#i really just copied the first hour of the echo video game

[djinmer4]

Echo (Spacelord AU)

“You look like shit.”

“Gee, thanks, Star-Lord.  You’re not looking so hot yourself.”

Quill thumped his chest.  “I just got out of a healing vat less than a week ago.  What’s your excuse?”

Bloody Bess turned to look at Quill’s companion.  Kitty smiled and said, “He got shot while kare-”  A short burst of static.  “-while singing at a bar.”

The platinum blonde woman nodded.  “Not a bad story.  I just didn’t get much sleep.”

The male Terran wiggled his eyebrows.  “Fun night?”

She eyed him out of the corner of her eye.  “It’s the Captain annual birthing month.  It’s too busy and too noisy to sleep.”

“Wait, wait, time-out.”  Kitty held her hands in a perpendicular shape in front of her.  “I thought Captain Vag’ner was male?  And what’s a birth month?”

“He’s a Ruler Bamf, so that makes him a hermaphrodite.  But he prefers to identify as male.  Don’t you have hermaphrodites on Terra?  And a birth month is just because he decided it’s easier to boost our numbers all at once rather than spreading it out over the year.”

Quill quirked an eyebrow.  “No?”  But Kitty shook her head.  “Yes but . . . they’re kind of rare.  Or maybe I’m thinking of transgender.”  She shook her head.  “Never mind, I’ve got more questions now but it’s not important.  But I guess timing is why he’s cashing in that favor from running down the Kree Light-Speed Engine?”

The other woman nodded her head.  “Yup.  He really wanted to do this himself, but rumor has it that another treasure hunter got the coordinates too so now it’s a race against time to see who gets to claim the goods first.”  Bess had three blue, fuzzy, collared creatures, two of which she held out to Peter and Kitty.  “Our job is to just get into the palace.  Once there, we contact either the Palatine or the Milano.  My crew will then use these Workers as homing beacons and teleport in.”

“And steal the place blind,” continued Kitty dryly.  “I assume the natives are going to object.”

“Nope.  As far as we know, there shouldn’t be anyone living there anymore.  So your conscience doesn’t have to worry about a thing.”  She looked at the younger woman.  “I assume you’ve got a new suit after the last time?”

“Yeah.”  It was an older version, carbon nanotubes rather than the more advanced holographic one, and black rather than Quill’s (and Yondu’s) favored red, but it’s not like Star-Lord’s little cadre was a wealthy Ravager clan.  They probably had to take what they could get.

“Both of you get suited up then.”  Bess ushered them over to one of the Palatine’s M-ships and then took off towards the planet.

While Bess and Quill took the cabin seats, Kitty looked out the window.  “I don’t see anything but ice.”

Bess focused on piloting while answering.  “We’re not sure that is ice.  The planet’s got an incredible cloaking device, no visual or gravitational clues until we were almost right on top of it.  Cardinal thinks the ‘ice’ and ‘mist’ we’re seeing are actually parts of the shield.”  

They landed on a cubical pillar, no different from any of the others that covered the planet and wandered around.  By chance, Quill stepped on some sort of trigger mechanism and a circular platform began to descend.  Once it had completed its journey, they were left to find their way among crumbling catwalks, rickety staircases, and cramped tunnels.  “This reminds me of HR Giger,” mumbled Kitty.

“Who’s that?”

“You never saw the Alien movies?”

“When did they come out?  Might have been after Yondu abducted me.”

Kitty placed her hand against one of the decaying pillars.  After a second, she frowned.  “I can’t phase through this material.  If we need to cut and run later, that could be a problem.”

“That’s what the Workers are for,” Bess reassured her.  “If it gets bad, we can use them to teleport back to the Palatine.  And why we each have one, in case we get split up.”  At that point, she slipped, grabbed both Quill and Kitty’s arms to try to stabilize herself, and they all ended up sliding down one of the support beams.  “Well, now we’ll have to use the Workers to get back.  We’ll send a second crew to pick up the ship when we’re done.”

They continued down.  The fog got thicker until most of the light from the star was blocked and they had to switch on their lights.  “I wonder who made this place,” whispered Kitty.  Unnecessary, they had encountered nothing living the entire time they were here.

“Probably one of the Big Three,” Bess found herself also whispering and consciously forced her voice back up to normal volume.  “It wouldn’t be a big deal for one of them to strip-mine an entire planet to create something like this, then just forget about it.”

Once again, Quill was the one who found an access hatch.  And when the lever to open it proved too difficult for all three of them, he ended up shooting it with his blaster, freeing it from the ice.  They passed through a brief air lock type passage, with another lever (fortunately not frozen over this time) that opened up into the main body of the planet.

“There are no lights at all,” said Kitty, looking around.

“Fortunately, there’s only one direction to go.”  Bess tapped a few buttons on her helmet.  “Cardinal, are you getting all of this?”

A tinny voice could be heard in all their helms.  “I’m with you.”

“Creepy,” muttered Kitty.  “It all looks completely untouched.”

“Pretty though,” noted Quil, picking up a golden candelabra.  “Are we just going to grab anything then leave?”

Bess shook her head.  “Only as a last resort.  Supposedly there’s some fantastic technology here.  Something that allows you to bring back the dead.  That’s the real prize.”

They found another door.  In front of it was a pillar with an empty slot.  “Dead, unfortunately.”  Kitty tried to phase through it with no luck.  “This almost looks like a keyhole.  There must be a way to turn on the power for this place.”

Bess looked around then made a decision.  “Let’s keep going down.  It would make more sense for the generators to be near the planet’s core.”

Quill eventually abandoned the candelabra he’d picked up, then a mirror gave all three of them a jump scare.  Despite that, none of them could ignore the palace’s beauty.  “It’s all so pretty,” gushed Kitty.  “It reminds me of Versailles.”  She trailed one hand over a tuning fork, but no sound could be heard in the vacuum.

“You’ve been to France?”

“No, but I’ve seen pictures.”

Bess’s HUD pinged her and she followed the tracer symbol.  They came to a pillar, encircled by heavy metal rings.  Inset in the pillar was a scepter, which apparently carried a gravitational charge.  “I think this is our key.  It looks a lot like the pillar in front of the door.”  She hooked it through a belt loop and they made their way back to the door.  Bess inserted the scepter into the slot and . . . 

“Nothing’s happening.”  Noted Quill.

“Huh.  Maybe it really is just a dead world.”  Bess turned away, intent on simply picking up whatever they could carry off on their way back to the entrance when Kitty cried out.  Turning back around, she and Quill saw the pillar retract into the ground and the door open, panels sliding away into the walls.

They stepped inside.  “Do you see that?  That dim glow on the ceiling.”

Bess squinted at the ceiling.  “The scepter may have started up an evacuation procedure.  If there’s one thing that’s going to survive after all this time, that would be it.”  She looked around and spotted a couple of staircases.  “We’ll continue going down.”

They continued walking.  “This place is huge,” muttered the only male among them.  “How are we ever going to find anything without coordinates?”

Cardinal answered that.  “The scanners can pick up energy signatures.  I’ll pin them to your HUDs and you can look for those.”  They went down a few more levels until they came across another door.  This time, instead of a pillar, there was a giant throne in front of it.  Kitty stared at it, wide-eyed.  “What kind of species made this place?”

Bess just frowned.  “Theatrical ones.  There’s a limit to the size you can be in an environment like this, nothing that could actually use a throne like that would have been able to even move in this gravity unless it was aquatic.”  Despite her comment, Kitty had used her phasing ability to climb and sit down on the chair.  Quill quickly caught their attention and pointed out the door had opened in front of them.  But when Kitty got off, the panels started closing again.

“Get back on, and then get ready to sprint as soon as you jump off,” Bess ordered.  “If you don’t make it, squeeze the Worker a little and it will teleport you back to the Palatine.”  She and Quill stood by the door and stepped through easily when it opened.  Kitty waited until the panels had fully retracted, then hit the ground running, barely making it in before the door fully closed and crashing into Bess, knocking her down to the floor.  There was a huge chamber on the other side.

“I think this is it!” crowed Bess.  They quickly climbed the stairs to the small pavilion at the top.  There, the was a large marble slab, with silver circuitry embedded in the top.  At the foot of the coffin-shaped slab, a pillar with arc lightning provided the only other illumination.

Quill stared at the giant slab of marble.  “How are we going to get this out?”

Bess waved her fuzzy little blue elf-thing in his face.  “Teleportation!”  She placed one hand on the slab then did something with the Worker and vanished in a puff of smoke.  Star-Lord and Kitty exchanged confused glances, but before either of them could say anything, Bess was back in another puff.  “I’m surprised, that didn’t work.”

Awkwardly, Quill spoke, “Maybe it was too big?  Didn’t you say these things have a mass limit on how much they can teleport at once?”  She nodded her head.  “Try that pillar instead, it’s smaller.”

Bess walked over to the pillar, it was small enough that she could embrace it with one hand, careful to keep away from the arcing electricity between the top and bottom.  Once again she gave a slight squeeze and vanished.  But again, the pillar was left behind.

When she came back, Bess was frowning.  “I think the whole apparatus is like the walls outside.  Just like you can’t phase through them, Pryde, the bamfs teleportation doesn’t work either.  I guess we’re just going to have to cut our losses and pick up whatever valuables we can carry.”

They made their way to the door but then encountered another problem.  It wouldn’t open.  “I guess that makes sense,” muttered Kitty.  “Someone needs to be sitting on that throne to unlock it.”

The eldest member of the party looked around.  “Still, there are three other doors here.  Let’s go see if any of them will open.”  They split up, Quill and Pryde to the left and right respectively, and Bess to the door opposite the one they entered.

“Locked!”

“No good on this side either.”

They reconvened at the pavilion.  “So now what?” asked Quill.

Cardinal’s voice cut across any potential plans.  “Now the three of you squeeze those Bamfs and get back here.  Another ship just pulled into the system.”

“Shi’Ar?”

“Unknown.  But it’s bigger than the Palatine by a factor of 10.  I think our unknown competitor just showed up.”

Bess sighed in frustration.  “Looks like this whole trip was a bust then.  Cardinal, you’re going to need to send someone down to bring the M-ship back to the Palatine.  Star-Lord, Pryde, we’re going to teleport back to the ship.”

Just before they left, Kitty heard Peter say one more thing.  “Guess even the greatest Ravagers can’t win them all.”

#space lord AU #Kitty Pryde #Shadowcat #peter quill #bloody bess #lol kurt doesn't even show up in this one #i really just copied the first hour of the echo video game #i wish people liked that game more #pretty graphics #interesting world building #actual gameplay was kind of shit though #computer's named logan #nothing like marvel logan but it amused me anyway

[sofi220303]

My Weeb Hero - Leviathan (Obey Me!) One-Shot

Summary:

(After the events of Lesson 16)

After having a nightmare of THAT traumatic experience you had recently on the Devildom, you decide to ask Levi for help to forget your nightmare, and with a beautiful gaming night both of you get closer.

*Just read it for the fluff and to see Levi being cute with MC lmao, I suck at doing interesting summaries*

Before We Start:

Hi! Welp, this is the first time I'm publishing a fanfic in my life (Only because it's Levi's birthday and I love him, and wanted to post something about him), so please don't be too harsh on me and I really hope you all enjoy it! Thanks to my beautiful friends that were my beta-readers and also proofread my story (love ya girls!)

I wrote some MC interest and personality basing it on me to make it more realistic, so if you don't like one of the interest I wrote, change it to your own! I also have the same idea written but instead of Levi, with Satan, maybe if you like this one I will publish it, english it's not my first language so sorry if I have some mistakes, and well I think that's all, hope you like it!

My Weeb Hero

— I hate humans, you see. I hate them more than anything in the three worlds— while Belphegor talked all I could feel was the pressure of his cow like tail around my neck, pressing it harder by the minute. I tried to breath, but with every second that passed it became harder. I tried to focus my energy on pushing him away or taking his tail off me, but it was hopeless. My body felt heavier and I didn't have the strength to do anything; there was no way to scape, to save myself.

—...Why is it so much fun that I can barley stand it?! I... I can't contain the laughter! AHAHAHAHAHA!— his eyes that once where sweet and beautiful, that showed sadness and frustration, no, not frustration, but desperation because of being captive, now were shining, almost seemed as they where glowing in the darkness of the room, glowing with passion and satisfaction by my growing pain. They're all I could see with that smile that scared every last bit of me, and that laugh that echoed in my mind, suffocating me even more.

My eyelids became heavier and everything faded into darkness, but I could still see those glowing eyes and creepy smile with his laugh loudly resonating in my head...

Without breath I woke up from my dream turned into nightmare, completely startled by the memory. My body was shaking and my breathing was fast, desperate to get a grasp of air I frantically needed and still felt like missing. With a hand in my heart I closed my eyes to find it beating at an awfully fast speed. I laid back on my bed slowly and tried to focus on my breathing to calm down, without noticing I placed my hand on my face and started laughing, just to start crying the second after. I decided to go to the bathroom to wash my face and get some water... again those nightmares... great.

When I went back to my room I decided to check the hour on my phone... 2:45 am... perfect. I opened the chat on my D.D.D and scrolled down a bit. I'm sure he will be awake, it's not that late and he probably is playing some video-games, binge-watching some anime or rewatching the TSL movies again.

"Leviachan Otaku Lord"

MC: Hey! You up?

Levi: Yup, u ok?

Levi: Thought I heard some noise...

Levi: It's not as if I'm worried or something! Just wondering out of pure curiosity... It would be really unfair if you were with some of my brothers doing a sleepover like the other day -_-'

MC: Hahaha... it's nothing like that, just needed someone to talk to and thought you would be up watching smth or playing some games.

MC: Sorry to bother you since I know you don't like to be disturbed.

Levi: Hmph it's no bother if I'm answering you (-////-)

Levi: I was just watching a show, but it's really not that interesting.

Levi: Did you have a nightmare again?

MC: Yeah... the noise you heard probably was when I went to the kitchen to get something to drink ://

Levi: Do-do you want to come over? If you don't want to it's okay. Maybe is better if we only talk by chat, but it's not everyday that I give someone the opportunity to come into my biggest comfort place, to my beloved "cave" as my brothers would say.

MC: Hahahaha

MC: Okay, okay, if you want it that bad I will go.

MC: As you said it's not everyday that I get invited to your awesome cave lmao

After that, Levi didn't answer again. Gladly, his room was near mine so I didn't have to walk around the House of Lamentation making more noise and risking waking everyone up. When I got there I knocked on his door three times. After a minute or so, the door opened slowly.

—Come in.— Levi almost whispered hiding behind the door. Even though his face was serious, you could see a faint blush on his cheeks. He still wasn't used to people entering his room without coming to drag him out, play video games or watch animes or some movie, ask him a favor or look through his things, so this was still weird for the introverted demon.

Also, he knew how much I liked his room with the ocean theme and felt relaxed by it, so if that would help me get over the scare of the nightmare he would endure it.

—Thanks...— I said softly while sitting on his bed. He took some consoles from his desk and took some games before sitting with me.

