#imagine him summoning ben and this just kicks in. just imagine.

[chloegong]

that semi-AU romajuliette + benmars fic

i need a permanent place to store this after dumping a random google doc on twitter so here it is, the author writing fic for her own book because people gave me headcanons and they were too good not to make use of

__

the one where juliette and marshall go out for a night out on the town and roma and ben have to go along to supervise because one time they accidentally committed arson —headcanon from twitter user @leonidasvaldz

a semi AU where Benedikt and Marshall were hanging out with Roma and Juliette in those happy months R&J had together in 1922 before everything went wrong (aka you can take this as canon because it will fit the timeline but the characters won’t have memory of this in the actual published books)

Disclaimer: i wrote this in one go inside a starbucks please expect ao3 user chloegong and not Author Chloe Gong who does multiple rounds of edits on her books

Second Disclaimer: nobody go putting this on goodreads before someone on my publishing team kicks my ass (rightfully so, i’m on deadline rn and i’m writing fanfic instead of my real contracted manuscript)

Mandatory reminder that Our Violent Ends is available for preorder with all links here :)

__

It wasn’t supposed to happen again. And yet, somehow, Benedikt was watching fire curl around the side of the building, the roof beams giving a loud groan before shuddering and caving in on itself.

He turned a look onto Roma. “Your girlfriend is a maniac.”

~

Five hours earlier...

Juliette climbed in through the window of Roma’s bedroom, careful to hug the burlap bag close to her chest as she landed on his carpet. The howling wind outside drowned out some of the clinking, but the glass bottles were still making a racket no matter how carefully she hugged the bag. She had gone full throttle for tonight; when no one was watching and her relatives were downstairs crowing over a game of cards, she had snuck around and robbed the liquor cabinets at the Scarlet mansion quite generously. Now she dropped the bag onto Roma’s floor with a huff, brushing a curl of hair out of her eyes.

“Where’s Marshall?”

Roma looked up from where he was reading, putting his book down and rising from the bed smoothly.

“Well, hello.” He strode toward her, stopping before her with his arms crossed. “Lovely to see you too. You do know it is my bedroom you just snuck into, right?”

Juliette pretended to jump in surprise, looking around wildly. “Do you jest? Oh, bother. Let me climb back out and go find my real lover. Marshall! Where are—”

With a huff that seemed to double as a laugh, Roma grabbed her wrist before she could turn around and leave through the window again.

“You’re hilarious,” he said dryly.

“I know.” Juliette reached up with her free hand, clasping her cold fingers right onto his neck. Though her palm was freezing from the bitter temperatures outside, Roma hardly flinched, he only shrugged his shoulder up to keep her hand there. He couldn’t fight back the grin. For several seconds, the two of them only stood there, looking like a pair of idiots smiling at each other.

Then his door opened.

“Are we interrupting something?”

Marshall bounded into the room, throwing the door wide open. With a horrified expression, Benedikt hurried in after him and closed the door quickly, listening for movement on the other side.

“Yes, leave the door wide open,” Benedikt said. “While any White Flower strolling the corridor can peer in and see the Scarlet heir standing there in a silly coat.”

Juliette stepped away from Roma, peering down at herself as if she had forgotten what she put on. “I didn’t think it was that silly. It’s my disguise.”

“You do look a little like a housewife,” Marshall said, considering the coat.

“A fifteen-year-old housewife?”

“I suppose that is exactly why you look a little silly.”

Juliette pulled a face, but refrained from arguing further. She was here tonight because Marshall wanted to see the new Scarlet club that opened along Thibet Road, and she had promised she could sneak him in. Unfortunately, Marshall was bad at keeping secrets, and the worst at keeping secrets from Benedikt. The moment that Benedikt heard Marshall was planning on entering Scarlet territory, he had decided that he would come in accompaniment.

Juliette supposed it was only fair. Benedikt didn’t entirely trust her, but he was nice enough. He tolerated her presence and always kept an eye over his shoulder to make sure she wasn’t spotted on their territory if she poked her head in to see Roma. While Juliette didn’t know much about Marshall either, he was far warmer than his best friend, and for the first time last week, they had even enjoyed an outing with just the two of them. Juliette Cai and Marshall Seo—out and about in the border territories on a quaint evening.

That outing had ended with accidental arson though, so it was rather possible that exacerbated Benedikt’s desire to play chaperone. And of course, if Benedikt was coming along, Roma wanted to tag along too.

The arson was hardly their fault, Juliette and Marshall had maintained when the Montagovs asked questions. What kind of person left a stack of hay out beside a bar? And what kind of hay was that easily flammable just from accidentally whacking one of the lanterns on the awning onto the stack?

“All right.” Juliette hauled the bag up again. “Are we ready to sneak onto Scarlet territory?”

“Absolutely not,” Benedikt muttered, strolling past her for Roma’s window. “But is that going to stop either of you?”

Before anyone could answer him, Benedikt had already hopped the small gap between windows, climbing into their neighboring building for their route out unspotted.

“Great!” Juliette said. She passed the bag to Roma so he could do the carrying. What was the point of converting a rival gang enemy into a lover if not to lug around her heavy things? “Glad we’re all so enthusiastic.”

Roma sighed, clambering onto his sill and making the climb too. “The things I do for you, dorogaya.”

Marshall hurried after him. “I would argue you’re actually doing this for me, dearest Roma!”

With a snort, Juliette climbed out last, and pulled the window after her.

~

The Scarlet club had been a bust. Of course, Benedikt had figured that would be the case from the get-go, especially if they were sneaking in at such a late hour to avoid being seen by anyone important in the Scarlet Gang. At least Juliette had provided good alcohol, and now he squinted at the label of the wine bottle under the street lamps while they walked, taking the smaller main roads along the periphery of the city.

Up ahead, Roma and Juliette were whispering to each other, though they didn’t sound like they were talking in full sentences. Those two always communicated in looks and gestures, swapping languages whenever they felt like it and ending up with some incoherent tangle of words that no one else could comprehend.

“Is there anything left in that?”

Benedikt glanced to his side, shaking the bottle to show Marshall. “One last swig. All yours.”

Marshall took the bottle. He put it to his lips and swung up, his head tipped to the sky and the line of his throat bared to the night. Benedikt shivered suddenly, a line of goosebumps rising at the back of his neck. The season had turned cold and the wind that blew onto his face was biting. He wrote off his shudder to the chill, to the temperature dropping with the longer they spent outside at such an hour.

Suddenly, Marshall was squinting into the distance. “Hey.” His call summoned Roma and Juliette’s attention from ahead, who both turned around to see what the matter was.

Marshall pointed to the dark shape off the end of the road. “Isn’t that the abandoned factory we lost to the Scarlets?”

“Is it?” Juliette asked, a sudden glee in her face.

“Why would you say that?” Roma bemoaned. He didn’t bother trying to stop her as Juliette hurried ahead, eager to explore the factory. “Look what you’ve done.”

But Marshall was wearing a similar expression, his eyes scanning the factory as they approached closer and closer. Wordlessly, he handed the bottle back to Benedikt, and though Benedikt’s head was spinning from the drink, he still recognized the exact face that Marshall made before he was going to get himself into trouble.

“Mars—”

“I’ll keep an eye on her,” he insisted, tipping his chin forward. Juliette had disappeared into the factory. “You two be look-out. We wouldn’t want someone finding us here, right?”

Benedikt scarcely had a second to argue back. Marshall was already hurrying off.

~

Inside the factory, Juliette trailed her hands along the dark walls, her eyes wide. The machines looked strange in the moonlight, but stranger while sitting so idle. She was used to seeing rows and rows of workers in the daytime, trailing after her father as he ran inspections on the work of their trade partners. It might have been the wine in her system, but everything seemed to sway: sitting so inactive in movement that her eyes were imagining movement.

“Pst.”

Juliette almost jumped out of her skin.

“Christ,” she muttered, whirling around with a hand on her heart. Marshall slunk out from the shadows, both his hands in his pockets. “You gave me a fright.”

“Me? Frightening?” Marshall picked up a strange object on the table, inspected it for several seconds, then set it back down. “I am the least frightening person on the planet.”

“Yes, well, when it’s so dark, even a cuddly teddy bear would be terrifying.” Juliette felt around her dress. She thought she had tucked her lighter in here somewhere. There were little pockets sewn around the sleeves and armholes that she kept all her weapons, though if anyone asked, she would say she had the ability to materialize them out of thin air.

“Do you scream often at teddy bears?”

“Only when they sneak up on me.”

“I don’t see you screaming at Roma.”

“He gets a special pass. He’s only a teddy bear on the inside.”

Marshall snorted. He leaned down, trying to read the paper taped down to the table. At last, Juliette found her lighter—it was actually in her sock—and she brought it close, thumbing down the sparkwheel for a flame.

“Do not touch—for demolishing,” Marshall read under the new light. “Are the Scarlets going to build something new here?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Juliette replied. “My father doesn’t include me in his business meetings yet.”

“Hmm.” The shadows of the factory danced. Juliette thought she saw someone darting in her periphery, and she whirled around, but it was only Marshall’s shadow. Unfortunately, she had scared Marshall with her movement, and he bumped into her, asking, “What? What is it?”

The lighter flew out of her hands, landing on the paper.

“Nothing, nothing!” Juliette assured. “I was seeing things.”

But Marshall wasn’t convinced. He swiveled around. Peered hard into a corner. “Was it ghosts? I know this city has ghosts. All that death creates so many ghosts.”

Juliette tried to look where he was looking. She couldn’t see anything except the dark.

“There is no such thing as ghosts.”

“Just last week, I felt something walk by me and then there was no one when I looked. I swear to you, if it wasn’t ghosts then I—” Marshall stopped suddenly, turning around to look at the table. “Uh… is that supposed to happen?”

Juliette whirled around too. The whole table was on fire. “Oh, God.”

With a sudden pop, the fire sprung up and licked up to the walls. There had to be something sprayed inside the factory already to prepare for demolition, or else the flames would not be traveling with such intensive speed.

“Marshall,” Juliette said simply.

“Yes?”

She looked at him. “When the Montagovs ask, we blame the factory and say we have no idea what happened. Run!”

~

Benedikt and Roma kept watch in relative silence. Benedikt’s head was spinning, and his cousin looked like his head was doing the same if his swaying was any indication. Roma was humming softly under his breath, toeing the grass that grew around the abandoned factory.

Then, there was a sudden sound from inside, and the first tendrils of flames blew out from the topmost windows.

“Roma,” Benedikt said plainly. “I’m willing to bet my life savings that Juliette Cai just committed arson.”

Roma tilted his head up, his jaw dropping agape. At first, he could only stare at the growing fire, eating up the roof beams. Then, he said: “To be fair, it could have been Marshall.”

Benedikt threw his arms into the air. “Who looks more like the arson type, Juliette or Marshall?”

“Is that a trick question?”

“The answer was Juliette!”

Benedikt pinched the bridge of his nose. He was rapidly growing concerned, but before he could suggest they go in to search for the two, Juliette and Marshall ran out from the factory—laughing. The factory was burning down, and they were laughing, grasping at each other and spinning in circles right in front of the factory. They looked a sight: seconds away from collapsing atop of each other in utter delirium.

Benedikt turned to Roma. “Your girlfriend is a maniac.”

Roma was struggling to hold back his laugh watching her with Marshall. “I think she’s magnificent.”

Marshall stumbled, and Juliette squealed, reaching out to grab his arm before he could trip and land flat on his face. Benedikt almost—almost—let a smile slip. Before Roma could sight it and tease him for enjoying himself after all, he cleared his throat.

“What happened?” he bellowed.

“Faulty factory!” Marshall called back.

Benedikt shook his head, turning on his heel. They needed to get out of here before someone reported the fire.

“Come on!” he called back to the three. “Let’s go before the Municipal Police arrive.”

Upon Benedikt’s summons, Marshall left Juliette’s side and hurried to catch up. He slowed to a stroll once he was beside Benedikt, but Benedikt could feel Marshall watching him.

“What?” Benedikt asked. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure his cousin was following too. Thankfully he was, though it was mostly Juliette hauling him along, their hands clasped together and swinging while Roma kept looking at the fire.

“I think you enjoyed yourself,” Marshall replied smugly. “After all that complaining about sneaking into Scarlet territory.”

Benedikt reached out and rapped his knuckles on Marshall’s skull. With a shriek, Marshall darted ahead.

“You want me to enjoy myself?” Benedikt shouted after him, breaking into a run too. “Come back then! Let me throttle you!”

FIN.

#these violent delights #romajuliette #benediktmarshall #how am i out here using my own book tags this feels weird FKJDHSDKJFH #should i tag my own name too #chloe gong #now i've gone and done it #bookblr #yabooks

[cheekygreenty]

In My Head - The Darkling x Reader

Supppeer angsty and kinda sad?

The fire engulfed the golden kefta in a water-like rhythm. The cracks and sparks echoed in the open field amongst the silence that settled around all of you. Alina was exhausted, Zoya was grieving, the Ketterdam criminals looked shaken too. But you were unmoving, as still as a painting and not showing a single emotion. They had all witnessed your heartbreak as it fell and crashed the world around you, breaking every part of you. They watched as realization flooded you that you never truly knew Aleksander. They watched as he tore your heart from your chest and threw it into the depths of the Fold to rot.

Painted a picture,

I thought I knew you well

It was humiliating. Alina had tried to warn you but you played her off as selfish and unwilling to use her powers for the good of all Grisha. You told her she was stupid and foolish for loving an otkazat'sya when in reality you were the fool for loving a man that didn't exist.

You told her she was crazy, that Aleksander would never lie to you and that he was good because you knew him. In truth, you were no better than him. You blindly followed everything he said, completely ignoring the alarm bells in your head. You had grown used to them as weeks went by, to the point of the alarm playing a low comforting tune in your mind all day and all night.

There weren't enough apologies in the world to say sorry for the things you'd done and said to Alina and she'd insisted that no apology was necessary because it wasn't your fault, 'It's not your fault you only see the good things about people' she whispered to you before she left to change. But the good things about him weren't there; they never existed. It was all in your head, a mind so desperate for love it concocted a whole new Aleksander, one which you loved so much and would do anything for.

I got a habit of seeing what isn't there

'We were all fooled Y/N, Don't blame it all on yourself' Despite her grieving and sorrow, Zoya's hand rested on your shoulder briefly as a sign of comfort. Without her, you wouldn't have been here right now, alive and breathing.

'I don't blame myself. I hate myself for being so blind'

'Me too'

I thought that you were the one

But it was all in my head

------

You could feel the nothingness of the Fold threading through your hair even inside Alina's tunnel of safety. You stared at her shackled feet, pushing the guilt away and replacing it with a sense of righteousness. There was nothing else that could be done to keep her in check, if she wanted to escape and hide from her destiny forever then she would do so over your dead body.

The Fold needed to be gone and if chaining her to the skiff was going to be the only way she obeyed then so be it. Your mind quickly spiraled back to her hasty words back in the tent. She was panicked and desperate, clinging to your arm like a wailing child begging to be heard. Her lies were bizarre and abundant, no doubt the works from her long journey to the Stag but they were unbelievable. So extreme even a Fjerdan would laugh at their ridiculousness.

The skiff suddenly stopped, Novokribirsk visible in the distance with lines of First-Army troops standing in neat lines.

'Why have we stopped?' A dignitary asked and you wondered the same thing. You searched the skiff for anyone with an explanation, but everyone looked equally as confused but Alina looked mortified. What is going on?

'One more demonstration. You’ve seen what the Sun Summoner can do' You whipped your head around to him slightly moving away but his arm pulled you back to his side with an edge. You heard the loud jangle of Alina's chains as she tried to move. 'Now bear witness to what I can do… with her power.'

He pushed you to Ivan, who took no time in holding you back by the arms, caging you in his grasp. You resisted on the simple basis that you didn't know why you were being restrained just like Alina but the answer came all too soon. There was no time to shout or gasp as Aleksander raised his own hands and the black shadows of the Fold expanded into Novokribirsk, killing everything in its path.

You stood motionless as the horrible sounds of volcra swarming and humans screaming flooded the air. Alina's words came back to you again but you didn't listen. No, you didn't want to. Zoya seemingly came down from the mainsail and looked at the black void in a hypnosis-like stare but nobody dared say anything. There was a silence on the skiff while hundreds and thousands of lives ceased to exist in a matter of seconds.

The comforting tune in your head had suddenly turned into a blinding screech, rendering you frozen and flabbergasted. He did this, Aleksander did this. How could he do this? You tried to fight the heartrenderer off, squirming desperately in his arms to cover your ears from the slaughtering sounds. Your knees had given out by now and Alina was on the floor of the skiff, struggling to get up due to the heavy and awkward chains. I put them there.

'Today, we redraw all the maps. With the power of the Sun Summoner at my command, I control the Fold.' A sob erupted from your throat right at the minute you realized Alina was right. You didn't listen, this is all my fault. Ivan pulled you back up, roughly smacking a hand over your mouth to stop your pathetic cried of betrayal. You fought a little harder, trashing around in hopes of escaping his hold or at least getting someone's attention but nobody seemed to care. They all feared for their lives.

'All countries will answer to us. For who would oppose us now?' He briefly shot a look in your direction but spared you no emotion. It was then that you saw the real Aleksander, blood-thirsty for power and revenge. The Black Heretic.

Everything you are made you

Everything you aren't

The next five minutes were a complete blur. You somehow found yourself fighting for your life and those around you. Your head was empty of its usual whirling thoughts as survival mode kicked in. Kill or be killed. You stopped counting how many hits you got or how many bruises were forming on your body. It was primal and in your Grisha nature to protect those around you, and in that haste of battle you made your allegiance to Alina obvious.

There was no time to think about Aleksander. You weren't quite sure you wanted to think about him. He was on this skiff with you, on the opposing side that just murdered a town full of people yet the part of your brain, your imagination, craved to be by his side. To please him by obeying, to get his touch in return. You were addicted to the man who had ruined your innocence.

'You betrayed me' His voice was right behind you as was his hand, creeping up the side of your throat and forcefully pushing you against the barrier of the skiff, ready to throw you over to the unlit Fold.

'I betrayed you?!' Your shout was loud and hearty, overflowing with sadness and shame at being relieved for being next to him again. You clawed at his tightening hand, feeling your airways restrict and your vision become fainter and fainter. You would die at the hands of the man you loved.

'Look what you made me do Y/N, do you think I want to kill you?' Your head bopped but your stupid heart grasped at the sadness in his words, he still loves me. 'I don't want to. I really don't'

'Then don't' you chocked out, your hold on his wrists becoming limp. You felt the ever-so familiar touch of his lips grace your temple and then he retreated.

The world went dark but your body hit the deck of the skiff, not the soft sands of the Fold and your lungs abruptly filled with forced Squaller air.

Yes, I did it to myself, yeah

Thought you were somebody else

'What are you going to do now?' You still sat by the fire while everyone stood. Zoya had left your side and was talking with Alina but you filtered out the noise. Your head was too full of your own self-hatred to stand any more voices so Jesper's question to you went unnoticed. 'Y/N?'

You looked at him and shrugged. You didn't want to move, your body still ached too much from being dragged away from the brink of death to make your way somewhere safe.

You would never admit it around anyone, but as Alina spoke of the Darkling being dead, a wave of grief washed over you. It was cold and unpleasant; unwelcome. But you knew love didn't disappear overnight. You didn't know who saved you on the skiff, whether it was he who had let you go, or was it Zoya who battled to have you freed from his grasp.

As much as you had created the Aleksander you viewed, the foundations were all him, you had only added on or omitted the parts you did and didn't like. You prayed it was him who spared you, you prayed there was something real about your Aleksander, that that was a foundation.

The tears that fell down your face in a stream were assumed to be for the betrayal and the horridness of what the Darkling had done to you and others, when if fact they were for him. You cried because you would never see him again, you cried because the people who had helped you get out of the Fold were the same people who had killed him.

-------

When Mal caught your deathly stare in his direction, he had to do a double-take. You had the same look in your eyes as the General did when he fought him in the Fold, that exact replica of coldness and rage; revenge. But surely he was wrong. You were happy to know the Heretic was dead. He betrayed you the most out of everyone here and almost killed you. Why would you be vengeful?

He waved it off with a shake, it's all in my head.

------

Masterlist

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#shadow and bone #the darkling #imagine #the darkling x reader #ben barnes #grisha #alexander #alexander morozova #alina starkov #fanfic #general kirigan x reader #general kirigan #kefta #series #shadow summoner #black general #aleksander morozova x reader #little palace #one shot #keftas

[vidavalor]

Mobius' backstory delay = a really good sign for Lokius

The writers didn't just pull showing us Mobius' family from S1-- they likely shifted all the storytelling they wanted to do with that family onto the Other!Mobius we just met at the end of the S1 finale...

...and all of that is very, very good for Lokius.

How, you ask?

Consider that the one big difference from the Other!TVA to the one where we spent the rest of S1 is that they all know that a variant of He Who Remains runs the show. That heavily implies that none of the Other!TVA agents, including Mobius, are kidnapped variants. They all *just work there*. It's a regular, bureaucratic 9-5 job. No need to kidnap & brainwash people in this timeline: people are just recruited & work of their own free will. They have choices and their own lives. They go home at night when their shifts are over. Some of them likely have families. If you think the show just kicked Loki in the teeth over him realizing that he's in another timeline and this Mobius isn't his Mobius, wait until he meets this Mobius' *goddamned perfect, totally sweet, equally cinnamon-roll-y f*cking romantic partner*...

Other!Mobius: Oh, Agent Loki! I don't think you've met my other half yet. Honey, meet my new partner on the time force.

Ben Stiller (lol): So, you're the guy my husband can't stop talking about!

Loki: *dying a slow death inside* Ah, I do believe I hear B-15... Barbara... whatever her name is... summoning me for ah, some very important reason!... lovely to meet you!...

Y'all, Our Loki is going to have spent time during S2 in an alternate timeline where Mobius has a sweet guy and maybe a jet ski and probably a dog and maybe possibly a kid and definitely all the free will he can imagine and will be a lovely guy as all Mobi fundamentally are but won't be *Loki's* Mobius and won't have the experiences specifically that Loki's Mobius has that specifically make him the man who he is, who is also the man that Loki loves. All the boldly gluttonous amount of angst that the show wants to play with by giving Mobius a family around Loki just as Loki is realizing he wants to be Mobius' family is now something I'd be willing to bet they're doing with Other!Mobius in S2... for the express purpose of pushing Loki into action when he reunites with his Mobius.

The show spent time in S1 setting up the idea of Mobius regaining his memories and even had space to explore that in. I predict it was a consideration for Episode 5, when they all spent some time chilling in The Void and there was a strong theme in that episode in particular surrounding family and found family. Could they have had Mobius get his memories back and given him a family and would there still have been hope for Lokius? Of course. Mobius was almost certainly a younger adult in the 1990s, which means giving him a family without an express ability to get back to that family without, y'know, destroying the fabric of time (at least at this point in time) would have resulted in a really good, angsty plot. Or, hell, he could have *had* a family and might have even if we see his memories at some point. Maybe that husband from the other universe that Loki theorizes could be the love of Mobius' life in every universe? Maybe Loki's theory isn't wrong. He could enchant Mobius and we find out that the partner died or something. Ben Stiller could well be an universal constant, y'all, and even that might not even destroy Lokius. That's just truth.*

The point of doing anything with Mobius' various backstories on the show is going to be to advance Loki and Mobius' relationship in the present and that's going to be true even if these stupid time agent idiots don't just kiss at some point. It's true of their friendship as well as any potential romance. I think that learning what Other!Mobius' life is like in the other universe is going to lead Loki to continue to act very selflessly when it comes to his Mobius' happiness when they reunite (continuing off of having told him he was a variant in the first place in S1) and to make sure that he knows about IGiveUpOnCallingTheHusbandAnythingButBenStiller in the other universe. Loki will offer to enchant Mobius' memories back to try to reunite him with this potential long love. This'll kill them both dead inside, of course, as Loki was last seen doing the Rom Com Run of Love Awareness and Impending Confession at the end of S1 and Mobius had a scene so overtly jealous of Sylvie that they named the damn score to it "Lokius" so these two, by the time they reunite, are well aware that they are in love with one another but haven't *told* one another that yet.

