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snowblossomreads · 6 months

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Exhibit 3: Art of Starting Over

Previous Chapter: Somebody That I Used To Know

Pairing: Sinclair Bryant x Amiee Huang (OC)

Summary: In where Amiee and Sinclair have their reunion dinner. Things are clarified yet complications arise as unsettled feelings bubble back up.

Tag(s)/Warning(s): Strong hints of depression, mentions of divorce, some fluff and comfort, and a bit of distress kind of through out the entire story.

Word Count: 7.7K

A/N: And in a much longer chapter (there is no consistency i tell you idk what that means)! As usual apologies for any mistakes and butchering of British English speak LOL. Hopefully it's still as enjoyable to read as it was for me to write! Off we go now with the lil past lovebirds.

The drive back into London proper was uneventful. Since most people were already at their dinner spots it left the roads calmer than they had been.

But the conversation in the car was lively as both Amiee and Sinclair conversed about the recession that had hit and how the government should have acted sooner. However, both of them couldn’t agree on exactly what the best course of action should have been.

"I guess that's why neither of us are in parliament. We run the whole bloody country into the Atlantic," Amiee joked, causing Sinclair to chuckle tapping the steering wheel of the car as he laughed.

It hadn't been all doom and gloom though as they jumped from topic to topic with ease, one being the Football League that had ended months ago but was still a source of conversation considering its outcome, especially for the residents of Manchester.

"And I'm sure you were proper chuffed when your beloved United won the League this year! If I remember correctly your current borough had a team playing? Did you double-dip your support?" Sinclair asked.

"Whoop!" She shouted, clapping her hand giddily at the memory of the clock running out in the final game and the score being 1-0 for Manchester. "You know I'm not that much of a football fan but there is something about having your home team finally win big. I did have to tone it down initially when Tottenham was still in play but when they got knocked out United was the only one in my heart!"

The laughter that they both shared over the subject made her forget the forlorn longing she had for him as they chattered about. But she couldn't help but feel a bit regretful at times when she saw how brilliant he was when laughing. From the way the crow's eyes he had deepened, to how wide his smile was and how loud he would laugh. It tugged at her heart and the wistfulness of it all had her want to avert her gaze for fear of tears slipping out.

If she was in Sinclair's mind though she would know he felt the same whenever he looked at her and saw her peeking up at him with a grin that made him equally feel a reawakening of a bond cut short.

With the conversation though it seemed like time had passed in a flurry as Sinclair was parking in the garage at the end of Chinatown before she had realized it.

"And here we are! See easy. No fuss at all coming to pick you up. Now sit there I’ll come over to you," Sinclair commanded in one breath as he quickly unbuckled and exited the car while Amiee unbuckled her seat belt.

She watched as he paced around the front of the car to her side and opened the door holding his hand out for her to take.

"Such a gentleman as always," Amiee simpered and it garnered a pleased smile from Sinclair as he helped her out before closing the door behind her.

Entwining her arms around his elbow she told herself to ignore the stupid ring on his finger and if she imagined hard enough maybe she could act as if she was wearing a matching band of her own.

God could she be any more delusional?

They made their way out of the dark garage and onto the illuminated streets that were crowded with chattering people in search of dinner or just hanging out.

"It's straight down the street on the corner," Sinclair announced as he guided them onto the pavement and began to walk briskly in that direction. "Hopefully it's not too crowded but it's also a Friday night so I wouldn't be too surprised either. The wait will be worth it though!"

"Well I sure hope so because I'm already starving," Amiee panted trying to keep up with his long strides and attempting not to be dragged by him. "And keeping up with your long legs is also a task on its own so I'll be doubly starved when we get there!"

His eyes flicked down at her when she stated that and he couldn't help but feel apologetic when he noticed how much faster he was moving than she was.

"Aha sorry it's the food," he apologised, slowing down to a more comfortable pace for them both. A relieved sigh left Amiee's lips as her legs stopped screaming at how fast they were walking and he grinned at her. "I'm just excited for you to try it, and for me to eat it, of course!"

"I know but let's not qualify for the next Summer Olympics. I don't think either of us would be appreciative of the restrictive diets some of the players have," she teased while watching a cross look appear on Sinclair.

A diet for him? She wished whoever tried to get him to follow one the very best of luck. She didn't think he needed it in the first place as he was perfectly fit in her eyes and had always been so.

A thought did briefly cross her mind about how possible it would be for him to win a gold medal if the reward was a food tour around the hosting country. It made her giggle and Sinclair looked at her quizzically.

"What, tell me why are you laughing I want to laugh with you," Sinclair prodded as they crossed the road saying a brief ‘excuse me’ to a touristy looking man who brushed shoulders with him.

"It's nothing I was just thinking about how great of a runner you would be if the prize was some world famous food tour. I can see it now! You just blasting past all those other sprinters with one thing on your mind."

A grin spread across his face and even in the dim streets, his expression lit everything around him up.

"Oh yes, I think if France was one of the countries that they let me tour I be very much up to the task. I would love that very much, hmm now I need to ask if that’s an actual thing!” He said it so seriously that Amiee couldn’t help but shake with laughter as he took hold of the subject and went on about it. “Did you know that the Michelin guide considers Lyon to be the world capital of gastronomy? I've been there a few times and I have to say I agree with them there is so much to try and all of it delicious and the wine is just-."

'Click' 'Click' 'Click'

While Sinclair continued to ramble on about the food of France, Amiee stopped in her tracks and turned around at the noise of a camera's shutter going off. It caused him to pause with her but he continued to happily educate all those around him about the world class food of France. He of course got some stares and giggles from people walking by. It didn’t bother him at all.

"Did you hear that?" Amiee asked, letting go of Sinclair's elbow and looking around them for the source of the noise she just heard.

"Hmm no what's that?" Sinclair hummed turning in the same direction as her and seeing the same thing she was seeing, which was just a lot of people.

An odd feeling bubbled in her stomach as she turned around to look at him. A slight frown began to mar her face as he continued to search for whatever she was even though neither was sure what it was.

"No it's just I heard this clicking noise like a camera shutter," she answered looking at him with furrowed eyebrows and a confused expression. "It sounded kinda close but it's a bit late to take pictures right now." Her hand motioned to the already set sun that left the sky a darkish blue as night began to settle over the place.

"Maybe they’re just trying to get pictures of the area? It is quite pretty with all these lights on the dark background of the sky," he pointed out. "These lanterns here add a nice ambience to it also and with all these people around it makes a nice candid shot. Those kinds of shots always win Pulitzers so maybe they are practicing don’t you think?"

"Right," she mumbled a bit warily, still confused even if his point was logical.

'You're weird week continues.'

She thought to herself only being brought back to the present by an excited noise from Sinclair that made her turn to him.

"Oh wait but look! All that talking and we are here!" He exclaimed gesturing to a brick building with a smooth black exterior on the outer window that had the establishment's name on it in English and Chinese.

"Well, shall we?"

Her stomach grumbled at his question and they both looked down at the culprit before locking eyes again which caused them to break into a noisy fit of laughter.

"I-I guess that's a yes," she chuckled, burying the unease down and allowing herself to continue enjoying the night as he led the way into the restaurant.

It was loud with the rush of dinnergoers and the savoury smell of food only had Amiee more excited as they were seated and began ordering. They had both agreed on a main dish of roasted duck with scallion pancakes and a variety of smaller eats one enjoys when going to a place like this.

After getting settled they both fell into a comfortable pace of chatting with one another just as old friends who lost touch would.

"I'm telling you I thought my soul had left my body when I saw the thing dragging a pizza across the pavement," Amiee wheezed trying to hold back the laugh caught in her throat as she retold the story about her rat encounter on the streets of New York City. "Sinclair it was huge, gigantic! I thought the rats were just a myth but it was there and I was just so confused I couldn't move! It was like if that thing can drag a pizza what else could it drag? Me!?"

Sinclair, who was already partaking in some of the food that had already arrived couldn't stifle the choked noise that left him as he grabbed his glass of water and downed it.

"A whole pizza?" He guffawed his brows furrowing at the image of a rat dragging a pizza. "What a waste who is throwing a whole pizza away? And I doubt the thing would have been able to drag you if I remember they only drag about two times their body weight!"

This time Amiee giggled, not at all surprised he was concerned more about the uneaten food than anything else.

"I don't know about that, apparently the rats there have a specialized diet so I can't put it past them being able to drag a grown adult," she mused as she plucked a soup dumpling from one of the bamboo steamers, "but what I do know is I'm more scared of those rats now than anything."

Their laughter died down as the main dish of the evening was served and for a few moments, the only thing they could discuss was how good it was before they were silent as they dug into the meal.

Amiee had to admit Sinclair had chosen well with the restaurant, granted she never doubted him when it came to culinary things. He did have a refined palate for all things yummy. And she had always been up to try anything new that he recommended considering they had never had a bad outing.

She did find herself grinning once or twice when she looked up and saw Sinclair very much entranced at their meal gobbling everything up. It seemed when it came to food, manners be damned Sinclair was going to have his fill of it.

As he should and she supported it.

It couldn't have been more than thirty minutes into the main entree that Amiee decided that it was time to ask the question that had been burning in her head the entire time. Whether or not it burned her she would deal with it later because she was honestly just very curious. Was he married or not? Surely that ring wasn't just there for show...?

"And you Sinclair?" She asked, causing him to look up at her tilting his head and letting his hair adorably flop to the side. "Anything exciting in your life, you know friends, new hobbies, or...," she trailed off as her eyes seemed to automatically find the ring on his finger even if she wasn't purposefully looking for it.

He must have caught her glance though as he nervously began to play with the band. The piece of jewelery glinted at her in the dim light of the restaurant like it was mocking her and she could only look down at her food a little, a frown on her face.

"Wife and kids?" She finished before taking and popping a piece of the roasted duck in her mouth and groaning at how moist and savoury it was while having a crispy skin.

Sinclair's eyes brightened for a second before dimming at her question, bright ambers became dull while a nervous expression washed over his features as he continued to fidget with the band. She had to say that the sudden look of misery that washed over his features caused the flavors of the food to suddenly become bland.

"Erm, no, no kids...unfortunately," he muttered, his voice unusually soft which was almost drowned out by the other patrons. "And yes a wife..."

Amiee felt her heart drop at his answer but she tried to keep her expression neutral even if all she felt inside was a bubbling of sadness. But what did she expect? He was wearing a wedding ring.

"But." Her ears perked up as she watched his brows furrowed and he seemed to be mulling over his words before continuing. "We're separated at the moment, well, divorcing actually."

His eyes averted Amiee's gaze that had widened in ill hidden shock as he spoke and she could see the dejection in his expression grow. For a moment Sinclair looked a bit older than he was and it brought a tinge of unhappiness to her.

The ray of sunshine that he was seemed to dim even more and for a moment she wanted to commit violence against whoever had caused him to be upset like this.

Not even once did she think that Sinclair was the culprit of something that would cause a divorce because while the man wasn't an angel, he might as well be close to one with how good natured he was.

Never had he been anything but loyal to her while they had been dating and while he could be a bit overbearing she always knew it was because of how much he cared and it had always been hard for her to get annoyed by it.

It was endearing to her and she had found the remedy was to let him know. And just like the puppy he seemed to be, he would scamper away happily to leave one to their own devices in search of a book or snacks. Or both.

Well for a little while at least.

She was brought back from her thoughts by his voice as he continued to explain his predicament with as much enthusiasm as one could muster about such a topic. Which was none.

"I'm hoping by the end of the year, earlier would be nice," he sighed as a weary expression blanketed his features and he picked at his food again, another unnatural thing for him to do. "But it's dragged on a bit longer than I thought it would have. It's a bit messy to be truthful, with the solicitors and such everyone up in arms about this and that and oh! I don't know why I'm going on about this! This dinner was for you and to celebrate your new job!"

Being told that she had indeed been hired while simultaneously being distressed for Sinclair and his currently messy divorce was not what Amiee thought she would be experiencing at the same time. And while she wanted to jump from her seat and shout ecstatically about the job, the urge to comfort the man sitting across from her won out easily, especially with how sad he looked. She always hated it when he was sad, it didn't fit him.

"Sinclair no no it's okay! I'm the one who should be sorry. I didn't mean for this to go sideways. I was just being nosy oh god I shouldn't have asked. I just thought...Well, I don't know what I thought really."

Apologizing profusely, she leaned over the table and reached over to place a comforting hand on top of his, squeezing it in what she hoped was reassurance. The action, while innocent, sent a warm sensation up both of their arms, one that had them locking eyes for a moment before shyly looking down as she retreated. Any sadness in his eyes seemed to diminish as amber flecks lit up at her touch.

If she felt bad about his current messy relationship status, the feeling was more overshadowed by how there was something deep in her that was well..relieved in some twisted way.

Letting out an inaudible sigh, Amiee could only shake her head at herself slightly perturbed with her brain which continued to guilt her. Yet it also kept planting the thoughts it was guilting her for so who was the bad guy here?

"Of course you didn't mean to! How would you have known considering," he trailed off nodding to his ring breaking Amiee out of her stupor once again. "Honestly I'm still not sure why I still wear it, probably something to do with memories and attachments. I did read about it in some book I picked up at this bookstore near the office. You should visit it the owner is lovely and she even lets me have free books sometimes!" Sinclair beamed, happiness radiating off of him suddenly as he talked about his new go to bookstore and the book he had gotten.

Quirking an eyebrow, Amiee took a sip of water while trying to hold in a laugh at how pleased he had become at talking about the bookstore. As if they hadn't just pivoted from the somber topic of his divorce.

"Free books? That may be bad for business but I may also have to visit this bookstore if that's the case," she grinned, "but this sounds lovely though I'm glad that you didn't scare her with your little nose around!"

"I am too!" He agreed with a grin and she was glad that he was already smiling again.

It made her feel more relaxed as he grabbed a napkin and dabbed at his lips. An action that she kept her eyes on more intently than one should.

"Oh but now where were we?" He asked before his face lit up and he snapped his fingers. "The job that's right! Everything went through and someone should be giving you a ring Monday about it isn't it wonderful? I'm quite looking forward to getting to work with you again. I think we'll make quite a team as usual and you can have your office next to mine!"

Enthusiasm dripped off Sinclair's lips as he chattered eagerly about her new job and each moment had her smile growing wider and wider before she couldn't help but interrupt him with a high pitch cheer of happiness that stopped Sinclair in his tracks.

Amiee's brown eyes were alight and whether or not it was the lights making her eyes twinkle Sinclair couldn't help but be sucked into them just as he was her smile that he had noticed long ago was always more prominent towards her right side.

It was adorable. Everything about her was and for a moment he couldn't take his eyes off her as she practically danced in her seat. People were probably staring at them from the outburst but neither were concerned with anything other than each other.

Up until this moment, he had forgotten how much he had missed her initially when everything had happened. When she left there was this strange ache that he hadn't felt before. Yet seeing her so cheerful, so jovial in front of him now made him forget how long she had been gone and how much it had hurt when she had left. And in its own way, it made him forget his own unhappiness about his failed marriage because here was Amiee.

Even six years away from her and yet he still considered her his best friend even..even if she no longer did. But there was still a minuscule glimmer of hope that this was the case. Especially as he felt her leg gently tap his and her smile made him feel warmer than any summer could.

'Stop it, stop it, think logically Sinclair you're not the only person in her life she's happy about being hired nothing else. Don't be silly.'

"Sinclair thank you thank you thank you!" Amiee gushed, interrupting his chattering brain.

Her cheeks had begun hurting with how hard she was beaming at him and her heart thumped in joy at the semi-official news. While it wasn't a done thing until she signed papers it might as well have been as Sinclair never reneged from his word.

"Oh don't thank me, well I won't say no to thanks actually so you're welcome!" He smirked, looking quite pleased with himself at how well the deal had gone. "But thankfully HR turned everything around so quickly that you'll be pleased to know that I only had to talk to them once, no bothering of any kind needed just like you asked."

Things rarely went smoothly in the business world as they all knew but this had, and it made him feel even more confident that it was the right decision. That, and the way Amiee looked as if she was floating on Cloud 9 as he gave her the news made it also worth it as she continued to shine the rest of dinner.

They stayed for another hour or so before their waitress came with the bill seeing that they had eaten their fill and when Amiee reached for it she was startled slightly when Sinclair's arm shot out and grabbed it away from her.

"Sinclair no let's at least split the cheque please!" Amiee protested as he nabbed the tiny black fold the bill was in from her causing her to try and reach for it again.

This only made him turn his body away from her as if shielding it so that she couldn't get hold of it.

The waitress tending to them gave them an odd look but neither paid attention as Amiee was trying and failing to wrestle the bill from Sinclair who was adamant about paying for it.

"Absolutely not! This is your celebration and I'm not going to make you pay for it, especially with it being the first dinner we've had in forever," he fussed, pulling his wallet out and placing a few bills in it before handing it to the waitress telling her to keep the change.

The waitress whose lips quirked in bemusement thanked them before making her away from their table. No doubt going to tell her coworkers about the antics she had just witnessed.

"Plus take it as compensation for me being a downer for some of it!" He explained as he slid out from behind the table and walked over to Amiee's side of the table before offering her his arm.

"Alright now come on darling! It's supposed to be a nice evening out. Do you want to go on a walk before we head back to your place?"

A sigh of defeat fell from her lips at his question but she accepted his arm and got up from her seat. But as she took his arm she playfully bumped his side causing him to give her a puzzled look before a smirk on her lips appeared.

"Next time I'm paying, now lead the way, Mr.Bryant," she teased, causing him to chuckle before doing as she asked.

They had gotten back to her flat a little past 10 after they had taken a short stroll after dinner. And as promised once they returned she had allowed him to nose around her flat.

Anything interesting he saw he pointed it out, and he became especially thrilled when he saw the multiple canvases that decorated the hallway of the entrance.

"Amiee these are beautiful!" He admired staring at the details of each painting. "Did you paint all of these yourself?"

"No just these two," Amiee pointed to an acrylic painting of a city skyline that focused on the stars above and a nature scene that had flowers floating on a pound at sunset. "These though," she continued as Sinclair watched her eyes light up and she began to glow with pride as she motioned to a vibrant and colorful bouquet in a vase and another that was different from them all.

It was the side profile of a woman yet instead of a face her head had been sectioned off like a floor plan and inside each square there were different things. Flowers in one, tiny people in another, the sun, moon and some cogwheels in another. Each section had something different in it. All of it very abstract and yet all of it very beautiful including the profile of the subject who Sinclair thought looked very much like Amiee.

"They were from Angela, you remember my little sister?" Amiee pointed out examining the painted canvas and drawing his attention back to it as well. "It was a going away gift when I moved. A small something of her going with me as she said. I think she was like 17, 18 when she painted them but it's quite mint innit? She'll be going to the Royal College of Art in September actually!"

Sinclair began to mentally backtrack trying to remember if he had ever met her little sister before his lips went into an 'o' shape at a memory.

"Oh her! She was the one that found us snogging in my car when I dropped you off near your parent's home wasn't she?"

The choked laugh that left Amiee's throat caused Sinclair to look at her worriedly before his hand went to her back to gently pat her thinking she was actually choking. This only made her double over even more, causing his concern to increase for an instant before he began to share in her laughter.

"I-I'm fine Sinclair I'm fine," she gasped, still trying to get a hold of herself but failing to contain her amusement still. "Y-yes that's her, oh god haha! I almost had a heart attack because I thought it was the cops knocking at the window but it was her which made it somehow worse," she tittered remembering Angie's stunned expression when they locked eyes.

Amiee had never sprung away so fast from someone but being caught with your secret boyfriend by your little sister will do that to you. The walk home was awkward to say the least. But at least her sister had been very supportive of the relationship and had kept it from their parents as she had been asked.

As their laughter died down, they both shared a smile with each other, cheeks hurting from how much they had repeated the motion over the couple of hours they had been together. Yet neither minded as Amiee began to let Sinclair poke around some more, giving him free rein of her flat as if nothing had changed between them.

After a while of finding anything and everything interesting, he excused himself to the loo giving Amiee a chance to change into her more comfy house clothes looking forward to going straight to bed after he left. Not that she was going to rush him out no, but she was a bit knackered from all the excitement and was sure once her head hit the pillow she would be out.

"Amiee?" His voice echoed out of the bathroom as she heard the water turn from the sink faucet turn off.

"Hmm you okay?" She called grabbing a decorative pillow and curling up with it lazily.

"I'm fine!" he answered back before popping out of the bathroom but not before giving something one last glance. "I got a bit distracted with the lobster basket in your bathroom. Why do you have a lobster in there? I am a big fan of lobster and I learned recently there are 75 different species of them but I'm confused," he rambled on making his way over to the sofa ."It's very cute though! May I?" He asked, pointing to the empty spot next to her.

"Of course get comfortable! And are you talking about Sebastian, my menstruation crustacean?"

"You gave it a name did you?" He asked, delighted at the revelation of the object having a name. "How very you and it's one of those characters from The Little Mermaid?"

"Of course I did! Something as cute as him deserves one but yes he uhm," she paused, not really sure how else to explain it other than directly. They were all adults here. "Well he keeps all my period stuff on hand. It's easy access when any of the girls come by and Bloody Mary decides to follow them."

Sinclair nodded in understanding as he took his seat next to Amiee who scooted towards him still hugging her pillow as they sat in a tranquil silence.

It wasn't uncomfortable, but it was very odd when Sinclair of all people had nothing else to say and he seemed to realize that too as he began to fidget a bit with his fingers. Truthfully he did have something he wanted to ask that had been on his mind for a while, especially during dinner but he was unsure of how to word it gently. And it probably wasn't an exciting topic either but neither was the topic of his divorce so.

Amiee, who seemed to notice him fidgeting again, unfurled her arms from around the pillow and instead laid her hands on top of his. Feeling her fingers around his, Sinclair jumped a little at the closeness and turned to look at her. A gleam was in her eyes and before he knew it, she was asking him about the thing swirling in his mind.

"You're awfully quiet, something on your mind or," giving him a knowing look she added, "something you wanna ask?"

Had he forgotten the adoration he had for her, which he didn't, it would have all flooded back to him then at her question and her gesture. She had been the only person to notice his little tic it seemed and to show a type of care for him when she saw it.

Not even Natalie had noticed the signs of his anxiousness. Only telling him to stop moving around so much when he did get fidgety. It only made it worse.

Cogwheels turning in his mind about how to gently ask the question, he figured that he might as well be direct. Kind of like how he was with some of his clients even though she wasn’t his client. Hmm maybe he should be softer?

‘Oh come on Sinclair ask the damn question!’

"Erm I just wanted to know well…why did you come back Amiee?" Sinclair questioned as he furrowed his brows, his lips turning into a slight frown as he watched her shoulders slump. "At dinner it felt like you had a wonderful time in the States, studying, working, meeting new people yet you're here. And don't get me wrong I'm happy you're here because I've..."

'I've missed you and wished you never left.'

"Sinclair?"

The little tilt of her head and the comforting squeeze of his hand as she said his name made his heart speed up. For a split second, he wondered if he should drop the topic considering that in the back of his mind, he may have already known the answer and didn't want to become angry on her behalf. She had hated that before and he was sure she would hate it now but he had to know. Who would he be if he didn't poke around people's lives, especially people he lo-.

"I've missed you," he mumbled gently, stopping his thoughts from finishing the sentence that was forming as he watched her expression soften a bit and a wistful smile appear on her lips. "And I'm sorry we didn't stay in contact but I would have probably run your phone bill up into the thousands," he added on causing Amiee to chuckle at his attempt to lighten the mood that was somewhat somber.