—No worries!— he said while hurriedly giving me a console and the games to automatically look to the other side of the room— C-choose a game, we will play some... I thought you would like these ones... — he mumbled still facing the opposite side of the room but more relaxed.

—How about this one?— I took the same old loved Mariokart and showed it to him.

—If that's what you want... it's really a good choice since it's a classic that never disappoints to bring a great time. But don't think I will let you win that easily! Hmph! — he took the game and put the disc's in both consoles.

—It's really cool how you have two Nintendos and copies of the games to play with more people!— I said while preparing my game.

—As an otaku I need the limited edition consoles, and this Ruri-chan theme Nintendo had to be mine even though I already had that one, and the copies are pretty new, since I thought it would be best to lend yo... you know what? Never mind.

Even if he doesn't want to show it he can be really cute when he cares for others, I can't help but smile while thinking that.

—Are you ready to start?— he asks looking directly at me.

—Huh? Oh! Yes...— while concentrating on the loading screen I add— I won't take it easy with you too, I'm not willing to lose!

—Ha! Let's see if you can win to a pro like me, normie— he says surprisingly confidently with a smirk on his face.

After five rounds with two wins and three loses...

—Fuzz buckets! You ARE good at this...— I admit in defeat.

—Told ya, still... you keep up a good match...—he admits shyly— and did you just said "fuzz buckets"?? Really?

—Sorry not sorry! I just love Wizards and got used to saying it thanks to Douxie. Can't help it so don't blame me — I giggled.

—Hmm... I'm in no position to blame though, but why him??

—Because I love him and he is my fave. I don't question you when you say quotes from Henry, do I?

—No... you don't...— he fakes resentment and pouts, simply cute.

Without really thinking who I'm with, I lean on his shoulder. I can feel him getting a bit stiff but he doesn't move away and I take it as an offer to stay there.

—Hey... do you... do you want to talk about what happened? About your nightmare?— he asks a bit embarrassed.

—Just the usual... the demon from that time trying to attack me, but none of you is around to save me... and I can't scape because I'm cornered and I'm not strong enough to run or defend myself...— even though I wanted to tell him about the nightmare, I couldn't bring myself to tell any of them that their own brother is the demon in question, not even to Levi with whom I'm closer to. So I just used the story about that time on RAD when a demon of a lower rank tried to attack me while I walked to my next class. At that moment I was alone because none of the brothers took that class with me, but gladly before something happened, Lucifer, who was passing by, saved me and took care of him. Since then, at least one of the brothers would take the same classes as me, so I'm not alone anymore.

—I swear I will protect you... I might be a filthy otaku, an useless shut-in, but I'm strong enough to protect you. I won't let others hurt you... even on your dreams... so make sure to call me in situations like this. I can be your hero, like the ones on manga, and... I w-want to be your hero!— with a a blush creeping up on his cheeks and the tip of his ears, he declared this with such passion showing he was serious, but in a soft way that shows the regret of not being there at the moment the incident happened.

—Thank you Levi— I reply softly— can I stay here for a bit more?— I ask while closing my eyes and grabbing his left arm close to me. Another shiver comes from him because of that, but again he doesn't complain. I can feel his eyes staring and I'm mostly sure he is even more red than before. With a little movement of his head, guessing he is nodding, and a "hmmh" I finally fall asleep feeling safe.

I didn't have any more nightmares that night.

#Spoilers Lesson 16 (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!) #Gender-Neutral Main Character (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!) #Male Main Character (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!) #Female Main Character (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!) #Implied/Referenced Character Death #Choking #Graphic Description #Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD #Nightmares #Angst and Hurt/Comfort #Fluff and Hurt/Comfort #Romantic Fluff #Romantic Gestures #One Shot #Cute Ending #Angst with a Happy Ending #Happy Ending #Just Wanted to Write Something Wholesome #Also Wanted to Write MC with PTSD #Videogames #Otaku #Gamer #Devildom (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!) #House of Lamentation (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!) #Happy Birthday Leviathan (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!) #My First Fanfic #My First Work in This Fandom. #Nervous Leviathan (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!) #Cute Leviathan (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!) #Sub Leviathan (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)

[pinkja]

Sports, Crushes, College and All Other Things Stressful (Nora x Black Female Reader)

AU where Nora is a stressed out college student and you are a simple black girl who has no time management.

Nora felt like she was a simple person.

She grew up in a small town near Salt Lake City, made it through the akward teenage phase, and graduated high school with honors.

Does it matter that she was always so close to pulling her own hair out in frustration? She doesn’t think so.

She liked to think that her high school years went swell.

She was captain of the swim team, played in both tennis, chess, soccer, and volleyball. She was also co captain of the debate team, won the Reading Bowl in TOME for three years in a row (she didn’t join freshman year) and did a bunch of community service at the homeless shelter every other Saturday from 9am to 3pm.

Yeah, Nora was a simple person, she thinks.

Does it matter that she barely had time to sleep? She doesn’t think so.

She got into college with a full ride scholarship (which her family celebrated for two days straight. It practically turned into a block party.) She was on the Pre-Med track, wanting to become a pediatrician like her grandmother had been, and like her mother had been, and like her older sister had been as well.

Wait…who exactly was she doing this fo–

Doesn’t matter!

She got to get an apartment on the campus housing first year with her best friend, Abby, who’s a biology major of all things, when Nora was pretty sure she was gonna be an English major. Her room was pretty average, but Abby often made comments about how it really needed some personality.

“You don’t even have a poster!” Abby remarked one day while she was laying on Nora’s bed. She had an old copy of Lord of the Flies in her hands, read and re-read about eight times.

“Not everyone needs a poster, Abby.”

“Yeah, they do. Especially when you don’t have a book or a video game, or even something to play music on-”

“Isn’t it enough that I have a phone?” Nora placed her head on Abby’s lap. Abby rolled her eyes and sat up on the bed so Nora would be more comfortable.

“And you had to beg your mother for it. Now hush and let me finish this chapter.” She leaned against the headboard and made a comment about how she was going to buy her a poster for Dirty Dancing or something.

Now that freshman year was almost over, and tennis season for the school had started up again a month prior, Nora, being captain of that and many other teams, was starting to feel even more stressed. She has to aid the coach in training the less athletic recruits, plan their next meeting, and prepare for their next game which was in two weeks, which was a few days before a big biochemistry test.

She was out by the track, the slightly warm early April air hitting the side of her sweaty face after almost an hour of staying out in the sun. There was another hour of practice left, and with a clipboard, a pen, and a timer in her hand, she watched the baby-faced girls run laps around the field.

“Ok, the game is on a Saturday, it takes around 30 minutes to get there by bus, so 30 minutes to get back… but the game ends at 6:30 so I have to give at least another 30 minutes to an hour for traffic, not including the time it takes to shower and pack our stuff up so the latest I’d get home is around…” She looked up from her clipboard, tapping her feet on the floor. “Jackson! If you want to play in the next game you gotta beat your record! Pick up the speed!” She called out to a red haired girl.

God, I really hope I’m not sweating out my hair, she thought, brushing a few stray hairs back in her ponytail. Nora went back to muttering.

“Ok so that means I’ll be home by 8 at the latest, and if I lock myself in my room and pull an all nighter, I could probably get all my studying done by 6-ish? Maybe… I would have to stock up on coffee. I’ll stop by the store on the way ho–”

Nora’s quiet rambling was interrupted by a voice.

“Hey, Captain!” Nora didn’t turn around, already knowing who it was by the voice alone.

(Y/n) (L/n).

Ah, Nora’s feelings for you were…complicated, to say the least. But we’ll get to that later.

“Sorry I’m so late.” You rubbed the back of your neck with a sheepish smile.

“Fourth time this month, (Y/n).” Nora’s voice was stern, exasperated and a bit annoyed.

“I know. I know, but–”

“You know the drill. 10 extra laps and you have to beat your record or else you don’t play in the next game. Go.” Nora didn’t look up from her clipboard, but knew you were pouting anyways.

Your footsteps echoed in Nora’s ears as you ran to the field, smiling at your teammates as they passed you. She marked off your name on her clipboard and wrote “Late” next to it, again, with furrowed eyebrows and annoyance tickling the back of her brain.

When 4 o’clock came, the girls all filed out of the field and towards the locker room, feet tired and sore. You were still running, of course, doing the 10 (plus 10 extra) laps you were assigned. Although you weren’t, Nora felt like you were taking your time, acting as if you hadn’t a care in the world.

“God, I have to get home and study…” Nora whispered and rolled her eyes, even though only 5 minutes had passed. By 4:15, you were done, walking back to her while rubbing your left thigh.

“How’d I do, Captain?” You asked while wiping the sweat off of your forehead. You balanced yourself on the balls of your feet. Nora clicked the button on her timer once again and finally looked at you.

You had sweat stains on your blue shirt, and you picked at the edge of your shorts that rode up your thigh just a little bit.

“Two minutes under your last time. I guess you get to stay in this time around.” Nora said curtly, pursing her lips while doing so.

You smiled as if you already knew the answer. “Aw come on, Captain. Have a little faith in me, yeah? I’m not all bad.” Your nose scrunched you as you pouted.

God your lips were so cu–

“But I do stink though. Imma hit the showers real quick. You coming?” Nora gulped, mind going a little to the left as she snapped out of her thoughts.

“Yeah.” Was all Nora could say in response.

They walked into the locker rooms, all of the girls clean and gone. Nora placed her things on one of the benches, opening and looking into her locker for clean clothes. You did the same.

“Jeez, all that time I put into doing my hair only to sweat it out in less than 10 minutes. I don’t know how you do it, Captain.” You remarked, looking in the mirror of your locker. Nora hummed, but didn’t respond. She grabbed some fresh clothes from her gym bag and started stripping.

Nora peeked into the mirror in her locker at you. Yours was diagonal from hers. You were still looking at yourself, not at her. Part of her wanted you to be.

Once she was done, she wrapped a towel around herself and grabbed some soap and a rag. She showered in silence, only being interrupted by the pat pat of your footsteps on the floor as you hopped in the showers next to her. You tied your hair up and put a bandana around your head before starting the shower, and Nora looked away before she could see anything else.

She thanked whatever god there was that there was a wall between you two.

But what if there wasn’t?

Nora started to feel very self-conscious all of a sudden. She started to take note of the stretch marks and too thick hairs on her stomach and arms and legs.

Oh my god, is my hair presentable?

She went to smooth out her hair with a (thankfully) not soapy hand, but stopped herself. She wouldn’t want to ruin her hair now. She spent all morning getting it together.

Wait? Why am I worrying about my appearance? My body is fine.

After her little realization, Nora started scrubbing really hard at her arms and legs, preoccupying her mind with the upcoming test.

Nora finished before you did, wrapping a towel around herself and waiting until she was out of your sight to start drying herself. She put on some lotion and deodorant, got dressed in a pair of grey sweatpants and a green shirt and sneakers before grabbing her stuff and going to leave.

“Captain!” Your voice stopped her.

Dammit! She was almost free!

“Yeah?” Nora took a few steps back but didn’t look in your direction.

“Can you…um…stay?” Nora’s spit got caught in her throat. “I mean, until I’m done. I really don’t like being in the locker room by myself. My mom always told me don’t let myself be in a room alone.” You let out a laugh, albeit a bit nervous.

Nora nodded, spitting out a stuttered, “Sure.” She hopes she didn’t sound too excited. She leaned against the outside wall of the showers, facing away from you once more. Nora waited (im)patiently, suddenly remembering how she forgot her glasses at home and that’s why she hasn’t been able to see well all day. She also remembered the stain on the coffee table that she was too busy to clean up because she was rushing out of the house because she had slept through her–

The squeak of the shower faucet snapped Nora out of her thoughts as the rush of water stopped. Nora kept her eyes on her shoes as you passed her, suddenly very interested in the speck of dirt on the toe of her left shoe.

I should clean it later, Nora thought.

“Captain?” Nora’s head snapped up, looking towards you with large brown eyes. You brought a plump lip into your mouth before giving Nora a smile. You were done getting dressed, snatching the now-wet bandana off of your head.

God, is it hot in here? Nora feels like she’s been sweating oceans.

“Thank you for staying. I’m sorry if I bothered you.”

“No problem.” It’s not like she doesn’t have a test she has to study for or a meeting at 6 for a club that she really couldn’t remember the name of now which was really concerning, but Nora couldn’t bring herself to care because you were smiling at her and Nora’s heart was not working anymore.

Although part of her wanted to be mad at such a carefree attitude and your seemingly lack of schedule, she settled on scolding you instead.

“Practice is next Monday at 3. Try not to be late next time.” You nodded before grabbing your stuff from the bench behind you and walking out of the locker room in silence. Nora followed before you both split off in different directions.

Nora’s weekend was filled with nothing but meetings and studying and homework, with the constant repetition of “Game on a Saturday, test on a Monday” leaving her mouth. She started her mornings at 4 am, going for a 2 hour run around campus. At 6 she went back home and took a shower, answered a bunch of emails about things that Nora couldn’t bring herself to care about anymore, and then she spent a good 3 hours studying old material from her classes, read a book she was assigned for Lit, then she was back studying again.

Wait, did she eat anything?

She wouldn’t have if Abby hadn’t practically shoved a piece of turkey bacon down her throat because, “You literally haven’t eaten since yesterday afternoon” which she should be grateful for her friend’s willingness to remember the important things for her when she forgot them. She had meetings for Spanish and French Honor Society, Creative Writing, the school’s green club, and she also had to tutor a bunch of kids who were failing their math classes.

And to top it all off, you were late to practice, again! God, Nora wanted to be mad at you. You were being selfish at this point. Didn’t you know that if you were late she had to stay with you until practice was over?

Well, technically, she didn’t. She could leave practice whenever she wants to but honestly she didn’t want to leave you to practice alone. Plus, you might slack off!

Nora’s eyebrows twitched at the thought. It’s like you didn’t have a care in the world! You just walked around wasting her time, your time even!

You arrived 15 minutes late, better than last time, but still late.

You were already preparing your excuses, but Nora shushed you, telling you to go and practice on your serves. You did just that. Nora had already completed her drills, now just waiting for you to show up. She wrote your name down and the word “late” next to it once again before she went back to observing her team.

Once 4 o’clock rolled around, the girls rolled out and into the locker rooms, while you stayed behind. Your serve was good, Nora thought, you were just a heavy hitter and would forget to try and get the ball into the court first.

After watching the ball fly past the court for the 3rd time, Nora sighed and made her way over to you. You spotted her and gave her a smile.

“Hey, Captain! You need something?” You asked as you threw the ball in the air. You hit it across the net and watched as it flew straight into the wall. You grabbed another ball from the basket next to you and went to do it again until Nora gently grabbed your wrist and pulled it back down.

“You hit too hard, (Y/n). Try it again, but with a little less force.” Nora stated, backing out of the court to watch you once more.

You tried again, only for the ball to land just outside of the court.

“That’s ok, (Y/n), just try again.” Nora encouraged you. You tried again and again, only for you to keep hitting it out of the court.