Hell, this could even be how they do. What if Mobius' response is just to tell Loki that he doesn't need his memories back because who he was then isn't who he is now and he knows that he doesn't love Ben Stiller because he loves Loki and he knows without a doubt that he's never felt like this before?

Yeah, oh yeah, Lokius Nation, we're going there...

What else is the point of admitting that Tom & Owen, I mean, the writers!, decided to scrap the idea that Mobius has a guy waiting for him in a Texas Blockbuster in 1997 if not for making sure that, while there can be angst a-plenty, there ultimately isn't somebody else that our Mobius decides he has to honor his commitment to and shatter Loki into pieces over? The writers want to play with all the pain of these two, for sure, but this is Marvel, not The English Patient. (I'm making all the '90s references here, I know.) There's plenty of tragedy already here in this show that has an unusual obsession with hinting that they're steering this boat towards a version of Peggy & Steve's Endgame ending in the short term.

Kate Herron said they cut Mobius' family because they aren't sure what exactly his backstory is yet which is a way of saying that the one thing they *are* sure of is that they don't want him to have had a normal family life in the past-- otherwise, they would have just done that already. Why would you yank out all that angst when it's clear you still need to play with it because of the nature of Loki and Mobius' relationship? Why toss it to another Mobius to have the family and provide that scenario for Loki's development and his and Mobius' relationship development when there was an option to give it to our Mobius? Easy answer there:

they need a clear romantic path for our Mobius to Loki.

One could still have existed-- and still will exist-- if they give our Mobius a family in S2 but it's really suspect to me that they had plenty of opportunity to do that already and decided they didn't want to give him one and just said basically "we'll figure out exact details of his life as we go next season but it ultimately doesn't matter what the specifics of those are when it comes to our overall S2 story plotting because we know what we want the *jist* of it to be and that's that Mobius isn't missing a heck of a lot in his past life-- that the loneliness and need for adventure that he has that we know in the present is possibly also some spillover from who he was before-- and that whatever he's going to find in his memories are not going to ultimately impede furthering his relationship with Loki."

He can have a jetski empire or have been a private eye or was an accountant whose nexus event was trying to kill himself, who the hell knows-- it'll all be *interesting* when we see it but the second the writers decided that Mobius wasn't a man with a wife and 2.5 kids in '90s Texas... that's the moment that the path to Lokius just became quite a bit easier and I say that as someone who is fully aware that the two characters I am discussing are presently trapped in different timelines.

So yeah, just some writer's two cents but we'll see.

*Ben Stiller as Other!Mobius' husband in a jealous-off with our petty God of Mischief... no wait. WAIT. Ben Stiller as Other!Mobius' *Loki variant* husband... not sure how that works since this universe doesn't seem to have Lokis that we know of yet but let's deem it so and will it into existence...

#lokius #mcu loki #lokius nation #agent mobius #mobius #mobius m mobius #loki show #loki series #loki laufeyson

[silverhallow]

By far my favourite online in AOFAG is “I would die before sharing you. How could I ask you to do the same?” Do you have any head canons of how regency Ben would react if he found out Sophie (when she was still a servant) was getting attention from other men of her class?

Benni boy is always gonna be a jealous bean with his wife…

But let’s have a look shall we?

Benedict shouldn’t have been surprised that other people found Sophie attractive. She was a stunningly beautiful woman, even when she was in the drab and coarse dresses she wore at the Cavender’s, and even when she was in Mrs Crabtree’s ridiculous clothing, she was still the most beautiful woman Benedict had ever seen.

She was petite, she was gamine, and she was adorable, with green eyes like Emeralds that lit up when she laughed and smiled. The way her cheeks flushed when she was reading, or when she was caught looking at him but the first time he had seen that blush creep on her cheeks at his mother’s home, Benedict’s blood had boiled, and he just wanted to strangle the footman.

Sophie had been coming down from tending to his sisters and had paused to talk to the footman and the footman had leaned so casually against the wall next to her, talking to her, and she laughed, and her cheeks flushed red. Benedict had been trying to follow her out to the garden, wanting to talk to her again, but seeing her talking to someone more suitable, more of her own class made him feel sick.

The thought of Sophie ending up with someone else made him ill. When he managed to finally kiss her in the archway in his mother’s garden he knew that this was the woman for him, he couldn’t bear the thought of her being with anyone else. She deserved a life of comfort, of jewels and a man who would worship her.

He didn’t want her as a prize, he wanted her for his, he didn’t want to share… and as his mistress, as his, he wouldn’t have to share… or he would hope he didn’t.

He watched over the following two weeks, the entire household staff, save for the butler adored Sophie. He felt jealousy burn through his skin whenever he saw her talking to another man, regardless of who it was. When she talked to his older brother he felt the urge to strangle his own brother.

In the week he locked himself in his home after he had gotten a taste, gotten to know the feel of Sophie, got to know just how perfect she was for him was torture, he dreamt of her running away with the footman, of another man getting to know her intimately so it was why when he walked towards his mother’s, having been summoned, it was with a sense of dread and purpose.

Sophie had to be his. He needed her like he needed air. He would follow her anyway and if it meant being kicked out of his family, he was seriously considering it…

He loved her. He was sure she loved him… would that be enough?

He had never imagined the burning sensation of jealousy and rage that would cross him when he discovered that she was his lady in silver as well…

The nightmares he had that night where of Sophie in her Silver Gown running away with the footman, laughing in his face and he wasn’t sure what he was angrier at, himself for not realising, his brain for letting him think of these thoughts, or Sophie not telling him…

But seeing her in that Jail, hearing what the warden had done to her… he had never been more pleased he had punched a man.

3 days and she would be his. 3 more days and she would belong to him and all his dreams would come true.

When he eventually told Sophie of his jealous thoughts about the footmen, the butlers, the messengers, Sophie assured him of her love for him and that how she had been sure that before Benedict she had been positive she would never marry, and until the moment his ring slid onto her finger, she had been sure it had been a dream, and that she would have woken up in the tiny attic room at Penwood House and be back to her dull life.

Benedict might still get jealous when other men paid his wife attention, but she was his, and he was hers and she would always come back to him.

#bridgerton #benedict bridgerton #sophie beckett #ash’s headcanons #ash’s Benophie headcanons #Benophie #ash’s asks and answers

[qvnthesia]

Heard you watched shadow and bone do you ship darklina or Malina? I really love your fics so I would love your insight on their characters(alina especially)

Yes, I have watched 'Shadow and Bone' and I ship Darklina *chaos* Oooh! Another character insight, let's get this bread! (note — I'm going to analyse these characters from the SHOW and not the books)

ALINA STARKOV, THE SUN SUMMONER

When I first watched S&B, my first impression of her was courageous yet hesitant, because I had actually never imagined Alina in my head at all.

Thanks to her life at the orphanage, Alina's grown accustomed to the fact that she can't make it. She hesitates for every important action she takes and is a bit naive about the real world. Not going to blame her, she got orphaned, I wouldn't wish those circumstances upon anyone.

I don't like how she always relied on Mal. Like, I get loneliness cripples you, I get it, totally do, loneliness makes you lost in your own head. It makes you desperate for the company you enjoy to stay. But, I don't know, I just didn't like her dependence upon a man who cared about her when her name came up and not as one of his top priorities. Yes, the Darkling wanted Alina's power, but at least he cared for her, gave her the best of facilities at the Little Palace and made sure she was safe.

As the series progresses, Alina learns about her power and becomes more confident in herself. She escapes the Darkling's clutches on foot and finds allies in the Crows and even Zoya. At the end of the series, she's sure of herself and she takes it upon herself to bring down the Fold and end the Darkling's tyranny once and for all. Can't wait to see her in Season 2! (JESSIE'S SUCH AN AMAZING INDIVIDUAL 😭💖)

ALEKSANDER MOROZOVA, THE DARKLING

(let's just ignore the Kirigan thing)

Before I start off, I'd just like to take a minute to LOOK AT HIM because I cannot understand why all the villains are so attractive. I have no idea, it's like the allure of darkness, maybe we're just too tired of being good and want to blow some things up—getting back to the point, yes, this guy. I saw him turn around in that damn tent of his and I stopped breathing (still alive).

I would just like to take a minute to appreciate how bloody fucking good of an actor Ben Barnes is. He's really captured the Darkling's allure (exactly how I imagined him when I read the first book) and it's all there in his eyes and his expression. He's very subtle, charming and dangerously manipulative. Leigh Bardugo captured the theme of manipulation so well in the first book and it's been so clearly depicted in the show (THE BLUE IRIS) and I love it.

Aleksander's cunning. He's calculated, he's got his allies and his support (not enough beyond the Fold, but definitely a lot in Ravka). Overall, he's at the top position. He can overthrow the bloody Tsar but he doesn't dare because he's not THAT powerful enough as he actually projects himself to be. He's a lonely fella, and he needs an equal as his company, which is Alina.

Now, whatever this guy is, IN THE SHOW, I'm certain he truly loved Alina, even if he had bad intentions. He really loved her and she DID love him back but she chose goodness over him, ergo, Mal over him. That's the only human factor about him, otherwise, he's hot—HE'S PURE EVIL, focus more on that, or we're all going to die.

MALYEN ORETSEV, THE TRACKER

This guy's good, he's like Captain America, he's fucking righteous, kicks ass damn fine and he does seem to be the perfect choice for Alina in romantic terms. But I'm going to clear with you — Alina doesn't deserve him, not after the way he kept on treating her.

It's pretty clear she has feelings for him and he completely disregards that in all of his masculine braggadocio and it's absolutely infuriating. He says he knows Alina the best so why the hell didn't he realize that the girl likes him? God, the amount of gaslighting, it's outrageous!

But, he's like the ONLY support for Alina that's there. And I feel she's going to need him, they're both going to need each other after everything that's going to come. He's going to fight for her and beside her and I honestly can't wait to see that!

KAZ BREKKER, BASTARD OF THE BARREL

Again, why are all the bad guys so attractive? Dude, stop. Freddy's done such an amazing job playing Kaz. His dark clothes, the haphephobia (fear of being touched), it's right there in his eyes and that's why he keeps his hands to himself unless it comes down to punches.

You can see that calculating sparkle in his eyes, he's always watching, observing (damn good at that) and his mastermind skills prove why he's the best choice for leading the Crows. He's a bit cold, but deep down, he cares for his comrades AND I LOVE HIM.

INEJ GHAFA, THE WRAITH

Best spy in Ketterdam, here she comes!! I love her character so much. Her backstory, being trapped in that damn brothel making her the mature adventurer of the Crows. She's also agile and lightfooted and that's so much of a contrast with her overall attitude with strangers. She also has knives so you best better be careful because she's damn good with them.

I like how she's rather superstitious with all of her beliefs about the Sun Summoner. It shows how hopeful she is of a brighter future where she wouldn't have to live being shrouded by darkness and just be herself out in the open. I also like Kanej, yes, very much, no debate, and certainly no follow-up questions.

JESPER FAHEY, THE SHARPSHOOTER WITH A GAMBLING PROBLEM

He spins twin pearl revolvers in his hands and shot a couple of Volcras from riding in a rickety train, I don't need to say anything else. Except that I can't wait to see him become a Grisha in the show *screaaaaaaams* AND I WANT MILO BACK, I DON'T CARE, WE NEED A REUNION

ZOYA NAZYALENSKY, COMPETITIVE GRISHA SQUALLER

I really like her character development, it's quite obvious in the show. She hates Alina at first because Alina's favoured by the Darkling more than she is. But she's good at heart, that's why she decides to join Alina and becomes allies with her. I seriously want to see more of them, they'd make incredibly wonderful combatants together.

I like how she's so bold and courageous in the show and isn't afraid to give someone a piece of her mind, be it good or bad.

GENYA SAFIN, THE BEAUTIFUL TAILOR & DAVID KOSTYK, THE BOOKISH DURAST

I love Daisy's portrayal of Genya. She's captured the character's beauty and it's like a mask for hiding her pain from such horrible treatment by the King. She's loyal to the Darkling, but she's certainly more loyal to Alina. She's truly a wonderful friend and confidant and I hope for a wonderful future for her where she feels protected and the boss of her own life. Marriage with David doesn't sound so bad either, does it? Because I'm going down with this ship.

I love David, he's bookish and he throws a book at Jesper. A book! And he's so polite!

NINA ZENIK, GRISHA HEARTRENDER & MATTHIAS HELVAR, FJERDAN drüskelle

We have an enemies-to-lovers pair here! Bold Nina and a bit innocent and blindly loyal Matthias. However, they both believe in good and aren't afraid of putting their lives at risk to save the people that they love. When the time comes for both of them to join the Crows, I feel that both of them will serve as a voice of reason, especially Matthias and make some of the Crows more grounded. Obviously, both will be of immense help, with Nina's powers and Matthias' fighting skills.

IVAN AND FEYDOR, RESIDENTIAL HEARTRENDER COUPLE

Let's be clear — grumpy and sunshine, the only couple with the power to topple everyone else. But the Shadow and Sun conflict does threaten their foundations, so, oops?

Anyways, that was my character and a bit of actor-acting insight on Shadow and Bone. Thank you for reading my fics and for all of your love and support <33 It means a lot, considering I'm in a terrible unproductive writer's block T~T

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and watch the show again. Take careo of yeselves and goodbye!! *runs*

#alina starkov #aleksander morozova #malyen oretsev #zoya nazyalensky #genya safin #david kostyk #nina zenik #matthias helvar #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #jesper fahey #feydor kaminsky #ivan #shadow and bone #characters

[fiveviktorklaus]

am I picturing the umbrella academy as a soulsborne-esque video game where all of the hargreeves have been “corrupted” and you have to defeat them to get them to return to their normal selves? yes. yes, I am. anyway, here’s how I’d see the fights going:

(putting this under a cut because - phew - I kind of got into detail with some of these! why can’t I design video games????) 

luther: tanky as hell. you have to fight him at range or he’ll just mow you down and toss you around like a ragdoll. his boss stage is inside of the academy and is tough because you’re fighting him in narrow corridors where it’s hard to create the space you need to fight him at range. he has a lot of health, so the key defeating him is patience, timing, and dodging so he hits the environment around you. it’s safe to say that the academy takes a lot of damage from it’s number one in this fight.

diego: fight takes place out in the city on a rooftop at night. unlike with luther, you don’t want to put too much distance between yourself and diego. he WILL win if you give him any opportunity to start sniping his knives at you. close ranged combat can also be tricky because he knows how to hold his own in hand to hand as well. you can try your hand at beating him fair and square, but ultimately this will be a gimmick fight that you can easily win by doing a side quest earlier in the game (back at the academy where you fight luther) where you are given the option to destroy grace. if you do, you can remove her head and throw it at diego during his boss stage. he will stop fighting and collapse in despair, giving you the opportunity to defeat him.

allison: fighting her is unique because - unlike with diego and luther - you will not be facing her directly. running straight up to allison is a TERRIBLE idea. she will rumor you. you will lose. every time. you don’t run right up to medusa and look her in the eye, do you? no! this stage will be more of a stealth mission than anything else. you will navigate your way through her arena (a movie set) and try to get the drop on her so that you can take her out. this can be particularly challenging as allison will have rumored several people to patrol and guard the area. don’t get caught!

klaus/ben: you’ll be fighting them, naturally, in a cemetery. and by ‘fighting them’, I mean that you’ll actually have to get through a full level of zombies and ghosts just to get anywhere near the two. once you finally reach klaus, the real fight begins! he will summon ben to defend him, which will make the fight incredibly, incredibly difficult. the trick to this fight will be wearing klaus out so that he has to take breaks in between summoning ben. it’s during those breaks that you jump in and attack, retreating to cover whenever ben appears again and tries to dismantle you with his tentacles. eventually you’ll win the fight and - when you do - klaus, now returned to his true self, will stumble off to find his other siblings.

five: want to fight an annoying boss? LOOK NO FURTHER. after finding a briefcase that teleports you to the commission (in which you will have to get through a level filled with agents and assassins), you’ll finally run into mr. five. this fight will be hard and you will probably die multiple times trying to beat him. the key to defeating five will be learning his patterns and timing because (a) he is quick (b) he hits hard and (c) he fights dirty. once you beat him (after, you know, crying your way through several deaths and respawns), you’re given the option to offer him a cup of coffee that you find earlier in the game while exploring. if you give him the coffee, he will gladly accept and will actually (hooray!) join you as an ally for the final boss.

vanya: welcome to the icarus theatre! are you ready to get your ass kicked? good! because this is where we find vanya all dressed up in her fancy suit! she (and the suit) look perfectly normal at the start. if you brought five along with you, he will engage as a distraction so you can attack whenever her back is turned. vanya will strike with sound waves and occasionally launch various objects at you. ouch. if you try to get too close, she will attempt to perform a grab attack that drains the life out of you if you get caught. this is almost always a one shot kill, so let’s avoid that! with some coordinated teamwork, you can and will take vanya down. while fighting vanya before, the music was sort of soft and eerie. as you approach her to check in after taking her down, you’ll notice that the boss health bar (which was just depleted) has suddenly refilled itself and vanya’s name on top of it has shifted to THE WHITE VIOLIN. a boss fight? with two stages? well, fuck. remember that eerie music before? it just shifted in volume and is exploding with sinister instrumentals (I like to imagine it being to something like ludwig, the holy blade). vanya, who is now transforming into glowstick mode and has upgraded her already edgy suit to Super Edgy White Suit, will wield her violin and will launch even larger sound waves at you that take up nearly the entire arena. sometimes she’ll fly up into the air and charge up particularly devastating sound wave attacks, only to slam into the ground towards you and unleash them in a circle around her. another attack? her bow. she can literally slice you in half with that thing, so it’s a good idea to avoid when she swipes it at you. the white violin is a very, very aggressive boss who rarely gives you space to breathe, so you’ll really have to take advantage of having five around for this part of the fight. this is the only fight in the game where playing it safe is punished, so be ready to strike hard and fast if you wanna take down the white violin!

the umbrella academy as a video game in general would be great. get on it, gerard!

#I....am a big soulsborne fan basically #also I just beat demons souls whoo! #vanyas fight is definitely majorly inspired by lady maria #and I kind of wanna gif this somehow hmm

[entityupdates]

This is a supplementary post for my Rook Gets The Omnitrix AU fic. This post explains which aliens he has and why I choose them.

I love the original ten aliens and I think they’re an amazingly balanced set but for this fic, I wanted to have some underused aliens and just do something different to keep it fun without making OCs. A balanced team generally has water (Ripjaws), fire (Heatblast), energy/ electric/ tech (Upgrade), flight (Stinkfly), smart (Grey Matter), speed (XLR8), building/ versatility/ resistant (Diamondhead), Sensory (Wildmutt), and some kind of unique power (Ghostfreak). Plant manipulation, duplication, and sound are also core powers, I think. Sticking to this formula, here are the aliens I went with for this story:

1. Tidetail Wave

One of the creators confirmed that the Omnitrix has DNA of other Earth species, including the dolphin and white lab mouse. I knew I wanted to use one so I went with the dolphin. There is no canonical name for this transformation so I’m calling it Tidetail Wave.

Since this is an animal we have in real life, I wanted to keep Tidetail’s powers realistic and I’m not taking any creative liberties with this guy. Dolphins powers include swimming, echolocation, sharp vision, electroreception, mud rings/ mud nets, agility, intelligence, enhanced healing and ability to produce natural painkillers, holding their breath for a long time, and incredible speed in the water.

I originally picked Tidetail because he covers the water part of the team but he also covers sensory. Dolphins can use echolocation, meaning they can emit sound and listen to the way it bounces off objects to mentally map their surroundings, and they can also use electroreception, meaning they can sense the electrical impulses that living things give off and use them to find them if their sense of sight is restricted. 

The power I was most interested in was the mud rings/ mud nets dolphins make. In shallow water, they can kick up the sand below to create these rings to trap and disorient prey. I feel like it would be pretty cool to see this in combat.

The Omnitrix usually scans the “ideal” form of a species (as shown in the second Omniverse video game) so Tidetail would be stronger than the average dolphin. Dolphins are already pretty strong and can have pretty wicked teeth designed for latching into things. They’re naturally pretty resistant, have a healing ability several times as strong as humans, and can continue on with injury which would be useful in combat.

2. Archfiend

This is another alien that has been implied to exist by Derrick J. Wyatt but has not been confirmed. We can assume Archfiend’s DNA is in the Codon Stream though and we have seen Benzarro use a version of this alien called Archfiendzarro.

This alien has enhanced strength and durability and hellfire powers but I imagine that any kind of advanced fire techniques are something this alien must learn and just has regular fire powers by default. 

As you can assume, Archfiend would fill the fire slot on this set of aliens. There aren’t a lot of options when it comes to fire aliens. I decided not to go with Heatblast since I wanted to limit the number of original aliens that we see and I didn’t go for Swampfire because he seems a bit too powerful for a beginner Omnitrix wielder to have. I felt like Archfiend was different and unique so I wanted to try him. Plus, I eventually wanted Rook to visit Anur Transyl and I felt like Archfiend would be a good alien to use there.

3. Antigravitesla

Antigravitesla is one of the aliens made for the Latin American commercials but never seen in the show. Antigravitesla has control over gravity but he has trouble controlling his powers. The commercial is only a few seconds so we don’t see much of him but he seems to be very powerful, maybe too powerful for a beginner but I think the inability to control Antigravitesla’s powers balances it out. Since he cannot be easily controlled, he cannot be used as much or very well and it also presents a challenge to the Omnitrix bearer.

I wanted to take some creative liberties with this alien and give him some electrical powers as well since he is named after the man who designed the modern alternating current electricity supply system, thus allowing him to take the place of energy alien on the set. I did consider going for Upgrade or Brainstorm on this one but Antigravitesla is my favorite commercial alien and I wanted to take on the challenge of writing an alien like this.

4. Terrorsaur

Terrorsaur is one of the Tom Perkins aliens that he made for fun and was not based on anything in the show, though he did intend for this guy to be a Ben 10K alien. Terrorsaur is a flying alien with the ability to cause terrifying hallucinations. I choose him to cover Stinkfly’s flying ability and some of Ghostfreak’s spookiness.

Like with Antigravitesla’s powers, I think the hallucinations may be a bit overpowered but, the Omnitrix bearer can’t always use all of an aliens powers right off the bat. I think that at first, Rook would only be able to use Terrorsaur for flight and master the rest of Terrorsaur’s powers later on.

A lot of the Omnitrix aliens can fly but Stinkyfly is pretty much the only one good for riding. I didn’t want to use Stinkfly though and it wasn’t that difficult to settle on Terrorsaur. I really like this alien and I think his scary appearance would be fun to write.