"But it doesn't matter because I knew you were going to do wonderful things when you went there, and you did! You did more than wonderful you were successful and you seemed happy but now you're here and you were doing something that made you unhappy why did you come back to do something that made you unhappy?"

Unhappy.

Being a bank teller did make her unhappy and it did make her feel worthless she had expressed that many times. But there was an intensity in Sinclair's eyes that stopped her in her tracks signaling to her that he wasn't exactly talking about that.

His look reminded her that someone at work had once said he had a strange wisdom to him that one wouldn't expect from someone so...well so talkative as him and young too.

He loved to chit chat with people and loved to nose around but he did have an aura of wiseness once you actually sat down with him to talk. It was probably why he was so good at his job. And for a moment she was sure that in all his wisdom he knew what the answer was. Or at least had some sort of theory as to why she had come back.

It was the same thing that had made her run away in the first place. Granted she had never told him what had been the thing to break her, no she had been too broken up about everything else before she left.

"Well unfortunately I found out that-."

Going to answer him she was stopped by the sudden ringing of her house phone. The sharp sound of it filled the air as they looked up and in the direction of her kitchen.

"Ignore it, probably a wrong number they always call late at night I've gotten some before and let it ring of course I do pick up later if they keep calling," Sinclair said matter of factly looking back at Amiee who wore a bemused look on her face from his statement.

"Well hopefully they don’t call back I usually don't pick up after a certain time because you know sleeping," she answered before she slouched some more, her expression cooling a bit. "I don't know...I just...I knew it would be difficult being away from my family and friends. And that was fine because I mean I think you know how things were with them." Amiee said, looking up at Sinclair who nodded.

It was a sore subject, her family, and from the things she had confided in him he had understood why. Families were messy, he knew that all too well, but it seemed her life was a mismatch of paradoxes of doing something you didn’t really want to appease people who were supposed to love you with no strings attached. Yet she had told him, tearily one time, that she had felt like there were many strings attached.

That subject was the one that caused them to have their first disagreement for many reasons and he learned to tread lightly when it came to that. Even if everything in him just wanted to push back and argue about it he didn’t because he knew it was more complex than he could understand.

Which was saying something.

"But,” she continued drawing his attention in, their hands still holding one another, “the problem was I didn't realize how hard it was. Starting over is an art form and while I'm okay with a brush and canvas it's a bit more difficult when you're talking about your actual life."

And when you can't stop thinking about the possible consequences of running away instead of facing your problems.

Shaking her head to clear that thought, she looked up at Sinclair who had an understanding gaze in his eyes as he listened to her intently and it had been a while since she felt like someone was listening to her. Who would have thought it would be him of all people?

"If I'm being honest it was hard to cope when I was there. I mean don't worry I didn't go on a wild bender like some stories we've heard of people," she joked, causing him to crack a smile and murmur an amused 'of course you wouldn't'.

"But I don't know the entire time even when I tried to make friends, be sociable, it just felt off...it felt wrong and over time it was exhausting every day. Going to work, going to school, studying everything was just exhausting and I just," her voice wavered a bit and she felt a familiar burn in her eyes which she tried to keep at bay. "I really missed my family and my friends."

And you.

"We only called every other month for a few minutes but you know I never even came back for a visit for those few years. It was-."

Retelling him just a bit of what she felt when she was gone was enough for that deep seated loneliness to begin bubbling up to the surface again and it caused her to choke up. And from Sinclair's dower expression, she could tell that he had noticed the shift in her but she continued.

"It was isolating but I didn't want to tell anyone so I just worked through it because I didn't want to fail...didn't want to," her voice pitched upward with emotion this time and she clasped her hand against her mouth quickly.

A wide look of embarrassment was accompanied by eyes that shined not of happiness but the complete opposite before she wiped it away. "Oh god I'm sorry I'm ruining the day again aren't I with my bad topics?"

"No no of course not you could never ruin my day," Sinclair frowned as he went to wrap his arms around her shoulder, dragging her into a tight hug that had her breath hitching as he basically cuddled her towards his chest.

She couldn't help but notice the lovely citrus smell that wafted off of him as she laid her head on him. It was combined with a dark undertone that had her relaxing in his hold. It helped her if only slightly to ignore the discomfort in her own chest as she tentatively wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"I was the one that asked you why you came back and I should be saying sorry for making you upset I just-."

Again the shrill noise from the phone ringing interrupted them once again to both of their chagrin.

"Do you usually get this many late night callers on a weekend?" Sinclair mused as Amiee huffed and turned her head to look down the hallway wondering who was calling this late.

"I don't and I'm trying to ignore it but if they call again I may answer it but I hope they don't."

They sat and let the phone ring until whoever on the other end figured out no one was going to reply or the operator hung up automatically. Either way, there was a sigh of relief from both when the noise stopped as it was a bit of an annoyance.

"Well that was anticlimactic don't you think?" Sinclair asked as Amiee deflated once again in his hold and he couldn't help but chuckle as she blew a piece of hair out of her face before just staying in his arms.

"But I'm sorry darling I didn't want to upset you. It just befuddled me when you showed up for the interview to be an assistant. And when you told me what you were doing I really thought something had to have gone wrong with the universe all things considered."

Looking up at him from her spot, Amiee was met with puzzled eyes that gleamed with apology and she couldn't help but feel a rush of emotion flood her.

"Don't be it looks like we’re just both bad at picking topics today," she smiled up at him, causing his puzzlement to change into a warm grin that had her heart dancing. "I'm just happy it was you that day. I...missed you and I do wish we stayed in contact but look at us now."

Amber colored eyes lit up at her admission before softening and Sinclair hugged her tighter than he had already been. There was a glint in both of their eyes as they sat studying one another.

Maybe...just maybe.

"Amiee?"

He asked, his voice unusually soft and his tone taking on something akin to velvet as his lips ghosted against her forehead. It caused her to tense in his arms as he lowered his face so that his breath tickled her face before their lips ghosted against each other.

Her breath hitched and slowly he leaned in and for a moment, she was going to let him do it, let him kiss her. Because if she was being honest to herself she had thought of him too often and unbeknownst to her, he had been guilty of doing the same.

'He's still married Amiee, you can't!'

Ah there her inner thoughts were. Always coming to save the day...or make it worse.

"Sinclair we can't," Amiee whimpered as the realization struck her and she turned her head to the side even though she so wanted to kiss him. "You're still married and...I don't...I don't want this to complicate it."

Yet she still had her arms wrapped around him as he went to nuzzle her cheek gently and the whine that left her throat when he kissed her cheek tenderly had a shiver run through his body.

It's not like anyone was watching. What harm was one kiss it wasn't as if she was against being with him. On the contrary, the little devil on her shoulder had been screeching at her louder and louder since he had picked her up to never let him go again.

Even if the pit in her stomach was nagging at her. Telling her that maybe he was just using her. She had heard of people getting back with their exes or starting relationships as a way to get through the rough patches in life. What if this was a case of that rebound?

No, no, no this was Sinclair she was talking about! He would never use her like that. In all her time knowing him, he was sunshine, he was happiness a bright spot on a dull day. A loyal friend and even with his faults he still had a pureness that was unnatural for a man of his age and his class it was strange.

And it was what she had grown to love about him so what was so wrong with this?

"Sinclair-." "Amiee-."

'BRRRRRING!'

The shrill ring of the telephone cut them both off this time halting any movement between them as it began to ring over and over.

"Ah for fucks sake!" Amiee hissed snapping out of the stupor that they both had been put in.

"It's rung about three times now," Sinclair frowned as he nuzzled the top of her head before touching her forehead with his own again. "Should you get it?"

She did say she was going to answer it if it rang another time. Whoever was calling her had better have a good reason to be.

With a little huff, Amiee looked at Sinclair once more, his eyes still had an intensity in them that made them so much more beautiful and before she knew what she was doing, she took a quick breath and grabbed both sides of his cheeks.

Leaning up she kissed his forehead sweetly before scrambling off the sofa and making her way to the kitchen to catch the phone leaving Sinclair bewildered and wide eyed.

Her own heart felt like it was going to explode out of her chest and her cheeks were certainly red with how warm she felt from her sudden actions.

Padding over to the phone she let out a long exhale before picking up and hoping it was just someone who had the wrong number so that she could get this over with quickly.

"Hello?" Amiee asked or more accurately spat confused and a little annoyed at having her time with Sinclair interrupted.

"Xuemei!" The sudden distressed wail of her Chinese name from her mother had Amiee sobering up immediately from any of that annoyance as it quickly turned into dread as her heart plummeted to her stomach at her mother's tone. "Where have you been why haven't you picked up the phone I've called you so many times!"

It was never good when a parent called late Amiee had heard from people before, and as rushed Mandarin poured from the other end causing her to try and calm her mother down she understood why as panic settled heavy in her.

"Mama I've been with my friend. What's wrong, why are you calling at this time-."

"You need to come home right now!" Her mother sobbed loudly, her voice cracking as she interrupted Amiee, causing bile to rise in her throat as her grip on the phone tightened.

Her mother didn't cry.

"It's Qiuxiang, she's in the hospital and the doctors can't wake her up! You need to come home!"

A/N: Me to me: Don't make it angsty no need for angst Also me to me: lets give characters more trauma for the funsies! What can i say we need a semi balance of plot and angst is always a nice go to! Now lets see what happens next huh? (whenever that will be :D )

#sinclair x oc #sinclair bryant #alan rickman character #the art of entangled hearts #blossom writes

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bluberimufim · 9 months

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Hi, and happy blorbo blursday! (as usual I am @writeblr-of-my-own). I am back and ready to get in the game! For today's question, imagine your characters were in a cartoon TV show (such as Total Drama, Adventure Time, Kim Possible etc). What would their signature outfit be? The one they will never change for the duration of the season, possibly of the whole show? What would be one bit they keep doing or their signature sentence?

Happy blorbo blursday!!

This would be very interesting to answer for B&W because all the characters have their circus outfits, so I'm not gonna do that bc it's boring.

In the dystopia WIP, I've always had a very clear image of what Cristover, Nester and Alexis's outfits look like. Especially Alexis. Their outfit appeared 100% complete in my brain and I never changed it bc it was perfect.

I once did character sheets for all the characters and, while none of them is fully coloured, most of them had a little sketch just to kinda study colours and shapes. And this was Alexis:

Some of the colours are kinda off and the yellow is supposed to be gold but this is the general idea. They're a ridiculously wealthy swordmaster living a life of hedonism and I think this really captures that vibe, especially when you add their facial expressions. They also always have amazing black and gold graphic-ish eyeliner.

Their outfit changes slightly throughout the story to include more red, to represent how they fall deeper and deeper in love with Veera and how this love gradually distances them from their old life (red is Veera's colour, her outfit also gains more gold elements).

If they had to keep the sane outfit throughout the whole "show", I have decided they would only change their outfit once. When they find out that Veera was secretly sent to assassinate them and is probably not even in love with them (she is), we see them venture out of their property for the first time. In this scene they're wearing nothing but red, no gold to be seen - they're not even wearing eyeliner.

Ok, to put this in simple terms, Alexis very vaguely represents "the rich" (together with Nester, the only other character who's main colour is a metallic tone), and Veera represents "the people", since she's the kinda-leader of the common people's revolt. In this scene, Alexis finally leaves their house (the bubble in which the wealthy live, out of touch with the world) and finds their way to a poorer part of Silver City (where Veera is from, they specifically find their way to the building the revolutionaries are using as headquarters) to finally see the real world and learn about Veera's cause. This kickstarts a redemption arc btw.

The colour-switching in a character duo also happens with Cris and Nester, but it means a very different thing and I've already written too much.

Anyway, here are some of the sketches for the other characters:

They are, in this order: Vi, Veo, Veta, and Veera. Veera's design has changed a bit since this was made, but the general shapes and colours are still correct.

As for bits that keep showing up, I guess it would be that everyone struggles to pronounce Vi's full name because of how long it is (it's Anastavius Greterssen). It's not even that hard, but he always pronounces it with his native accent (which is kinda nordic-sounding) and always writes it out in his native language's alphabet, which the other characters can't read. The only time anyone ever saw his name in the "normal" alphabet was his and Veta's marriage certificate, which they lost when they got exiled.

#i love talking about Alexis and Veera <3 #they are my oc ship of all time #this whole thing started bc Viktor (Veo's twin brother) and Veera decided the best way to kill Alexis was to honeytrap them #Alexis is the one that owns the military btw #i've talked about them before i think #i also have stuff to say about other characters' designs but they're not as set in stone as Alexis #all their designs are based on a time period in fashion or a culture's tradicional wear #Alexis is regency btw #writing #my wips #writeblr #the dystopia wip #asks #blorbo blursday

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kokomochi · 2 years

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𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 | 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐮

"𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙞 𝙢𝙚𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚?"

PAST LIFE AU! falling in love was something that he didn't expect- having a broken heart was the last thing his brother wanted.

01. cuts and clinics MASTERLIST

we all thought that in the future years, our world will be as good as new.

that there'll be flying cars taking us to school or that everything will be made of titanium metal, strong enough to withstand even the most horrifying earthquakes to shake the earth.

sorry to burst your bubble, however, because these are nothing but a child's dream.

there are no flying cars, no good innovations, no one who holds the power of immortality- none of those. the world is still fucked, everyone is still the same and we're all slowly dying. but who gives a shit about that right now?

sure we have good fashion sense, good technology, but amidst all these materialistic things, we're killing the earth and everything around it- not like the government will do anything about it, it's been like that for the past few decades.

it's the year 2075, and goddamn is it boring.

like, you're still going to school when literally half of the earth is dying of global warming? and you teach students how to do maths instead of how to help prevent this darned situation? i mean, you have your priorities i guess but come on.

don't get him wrong, he's sort of grateful to still be going to school even if he's just one admission slip away from expulsion, but at least he can do basic maths right?

meet haitani rindou, the youngest of the infamous haitani brothers known for their brute strength and overall scary appearances to ever roam the school halls.

can you imagine how scared other students feel just by walking down the same staircase as these two? like, do they shit their pants or run away with their tails in between their legs, cowering in fear?

who knows, they don't know that because they're too unbothered to even look at them.

no one, even the teachers don't know why these two are still coming to school when they're clearly smart- they're just scared to deal with them, honestly.

but it is true that they're smart. haitani ran himself got ranked first during the exams and the same goes for his brother who ranked first in his own grades. though in all honesty, the two didn't even review for the tests and instead went around roppongi, beating people left and right.

not a great activity to begin with... but at least it's productive! sort of.

however, on this particular wednesday, the two of them decided to finally show up to class after being suspended for a week. although that was two weeks ago, they spent another week just lazing around because none of them wanted to go to school.

walking past gapping students, ran and rindou made their way down the halls to get to the cafeteria where they planned on spending their first period there. seeing as the older of the two had science and the youngest having english, they wanted to spare themselves from the boring discussions and just finish all the doriyakis in the canteen.

"i told you that we should've just went to the arcade."

"i'll be a bad brother if i don't force you to go to school now, won't i?" this caused rindou to roll his eyes at his annoying sibling, clicking his tongue as he buried his hands deeper in his uniform pockets to make himself look cooler.

it's a very dumb idea but it still works.

"says the one who threatened his math teacher to give him a passing grade."

the dual-hair colored male ignored the harsh glare that ran gave him and continued walking, not noticing a group of art students rushing in their direction.

"please excuse us-" too late. may their lives be spared as the props that the students were holding fell in front of the youngest haitani, managing to land a scrape on his cheek while every student in the hall with them stopped and looked at the commotion.

everyone held their breaths at the sight of the bleeding cut on rindou's cheek, giving the art students their silent prayers as ran looked at his brother with an unreadable look on his face.

the president of the club had their eyes wide open, legs starting to shake in fear not knowing what to do now or if he even has a chance to live! getting down on his knees in a begging position, he started pleading for their forgiveness and telling them that it was nothing but an honest mistake.

meanwhile, ran knew that his little brother is more than annoyed at the situation and is currently thinking of ways on how to send the poor president to his final resting place.

looking down on his wristwatch and seeing that they had at least ten minutes before the bell rings, the oldest of the two gave him a pat on his back and guided him to the staircase that was coincidentally beside them.

"go get that shit patched up, i'll handle them. meet me in the cafeteria once you're done."

rindou didn't need to be told twice as he gave the club president one last glare, completely ignoring the dull sting that he's beginning to feel on his cheek, and proceeded to make his way up the stairs where the clinic is located at.

the students let out a relieved sigh, glad to know that they'll live to see another day and began to pick up the fallen props off of the floor. the president was the most relieved out of all of them, nearly bursting into tears when the haitani gave him his infamous death glare.

"where do you think you're going?" an arm held the poor guy into place, chills running up his spine as his club members began scurrying out of there, completely leaving his ass to haitani ran.

"i- class is almost starting and we kind of need to get the props to the gym before it begins..." the president couldn't even stop his voice from shaking, completely scared to be left alone with the infamous brother who hummed as a reply.

with a harsh tug on his uniform collar, ran began dragging him off to the courtyard to teach him a lesson. and if he's unfortunate, the teachers will also teach him a lesson by reprimanding him to ever enter the courtyard again.

"no can do buddy, we're having a little chat about how clumsy your ass is."

let us give a silent prayer to this unnamed character, may he rest in peace.

never in his entire sixteen years of existence did haitani rindou imagine having his precious face ruined by some clumsy ass art club leader.

he would always take time out of his week to make sure that his face is perfectly flawless even if he has to go participate in a brawl in an hour- he needs to look extra handsome when it comes to him putting lowlifes in their places.

so imagine how pissed he is seeing that it's all ruined? all his efforts... gone just because of a dumb prop falling on his face.

what was that thing even made of?! metal?

rindou just knows that he'll spend at least a week to try and fix the damage before he can even join his brother in fights. ugh, how boring really.

but never mind not being able to participate in fights, he can just sort that problem out later. what he needs to focus on right now is to get his cut treated and avoid getting it infected, because he knows that he'll look even more shitty if it were to get infected.

he's all pissed just because his image is ruined, how cute.

grumbling under his breath, the first year entered the clinic and was immediately welcomed by the smell of rubbing alcohol and sterile objects, something that he isn't used to smelling if he was being honest.

it seems that the room was empty, except for a lone student sitting on a random stool, having their complete attention to the phone in their hands.

now, he knows that they're just doing their job by being there but they should at least be alert if someone enters the room. what if a passed-out student was brought in and they're just scrolling through their phone? what now?

the guy's patience is beginning to grow thin, coughing into his palms to try and grab their attention- which fortunately did.

purple eyes clashed with (e/c) ones, a smile etching itself on her features as she placed her gadget down and stood up from her spot. by the looks of it and based on her uniform, she's either a student the same as him or she's the nurse cosplaying as a student- that doesn't matter.

"i take it that you want to get patched up?"

"no shit, where's the nurse?" the student chuckled at how blunt he is, straightening her school uniform before she made her way to the shelf full of medical supplies and motioned for him to take a seat.

"she's running late. so you'll have to deal with me for today."

rindou didn't have the time of his day to complain about this. as long as this girl who looks like she knows nothing about the medical field can do her job then he's alright with it. he just prays that she wouldn't make him look more shitty than his current state.

taking a seat on the stool that she was previously sitting on, the male closed his eyes and waited for her to do her job.

"you're from class 1-2, right?" she said, pouring some rubbing alcohol on the cotton ball that she was holding and began to disinfect the fresh cut. she wasn't surprised when he didn't flinch, unlike the other students who get their cuts tended by her, they mainly whimper in pain.

"why'd you wanna know?" even with his eyes closed, rindou can imagine the look of amusement on her face as he felt the cool sensation of the bandaid on his cheek.

"i'm surprised that you forgot about your classmate. but you haven't been going to school for two weeks so it's inevitable- you can open your eyes now."

he almost jumped back when he saw her (e/c) eyes staring into his in such close proximity, scooting back on the chair to create some distance between them.

does this girl not know what a personal bubble is?!

"what the fuck?!" the (h/c) haired girl chuckled at his reaction, standing up straight as she began arranging the used equipment back into their respective shelves.

"i'm just testing to see if the rumors about you having a deadly look in your eyes are true- must be a myth really."

now, haitani rindou didn't know whether to be insulted or mad that this pesky little girl right here is mocking his power to make everybody scared of him, it's like she sees him as a joke! and no one has ever done that to him before- no one.

so imagine how pissed he is, seeing this person calling his infamous death glare a myth. the audacity of this bitch, really.

"oi, what are you calling a myth-" he was interrupted when the bell rang, the sound of it echoing through the hallways and resonating inside of the small room where they're in.

this caused the (h/c) haired girl to hum in amusement, taking her bag from the floor and making her way towards the door, much to the younger haitani's disappointment. he wanted to teach her a lesson or two for having to mock his glare and calling it a myth- and maybe he can earn himself another minion to boss around.

clicking his tongue in annoyance, he stood up and called out for her to come back.

(e/c) eyes met with his annoyed ones, a sly grin tugging on his lips as she gave him a half-assed wave of goodbye.

"don't wanna be late for class. see you when you decide to attend- or not."

"and oh- i hope another student bumps into you on the way there."

and with that, haitani rindou watched her figure disappear with narrow eyes, now being all alone in the sterile room as students walked past the door to get to their classrooms.

whoever that girl was, he hates her with a burning passion- but is also quite amused to see someone like her trying to get a rise out of him and even have the guts to mock him in any form of way.

she said that they're classmates, right?

"heh, ran can eat the doriyakis by himself."

then that girl better prepare herself for a nice trip to hell.

#haitani ran x you #haitani rindou x you #haitani ran x reader #haitani rindou x reader #rindou haitani #ran haitani #haitani rindou #haitani ran #haitani brothers angst #tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers angst

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harmcityherald · 9 months

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Well that's the most honest bio I've ever written. I am always devoted to the truth. People may as well judge me coming in the door. And I certainly do mean it when I say ask me anything. I'm devoting what is left of my life to doing real good in the world. At least my bubble of it. Sometimes you're afraid to admit who you are and where you came from. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to be able to even admit it even to yourself. Life is what you make of it. We all have stories of our lives and how we dealt with them. I firmly believe that people should not be afraid to communicate with each other. I do know at this point in time in the world today people are afraid to admit who they are and where they came from. And can someone please explain to me how do I label myself? Former trans? Is there such a thing? Former second generation trans I may add. Of course everybody is more interested in the lured serial killer story. It's someone I never met in my life but who's shadow passed a melancholic doom over my entire family who were very good people and did not deserve the judgment they received from the world because of the misguided actions of one person. I know I must have told the story before here I tell so many but I did have a conversation once outside of a roller derby event with a guy who was related to the young girl that he killed in a convenience store on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Just standing there smoking a cigarette. I Could Have Lied kept my mouth shut and walked away when he told me that but I didn't do that. We had a long conversation about the harm that it did to both of our families. I expressed to him my deepest condolences and apologies but I also know that there are no platitudes to heal such a wound. There is only acceptance and the need to move on in the world. I'm not afraid to talk about it anymore. I'm not afraid to talk about my experiences with transgenderism on many different fronts including my own. And I will tell you one thing, the most substantial change to my mental health and my battle with substance abuse ended when I lost the fear of exposure.

Let me say that phrase again because I use it very often. The fear of exposure.