You let out a huff, frustrated. “Captain…” You whined, turning to her with dragged feet. “This seems pointless. I just keep hitting out of bounds.” Nora raised a brow, not taking you for the type to give up so easily.

“You know we can’t leave until you get it right.” You pouted at her answer before going to try again. Nora stopped you, walking up to you and grabbing the hand you were holding your racket in. “Here. Make your hand face the net. That always helped me serve better.” Nora turned your wrist. “Now plant your feet so they’re in line with your shoulders.” You listened. “Now breathe in, slowly, and as you breathe in, toss the ball into the air and as soon as you exhale, swing. Don’t focus on the force. Focus on how your hand moves to hit the ball.” Nora realized how close she was to you, how weird this must’ve looked to others and what they might think.

She was starting to get self-conscious again.

Nora cleared her throat and backed out of the court again. Once she was far enough, you served again, the ball just making it into the court. You jumped up in excitement, coily hair bouncing with you. Your eyes darted towards her, a wide smile on your brown face.

“Captain! Captain I did it! Did you see?” You spoke with the giddiness of a child with a new toy, and, suddenly, Nora’s anger at you disappeared. Nora nodded with a smile.

“I saw. Good job, (Y/n).” You smiled wider at her praise, going to pick up all of the balls you managed to drop. Nora helped.

After cleaning up the mess you made, you both walked to the locker rooms. You repeated your routine from Friday, with Nora finishing earlier than you once again. Nora remembered how you had asked her to stay, and decided not to leave you behind. She walked to her locker in silence, getting dressed in some jeans, a graphic tee, and her same pair of sneakers she always wore before leaning against the walls of the showers like she did once before.

She was still facing away from you.

“(Y/n)?” Nora called, despite the lump in her throat about having to talk to you while you were naked.

“Yeah, Captain?” You answered, stopping the humming you were previously doing.

“May I ask, um, why are you always so…late?” Nora tapped her fingers on the wall and hoped she didn’t offend you with the question.

You were silent for a moment before answering. “I just lose track of time, y’know?” Nora’s eyebrow twitched again. You spoke as if you knew what she was thinking. “Yeah, yeah. I know that’s not a good excuse. However, I get so caught up in the little things that I just forget to remember the big things.” Another twitch of the eyebrow.

God, was it gonna get stuck like that?

You turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around yourself as Nora moved to sit on the bench. She preoccupied herself with her shoes again and waited for you to get dressed. The buzz of your phone interrupted the silence between you two. You grabbed it from out of your locker and looked at the bright screen before scowling and placing it back in your bag.

“I wanna know, Captain.” You started, as you put underwear on. Nora cursed the human evolutionary habit of looking at anyone and anything that made noise, as she had turned her gaze towards you as you were putting on a dress and oh my goodness you weren’t wearing a bra. Nora’s face burned as she quickly turned back around to look at her shoes. “Have you ever had Mr. Lance before?” It took a few seconds for Nora to register your question, and once she did, she shook her head no.

“U-Um… no. No I haven’t, um… Why do you ask?” Preoccupy yourself with the test, Nora. Focus on the test.

Game on a Saturday. Test on a Monday.

“I wanted to thank you for once again putting up with me and helping me in practice. Other captains would’ve just left me there.” Now she felt bad for thinking about leaving. “You wanna go?” You turned to her with another smile, not caring that Nora wasn’t even facing you.

“You don’t have to. It’s really no problem.”

Game on a Saturday. Test on a Monday.

“Come on, Captain. Please. I promise you it’ll be worth your time!” Nora finally gained the courage to look at you, and you were pouting. Good god you were pouting and it was so adorable and Nora really has to learn how to focus again.

Game on Saturday. Test on Monday.

Nora was in a trance. Your eyes had caught her in a trance and she couldn’t get out but she had to. So she agreed to your little adventure. You jumped up again in excitement and Nora was once again reminded of the fact that you don’t have on a bra. You both walked out of the locker room and you led Nora down the street to one of the coffee shops about 7 minutes away.

“Mr. Lance is just a few minutes from here.” You started as you put your phone in your bag after checking it again. “And I know the name seems kinda boring, however, they serve the best ice cream there is.” You gave Nora another beaming smile to reassure her, even though Nora didn’t need any reassurance.

Once you both arrived at the little parlor, you opened the door for Nora and she was immediately hit by the cool air and the smell of mint. Nora scrunched up her nose a little bit and sat at one of the red chaired booths. You sat opposite of her and folded your hands on top of each other.

“What do you usually get here?” Nora asked you, pushing her glasses up to her face.

“I either get the triple chocolate milkshake or the extra cookies and cream ice blizzard. But that’s my personal preference. Get whatever you want.” You said nonchalantly, not even looking at the menu.

Would it be too embarrassing for Nora to admit that she didn’t know how to choose? Nora thought that yes, it would be. However she couldn’t just not order something after you had brought her all the way here. That would be rude! But it would also be rude to sit there and order something she wouldn’t want and then sit there and pick at it because she had never really had time to–

“And what about you, miss?” Nora jumped at the voice. She looked up from her death match with the colorful menu and at the waiter who was standing there with a notepad in her pale hands.

“Uh…oh! Oh! I would like a…” What the hell was that first thing you said? “A triple chocolate milkshake, please.” Nora’s face burned at her awkwardness. Maybe she didn’t leave that weird teenage phase at all.

“Coming right up! I’ll just take these off your hands.” The waiter grabbed the menus and walked off to the kitchen.

Nora tried to act like she didn’t feel your gaze on her while you waited, and felt grateful when your phone buzzed for the third time that afternoon.

“Guess I’m popular today, huh Captain?” You let out a chuckle as you turned your phone off.

Nora smiled back and she hoped it wasn’t crooked.

You pulled at a curl on your head and frowned. “I’m so glad tomorrow is wash day. My hair’s been so uncooperative lately.” You pulled at the same curl again and watched as it bounced back into place. “Captain.” You called her. Nora answered. “What do you think I should do with my hair? Twists or plaits? Ooh maybe I can do box braids instead.” You shot out ideas to her, hoping she would choose and make your life a bit easier.

“Um… I think you’d look good in–in twists.” Frankly you would look good in anything.

Wait, what?

“Don’t you have to set out the whole day for that? You have classes tomorrow, don’t you?”

“I have one class in the afternoon but it shouldn’t be a problem. I can catch up easily.” You said nonchalantly.

She looked at the clock on the wall to check the time. 5:45 p.m. She cursed how fast this day was going.

Their treats came a few minutes later and you popped open your straw and dug in. Nora did the same, eyebrows raising at the onslaught of very, very sweet chocolate attacking her taste buds.

“See. I told you it was good!” You said, licking a little bit of chocolate off of your lips. You swirled your straw around your glass. “I’m glad you decided to come with me, though.” You said offhandedly.

“Why did you decide to bring me here?” Nora didn’t mean for her voice to sound all nervous. She would roll with the punches.

“Hmm. I already told you earlier that I wanted to thank you for putting up with me.” You took another sip and stuck your tongue out a bit. “But also, and forgive me if I seem rude but, I thought this would relax you.” Nora raised an eyebrow. “You always seem so…pent up. Like a stiff. I just noticed that you might need some sort of release or something, Captain. That’s all.” Nora realized that you were the only one to address her as Captain after practice, and in that moment she started to feel very…different.

Was she uncomfortable?

No, Nora wouldn’t exactly describe it as that.

It was just that the heat creeping up her neck and the sudden realization that you were right and the idea of getting some sort of release, as you put it, was making her feel very, very weird.

It didn’t help that Nora’s gaze went back to your lips and eyes and hands and chest and the realization that you weren’t wearing a bra hit her again and–

Why the hell was she so focused on that? Of all the damn things to focus on? It’s not like the concept of not wearing a bra was foreign to her, she did it from time to time herself but what the fuck was so different when you did it?

Focus on something else, Nora. Focus on something else.

Like the test!

She had a game on a Saturday, and a test on a Monday.

Game on a Saturday, and a test on a Monday.

Game on Saturday, and boy were your eyes cute.

Game on Saturday, test on a Monday.

It’s not like she had a problem with it.

Game on Saturday, test on Monday.

She was fine. Nora was so fine. Nothing to worry about here.

Maybe she did need a release. A time for herself to relax.

Game Saturday, test Monday.

Oh god was she staring at you?

Game, test. Saturday, Monday.

Were you smiling at her? You look so sweet.

Monday. Saturday. Monday. Game. Test. Relax. Release. Relax. Relax. Game. Test. Saturday. Monday. Relax. Release.

Her glass was empty and you were smiling at her and UGH.

Nora stood up, her knees knocking into the booth as she did so.

“Is everything alright, Captain?” You expressed concern over her. Your eyebrows furrowed as your smile went away.

“I gotta go.” Nora managed to choke out. She reached into her back pocket for her wallet as you stared at her with confusion.

“What? Are you sure?” Nora threw $20 on the table and grabbed her bag from the floor.

“Yeah. I gotta… I gotta go…” Nora turned and sped out of the shop, leaving you alone.

She made it back to her apartment and unlocked the door with shaky hands. Abby greeted her from the couch, hair in a low ponytail instead of its usual braid.

“Hey, Nora you–“ Abby stopped herself when she finally looked at her roommate. “What’s wrong?” She turned to her and grabbed her before Nora could sped past the couch. “Come on. Around the couch you go.” Abby pulled Nora by her belt loop around the couch and made her sit down. “What’s up with you. And don’t say you have another test to study for because you’ve already studied enough.” Nora scrunched up her nose and looked away from Abby.

“There’s no such thing as too much studying.”

“Nora…” Abby’s voice was stern.

“Fine, fine… There’s this… this girl and she… she said I was a stiff and treated me to ice cream today and I can’t focus around her and also I can’t stop thinking about her and also–” Nora plopped herself face first into Abby’s lap, groaning loud enough for her roommate to hear.

“Does my Nora have a crush?” Abby teased at her, poking the back of her head. Nora sprung up.

“What! No! Of course not!” Abby didn’t believe her. “I just can’t focus around her, that’s all. And it’s frustrating me.” Nora defended herself, slumping against the couch.

“Hmm. Sounds like a crush to me.” Abby retorted, leaning her head on her hand.

Nora couldn’t have a crush! I mean, when has Nora ever had time to think about crushes? Or dating? Hell, with boys or girls!

“I don’t have time for crushes, Abby.” Nora slumped some more until she sat on the floor.

“You don’t have time for anything, Nora! All you do is work, work, work. And I know we’re in college but that doesn’t mean you have to give yourself to the seeds of capitalism just yet.” Abby kicked Nora in the thigh as a way of telling her to get off the floor.

Nora got up with a pout.

“All I’m saying, Nora,” She started, propping her feet on the coffee table, “is that maybe this could do you some good. You got to enjoy life, and you can’t enjoy it if you’re stuck hunched over a book all day.” Nora rolled her eyes before retreating to her room to take a cold shower.

The next morning, after her 4am run and a long shower, Nora got dressed for the day and sat down at her desk to study. She didn’t have any classes today, her professor for the day sending out an email to cancel class the night before. She opened the giant biology textbook that never left her desk and tried to remember where she had left off last.

I was writing notecards, she remembered as she searched her desk to find them.

Her search was interrupted by the loud ping of her cellphone. Nora chose to ignore it, thinking that it was probably just Abby trying to remind her to eat something. Her phone vibrated again and Nora rolled her eyes with a loud sigh and got up to check it out.

She walked over to her bed and picked the phone off the pillow, squinting her eyes at the sudden light hitting her face as another notification came.

“Hi, Captain!” It was you. You texted her.

Oh my god you texted her!

“I know you said only to use your number in case of emergencies but I guess this would qualify as an emergency because you kinda left in a hurry so!!!”

“Are you ok, Captain? I wanted to check up on you afterwards but I didn’t know whether you’d want me to use this number or not so I didn’t text you but I didn’t know what happened and I was getting nervous so I texted you.” God did you ramble.

“Sorry for rambling.” You sent a few seconds later. You added a crying emoji for effect.

It was then, in that moment, that Nora realized she didn’t know how to respond to you.

Why weren’t her fingers moving?

Why was she just staring at her phone with a stupid face?

Move, dammit! Move!

With a deep breath, Nora let out a big, long groan of, “ABBY!” Said friend was at her door within seconds, hair in a frenzy and protein bottle in her hands, ready to attack someone.

“Nora! Nora what is it? Is someone dying?” With wide eyes, Nora handed Abby her phone, to which Abby lowered her guard and grabbed it out of Nora’s hands. “Nora are you fucking kidding me?” Abby deadpanned after reading the messages, seeing it was only someone expressing concern over her friend and not like…cyberstalking her or some shit.

“I don’t know what to do please help me.” If Abby wasn’t so mad at her she'd tease her for her inexperience and compare her to a lamb. Abby flopped on the bed with a groan and started typing away.

“Wait, wait, wait! What are you doing?” Nora asked frantically as she tried to snatch the phone out of her hands.

“I’m replying. Duh!” She said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“No, but Abby! What are you saying to her?” Nora whined, attempting to grab it again only to fall on Abby’s lap.

“You know, for someone who denies that this is a crush you aren’t really helping your case all that much.” She continued typing, and Nora thought that whatever she was typing would be long and embarrassing and stressful.

“Abby!” Nora dragged out her name as she tried to reach for the phone again. “Come on! I know you’re gonna put something embarrassing!” Nora gave Abby a pout and made no move to move off of her friend.

“I’m not! I swear!”

“Then read it to me!”

“What?”

“Read what you wrote to her!”

“Ugh, you’re so childish.” She said as if she wasn’t the one typing something to Nora’s…Nora’s…well…Nora’s whatever. “Hey, (y/n).” Abby paused. “Such a cute name by the way. Good choice.” She continued. “I’m fine. Thanks for checking up on me. I was wondering if we could meet up later and–” Nora started to protest, reaching up for the phone. Abby held it away from her. “And I could, hey quit that–” Abby smacked her hand away. “I could explain why I’ve been acting so weird lately, if that’s alright with you–Nooooooo.” Abby whined like a child when Nora snatched the phone away and deleted the text message. “All my hard work! Wasted! Oh the inhumanity!” Abby fell on the bed, fake fainting.

“I don’t wanna meet her.” Nora muttered as she stared at the phone with a glare.

“And why not? I told you, this is good!” Nora looked at her in disbelief. “This is good! You need a break, Nora. If you don’t slow down now next time you have time for yourself you’ll be a bag of bones!”

“Not a bag of bones…”

“Yes, a bag of bones! So you are going to take this phone, text this girl back, and you are going to talk to her or by god I will throw your planners away. And I know where you keep them. All of them.” Abby pushed the phone up to Nora’s face.

“Even the Scooby Doo one?”

“Especially the Scooby Doo one. That goes first. Now type.” With a cry and a wail about how hard Abby was making her life, Nora started texting you back, giving the phone to Abby for approval.

