#i bet its getting a ton of traffic right now

[genderqueerpositivity]

Guides to self-managed abortion:

Resources for medication:

Abortion fund and provider resources:

#abortion resources #fuck the supreme court #i wanted to add more but tumblr limited me to 10 link boxes #the aid access website appears to be up and down right now #i bet its getting a ton of traffic right now

[osakaso5]

IDOLiSH7 6th Anniversary Special Story: Full of Heart...

Chapter 4: Unreasonable Demands

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6

Tamaki Yotsuba: I'm glad you can get your photo now, So-chan. But are you sure you can make it to the North Pacific?

Sogo Osaka: I think so... He did say he could make a stop at the nearest yacht harbor.

Sogo Osaka: What about your photo? You mentioned that Re:vale could help...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah. I just messaged them, and they said they were gonna come pick us up.

Sogo Osaka: Pick us up?

[Toot toot!]

Tamaki Yotsuba: Ah! That's Momorin's car!

Momo: Tamaki! Sogo!

Yuki: Good evening.

Sogo Osaka: I'm sorry you had to come all this way! Tamaki-kun didn't tell me you were coming for us until just now...

Momo: It's fine! Hop on!

Tamaki Yotsuba: Where are we going?

Yuki: Back in time.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Heh. If I could time travel, there's a ton of stuff I'd wanna do.

Yuki: Same here.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I bet you would too, So-chan.

Sogo Osaka: Sure.

Momo: I've got a ton of stuff I'd change, too. But sorry, we're not actually going back in time. We're going to Yuki's place!

Tamaki Yotsuba: That's fine. There's a bunch of stuff I wanna do there, too.

Yuki: Like what?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Playing the guitar. Teach me.

Yuki: Okay.

Sogo Osaka: You could've asked me, too... Though I'm sure Yuki-san has better foundations and technique...

Tamaki Yotsuba: I don't wanna learn from you. You'd get on my case about being bad. Yukirin seems way nicer.

Yuki: I'm a lot scarier than you think.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Huh..? Oh, right. No way am I gonna learn from you. I'll just ask Ban-chan.

Yuki: Ban's not any better, you know. He'll click his tongue and call you an amateur.

Tamaki Yotsuba: If he did that, I'd start crying...

Sogo Osaka: I would, too...

Momo: I'd cry so much, my tear ducts would never recover...

[Toot toot!]

Momo: Ah! We can talk later! Hurry up and get in the car!

Sogo Osaka: ...Thank you!

Momo: Off we go! 

- - - -

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yaaay! Long time no see, Yukirin's place.

Sogo Osaka: Tamaki-kun, you could at least thank Yuki-san for his hospitality.

Yuki: It's fine... Hey. Tamaki-kun, wait, at least put some slippers on before you walk in.

Tamaki Yotsuba: It's fine.

Yuki: It's not fine. Put them on.

Sogo Osaka: I'm sorry about him! I'll make him wear them! Tamaki-kun, come back here. You can't just run into people's homes like that.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I was so excited that I had to floor it.

Momo: I guess you'll need to install traffic lights at your entrance hall, Yuki.

Yuki: I'll paint a little crosswalk on the floor while I'm at it.

Sogo Osaka: Thank you, and I'm very sorry for the trouble...

Yuki: I was joking. I guess you can be a bit soft on Tamaki-kun, too.

Sogo Osaka: Oh, that was a joke?

Momo: So, what's up?

Momo: You needed help finding a childhood photo for Welcome to Kids' Room, right?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Y'know the apartments I used to live at? There was this guy there who had a camera.

Momo: A guy with a camera?

Tamaki Yotsuba: I forget his name, but I think he lived in our neighborhood. He took a family photo of us.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I wanna meet him, so I can ask if he could reprint the picture we put in Mom's casket...

Tamaki Yotsuba: And for that, I need you guys to make some shady deals.

Re:vale: Shady deals..?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah.

Re:vale: Shady deals!?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah. I need the help of some underground type guys for this. Can't Re:vale make that happen?

Yuki: You want us...

Momo: To make shady deals...

Sogo Osaka: Re:vale... Please. If it's at all possible, then I'd like you to help him, too.

Momo: Now even Sogo's asking... No, hold on just a minute!

Momo: I'm not sure where you got the idea that we make ANY kind of shady deals to begin with. Yuki, do you know what they're talking about?

Yuki: I have no idea. You?

Momo: Nope... I feel like shady deals are the one thing we can't help with...

Tamaki Yotsuba: No way... I was sure you guys would have some leads.

Yuki: What kind of a deal were you planning?

Momo: I think we'll be more helpful than any of the "underground type guys" you had in mind.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I need someone to hack into every surveillance camera in the world, to find out where that dude is now.

Sogo Osaka: Every surveillance camera in the world..?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Even though most people don't realize it, there's shady organizations that control the world from the shadows!

Tamaki Yotsuba: Or at least that's what it said in this "Scary Truths of the World" book that Isumin had.

Yuki: You mean you read it in some book about the occult? And you went ahead and assumed we were associated with these shady organizations?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah... Re:vale kinda gives me that sort of vibe sometimes...

Momo: I never knew people saw us that way. Heh, not bad.

Yuki: So basically, you want to know where that camera guy is now? Good thing I happen to know a private detective.

Sogo Osaka: You know a private detective? Did you meet him while studying for a role?

Yuki: No... I met him while looking for your manager...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Oh, Ban-chan!

Yuki: Yep.

Momo: But if that private detective couldn't find Ban-san, how useful could he possibly be?

Yuki: Probably not very useful, no.

Momo: But you still kept him on your payroll?

Yuki: Well, Ban taught me not to keep replacing our bandmates, and you taught me to hold people dear...

Momo: Oh, Yuki! You're such a good boy!!! You're a gentleman and a hottie rolled into one!  

Yuki: I sure am. I'll even forgive you for our earlier argument.

Tamaki Yotsuba: You guys had a fight?

Momo: We butted heads over our Welcome to Kids' Room photos, that's all.

Sogo Osaka: But why would you fight over your childhood pictures..?

Momo: Well... 

- - - -

Rinto Okazaki: Then it's settled. This will be your picture for the show, Momo-kun, and this will be yours, Yuki-kun.

Yuki: Wow..! You look adorable, Momo! A little round-cheeked boy with a tan, playing soccer. It's so cute.

Momo: ...Holy crap... A listless pretty boy, playing the guitar...

Yuki: I like this photo. I feel like it'd be a great source of energy whenever I'm tired from work.

Yuki: I know we talked using each other's selfies as lock screen backgrounds,   but I think these childhood photos would work better.

Rinto Okazaki: Great idea! I happen to have these picture lockets, would you like some?

Yuki: A locket? If I put Momo's picture in that, it'd be like he's my son.

Yuki: That could be kind of funny. Should we try it?

Momo: No way...

Yuki: What!?

Momo: I can't take this photo! As both your fan and your partner, I think this picture's bad news!

Yuki: How is it bad news!? Are you saying I'm not cute in it!?

Rinto Okazaki: I think you're positively adorable!

Momo: You're wearing SHORTS! Since when do you wear shorts!? There's no way we can show this on TV!

Yuki: And why not? Even I was once an innocent kid, like Iori-kun and Tamaki-kun.

Rinto Okazaki: I think you're still plenty innocent, Yuki-kun!

Yuki: That's it. I'm making a copy of this picture, and putting it inside your locket.

Momo: Oh, no you don't! I'm not wearing that, you hear me!?

Yuki: But you said we should use each other's pictures as lock screens!

Momo: I didn't say anything about our childhood pictures! I'm gonna lose my mind if I have to walk around with a picture like this dangling from my neck!

Momo: And how did you just so happen to have two lockets lying around!?

Rinto Okazaki: The president got them for you.

Yuki: He wants us to have each other's pictures?

Rinto Okazaki: No, he actually wanted you to have a childhood photo of himself and I.

Momo: Wait, I wanna see that!

Rinto Okazaki: Here it is.

Momo: Wow! You went to a studio for this one!

Momo: Okarin, is the one sitting on the chair you? Does that mean our prez is the one standing up?

Rinto Okazaki: That's correct.

Yuki: You and Rintaro look really alike. The suits look chic, so it's actually kind of cool.

Yuki: Was this taken for a special occasion?

Rinto Okazaki: Our neighborhood cameraman needed something to display on his shop window, so he took a picture of us.

Rinto Okazaki: We received the lockets as thanks.

Rinto Okazaki: He thought that if we brothers kept a picture with us, we'd always be able to find each other, no matter how far apart we end up.

Yuki: Huh. So it's a novelty gift. If you can call it that, anyway.

Rinto Okazaki: This was 20 years ago. Come to think of it, there was a picture of the cameraman's two sons on the window, too.

Rinto Okazaki: Though even our parents said they'd only ever seen the older brother.

Yuki: I see. Maybe something happened to the younger one, then. Poor thing...

Rinto Okazaki: Perhaps...

Rinto Okazaki: The older son's business failed, too, and eventually, the camera shop closed its doors for good.

Rinto Okazaki: My brother remembered the cameraman thanks to this picture. That was probably why he wanted you to have some, too.

Momo: So we could keep each other's pictures close by?

Rinto Okazaki: No. Like I said, it's our picture he wants you to put in the lockets.

Yuki: I think Rintaro's a little too in love with himself.

Rinto Okazaki: I'm sorry about him...

Momo: Ahaha! Still I think it could be funny to walk around with your picture hanging from our necks! Right, Yuki?

Momo: It would really show off our loyalty to Okazaki Productions, don't you think!?

Yuki: ......... Do you really hate the idea of having my picture that much..?

Momo: Uh, no...

Yuki: I see how it is. You refuse to keep my picture in a locket, but the Okazakis are fine?

Momo: I didn't mean it like that...

Rinto Okazaki: Ah, how unusual. Normally, it's Momo-kun doing these sort of interrogations.

Yuki: I can keep your photo in a locket, you know. I could even make you lunch for your practice match, Momose-kun.

Momo: Dang! I'm starting to feel jealous over my picture self..!

Yuki: I hope you'll grow up into an idol and be happy with me.

Momo: I don't think I can talk to your picture that easily... Or that casually...

Momo: Then again, wouldn't it be a little pervy if I started calling this picture of my partner "Master Yuki", or something..!?

Rinto Okazaki: I don't see the problem. Re:vale's already got an eccentric image, after all.

Yuki: I feel bad for my unwanted younger self. Give him back to me. I'll raise him with little Momose here.

Momo: I told you, that's not it! I'd never neglect little Yukito-san..!

Rinto Okazaki: There you go, starting some bizarre family roleplay. Allow me and my brother's picture to join in! 

- - - -

Momo: And that's how we started arguing.

Sogo Osaka: That sounds rough...

Yuki: Here's Momo's picture, by the way.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Wow! Momorin was so cute! Used to be super tan, too! With shiny white teeth!

Sogo Osaka: You really did put it in the locket.

Momo: Wanna see Okarin and his brother?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Okarin was adorbs, too! And I've never seen his brother! He's cute!

Yuki: Not anymore, he's not.

Sogo Osaka: So you did use Okazaki-san's picture for the locket.

Momo: I thought it'd be funny, and a good way to advertise our agency... Yuki's is too real for me to walk around wearing it. Do you get what I'm saying, Yuki?

Yuki: Not at all. I still feel bad for little me.

Momo: Don't you get grumpy on me again!

Yuki: ...In any case, I can introduce you to a useless private detective.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I'd rather you introduce me to a useful one. Does your detective pal know any better detectives?

Momo: Good point. If he's in the business, he's gotta know who his biggest rivals are!

Yuki: I'll try asking him.

[Dial tone]

Yuki: Hello, it's Yuki from Re:vale. Do you know any good detectives, other than you? Like, the king of private detecting or something...

Yuki: What..? There's a detective so great, he's only spoken of in legends..?

Tamaki Yotsuba: ........! A legendary detective..!!!

Sogo Osaka: He sounds like someone who could help! That's great, Tamaki-kun!

Yuki: I have a job for that detective. Get in touch with him for me. I need to find somebody. Yeah. I'm counting on you.

[Beep]

Momo: He's going to introduce us to a legendary detective!?

Yuki: He's willing to try, at least. I'll get in touch as soon as I hear from him again, Tamaki-kun.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Okay! Thanks!

Yuki: But... If it's too hard for you to get a hold of that picture, you can quit if you want, you know.

Momo: You guys must have better things to do, anyway. It's not like Ban-san or Maneko-chan are forcing you to do this, right?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah, but...

Tamaki Yotsuba: I wanna have something like this pic of Momorin playing soccer, or Yukirin playing the guitar.

Re:vale: .........

Momo: Right. I hope you find your picture, Tamaki. We'll help in any way we can.

Yuki: If you run into trouble, call us.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Ehehe... Okay! 

- - - -

Sogo Osaka: .........

Sogo Osaka: They even drove us back to the dorm.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yukirin's cooking was so yummy, and Momorin played with me a lot. Re:vale's super nice!

Sogo Osaka: It's because you're such a good kid.

Tamaki Yotsuba: .........

Sogo Osaka: You're so honest and kind, there's not a single person who wouldn't want you to live a happy life.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Haha... That's the opposite of what I used to hear, though.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Like when something I had broke, or something didn't make it to me in time, or something I'd been excited for didn't work out.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Apparently it was all a punishment, 'cause I'm such a bad, nasty kid.

Sogo Osaka: ........

Tamaki Yotsuba: I'd get mad and yell, "That's not true!", but still. Sometimes when I'm having a bad day, I remember that stuff.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I fall down, or something I like breaks, or I get caught in a rainstorm... And I wonder if I'm being punished.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I mean, I'm not THAT good of a kid. I don't work hard, I'm kinda rude. Plus I'm dumb.

Tamaki Yotsuba: ...If I was smarter, maybe I would've gotten a copy of that photo before it went into Mom's casket.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I don't have any pictures 'cause I'm an idiot who can't take proper care of anything.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Meanwhile, you're good at keeping things clean, and you do everything right.

Sogo Osaka: ...You're not an idiot, and the photo thing wasn't your fault.

Sogo Osaka: I can't believe anyone would say things like that to a child. Of course you're not being punished.

Tamaki Yotsuba: .........

Sogo Osaka: I can guarantee that you're not, so don't worry.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Ahaha! So-chan, you're acting kinda cool all of a sudden.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Thanks. 

To be continued...

#idolish7 #anniversary story 2021 #translation #i7 #trigger #re:vale #zool #other translations

[princess-of-inarizaki]

So, as I promised, Inarizaki New Year request. Inarizaki boys and manager make party at her place, they prepare dinner, decorate the Christmas tree and her home (twins hang the mistletoe everywhere, but manager-chan is clueless so she doesn't know about kissing tradition), exchange gifts, have sleepover etc. Next day they all go together to the shrine and all boys ask to marry her. And they are EMBARRASSED when manager asks them what they ask.

Ahhh Tilli my love! I'll finally use this as a Christmas and New year one combined (eventho they've both passed a long time ago :) and this will be the final addition to the Inarizaki December series!

Once again, thank you so much for supporting me through it all, and showering love on every day's imagine. I didn't expect to get 100-200 notes on some days, but I did!! And I'm really ever so grateful. I hope you'll stay tuned :D

-

Inarizaki's manager-chan day 25!!

Late merry Christmas!! 💖 (And happy new year)

☃️

It was finally the seventh day of Christmas.

The day everyone looked forward to, filled with so much cheer and joy. The boys couldn't wait to spend it at your house. (They couldn't spend the actual day of Christmas with you, due to clashes in the schedule), but that's okay. They were here now.

It was unorthodox, to decorate the tree and give gifts days after the 25th, but it didn't matter to you, and if it didn't matter to you, it didn't matter to the boys either.

The house was warm, and you were busy baking cookies. The smell of gingerbread and peppermint floated in the air. Suna snuck up behind you and took a dab of the cookie mixture. “I rate this a 10/10”

Kita glared at him. “Suna that wasn't very hygienic” which only caused you to laugh.

Christmas carols were playing from the small Bluetooth speaker near the tree, and you suddenly felt like dancing. After wiping your hands dry and shutting the oven so the cookies could bake, you pulled Kita to you and placed your hands on his shoulder.

“Dance with me, Kita-san”

His eyes sparkled as his cheeks heated up.

“Of course, my lady.”

And the rest of the members watched enviously as you spun around with Kita in tow. You looked gorgeous, and so undeniably happy.

“My turn!” said Atsumu indignantly as he replaced Kita. He pulled your waist closer to him as he picked you up and twirled you around. Your squeals made his heart beat faster as he gently let you go.

“That's enough dancing for one day, now go decorate the tree or something. These cookies will be done soon and me and y/n need to decorate them.” said the gray haired twin.

The boys nodded as they made their way to the big tree in the living room, whilst you were left alone in the kitchen with Osamu.

Osamu swiped a bit of frosting on your cheek and laughed, as he put on the oven mitts, readying himself to take the cookies out of the oven.

You laughed and licked the frosting off.

Damn. Osamu's brain almost short-circuited, but he pushed such thoughts out of his mind and instead focused on the cookies.

“How shall we ice them?”

You mixed food colouring into the frosting bowls and explained you wanted to ice them according to each of the members.

“We'll use white for Kita! Since he's so dedicated and wonderful, white suits him best. And green for Tsumu, because he makes me feel happy and fresh inside.”

Osamu nodded with a small smile. “And what about me?”

“Purple for you, because I feel comfortable with you, you're basically my home. And red for Rin, because red is a sleepy colour, and I just love napping on his lap.”

“Oh and blue for Aran! He makes me feel safe inside. Orange for Akagi, he's such a cheerful person, he's like my very own sunshine.”

Osamu blushed and stroked your cheek gently. “You're my little home too, ya know that? I'm icing yours pink.”

Pink for the way you make me blush, my love.

You beamed at him and began icing the cookies, delicately and carefully, whilst Osamu iced the other half.

-

The rest of the boys finished decorating the tree as they took a step back to admire their work.

Suna gently adjusted the baubles, before taking a few pictures. He wanted to capture this moment forever.

Suddenly, you and Osamu came to the room with a mixture of cookies and a few mugs of hot chocolate and marshmallows.

Akagi smiled as he placed a kiss on your cheek before snagging a cookie. “Aww you guys are the best, thank you!”

The snow slowly fell outside, as the tree sparkled proudly in the center of the living room.

“Hey we still need to put the angel on top!”

Atsumu jokingly picked you up in his arms “we have one right here, shall I put her on top of the tree?”

The boys laughed as they passed you the tiny angel figurine. “we can't reach it anyways, why don't you put it instead?" Said Aran with a small smile.

Atsumu lifted you up gently as you placed the angel on the top of the tree, completing the decoration process.

“Thanks, you guys are amazing. I'm so lucky to have you.”

Your words were met with a chorus of "I love you's" and "me too's"

And you laughed, as Atsumu pulled you closer to him.

“Tsumu, you can put her down now” said a disgruntled Osamu.

-

[ 2 hours earlier ]

Osamu: have you placed the mistletoe in random spots?

Atsumu: yes, what about you?

Osamu: yeah, but I've kept one in my pocket. I'll just put it up whenever we're alone and it show to her.

Atsumu: damn that's so smart, why didn't I think of that? :(

Osamu: cuz yer' stupid.

Atsumu: >:(

-

[present time]

You and the boys play tons of games in the living room, and stash their gifts underneath the tree too.

“Let's open then tomorrow morning! We'll sleep in here too, and it will be fun to open them as soon as we wake up.” you say happily.

Suna leans on your shoulder throughout the evening, and soon his head makes its way to your lap, as usual.

You laugh and ruffle his hair, as he looks up at you breathlessly. You're so beautiful to him. So undeniably gorgeous. Atsumu wasn't lying when he called you an angel.

Suna's pupils dilated as he stared into your eyes. “I love you, y/n”

Not hearing the sincerity and hidden meaning behind his words, you replied with a quick “I love you too, Rin-rin”

And frankly, even if you didn't know how much he truly meant it, it didn't matter. He'd make sure you did, someday.

-

The plate of cookies were left with only crumbs and the mugs were all empty.

The next part of the night was dinner, and since Kita was the only one who could drive, he'd take you out to pick it up.

“Let's go Y/n-san” said Kita, as a tired Suna whined when he had to lose your lap-pillow.

You nodded and followed him, fastening the seatbelt in the passengers seat as you winked at the boys. “Be good while we're gone, okay?”

Kita turned up the radio. It was a song he didn't particularly like, but you seemed to love. However, you switched the radio off.

“Y/n-san, don't you like this song? Why did you change it?”

“Because you don't like it, Kita-san, and I want to talk to you. Your voice is better than any song.” was your simple reply.

No beating around the bush, you were ever so straightforward, and yet it made Kita's heart beat faster.

“so what would you like to talk about?”

And it started from there. A car-ride filled with the voices of the both of you.

At the traffic light, Kita gave you a sideways glance as he saw your excited expression talking about the cookies you baked.

But frankly he wasn't listening anymore. he was admiring the way your eyes shone in delight, and your cheeks as they were pink from the cold. He smiled at the way your face seemed to light up, and at the beautiful smile etched into it.

And Kita found that beautiful.

“It was delicious, right? And the frosting was beautiful too?” you finished excitedly, by asking him.

“she really is beautiful” said Kita in a trance, as the light turned red and he snapped out of it.

“I mean, yes, the frosting was beautiful!”

-

After picking up a bucket of KFC, as it's traditionally eaten to celebrate Christmas, the boys greeted you at the door.

“Mom and dad are home” joked Akagi.

“Oh my, so that means y/n's our mommy?” said Atsumu seductively, which earned him a sharp kick from Osamu. “Hey Tsumu, shut the hell up.”

The table was set and filled with cheer and banter from all sides, as Akagi sat next to you, and plated everything out.

You sighed happily. Truthfully, you weren't aware of traditions in Japan, since you were new to the country, but the boys taught you every day. It was Osamu who informed you that people in Japan ate their Christmas dinners at KFC.

“It's kinda like a tradition here” he said, with a small shrug. And you were determined to stick to those traditions.

“Are there any other traditions you practice, here? During Christmas?” you asked, in between bites.

Atsumu smirked at you and held up a small plant. “This is called mistletoe, but I won't tell you what the tradition related to it is”

You were confused, because all the other boys had suddenly turned red, and no matter how much you asked them, they refused to tell you what the significance of mistletoe was.

“Hmm, weird” you said softly, as you finished dinner, and brought your plate to the kitchen to be washed.

As you walked out, you noticed a small sprig of mistletoe above you, and a tall presence looming over you...

-

[ hello!! This is route time!! There are six members which I have written mistletoe routes for, and the corresponding colours will be for each member, so read whichever you want to!!]

(pink is the general route. no matter which route you choose, the new year's day story will continue with the general route, so please keep that in mind.)

-

Kita

Osamu

Aran

Atsumu

Akagi

Suna

-

You looked up and saw Akagi, and he had a bunch of other dishes in his hands. “I've lost a bet, so they've made me wash their dishes”

Atsumu's gleeful voice could be heard as he egged his senpai on. “make sure they're spotless, Akagi!”

You took half of the plates from Akagi kindly and assured him you'd help him.

“my hands are wet anyways. It'd be a bother to dry them after washing only one plate”

“T-thanks” he stuttered softly.

-

As you and Akagi washed the plates side by side, he felt a slight tug in his chest. It felt so domestic, to come home to you, hug you in his arms, and do the most mundane of tasks with you, like washing the dishes like this.

He wouldn't mind anything, honestly. As long as he was with you, the most grueling of chores would become fun.

And as he saw your brows furrowed in concentration, he sighed. You looked ever so adorable like that.

“Y/n-chan, I don't know if I've told you this yet, but you look very beautiful today.”

It took a lot of courage. Everyone saw him as a jokester, a perpetually happy person, but with you he wanted to be different.

He wanted you to know that when he complimented you like that, he wasn't joking. Not the least bit.

A soft tint could be seen on your cheeks as you continued washing the plates. “why thank you, Akagi. You look really nice too ”

And somehow, with that one compliment, you made Akagi happier than he had ever been.

The kitchen was filled with comfortable silence, and you appreciated the presence of the tall raven-haired libero who stood next to you, as he swore this scene would repeat itself in the future, someday, but with you as his girl.

-

The late dinner left everyone in a lazy mood, and although the Bluetooth speakers played more music, it became softer, more calm, and everyone felt ready to sleep.

The sleeping bags were arranged in the living room, in a small semicircle as you laid yours next to Atsumu.

“I didn't want to be alone in my room, knowing you guys were just outside, so I hope you don't mind if I slept here too” you said with a small blush.

The boys were overjoyed and eagerly made more space for you.

“I hope it won't be uncomfortable for you, y/n-san.”

You shook your head and settled into the sleeping back. “thank you for the concern, Kita-san, but you guys are here! how could I possibly be uncomfortable at all?”

You laid down in your sleeping bag as Aran leaned over to switch the lights off.

“Big day tomorrow. Let's all get some rest.”

A silent exchange of "goodnight's" was all you could hear, before complete silence, signalling their exhaustion.