5. Four Arms

I think we all know who Four Arms is. He’s got super strength, thick skin, and not much else which makes him an excellent beginner alien. When it comes to strength, I didn’t want to pick someone too overpowered and I also wanted to have a balance of unique and recognizable aliens. Four Arms felt like a good choice. 

I did consider using an Acrosian (Fistina’s species) since supposedly the Omnitrix does have that DNA. I thought it may be funny but I already named Tidetail and I didn’t want to have too many forms without canonical names since that feels a bit like OC territory and I didn’t want to do that. I also considered Atomix or Humungasaur but I thought that would be too overpowered.

6. Juryrigg

I had a hard time settling on who to pick for the smarts category. Grey Matter and Brainstorm are probably the best choices since their intelligence covers a lot. I also was leaning towards Gutrot for awhile, even if his knowledge is mostly surrounding chemistry, before I settled on Juryrigg. Juryrigg’s intelligence is surrounding machines which I think is a good supplement to Rook’s interest in cars. He needs to be used responsibly but his powers are good in and out of combat. Plus, he’s pretty fast and he’s got claws which is a good skill to have if he ever is separated from machinery. 

7. XLR8

Like with fire, there aren’t a lot of options for speed. The main options are XLR8, Fasttrack, Skidmarx, and Jetray. I love Jetray but I already had flight, water, and energy covered. Jetray may be too overpowered for a beginner. I’m not too familiar with Fasttrack and I almost went with him for that reason. I really wanted to use Skidmarx but we don’t actually know his powers and from what little we do know, I thought he might be a bit overpowered.

Like Four Arms, I think XLR8 is a good strong but simple choice. They’re also fairly recognizable and I wanted to have a few aliens who characters would recognize. Plus I really like XLR8.

8. Bloxx

I almost went with Diamondhead for this spot. Diamondhead is an amazing alien and one of my favorites. His crystal building can be used in many ways and he is very strong and durable. But, I decided to go with Bloxx which is basically just a weaker, more bendy version of Bloxx.

Bloxx gets a lot of hate and I think he was mostly used for comical reasons in Omniverse but I think he is a good beginner alien and he had potential if he is used right.

9. Kringl The Summoner

Like Terrorsaur, Kringl is one of Tom Perkin’s designs that he made after the show and is technically noncanonical. I picked this guy to fill the miscellaneous slot but his powers are kind of similar to Ditto’s. Kringl has the power to summon energy constructs that resemble elves. I imagine he also has some kind of enhanced strength or durability and some kind of ice powers like Artiguna. I also feel like he would have some kind of mental link with his energy elves. Maybe he has weak senses and he relies on them to navigate? 

I’m not sure if Kringl is overpowered or underpowered but I wanted to use him. I feel like he’s a very unexpected alien who can be pretty useful. 

10. Wildvine

Last but not least, Wildvine. Plant powers were not on the original squad but I think they’re a core ability. Swampfire is a bit too strong but Wildvine has a good set of powers. Plant manipulation, regeneration, stretchy limbs, digging, and seed bombs make a diverse skillset. Plus, Wildvine is a classic alien who was not part of the original set. He’s fun, he’s strong, and chances are his powers will be pretty useful on Revonnah.

#ben 10 #ben 10 series #ben 10 aliens #ben 10 fanfiction

[omgyouatetheprincess]

Rain ⟿ prinxiety

I was listening to Rain by Ben Platt (which you need to listen to because it’s truly amazing) and I couldn’t stop imagining Roman and Virgil dancing along to it, so I wrote something for it :)

pairing ⟿ romantic virgil/roman

plot ⟿ During a storm, sometimes it's safer to not hide under trees, and instead dance under the rain. Roman and Virgil have a fight, but there may be one way to salvage their relationship

warnings ⟿ censored cursing (like three times maybe), mentioned past roceit and anxceit, unsympathetic!Deceit

word count ⟿ 4382

ao3 link ⟿ https://archiveofourown.org/works/29260683

If he could literally glare daggers, Virgil's ceiling would be gone beyond repair. As Derek Sanders sang the chorus of 'I'd Hate To Be You When People Find Out What This Song Is About' with raw emotion, Anxiety huffed and blinked back angry tears. He shouldn't be here, he should be on that date he had set up, but no - something just had to go wrong. Something always had to go wrong. That's just how things work when you think you have a chance at happiness. It happened with Janus, and Virgil was an idiot to think it wouldn't happen with Roman.

Roman, as annoying and boisterous as he was, had managed to intrude his way into Virgil's heart over the many months he had been trying to court the former dark side, and the latter gave in. Whether because he was curious, bored, or actually developed feelings for the prince, Virgil didn't know why but he agreed to go on a date with his pursuer. One date turned into two, two turned into five, and soon six months had flown by of them dating. Sometimes Creativity set them up in the Mindpalace, where his only limitation was himself, or they settled for simple movie nights in each other's rooms. Either way, Roman was the one who always put in the effort, and for once Virgil felt motivated to plan something special, it being their 'anniversary' and all (though he refused to acknowledge it as that).

But when you light a fire in the woods, it's bound to burn down.

Figuratively, of course. There was no literal fire, but there may as well be considering how burnt Virgil felt on the inside. All it really took was the smallest ember, something so small you wouldn't think it would be a problem. In fact, something so small that in all the anger he was in after, Anxiety forgot what the first spark was - all he remembered was the smoke and then the flames.

"Just move on, dude! Janus lies to everyone, it's literally who he is." Virgil yelled, getting annoyed at how many times Roman mentioned the snake. The two had a ... messy relationship, to say the least, though no one, not even the two involved, knew exactly what, but then the princely side dropped Miss Lie-gon one day. He realized Deceit was playing him all along, big surprise to no one else, and when Lee and Mary Lee tied the knot, Roman and Janus severed their ties. They weren't together, or even go on dates, but the selfish serpent would flirt with the prideful prince, butter him up, and Roman soaked it all up like a sponge. Being told exactly what he wanted to hear made it easy to trick him, even if the two had the same goal - the callback.

Roman scoffed as his hand flew to his chest. "Move on? You have no idea what I'm going through." He screamed back, just as annoyed at the audacity of the man in front of him, the man who set up a blanket fort in Roman's room to surprise him with a movie night, which had now been abandoned admist all the crossfire and was starting to cave in, spilling popcorn all over the floor, making a crackling background noise to their fight.

It was Virgil's turn to scoff, and he threw his arms in the air, feigning defeat. "Well, f*ck me gently with a chainsaw, you're right! It's not like Deceit and I have a history or anything, it's not like we were in a relationship before you two were or anything, it's not like he made me feel like gum on the bottom of his shoe or anything!" Sarcasm dripped from his words as he ranted and raved. "Oh wait, except all of that did happen, so I know exactly what you're going through. But do you see me still bringing him up after months?"

Neither Logan nor Patton know what compelled Virgil to leave the others, though Patton was convinced it was because Virgil had a fear of the dark, but after weeks of getting closer, Virgil entrusted Roman enough to tell him. Deceit loved the attention, and would usually seek it from Virgil since Remus could be, well, a bit much at times, but that led to Virgil thinking they were dating. However, Janus only cared about one side and that was himself. He was never emotionally there for Virgil, would insult him but not in the joking way like Roman did, and was overall a sh*tty person to be around. Virgil felt worse and worse with each day and knew that it was affecting Thomas too, so he made the decision to leave the source of his problems. It was tough since he had depended on Janus for a while, but when the Light Sides showed Virgil real love, only then did he realize that what he went through with Deceit wasn't healthy, and that he never wanted to feel like that again.

And that was why it took Roman months to score a date with Virgil. He didn't want to make another mistake like before. Anxiety knew Roman was different than Janus, and literally had hundreds of love letters telling him how much Roman wanted to be with him, cared about him, wanted to make him the Chemical to his Romance, but knew that one day the sh*t would hit the fan again.

Roman spat that Virgil was just like Janus, then there was more screaming from both of them before Virgil kicked down the last of the derelict blanket fort and sunk out into his room. And that was where he stayed for the rest of the night and the following day.

His playlist of angsty, angry songs that he was saving for a rainy day finally fulfilled its purpose. Music had always calmed Virgil, or at least made him feel better, but now it somehow made him feel... lost. Whenever Virgil had anxiety attacks or was feeling like a trash bin overflowing with waste, Roman would sing to him to ease his mind. So now, music just made Virgil miss his prince.

Vindicated by Dashboard Confessional played for the fourth time, and Virgil tore off his black headphones, throwing them and his phone down onto the messy clothes pile on his floor. His head fell into his hands, wanting nothing more than to go back in time - to stop the fight or stop the dating, he wasn't sure which one. Or maybe just to stop himself from getting rid of his music because the silence was overbearing.

Well, almost silence.

Virgil heard knocking at his door, and felt himself pale. His throat felt raw from screaming Paramore into his pillow all night, but he still cleared it and looked up from his hands.

"Who is it?" He hated how broken his voice sounded. There was no response. "Hello?" Still none. Groaning, Virgil stood on two shaky legs, feeling light-headed, and approached the door like a dear might approach a man with a net and gun. Half of him hoped Creativity wasn't on the other side, while the other half prayed it was.

Slowly, he unlocked the door and opened it the tiniest bit to see who was interrupting his moping, but there was no one there. Confused, Virgil opened it a little more, and a movement caught his eye - the flapping of paper. Someone had taped a folded piece of paper to his door. Taking the note, Anxiety anxiously looks up and down the corridor before retreating back inside his room.

The paper was pink and smelled like strawberries, just like all the love letters Virgil had stuffed into a box underneath his bed, which meant it was from the same sender. Did he dare read it?

Chewing his lip, he contemplated unfolding it. Meanwhile, another side was just as nervous as he was about the note.

Roman sat on a throne he had temporarily summoned in the Mindpalace and bounced his leg. Why did he think this was a good idea? He had ruined everything with Virgil, why would Anxiety want to see him again? It seemed like a good idea half an hour ago, but now Princey had the tightest knot in his stomach from the anticipation.

The idea first came to him when he was rewatching Ben Platt's Netflix special to comfort him. The Broadway actor's songs felt special to the theatre kid since he related Virgil and their relationship to them. But one song in particular stood out this time. The words alone contributed to their lives, but the chorus prompted a thought in Creativity's head. Anxiety had once said that, as sappy as it was, he'd love to dance in the rain one day, but Roman knew his hair would get messed up so they never did it.

But if Roman's stormcloud wanted to dance in the rain, then that's exactly what he'll do.

Digging out the special paper he used to write love letters to his crush, Roman wrote in a purple glitter pen:

"Please meet me in the Mindpalace ASAP. - Princey"

Princey didn't bother writing an apology, figured it would mean more if it was in person, and used the nickname Virgil had given him. Then, leaving the fallen down mess of blankets in his room, he stuck the note to Virgil's door, knocked a few times to get his attention, and hightailed it to his second favourite place, his corner of the Mindpalace - his first favourite being Virgil's room.

And that was where Roman waited for his Night in Black Armour, his mind filled with doubts and words he shouldn't have said. He tried to distract himself by going over his plan mentally, but his intrusive regrets repeatedly made themselves known. He tried to rehearse his apology, but his insecurities reminded him that he didn't deserve forgiveness.

How much time had passed? Roman summoned a small pocket watch, which showed that an hour had passed since he arrived. Did Virgil not read the note, or worse, did he ignore what was written? Sighing, the prince on the brink of tears stood up, and was about to sink out, when something felt different all of a sudden. Being the controller of this part of the Mindpalace, Creativity could tell who was in there and what they summoned, and right now he wasn't alone in there.

"Where're you going, Roman?" A bitter voice called out, but when Roman looked around the town he had created, he couldn't see the person it belonged to. "Got something better to do?" The snide voice that was full of hatred and fire that hadn't quite yet been put out seemed to be all around Roman, almost as if to taunt him. It had been so rare that Virgil used his name instead of a nickname, and it hurt more than it should have. Did Virgil come just to break him more (which he felt he fully deserved), or was the prince imagining it?

With a wave of his hand, Creativity got rid of his throne and a small hopeful smile blessed his face. "You're here." He breathed, not sure if it was a statement or a question.

As if to answer, a figure emerged from the shadows behind one of the buildings and looked around, admiring the scene. Or just avoiding eye contact. Roman had created a town at night, the lampposts illuminating the cobble streets with a soft purple lighting, giving the scene a gentle magenta aesthetic. They were on a long winding road, but behind Roman was a big, open town square with a fountain.

Still not looking at Roman directly, Virgil cleared his throat and crossed his arms. "Let's just get this over and done with, I haven't screamed my lungs out to All I Wanted yet." He joked humorlessly. Truth be told, the moping side wasn't exactly sure why he had come, wasn't sure what he was expecting.

After working up the courage to read the note, Virgil sat and started at the curly handwriting for what felt like an eternity, but honestly was however long 'The Ice Is Getting Thinner' by Death Cab for Cutie was. There was nothing Virgil wanted right then more than to see the side he had grown attached to, but the worst case scenarios were of course the first thing he thought of. Maybe Roman would humiliate him in front of Logan and Patton, maybe banish him back to the dark sides (he was dramatic like that, so it was definitely a possibility), or maybe he would take mercy on poor Anxiety and just end whatever they had by telling him how much he hated him.

Roman had traits in common with Janus, but while they were Janus' flaws, they were what made Roman great. His stubbornness was the reason Virgil took a chance on him, which led to the happiest days of his life, his confidence made Virgil start to love himself too, and his passion for things he loved made every date, or even just every day, an adventure. And Virgil would rather throw himself into Oogie Boogie's lair than let someone as incredible as Roman go.

Letting out a relieved breath and smiling like Hamilton when Eliza forgives him, Princey took a few cautious steps towards Virgil, even though he was still a few buildings away from him. "Okay, but first - we're gonna need these." He snapped his fingers, and a raincoat appeared on both of them.

The sudden change startled Virgil a little, and he jumped slightly before looking down at his outfit. The coat was semi-opaque and tinted violet with his logo patterned on, which was similar to Roman's, which was red with his own emblem. Anxiety looked up at Creativity, raising an eyebrow, but before he could ask what they were for, a song began playing from somewhere. Having listened to an album that reminded him of his prince a thousand times, Virgil recognized it straight away.

"You say you've been through this before, you gave away all your secrets to someone who up and left you in pieces," The dramatic side began singing, and Virgil had to stop himself laughing - of course Roman would try and win him back by serenading him. He sang the next line, looking a little bashful. "I know the feeling, believe me.

"I know the prices you gotta pay, I'm sacrificing my freedom and all just to get somebody to see me. Nobody said it was easy." Every so words, Roman would take a step closer towards Virgil, who would occasionally take a step back.

Pretending not to notice, a humble smile replaced Princey's (rare) serious face, and he put a little more zazz into his movements, almost like dancing. "My heart's been broken and broken and broken and broken, but I keep-keep on hoping and hoping and hoping and hoping that if it keeps on breaking and breaking and breaking and breaking then one day it'll open and open and open and open and open for you-"

You'd have to be a robot, or Logan, to resist laughing at how ridiculous Roman looked right now, and Virgil was too stubborn to show that he was entertained, so he turned slightly to hide his face. If the literal embodiment of pride and ego was willing to make a fool of himself like this, it must have meant he was serious, right?

"Hey!" Stopping his 'walking', Roman stood in the middle of the street with his arms out, and the emo turned to look at him again. "I know we've both been afraid! But we can't run from the wind and the thunder when we're dancing under the rain, the rain, the rain!"

On the appropriate lyrics, the wind picked up a little and the faint rumbling of thunder could be heard. The storm could be a metaphor for their current situation, but maybe they could ignore the conflict by just enjoying the moment. On the third 'rain', the grey clouds littering the night sky began to weep on the quiet town, and Virgil couldn't help but gasp and flinch at the coldness, not that he minded. Flipping the hood up over his head, mostly worried about the eyeshadow he reapplied a few minutes ago, the darkly-dressed side was suddenly glad he swapped his usual ripped jeans for some comfy sweatpants.

However, Mr. Perfection seemed completely unaffected, not even bothering to cover his 'award-winning' hair. He walked towards Anxiety, who was hugging himself, and stopped when he was within arms reach. "Hey! I know we got what it takes. Ain't gonna run from the wind and the thunder when we're dancing under the rain-" Roman extended a hand towards Virgil, who looked down at it like it was both a lifeline and the shark in the waves. "The rain-" Cautiously testing the waters, Virgil put his small, pale hand in Roman's soft and slighter tanned one. "The rain! We're dancing under the rain!"

Pulling his stormcloud closer, Virgil didn't stop the laugh that escaped his lips, which caused Roman to join in too while slowly moving backwards with a spring in his stride. This wasn't going up in flames like either of them feared it would. Not to mention, Virgil was smiling again - dear Fairy Godmother, his smile was the sappy romantic's Kryptonite, and his immortality.

"Breathe deep, let it wash over you." It was almost getting hard to sing while Roman was beaming enough to light up a stadium, but he continued, leading the man he was hopelessly devoted to into the centre of the town with lots of free open space. Virgil did what the lyrics told him to, taking a deep breath, and when he exhaled he let all his worries, all the negativity he had been feeling just flow right off of him. He immediately felt better. "We're slowly becoming lovers, I promise you we won't be like the others."

The rainfall went from a trickle to a pour, but neither of them minded. It was true they had been getting closer over the past few months, and as much as Virgil tried to ignore it, he was falling in love with Roman, something he never would have expected. At first, it scared him how quickly these strong emotions came, but now he fully intended on embracing them. He wanted to show how he felt, show that he wasn't mad anymore and that he was sorry for what he said too, show that he wasn't afraid of being with Roman.

As the other side sang the next line, Virgil reached up to run his hand through the fairest prince's hair as joined in with a loud, confident voice.

"We won't go running for cover!"

It clearly took Roman aback slightly, who's eyes widened and smile spread from ear-to-ear. Taking advantage of his speechlessness, the shy side used the lyrics to convey how he felt too.

Imitating the little dance/walk Creativity did earlier, Anxiety guided him backwards, grinning like a true man in love. Which was exactly what he was. "My heart's been broken and broken and broken and broken, but I keep-keep on hoping and hoping and hoping and hoping that if it keeps on breaking and breaking and breaking and breaking then one day it'll open and open and open and open and open for you-"

It didn't take long for them to get into the wide area, and when they did, the lights changed from a purple hue to an intimate pink. A mischievous smirk graced Virgil's slightly red face, and as he yelled the next word, he jumped in a puddle, splashing himself but mostly Princey, whose jaw dropped. "Hey! I know we've both been afraid..."

"But we can't run from the wind and the thunder when-" Getting over his initial shock, the song turned into a duet, with both of the sides singing from their hearts. Roman took both of the usually dismal side's hands and began to swing the two men around in circles. "We're dancing under the rain, the rain, the rain!"

And that's exactly what they did. Together, they danced under the pouring rain as they continued to sing together, not caring about the puddles they were stomping in or the cold they weren't feeling - only each other. "Hey! I know we got what it takes, ain't gonna run from the wind and the thunder when we're dancing under the rain, the rain, the rain. We're dancing under the rain!"

They say that couples should finish each other's sentences, but Virgil and Roman were above that. As the song broke into two parts, the prince and the panic perfectly completed it, with the theatrical Thomas Sanders side taking the over-the-top part and the more modest mental-physical personality singing backup, which he didn't mind. Either way, they completed each other.

"Broken and broken and broken and broken, but I keep, keep on hopin' and hopin' and hopin' and hopin' that if it keeps on breakin' and breakin' and breakin' and breakin' then one day it'll open and open and open and open and open for you."

"We're dancing under the rain! Dancing under the rain, woah!"

Perfectly, the two voices joined to finish the last two choruses together. They were in unison, almost like they were one, and the dancing only got more in sync, with added twirls and footwork - Roman and Virgil danced like no one was watching, just the storm clouds above and the moon in all her glory.

Virgil would swear on his Fall Out Boy vinyls that he had never been happier in his existence, which is saying something for the embodiment of anxiety. He had never had someone cared for him like this before, and he had never not hated someone so much. As someone with a crippling fear of judgement from others, he sure was pretty carefree at that moment, spinning in the rain with a prince, both of them drenched to their cores.

If someone asked Roman to describe how he felt in that moment, he wouldn't be able to say - the moment was indescribable and he would give up all his playbills to frame it and hang it in a museum like the priceless artifact it was. It could be argued that, as well as creativity, he could represent romanticism and romance in general, which meant he was easily prone to developing strong feelings, but what he felt for the emo constantly on his mind didn't need a reason for him to know it was real and the greatest feeling he never wanted to let go.

The tension was rising, and they were both excited to finish the song, because even though this brought them so much more closer than ever before, they both wanted to see what would happen at the end.

"-We're dancing under the rain." Virgil had stopped singing, and while Roman continued, he stared at the man in front of him, the man he loved with his whole emo being. "The rain," Those lips, slightly pink from the cold, were like a siren lulling in this helpless sailor. And he wanted to drown at the hands of it. "The rain, we're dancing under the-"

Roman never sang that last word. Before he could, Virgil grabbed the front of his raincoat and pulled him towards him, pressing their lips together. Fireworks exploded somewhere, whether they were literally there or not neither of them were sure, but the sparks were electrifying. The rain didn't only stop, but the free-falling droplets froze in the air around the couple. It was like the whole Earth stopped for them to savour their first kiss.

It was perfect for Anxiety and Creativity. It didn't matter if the former had slightly chapped lips, it didn't matter if the latter still had his arms awkwardly out mid-dance, the kiss was the most perfect thing to either of them. Maybe they both were sappy for each other. Finally, Roman moved his arms to Virgil's shoulders, then felt the other's hands on his waist, holding him close.

Eyes closed, chests warm and time stopped, their lips moved purposefully together with the passion of a great typhoon and the sweetness of a petal on a stream. Fifteen seconds felt like fifteen lifetimes together, and when they unfortunately but inevitably had to resurface for air, their faces could light up all of America with how much they were smiling. Virgil rested his forehead slightly on top of Roman's (he loved teasing that he would be a little taller than the prince if he didn't slouch so much) and let out the lightest laugh.

"So you're not mad at me anymore?" The insecure side asked, looking bashfully at the emo he had just serenaded and got his self-proclaimed 'Vogue-worthy' hair messy for - at the exact time that said emo spoke.

"I love you."

Instead of replying, Roman's eyes widened to the size of magic mirrors and he held his breath, almost as if he was scared to make another sound and hear Virgil take it back. But he didn't. "I'm sorry, I know you probably really wanted to say it first, but I was scared I'd run away before saying it, which-" Clearly, Anxiety was having a fight with himself about whether he should take flight, and Roman held him impossibly closer to keep him safe in his arms.

"I love you so much."

Virgil's rambling came to a swift end, and he stared into the other's eyes after he confessed that to try and see if there was any sign of deception, and when he realized there wasn't, he pounced forward for another kiss. Hearing those words had lifted so much weight off of both of their shoulders. This kiss was shorter this time, mostly because Roman pulled away. He lifted his arm and sneezed into the crook on his elbow, and realized they were still out in the cold rain, which was falling normally again.

They both laughed, and Virgil held out a hand. "Come on, let's get out of here. His royal sickness can recover in his room, right after we rebuild that blanket fort,"

#prinxiety #virgil sanders #roman sanders #unsympathetic janus #unsympathetic deceit #past roceit #past anxceit #ben platt #song fic #dancing in the rain #kissing in the rain #angst to fluff #prinxiety angst

[umbrellas-be-falling]

imagine if the hargreeves siblings went to disney!

