifts an eyebrow. Apparently, the Altean royal physician hasn’t heard of this either.
“Parasitic placental syndrome. It’s a condition in Galra where the placenta takes an excessive amount of nutrients from the bearer, resulting in malnourishment, miscarriage, premature stillbirth, and extreme malnourishment. Basically, the placenta starves the bearer until they eventually cannot support the fetus.
“In Prince Yorak’s case-”
“It could be fatal,” Keith finishes. “Which brings us to a touchy subject: If it comes down to it, do you save me, or the kit? The answer is me.”
“You’re sure?” Tavo asks.
“Yes. It’s selfish to die for one life, when I have the potential to carry many more.” Keith looks to Lance for his opinion, if the Altean wants to give one. Lance just kisses his cheek.
“Up to you, beloved. But I’d like to have you as a part of my family if at all possible.”
Keith smiles at his mate, brushes a bit of starlight hair away from his face. “Me too.”
“You guys are so cute,” Thace sighs. “Also, total dorks.”
Tavo frowns. “Your Majesties, is this man some kind of prince, to speak so informally to you?”
“No, that’s just Thace. He has no respect for authority unless Daibazaal is in crisis mode.” Keith rolls his eyes, even as his lips curl with the edge of a small smile.
“Bitch, I have five kits. I am the authority.”
“FIVE?” Tavo chokes. “Five children???”
“Oh, yeah.” Thace smirks, clearly enjoying messing with the Altean medic. “Granted three of them are triplets, but… I think that just makes it more impressive.”
Tavo turns to the princes. “Your Majesties, surely this… degenerate is not the only reproductive authority on Daibazaal.”
“No, but he is the best. And my species is suspected to have at least four kits within the span of a decaphoeb, and encourage to have between six and eight. Some have even more.” Keith smiles. “Thace is the best in his field, and he has an intimate understanding of my growth disorder. There is no one I’d trust more with my life during such a critical time. And…
“I’ve not spent much time with you, Tavo, but I know your reputation well, and trust me when I say that you both have a great deal to learn from each other. I can see you two doing amazing things together.” The smile turns to an imperious stare. “Regardless, I expect you both to work together and be nice to each other. If I hear otherwise, I’ll kick your asses.”
The two medical professionals grumble their assent, Thace insulted and Tavo wary but abashed.
“Right,” Keith sighs. “Now, back to our discussion… There’s not really a whole lot to be done about any of those things.”
“Yes, but you should understand the symptoms,” Thace explains. “Bleeding, cramping, contractions, gastrointestinal distress, pain in the lower abdomen, fatigue, rapidly increasing fatigue, etc., etc. I’ll send along some resources on general self care and rearing that you both should read as.”
“Naturally.” Lance grins, puts his arm around Keith's shoulders. “We’re learning together. Right, beloved?”
“Absolutely.” Keith smiles. “Thanks for your time, guys. Thace, we’ll see you quite soon. Tavo, I imagine we’ll see you in a few movements.”
“Indeed you will, your Majesties. You’ll need to receive a health check upon your return from Daibazaal anyway before you are exposed to anyone on Altea. Our planet has far more stringent protocols for entry than Daibazaal does.”
“Understood. We’ll see you then.” Lance waves as the Altean signs off. It’s just them and Thace.
“I’ll come by your den when you return. I want to give you a once-over before your season. Which is extremely close, by the way. I recommend you return here by tomorrow night.” Thace looks Keith up and down. “You seem relatively relaxed, so I doubt it’ll be tonight.”
Keith nods, agreeing with his medic. He feels relaxed, now that his problem with Lance has been resolved. But before long, he’ll get restless, and generally uncomfortable, and he knows it. But he also knows he has Lance, and Lance will help him keep comfortable and safe. Everything will be fine.
As they say their goodbyes to Thace, however, he braces himself for an entirely different kind of conversation.
“So.” Coran sips his tea. The aging Altean’s sitting sideways on the loveseat in their quarters, legs thrown over his husband’s lap. It’s been a habit of theirs almost as long as they’ve been together. “What excuse will they give?”