But Atsumu, who was laying down next you was far from asleep.

He turned to the side to face you, his eyes reflecting the moonlight beautifully.

“I'm cold” you whispered, as you shifted in your sleeping bag uncomfortably. Atsumu's heart started beating uncontrollably as he made space in his own sleeping bag for you.

“Let's cuddle. Body heat is still heat, right beautiful?”

You smiled gratefully as you slipped in next to him, and his arms wrapped around you protectively.

His mind began to wander, and like Akagi, he wondered if he could get used to this. To coming home after a hard day and slipping into bed with you.

To keeping you warm on cold nights, and holding you if you had a nightmare.

As his fingers gently stroked through your hair, you sighed softly and cuddled closer to his chest in a dream-like state.

You had fallen asleep in his arms, just like he had dreamt for so often, and he couldn't wait till he'd be able to have you with him every single night.

Every single night for the rest of forever. Atsumu wanted to spend every single one of them with you.

He smiled softly as he observed your sleeping features before pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead.

“You'll truly be the death of me, y/n”

-

You awoke many times in the middle of the night, but with Atsumu's firm grip on you, and his comforting body heat, you had no trouble falling back asleep again.

Soon, sunlight began to stream through the windows and the small beams of light slowly caused you to wake up.

The boys were all still asleep, so you gently pried yourself off Atsumu, gave him a gentle kiss to his cheek, and tip-toed to the kitchen, to make breakfast.

Aran, who had incredibly sensitive ears, heard the shift of the fridge door, and woke up. In a groggy-like state, he walked over to you and hugged you from behind.

“good morning” he whispered softly. “can I help you with breakfast?”

Although he wasn't naturally a cook, your patient instructions and kindness proved to be all he needed, and the two of you made a pile of pancakes, drizzled in maple syrup.

By now, the rest of the boys were also awake, they were better than greyhounds when it came to sniffing out food you've made.

But as Aran helped you around the kitchen, he couldn't focus on the others. He couldn't focus on anyone but you.

You, with your messy hair and half lidded eyes. With your low morning voice and small smile. You were so comfortable being yourself, and he really was glad.

Morning-y/n, the y/n only they got to see this morning, was pretty darn adorable. And he wanted her to know that.

“you're so cute when you're still half asleep, ya know?”

Although his voice has a teasing edge, a ring of laughter behind it, Aran wanted you to know that.

“aww thanks Aran, I like your morning voice too” you said with a dopey smile, as your flipped another pancake.

Suna stole one from off the plate and nibbled on it “I rate this a 10/10 too”

“Oh no Kita's glaring at me. I never tasted it in the first place”

-

After breakfast, presents, tons of hugs, and an outfit change later, the Shrine came into view. It was the first day of the new year, and as per the tradition of praying at the shrines for good luck, you and the team were heading there to welcome the new year with hopes and dreams.

“So, you have to clap twice, and wish for whatever it is your head desires for this year” said Akagi with a smile.

The rest of the boys had their eyes screwed shut, as they prayed for their deepest desire; to marry you someday.

Your wish was not so different either. “I wish to be able to be by their sides forever. For their good health, happiness, and safety. I love them.”

As you laid your eyes on their figures, hunched over the shrine, you swore you would do anything to make your wish a reality.

“I love you guys. Happy new year.!!”

-

taglist : @raychii @dai-tsukki-desu @k-sakusa-old @pocket-of-anxiety @sunasthing @thatthangwasthangin @daydreamingtetsu @ignorantsock @ohrintarou @tilli-san

The professor's note: 😭broooo so I'm like finally done?? This was so long I hope you guys enjoy it <3 (it took like 3 days to perfect it, so likes and reblogs are very much appreciated uwu)

#haikyuu headcanons #haikyuufanfics #haikyuu fluff #inarizaki #inarizaki x reader #inarizaki manager headcanons #inarizaki manager #inarizaki hcs #miya atsumu #miya osamu #ojiro aran #kita shinsuke #suna rintarou #akagi michinari #atsumu headcanons #osamu headcanons #kita headcanons #suna headcanons #aran headcanons #atsumu fluff #atsumu drabble #osamu fluff #osamu drabble #suna fluff #suna drabble #kita fluff #kita drabble #aran fluff #aran drabble #inarizaki december!!

[theonceoverthinker]

500. As this daily series of mine comes to an end, I just want to reflect on all the MARRY time writing Fair Game HCs has brought me!

I’m freezing up as I’m trying to write even just this intro. I don’t feel ready. After a year and a half, how can I feel anything else? This series is now a part of me and ending it is like losing a piece of my soul. I have so many emotions -- too many emotions -- it doesn’t feel wrong to end the series here (The 500 milestone makes sense), but it hurts all the same.

Let me start with thank you to everyone whose read these. Seriously, I know I thank you occasionally, but I can’t do it enough. Knowing that there are people interested in what I write and think about these two and enjoy the happier life I’m paining them in the absence of canon just makes me feel so much less alone than usual. It means the world to me so please believe me when I say that I wouldn’t have gotten to 500 without each and every one of you, whether you were here from the beginning or just joined in whenever. 

I’m so happy to have finally reached this moment, but simultaneously so torn up about what that means.

Will I never do another Fair Game HC again? HECK NO! While the regular daily episodes are ending, if I find another topic that I want to Fair Game-i-fy, I will definitely make more episodes, and hopefully, before long, I will! I just need to take a break from the daily updates. I’ve hit burnout several times over the past year and a half and it’s not fun, so while I still have some energy to spare, I want to end the daily series on a high note!

Also, forgive me because I’m gonna cheat this as a submission for @fairgameweek2021 while I’m at it (If it’s not cool, then my apologies). The theme today is Charms/Dreams and while neither of these come up in the HC itself, this wedding and this series as a whole I think acts as a reflection of the dreams much of the Fair Game fandom had for this ship. 

When I say this, I don’t mean it in the sense of I’d be upset if not each and every one of these didn’t come true -- that’s never been what my love for Fair Game was about, nor that each and every Fair Game fan subscribes to these HCs (Good GOD, no -- not even close). Like many fans, I just wanted these two characters who deserved happiness (Especially Qrow given his almost unreal amount of trauma and hardships) and seemed like they’d finally found it with each other to get exactly that. So in the absence of canon, I hope people were able to take solace in this space and live in the daydreams I created for them here.

So here we are at long last: The Fair Game Wedding. If you want to follow the story thus far, you can check out my HC compilation page. I’ve highlighted all of the wedding HCs in green, and have fully caught up the HC list!

That said, if you don’t feel like reading all of them and just want to check out this last one, here’s the tldr for what you need to know: The wedding is taking place in the Amity communications tower (This HC series only follows canon until 7X11 for those who didn’t know because I only choose to acknowledge good writing (especially for Qrow and Clover) here), Tai is Qrow’s Best Man, Marrow is Clover’s Best Man, Robyn is officiating, Ruby’s walking Qrow down the aisle, Yang’s walking Clover down the aisle, Clover got Qrow a silver ring with four tiny encrusted emeralds, Qrow got Clover a dark ring with four tiny encrusted rubies, Qrow’s wearing an onyx tux with a white undershirt and a crimson bowtie and handkerchief, and Clover’s wearing a black tux with a white undershirt and a dark green bowtie and handkerchief. 

Okay! We’re good to go!

Well, for the last regularly-scheduled time, let’s get to it!

HC under the cut!

“Uncle Qrow! Help! We can’t find your shoes!”

Ruby’s cry is what wakes Qrow up.

What a way to start the day. He hasn’t even had coffee or breakfast yet and he’s already been tasked with finding his wedding shoes. Give him a break.

It then comes to attention that this is his wedding day. By the time he goes to bed, he and Clover will be married. 

His crankiness at being woken up and put to work so quickly doesn’t fully evaporate, but a lot of it does all the same. 

And as Qrow starts searching his temporary room to find his shoes, he can’t help but take note of the bubbling happiness under him.

()()()()()()()()()()()

It feels so weird to Clover to wake up in the Ace Ops’ suite. He’s stopped by from time to time since leaving the Atlesian Army, especially as he’s been planning his wedding, but staying over feels simultaneously nostalgic and bizarre. 

Mostly though, the odd feeling is one that stems from not waking up beside Qrow. It’s not that they haven’t slept apart, but whenever they have outside of their bachelor parties, it’s been for a mission.

Well, in all fairness, today’s at once a party and a mission, and by the end of it, he and Qrow will be back sleeping right beside each other.

Clover can just barely stand the wait.

()()()()()()()()()()

The alter is beautiful. The whites and browns and red and greens come together so nicely. 

In an interesting surprise touch, Harbinger in its scythe form and Kingfisher in its rod form are tastefully placed right next to Tai and Marrow respectively. And on top of their handles, Qrow and Clover’s respective rings rest safely on each of their handles.

They’re both impressed, more so that their weapons were somehow sneak out and brought all the way to the communications tower without either’s knowledge.

Clover’s the first to arrive at Amity Tower. Tai and Marrow organized how Qrow and Clover would check in on things so they wouldn’t see each other until the ceremony. Though Clover found the superstition banal, he decides not to make a fuss about it today, not when there are more important things going on.

The sweet smell of flowers greets his nose. They’re all laid out so nicely, and possibly even more so in the reception hall. Clover looks to his and Qrow’s table, and then to his pants.

Marrow gave him back his phone this morning, and with Marrow temporarily busy in the bathroom, Clover sends Qrow a quick text before he returns.

Clover: Everything looks perfect up here, but I bet you’ll look even better. See you soon. ;) 

Qrow arrives a bit later than expected...which for him was anything but unexpected. Between finding his shoes, Tai insisting on ironing his suit (”I swear, there was a wrinkle on it this morning!), making sure he got a good meal in him, cramming everyone into Tai’s car, and dealing with traffic, it’s amazing they got there when they did.

By the time Qrow gets there, the caterers are starting to arrive and their cake is on its way over, too!

Though Qrow initially felt his scroll buzz in the car, he’s unable to look at it until now. He sees Clover’s text in between the tons of congratulations messages, and smiles.

He’s such a dork.

But he’s Qrow’s dork.

Qrow: You know it. ;) See you soon.

Far too much time is spent for either of their taste’s getting into their suits and going over their entrances and everything (Though given how their rehearsal went, neither can be too annoyed).

Both meet their respective halves of the wedding party and soon enough...it’s time.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Robyn’s the first to enter. She has a basic script in her hand, but everyone knows she’s gonna do some ad-libbing and are excited for it.

Qrow walks down the aisle first with Ruby. The whole time, he can’t but hold his breath behind his smile, worried he might trip. Ruby, who can now fully tell how her uncle operates, holds his arm tighter and more supportively. Qrow would be lying if he said it didn’t help. Upon reaching the front, Ruby gives Qrow a big hug and a kiss on the cheek before leaving his side.

After he arrives, the two sets of groomsmen enter side-by-side: Marrow and Tai, Elm and Port, Vine and Oobleck, and Harriet and Theodore (Yeah, I know basically nothing about Theodore, but I realized my numbers for Qrow’s groomsmen didn’t add up to Clover’s, and I hear the two of them got along, so we’re doing this!).

Once they’re in position, Clover enters with Yang. Clover, like Yang, holds his breath, but for a different reason. Qrow looks so impossibly good in his suit, and he can tell Qrow really likes how he looks, too. Like Ruby with Qrow, before leaving to join her sister, Yang gives Clover a hug and cheek kiss, but also a nice pat on the shoulder and a wish for “good luck.” Clover loves the sensation.

Clover whispers under his breath that Qrow looks amazing. Qrow thanks him, throwing a wink at Clover. Clover looks as stunned by it as Qrow did when he did it the first time.

Ceremony stuff happens, and then we get to the vows!

Robyn signals for Qrow to go first. He nods at her and begins.

“Clover,” Qrow says. “I want to say something to you, something that I never thought I would, especially here of all places, but something that feels like it should be said all the same. ...Here it goes. Clover, we don’t have to get married.” 

There’s a pause as everyone watching gasps. Clover is the only one who doesn’t, though he does raise and eyebrow. Qrow maintains eye contact with him and continues.

“It’s true,” he says. “We know we’re going to be together for the rest of our lives. I’m not leaving you, you’re not leaving me, and once this is all over, we’re going to go right back to the same home we’ve spent years building together to build even more of it for as long as we can. We’ll get up, make breakfast and coffee, work, come home, watch TV, and go to bed. Maybe we’ll do different things on the weekends with Tai and the kids, or maybe we’ll just relax on the couch with a movie. So no, we don’t need to get married...but that’s exactly why I want to.”

The sighs of relief are close to deafening, and expecting that, Qrow takes another pause. Clover’s smile is beautiful, not beaming of exceedingly large, but radiant as it has ever been. Qrow hopes that whoever their planner organized to record their wedding captures it because it’s a smiles Qrow imagines he’ll want to look at over and over again.

“It’s exactly because we don’t need to throw a ceremony or a big party to show the world we love each other that makes me want to do just that,” Qrow continues. “A love like what we have, one that’s special because of all the things that don’t make it special just as much as all of the things that do, well to me, that’s a love worth celebrating. I love you, Clover, and I love the fact that being here with you gives me another chance to celebrate how we feel, how far we’ve come, and how much further we’ll go.”

There are tears in the corners of Clover’s eyes threatening to fall any second. Qrow feels that his own are on the verge of doing the same.

Clover pull him in for a hug. They know it’s not what they’re supposed to do, but it feels right and that’s all that matters. It lasts for ten seconds before they finally pull back.

Robyn’s looking at them jokingly. 

“You know you’re not supposed to do that yet, right?”

“Eh,” Qrow says, shrugging with a smirk on his face. “We’re unconventional.”

“Except when we’re not,” Clover chimes in, winking at Qrow over the joke.

Robyn, smiling all the while, rolls her eyes.

“Clover, it’s your turn,” she says. The two exchange nods and then Clover turns to Qrow. 

“Qrow,” he starts, “I definitely saw my life differently before I met you. I was an Atlesian Military Captain of the kingdom’s strongest group of Huntsmen, likely to stay just where I was until I retired or died in combat. That’s what I saw for myself, and that’s all I saw for myself. In that life, I didn’t see a home, I didn’t see a family, and I never saw someone I loved so much that I’d leave everything I thought I knew behind just to stand by his side. But once I met you and the kids, I began to see all sorts of things that I’d never considered for myself before -- all of those things I just listed and more. That’s the life we’ve had together so far -- deep, kind, strange, fun, sometimes a bit mundane but also beautiful because of it. I’ve got to tell you, Qrow, I can’t think of anything luckier happening to me in my entire life than finding you.”

Qrow snorts. It’s not an interruption, but Clover can’t help but comment on it. 

“I guess you saw that coming?” Clover jokes. 

“Maybe a bit.”

“Fair enough. Well, I don’t need to tell you that with semblances like ours, luck’s always been a special thing between us. Misfortune and Good Fortune just have a way of being part of our lives, no matter what we think or plan or want. We’ve talked before about how they counter each other or why one might be more powerful than the other on any given day, but while luck might have been what brought us together as partners initially and it certainly is part of us, it’s not all of us. Luck has some interesting perks, both good and bad alike -- it can make a day or even week better or worse -- but it can’t get either of us what we have together nor take it away. Luck doesn’t earn me the sight of that gleam in your eyes when I bring you a bowl of noodles just the way you like or that smile of yours when I tell you tell you a joke. Luck helps us live our lives, but we do the rest, and I think we do a pretty good job living it together, and I can’t wait to keep on doing it with you for the rest of our lives.”

A good number of the attendants make an “awwww” sound at the end of Clover’s vows. Qrow’s tempted to make fun of it, but abstains.

Robyn nods at the conclusion of her vows. Tai and Marrow collect the rings for Qrow and Clover from off of the weapons and bring them to them. Robyn then turns to Clover.

“Clover Ebi,” she says. “Do you take this man, Qrow Branwen, to be your lawfully-wedded husband -- to love, cherish, and grow with him in sickness and in health and for better or worse as long as you both shall live?”

Clover’s smile is present. It doesn’t get bigger, but it gets deeper. 

“I do,” he says. Qrow takes Clover’s ring and slides it easily onto Clover’s finger.

Robyn turns to Qrow.

“And Qrow Branwen,” she continues. “Do you take this man, Clover Ebi, to be your lawfully-wedded husband -- to love, cherish, and grow with him in sickness and in health and for better or worse as long as you both shall live?”

Qrow’s smile stays the same -- relaxed, easy, and so utterly content. Despite seeing it hundreds of times by now, it still looks so beautiful to Clover...especially when he says the next two words.

“I do.”

Qrow extends out his hand, and Clover, with the ring he got him, slides it down Qrow’s flawless finger effortlessly.

Robyn’s smile grows.

“Then by the power vested in me by the Kingdom of Solitas and the land of Remnant, I now declare you husbands. You may now kiss.”

Qrow and Clover have kissed more times than they can possibly count.

But by the time Robyn declares them married, they’re starving to feel each other’s kisses again. Cupping each other’s cheeks, Qrow and Clover share their first kiss as a married couple.

Everyone cheers. A quarter of the room cheers through their tears.

Finally, they’re married.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Qrow and Clover get a small break to themselves before they enter the reception. They spend much of it standing and sitting close together, kissing, telling the Qrow and Clover equivalent of sweet nothings to each other, and talking about what their previous night and this morning were like. It’s kind, relaxed, and happy -- so, so happy.

The reception’s amazing. Between awesome food, “the world’s best cocktail hour” (Qrow and Clover’s words, not mine), a good DJ, heartwarming (and a little embarrassing) speeches, gorgeous decorations, cool party favors, and a beautiful and loving first dance, everyone has an amazing time.

At some point, Qrow and Clover find themselves able to sneak out of their own reception for a break (Qrow especially needs one, but Clover’s not about to pretend he’s not at least a little tired either). There’s a small empty balcony right in front of the moon. Clover loops his arm around Qrow’s shoulders and settles it on the left one.

Clover takes a deep breath through his nose and Qrow can feel his hairs bounce up and down with it.

“Smell something you like?” Qrow teases.

“More like someone. And I can’t wait to keep smelling him.”

They relax in the quiet for a bit. Qrow snuggles into Clover’s side as the gentle wind embraces their forms wherever it can.

“We’re married,” Clover finally says, said as if he’s just realized it for the first time. 

It must be the tenth time today he’s done so since the ceremony.

Qrow hasn’t gotten even remotely sick of hearing it.

“We’re married,” he repeats. 

Clover releases a rumbling chuckle, then kisses Qrow’s upper right temple. Qrow presses his lips to Clover’s hand. It’s not a kiss, per se, but it lingers delicately on his hand.

They stay for a couple more minutes before deciding that they should probably return to their party.

The rest of the party is so nice. Friends and family party and dance the night away with the gorgeous night sky all around them for hours.

The cleanup is exhausting and despite loving their wedding planner from the moment they hired her, Qrow and Clover have never been more grateful for her services than where she says they can head out and that she would finish up the rest of the work and text them (”Tomorrow afternoon. You guys are gonna need some shut eye.”).

It takes Qrow and Clover about an hour to get home. Clover drives once they’re on solid ground again. In the car, neither talk much, content to sit and enjoy the drive home in a comfortable quiet, save for the occasional joke and “We’re married” statement.

When they’re finally home, they stop at the door. After all, who’s going to carry who over the threshold? 

They compromise. Kissing each other’s face all the way, Qrow carries Clover through their front door, and Clover carries Qrow through their bedroom door onto a...very fun wedding night (Which I’m gonna let you all imagine for yourself because I have literally been writing this all day and writing about sex is kind of tough for me when I’m at my best).

When they’re at last ready to go to sleep, Qrow and Clover cuddle close and give each other a final loving look before falling asleep in each other’s arms, blissfully together tonight and for decades worth of them to come, just as they deserve. I don’t even know what to say now that we’re here at the end. I think I said it here earlier, but it bears repeating: I love you all and thank you so much for following these Fair Game HCs.

Tagging @skybird13 @whipped4qrow @mooksie01 @luck-of-the-caw @xwildangel @solitude-of-stars-deactivated20 @vastnessofthespiral @o0nashipear0o @unfairgamey @doctorrwby @clover-and-co @megan-atthedisco @wash-my-brain @bisexualdisasterqrow @thursdayseraph @doubledexterity @rwby-things-i-guess @atlas-heartthrob @the-answer-was-bi-klance @compoterie @thuskindlyiboop @oceansquid @transdemion @deltastream21 @mimiori @xya-hunter @dinosaurs-last-day @roman-torchtwink @subatomictealeaves @drbtinglecannon @saphiralunaris @pretentiouskneecaps @amxngsthxmans @ayomez13 @carbonated-table-spices @darkestsiren @chaosgameingkoi @collectingsparechangemadeeasy @michaels-daughter2005 @youmaywanttoduck @lovethewitchofendor @victorious1956 @spence0112 @madamoisellesica @ju-ka-mc-24

Want to be tagged in future Fair Game HC’s (Or untagged, I understand) and be the first to catch all of the romance, fluff, drama, and puns (Sometimes all at the same time)? Send me a reply, PM, or ask, and it shall be done!

Would you also like to check out my old Fair Game HC’s? Who wouldn’t? Well, here’s a link to my Fair Game HC archives!!!!

#fair game #qrow branwen #clover ebi #rwby #lucky charms #luckbirds #luck birds #fairgame #qrow x clover #qrover #fair game hcs #500

[preparetosufferemotionally]

Home, Part 2: Memories of Yesterday

Prinxiety

TW: Flashbacks, past abuse, past abusive relationship, toxic anxiceit, references to s3xual things, slight anxiety attack, current abusive relationship, cursing (Some characters really like cursing), unsympathetic Deceit/Janus, Remus (But pretty calm), dissociation, PTSD, flashbacks, yelling, tears, arguing, threatening, guilt, and trauma. 

The day started to go south when Roman got home. He had just picked up their son, Remy, from preschool. Virgil had been busy at work, drawing for books. Currently his favorite one to draw for was the story Roman had been working on. Of course, that was only Virgil’s first job. Virgil also had to work as a carer in an adoption center to make the extra money. Roman too had a second job, working as a director for the local theater, but it didn’t pay much and Roman was too stubborn to ask for more money. So Virgil rolled his eyes and told Roman to pick up Remy from preschool. 

Roman ran a bit late, and was surprised when he ran into familiar faces in the building. 

“It’s okay Remy, I’m sure your dad’s going to be here soon kiddo. For now, why don’t you go play with Emile, okay? He’s my kiddo. I’m sure you two will get along fine,” Patton encouraged with a smile, sending the two children off to play in a corner as he turned to his husband, glaring at him. Logan shrank backward, already anticipating pain. 

Roman burst through the door, panting. Patton quickly schooled his features into a more pleasant expression, elbowing Logan into doing the same. Logan obeyed, stifling his shock when a more adult looking Roman entered. He quickly retreated, looking down.

“I am incredibly sorry I’m late Mr. Hart, there was so much traffic. Was Remy okay?” Roman asked as he composed himself, adjusting his hair slightly. 

Patton walked toward Remy, who had jumped up excitedly at the sound of his dad’s voice. Emile quietly giggled, following Remy. Remy slowed down when he realized Emile was behind him, stopping to grab his hand. The two four year olds walked forward together towards their parents, who started to talk. 

“Oh your kiddo was just fine Mr. Empire. He played with my son Emile for a little while, who came to visit today. Remy learned all about frogs today and built with blocks to create a castle.” Just as Remy let go of Emile’s hand to hug his dad, Roman swung him up in the air, sending a flurry of giggles through the little boy.

“That’s my boy!” Roman gently set him back on the ground, still holding his tiny hand, and putting on his jacket. “Thank you a ton much Mr. Hart, for...” Roman trailed off looking right at Patton’s face. “We’ve met before.” Patton giggled nervously, making sure to send a warning look to Logan, who looked pained. 

“Well, you have come to pick up Remy before Mr. Empire.” Roman shook his head, slightly shooing off Remy to keep playing with Emile, which he did gladly. 

“No, I met you somewhere else. Before that.” Then Roman’s gaze fell on the desperately trying to be non-existent Logan. “Logan?” Logan flinched backwards, trying to hide. Patton quickly realized Roman knew, so before he came to a dangerous conclusion, Patton grabbed Logan and pushed him slightly forward. 

“Oh yes, we went to college together. I remember now. You were friends with my Logan.” Roman heard Patton, but stared slack jawed at Logan, who looked so different from the confident law student he had been friends with. Logan looked like a toothpick, thin and breakable, and he was missing his glasses. But more than looking breakable, he looked broken. There was something in his eyes Roman hadn’t seen before. Exhaustion? It seemed to fit, but it didn’t fully ecompse the full emotion in the squinting eyes. Roman finally spoke. 

“So you got rid of those glasses, huh nerd?” Logan kept his mouth shut, avoiding Roman’s gaze. Patton answered for him. 

“He lost his just recently actually. We’ve been trying to get a new pair but our eye doctor doesn’t have our prescription back from our last appointment.” Roman nodded sympathetically, watching Logan from the corner of his eye. “Virgil is your husband correct? Your son is a spitting image of him.” Roman nodded, smiling.