A/N: some attractions or parks are invented ¿ it's just that i don't remember very well, the last time i went to disney was like in 2013, so my memory it's not that good 😅😅

luther would be always on the roller coasters, although it came to a point where the siblings stopped to use the roller coasters because he ended up vomiting on a ride.

because of these, they decided to just walk around the parks, although the rest would constantly stop to get some drinks or try to win some prizes.

and some funny moments with some little kids approaching to luther, asking for a hug because the kids thought he was part of the disney staff. it was cute.

diego and vanya were the ones who were trying to win some prizes, mostly on the mini game stands of throwing darts into ballons.

it may be suspicious for the host of the attraction because of diego's perfect aim, but vanya just said that he practiced a lot at home with darts

allison would go to the shops, buying some mickey ears for all of them and some toys and pins for claire.

she also ended buying some snow globes with the themes of old disney movies for her siblings and for grace! each sibling has their own snow globe

klaus would be playing on one of the water parks, he also tried to summon ben! although it didn't worked, because ben didn't wanted to give the poor little kids a trauma.

although, the water park had a something similar to a cave, klaus took a chance to enter the cave and then he summoned ben in the cave.

ben admitted that he had a lot of fun and was thankful for the funny moment with his sibling.

five would be making sure they wouldn't get into any trouble, he only got on the roller coasters, claiming that those games were the only ones to get his attention. he would also be wearing the mickey ears that allison had bought for him!

and klaus teased him by calling him boring and "old man".

five just scoffed and rolled his eyes.

and finally, they all went to a scape room, it was fun, but it ended up with them being kicked out because five, diego and vanya had gotten scared.

five had punched a teen on the face (the teen ended up with a broken nose), diego almost stabbed a member of the staff and vanya got startled with a sound and made the windows "explode"

#the umbrella academy #tua #five hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #luther hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #allison hargreeves #diego hargreeves #ben hargreeves #the umbrella academy headcanons #tua headcanon #tua imagines

[gloriainalbis]

Half a Person

Klaus Hargreeves x Reader Words: 7.8k Warnings: Drugs, smoking, and alcohol, mentions of ODing and death, swearing  Summary: It’s difficult watching the person you care about most in the world barreling towards rock bottom, and it’s even more difficult when you only find out after. Ao3

--

      For what felt like the hundredth time, you were waiting outside a formidably bland concrete building, leaning against your car and staring up at a sign that read ‘Something-Something Clinic’ or ‘The-Such-And-Such Center.’ Today it was Lakeshore Hills Rehabilitation. You’d gotten the all too familiar call only a week ago, and it was the first time you’d heard anything from Klaus in almost a month. Seeing Lakeshore’s name pop up, you’d answered immediately. You had the main number for close to every rehab center in the city saved in your phone for precisely this eventuality. 

--

“Klaus?!” you answered expectantly. “y/n! Oh, how I’ve missed your voice!” You ignored him and got right to the point. “Where have you been?” “Oh, here and there. Rehab, mostly.” Well, that explained his absence, but not the lack of calls. “Why haven’t I heard from you? I was worried.” You still were, honestly, but decided to leave that part out. “Oh, you know, reasons.” It was painfully apparent that he was leaving something out. “Anyways! Got any plans for next Friday?” “Do you need someone to pick you up?” “Excellent deduction skills, y/n.” “Thank you. What time?” “Noon, Lakeshore Hills. Be there or be square!” You grinned, grateful that he couldn’t see you smiling at his joke. “Okay, Klaus.” “Great, thank you. Goodbye!” “Wait!-” the line clicked and went dead, leaving you with some answers and even more questions.

-- 

      You still hadn’t heard from Klaus in the past week, but you tried not to hold that against him. Someone from the rehab center had called you a few days ago to confirm that you were Klaus’s designated pick-up, which was one of many hints that something wasn’t right. You were often there to pick him up, but it was seldom that it was required. The front doors burst open. “y/n!” Klaus was beaming as he jumped over the front steps. “Hey, Klaus.” You had planned on scolding him and asking questions but forgot as soon as you saw him. “It’s so good to see you!” He pulled you into a giant hug, and the feathery trim of his coat tickled your cheek. “Mr. Hargreeves!” you heard from the door, “Mr. Hargeeves, wait! We still need you and your escort to sign discharge papers.” He pulled away and cocked an eyebrow at you, “Oooh, escort…” he purred. “How scandalous,” you joked before turning to the nurse. “Forgive him.” You walked with Klaus back to the building, signed the papers, and then left, for real this time. When you finally got back to the car, he seemed to sink into the passenger’s seat, slumping into it and propping his feet up on the dashboard in front of him, plastic hospital bracelet dangling from his wrist. You tried to keep your eyes on the road, but couldn’t help sneaking a glance at him. The lines of exhaustion were written clearly all over his face. “So,” you started. “You look… unwell.” “I have my reasons.” He shot you a nonchalant grin that didn’t seem to fit the mood, but oh well. You turned off the main road and were only a few streets away from Klaus’s apartment when he stopped you. “Ooooh, wait, I have a huge favor to ask of you.” He sat up a little straighter. “Okay? Shoot.” “Well, I got evicted, so-” “You what?!” Well, that was quite the bombshell. “I was kicked out! My lease is no more, it’s passed on, gone to meet its maker, it’s an ex-lease, whatever.” He gestured dramatically into thin air. You persisted, “When did this happen?” “While I was in rehab,” he admitted quietly. He still seemed to be hiding something, though, which worried you.   “Is that even legal? Can they do that?” “Uuuuhhhh....” he tried to stall, but you shot him an incredibly motivating glare. “Alright, fine. I may or may not have neglected to pay my rent, and upon further inquiry was found severely passed out.” Excuse you? What was that supposed to mean? If you weren’t worried before (which you had been), you were now. “What? Did you-” “On the upside, it was the closest I’ve been to actually seeing Ben in years!” He brushed you off with an even more cryptic admission. “Oh my god, Klaus, what do you mean?” You could feel your heart sinking lower and lower in your chest as he continued to ignore your questions. “That I definitely need a place to stay.” You had already turned around and started driving back to your place. “No, I meant-“ “Do you mind, (Y/N), if I used your couch for a while, pretty pleaaaase?” That exhaustion from earlier was peeking through his resolve, and you could see how much he just needed to sleep, to rest. Maybe he would talk about it later. “Fine,” you acquiesced, hoping this wouldn’t bite you in the ass later. “Yay! Thank you, y/n!” He clapped his hands triumphantly and blew joyful kisses at you until you finally smiled. 

      The rest of the car ride involved minimal chatter as you tried to process what he had told you. It was incredibly serious. From what you could tell, going over his words again and again in your head, ‘severely passed out,’ ‘closest to actually seeing Ben in years,’ he had OD’d, and not in his typical wake-up-in-the-ambulance fashion. You knew that he could see and talk to Ben, at least when he was mostly sober, so being closer to him than he had been in years meant something different. How were you only hearing about this now? Since he had just gotten out of rehab, this had to have been at the very least a month ago. Klaus could have realistically, actually died. Your mind raced with possibilities and questions, but most of all, you just wanted to make sure he would be okay. He had to be. You made an odd pair, you being a somewhat put together, mostly functioning adult, and him being a clingy junkie whose life was perpetually in shambles. Still, you couldn’t imagine your world without him in it. He was your best friend, the person you cared about more than your self-preservation instincts wanted to allow. You saw so much more in him than he could ever imagine. Without him… you didn’t even want to entertain the notion. You were all about being prepared, but this was too real. You couldn’t think those thoughts and imagine that you could very well go through them all again in not too long, for real. 

      You got back to your apartment finally, telling Klaus you’d make space on the couch for him before going off to find pillows and blankets. He started walking backward hastily in the direction of your bathroom. “I gotta go- in the other room- to the bathroom- for a sec…” “Okay, Klaus…” It was strange, but Klaus himself was strange, and it wasn’t the weirdest thing you’d heard from him today. Klaus made sure he saw you leave the room before walking into the bathroom and locking the door behind him. As an addict and junkie, he’d hidden stashes everywhere. Honestly, the Hargreeves mansion would probably be worth considerably more if all the drugs hidden there were taken into account, and those stashing instincts extended to your apartment as well. Klaus stared intently at the tile walls of your bathroom, looking for the one that was slightly out of place. He found it above the toilet, a few tiles down from the ceiling. 

      You returned to the living room, placing down your gathered things before sitting beside them, melting into the couch, exhausted, as Klaus had done in your car. With him momentarily gone, you had some space to think- and break down. You let out a quiet sob. And then another. You had been so close to losing Klaus and knew that it would, in all likelihood, only happen again. And again. And again. You needed to be there for him and make him see how much he meant to you, but he was once more approaching rock bottom, and you didn’t know if you could take it this time. A painful tension built in your chest as you tried to keep some semblance of composure, but sobs kept bubbling up and the hurt kept ripping through you. So, head in hands, you curled up, pulling yourself closer and closer inward. 

      Klaus was standing on your toilet, carefully and quietly removing a loose wall tile. “Bingooo!” he whispered with levity. “This is a bad idea,” Ben spoke, suddenly appearing in your bathroom. “Oh, Ben, lovely to see you. Bye now!” Ben glared indignantly as Klaus wiggled his fingers and un-summoned him. “Wha- Klaus!” “Toodles!” And with that, Ben disappeared.       He was replacing the tile, pill bottle in hand, when he heard a sound coming from the living room. He froze, listening. He had learned many things during the decade and a half he spent under the instruction of Reginald Hargreeves, one being the importance of gathering intel. When faced with an unfamiliar environment or sound, listen, stay still, and wait. Figure out what it is before proceeding. But, being perfectly honest, Klaus wasn’t thinking about his childhood superhero training at that moment, he was far more concerned with being caught. Nevertheless, the sound became clearer as he focused on it, and he could eventually make out sniffling and- crying? Shoving the pills into his coat pocket, he leaned down and steadied himself on the counter before slowly stepping off the toilet, being careful to ensure that the rubber soles of his shoes didn’t squeak. He unlocked the bathroom as quietly as possible and crept into the doorway to see what was wrong. Something in his heart broke. The crying slowed to fitful sniffles, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the tears still shining in your red eyes and on your cheeks. The pill bottle felt unrealistically heavy in his pocket as his stomach dropped right down to his feet, leaving only sickening embarrassment and shame. He felt like a complete and utter piece of shit. He tried to let it pass, but it just kept washing over him in waves. It was difficult, but even more so was trying to keep that fear and guilt from showing in his voice as he spoke up. “y/n?” Surprised and a little startled by his sudden appearance, you turned around and made attempts to wipe your eyes dry, but it was too late. And you both knew it. You tried not to look at him as he crossed the room and sat beside you, very contained and un-Klaus-like. By contrast, he couldn’t tear his eyes from you and couldn’t stop feeling like shit. Then you turned to him, perking up and putting on a thinly veiled smile, the tone of your voice too cheery to be sincere. “Hey, Klaus, what’s up?” The furious drying had only worsened the redness of your eyes as you continued to look like a vision of sorrow. “Well, I saw you crying. So that’s something.” You should’ve known that he understood you too well to be fooled that easily. And he was right. Your smile broke, eyebrows furrowing into a painful look of grief. “Are you alright?” he knew his words were hollow. It was more than obvious that you weren’t alright, but he didn’t want to point out or confirm why. You slumped back into the couch, looking defeated. This was difficult to say. “It’s… hard. To see you so determined to destroy yourself.” You stopped there, wanting to be strong, unwaveringly stable, worried that Klaus would lose all motivation if your faith in him wasn’t absolute. But feelings and emotions aren’t that simple. Klaus relied strongly on you to ground him, to provide a baseline and a home, but he was well aware of his failure to maintain any and all relationships and didn’t expect much beyond that. And besides, he was used to letting people down and had been able to see your weariness with him grow considerably over the past few months. And you- you were tired. The fuel of your optimism and hope had gone completely dry, and you were running on empty. You wanted to believe he could and would stay sober but you just didn’t anymore. There was the occasional good day or two, but they never lasted. He didn’t know what to do, what he could say, to make it better. So he went with the next best thing, sincerity. He reached out for your hand, both to steady himself and to let you know how much he meant what he was about to say. “I’m sorry,” he whispered through a broken voice. It was small and nearly silent, but you appreciated it far more than any speech or string of excuses. It was real and genuine. Letting go of your hand, he reached an arm out to bring you close, and you understood. He nestled his head into the crook of your shoulder as you wrapped your arms around his waist. You spoke no words. You didn’t need to. Sincerity was a lot more difficult for Klaus than his usual flippancy and nonchalance, and you were both too drained to continue talking anyway. You just held onto each other. 

      That night, you went to your room while Klaus tried to settle into the couch. He lay there, unable to fall asleep. Time ticked on, and he could do nothing but stay awake. He was on his back, one hand resting on his stomach and the other behind the pillow under his head. He was lucky that your apartment wasn’t as haunted as it could be. But time is long, and the dead are plenty, so Klaus was never without his demons. They whispered in the back of his mind, very quietly,  barely there. But it was hard not to hear them, and it was worse when he closed his eyes. The long-gone and less unsettled spirits that he had a harder time conjuring visually had almost no trouble simply projecting their likenesses into his mind. They called for him, reaching out through him, into him, all around him. He could almost feel their clammy hands plastered all over his skin, suffocating him, dragging him back down with them. Breathless, utterly exhausted, and entirely unable to sleep, Klaus sat up and walked to your room. He didn’t quite know what he was doing and, feeling odd just standing in the doorway, crept closer to you and whispered your name. “Klaus?” You were groggy and confused but awake. “Wakey wakey,” he joked, trying to keep the mood light. “What is it? Is something wrong?” He didn’t look great, his mussed up hair flying off in countless directions. Dark circles loomed under his wide, fearful eyes. “I was wondering if I could… uh… maybe stay with you?” “Of course,” you patted the space next to you, and he climbed into bed gratefully. At first, you were just lying next to each other, but as he got more comfortable and you settled down again, his hand naturally found yours. Once you were holding hands, it only made sense to scooch closer to each other. You were both tired and needed comforting. Consequences be damned. Before long, he was on his side, arms wrapped around you while you lay against him, nestled into his chest. He placed a small kiss on your forehead, and you smiled lazily, knowing that he was doing the same. You couldn’t help but love the feeling of his skin against yours, his body beside you, solid and warm and wholesome. 

      He was still there, still entangled, when you awoke the next morning. You let yourself enjoy his peaceful expression for a few moments. Time didn’t seem to pass as you lay there with him. As far as you were concerned, you had always been here, sleepy and happy in the soft morning light, and always would be. Eventually, you couldn’t help yourself, and you reached up a hand to touch his cheek. His eyes opened, greeting you with tender green, and he smiled. “What a beautiful way to wake up.” You refrained from giggling but definitely felt like it.   “Hello to you, too.” You dropped your hand from his face, letting it fall into the small space between you. “How about we do all this again in, hmmm, ten minutes.” He pulled you closer. “You didn’t get any sleep at all on the couch, did you?” You wondered with some concern He closed his eyes, “Nope.” “I’ll make us breakfast,” you decided, trying to sit up but finding his arms inextricably wrapped around your waist. “Hmmph,” he groaned in protest. “I’ll make coffee, too,” you reasoned, leaning down to place a kiss on his forehead, which seemed to placate him. His grip slackened, and you untangled yourself. You got up, put on some more appropriate clothes than your grungy pajamas, and took one last look at him before leaving the room. Klaus appeared to belong there, in your bed, curled up under your comforter and looking more serene than you could ever recall having seen him before. 

      Breakfast smelled delicious, but what actually got Klaus to leave the perfect comfort of your bed was the wafting scent of coffee. Uppers had always been his drug of choice, so anything energizing was always a must when attempting sobriety. He wandered into the kitchen, still in the shorts and small tee he’d slept in. “Good morning, Klaus.” “Good morning, coffee,” he joked, pretending to ignore you while pouring himself a cup. You raised your spatula in warning, and he chuckled nervously. “Haha, just kidding, good morning to you, too.” He set down the coffee slowly, and you returned to the breakfast still in progress. “Did you finally get to sleep?” Klaus wrapped his arms around your shoulders from behind, “Yes, thank you.” He placed a kiss on your cheek before grabbing his coffee and sitting down at your small table. It was the largest one you could find to fit in your tiny apartment, and yet still only seated two. You joined him a few minutes later with two plates of food. You ate in silence. The morning had gone well so far, blissfully, even, but your short conversation and crying session from yesterday still loomed large. You just wanted to forget about it and move on. But Klaus, in that moment, was acutely aware of the pills still tucked into his coat pocket across the room. “Listen, about my breakdown yesterday-” you began. Klaus perked up at the mention of it, “Oh, yes, we really should talk about that.” “What? No-” now it was your turn to chuckle nervously, “just forget about it, really.” “We both know that’s not how this works.” He looked at you pleadingly, and it didn’t take much for you to give in. If Klaus wanted to talk seriously, then you wanted to let him. “Fine,” your voice became softer. “I understand if you don’t want to share details, but from what I can piece together, something dangerously serious happened a month ago, and you didn’t tell me until yesterday.” He set down his empty coffee cup. “Not my finest moment.” You could tell that he was still avoiding talking about it directly. “I don’t want to lose you, Klaus, I can’t lose you, can’t you see that?” He nodded solemnly. “And to think that it could just happen, that I could just wake up one morning and you’d be-” you couldn’t say it, but you knew he understood. “That’s terrifying.” “I didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t know how to make you stay after I told you,” he admitted. It hurt knowing you had to tell him how exhausted you were. “I really do want to…” You didn’t even have to say it, the ‘but’ hung in the air between you, bounding back and forth like a toxic little ping pong ball of doubt. “You know, the very first time I went to rehab, all of my siblings were there to pick me up. Even Ben, spectrally. It didn’t take long for me to relapse, and it didn’t take much longer for them to stop coming. You’re the only one who’s still here.” “It's so hard, Klaus, and I’m so tired.” You were trying not to cry at this point. “I know.” You could hear his voice break. Was this conversation hurting him as much as it hurt you? “I care so much, and I don’t know how to make you see that, or protect your, or- or do anything at all. I don’t know what to do!” You felt like crap for lashing out, for blaming him when he seemed almost as powerless as you. “No one’s perfect, y/n.” His eyes began to water, too, threatening to turn into tears. “I know it’s not easy, and I’m so sorry.” It was incredibly painful for him to imagine you leaving. He wanted to stand up and scream, to yell, do something, anything, to make you understand that you were all he needed, but he didn’t have the words for it. He couldn’t bring himself to say it. You were still trying to process what he had said about his siblings. You knew all of them and their contentious relationships pretty well, so it didn’t surprise you that they seldom turned up in his hour of need, but it hadn’t yet occurred to you that they should. When you realized how much it would mean to him if even one of them was there just to pick him up, you realized how little he expected the people around him to do, and how significant your presence alone must have been. You had wanted to be strong for him, to be as good as possible, and as supportive as possible, whatever he needed. But all he needed was you. You smiled at him gently as you realized this. “If all you need is for me to be there, then I will always be there.” Relief flooded him, and in a heated moment, he lunged forward and pulled you into a kiss. It took you by surprise, your heart practically bursting out of your chest, but you quickly melted into him. Klaus had cursed himself for his impulsiveness at first, but all that drifted away when you kissed back. The feeling of your lips on his, the way you seemed to meld into him, readily greeting his fervor ardently and earnestly. Your hands found their way to his chest as he cupped your face. It was intoxicating, and you were both out of breath when you finally pulled away, still so close that you might as well be touching. “Thank you,” he breathed. You could tell that he meant it for your comfort and support, as well as the kiss. You laughed, breathlessly, as the pressure and tension left you, leaning down to rest your head on his chest. He joined you, grinning and giggling in relief and wrapping his arms around your shoulders. Kisses between you and Klaus weren’t typical, but they had happened before. It was something you didn’t speak about, but that added a whole other layer of complexity to your relationship. You cared about Klaus, more profoundly than you’d ever cared about another person. You shared something. Whether that practically soul-binding connection was platonic or romantic had yet to be fully decided. But you knew two things, and they kept you going. You loved him, and he cared deeply for you. What you lacked the emotional intelligence to realize, of course, was that while close friends could indeed enjoy the occasional platonic kiss, emotionally charged near-makeout sessions typically signified, you know, romantic feelings. “I’m going to go have a smoke, wanna join me?” He asked once you had both settled down. “Sure.” You couldn’t say that you supported his smoking habit, but you far preferred it to drugs or drinking, so you had no objections. You cleared the dishes as Klaus gathered his things.       Putting on his coat, he stuck his hand into his pocket and remembered the pills he retrieved yesterday. Ben noticed. “In the spirit of being honest, you know, now would be a great time to tell her about the pills you still have.” He didn’t want to lose your trust (or, secondarily, his sobriety), but also couldn’t quite bring himself to get rid of them. He knew this was a dangerous game, but recovery is supposed to be a process, right? Right? “Recovery is not short and sweet. It is a lifelong process,” Klaus quoted. “That’s what the poster says, at least.” “It would probably be easier if you didn’t keep pills in your pocket.” “Shut up, Ben!” He hissed, trying not to catch your attention. 

      You followed him outside, sitting next to him on the stairs out front of your apartment as he pulled out a lighter and cigarette. He sighed after taking the first drag, grateful for the rush of nicotine. Wonderful nicotine. It would have to take the place of other inebriants for the time being, so he tried to savor it. “Feel good?” you asked, mocking him slightly. “Oooooh yeah,” he smiled, putting an arm around your shoulder. You leaned into it instinctively, letting your head rest against his shoulder. You enjoyed Klaus’s little moments. He may have a tendency to hurt you and push away the people around him, but he did care. He cared deeply, and you loved when he showed it. Then he decided to break the silence.   “Hey, did I ever tell you about the time I waxed my ass with chocolate pudding?” He sounded serious, genuinely concerned as to whether or not you had heard the sordid tale. “No, EW!” “It was painful,” he continued, taking another drag from his cigarette. “Klaus, what?!” He chuckled quietly to himself at your exasperation. 

      The pill bottle remained in his left coat pocket for the next week. Life with you was practically blissful, he wished it would last forever- and wondered why he hadn’t yet had the guts to make whatever you had official. It turns out leaving things abstract and unlabeled is a lot more complicated in practice. But it was Klaus’s feelings towards relationships that were complicated, not his feelings towards you. Committed relationships were honestly terrifying to him, unsurprising for someone who grew up steeped in what could essentially be called a non-committal home life where traditional familial relationships were simultaneously enforced, through the very conventional loving-wife-and-mother Mombot and disallowing of inter-sibling romantic pursuits, like with Allison and Luther, but also condemned through a dehumanizing number system to replace names, traumatic isolation during training, and the calculated creation of a team dynamic to replace the fractured sibling bonds. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. But you- he knew how he felt about you. He loved you and had very recently come to the realization that he had for years. But even that was yet another reason to not commit. He felt incredibly guilty as it was, factoring in an actual relationship where you would feel obligated to stay with him was a whole new order of magnitude. But he was even more worried that if your relationship became more concrete, his inability to handle commitment would jeopardize everything. 