“Hey, (y/n).” She started typing. “Abby please don’t make me do this.” Abby didn’t budge. “I’m fine. Thank you for checking up on me. I promise I’m ok and you don’t need to worry about me–”

“Don’t put that. You're invalidating her feelings.” Abby interjected.

“…I’m happy you checked up on me. If you want I’d like to meet–”

“Abby I’m nervous! Please can’t I just go back to studying?” Abby told her no.

“…up with you again. Maybe sometime this afternoon. Or whenever you want to it doesn’t have to be today it could be tomorrow or next week or–”

“You’re stalling.” Abby warned her, already reaching for her Scooby Doo planner hidden under her mattress.

“…Is this afternoon good?” Nora closed her eyes and hit send.

You replied within a minute.

“Sure! How about around 5. I should be done with my hair around then.” You sent a bunch of emojis afterwards and Nora plopped down in the bed with a groan after she agreed.

“See? You see how good things go when you listen to me?” Abby put the almost destroyed planner back in its place and patted Nora on the head. Nora groaned even louder. “Now. I want to know what time you’re going so you can have time to look nice.” Abby added emphasis on that last part. “And I mean it. No sweatpants or oversized jackets. I want you looking nice.” Nora’s face dropped at Abby’s constrictions.

“You’re already making me suffer by going outside but now you’re making me dress nice? You’re killing me, Abby!”

“No, I’m helping you. Now hold on for a second. I need to text the group chat about this historical moment.” Nora's eyes widened as she watched Abby get up and run back to her room before she could stop her.

When 4:30 rolled around, Nora patted herself down nervously and stared at Abby with a confused face.

“Come on, Nora. You look fine.” Nora stared at herself once more, her black jeans, light blue t-shirt and black shoes seeming too…boring for this.

“I-I don’t know, Abby. Maybe I should just cancel and say I got sick. Is it too late to hit myself with something?” Nora held her purse in shaky hands.

“No! You’re doing this. Now come on.” Abby dragged her from out her room and to the living room, where their friends, Manny, Owen, and Mel were hanging out and watching tv.

“You guys! Abby’s forcing me to go outside! Help me!” Nora tried to plead as she dragged her feet on the floor.

“Hmm… I don’t see a problem with that.” Manny spoked, looking at her with amusement clear on his features.

“Yeah, Nora. Owen and I for sure thought you were going to turn into a vampire or something if you stayed inside any longer.” Mel agreed while Owen nodded his head.

“That’s not how vampirism works and you know it!” Nora planted her feet into the ground and groaned. “Owen! Hide me! Help me! Save me!” Nora pleaded as Abby pushed her along to the door.

“Sorry, Nora. My expertise is animals not humans.” He said with a shrug and put his head on Mel’s shoulder.

“Traitors! Traitors! All of you!” Abby finally got her to the door and pushed her out with a huff.

“You be back no earlier than 6. Got it?” Abby ordered. Before Nora, could protest, Abby interrupted her. “If you wanna save the Scooby Doo planner you better start walking.” Nora closed her mouth and glared at her before calling her a muscle head and walking away. She heard the chorus of bye’s and have fun’s as she walked down the hall. You both had agreed to meet up at the campus park, and as Nora walked up, she saw you sitting on the bench with a book in your hands. Nora recognized it as Pride and Prejudice, something Abby had read a thousand times.

You looked up and spotted her. With a smile, you said, “Hi, Captain!” You placed the book beside you and waved at her. You had twists in your hair, and it went down to just below your shoulders.

“Hey, (Y/n).” Nora sat down next to you and placed her hands in her lap.

“I’m glad you decided to meet up! I was really worried about you yesterday.” You tried to keep the smile on your face despite the concern present.

Nora’s face burned as she rubbed the back of her neck.

“Yeah, um, sorry about that I…um…” Nora couldn’t really explain herself in that moment.

“No need to explain yourself, Captain. I’m just glad you’re ok.” Your smile never faltered and Nora decided to smile back.

“But-But thank you! For, um, taking me to the ice cream place yesterday. I really appreciate it.” Nora didn’t know why she was stuttering so much. If the group were here they’d be laughing at her.

“No problem. I like going there a lot. Not just for the treats but…it’s calming. Gives me time to get away.” Your phone buzzed and you checked it with a frown.

“Is everything alright?” Nora felt kinda sad when your attention wasn’t on her.

“Yeah. It’s just my stupid ex.” EX? Ex as in ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend? Ex-partner? Oh my god what was Nora thinking? She didn’t have time for crushes! Let alone any time for exes or dating of feelings or–

“Hey, Captain.” Nora perked up.

“Y-Yeah?” She could run. Nora could run and hide and go back to the apartment Scooby Doo planner be DAMNED.

“You remember when I told you about getting caught up in the little things?” Nora remembered, yes. “This is one of those little things. Just relaxing in the park, or going to the ice cream parlor, or staying after practice with you.”

Wait, what? Nora must’ve misheard.

“I could never share those little things with anybody else. Not even a person I had thought I liked. But I can with you.” You turned to her with a smile, moving a stray twist from out of your face. “I’m glad I was able to show you the things that relax me. Hopefully, Captain, they can relax you too.”

“Nora.” She blurted out.

“Hmm?” You titled you head to the side.

“You can call me Nora. I-I don’t mind.” You smiled at her, and Nora started to feel her heart burst in her chest.

“Ok…Nora.” Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

Nora liked you.

Holy shit. She liked you.

“I-I’m glad you thought about me so much.” Nora played with her fingers as she spoke.

“Well, Nora. How about we go see a movie? I hear there’s this new mystery movie that’s so intense that people lost their senses when they left the theater!”

Nora laughed at your giddiness.

“Sure. I’d like that.” You stood up and grabbed your book to place it in your bag. You held out your hand to Nora and she took it, although a bit hesitantly.

“Cool. Let’s go, then.”

Maybe, just maybe, Nora could learn how to handle a crush this time around.

#the last of us part 2 #Nora x reader #Nora Harris #Nora Harris x reader #black reader #tlou2 nora #Nora Harris DESERVED BETTER BLACK GIRLS RISE #This is for the black girls and gays ONLY #the last of us part ii #tlou fanfic #tlou2 #tlou2 fanfic #Abby Anderson #tlou #fluff #gay sap Nora #gaydies let’s GO #Black reader #Nora’s stressed and gay and stressed about that

[andinewton]

Based on this post by @acrispyapple​, just a little something I threw together!  Thanks for the idea!  I hope you like it!  (as always, I’m too lazy to edit it right now, so I hope it all makes sense!)

Give me a Break!  - A Victor oneshot

Victor continued with his work, his phone face down on the desk, awaiting the vibration to signal    your next reply.  It never took you long to come around to his way of thinking, even though you seemed to be really riled at his reply this time.  He could picture you now, brow furrowed delicately with a cute little pout on your lips.  His face curved into a smirk before he put his fountain pen back to paper and carried on working.

***

You glared at your phone.  You had taken five minutes out of today’s incredibly busy schedule to try and invite Victor on a trip.  Sending him a message, fishing for whether he might be interested or not, only to have him shoot you down in flames by questioning your work ethic!  Okay, well, fine.  If he wanted to be your boss and nothing else, then that was what he would get.

***

Later that evening, as you tucked into a very basic but still tasty microwave dinner at your tiny kitchen table, your phone beeped a new message.  Glancing at the display you could see a notification from Victor, asking where you were.  On the other side of you was a copy of your latest proposal which you were skimming over to double check it made sense.  Time to launch operation business only.

Taking a picture of the file you attached a short message, simply stating; very busy, boss.  Before putting the phone back down and continuing to eat, your desire to work suddenly fired up by his query.

Another beep.  You were meant to be at Souvenir.

Actually, sir, you said you would take me to Souvenir later.  As no time nor date for said meeting was confirmed with myself or my office, I assumed it was tentative.  Apologies if I misunderstood.

Wow, that felt soooooo good!  It was professional, made your point, even to the degree of apologising to draw attention to the fact it was his fault.  Now for stage two of your plan.

You opened a new text message and sent a brief note to Kiro.  Weirdly, he was the one who supported your not-quite-a-relationship with Victor, and was more than happy to be your venting buddy as well as constant co-conspirator.  You knew Kiro “shipped” the two of you, as he assured you the internet said these days, and he wanted to make it his mission to bring you together.  You admitted you weren’t exactly averse to the idea, and making Victor jealous just might help.  Just minutes later you got a stream of excited emojis from Kiro, followed by the simple phrase; I know just what to do, so go with it!

You were sure whatever it was would get Victor’s attention in no time, the real test would be how he reacted.

***

Victor threw his phone down on the countertop, the metal surface reverberating with the clash.  You were taking it this far, seriously?  Making out your relationship was nothing more than professional?  He would make you pay for that in some not so subtle way.  He started to pack away the ingredients he had bought to make you a special meal, knowing you weren’t coming.  It was a shame to let it go to waste and while he wanted to share this recipe with you he could be just as petty as you were.  Probably even more so.

His phone vibrated the counter as he came back from the refrigerator, glancing at the screen to see it was from Goldman, and a screenshot no less.  Opening it he stared for a good ten seconds before his anger rose to a near impossible level.

Kiro had apparently made a post that Goldman thought should be brought to Victor’s attention immediately.  And he could see why.

Kiro:  Looking forward to a weekend away with my bestie!  Just the two of us, sun, sea, swimsuits, sand, sweet treats, and sangria!

And you were tagged in it.

It was no secret that the two of you were friends, completely platonic yet irritatingly friends who had the press eating out of your hands at the far too many not-dates you went on.  Was this what he had blown off by reminding you that work was important?  A chance to enjoy a tropical vacation with you wearing very little clothing and…he cleared his throat and shook his head, trying to dislodge the image.  Two could play this game.  If she was trying to make him jealous she was not going to succeed.  No.  He would take the high ground and let her go waste her time with the blond pretty boy.

At least that was what he thought.  Until Goldman’s second image came through.  That of your reply.

MC:  Can you believe we get the entire island to ourselves?  Thanks #romanticgetaways for the amazing prize!

She won a private island getaway and she was going with…with…with him?!  Oh, he didn’t think so!  Victor slapped off the lights and headed for the door, grabbing his jacket as he passed.

***

‘Do you think this will work?’  You asked Kiro when he video called you after he posted.  He had talked you through your reply and it made sense.  He knew about the prize you had won, how excited you had been at the prospect of inviting Victor on what you hope might be a romantic little getaway, and he knew the CEO wasn’t keen on your friendship with the star.

‘With that reply it’s guaranteed!’  You could almost feel Kiro’s excitement through the screen.  ‘You are totally going to get him demanding you go with him instead of me!’

‘I mean demanding does sound like him.’  You agreed.  ‘But I can’t see it.  He was obviously put out that I switched to all business and we both know how stubborn he is.’

‘Psshh.’  Kiro made a dismissive noise.  ‘You’ll have him eating out of the palm of your hand.’

‘He’ll probably say that’s unsanitary.’

Kiro’s bubbly laugh echoed through the tiny speaker.  ‘I bet he’s actually okay with the idea of a little food play.’  The wink he gave you was enough to bring a blush to your cheeks.

‘You’re worse than me, I swear.’  You shook your head.  ‘I don’t imagine I’ll hear from him, but if I do I’ll let you…’

You were interrupted by a knock on your door, your head jerking around to look at it.

‘It’s him!  Oh my God, just leave me here on the table so I can listen in!’

‘Nope.’  You waved and cut the call, placing the phone face down on the table before heading over and going up on tiptoes to look through the peephole.  Holy crap, it was actually him!

You glanced down at yourself, still wearing your skirt and blouse from work but barefoot and hair down.  You’d have to do.  Opening the door you looked at Victor, leaning against the wall beside the door with his forearm, glaring at you the moment his eyes found you.

‘Good evening, Mr Li.  To what do I owe this unexpected visit?’  Your tone was clipped and professional but his stern expression didn’t slip.

‘Do you always open your door at this time of night to strangers?’

‘I wouldn’t call us strangers, Mr Li.  And I checked through the peephole first.’  You waved a hand towards it in demonstration.

He straightened from his leaning pose and tugged his jacket so it sat right.  ‘Quit calling me that.’

‘Mr Li?’  You asked, and he gave a brisk nod.  ‘But that’s your name.’

‘We have been on a first name basis for as long as we have been in business.’

‘And I apologise for my lack of professionalism in that regard.’  You bowed your head briefly.  ‘Now, what can I do for you?  It must be important for you to have come all this way at this hour.’

‘I want to know what this is about.’  He thrust his phone in your face just as your neighbour’s door opened, Lucien poking his head around the frame.

‘Is everything alright, MC?  I heard raised voices.’

You smiled pleasantly before emphasising his name.  ‘Everything is fine, Lucien.  Some last minute business that couldn’t wait until morning, that’s all.’

He gave Victor a none too friendly glance.  ‘Shout if you need anything.’

‘I will.  Thank you, Lucien.’

After a final look Victor’s way he closed the door again and you turned your attention back to the man in front of you, who seemed even angrier now than he had a moment before.

‘What can I do for you, Mr Li?  It is, after all, very late.  Is there some sort of emergency?’

‘No, there’s no emergency!’  His tone became exasperated.  ‘I want to know…’

‘This is well out of business hours so I assumed it was urgent.’

‘Are you just going to leave me on the doorstep all night?’  He finally snapped.

‘With that attitude I think I might.’  You begun to close the door but he put his hand against it and held it there, not that you put up much of a fight.  ‘Mr Li, this is very unprofessional.’

‘Enough with the Mr Li, and enough with the professionalism!’  His nostrils flared, you thought in an attempt to stop himself from really yelling, but you just continued to looked at him with a confused expression on your face.  ‘I want you to tell me what this means?’

Again he held out the phone and you leant forward slightly, examining it carefully.  ‘I believe that is a post from the idol Kiro regarding to his plans for this weekend.’

‘His plans this weekend with you.’  He specified.

‘That’s right.’

‘Quit playing dumb, MC.’

‘I don’t know what you’re alluding to, Mr Li, but dumb is the last thing I am playing.’

The sigh he let out was more of a huff.  ‘Are you really going to spend the weekend on a private island with him?’

You shrugged.  ‘I had no one else to ask.  My first choice was unavailable therefore I went with my backup.  If that’s all, sir, I was in the middle of eating.’

‘You said you were working.’

‘I’m multitasking.’  For the first time your irritation slipped through into your voice and you had to take a calming breath before continuing.

He glared at you but you glared right back.  He was in the wrong here and if he were really jealous, as Kiro suspected, he had to do something about it, not you.  You were not caving.

‘This trip?  It was what you wanted to ask me on?’

‘I thought to.  Until you stated you couldn’t possibly find the time and that my workload shouldn’t afford me the time either.  However, I happen to believe in a healthy work/life balance and this short break will be most welcome.’

‘I would have gone with you.’

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that?’  You leaned forward with your ear turned slightly towards him.

‘I said if you had come out and asked me in the first place I would have gone with you!’