I guess in a way it's a kind of coming out. And when I finally did that, being unafraid to admit that I battled with transgender feelings and unafraid to admit my great uncle was a dyed in the wool serial killer then I no longer had the fear that my secrets would be revealed and the bones of the skeletons in my closet would come spilling out across the floor to xylophone sounds. Losing that fear was the only thing that led me to the path of sobriety. So I'm also a firm believer that to beat any substance abuse you must first solve the underlying issue that causes the self-destructive Behavior. When I solved mine the alcoholism/addictions fell away like a dried out and crusty cocoon. The pressure inside myself that I was containing all my life like a fusion reaction happening inside of my chest ready to erupt at any moment and always manifesting in the endless blackouts simply winked out of existence. The fear of exposure.

The fear of exposure.

You must divorce it at all costs and the only way to obtain that divorce is the truth. Like the fear Mantra in dune. You must face the truth. You must pass through the truth and then turn around and look behind and what is left is you, standing taller now because you have lost the fear of exposure. You take the power back that fear has taken from you. You can now move forward and the judgments of others can now be of no concern to you. No one can blackmail you. No one will panic when they find out who you really are. No one can control your destiny now. Now you can control your own destiny confident in the fact that no one else's Judgment of you but your own is driving the vehicle. Now you can comfortably talk about what happened in your life and how it affected you and now perhaps you can help someone else who is struggling with their own fear of exposure. I believe that this problem is so prevalent in The Human Condition that it drives a high percentage of the hate and culture War Mania on one level and on another level keeps everyone from being honest with anyone about anything. The reason for pretense is fear. The fear of exposure. Even if it is just the simple fear of being found out as a klutz for a not so tidy person, so many silly reasons. People are afraid to have eye contact with each other in public places, some of that is fear of stranger danger and I do understand that. But I'm still the guy who strikes up a conversation about the Big Bang at 7-Eleven at 6:00 a.m. getting a blueberry coffee and rattling on about how much I love blueberries to someone that I've only known for 3.5 seconds. I guess that's the Smeagol in me.

divorce the fear. embrace the truth.

I am smeagol and I approve of this message.

~ciao

#smeagoling #fireside chats with ranxid #its probably the medicine talking #updated bio

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lyriumflames · 11 months

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dw lads I’m done now, final x-files thoughts!

Re: finale, I knew two things going in, there aren’t any more episodes and skinner dies. But to a certain extent neither of those things are true? last month chris carter announced they’re in the works for another season but it’ll basically be a spin-off cause no mulder and scully which I’m neutral about BUT what I’m NOT neutral about is that skinner’s “death” was ambiguous, they left it open in case there was another (at least proper) season.

now this may just be me living in denial but mitch said in an interview if they do continue it he would come back in a heartbeat THEREFORE in my LOGIC BRAIN he’ll survive it yes I am deciding that is canon.

I’m sad about Reyes. Ppl tried saying her death was ambiguous but I mean, she was shot square in the head. I’ll also assume it was some elaborate ploy that didn’t work out because otherwise talk about character assassination. Would also have liked a doggett update but apparently it was scheduling conflicts so I guess we’re left to wonder.

I actually don’t have any strong feelings about the final itself I’d assumed it was a big send-off finale but it wasn’t so I was just like “oh! alright then :)”

For the first time I did something very purposefully. I didn’t watch bloopers, behind the scenes, interviews, reddit discussions, tumblr tags I did NONE OF IT (okay apart from that one mitch interview) and it was the absolute best way to do it.

How do people feel about different seasons? different characters? different plotlines? when did people think it fell off? what happened between gillian and david? I have no idea and I like it. I have my own little bubble and it’s great. It’s a very big and long-standing fandom and I just know if I dug too deep (which I have done with a certain other supernatural show) all I’d do is end up hurting myself so I didn’t. The x-files is a fictional show full of fictional people and I know nothing of the outside world around it.

I also watched it wrong lol. By season 3 I just ended up getting really attached to skinner who is in maybe half the episodes and I was clawing my eyes out wanting more episodes with him in lmao, I don’t know what happened!

At first I was like “Oh it’s Samuel from spn! weird I didn’t know he had a bit part” then I noticed he was sticking around so I assumed he would die soon cause again my blueprint was basically spn and everyone around the protags die, then by season 3 I was like “wow it looks like you’re here to stay!” growing more and more fond of him and then I just fell off basically and was looking at the credits every episode to see if he’s in it (when he got a main title credit it was really annoying cause he wasn’t in any more episodes than usual, I just then didn’t know)

No clue if any others felt that way but I doubt it, but yeah there was just something about him man idk

oh also I just straight-up didn’t believe the lone gunmen died to the point where I still kinda don’t believe it even though they definitely did whoops

one thing I really really liked was the longevity of the villains. Once again blueprint was spn with the big bad every season, but nope! smoking man and Krycek (rip babygirl) are pretty much always under the surface, with things like the syndicate and other things also there.

I also seem to have an issue in that I rarely dislike villains, I watched all of GOT not realising that people HATED cersei, she was objectively a bad person but I didn’t dislike seeing her like I did, say, joffrey? So yeah I didn’t dislike smoking man (I did get more and more creeped out) or Krycek, I found them interesting. I didn’t even dislike Kersh! But that might just be bcause I’ve watched most of Grey’s so I’m just like lol it’s richard webber love you man

final thoughts, I will definitely watch it again because it was hard to keep sitting through the filler episodes (we need a better name than “filler”) because I just kept wondering about the storyline, so a second rewatch with the knowledge will be waaay more enjoyable, I had a good time!

#xposting

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whatudowhennooneseesyou · 1 year

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No, cause same on the whole bubble thing, I’m the same anon btw lol but like I’m subbed to idols from a couple of different groups and one speaks fluent English but only writes in Korean on bubble however, he asked if we had eaten and I simply asked ‘did you?’ And when I read the translated message it just said ‘yeah haha I ate bread’ and I will stay believing that was in response to me even though it most likely wasn’t lol it’s just nice to know that some respond even if it’s not always to you in particular you know what I mean? Like it’s cool watching them respond to other people i guess idk, but yeah I never realized how crazy it looks from the outside. Another idol had us vote and choose his bubble hashtag just the other day so that’s nice! Meanwhile bang chan will show up in our inboxes once in a blue moon but it’s ok because we love him 😂 also who can’t forget the iconic movie night thing he did

Wait, wait...what was the movie night?

Was that the one where he made us think he was going to go live and watch a movie with us but then he just sent us updates via his bubble?

I didn't know there were other guy groups apart from Skz on Bubble, who'd have thought?

#whatudowhennooneseesyou answered ask #whatudowhennooneseesyou anon asks #whatudowhennooneseesyou soft hours

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clancy12dupont · 2 years

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Golds Gym Resistance Bands - 3 Ridiculous Mistakes Most Consumers Make

Going on a problem description of the main condition, it is foolish to possess any spiritual assumptions or overly lazy specifics defined by earlier onset arthritis . about your spiritual reality. In short, no one knows what is wonderful for you but you. So, that brings me on the second point. Right away . point is for you to use the past and future as reference points and lessons, but always live in the now. The point of power really is now. Now is cold hard cash flow. For from the past you can learn what carry out better now to brew a better future excellent always a to be able to do this the actual world now. That is among the elements of beauty of the now. The entire process seems very simple, but how can you make enough commission to develop a healthy income online? This is where the cracking The Online Wealth Code will teach you how to get going a step-by-step system that permits you to automate any excess tasks as possible, so its possible to spend your entire time promoting more and more products. Or how about the first love of my life (which dumped me inside 2 weeks)? I won't use her real name to protect the guilty but here's that one, 2wKJeN06.OrGan, I added organ since she was organic (I think). See succeeds? I'll bet everyone has lots of things, events, people, as well as the date or age we experienced your crooks to use. Now I realize what you're thinking, you've seen concrete does not have any cracks. In some. So how can I say 'all concrete cracks'? Concrete includes cement, rock and sand, and possess add water it starts a chemical reaction generates a hard material, which, when worked on, makes walkways, patios and drives. However, as the concrete hardens, it shrinks as well as shrinkage strengthens almost all of the cracks you observe in everyday concrete. crackscreaming frog crack keygen to could. Ground preparation, reinforcing and control predisposed joints. A regarding theories explain why backs and joints crack. Experts don't agree most within the times on these theories although all of them point out that it should be caused by gas bubbles that are released in the cartilage when the joints transport. There are disk drill crack keygen and small bubbles of course the joints are stretched; the small bubbles suck the big bubbles. Method repeats for up to twenty tracphone minutes. The same mechanism works while cracking wrists, knuckles, or ankles. There is an excellent method to charges this issue, use extended characters. You hold across the alt key, then press one or maybe numerals you one of the weird characters with double dots together with or an emblem. But the keylogger still shows the character, but a way around this is to use Alt 0160. This extended character can be a space and hides that you used the Alt means to create the. So they won't be in a position duplicate it even whenever they see the idea. Puddles within your crawl space - An individual have think of a crawl space, you probably cringe. Diet plan for most people, the crawl space is a dark, moist, scary place where spiders and rodents lurk. But guess just what exactly? It's not imagined to be that way. The can be that your crawl space should remain dry year long. If it doesn't, if you can have some serious issues inside. It might cause many methods from rotting beams to low indoor quality of air. Cracks are going to happen in concrete. However, minimizing cracking and adding longevity a new concrete driveway can be accomplished. For much more information, speak to a concrete driveway contractor in your area.

#CRACKINGURLS.COM

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beels-burger-babe · 3 years

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Try it, I Dare You

*** Greetings! So this little fic is part of Familial Attachments which I wrote ages ago. I randomly got inspired by Big Bro! Lucifer and decided to branch off of it. Quick reminder that this MC is not a Teen! MC and therefore not underage. Thanks, everyone for the love and support! This fic is a long one. -B ***

Summary: As Lucifer forms a more familial bond with MC, the other brothers find themselves falling for the human romantically. Lucifer notes the changes in his brother's intentions and is not pleased.

Gaining you as an honorary little sibling was one of the best things to ever happen to Lucifer.

It gave him someone he could open up to, someone to fawn over, someone he could be soft with.

This change in dynamic between you and Lucifer had caused a number of things to change in the House of Lamentation in general.

You and Lucifer had become practically attached to the hip. Where you went, it seemed he wasn't far behind. The other brothers had joked that he had degraded himself to be your guard dog (a comment that had them all scrubbing the entirety of the hall's floors with their own toothbrushes), and in all honesty, he sort of had. Lucifer spent more time outside of his office, and would instead do his work in the lounge, where he could personally keep an eye on you.

It was this extra time around you that had caused Lucifer to begin to notice things.

It began, as most problems within the house do, with Mammon.

You had been talking with Mammon on the couch as Lucifer quietly did paperwork in the background.

He hadn't been listening in on the conversation (as frankly, it was none of his concern and you did deserve your own privacy), but your bright laugh had momentarily caught his attention.

When he glanced over, he saw you double over, nearly in tears from something Mammon had apparently said. It was nice.

What wasn't so nice, was the openly soft, adoring look that he was giving you under the knowledge that you weren't looking. His cheeks were dusted visibly flushed as his eyes glistened with affection.

Lucifer's eyes narrowed as the expression quickly disappeared once you turned to face Mammon once more and continue your conversation.

Paying closer attention now, he noted how Mammon's hand was draped over the back of the couch, his fingertips ghosting over the tops of your shoulders. A fond smirk remained glued on his face as he watched you talk passionately, and didn't even make an attempt to interrupt you as he would with most people.

Most damning, however, was the fact that the blush never quite left his face.

Lucifer pressed his lips into a thin line.

Mammon quite clearly had romantic interests in you, and that just wouldn't do.

It wasn't that Lucifer didn't trust you to know what's best for yourself. No. He knew that you were exceedingly clever and did, in fact, trust you to make your own choices. It was precisely why he hadn't done anything about Asmodeus's hollow flirtations, or Satan's teasing, or Belphegor's sleepovers. He knew that if you were truly bothered by it, you were more than capable of getting them to leave you alone.

He didn't, however, trust his brothers with you.

With the new pathway of thinking that Mammon's actions had opened that day, Lucifer had noticed that Mammon was not alone in his not-so-innocent intentions with you.

In fact, it appeared that you had captured the hearts of each of his brothers.

It was all too obvious to him now.

Satan's hands lingering on yours as he passed you books. Asmodeus's comments being less shallow and materialistic and more personal and sentimental. Levi's awe-filled eyes, being fixed on you rather than the games the two of you played. Belphegor, cracking open an eye to peer up at you when you weren't looking as he "slept" on your lap. Beel's fidgeting and blush as he asked you to help him work out. Mammon practically melting whenever you ruffled his hair; even as he protested and swatted at your hands.

Lucifer cursed his past self for being so oblivious.

Perhaps the worst part of all of this is that you, the innocent pure soul that you were, were completely oblivious to all of their advances. You would simply giggle or brush it off entirely as just one of the many weird things that his brothers did.

It was unacceptable.

Lucifer, although he seldom admitted it, loved his brothers. He truly did. But he also knew how reckless, moronic, and just overall dangerous they could all be. You deserved better than that. It was for this reason that Lucifer had made it his personal mission to put an end to these revolting advances.

Asmodeus smiled as he practically skipped over to where you were reading in the living room, "Hey MC," he draped his arms over your shoulder from behind and nestled his chin on top of your head. "What are you doing today?"

You chuckled and moved your head to gaze up at the bubbly demon. "Good morning, Asmo. I'm not doing much. Just relaxing, I guess. Why?"

Asmo could feel his smile widen at the information. He had been trying to get you all to himself all week, but there was always someone else around or something else that you had to do. Now was his chance!

He hummed as he snaked around the chair to face you. "Then that means you're free to spend the day shopping with your truly!" He shot off a cheeky wink to end it all off.

Asmo felt his heart flutter as your eyes glittered in excitement at his words. "I'd love to Asmo! Just let me gather a few things and we'll-"

"Ah! MC. Are you heading out for the day?"

All the light and warmth that Asmodeus had been feeling instantly plummeted as Lucifer entered the room. His brother was obviously trying to play it off as though he hadn't orchestrated this, not even looking at the two of them as he thumbed through a few papers in his hands, but Asmodeus knew better.

You, however, were none the wiser.

You practically lit up as Lucifer walked into the room. "Yeah! Asmodeus invited me to go shopping with him. We're probably going to be gone for the better part of the day," Asmodeus's bad mood caused by his brother's presence softened as you looked back at him.

Asmo plastered on a smile and wrapped an arm around your shoulder while glared sharply at Lucifer. He hoped that maybe this time he'd actually take the hint and leave everything alone. "Was there something you needed, big brother? Or are you just here to grace us with your presence?"

Asmodeus regretted his words, as the moment he saw them, Lucifer smiled sharply, like a cat who'd just captured its prey. "Well, since you asked, Asmodeus, I was hoping the two of you could pick up a few things for me," Lucifer began to list off rare item after rare item. Asmo could nothing but watch as the dread in his stomach grew heavier and heavier.

You chuckled nervously as Lucifer reached what had to be the twentieth item. "That's quite a bit, Lucifer. I don't think I'd be able to remember it all, and even if I did, I don't know where to begin looking for half of the things you listed," your face scrunched up adorably in thought before you snapped and looked up at the two demons. "I know! Why doesn't Lucifer come with us! That way he'll be able to get his things, and we all can spend time together. Sounds nice, right?"

And there it was.

Asmodeus did everything he could to keep the disappointment off his face, as Lucifer patted your shoulder. "That sounds like an excellent idea, MC," Asmo bit back a growl as Lucifer pulled you out of his arms and lead you towards your room. He glanced back at Asmo with a smug, prideful, look on his face. "We'll go get ready. Thank you for arranging this day out, Asmodeus."

Asmodeus could do nothing but pout as Lucifer walked away with you.

Satan had never felt so... tender-hearted before.

He watched you affectionately as you rambled on about your day while effortlessly helping him make supper.

There was something so wholesome and domestic about the entire situation that reminded him of the few romance novels he had read. Initially, when he read those books, he thought the poetic descriptions of the person's heart skipping and the tingling warmth filling their body was a gross exaggeration, but now he knew, and he never wanted that feeling to go away.

He moved by your side and stirred one of the pots on the stove while you diced tomatoes. As he listened to you speak about an enchantment you were trying to get the hang of with Solomon, he suddenly remembered one of the more cliche moments from the books he read.

Glancing at the sauce, Satan carefully scooped up a little bit into a spoon and gently blew on it to cool it down. He turned to you and held the spoon out towards you. "I'm not sure if I got the spices balanced outright. Would you mind-"

Before he could speak any more, a head. that most certainly did not belong to you, swooped down and ate the sauce off the spoon. You and Satan blinked as Lucifer, who had somehow appeared behind you, pulled away from the spoon with a thoughtful expression. "The sauce is good. I'd say it's probably done now," Lucifer stated calmly as his thumb wiped at the corners of his mouth. Satan's grip tightened on the spoon's handle as he snarled at his brother.

You looked awkwardly between the two as Lucifer draped his arm onto your shoulder. "Lucifer? What are you doing here?"

Lucifer's expression softened as he looked down at you, "I just wanted to check in on you," Satan's eye twitched at the excuse. Lucifer tilted his head before he continued. "Also, I saw Mammon sneaking into your room, muttering something about your jewellery box and wanted to give you a heads up."

Your eyes widened as your head snapped in the direction of your room. "What?! Why didn't you start with that?!" Lucifer's smile widened as you made your way towards the kitchen exit. You glanced back at Satan with sympathetic eyes, "Sorry, Satan. I'll promise I'll help you make dinner next time!" Before Satan even had the chance to respond, you had taken off down the hall, yelling his older brother's name.

With you gone, Satan turned to Lucifer with full, unrestrained fury. "What the fuck was that for?" he spat as he stepped into Lucifer's space.

The elder brother merely rolled his eyes and stepped around Satan as though he was nothing more than a hissing kitten. "I could be asking you the same thing. You were getting awfully close there."

Satan's face grew red, though it was hard to distinguish whether the colour was from anger or embarrassment. "That's none of your business!"

Apparently, Lucifer didn't deem a response necessary, as he simply dismissed his brother with a cocky wave of his hand and strutted out of the room in the same direction that you had left.

Beelzebub was taking a chance and stepping outside of his comfort zone.

Ever since discovering a small, weak flower in the shadows of the Hall of Lamentation and nursing it back to health, Beel had taken up gardening as a hobby.

None of his brothers knew about it, to his knowledge, and that was okay. If anything, the soft-spoken demon preferred it that way.

But when he noticed that it was particularly nice outside and that you were roaming around with little to do, he decided to let you in on his little secret.

Beel stole a glimpse over his shoulder at you. You were hunched over, humming to yourself as you worked away, your hands knuckle deep in the rich soil with smudges of dirt smeared across your forehead. The gentle dim light of the Devildom sky bounced off your skin and blanketed you in its glow, only adding the beauty you projected.

The sight alone stole his breath and momentarily made him forget about his hunger.

He opened his mouth to speak to you, but was cut off by the sound of heavy footfalls thundering towards you and a loud dangerous growl.

Beel's eyes widened as he notice Cerberus turn the corner, heading straight towards the two of you in a dead sprint.

Without thinking, Beel quickly tackled you to the side, just as the three-headed hell hound rushed past you, demolishing the garden in his wake.

You did a double-take between Beel, Cerberus and the garden as you scrambled to your feet. "Cerberus? How in Diavolo's name did he get loose?" you anxiously ran a hand through your hair began to head in the direction he took off in. "Lucifer taught me a few tricks for catching him. I'm going to go get him! I'm so so sorry about all of this Beel! I'll make it up to you, I promise!"

Without another word you took off after the beast, shouting it's name.

Beel frowned and looked at what remained of his garden. He felt his heart sink a little at seeing all of his hard work destroyed. With a heavy sigh, he slowly made his way towards Cerberus's den to see just how bad the damage was.

Only, when he arrived, the pen's door didn't even have a scratch on it; almost as though someone had let the dog out.

Leviathan paced around his room as he muttering to himself as tightly clenched to tickets.

"Alright, Levi. It's not a big deal," he whispered reassuringly. "You just have to go out there, hand them the tickets, and ask them to come with. You already checked their calendar when you were in their room last time, and there are no mentions of any upcoming events on their Devilgram, so they won't be busy. O-Of course, they could always reject you for being a stupid shut-in and a gross o-otaku, b-b-but they're your Henry! Right? They have to agree! Okay!" Levi took a deep breath of courage and quickly flung open his door.

He charged to the living room where he knew you would be lounging with Lucifer.

Upon seeing him, your expression lit up and you graced Leviathan with one of your dazzling smiles. The otaku swore that he could hear his heart go "doki-doki". He stumbled to a stop as his face blushed, and quickly hid the tickets behind his back. "H-Hi MC."

"Hey, Levi-chan!" Oh Diavolo, he loved it when you called him that. "What's up? You look like a man on a mission."

Levi briefly noted Lucifer side-eyeing the two of you as he began to stutter out an answer. "W-Well you see, uh... I-I just um...There's this th-thing that..." He let out a small noise of frustration at his own incompetence.

But you never laughed, or sighed, or groaned, like any of his brothers would have. No. You merely sat there and waited patiently for him to find his words with a gentle smile on your face.

Another deep breath and Levi composed himself. "Did you want to go to an idol concert with me this weekend?" Levi couldn't even bring himself to look you in the eyes as he asked the question. "O-Obviously you don't have to, b-b-but you seemed to like their music when I played it the other day, a-a-and you aren't busy so I thought-"

"Actually," Levi's mouth snapped shut as Lucifer spoke up, "MC and I have plans with Diavolo this weekend."

Levi's head whipped over to look at you and noted the slightly confused expression on your face. "I thought that was next weekend?"

Amber eyes narrowed at the words, as Levi slowly turned to glare at Lucifer. It was all to clear to the Otaku what was happening here.

Lucifer shrugged, not even phased by the venomous stare of his brother, and pulled out his D.D.D. "Barbatos messaged me saying that Diavolo had an important meeting pop up next week and asked if we could move our little get-together to this weekend instead."

You huffed and crossed your arms. "I know he's the prince and can't help it, but making last-minute changes like that is just rude."

Lucifer chuckled at your annoyance and ruffled your hair. "I know, but it's nothing either of us can help. I'll just confirm that we're good with the change and-"

"No." Lucifer and Levi both looked at you in shock. Levi dared to let his heart flutter with hope at the determined look on your face. "I can make plans with Diavolo any time. This concert is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and it clearly means a lot to Levi. Tell him that I'll have to take a rain check. I'm going to be spending the weekend with Levi-chan."

Levi instantly let out a cheer of victory as he stepped forward spun you in the air. "Thank you, MC!!! Oh we're going to have so much fun! I swear you won't regret this!"

You giggled as you were set back down onto your feet. "Thank you for inviting me! This is going to be amazing!"

You and Levi began rambling about all the things you wanted to do at the concert and what you'd need to prepare in advance for the ultimate experience.

Levi couldn't believe it! He was going to spend an entire weekend getting to show you the things that he loved! It'd be just the two of you and it'd be perfect.

"I have an idea," Levi felt himself tense as Lucifer spoke up once more. "Why don't we all go together? That way you can spend time with Diavolo, while also getting to attend the concert?"

Levi's heart sunk as you squealed at the idea, jumping excitedly around a smiling Lucifer.

So much for his perfect, romantic, weekend.

Mammon took a deep breath as he stared at your bedroom door.

This was it. He was finally going to tell you how he felt.

He had it all planned out. He was going to go in there, and gift you the necklace he had noticed you looking at the last time the two of you went downtown. Then, he'd explain how through the past months of living with you and being your protector, that he found himself becoming enraptured by every single little thing that you do. He'd explain how he knows that he's clingy and greedy when it comes to spending time with you, but that's because there's nothing he treasures more than being by your side. And then, he'd say that he loves you, and hope that you say the same in return.