“Hm…” Alfor pretends to think, massaging Coran’s knee, moving in circles to help ease the pain. Old injuries are the worst, especially when you get old yourself. “Probably ‘We were busy’ or ‘We just forgot’.” The king sighs. “I didn’t expect them to call, to be honest.Our boy’s grown up.”
“He’s been grown up for a while now, dearest.”
“A person’s not grown until they act grown. But I suspect Lancel has been grown for a while now, and just didn’t want anyone to know.”
“Probably.”
A long pause of silence-
“I’m going to call them.” Alfor gently removes his husband’s legs from his lap, reaches for his datapad.
“Darling, don’t you think-”
“I should let them be? No, I do not. They are on Daibazaal, a planet crawling with enemies-”
“Dear…”
“... Crawling with people who are not fond of my family, including and perhaps especially our son and heir?” Alfor types in Lance’s comms code.
“Better.” The red-haired man smiles at his husband, appreciative of his efforts.
“Father! Believe it or not, we were just about to call you!”
“Hello, son!” Coran smiles at the happy face before him. He’s missed his child. Alfor has too, though he hasn’t said it. “Good to see you’re both still alive!”
Alfor, for once, chooses the softer approach. “You look well. Both of you.”
They do indeed. Keith seems a little taller now, his frame a bit more robust. Lance’s skin has darkened, freckles creeping over his nose.
“We’re doing quite well here,” Keith agrees. “I’ve touched base with several contacts from within the Compound and surrounding villages. Lance has established himself as a respectable mate and warrior, thanks to his excellent conduct and impressive displays of mettel.”
Coran raises an eyebrow. “So… You’re as well-behaved as we would expect you to be, and you’ve also managed to get into some trouble. Sound about right?”
“Pretty much,” Lance admits, slightly sheepish. “I am every bit the model guest, and I also squared off against a kronil and saved a dying wolf cub with alchemy. Y’know, normal stuff.”
“A kronil. Really?” Alfor leans back. “Well now, that is impressive.” Especially given his boy’s struggles with combat and alchemy. Alfor smiles, proud of his son, delighted with the giddy pride on his son’s face.
“Now.” Alfor settles back next to Coran, throwing an arm over the back of the loveseat. “I was calling to guilt you for dropping off the edge of the star system. Why were you calling?”
The couple exchanges a glance. “We’re not… entirely sure. We’ve found something, and it could be nothing at all, or something very serious,” Lance explains.
Alfor frowns. It must be serious if Lance wants to tell him about it. There’s really only one thing he knows more about that his son: violence. “I see… What have you found?”
Keith explains the various falsified ship inspection records, where the shipments came from, and what it might mean. Alfor listens, nods. It’s a serious matter, and the boys are taking it very seriously. Both of them.
“So let me see if I understand this correctly,” he says when they’ve finished. “These ships with extra cargo bypassed inspection somehow, and come from planets that help supply the Galra with food, medicine, and raw materials?”
“Yes.” Keith leans forward, brushing a lock of loose hair over his shoulder. “These shipments could be one of two things: smugglers, looking to make a profit by supplying the Galra on Daibazaal with resources not typically available to them in large quantities, or they’re supplying a militia that may be looking to overthrow the Imperial family and name a champion, and/ or invade Altea.
“Neither of our peoples want this,” Keith stresses, staring earnestly at the king. “My people want peace. They have already chosen Lotor as their Champion upon his father’s death or retirement.”
“What exactly does it mean for him to be the Champion?” Alfor asks, unfamiliar with the term.
“Well, you know how there’s the Kral Zera?” Keith asks. Alfor nods. “Even though anyone can participate, the people can petition to choose a Champion, at which point most challengers would back down and allow the Champion to light the flame unhindered.”
“So Lotor is… the Successor Elect?” Alfor clarifies.
“Yes. He argues for strengthening and uniting the empire, instead of continuing to expand. This means more resources available to the commonwealth both here and abroad, as well as better foreign relations with conquered planets and external societies.”
“I see… Some would take issue with this?”