‘Asking if you would like a spur of the moment trip wasn’t to the point enough for you?’  You finally snapped back at him.  ‘Your cue then would have been to ask me where to, not to have dismissed me like you have so many other times!  I am tired of trying to be perfect for you, Victor, I mean Mr Li!  I know in future not to bother asking you to anything you would obviously feel is a complete waste of your valuable time.  I’m sorry I bothered you with it in the first place and you will be pleased to hear that from this point on our relationship will be nothing but professional!’

‘You can’t just…’

‘I can’t just what?  Tell you a few home truths?’

‘No!’

‘Decide not to allow you to antagonise me any more?’

‘No!’

‘Go on vacation with Kiro?’

That was evidently the last straw for Victor as he shoved his phone in his pocket, stepped forward, and pulled you to him for a bruising kiss.

You couldn’t lie, it was everything you could ever have dreamed of and more.  You swore you saw fireworks behind your eyelids, your nerve endings tingling throughout your entire body as his lips forcefully took yours, his hands cupping your face as though afraid you might move.  Moving was the last thing on your mind, though, and you made a small satisfied murmur as he drew back from you just enough to allow you to focus on him.

‘Try asking me again.’  He all but growled, the noise making you shiver in such close confines.

‘Would…’ you swallowed, ‘would you like a spur of the moment trip?’

A smile curved the edge of his lips.  ‘With you?  Any time.’

#mlqc victor #mr love victor #oneshot #mlqc oneshot #kinda fluffy #jealous victor #kiro guest stars

[crowtrobotx]

Tag 9 people to learn more about their interests!

tagged by: @le-cat-nipp ❤️❤️ Thank you, dear 😘

i’m tagging: I am literally so awkward about this lol if you’re reading this and want to do it, consider yourself tagged

MUSIC

fave genre? I’m a folk, alt rock, indie rock and classic rock gal. There’s a few modern/pop folks I’m hugely fond of as well. I’m not anti-any type of music tbh.

fave artist? Fleet Foxes, Of Monsters and Men, Lord Huron, Florence + the Machine, Hozier, Lorde, Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Hozier, Janelle Monáe, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Billie Eilish, Old Crow Medicine Show, Lil Nas X, Phoebe Bridgers, Mitski, David Bowie

fave song? Oh man of all time? Fugg. I am very partial to “Shake It Off” by F+TM but this answer could change daily lol.

most listened song recently? Long Lost - Lord Huron

5 fave lyrics? I am not sure if this means “songs with the best lyrics” or “favorite lines” …. I’m gonna go with the latter

“And it echoes when I breathe/Until all you'll see is my ghost/Empty vessel, crooked teeth/Wish you could see” I of the Storm, OMAM

“Words hung above, but never would form/Like a cry at the final breath that is drawn/Remember me, love, when I'm reborn/As a shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn” - Shrike, Hozier

“Oh, you fool, there are rules I am coming for you/Darkness brings evil things, oh, the reckoning begins/I tried to warn you when you were a child/I told you not to get lost in the wild” - The Yawning Grave, Lord Huron

“The fabric of your flesh, pure as a wedding dress/Until I wrap myself inside your arms, I cannot rest/The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound/I hunt for you with bloodied feet across the hallowed ground” - Howl, F+TM

“Though I liked summer light on you/If we ride a winter-long wind/Well time's not what I belong to/And you're not the season you're in” - I’m Not My Season, Fleet Foxes

radio or your own playlist | solo artists or bands | pop or indie | loud or silent volume I slow or fast songs | music video or lyrics video | speakers or headset | riding a bus in silence or while listening to music | driving in silence or with radio on

BOOKS

fav book genre? Sci-fi, fantasy, horror

fav writer? VE Schwab, Neil Gaiman, Ursula K Le Guin, Haruki Murakami, Patrick Rothfuss, Samantha Shannon, JRR Tolkien

fav book? “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman. I have a lot of favorites but that one wins every time.

fav book series? I really love The Lord of the Rings. It’s a classic but it’s so special to me.

comfort book? “Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng. It’s set very close to where I grew up!

perfect book to read on a rainy day? “The Slow Regard of Silent Things” by Patrick Rothfuss

fave characters? Sandor Clegane, Addie LaRue, Lila Bard, Gimli, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Thorin Oakenshield

5 quotes from your fave book that you know by heart?

“Every hour wounds. The last one kills.”

“There’s none so blind as those who will not listen.”

“Gods die. And when they truly die they are unmourned and unremembered. Ideas are more difficult to kill than people, but they can be killed, in the end.”

“I believe that life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you're alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it.”

“‘Hey,’ said Shadow. ‘Huginn or Muninn, or whoever you are.’

The bird turned, head tipped, suspiciously, on one side, and it stared at him with bright eyes.

‘Say 'Nevermore,'’ said Shadow.

‘Fuck you,’ said the raven.”

hardcover or paperback | buy or rent | standalone novels or book series | ebook or physical copy | reading at night or during the day | reading at home or in nature | listening to music while reading or reading in silence | reading in order or reading the ending first | reliable or unreliable narrator | realism or fantasy | one or multiple POVS | judging by the covers or by the summary | rereading or reading just once

TV AND MOVIES

fave tv/movie genre? Similar to books, I love sci-fi, fantasy and horror - I also love documentaries.

fave movie? Spirited Away. Hands down.

comfort movie? Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. First hyperfixation 🥴

movie you watch every year? I traditionally watch “A Christmas Story” at least five times every holiday season lol. Fuck yeah Cleveland!

fave tv show? Black Sails

comfort tv show? Mystery Science Theater 3000

most rewatched tv show? Oh geeze. Either MST3K, Cowboy Bebop, Game of Thrones, Parks & Rec, Frasier, King of the Hill or X-Files

5 fave characters? Fox Mulder, Crow T. Robot, Captain James Flint, Dale Gribble and Catra

tv shows or movie | short seasons (8-13 episodes) or full seasons (22 episodes or more) | one episode a week or binging | one season or multiple seasons | one part or saga | half hour or one hour long episodes | subtitles on or off | rewatching or watching just once | downloads or watches online

#about me #long post

[ao3feed-geralt-jaskier]

by Anonymous

in the second month of the year 20xx, im merely testing the limits of ao3s inaction

Words: 40, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 전지적 독자 시점 - 싱숑 | Omniscient Reader - Sing-Shong, Marvel Cinematic Universe, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS, 原神 | Genshin Impact (Video Game), Real Person Fiction, Original Work, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed, Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 | Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, Naruto, 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Manga), 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Sherlock (TV), Teen Wolf (TV), Voltron: Legendary Defender, Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Captain America (Movies), One Direction (Band), Star Wars - All Media Types, Doctor Who, Haikyuu!!, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan, Hetalia: Axis Powers, Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime), Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball, Free!, Miraculous Ladybug, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia, One Piece, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Hobbit - All Media Types, Shadowhunters (TV), James Bond (Craig movies), Homestuck, Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Men's Hockey RPF, Glee, Merlin (TV), Once Upon a Time (TV), Hamilton - Miranda, Les Misérables - Schönberg/Boublil, Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Final Fantasy, Overwatch (Video Game), Undertale (Video Game), Mass Effect Trilogy, Fire Emblem Series, Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga), Death Note (Anime & Manga)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other

Characters: Kim Dokja, Yoo Joonghyuk, Han Sooyoung, Yoo Sangah, Jung Heewon, lee hyungsung, Lee Jihye, Lee Seolhwa, Jang Hayoung, Kim Namwoon, Biyoo, Bihyung, Uriel, Prisoner of the Golden Headband | Sun Wukong, Secretive Plotter (Omniscient Reader)

Relationships: Kim Dokja/Yoo Joonghyuk, Han Sooyoung/Kim Dokja, Han Sooyoung/Kim Dokja/Yoo Joonghyuk, Han Sooyoung/Yoo Sangah, Han Sooyoung/Jung Heewon, Anna Croft/Han Sooyoung, Kim Dokja/Sung Jin-Woo, Kim Dokja/Yoo Sangah, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Dazai Osamu/Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Additional Tags: im trying to prove a point, There are three ways to survive in a ruined world., now, I have forgotten a few, but one thing is certain., The fact that you who are reading this now will survive., -Three ways to survive in a ruined world, Prologue – There are three ways to survive in a ruined world., Episode 1 – Starting the Paid Service (1), “I’m Dokja.”, (translater note: Dokja can me only son or reader)., I usually introduced myself to people like this, then the following misunderstanding would occur., Chapter 2: Episode 1 – Starting the Paid Service (2), Dokkaebi., The first time he appeared, someone said so., Chapter 3: Episode 1 - Starting the Paid Service (3), People reacted differently after the dokkaebi disappeared., Some people tried to get out of the train while others called the police., Chapter 4: Episode 1 - Starting the Paid Service (4), Laughter emerged., I had to clear my eyes and look again to see if it was a lie., The file extension was TXT., Then this person…, The gift they sent me was a copy of their novel?, Chapter 5: Episode 1 - Starting the Paid Service (5), People panicked as they saw the insects running around the carriage., Chapter 6: Episode 2 – Protagonist (1), The subway stopped around halfway past Dongho Bridge., Chaptr 7: Episode 2 – Protagonist (2), [Sponsor Selection has ended.], Chapter 8: Episode 2 – Protagonist (3), I stared straight into Lee Hyunsung and Han Myungoh’s eyes and said., “Do you want to die from that guy beyond the iron door, or do you want to try your luck outside the train?, Which one will you choose?”, Episode 2 – Protagonist (4), at this moment, Yoo Sangah shouted., “Dokja-ssi! Behind you!”, Episode 2 – Protagonist (5), It would be quite a ludicrous sight if anyone else saw it., A large adult man was being grabbed by the neck and hanging like a monkey., Episode 3 – Contract (1), My body suddenly became heavy as I felt water entering my lungs., Then I was sucked in somewhere., I wasn’t torn apart because I fell with perfect timing., however, I couldn’t lose consciousness here., Episode 3 – Contract (2), Star Stream system., The star stream broadcasting was designed to relay its contents to the entire universe., Episode 3 – Contract (3), Looking at the situation, I got a sense of what happened., Episode 3 – Contract (4), I didn’t know how much time passed., My breathing was often interrupted, and all my muscles were so stiff, that I could barely move them., Episode 4 – Line of Hypocrisy (1), A meteor shower was pouring down in the starry sky., It was a sight that anyone would admire, but not Yoo Joonghyuk., Episode 4 – Line of Hypocrisy (2), I often thought about it., Episode 4 – Line of Hypocrisy (3), Despite the interference of Cheon Inho, the constellations didn’t ask for a bounty scenario., in other words, it wasn’t the best time to deal with him., Episode 4 – Line of Hypocrisy (4), the next morning, I was almost out of supplies., Jung Heewon stared at the convenience store bags, as if she couldn’t believe it., Episode 5 – Shadow Keeper (1), [T-Then I will let everyone take care of it! Yihihihit!], The dokkaebi said these words and disappeared., Episode 5 – Shadow Keeper (2), The party fought well., It was actually a little bit surprising., in particular, Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon, who stepped forward with me were very influential., Episode 5 – Shadow Keeper (3), “Hyung! This…”, Right after Lee Gilyoung discovered the treasure box, I blocked his little mouth., “Shh, wait.”, Episode 5 – Shadow Keeper (4), Maybe we would’ve fought for a long time., [The exclusive skill ‘Bookmark’ can now be activated.], [The number two bookmark has been activated.], [The level of the Bookmark skill is low, shortening the activation time.], [Activation Time: One minute.], Episode 6 – Judgment Time (1), The limited random items box., According to the setting of Ways of Survival, this was a coin item that was sold as a limited edition in a past ‘scenario.’, Episode 6 – Judgment Time (2), Just as I was about to open my mouth, I heard Cheon Inho’s voice., “Oh, Dokja-ssi! You came just in time.”, Episode 6 – Judgment Time (3), The following morning, there were a few changes to Gumho Station., first of all, Han Myungoh had disappeared., Episode 6 – Judgment Time (4), A few minutes later, I once again entered Dongdae Station, and ate a ground rat., It was in order to heal, the skin contaminated by the poisonous fog., Episode 7 – Landlord (1), We followed Lee Jihye and entered Chungmuro., Yoo Sangah saw the shattered screen door of the platform and said., “…It is a chaotic atmosphere.”, Episode 7 – Landlord (2), The 10 Evils., The list and rankings were often changed, according to Yoo Joonghyuk’s regression cycle, but they were the 10 people in charge of being the main villains, in this world of Ways of Survival, Episode 7 – Landlord (3), Yoo Joonghyuk was looking at everyone except for Lee Hyunsung., The three remaining people were standing together, and I couldn’t figure out exactly who Yoo Joonghyuk was looking at, 「…How is this possible? 」, Episode 7 – Landlord (4), After the dokkaebi disappeared ×dozens of casualties appeared on the platform of line 3., Episode 7 – Landlord (5), As I watched the surging wave of monsters, I gave strength to my thighs., The level 15 strength condensed at once, and my feet developed a strong propulsion force., Episode 8 – Emergency Defense (1), 「 Lee Hyunsung was dozing like an officer on duty, 」 - Freeform, Episode 8 – Emergency Defense (2), It was finally the promised time., I gathered on the line 3 platform with the party., Every member was checking their weapons., Lee Hyunsung seemed to have handled it properly., Episode 8 – Emergency Defense (3), I couldn’t kill Gong Pildu because he was useful in future scenarios, but I needed Gong Pildu to leave his land., Episode 8 – Emergency Defense (4), One hour after the battle began, Gong Pildu fought and fought., The number of monsters had barely decreased but it was still great., Gong Pildu was considered to have the strongest defense among the 10 Evils for a reason., Episode 9 – Omniscient Sunfish (1), After a while, we moved towards the entrance, of the ‘hidden dungeon’ on the first underground floor., I walked behind Lee Jihye, Lee Gilyoung and Jung Heewon while looking at my smartphone., Episode 9 – Omniscient Sunfish (2), The moment the yellow eyes looked at us, a deafening roar echoed in our ears., Episode 9 – Omniscient Sunfish (3), [The constellation Secretive Plotter is curious about your scam.], [The constellations have sponsored you 200 coins.], Episode 9 – Omniscient Sunfish (4), unfortunately, Yoo Joonghyuk wasn’t on the sixth floor., Episode 9 – Omniscient Sunfish (5), The cold sensation numbed my fingers., dammit, I really wanted to beat this guy up., but..., There was something strange., Episode 9 – Omniscient Sunfish (6), “What?”, 「 What are you…? 」, Episode 10 – Future War (1), [Main Scenario #3 – Emergency Defense has ended.], [You have obtained 1, 000 coins as compensation.], Episode 10 – Future War (2), As soon as my hand wrapped around the flag, I felt a strong energy rising in my body., originally, this was something the third turn Yoo Jonghyuk should have but…, it didn’t matter., Episode 10 – Future War (3), …It hadn’t been long since the scenario began and already?, Episode 10 – Future War (4), “Push through to the flag holder!”, Episode 10 – Future War (5), After coming down from the theater, I headed straight to Myeongdong Station with Lee Hyunsung and Yoo Sangah., Dongmyo Station was important but there was something to be done first., Episode 10 – Future War (6), It wasn’t an illusion., The guy’s eyes instantly widened when he heard my name., Episode 10 – Future War (7), the internet - Freeform, it wasn’t possible., Episode 11 – Night of the Prophets (4), “The 9th person to get off.., it is the first time I’ve heard of this attribute.”, Episode 11 – Night of the Prophets (2), “A prophet like us?”