Fucking romantic right? Mammon had this in the bag.

He confidently lifted his chin as he knocked on your door before walking in. "Hey MC! I know it's late, but do ya gotta-" he trailed off at the sight before him.

Both you and Lucifer were in fluffy, white robes on your bed. Lucifer had a headband in his hair, brushing his bangs away from his clay mask-covered face. You were beside him, also sporting a mask, your tongue peeking out of the corner of your mouth as you carefully painted his nails.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow at his brother, obviously annoyed at being disturbed, while you smiled over at Mammon. "Hey, Mams! Just a sec," you smoothly finished applying a coat of red polish to Lucifer's pinky finger before recapping the bottle and turning to the white-haired demon. "What's up?"

Mammon felt his face heat up, as he quickly hid the small box in his hands behind his back. "I- Uh- Nothin'! Just wanted to talk with ya. Can ya come with me for a few minutes?"

Lucifer sighed as he examined his freshly painted nails. "Might I remind you that you're the one disturbing us, Mammon? If you've got something to say," Mammon gulped as knowing, irked, obsidian eyes bore into his, "spit it out."

You smacked Lucifer's arm. "Hey! Be nice," you offered Mammon a sympathetic smile as you turned back to him. "Sorry, Mammon. You were saying?"

Mammon swallowed down the lump in his throat as humiliation flooded his veins. He awkwardly looked away and waved off your concern. "Nah. It was nothin' important," he subtly slid the necklace box into his back pocket, "I-I'll talk with ya tomorrow or somethin'. It's nothin' ya need to worry about."

You blinked owlishly at Mammon. He could practically see the gears churning inside your head; you obviously thought something was wrong. "Are you sure? If it matters to you, Mammon, that means it's important. I can spare a few minutes if it's really bothering you."

You began to stand up, but as you did, Lucifer caught your wrist."MC, he already said you didn't need to worry about it. If it was that important, he would've just told us. I'm sure everything is fine," Mammon tensed as Lucifer shifted his cold gaze onto him, "right?"

Mammon quickly nodded as he stumbled back towards the door. "Yeah! Yes! Everything is perfectly fine! I-I'll just get goin' and leave to continue whatever this is. Bye!" He scurried out of the room, slamming the door behind him, before slumping against it.

He could faintly hear the sounds of you scolding Lucifer, and felt himself slump in defeat.

He'd just have to try again another day.

Belphegor fluffed the blankets and pillows that he had set up in the backyard.

It was perfect. He had actually put in work to make sure it was.

A sea of blankets would protect the two of you from the chilly, Devildom, night air, while his finest pillows would make sure you were comfortable. He had brought out a thermos filled with tea and some snacks to make the evening extra cozy.

It was everything the two of you would need to take in the meteor shower tonight.

A click sounded behind him. Belphie perked and quickly turned to greet with you a smile.

Only, instead of you, a rather smug-looking Lucifer stood in the doorway.

Belphie growled and went back to arranging pillows. "What do you want?"

Lucifer shrugged and began to set up a telescope. Belphie gritted his teeth at the sight of it. "I'm just here to take in the meteor shower like you are. That's all. It is quite a beautiful sight after all, and it also happens to be very enlightening."

Belphegor sneered at his older brother as he turned away from him. "Well do it somewhere else! I'm watching the shower here with MC, not you. So go away!"

Lucifer tilted his head in mock confusion as he held up his phone. "Oh dear, but I've already invited the others to join us out here."

Belphie's head snapped up at Lucifer's words. "You what?!"

As though summoned, the rest of his brothers toppled into the backyard.

"I was unaware there was a meteor shower tonight," Satan claimed as he laid down his own blanket near Belphie's perfectly structured nest. "To think I almost missed out on it."

"Eh, I don't care about any stupid stars or anythin'," Belphie groaned in annoyance as Mammon plopped himself down beside him. "But if anythin' falls near us, then those meteor pieces have gotta be worth a fortune!"

Levi scoffed and rolled his eyes as he leaned against the house, game counsel still in hand. "Nothing's actually falling, dumb ass. They're just space rocks passing by."

Asmodeus giggled while he snuggled himself up on Belphie's other side. Belphie wrinkled up his nose and tried to lean away from the physical affection. "Then why are you out here, Levi, if they're just space rocks? Can't you admit that they're beautiful, like me, and you wanted to experience something real for once?"

Levi let out a squawk of embarrassment. "There isn't anything that 'reality can offer me that anime can't! I've seen meteor showers at least ten times all with amazing shots and angles that you could never get in real life!"

Asmodeus merely shook his head in response. "Whatever you say, Levi," he reached over to the picnic basket that Belphie for you and him had packed and held it over his head. "Beel! Snacks!"

Belphegor gaped at his twin as the ginger giant grabbed the basket and sat down behind them. "Beel?! You too?"

Beel looked down guiltily and looked through the food. "I'm sorry, Belphie. But Lucifer said there'd be snacks and that everyone else was going to be there, and I thought it'd be nice to have a family event."

Belphie groaned and held his head in his hands. "You knew I was planning this for just me and MC though."

Beel frowned and held out a cookie to his twin. "Sorry."

Before Belphie could argue anymore or even get the chance to kick everyone out, the door opened once more.

"Oh," everyone looked over to see you standing there in your pyjamas. Belphie's heart clenched as your confused eyes found his. "I didn't know this was a group gathering! I would've brought down some pillows for everyone or some snacks if I had known!" you smiled brightly at the group as you walked towards them.

"No need. Belphie went ahead and provided enough for everyone already," Lucifer claimed and patted the ground next him. "You can sit with me, MC. There's plenty of space over here."

Belphie cursed under his breath as you accepted Lucifer's offer and huffed as the meteor shower began.

Lucifer smirked as he took in his brother's defeat with glee, and you babbled away none-the-wiser by his side.

His brothers could try to woo you and corrupt you all they wanted, but Lucifer wasn't going anywhere. For every attempt they'd make, he'd be there to stop it.

You had deemed Lucifer your big brother, after all, and as such, he'd make sure that you were always safe from his brothers' infernal influences.

***The ending is meh, but whatever! I hope you guys enjoyed this fic! It was both fun and hassle to write, but I love it nonetheless! Thanks for your amazing support and love! Sorry for the lack of fics lately. Love you all!***

Taglist @all-oxidized-to-green @candymeowz, @thegrimgrinningghost @henry-and-the-seven-lords @satans-beloved-riv @cosmixbun @sufzku @lovelythoma @mothervictoire @obey-mes-treasure @kissed-by-a-dementor @yukihaie @justtiarra @mammoneybb @obeys-world @poly-bi-mf @armycandy10 @burrixino @arkarul @pumpkins-mainside-blog

#obey me shall we date #obey me #obey me fan fic #obey me fic #obey me fanfic #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me demon brothers #soft lucifer #big bro lucifer #gn mc #gender neutral main character #fan fic #my writing

653 notes · View notes

gale-gentlepenguin · 3 years

Text

ML Fic: Soulmate Survey Part 38

Sorry for the delay. Real life gets out of hand. But here it is! The antepenultimate chapter.

Shout out to @asongeverlasting for beta reading for me and making sure I actually got this out.

Check her writing out on AO3 as Ramblingwren

(Master post)

(Read the fic in a more condensed on Ao3)

(The latest chapter will be up on there once this reaches over 500 notes on tumblr)

Hope you all enjoy

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“I shouldn’t have let her go out there.”

Fu watched the school nurse, Angela, fret as she paced back and forth.

“I understand your concern, but I believe that it will all be alright. Ladybug and Chat Noir haven’t failed in handling an akuma yet,” he explained. “The girl will be okay.”

The nurse stopped pacing.

“I appreciate your optimism but… I am really not used to this,” She said as she gestured to the air.

Fu blinked at the statement.

“Oh?”

“This! This whole thing! Super villains that appear whenever someone gets sad, teenagers with superpowers! This is all new to me! I just moved to Paris a month ago from the countryside. All I wanted was to further my education and get work in the medical field. It… It boggles my mind that everyone in this city is so okay with all of this! Even my new boyfriend Curtis is able to shrug off an akuma attack like a sudden drizzle. This isn’t normal!”

The guardian could tell the young woman was distressed, and he couldn’t blame her. In a way, he envied her. This was all foreign for her, but to him, this was his entire life.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to blow up like that. I've had a lot to deal with, and this whole situation is just so…”

Fu moved to her and helped her sit down.

“It’s alright, this is by no means a good situation. Your concerns are very understandable. I can tell that deep down that your frustration and fear come from compassion and empathy. You will make a wonderful doctor one day.”

She took a deep breath.

“Thank you. You have no idea how much I really needed to hear that today.”

“How about I teach you a medication technique that will help you calm down?”

“Meditation? I'm not really one for that kind of stuff.”

“If one wants to be a doctor, being able to calm down and handle an emergency situation is a must.”

The school nurse agreed that he had a good point, and that this may help get her mind off of things.

“Okay, I guess I'll give it a shot.”

Fu smiled.

“Good. Let us start simple. Close your eyes and put your hands together.”

Angela felt the action was a bit odd but complied.

“Now, take a deep breath. Count to 5 in your head and then breathe out.”

She took her breath and followed the order.

“Whenever you feel a thought come to your head, simply picture yourself putting it out of your mind and into a bucket.”

She tried her best to comply.

As she did this, Fu moved behind her and quickly pinched a nerve on her neck, causing the young woman to seize up for a moment before losing consciousness.

“That will help her relax.”

He carefully moved her to the cot and laid a sheet over her like a blanket.

Once it was clear that she was asleep, a turtle kwami flew out of hiding.

“So, what do we do now, Master?”

Fu took a moment to consider.

His plan was already in motion. Ladybug and Chat Noir had plenty of allies to help fight the akuma. All that needed to be done was to sit down and wait.

But as he thought about it more, he couldn’t help but think that he should go in personally. It was what he'd initially planned to do with akuma, after all. Listening to this young woman’s fears made him really see how his inaction has led to such fear and uncertainty.

For once, it was time for him to go on the offensive.

“Now we head out and find this akuma.”

“Master, you already sent out three miraculous. Let the other heroes handle this,” Wayzz insisted.

“The people of Paris should not have to become used to this. I have been far too lax with this situation. Right now, Ladybug and Chat Noir are facing their most dangerous akuma yet. For decades I have always remained passive in order to avoid making another mistake, but I have already made so many with my inaction. It's time I stop letting my actions be dictated by fear.”

“But Master, you can’t transform! Your body is too old to handle it!”

“Fear not, Wayzz. I have been exercising and restoring my vitality with the techniques of the guardians. By my estimation, I should be able to maintain the transformation without too much issue for 10 minutes,” Fu assured.

“That is not a lot of time, Master!” Wayzz pointed out.

“True, but it is better than nothing. We will head out and wait for the moment we need it. Be ready, Wayzz.”

The old guardian started heading to the door.

“But Master, what if you get captured? What if the akuma does succeed and you are unable to step in?”

Fu paused at the door.

“I know you are concerned for me. I appreciate your care. But I need to go out there. I have lived a long life, Wayzz, far longer than most humans. One day I may not be here to be the guardian.”

Wayzz felt a pang of sorrow hearing his Master talk about how he would no longer be around.

“But that’s okay. I know that when that time comes… I have two young heroes that will be ready to stand up and fight. The best thing an old man like me can do is pave the road for them.” The guardian said with certainty. He went to open the door.

“Fu…”

The old man stopped. Turning around, he saw the turtle kwami he had known for most of his life smile at him.

“I know you think of yourself as a failure of a guardian… but Su Han and the others were wrong. You are a great one. You are the most caring guardian that has ever held the title. And I will be by your side to the end.”

The old man felt his eyes well up at the sweet comment.

“Then let’s go, Partner.”

___________________________________________________________________________

The dragon heroine grabbed the confused snake hero and moved him to the closest room before closing the door.

“Okay we should be safe here,” she said as she looked over to her comrade. It was clear that Viperion was still very confused. It did not help that both his and her miraculous were beeping. They didn't have much time.

“Thanks… ummm,” Viperion started as he tried to rack his brain for a name. Part of him felt like he should know her. But his mind is blank.

“Ryuuko. You can call me Ryuuko. And you are Viperion.”

“Okay… weird name for me, but I guess it works.”

Ryuuko realized that the bubble Viperion had been put in wasn’t just to keep him frozen in place. One of the side effects must have been leaving him without any memory of who he was. Had her partner been aware of that risk when he took the bubble for her? She couldn’t know for sure. But right now, she needed to focus on the task at hand. Shehad to take charge since her partner was out of sorts.

“Okay, 'll try to explain this as quickly as possible.”

“Your real name is Luka. But when you are in your hero form, you go by Viperion.”

“Hero form...”

He looked down.

“Well, that does explain the costumes. I thought it was some sort of weird costume party.”

Ryuuko decided to ignore that.

“Okay, so I'm a hero. And you're one too?”

“Yes. We are both heroes picked by Ladybug to help her fight villains. Right now, we're fighting a bunch of them, and you got your memory wiped by one of their attacks. That’s why you are confused. Any questions?”

The boy took a moment to look himself over and then look at her. This was a lot of information to take in. Ryuuko was half expecting him to call her crazy. Which, given how bizarre the circumstances were, she wouldn’t blame him.

“Okay, I think if it was anyone else telling me this, I would have called it a load of bull. But… I don’t know why but I feel like I can trust you. You sound sincere,” Viperion responded.

“Okay great, now let's…”

“I still have a few questions.”

Ryuuko sighs.

“Look, we really don’t have much time. We need to hurry and get out there to help…”

And just before she finished the statement, both of their transformations wore off. Revealing their civilian forms.

“Oh no.” Kagami muttered in horror.

“What happened? Where am I… What am I?” The snake kwami questioned as he looked at himself.

“It appears that Sass was also impacted by the amnesia.” The dragon kwami that popped out of her necklace commented.

Luka stared wide eyed at the creature.

“Are you a snake?”

“A snake? I suppose?”

“A snake with limbs? That is very rock and roll.”

The two fistbumped. Thankfully they seemed to get along.

Longg looked at them.

“This is quite a predicament.”

“We need to hurry back in. Longg! Bring the….”

“Hold on a moment. Both Sass and I will not be able to do that yet.”

Kagami stopped.

“How come?”

“We need to refuel. The energy of transforming AND using our unique powers drains a lot out of us. We need some food to continue.”

“Food… Okay.”

The snake Kwami grabbed his stomach.

“I find myself rather famished,” he commented.

Luka looked at him.

“Let me see if I can help you out.”

The teen took off the backpack he was wearing to go through it. Thankfully there was a bag lunch in there. For some reason he felt that was important. But decided that if it could help the little guy out, he was sure it wouldn’t be a big deal.

He opened the bag lunch and pulled out a bag of apple slices. Opening it to grab a piece.

“I know snakes usually are carnivores, but how about some fruit?”

“Ooo! It smells divine!”

Luka handed the floating kwami a piece of the apple.

He takes a bite.

“Oh! It's delicious! Juicy and sweet!”

The snake quickly devours the apple piece.

As that happens, Kagami looked through her bag.

“I don’t have fruit but I do have some onigiri. It was my afternoon snack… but since this is a dire situation.”

“Rice? Yes please!” Longg exclaimed as he dive bombed right into the delicious rice ball.

“It’s Umeboshi, it’s not to everyone’s taste but It is one of my favorites.”

“It’s the most delicious thing I have ever eaten. The sour plum really brings a new dimension of flavor.”

Kagami smiled a bit at her kwami companion, happy that she could help.

The two Kwami finished their food and were ready for action.

“Okay, Sass. You need to help Luka transform.”

“Sass? Is that my name?” the snake inquired.

“So, he helps me transform into Viperman?”

“Viperion, and yes,” Kagami responded.

“All you need to do is say. Sass, Scales Slither. And to activate your special power just pull your bracelet back and say second chance. Then pull it back when you want to use it. But be sure not to use it right away,” Longg instructed.

“Okay seems easy enough. Are you okay with this?” Luka asked as he turned his attention to his snake pal.

“The floating horn snake seems fine with it so I say let’s give it a try”

Longg decided for the sake of his friendship with Sass to ignore the comment.

“Alright! Let's do this!” Kagami exclaimed as she prepared to transform.

“One last question.”

Kagami was starting to get antsy. She wanted to be back out there fighting. But she held back her annoyance, considering how he sacrificed his memories for her.

“Make it quick, we need to hurry.”

Luka scratches the back of his head.

“Are we a couple?”

If Kagami was drinking water she would have done a massive spit take. Her cheeks turned red.

“What?!”

“You know… together? You seem to know a lot about me, and I just feel this connection... like I can trust you even though I don’t remember anything. I don’t know how or why, but I feel like you matter to me.”

Kagami’s eyes went wide at the comment. It felt surprisingly bold of the musician to say. She had to admit that the statement made her heart skip a beat.

“No, we had just recently become friends.” Kagami responded.

“Oh…” Luka was saddened by the response.

“But, I have thought about the possibility it could be more than that one day," Kagami continued. "But that is something to discuss when you have your memory back. Maybe.”

The fencer felt her mind scream at her.

‘WHY DID YOU SAY THAT! Well, at least he won't remember.’

Luka smiled at that.

“Well, that must mean I must be a good guy, if I could have such a great friend like you.”

The teen prepared himself.

“Alright then! Sass! Scales Slither.”

The musician shifted into his hero form.

“Let’s go save the day.”

Kagami looked at her hero partner and smiled.

“Longg, Bring the storm.

______________________________________________________________________

“Well, that might be a problem.”

Chat Noir and Ladybug looked to see a stone giant guarding the front door of the classroom. The two had hidden just out of the goliath’s view.

“Any ideas on how to take down Mount Akuma?” Chat Noir questioned.

Ladybug looked at the giant from their hiding spot and began formulating a plan.

“Stoneheart grows bigger when he gets mad. These akuma aren’t really able to express their emotions. That means we don’t need to worry about him getting bigger. We just need to find a way to incapacitate him.”

“We could ask Mayura,” Chat Noir pointed out.

“We could ask… wait WHA…”

Chat Noir covered his partner’s mouth and ducked down.

“Shhhh! She’s right there,” Chat Noir hushed.

Ladybug removed the cat’s hand from her mouth and looked from the spot to see that her partner was right. Mayura was in the building!

“She actually showed up?” Oh, this is a lot more serious than we thought. Hawkmoth is really playing it serious with this one.”

“To the butterfly man’s credit, he really has been throwing out some tough ones.”

“I will not give our worst villain credit for anything except this headache,” Ladybug retorted with annoyance.

“So, what do we do? Mayura is in the building and she is talking with the giant.”

Ladybug felt like the situation couldn’t get worse.

“Not so fast, Feather Freak!”

Ladybug recognized that voice.

“Chloé?”

Chat Noir and Ladybug glanced to see a familiar blonde strutting down the hallway. But their expressions of shock shifted to bewilderment when they noticed what she was wearing.

“So are you and that purple fashion blunder here? Or is it just you? I am guessing it's just you. Your boss doesn’t really like to show his face unless he thinks he is sure to win. No wonder Ladybug always kicks his…” The bee themed heroine confidently quipped.

“Queen Bee. Now that is a surprise. I thought Ladybug was done giving you a miraculous.” The peacock villainess commented. She had no interest in dealing with the bee heroine at this time.

“Well, you would be surprised by a lot of things. So how about we settle this. My fist really misses your face.”

Mayura rolled her eyes.

“Fortunately for you, I don’t have the time to deal with you. Stoneheart, I am sure Masquerade would love for you to take care of this pesky bee.”

“Oh don’t think you can walk away! You and that purple cockroach are the same. Both cowards that can’t even face children.” She jeered as she walked forward.

The stone giant moved forward, allowing Mayura to walk to the door and enter.

“Too scared to face me! Typical. I'll beat your pet rock as a warm up and then your butt will meet my foot!” Queen Bee exclaimed with confidence. “Because I am a real heroine!”

Queen Bee got into a stance and prepared to trade blows with the colossus of rock.

Chat Noir looked to Ladybug.

“Did you give her a miraculous?” He whispered in surprise.

“I don’t have any additional miraculous. I thought she had been captured with the rest of the class.”

“Wait… if it wasn’t you… you don’t think…”

“Either Master Fu is in the building and saw how dire the situation was or Chloé snuck away and had a Queen Bee costume stowed away in her locker.”

The two look at each other and immediately come to the same conclusion.

“We need to save her before she gets crushed!”

______________________________________________________________________

Mayura walked into the classroom.

She managed to keep a straight face, but internally she had a lot going through her mind.

What was once a standard classroom now looked like an elaborate throne room. The amazing curtains, the high ceilings. The steps leading up to an elaborate throne. The portraits of Masquerade really brought together the utter decadence and vanity of the akuma persona. It reminds Mayura of Gabriel’s obsession with Emilie in the worst way possible.

Despite finding the décor off-putting, she had to admit it was impressive how Masquerade had been able to change the room into something completely unrecognizable. A testament to her vanity.

She took a moment to see what akuma servants she still had in the room. The Gamer, Reflekta with around 12 copies, Princess Fragrance, Robostus, Zombizou and Horificator. While the white masks obscured their expressions, it was clear that all of them were watching her. It greatly unnerved her.

She kept these thoughts to herself as the masked akuma that was running the school took notice of her.

“Mayura. I've been expecting you.”

Mayura looked up to see Masquerade sitting on the throne.

“Please, come in.”

She approached confidently. Though in the back of her mind something seemed off.

Masquerade stood up from the throne and walked down the steps, a smile of certainty on her face.

“Masquerade. Your Sentimonster gave me the basics of your plan. Securing the school as your base of operations was a good first step. Your plan of creating a video to lower the spirits of those in Paris was also a nice touch,” Mayura praised.

“But of course! My plan is flawless,” Masquerade boasted. “Not even Ladybug and Chat Noir will be able to stop me.”

“Getting ahead of yourself aren’t you?” Mayura cut her ego trip.

Masquerade’s mood soured as her smile faltered.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You have yet to face the two heroes. Not to mention there's a pesky bee flying around.”

“A bee?” Masquerade was very confused by the comment.

“Yes, Chloé Bourgeois, or Queen Bee, to be precise. Seems that Ladybug and Chat Noir went and got back up."

“It doesn’t matter if they have one additional hero or three. This plan won't fail.”

‘Something isn’t right here. I need to leave now!’ Mayura’s mind screamed.

She wasn’t sure why, but something felt incredibly off.

“Speaking of heroes, your plan never really specified how you will deal with them. Care to elaborate?”

Masquerade’s smile grew more sinister.

“I am glad you asked. After Simularé relayed to me that you were here. I finally figured out the perfect way of dealing with those arrogant heroes,” the masked woman stated with certainty, moving forward.

She now stood only a few feet from the peacock villainess.

“Wait a moment, something is wrong here,” Mayura commented as she tried to focus. She couldn’t ignore the warnings in her head.

“What do you mean?” The mask akuma looked with confusion at the blue villainess.

Mayura looked around. Frantically trying to find something but it was fruitless. This distress caused Masquerade to smile.

“I can't sense it,” Mayura spoke with slight worry.

“Sense what?” Masquerade inquired further.

“Where is your amok? It should be on your person but I can't sense it.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Yes. If you don’t have the amok in your possession then that sentimonster will go out of control!” Mayura explained.

“Can’t you just rip the amok out?”