Keith nods. “Some are bitter that my uncle agreed to this alliance. They feel as though they have been cheated. Your people are comparatively few, but formidable. They are one of the reasons that same sex coupling is currently illegal. They don’t produce kits, and so would be considered traitors. Others are simply angered that the atrocities they were ordered to commit came to nothing, that their sacrifices and losses did not lead to victory.”
“So you believe these shipments are supplies being moved by rebels staging a coup?”
“We believe…” Keith rolls his lips between his teeth, tugs on the ends of some of his hair. “We should be prepared for every eventuality. Please understand,” he whispers. “I want so badly for this to never be our problem, but I love my people, just as surely as you love yours. I would do anything for them.”
Alfor sighs through his nose, nods. “I will begin working on plans should Daibazaal face a threat from within. In that case, we would need to split our assets between defence and military assistance, followed by relief efforts. When you return, we can look at them together.”
“Speaking of which, when do you intend to return? Some time this decaphoeb, perhaps?” Coran asks, still a little miffed that his son hasn’t kept in touch.
“Three movements. Keith’s about to go into season, and Thace wants us to stay two movements to keep an eye on him. Just in case of any complications.”
Lance lies so smoothly, Alfor almost doesn’t see the excited glint in his son’s eyes. He chooses not to mention it. He’ll let their life together be as private as they like. Nothing else ever is for a royal couple. Instead, he smiles.
“You’re both doing wonderfully. Keep up the good work, and we’ll see you in a few movements.”
Lance bows his head. “Thank you, Father. Dad.”
Coran waves away his thanks. “Just come home, lads. That’s all we ask. We love you.”
“We will,” Lance affirms. His father signs off without another word, only a fond smile -a small miracle in and of itself-, and Lance throws himself back against the tree with a loud huff.
“I agree,” Keith murmurs, settling against him with a yawn.
Lance puts an arm around him immediately. “Is this normal sleepiness, or season-related sleepiness?”
“Not sure, but we’re just gonna go with it, okay?”
Lance smiles, brushing a thumb across Keith’s cheekbone. The Galra sighs, settling in to sleep. “Sometimes I think the only reason you’re keeping me is to have something to lay on.”
“Hmph. Bed’s never poked me with it’s dick-” Lance gasps, playfully scandalized. “-so that’s definitely not it. I keep you because you're cute.”
“I have never felt so betrayed in my entire life,” Lance teases.
“Shut up and cuddle with me,” Keith grumbles, wrapping his tail around Lance’s waist as he curls up against his chest. Lance chuckles, wraps him up in his arms. “Alfor still sucks. Just so we’re clear.”
“I know. Thanks for behaving.”
“Of course I behaved. He’s your father and you love him.”
“Yeah… I think he loves me, too.” The fact that Lance barely seems to believe it breaks Keith’s heart a little.
“Of course he does. And so do I.”
“I love you too.” Lance kisses his forehead. “Get some sleep.”
“No need to tell me twice.” Keith yawns, settling in to sleep through the warmth of the afternoon.
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cecevolume · 4 years
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On The List (Part One)
Prompt from @halfbloodfox:  I’m looking for something where Lucifer has to take care of Trixie. Maybe, Decker is stuck at court testifying on a case, Dan is whothefuckknowswhere, Maze is on a hunt and at school Trixie gets hurt or sick. Surprise, Lucifer gets the call. He’s on The List? Since when? During Season 2 or 3, pre 4 nonsense at least. What do you think?
This was...unexpected.  And perhaps a little unprecedented.
Just a half hour before, it had been a semi-normal day for he and the detective, dressed in their best--well, not him, but the respect for the court was there--as Chloe waited to be called to testify.  Per usual, he tagged along, a charming ace in the hole, just in case.
But then his shirt had started buzzing outside the large double doors; to be more exact, his phone was ringing.
“Lucifer,” Chloe hissed as a clerk eyed them while they passed by, “turn it off vibrate!”
Smiling winningly, he reached for his chest pocket, purring, “An honest mistake, Detective; I assure you, I know proper procedure for the courtroom.”  He glanced at the screen, eyebrow raising as a bell of familiarity rang in his head.  “Should I know this number?” he asked, turning the screen towards Chloe.