#AO3 works tagged 'Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion' #ao3feed #fanfic #the witche

[dawnwave16]

Gamer Girl pt 2!

part 1; part 2; part 3; part 4

AO3 link

Part 2 and 3 were meant to be one chapter and it wasn’t supposed to get this long but here we are! 

Story:

When Marinette walked into the Bakery so soon after having left for school, Sabine knew something was wrong. For one thing, Marinette tried not to miss school if she didn't have to, the last time she had gone to school only to come back home was a particularly bad day when Marinette was nine. For another, Marinette didn't even bother to greet her simply walking past her and up the stairs without a word.

“Marinette?” Sabine called tentatively after her daughter. “Maman, with all due respect I need to calm down right now before I speak to anyone.” Came the terse reply from her daughter's retreating form. “I'm going to see if I can go into full dive and join Kirito and the others for a while. When I'm calm I'll tell you what happened.” Sabine exchanged a look with Nadja, who had just walked in and shrugged. If Marinette asked for time to calm down first, it had to be something bad but both women knew there was nothing they could do until Marinette was ready to talk. * * * * * * * Marinette waited for Tikki to climb out of her bag before she tossed it onto the chaise with her backpack joining it shortly after. She had just taken her jacket off when a voice echoed in her mind. “Lady Morning, I am-” “Yeah, I know who you are Hawkmoth and the answer is no. I am in no mood to deal with you or anyone else except those who truly would understand how I'm feeling right now. If you try to akumatize anyone else since I'm saying no, then I will track you down and I will make you feel all the pain I'm feeling right now.” Marinette growled at the villain. “Just for future reference, Ladybug will be told who you are because I've recognised your voice Gabriel Agreste! So leave me alone or it won't be Ladybug you have to worry about!” Tikki watched from her vantage point as Marinette fought off the Akuma that had flown into her jacket and listened in growing horrified pride as Marinette stood up not to Hawkmoth but to the person she had once looked up to. She hadn't known about the connection between Hawkmoth and Gabriel and under normal circumstances, Marinette wouldn't have been recognised his voice either. It seemed her anger was so potent at that moment that it burned away the magic that normally hid that sort of detail. Tikki watched as the dark purple butterfly escaped from the jacket Marinette was holding and quickly swooped down and purified it. She looked at Marinette's face but seeing the tears making their way down Marinette's cheeks, she decided to simply eat the offered cookie and return to her nest to watch over her chosen. Marinette, now free to feel, let herself cry for a bit before checking with Yui to see if her group was online and quickly joining them. * * * * * * * * * * * * When Marinette had stormed out of the classroom, the class had taken a moment to process what had just happened before turning to Max and Markov for clarification about what Marinette had said. It took him a moment to find the information but when he did his face paled and he ran for the rubbish bin and threw up. “Max?” Mlle Bustier asked softly. Max was quiet as he processed what he had just read further then he turned and faced the class. “We messed up. Big time. When Marinette said that people died from the game, she wasn't lying. That 'game' was called Sword Art Online or SAO to most people. Anyway, on the day it launched 10 000 people logged on only to find they couldn't log out. To people not logged on it looked like the people who were, were simply in a coma. It wasn't until after everyone had logged on that a message was released saying that if the people that had logged on wanted to survive, they had to clear the game. If they died in-game, they died for real because the headset, or NerveGear as it was called, they used would fry their brains.” Max closed his eyes and fought the urge to vomit again, his face was still ashen when he opened his eyes and looked at the class. “If the family members of someone who had logged in tried to remove the NerveGear, it would kill the person in full dive anyway. 3,853. That's how many people died in the game or through people trying to remove the players NerveGear. Over half of that was in the first month!” Max sank to the floor as his legs gave out from shock. “I can't believe Marinette was one of the ones that survived. From the video, we can guess that she was really strong but the other players we saw must have been strong too...” His voice trailed off as he thought about what his classmate must have gone through. Several members of the class nodded in agreement with his words. Suddenly Chloe spoke up. “Wait how long were they stuck in the game?” “I don't see how that's relevant Chloe but to answer your question two years two days one hour and fifty-five minutes. The extra day comes from the fact that 2024 was a leap year.” Max said softly. Chloe closed her eyes as though she was in pain. “Fuck! How did she not lose her temper with me?! I've bullied her for how long now about being clumsy but after that long in a coma, of course, she is going to be clumsy!” The class stared at Chloe in shock and even Mlle Bustier didn't say anything. Alya had her eyes on her phone and her hand was flying over a page she had next to her as she went over all the information she could find about SAO, presumably for a new story for her blog so she missed Chloe's statement completely. “She's stronger than the rest of us that's for sure,” Adrien's voice was soft but seemed to echo around the silent room. “What do you mean Adrian?” Chloe asked for once using his name instead of one of her twisted nicknames for him. “Think about it. Not only did she survive SAO but she is one of the few people who has never been Akumatised. Even with everything Lila and this class has done to her she has avoided Hawkmoth's notice. As we are yet to get an alarm saying there is an Akuma on the loose now, I think it's safe to say that she hasn't been Akumatised today either. Any of us would have been a prime target in Marinette's state but there's nothing so far.” Adrien's voice was still soft as he explained his logic and he was surprised when he saw a number of his classmates' nod in agreement with what he was saying. He was about to say more when there was a knock on the door and a smartly dressed man walked into the room. “Pardon the intrusion so early in the morning, I am Jean-François Thévenet. I'm one of the members of the school board. We were in the principal's office for our annual meeting when we all received a rather interesting email. Due to the nature of the contents of this email, we have decided that a formal investigation has to be launched.” The man paused as he took in the various looks of surprise and disbelief on each of the class members faces. His brown eyes cataloguing everything he was seeing with an impassive expression. “The results of this investigation will be determined by the findings. Now, each of your parents have been call and as such we have obtained permission to interview you all. Some parents have requested that an adult other than ourselves be in the room and we have agreed so long as they don't interfere with the investigation. To be clear, we have a very good record of what has been happening in this class for the past six months, all we want is the clarification of why it has happened and why it wasn't brought to our attention before now. Interviews will be done in a random order, so will Rose Lavillant follow me.” He didn't give anyone a chance to react, turning on his heel and walking out of the room with Rose scrambling to catch up to him. Whispers broke out as soon as the two were out of the classes eyesight as Caline Bustier stood in shock. An investigation? Six months? What was going on? As far as she knew, that morning was the first time anything untoward had happened in her classroom. Eventually, she managed to shake her thought clear and start the much-delayed lesson on the french revolution. * * * * * * * * * * * * When Yui had sent him a message to let him know that Suiren (Waterlily aka Marinette) would be joining him online shortly, Kirito had been confused. She was in Paris which meant that if he had the time conversion correct, she should be in school at that moment. His confusion Vanished the moment he saw her. “Suiren! Are you alright? Silly question, never mind.” Without giving her a chance to reply he pulled her into his arms. “I'm here, let it out,” he murmured to which the only reaction was her burying her face into his avatars chest and bursting into tears. They stayed like that even as the rest of the group arrived thanks to Yui calling them. Kirito slowly ran his hand up and down her back in comfort even as he looked at his friends in confusion. It was at the moment that Suiren murmured something that had Yui nodding. “Sui-chan said I could show you what has her so upset and why she isn't at school. I'm just glad that I copied myself to her phone!” Without further ado, a large screen appeared hovering in mid-air that showed Suiren as he everyday self walking into her class. It showed her teachers actions and Marinette's reactions. It skipped over playing the video of that fateful battle though, for which Suiren was grateful. She didn't think any of the people present needed to see that video. Instead, it skipped to Marinette telling her teacher off and carried on from there giving those present a view of what was carrying on in her class at that moment. Suiren turned to Yui. “How are you doing that?” “I tapped into the camera's you had the school install in every classroom after that Lila girl almost got you expelled.” Yui chirped happily. Suiren was quiet for a moment. “What are you thinking, Suiren?” Kirito asked her quietly. “That I'm honestly sick of Paris. I understand that it is where my parents are but I am the only person

at my school that went through SAO and I'm beginning to feel completely alone. I was never one to enjoy being the centre of attention and I feel like if the people I thought were my friends were truly my friends, they wouldn't have been swayed by Lila.” Suiren's voice was soft as she spoke, almost as though she was trying to work through an idea as she spoke. “I think I'm going to talk to my parents about the possibility of me moving to Japan and joining the school they set up for SAO survivors in order to make sure I'm at the right level educationally. I can always attend the Tokyo branch of ESMOD and most of the people I design for live in Japan anyway. Those that don't live in Japan, travel to it now and then for work much as they do to Paris so it's not like that's an issue.” “Want me to talk to Kikuoka to see if he can pull some strings? He owes me a couple of favours anyway...” Kirito offered, and after a pause, Suiren nodded. “I think that might be best. This is the last week of the current school term so I'll stay in Paris for another month and get everything sorted out that needs to be sorted out. I'll also need to talk to my parents. Yui if you could send what you've found to my home computer that would be a great help in convincing them to let me go!” With that plan settled the group moved to an area where they could do some mat collection for both Liz and Suiren as they had been talking about upgrading their gear for them. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The investigation that was going on at Collège Françoise Dupont had been slightly brutal in Marinette's opinion, even if it had had to be that way in order to get the full truth to be revealed. M. Damocles had tried to protest against the investigation and the board had eventually had to threaten to suspend him before he had reluctantly stepped aside and let them have access to everything that they needed. The interviews with her class as well as some of the other classes had gone about as well as the board had expected though and they hadn't been impressed by their findings. They were, even more, displeased when they had finally managed to contact Lila's mother. When the board had first tried to contact Mrs Signora Rossi they had been puzzled as to why her phone kept going to voice mail. As Alya was Lila's friend they asked if she had Signora Rossi's number on the off chance. She didn't but she willing handed Lila's number over to the board and when they compared it to the number they had for Signora Rossi they found that the two numbers were the same. So the board did the next best thing since Lila had said her mother was a diplomat for the Italian Embassy, they phoned them and asked to speak to her. Once again that failed to bring the desired result as there was no Signora Rossi registered as working for the Italian Embassy as a diplomat or otherwise. It took them two days but they eventually found her working long hours as a waitress in an out of the way restaurant. She had been shocked when she had been asked about everything that Lila had said or done as well as Lila's frequent 'trips' and 'illnesses'. It was only through sheer luck that Mr Pigeon had struck at that moment instead of her being akumatised. She had been absolutely devastated to find out that while she was working two jobs to give her daughter a better life than her own, that same daughter was lying through her teeth as though she was ashamed of her. Once that had been discovered, the board had taken a closer look at all the documents that Lila had given the school. These ranged from various doctors notes to letters that had supposedly come from her mother regarding her trips abroad. Once they had been check thoroughly they had set to work on trying to get hold of Lila who had proved to be most slippery. In the end, the board had simply handed her file over to the truancy office and made sure that she would be held back a grade due to all her absences and the sheer amount of work that Lila had had her classmates do for her. In the end, Lila's mother opted to move Lila to a different school where she gave the teacher very strict instructions on what to look out for with her daughter. As for the rest of Marinette's class? Well, they had found that life wasn't as easy as they remembered it being before Marinette had finally decided she had had enough. It seemed like all the little things were missing and for the first time, they started to realise how much her smile had brightened the day for many of them.

#saltinette #salt #mlb #sao #kirito x marinette #gamer marinette #class get's a wake up call #guilty chloe

[missmalice202]

Designing Your Melody: Chapter 03 - Candy Hearts

Chapter 01  -  Chapter 02

Luka Couffaine was, under normal circumstances, a pretty chill guy. To anyone who knew him, they would think that nothing could ruffle his feathers. Under normal circumstances.

This was definitely NOT one of those times.

He had been out delivering a package for the courier service he worked part time for when a tornado with midnight blue hair had collided with him, leaving her sprawled out on the sidewalk and the folder she had been carrying exploding like confetti. He couldn’t help but chuckle at how utterly frantic she had been. She had been in such a panic, she even sounded chaotic; a cacophony of discordant notes and clashing chords. Apologizing profusely as she scrambled around to gather her papers, Luka felt the need to grab her hand, if only to distract her long enough to take a breath. It wouldn’t do to have the poor girl pass out in the middle of the street because she had been hyperventilating so hard.

Then, as quickly as she had crashed into him, she took off again, sprinting away as fast as her feet could carry her. Still a little stunned from the encounter, he hadn’t noticed the paper she had left behind in her hurry. But when it crinkled under his boot as he stood back up, he saw it.

He had definitely not anticipated being stunned speechless for a second time so soon after regaining his own stable footing. The sketch she had left behind spoke to his soul on a primal level. Normally, he didn’t let things affect him so strongly, but there was just something about the outfit that she had put to paper that lit a fire in his creative heart. The melody ringing in his ears as he gazed at that paper was overwhelming.

Snapping out of his reverie, Luka had attempted to chase after the girl, but she had disappeared without a trace. He looked down at the design to see if there was anything on it that could point him in the direction of his newest muse. And the fates had smiled down upon him: there, in the bottom right hand corner, were three small letters. MDC.

Relieved that he at least had a tiny clue as to who his mystery designer was, he had carefully folded up the page in his hand, stuck it in the inside pocket of the leather riding jacket he wore when he was making deliveries, and went back to work.

But the melody wouldn’t leave his mind. As he raced his bike through the crowded streets, narrowly avoiding parked cars and pedestrians alike, all he heard echoing in his ears was the same melody, over and over and over again. Playing in a constant loop. Driving him to distraction, which was a dangerous thing to do when fighting through rush hour traffic on the congested city streets.

So he had forced himself to focus, ignoring the tune crying out for his attention.

After he was done with his deliveries for the day, he had pulled out his cell phone, opened up his twitter, and posted his location, allowing his followers to find him if they wanted to come see him perform. He had found that it was easier to use social media to advertise his performances rather than tie himself down with a specific venue at a specific time. It gave him a sense of freedom to showcase his music as little or as much as he wanted. And today, he needed to be surrounded by his own music, if only to drown out the invasive melody still circling around his mind.

He played for a few hours, his guitar case open on the sidewalk in front of him so passers-by could throw some euros in if they liked his sound. But that wasn’t the reason he played. He played for the music itself. Sure, the money he earned was appreciated, but he would have played even without it. To him, music was a part of him, as natural and necessary as breathing. He usually didn’t even have to concentrate on his fingers pressing against the strings of his guitar. But today, he had to really focus to keep his hands from playing the song that was aching to be let out. Once again, he ignored its desperate plea for release. It was still too raw and too personal for public exposure yet. He wouldn’t play that song until he found her again.