“Yes, dark and stormy night and I got married. If I knew you two were this close to us, I would have invited you to the wedding.” 

“Oh we just moved here about a year ago,” Patton lied. Roman sighed sadly. 

“Well, it's been great catching up with you, but I should probably get home. I don’t want to worry Virgil. Come here Remy! Time to go home to Papa!” Remy gave Emile a hug and then ran to Roman excitedly. 

“Okay dad!” As Roman and Remy walked out the door, Roman offered one last thing. 

“Since our boys liked hanging out with each other today, maybe they can have a playdate some time!” 

“Sure thing! Goodbye now!” Roman hurried out the entrance, headed to the car. He quickly buckled in Remy, who complained he could do it himself. Roman didn’t listen, trying to get home in ten minutes, almost breaking twenty traffic laws in the process. Finally, he made it to their home. It was like a modest cottage like home in a nice neighborhood. He barely noticed as he pushed open the door, and ran in with Remy.

“Go put your coat away okay? I just want to check on your papa.” Remy grumbled, but listened. “Virgil, are you okay? I’m home! So sorry I’m late. I just lost track of time.” Shuddering breaths came from the “office” in their home. 

“I’m fine,” Virgil called, slowly calming down from his anxiety attack. Breath in for four... Random events like showing up late often led to anxiety attacks, which Virgil wasn’t exactly sure he became used to, but he did expect them. 

“Okay!” Roman said. “Do you think you can come downstairs? Remy’s home.” Virgil let out a shuddering breath, Out for four. 

“Coming down as we speak.” Virgil quickly went down the short flight of stairs where Roman stood at the bottom. Roman smiled at Virgil, happy to see him. 

When Virgil reached the bottom, Roman quickly asked, “Touching or no touching?” Virgil thought for a moment before answering.

“You can touch me, but not too much.” Roman smiled brightly and gave Virgil a quick hug. Virgil rolled his eyes, and hugged back. 

“Hi papa!” Remy shouted excitedly, going to join the hug. Roman and Virgil smiled, and let him in. Virgil hugged him tightly.

“Hey kid, how was school?” Remy smiled as his dad let him go. 

“Good! Dad ran a little late but Mr. Hart let me play with Emile!” Virgil looked at Roman.

“Who’s Emile?” Roman’s smile wavered slightly. 

“Mr. Hart’s son who came to visit.”  Virgil looked at him suspiciously. Roman quickly changed the subject. 

“I heard you learned about frogs today! And built a castle! Can you tell me and your papa all about it!” Remy nodded ethusically, starting to rattle on about frogs. Virgil gave Roman a look, but listened to Remy.

Finally, when dinner ended, and Remy had been put to sleep, Virgil asked. 

“Okay, what the hell was that about?” Roman awkwardly fiddled with his fingers, sitting back down on a kitchen stool across from Virgil. “I would like an answer.” 

“Okay. So, Mr. Hart is Patton.” Virgil scrunched his nose up in confusion. 

“Who’s that? Oh wait. Hang on. It's that asshole from college, isn’t it?” Roman nodded, sighing. “Didn’t he have a different last name though? Lügner?” 

“Yes, but he changed his last name with his spouse.” Virgil furrowed his brow, as Roman watched him connect the dots. 

“He married Logan,” Virgil said with the assurance of the morgue pronouncing a person dead. Roman didn’t need to ask why he knew. “That fucking bastard. I am going to find where he lives and kill him.” 

“Darling, while of course I always support you, murder is frowned in polite soceity.” Virgil let out a frustrated groan of annoyance.

“I hate that family so fucking much. I hate them,” Virgil whispered, angry tears leaking out of his eyes. “They are fucking monsters.” Roman started to gently rub Virgil’s back, soothing him.

“I know darling. I’m so very sorry.” Virgil just kept crying into his hands, eventually turning around and embracing Roman, who kept soothing him, until Virgil began to calm down. He let out a humorless laugh.

“Sorry for the emotional outburst Ro.” Roman smiled.

“Not a problem stormy. I love and care about you. That's why I married you.” Virgil looked him up and down, smirking

“I suppose there was a reason I married you.”

“Love?”

“Tax benefits.” Roman dramatically placed his hand to his chest, offended. 

“You have fooled me! Bewitched me! Tricked me!” Virgil stifled a laugh. “Betrayal, oh lover of mine, betrayal!” Virgil frowned slightly but tried to keep himself grounded. This is ACTUALLY a joke. He isn’t here. He doesn’t have power over you anymore.You’re OKAY. No. You aren’t. You’re weak and  worthless and you can’t even take a damn joke. Virgil thought he heard Roman asking him something, but the noise in his head was too loud and the world was too blurry. Virgil held his head and covered his eyes,trying to shut out the voice and  thoughts in his head. You have to let one of us win at some point. I don’t want to. Too late. Vaguely, Virgil heard Roman ask a question, but he slipped away.

----------------------------------FLASHBACK BEGINS-------------------------------------------

“You goddamn bitch,” Janus fumed, Virgil shrinking back on the bed. The two had been dating since sophomore year of high school, and now the two shared a dorm in college. “Are you trying to make me angry? Going out without telling me, sleeping in, and refusing to have sex? Its like you don’t care about me anymore.”

“I’m sorry,” Virgil mumbled. Janus scoffed. 

“Yeah right. I bet you’re cheating on me. You are a “bisexual” after all.” Janus got in Virgil’s face. “A fucking whore. I can’t believe you’d actually betray me like this.” Virgil didn’t know when he started crying but tears were pouring down his face. 

“NO! I-I-would never do that to you! I love you Jan! So so much!” Janus sneered, looking at Virgil dead in the eyes.

“Then prove it.” 

-------------------------------------FLASHBACK ENDS------------------------------------------

Roman knew when Virgil started rocking in place, he had to call Remus. He pressed his contact and prayed his brother would pick up. Much to Roman’s relief, he did. 

“Hello Bottom!” Roman sighed.

“For the record I’m a switch. But that's beside the point. Virgil’s having a flashback and I want some backup in case Remy wakes up.” 

“I’m on my way. Be there in five.”

“But you live twenty minutes away. To get here in five minutes you’d have to break numerous laws.”

“FUCK THE LAWS!” Remus screeched through the phone. Roman rolled his eyes and hung up. He then turned to Virgil, kneeling beside him. Roman knew he couldn’t stop the flashback, he just needed to support him. Virgil generally hated being touched in times of extreme panic, so Roman didn’t touch, but instead offered soothing words,knowing the only thing he could do.

“It's okay stormy. It’s just a flashback. It’s not real. I’m here. Everything’s going to be okay. You’re safe. Can you try and breathe for me?” Somehow, through the covered ears, Virgil heard him. Virgil let out a cry of pain and Roman’s heart broke. 

“STOP PLEASE STOP! I SAID I WAS SORRY I PROMISE! I WON’T DO ANYTHING PLEASE ST-” VIrgil was cut off by his own sobs and no doubt something in the flashback. 

Still, Roman kept going, trying to help. “In for six, out for six. I’ll do it with you.” Roman breathed as he said, as loudly as he could. Virgil whimpered and sobbed, but tried. Roman heard the screech of Remus’s car. The door opened quickly and quietly, and Remus went to the kitchen. He went next to his brother and started helping Virgil. This was one of the worst flashbacks Virgil had had in years. 

“Hey Virge, it’s Remus. We’re all gonna breath together. Okay?” At first Virgil didn’t respond, still shaking and sobbing. Then he nodded. “In for four, out for five.” Remus did that with Virgil, while Roman kept assuring him he was safe. Slowly and surely, Virgil took his hands off his ears and started to open his eyes. Roman and Remus were calm and encouraging, soothing him, telling him to tell them what the room looked like.

At first Virgil described his first college dorm, that image burned into his eyelids. But eventually he began to see his home. The home where he lived with Roman and raised Remy. Where he was safe and secure. And Virgil was brought back. He was still shook and though he wanted to be hugged and comforted, he was deathly terrified of it. Roman drapped a heavy blanket over Virgil’s shoulders, one specifically for situations where grounding and security was needed. Remus went upstairs to make sure Remy was asleep. Virgil choked back a small sob. 

“Sorry I freaked out. Again. I wish I could control this damn thing. Its so fucking painful. He’s never coming near me again, hasn’t in years, and he still can hurt me. He still has that fucking power. And I hate that.” Virgil hugged himself with his blanket. 

“Hey, it's not your fault. I should have known that might trigger you. I’ll be more careful in the future.” Virgil chucked a pillow at him, angry.

“But that’s the thing! You shouldn’t have to worry about what triggers me! You shouldn’t have to ask just to tap my shoulder! You shouldn’t be worried that our child might wake up and be scared because his father is screaming and crying on the ground and no one can stop it! You don’t deserve this!” Virgil, said, emotions bubbling and breaking. 

“No Virgil, you don’t. You don’t deserve to feel this type of pain.You deserve happiness and love. And that’s why I am here. Because I know you deserve everything in this world. And I am willing to do whatever it takes to prove to you that you’re worth the world to me. I will never stop loving you. And I will never stop trying to support and be there for you. I made a vow to love you until death, but I know I’ll love you long after.” Virgil went silent. “I  will always be here, by your side.” 

“Big promises princey,” Virgil exhaled quietly. Roman smiles gently at him.

“And I mean every word of them.” Virgil walks up to Roman, embracing him tightly. Roman hugs back, holding him like he’s the world. “You are the best thing that ever happened to me.” 

“Right back at you princey,” Virgil whispers into Romans chest. Remus clears his throat and the two look up. 

“I’ll go to the guest room soon so you two can be all romantic on your lonesome. But just thought I’d make you aware, your kid was out cold. He’s impossible to get to sleep but once he is, he is never waking up until morning.” Virgil smiles shakily at him.

“Thanks Remus.” Remus smiled, glancing at the two. 

“Hey, what are awesome brother in-laws for?” Roman shoved him lightly.

“Going away?” 

“Alright, alright jeez. Man, you two lovebirds act like you’re still in your honeymoon phase.” As Remus goes up the stairs, the two embrace, falling asleep on the couch, in the safety of the other’s arms. 

(Just a note, I have never personally met someone who experiences flashbacks, so I wrote this one the best I could with the limited knowledge I have. Also, when I say -----FLASHBACK ENDS--- it just means that we don’t see any more of the flashback. It does not end until Virgil is fully situated and in the present.)

#unsympathetic deceit #unsympathetic patton #logicality #toxiclogicality #prinxiety #abuse #emotionalabuse #abusiverelationship #physicalabuse #sanders sides #roman sanders #virgil sanders #remus sanders #logan sanders #remy sanders #emile sanders #past abuse #trauma

[shingekicornwrites]

Agricultural Werewolves, pt 1

Fandom/Tags: Hero Academia, alternate universe/werewolves, mentions of past bullying, Counseling, Bakugou Katsuki Faces Consequences, modern fantasy, unreliable narrator, Katsuki is kind of an asshole please don’t take his commentary as my opinion or truth

Pairings: Bakugou Katsuki/Anger Management Counseling, future Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou, future Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto

A/N: This is just a fun au full of wholesome farming, but also boys dealing with issues and a whole lot of unhealthy coping mechanisms and attempts to heal. Please enjoy

Not all farmers are werewolves, but many werewolves are farmers. For some reason this fact makes no sense to people who don’t know werewolves. For everyone else it makes perfect sense.

Werewolves have to eat a lot.

As in: the number one drain of money in werewolf houses is filling the cabinets enough to keep all members of the family healthy. Creatures who change shape with regularity, who shift their bodies and have immense strength that burns calories faster than they can blink, have to maintain an intake that allows them to function without their bodies resorting to eating itself. Even werewolves who don’t change all that often, either out of preference or a lack of opportunity, have to eat more than their human peers or suffer symptoms of starvation.  

Hence: werewolves are farmers.

It is infinitely easier to exist outside of poverty when werewolves, congregated into their own communities, make the food themselves instead of buying it all at the nearest grocer. They raise and cut the meats themselves. They grow the appropriate fruits and vegetables that balance their diets. They sell the portions according to their needs as opposed to human needs. It only makes sense that they do things this way.

They control the food market. They have space to run to their hearts content without worrying about bothering human neighbors. They make the rules for their communities with the standards they need, instead of standards written by people who don’t understand how they function. Government approved wolf reserves more often become farmland than anything else.

Werewolves are farmers, and statistically they’re more likely to be happy that way.  

This statistic does not account for Bakugou Katsuki.

At the moment, he is the furthest thing from happy.

“This place smells like shit.”

Normally he’d be cuffed upside the head for that. Instead his mom just looks at him, with that fucking pity in her eyes that hasn’t left in days, and frowns. Katsuki pointedly doesn’t look back and continues staring out the window at the trees and dust being kicked up by the tires.

“That’s the chicken houses. It is pretty rancid,” she says. Acting like she’s not on her way to get rid of her mess and wash her hands of it. “Ah, there’s the gates. Kind of nostalgic.”

The gate marking the Kiyashi Wolf Reserve is flanked by stone wolves howling at the sky in unison. Their car passes them by with no fanfare and Katsuki growls at the town beyond.

It’s as unimpressive as he thought it’d be. A town in the middle of Fuckoff Nowhere, with nothing to its name and a bunch of people who will die there the same nobodies they were born as. All it has to show are a bunch of old ass buildings for tourists and a stupid shrine.  Their car slows down once they pass the gates and Katsuki gets a good, long look at the shitty little storefronts lining the main street. His mom makes some weird noise when she sees them and starts yammering again.

“Oh, I’ve missed this.” She eases up on the gas as the traffic increases, slowing down to turn her head and look at a restaurant that’s filling the car with some kind of greasy meat smell. “That place over there makes the best dango. And there’s this cartilage karaage that’s so delicious—they pile the plate high, too. I forgot how much I missed getting the big portions. City eating just doesn’t give you enough.”

Katsuki huffs, glaring at a group of bumpkin kids who stare at their car as they walk past. “S’at why you left? Got cankles?”

Once again, no cuffing comes. Not even a growl. His mom just frowns with that fucking look again and doesn’t do anything.

“Better business in the bigger towns. Oh my, that store is still there? God, I used to go there every week to blow my paychecks. It looks even nicer than when I left it.”

They pass the shitty little boutique and she smiles at it, taking a left when the main road ends and humming at all the ancient scenery. There’s more old as shit buildings, more little shops and restaurants—more kids staring at their nice car and whispering to each other, which is just fucking great. There’s signs for the local shrine next to fox statues lining the side of the road and Katsuki makes a face at each one as they pass. This whole town looks like it hasn’t had a pulse in decades.

“Do you remember the Midoriyas, hon?” his mom asks as she takes another turn. “They left when you were small, around first grade.”

He thinks back and the memories come to the surface easily. Kindergarten had been spent running around followed by lackeys, catching bugs, making a mess of the local playground, and...huh, right. A face pops back into his mind. Freckles and curls, big green eyes, crying all the goddamn time because he had no spine and didn’t get that he wasn’t wanted around.

“Deku?” the name pops up before he can think too hard about it. Deku. The little snot who yelled too much and probably still wet the bed when he moved away. Useless little Deku.

“That’s not his name,” the hag nags him, jogging him out of the trip through memory lane.

Katsuki scoffs. “It’s what he was.”

“Katsuki,” she starts, finally seeming a little more like herself before she sighs and buries it deep. “Izuku and his mother moved here when they left. Inko’s offered to take you in while you’re here.”

So he’s gonna be under the care of the family with the worlds biggest crybaby? “Great.”

“It is great. You know her, a little. You and Izuku could catch up. Plus, Inko has a little business now. This old ryokan got turned into the local youth hostel, and it’s all under her name now since the old owner retired. It sounds very relaxing. Isn’t that nice?” His mom smiles, like this is actually good news, and it’s disgusting.

“I’m gonna die of boredom,” Katsuki mutters. He looks back out the window and there’s old people with baskets of vegetables just walking next to the road like they want to be hit by a car. Christ this place sucks.

“Don’t say that. This town has a ton of stuff to keep you occupied. You can run around to your hearts content and nothing’ll stop you.”

He lets his head rest against the glass and hopes the vibrations from the shitty road will concuss him. “Wheeee.”

“You’ll like it,” His mom promises. She’d also promised he’d be a winner, and here she is ripping him away from his top school of choice. So he thinks she can take that promise and fucking shove it.

The road gets tinier and the car slows down, with his mom squinting at each building as they pass and muttering under her breath. There are more old people with vegetables and stupid hick kids running around. The car slows to a stop at a break in whatever pathetic excuse for a sidewalk this town has lining its roads, shutting off as the hag smiles at the old ass building next to them.

“There it is,” she breathes.

It looks as shitty as he thought it would. Old, traditional, with weathered wood one good termite away from crumbling and an ancient sign trying to pass for new with a fresh coat of paint slapped on. Small for a ryokan, too, which is probably why it got sold off. There are planters surrounding the front entrance filled with flowers, where a pudgy little figure is hunched over and pulling weeds.

The hag doesn’t hesitate to unbuckle and climb out, shouting over the top of the car. “Inko!”

The pudgy woman turns around and drops the clippers in her hand. Katsuki doesn’t move to get out. He remembers her face. He remembers her taller, presenting snacks and endless bandages for her crybaby son. He remembers seeing her less and less before she was gone altogether. The short, heavy woman he’s looking at how doesn’t resemble her at all. She’s in dirty jeans and flannel, with a handkerchief tied around her head to keep her hair back and rubber boots caked in mud tracking mess all over the walkway.

Damn, Auntie let herself go.

“Mitsuki?” Inko asks, before throwing herself forward to give his mom a running hug. “Oh my—I thought you weren’t due until later!”

“Traffic was a lot lighter than I thought it’d be.” His mom laughs, as if it’s just a stupid social visit and not her dumping her goddamn kid to cover up a mess. “Look at you! You’re radiant! Kiyashi must be treating you well.”

Katsuki resists the urge to double take. His mother is a shit liar.

Inko just smiles. “It’s all the hiking. I had no idea how much fresh air makes you feel better.”

“Oh, I know. I felt like I couldn’t breathe after I left, city air is disgusting.” His mom makes a face. “How are you and the kids doing?”

“Wonderful. Izuku’s out working right now.”

“No foolin? Feels like yesterday he was learning to walk.”

“They grow up so fast.” Inko finally looks over and spots Katsuki slouched in his seat. “Is that Katsuki?”

He growls. She doesn’t even look phased.

“Yep,” his mother nods, then for the first time since this trip started she raises her voice. “Oi! Get out of the car and be sociable!”

He bares his teeth—fuck her, fuck this trip, fuck this stupid hick town—but opens the door. He makes sure to slam it shut. Just because he can. And he wants everyone to know he thinks this whole thing is a pile of shit. Especially the hag, who just glares at him but refuses to yell, even though he knows she wants to.

She always wants to. She always does. This stupid fucking pity game is going to drive him insane, why the hell does she think shutting up is gonna work?

“You’ve gotten so big,” Inko fawns, looking up at him with a big smile. “I bet you barely remember me, huh?”

“He does,” his mother deadpans. There’s a silent threat while Inko isn’t looking to at least greet her, but he responds to that with a sneer that just makes her shake her head. Instead of yelling, once again, she turns her focus to Inko. “Thank you again for this.”

“Oh, it’s no issue at all. The hostel doesn’t just exist for tourism,” Inko deflects. Katsuki looks at the hostel with another critical eye and snorts. Of course it isn’t for tourism. The whole place looks like shit. Tourists who pay for this must be idiots. “Katsuki, dear, I have a room set up for you. It has your name on it so you can go ahead and start loading your things in if you want.”

Finally, an excuse to get out of this. He yanks the car door open and grabs for his first few bags, eager to get away from sight for a few minutes. The women just keep blabbering on about nothing like he’s not even there.

“How’s the boarder?” his mom asks as Katsuki hauls his duffel bag out.

“Oh, he’s doing well. He’s at the shrine now.”

“That’s two working boys, then—“

It’s nothing to load two bags over his shoulders and get away. Leave the biddies to their gossip, he thinks. It’s the only thing they’re good for.

The inside of the hostel is...less shitty. Huh. Maybe that’s how it stayed in business. Katsuki kicks off his shoes and puts on the slippers set out with a scowl, surveying what’s visible past the entryway. The floors are polished wood, the insides done up so that everything looks bright and new. There’s a lounge right next to the entrance that’s been done up to be more teen friendly—a gaming console and a TV, a little fridge with a clear door filled with drinks, and a few bean bag chairs—he bypasses it with a huff and makes his way toward the rooms.

There’s a courtyard. The doors are open, letting him get a good look at the tree and flowers planted to look all pretty. He doesn’t see any people, though.

He passes rooms with no name on them. Empty, empty, empty—how the hell does Auntie keep this place in business? At first it’s nothing. Then it starts getting annoying.

Empty, empty, empty.

Empty.

Empty.

Motherfucker.

He circles the place twice and can’t find anything. No sign. No name. Just empty rooms in a shitty hostel in a shitty hick town and his own shitty breathing because why the hell has he had to carry the bags for this long?

The next time he finds his way back to the lounge he yells in frustration, kicking a chair. He’s about to ditch the bags and run through the place when he turns just a little too quickly and his duffel bag hits someone in the shoulder.

Katsuki bares his teeth before he can think about it. “Oi! Watch it!”

The stranger stumbles back. It’s some hick kid, in a dirty t-shirt and ratty baseball hat. His arms—thicker than expected for someone shorter than Katsuki is, with a fucked up hand that looks like it’s made of scar tissue—are carrying a wooden box filled to the brim with vegetables and paper wrapped packages that smell like blood and raw meat.

“Sorry about that—“ the stranger steadies himself, hefting the box up and stepping back. He’s too busy making sure nothing from the box is falling to even look at the guy he’s apologizing too, the asshole. “Are you lost?”

“No!” Katsuki barks.

“Well, it’s alright if you are, I just—“ the stranger meets Katsuki’s eyes and his own widen. “...wait.”

Katsuki bristles. Then something starts to churn, in his head. The stranger has big green eyes.

Big green eyes, and freckles. Familiar patterns speckled all over his face. Wild curls are attempting to escape out from under the hat, pasted to his forehead from sweat. If the hat wasn’t on it would be the same wild mass of uncontrollable coils that he remembers.

The last time he saw that face was years ago, out the back of a car as it drove away.

“Kacchan?” Deku asks, bigger and thicker and smelling like wolf in a way he definitely didn’t in first grade.

What the fuck?

#My Hero Academia #Boku No Hero Academia #Bakugou Katsuki #Midoriya Izuku #Hero Academia fic #skell writes #agricultural werewolves au

[quickspinner]

Beautiful Dreams - Ch 2 Daydreams

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | AO3

Marinette started coming to the music lessons every so often, dropping Louis off and picking him up. Luka gathered from Louis that it was unusual that she hadn’t come before, that normally Adrien and Marinette took turns getting Louis around to his activities. At least they didn’t just send him with the driver like Gabriel used to do. Luka wondered if Marinette hadn’t come before because she disagreed with Adrien about making Louis continue his lessons, but it was really none of his business, so he didn’t ask.

His reaction to her was just as strong as it was the first time, though he at least managed to retain control of his senses for the most part. It helped that their conversations were short and entirely professional, and after years of teaching, Luka could issue a verbal student progress report in his sleep. 

Luka did his best not to think about her outside of those interactions, and he was doing pretty well...for a while.

***

Luka sighed as he read Juleka’s message, and looked around for something to kill time. If he remembered where he was correctly, there was an outdoor flea market a couple streets over where he’d found some good vintage vinyls now and then. Might as well check it out, since Juleka was going to be late. 

Luka straightened the leather vest he wore over his t-shirt absently, glad he had opted against his jacket under this bright sun, checked to make sure he still had his wallet in his pocket, and set off. The market was a street or two farther down than he was thinking, but still only a few minutes walk. 

How he spotted her in a crowd like that, he’d never know, but there was Marinette, leaning over a table, turning over some brightly colored pieces of fabric—placemats maybe, he couldn’t really tell. She was dressed far more casually than he’d ever seen her, though she still looked nicely put together in jeans and a light sweater with a wide collar. Her dark hair was piled up in a messy bun so that there was one long unobstructed line from her neck to the curve of her shoulder—

Luka looked away quickly, feeling like a stupid teenager with a crush, butterflies in his stomach and all. It was stupid, he was stupid, he was a grown man and she was a client and he could say hi without being a total idiot about it. 

But then again, no, it would be weird, he decided. It would be one thing if she saw him, then obviously he would wave, but to go up and get her attention, no, they weren’t that closely acquainted. He aimed for a table piled with musical paraphernalia a few down from where she was and tried to stay casual and not look back at her again. 

Luka was thumbing through some old records looking for something interesting when suddenly there was a yelp and something crashed into him from the side. Luka lurched, just managing to keep his feet, but whoever had knocked into him was headed for a close encounter with the pavement. Luka reacted without thinking, managing to get one arm under the person—woman—and grab onto a wrist with the other hand. Off balance as he was, he couldn’t stop her fall entirely, but he managed to lower her to the pavement in a somewhat controlled way. His eyes widened when he realized who he had just rescued. “Fancy meeting you here,” he said with a slow grin, as Marinette blinked up at him. “You okay?”