      You endeavored to clean up one morning. The blanket and pillow from Klaus’s first night here remained on the couch, though he had only used them once. It was while moving his coat out of the way that you heard an all too familiar rattle. You froze and hoped against all hope that it wasn’t what you thought it was. You stood up slowly, trying to put off the inevitable, before reaching your hand into the pocket and pulling out a bottle of immediately recognizable small, colorful pills. You felt angry, wretched, and wracked your brain to try and retroactively see the warning signs. A small yet venomous voice blamed you for not noticing sooner, for becoming complacent. You tried not to listen. It was difficult. The front door opened while you were still standing there. It was Klaus, back from a quick trip to the nearest convenience store for a pack of cigarettes, which he had been smoking more and more of lately in an attempt to quell the urges of addiction. “Darling, I’m hoooome!” he purred, closing the door. “I got-” he saw you holding his coat and the bottle of pills and stopped dead in his tracks, one hand still on the doorknob. He glanced up at your face for one horrible moment before turning away and biting his lip, waiting for you to say something. “You left your coat,” you pointed out as explanation. “Oh. I see.” You knew Klaus so well, but it was impossible to guess what he was thinking when the entire past week of what you had believed to be sincerity was called into question. “How could you?” You whispered, wanting an explanation but feeling woefully unprepared to hear it. You were hurt, horribly. Your chest burned with pain, your mind raced with barely comprehensible thoughts, mostly vague emotions, sinking feelings, and hurt. A lot of hurt. He looked pained and defeated, stepping forward tentatively and holding his hands out. “Please, y/n, I can explain.” “Klaus…” you whimpered, tearing up despite your best efforts. “Just listen to me, please, just listen!” “Don’t.” you pleaded. It was agonizing to watch him try and reason again and again. You’d heard everything a thousand times before. “Please! Please, I’m sober, I swear!” you looked at him incredulously and his tone softened. “I’m telling you the truth.” You told yourself that you wanted to believe him, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to. You sighed and glanced away. “Y/n, I’m sober! I’m not lying to you, please!” “I don’t know how to believe you,” you admitted. It was difficult to say, so difficult. But it was the truth. Klaus was quiet, not offended, really, just disappointed- in himself. What was he supposed to expect? Only a week out of rehab and already caught keeping a bottle of pills in his pocket, even if he hadn’t used them. He wanted to make you understand, but he didn’t have the words to tell the truth without making it sound like he was lying. “You reeeaaally should have thrown those out,” Ben chimed. “Please trust me, (y/n), there’s a perfectly semi-reasonable explanation.” You raised an eyebrow. “Sure, they’ve been in my pocket for a week, but-” “A week?! You’ve only been out of rehab for a week!” It didn’t stop hurting. The thing that felt like a hole in your chest just kept growing and growing as you watched him struggle over your words and wince at your reactions. “Oh, no. No no no, it’s not what you think.” He was bewildered. “This whole time? You’ve had these this whole time?!” You couldn’t stop yourself as your thoughts spiraled. He grimaced and squirmed a little, not wanting to answer. “Well…” “Really, Klaus?! Really?” How much of this past week had been a lie, you wondered, how much of it had been sincere? Was he more comfortable with you because you were making progress, or was he just high? Your head spun and it hurt to think about. He couldn’t do anything but watch, horrified as you dropped the coat, grabbed your phone, and strode out of the apartment, still holding the pills. He couldn’t summon up the right words or actions to make you stop and listen. It felt like his mind was disassembling, falling apart. As soon as you closed the door, he broke down, holding the sides of his head and screaming. “Fuck, fuck, fuckity FUCK!” You could hear him through the door, and it tore at you. “Damn it, NO! No no no nononono! FUCK!”       You wanted to think that this was warranted, that it made sense to be angry, but you couldn’t shake the immense guilt, the sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. You tore yourself away and started walking. You decided to call Diego, whom you knew was also pretty used to Klaus’s antics. “C’mon, Diego. Please pick up…” He did. “Y/n! Hey, what’s up?” You hadn’t spoken to Diego in a while. He sounded good. “It’s-” you hesitated, finding it hard to say and unaware of how much he knew. Most likely, nothing. “It’s about Klaus.” “Oh.” It was a loaded explanation. Diego sighed. “What is it this time?” “Where do I even begin?” You asked, realizing you probably should have thought this through more. “At the beginning,” he responded. You took a deep breath, trying to calm yourself and figure out what to say. “So, twelve years ago, you met Klaus-” You surprised yourself by laughing. “Okay, not that beginning,” he conceded. It was calming to hear from someone who wasn’t actively freaking out. “It was two weeks ago. I got a call from Lakeshore. It was Klaus, in rehab again and getting out in a week.” “Surprise, surprise,” he interjected sarcastically. “No, just- listen.” You tried to impress on Diego the gravity of what you were telling him, what was so different about this time. “So I went to pick him up last week, and on the drive back to his place he tells me that he got evicted and needed somewhere to stay.” “Also not really a surprise-” “Diego!” You insisted. “Sorry, sorry, I’ll shut up.” You continued, “The way he explained it, he was a few months behind on rent and when his landlord came to collect, they found him quote-unquote ‘severely passed out’.” Diego was silent, which you were grateful for. “So he OD’d a month ago and I only found out about it last week. “I’m sorry, (y/n), but you know him.” He probably believed you were just venting, but this was so much more than that. “He said it was the closest he’s been to seeing Ben in years.” “Woah.” He finally understood. “I’m so tired, Diego. So tired.” You were near defeat. “I know. You’re the only one left still putting up with his shit.” You chose to ignore that. “So we talked, and he apologized. It seemed sincere. We talked again the next day, and then it was honestly kind of wonderful. He was back to his old self. He has been all week.” The line went quiet for a few moments. “What happened?” There was no judgment in Diego’s tone. Just sympathy. You stopped walking, and, standing in the middle of the sidewalk, your voice began to crack. “I found a bottle of pills in his pocket today,” you could hear Diego sigh on the other end, “and he’s apparently had them this entire week.” “Oh my god, that little SHIT!” You heard the telltale whoosh and thunk of Diego throwing a knife in some instinctive burst of anger. “He insists that he’s sober, but I have no idea if I can believe him.” You looked around for a bench or some stairs. Your feet ached, your head ached, your soul ached. You needed to sit down. “Where are you? I am coming over there right the fuck now and dealing with this.” “No, Diego, please. I’m not at the apartment. I had to get out of there.” You understood why he felt protective, but it wasn’t what you needed right now. You needed everything to be okay, even though it wasn’t. Diego’s more aggressive tactics weren’t going to fix anything. “Well then, where are you?” He had started to sound worried. “I’m just walking. I left Klaus at my place. I don’t know if he’s still there or not.” You spotted a bench outside of a park just down the street and made a beeline for it. “Tell me the street. I can be there in four minutes and fifty-three seconds.” His determination was sweet. “Please don’t. I just- I need to figure this out.” You finally sat down, cross-legged because you honestly felt like curling into a ball right about now. Diego thought for a moment, ultimately deciding that it was better to let you talk to him than to intervene on your behalf. “Fine. What makes you believe him?” This was something you and Diego did fairly often, your very own twisted pro and con lists, stacking up the evidence for Klaus versus the evidence against Klaus. “Well, he didn’t try to stop me or make a grab for the dope when I left, he didn’t plead or beg, he just tried to get me to listen to him, which I now realize I utterly failed to do. And the bottle’s pretty full, so I doubt he could have had this for a whole week already. The label’s also from a while ago, but who knows if that actually means anything. And Diego, I have to believe he was being sincere when we talked. I have to.” Diego was silent for a while. “And the evidence against him?” You took another deep breath. “The pills I found in his pocket, the fact that he’s had them this entire time, and- ohmygod, I just remembered something.” A memory flashed into your mind, feeding the sinking feeling that pervaded your senses. “What?” Diego’s tone betrayed his concern. “He hasn’t been acting shifty or running off without explanation. He’s barely been out of my sight this whole week, but after I picked him up, the second we got back to my place, he made some lame excuse about having to do something in another room or go to the bathroom. I just remembered it now. It’s the kind of shit he says when he’s getting high or stashing stuff.” It was true and only served to fuel the nervousness that made you want to scream. You sniffled, trying to ignore the passing glances of strangers. “When was this?” He still sounded sympathetic. “Right when we got home.” When we got home. It’s funny what you say when you’re not thinking about it. Diego was silent for a long time. “Diego? Are you still there?” “Talk to him.” He spoke finally. “See what he has to say for himself.” It was a surprise to hear Diego even remotely on Klaus’ side, but you were grateful. “Okay. Thank you.” You said your goodbyes. Diego reminded you that he could be anywhere in the city in under five minutes and told you to call him back later. You sat there for a few moments, alone, with just your phone in hand and endless thoughts in your mind. You felt wrong for having left Klaus to his own horrible devices while he was clearly falling to pieces, but simultaneously angry at him for doing this to you and for seemingly disregarding everything you had been trying to tell him for the past week. Above all, you just felt pain, and you knew Klaus was the reason why, even if he didn’t want to be. You got up and started to walk back. Passing a trash can by an intersection, you made a split-second decision to throw out the pills. 

      Finally back at the apartment, you stopped before your front door, scared to open it. You took a deep, though shaky, breath to steady and brace yourself. You’d had versions of this conversation countless times, and you knew it was more than likely that you would again in the future. You assured yourself that even if he wasn’t sober, he would be okay. You just needed to stay with him, to let him know you were there, and hope it would be enough. You opened the door.       Klaus was pacing circles around the room with a lit cigarette smoldering between his fingers. A window was cracked open, which you knew was as far as it would go. The bag he brought back from the convenience store sat on the table with the contents, two boxes of cigarettes, dumped out next to an ashtray. One box lay open, and several cigarettes were missing. The open window was a nice touch. “y/n.” He noticed you immediately and stopped pacing. “Hey.” You smiled softly. “I’m sorry I walked out, I shouldn’t have.” Klaus hadn’t moved yet. He stood still, his eyes following you with restless longing. He finally reached down and snuffed out the cigarette, leaving the rest of it in the ashtray. “Did you call Diego?” he asked, trying to piece together why you left. “Yes,” you responded. Klaus looked a little scared and started to reach for his coat, “but he told me to listen to you, which I’m going to do.” “Oh! That’s a surprise!” Klaus looked pleased. He also looked much more contained than you’d ever seen him before, but the red eyes and disheveled hair told a different story. He sat down on the couch, and you sat beside him. “You had an explanation?” “Yes,” he nodded, fidgeting before working up the nerve to speak. “Well… a long while ago, which was not that long ago, I may have- well, I did- hide some drugs here, in your apartment.” Your eyes widened, and he winced. “Specifically, behind a loose tile in the bathroom.” You knew where he was going with that, “The pills that were in your pocket.” “Bingo!” He flashed a small, somber smile. “This doesn’t paint me in the most flattering light, but I had no intention of staying sober when you picked me up last week. Then I… heard you. I felt like a real piece of shit.” “Oh.” It was a lot to process. He was starting to fidget more, and you could see his eyes watering, threatening tears. “I am so sorry, y/n.” He was starting to break down. “But I didn’t take any, I swear!” “Why did you still have them?” You asked, earnestly trying to maintain composure. He ran his hands through his hair. “I couldn’t-” Klaus looked tortured. He was terrified you wouldn’t believe him. “I couldn’t bring myself to toss them.” It came out as a whisper. “Klaus…” “I know it was shitty, and Ben’s been harping at me to do it all week-” “I threw them out,” you admitted, and watched for his reaction. He breathed out a massive sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god.” You put a hand to your mouth as you realized he was telling the truth. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you,” you choked, trying not to let your voice break. “Hey hey hey, no hard feelings!” He reached out and wrapped his arms around you, and you placed your head on his chest. “You’re here, that’s all that matters.” “She really cares about you, Klaus, maybe you should stop hurting her,” Ben said. Klaus glared at him, but the words did have an effect. “I’m really proud of you, Klaus,” you whispered. That seemed to give him the impetus he needed. You were confused for a moment as he pulled away from you, but then he tilted his head down and kissed you. You froze briefly, because this already felt different than the other times you had kissed. Then you accepted it, hanging your arms around his shoulders. He leaned in closer to you and placed a hand on your cheek, stroking softly back and forth with his thumb. You tried to deepen the kiss, running your hand through his soft curls, and he let you. He let you. Your heart was beating a mile a minute. This was love. Chaotic and confused and messy, but love. He pulled away, arms still around you as you stared past him in disbelief. “Oh my god,” you whispered breathlessly. You noticed, then, that one of his hands had wandered to your waist and, having hiked up your shirt slightly, was pressed against the small of your back. The warmth of his hand on your skin, the feeling of him touching you, was euphoric. “You felt something, too, right?” He asked in a dazed tone, somehow sounding both soft and desperate at the same time. You looked up at him, into his eyes, and found something reflected back at you that was remarkably familiar. It was a feeling. “Yes.” You almost laughed, almost cried. You felt like bursting. Leaning, almost lunging, forward, you kissed him once again, crashing and falling back into him. His lips on yours, your hands on him, his arms around you, his breath on your skin. You were intoxicated, you were engulfed, you were in love. 

      You weren’t sure how, but when you finally looked up from each other to notice your surroundings, it was night. Holding onto one another, you made it across the dark and quiet apartment and found your way back to your bed together. You found yourself pulled into his embrace, and you also found yourself accepting it willingly. You were facing him, head resting on his arm and nestled against him. His chest was so close to you, so warm under your fingers. It was a familiar warmth to be close to him, the same smells, of eyeliner and cigarettes, the same steady sound of his breathing, the same sparks every time his skin brushed against yours. You couldn’t possibly dream of falling asleep now. “y/n?” he spoke in barely more than a whisper. “Hmm?” you hummed in response. “I’m sorry.” It was a small few words, but you knew how intently he meant it. Tilting your head up to find him just as wide-eyed and awake as you were, you knew that it was now or never. “You should know something, Klaus.” You looked away from him again, knowing that what you were about to say would be difficult. “What?” He began tracing small circles in your shoulder. You breathed, in and out, and began. “I didn’t want to think that you’d been numb all week, that everything you said had been a lie, that you cared that little. But even then, I couldn’t imagine not staying to help you, because I had to know that you would be okay because I-” You stopped, words caught in your throat. “Because you what?” He already knew what you were about to say. “Because I love you,” you admitted, heart pounding and thoughts raw with vulnerability. You felt a hand on your cheek, tilting your face upwards and tugging you back into the reality you had to face. You didn’t want to look up or see him until you felt his lips brush softly against yours. Your heart skipped a beat as he did it again, kissing you gently and earnestly. “I love you, too,” he mumbled into the kiss. Your heart flipped and soared. You pulled away for just a moment. “Say it again.” He did, immediately, with an easy smile, “I love you.” You began kissing again, and he whispered, “Your turn.” “I love you, Klaus.” You could feel him smiling as he tugged you closer. It was wonderful, it was perfect.

#My first tua fanfiction! #It felt nice to finally be writing again #and to try out some new characters #tua #the umbrella academy #the umbrella academy fanfiction #tua fanfiction #klaus fanfiction #klaus x reader #klaus #klaus hargreeves #klaus hargreeves x reader #klaus imagines #klaus hargreeves imagines #the umbrella academy imagines #tua imagines

[lazlolullaby]

The Better Ben Gen 10 AU

I watched the new crossover. Then I sighed and got out my notebook. Here’s a quick outline for a crossover. @neopuff – here is your Holiday!

Ben, Gwen, and Grandpa have stopped at their next destination: DC! They travel through all those fascinating monuments and museums, listening to guided tour after guided tour, Ben is bored. He’s also mad that he has to go through all the tours Grandpa and Gwen want to do, and they have to save the cool tour for last! There’s not even an alien threat to liven things up!

There’s a bright spot; another rambunctious child like him is tagging along on all the tours. He says his name is Rex. He’s a huge fan of Ben and his aliens, even though Ben isn’t famous. Ben absolutely loves his new personal fan, enough to start goofing off with him and brushing off his family. Rex asks him why he’s being so mean to his cousin. He wishes he had family.

This touching moment is interrupted by a chimpanzee with a helmet and machine on it’s back. It’s rampaging and destroying the campgrounds. Ben is like “Hero Time!” but he gets hurt.

Rex’s training kicks in, and while he’s scared, he defends Ben. And reveals He Also has Superpowers! Rex uses his connection with machines to break the device on the chimp’s back, and pop the helmet off. It says thank you, his name is Bobo, and he wouldn’t like any more experiments on him, thank you very much.

That’s when Agent Six comes out of the shadows. “Rex, you and that EVO are coming back to Providence now.”

Ben assumes the worst, that Six is a villain trying to kidnap Rex, so they fight. They info-dump a little, that Providence is an agency that contains potential threats to the world. They’ve been tracking Ben, which is why Rex knew about him. Rex builds his BFS and jumps in the fight as well.

It’s very clear that Six is holding back. “You’re not ready to go out on missions yet, Rex.” Six tries to reason.

Rex gets mad and his build breaks apart. “This isn’t about that! I just wanted to be a normal kid! For one day!”

“You aren’t a normal kid. The sooner you accept that, the better for everyone.”

Ben and Bobo help Rex escape to the Rustbucket. Max and Gwen are still out on their tours, so they don’t have help. Bobo helpfully points out that he was just a test run, the real army is on it’s way.

Rex panics and tries to call Six. He fesses up that Six was training him to be a hero. But he’s not good enough, it’s hard for him to summon his builds. That’s why he looked up to Ben so much, he saw a kid like him doing what’s right.

Ben is like: I can teach you how to be a hero. First lesson: Use your powers to drive the Rustbucket to wherever that chimp tells you to go. Rex did better: he pulls up the info from Bobo’s helmet and puts it in the GPS, then he changes the seat and pedals so Bobo can drive.

Then there’s a montage of Ben and Rex figuring out his powers, and a little more information on where Rex got those powers: He doesn’t remember. He knows his parents were scientists working on nanotechnology, his mother was Mexican, but he was terrible at Spanish...and there was an explosion. Rex was on the run for a little bit, but eventually he was picked up by Providence.

Ben is like, “Woah, I can’t imagine not knowing who your family is. Not having a past or anything. It makes it really cool you’re using your powers for good! A lot of people that I’ve met wouldn’t want to help anybody, I’m just saying.”

Bobo stops the car in front of a zoo. “Well, where else are ya gonna get animals?”

They sneak in, finding someone hurriedly typing at computers connected to a manufacturing machine. They think it’s the bad guy, and Rex shuts down the entire plant. Then the “bad guy” thanks them for stopping the machine.

It’s actually Doctor Holiday. At first she’s happy, but then the realizes. “Bobo! I told you to go get the police!” she shouts. “Someone who could stop you!”

“These guys did stop me. Don’t worry about it.”

“They’re kids!”

“Hey, uh. Doc?” Rex butts in. “What are you doing here? This place isn’t safe for people.”

“I’ve got three PhDs. I was just here studying animal behaviors when exposed to regular human contact, and my colleague...well. He was more fascinated with how to control their behaviors. We stopped him from making more, but there’s still an army out there.”

Ben takes her to the Rustbucket so she’s safe, then the Filler Villain starts tearing apart the zoo with his animal army.

Fight time. “We can’t hurt them, they’re innocent animals!” and it’s difficult for Ben and Rex, but they manage to take on most of them. Six shows up joins the fight, and is very proud of these kids.

“I can’t fight like you, Six. But I can fight like me!”

Rex finds out he’s better with his Smack Hands than his BFS. Holiday literally runs the Filler Villain over with the Rustbucket. Six visibly blushes, then they both start fussing over Rex.

Six drives the Rustbucket back to the campground. Holiday forcefully gets a job as Rex’s doctor. They joke around like a family on a road trip, and Ben aches for Max and Gwen.

Ben slips himself back into the tours with his family, making a sappy remark and hugging them. Rex and Ben do a fistbump. “I would give you my phone #, but I don’t have a phone.” Rex taps Ben’s cellphone anyway and is able to use his superpowers to keep in touch.

One of the final shots is Ben, Gwen and Max chilling in the Rustbucket, then it fades into Rex, Six, Bobo and Holiday chilling in a Providence carrier, bringing parallels that they are family, like the Tennysons are.

The end...but it’s basically a backdoor pilot, so this would be the beginning of New Gen Rex! Ta-da!

#generator rex #ben 10 reboot #ben gen 10 #rex salazar #agent six #ben tennyson #doctor holiday #lazlo's lulls #just a smidge of holix #six isn't evil he's just a single dad #holiday gets a moment #i...guess the villain is animo? #idk what the reboot does for villains #i just came back for my boy rex

[toothpastecanyon]

Dreams That Walk, Nightmares That Talk, Chapter 7

Ben's been visiting the Mindscape every day since he was born. Once he brought something back, and twenty years later, Marie García is still picking out the pieces.

See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.

______________________________________________________________

                Another time. Marie would admit she’s never been able to choose a good moment; she’s not really sure what that even means. She’s gonna have to say it at some point, so

                “Hi Marie!”

                                why not

                “Sorry I’m late, had a… rough summons. Ready for chess?”

                                                right now?

  ��             “I need you to go into my mind and fix whatever’s wrong with it.” Marie gets out the chessboard, hesitates, and looks up at him. “What?”

                “Wh-what?” He’s staring at her like she’s grown a second head. “What do you mean?”

                “Like you offered before. You can still do that, right?”

                “Go into your head?” Alcor rubs his eye. “I mean, yeah, but… sorry, this is just kind of sudden. I thought you didn’t want me to-”

                “I didn’t forget, I know what I said.” She snaps, and then makes a face at his flinch. “Sorry. That came out harsh, sorry.”

                Quietly, Alcor takes a seat next to her. She can feel him watching her set up the pieces, can sense him waiting for her to go on. It takes a second, and then:

                “Look, I… I don’t like… I don’t like admitting when I need help.” She lines up the castles. “But I think I do, and I think you’re the only one who can. Help me, that is. God knows I’ve tried getting it from anywhere else, but half the time it doesn’t work and half the time I can’t be honest without getting Ben hauled off by demonologists.”

                “Sorry,” Alcor says, and she gives him a strange look.

                “What do you mean-? Oh. Oh, I wasn’t talking about you, I was talking about…” Marie stops herself. She sighs. “Well… that’s why I didn’t want anyone rooting around in my head. Obviously I didn’t want you at first because I didn’t trust you, but... I don’t want anyone in my mind. I don’t want anyone rooting around in my secrets. I still don’t.”

                “That’s understandable.”

                “But this isn’t sustainable. Not for Ben.” She picks up the king, runs her thumb down the grain. “I’ve been going in circles my whole life, I’m used to it, but after… after Ben ended up in the hospital, I promised him I’d get help, I’d get better, I’d stop pinning everything on him, or…” She hesitates, grips him tight. “He’s the only thing that matters to me. I can’t lose him. So I have to do this.”

                “Are you sure?” Alcor leans forward. “It, uh, really doesn’t sound like you want to do this. You don’t have to do this for Ben.”

                “Well, if Ben ends up cutting me off, there’s not much point carrying on. So I guess that means I’m doing it for me too, right?”

                Marie chuckles at that, but the look on his face tells her that didn’t come off as a joke. She clears her throat.

                “No, that’s not - I was just exaggerating. Don’t worry about it.”

                “Marie-”

                “Look, I’m not saying I don’t want to do this. Believe you me, I’d love to fix whatever’s wrong with me too. It’s just that, well, I have a lot of things I’d rather keep to myself. I mean, I like you, but there’s things I’ve never told Ben.” She places the king, then the queen. “Or Santino.”

                “Santino?”