She frowned, taking the phone from him as she murmured, “That’s Trixie’s school.”
“But why--”
Holding up a hand to stop him, she answered, “Hello?  Yes, Ms. Hendersen, I’m being brought to testify today.  Uh huh.  Oh, no, did you try Dan?  Of course not.  No, no, it’s not a problem; I’ll send Lucifer to pick her up.”  She paused for a long time, a muscle ticking in her brow.  “That’s a question for him at another time, don’t you think?  Uh huh.  Yeah, goodbye.”
Tilting his head, Lucifer asked, “Was that Trixie’s lovely school administrator--”
“Don’t.  Even.  Star,” Chloe growled, handing him back his phone.  The door beside them opened just a crack and the DA motioned for her to join them.  With a nod, she didn’t spare Lucifer a glance as she moved to the doors.  “I need you to pick up Trixie; she threw up in math class.  I’ll leave here as soon as I get the okay.”  Before she squeezed in the door, she muttered quickly, “Ginger ale--she likes Canada Dry best--for her stomach, some toast or crackers to have in her system.  Make sure she takes little sips.  This should be done in a couple hours and then I’ll be home.”
“Detective--” he said in alarm, reaching towards her, but the door was already closed.  For a moment, he just stood there, wondering two things simultaneously: did Chloe really trust him with her sick offspring and why did the school call his phone?
It hardly mattered now, however, what made sense.  Sitting in his Corvette outside an elementary school, he found that he was...uncomfortable.  It wasn’t often there was a situation he found himself unable to figure out--in fact, the first hadn’t been until he’d met the detective two years before--yet here he was.  Sure, he’d learned how to occupy Trixie, but this was new territory.
How did one pick up a sick child from their school and adequately take care of them?
Taking a deep breath, he got out of his car, striding towards the doors.  How hard can it truly be? he wondered, confidence growing the closer he got to the building.  If Daniel can do it, of course I’ll be able to.
Following the signs to the “office”--a large, gray room with children’s paintings hanging everywhere, most of the space taken up by a quadruple desk with five women squished side by side at their computers--Lucifer idly took out his handkerchief, wiping his hands as he eyed several of the drawings.
Surprisingly, there were a few that showed a real talent, should they continue honing the craft.
“Hello?” one of the women greeted hesitantly to his back.  “Can I help you?”
He turned with a charming grin, noting the immediate softening of all the secretaries’ faces.  “Hello, ladies,” he answered, strolling to the desk with his hands in his pockets.  “I actually received a call from Debra--Ms. Hendersen, asking that I pick up Beatrice Decker-Espinoza.  I know I’m not her parent--”
“Oh, you’re the infamous Lucifer Morningstar!” the first woman cried, nearly tipping her chair backwards as she stood.  Holding out a hand, she added, “Trixie is through that door, in the nurse’s office.  Karen will go and grab her while you sign her out.”  She shoved a clipboard with an attached pen under his nose.  “Just her name, your name, why you’re picking her up, and the time.”
Holding the pen, he raised an eyebrow at the woman.  That was certainly easy.  Did she already know to expect a deal?  Or was this her idea of flirting?  The memory of Malcolm Graham flashed through his mind and his gaze turned foreboding.  “Is it truly that easy to just pluck a child from your facilities?” he demanded, anger burning in his belly.
“Oh, my, you’re right!  I do need your picture ID to compare your information to what we have in the system,” she answered quickly, blushing wildly.  “I’m so sorry, it’s just that Debra gave such a...thorough description of you, I completely forgot!”
He slowly reached for his wallet, pulling out his license and handing it to her.  “Why would a primary school have my information?”
“Well, after the...kidnapping,” she said slowly, peeking a quick glance at one of the other women, who dropped her head, “Ms. Decker updated the people on Trixie’s approved list.  We aren’t supposed to release her to anyone other than her parents, her grandparents, or you.  There is a Mazikeen Smith on here, too, but that’s on a call ahead basis.  But if Ms. Decker and Mr. Espinoza aren’t available, we’re to contact you first.”