Feeling his phone vibrate against his leg from inside his front pocket, he took a break and checked the time. With a smile, he packed up his guitar, slung it over his back, and took off on his bike towards the waterfront where his mother’s houseboat, the Liberty, had been moored. He wasn’t one to live his life by keeping to a schedule, but there was one exception: meeting up with his friends to play a video game he had recently been involved in.

As he pedaled down the streets on his way home, he thought about how such a simple thing as a video game could completely change his day to day life. He usually wasn’t one to spend time in front of a screen. His music took up too much of his time for that. But after hearing his friend and co-collaborator, Nino, talking about how awesome the soundtrack of the game was a few months ago, he had been intrigued. He had gone to Nino’s house for a jam session one day and he had convinced Luka to give it a shot.

That was all it had taken to get him hooked. The music alone would have captivated him, something he hadn’t really considered possible before. Apparently, video game music had come a long way since he had last picked up a controller when he was a little kid. But the game mechanics, the online play, the community of it was what drew him in for good.

Immediately after leaving Nino’s house that afternoon, Luka had gone to the store and picked up a copy of Ultimate Mecha Strike 4 for himself. It wasn’t long before he was spending as much time playing with a controller as he did with his guitar.

Once his DJ friend had realized how into UMS4 Luka had become, he invited him to participate in a few missions with his clan. Apparently, they were a big deal in the gamer world, so Luka thought “why not?” and joined them. Playing with a team brought a whole new feel to the game. He normally had a really hard time communicating with other people; word play had never been his strong suit. But having a degree of separation between him and the person he was talking to in the form of his headset seemed to make it easier for his thoughts to get across. And Nino’s clanmates were nothing short of amazing.

Luka knew that Nino played with some friends of his from high school, but he never told Luka who they were. Which was ok with him. He didn’t need to know anything about the people on the other side of the screen any more than they needed to know anything about him. The anonymity actually made him more comfortable being himself.

Now, months after becoming an official member of “Miraculous Kwami”, Luka considered his clanmates to truly be his friends.

Finally arriving back at the houseboat he called home, he carried his bike down the gangway and hung it from the hooks in the ceiling of the cabin. With his mom backpacking around Europe searching for “the sounds of inspiration”, he and his sister had taken the opportunity to clear out some of the disorder she had been so fond of. He knew that as soon as she returned, chaos would take over the Liberty once again, but for now, the Couffaine siblings would enjoy a bit of serenity in their home.

“What’s up?” he heard a soft voice ask as he came down the stairs leading below deck. He looked over to the blue wrap around couch against the wall and saw his purple-haired sister sitting there, playing on her phone. Juluka had really come out of her shell over the past few years, her budding modeling career probably being the main reason for that. Or possibly her relationship with Rose, her extremely bubbly and energetic girlfriend. Now those two were the epitome of “opposites attract”, but Luka could understand their relationship. What one lacked, the other one made up for. They created a perfect harmony with each other, though sometimes when they got together, they were sweeter than those candy hearts sold during Valentine’s day and left him feeling a bit nauseous. On those occasions, he simply grabbed his guitar and found a park to play in, giving them some privacy to have some alone time. One drawback of living on a boat was thin walls.

“Work was pretty busy,” he answered as he set his guitar on the stand against the wall next to the couch. “I think I rode at least 50 kilometers this morning.” He sighed as he sat down on the couch next to his sister.

“Ouch,” she winced in sympathy, still tapping on her phone, “you’ll be feeling that in the morning. Anything else happen today?” She tucked her purple tipped black hair behind her ear and put her phone down next the her, finally giving her brother her full attention.

“Actually, yeah,” he responded, chuckling to himself. “I got run over by a muse while I was on my break this morning.”

“A what now?” Sometimes her brother could be so weird, she thought.

“This girl crashed into me while she was running somewhere and ever since, I’ve had this song stuck in my head. It won’t go away and it’s driving me a little crazy.” He reached into his jacket pocket to show his sister the source of his inspiration, when her phone started ringing.

“Wow, sounds like you’ve got some songwriting to do,” she murmured as she grabbed her phone and started walking away. “I’ve got to go. I’m meeting Rose at a little bistro she wanted to try together and I’m already running late. We’ll talk when I get back.”

Watching his sister’s willowy form walk up the stairs, he tucked the folded paper securely back into his pocket before withdrawing his hand from inside his jacket and heading further into the cabin to where his bunk was located.

After checking his phone to confirm the time, he took off his riding jacket and set it next to him on his bunk. Game time, he thought to himself, grabbing his teal tinted controller from the charging dock next to his bed. Donning a set of blue headphones and he was ready.

-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-

Luka was the first to arrive at his clan’s hideout tonight, it would seem. He walked around for a bit while he waited for the others to load in. After only a few minutes, he saw a notification pop up in the lower corner of his screen. LADYBUG is online. He smiled. Out of all the members of his clan, he enjoyed playing with Ladybug the most. There was just something about her voice that resonated in his ears when he talked to her. The distortion through the headphones wasn’t enough to mask how clear her voice was, like the ringing of a bell.

He turned his avatar around so he could see hers when she arrived at their base. When he saw her avatar pop on screen in front of him, he pressed the button on his controller to perform an elaborate bow. “Good evening, Lady luck,” he playfully greeted her.

“Hi there, Viperion. Long time no see,” she responded with a wave.

“What’s the plan for tonight? Who else is going to be on, do you know?” A small part of him wanted it to be just the two of them. It wasn’t often that they got to play as a pair since they were usually joined by the other members, but he enjoyed spending time with the red and black lady.

She walked over to where his avatar was standing. “I just got off the phone with Rena, so she should be joining us soon. I haven’t spoken with Carapace or Chat today, but I haven’t heard of any reason why they shouldn’t be on. Did any of the others say anything to you about when they would be on after I logged off the other night?”

“Monkey said something about preparing for a competition, so he might not be able to get on, but Pegasus said he’d be here a little later. And as far as I know, Ryuko is planning on being here.”

“That’s good. We have enough people to try for that bow you’ve been wanting. It’s a limited time event, so we need to grab it for you while we have the chance. I know I’m going to be busy for the next couple of weeks.”

“Oh?” He was interested in what could possibly pull her away from her favorite game. Ladybug was almost always online, even if she was just lurking around their hideout, chatting with the other members of their clan.

“Yeah,” she answered. “I’ve got a really important project coming up and I need to focus on that. I already royally screwed up today, and I can’t afford to make any more mistakes.” Just by the tone of her voice, Luka could tell that she was upset about her blunder.

“Do you want to talk about it? Sometimes it helps to share the burden with someone else.”

Her soft giggle echoed in his ears. “Thanks, Viperion. I’m good. I already ranted to Rena about it, so I’m fine now. Just a little stressed out.” She sighed. “This project is the biggest thing I’ve ever done and it could make or break my entire career.”

“Okay, just remember that if you ever need to vent or anything, I’m here for you.”

“Thanks.”

Just then, other notifications began popping up on his screen.

CHAT NOIR is online.

CARAPACE is online.

RENA ROUGE is online.

“Looks like the gang is starting to arrive,” Ladybug commented. “Let’s get to work.”

“Ready whenever you are,” he responded with a smirk. “Let’s get that loot.”

-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-

Setting his controller back on the charging dock, Luka stood up and stretched his arms over his head, arching his back to work out the kinks that had developed after sitting in the same position for such a long period of time. Glancing at his cell phone to see how long he’d been at it, he was shocked to discover it was almost midnight! He had to get to sleep ASAP. He had to head to the studio in the morning for a recording session with Jagged Stone.

After his regular guitarist, Vivica, had taken some time off for maternity leave, the rock legend had been desperate to find someone to fill in. When he had shown up at the Liberty and discovered that his former guitarist and Luka’s mom, Anarka, was no longer in the city and therefore no longer available to help, Jagged had heard Luka playing and immediately asked him to fill in whenever he had the time.

At first, Luka had been shocked that his idol wanted to work with him. But over time, the novelty had worn off as he realized that Jagged had a tendency to be completely immature at times and extremely temperamental. Luckily, it took quite a bit to ruffle Luka’s feathers and he usually ignored the megastar when he was having a meltdown.

Mentally preparing himself for the trials he was sure to endure at tomorrow’s recording session, Luka took a deep breath, holding it for a moment with his eyes closed before slowly exhaling. He stripped off his clothes and slipped between his sheets clad only in his boxers.

Turning his bedside light off, he closed his eyes and felt himself drift off to sleep, the melody that had been plaguing him all day now acting as a lullaby and lulling him to sleep.

Chapter 04

*This chapter was really hard for me to put together. I knew what I wanted to happen, and I saw it happen in my head, but apparently, Luka is a little stubborn when it comes to being put onto paper. Hopefully he isn’t so temperamental next chapter, because he’s such a sweet, soft boy that I’d hate to have to do anything bad to him because he made me angry hahaha. Until next time XOXO*

#lukanette #mlvalentines2k20 #lukanette february #luka couffaine #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous ladybug #lukanette fic #miraculous fanfic

[kittinoir]

Echoes of You ch. 16

Read on Ao3

White noise.

That was all Adrien had seen or heard over the past five days. He missed fencing lessons, Chinese lessons, homework. He’d miss modelling appointments if his bodyguard wasn’t there to escort him. He didn’t know how those went. He barely remembered them once he was home. Plagg called it shock. He didn’t care.

It had been a week since she’d come back, showing up much like she had the first time he’d seen her: falling out of the sky. Sorry I’m late, Kitty.

Hope had not claimed him quietly. It had torn through his chest so violently it had brought him to tears for the third time since this nightmare had started. For a moment he’d thought the senti-monster had gotten him and he had confused Red for his Lady.

But no, it had really been her. He’d stared at her, unable to believe she was real, and realized, despite how hard he’d clung to her memory, how much had faded. The exact shade of her eyes with violet flecks no camera could capture. The intelligence in them that always drew him in. The beauty of her smile, the effortlessness of her grace. 

In that moment, it had all turned to dust in the wind. He didn’t care that she’d left him. He didn’t care that he’d made a mistake. He didn’t care that he’d been struggling without her. He didn’t care about any of it. She was back. And he felt like he’d finally gotten a piece of himself back, too. 

And then she’d disappeared again. He’d been confused, but had waited for her to swing by his window or leave a message. It never came. He tried sending her one, but there was no response. Two days passed, and another akuma attacked. 

He’d arrived eagerly. By then he assumed her memories just hadn’t returned. That was fine. He’d been searching for a solution, and while he hadn’t found one yet, he was eager to begin creating new ones. He was prepared, he told himself, for the event her memories never returned. It hurt, but it was a small price to pay for this miracle. Besides, he wasn’t giving up yet.

But when Ladybug had joined him minutes later, it wasn’t his Lady behind the mask. The nightmare returned, worse this time as the battled the akuma. Horror distracted him and almost cost them everything as Red explained a temporary holder had stood-in for her the other day. When he’d demanded to know who, she’d explained she didn’t know. Tikki had simply said to trust her and left with the earrings, returning less than three hours later with the jewels.

He’d almost given up then. He’d almost dropped his baton and thrown his ring down at the akuma’s feet. For a moment he did stop, his fingers loose on the cool metal. It was too much. All of it was too much for one person to bear. If Chat Noir’s heart was irreparably broken, then he didn’t want to be Chat Noir anymore.

Only interception from a nearby civilian had saved him from the akuma. It was a harsh reminder but one he needed. His Lady wasn’t the only person he was fighting for, wasn’t the only one with something to lose if he faltered again. 

At least they’d learned some things. One, this plan was one his Lady and Tikki had come up with together. And two, wearing the Miraculous, becoming Ladybug, wasn’t enough to trigger her memories. He’d noted those things, filed them away, and then sunk into a river of despair from which he couldn’t save himself. The pain of her literally holding her just for her to slip away again was too great. He couldn’t fight it.

So he’d stopped trying.

“Dude.”

Adrien blinked, looking over at Nino, who was staring pointedly at Mme. Bustier. “Mm?

“I asked if you would take Miss Bourgeois her homework today, Mr. Agreste,” their teacher repeated. “If you have the time?”

Chloe. That name finally stirred some feeling in him. Betrayal. Anger. Disappointment. He grabbed onto them like a lifeline. Anything was better than this numbness. “Sure.”

He had to get a grip. He’d always tried to see the best in everyone and everything, to find the silver lining. It had become infinitely more important since Hawkmoth had appeared. And if he couldn’t get it together, it would only be a matter of time until an akuma floated through his window with his name on it. 

It changed nothing, he decided as he belatedly shoved his books into his bag, only realizing the day was truly over as his classmates began to leave. What happened wasn’t his Lady’s fault. It was Tikki’s. She could have picked someone else, anyone else. Part of him knew there were probably extenuating circumstances that couldn’t be avoided. It was certainly the first time a sent-monster had accompanied an akuma in some time, and he’d been unable to use his cataclysm. Perhaps Tikki had panicked, trusting his Lady’s instincts to be enough to save them both - which they had. Could he even be angry?

Yes, he decided, standing and accepting Chloe’s homework from Mme. Bustier. He could. Tikki could have told her to wait, or to come back. Tikki could have changed it all.

But had anything really changed? No. Tikki probably knew that, too. That was what the letter had said, hadn’t it. ‘Once it’s safe’. Hawkmoth had a copy of the book, too. Perhaps their nemesis had found what he’d been unable to do: a way to restore lost memories. 

It didn’t matter. It was all speculation. He knew his Lady would never do anything to hurt him. He knew what had happened wouldn’t have been her choice, if she knew what it would have meant. It didn’t make it hurt any less. If anything it hurt more, to see face to face just how much he had lost.

“Um…Adrien?”

Marinette’s voice jerked Adrien back to the empty classroom. He realized he’d been staring at his desk, not seeing it. Even Nino had left. He’d probably said goodbye and he hadn’t even heard him.

“Hey, Marinette,” Adrien said. His voice came out rusty with disuse. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d spoken more than two words to anyone. Probably not at all in the past five days.

His classmate was peeking up at him from under her lashes as she fiddled with something in her hand. “I was going to ask you if you were ok,” she said, “But that would be dumb, because I can tell something’s wrong. We all can.” She finally looked up at him. “We’re all worried about you. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I just wanted to let you know that we’re here for you, and… and I made this for you.”

She held out the small package she’d been fidgeting with. Adrien took it, surprised, and pulled the pale pink ribbon to open the gift. Inside was a small quilted book. It smelled like lavender and vanilla - like Marinette. When he opened it, he discovered it was a sort of photo album, filled with pictures of him with all his friends. Him and Nino goofing off, him and Kim and Max playing video games, him and Juleka modelling together. The only one missing was…

“You’re not in any of these,” he said, looking up.

Marinette shrugged. “I kinda ran out of room,” she explained. “There were so many great photos to choose from, and - ”

“Will you bring one so I can add it?” Adrien asked, squeezing the little book. “This is the best gift I’ve ever gotten, Marinette, but it needs a picture of my best friend.”