“M. Couffaine!” she gasped. “I mean—Luka—I mean, yes, I’m okay, I’m so sorry, I don’t know what happened—”

Luka changed his grip from her wrist to her hand and tried to pull her to her feet, but she stumbled again immediately. “My shoes,” she said, leaning heavily on his arms. “Something’s wrong.” 

“Here, sit down,” Luka said, lowering her to the pavement a second time. “Ah.” He crouched at her feet, hooking two fingers through the shoelaces of her sneakers, which were tied to each other. “Looks like there’s a prankster on the loose.” 

“Oh!” Marinette made an irritated noise, blowing a piece of hair out of her face. “I bet I know exactly who it was. I just stopped some kids from throwing rocks at the birds a minute ago.” 

“You’re probably right,” Luka said, pulling off his sunglasses and getting down on one knee to tug at the knotted laces. “Just sit tight, I’m pretty good with knots.” He glanced up to find her looking at him with raised eyebrows. “Not, um, recreationally,” he grinned, with a wink that made her blush. “I grew up on a boat, so knots were kind of a part of life.” He avoided looking her in the eye, trying to focus on her shoelaces.

Not that looking at her legs was much better. Those jeans fit her really nicely. He bit his lip and hoped he wasn’t blushing visibly. 

“My bag,” Marinette muttered suddenly, twisting where she sat to look around. “Oh!” There was a large bag with the Gabriel logo on it on the ground nearby, its contents spread over the sidewalk. Fortunately most people were just walking around the mess rather than right over it, though her belongings were clearly in danger of being kicked all over the street. 

“I’ll get it, just sit tight for a minute,” Luka said, leaving her laces for the moment in favor of retrieving her things before they were trampled or stolen. 

“Wait, my sketchbook,” Marinette said, pointing to where it had fallen in the street. “I really need that. Everything else is replaceable.” She looked like she was about to crawl for it, but Luka waved a hand for her to wait and went to get it first. Watching the traffic carefully (Juleka would kill him if he ended up in the hospital over something like this), he stepped into the street, bent down, and got her book. He turned and held it up as he stepped back onto the curb; to his surprise, Marinette was blushing vividly. “Oh, um, thank you,” she stammered as he handed her the book, averting her eyes from him.

Slightly confused, Luka replayed the last few minutes in his mind. Wait, was she checking me out? Luka bit back a grin. “I’ll get the rest, just hang tight.” She made a strangled noise as he turned away, and it was all he could do to keep his laughter to himself as he picked up the rest of her things. He glanced back once, but Marinette was staring at the ground beneath her feet, her hands up on either side of her face like blinders. Luka laughed quietly as he picked up the rest of her things. She was too cute, and honestly it felt kind of good to be checked out by a woman like her. At least he felt less guilty for ogling her legs.

“I think I got everything,” he said as he set the bag down next to her. “You can check while I get you untied. Although—hang on, let’s get you out of the middle of the sidewalk.” There wasn’t much of a crowd at the moment but they were about due for the lunch rush to flood the sidewalks, and Parisians on a mission weren’t known for their patience. There was a bench only a few feet away. He crouched down beside her. “May I?”

Color flooded her face. “Oh, you don’t—I mean I can make it that far, you don’t have to—” 

“If that’s what you prefer,” Luka shrugged, offering his hands. She let him pull her to her feet and steady her, and then made a little hop towards the bench, and promptly toppled, almost losing her grip on her bag again. Luka, prepared this time, caught her around the waist, and raised an eyebrow, trying not to laugh and mostly failing.

Marinette sighed and pouted. “Fine. Please. I’m so sorry about all this.” 

“It’s fine,” Luka said, slipping one arm down under her knees. “Here we go.” 

A bridal carry was always a lot harder than they made it look on TV, but Marinette was small, so it didn’t take much to get her to the bench. He set her down and then sat down himself by her feet, guiding them up into his lap. 

“Thank you so much,” she said, sounding miserable. “Honestly, I’m so sorry about all this.” The little ladybug winked at him as she pressed her hand to her forehead in obvious frustration. 

“It’s all good,” Luka said, flashing her an easy smile. “I’m glad I was here.” He picked at her laces, silently resigning himself to redoing his nail polish that night. Marinette’s various falls had tightened the knot and there was no way his nails would survive. “I’m just killing time, anyway. I’m supposed to be meeting my sister for lunch, but she’s running late.” He glanced up and caught Marinette eyeing up his arms, but tried not to let on that he’d noticed, though a smile tugged at his lips. “How about you? Doing some shopping?”

“Some shopping, some sketching,” she sighed, leaning back on her hands. “Looking for inspiration, I guess.”

“This can be a good place to find it,” Luka said, glancing around at the market with all of its varied people and textures and sounds. “I’ve found it here a couple times myself. Been a while since I was here, though, honestly. I’m a little surprised to see you here in the middle of the day.” 

“Well, the truth is...” Marinette leaned forward, propped her cheek on one fist, and gave him a pout that drew his eyes straight to her sinfully perfect lips. “My assistant basically kicked me out of the office today. Apparently I was terrorizing the interns and she thought I could use a break. I’m not allowed to go back until at least 3:00.” She sighed. “I have a ton of stuff to do at the office, but I make it a point never to argue with the person responsible for my morning coffee, so here I am.” 

Luka had to clear his throat. “Sound policy.” He made the mistake of looking at her again and this time he caught the full impact of her beautiful eyes like a kick in the gut. His eyes tried to find somewhere else to look and landed on her bare neck, and the wide collar of her light sweater just hanging onto the tips of her shoulders—he quickly looked back down at what he was doing, mouth suddenly dry. He finally managed to pull free one loop of the knot. “There we go,” he muttered, just for something to say. “That should loosen it up a bit, and...there, you’re free.” He grinned at her, and retied her laces correctly.  

“Thank you so much!” Marinette turned and let her feet drop to the ground, and once again he couldn’t stop staring at the line of her neck and the curve of her shoulder. He needed to look away, right now, but before he could manage it she smiled up at him. “I’m so sorry for crashing into you like that.”

The first six responses he could think of were highly inappropriate and he was beginning to wonder if the collision had knocked a screw loose. “Better me than the pavement,” he finally managed, with a mostly natural smile. “Are you hurt?” 

“I don’t think so,” she said, checking her hands and arms, and dusting off the thigh of her jeans where she’d landed on the pavement. “No damage.”

“Good.” His phone buzzed and he checked it and sighed, falling back against the bench in frustration. 

“Everything okay?” Marinette asked, frowning. 

Luka sighed again but gave her a reassuring smile as he tucked his phone back into his pocket. “Yeah, it just looks my lunch date’s been cancelled, my sister can’t make it.” 

“Do you want to do it with me?” Marinette asked, and as Luka looked at her, startled, she went pale, and then red almost at once. “Oh my—I meant lunch! Do you want to grab lunch? Since you’re free and I’m thirsty—hungry! I mean it is hot and I need a drink and—shit, clearly I need something because my brain is totally malfunctioning.” She buried her face in her hands and gave a little moan. 

Her brain wasn’t the only one malfunctioning. Luka swallowed hard, trying to parse everything he’d just heard with the part of his mind that didn’t live in the gutter, but unfortunately it seemed most of it was at least visiting at the moment. Before he could make much progress, Marinette took a deep breath, took her hands off her face, and looked at him squarely. “Sorry, let me try that again. Can I buy you lunch as thanks for helping me out?” she asked, her face still red but appearing otherwise calm. 

“Ah, sure,” Luka answered before he could really think it through. “Sure, why not? Although you don’t really need to thank me, what was I going to do, leave you lying on the sidewalk to get trampled?” 

Marinette smiled. “Still. I nearly knocked you down, you had to pick up my stuff out of the street, and carry me around, and you fixed my laces. The least I can do is buy you a sandwich or something. Besides, now that you’ve mentioned food I’m kind of starving. Were you planning on somewhere close by?”

“Jules and I were just going to a little place a couple of blocks over. It’s—it’s not much, barely more than a food stand honestly, so if you’d rather do something else—”

“No, no, that sounds good!” Marinette actually looked excited about it, which Luka couldn’t really understand. She’d probably eaten at the best places in the city. Even divorced she probably had more money to her name than Luka had ever touched in his entire life. Hadn’t Adrien said she was Gabriel’s head designer? The phrase out of his league suddenly leapt to mind. Except, wait, he wasn’t trying to date her, he reminded himself. She was a client. 

Well, technically, Adrien was the client, but...no. Just, no.

As they walked Luka cursed his natural urge to touch; he kept finding his fingers on her upper arm or her shoulder and snatching them back as he guided her to the little food shop that he and Juleka liked. It really was just a little hole in the wall sandwich place, it didn’t even have any real seating, so he and Marinette ended up finding another bench to sit on as they ate. 

“Wow, this is really good,” Marinette exclaimed, catching a bit of sauce on her thumb and licking it off. Luka glanced at her just in time to catch the flick of her tongue and the flash of the ladybug, and he bit down on his sandwich a little harder than necessary. “Thanks for telling me about this place.” She wrinkled her nose and leaned towards him a bit, as if she were telling him a secret. “Gabriel would’ve shit a brick if he knew I was eating at a place like this, in public no less. Makes everything taste better.”

“Don’t mention it,” Luka laughed in incredulous surprise. “Any day I can make Gabriel Agreste roll in his grave is a good day.” 

“Ugh, that man,” Marinette shook her head, taking another bite. “If only he’d died sooner.” She flushed and covered her mouth with her fingers. “I mean…”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get no argument from me,” Luka chuckled. “I couldn’t stand him, and the feeling was very much mutual.” 

Marinette cocked her head at him. “How did you get to know Adrien? We were together for so long, I’m surprised I never met you before.”

“Music events,” Luka shrugged. “I didn’t see him regularly, really, just every few months. He was always really nervous and I hated sitting still in those damn awful suits they made me wear for recitals, so we’d run into each other pacing the halls and get to talking.” He shook his head. “Listening to Adrien perform back then was painful, it was like listening to a robot. Soulless, you know? I kept thinking what a waste, to spend all that time practicing and in the end all you got was that. We talked a lot wandering those halls, at first just about music, and then about a lot of other things, including his dad. After that, I started to understand why his music sounded the way it did.”

Marinette gave him a knowing look. “And you tried to help, didn’t you?”

“I—yeah, I did,” Luka chuckled. “I tried to help him feel the music. Eventually I invited him to be part of a band I was in at the time, tried to show him what music could really be like, you know, but he only got to come for a couple practices before the old man brought the hammer down. We kept in touch off and on, but we had to keep it quiet.” Luka rolled his eyes. “I’m a terrible influence, you see.” He gave a general gesture that included his dyed hair, pierced ears, tattooed arms, and general punk aesthetic.

Marinette made a sympathetic noise, her index finger bending down to rub the ladybug tattoo absently. 

Luka sighed. “Heaven forbid anybody teach his perfect little robot how to actually feel something while he played. Adrien did learn it somewhere along the line, but I’m not sure it was from me.” Luka’s forehead creased as he ran the memories through his mind. “I think he got together with you pretty shortly after Gabriel pulled him out of the band, now that I think about it. We didn’t see each other much over the next few months, Gabriel was paying too much attention. Eventually I think he just forgot about me since Adrien was back on the straight and narrow.”

“That sounds like Gabriel,” Marinette sighed, and then shook her head as if clearing it. “By the way, is your sister okay? I mean, I don’t mean to pry, it’s just, you said she cancelled on you, but I didn’t think to ask if anything was wrong.”

“Oh, she’s...fine,” Luka said, a little reluctantly, and then sighed heavily. “She and her wife had a baby very recently, and it’s been kind of tough on them both. I guess she just didn’t feel like she could leave them this morning.” Luka tapped a foot restlessly. “To be honest, it’s been rough for the whole family for a while now. My mother—our mother, she...passed away, about a year and a half ago, and I took it pretty hard, so Juleka’s had a lot on her shoulders between dealing with me and her pregnant wife, not to mention how the loss affected her. I really wanted to start making it up to her and at least get her out of the house for a little bit, but I guess today’s just not the day.” 

“That’s such a difficult time,” Marinette said sympathetically, crumpling up her empty sandwich wrapper and making a fairly impressive shot into a nearby trash bin. “I’m sorry to hear about your mother.” Luka glanced at her, and then away. He hated those words most of the time, but at least Marinette sounded sincere. “I can’t even imagine what it’s like for you to lose her, but I do know that a baby is a big change for everyone, even if you think you’re prepared and you have all the support in the world. Oh!” She held up a finger, and started digging in her bag. “Actually I have something that might help a little bit.” She pulled out a couple of envelopes out of her bag and offered it to him. Luka put aside his own trash and wiped his hands quickly on a napkin before taking them. “I used to get these all the time,” she said, as Luka’s eyes widened slightly reading them over. “Less these days, but still more than I want to mess with. There’s always some spa or other offering something to me, because of my position at Gabriel and as the former Mrs. Agreste.” She rolled her eyes. “I mean, I like a spa day as much as the next girl, but I don’t know, it just feels gross being offered stuff like this so they can brag about how they kept me young and fresh for the runway shows. Your sisters are welcome to use them. I know a good sitter if you need one.” 

“This—Marinette this is a really nice place, are you—are you sure?” The cards in his hands were probably worth two hundred euros each, easy. “Surely there’s someone else you would rather give them to?”

Marinette smiled and leaned over, covering his hands with her own. “Nobody that needs a day off as much as your sisters. And it’s not like I earned them, you know? It’s all for Gabriel and Adrien, not for me. I’d much rather your sisters get a break.” She sighed and got to her feet. “I have to get going, I have some meetings this afternoon that I can’t miss, but thanks for having lunch with me! I feel much less ready to murder interns now.” She hunched her shoulders slightly. “I probably should pick up something yummy for them as an apology for being so snappy this morning.” 

“Right,” Luka said absently, still rather stunned. “Marinette, are you really sure, I mean, thank you, very much, I just...um…” Marinette giggled when he just continued to stare. “Careful, you’ll catch flies.” She winked at him as he shut his mouth quickly, and it felt like her ladybug was laughing at him as she waved goodbye.

She got a few steps away and then turned around again, and he could have sworn she was blushing. “I’ll see you Tuesday? It’s my turn to bring Louis.”

“Yeah,” Luka said numbly, a little too late. “See you then.”

Marinette just gave him one more bright smile before taking a step backwards and catching her heel on an uneven place in the sidewalk. Luka winced but she managed to catch herself, and he caught a glimpse of her red face before she turned and power-walked away. She’s funny, he thought to himself with a smile, carefully putting away the spa certificates in an inside pocket of his vest. And generous. Kind and thoughtful. Hot, hell yes, but still cute. No wonder Adrien married her so young. If I’d met a girl like that back then, I wouldn’t have let her go either. 

***

By Tuesday afternoon, Luka was reasonably sure he had his shit together and his head mostly on straight, right up until Marinette and Louis showed up at his door and it turned out he couldn’t even look at Marinette right away. “Hi, Louis,” Luka exchanged a fistbump with the boy. “Ready to work?”

“Yes, sir,” Louis chirped, and then Luka’s eyes shifted up. She was back in her designer business suit with her hair carefully done, perfectly elegant and poised and untouchable. The consummate business woman.

“Marinette,” he greeted, as evenly as he could. “Nice to see you. No worse for wear?”

“Hi,” she smiled, and damn if he wasn’t getting just a little bit obsessed with that ladybug tattoo as she gave him an odd little wave and smoothed her hair self-consciously. “No, I was fine. Not even a bruise! You? I mean, of course you’re probably fine, but I did almost knock you down—”

“Mom, you’re being weird,” Louis whispered, and Luka had to look away to hide his smile. She might look like a business woman, but she still acted like the fluttered woman from the market.

“Hush, you,” Marinette muttered, face pink. She looked up at Luka and turned a little pinker. “Um, do you know of a coffee shop or something nearby where I can work? I have some things I really need to get done and I don’t want to waste more time in the car than I have to, so I thought I could just find somewhere close. If you know of anything.”

“I do,” Luka answered with a slow smile, “But you’re welcome to work here.” He gestured towards his living room. “Or at the table in the kitchen, if you prefer.”

“Oh, I don’t want to intrude on your private space,” Marinette said, holding up her hands, and there was the ladybug again. “A coffee shop is fine.”

Luka shrugged, eyebrows raising slightly. “It’s not intruding if you’re invited, but by all means, do whatever you’re comfortable with. There’s a shop around the corner. Honestly their coffee isn’t very good, at least not to my taste, but it’s a comfortable place to work. Or—” he swept his arm again toward his living room. “Make yourself at home. Take your pick. Come on, Louis, let’s get started.” He led the boy down the hall to the studio. 

With the music as a distraction, he quickly forgot about Marinette until the lesson was over, and when he walked out of the studio with Louis, he had to choke back a laugh. 

Marinette was sitting on his couch with her laptop across her knees and a bluetooth headset blinking in her ear, but her head had fallen back and she was snoring lightly. Her hands rested slack against her keyboard, twitching slightly. Luka covered his smile with his hand and Louis giggled. 

“She’s been working too hard again,” Louis whispered. He looked up at Luka hopefully. “Can we let her sleep?”

Luka sighed. “I wish we could, but I don’t know her schedule or what kinds of things she needed to do today, so it’s probably best if you go ahead and wake her up.” He patted Louis’ shoulder. “Sorry.”

Louis heaved a kid-sigh and trudged over to his mother. He tugged at her arm. “Maman.” Marinette whined, and Luka bit his lip against his amusement. She was too cute. 

Louis tugged harder, shaking her lightly. “Maman, wake up.”

“Not yet, Louis, it’s too early. Come rest with Maman,” Marinette slurred, wrapping her arm around Louis and pulling him down against her. 

“Maman!” Louis shot a pleading look at Luka, who couldn’t help chuckling. Louis glared at him. “You were the one who said I had to wake her up. Quit laughing and help me.”

“All right, all right,” Luka put up his hands, still chuckling, and went to Marinette’s other side. The ottoman made leaning over her awkward from that position so he sat next to her and took hold of her shoulder, shaking gently. “Marinette. Wake up, honey.” He winced slightly. That probably wasn’t appropriate. She stirred, but didn’t quite wake. Luka shook her again. “Marinette.” 

She rolled her head towards him with a soft “Hmm?” and her eyes blinked open sleepily.  God, she’s cute.

“You fell asleep,” he told her softly. She blinked those beautiful eyes a couple more times before the realization sank into her brain, and she shot up off the couch, and then promptly lost her balance as her shins hit the ottoman. Louis caught her laptop as it slid off her lap. Luka lunged and got an arm around her waist and a hand on her forearm. “Easy, easy,” he soothed, trying to steady her and hold his own balance at the same time. “You’re okay. You couldn’t have been asleep for long.” He guided her to sit back down. 

“I’m so sorry,” she gasped. She looked at Louis and then back at Luka. “The lesson’s over?” 

“All done,” Luka nodded. 

“I’m so sorry to impose.” She checked the time. “Um, the driver should be here shortly.” 

Luka shrugged. “It’s no trouble. Louis is my last student for today and I don’t need to be anywhere.”  He looked at Louis and tilted his head toward the row of guitars. “You want to pick another one?” Louis had been curious, so they usually spent a few minutes going over whichever guitar model he wanted to look at that week while they waited for the car. These were Luka’s personal instruments, and he didn’t normally let students touch them, but Louis was clean and careful, and Luka couldn’t refuse in the face of the boy’s enthusiasm.

Louis brightened and went over to the row of guitars, chewing his lip thoughtfully. Luka chuckled at his serious expression, and he heard Marinette giggle at the same time. The two adults shared an amused look. 

“Can you show me this one?” Louis pointed.

“Sure.” Luka picked up the classical guitar, checked that it was in tune, and set it in Louis’ hands. Luka showed Louis how to hold it, positioning his hands, and described how it differed both from the bass and the steel-string acoustic that he’d tried before. Without prompting, Louis positioned his fingers into the chord Luka had shown him the previous week, and strummed.

Luka grinned. “Not bad, piano man.”

Louis giggled, and offered it back to him. “I like this one,” Louis said, “Can you play something on it? Please,” he added hastily, glancing at his mother.

Luka took the guitar and sat down on the couch, positioning it in his lap. He played a simple tune, Louis’ eyes following his fingers curiously. Then a wicked idea came to him and he grinned, fingers already moving to his purpose as he darted a glance at Marinette. 

“Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,” he sang, and nearly lost his composure entirely at Marinette’s dropped jaw and outraged expression. “Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee…”

Louis caught on and giggled, and Marinette shot him a look of betrayal. 

“Sounds of the rude world, heard in the day, lulled by the moonlight, have all passed away—“ He only barely made it to the end of the verse without laughing, and then had to pause, one hand over his lips, to get his chuckling under control. 

“Rude,” huffed Marinette, which only made both Luka and Louis laugh harder. 

Luka kept playing, even as he tried to stifle his laughter. He meant to give her his best puppy eyes in request for forgiveness, “Beautiful dreamer—“ but their eyes locked and as he sang the line, the look became something else. “Queen of my song,” his voice had gone a little husky, but he was committed now. “List while I woo thee with soft melody.” He couldn’t make himself look away. “Gone are the cares of life’s busy throng. Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me.” His hands finished the song almost absently. When the last chord faded, Marinette blushed and looked away. 

Luka cleared his throat, tearing his eyes away from her and looking back to Louis, unsurprised to find the boy watching him intently. Louis was a smart kid, empathetic and intuitive. Luka had known that from their first lesson. Dropping his eyes to the guitar, Luka played the first thing that came to mind. “My love is like a red red rose, that’s newly sprung in June, my love is like a melody that’s sweetly played in tune.” 

Louis wrinkled his nose. “Don’t you know any that aren’t mushy?”

Luka chuckled. “It’s a romantic instrument.” He nudged Louis with his elbow. “Like the piano.” He played a few more bars, and sighed. “My mother used to sing that one when I was a kid,” Luka said a little thickly, a sudden sense of loss sweeping over him. He cleared his throat, and felt a hand press his shoulder. He looked into soft blue eyes and his breath caught for a moment. 

“It’s lovely that you can remember her that way,” Marinette said quietly.

Luka cleared his throat again. “Yeah. She left a pretty strong legacy behind. This is the first time I’ve sung it since…I don’t know why I picked it now.”

Marinette sat down on the ottoman, her knees almost touching his. “Can you play a little more? Only if you want to.”

Luka complied, if only to keep from breaking down. “As fair art thou my bonnie lass,” he sang softly, but heavy with emotion, and then his years of performance betrayed him and he made the mistake of looking up into her face, “So deep in love am I—” His throat seized up for a moment as their eyes locked. Oh, shit, he thought, heart racing. He tore his gaze away, swallowing. “And I will love thee still my dear,” he managed, “Till all the seas run dry.” Luka shook his head, putting the guitar aside quickly. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“That’s okay. It was beautiful.” Marinette reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “I hope someday you’ll be able to play the whole thing again.”

Luka nodded, his gaze still on the carpet as he tried to get a grip on the conflicting emotions swirling around in his gut. 

“I like that one,” Louis said again, only a little stiffly. “The guitar, I mean.”

“Me too,” Luka wiped his eyes with his thumb and smiled, looking at him. “It’s my favorite after the electric. It’d suit you if you’d like to give it a try.”

Louis frowned. “I play piano.”

Luka chuckled. “So do I. You can play more than one. You’re allowed to love more than one instrument.”

Louis' eyes flicked between Luka and Marinette, and then he looked at the floor as he shook his head. “I play piano.”

Luka got the hint. “Okay.”

“The driver’s here,” Marinette burst out, looking at her phone, clearly relieved. “Time to go, Louis.” She held out her hand to Luka. “Thanks for letting me work in your home.”

“My pleasure,” he said, standing and taking her hand, squeezing it gently rather than shaking it. “Don’t work too hard. Louis worries about you.” He smiled. “And you can’t be your best creative self if you're exhausted.” She blushed adorably and dropped his hand like it burned her. 

“Yes, well, um...thank you. Bye.”

“Mom,” Louis whispered, taking her hand. “You’re being weird.”

“I’m always weird,” she hissed back. 

Luka looked away to hide his smile, then put the guitar on the stand. He picked up Marinette’s briefcase and laptop bag and motioned her towards the entry. “Shall we?” 

“Right, yes,” Marinette said quickly, and Louis rolled his eyes and tugged her down the hall. Luka followed with Marinette’s things. He walked them all the way to the car. “Thank you,” Marinette said breathlessly as she took her bag. 

“My pleasure,” Luka said again, and she looked up at him for a moment and all he saw was blue, blue, blue, how could anyone’s eyes be so blue. 

He kept it together long enough to say goodbye and get back inside, but only barely. Luka shut the door and put his back to it, sliding down to the floor and putting his head in his hands. “Shit,” he muttered under his breath. “This can’t be happening.” This had disaster written all over it. He couldn’t possibly be falling in love with Adrien’s ex-wife. 