                Marie looks up sharply at that, and then lets out a dark chuckle. “Yeah,” she says, and shakes her head. “You don’t know anything about me. Maybe that’s why you seem to like hanging out with me, right?” She keeps chuckling. “And then I let you in, and you’ll know better, right.”

                She trails off, and for a moment it’s all too quiet. Then there’s a sound: Alcor places a pawn. Nothing’s changed, but Marie feels something shift, like the air got a few degrees colder, the silence got a little bit more unsettling. Alcor places a pawn, and the sound is jarring.

                “There’s a lot you don’t know about me either.” He looks up at her with the same eyes she’s gotten used to, speaks in the same, casual tone she’s heard before, but underneath that is something… else. Something that sends a shiver down her spine. Alcor places a pawn, and she notices there’s dried blood under his claws. “Whatever you’ve done, Dr García, trust me when I say that I can’t judge.”

                Marie can only nod to that. It seemed when she first met Alcor, it’d be impossible to forget what he is, but the more she gets to know him, the more… unsettling it is, to be reminded.

                “Right,” She says, and clears her throat. “Well. It’s good to know that. So… will you do it?”

                “Of course I will.”

                “What would you like in return?”

                “What I’d like?” He looks at her… and then cracks a smile. “Do you want to play this game first?”

                “That’s it?”

                “I mean, I just came from some demonic weirdness; I’d rather take a second before diving into the next one. If you really want to do it right now, though-”

                “No, no, that’s okay. We can take a break.” She rose to her feet. “Do you want some tea? I was going to put the kettle on.”

                “Oh, yeah, thank you! And-”

                “Extra sugar?” She snorts as he nods. “Yeah, figured. I’ll get that going.”

                “Thanks!”

                “Thank you, Alcor.” Marie gives him a smile. “Thank you.

                They didn’t play one game; they played several, and then ended up on the couch together watching one of Alcor’s strange pre-transcendence movies. Marie isn’t really a TV person, but she did notice how he hadn’t been joking around so much today. It seemed like he really did need the break.

                (And of course she asked him on a bad day. She really couldn’t pick a moment, see?)

                Even though she isn’t focused too much on the movie, she does feel pleasantly warm and sleepy; her eyes are drooping, and she sinks into the couch and lets them. The dialogue dissolves into a distant murmur, the action into a gentle glow against her eyelids. She might even have started leaning against Alcor because she feels something like fabric against her cheek, but she can’t bring herself to mind. She drifts off, drifts away…

                “Do you want to do this now?”

                It’s a gentle voice, almost like it’s afraid to wake her. She opens her eyes, and suddenly she’s a little surprised about how awake she feels. She sees Alcor standing in front of her, blocking the television.

                “Oh, I’m ready if you are.” She frowns. “Don’t you want to finish your movie, though?”

                “Eh, you already fell asleep.”

                Marie blinks at that, and then looks around. Suddenly it strikes her how grey everything is, and when she looks down she feels a jolt at the sight of herself still resting on the couch.

                “Wha-”

                “Don’t panic!” Alcor holds his hands out. “You’ll wake yourself up. Everything’s okay.”

                “Is this my mind?”

                “No, no, I wouldn’t do that without your permission. This is just the Mindscape.” He gave an awkward smile. “I promise there’s a difference.”

                “I… see.” Marie looked down, and saw herself floating a little ways off the ground. Her leg was clipping through the couch. “Interesting.”

                “Yeah, it takes some getting used to.” He reaches out a hand. “Are you ready?”

                Marie nods. “I am,” she says, and takes it. “Let’s go.”

                She watches him close his eyes, and put a hand on her head. Nothing happens for a moment, then there’s the distinct, unsettling feeling of his hand sinking into her forehead-

                But only for a heartbeat. Marie blinks, and now Alcor’s standing beside her, and she’s somewhere else.

                Somewhere… dead.

                Ash rain is all Marie can make out at first. A thick cloud of grey surrounds her, settles on her, kills any sound but for the beating of her heart. It’s hard to move through, like the air is made of syrup, and Marie imagines that staying still for too long would bury her under this, that she’d reach a point where she couldn’t move at all, couldn’t see, couldn’t scream-

                “Let’s get moving.” Marie says.  She looks for Alcor, and finds him waist-deep in the grey. “Alcor? Do you need help?”

                He says something, but she can’t make it out. She grabs his arm and starts pulling him up.

                “Come on, Alcor. We need to get to my mind.”

                “This is wrong.”

                “What?”

                Alcor looks dazed, scared. The ash is up to his neck.

                “What is it, Alcor?”

                Slowly, he turns that expression on her, and she feels a shiver go up her spine.

                “This… is your mind.”

                “Okay. Is this not normal?”

                “Not normal? There’s nothing here!” He gestures, and shreddings of her mind follow the wake. “I don’t - I don’t even know how you’re alive right now! I feel nothing here, no thoughts, no memories… n-no soul!”

                That strikes a chord in Marie, but she tries to keep it contained for now. “Huh,” she strokes her chin. “But you felt souls within me. They have to be somewhere.”

                She looks down at Alcor, sinking into the ash, and then at her own feet. They’re a little buried, and she can feel a… warmth, the further down she lets them go.

                “Hmm.” She glances over at him again. “I think you have the right idea.”

                Alcor doesn’t reply; she can only see the top of his head now, and as she watches it’s swallowed up into the sea of ash. That left her standing there, trying not to extract herself as she sinks down to her shins.

                “Just do nothing. Let it happen.”

                Marie stands there for a moment, staring out into the grey. With nothing to do, she can pick out vague, dark shapes; a little unsettling, and the ash feels slightly… sharper, than she first thought.

                She wonders if this is a good idea, and that’s when a hand grabs her ankle. Marie jumps and kicks herself free… and finds herself right back on top of the ash. She pauses, then frowns.

                “Huh. This is literally my own mind playing tricks on me.” She kicks at the ash. “Fuck you, let me through already.”

                The ash is barely falling now, and she rolls her eyes.

                “Great. Maybe there’s another way through.” Marie starts pacing. “Or I could ask Alcor for help… would summoning work here? I wonder where he even went.”

                There was a mumbling from the ash. She looks down, and sees Alcor surface.

                “Marie!” He looks relieved. “There you are! I thought I’d lost you!”

                “Yeah, some mind guide you’ve been so far.”

Alcor makes a face. “Sorry. I was just… shocked.” He reaches out a hand. “Come on. You’ll want to see this.”

                “Something tells me I won’t, but sure.” She takes it. “Lead o-”

                He dives beneath the ash, and she manages only a gasp before- darkness. Worse than darkness: stillness. She breathes the weeks she spent wasting away in her bedroom, feels the stale air and stale thoughts scratching across her whole being. And it’s getting worse, getting hotter, getting to those nights when the air conditioner wasn’t enough and the sun was glaring down at her through the blinds and still she couldn’t even summon the energy to kick the fucking covers off of her-

                Light. Blinding light. Marie stumbles forward, eyes squeezed shut, and it’s all she can do to hold onto Alcor. She can feel his arm raise up to point.

                “Look.”

                “A little, little warning next time, thanks…” She blinks open her eyes, and then frowns. “Okay, I’m looking. What is it?”

                It is coming out of the centre of this narrow chamber. It is thin and narrow, pitted with holes like a termite mound. It has a dark, rocky hide to it, but small fissures reveal something underneath, something pink, something pulsating, something alive. She looks to Alcor, and sees he’s gone sheet white.

                “What is it?”

                “It’s…” He takes a step closer. “You. Your mind. Your soul. Everything that you are.”

                “Okay. How do we fix it?”

                “Wh- Marie, I-” He runs a hand through his hair. “I’ve been asked to heal souls before, but this is…” Another step closer, and he’s eye to eye with its peak. “I’ve never had so little to work with.”

                “Well, you’ve still got something to work with. What’s the first step?” She rolls her eyes at his bewildered expression. “Come on, Alcor. Walk me through how you’d usually treat something like this.” A pause. “Well?”

                “I’m sorry, I just…” His voice is faint. “No wonder I can barely feel your aura. I don’t know how you’re talking to me right now, I- Ow, you pinched me!”

                Marie draws her hand back. “Okay, the first step is to stop panicking. Now that you’ve done that, can you tell me what you do next?”

                “I, uh…” He tries to gesture to the mound. “Well, usually I’d step inside their mind to figure out what’s wrong, but-”

                “Okay. Is that possible?”

                Alcor pauses. “I guess… size is a lot less defined in the mind.”

                “It’s worth a shot, then.”

                “Yeah. Yeah!” He moves towards the mound, and shoots her a grin. “You’re good at this!”

                “At not panicking? It’s half my job.” She nudges him forwards. “Let’s go.”

                Alcor nods, and then lifts up his foot. He’s taller than the mound, but he steps his leg into it and seems to fit into one of the tiny holes. He offers his hand to Marie, and she takes it.

                “Ready?” He says, and she nods. “Alright. This is it.”

                He leans down, and Marie feels the world shrink around her as she’s led into the hole. She looks behind her, and there’s no opening where they came through. Before them, though…

                “Huh.” She raises her eyebrow. “It’s the old hospital I used to work at.”

                And it is… mostly. It’s the same mint green hallways she’d worked in for years, but there’s definitely something off about it. There’s no sound. The lights are dimmer. When she tries to read the room numbers, the words shift and twist and refuse to make sense. Stranger still, there’s something long and thin and red nestled against the baseboard, trailing into the darkness.

                “Doesn’t look so bad.” Marie turns to Alcor. “What do we do from here?”

                He looks uncomfortable. “Marie…”

                “What?”

                “It’s… I just…” He hesitates, and then shakes his head. “I’ll ask you later. What did you say?”

                “Where do we go from here?”

                “We, uh… well, we find where the extra souls are.”

                “I see.” She eyes the blood vessel as it gently pulsates. Cracks have formed around where it’s dug itself in. “Anything we should be cautious of?”

                “Doors are common mental representations of memories.” He makes a face. “Probably shouldn’t go around opening them, if we can help it. Or anything else that looks... significant.”

                “No, we shouldn’t.” She takes a step forward, and then motions for him. “Come on.”

                “I’m coming, I’m coming.”

                They walk forwards, keeping an eye out for anything unusual. There’s far more crossroads here than there are in the real hospital, Marie notices; it feels like every five steps they come across another path, and, for lack of a good reason to turn, they go straight every time. As they continue, she can pick up a faint hum… or a beep.

                Beep, beep, beep.

                                beep, beep, beep.

                                                one two three.

                The blood vessel in the corner branches off at the next intersection; they look like they’re going in all directions at first, but she blinks and-

                                                right right right

                The right path. The only path. It’s covered from floor to ceiling in hot wet viscera, and she feels her heart skip a beat.

                                                right right right rightleftright RIGHTRIGHTRIGHT

                “I guess we know where we’re going, huh?” She can distantly hear Alcor’s nervous chuckle. “You okay?”

                “I’m fine.” Marie takes a step forward with her right foot. “I’m fine. I’m fine.”

                Make it right. Now that she hears the beeping it’s deafening; now that she notices the right path, it compels her to go that way every time. They take three more rights, and she can start to feel Alcor’s worried eyes on the back of her head like she doesn’t know that she’s just leading them in circles now. She’s not an idiot.

                Another intersection comes up, and she eyes the path straight ahead. She’s not an idiot.

                                (shes-(shes-

                She steps forward, and suddenly the beeping is screaming, the ground is shaking, the walls are pressing in around them. She can hear Alcor shout something as her feet give way beneath her and she’s falling, falling, falling…

                “Hey.”

                Marie feels a hand on her arm. She recoils.

                “Are you okay, mi cielito?”

                “I…” She stares at the kettle she’s reboiled five times now. “I don’t know. I don’t know.”

                “Okay.”

                “I look like an idiot, don’t I.”

                “No, you don’t.”

                “I do. Of course I do, I-”

                “I’ve never thought that once.” She can feel him standing next to him, thinking. “Is there anything I can help with, today?”

                “I… I don’t know.” A chuckle. “You could boil this for me over and over again, heh… no.”

                “I can’t help you do that to yourself.”

                “I know.”

                A pause. Marie blinks, and looks at her hand. It’s smooth, devoid of wrinkles.

                “How about if you go to the living room, and I make you some tea?”

                “Santino?” She watches his eyes disconnect from her, wave at where she once shuffled around the corner. She backs away. “This isn’t real, this is - memory. I need to get out of here.”

                “Is there anything I can help with, today?”

                That came from Santino. Her head whips up, and he’s picking out a mug. No one else is in the room.

                “What?” She steps closer. “Santino?”

                A heartbeat later, she feels something grab the back of her scrubs and pull. She stumbles back into the hospital, and Alcor breathes a sigh of relief.

                “I found you!” He laughs nervously. “Again. Are you okay? Everything kind of broke apart for a second there.”

                Marie nods. “I’m… okay. I-“

                “Oh, whoa.”

                She watches his eyes go wide. “What?” She asks, and follows his gaze to…

                The doorway. Or doorways - it looks like it’s duplicated inside of itself, and the frame’s taken on a W-shape. Right in the centre, fitted like a keystone, is something small, something glowing, something that makes her heart skip a beat.

                “A soul,” she breathes. Through the doorway, she can see Santino taking a mug of tea into the living room. “What happens now? Alcor?”

                Alcor steps forward, and with one hand he reaches up to the soul. She can see him frown, and then before she can speak again he steps back and tries to yank it out; a pain shoots through her temple at that, and her blood runs cold.

                “St- stop! Stop!” She pushes his arm. “You’re gonna break me, stop!”

                “Marie!” There’s hands on her shoulders. “I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

                “I’ll be… fine.” She rubs her head. “As long as you don’t start yanking parts of me out again. What was that for?”

                Alcor makes a face. “I’m sorry. I thought it’d work - souls don’t exactly like being in close proximity to each other.” He sighed. “I’ve never… I’ve never seen this. I don’t know how it got integrated into your mind, but you’re right. It’s not going to come out easy.”

                Marie stares at the soul. She reaches up, touches it, feels along the edges. There’s a definite seam there, but it’s thin.

                “Huh. I wonder…” She looks over at him. “Scalpel.”

                “What?”

                “Hand me a scalpel.”

                He raises an eyebrow, but he digs in his pocket and draws one out. Marie positions herself over the soul, and gently traces the blade along the edge. When nothing breaks, she slides it in a little deeper, and feels the soul loosen.

                “Forceps.”

                “Huh?”

                “Forceps?” Marie looks down at him. “Oh, just hand me some tweezers or something, I don’t want to drop this.”

                She feels him slip a pair into her hand, and she gently holds the soul in place while she runs the scalpel down the other edges. It’s very, very loose when she’s done - just the slightest tug, and it comes away.

                The soul is gently glowing between her forceps. The door before her shifts in her absence, straightens into a regular doorway. She looks at the memory, and it’s from her point of view, in the living room. She looks up at a gentle knock, smiles as Santino comes through with a cup of tea.

                She looks down at the soul cupped in her hands. It’s warm, and she feels a tap on her shoulder.

                “You did it.” Alcor smiles. “Give it to me.”

                “What are you going to do with him?”

                “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt it. I just want to release it back into the cycle.” His smile shrinks a little. “It’s where it wants to go.”

                Marie hesitates, but she can feel a sort of restlessness to the soul; little arms of light are trying to worm their way through her fingers. She holds him out, gently places him into Alcor’s hands, and watches him blow on the soul. He fades away, leaving nothing behind.

                “There.” Alcor dusts off his hands. “It’s at peace now. When there’s enough of it back in the cycle, it can reincarnate into someone new.”

                “I see,” she says, quietly. She stares at his hands a moment longer… and then tears her eyes away.

                Turns to look at the hallway of embedded souls stretched out endlessly before them, glittering like the night sky.

                “I see.” She says. “I have a lot of work to do.”

                “Marie-” There’s something in Alcor’s tone that makes her glance at him. He won’t look her in the eyes. “I… uh… listen, I don’t want to pry, but…”

                “You want to know how this happened, don’t you.”

                “I just - I’m sorry I was… less prepared for this, than I made myself out to be.” He stared at the hallway of souls. “Truthfully, I’ve never seen anything like this. I don’t want to make you feel weird, like saying you should be dead or something, but- you should be dead. I’ve only seen damage like this in ancient ghosts and - I don’t know, souls I’m halfway through eating.”

                He barks a laugh. It isn’t a funny sound.

                “So I guess I can’t lie, I wanna know what happened. If you want to tell me.” He blinked. “And I mean, if you even know. Do you?”

                Marie pauses, and gives a grim smile. “Oh, of course I know what happened.” Her eyes trail back to the door, to Santino sitting with her on the couch. Her expression darkens.

                “The time I killed my husband. I could never forget.”

#transcendence au #Ben Can't Sleep #Ben #marie #toothwrites

[tinumiel]

Thoughts on Shadow and Bone

obviously, spoilers, ALL THE SPOILERS BELOW....

What they nailed:

Alina Starkov. I really loved Jessie Mei Li as Alina. She’s fresh, genuine, and she has the cutest smile ever. I’m usually not a fan of adding elements that aren’t in the original material, but I loved how they incorporated Jessie’s ancestry into the story and made Alina half Shu-Han. Not only does it make 100% sense, with Alina being from an area with a lot of Ravkan/Shu-Han interchange, but it also respects both the actress and the story rather than saying “Oh yes, Alina’s looks slightly asian now”. I loved how she was portrayed, I felt like she was a blank canvas that slowly filled with color as her story progressed, and Jessie really brought her to life.

The Darkling. First things first. I love the Darkling, in case that wasn’t already obvious. And I love Ben Barnes, in case that wasn’t obvious either. For some reason, it seemed like the show creators really wanted to rub the “he’s the BAD GUY” powder in my face, but joke’s on them, because Ben Barnes portrayal really added to the tragedy of his character, to everything that he’s been through and to the corruption of his ideals. How he went from an outcast wanting to stand up for himself and his people, to a tyrant fueled mainly by vengeance (if they wanted to make him less sympathetic so badly, why on earth would they include that flashback scene? How lonely he was, how manipulating, how driven. Also, how plainly hot he is.

Darklina. On the same note, the chemistry between Jessie Mei Li and Ben Barnes is insane. There were only a couple of Darklina scenes, but they were so powerful, that I find it hard to believe even non darklina shippers didn’t feel it. To be fair, I’m a Darklina fan (I’m actually a Nikolina fan, but Darklina is my second favorite), so I guess there might be a slight bias on the subject. Just as they were trying too hard to state the Darkling was evil, they tried too hard to make Darklina less appealing (like, they took away the whole Darkling’s real name element, what was that about?). But the actors had such good chemistry that despite whatever attempt the creators might have had to make it clear Darklina is “wrong”, it flopped. They had the best romantic chemistry. Even when they were fighting. Shivers.

The Crows. Flawless. Perfection. Chef kisses. Every single one of my traumatized teenager found family members was perfectly introduces, portrayed and everything was perfectly set up for Six of Crows storyline. Kaz Brekker? Flawless. Freddy Carted had all the aesthetic. Maybe they could have shown more signals of his phobia to being touched, but I guess we’ll see more of that next season. The scene of Kaz vs. Darkling? Didn’t even know I needed it. Of course the one person that could have outsmarted the Darkling would be the Bastard of the Barrel. Kick his shadow summoner ass, baby. Inej? An absolute queen. Her devotion, her faith, her skill. She was simply perfect. Amita Suman is gorgeous and she’s exactly how I pictured Inej to be. Kit Young? He brought the personification of chaotic energy that is Jesper and elevated it to a new plane of existence. Jesper was perfect. His loyalty, his cockiness, his skill, but also his weaknesses, his addiction, his playful side. God, he was amazing. 

Nina and Mathias? Nothing to say other than I love them your honor. I loved that they stuck to Nina’s body type and casted a curvier actress. And Mathias? All tall and blonde and stubborn? My sweet, dumb himbo. Their chemistry was amazing too. The scene in the whaler’s cabin? Even better than I imagined it in the books.

The visuals. The Fold. Ketterdam. The keftas, Os Alta, Tsybeya. It was all so beautiful. Ketterdam was almost just as i imagined it. The fold was even better. I think the one mark they missed was the Little Palace (where’s the golden dome?) and Bahgra’s hut (which wasn’t a hut, it was a cave). The Grisha power. The shadows controlled by the Darkling, the light controlled by Alina, Genya’s tailoring, the Summoners in general. It all looked so cool

Special shoutout to Milo the goat. You brought all the cuteness to the Crows.

What they missed:

Mal. Yes, yes, I know a lot of people are very defensive of Mal because he’s the “good guy”. But my thoughts regarding the character and how lowkey toxic he is belong to another post, because this isn’t about Mal in general, but about Show Mal. I think Archie Renaux did great with what was handed to him, but he was handed a pretty dull deck. I had the feeling I was going to like show!Mal much more than Book!Mal. In fact, I didn’t even think it was possible for it to be differently, but it was. I was rolling my eyes at Mal more times in one season of the show than I did in all three books. I saw none of his charming scenes, his womanizer moments, his sarcastic comments that landed so well with the situation. Mal’s sense of humor was one of the key factors that make me like the character to some extent in the books, and I felt none of that in the show. They wanted so badly to show him as this Mr. Right Person for Alina, that it was like that was his only personality trait. They really did Archie Renaux dirty because I’m sure he could have done wonders if the writers had included just a little more of Mal’s humorous side.

Malina. Kind of goes hand in hand. Just like with Mal, I won’t go into why I dislike the ship as a whole, but why I felt like the show missed the mark on it. It felt so incredibly forced, like they were trying to shove it down the audience’s throat. The actors had great chemistry portraying best friends, but I felt 0 romantic chemistry. Look at Kaz and Inej, they never once adressed their relationship directly, and yet the chemistry was still there. So then it seemed like they tried to compensate that by throwing in all those flashback scenes, but you can’t construct a ship solely on that, because we are not following that story, we’re following the present story. The thing about Malina in the books, is that the readers could actually decide for themselves whether they liked it or not, while in the show they were pretty much forcing you to. Also, I felt like they missed Alina’s initial crush on Mal while he didn’t really see her that way at first. If they had included that, maybe it would have seemed a little bit less forced rather than having Mal make heart eyes at her from the first moment.

Zoya. I was low-key disappointed of her because I missed a lot of ehr coldness, her superiority and her elegance. Zoya was this powerful, ambitious grisha, proud, cold, charming, sassy. While they gave her most of her lines from the book, I felt like the show reduced her to simply a local mean girl pinning for the Darkling, with little self control over her emotions, when we know in truth no one had a better control over her emotions than Zoya, and that it takes a lot more than two punches to trigger her. I wanted to see more of the #Queen and less of the #Meangirl

That was pretty much all. The rest of the secondary characters were all good, I just didn’t mention them because I focused on what really popped out to me. I’m excited for season 2, especially to see the Ice Court Heist, and, of course, to see the arrival of our lord and savior Nikolai Lantsov (all though I am terrified of his casting because he’s just one of those character you NEED to be perfect).

#shadow and bone #grishaverse #six of crows #shadow and bone netflix #the darkling #alina starkov #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #jesper #nina zenik #mathias helvar #mal oretsev #zoya nazyalensky #shadow and bone spoilers #beware the: shadow and bone spoilers #out the door (ooc)

[p4nkow]

Maybe someday

A few days ago I rewatched this movie I grew up with which is called “Life as we know it” (I highly recommend you to watch it if you haven’t) and it gave me the inspiration to write this one shot. 