Blinking in shock, he made a noncommittal noise in his throat, taking back his ID and signing out the urchin.  “I, uh, thank you for your diligence,” he murmured, spinning on his foot to stride towards the chairs lining the windowed walls.  He was allowed to just come to the school and pick up Chloe’s child whenever he felt like?  No permission, no questions, no call aheads necessary?
Chloe Decker trusted the life of her offspring in the hands of the Devil?
“Lucifer?” a small voice whined from behind him, making him turn back around.
Straightening his jacket and cuffs, he answered, “Your mother has been held up in court today, Spawn.  So she sent me with clear instructions.”  He’d already called Patrick at LUX to provide the Canada Dry and crackers.  “I’ll be taking care of you this afternoon, until she is finished.  Is that all right?”
The little girl nodded her head slowly, face pale as she reached for his hand.  When he didn’t immediately take it, tears started to fill her eyes and he panicked.
Taking her hand gingerly, he raised the other to wave at the women.  “Thank you very much for your help.”
Then they were off.
-.-
If she hadn’t felt so gross, Trixie might have giggled at the scene before her.  
Lucifer had brought her back to his penthouse, explaining that it was closer to both the courthouse and school, that her mother wouldn’t be too much longer.  She’d thrown up during the elevator ride, only half-listening as he tried desperately to comfort her in the weirdest ways--“I’ll have the cleaners come straight away; you don’t have to worry about cleaning it yourself”--when he’d picked her up, rushing her through the doors to the bathroom.
He’d waited there, awkwardly patting her back until she was finished.  He’d then ushered her through to the couch, saying, “Don’t worry, urchin; I’m sure I have a bowl somewhere, or at least something similar.”
And there he’d left her, bringing them to now.  His suit jacket was gone, the sleeves of his white undershirt rolled up.  He held a fuzzy black blanket in one hand, a paint bucket in the other, holding them out to her.  “I’m sorry it took so long; I had to go into LUX’s storage to find a...vomit receptacle.”  When she didn’t take it from him, he placed it directly beside her face on the floor, gripping both edges of the blanket to lay it over her.  “I don’t know if you have a fever or not, but I’ve noticed you and your mother enjoy your ‘snuggle blankets’, as it were.  This is the softest one I could find; I hope it’s...snuggly enough for you.”
She giggled a bit, sniffling.  ��Thank you, Lucifer,” she murmured.  “Can I have some ginger ale?  And something to eat?”
Nodding curtly, he turned towards the hallway that led to his mysterious kitchen.  “I have a variety of crackers, from wheat to sesame to pepper; do you have a preference in this state?” he called from the other room, the sound of cabinets closing echoing his words.
“Do you have saltines?  Or the Ritz circle ones?” she asked.
He was silent for a long time before she saw him come back around the corner.  “Well, there’s no accounting for taste,” he sighed striding back in to the room.  Brandishing a crystal plate that held at least half a box of both saltines and Ritz crackers, he set it on the coffee table.  “And Patrick will be bringing your ginger ale up; I assume a case should be adequate for just a few hours?”
Smiling, she said, “That’s actually way too much.”  He started to open his mouth, but Trixie knew better than to push the teasing with him.  “Will you turn on the TV and watch with me?  My mom usually rubs my back when I’m sick.”
After a moment, he nodded, crossing to the mantle to grab the remote.  He sat on the opposite side of the couch, pressing some buttons as a projection screen rolled out from the ceiling, a projector starting to whirl from behind them.  “Is there a particular show or movie that you prefer?”
“Can we watch Secret Life of Pets?  It’s funny and it’s on Netflix,” she added when his jaw clenched.  “It’ll help me fall asleep.”
He perked up at that.  “Is sleep good for you at this point?  At some of my...parties, you’re supposed to keep the humans awake until they have finished vomiting.”
Nodding, she answered, “As long as you help me if I wake up and have to puke again, I should be fine.”
“Then I suppose I’ll just sit here and keep watch.”
She smiled as he pulled up the movie, though she really missed her parents.  Lucifer was doing a great job, but he didn’t know what he was doing.  Her mom knew right when she needed snuggles and gave them to her without her asking.  She might be nine years old, but that didn’t mean being sick wasn’t scary.  Especially when her stomach was still roiling and her throat and mouth burned....