But he was. Oh God, he was. And somehow he’d sung her his mother’s song and he missed his mom so much and now he was six different kinds of fucked up and it was a good thing Louis was his last lesson for the day, because he wasn’t sure he’d be getting up off the floor anytime soon.

Luka fumbled his phone out of his pocket and dialed, holding it up to his ear as he tangled his fingers in his hair and rested his forehead on his knees.

“Hey, Luka, what’s up?”

“Hey Jules.” His voice cracked and he cleared his throat. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing,” he said quickly. “Nothing major, anyway, just...sad. Do you think I could come over tonight? I’d really like to see my girls.”

“Of course,” Juleka replied, and he kind of hated the softening of her usual cutting tone. It made him feel even more pathetic. “Are you—do you need me to come home now?”

“No,” Luka said quickly. “No, I can wait until you’re off work.”

“Okay,” Juleka sighed. “If you’re sure. I’ll be home at six, but if you need to, you can go on over, you know Rose will be there.” 

“I don’t want to bother her,” Luka shook his head. “I know she’s been struggling emotionally since she had the baby, I don’t want to bring her down any worse. I’ll wait for you. I probably need a little time to get my head on straight anyway.”

“Okay, but you know we’re there if you need us, right?” Juleka sounded worried and Luka winced. 

“I promise, Jules, I’m okay. Just...some things got a little heavy today, and I started playing mom’s song without even thinking about it and it just kind of hit me like a truck, that’s all. I promise I’m okay this time.”

“Okay, bro,” Juleka sighed. “I gotta go, okay, I’ll see you tonight.”

“Thanks Jules. Bye.” He set the phone down on the floor next to him and leaned his head back on the door.

He didn’t like to say he had taken his mother’s death harder than Juleka; they were a close-knit family and they all felt the loss. Their grief just looked different. Juleka had Rose and now their daughter, and she couldn’t afford to fall apart all at once, so she did it in little pieces spread out over time. Luka had commitments he had to keep, and he had, but he’d had a lot more freedom to be crushed by the weight of losing his mother and the boat he’d grown up in. He put his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands in front of his face, blowing out a breath. 

Now he had a new problem. He was falling for Marinette. Maybe had fallen already. Probably was doomed the moment he opened the door that first day and forgot how to breathe. And as he sat there and admitted it to himself, the logical next question presented itself:

What are you going to do about it?

The smart thing would be to do nothing. She was his student’s mother and his friend’s ex-wife. He didn’t see her outside of work except for that one time. He could ignore it, write a few songs about it and move on. Maybe go on some dates to take his mind off it. Juleka had been bugging him to go out again.

The thought of dating again made him sigh. The whole cycle of dating just exhausted him. He led something of a double life, mild-mannered music teacher by day and rock guitarist by night, and it felt like he was always disappointing the people he dated eventually, because he didn’t care about the conventional definitions of success. Luka wasn’t ambitious; he didn’t need to be a rock star or a virtuoso. Music had always been about connection for Luka. He liked playing small venues and he liked teaching his students. At the same time, he loved playing his own music, he loved playing with the band, and he wasn’t about to give that up either. Introverted by nature, dealing with his kids and clients and crowds already wore him out—usually in a good way, a ready to recharge and go to bed at the end of the day way. Add dating into that though, and...ugh. 

Luka couldn’t remember the last he’d been excited to go out with someone. What was the point? How could you connect with someone when you spent the whole day dreading the experience? So he just...stopped. Dating for the sake of dating, anyway. He’d always thought when he met someone that made him think it’d be worth it, he’d try again.

Lately Luka had started to entertain the thought that he had Juleka and Rose and his niece and his music kids, and maybe that should just be enough for him. And it...sort of was. Sometimes. 

But Marinette...she would be worth it. He wanted to go out with her, he wanted to know her better. The thought of holding her, kissing her, sent a visceral longing through him he hadn’t felt since his last serious relationship. And...she’d seemed a little bit into him too. Attracted to him, at least. Maybe there was a chance, if he was willing to take it, but...

Luka slid his hands down his face and stared over his fingertips into his empty apartment.

***

It was hard, waiting for Juleka to get out off work, and Luka was knocking on their door before Juleka had even had time to change out of her work clothes. He planted himself on the couch and fidgeted until she came back. 

“Sorry,” Juleka said, handing him a soda. “Rose doesn’t want to drink while she’s nursing so we don’t have any beer.”

“It’s fine,” Luka sighed. “Probably the last thing I need right now anyway.” He looked longingly at the baby carrier strapped to Juleka’s chest. Luka’s heart eased a bit just looking at her. “Mind if I hold her for a bit?” 

Juleka smiled, took Angelique out of the baby carrier, and handed her over carefully.  Luka grinned down at the scrunched up little face. “Hey, you,” he cooed. “How’s my best girl?” 

Angie’s newborn-blue eyes were squinty and unfocused, but she turned her head towards him, wiggling in her wrap. Luka sighed and murmured “I wish Mom could have seen her.”

Juleka raised her eyebrows. “Is that really why you sounded so messed up when you called? Missing Mom?” 

“Some of it,” Luka sighed again. “Hang on, I’m moving out of smacking range before I tell you this one.” He slid to the far end of the couch.

“What did you do,” Juleka groaned, letting her head fall back against the couch. “Damnit, Luka.”

“I haven’t even said anything!”

“Fine, then say it so I can get on with complaining about what an idiot you are.”

Luka eyed her for a minute before admitting, “It’s a girl.”

“Damnit, Luka!”

“Real encouraging, Jules,” Luka snapped, getting a little irritated. Angie made a fussy noise and he automatically began rocking her, making a gentle shushing noise near her ear.

“So,” Juleka sighed, when Angelique was quiet again, “Lay it on me.”

Luka told her the whole story, as honestly as he could manage. How Adrien had come to him for help. How he’d met Marinette. How he’d reacted to meeting Marinette. How she was sweet and pretty and kind, and even though he hadn’t known her very long, but—

“You never know them very long,” Juleka muttered. “That’s your problem. If you would go out and meet some real people, make some friends, you might have better luck.”

Luka didn’t bother answering. That was an old argument. It was something Luka had accepted about himself that Juleka never quite had. Most of the time, he felt an instant connection, or none at all. 

“Well,” Juleka said slowly, picking at a loose thread on the battered couch. “What are you going to do about it?”

Luka sighed. He’d been stewing over that all day. “She’s Adrien’s ex-wife.”

“Emphasis on the ex.”

“He’d probably be really hurt,” Luka mused, scrubbing his hand over his face. “I know the divorce wasn’t his idea.” Juleka didn’t respond right away and Luka frowned. “You’re making the face.”

“What face?” 

“The face you make when you’re trying to be tactful,” Luka said wryly. “Just spit it out, Jules, you suck at tact.”

“First, bite me, and second, they’re divorced.” Juleka shrugged. “She left him. Unless you think they might get back together—” Luka shook his head. “Then I know there’s probably some stupid bro code bullshit but—” Juleka made a gesture that clearly showed her opinion of that. “You’d hate yourself if you missed out on something great for such a stupid reason. He really doesn’t have any right to be upset. Marinette’s the one who decides who she wants to be with, if anyone. Besides, you and Adrien hadn’t seen each other in years until he called needing your help.”

“That doesn’t mean we’re not friends,” Luka protested. “You’re so desperate for me to be in a relationship that you’ll justify anything,” he grumbled, rubbing his cheek lightly against Angie’s soft hair.

“If you believed that you wouldn’t be here asking me for advice.” She paused. “And I’m only desperate for you to be happy. I just know you’re lonely. It’d be one thing if you were really happy on your own but we both know you’re not. And you know Mom would tell you to go for it if she were here.”

Luka scowled. “Low, Jules.”

Juleka spread her hands. “Disagree with me.”

Luka couldn’t because he knew she was right. Anarka had always been a damn the consequences kind of woman, especially when it came to romance. 

“She’s a client,” he pointed out half-heartedly. “It’d be unprofessional to ask her out when I’m working, and I wouldn’t do it in front of the kid anyway. You and I both know how crappy that feels. I feel bad that I let it slip in front of him this afternoon as it is. I’ve only ever seen her the one time outside of work, and that was a fluke.”

“A fluke, or an opportunity?” Juleka asked him, raising her eyebrows slightly. “Maybe you should see if the universe throws you another one. Do what you do best, go with the flow, and then seize the moment when it comes.”

“What if it doesn’t come?” Luka asked moodily. 

“Then maybe it wasn’t meant to be,” Juleka shrugged. “Or maybe you’re actually going to have to step up and make something happen. Your call, really.” She gave a lopsided smile. “How much faith do you have in the universe right now?”

Luka snorted. “You’re joking, right?” He jumped slightly as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and his eyes widened slightly. “You’ve gotta be shitting me.”

“What?” Juleka said.

Luka picked up the call. “Hey Marinette,” he said as casually as he could manage, making sure not to look at Juleka. “What can I do for you?”

“Hi, Luka, I’m so sorry to bother you,” she said, sounding flustered as usual, “I think I left a folder at your place this afternoon, and I was hoping I could come by and pick it up. Did you see it? It was pink and—well, it was a pink folder, it looks like any other folder except pink, I don’t know what I was trying to—anyway, have you seen it?”

“I haven’t,” Luka said, trying not to laugh. “But I can look for it when I get home.”

“Oh, you’re out—well, of course you’re out, why wouldn’t you be out, I’m stupid—”

Luka grinned in spite of himself, and turned his face away from Juleka’s rising eyebrows. “Yeah, I’m hanging out with my sisters tonight, but I could drop it by your office tomorrow if you like.”

“Oh, no, I don’t want to trouble you, I know you have students and...and whatever, so just let me know what time is good and I’ll come by and pick it up tomorrow?” 

“It wouldn’t be any trouble—” Luka began, and then changed his mind. “But if you’d rather pick it up that’s fine, just let me know when you’re heading over. I’ll look for it when I get home and text you?”

“That’s perfect, thank you,” Marinette said gratefully. “I’m so sorry, God knows what you must think about me after this afternoon as it is, and now I’m—”

“Stop, stop,” Luka said gently. “It’s fine, Marinette. You’re human and Louis said you’ve been working really hard. It’s great to be dedicated but don’t let it burn you out.” He caught the warning look Juleka gave him and broke off the lecture. “Anyway, I don’t think badly about you at all, so—so I’ll see you sometime tomorrow.” Juleka rolled her eyes at him and he made a face at her that meant shut up. 

“Right, tomorrow. Um, goodnight, Luka.”

“Goodnight, Marinette,” Luka said, and hung up quickly, blowing out a breath. 

Juleka smirked at him. “Smooth.”

“Oh shut the fuck up,” he muttered, chucking a throw pillow at her.

“Hey! Don’t curse in front of the baby, asshole!” she scowled, and then winced at a shriek of “Juleka!” from the doorway.

Luka grinned smugly. “Hey Rose.” Juleka subtly flipped him off where Rose couldn’t see.

“Hi Luka.” Rose leaned over the couch and kissed his temple, and while she greeted Juleka, Luka fished the two spa cards Marinette had given him out of his jacket pocket. 

“I’ve got something for you two,” he said, when they were ready to pay attention to him again. He held up the envelopes and Rose moved to take them from him. She opened one and gaped.

“Luka Couffaine!” she whisper-yelled, falling onto the couch next to him. “You did not spend this kind of money on us.”

“I didn’t, actually,” Luka grinned as Juleka reached to take the card from Rose and read it over. “They were a gift from a client. We were talking, and she said she remembered how hard it was to be a new mom, and that you deserved a day out. As it happens, I agree with her.” 

“But the baby—” Rose began, but Luka leaned over and patted her knee. 

“I can watch her for a day. Come on, Rose, you’ve barely left the house for a month except to go to the grocery store. You guys need some time for yourselves. I promise I can handle her long enough for you guys to go get a pedicure and a massage or whatever.”

“It would be nice,” Rose mused. 

“Is this the same client we were talking about?” Juleka asked suspiciously.

“Yes,” Luka admitted.

“Uh-huh.” Juleka pondered that for a moment. “Well, I definitely approve of you dating someone who gives these kinds of gifts.”

Rose’s head whipped around toward him so fast he was surprised she didn’t topple over. “You’re dating someone? Luka! Tell me everything right now!”

Luka glared at Juleka. “You did that on purpose.”

“You should have known I would.”

Luka had to tell the whole story over again, and by the time Rose was done with her interrogation, he was ready to leave. He gave back the baby (who clearly needed a change at that point anyway), kissed both his sisters, and headed back to his own place.

When he got home, a quick search of the living room turned up Marinette’s folder between the couch and ottoman. 

“All right, universe,” he muttered under his breath, looking at the pastel sign from the gods in his hands. “You better not be fucking with me here.”

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | AO3

***

Inspiration music for this chapter: 

There’s a billion versions of Beautiful Dreamer (written by Stephen Foster) but here are a few of my favorites:

My Love is Like a Red Red Rose was originally a poem that many artists have put to music, but below is the version I specifically used for inspiration. You can read the original poem by Robert Burns here.

#quickspins #beautiful dreams #lukanette #this is a long one but I didn't want to break it #oh no he's hot #these two dorks #you know i love me some couffaine sibling teasing #jumping in with both feet #and of course juleka has to give him a hard time #i am lukanette trash i admit it #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #miraculousladybug #miraculous ladybug #ml fics

[vengfulfate]

Both of Them, and Only Them, Ch. 11

Story Summary -   Melanie and Miltiades Malachite have trouble with love. They share everything, and this has either scared people away or made them think their relationship was more open than the twins would wish. Then along came Ruby Rose… could she be the one the sisters have searched for?

Chapters: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten

Once again, another age-long wait for the next chapter. But lately I’ve been on a tear with my writing, so even thought I’m not ‘between projects’, I found time to finish this! And speaking of finish... as I contemplate how far into RWBY I want to take this story, I realize... we’re probably nearing the end. One, maybe two more chapters after this one to reach the end of Vol. 3, and I’ll probably call the story closed...

Well until then, we still have story left, so please enjoy!

---

The second time the twins beheld Beacon up close was very different from the first. First of all, the sun was still up, reflecting off the high towers like divine halos. Additionally, they were dressed in their usual daywear as opposed to the fancy dresses from the ball. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, their destination was not the school itself, but the massive floating arena and the fairgrounds surrounding it.

The Vytal Festival. That celebration of worldwide unity and peace accompanied by a friendly competition between the up and coming fighters of the four great academies. A competition that team RWBY would be partaking in. A competition that Ruby’s girlfriends are eager to watch.

A competition that the Malachite twins were running late for.

Melanie and Miltiades were doing their best to look like they weren’t rushing as they rushed to Amity Arena. “We’ll never hear the end of this...” Miltiades lamented.

“We’ll be fine,” Melanie assured, “Look, there’s still a transport!”

In the coliseum locker room, Ruby peeked out the door at the stands nervously. “Where are they?”

“Stop fussing, they’ll be here,” Weiss assured, “They know how much this means to you.”

“They should be here already...” Ruby pointed out.

“They probably got held up at the club,” Yang theorized, “Or stuck in the traffic, there are a ton of tourists here for the festival.”

“They’ll be here,” Weiss repeated, taking Ruby’s shoulder. “C’mon, we have to get ready. You want to give them a show, right?”

Ruby shook her head and stepped back inside to ready her gear. “Head in the game, Rose...” she told herself, “you know they won’t miss this on purpose.”

Weiss walked over to where Yang and Blake were getting ready. “I hope the twins get here soon,” Weiss told them, “I’m afraid Ruby won’t be in the right headspace for the fight otherwise...”

“They’ll be here,” Blake was confident, “but will they be here for the start of the match…?”

“If Rubes doesn’t see them in the stands...” Yang shared her teammates concern.

A red light by the door lit up, indicated it was time to step onto the arena.

“They’ve given us more than enough time to prepare,” Weiss pointed out, “we can’t stall down here.”

“We’ll just have to go out there, and hope the twins made it,” Blake solemnly agreed.

Team RWBY stepped out together onto the arena, scanning the crowded stands as they walked. Ruby’s spirits began to fall, until Weiss nudged her shoulder and pointed. The redhead shot her gaze the direction her partner indicated to see a pair of out of breath twins dashing down the steps to the front row of seats. She breathed a sigh of relief.

“I told you so,” Weiss reminded her smugly.

“Now we have to win,” Yang smiled at her sister, “wouldn’t want to disappoint them, would you?”

“Of course not!” Ruby grinned. “Team RWBY, Banzai on three! One! Two! Three!”

“Banzai!”

---

“Ruby!”

“Mel! Miltia!”

The young leader and her twin girlfriends quickly found each other after the match. Ruby jumped and threw an arm each around each twin. The twins, plenty practiced with Ruby’s tackle-hugs, caught her effortlessly.

“You did great!” Miltiades complimented.

“Of course she did,” Melanie affirmed, “looks like we picked a winner, Miltia.”

“Now, please tell me you two are hungry...” Ruby pleaded, “because I am staaaaaarving...”

“Let’s all eat!” Yang offered.

“All of us?” Miltiades asked.

“You three will have plenty of time together the rest of the festival,” Weiss assured, “and I feel, as the team just achieved a victory, the team should celebrate together.”

“You’re just excited we voted you for doubles,” Blake teased at the heiress.

“It can be both!” Weiss immediately defended.

“Who’s moving on?” Melanie asked, “Weiss and…?”

“Aaaand me!” Yang announced, flexing her arms.

“Aw...” Melanie voiced, “I was looking forward to seeing our Gem fight more.”

Ruby blushed at the pet name. “W-well, we decided Weiss had the best forward planning and Yang was our best backup plan to Weiss.”

“I’m pretty good at the ‘beat the thing up until the thing isn’t there anymore’ strategy,” Yang elaborated.

“We’re aware,” Miltiades reminded her.

“Oh yeah...” Ruby remembered as well, “I forgot about that.”

“And we will not be talking about it. Ever,” Melanie laid down the law.

“Anyways,” Blake cut in, “I think we should get to eating-”

GROOWWWL

“… soon.”

“Was that…?” Miltiades asked Blake.

“Your stomach?” Melanie finished.

“C’mon,” Yang motioned everyone to follow her, “I know a place.”

---

Yang had led them to a noodle stand. They were shortly joined by team JNPR and the group shared a joyous meal.

“So good...” Ruby rubbed her stomach with a smile.

“I’m stuffed...” Yang agreed.

“I’m gunna puke...” Jaune disagreed.

“Was it really wise to eat before your match?” Weiss asked.

“It will give us energy!” Pyrrha announced confidently.

“And you could aim it at the enemy!” Nora suggested.

“Ew,” the twins reacted in unison.

“Nora, that’s disgusting,” Ren agreed with the twins. Then he looked Jaune, “though, if you must...”

“Ew,” Ruby’s voiced joined her girlfriends’ this time.

“Speaking of,” Yang asked, “when do you-?”

“Would Team JNPR please report to the battlegrounds immediately!”

“Yes! Like they were scheduled to, several minutes ago!”

“...Never mind!”

“I suppose that is our cue,” Pyrrha stood. “Shall we walk together? You are watching the fight, correct?”

“Sure,” Blake shrugged.

“Of course!” Weiss agreed.

“Why not?” Yang rationalized.

“Actually...”

Everyone looked to Ruby in surprise.

“What?” Ruby responded, “between training for the tournament and going home for break, I feel like I haven’t seen the twins in forever. Would it offend you if I spent time with them around the fairgrounds instead?” She suddenly looked to the twins, slightly panicked, “U-unless you two want to watch the fight, of course!”

“We wouldn’t mind spending time on the fairgrounds,” Miltiades spoke first.

“Besides the obvious, we really don’t want to sit on a meal like that,” Melanie revealed. “Not that it wasn’t delicious, but, well… we don’t get nearly the same level of exercise that you all do.”

“You both only ate half-a-bowl each,” Weiss pointed out. Her hand then found its way to her own gut, “though I guess you may still have a point.”

“Go ahead,” Pyrrha smiled, “Spending time with who you love is a true treasure.”

“You would know, Pyrrha...” Ruby muttered under her breath at the others walked toward the arena.

“What does that mean?” Melanie asked.

“Well, you see, her and Jaune-” Ruby began.

“Are together, right?” Melanie interrupted.

“Nope!” Ruby shook her head.

“Seriously?” the twins were stunned.

“They’re the only ones who don’t see how into each other they are,” Ruby told them. “Oh well!” she carried on, jumping down from her seat and bowing to the twins, “are you ready for our adventure, my ladies?”

The twins giggled. “You’re so adorable,” Miltiades remarked.

“It makes me want to eat. You. Up,” Melanie teased.

Ruby had had enough practice by now to tease right back without missing a beat, “well, maybe if we were all alone, I’d let you.”

Melanie, however, saw right through Ruby’s poor attempt at a sultry voice. “Liar,” she called out, “I bet you’d get all embarrassed if we so much as had a sleeve slip.”

“A sleeve? Psshh” Ruby tried to sound offended, “I can handle a sleeve.”

“Oh really?” Miltiades reached for hers.

“Anyway!” Ruby spun around, putting her back to the twins. Her face burned as bright as her hood. “We should get going! We want to see the whole fairground, right!?”

The twins smirked in triumph. “Lead on, Gem,” they offered in unison.

---

Melanie eyed down the milk-jugs stacked on a table inside a booth, a ball in hand. Her arm wound tight, she felt the balance of the ball in her hand, and she let loose.

Plink!

She hit the corner of the stack and sent all of the bottles tumbling to the ground. “Yes!”

“You did it!” Ruby congratulated, “I always thought these games were rigged!”

“You have good aim,” Miltiades assured the sniper, “but, maybe not the best arm.”

Melanie picked out a large stuffed Ursa and handed it to the redhead. “For you, Gem.”

Ruby smiled and accepted the doll. “Thank you.”

They continued walking the fairgrounds, talking, eating snacks, and generally enjoying each other’s company. For the most part. The twins did feel slightly jealous at how tight Ruby cuddled the stuffed Ursa as they walked, but they supposed she would just have to make up for that later. After being so long since seeing the young leader, the twins were having the best day.

Until…

“Ruby!?”

“Hm?” Ruby spun around to see the voice. “Pen- OOF!”

… a mysterious orange-haired girl hug-tackled the redhead to the ground.

“Whyyy…” Ruby groaned from the ground.

“Hello, Ruby my friend! How are you!?” the girl asked, still holding Ruby on the ground.

“I’m good…” Ruby’s voice sounded dazed. “But… maybe you could let me breath…?”

“Oh! I am very sorry!” Penny cried, finally loosening her grip and sitting up.

The twins were quick to help the pair to their feet. “So, who is this?” Melanie asked. Ruby didn’t catch the suspicion behind her eyes.

“Oh!” Ruby straightened herself out. “This is Penny! Penny, this is Melanie and Miltiades Malachite! They’re my girlfriends!”

Penny seemed to take a moment to process this. “Both of them? Is that possible?”

The twins’ guard immediately rose as they were offended. Ruby, conversely, laughed as though Penny’s words were only humorous. “Of course it is! I love them, and they love me!”

“Interesting!” Penny smiled wide. “I was never… told… such a thing could happen. You know, back in Atlas.”

“Well, now you do!” Ruby brushed over that comment. The twins wondered if their Gem knew something they didn’t that allowed this conversation to sound so casual.

“Indeed!” Penny nodded.

“So how are you?” Ruby asked her friend.

“I am doing wonderful, thank you for asking!” Penny gestured around them, “there is so much to do here, the fairgrounds are quite a sight!”

“Hey, if they’re letting you roam around, we should hang out!” Ruby planned excitedly.

“Yes… about them ‘letting me’…” Penny leaned to the side.

A dark-skinned girl in a beret appeared behind her. She pointed rather viciously to her watch. “If we don’t move along, we’re going to be late!”

“This is my teammate Ceil Soleil!” Penny introduced her. “Time-keeping is very important to her.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” Ruby chuckled nervously. “It’s, um… nice to meet you!”

“Likewise,” Ciel deadpanned. She didn’t sound happy to meet Ruby at all. “Ma’am, we really should be going.”

“I’ll be right behind you!” Penny assured. Ciel rolled her eyes, but began to walk away. Once the time-keeper’s back was turned, Penny leaned closer to Ruby. “I’ll find a moment to slip away so we can hang out. Promise!” With that, the strange girl waved goodbye.

“She’s…” Miltiades started.

“Unique,” Melanie finished.

“Yeah,” Ruby nodded, “she’s a cute little clueless dork. Gasp, cotton candy!”

“Speaking of cute, clueless dorks…” Miltaides shook her head. She was surprised to notice her sister didn’t share her smile. “Mel?”

Melanie didn’t answer vocally, using her head to gesture the direction Penny had left. Miltiades frowned and nodded, the two coming to a silent agreement.

---

It turned out Penny wasn’t that hard to track down. There weren’t a lot of people with hair that… orange. Other than perhaps Nora Valkyrie, but the twins knew enough to not mix the two up. They were lucky enough to find the strange new girl only a few minutes after breaking off from Ruby. They had plenty of time for what they had to do, or so they hoped.