Summary: as Lucy and Rami finally leave for their late honeymoon, they ask Y/N and Ben a huge favour — they have to watch over their daughter, Sophie, for one whole week as they’re away. The only problem is that Y/N and Ben can barely stand each other.

Let me know what you think, I’d love to read your comments!

Anxious. Organised. Schematic. Hater of surprises.

If you had to describe yourself with simple, concise words, those’d have been your choices. Everyone who knew you was well aware of the fact that you tended to plan everything. It wasn’t something you liked to do — plan your life in its very details. You just couldn’t help it. Moreover, it helped you to make your schedule clear as well as your mind.

So when Lucy and Rami told you they had to talk to you, the level that your anxiety had reached could’ve been easily imagined. Their party had been awesome — it had given you the chance to meet old friends and to have a little chitchat with those you hadn’t seen in forever.

It’d have been perfect if it wasn’t for Ben.

Oh man, saying that you didn’t get along was not enough. One of the most important things that’d influenced your relationship was the fact that he’d screwed up your first blind date. First and last date, of course. It didn’t take a genius to understand that he had no wish to be there.

Since that day you’d met him quite often — it was impossible not to when your best friends were married and with a one-year-old child. That’s right. Rami had finally summoned the courage to propose to Lucy and now, almost a year and a half later, they had the most beautiful child you’d ever seen.

Sophie Malek was a feast for the eyes and you loved her. Before her you never understood the endless love people showed towards babies, but damn. It was impossible not to love her.

Ben did love her, too. That’s one of the few things that you appreciated about him.

He was just perfect when around her — always caring and careful about her needs. He’d always play with her and the sight of a grown-up Ben playing with duckies and princesses was quite funny. Funny, yes, but cute. Those were the only times when you were in a cease fire. You just couldn’t bring the little Sophie in your war of jabs.

“What’d you guys need to tell me?”

Rami and Lucy exchanged a look and you didn’t like the little smiles painted in their faces. They were pulling a scam on something and Lucy’s words did nothing but increase your suspicions. “Just wait a bit longer.”

Now that the party was over, it was only you, Lucy, Rami and the little Sophie sprawled in the couches of their living room. “How old are you, Soph? Huh?” The little girl had just learned to show her age with her fingers, raising the index finger at her mom’s question.

Lucy was your best friend, your wingman, your partner in crime, the sister you never had. Your friendship had been going on since high school and now she was a mom. God knows you cried your eyes out the day she gave birth.

The unlocking of the door brought you back from your thoughts and you sighed deeply at the sight of Ben. Even though there was resentment between the two of you, you couldn’t deny that he was good-looking. Extremely good-looking. The leather jacket he was wearing on top of his black shirt made him look even more attractive and you hoped he didn’t catch you staring at his black trousers which fit him perfectly. But why the hell did he always wear black?

“I put the garbage out. I hope I guessed right your can.” He didn’t seem to notice your presence as he closed the door behind him, so you just ignored him.

Then he spotted you sitting on the couch right in front of the couple and gave you just a simple nod. Unfortunately there was no room for him on their couch, so he was forced to sit on yours. He made sure to sit as far from you as possible, though.

“You smell so much of feminine scent that I’m about to throw up.”

Ben gave you one of his smirks and you truly wished you could punch him in the face. “You’re just jealous that it isn’t yours.”

“I pity those girls”, replied in kind. Your words did nothing but amuse him and you rolled your eyes.

“Guys.” Thank God Rami saved the situation as Lucy tried to hide her giggles in Sophie’s neck.

“You wanted to talk to us?”

Rami nodded at Ben’s question, surrounding Lucy’s shoulder with his arm. “Yeah, uhm...”

“Do you remember how we never got to leave for our honeymoon, right?”, Lucy came in his help.

“I remember your complaints about it, yeah.”

Lucy’s smile grew even bigger at your words. “We’d organised this big trip to Europe but then...”

“Sophie happened”, Rami concluded.

You remember it clearly, but still you didn’t understand what was their point. When you turned towards Ben for a quick look, you were glad to see that he was just as confused as you. “And?”

Lucy and Rami exchanged another look as Sophie squeezed her duck. “We’d love to do that trip. As a gift for our first anniversary.” Oh no. Now you knew exactly where this was going.  

“’f course you understand that we can’t take such a trip with a one-year-old child.” Ben widened his eyes at Rami’s words. He was starting to understand too.

“So we wanna ask you”, Lucy started saying but she was interrupted by Rami. “We beg you.”

“Yeah”, Lucy nodded. “We beg you to take care of Sophie as we’re away. You guys are the only ones we trust.”

“Shit, man”, Ben murmured as he slipped his fingers through his hair. It was something he did when he was nervous. Right now he was extremely nervous and you just couldn’t believe what’d you just heard.

“I’m sorry, what?”

Lucy narrowed her brows in worry. “Y/N, please. You know we cant trust our parents.”

“And we can’t trust Joe”, Rami added. Sophie limited herself to follow your conversation with a curious look.

You, on the other hand, still had to process their request. So you turned towards Ben only to find himself staring at you, horrified. “I’m sorry”, he said by picking his tongue out, licking his lower lip. “I’d love to do that. Really, I’d love to. But with her?”

“Oh so you don’t believe I’d be able to take care of a child?”

“I highly doubt it, yes. Let’s face the truth, ‘kay? We can barely stand each other.”

“And so what? It’s Sophie we are talking about.” You forced yourself to keep your tone low not to scare the child.

Ben exhaled deeply and quietly murmured something, so you moved your gaze back to the couple. “I’ll do it.” Now it was personal — you had to show that prick that you could take care of a baby, differently than he thought. With or without him.

Lucy’s smile was still uncertain as she looked at Ben. He seemed conflicted as he rubbed his hands, looking at you first and then at Sophie. His shoulders rise and lower as he sighed deeply, starting to nod his head ‘yes’. “Yeah, I’ll do it, too.”

Rami let out a relief laugh and he placed a kiss on Sophie’s head. Trying to ignore Ben, you stood up from the couch and leaned towards the baby. “Come to auntie, Soph.”

The baby reached up to you and you gladly picked her up, meeting Lucy’s eyes while doing so. “I owe you one.”

She surely did.

“Auntie Y/N will take care of you as mommy and daddy are away”, you whispered as you smiled back at her.

Sophie’s attention was caught by something behind you, her eyes widening in excitement. You knew who she was looking at even before turning around. It was crystal clear that Sophie loved Ben almost as much as he did. He gently caressed her cheek with a sweet smile on his face. “Hi, love.”

“Don’t make me regret it.” Your words were nothing but a whisper as you talked to Ben.

His jaw clenched as he fixed his green eyes on yours. “Sophie’s our priority now.”

“Yeah, exactly”, you said quietly. “So work your shit out.”

“Hey, Soph. What a bad aunt is auntie Y/N, right? She even swears in front of you.”

You rolled your eyes at Ben’s words and, making sure that Sophie wasn’t looking at you, you mouthed “Fuck off.”

Day One - Monday

Part of the deal was to move at Lucy and Rami’s place for the entire duration of their trip. It was mostly because you didn’t want Sophie to feel completely disoriented as her parents were away.

You murmured a series of “Huh-huh”, “‘kay” and “Yeah” as Lucy showed you were to find the diapers, the baby bath tub, the meals and the toys. She even revealed you a tip on how to calm her down when she was nervous.

Turns out that Sophie loved the noise of the kitchen hood.

For the whole time Ben chatted with Rami in the dining room, giving a look at Sophie sleeping in the playpen every now and then, and you truly hoped that he’d have given you some help in this. Things presaged nothing good.

“I’ll FaceTime you every night”, Lucy promised.

“You already said that.”

“The emergency numbers are on the kitchen peninsula.”

“I know, Luce. You showed me.” Your words came muffled at her ears as you hugged her. “Do I have your permission to kick Ben in the balls if he misbehaves?”

“You behave.” Lucy wiggled her nose as she giggled and turned towards Rami, who was standing right next to her.

He leaned towards you to give you a hug and he whispered to your hear “You have my permission.”

His words made you giggle and you gained a glaring from Ben. “What?”

“You smell of baby puke.”

You held back a middle finger as you waved at Lucy and Rami who were now walking away.

As their car disappeared from your sight, you silently closed the front door, trying not to wake Sophie up, and then turned towards Ben. “What?”, he asked by raising a brow in a questioning look.

“We need a schedule.”

Ben slowly blinked, giving you a confused look. “’m sorry?”

“Come with me.”

Five minutes later you were both sitting at the stools of the peninsula, one facing the other, with a beer on one hand and the awareness that it was going to be a very long week.

Ben took a sip of his drink as you twirled a marker between your fingers, looking at the blank white board. “Hopefully we’re gonna make it before Sophie turns two”, he commented with a smirk.

Half an hour. You’d been in his presence for half an hour and you already wanted to punch him. Nevertheless you ignored his comment, starting to write on the board as you said without looking at him “I work three days a week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from eight to twelve. This means that you’ll have to take care of Sophie all by yourself.”

When you looked up at him, his brows were narrowed. “What now?”, you asked in annoyance.

“I want free days, too.”

“I don’t have free days.”

“Yeah, but you go to work. Those ones count as free days.”

Sighing deeply helped you to keep calm. “Okay, then. What do you suggest?”

“Sunday night.”

“I’m not spending a Sunday night all by myself, Ben.”

His smirk was a hint on what his next comment was going to be. “I’m pretty sure that you spent lots of Saturday nights all by yourself, love. When was the last time you got laid?”

“Mind your own business”, you immediately replied.

Ben giggled at your reply and you tried not to stare at his lips as he took another sip of his beer. “And what if I don’t take any other free days? Only this Saturday night.”

His suggestion was reasonable — you bit your lower lip as you thought about it, narrowing your eyes. Why’d he do something like that?

That’s what you asked him. “Why?”

He limited himself to shrug at your question. Not that you were expecting an answer from him. “Fine, then. You got this Saturday night.”

A few moments of silence passed as you wrote on the board and the marker made a shrill sound at every word. “We didn’t think this through.”

Here we go again.

You couldn’t help but throw at him an annoyed glance, sighing deeply as you placed your elbows on the counter and leaned towards him. “Ben.”

“Share the place, both sleep-deprived? ’t sounds like a compelling psych experiment.”

“We cannot draw back now, ‘kay? We’re pretty deep in this.”

His green eyes stared at you for a few moments, still processing your words. It wasn’t a problem of yours if he had an issue with you. Both of you had agreed to do that — how could you say no to Rami and Lucy?

Ben exhaled deeply and leaned towards the back of the chair, moving his gaze away from you. You’d won the argument for now.

There were lots of other things to plan and to write down on the whiteboard and you were about to say it when a little squeak, followed by a little crying caught both yours and Ben’s attention. He gave you a disoriented look and you hurried to stand up, leaving the board still unfinished as you moved in the other room.

“Hi, honey. Hey.” Sophie was standing on the playpen, her beautiful eyes a bit teary.

Ben’d followed you to the room. “Hey, look at the sleepyhead.”

His expression had completely changed — he seemed another person when talking to Sophie and you could barely believe he was the same man who’d earlier told you you smelled like baby puke. Sophie reached up to him and he was about to walk towards her, but you placed a hand on his shoulder and said “Wait, don’t pick her up.”

His brows narrowed in confusion. “Why?”

“Because she needs to learn how to self-soothe.” Ben looked at you like if you were mad.

“She needs to what?” His yes were narrowed and they seemed even darker than usual.

“Self-soothe”, you repeated. “Soothe herself.”

Ben stuck out his tongue and gestured towards you. “And why’d she do that?”

“I read it, Ben. It’s important. Let’s just give it a minute.”

The way he shook his head made you believe that he thought you were nuts; nevertheless, he did as you said. So you were both standing right in front of the playpen, waiting for Sophie to calm down all alone.

But she didn’t, so an idea came up to your mind. “Five little ducks went out one day, over the hill and far away”, you started to sing in an uncertain voice. You looked at Ben with the corner of your eye and he had an amused smile on his face. “Mother duck said, ‘Quack, quack, quack, quack’ but only four little ducks came back.”

“One, two, three, four. Four little ducks went out one day...” Ben’d started to sing along with you as you tried to impress Sophie with your dance moves. “I don’t remember it”, he whispered to you.

Sophie wasn’t particularly impressed by your singing skills, given that she was still softly crying. The sight of her teary eyes’d become unbearable so — unlike what you’d told Ben — you leaned towards her and picked her up. “I think she’s hungry. Yup, I’m gonna feed her. Let’s go eat, love.”

“I though we weren’t picking her up!”, you heard Ben saying as you walked away.

Day Two - Tuesday

Sophie’d fallen asleep in your arms. Her beautiful blonde hair made her seem angelic as she dreamed and you gently grazed her cheek. You didn’t want her to wake up because of you, but it was impossible not to caress her when se looked so peaceful.

Eventually you forced yourself to let her sleep in peace and you decided to get some work done. You’d been highlighting titles over titles for an hour when you heard the front door unlocking.

Shortly after Ben came into your view and you placed a finger on your lips, silently telling him not to wake Sophie up. His eyes immediately went to the baby sleeping in your arms and his features relaxed at that view. Then he looked up at you with an expression that you’d never seen in his face. Not when he looked at you.

But he quickly looked away, carrying the bags into the kitchen before joining you in the dining room.

He sat far from you, but on the same couch. You could feel his gaze following your movements as you tried to get your work done, and when you looked at him you noticed a strand of golden hair that had fallen on his forehead.

“What you up to?” His words were nothing but a whisper.

You gave a quick look at Sophie before turning your gaze to him. “Some paperwork.”

“Right, work.” His tone made you narrow your brows.

And even though the grey sweater that he was wearing made you feel things, you ignored those feelings and asked “Why did you say it with such irony?”

“You run a bookstore.” As if it was an explanation.

“And what with that?”

If Ben’d realised that his words might’ve hurt you, he didn’t show it. “It’s a bookstore.”

“I love my job, you asshole.”

Then you suddenly realised that Ben was just teasing you. The little smirk on his face couldn’t be misunderstood. “Language, love. Last thing we need is Sophie’s first word to be ‘asshole’.”

You shook your head in amusement and even though you were trying so hard not to, your gaze fell to his lips. It’d happened many times for you to think about his lips, how soft they seemed to be. Usually Ben’d dampen those moment with a jab of his or a perv comment just to drive you nuts. But not this time.

“Ben?”

By hearing your whispers Ben moved his gaze from your lips to your eyes. “Yeah?”

You didn’t want to ruin the moment, but you did it anyways. “Do you smell that?”

His brows narrowed in confusion. You nodded towards Sophie, who was still sleeping peacefully, and Ben leaned towards the baby to sniff on her. “Oh my God.” His face twitched in disgust and he quickly leaned back.

“Did she finally—“

“Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I think she... She sure did.” The expression on his face was hilarious.

“Ben”, you said with an amused smile.

When he turned towards you, in his face there still was a disgusted expression. “What?”

“Don’t be a pussy. It’s just poop.” Ben sighed and you giggled.

But then it was time for you to change her diaper. Sophie laid in the changing table, looking at the two of you with a little smile on her face. The problem was, neither of you had the courage to face all that poop. “Remind me again why we agreed on this”, you whispered.

Ben gave you the typical ‘what’d I say?’ look but said “Because we are great friends and now Rami and Lucy owe us a big one.”

“And because we love Sophie”, you added.

Ben slowly nodded at your words, a tiny smile appearing on his face. “Yeah, we love this little one.”

“And because uncle Benny’s the best”, you started by taking a step away from him. “He’s gonna be the one to change your diaper. Right, Sophie? Isn’t he the best?”

“What?”

“Oh c’mon, Ben.”

Ben threw his hands in the air. “Why me?”

“Why me?”

Ben sighed again. “Let’s make a team effort, ‘kay?”

You just couldn’t say no when he showed you his puppy eyes. Bastard. “Fine”, you gave up. “I’ll undress her.”

As you unbuttoned her bodysuit, Sophie gave you a big smile. “You’re lucky I love you”, you whispered to her and you heard Ben giggle behind you.

When she was finally free from her leotard, you turned towards Ben. “Your turn.”

“Already?”

“Yeah, already. C’mon.”

He stood right next to you. “It’s a weird smell, right?”

“Why do you always complain? Go ahead.”

“Fine, fine. It can’t be that hard, can it?” He gave you a hopeful look and you giggled.

“It’s something you can take off the checklist”, you said as you tried to hold back a laugh.

“Yeah.” He carefully approached his hands on the diaper but it was crystal clear the fact that he had no idea how to do it.

“What are you doing?”

“I don’t know. It’s not a bra that I’m taking off a girl, it’s a diaper.” The way he underlined the last words made you laugh.

“It’s not a surgery, just undo the tabs.”

Ben’s hands, so big compared to the little Sophie, were now following your instructions. As soon as the tabs were undone and Sophie was finally free from the dirty diaper, the smell came to you even stronger than before. “Oh my God.”

“What’d I tell you?”, Ben asked with a disgusted expression.

“It’s burning my eyes.”

“We have to clean her up.”

“Yeah, I know.” Trying not to throw up, you quickly took Ben’s place. “Can you please me hand me the baby wipes?”

As you gently held Sophie’s feet up not to dirty her and to clean her better, you hurried to get rid of all that smelling poop. “She didn’t eat enough to produce that”, Ben commented as he watched you.

“Stop it or I’ll throw up.” You gave him a quick look from above your shoulder and Ben smiled back at you. “Another one, please.”

Wiper after wiper, you finally managed to get her clean. Yours and Ben’s reaction did nothing but amuse Sophie, who was giggling with the biggest smile on her face. “Are you having fun, huh?”

“She’s as wit as her mother”, Ben whispered.

After getting rid of the dirty diaper and having Sophie clean and fragrant, you picked her up from the changing table. “What do you say, Sophie? You want uncle Ben?”

“Didn’t hear that”, Ben tried to cut himself off.

“I did hear it, though. Go to uncle Ben, my love.” Sophie reached up to him and Ben grabbed her, giving her the biggest smile you’d ever seen. As you tried to tidy up the room, you heard Ben saying as he walked away “Say Uncle Ben. It’s easy, love. B-e-n.”

Day three - Wednesday

The house was silent. Too silent. That’s why you tried to close the front door as quietly as possible — maybe Sophie was sleeping. Or maybe Ben was. All the bags and books you took home from work were long forgotten on the table as you checked every room of the ground floor to find them.

As you walked upstairs the theme song of Peppa Pig came crystal clear to your ears. It was the hint you needed to know exactly where they were.

“Wow, that was a really good episode.” Who was Ben talking to?

But, more importantly, was he really talking about Peppa Pig?

“Y’know, what I really love about Peppa is that even when everything seems to go wrong and they scr— blow, they blow things up, this funny man keeps saying ‘Oh dear’ or ‘Look out’.” His words made you giggle but you tried not to make any noise.  “Auntie Y/N should follow my example, don’t you think? I’m such a good uncle, right Soph?”

You were now standing against the doorframe, watching Ben sprawled on the soft ottoman as he talked to Sophie in a very serious tone, gesturing towards her. The little girl seemed to follow his conversation, letting out little squeaks of excitement every now and then.

“Too bad that aunt Y/N is way better than you.”

Ben turned towards you by hearing your words and gave you a lazy smile. “How long have you been there?”

“Long enough to hear you talking about Peppa Pig. Oh dear!”

You loved to tease him.

“Oh, shut up.” Despite his words, Ben was smiling in amusement.

You took a few steps towards the baby, kneeling in front of her. “Hi, love. How did uncle Ben treat you, uh? Was he good?”

“I’m the best. Look at her, she’s ecstatic.” Sophie squeaked in excitement, trying to say something as she proved Ben’s point.

“What do you think of a bath? Would you like that?”

Once again, Sophie mumbled some incomprehensible words. They made sense to her, though. “Is that a yes?”, you asked Ben, who limited himself to shake his head as if saying ‘I really have no idea.’

Not being able to decipher Sophie’s words, you took them as a yes. Sophie was now in Ben’s arms as you prepared everything to bath her. Every now and then you threw them a few looks from above your shoulder only to find Ben being completely focused on her, trying to make her giggle by tickling her.

“How was work?”, he asked you as you both waited for the tub to fill up.

You bit your lower lip and gave him an amused look. “Oh, now you care?”

“I was just trying to make conversation”, he quickly replied and shrugged.

His words made you sigh deeply, shutting the faucet and checking the water temperature. “’t was fine, I guess. A bit exhausting. Thanks for asking.”

Sophie loved water. Literally, she loved it. She got all excited when taking a bath and started to spray the water everywhere. Needless to say that both you and Ben were soaking wert as you tried to clean her up. “C’mon, Soph. Just wait for a second”, you almost begged.

“Where the hell is the bloody duck she loves so much”, Ben murmured as he looked for the toy everywhere in the bathroom.

“Language, Ben.”

Ben laughed. Hard. It was probably the first time you heard him laughing like that and you loved that sound. “That’s rich coming from you.”

You mimicked him and gave him a look as you held Sophie. He was sticking out his tongue like he used to do, a proud smile on his face as he held Sophie’s duck. “Look what uncle Ben found, love.”

Sophie became even more excited at the sight of her toy, trying to take it from Ben’s hands when he came closer to you. “Would you hold her? I need to remove all the foam with the shower head.”

He didn’t hesitate to answer “Yeah, sure.” So he gently grabbed her and lifted her, holding her far from his body as he waited for you to wash her.

“Look, Sophie. Uncle Ben’s afraid of getting wet.” If Sophie protested when Ben got her out of the tub, now she was relaxing under the jet of the water.

“I’m already wet.” Dangerous choice of words.

“Then”, you started in an angelic tone. “You wouldn’t mind if I did this, right?” You splashed a bit of water in his face.

Ben was tempted to retract from the jet but Sophie needed to be cleaned. So he bit his lower lip and said in an amused tone “You’re lucky I’m holding the baby.”

“Or what?”

You giggled at the look he gave you and you wrapped Sophie in her bathrobe, taking her from Ben’s arms and holding her close to your chest. “You can’t revenge now. I’m holding the baby.”

“I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.”

You gently rubbed Sophie’s back, leaving a few kisses on her cheeks as you told Ben “Nice movie quote.”

Day Four - Thursday

“Okay, Sophie. I’m almost done, hold on.” The baby food you’d lovingly prepared for the little girl looked nothing like Lucy’s. It tasted good, though. You made sure of it before taking a seat in front of her, ready to feed her.

“She’s not a food critic, she’s a one-year-old”, Ben commented as he watched you. He was leaning against the stool, his arms crossed in his chest as he gave you a sceptic look. Each passing day did nothing but confirm you that he only wore black. The dark hoodie he was wearing was a proof of that.

“She might not be a food critic but sure as hell she doesn’t like my cooking.” And it was true — no matter how much you tried to make her open her mouth and eat her food, she just wouldn’t. “C’mon, Soph. It tastes so good, you’ll love it.”

Ben loudly giggled from where he was standing. “She had the guts to tell you that your cooking sucks.”

“My cooking is amazing. You ate almost half of the roast beef that day at the party”, you protested.

Ben raised a brow. “Did you cook it?”

“’f course I did.” You tried again to feed Sophie but all you managed to do was to get her dirty. You groaned in frustration and sighed deeply.

Five seconds later your attention was caught by the ringing of Ben’s phone. He took it from his pocket and gave a look at the screen before moving his green eyes on you. You raised your brow in a silent question and he bit his lips, walking out of the room and getting the phone out in the backyard.