“If it's nearby and I sense it, yes. But I can’t do that if it’s out of my range.”

“So you’re saying you have no power over me right now.” A devilish grin appeared on Masquerade’s face.

“No, I am saying I don’t have any power over the senti…”

Mayura felt a chill as she realized that the masquerade in front of her was not an akumatized Lila.

“Horrificator, block the door,” the Faux Masquerade commanded.

The pink and purple monster quickly moved to block the door with her large form.

The controlled akuma started circling around her as Simularé undid the illusion and morphed into its true specter form, Simularé.

“You ungrateful little monster. You think your master will be okay with you attacking one of the ones that gave her power?”

“My master doesn’t care about you or Hawkmoth. You are a means to an end. And she gave me special permission to take your miraculous from you.”

“Well if your master isn’t here, then no one is jamming the signal. I can contact Hawkmoth and put this little coup to an end.”

Simularé shifted into Lady Wifi.

“I have access to every power my master does. You are trapped with no options.” The sentimonster mocked.

Mayura looked around as she was circled by the controlled akuma. She needed to get out of there.

She felt a pain rush to her head.

‘F*** not now’ She mentally cursed.

The odds were indeed not in her favor.

______________________________________________________________________________

Stoneheart began charging at the bee themed heroine, and just as Queen Bee was about to move, a yo-yo wrapped around her waist and pulled her away from the monster.

The stone giant had expected his charge to make contact but forced himself to stop when he noticed the bee was gone.

“Sorry tiny, but I’m your playmate now,” called a cat-themed hero.

The mindless akuma didn’t visibly react to the change in foe and simply charged at the cat hero.

Queen Bee found herself near Ladybug.

“Chloé! What are you doing?!”

“Uh… Saving the day? I got the jewelry box that you sent out because you needed my help.”

“Jewelry box… wait a minute that means. You are wearing a miraculous.”

“Yep! Don’t worry LB, I will show you that I am worthy of being Queen Bee. And not to boast, but I totally saved someone. But right now, we gotta go beat that ugly pile of rubble.”

Ladybug looked at Chloé for a moment. With the situation as hectic as it was, Queen Bee has shown some competence when there is real danger. Ladybug knew that right now, all hands that could help would be appreciated, and Queen Bee’s appearance could mean that Fu may be closer than she expected. So maybe there were more reinforcements. So if this was the case. She would trust Fu’s judgement.

“Alright, just be ready to return the bee after all of this is over.”

“Right, right, but just know I will probably change your mind about that after this is over!” the bee exclaimed confidently as she jumped back into the fray.

Ladybug shook her head. Whether she was Queen Bee or Chloé, she was still a handful.

“Are you finished gossiping? Because I could REALLY use a hand!” Chat Noir shouted as he held his staff up to hold back the rock monster’s boulder of a fist.

Queen Bee and Ladybug jumped into view and noticed the situation.

“Don’t worry you stray cat, The Queen Bee will put that rock in his place. Ve…”

Ladybug covered Queen Bee’s mouth before she could.

“Hold it. We might need your power for later.”

“I think it would be useful now!” Chat Noir shouted as he struggled to hold the weight of the giant’s rocky hand.

“Okay if my powers are a no no right now, what is the plan?”

Ladybug looked around. She found her attention drawn to a fire extinguisher, Queen Bee, a rubber band, and a discarded backpack.

“Okay, I have a plan.”

______________________________________________________________________

Gabriel had made a decision.

He hurried out of the lair in his civilian form. He was going to head to the school. Now he would just need to get his chauffeur and go…

Gabriel’s eyes went wide as he saw his son’s bodyguard and chauffeur fall to the floor at the steps of the main entrance, a white mask adorning his face that he was desperately trying to get off.

“What is the meaning of this?” Gabriel asked aloud in shock and anger.

He looked to see the mask akuma he created standing at the door.

“Well, if it isn’t Gabriel Agreste. Fashion mogul, and master manipulator.”

Gabriel’s visible anger faded as he stared at the akuma.

“Lila, is that you?”

“Oh quite astute! An amazing deduction. Was it that observational skill that made you the fashion success you are now?” the akumatized Lila inquired. “Though I go by Masquerade now.”

Gabriel knew very well the girl’s powers. He was the one that gave it to her. She was trying to antagonize him, get him angry. But that would not work.

“Well Masquerade, what brings you to my home at this time?” Gabriel asked calmly. Doing his best to keep his tone and mannerisms calm.

“Oh, I was just in the neighborhood, finding more people to join my little army and I notice my charm glowing as I was getting near.”

Gabriel’s eyes went wide as he realized something. The charm bracelet was configured to locate anyone that has ever been akumatized. That included him. His ploy to ward suspicion off of himself was now biting him in the butt. And of course, Lila was likely holding a grudge with how he pushed her with his words about his son and his classmate.

“My bodyguard was akumatized. What of it?”

The silent action figure enthusiast stopped resisting and his body began growing. Gabriel noticed the man was transforming into the gorilla akuma. Gorizilla! And he rushed up the steps as the akuma moved and pounded his chest.

“Gorizilla, go gather up anyone who has been akumatized that you know of. I will handle Mr. Agreste myself.”

The giant akuma nodded at its master and headed off, leaving the agreste mansion with a giant hole that was once the front of the mansion.

“Handle me? And what do you plan to do?”

Masquerade’s necklace began to glow.

“Oh! Well that is very interesting,” Masquerade mused aloud as she learned from the glowing charm.

“What do you mean, interesting?” Gabriel asked. He knew that the charm had the bonus effect of pointing out the emotional weak points of those that had been akumatized. But he had PRETENDED to be angry and wasn’t actually emotional when the akuma took over. Did the charm still impact him the same way it did everyone else?

Masquerade started walking up the steps.

“You blame yourself for your wife’s passing.”

The statement was a blade pointed right at his throat. But Gabriel refused to react. He would not let himself be taken advantage of by his own akuma. He has been on the receiving end one too many times and he would be damned if he let that psychopath have control of him.

Masquerade saw that Gabriel was not reacting to the statement.

“I have never seen a man more miserable and pathetic,” Masquerade said. Her words sounded genuine and cutting.

Gabriel tried to turn around and walk away. But Masquerade jumped high with her superhuman agility and landed right in front of him, continuing her tearing down of his emotional state.

“All of this wealth and yet you are obsessed with what you don’t have. You are so blinded by the grief of losing your wife that everything else in your life may as well not exist. You locked yourself away, desperately trying to find something, anything that would bring her back. But now you are finding that color is starting to return in your life. You feel guilt over hiding the truth from your son, you loathe the attraction that you have been developing for another woman. You hate that you can’t dedicate every second to your lost wife and any speck of joy you feel without her here feels like treason since she is not here with you. You are a man so blind with his obsession that you fail to see the world doesn’t revolve around you. It's disgusting.”

“You know nothing of my life,” Gabriel dismissed.

But Masquerade knew he would say that. She only smiled. The truth was right in front of her. And she was ready to bring it home.

“You are actually terrified of facing her again.”

That shook Gabriel.

“What?”

“You are afraid of seeing her again. Whether it’s a year or 10 years, you feel that even if you could bring her back, she would be here and realize how much of a shell you had become without her. You are afraid that your obsession with her will be the very thing that drives her away once you see her again.”

“That isn’t true.”

“Then why haven’t you brought her back yet? Don’t you love her?”

Gabriel felt like his heart was being repeatedly punched.

“How dare you question my love for my wife!”

“Then why isn’t she here? If you loved her she wouldn’t have been taken from you and Adrien. But you were far too pathetic to do it. You failed her, and you are still failing her. You will never be with her again, and deep down. You know it to be true,” Masquerade answered coldly.

Those words were enough to get him down. That is what finally did him in.

Gabriel fell to his knees.

“No…”

Gabriel had broken. Masquerade knew she had him.

He was emotionally devastated, to the point where couldn’t even react to the mask coming his way.

____________________________________________________________

Well now things are now hitting their highest points of drama!

Will Ladybug and other heroes be able to stand up to Masquerade?

Will Mayura fall to Simularé's double cross?

Will I EVER update in time?

Tell me your thoughts on the chapter. Your support keeps it alive

#ml #ml fic #ml fanfic #soulmate survey #miraculous ladybug #ml fanfiction #drama #ladynoir #lukagami

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mono-dot-jpeg · 3 years

Text

the antarctic idiots [pt.1] - c! technoblade

summary; in which two anarchist piglins adopt an ender boy.

genre; child! ranboo, piglin hybrid! reader, slight canon divergence from dream smp, fluff, found family au is my shit, reader is now ranboo’s parent i don’t make the rules, techno is a grumpy father but it’s okay you love him, realistic minecraft? (idk how to describe it-)

pairing; c! technoblade x reader, platonic! ranboo x reader

word count; 1.5k

a/n; fuck it, it is here now. here’s the techno x reader you fucking simps. i can’t even be mad bc i too am a simp for the anarchist pig that is technoblade.

i hope this is somewhat up to par with everyone’s expectations since i hyped this up so much. this is one of the few writings that i actually like so- i couldn’t resist waiting so long to post it AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

next >

now you never really expected to find yourself on a side of history that was deemed "the villain's side", especially when the villain wasn't even that bad.

okay, that's a bit of a lie. this piglin man blew up an entire country to end government. plus he has evaded his taxes. i mean the list goes on but that's not the entire point here.

the point is, you found yourself actually being friends (even going as far as housemates) with the so-called evil anarchist.

now we might be moving too fast here, so let's move it back a little bit.

"so you want me to join pogtopia?" you looked up, shutting the book in your hand as you leaned back on your chair. "and what would i get in return exactly?"

"...our friendship won't die?" the voice of wilbur soot rings in your quiet home, unsure and nervous at your stern aura and words.

"why can't you just help us?!" tommy flared up, nearly throwing a fit if not for his older brother holding him back.

"just because i am your friend, does not mean i am interested in fighting for your conflicts." you place the book on the small side table, adjusting your gloves while you explain yourself to the two boys, "i'm not saying i'm a pacifist, but i'm not here to fight. i live far away for a reason. i told you this before."

"can i call in that favor then?" wilbur asked. "you still owe me one." you huffed at his words. you saw this coming.

"you're lucky i'm a nice person most of the time." you sighed, standing up and nearly towering over the two boys if not for wilbur being a bit taller than you. "i will get my stuff packed, and then we can get to your pogtopia. but while i do that, please explain the whole situation." since you lived so far away from society, you didn't know too much about what was happening unless wilbur told you about it and wilbur never really talked to you too often.

"well, you know how we had l'manburg.." and then he starts to explain how that completely backfired on them because they lost the election and now they lost their country. "and now we want to fight back for l'manburg." wilbur finishes explaining as you put your old netherite sword in its sheath that hung on your waist. "we just need your help. are you willing to train us?"

"it's not like i have much of a choice since you're cashing in that favor." you pointed out. "i better not be staying for too long."

"i can't make any promises about that." you sighed. "you ready?"

"unfortunately." it was time to leave your home and face violence once again.

"if it makes you feel any better, you're not the only person we've asked to help us." tommy says in an attempt to get you out of your bitter mood.

"that made me feel worse, tommy. i think you guys would've been fine without me if you have another person helping you other than tubbo." you slung your bag over your shoulder. "but if you really insist on getting the help of me, then who am i to judge?"

"since it seems like you're ready now, let's go to pogtopia!" tommy said, ignoring most of your words of complaints as he starts to drag you by the arm towards the dream smp. "it's quite the walk from here. why do you live so far from everyone? don't you get lonely? why didn't you join l'manburg with me and will?"

"slow down with the questions, tommy. first of all, i've told you and wilbur why i live far away, you did not listen though." you pressed a finger on his forehead, earning a huff of annoyance from the blonde. you moved your hand back to your side. "i simply do not like people. also why get pulled into conflict that you never were apart of to begin with? but that's pretty hypocritical of me to say now."

"i get that you're not fond of people, but aren't you lonely out here?" you three walked into the portal that would take you right into the nether. the sounds of bubbling lava and squealing pigmen was always an oddly comforting sound to hear.

"i'm perfectly content in my house. even if it's very far from others. i'm happy." you answered though your words sounded so... monotonous. tommy gave you a look, he definitely didn't believe you. "i know i don't sound happy but i am." before you knew it, you made it to the other nether portal which would actually take you to the manburg and pogtopia. oh how you didn't miss this place at all.

you never liked how manburg was ran even before shlatt was elected. you never really like government in general. it always seemed to be ruining everything. freedom never felt like freedom, at least that's what you thought especially when there was a goverment.

"welcome to pogtopia!" you were so deep in your own thoughts that you hadn't realized that you had made it to pogtopia.

"so where is your other helper? the first choice that wasn't me?" you asked.

"i think he might be here. he's been staying up for a long time. ever since he got in here." wilbur said. "technoblade? you here?" wilbur leads you to a potato farm and you soon feel a sense of familiarity as you enter the room.

"yeah." a low huff is heard, causing you and wilbur to turn your heads toward the source of the sound. "i'm here." what immediately catches your attention is the crown messily placed on his head as he farms. as a piglin, you've always been fond of gold, that adoration never left you once you went to the overworld. you never really wore a crown but you wore a gold pendant instead that was pinned to your cape.

"you have a really pretty crown." it takes you a minute to realize that those words came out of your mouth. "fuck, i didn't mean to say that out loud." you explained quickly to the male that was farming. "piglin things." you muttered.

"a very unexpected compliment. understandable." techno said. "wilbur, who is this again? have i met them?"

"well, you'd think you know each other since you're both piglins, but i guess the world is bigger than i thought. well, technoblade, meet y/n, y/n, meet technoblade."

"i call him the blade." tommy said smugly. "the blade! how's the potato planting doing?"

"it's doing fine. i didn't expect any company to come though."

"well, this is the person that we wanted to recruit for pogtopia."

"nice to meet you, even if the circumstances aren't the best. wilbur is lucky i owe him a favor." you said. "i sort of expected meeting you since tommy and wilbur mentioned you once they came to get me. i just never expected to see another piglin here in the overworld."

"never expected to see another piglin here either." techno hummed slightly.

maybe staying in pogtopia won't be too bad. at least you made a friend?

that was sort of a lie. you and techno never really talked after the encounter. it never worried you, you’re not one for conversation right now anyways. you had a mission to do and you’re gonna do it. you didn’t have time to make friends, at least that’s what you thought. friends seemed to be temporary in the smp, considering the wars that were and have happened.

you weren’t going to make another friend, knowing that you just might get pulled into their fights.

“why did you stop fighting once you left l’manburg?” wilbur’s voice rings in the small fighting pit that was made for training.

“i simply didn’t find the need to fight. it doesn’t mean i’m any weaker though. i will still fight for what i want to fight for.” and that’s gonna be really ending this whole government. you think to yourself, letting the nighttime ambience fill the air.

“you still have your lives...right?” you show him your wrist which had 3 hearts tattooed on it.

“i’ve been living away from everyone, of course i won’t die that easily.” you let out an empty laugh. “bold of you to assume i would even die.”

“i know it’s ridiculous to even think that you would lose a life after you left l’manburg but what if dream were to chase you down and kill you?”

“i understand your worry, but need not to worry, i can handle myself. if i couldn’t you guys would never even assign me as cavalry captain those years ago.” you said, unbuttoning your gold pendant to place it on the stone cold floor along with your other accessories you had. “it’s not like dream can do too much to me. we made a deal after all.”

“a deal?” wilbur raised an eyebrow as he took off his jacket, tossing it on the ground.

“don’t be too concerned. i’m not like eret. i wouldn’t betray you.”

taglist; @justahostaccount, @olyink, @aikochan4859, @classycookiebailiffstudent, @hubblie, @stickk-bugg, @goldensunshineshit, @sadlyitsme-boohoo, @jace-the-ace12, @2cuteforyourlies, @lvlyjuro

[if you want to be added, send in an ask!]

#technoblade x reader #techno mcyt #mcyt fanfiction #mcyt+x+reader #mcyt x reader #dream smp x reader #dream smp #c!techno #sbi family dynamic #sbi x reader #ranboo #ranboo x reader #dream smp ranboo #dream smp ranboo x reader #antarctic idiots

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strawberrymilkgeorge · 3 years

Text

Part Two. Jackbox Shenanigans

warnings: swearing word count: 2.6k (not including pictures) behind the screen (irl dream x reader) series masterlist ultimate masterlist

Y/n flinched awake, startled by the sounds traveling from the kitchen. Once again, the frosty air pricked her skin, trying to convince her to not move, to stay in bed under the warm blankets. Despite the feeling pulling her into her bed, she rubbed her eyes and sat up, grabbing her phone from her nightstand. Texts from Karl flooded her screen and she replied as she took her comforter off her mattress and wrapped it around herself. She pattered to the source of the noise to find her roommate was making food.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Naomi asked, eyes wide with concern as she looked at Y/n. "I dropped a pan."

Y/n, who was observing the world through one squinted eye, shook her head and she sat at the counter in the kitchen. "No, I should be awake anyway."

"You're usually awake much earlier. Late night?"

Y/n nodded. "George streamed and we all talked for a little after."

"Oh, yeah, I watched his stream this morning..." she started, eyes focused on the food in front of her but Y/n still caught the mischievous glint in her roommate's eyes.

"Of course you did," Y/n laughed through a yawn. "That's your lover."

Naomi rolled her eyes. "Maybe if you gave me his number he would be."

"He doesn't give it to many people. I just barely got it and I've been friends with him for a year. I'm pretty sure Karl doesn't even have it."

Naomi groaned, though Y/n knew it was a joke... for the most part. She got another text from Karl, and consulted Naomi for a second opinion.

"Should I post this?" Y/n asked, lazily holding up her phone with a picture on the screen. Naomi squinted as she looked back over her shoulder. "Karl keeps yelling at me too."

"Yeah! That's a cute outfit. Make sure to credit Karl or he'll yell at you for that as well."

"No chance I'm doing that."

Incoming FaceTime... karol <3

Y/n hit accept and held the phone up to make a face at Karl. He mimicked the position. "Hello, sir."

"Hello, ma'am."

"What are you doing?" she asked him, walking to the bathroom to brush her teeth, her comforter dragging on the floor behind her as it continued to protect her from the cold.

Karl got distracted and started messing with something out of the camera view. "Um, trying to figure out what to do for my stream tonight. What about you?"

"I'm waiting for you to give me a fit check!" Y/n yelled. Karl quickly looked at the camera and smiled. He set his phone down on his desk and ran backward so his whole body was in frame. He posed awkwardly a few different ways before running back and resuming his position.

"Yes!" Y/n hyped with a mouthful of toothpaste. "Let's go, Karl! Karl with the old man sweater!!"

He giggled. "You're the one that told me to buy it."

"Because it's sick. Doesn't mean it didn't belong to an old man before you."

Karl pouted before his face lit up. "Guess what. I met a girl."

"Oh?" Y/n cooed. "Where? Do you have pictures? Is she cute?"

"She's Jimmy's new cameraman. Camerawoman. I don't have pictures, and yes. She's very cute." His cheeks turned red and Y/n smiled, flipping off the bathroom light and heading to her closet. She threw her comforter back on the bed and tried to pick out an outfit.

"Come on, bud, elaborate. What's her name? Have you asked her out yet?"

"You don’t get to know her name, I don’t want to jinx anything. Plus, you’ll just look ‘Mr Beast crew’ and find out anyway. Also, no, I haven’t. I'm pretty sure she thinks I hate her because I have not said a single word to her. I get so nervous when she's around I freeze up and just like... act weird. And then as soon as she's gone, Chris freaking roasts me so bad."

"Aw, I can teach you how to flirt if you want!"

"Yeah, okay," he scoffed, sarcasm dripping from his words.

"What's with the attitude? I'm great at flirting."

"No, you're not. I watched Gogy's stream last night."

"What does that have anything to do with anything?"

"I heard the way you spoke to Dream."

"What?!"

"You have zero game, Y/n. Absolutely none. Zilch, if you will."

"Yeah, because I wasn't flirting with him?"

"Not successfully, at least."

"Karl, what?" Y/n laughed but she was so confused. "No part of me was trying to flirt with anyone in that stream."

"Oh, come on," Karl groaned. "Don't do this again. Don't pretend to not like a guy and then cry to me when you're wack ass attempts don't win him over."

"Karl," Y/n started, looking directly at him. "I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about. I wasn't flirting with him. I do not like him."

"I'm just saying, you talk about him a lot. Like, you always panic when he interacts with your posts because you're scared he's going to DM you right after. And you gush about him a lot."

"I do not gush. I admire the hard work he puts into his videos but I talk the same about him as I do with George and Sapnap. The only difference is I'm friends with them and not Mr. Minecraft. He's intimidating, that doesn't mean I have a crush on him."

Karl stared for a moment, trying to read Y/n's expression to detect any lies. "You'd tell me if you did, right?"

"Karl, I tell you everything. I'd tell you if I murdered your family." They both laughed. "It's impossible to hide anything from you, you're my best friend."

"Okay, sweet, but please don't murder my family, just to be clear."

"I won't. I love your mom too much."

"Well, how was meeting Dream, then? Despite apparently not being in love with him?"

"It was cool. Terrifying because it felt very forced but the four of us hung out on the call after George ended his stream and he was much more relaxed."

"That's true. Aren't we all?"

"Not you! You're the exact same person on and off camera. Just a little ball of giggles."

Karl giggled which made them both laugh more. Suddenly, as if he completely forgot until that moment, Karl sat up quickly and yelled, "What am I going to do for the stream?"

Y/n shrugged. "See if anyone wants to play Jackbox. Chat always loves those and it's relatively easy to throw together last minute. You just need to find people that are free to play."

"Genius. Who should we invite?"

"We?"

"Yeah. It was your idea, you have to play."

"But, I've never played! And I barely know all your friends so I wouldn't get half the inside jokes. I'd be a boring addition."

"Please? They're your friends too! You just talked to Sapnap and George for four hours yesterday and George was the only one playing anything. That's friendship if I've ever seen it."

"But... others.... like literally everyone besides Sap and George...."

"Things like this are how you get to know them better. Besidessss, you're never boring."

"Fine, I'll play."

"YES!" he shouted. "Okay, who should we invite?"

**********

Y/n huffed and scooted her chair closer to her desk. She pulled up Discord and hovered over the voice chat everyone was in. An overwhelming number of voices chaotically spoke over each other as soon as she joined.

"Oh no," she mumbled.

"AYYEE!!" a voice yelled, the green bubble lighting around Quackity's name confirming her suspicions.

"Aye," she said back less enthusiastic. "Hi everyone."

"She's here!" George cheered.

Y/n could hear Sapnap huff. "Finally. Geesh."

"This isn't even your stream, calm down." Y/n's eyes scanned the names on the left to read who else was involved in tonight's games. She had suggested a few people to Karl but wasn't sure about the final list. Besides the boys who had already greeted her were BadBoyHalo and Dream.

"Hello, Bugsy! It's nice to meet you! I'm BadBoyHalo."

Y/n smiled widely at his voice. "Hi, BadBoyHalo! Nice to meet you too."

Her eyes slowly traveled to the last name on the list, which had yet to greet her. She wasn't bitter, but she was curious why he hadn't said anything yet. The boys hyped up him talking about her so much but she had yet to feel that energy from him. She picked at the bottom of her hoodie, eyes darting between the names as they lit up when someone spoke.

"Is Dream still AFK?" Sapnap asked.

"I think so," Bad replied.

Maybe that's the only reason he hadn't said anything. Y/n felt stupid for thinking it had anything to do with her.

"He's probably coding something or something like that," George teased.