Penny greeted them the moment she noticed them. “Oh! Hello! Melanie and Miltiades, correct? I don’t believe Ruby pointed out who is who, however…”

The twins said nothing as they dragged the poor girl to an out-of-the-way corner. Penny knew she wasn’t good with social cues, but just what was going on? She was sure this was one of the few times even a ‘normal’ girl would share her confusion. “What is going on?”

“That’s what we want to know,” Melanie accused.

“I don’t understand,” Penny told them.

“What do you want from Ruby?” Miltiades interrogated.

“I don’t-”

“We saw you holding her,” Melanie reminded the girl.

“How excited you were to see her,” Miltiades continued.

“And you want to ditch your team to see her some more,” Melanie added.

“But know nothing will happen,” Miltiades warned.

“We won’t stand back and let you get between the three of us,” Melanie pressed.

Penny looked hopelessly lost. “Whaa… I don’t… What?”

During this exchange, Ruby had been scouring the fairgrounds for her girlfriends. She finally spotted them behind the corner of one of the larger stalls by the fairground’s edge. “There you are!” she called out, getting their attention. She began walking hurriedly toward them, “I have been looking all over for…”

Her steps slowed as an extremely panicked Penny came into view from around the stall’s corner. Ruby stopped short just in front of the group, her brow rising. “What is going on here?”

“Ruby!” Melanie was finally snapped out of her stupor.

“I… we…” Miltiades tried to say something, but couldn’t find words.

“Ruby?” Penny finally found her voice, “did I do something wrong?”

“Why would you think that?” Ruby asked her friend.

“Well, your girlfriends dragged me over here and began to shout at me,” Penny explained. “Apparently, I’m not allowed to position myself in between the three of you?”

Ruby crossed her arms and glared at the twins with a look that they had never seen before but were inherently terrified of. Despite being a few inches taller, Ruby’s newfound power made them feel several feet shorter. And very, very guilty.

“I mean I could just take a step sideways in that situation, right?” Penny quickly tried to mend things.

That thing that the Malachite twins would only ever describe the ‘The Glare™’ vanished from Ruby’s face as she turned to the other redhead. “You did nothing wrong at all, Penny. Don’t worry about this, okay?” she assured Penny with a smile. “However,” Ruby fixed The Glare™ right back onto the twins, “I do need a private word with these two.”

Both Malachite’s found they were only able to look at their shoes.

“O-okay… you’re sure I did nothing wrong?” Penny asked, “I still feel responsible somehow.”

“You’ve nothing to worry about,” Ruby’s voice was sweet once again, but neither twin dared to raise their head. “I’ll catch up with you later, okay?”

“Alright,” Penny still seemed unsure as she left.

The air was still while both twins refused to look up.

“Well?” Ruby called, The Glare™ present even in her voice. “Do you care to explain yourselves?”

“We’re sorry,” Miltiades’s offered meekly.

“We saw how you two interacted,” Melanie began to explain.

“And we,” Miltiades looked up carefully to gauge Ruby’s reaction, “may have overreacted?”

Ruby’s furious frown deepened.

“Definitely,” Miltiades corrected. “We… definitely overreacted…”

The silence returned. The twins guilt only grew heavier as Ruby continued to say nothing. After what felt like hours but was probably only thirty seconds, Ruby finally sighed. “Look, Penny is a little… socially unlearned. But she is not trying to steal me from you, and she is not trying to become part of what we already are. Even if she was… If anyone were to try either of those things, I wouldn’t let them.”

“We’re sorry…” Miltiades repeated.

“We’ve just… been through this kind of thing before. I guess we were scared it would happen again…” Melanie admitted.

“I get that, I do. But… it takes two to do that kind of thing, y’know?” Ruby reminded them, “So, when I realized you had cornered Penny for those reasons… it makes me feel like you don’t trust me.”

Horror and realization filled the twins simultaneously. Their head snapped back up, eyes wide with panic and fear.

“Ruby!” Melanie shouted.

“We do trust you!” Miltiades assured.

“We know you would never hurt us like that!” Melanie added.

“Yeah, well,” Ruby’s glare had long since been replaced with sorrow, “you weren’t acting like it.”

The twins’ gaze dropped guiltily again.

“I love Penny,” Ruby told them. “And Weiss. And Blake and Yang. I love a lot of people. But the only two people I am in love with are you. No more. No less. And that’s not changing.”

The twins’ eyes met, and they nodded. Carefully, they approached Ruby and drew her into a big, three-way hug.

“We are so sorry we made you feel like we don’t trust you,” Miltiades spoke sincerely.

“And while we can’t promise we won’t ever get jealous again,” Melanie confessed.

“We can promise that next time, we’ll come to you first,” Miltiades solidified.

“We love you, too.”

“So much.”

Ruby took a deep, shuddering breath as she buried herself into the hug. The trio embraced each other for nearly a full minute before Ruby finally broke away. “Okay… wow… that was some… heavy stuff.”

“We meant everything we said,” Melanie assured their girlfriend.

“Thank you,” Ruby smiled.

“And we are still so sorry,” Miltiades told her.

“Well…” Ruby smirked. “You can make it up to me by winning me another giant stuffed Ursa?”

The twins found smiles of their own. “As you wish, Gem.”

The three lovers finally returned to the fairground with a bond that, although roughly tested, felt stronger than ever.

#rwby #fanfiction #rwby fanfiction #ruby rose #Melanie Malachite #Miltiades Malachite #malachite twins #Ruby x Twins

[pghroads]

The Beechwood Bumps

So it's been a while!  After I covered most of the main problems that bug me that were created over the last 100 years, the city/state didn't really do anything especially crazy.  Until... The Beechwood Bumps™.

Even though our city has a million fundamental problems with its infrastructure that cause constant gridlock it seems to have turned it's sights in recent years to speeding. I suspect the approach is something like:  

1. Get a 311 call from one or more citizens  

2. Do a traffic study of said area  

3. Implement some solution

This is probably happening all over, but there were two notable projects near where I live in Squirrel Hill.  

First - on Dallas Ave, the city added basically "wiggle poles" in the middle of the street designed to slow down traffic.  

There are of course two things that make these weird 

1. It's on the uphill, where people already go slower   

2. It diverts traffic right into the area where a cyclist would be, huffing and puffing up the hill.  

Finally, they make it quite difficult to turn out of the cross streets with large vehicles, and are easily avoided by people who don't care about lines/laws anyway.  Given the random placement of these I’d bet $100 they got a 311 complaint from someone living on Dallas by Northumberland and Woodwell.

But this post isn't about that - that was just foreshadowing for arguably the most controversial traffic calming project the city has ever implemented, The Beechwood Bumps™.  For this I went beyond my normal lazing ranting, and did some "deep investigation" to understand how this happened.

What am I talking about?  Well, if you haven't been on Beechwood Blvd by the Frick Environmental Center, one day the city added a series of four very large speed humps.  The humps slow traffic from the speed limit of 25 to 15, and have cuts in them for cyclists.  

These humps are unusual for a couple of reasons - first, even though I've driven over 400,000 miles in my life all over the world, I've never seen speed humps in a through road.  They are always on private roads, side roads, cul de sacs etc... This is partly because speed humps on through streets slow emergency vehicles trying to get to where they need to be.  Even more odd, these particular speed humps slow you to BELOW the speed limit.  Third, the cuts in the speed humps allow people to partially avoid them (at the expense of cyclists), and Fourth - before the speed humps I never really considered this a dangerous speeding area, in fact I usually take this road over Shady Ave because it is a slow rolling, relaxing drive with no road rage.

That brings us to the history of Beechwood Blvd.  Beechwood Blvd is a curving scenic road between Schenley Park and Frick Park that was built right at the dawn of the automobile specifically for the purpose of giving these new car owners a place to go for scenic drives - the curves, etc.. are part of the design - it wasn't made for thru traffic as much as just a fun road to drive on.  Of course as the Squirrel Hill area built up, it's now almost entirely lined by residential housing, and the original road has been somewhat chunked up.  Nevertheless Beechwood is still a delightful place for a convertible, motorcycle or bike ride. 

Then the speed humps came - and road rage followed.  People who use Beechwood to commute seem to have a visceral negative reaction to the speed humps, using the bike cuts to avoid it.  Where before I never experienced any road rage - now I get people furiously going around the speed hump and riding my bumper.  Or you get people that practically stop at the speed humps.  Then there is the grey area - police were pulling people over for going into the bike lane to avoid the speed hump, but what rules affect motorcycles, can I use the bike cut or do I need to pop a wheelie over the hump?  The rage isn't just on the road - people took their arguments to NextDoor and Twitter and evidently there is a new public hearing on this due to the outrage (which i cannot find despite my searching, more on this later...).  It's certainly made it a less relaxing road to drive on for a number of reasons.

My main beef is the arbitrary nature of the speed humps - why the single stretch of Beechwood by the low populated Shaw Ave and Darlington Rd?  Especially when the Frick Environmental Center and an Elementary School are right near there, but no speed humps installed by those sites.  So I really wanted to dig into this - was it some councilperson or big donor’s front yard?  Why speed humps?  Why here and not the many other side streets that could use them.

Well - I did a "Right to Know" request (similar to FOIA) around the project after Dan Gilman was responding to wrath of citizens on Twitter.  He mentioned there was a traffic study so I figured sure, let's see this.

From what I could gather in my digging this project happened like this:

1. Between 1-6 citizens complained about speeding by the Frick Environmental Center (the city won't release details on citizen complaints but anecdotally i figured out someone I knew was one of these complaints - so there are indeed real citizens behind this).

2. A traffic study specifically centered on the Frick Environmental Center was commissioned

3. Funding for some of the solutions proposed in the study was secured

4. A public meeting was held around the topic

5. Something roughly 35% of the suggested plan happened 

So what does the traffic study say?  It seems like they put speed monitors on the north and south end of the Frick Environmental Center, and found an average speed of 33.2 and 33 in a 25 mph zone.

33 in a 25.

Otherwise known as basically the speed all traffic goes in most 25 mph zones everywhere (although shoutout the to record setters they found that got to 61 mph).

Okay... so the speeding doesn't seem that bad.  I would guess the average speed in the 25 mph Homestead Grays / High Level bridge is 48mph, so why speed humps here?  

Well - they sent a physical crew out as well, and "observed" that people were hesitant to cross the street at the Environmental Center, and that is basically impossible for people coming from Dallas to get there (oh boy do I know this).  So they suggested putting in crosswalks and fixing the Dallas area so it has sidewalks (currently it has a gap).  It's also worth nothing the only stretch that was slower was to an avg of 29 mph between Darlington and Shaw.  This make sense because the 90 degree turn in the road naturally slows people down.

They also said "look the road is wide, which encourages people to speed", and there were 18 crashes over a 5 year period which resulted in a total of one pedestrian injury, and no major injuries of any crash.

So let's lay out the facts:

1. One to six people complained about the area

2. The study found people go basically the speed they go on all other roads in the city

3. No pedestrian has ever been hurt seriously in the area, and there is average of 3 accidents per year (in a section larger than the study area)

4. A public meeting was announced where only a handful of people attended (I believe the way it was marketed contributed to very low awareness)

5. A plan was implemented which only partially addressed the recommendations

One particular piece of number five was that the original study was around getting access to the environmental center - and the suggested calming was for the north and south sides of the center.  However the north side was never installed, and instead humps were put near Darlington down the street (where the speeds were slower already) - why?  I reached out to a city engineer involved in the project and it turns out a speed hump on the north side of the FEC would affect the Great Race, so since they had the funds they put it at Darlington because they also felt it was hard for people coming off Darlington to get onto Beechwood - but take a look how many people that affects, around 12.

So I'm still not clear why the city decided to put speed humps here - it seems like they took the concerns of a few people over the 6,000 cars who drive this stretch every day.  

What's the problem you might say - people should slow down!  Okay - well why not put speed humps on every single stretch of every road in Pittsburgh?  Clearly that would be ridiculous.  Why this part?  Maybe the city has a list of all of the major speed danger areas in the cities and is rolling out a ton of these, but I live right near this area and it wouldn't even have made my top 10.

I personally believe these speed humps should be removed - through roads should not have speed humps.  These are not major crossing areas for pedestrians - there seemed to be no study of the potential number of pedestrians that would be impacted.  Even with the speed humps, I've still never seen someone crossing here.  

It would be great if the city had a public record of total complaints of various areas to create transparency here.  I have a hard time believing this is the number one problem area - people FLY down Ayelsboro, which is not meant as a through street, thanks to Google Maps.  People FLY down many of our other roads including Wilkins, etc...  The solution can't be to put speed humps everywhere. 

UPDATE - wow right before I posted this the city doubled down on this madness and added more poles leading up to the humps, that require you to slow down and slalom, creating a totally ugly mess of this once beautiful, scenic road.  I think they might have done this because the speed hump crossing isn’t at the actual pedestrian crossing for some reason?  (Measure twice, build a speed thing once?) The city has to be trolling us now, right?

[nico-drives-badly]

Deleted Scene from Chapter 12

While writing Chapter 12, I wrote a humorous scene between Rose and Abuela that served as a formal introduction to their characters. Although this scene ended up being cut from the final version, it did serve as a great character development exercise, and Chapter 12 simply wouldn’t have been the same without it.

So, since I love this deleted scene to pieces and I still have it saved in my notes, I’ve decided to share it on Tumblr with you guys...as a treat. ;)

(Note: this scene follows the same timeline of events as the rest of Chapter 12, and takes place between sections 1 and 2.)

For Rosalinda “Rose” Martínez, family always came first. Whether it was corralling her younger siblings, helping her parents run Novela del Lago as the bookstore clerk, or visiting her grandmother every weekend in Tumult City, Rose was willing to drop everything to provide and care for her familia. After all, it’s what they had always done for her; she’d be a hypocrite and fool not to do the same.

That was why, when news of the infamous Red Zone breach made its way to Novela del Lago, Rose immediately climbed into her run-down Mustang and drove straight to her grandmother’s apartment in Tumult City. Rose knew it was dangerous — beyond dangerous — to enter the city during a Red Zone advisory, but she refused to let that stop her. After all, her beloved 81-year-old abuela was in danger.

And there was nothing that Abuela loved more than danger.

Rose arrived in downtown Tumult City at around 2:00 PM, only to find that the once bustling suburbs were now crumbling to ruins. The city streets were devoid of all traffic, the buildings reduced to rubble, and its infrastructure uprooted and mangled far beyond the point of repair. It looked like something from the apocalypse, the damage was so unreal.

Rose let out an irritated groan as she pulled up to the virtually abandoned apartment complex. Of course Abuela would be the only one dumb enough to stick around; knowing that stubborn old woman, becoming the sole survivor of the apocalypse was probably on her bucket list. Thankfully, Abuela’s neighborhood was left untouched by the demon’s destruction, which offered a small inkling of relief. They still had time to evacuate...for now.

Thanking her lucky stars, Rose exited her Mustang and scurried up the stairs to Abuela’s apartment on the 5th floor, where she frantically pounded on the door.

“Abuela!” Rose shouted through the doorway, hoping and praying that she could hear her. “Abuela, open up!”

Rose heard Abuela’s raspy yet surprisingly strong voice sound from the other side: “Who is it?”

“If I called you ‘Abuela’, then it’s probably your granddaughter,” Rose replied in a sing-songy tone, a vain attempt of masking her growing agitation.

“Ah, Rosa!” Abuela exclaimed, laughing heartily despite Rose’s annoyance. “I thought that was you. Come in, dearie! The door’s unlocked.”

“Of course it is,” Rose grumbled under her breath, before begrudgingly turning the doorknob.

Abuela’s apartment was nothing to brag home about, but it did house some of her family’s most precious heirlooms, having been passed down through many generations. In Fidelis — Abuela’s native country — it was believed that once their ancestors departed from this world, they had only the legacy of those who remember them to keep them alive; once their legacies faded, so too did their souls. Rose wasn’t too sold on the concept, but she did respect her grandmother’s dedication to keeping her family’s stories and traditions alive. Still, in the back of her mind, Rose couldn’t help but wonder: what would happen to those old souls if the demon destroyed this place…?

Rose shook the thought from her head, however, and marched straight up to her grandmother, who was in the midst of reading a extremely erotic magazine that probably had their ancestors turning in their graves.

“Abuela, we need to get you out of here,” Rose warned her. “Before it’s too late!”

The urgent message didn’t seem to faze Abuela one bit; in fact, she just kept skimming through her article (or what Rose assumed to be an article) without even glancing up at her granddaughter.

“Abuela!” Rose scoffed.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to her frazzled granddaughter, Abuela lowered the magazine just slightly from her face and glanced up at Rose, a playful gleam in her warm brown eyes.

“What’s that, dearie?” Abuela asked loudly, smirking a little. She loved to mess with her little nieta, as much as she knew it drove her crazy. “You’ll have to speak up!”

“Oh, I know you can hear me,” Rose replied snidely, placing her hands sternly on her hips.

But Abuela merely laughed in response, which only seemed to aggravate her granddaughter even more. “Oh, Rosa, you are just like my hijo — always taking things so seriously! Careful, dearie, or you’ll get his frown lines, too!”

“Abuel-aaa!” Rose whined. “This IS serious! There’s a huge demon boss on the loose, and it’s already destroyed most of the city! If you stay here, you’ll get killed!”

Abuela cackled in response. “Oh, Rosa…did you seriously think I didn’t know about el demonio? I listen to those police scanners every day! Trust me, I know exactly what I’m getting into. They didn’t call me ‘The Nightmare of El Diablo’ for nothing!”

“That was also 30 years ago!” Rose reminded her grandmother none-too-gently. “Face it, Abuela, you can’t protect yourself like you used to. Your life is literally at stake!”

Abuela finally put down her magazine and crossed her arms playfully at Rose, raising a knowing eyebrow. “And yet here you are, driving straight into a Red Zone just to check on me! For being so similar to your spineless father, you sure have your abuela’s bravery, don’t you?”

/Here we go again,/ Rose groaned internally.

Abuela proceeded to lecture about Rose’s career choice in that bittersweet, passive-aggressive tone she always did: “If only my dear Diego taught you about the sword like he did all those books...you would’ve made a great devil hunter, Rosa!”

“Yeah, I’ll stick with my Demonology degree with a concentration in anatomy and physiology, thanks.” Rose gave her grandmother a steely glare.

“And just where has that big, fancy degree or yours gotten you?” Abuela rolled her eyes in response. “A dead-end job at your father’s bookstore?”

Rose’s face turned as red as her namesake at the comment. As much as she hated to admit it, Abuela did have a point. “Well...I...uh...”

Suddenly, an ear-splitting demonic screech echoed through the city streets and rattled the apartment. Panic rising in her chest, Rose turned towards the window just in time to see the Hydra slither past, its eight basilisk heads snapping furiously at anything that drew near.

“Look, can we talk about my life choices when we’re NOT in imminent danger?” Rose replied finally, cutting the argument short. “We need to get out of here!”

Abuela opened her mouth to speak, but a sudden screech from the Hydra drowned her out. The serpent demon had slammed one of its eight heads into the building beside theirs, raining down tons upon metric tons of concrete on the left side of their apartment. The impact made the whole building shake like a magnitude 10 earthquake, but thankfully, the apartment itself remained structurally sound. One more high-pitched screech, and the Hydra began to slither away, retreating towards the opposite end of the street.

But Abuela remained as calm and collected as ever, and she gave her granddaughter a mischievous wink. “Who says we’re in danger?”

Abuela stood abruptly from the sofa and walked purposefully to the wine cabinet beside the windowsill, swiftly unlocking it and revealing its contents to Rose. Unbeknownst to anyone in the family, Abuela kept all of her old devil hunting weapons locked in this cabinet, even after they demanded her to get rid of them.

Needless to say, Rose’s eyes shot open like gunfire when she saw Abuela’s arsenal: several long rifles, an assortment of pistols, a fully-loaded crossbow, and a fancy dagger locked in an ornate case. What was perhaps even more disconcerting, however, was that every single weapon was fully locked and loaded, and she still had several rounds worth of ammo to spare. How Abuela managed to fit all of this in such a small wine cabinet was anyone’s guess; personally, Rose was betting on witchcraft.

“You really thought I’d throw away my devil arms?” Abuela cackled at her granddaughter, her brown eyes lighting up like a Christmas tree with excitement. “Over my dead body!”

Abuela quickly began to raid through the cabinet. “Now get over here! We’ll both need a weapon if we want to protect ourselves.”

“Wait, what?!” Rose gaped. “I don’t know how to use that stuff!”

“Ah, don’t be silly, Rosa! I taught you how to use a crossbow, remember?” Abuela reminded her.

“Yeah, when I was 10!” Rose countered.

Abuela chucked the fully-loaded crossbow across the room right at Rose’s face, but she thankfully caught it without getting stabbed.

“Then it’s time to brush up, dearie!” Abuela winked at her granddaughter, giving her a devilish smirk.

Rose was absolutely fed up, at this point, and she furiously tossed the crossbow aside. Before Abuela could even protest, Rose grabbed her by the arm and forcefully dragged her towards the door, since was already carrying a pistol and the encased dagger in her hands.

“Abuela, we’re not fighting. We’re leaving.” Rose told her sternly. “Now drop the gun and come on already!”

“But, dearie…!”

“Don’t ‘dearie’ me!” Rose snapped. “I don’t care how young you think you are. You’re retired, and you should leave the devil hunting to the professionals...the WORKING professionals.”

“If I hadn’t blown out my shoulder at 55, I’d still be working!” Abuela retorted. “And until I shake hands with Sparda himself, I’ll be damned if I run from a challenge!”

“You’ll be damned if you don’t!” Rose cried incredulously, before resuming to drag Abuela towards the door. “Now, come on, we’re getting out of he—“

CRASH!

All of a sudden, the apartment window shattered, sending shards of glass flying in all directions and causing both of them to jump. The culprit: a peculiar sword with almost motorcycle-like modifications, complete with exhaust pipes and a brake handle. The blade appeared to have been stripped down to its bare bones — most likely to make room for the new attachments — and the only remnant of its original design was a small etching of a rose towards the blade’s hilt, half-hidden by the added handle.

They didn’t have much time to admire it, however. Just seconds after the sword crashed through the window and skidded across the floor, a young man with stark white hair came tumbling in after. Rose screamed as the man crash-landed into the apartment, barreling straight into the sofa and launching it clear into the wall before finally rolling to a stop in front of them. The sofa struck the wall with an insane amount of force, for the record, creating spider web-like cracks in the wall and leaving behind a massive dent.

Now, Rose might’ve preferred fantasy novels over textbooks, but she knew how physics worked; if a human was somehow able to body-slam into their couch with the force of a semi-truck, something definitely wasn’t adding up. This shouldn’t have been humanly possible...unless...

Abuela, on the other hand, looked like she had just seen the face of royalty. That white hair...it was unmistakable!

“The blood of Sparda,” Abuela whispered in awe, her brown eyes welling up with happy tears.

Meanwhile, the young devil hunter slowly stood to his feet, grunting softly. Abuela gasped like a fan girl as Nero, grandson of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda, casually brushed the dirt out of his hair and plucked the stray glass shards off of his jacket. Nero, noticing the pair, slowly turned around to face them and greeted them with an awkward half-smile.

“Sorry for barging in,” Nero chuckled nervously, walking over to his sword and returning it to its sheath as Rose and Abuela’s eyes followed his every move. “I would’ve called ahead, but you know...Hydras don’t accept quarters.”

“S-sparda...you’re of the blood of Sparda!” Abuela finally found the courage to speak, fighting back the urge to squeal with every fiber of her being. She never thought she’d truly have the honor to see any of Sparda’s kin in the flesh…

Nero scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “Technically, I’m his grandson...but yeah, I guess you could say that.”

Another roar from the Hydra outside beckoned Nero’s attention back to the battlefield, and he began to make his leave. “Look, I’d love to stay and chat, but I gotta get back to V and Umbra. Sorry about the mess.”

Rose’s eyes widened in an instant. V? As in, V from the bookstore? The same V who wrote those notes in the back of that book…the same book that said “property of Vergil Sparda” on the cover…?

Nero quickly began to rattle off the Devil May Cry damage policy as he walked towards the window, with each sentence faster than the last: “Devil May Cry is not responsible for property damages directly caused by demons, and will only reimburse employee-related damages. All legal inquiries must be sent bymailtoourmainbranchinRedGrave, MakeoutallcheckstoDanteSparda, voidwhereprohibited, thaNKYOUHAVEANICEDAY!”

The young devil hunter shot a quick finger-gun in their direction before jumping out of the window, the sudden and apparent decision to fall to his death causing Rose to yelp. Less than a second later, however, Nero summoned his winglike spectral arms from his back and soared upward, returning to their plane of vision as he flew towards the Hydra in the near distance.

Rose and Abuela’s jaws were practically scraping the floor of the apartment, at this point, they were in so much shock. After a moment or two of silence, however, Abuela simply couldn’t hold back her excitement anymore; she squealed.