“Are you all right, spawn?” he asked immediately, making her realize that she had started to silently cry.  “Are you going to be sick again?”
She shook her head, but that’s when the sobs started.  “I miss my mom,” she whispered between savage breaths.  “She always strokes my hair so I can fall asleep.”
While she got control of herself, Trixie felt him leave the couch for a minute, making her feel even more alone.  He was really trying, but he didn’t know what to do, and her mom didn’t have to ask her how to take care of her, and she wasn’t left alone to cry--
Hands gently pulled her off the throw pillow she’d been using, only to deposit her head on sweatpants-clad thighs.  She tilted her head back to see Lucifer wearing a bright green T-shirt and gray sweatpants (they still had a tag on them).  “I needed to change in case you don’t make it to the bucket,” he explained easily, reaching over for the remote once again.  “Now, lay back; I’ll attempt to stroke your hair, but you may need to direct me.”
Shocked, Trixie did as he said without a word, feeling his hand gently rest on her head.
She fell asleep to the sound of the elevator dinging.
This will be getting a part two shortly because it is getting very long! That will be Deckerstar though. :)
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moiraxknight · 3 years
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@knightsarmor
Moira sat back more comfortably, legs folded in lotus position, a coffee cup resting on her hands as she waited for the recording light to poop on the Zoom call. Her very first podcast interview. It still felt odd to her, Moira had done some interviews for art journals, spoke in art events for universities and illustrator panels on conventions, but this felt weirdly personal. Micah had been the one to convince her to do it, it could help people feel more connected to her work. She saw the pink haired girl on the screen silently count down from three on her fingers and nodded, adjusting her headphones and mic.
“Hello, hello, and welcome to episode fifty seven of So That’s Art.” Bianca greeted loudly and Moira held back a chuckle. “The podcast that exists to prove your parents that it is possible to be an artist and still retire on a beach in Europe”. She continued, bringing a smile to Moira’s face. 
Moira moved the laptop slightly to divert from the reflection of the windows behind her, not wanting to pull the curtains back completely. She was sitting on the kitchen desk now. Oliver was working in their office and she didn’t want to distract him with all the talking. 
“We have a very special guest today, my very favorite Instagram creator, illustrator, Skillshare instructor, artist, painter. The one and only Jewish icon, Moira Lieberman.” Bianca introduced her. 
Moira Lieberman-Knight, she thought, but didn’t correct the girl. “Hi, Bianca, thanks for having me here.” Moira greeted back, nodding her head politely before taking a sip from the coffee. Wolf came waltzing down the stairs and went straight to her lap, curling up in a hairless ball there. 
“Thank you for agreeing to be here, it’s a fucking honor.” The girl insisted, bringing another smile to Moira’s lips. “How are you today?”
“I’m perfectly fine today, thank you for asking! How are you?” Moira asked, cup halfway to her lips again. 
“I’m great, really excited to talk to you today, Life of Liebs is one of my favorite series ever.” She said. “Which I guess takes me right into my first question today, how did that come about for you? No, wait, my first question is: is Liebs actually you, one hundred percent you?” 
Moira was expecting that question because she knew most of the questions here weren’t going to actually be about her art and its details. “Well, she is and she isn’t.” Moira thought of a way to explain. “Life of Liebs came to me when someone in my life suggested that I drew some of the things that happened in my life, you know, growing up Jewish, being an artists and everything. And before it became a series, sometimes I would draw comic version of me and my best friends in college...”
“The Exhausted Four.” Bianca added and Moira nodded.
“Yeah, I’d make those comics to lighten up finals week and stuff, so I already had this hand for turning people into characters. Then I got this push and I started seeing how some situations I went through could be fun and relatable and that’s how Life of Liebs was born.” She grinned. “But all characters in there aren’t the exact people in my life, they are a comic version of them, some sort of alternative universe, Liebs included. When I draw a scene, that drawing was probably twenty percent of what was actually going on in real life.”