"Haha nerdy ass man," Quackity cackled.

"Language."

"Don't you also code shit, George?" Sapnap called out. "You're probably helping him test something after this, huh? As Quackity said, nerdy ass man."

"You know what, Sapnap? I'm not sure I like your attitude all that much."

Y/n smiled. Despite feeling nervous, she was already having fun just listening to everyone talk. The real nerves would kick in when they were live in front of tens of thousands of people and she would have to be funny.

A message popped up in the general chat, notifying everyone that Karl was joining the voice call soon so they shouldn't say anything bad.

"Everyone say something weird," Quackity directed.

Discord dinged and Karl's name joined the list on the side. "AAAHHHH-!" he started yelling over everyone to let them know he was here in case they were saying anything bad. With his luck, they were going to say stuff anyway to mess with him.

"So, yeah, that's how I lost my virginity," Quackity said as if he just finished a story.

"To a prostitute?" Sapnap added quickly. "Wow, I never thought you... oh Karl!"

"Language!" Bad gasped.

"What the..." Karl laughed loudly. "What did I just join?"

"Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry," Quackity apologized, which was hard to make out since he was laughing so hard, surprised at what Sapnap added to his joke.

"Bad, you can't say language about a prostitute," Sapnap defended. "That's really rude of you. Maybe it's a little unconventional but they're just tryna make some money the best way they know how."

George laughed with Quackity as Bad sputtered. "I-I said language about what Quackity said!"

"What, virginity?" Karl asked innocently and Bad yelled again.

"Bad hates people who have had sex!" Y/n called, causing Quackity to laugh loudly.

"Bad! How could you?! That's so messed up!"

"Wait, guys, is everyone here?" Karl asked.

"Dream isn't. We don't know where he went."

Karl groaned and started typing something, presumably yelling at Dream to join.

"Let's goooo! We're popping off!" Quackity started saying, stalling. "We're popping off!" George joined him, becoming absolute fools to keep the chat entertained.

"Okay, he's here!" Karl said. "Everyone's here!"

"I'm here, I'm here, sorry. I was... yeah, sorry," Dream stuttered out.

"Welcome back, Dream!" Bad chirped.

"Hello!" he replied. Unexpectedly, his next greeting was directed at Y/n. "Hi, Bug."

Y/n instantly got shy for no discernable reason. She blamed it on his voice and its ability to manipulate emotions any way he wanted. That and she was getting attention from someone first. "Hi," she squeaked back, hoping the contrast of her icy hands would cool her face enough to focus on the game.

"Bugsy, you are adorable," Bad stated simply.

"Sapnap! What did you just send me?" George asked loudly, and just like that, the attention was off of her and she could breathe again.

"What?" Sapnap feigned innocence.

This was going to be a long game.

"Let's play!" Karl decided. "Should we warm up with some Quippy?"

Y/n focused intensely on her answers, silently hoping the others would find her funny.

"Oh my gosh," she mumbled as everyone else finished writing. "Y'all, I'm about to get Quiplashed so hard. Don't make fun of me."

"I seriously doubt it," Dream said. "You can't possibly be worse than George at this game."

"Shut up, we always- it's like 3 am my time. I can't, like, think of things 'cause my brain isn't functioning."

"Yeah, that's why," Sapnap teased.

"Surreee," Dream said.

The first round wasn't too bad. Y/n was in 5th place but she got quite a few laughs so she didn't care too much about where she stood. She got a notification from Dream on Twitter as everyone laughed at one of Quackity's answers.

Y/n looked back at her screen and saw the new prompt and answers. She read them quickly as everyone was laughing and with a few seconds left to choose, voted for the one on the left. It was funnier anyway.

She loosened up substantially after another round, and she knew it was mostly because Dream had reached out to her. Something about him comforted her and made her feel safe, which warmed her heart.

"Bugsy! What the hell, that's so messed up. You're so messed up," Quackity yelled, laughing at the answer on the screen. They were playing Survive the Internet and her comment got taken way out of context, just as the game intended.

"Oh my gosh!" Karl cackled loudly. "Bugsy, I didn't know you felt that way. Oh my gosh? They're just kids?? Bugsy out the gang?"

Y/n hid her face in her hands and laughed. "Noooo!! Wait I never knew- I didn't know I was ever in the gang?"

"She really said, 'infant children? slaughter them all'," Sapnap joked.

"You know, I think you'd get along really well with Technoblade," Dream added. "Though his specialty is orphans, as it appears."

"No, no, no, whoever wrote that heading is SO messed up!" Y/n defended, rereading the heading that made her comment look bad. She knew it was a game but all the attention on her was making her embarrassed. "Who would think to put that?"

"Everyone cancel Busgy!" Karl yelled.

"Karl, no! You're supposed to be my best friend!"

"I don't know how I feel about my best friend killing children..."

"Karl!!"

"Nooo," Bad protested softly. "I like Bugsy. Don't cancel her."

"Everyone vote!"

The article with Y/n's name turned out to be Dream's. "Dream! What the hell is wrong with you?" she yelled, causing him to wheeze loudly.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I wanted point."

The whole night ended up being like that. Y/n had a lot of fun and by the end, she felt a lot more comfortable with all of them. Quackity, Karl, and Sapnap were loud and very high energy while George and Bad were quieter. Dream was half and half, sometimes matching Quackity's volume and sometimes going a while without saying a word. Overall, Y/n had a lot of fun and hoped to let back in the gang in the future.

**********

PREVIOUS • NEXT

**********

A/N: WOOO PART TWOOO!! Hope you guys enjoyed this part! Also thank you so much for all the love on the first part!! I did not expect it to get as much attention as it did!!!!!

we clearly haven’t got to dream and yn being close yet bc they literally met the day before this but i added a small little dream/yn moment :] pls let me know how you liked this part!!!!!!!!!!!!

taglist: OPEN (at the time) @hydrate-tion @loraleiix @tinaswagbd @charsdummb @smileyyuta @1ghoste1 @cerberus-hellhound @gaysludge @queestionmark @carnations-red @letsloveimagines @the-fictionwriters-hairdo @boiled-onionrings @a-cryptic @fee-btheweeb @letsloveimagines @erwinss @just-a-stan

#rpf #real person fiction #dream x reader #dream x y/n #dreamwastaken x reader #dreamwastaken x y/n #mcyt x reader #mcyt x y/n #dreamwastaken smau #dream smau #social media fiction #social media au

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luci-in-trenchcoats · 3 years

Text

If I Fell For You (Part 4) - Safety Nets

Summary: The reader has her first date with Jensen, a simple dinner at home with him and the kids, but when they get a moment alone, he shares some information about the accident hardly anyone knows. Just as things start to get moving with the pair, Jensen has to head to Canada for filming ahead of schedule but he’s not so sure he can go back to whole weeks away from his family right now...

Masterlist

Pairing: Jensen x nanny!reader

Word Count: 5,200ish

Warnings: language, death of a spouse, mention of injury, depression, anxiety, self-worth problems

A/N: Shopping buddies are the best ;) Please enjoy!

________

“Can I help set the table?” you asked the next evening, Jensen shaking his head at you.

“JJ, can you set the table for me?” asked Jensen. She jumped up from the couch and got out silverware, setting an extra spot for you.

“Y/N, are you and dad on a date?” she asked when she finished up. You looked down from where you leaned back against the counter, Jensen chuckling.

“Yes we are sweetie. If this goes well I’d like to take Y/N out on Friday, maybe you guys can go to Uncle Jared and Aunt Gen’s,” he said.

“You should go out with dad,” said JJ.

“Oh I should?” you said, crossing your arms. “Why’s that?”

“Cause he’s strong and handsome and smart and funny and…” she said, holding up her hand and counting on her hand.

“The hair,” he whispered, a smirk crossing your face.

“Oh and he’s only got a few gray hairs!” she said.

“Oh. Well that is interesting,” you laughed, Jensen smacking himself in the face.

“Great hair, JJ. Not gray. Great,” he said.

“You do have gray whiskers,” she said.

“Like...barely,” he said. “See what I put up with? A few teensy tiny little patches in my beard if it grows out.”

“I don’t know if I can date a man of such frail age,” you said. He cocked his head and you laughed, JJ giggling as she went to get the plates.

“Keep it up you two,” he said. You walked over to him, JJ going past with the plates. “Come to tease some more?”

“I was told you’re quite handsome, thought I’d get a closer look,” you said.

“You can have as close a look as you want,” he said, flashing you a wink.

“Calm yourself, Casanova,” you said, reaching up to the cupboard to get another plate for JJ. “Here sweetie.”

“Thanks,” she said. She set it ran back over, hugging you. “Don’t go.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” you said.

“Good,” she said. You bent down and picked her up, resting her on your hip.

“Where’d you think I was going?” you asked. She shrugged and Jensen stopped stirring the pot.

“I don’t know. Wherever you were before. Dad’s a lot happier since you live with us now,” she said.

“Well taking care of you three is hard all by yourself,” you said. You set her down and patted her head. “Go get your brother and sister for dinner.”

“You’re good with them,” he said, stirring the pot again.

“They’re people. Small people that don’t know half of what adults do but still people. Sometimes you gotta treat ‘em like it. Most of the time actually,” you said.

“I talked to her earlier about this whole situation,” he said.

“Besides listing off all your selling points what’d she think?”

“Well apparently she’s in favor of me asking if you’d marry me tonight,” he said.

“Oh. Shotgun wedding. Simple. I like it,” you laughed. He turned his head and smiled, glancing down for a long moment, slowly returning.

“Why doesn’t this situation scare you? The kids, me who has been all over the place lately, not to mention my job, long distance, the shit you get just for-” he said, your hand covering his mouth.

“I didn’t say it’s not a lot, Jensen. It’s scary. Of course it is. Every single one of my relationships has ended badly for one reason or another. Friendships. Family ones. Romantic ones. You’re handsome and you’re so successful and I’m literally a nanny but you said you wouldn’t hurt me. So I’ll trust that you won’t and you trust I won’t hurt you and it’ll work itself out.”

“That simple huh.”

“I’m easy going. Let’s keep it simple,” you said.

“Simple works,” he said as you pulled the pot off the burner before it bubbled over. “Simple definitely works.”

“This is not a good idea,” you said two hours later, the kids in bed, you and Jensen jumping up and down on the trampoline in the yard.

“Oh most certainly not,” he said, landing near you and sending you up. You yelped and landed back down on your bottom, Jensen bouncing again, sending you up again and laughing this time. “Well that’s a cute sound.”

“Boys. Is it taught somewhere that you gotta tease a girl when you like her?” you asked, Jensen pulling you to your feet and bouncing around lightly.

“Right after manly man class, duh,” he said.

“You would have failed, I can tell you right now,” you said. He scoffed and you shrugged. “That’s kinda a really good thing.”

“That your ex? Tough guy all the time?” he asked.

“Not like, to that extent or anything. I had a bad day and I really needed someone and he let me down. He got mad at me for it actually. He called depression a phase I needed to get over with,” you said. He stopped bouncing and you did the same, glancing down. Next thing you knew he playfully tackled you onto the trampoline, rolling to his side and smiling at you.

“Some of my friends have it. One of my best friends does. Jared. If he ever knocks on the door late at night or whatever, let him in.”

“You take care of everyone in your life it seems,” you said.

“You take care of the people you care about, not insult them. Hopefully the ex figures that out someday.”

“How’d you figure it out?”

“I don’t do anything anyone else shouldn’t,” he said.

“Maybe that’s it,” you said. “You’re unapologetically good and you don’t even know how rare that is.”

“It takes up too much energy to be angry or mean or cruel. I’d just rather be happy,” he said.

“You got a lot of friends, don’t you.”

“My fair share,” he said.

“How many would you call close?”

“Maybe ten or so.”

“How many real close?”

“Two or three.”

“How many know what really happened that day? Your wife…” you said. He stared at you and swallowed.

“How do you know?” he asked quietly.

“Because when we met you said she died in an accident but then you said it was her head. You’re holding onto something, something you don’t talk about.”

“She was driving when the aneurysm happened. I was in the car with her. I almost died. It’s seemed easier to lie about that.”

“Who knows?”

“My parents and Jared. They’re the only ones.”

“You ever talk to anyone about it?”

“I went to talk to someone a few times. I’m better now,” he said with a smile. “I don’t share a lot if you may have guessed already. Not to too many people. But you it feels so easy to.”

“Must be special,” you said. He smiled and reached a hand over, twirling a piece of your hair in his fingers. “That why you like me?”

“There’s a lot of stereotypical reasons to like someone and part of that is true in why you choose someone I suppose. But there’s this other part that when you meet someone that you can’t really explain.”

“I get that. I get all of it. My brain always seems to want to go to the bad scenario first I suppose,” you said. You looked up at the black sky, Jensen toying with another strand between two fingers. “I wish it didn’t do that so much.”

“You’re just trying to protect yourself is all,” he said.

“But I come off as pushy and distant,” you said, turning your head. “Like I’m that person that’s cool with everything being casual.”

“Well think of it like this trampoline. It’s the only thing holding us up right now right?” he asked and you hummed. “Well my life, I’ve had thousands of safety nets below me to catch me when I fall so even if I tore through one, there was more to hold me up while the others got fixed. You never had as many to start and I think more of yours broke and there was no way to fix them in time so you kept tumbling through until you got to the ground.”

“Your point?”

“Maybe some people hit the ground and others never do. But the people who hit the ground, as they go back up they can make the best most solid nets in the world to hold them up. One good net beats a thousand flimsy ones.”

“So at what age do I get the wisdom?” you asked, turning your head and smiling over at him.

“You don’t. My job has made me fall through more nets than I wanted to and this year made me realize I might not have a thousand strong nets at the bottom but I just needed one to get by and now I’m working back up. You’re not even close to being down low either. You’ve already had the hardest part of your life. It’s all up from here.”

You leaned over and he lay back on the trampoline, gazing up at you. You lowered your head as he cupped your cheek, pulling you in close until your lips were touching. Part of your mind was reeling from that in itself but the other half knew that was his first kiss since his wife. You inched back but stayed close, Jensen peeling open his eyes.

“You okay?” you asked.

“Very,” he said. You lay back beside him, Jensen letting you go. His hand reached out for yours though and laced your fingers together. “Why’d you kiss me?”

“Wanted to,” you said.

“Cool. I wanted to kiss you too,” he said.

“Alright then.” You stared upwards, the trampoline shifting again. He popped into view propped up on one arm, your head turning slightly. He was flush, even in the dim light. He moved slowly but you let him come to you, a barely there gentle kiss that lingered, a thousand gears going in your head, likely a thousand more going off in his.

“I’m okay,” he said quietly as he pulled back a few inches. Your fingers carded through his hair and he smiled. “I’ll get the hang of this again. I promise.”

“That was more than enough for one night,” you said. “We said slow and we’ll go slow, okay?”

“Sounds good with me.”

Two Days Later

“Y/N, can I have a word with you in my office?” asked Jensen as you were picking up after dinner. You hummed and put the last fork in the dishwasher before following him down to a quieter part of the house. He shut the door behind you and he ran his hand over his face. “This is about work, my work, but it’s going to involve you. Heavily.”

“What’s up?” you asked, taking a seat in a chair. He sat in his by his desk, scrunching up his face.

“My job with that TV show, The Boys, it films in Canada. I’m gonna need to be up there four, maybe five months. The way things used to work with my wife was I would fly back home every weekend or every other weekend. I never went more than 2 weeks seeing the kids. I don’t have to film every day but it’s easier to stay there for the week. But it’s...it’s difficult for me. It’s difficult for them and...they lost one parent this year. I can’t stay away that long for months. I just can’t do it anymore.”

“That’s perfectly understandable,” you said.

“I’d like to temporarily move to Canada while I film. No flying back and forth. The kids can see me everyday and I can see them. JJ’s school still offers remote learning and I’m homeschool certified in a pinch. Twins can do daycare easy. The only issue I have is the same one I originally did. I still need a nanny. Only now in a different country...and it’s gonna be more late nights on the regular.”

“I see,” you said.

“This isn’t what you signed up for so if you don’t want it, that’s okay. I can find a nanny up there and we can try long distance and-” he said before you stood and walked in front of him.

“I’m in.”

“Really? I mean it’s gonna be awhile before we’re back in the states,” he said.

“It sounds like fun.”

“Awesome. I was really hoping you’d say that,” he said.

“So where are we going?” you asked.

“Toronto. Well, near there. I gotta start filming start of February but there’s promo stuff to do in late January,” he said.

“It’s already late January,” you laughed. “When do we have to move?”

“Uh, tomorrow,” he said. “Just got the call a few hours ago. I got a house to rent lined up already.”

“Oh wow. Alright. Uh, what do I need to do exactly?” you asked.

“Keep stuff normal. Don’t worry about cleaning or anything. Maybe box up anything you want to bring and some of the kids stuff. Toys, books, that stuff. I’ll handle their bags. We’ll ship it all up tomorrow and take a flight up at night,” he said.

“Okay, cool,” you said. “Wait I need like, a snow jacket right?”

“We’ll get you set up there with coat and boots and all that,” he said.

“Gotcha,” you said, starting to leave before you spun around and walked smack into his chest. “Wait. I have a lot more questions actually. Like...I don’t have a passport?”

“I know which is why tomorrow morning first thing you’re gonna go down to the post office, get your passport done up and when it comes in, we’ll get it shipped up to Canada,” he said.

“How do I get into Canada though?”

“We share a border with them so we bring your license and birth certificate, you can go right on in no problem,” he said.

“Oh. Okay,” you said. “Wait. I’ve never been on an airplane before. What-”

“Okay,” he laughed. “Take a hot second and breathe and we’ll go from there. I know it’s last minute but it’ll work out. I promise.”

“Y/N,” said Jensen, tapping your shoulder two days later. You hummed and reluctantly turned your head away from staring out the back sliding doors to the snow covered yard and trees around you. “Have you ever seen snow before?”

“No. Not like this,” you said, head going back to staring outside. “It’s something out of a movie.”

“You had that same look on your face when we took off last night in the plane.”

“What’s that?”

“Those little moments where the years fall off and you get that childish joy, like nothing bad has ever happened,” he said.

“I suppose there’s hope for me yet,” you said with a smile.

“Oh there was always that,” he chuckled. He threw an arm over your shoulders and you leaned into him. “Can I still take you out Friday?”

“Who’s gonna watch the kids?” you asked.

“My buddy.”

“Does he exist?” you said, grinning at him.

“Cute,” he said, ruffling your bedhead. “Yes he does exist. How’s Friday night sound?”

“Do I need a dress?” you asked.

“Probably. It’s a nice place,” he said. “My favorite place in Toronto actually. Jeans are perfectly acceptable there though.”

“I’ll pick out a dress today too,” you said. You kissed his cheek and watched them turn an ever so light pink. “You’re cute.”

“Shut up,” he chuckled. “Put your boots and coat on the card I gave you alright? That’s a business expense.”

“Whatever you say boss,” you said. “I’m gonna duck out before the little ones get up. I’ll try not to be gone too long.”

“Take your time. Drive slow in the snow until you get the hang of it, okay?”

“I will. I promise.”

“What the fuck’s the difference between therma heat and therma wear…” you mumbled to yourself, gawking at the glove rack at the store an hour later.

“I think it’s just marketing,” said the guy on the other side. You jumped and managed to knock about five pairs off the hangers. He laughed quietly and peeked his head around. “Didn’t mean to spoke ya.”

“It’s alright. I’m…” you said, the man smiling as you shook your head out. “Um...I…”

“You okay?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. You nodded and he smiled. “You sure cause you were just having a life crisis over gloves a second ago and now you can’t seem to form a sentence.”

“You’re Home…” you said, shutting your eyes. “You’re the actor that plays...I’m having a fucking day.”

“Looks like it,” he said, bending down and picking up some of the gloves. He laughed again and you got the ones closest to you, putting them back. “You know it’s like ten degrees outside right? Not exactly sneaker weather.”

“I know. This place looks pretty but it’s worse than a Texas summer almost with how cold it is.”

“I thought you sounded not from here,” he said with a smile. “I’m not from around here either. I do better with the heat myself.”

“Okay um, listen...uh, what’s your name, not Homelander?” you asked.

“Antony,” he chuckled again.

“I’m Y/N. I’m just gonna get the weird stuff out of the way cause…” you said as he smiled but stepped back a foot. “Yeah. Um I’m a fan but like...do you know Jensen Ackles?”

“Why?” he asked.

“He’s my boss...and my boyfriend but that’s another story. We might run into each other at some point, probably very likely. Just wanted to throw that out there.”

“Your boss?” he asked.

“I nanny his kids. I wouldn’t believe me if I were you either. I should go,” you said. You groaned when you were past him, hearing a pair of feet jog to catch up with you.

“I know you. You were on his instagram last week right? Yeah okay, that makes sense why a clueless Texas girl is stressing over gloves.”

“Excuse me?” He shook his head and smiled.

“Get a pair of thick gloves, thinner ones but not too thin, a warm hat, good boots for traction along with some boot spray and go with a longer hooded parka. It’ll be warmer. Throw in a few pairs of wool socks to be sure,” he said.

“Oh. Thank you,” you said. You looked back at the store and then to him. “There’s like five hundred coats in here.”

“How about you buy me a cup of coffee and I’ll help you out. Deal?”

“Why would you help me?” you asked.

“Well I’m gonna be working with Jensen quite a bit and he’s your boyfriend too apparently plus it’s just nice,” he said.

“You’re so not like your character.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. We’ll be out of here in an hour tops.”

Antony turned out to be very helpful since apparently you had an uncanny ability to be attracted to the least warmth rated items in the whole store. But you had your parka and boots on now, other items tucked away in the bags as you browsed through a rack of black dresses at a different store.

“We dress shopping now?” said Antony, sipping on his coffee cup.

“Dude,” you said, jumping again. “You gotta learn to make noise.”

“It’s my natural stealth,” he said. “That one.”

“What?”

“That one,” he said, nodding to a dress on the wall.

“I can’t pull that one off,” you said.

“Try it. I’ll watch your stuff,” he said.

“You’re oddly nice,” you said. “To a stranger.”

“Well this beats my plans of walking around the mall buying crap I don’t need. Besides, I like you.”

“I have a boyfriend.”

“I’m taken,” he laughed. “Come on. Everybody needs a shopping buddy.”

“Okay but if you’re a weirdo Jensen will kick your ass,” you said, finding your size and taking it off the rack. “Just sayin’.”

“I like the guy more already,” he said. “It’s not like it’s your first date or anything.”

“...Second date.” He stared and looked away. “It’s…complicated.”

“I heard about...you know…the accident,” he said.

“Let him bring that up,” you said and he nodded. You took the dress into the changing room and smirked at the mirror. “Alright, maybe we give this one a shot.”

You changed back and found Antony on a bench outside.

“I should take you shopping more often,” you said. “You have good taste.”

“Sounds like a winner,” he said, handing you back your bags. “I gotta head out for work but it was nice meeting you, Y/N. I’m sure I’ll see you around very soon.”

“Me too. Thanks for the help today, really.”

“Not a problem at all. See ya later,” he said as he headed out. You gave him a wave and picked out a pair of black heels to go with the dress before you were heading home.

“Hey Jensen,” you said late that night. He’d had to go in for some photos in the afternoon and had taken quite a bit longer than he’d anticipated. “Leftovers are in the container on the top shelf.”

“Thanks, Y/N,” he said. He rubbed his eyes and padded into the kitchen before tossing the container in the microwave.

“Um, Jensen? Can I talk to you about work?” you asked. His ears perked up and he nodded while he looked around for a spoon. “Second drawer to the left.”