“It’s THE blood of Sparda, Rosa! The REAL blood of Sparda!!” Abuela grabbed Rose’s shoulders and shook her violently as she spoke, her brown eyes glistening with excitement. “I’ve waited nearly 40 years to see his bloodline in battle! Come on, dearie, we can’t afford to miss this!”

Abuela hastily gathered her assortment of weapons and scurried out the door, but for once, Rose didn’t try to stop her. Rather, she followed right at her grandmother’s heels, taking care to lock the door behind them before scurrying down the apartment stairs.

Rose knew from the beginning that there was something special about that boy. And if he truly was what Rose thought he was...she had to see it for herself.

#life rewritten #deleted scene #nico writes

[witchykpop]

Cat Piss: Solar/Moon fanfic

This is an old fanfic i unearthed while cleaning out my google drive.about Moonbyul & Solar. Basically they’re small business rivals. I am unsure if I even posted this anywhere, like on a previous blog or what not, but i decided to post and share it here. its about 5 pages, so its a bit short, but a fun read.

Enjoy!

Solar walked through the flowers towards the door, flipping the sign from ‘open’ to ‘closed’, closing the shop up early. One small step for Solar, one giant leap for Solar-kind. And if it doesn’t work, Solar thought mischievously, maybe I can find a way to shut down her cafe.

With a click of a key and a woosh of a door, a heavenly aroma reached Solar’s nose. As her lights flickered on, she made her way through the jungle of flowers, taking chairs off tables and humming a classical tune. Once she reached the counter, she made her way behind it and into the back room where she kept her gardening tools. Today, all she needed was her watering can. After filling it up, she made her first trip to the nearest flowers. Naturally, she had to return to behind the counter to continually refill her watering can as she continued her rounds, coming ever closer towards the front entryway--but she didn’t mind. She loved her flowers, and if these continuous trips between the flower pots and their water source meant that they would stay alive and vibrant, she couldn’t give two shits about it work it entailed. Eventually, she made it to the flowers by the door. Once she finished watering them, she flipped the sign on the door so that “Open” faced outward. 

She’d been opening earlier these days, trying to get more customers. Ever since the cat cafe opened across the street, fewer people came to her own floral cafe. Speak of the devil, Solar thought- the owner was walking towards their own cafe door now, stopping briefly to remove a keychain from her handbag. Solar curled her lip into a snarl. How dare that woman open a cafe RIGHT ACROSS from hers and steal all her business! The cats weren’t even that cute. She didn’t understand, especially because initially, she assumed there had to be a large amount of loyal customers that she had, in addition to ones that didn’t go to the enemy cafe by default because of allergies. Alas, it seemed no one in their small town was allergic to cats because everyone seemed to be going to to cat cafe nowadays. Even those few customers who still attended her own shop, she would hear rave about the cafe across the street. Everyone but Solar seemed to love it. She hadn’t even been to the enemy cafe, but she didn’t need to know that she despised it--whether out of spite or not, she didn’t care.

Seeing that new owner so early in the morning soiled her previously sunny disposition. Solar was convinced she was opening her store earlier to steal what customers she got at this time of day. She didn’t realize she was staring until the woman across the street awkwardly waved at her in her doorway. Huffing and blushing, Solar turned away and marched deeper into her store to put on a pot of water. 

Solar didn’t get very many customers that day, but that was okay with her because she was plotting what she was going to say when she finally confronted that evil store owner. 

The only customers that made an impact and managed to cheer her up for a short while were Hwasa and Wheein. They were close friends of hers and had been there for her and her shop for many, many years. The dynamic duo came every day around tea time to spend it with each other when they got off of work. Solar could see how in love they secretly were with each other, but neither one seemed willing to admit it. 

“The park is blooming right now, Solar! You should really close up early today and come see it with us sometime. I know you’d enjoy it!” Wheein exclaimed brightly.

Hwasa giggled at her cuteness and turned to Solar, “Yeah, really you should! You’ve seemed tense these days- I think some wild flowers would cheer you up!”

Solar shook her head, her blond hair billowing around her. “You guys know I can’t--not with that no-good enemy cafe stealing all my customers. I need to stay open as much as possible so that  I can attract more customers and keep my bills paid.”

Wheein rolled her eyes, “I bet you haven’t even talked to the owner have you?”

“No, why would I talk to the enemy? You haven’t, have you?” Solar threw back in a huff.

“Actually,” Hwasa butt in, “We have. We tried out the food this past Saturday.” 

Solar shot glares at the two. “What?” Hwasa protested, gesturing at Wheein with a faux-accusatory finger. “This one can’t help but try to pet every cat she sees. We just couldn’t ignore this latest opportunity!”

“Plus, we wanted to scope out the competition for you!” Wheein interjected. Solar’s glare softened for a moment.

“...Aaaand it just so happens ‘the competition’ is really cute and definitely your type!” Solar’s blush matched the fire in her eyes at this moment.

  “I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! You’re just trying to find a way to get me to forget about the business I’m losing to her! Besides, she’s not my type!” Solar threw her hands around in frustration and marched towards the counter.

Hwasa’s words stopped her in her tracks, “So you have seen her before? Were you spying?” She teased.

Solar whipped around, “Yes but only to confirm my suspicions!”

Wheein held back a laugh, “What suspicions?”

“That, uh, that she’s, um, a, a- NO GOOD  uh, CAT PISS LICKER who, uh, STEALS OTHER PEOPLE’S CUSTOMERS for, uh, FUN WITHOUT SHAME!” Solar screeched. Wheein and Hwasa could not contain their giggles any longer. “STOP LAUGHING AT ME!”

Hwasa just managed to compose herself as Wheein giggles and managed to snort out, “Sorry, it’s just- your insult was amazingly unreal”.

“Okay, whatever,” Solar muttered through gritted teeth, and with that, she continued with her day of work... or lack thereof. Only two more customers visited her shop that evening.

As she was closing shop, it just so happened that the enemy boss was doing so as well. A wave of frustration that had been building up the whole day washed over her, and she stormed across the street, paying no heed to traffic, only to the shopkeeper who was the source of her sour mood. Solar took in her wide eyes and spat, “I know what you’re doing!” She jabbed a finger into her soft chest, “You’re purposefully having the same shop times as me to steal all my customers! Well, I. am. NOT. having it missy!” She jabbed her finger once more before marching down the street. She heard her nemesis mutter a “What the hell…?” Before she turned the corner, making her way home.

Moonbyul typically never let anything bother her. Somehow though, that cute little flower cafe owner from across the street bothered her--not quite her, but her words. Moonbyul was in no way trying to steal her customers; she was just trying to make a decent living in the town she recently moved to, nothing more.

She sighed as she stepped through her apartment door, putting groceries immediately down inside and returning to the hallway, closing her door--she needed some fresh air to think. Making her way to the stairs down the hall, Moonbyul climbed the stairs to the roof of the building. 

She was not alone on the roof. Unbeknownst to Moonbyul, her rooftop sanctuary had been invaded by her cute-yet-intimidating business rival.

 Moonbyul walked towards the edge and surveyed the view, not realizing she had company until a pouty, disapproving voice spoke out behind her.

“Owner of Cat Piss Cafe, you better not be planning to jump- just because you realized your numerous wrongdoings and can’t live with the guilt of stealing my customers,” said the flower girl as she walked up behind her.

Moonbyul turned around, startled and confused, seeing the flower cafe owner before her eyes, who continued to speak, “Live another day- oh, and how about not be open when I am. I appreciate the attempt as a form of flattery, but that’s not what I want out of you.”

“What exactly do you want out of me, then?” Moonbyul interjected.

Flower Girl blinked. “Wait- what do you mean?”

Moonbyul kept up her questioning. “Did you follow me home?”

Flower Girl recovered. “I should ask you the same question!”

With that, Flower Girl stalked towards the roof access door and left without a trace.

As soon as she left, four things clicked in Moonbyul’s mind:

She’s really quite salty.

Flower Girl is quite cute, even with that sour face.

She thought, or hoped, Moonbyul was really gonna jump to her death.

They shared the same apartment complex (What a coincidence).

Moonbyul shook her head and in that moment, formed a plan to get to know this wild flower- for her own safety, of course.

The next day, Solar noticed the Cat Piss Shop was still closed, and it was already noon. Due to this blessing, she had received tons more customers; she was both elated and exhausted, having grown accustomed to less customers. A few hours later, it was a half hour to closing, and the customers in the shop had dwindled to none, finishing their drinks and perusing the flora on the way out. She took advantage of this ounce of rest to start cleaning the shop, starting with the counter. While she wasn’t looking, she heard the bell ring, signaling that another human had decided to visit her cafe.

Solar hadn’t lifted her head to look because she was scrubbing a particularly dirty spot on the counter--a certain couple had spilled their drink earlier and she was only now properly cleaning it up. She, however, snapped her head up at  the voice of her customer as it reached her ears, “So, what’s your favorite flower?” The sight of the cat lady before her made her recoil back and almost hiss like the very cats she despised (she didn’t because then she might be associated with this despicable cat lady).

Solar, shocked at the sudden and unanticipated appearance of her competition, was just able to think of a snappy response, “Well…. It changes from time to time… Currently, my favorite are chrysanthemums because… they’re beautiful and they are a symbol of death, which is what your status almost was yesterday… if I hadn’t stepped in”.

Moonbyul’s face was oddly still as she processed what Solar said, then laughter overcame her body and she curled over, chortling. 

“What?” Solar asked confused, “Why are you laughing?”

“It’s just that..” Moonbyul sucked in breath and composed herself, smoothing herself, “Even though I know you’re trying to be awful to me because you feel threatened, you’re still awfully cute. It’s really amazing.”

Solar was offended. “Um, excuse you, I do not feel threatened. All I do is speak truth and facts,” she spat hotly.

A smirk graced Moonbyul’s face as she slid closer, placing a forearm on the counter and leaning in. “Well… if you’re not threatened… Care to go on a date with me?”

In that instance, Solar’s mind short-circuited, and she jerked back in surprise. Of all the things for a customer-stealing, competitive, cat loving “You smell like cat piss! Well, not you, your cafe, but-”.

Moonbyul leaned back, “I’ll take that as a yes,” she chuckled. “I’ll be waiting outside your store for you so that you can compose yourself.” She turned her back and walked into the flower  jungle, the bell at the door signalling that Solar was once again, alone now.

It was now Solar’s turn to say, “What the hell…?”

Huh.

She never even got her name.

That was weird.

Screw it, why not? 

The End

#solar/moon #moon/solar #mamamoo #moonbyul #solar #fanfic #mamamoo fanfic #kpop #writing

[kpopnatalie]

The Last Of Us |BTSxREADER|

🌟Disclaimer: *This story was heavily inspired by the video game called 'The Last of Us' and any similarities will be because of that. Most characters and storyline goes to NaughtyDog for making the game*🌟

Y/N went on a vacation with her family and expected it to be fun and adventurous, but it soon turned into a horror scene for her. 3 years later, she is now 17 and trying to survive the apocalypse that has now changed her whole life. The Government has taken total control of everything. She is given a task to protect a mysterious 14-year-old girl and take her out of the city. But what is so special about this little girl? While traveling throughout the city she meets people who she realizes are from an old popular group called BTS. How the heck did they survive this? That is truly one strange coincidence for sure. How will their story unfold and how will feelings interfere. Read to find out.  

I wrote this in 2017 on Wattpad, may be a bit cringe LOL ENJOY 

Prologue                  

 Y/N’s POV

I am so happy to be here in Boston right now. I've never been out of my home state before, so this is like an adventure to me.

We walk throughout the city. My mom went with my little sister and looked for dresses, while I went with my dad to look for food. "What should we eat?" my dad asks me.

"Well, I don't know, you're the one with the money, not me," I say back to him.

"Wow.. then I am not getting you anything. Bye." He begins to walk away. How did he do that? Wait... I do want food.

"Dad wait for me. I want pretzels."

I am glad that I have a pretzel now. It's so warm and soft, I want more.

We soon caught up with my mom and sister. They were just barely leaving the store with bags in both hands. Man, they just love to shop.

"Hey did you bring us pretzels to?" My little sister asks. To be honest we didn't bring them any... hehe.

"No, we didn't because you decided to stay and shop." She got upset real quick and my mom leaves us to get her a pretzel. After we finish eating, we go to the hotel that we are staying at. I took a shower and quickly change into my black and pink shorts and a tank top. I then got into bed.

My mom is cooking food with my little sis or more like trying. My dad was reading the papers when suddenly my mom comes running out of the kitchen with a little box in her hands. "What is this?" I asked my mom.

"It's a bomb, now open it." She says with sarcasm in her voice. I just give her the 'really' look and then I grab it. "Be careful it might go off." I looked at my mom and just shush her. I open the box and there lies a beautiful watch.

"How did you get this, because this is expensive." I am extremely shocked that she could afford this because we could barely afford this room.

"Oh you know, I sell drugs as a part-time job so it's no big deal." She smiles and we start laughing. She goes back to the kitchen and my sister goes to my dad and plays on his phone.

I am just happy about this watch. I turned on the T.V. and all they have is the news so I watch it.

"Attention viewers, the Government has issued an immediate evacuation. Patients from hospitals and mental institutes are on the loose and are attacking people. Please, for your safety evacuate now. You can see the chaos right behind- " She gets cut off by a man that might be a construction worker.

"Ma'am, what are you doing? It is not safe here you need to-" He then gets cut off by huge explosion and everything goes to black. By this time my family is by the window to look outside. There we see another explosion and police sirens going to the incident. We all look at each other and start panicking. Well, I was at least.

"Are we going to die? What do we do?" I seriously began to panic, like who wouldn't? My heart is racing too fast that I thought I might pass out.

"Honey, don't worry we will be okay, we just need to leave. Everyone take your phones and at least a small bag. We can't take too many things." Well, at least I left all my pop merchandise at home. Not like I will see it again. I grabbed my small bag that says New York on it and put my tablet in it.

Okay look I don't have a phone don't judge me okay. After that, we grab a first aid kit and some water bottles for each of us and then we start to leave the room.

As we are running to the elevator, the sound of sirens coming from outside is heard. That must be the State siren to tell everyone to either get to safety or evacuate. As we got to the elevator we saw tons of people there. They were fighting each other to get in and it got bloody. My mom closes my sister's eyes and turns her around. I hold onto my dad very tightly. "MOVE YOU BITC... " This older lady gets cut off by this other woman punching her straight in the nose and making her tumble backward. I swear people are going to die right here.

"Hey, dad I think it would be safer if we go down the stairs since everyone is here. I am pretty sure the stairs won't have that many people going down them." I whispered in my dad's ear. He nodded and took us all around and wall down the hall.

I turn around and saw something I wish I didn't. As the two women were fighting, some people got into the elevator. A man was trying to pull someone out so he could get in. The greed some people have. The elevator door was closing and there he went, or well half of him. From his waist down got left behind and his upper part, well anyone can guess that it was in the elevator. I almost vomited, but I controlled myself.

We start running and once we turn the corner, we see the big white doors that lead to the stairs. We could still hear the commotion from the other people. As we opened the door all you could hear was a screeching sound than a huge crash. The building began to shake a bit, but that was all. We came to the conclusion that the elevator stings must have snapped and the elevator fell a crashed. Those poor people. But we must continue or we will be one of those poor people.

We ran down the staircases, and trust me those were a lot. We were on the 8th floor. I was looking out the windows as we ran down. Everything was either in flames or ruins. You could see people looting and the worst of them all, killing. I want to cry, this is unreal.

We finally got to the main floor and trust me I am panting like crazy. Those were a lot of stairs. I feel dead... too soon? Well anyway, we got through the main entrance and took our car. It's a Jeep and you can tell someone was trying to steal things but didn't find anything. We all got in and my dad began driving. We could see people who wanted rides, but we just drove past them. I am so scared and you could tell that my little sister is scared as well.

We soon come to a halt due to heavy traffic. Everyone began honking their horns until one super-smart dude decides to leave the safety of his car.

"What the hell is going on-" As soon as he says that, something comes up to him and starts eating him. All you could hear are the cries of the people. "Oh, crap." My dad said and he quickly makes a U-Turn and drives off, but we barely began to move when a semi-truck hit us from the side and caused us to flip.

I open my eyes and see my sister unconscious. I start to shake her to wake her up, but nothing. I wanted to cry. "Please don't... please I am not ready." I move myself to my mom and I instantly know, she is gone.

I unbuckle my seat-belt and try to get out. I see my dad waking up. He turns around and was about to cry until he sees me. He unbuckles his seat-belt and hurries to my side. We break the window and crawl out. We began running until I feel like I twisted my ankle. "OWWW!" My dad turns to me and quickly picks me up.

"What's wrong?" He says while still running.

"I think I twisted my ankle." I was crying from literally everything.

"Don't worry, we will get to safety." He runs until he reaches an alleyway. He opens the fence door and quickly closes it. He runs until he finds a door. As we get closer you could hear the 'things' and my dad quickly closes the door.

"The door won't hold them off for too long so let's hurry to the back." My dad says as he puts me on the floor so he can carry me on his back. As he walks outside from the back, we see one of those 'things,' but it is distracted by its food which is a human being. I think I am going to be sick. My dad runs up a hill but gets stopped by a man in all black. Is he from the Government? I bet he is, he looks like he is in the army or military.

"STOP!" The man says.

"Please help us, my daughter is injured. She might have-"

He is cut off. "Sir there is a little girl with him," He says, he must have a mic in his helmet or something. "Yes sir, okay." He then takes out his rifle and points it to us. I guess my dad knew because as soon as he pulled it out, my dad lets me go so we both roll down the hill. The man was shooting at us at that moment. I look up and got worried.

"No, DAD!" I sat up and look for my dad. I saw him lying face-first on the ground. Please, no, don't take him too. I begin to crawl because my ankle still hurts.

I hold him and there he says his last words, "I love you and please stay safe. I am sorry I didn't protect you." His face scrunches up and I can hear his faint whimpers coming from him. I grabbed his left hand and his right-hand holds onto his abdominal from the pain and the blood that is escaping from him. "Please live for me and your family. I-I can't bear the thought of you dying as well. I-I want you to take care of yourself. Re-remember that we love you. Take care." His face softens up and with that, he passes. I cry. Why me? Goodbye family. I turned and there I see the evil man. He is getting closer, I don't care if I die at this point. He was about to shoot until someone else shot him.

I looked up and see a boy, maybe around 17. Wait, I know him. That's Jungkook from BTS or someone that looks very similar to him. But still, how is he here and why? I thought he would be in Korea with his other members. Wait where are the others?

"Are you okay?" He asks. I look at him, did he just ask me that when my dad just died before my eyes and I almost got killed? I softly tell him, "No." And at that instant, I began to cry and hold my ankle. He stays by my side and hugs me. I will get through this, I will survive for my family. I will do it for myself.

Chapter 1

#apocalypse #BTS #Jungkook #Seokjin #Namjoon #yoongi #Hoseok #Taehyung #Jimin #zombie #Lastofus #xreader #wattpad #fanfiction #fanfic

[gosecretscribbles]

Stanuary 2019 Week 1 Bonding

“GET BACK HERE!”

“AAAGH!”

Stan chased after the tourist, brandishing his cane in one hand and the crossbow in the other.  The guy had tried to pay for his tour with a baby goat!  What did he think this was, Medieval Europe?!  Goats were not currency!  Goats weren't even profitable!  They just ate, pooped, and stank!

Stan thought he was in decent shape for an old fat guy, but the skinny farmer sprinted to his truck like all the tax collectors in the state were on his heels.  Plus that stupid baby goat was prancing around Stan and tripping him up.  Even so, Stan nearly made it to the truck when the farmer hit the gas.  The engine roared to life and dirt sprayed in Stan's face.  He skidded to a stop, coughing and scraping at his eyes.  

There was a thunk and Stan looked down.  The kid had keeled right over, all four legs straight out.  

“Oh, great, now he's dead!  YOU PAID ME WITH A DEAD GOAT, YA MORON!”

He swung up the crossbow and fired, but the truck hit a bend in the road.  Instead of popping a tire the bolt just hit the license plate and jarred it loose.  It fell off with a noisy rattle as the truck swung around the curve and disappeared, the other goats' bleating quickly fading from earshot.  

Swearing a blue streak under his breath, Stan went to retrieve the license plate.  Never know when you'd need one to throw the cops off your trail.  

Now he had to decide what to do with a dead baby goat.  The next tourist bus wasn't coming until noon, so he had about an hour to figure it out.  He didn't really want to stuff it, but he couldn't think of anything else to do with it.  Hey, maybe he could make his new mechanic do it instead – what was his name, Zeus or something? Sure, that'd work.  He just had to get the goat out of the way until Soup came back from school.  

He reached the goat and bent down to grab its leg.

“Baa-aa-aah.”

“AAH!”

He jumped back.  The goat's ears and tail twitched, then it rolled over and looked up at him.  

“Baa-aa-aah,” it repeated insistently.

“Yeesh, give me a heart attack already,” Stan growled, one hand over his chest.  “If you're looking for food, you're lying in it.  Grass, meet goat.  Goat, meet lunch.  Now stay outta the way, I got a business to run.”

“Baa-aa-aah.”

He went inside to work on more pun-related exhibits for the museum. Those wax figures had brought in a ton of money when he'd first set them up, but business had gone dry a week ago, and he needed another money maker and fast.  Those portal parts didn't come cheap.

The goat bleated from the porch for a solid twenty minutes, then he heard it clopping away.  Stan snorted, then went back to gluing googly eyes on a plastic octopus.  Maybe eight eyes, so it was like a combo spider-octopus?  Yeah, that'd work.  Now he just had to think of a catchy name for it.  Or maybe Octo-spider?  Arachnipus?  Octo-Eyes? Hmm, maybe that'd work...

Stan came out of the Shack in time to greet the next tourist bus.  He didn't see the kid anywhere, so many the dumb thing had wandered into the woods.  Perfect, one less thing to worry about.  He put everyone in the carts and drove 'em out to see random stuff in the forest, like the Tree of the Screaming Tourist.  He told them the eerily twisted bark was an actual tourist whose spirit had been sucked into the tree when he refused to pay for the tour.  (Everyone was suddenly very eager to pay him for the tour.  And tip him.  Generously.)

He drove 'em back and waved them into the bus.  Then he headed back to the Gift Shop.  His pockets were practically bulging with cash.  He definitely had to use that Screaming Tree story more often!  Even if it kind of freaked him out.  Wait, hadn't Ford's journal's mentioned something about –

“Hi, Mr. Pines!”

“AAH!”

He jumped back for the second time that day, glaring down at Deuce, who was standing innocently in the doorway of the Gift Shop.

“Geez, kid, make some noise when you move!”

“Sure, Mr. Pines!  By the way, I didn't know you had a pet goat!”

Deuce moved aside.  That dumb stinky nuisance was sitting on the floor, legs sprawled everywhere, its floppy tail thumping like a puppy's.  

“Baa-aa-aah!”

He groaned.  “That's not a pet.  And get it out of here! Smells like a moldy haystack, and I got some new attractions I need to make for the museum.”  He stepped over the goat and strode to the craft counter in the corner.  “Octo-Eyes was a huge hit! Taxidermic monstrosities are gonna make me a fortune!”

“Couldn't we make this little guy an attraction too?” Moose asked behind him. “I bet you could even give him a punny name!  Like 'Cutebacabra'!”

Stan stopped and turned around.  The goat looked up at him with those weird sideways pupils.  

“Yeah,” Stan said slowly, holding up both hands to frame the little moneymaker.  “Yeah, the Cutebacabra!  Glue on some fake wings, coupla cow legs – maybe some red paint drooling from its mouth! Ha, I love it!”

Bruce beamed at him.  “Thanks, Mr. Pines!”

“Kid, gather every spare stuffed limb I've got and a ton of crazy glue. Then go set up a display for him in the museum.  This creepy cuteness is gonna be our next main attraction!”  

Exactly forty-three minutes later, Stan was showing a new set of tourists into the museum.  He'd already taken them to the Tree of the Screaming Tourist, and now he was gonna milk 'em dry.  Zeus had rigged up a little stage and a red velvet curtain for Chompers.  With a single grand gesture, Stan pulled it aside.  Instantly the crowd went 'AAAAH!' and 'AWWW!'

He grinned and gestured grandly.  Sluice had made it a little vest and glued on every spare animal limb they had.  “That's right, folks, the rare baby Cutebacabra!  The only one in the world!  Pictures are five – no, fifty dollars each!”

Immediately tourists stuffed good ol' Grants into his hands and snapped pictures, flashes going off in every direction.

The goat's eyes went wide and it keeled over, legs straight out.  

A kid in the crowd screamed.  “OH MY GOD IT'S DEAD!”

“WE'RE CURSED!”

“RUN FOR YOUR LIIIIFE!”

“Oh come on!” Stan shouted.  He didn't bother chasing the tourists – he'd pick-pocketed them while they had their eyes on the goat, and he knew they didn't have even two bucks left among the lot of them.  But why in the name of Paul Bunyan did the goat keep playing dead?!  If it had done that two seconds earlier it would've cost him all those picture fees!