“That’s awesome.” Bianca seemed really mesmerized. “All the characters then are actual people? Based on those people, I mean.
“Yeah, I don’t usually create completely fictional characters, I like real stories and that’s one of the most beautiful parts of my job. Getting to recreate an artistic version of people’s lives.” Moira spoke with a proud grin on her lips, catching Oliver at the corner of her eye, coming into the kitchen to grab some coffee.  Staying as far as he could from the camera while wearing only a pair of grey sweats. 
“I think Naenae might be my favorite character.” Bianca added with a laugh.
“She is pretty amazing, yeah.” Moira couldn’t disagree, Naina was a gem.
“You know those comics brought a lot of followers to your friends, right? Why did you stop tagging them?” Bianca asked.
“Well, while my friends agreed to be a part of my work, some people were getting a little out of hand.” Moira said sincerely. “They have families and lives they wish to protect and I respect that so now I only tag people that I work with or clients that allow me to do so.” She added. 
“I get that, yeah.” Bianca nodded. “You still tag Mystery Boots man, though.” The girl added with a devious smile and Moira glanced at a smirking Oliver leaned against the counter, watching her while he drank his coffee.
“I do, yeah.” Moira said simply.
“Where did that come from, by the way? The whole mystery?” 
“I don’t know, I still don’t understand.” Moira admitted with a laugh, trying not to stare at him while she talked. “I posted a drawing of two people’s feet and I tagged him and I guess because his account has no pictures of him, people started freaking out. It was never supposed to be a mystery, just me keeping aspects of my life private. Eventually I just took the opportunity and got in the game so people would stop asking invasive questions.” She shrugged.
“So Knight’s actually a person, then? People think the faceless pictures you’ve posted were all staged to keep the mystery.” Bianca said and Moira laughed wholeheartedly.
“I love that people think I have that time and energy.” She shook her head. “No, he’s a real person, he exists.” Moira glanced at him and lifted her cup, mouthing for him to fill it up. Oliver came without showing up on camera and filled it up to her, taking her smile as a thank you and going back to the counter, sitting on it now. 
“Liebs and Knight are a couple on the comics, right?” The girl pushed and Moira snorted, nodding. She had never hid that, not even the fact that Oliver was real and in her life daily, she simply didn’t show his face or posted comics of them kissing, but she knew where the questions were going. ��So what you put there is relatable couple moments? Your moments with him?”
“Twenty percent of the moment, yes.” She nodded. 
“Mystery boots man is based on your real life boyfriend then? For real?” Bianca insisted. 
Moira looked at him and Oliver nodded gently, a small smile hidden behind his cup. People had noticed her engagement ring first and then her wedding ring on the videos she did when she was drawing. But the comics hadn’t followed the perfect timeline of her life with Oliver, not with other series coming in between, other comics uploaded daily. Liebs and Knight were still getting earfuls from her grandma about living together before marriage. Moira and Oliver had come back from their honeymoon a month ago. 
“My husband, yes.” Moira looked back at the camera and laughed when she heard Bianca’s loud gasp.
“Is that him you keep looking at?” The girl asked and Moira just sipped from her coffee. “Okay, okay, you all heard it here first, Liebs and Knight are endgame.” She announced.
Moira laughed, shaking her head, glancing at Oliver as he rolled his eyes, a smile on his lips. 
“Do we get a wedding comic soon?” Bianca inquired.
The Knightman Chronicles did, a beautiful comic that hung on the wall above Oliver’ side of the office, Moira in a beautiful black and silver dress with a long tail, Oliver in the most beautiful medieval wedding attire, fit for a king. No uniform, no bear skin. Only one last medal on her veil and a bear claw on his lapel. But that was just for them, as it had always been. Oliver stared into her eyes from where he was and then smiled, sliding from the counter and leaving his cup in the sink. Come to me when you’re done, he mouthed to her and Moira licked her lips discreetly, nodding. She knew well what that look he gave her meant. 
“Twenty percent of it.” Moira smiled back at the camera, already thinking of how she could end that interview soon to go unveil the mysteries behind that Mysterious boots husband of hers. 
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