“Thanks,” he said. “So what’s up? Something wrong?”

“Not exactly. I was thinking earlier though about a backup plan,” you said. He took out the container and grabbed his spoon sitting across from you at the table.

“What’s a backup plan?” he asked, shoveling a spoonful of too hot pasta into his mouth.

“Well down in Austin, say I was suddenly unable to perform my job duties cause I’m sick or hurt or I’m off on vacation or whatever. Down there I have a network of other nannies that could step in temporarily, they can do a pick up or drop off in a bind, that sort of thing. It’s kind of a support group in way. It’s good for me and for you.”

“They must have one of those things up here?” he asked, taking a slower bite this time. You spun your computer around and he nodded. “Tornanny. That’s cute. You gotta sign up or something?”

“I need to take a four hour class. They have one on Saturday morning. Is it okay if I sign up?” you asked. He chuckled and took another bite of food.

“Weekends are still yours to do as you please. I need a bit more help during weeknights or mornings but weekends are still yours. I’m also compensating your pay for the additional time and no you’re not winning that argument so don’t even try.”

“Okay. I’m gonna sign up,” you said, turning the computer back.

“What was that thing on the side?” he asked.

“Hm?” you said as you started filling in the form.

“Some happy hour thing on the side,” he said. You flicked your eyes over to the side of the page and saw the group posting. “That could be fun.”

“Do I look like the kind of person that goes to happy hours?” you said.

“Well maybe you could meet a nanny friend in this group, one you could maybe get to cover for you if you ever needed it. I did steal you away from everything you know to a different country with a days notice after all. I’d go with you if you want,” he said.

“What about the kids?”

“Hm?”

“Jensen. I’m starting to see a fatal flaw in me being the nanny and us dating. I’m the person that should be watching the kids when you go out,” you said.

“Hm,” he said, eating for a few moments. “You do have a point. I think we need to renegotiate your contract.”

“Wait you’re firing me?” you said, Jensen shaking his head and laughing. “Okay cause you were about to lose a girlfriend for a second there.”

He smiled to himself and looked down, playing with his dinner.

“So what are you talking about?” you asked.

“Well, girlfriend,” he chuckled. “How about this? Weekends you don’t work, at all, for any reason. If you watch the kids for an hour while I duck to the store, it’s cause you’re doing it cause of us, not as part of your job. If we want to go out or on a date on the weekend, we’ll get a sitter. I had a go to in Vancouver when I lived there. I’ll give her a call, see if she knows anyone out here that would work. That sound good?”

“I guess that’s alright,” you said. He raised and eyebrow and you shrugged. “I enjoy our alone time, don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to take away from them though.”

“I appreciate the sentiment but I’m not saying…” he said before he trailed off and ate the last bites of his food. “I moved us so they could see me everyday which is far more than they ever did when I filmed my show. I will still make them breakfast. I will still put them to bed. I will still have lunch with them and play with them and all of it. They’ll always by my first priority. But a relationship with kids doesn’t always mean the kids are around. Sometimes they come with, sometimes they stay home. I’m not talking about ditching them for days on end. A few hours on a Saturday night, most of which they’ll be in bed asleep is all I’m talking about. We have a right to a little bit of time for ourselves. It’s not as easy with them than it was the first time around but we just have to try harder is all.”

“Okay,” you said. “I’m good with that. How was your first day?”

“Good. We did a lot of promotional stuff. I won’t start acting until next week. I heard you met Antony shopping today.”

“Yeah. I didn’t get a chance to tell you when I got home earlier. He seems like a nice guy.”

“He does. He invited us to dinner once we settle into a routine,” he said. “Apparently you two are shopping buddies now.”

“The man does know how to choose a dress.”

“Good thing I packed my lucky suit up here,” he said.

“Speaking of suits...you wouldn’t happen to have any of you in your Soldier Boy suit from today?”

“No spoilers,” he said with a smirk. You jutted out your lip and he rolled his eyes, taking out his phone. He tapped and slid it over to you, your eyes wide. You must have stared for a solid minute before you looked over at him, Jensen leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head and a huge grin on his face. “You think I’m hot, don’t you.”

“Pft, no,” you said, biting your bottom lip before you licked it. He was still grinning out of the corner of your eye and you gave him the phone back. “Maybe...you’re kinda hot. But it’s totally the suit. Like right now, ugh, horrendous.”

“Nah, I’m hot,” he said, sticking out his stomach and rubbing it.

“I’m impressed you can actually do that,” you said.

“Everybody’s got a tummy,” he said. “Seriously though, you think the suit is cool?”

“It looks awesome. I’d love to see it in person,” you said.

“Oh you guys will be on set at some point,” he said. “I’m kinda nervous about next week.”

“Really? Why? You’re a great actor.”

“Have you ever seen a single thing I’ve done,” he chuckled.

“I did in fact see that horror movie on a date years ago. Something with like mining?” you asked.

“That’s what you saw? Like that movie? I hope the date worked out at least,” he said with a big smirk.

“Actually it was the crappy ex,” you said.

“Oh. You guys must have dated for a long time then.”

“Since we were seventeen,” you said. He stared and you shrugged. “I kept waiting for him to grow up and change. Eventually I realized he never would.”

“Did you love him?”

“I loved the idea of him. I liked him. I was with him for close to 12 years so I obviously liked him. But it wasn’t love. I could never be myself all the way around him and that’s not a way to live. There was none of that feeling when you first meet someone, you know?”

“Would I be pushing to ask if you ever thought about marrying the guy?”

“He did propose actually. A few times,” you said. “I turned him down. Things really went downhill from there though.”

“Why’d you say no?”

“I didn’t want to marry someone that made me feel bad about being me. Got tired of him telling me to get over everything that happened as a kid, dress a certain way, should I really have dessert, that kind of crap.”

“It’s part of who you are. I wouldn’t exactly call your past something to get over,” said Jensen. “Why would he even make you feel bad about it? You’re so normal.”

“I don’t think his daddy hugged him enough,” you said.

“No need to be a dick to other people for it,” he said. You smiled as you finished filling out the rest of the form for the class before sending it off. “Hey on the plus side I did get a good recommendation for daycare today. I was gonna check it out tomorrow morning, maybe get the twins in next week. Apparently they’re also hooked up with a school so JJ can go to school with some other American kids too instead of being stuck behind a screen here all day.”

“That’s great news. She can make some new friends that way. You know I was thinking maybe she could get signed up for indoor soccer. When I played the new season normally started right at the beginning of February.”

“Is it safe?” he asked. “I thought that could get pretty dangerous.”

“Adult leagues can be but kids her age it’s just running back and forth mostly. She could make some new friends, give her something fun to look forward to.”

“It’s not a bad idea. I would like her to be involved in something since she’s out of dance and soccer back home right now. I’ll talk it over with her in the morning,” he said. “She say something to you about it?”

“No. I just know what it’s like to be the new kid,” you said. “Soccer helped me make friends at school.”

“You and your mom move after your dad passed?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah. I was little so I don’t remember so much,” you said, an email coming in that your spot in the class was reserved. “Alright. Looks like I’m all set for eight on Saturday.”

“I’ll try not to keep you out too late on Friday night then,” he said.

“I never said that.”

“I like flirty you,” he said, both of you looking up at the ceiling when you heard a loud pair of giggles. “Duty calls. Goodnight, Y/N.”

“Goodnight Jensen.”

________

A/N: Read Part 5 here!

#spn #supernatural #Jensen x reader #jensen ackles #jensen ackles au #rpf #jensen series #rpf series #jensen ackles x reader #spn fanfic #jensen fanfic #jensen ackles fanfic #supernatural fanfic

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cacoetheswriting · 3 years

Text

little mystery

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!Reader Warnings: tattoos, alcohol consumption, gambling/betting money, mild swearing (i actually don't think there is any but just in case), baby spence!!, no smut/or implied smut but it reads a little dirty (so i’m gonna rate this 18+ anyway) Word Count: 1.8k Summary: Bets are placed to see who can be the first to figure out the secret location of your tattoo, and what the tattoo is.

A/N: i was browsing pinterest for my next ink inspiration (the whole country is currently in lockdown, but a girl can dream), when i stumbled across a particular tattoo, featured in this fic, and this idea just came to me ah i hope you ENJOY!

“A recent study concluded that people with tattoos are more likely to be so called experience seekers, and they tend to lean more towards rebellious, non-conforming lifestyles.” Spencer stated glancing between the group. His eyes lingering a little longer on you. “Research also shows, people who choose to get tattooed feel a stronger need to claim their identity and stand out from the crowd.”

Derek chuckled while taking a sip of his drink. “Kid, not everyone that has a tattoo is an attention seeker or a criminal. Many who get inked lead perfectly normal and stable lives.”

“It’s a form of self expression.” Morgan continued. “It doesn't necessarily mean people with multiple tattoos are wildings. I mean look at Y/N, she’s got like ten and she's far from a non-conformist.”

All heads turned in your direction.

“Ten is an over exaggeration Morgan.” You replied with a light giggle before looking directly at Spencer. “It’s eight. I have eight tattoos.” You said shooting him a smile. A mix of intrigue quickly spread across his features.

Of course, he was aware you had a couple of tattoos. Like the tiny heart on your left index finger. The crescent moon just above your right elbow. Or the rose on the inside of your left bicep. Given that the two of you were similar in age, the young doctor didn't think you would have that many.

Derek rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that’s a huge difference.” He teased, granting Penelope to nudge him in the arm. The bubble blonde then turned to you. “You have eight tattoos?” She asked with a raised brow. “How come I didn't know this about you? I know everything.”

“Because you never asked me and eight really isn't that much. Plus they’re all pretty simple and dainty. Well... actually... all apart from the snake slithering between my boobs.” You responded nonchalantly causing the males at the table to simultaneously choke on their drinks.

The girls all whistled before erupting into laughter at the suddenly red faces of the three boys. Hotch stared silently at the half-empty class in his hands, Derek nervously cleared his throat, while Spencer gaped at you completely wide-eyed.

The image you just painted circulating in his mind.

“Don’t be shy, tell us, any other risqué body art?” Emily chimed once the laughter died down.

“Uhm, there is one but I really don't think it’s appropriate to share.” You answered, a sly smile circling your lips. JJ and Emily both groaned at your response. “Now you have too!” The blonde exclaimed, but you just shook your head.

“Only a handful of people know what it is, and where it is.” Your eyes locked briefly with the brunette doctor sat across from you. Not enough time for anyone at the table to notice, but enough to get him a tiny bit flustered.

“What if we guessed?” Emily enquired, her eyes sparkling mischievously. You giggled. “If one of you manages to guess both what and where it is, I will tell you whether you’re correct.”

“I want in on this little bet.” Derek chimed confidently. “I can get you talkin’ hot stuff.” He shot you a playful wink and took another sip of his drink. Hotch snickered next to him. “I wouldn't be so certain Morgan.” “Oh, and you think you can?” Derek asked sarcastically. “Maybe.” Hotch poised, shrugging his shoulders.

“Right.” JJ clapped her hands. “Let’s make this interesting. Everyone that wants to take part place a ten dollar bet on themselves, and the winner will take the pot.” She turned to you. “We’ll give you the money for safekeeping and once one of us guesses correctly, you can rightfully pass the cash onto that person.”

“Sounds good to me.” You replied with a grin. “But what if none of you guess? Who keeps the money then?” “Do you forget who you work with? We’re FBI agents, profilers, one of us is bound to figure it out.” Morgan stated making you giggle.

“Okay, if you say so.”

“Oh! And whoever wins gets to see this mysterious ink of yours.” Emily added teasingly.

Just like that a pile of cash formed in the middle of the table. You reached out to grab it when a hand slowly slid across with a neatly folded ten dollar bill between two fingers. Your eyes snapped up to meet the determined gaze of none other than the resident genius.

“I want to take part too.” He said, trying his best not to appear jittery. The grin currently embellishing your features swelled, and Spencer took note of the devilish sparkle in your eyes. “Well all right.” You responded, fingers brushing lightly against his as you retrieved the money. An instant spark tingled through both you and Spencer.

The night carried on. You were bombarded with questions that would give the team any sort of clue as to what the tattoo could be, but you didn't budge. It was a lot more fun seeing your friends struggle. The only person that didn't say anything further on the matter was the young doctor sat across from you. In true Spencer Reid fashion, he simply listened and observed.

About an hour later, he accompanied you to the bar for another round of drinks. After ordering for everyone, you quickly glanced at him. “What’s going on in that big brain of yours?” You asked causing him to break away from his thoughts and turn his attention to you. He lightly scrunched his nose.

“I’m just wondering when is the most appropriate time to tell everyone what your secret tattoo is.”

Your mouth parted ever in shock, eyes widened. “There is no way you know.”

“Actually, I not only know what and where it is. I also know when you got it and why.” He stated confidently.

“Alright then, tell me.” You challenged taking a step towards him. Spencer stiffened for a brief moment. Your sudden closeness caused the heat to rush to his face and his heart to skip a beat. All he could do was hope you didn't notice; which of course you did.

With a raised brow and your fingers tapping lightly on the wooden bar, you waited for Spencer to respond. You were about to say something like, ‘See, I knew you were bluffing.’, but he cleared his throat. Regaining his confidence.

“It’s the word ‘bite’ written in cursive on your ehm, on your left b-buttcheek. And you got it your freshmen year of university as a result of a drunken game of truth or dare with your friends. I believe it was either getting the tattoo or shaving your head.” He was, of course, correct. Every word.

You stared at him in disbelief. This you definitely did not expect. Spencer on the other hand seemed quite pleased with himself. It’s not often he’s the one to rattle you.

“H-how, how did you-” You shook your head. “You know what, never mind. I don’t want to know.” Your lips twirled into a smile. “Congratulations doctor.” Without really thinking, you leaned in closer and placed a soft kiss on his cheek causing once again for the blood to rush to his face. Once you pulled away, his hand immediately travelled to the spot.

“What, uhm, what was that for?” He asked and you shrugged. “An extra prize considering it didn't even take you ninety minutes to win. I hope that was okay?” He quickly nodded his head. “Ye-a, yes.” “Good.” And with that you kissed his cheek again.

He couldn't help but grin proudly as the two of you ambled back to the table, each holding a tray of drinks.

“What’s got you so happy, kid?” Morgan asked, drawing attention to Spencer’s expression.

“Spencer just won your little bet.” You replied, placing the tray down and reaching into your purse for the money. Although his win was definitely part of the reason for his increased good mood, it had more to do with the spot on his cheek that was still tingling from your kiss. But he’d never say that out loud.

Gasps of shock echoed through the team. “What?! There is no way he’s won already!” JJ exclaimed. “He cheated. Did you give him extra hints because you have a soft spot for him?” Emily accused, narrowing her eyes.

“Nope.” Your mouth popped. “He definitely won fair and square.” You stated before shifting your body weight to look the young doctor. Smiling, you handed him his winnings. He didn't hesitate to take them, eyes never leaving yours.

“Well pretty boy, what is it?!” Derek enquired eagerly. Spencer waited for you to nod your head before turning to address the team. He revealed the design and location of your secret tattoo in one breath as you watched, finding their reactions amusing.

“How did you figure that out?” Penelope asked.

“A little mystery never hurt.” You chimed before Spencer got a chance to respond, and proceeded to intertwine your fingers with his. His head snapped first down at your glued hands, and then up at your face. He wanted to ask what was happening, completely forgetting what else the winning prize entailed, as you were leading him away from the table.

Morgan and Emily whistled after the two of you, the rest of the group laughing.

It wasn't until you were walking into the bathroom, locking the door behind, that the realisation hit Spencer. He swallowed his breath and opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.

You quickly noticed the nervous look on his face. “We don't have to do this if you don't want to. If you’re uncomfortable.” You said in your usual kind and caring tone.

“No, uhm, it’s okay. B-but if you don't want to?” He mumbled. “I don’t have to see it if you don’t want to show me, or anyone for that matter. We can just pretend.”

You smiled at him, your hands travelling to the zipper of your jeans. “A bet’s a bet, and like I said, you won fair and square.”

“Y-you, are you sure you don't want to know how I figured it out?” Spencer asked, voice breaking. The palms of his hands began to sweat. He wasn't sure where to look. Did you want him looking directly at you? Or was he supposed to keep his attention on something else until you were ready to show the tattoo?

“A little mystery never hurt.” You repeated what you said earlier to the group and pulled your pants down, just low enough to display the tattoo in question.

Spencer’s gaze landed on the writing. At this point his heart was hammering inside of his chest, and he was sure it would explode any second. His eyes widened as he slowly licked his lips. He was sure this was the hottest thing he’s ever seen.

“Do you like it?” A seemingly innocent question, although the intention behind it was anything but.

Spencer nodded his head. “I-I...y-es, I do.” His eyes gradually moved up your body until they once again locked with your gaze. His pupils now flared.

A mischievous smirk escaped your mouth. “I always knew you had a naughty side, doctor.”

spencer reid taglist: spencer reid taglist: @no-honey-no, @calm-and-doctor, @idroppedmygourd, @averyhotchner

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#spencer reid #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fic #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x y/n #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds fic #criminal minds fluff #spencer reid imagine #criminal minds imagine #little mystery fic

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kyberphilosopher · 3 years

Text

Eunoia

The Mantis crew decides to take a well deserved break. Word Count: 2422

Warning(s): straight fluff, short Requested: yep This can be read for a female, male, non binary, or any other reader.

Eunoia is the shortest English word containing all five main vowel graphemes. It comes from the Greek word εὔνοια, meaning "well mind" or "beautiful thinking”. It is also a rarely used medical term referring to a state of normal mental health. In rhetoric, eunoia is the goodwill a speaker cultivates between himself and his audience, a condition of receptivity. In book eight of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle uses the term to refer to the kind and benevolent feelings of goodwill a spouse has which form the basis for the ethical foundation of human life.

* ✭ ˚ ･ﾟ ✧ *･ﾟ * ✭˚･ﾟ ✧* ･ *

Cal is actually not as observant as people think he is. You know because you’ve been leaning against his doorway, watching him, for about two minutes now and he hasn’t noticed a thing.

Maybe if you were in his position you’d be the same. That seems about right. He’s hunched over his desk with the lamp on bright, tinkering with something that you can only assume is for BD-1. He’s probably lost in thought. Maybe he’s dreaming of better days. Or maybe he’s just trying to figure out which wires and bolts connect to which. There’s no way to be certain from your position. He’s the mechanic, you are not.

So why have you been watching the redhead from his doorway for three minutes now? A simple answer. He is your friend, and you enjoy his company. Even when he’s not giving you attention, completely unaware to your presence in moments like this one, lost in his own world, it’s his warmth that really counts. Cal is such a relaxing bout of fresh air compared to everything else in the galaxy, in your life. It’s like being at a great party, but whether you enjoy it or not, stepping outside and tasting the air and the smell of something wonderful. Even if you had a day full of talking to people and had become burned out, talking to Cal would have been no problem at all. Maybe in a way that makes him your favorite person.

Yeah, maybe.

BD-1 jumps onto Cal’s desk. His head looks at the boys hands, cocking about as if observing. Then he meets your gaze, only to find a smile. One index finger raises to your lips, prompting the little droid to stay quiet about this, before you turn away and head towards the main part of the ship.

“Where’s Cal?” Greez gruffs upon seeing you. He’s shaking spice onto a steaming brown plate, which puts a pep in your step. Greez’s cooking always makes life better.

“In his room,” you answer. You turn from the doorway to the counter, where something hot does cause stringy, swirly puffs of air to waft upwards from a large metal container. With your back to Greez, you pull a plate for yourself and begin hulling it full of food. Some sort of rice or grain?

“Hmph, that reminds me,” the Latero begins mid-chew. “Me and Cere was talking about taking a vacation.”

“Vacation?” you scrunch your eyebrows and put the lid back on the container. “Where to?”

“The beach maybe?”

You scoff as you turn around and lean on the counter. One hand holds the plate while the other uses your index finger to prod at the mush. It smells alluring. The individual pieces of it stick to your skin. They burn and sting, but it’s so small it doesn’t bring much of a reaction. “I don’t know a lot of beaches.”

“Well, ya know,” Greez shrugs. “Just a thought.”

* ✭ ˚ ･ﾟ ✧ *･ﾟ * ✭˚･ﾟ ✧* ･ *

It was more than just a thought. Six days later, the Mantis touches down on Scarif. But first there’s the issue of landing.

“Watch that tree,” you point, leaning over Cal’s shoulder as he co-pilots beside Greez. A second later, the ship gives a great rock and the palm tree crunches beneath it. “You weren’t watching the tree.”

“Sorry,” Cal offers sheepishly.

“What?” Greez says. He’s the one in main control of the ship. He’d never let Cal take over the whole thing. “What he do?”

“Ran over a tree,” you snort.

“Cal!” Cere scolds, turning around in her chair.

“I said I was sorry!” Cal defends.

“I’m telling the wookies what you did,” you whisper.

“Don’t,” Cal whispers back, though it’s still desperate.

The Mantis parks itself in a field of tropical emerald on the cuff of a beach. The sand is white, the waves cyan and royal blue and sloshing. There’s several beaches on the planet. All of which are very beautiful. Would be a true shame if anything were to ever happen to Scarif. It’s so different compared to so many other planets in the galaxy- not occupied by Imperial forces or scumbags.

Greez waves everybody off. Cere exits first. Cal is ahead of you, but he steps to the side and rather gentlemanly insists, “You first.”

You hum and move past him. The Scarif air hits your face with a warm breeze. It smells of salt and water and some kind of flower. The horizon goes orange and pink and salmon with the setting sun. It is... serene. It nearly knocks you off your feet. It takes his voice to realize Cal is beside you at the bottom of the ramp.

“Woah,” he offers simply, in as much awe as yourself.

“Woah,” you repeat in agreement. It’s still for a second. “Come on. Let’s join them. Or else I’ll have to cast a Jedi mind trick on you.” Your fingers wiggle up and down by Cal’s face for dramatic effect.

Cal rolls his eyes. “Shut up,” he utters with a push on your elbow, urging you forward into the sand.

Okay, so maybe you like Cal more than just a friend. But who can blame you? Things had been feeling different between you two lately. You’d always gotten along pretty smoothly. You made up for skills that Cal seemed to lack himself, and his abilities- human and nonhuman- never ceased to amaze you. He was a friend. And then, when you tended to the stab wound he’d gotten from Vader, there was a moment where you held each others eyes. After that, the joking became more constant. The little touches on the shoulders and elbows and forehead taps happened more often. And you started watching him from his doorway sometimes and... and at some point you just caught feelings.

Cal Kestis seemed to feel the same, but who could really say? No use poking that bear right now.

The sand is soft, even beneath your boots. Cere stands in front of the water, just breathing in the air. The light breeze makes her vest ripple. It’s tempting to just join her.

“Gotta say,” you hear a familiar voice say from your left and below. “We picked a nice place.”

“Maybe we should stay a while,” you joke, though you secretly hope for it, to Greez.

“Yeah,” Greez rolls his eyes. “Until this moron gets us into trouble again!”

Cal perks up. “What did I do?”

“Anybody who can lift things with their mind is gonna attract some attention, kid. You just brought it on us.”

“So true,” you jump on with a smirk to Cal.

“Alright,” Cal turns away towards the beach. You position yourself so you’re closer to him, and Greez takes the opportunity to waddle away further ahead to waves.

“Sorry for bursting your bubble, Cal,” you continue with a smug grin. “Maybe in the next life, don’t be born with force powers? Just a suggestion.”