“I'm back with the goat feed, Mr. Pines,” Puce said, poking his head into the Museum.  He was dragging a forty-pound bag of feed.  “You didn't give me any money, so I had to pay Mr. Sprotts with three hours of child labor.”  Then he caught sight of the goat, turned white, and dropped the bag.  “SWEET MOSES HE'S DEAD?!”

“No he's not,” Stan scowled.  He reached out and poked the goat with a foot.  The goat twitched, then flipped upright and started gnawing on one of the cow hoofs taped to its back.  “See?”

The goat bleated and head-butted him.

“Aw, he likes you!” Spruce said.

“Ugh, get it offa me.  The darn thing's defective!”  He paused.  “Then again, if I could get it to do it on command...”  Imagine the look on people's faces if he walked his goat into traffic, then made them think they'd hit his Prize German-Australian Longhair Goat!  They'd pay through the nose just to keep him from suing them!

“Eh, he probably just has that myotonic thing.  Or maybe it was myopia?  I always get those two mixed up.”

“Mia-what?”

The gumdrop shrugged.  “Myotonia.  Mr. Sprotts told me about it.  You know how people get startled, and then they freeze up?  It's like that, but for goats.  And it lasts for longer, like their muscles seize up or something.  It doesn't hurt them or anything,” he added, “but it is a genetic thing.  Mr. Sprotts said a lot of his goats got it from the toxic waste dump.”

“So he's being literally scared stiff?”

Moose laughed.  “Good one, Mr. Pines!”

The goat had finished chewing on the cow hoof and proceeded to gnaw on Stan's pantleg.

“Whoops!” Soup pulled the goat away, then set it down in front of the bag of feed and tore it open.  “There ya go, little Gompers!  This'll taste waaaay better.  Trust me, I tried it!”

“Baa-aa-aah!”

Stan watched the goat eating.  “Hey Swoose.”

“It's 'Soos', Mr. Pines!”

“Whatever. You're sayin' the goat just keeps getting scared?”

“Yep!”

“'Cuz it's genetic?”

“Uh, I guess so?”

“Well NOT ON MY WATCH!  After one day of Stan’s Scare-A-Thon Therapy Session, this goat’s gonna be so desensitized it’ll never faint again!”

First, Stan got Moose to wire his satellite to pirate-stream horror movies from Japan.  (Watching these also traumatized Puce, which Stan found hilarious.)  Next Stan hired a clown (who he did not pay) and then practice his jump scares (which made Soos scream so loud it scared off all the birds in a three-mile radius).  After that, Stan converted the Museum into a haunted house, complete with sheet-ghosts, cobwebs, and a looped sound track of death metal, complete with screaming.  He shoved Gompers in and locked it tight.  

He didn't realize until he went back three hours later that he'd also locked the child labor. Moose had collapsed on the floor in the middle of the room – but Gompers was stumbling around bleating to himself.  It didn't look like he'd played dead at all!

Stan grinned.  “Alright, now we're makin' progress!”

“That's great, Mr. Pines,” Bruce gasped.  “You should – oh sweet burrito angels – you should totally save this stuff for Summerween.”

“Summer-what?”

“Summerween!” Soup struggled to sit up and collapsed.  “It's – it's this holiday where – oh man I'm having a panic attack.”

Gompers clonked over, bleated, and started chewing on Soos' face.

Stan roared with laughter and slapped his knee.  “Ha!  This is goat's the best!  Alright, Floose –”

“Soos.”

“Get ready for the main event.  Something even scarier than Japanese horror movies or that weird mold growing in the corner.”

Sue sat up.  “Okay, but if I don't come back, tell my grandma I love her and give all my stuff to charity.”

“The Mystery Shack appreciates your donations!”

Night was falling and the full moon was out.  Luckily Soup had fixed the golf cart right down to the headlights, so they trundled along the beaten road in relative safety.  Gompers and Soos were in the backseat, the kid's arms wrapped around Gompers like it was a really smelly plushy.  He grinned.  When he was done that goat would be almost as hardcore as Stan himself!

When they got close enough, Stan stopped the truck, hustled around to the trunk and started handing a stuff to Soup.  

“Okay. Run ahead and put these all around the tree ahead.  The batteries are all dying so the light'll flicker all weird and creepy.  This one has a full battery.  Lie down at the bottom of the tree, and then when I give the signal, shine it right at the bark.”

“Sure, Mr. Pines!  Which tree is this again?”

“The one with a human soul was trapped in its bark writhing in agony!”

“Ok!”

Stan gave him a shove and then hustled back to the cart, where Gompers was currently chewing on the back seat.  He hopped back in the driver's seat, waited three seconds and then drove slowly up to the Tree of the Screaming Tourist.  It was hard to see the shape of the messed-up bark, which would make it even creepier when Zeus lit up the flashlights.  

He parked, took his portable radio out of the trunk, and then grabbed Gompers.  He set the goat down in front of the tree, backed up, and hovered his finger over the “play” button.

“Okay, Sluice...NOW!”

From the radio, a hollow scream filled the air and the whole tree lit up with a flickering yellow light.  

“Ha! That's perfect!”

“Baa-aa-aah,” said Gompers.

He grinned, but before he could tell Zoop to step it up, the lights suddenly flickered.  They turned orange, then red.  The radio suddenly crackled with static and he dropped it as electricity singed his hand.  The bark of the tree started moving and a huge ghost-y thing ballooned out of it, just a massive face made of fire and fury. Stan backed up with a shout.  Several tree branches snapped and started bending like spider arms.  One of them swung around from the back of the tree – and a certain pear-shaped mechanic was dangling from its twigs.  

He waved.  “Hi, Mr. Pines!  I'm a hostage!”

The spirit's yellow eyes turned on him.  Its pupils went red. “YOOUUUUU!”

“AAH!”

He sprinted for the golf cart, but the spirit lashed out and smashed it with a bark-covered arm.  He grabbed Gompers and held it up.  

“JUST TAKE THE GOAT, TAKE THE GOAT!”

“Do you know how long my spirit has been stuck in that tree, completely alone, just listening to those stupid squirrel-squids chatter about acorns and sushi?  And after years of waiting for you to come back, you finally bring people to visit me – and you tell every last one of them how terrifying I am, so they'll never!  Come!  BACK!”  The face swelled until it blotted out the sky.  Its heat seared his skin. “AM I SCARY ENOUGH FOR YOU NOW, STAN PINES?!”

He screamed and tried to run, dropping the kid, but she swooped down and grabbed him up.  She lifted him higher and higher, squeezing him so tightly he could feel his bones creak.  He could barely breathe!  He had a funny feeling he wasn't the Stan Pines she was talking about, but he couldn't get enough air to tell her that!

“Um, excuse me?  Ms. Tree Spirit?”

They both looked at Soos, who was wiggling one of his chubby little hands to get the spirit's attention.  

“Hrrrrr,” she growled.

He smiled.  “Oh, I'm a him, actually!  Although I do have a feminine softness.  It sounds like you're mad because you've been lonely for so long, right?  But Mr. Pines has been bringing people to see you all the time!”

“They are TERRIFIED of me!”

“Not everyone.”  He pointed.

Gompers was standing on the ground below, absently chewing on a fallen stick. The ghost growled and moved closer, her face distorting until her burning yellow eyes were the size of whole cars, and her face was a gaping maw dripping with reddish flame, mere inches from the goat's puny face.

“DO YOU FEAR ME, LITTLE GOAT?!” she boomed, and her voice was so loud and deep the trees nearby actually shivered and creaked on their roots.

Gompers blinked.  

“Baa-aa-aah,” he said, and resumed his chewing.  

“Hmm.”

“Good goat,” Stan managed.  The spirit scowled and squeezed a little harder.

“But this is not what we agreed to. I don't want people to be afraid of me!”

“But scariness is part of the fun!” Soos said earnestly.  “Plus it's a fun way to spend time together!  My dad never hangs out with me, but Mr. Pines and I watched a horror movie marathon.  And even though I wet myself a couple of times, I wouldn't trade that time for the world.  I'll bet the families who visited you remember how frightening and fun it was, and they'll probably come back to see you again next year!”

Stan could see the spirit thinking it over.  

“Baa-aa-aah,” added the goat.

The spirit snorted and gave Stan a hard look, those ruby peepers staring right into his soul.  “You will keep your promise, Stan Pines?  You will not leave me to suffer in isolation?”

“Guarantee it,” he wheezed.  “Main attraction.  Every tour.  Can't breathe.”

“Very well.  But if you break your promise one more time, the woods will never be safe for you again.”

She let go of Soos and Stan, who hit the forest floor with a dull thump. The spirit withdrew into the bark, lifting her arms to become branches again, while the bark of the trunk twisted and rippled back to its previous shape.  Stan waited for a second, but the tree didn't so much as twitch.  

He sprang to his feet and scooped up the goat.  “Ha!  You did it!  You beautiful monster, you really did it!  You looked that tree-thing straight in the big yellow eye and didn't even twitch!  I bet this goat could handle the frigging apocalypse without batting an eye!”

“Probably!” Soos agreed cheerfully.  

Stan smirked, then mashed Soos' head in a noogie.  “Ya didn't do too bad yourself, there, ya midget.”

“Really?!”

“Uh, are those actual stars in your eyes?”

“For you, Mr. Pines, I would go full-on anime.”

“Don't make this weird, kid.  Now let's see if the golf cart's drivable. I'm allergic to all this bonding and I left my old-man tonic in the Shack.”

“Soda isn't tonic, Mr. Pines.”

“Says you.”

“Baa-aa-aah.”

A/N

“A myotonic goat, otherwise known as the fainting goat, is a domestic goat whose muscles freeze for roughly 3 seconds when the goat feels panic. Though painless, this generally results in the animal collapsing on its side. The characteristic is caused by a hereditary genetic disorder called myotonia congenita. When startled, younger goats will stiffen and fall over. Older goats learn to spread their legs or lean against something when startled, and often they continue to run about in an awkward, stiff-legged shuffle.”

- from a-source-I-forgot-to-save-the-website-for

Also Nour386 came up with the idea about why the Tree was screaming!  I had a different idea but this one is so much better!!!

@nour386

#stanuary #stanuary 2019 #stanuary week 1 #stanuary 2019 week 1 #stanuary 2019 week 1 bonding #nour386 #bonding #goat #gompers #baby gompers #stan #stan pines #soos

[jmj973]

Profit Dojo Review and Bonuses by Mike Prevatt

 ProfitDOJO

 I am Mike Prevatt, owner, and operator of https://www.michaelprevatt.com. I'm thrilled that you're here with me.

If you wanna enjoy a whole new reality by earning your living (or even just a few extra bucks) via the Internet, I promise to make this worth your while.

I'm very excited to dive right in so that we can both see what Mehdi Tihani's Profit Dojo is really all about. I'm sure you're ready to find out if this course is worth your hard-earned money. And if you'd be better off avoiding it, I'll absolutely say so! ;)

So let's get started!...

Profit Dojo Overview:

Profit Dojo, as I've already mentioned, is a "make money online" course created by Mehdi Tihani. According to the product's sales page, you may stand to help you earn $1425 per month. Can you pull this off? We'll soon see. But let's not get ahead of ourselves...

It also comes with a number of bonuses, including Penny Likes Academy, 4-Hour $1M+ Ecom Training, Penn Academy, ,and InstaCash System. I find these bonuses to be quite relevant, and they really seem to sweeten the pot. 

To sweeten the pot even further, I have some great bonuses of my own to offer you, should you choose to buy Profit Dojo through my link today. But we'll get to those in due time. Let's review Profit Dojo first...

What Is the Price of Profit Dojo?

Hey, it's a fair question. So why not just get it out of the way? I don't believe in prices being kept a mystery until the very end. As I'm writing this review, you can expect to pay $9.95 for Profit Dojo. It's possible that the price has gone up by the time you're reading this. Mehdi will likely raise it soon.

There are three 3 OTO's. These consist of Profit Dojo PLUS + Group Coaching for $27, Profit Dojo Case Studies Bundle + DFY Pack at $19.95, Resell Rights at $37 & $27.

These are "value-added" upsells, which means that the front-end product should work even better for you when you add these to the mix. But I seriously doubt that you'll need ANY of them in order for Profit Dojo to give you some good results. 

Truthfully, Manny"s main product SHOULD be able to work well all on its own. So now it's time to find out... WILL it?

 Let's just cut to the chase. Will Profit Dojo actually put cash in your pocket? The truth is... it really depends on you. When you look at Mehdi Tihani's results, it does seem to lend itself to the course's efficacy.

Honestly, the vast majority of programs can make you money, but you've got to be willing to follow through for an adequate amount of time. 

The challenge is, a huge number of courses are seriously slow. And to make matters worse, they may also require more of your blood, sweat, and tears than you're comfortable giving. So you don't bother because it's hard to justify investing all of that time and effort in something that you don't know for sure will pay off.

Truth be told, if you're willing to put in the work and not let too much doubt creep in, I can definitely see it making you money in next to no time. You really just need to trust yourself and the process for long enough to start getting results. :)

And how soon can the money start coming in? On the official product page, Mehdi suggests that money may just start pouring into your account in about 45 minutes. Seems about right to me, having gone through the course firsthand. If you're okay with that, then this may be a purchase worth making.

No income guarantees are being made here, just to be clear. As with any online business venture, each person's results will be unique to that person. And this variance can be pretty substantial. But despite this truth, I think that you'll do great if you just follow Profit Dojo as it's laid out for you!

Even with this course, though, there are bad points to accompany the good. So let's look at some of the pros and cons now. Once that's been done, I'll reveal my bonuses, some of which were created specifically to combat the cons. :)

Profit Dojo Pros: No prior experience or tech skills needed works in any niche and or business

Profit Dojo CONS  only a 14-day guarantee

Your success won't likely be hindered at all by these "bad" points. But just to be safe, I've decided to add a few bonuses of my own to ensure that you get maximum benefit out of this training. Here's what you're getting...

Penny Likes Academy: Organic traffic is more alive than ever, but you just have to get creative! As an added bonus when you grab Profit Dojo today, you’ll receive Manny’s paid course that teaches you how to grow MASSIVE Facebook pages for pennies from Tier 1 countries (US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand)

4-Hour $1M+ Ecom Training: It's rare to get access to a 4-hour live training from a verified 7-figure marketer, and that's exactly what you're getting with this bonus. This was a PAID webinar, but you'll get it 100% free today. Tons of golden nuggets that will teach you how to scale and monetize all the traffic you'll be getting from the profit Dojo system.

InstaCash System: Does FREE traffic still exist? You bet it does. As a Profit Dojo member, you'll get Mehdi's InstaCash System he's used to make sales from 

Instagram using 100% FREE traffic. This is something NOBODY is teaching or doing on Instagram, and it still works to this day. A priceless bonus for a creative way to monetize the targeted traffic you'll be getting.

FB Groups Secrets: Want to add another revenue stream in your business? If you are not using Facebook groups to grow your business and get free traffic, then you are leaving a LOT of money on the table. Learn how to 10x your group and monetize it using Manny’s exclusive step-by-step system.

Tidalwave Traffic: Tidalwave Traffic will help you see how to get penny traffic in any niche and collect as many as 480+ leads a day in the process.Perfect for fast traffic to anything you need!

When it comes down to it, I very much want for you to make your dreams come true using Profit Dojo! This extraordinary bonus package was created to make this happen. I do my best to avoid offering "25,000 value bonus package" nonsense, as this would only insult your intelligence and not really help you.

These types of unrealistically priced bonuses are most times comprised of ineffective, outdated PLR or MRR BS. They aren't actually designed to get you closer to your goal of actually making money online. My awesome bonuses, conversely, are. 

So if Profit Dojo sounds like something that you can use in your own online money-making endeavors, then I encourage you to pick it up via this link post haste. As a reminder, this deal ends soon, so take action now.

Your chances of succeeding online by combining Profit Dojo and my bonuses just went up significantly. Honestly, I think you'd be very wise to get in on this opportunity while you still can.

Thanks for taking a look at my Profit Dojo review! I hope this has helped you to make the right decision for yourself. Go make it happen! 

- Mike Prevatt 

#profit #dojo #profitdojo #affiliate #review

[your-dietician]

AFC East QBs offer promise, but Buffalo Bills are clear 2021 favorite

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/nfl/afc-east-qbs-offer-promise-but-buffalo-bills-are-clear-2021-favorite/

AFC East QBs offer promise, but Buffalo Bills are clear 2021 favorite

Last year at this time, the question was if the Buffalo Bills were primed to snap the New England Patriots’ hold on the AFC East. The Bills answered that decisively.

In fact, the Bills didn’t just prove to be the new kings of the division the Patriots had dominated for nearly two decades when they won 17 of 19 titles. Coach Sean McDermott’s Buffalo squad also showed it is a force to contend with in the AFC, advancing to the conference title game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

So it’s the Bills who enter 2021 as the favorite in the AFC East, and now there are different types of questions being asked. Coach Brian Flores’ Miami Dolphins are all-in on second-year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa — for better or worse — as they hope to build on last year’s second-place divisional finish. Coach Bill Belichick’s Patriots aim to return to prominence, spending big in the offseason in hopes of 2020 representing a one-year blip.

And the New York Jets, who at 10 seasons have the longest playoff drought in the NFL, have breathed new life into the franchise with the hire of upbeat coach Robert Saleh and the selection of BYU quarterback Zach Wilson at No. 2 overall in the 2021 NFL draft.

Here are three of the more compelling questions facing the AFC East, with ESPN NFL Nation reporters Marcel Louis-Jacques (Bills), Cameron Wolfe (Dolphins), Mike Reiss (Patriots) and Rich Cimini (Jets) providing answers:

How far ahead of the pack are the Bills?

2 Related

Louis-Jacques: Asking this question in western New York might bring tears to the eyes of a Bills fan. The AFC East belongs to Buffalo. Josh Allen became the quarterback he had shown flashes of during his first two seasons, and the offense dominated to a point that the defense’s drop from elite to mediocre nearly went unpunished. With the same key pieces in place on both sides of the ball, and a rare fourth straight season with the same coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, there’s little on paper to suggest Buffalo won’t win its second straight division title in 2021. Miami should be the betting favorite to dethrone the Bills, but even that scenario is dependent on Tagovailoa’s development. Neither the Jets nor the Patriots can keep up with Buffalo offensively, and they appear at least a year or two away from competing for the division crown.

Wolfe: It’s still the Bills’ division to lose. The Bills finished three games ahead of the Dolphins, the second-place team in the AFC East, and there was little done by any teams this offseason that should convince us they have closed the gap. The Bills have the best quarterback (Allen) in the division, the best offensive skill player (wide receiver Stefon Diggs) and are the most complete team. Keep eyes on Miami to contend, though. The pressure is on Tagovailoa to perform, but Miami’s defense is arguably the division’s best and the additions of wide receivers William Fuller V and Jaylen Waddle should insert much-needed explosion to the offense. But as of now, Buffalo has the advantage.

Reiss: When linebacker Matt Milano re-signed on a four-year, $44 million deal right before the start of free agency, it was a sign to me that the Bills are decisively ahead of the pack. The teams that draft (Milano was a fifth-round pick in 2017), develop and retain are usually positioned for the most success. That Milano chose to stay, instead of testing the open market, was a sign the Bills’ program has reached the desired point in McDermott’s fifth season. I do think the gap will close a bit this season in the division — the Bills (13-3) were three games better than the Dolphins (10-6), and significantly better than the Patriots (7-9) and Jets (2-14) — but Buffalo is still a game or two better than the next team.

play

1:12

Rob Ninkovich sees the Patriots’ pro-style system being a better fit for Mac Jones than Cam Newton.

Cimini: I’m a big believer in the coach-quarterback dynamic, and no tandem in the division does it better than McDermott and Allen. The Dolphins are due for a market correction, so to speak. They capitalized on an easy schedule last season — only one victory against a team that finished with a winning record. I can see a drop-off, especially as they ride out Tagavailoa’s growing pains. The Patriots won’t be as mediocre as last season because they’re the Patriots, but I see this as a transition year for them. They’ll get stuck in traffic on the Cam Newton-to-Mac Jones bridge at QB. The Jets? They’re headed in the right direction after two brutal years under former coach Adam Gase, but they simply don’t measure up in terms of talent.

Which player faces the most pressure this season?

Wolfe: It has to be Tagovailoa. No young player in the NFL has been under more scrutiny over the past eight months. From being replaced by Ryan Fitzpatrick twice in fourth quarters last season, to the rumors of a trade fit with the Houston Texans for quarterback Deshaun Watson, to the five-interception minicamp practice this offseason, most of the talk about Tagovailoa has been negative. Some of it is deserved, but much of it is overblown. Ultimately, he is the only one who can quiet the noise. A bounce-back season in which he leads Miami to the playoffs will spark belief he can still be the Dolphins’ franchise quarterback — the guy the franchise has been desperately searching for since Dan Marino retired 21 years ago. Another shaky season that leaves the Dolphins at home in January could mean an offseason QB search. It doesn’t get more pressurized than that.

play

1:51

Jeff Saturday reacts to Tua Tagovailoa throwing five interceptions during Dolphins minicamp.

Louis-Jacques: Although there are high expectations for the Patriots’ Jones and the Jets’ Wilson, both will likely get at least two years to show their value. Tagovailoa, on the other hand, is in his second year and leads an otherwise playoff-caliber team. The hype surrounding him entering the league and his collegiate success didn’t grant him any leniency for a slow start to his NFL career, but fans — Bills fans, in particular — should be hesitant to write off a struggling quarterback after his rookie season.

Reiss: Remember the whole “Tank for Tua” discussion? It’s different now. More like, “Is this too much for Tua?” The Dolphins were on the cusp of the playoffs last season, and the contributions of Fitzpatrick were a significant reason why. But with Tagovailoa at the controls by the end of the season, Miami fell short, and now it’s unquestionably his show in 2021. With the Dolphins looking to build on a 10-win season sparked in large part by FitzMagic, how could anyone have more pressure on him than Tagovailoa in the AFC East?

Cimini: My first inclination was to agree with my good friends Cameron, Marcel and Mike — Tagovailoa is under a lot of pressure — but I’m going to stay close to home and pick Wilson. He was the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, which automatically brings a ton of pressure — especially in the New York market. Instead of putting him in a competitive situation, the Jets all but anointed him The One by not adding a veteran to the quarterback room. They’re prepared to ride the rookie roller-coaster without an emergency “stop” switch. The clincher: The Jets open the 2021 season against the Carolina Panthers, which means Wilson will face his predecessor, Sam Darnold. Don’t mess up, kid.

No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson gives the Jets reason for optimism, but growing pains are likely this season. Bill Kostroun/AP

Which franchise has the best three-year outlook?

Cimini: I can’t believe I’m not picking the Patriots out of pure habit, but will Belichick even be around in three years? Is Jones the answer at quarterback? Is Wilson the answer for the Jets? Tagovailoa for Miami? The Bills have a known quantity at quarterback (and coach), which makes this an easy choice. They also have a good nucleus of young players, which means they should sustain their momentum. I like what the Jets are building with Saleh, who has the traits to be a really good coach, but the roster still has a ways to go. We’ll see. If Saleh and Wilson crush their honeymoon season, I might have a different answer in 2022.

The nominations for the 2021 ESPYS are full of NFL players. Cast your votes today.

Best Athlete, Men’s Sports • Tom Brady makes the cut

Best NFL Player • Brady, Rodgers, Donald or Henry?

Best Team • Can Tampa Bay take the title?

Best Play • Murray and Metcalf magic

Best Breakthrough Athlete • Herbert and Young among the nominees

Best Game • Remember the Ravens

Reiss: Once the Bills re-sign quarterback Allen and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds — and I view those moves as more of “when” than “if” — it will further solidify them as the franchise with the best three-year outlook. Put me down for the Bills, but with this caveat: I believe the Patriots will be sending a big thank-you note to the San Francisco 49ers for passing on Jones with the No. 3 overall draft pick. He slid all the way to New England at No. 15 and has made a strong first impression on coaches and players. If he emerges as the quarterback of the future as the Patriots believe he can, New England’s three-year outlook could threaten Buffalo’s.

Louis-Jacques: The Bills are the kings of the AFC East, and here’s the thing: Most of their cornerstones have either been drafted over the past few years or are in their athletic prime. Allen might get an extension that rivals Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ in length. Diggs, cornerback Tre’Davious White, left tackle Dion Dawkins and Milano are all signed for the foreseeable future, and Edmunds will be, too — maybe as early as this summer. General manager Brandon Beane has a strong track record in the NFL draft, and word is spreading that Buffalo is a place to be for veterans who want to win. Now, that pendulum can swing south if the Dolphins and Tagovailoa take the next step, but as long as Allen is throwing passes in Orchard Park, New York, the Bills will be a force.

Wolfe: Miami will be the team to beat in 2024. There’s little doubt the Bills reign right now, but I’m betting on Tagovailoa to ascend to being the quarterback the Dolphins drafted him to be last year. The Dolphins have a higher ceiling and better championship potential than any team in this division. Miami has drafted nine players in the top two rounds over the past two drafts, with extra picks coming in 2022 and 2023. That young core, pairing with an already talented roster, will rise above Buffalo within the next three seasons.

Source link