“Your best…” Marinette trailed off, staring up at him. “Me?”

Adrien nodded. He didn’t know when it had happened, or how, considering how nervous his celebrity seemed to make her, but when he needed someone, Marinette was the person he thought of first. When he needed advice, Marinette was the one he turned to. When he needed a break, Marinette’s balcony was the one he ended up on.

“Why don’t we take a picture right now?” Adrien suggested as the inspiration nudged him. “And then I’ll add it to the book.”

“Um, sure,” Marinette said with a grin. “I’ll, um, try to find another protective sheet thingy for it.”

“Deal,” Adrien said, pulling out his phone. He opened up the camera, then wrapped an arm around Marinette’s shoulders and pulled her close. After a moment, she placed an arm around his waist as well. He tried not to shudder at the contact, tried to suppress the memories that surged up from the last time he’d been this close to someone - to her. He’d promised himself he’d never let her slip away, never let himself lose her again, only for her to disappear like smoke on the wind.

But Marinette was real, he told himself. She was here, and she wasn’t going to disappear. He could feel her warmth through his shirt, could smell the same lavender and vanilla coming from her.

As though she could sense the anguish rolling off him in waves, Marinette twisted, wrapping both her arms around him in a tight hug. It was almost enough to trigger more tears, but he swallowed them. He’d cried enough. It was time to look to the future.

“Thank you, Marinette,” Adrien whispered. He turned his face, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he took the photo. He wanted to remember this feeling after it had passed, to be able to pull this photo out the next time he felt like crying and remember there was still love to be had if he was willing to accept it.

Marinette dropped her arms and stepped back, as though she were overwhelmed as well. “You’re welcome,” she said quickly. “Um, out did it turn how?”

Adrien chuckled, opening up the photo. It was a little off-centre, a little crooked. It was perfect. “I love it,” he said. “It’s the perfect addition.”

“Yeah, you’re perfect,” Marinette said softly as she looked over his shoulder. “I mean, it’s perfect. Could you maybe…send it to me? So I can have a picture with my best friend, too?”

“Deal,” Adrien said, already sending it over. “Thank you, Marinette. Seriously.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, beaming. “And…if you want, I can take Chloe her stuff.”

Adrien blinked. He’d forgotten all about Chloe. “I don’t mind,” he said, shouldering his bag. “It’ll just be a quick trip.” And the Grand Palais was on his patrol route. He might as well start there. He’d be doing several laps anyway.

“Want company?” Marinette offered.

He did, he realized. He wanted to ask her along more than anything, wanted to bring her along and show her his Paris, to spend the evening with a friend, to lose himself in Marinette until he could blot out his Lady and his impossible quest altogether. Just for one night.

But he knew, even as his brain raced ahead to the logistics between ‘Adrien’ and ‘Chat Noir, that he couldn’t. That it wouldn’t be just one night or one time. He knew he could fall in love with her, if he let himself forget.

It would be easy. So incredibly easy. And selfish.

“Thanks,” Adrien said, “But it’s ok. I’m…I’ll be ok.”

“Ok,” Marinette said, adjusting her bag. “There’s always something for you at the bakery if you change your mind.” She left with a wave, and Adrien watched her go, waiting until he knew she was too far to chase after her to head down to his waiting car.

“To the Grand Palais,” Adrien instructed as he strapped in. His bodyguard raised and eyebrow but didn’t say anything as he turned onto the busy street. The trip was quick, and they arrived sooner than Adrien would have liked. He grabbed his bag. “I’m going to be working with Chloe for a while. You should head back.”

His bodyguard frowned.

“Group project,” Adrien explained. “Wasn’t my choice. Her driver will give me a ride back.”

His bodyguard finally nodded and popped the locks on the door. Adrien waited until he drove away to head into the hotel. He’d convinced himself it was no big deal, but the truth was that it was. Chloe had been his first friend, his oldest friend. He’d never imaged she was capable of siding with Hawkmoth. He knew she was no saint, but he hadn’t thought she’d betray them like that.

He’d been to Chloe’s several times, both as Adrien and as Chat Noir, but it was different this time. Even behind the mask, it had always felt like a second home. Now he felt like a stranger. He didn’t know her any more. Maybe he never had.

“It’s unlocked,” Chloe called when he knocked on the door. 

Adrien took a deep breath and opened the door.

He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but it wasn’t Chloe in the middle of her spacious room, swathed in yards and yards of black and yellow bridal satin with pins pressed between her lips as she attempted something like draping. It took him a minute to realize his assumption had been right - she was basing her design project on herself. Some things never did change. 

“Maybe you misread the assignment, Chloe,” Adrien said coolly. “You’re supposed to design something based off one of the heroes, not the villains.”

She barely spared him a glance, and rolled her eyes when she did. “I can accept that you can’t forgive what I did,” she managed around the pins, “But if I wanted to be verbally abused, I would have just gone to school.”

“Is that why you haven’t been all week?” Adrien asked, stepping further into the room. “Avoiding everyone?”

“Tempting,” Chloe said, sticking her mannequin with a pin, “But no. I’ve been dreadfully ill. Today’s the first day I’ve been able to get out of bed. You all get to see my lovely face monday morning, don’t you worry.”

“About you?” Adrien said, dropping into a tufted chair and crossing his long legs. “I didn’t think I had to.”

“Well then I guess we were both wrong,” Chloe said, shoving her last pin into a fold of black satin. She stilled, one hand full of fabric, the other on the shoulder of her dressform, staring at it as though she could see in her design everything Queen Bee was supposed to have been, and everything it wasn’t.

“I’m sorry,” she said, finally looking at him. “I…I made a mistake. Maybe the worst mistake of my life. If I could change the past, I would, but I can’t. I regret the choices I made. They were mean, and cruel, and selfish, and I have no excuses.  I’m sorry, Adrien. I understand that we’ll probably never be friends again, and you may never be able to accept my apology, but you still deserve to hear one.”

Adrien stilled, staring at his former friend as though he could still see pieces of her through the impenetrable wall that had gone up in the last year. “That doesn’t sound like the Chloe I know.”

“I’m trying something different,” Chloe said, adjusting a tuck, “Since that actually didn’t go so well for me.”

Logic and love warred in Adrien’s head. Logic wanted him to throw Chloe’s homework at her feet, tell her it was too late, and march up to the roof to get started on his patrol. Love had latched onto the hope that had taken advantage of his surprise and stolen in when he wasn’t looking.

Maybe he was still raw from losing his Lady. Maybe Marinette’s kindness had made him softer. Maybe, after everything, he needed something to be easy and good. Maybe he just needed to feel like he could fix something, anything at all. Maybe he just needed something to be normal again.

Maybe he just needed to know that forgiveness was possible. To know he was capable of giving it, and to hope that, when the time came, he was worthy of receiving it.

“Do you mean it?” Adrien asked quietly. His knuckles had gone white, wrapped around the arms of the chair. “Sincerely?”

Chloe looked up into his face, unflinching. “More than anything in my life. Probably more than anything I ever will.”

Adrien took a breath. Held it. Then let it go. Let it all go. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

He offered a cautious half-smile. “Okay. I accept.”

Chloe bit her lip and ducked her head so he couldn’t see her face. “Okay. Thank you, Adrien. That…it means a lot to me. I know that I…I crossed a lot of boundaries, so we’ll just take it slow, and you can let me know where they are?”

“Sounds fair to me,” Adrien said. Finally, finally, something felt right again. Chloe shot him a grin over the mannequin’s shoulder and he returned it, reaching for his bag. “By the way, I actually came by to drop of… what was that?”

Chloe frowned. “What was that?”

“The light’s just…” Adrien squinted at the lights as they flickered again. He wouldn’t have noticed normally, except it never should have happened in the hotel.

“Adrien,” Chloe said, abruptly striding over to him. “You need to get out of here. Now.”

“What?” Adrien pushed back, shocked. “What are you talking about.”

“Something’s wrong,” she said, glaring around the room. “Can you feel it?”

He could, actually, but he didn’t know Chloe could, too. 

“Ok,” he said, letting her steer him towards the door. If the hall was empty, he could transform and swing in through the window in seconds. If not, the elevator was just a few feet away.

They hadn’t taken three steps, however, when a large shadow pooled in front of the door, a tiny charm hovering in its centre. Then it grew teeth. Sharp teeth.

“Senti-monster,” they said at the same time. They glanced at each other, momentarily surprised, then back-peddled as the creature began to ooze towards them, slow but steady. The razor sharp fangs glinted in the light, but aside from the teeth, it remained half-corporeal, mostly shadow.

One of his worst fears was coming true. He was trapped with no where to go. Chat Noir could save them, but then Chloe and Hawkmoth would learn his identity. His Lady’s sacrifice would be for nothing.

“In here,” Chloe said, yanking him into the bathroom. She slammed the door shut behind them, locking it.

“Something tells me that’s not going to stop it,” Adrien said. Sure enough, the shadows at the bottom of the door were beginning to undulate and coalesce. 

“I don’t disagree with you,” Chloe said. “Dammit. I was really hoping to keep it a secret this time. Tikki, spots on!”

Before he could even process what was happening, Adrien saw a red blur pop out of Chloe’s sweater and disappear into a pair of familiar black studs he hadn’t even noticed she’d been wearing.

All Adrien could do was watch through the pink light as the mask blazed across his friend’s eyes. All this time. All these weeks of ignoring her, of everyone shunning her. The taunts, the comments, the snide remarks. She’d been the one who stepped in for his Lady. She’d been saving all of them. And Ladybug had chosen her to do it.

“You? You’re - ”

“A temporary situation,” Red said, turning to the window. “I don’t think I need to tell you, but obviously this stays between us.” She popped it open and leveraged herself onto the sill before glancing back down at him. “If I had another choice, I would’t have dragged you into this, but Adrien, there are things going on right now that you don’t understand. I know you must be confused, but I need you to trust me.”

“I…I do.” What? What? He was so far away from what she was saying right now he hadn’t even heard her. He was still trying to process the fact that he’d been fighting side by side with Chloe for weeks and hadn’t even known.

“I’ll be back in a second,” Red said, unslinging the yo-yo from around her waist. “Stay here.”

Adrien glanced at the door where a shadow was starting to rise up. He could already see a tooth. He turned to say as much to Red, but she’d already disappeared.

“Well, I never would have predicted that.” Plagg poked his head over Adrien’s collar but ducked when he saw the centi-monster shaping up. “Why would Ladybug ever choose her?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Adrien grunted as he grabbed a broom from the closet.

“Time for Chat Noir to arrive?” Plagg suggested.

“I’d agree,” Adrien said, swinging the broom. “Shame about the audience.” The bristle’s passed right through the monster like it wasn’t even there. The teeth parted and a hissing noise escaped. It was laughing, he realized.

The bathroom door suddenly banged open and Red was there, a lucky charm already in hand. “When I distract it, run,” she said. And then she lunged at the monster.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Adrien said, leaping past her.

Except he didn’t leave. Instead, he ran to the closet. With or without Chat Noir, he was still Red’s partner. He snatched up shoes by the pair and began heaving them at the senti-monster. Even without the mask, his aim was pretty good.

The monster snarled, turning on him. It had gotten faster, Adrien realized. And bigger. Much bigger. 

He dove to the side as the monster pounced for him. He rolled, his shoulder stinging icy cold where the shadows brushed him. 

“When I said run, I meant away,” Red said, hauling him up by his bad arm. He hissed at the pain, and both of them were surprised when her hand came away wet. “That is…decidedly more deadly than I’m used to.”

Adrien heard the chuckle before he saw the explosion, but it wasn’t as far behind as he hoped. He tackled Red just in time, knocking her to the floor as the blast sent shrapnel whistling over their heads.

“My…closet…” Red whispered, staring over his shoulder. “My closet!”

Adrien followed her gaze. Sure enough, a gaping hole leading straight down to the Parisian streets was letting a nice breeze in where her closet had once stood. The sent-monster was no where to be found, but the charred remains of the charm that had been floating in its centre and an equally scorched feather lay dead-centre of the blast radius.

“I guess you won’t have to use that,” Adrien groaned, nodding at the spotted butterfly-catcher. “How’s that for lucky?”

“Oh, yeah,” Red said, staggering to her feet. “I sure feel real lucky right now!”

“The Lucky Charm will fix it,” Adrien said, pulling himself up. He paused for a moment as she sifted through the remnants of her wardrobe, as though his idea were just occurring to him. “Your suit changed. It didn’t look like this last weekend?”

“What?” She gasped as what used to be a Louboutin crumbled in her fingers. 

“Last weekend with that monster that stole everyone’s voices.” Adrien tried not to flinch as the memories of that day swirled up. “You looked different. I, um, saw it on Alya’s blog.”

“I couldn’t make it to that,” Red said as though it were just some party that had clashed with a birthday. “Sick, remember? That’s actually why I couldn’t make it to school. Every time I started to get better and akuma would attack and it’d wear me right back out. If I fail this semester I am so suing Hawkmoth for damages.”

“So that wasn’t you?” Adrien asked innocently.

“Don’t even try it, Agreste,” Red said, finally looking at him. “I don’t know who it was, and even if I did, I couldn’t tell you. All I know is Tikki took the Miraculous to someone else to stand in, and if it was who I think it was… well. I can’t say anything else.”

“You said this was a temporary situation,” he pressed unable to drop it. “Does that mean…?”

“Seriously, Adrien,” Red said, giving him her full attention. “Something’s wrong, ok? With the heroes. I don’t know what, just that Ladybug has this top secret mission or something. I don’t know. I didn’t get the details, and honestly, I can’t blame her for not telling me. I’m holding onto her Miraculous just until she gets back. That’s it. That’s the whole story. She didn’t even give them to me herself, so that is literally the whole story, okay?”

“Okay.” Adrien made his way over to his bag and pulled out her homework, dropping it on the chair. “Your secret is safe with me. Are you going to be ok here?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Red said, waving him off. “The miracle cure will fix this whole mess, I just cannot believe that mangy cat! And he doesn’t even show his face. Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!”

“Alright, Chlo,” Adrien said, unable to completely hide a grin as he opened the door. “Catch you later.”

He slipped out the door as she reached for the unused Lucky Charm. Had he glanced back, he might have noticed the suspicious look she threw his way, but he didn’t, and the door slipped shut just as the Ladybugs began to fix everything.

“I don’t know if I should hug you or only give you kraft singles for a week,” Adrien said once he was in an elevator on his way to the roof. “That was incredibly dangerous of you.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Plagg gasped, swirling out of Adrien’s pocket. “Besides, I’ve been practicing! It only spread down five floors! And, if you’ll recall, I did promise to cataclysm everything she loves.”

Adrien’s retort died on the tip of his tongue. After all, how could he argue with that. Promise made; promise kept.

“Fair enough,” Adrien finally said as they approached the roof. “Okay, you get out of it this time. Plagg, claws out!”

#echoes #echoes of you #miraculous ladybug #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #writing #fic