“You think you’re so funny,” Cal tells you, though he’s smiling too. His pale green eyes spare a glance at you, thick lashes dancing on his boyish face.

Your knees bend until you collapse on your bottom in the sand. It’s so soft, it doesn’t even resist your weight. It makes way for you easily, like a blanket. “I do.”

Cal joins you in the sand quickly enough. You’re both face to face, the wind in your hair and the water at your side. It crashes every few seconds, but it’s peaceful. Some kind of bird flies overhead, and butterflies are in the forested area behind you. The light of the sunset illuminates Cal’s hair more than usual. The brightest points of his eyes are highlighted.

“He loves you,” you offer.

“You think so?”

“I am one hundred percent certain... Just don’t touch the ship.”

Cal raises his hands as if surrendering. “Understood. Hands off.”

You turn your head to the water. Greez and Cere are standing ahead, most likely having a conversation of their own. The tide carries so much of the stress your shoulders hold away from you. Everything with the holocron, the empire- it was ridiculous what living in hiding could do to a person. It’s hard to imagine how Cal did it for so long. How painful that must’ve been for him. How painful it is to imagine him in pain.

“How’s your stomach?” you decide to ask at last.

Cal tilts his head for a second. “Better.”

“Perfect?” you raise your knees to your chest and rest your arms on them.

Just then, a little whirring noise pulls both of your attentions away. BD-1 bounds down the ramp of the ship, twirling around in observance as if excited. “Hey, BD,” Cal greets. “I know, buddy. I know.” The droid places itself in Cal’s lap, still looking around at the change in scenery.

“We’ve never been able to do this before,” you tell him. “I mean, I wasn’t here for the whole adventure. But I was here after and before and... and just... we’ve never done this.”

Cal is quiet. “I haven’t either.”

You look at him.

“Taken a break. I guess time on Bracca was the closest thing.”

You smile softly. “I’m sure it was really nice.”

Cal rolls his eyes along with his head, though the corner of his chapped pink lips turn upwards. “As nice as it could be with the Empire.”

“That’s pretty nice.”

Cal and you huff a humorous puff of air in unison.

“What were you doing before the Mantis?” Cal suddenly asked.

“Oh,” you roll your eyes and wave your hand. “Not important. Don’t even worry about it.”

“Come on!” Cal shifts.

“I’m serious!” you defend. “It’s boring stuff. You wouldn’t want to hear about it. Not as interesting as the force.”

“Well anything related to you is interesting,” Cal says casually, one of his palms lifting in the air for effect as he shifts again.

Well that makes your face feel hot. Anything related to you is interesting. How often do people get to hear that? And how casually it comes out of Cal’s mouth, the shrug of his shoulders that you tie so easily to him, that’s how you know it’s honest. Not only have you heard something intimate that not many people will in their whole lives, but it was also heartfelt.

“Yeah,” you mutter, though it sounds distant and far away as you watch Cal’s eyes. He doesn’t seem to mind. Then you snap back to reality. “This is gonna be good.”

Cal watches you pop to life, standing up entirely and running towards the water. BD-1 perks up as well to watch you just in time to see your much bigger form nearly knock the Latero over. And, much to Cal’s surprise, the little droid jumps from his lap and bounds after you. The red head decides he’s next to follow.

“BD-1,” he rasps, also nearly pushing Greez to the ground. “Don’t touch the water!”

But it’s too late. However, nothing happens. BD-1 stands in the shallow waves, unelectrocuted and unbroken. He doesn’t spark a bit, only cocking his head in wonder at his friend.

“Think fast!” a voice calls.

A splash of warm and salty water slaps against Cal’s face. He cringes, turning his shoulders away on impact with a little gasp that makes his throat burn. “Hey!”

Another splash.

Cal turns to you. You’re standing with your hands on either side of yourself, open and matching your smug and proud face. Your boots are still on, which can’t be comfortable given that they’re now submerged in water. BD-1 is on the back of your shoulders- something Cal thought was only between him and the droid. Apparently not.

“What’s wrong, Cal? Can’t handle the current?”

Cal stills himself. Then he bends down himself and flicks water upwards.

“Hey! No!”

He does it once more.

“No!”

So you too repeat your original actions and begin forcing salty liquid up into the air in Cal’s direction as well. BD-1 grips onto your collar for stability while you both go to town, careful to not open your mouths too wide and taste the saltiness.

“Be careful you two!” Cere calls from the shore. Neither Cal nor yourself heed her words, continuing on in disrupting the tide.

“They’re fine,” Greez assures with the wave of one of his many arms.

“Are you sure about that?” Cere responds with a hand on her hip as she watches you tackle the Jedi to the sandy terrain below the shallow water.

“Completely fine.”

You push both of Cal’s shoulders down jokingly, careful not to subdue his head under the water. He cranes his neck to keep it above the waves. Through his soft lashes, Cal can just see your smiling, evil intentioned face with BD-1 on your shoulder gazing at him.

Honestly, it feels just how it did last week- the last time you had watched Cal in his room. Gazing at him, admiring him. Just now you get to touch him, relax with him, splash water at him, even. You wish you could capture this moment if not forever, then for a while, and Cal wishes the same.

* ✭ ˚ ･ﾟ ✧ *･ﾟ * ✭˚･ﾟ ✧* ･ *

Sorry it’s short. Idk if it’s my best work certainly but I haven’t written for Cal or Star Wars in a while. But I didn’t kill the reader in this fic or have someone sick or in danger! So it might be my first ever straight fluff? I don’t know. But what a good character to do it with. I’m glad to give Cal a break. And i hope the requester enjoys.

#cal kestis imagines #cal x reader #cal kestis x reader #cal kestis fluff #fluff #cal kestis imagine #jedi fallen order imagine #jedi fallen order x reader #jedi fallen order fanfiction #fanfiction #cal kestis fanfiction #cal fanfiction #cal imagine #cal imagines #imagine #star wars fanfiction #jfo fanfiction #star wars fluff

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ladyartemesia · 4 years

Text

The Secret

◐ PART IV of THE ALPHA ◐

◐ Part I ◐ Part II ◐ Part III ◐ Series Masterlist ◐

Pairing: Alpha Werewolf Jimin x Omega Reader

Rating: Mature (for this installment)

Warnings: ABO sexual dynamics including discussion of scenting, marking, mating, and claiming. Violence and discussion of violence relating to ritual combat. Jin’s pheromones need their own warning. Yoonji and Yunli are not the same person.

Word Count: 3600

Author’s Note: This update literally made me sob because I edited it and formatted it and it just disappeared when I posted. I seriously felt my heart drop because it took so long to format... ANYWAYS I wonder if anyone guessed the secret.

”You can’t do this, Luna ... Come back inside.”

Your hand tightened on the doorknob.

“I was just going out for some air-”

Jin shook his head, letting his lanky frame collapse onto the overstuffed chair by the fireplace.

“And after the air... then what?”

Your terse silence was confirmation enough.

He sighed heavily, hating himself a little for what he had to do.

“You cannot go to him. They’ll smell you on his skin and it could cost him... dearly.”

Your eyes fluttered shut.

“I just wanted to see him...,” you whispered. “I wanted to talk to him just once before-”

A sob bubbled up in your throat and your hand flew up to cover it.

The dawn would come in two hours.

And then Park Jimin would be gone.

Jin’s arms wrapped around your shoulders and you fell against him hopelessly.

“They’re going to make me watch, Jin-ah. I-I have to watch him-”

Bitter tears overtook you, wracking your body with the violence of your despair.

“I know...,” he murmured softly into your hair, “I know.”

“Do you think he’ll really show up?”

The chief elder glared fiercely at the young man who dared voice such a question.

The entire pack had jammed themselves into the clearing where the challenge was taking place and despite the solemnity of the occasion, the atmosphere buzzed with barely contained speculation.

“Park Jimin was chosen by the goddess herself to be her champion or to be the divine test of her champion. Have some respect,” he hissed.

The young pup had the decency to look abashed, but the chief elder was already ignoring him in favor of the newest arrival...

A Luna wore only three ceremonial colors at any given time.

Green for celebration and harvest was worn in times of laughter and gaiety.

Blue for mourning and peaceful resolve was worn in times of trial and hardship.

Red for passion and vengeance was worn in times of war and signified the sacred bonds that wove the pack together.

Your mother laid out a blue cloak as it was the color chosen by every Luna who had ever faced down a provocatione ritual.

But you arrived in sumptuous Red.

It was a stunning act of defiance, a wordless declaration of your fury. You were here to obey the goddess, but in a crimson cloak you would not embrace this challenge with peaceful resolve.

An attack upon your mate, even under these circumstances, was an attack upon you.

You had come dressed for war.

Jimin heard the gasps echo around his meditation cell.

He and Namjoon arrived at the sacred circle a full hour before dawn and sequestered themselves in the small, free-standing hovels on opposing sides of the the site.

The tiny pods were spaces for an individual to commune with the goddess and center themselves before engaging in the typically life-altering events that brought them there.

Sometimes it was marriage or celebration, sometimes it was acceptance to one of the guilds or a promotion to a higher rank within your family’s clan...

Today it was life and death and the future of the pack that weighed upon the combatants’ shoulders.

The sudden swell of movement and sound pulled Jimin from his meditative state.

What happened?

He got his answer soon after an elder came to escort him into the circle.

It was you.

Your hands and feet were bound to the ornately carved chair they had seated you in. This was a typical precaution because it was natural for a wolf to defend their mate if they were in danger and the restraints kept the Luna from doing so.

The pain in your gaze was agonizing, but in red, flowing down from your shoulders with fiery obstinance, you were every inch the warrior queen.

Yet it was not your rebellious cloak or even your incredible beauty that caused his heart to pound and stutter in glorious shock...

It was the familiar praesidium bracelet wrapped around your wrist; an intimate message of devotion that he and he alone would understand.

Pride and possessiveness roared to life in Jimin’s chest.

She’s mine.

“You look... surprisingly calm.”

Taehyung jerked guiltily.

“What? Me? I don’t know anything - I mean I’m not calm - I’m frantic. I - I don’t even understand the question.”

Yoongi’s eyebrows raised right up into his hairline.

“Taehyung-ah? Did you put those special mushrooms in your broth this morning? You’re acting a bit strange-”

“No,” Taehyung’s voice cracked. “This is me - this is totally normal me. I’m not - there were no mushrooms-” He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “So - uh - how’s Yoonji?”

“Oh my go- really?!”

The chief elder began to recite his speech, reminding the pack of the profound significance this moment carried...

But Yunli could barely hear his words over the ringing in her ears. Her gaze fixed on Namjoon from the moment the elder brought him forward... yet he had not glanced toward her once.

He looked so strong and confident.

So capable of victory.

A faint whimper of abject sorrow worked its way passed her lips and Namjoon’s eyes flew to her instantly.

As if he had always known exactly where she was.

Longing split his features for a fraction of a second.

Then his gaze shuttered again and Yunli’s wolf howled in silent, mournful agony.

Anticipation bore down upon the assembly as the chief elder uttered the last few sentences with reluctant finality.

The moment had come.

Both alphas stepped into the circle.

You began to tug frantically - futilely - against the bonds. Jin’s hand gripped yours as a tear slipped heedlessly down his cheek.

“I’m sorry,” Namjoon whispered - to you - to Yunli - to Jimin -

To himself.

Then his claws lengthened to a deadly point and he tore forward with a chilling snarl.

Jimin remained unnaturally still, watching his rival barrel towards him with almost calculated intent.

Namjoon’s arm drew back to land the first strike and-

———◐———

Last Night...

———◐———

“Wait - WHAT?!”

“It was... me. I broke the table.”

Taehyung drew back slowly. His eyebrows furrowed in profound confusion.

“With what? A jackhammer!?”

Jimin tilted his head in amusement.

“Hammerfist strike... actually.” He shrugged. “I lost my temper.”

“You - You lost your-“ Tae began shaking his head rapidly. “Is it a spell of some sort?! Goddess you know better than to get tangled up with witches! You let them give you a band aid and then they show up ten years later asking for your firstborn!”

Jimin rolled his eyes.

“Of course not! No... it’s...” he bit his lip. “You remember that time I came to your house a little too early and... Yoonji had you tied to a bed...”

Tae paled.

“We agreed never to speak of that.”

“And I haven’t - spoken of it - especially since Yoongi still thinks his precious baby cousin is unaware of big bad boy wolves and if he found out you were corrupting her-”

“Wait. You think I was corrupting her?!“

“The point is... it’s a secret. And I know you have your reasons for keeping it that way so... I hope you’ll understand what I’m about to tell you...”

———◐———

Fourteen Years Ago...

———◐———

Jimin’s hands fidgeted nervously over the flyer that the human boy offered him.

“But I’m only in Seoul for the summer.”

Just long enough to miss Alpha Camp entirely.

“That’s perfect because it’s only a summer program. Seriously, you were so fast catching that jar I knocked over. Your reflexes are amazing and it looks like you’ve got the perfect build for it too.” He tapped the flyer for emphasis. “Think about it.”

No one had ever told Park Jimin that he would be good at anything like this. In fact most people told him he needed to be better...

Bigger.

Stronger.

His eyes traveled over the large letters printed at the top of the brochure.

“Taekwondo...”

——◐——

“...so thank you all again for signing up and attending the orientation. I will see you tomorrow for our first class.”

A strange sense of anticipation hummed through Jimin as he gathered his coat. He was finally doing something for himself; something that had nothing to do with being an alpha-

“You’re a wolf, aren’t you...”

The young instructor who gave the initial demonstration and spoke for most of the orientation stood behind him with his arms crossed.

Jimin’s eyes widened in shock.

“How did you know?”

The stranger tapped his nose.

“My grandfather had a human mate and his pack exiled him for it. I’m mostly human, but this nose can pick up another wolf’s scent just as well as yours.”

Modern packs didn’t exile wolves with human mates anymore, but fifty years ago the practice was still unfortunately common.

“I’m sorry about your grandfather.”

The young man smiled.

“He lived a long happy life with his mate and his family. There’s nothing to be sorry for.” He stretched out his hand. “Lee Taemin.”

“Park Jimin.”

They shook firmly, and Taemin continued to examine him with unconcealed interest.

“Tell me, Park Jimin, what’s an alpha wolf doing all the way out in Seoul? The only pack around here married their last child into one of the mountain nations years ago.”

“That was my mother, actually... I’m here visiting my grandmother.”

Taemin tilted his head curiously.

“I’ve never known wolves to be interested in human martial arts. You lot prefer to fight shifted... In fact, I doubt a mountain wolf could even throw a punch,” he snorted, “not that they’d need to with those fangs.”

Jimin’s shoulders fell a little.

“So... you don’t think I’ll be good at it.”

“On the contrary, I think you could be incredible.”

The young wolf’s face brightened immediately.

“Really?! Even if I’m not as strong as other wolves?”

“Taekwondo isn’t about strength. It’s about speed. Master the speed and the strength will follow.”

———◐———

“Relax your body. Focus your energy.”

Jimin drew in a deep breath as he moved through the pattern Taemin taught him.

“The power and speed of your wolf is constant, but most wolves do not bother channeling it in human form. Concentrate on your wolf and bring that power into your strike.”

His hand came down on the thin press wood and-

It hurt. A lot.

Taemin chuckled as Jimin cussed and swore, cradling his tender fist grouchily.

“You’ll get it. Just keep practicing.”

“Are you sure I’ll be able to break the boards one day?”

The boy’s face was so round and adorably hopeful. Taemin nodded confidently and offered him some ice.

“A human with training can break boards, but a wolf who harnessed his natural speed and strength could break much more than that.”

———◐———

Twelve Years Ago...

———◐———

“You’ve improved a great deal since last summer. Were you finally able to find a teacher near your pack?”

“Yes - but... she’s not as good as you.”

Finding a local Taekwondo teacher had been the easy part.

Constantly making up excuses to explain his habitual disappearances...

That was trickier.

His mother thought he was hunting with Taehyung, Taehyung thought he was sniffing around some human girl and needed a buddy to cover his tracks.

Sneaking away to practice wasn’t too difficult, but he panicked when Yoongi caught him moving through forms in the woods once and pretended to be doing an interpretive dance.

With no music.

Yoongi had looked at him a little funny since then.

Taemin grinned. “Of course she’s not as good as me. I’m the best. Now take position and let’s see if you can finally land this kick.”

———◐———

Ten Years Ago...

———◐———

Jimin glared at the thick oak board Taemin sent him home with this year.

“It’s a 4x6 solid oak plank. I want you to break it before the winter solstice.”

He snorted, positioning the board between the makeshift vices he fashioned to hold it in place.

“Sure, I’ll just get right on that.”

“...Who are you talking to?”

Jimin groaned internally.

Of course.

“Hey guys,” he turned to greet Jungkook and Hoseok brightly (while completely ignoring the question). “Where - where are you two headed today?”

Jungkook’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“One of the elders is going to teach us how to build traps! He invited all the unmated alphas to go with him past the boundary lines to test whatever we make!”

A familiar embarrassment settled heavily in Jimin stomach.

“Oh... I uh... I didn’t hear that.”

“I’m sure it was just a mistake that they didn’t call for you,” Hoseok rushed to reassure him. “You could come with us. I don’t think the elder would mind.”

The older boy’s gaze was filled with discomfort... and pity.

Jimin cleared his throat and forced up a sunny smile.

“No that’s fine - I have work to do anyways so...”

Jungkook nodded quickly, desperate to escape the unexpectedly awkward conversation.

“Have fun!” he shouted, already beginning to jog away.

Jimin watched quietly as their figures grew smaller, waiting till their clumsy steps no longer disturbed the stillness around him.

He should be used to it by now...

The passive rejection.

It shouldn’t bother him anymore. There was no malicious intent... just casual dismissal again and again and again-

An angry roar tore past his lips as he brought his hand down on the board.

It cracked in half.

———◐———

Eight Years Ago...

———◐———

“It’s strange but - I feel like the better I become at this, the stronger my wolf is.”

“That isn’t strange at all. You and your wolf are two halves of a whole. The more you balance your energy, the more your strengths can be shared. Now - stop stalling and get to it.”

Jimin eyed Taemin’s latest idea with a reluctant groan.

“None of the other students have to break cinder block.”

“None of the other students are wolves. Besides, it’s been 6 years, you’ve broken stacks of boards. It’s time for a real challenge.”

“I’m lucky I haven’t broken a bone,” Jimin mumbled irritably.

He did that day, but it was healed in a week and he broke his first cinderblock a month later.

———◐———

Five Years Ago...

———◐———

“Remember, timing is everything. Never let your opponent see what you’re going to do.”

“How many times do you think I’ve heard that over the last ten years?”

“Not enough, clearly. You’re still telegraphing with that right foot.”

Jimin’s left hand shot out and connected with Taemin’s jaw.

“Am I?”

Taemin blinked up at him from the floor.

“Ok. I admit. That was pretty impressive.”

———◐———

Three Years Ago...

———◐———

“Oh! I’m so sorry, I was looking for Jin.”

Jimin scrambled to his feet, dumping the pile of pebbles he collected (for his mother’s garden) noisily to the ground.

“Luna...”

He took a discreet step backward as your gaze scanned the area in frustration.

“You haven’t seen my cousin, have you?”

Jimin gulped.

He had seen Kim Seokjin - leading a curvy beta girl (nose first no doubt) in the direction of the old wading pool. It took every bit of self-restraint he possessed not to laugh out loud each time Jin bashfully declared that he was a ‘good boy’ and to ‘be gentle with him,’ - after all, he’d given the same speech to two other she-wolves last week.

Best not to scar her for life. Some things cannot be unseen.

His mind darted briefly to the scene he’d walked into at Taehyung’s house yesterday.

“I have no idea where Seokjin is, Luna.”

You sighed, gnawing absently at your lip while you considered his words, and Jimin felt a familiar hint of futile longing whisper through him.

He’d never been so close to you, and now that he was, his wolf was making all sorts of insane suggestions to keep you near.

Do a backflip. Climb a tree. Build her a house.

Jimin bent quickly to gather his scattered stones, ashamed at the direction of his thoughts.

You were so incredibly beautiful...

It was almost enough to make him forget that he would only ever be Park Jimin.

He couldn’t blame the others for fighting and fawning over your attention like they did. You were the moon and every man around you was drawn in like the tide.

“Today is my seventeenth birthday, you know.”

Jimin looked up to discover that you had moved much closer and were now looking down at him expectantly.

He blinked. Twice.

“I - yes. I did know.”

The entire pack was celebrating. He’d have to be comatose not to know.

“Should I save you a dance, Park Jimin?”

Up until that exact second, Jimin would have bet his life savings that you did not know his name.

Yet here you were - so very close to him - gazing down into his eyes almost shyly.

He nodded because he couldn’t think of a single reason not to give you anything you wanted. And when you smiled so brilliantly - he almost believed that you truly wanted to dance with him...

Almost.

He never went to your party.

He never danced with you.

Not that day. Not ever.

Because deep down he suspected that if he held you in his arms - even once - he would never truly let go.

He was sure you wouldn’t notice his absence... You wouldn’t remember talking to him by the time the evening rolled around.

He never saw you search the crowds for his face right up until the midnight bell.

He never saw you turn down dance after dance hoping that the beautiful boy from the forest would finally come and take your hand.

He was your only wish that birthday.

But he never knew.

———◐———

One Year Ago...

———◐———

“I’ve never seen anything like your skill. You’ve long since surpassed me. I’m not sure what more I can teach you,” Taemin smiled, bumping Jimin on the shoulder, “Perhaps you should find a woman and spend a little less time practicing.”

An unwelcome flash of silver eyes and a laugh like sunshine danced through his mind.

“No. I’m... not really the type wolf girls go for.”

Taemin snorted.

“I don’t believe that. Aren’t you an alpha?”

“Yes, but it’s... complicated.”

“Isn’t everything?”

Jimin laughed.

“Yes, I suppose it is.”

Silence settled comfortably between them as they nursed several bottles of soju on his grandmother’s porch. Taemin had charmed the old hellion quite thoroughly and he would often drop by for a visit even when Jimin was back home with his pack.

“So what will you do now?” he asked. “You can’t compete. I can barely withstand sparring with you, and you’d kill a human - even if you landed a blow at half strength.”

Jimin ran his fingers absently through his hair while he pondered his mentor’s words.

“I learned to fight because I was searching for something that would help me sort out who I was.” He scoffed. “I don’t know that I’m any closer to that goal.”

Taemin shook his head.

“No. I think you’ve got it all wrong, Park Jimin. No one achieves what you have without knowing who they are. You’ve always been a fighter and some part of you realizes that.” He sighed heavily and finished off the rest of his drink. “Now I think you’re just... waiting.”

“For what?” Jimin chuckled playfully.

Taemin pulled out another bottle and met his gaze with a knowing grin.

“Something worth fighting for.”

———◐———

Now...

———◐———

Jimin remained unnaturally still, watching his rival barrel towards him with almost calculated intent.

Namjoon’s arm drew back to land the first strike and-

It was fast.

So fast it almost seemed like magic.

One moment the Kim alpha was the barest breath away from a swift and decisive victory-

Then he was crashing backwards onto the dirt.

Those who watched carefully saw Park Jimin spin into a vicious kick, one that connected solidly with the middle of his opponent’s chest.

Stunned silence pressed in from every side as Namjoon scrambled back to his feet, his expression wavering wildly between excruciating pain and monumental shock.

Jimin smiled, letting his razor sharp canines lengthen menacingly as he flowed back into a perfect combat stance.

“You didn’t think I’d just let you have her, did you?”

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