Sophie finally ate the first spoonful of her meal and as you slowly fed her, your mind started to run wild. Who was he talking to? Was it one of his dates? But then you convinced yourself that it was none of your business.

“Good girl, Soph. Do you like it? Is it good?”, you whispered as you wiped her mouth. Sophie clapped her hands in excitement and it made you genuinely smiled. “Where’s mommy? Say mommy. Mommy”, you repeated slowly for her to understand.

A few minutes had passed before Ben came back into the room. “Did she eat?”

“Just a little bit”, you replied without looking at him.

“She doesn’t like your cooking for real, huh?” Ben was just teasing you but, for a reason that you didn’t know yet, you were pissed at him.

So as you put away the plate on the sink you limited to say “Huh-huh.”

“Y/N?” As you heard him calling you by your name you gave him a quick look. His brows were narrowed in a frown.

“What?”

“What’s wrong?” It was probably the first time that Ben was concerned about you.

You sighed and you turned towards him, drying your hands. “Let’s establish a rule.”

“What rule?” He gave you a confused look.

“The week’s almost over. Let’s spend it peacefully.”

He gestured with his hand while saying “Is that the rule?”

You were starting to get used to the tiny lines forming around his eyes whenever he narrowed them in a confused expression. “No. The rule is that we don’t get to bring dates here in this house. Not around Sophie. I know it’s hard for you to hold on for a whole week, but you’ve got this Saturday night off.”

It was for Sophie’s sake, right?

“Wha— is it because of the phone call?”

You shrugged. “Maybe.”

Ben quickly rubbed his eyes, taking a step towards you. “It was Joe.”

Oh.

You stuttered before saying “It’s the principle that matters.”

“Fine. No dates here.”

A nod is all you gave him as a confirmation before turning towards Sophie. Giving her a better look you said “Ben.”

“Hum?” He followed your gaze to the kid and his eyes widened. “She’s making the look.”

“Yeah, that’s the look”, you confirmed. Not shortly after Sophie started to cry. Loudly and uncontrollably. “Your turn”, you told Ben as you stepped aside.

You heard him sighing as he picked her up, rocking her gently on his chest as he tried to soothe her. “C’mon, be good for uncle Ben”, he whispered as he started to walk around the room.

Your gaze ran over the kitchen and it fell on the hood. “I’ve got an idea.”

Ben limited himself to give you a questioning look and you gestured towards the hood. Still, he didn’t understand. Right, he wasn’t with you when Lucy told you that Sophie loved the noise of the hood. “C’mere”, you whispered as you turned on the extractor fan.

“What are you doing?”, he asked, but he did as you told him.

Now Sophie was softly crying and you tapped Ben on his shoulder, making him sign to lean closer to the hood. The kid’s attention was immediately caught by the noise. Even though she’d stopped crying, her eyes were still a bit teary. It was working.

“Rock her”, you whispered.

Ben looked at you. His green eyes were fixed on yours and you suddenly realised that you were close. Maybe too close. Your chest was touching his arm and his face was just a few inches away from yours. Once again your gaze fell to his lips and for the first time you didn’t care if you were staring at him.

But then Ben cleared his voice and moved his gaze to Sophie. As he gently rocked her he started to sing in a soft voice, trying to get her to sleep “But I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo.”

You had to cover your mouth not to burst out into laughter. “What are you doing?”

“Everybody loves Radiohead.”

Day Five - Friday

“You went groceries literally three days ago. I can’t believe you forgot all this stuff”, you complained as looked at the shelves.

The three of you had gotten in the supermarket not even fifteen minutes ago and your shopping cart was already full. “’s not like I know what’s on Lucy and Rami’s pantry.”

Ben was pushing the cart without paying attention to what you put in it — his eyes were for Sophie only. She was in a good mood and Ben did nothing but improve the situation by playing with her.

“Does she like peaches?” You gave him a quick look from above your shoulder.

Ben was in a good mood, too, given that he gave you a big smile. Maybe you should go often together to the grocery store.

“Why don’t you ask her?”, he proposed.

Opening a jar of peach jelly, you made her smell it. She wiggled her nose in a disgusted expression and she shook her head. “You don’t like it, huh?”

“Huh-huh”, she replied and her expression made you giggle.

“Told you”, Ben said. “She’s as wit as her mother.”

Sophie smelled at least other three other flavours before picking her favorite — apricot. “Really? Apricot?”

“Apricots are a gift from God.” Ben’s words surprised you.

You had a stupid smile on your face as you said “D’ya like them?”

“I love them.” He underlined the word ‘love’ and you shook your head in amusement.

“Y/N?” Hearing that someone was calling you by your name, you turned your back to Ben to face the stranger.

“Nick?” One of your friends from college — whom you hadn’t seen in forever — was standing right in front of you.

“Wow, I thought I was wrong”, you heard him saying as he hugged you.

You couldn’t tell why, but you felt uncomfortable.

“It’s me”, you said with a nervous smile.

Nick’s gaze moved behind you and you followed him. “Is she—?”

“Huh?”

Nick cleared his voice. “Is she your daughter?”

“Wha— no! No, no. Ehm, she’s Lucy’s. And he’s Ben.”

“His husband”, Ben added with a polite smile.

You parted your lips in a confused expression as he shook Nick’s hand. “He’s not—”

You couldn’t even finish your sentence that Ben asked him “College mates, right?”

Nick nodded. “Yeah. Haven’t seen each other in forever, though.”

“Yeah”, you confirmed. The truth was that you were still trying to process Ben’s lie.

“How long have you guys been married? I didn’t know anything about it.”

Ben smirked at Nick’s question. He moved next to you and put his arm around your shoulders, giving you the biggest smile you’d ever seen on his face. His cologne smelled so good that it almost made you forget his lie.

Did he want to play that game? Fine by you.

As he held you close to him, your arm surrounded his hips and you faked a smile. “Oh, just for a few months. It was a small ceremony”, Ben said with a fake smile and you pinched him. A low, deep groan came from his throat but your actions had the opposite effect you wanted to provoke.

Ben was amused.

Even though Nick was still there, you’d almost forgotten about him. “Oh, it sounds so cool. I’m so happy about you guys.”

Thankfully you both didn’t get the chance to answer him because Sophie started to squeak in excitement at the sight of a dog. You took the chance to slip away from Ben’s grip and you approached the kid as you said to Nick with an apologetic smile “’m sorry, Nick. We’re kinda in a hurry. It was nice seeing you again.”

As Nick walked away you nudged Ben. “Idiot. C’mon, push the cart.”

“Don’t be such a bossy, wifey.”

You playfully pushed him away when he tried to come closer to you and then you asked “What was that?”

Ben smirked. “I was just making sure you wouldn’t bring any dates home.”

Since when Lucy and Rami’s place had become home?

Even though you’d spent the last week together, the grocery store gave you the opportunity to fin out new things about him. Like the fact that he likes cereal with no milk or thwart he would gladly mop the floor a hundred times rather than loading the dishwasher.

Once gotten home, you also found out that he hated making two trips while carrying the bags. And he made it very clear by complaining the whole time.

“What do you want for dinner?”, you asked as you hoped you were guessing right where to put all the food you’d bought.

Ben was taking care of Sophie as you tidied the pantry. His voice came muffled as he proposed from the other room “How about we order a pizza?”

“Yeah, fine.”

Where the hell did Lucy put the mayonnaise?

You were still trying to unload the groceries in the kitchen when you heard Ben’s voice. “Y/N?”

The tone of his voice made you worry. “Yeah?”

“She’s walking.” Maybe you misheard him.

“What?”

“She’s walking!”

The bags forgotten right in the middle of the kitchen almost made you stumble as you hurried to move to the dining room. Ben had his back to you, his arms arms stretched out towards the baby.

Sophie was standing on her own feet and a big smile was printed on her face. “Oh my God she’s walking.”

Ben gave you a quick look by hearing your whispers and you noticed a big, enthusiastic smile on his face. He was genuinely happy and for the first time ever the idea of Ben as a dad didn’t seem too abstract.

“Come to auntie, Soph. Come.” Her attention was caught by you and Ben quickly moved behind her, ready to catch her if she fell.

Step by step, Sophie came to you and hugged you with so much love that you almost cried. You couldn’t help but kiss her and as you still held her in your arms you told Ben “FaceTime Lucy. She’ll kill us if she misses it.”

Five minutes later, the three of you sat on the carpet and Lucy was waving at you with a toothy smile on her face. “Hi my love! Hi Sophie!”

“Where’s Rami?”, Ben asked her. He didn’t want his friend to miss it.

“Ugh”, Lucy gave a quick look behind her, probably looking for his husband. “He’s probably taking a shower. How are you guys? How’s my baby?”

“We’re fine. But you gotta take a look at this.” You just couldn’t hold the excitement in your tone. Lucy was beyond excited at your words — you could see it from her eyes. “Just wait a sec.”

Ben stood up as you gave him a pat on the shoulder and he moved right in front of you, far enough for Sophie to take a few steps on her own. The camera was now turned towards him, showing his arms stretched out towards the baby. “Come to uncle Ben, Sophie. C’mere”, he encouraged her.

Lucy narrowed her brows. “Y/N what—”

“Just wait”, you cut her off. “C’mon, Soph. Go to uncle Ben.”

Sophie’s eyes gave you an excited look and she clapped her hands. She slowly leaned towards the sofa, holding on it as she struggled to get on her own feet. When she finally did, Lucy’s eyes were widened and her lips were forming a perfect ‘O’ before whispering “Oh my God.”

When Sophie started to take little steps towards Ben — who’d the biggest smile on his face as he made sure Sophie wouldn’t fall — Lucy said out loud “Rami! For the love of God, Rami! Come here!”

Her excited tone made you chuckle and you heard a loud thud from the other side of the call. Ben heard it too and gave you a quick, confused look before moving his gaze back to the baby.

Rami was now standing right next to Lucy, his hair wet and his eyes widened in confusion. But then he saw his daughter walking on her own feet and he looked at Lucy with so much love that it almost made you cry.

Inevitably your gaze fell to Ben, who was now hugging Sophie and whispering “You did really good, love. You did great.”

The sight of a sweet, soft Ben made you think about your situation. Maybe, after all, spending all that time together had improved your relationship. Or maybe you were just fantasising.

Day Six - Saturday

It’d been a hell of a night. Sophie cried for most of it and it was impossible for you to understand why, given that she still couldn’t talk. Both you and Ben tried to calm her down with anything, but not even the hood kicked in.

Eventually she fell asleep at 8AM and as she rested peacefully in her bedroom, you realised you might as well stay awake. As you were about to make you a coffee, you heard footsteps approaching you.

Ben was rubbing his sleepy eyes, trying to force himself to stay awake. His hair was messier than usual and the shirt he used as pjs was wrinkled.

“Did you check on her?”, you asked in a low tone. To be honest, you felt like shit.

He cleared his voice and nodded his head ‘yes’, taking a seat on the stool of the peninsula. “She’s sleeping.” His tone was just as low as yours.

Sophie had worn you both out.

“Would you like a coffe?”

By giving him a look from above his shoulder, you noticed he was nodding. “Yeah, thanks.”

Five minutes later you were sitting one right in front of the other, just like the very first day. This time he hadn’t the strength to throw jabs at you, though.

“Thank god it’s Saturday.” His sea-glass eyes stared at you for a few seconds.

The hotness of the cup of coffee was warming you cold hands. “Yeah. We did it, right?”

“Yeah... but I’m never doing it again.”

You narrowed your brows at his tone. “Why?”

Ben gave you a condescending look. “If you haven’t noticed, running a baby’s not like running a bookstore.”

“Are we back at it again?”, you asked in an annoyed tone.

Ben started to gesture. “They’re a mess. They pee on things. They bite and they poop a lot.”

“They’re babies.”

And then Ben snapped. You knew that sooner or later he would’ve, because it was Ben we’re talking about. “I had plans this week. Business meetings. I gave up everything to give you a hand with it and play this part.”

“I never asked you to do it! I never asked for your help. And ‘play this part’? Are you serious, Ben? That’s what this is to you?” Hopefully Sophie wouldn’t wake up. As much as you were both trying to keep your tone low, you were in the middle of an argument.

“We’re living in the same house, watching over a kid that isn’t ours and we’re acting like we’re married but we are not.”

“So you’ve been pretending, huh. Have you been pretending with Sophie?” Bet stuck his tongue out, slipping his fingers through his hair as he usually did when he was nervous or upset. And right now he was both. “No, I love Sophie.”

“So just me, then.” It was destroying you the fact that your words sounded like a whine, but you were hurt.

Ben narrowed his brows in a confused expression and his lips parted. “Y/N—“

“You know what, Ben? I shouldn’t have said yes. I should’ve known that you and I aren’t the ideal pairing to take care of a baby. I knew we weren’t a good pairing at all when you left me alone in my fucking car two years ago.” You finally had the chance to tell him how much he hurt you when he screwed up your first blind date. He had to know how much it had influenced your relationship.

“It’s been two years ago!” He threw his arms in the air.

“Yeah, and look at us now. You could’ve just told me you didn’t feel like it, but no. You had to be a dick.”

“’m sorry if I didn’t feel like going to a blind date a month after I broke up with my long-term girlfriend.” Now he was being sarcastic.

And now you were really mad. “How the fuck was I supposed to know!” Your tone was higher than you expected so you took a deep breath to calm down, not wanting to wake Sophie up. “It was my first date in a year. I never let Lucy set me up for dates but for the first time I did. I did and I regret it. Look how it ended up.”

“I told Rami not to do it.”

“I don’t care, Ben. You could’ve managed it better. All you did instead was calling another girl as you were with me, because all you care about is getting laid.” Even though your tone was low, your words were ice cold.

Ben slowly shook his head, his hurt expression quickly replaced by the one you knew so well. “You shouId get Iaid yourself. Except to have sex, you gotta find somebody who can stand you first.”

“Fuck you.”

“Yeah”, he muttered as he stood up.

“You know what? Take all the fucking Saturday as your free day because I can’t even stand looking at you right now.”

And he did. The day went by and Ben hadn’t come back yet. You were trying to convince yourself that you could do it on your own for another day. Sophie seemed to understand that your mood wasn’t one of the best and she behaved like she never did before. She even ate all her meal, which was new to you.

Lucy called at some stage in the evening and she showed you the amazing architecture of Florence. It seemed like they were having a good time and there was no point in making them worry, so you didn’t even mention Ben.

But she did. “Where’s Ben?”

You rubbed your nose, trying to find a believable excuse for his absence. “He went to the grocery’s.”

“How many groceries are you guys buying? It looks like you spend whole days at the mall.”

“No, uh — we ran out of ketchup. We’re having burgers tonight, ketchup is essential.”

She seemed to notice that something was wrong — here brows were narrowed and her eyes were giving you a condescending look. Yet, she didn’t say anything and you closed the call a few minutes after.

It was night by now and Sophie was finally sleeping. You, on the other hand, just couldn’t fall asleep. That’s why you spent almost half an hour channel surfing, ending up watching Love Island. In extremis...

But then the click of the look caught your attention and even though you hadn’t yet turned towards the front door, you knew it was Ben. His cologne couldn’t have been mistaken.

You gave him a quick look from above your shoulder only to meet his beautiful, puppy eyes. Even though you were still pissed at him, you couldn’t keep ignoring your feelings.

He sat right next to you, remaining quiet for the first few seconds. It was him who broke the silence. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have said those things” you whispered as you turned towards him.

His elbows were resting on his thighs as he rubbed his hands together. “You were right, I’ve been a prick. I should’ve talked to you back then. You would’ve understood the situation.”

“Yeah...”

“And I’m sorry I’ve been distant all this time. I knew I fucked things up that day in your car and when I realised it I... it was too late. I just wanted you to like me back, but you wouldn’t have. Not after how I treated you.”

“But I did! I still do, Ben.”

And it was the truth. No matter how many times you’ve tried to convince yourself that you despised him and that you just didn’t get along. You liked him.

His green eyes were staring at your lips for the umpteenth time that week, but this time was different because Ben placed his own on yours. His hand was resting on your neck and the softness of his touch gave you the goosebumps. When you leaned towards him to deepen the kiss, his touch became even more secure as he come closer to you.

You’d fantasised many times on how it’d feel to kiss Ben, but now that you were really doing it, it exceeded all expectations.

When you leaned back from his lips, a big smile appeared on his face. One of the smiles he reserved for Sophie only. You snuggled against him, his arm surrounding your waist as he kept your body close to yours.

There were tons of situations yet to be clarified, but you both stood quiet for the rest of the night, bodies close but hearts even closer.

Day Seven — Sunday

Last day. On one hand you were sorry to leave Sophie — you’d gotten used to her habits and rhythms, but on the other hand you couldn’t wait to go back to your old life. 

Scratch that.

You couldn’t wait to go back to your new life with Ben.

“You done? They’re almost here”, Ben told you as he held Sophie.

As you put the duck away, the one that Sophie loved so much and that drove you insane, you nodded your head ‘yes’. “Yeah. The house should be okay.”

And now the three of you were waiting on the porch for Lucy and Rami to come home. Sophie was beyond excited to meet her parents again and she showed it by walking around the house. Ben had to follow her everywhere, given that she wasn’t still 100% steady on her feet.

“Here they are!”, you told Sophie who was walking around the dining room. “Mom and daddy are here, Soph!”

She clapped her hands, making Ben chuckle as he accompanied her to the front door where you were standing. His green eyes met yours as a loud thud came from Lucy and Rami’s car, who were now shutting the doors and hurrying inside.

Lucy’s eyes immediately went to her daughter, who was standing on her own feet right in front of you. She hugged her, kissed her and held her close to her chest as she whispered lovely words. Rami left a soft kiss on her head before looking up to you and Ben.

When he noticed that you were standing right next to each other with bigs smiles on your faces, he narrowed his eyes and smirked. “What did I miss?”

“Uhm — nothing, really.” But the look Ben gave you made you chuckle. Rami was more than sure that he missed a lot, especially when Ben’s arm surrounded your waist.

“Oh wow”, Lucy whispered as she stood up, holding her baby in her arms. “You guys need to fill me in on what happened between you two.”

“Sophie happened”, you said with a sweet smile, looking at the baby who was in awe for her mother.

”Y’know”, Rami started saying. “You’d make great parents. Sophie loves you guys.”

“Yeah”, Ben murmured. “Maybe someday.”

#ben hardy #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy fic #bohemian rhapsody #Bo Rhap #borhap imagine #BoRhap #roger taylor #roger taylor fic #roger taylor x reader

[oceanera12]

Star Wars x Percy Jackson

Okay so this was a LOT harder then I thought it was going to be on the account that literally everyone in the GFFA is related to one another. So for the sake of my sanity (and yours) let’s just assume that no one is related so I can figure out what kriffing Olympian attributed to them (also we are keeping them all Greek to save me that headache)

Also to keep my sanity I split everyone up by Trilogy/TV Show so just assume each each are a new generation (with some overlapping)--

Also I’m not doing everyone because there is way too many kriffing characters so get ready for highlights and personal favorites. If you have anyone to add, comment or feel free to add! (Last “also”, promise! I stuck mostly with the big twelve to, you guessed it, preserve my sanity!)

Prequels:

Yoda is from Dionysus cabin--FIGHT ME ON THIS. I could not figure out why he talks like he does and came to the conclusion is he is definitely “drunk” on Kool-Aid. Also I like the idea of him growing vines and plants because of Dagoba. He is a camp councilor that’s been around for longer than anyone can remember by Chiron likes him well enough.

Mace is a child of Hades. ... I honestly don’t know why, but as soon as that image popped into my head I accepted it. Maybe it’s because of his stoic personality or maybe the fact he fights in a very angry style, to which I say, “skeletons ripping up from the earth”.

Qui-Gon-- for some bizarre reason the idea of Hypnos popped into my head and I now I cannot get it to leave me alone. So Qui is from Hypnos cabin. He gets a lot of sleep and even more visions of the future (such as a very powerful half-blood coming to camp and he’s now determined to find that kid)

Obi-Wan was tricky. I debated between a lot of cabins and none of them seemed to work for him. I finally settled on Hephaestus, which seems weird but let me explain. Obi-Wan feels like someone who would totally be into arts and crafts, if he could have. Hephaestus cabin usually has a good head and are quite smart

Anakin is from Zeus Cabin. Did you expect anything less? This kid is Mr. Lightning summoning, sword wielding, insane power with way too many emotions. (It was either that or Hephaestus but... “Chosen One” and all that)

Padme is 100% from Athena cabin. That’s it. Fight me.

Palpatine is a weird one because I’d usually just make him a monster or something like a Titan but... eh. I’m going Hermes because this boy knows how to lie and trick people (a lot like Luke, now that I think about it...). A friend of mine also suggested the child of Nemesis, the goddess of Revenge which could also work so pick your pick.

R2-D2 and C-3PO are satyrs. Very annoying, very loud, satyrs. 3PO goes on and on about the importance of nature and R2 follows behind him creating his own form of chaos. Most people avoid them.

Clone Wars:

Ahsoka is also from Athena cabin. I just like to picture her fighting with two knives and flipping around like a gymnast. But she’s more chill then Ares cabin--although she does love hanging out with those boys. She’s unofficially adopted by Ares cabin as a sister in arms so that’s cool.

Ares Cabin just consists of all the clones, okay? It was either that or Hermes but I just couldn’t imagine my boys without their military structure. Cody’s head of the cabin and has to try and keep all of his siblings in line-- very poorly, but he’s doing his best.

Satine is in Demeter Cabin. I wasn’t sure where else to put a pacifist but I thought it suited her well enough. Ex-girlfriend of Obi-Wan but they are on friendly terms (and there is a running bet on when they will get back together)

Rebels:

Kanan was really hard to figure out. I decided to make him Poseidon’s kid because he’s usually really chill in the show. For the most part, he’s really laid back and doesn’t use any water abilities unless he has too. Prefers to fight with a sword, but can use a crossbow surprising well. Has a street kid background so he gets along with the Hermes cabin really well and has kind of “adopted” one of the kids there (three guesses as to who)

Hera has to fly, okay? She has to be able to fly either a Pegasus or actually fly which leaves either Zeus, Apollo, or Poseidon as the main picks, which I don’t think any of those scream Hera. In fact, flip them, she’s a mortal that see’s through the Mist. She somehow got dragged into this world of monsters and demi-gods and is now chilling at the camp just for the heck of it. It may or may not have had something to do with her now-Boyfriend Kanan who may or may not have been on a quest at the time when he accidently destroyed her apartment because of a stupid hellhound.

Ezra is in Hermes cabin. This tiny little thief is wonderful and is a cute little blueberry. Kanan kind of unofficially adopted the kid so Ezra is usually drenched from swimming in the lake.

Zeb is from Athena cabin. Very skilled with a staff and very into battle meditation. Not super into the “intelligent” side of Athena, but he is in no way an idiot. Get’s into a lot of trouble with Ezra because why not?

Sabine I could totally see being the child of Apollo, but she joined Artemis Huntresses (maybe out of spite to her Dad but also because a bunch of warrior women? Heck, yeah!). Very artsy, excellent shot with a bow, and is much, much cooler then her dad.

Chopper is a very lazy, very stubborn Hellhound, fight me on this (and may have been the Hellhound Kana was fighting when he met Hera, but he’s now attached to this strange mortal woman who literally told off these two for destroying her house).

Original:

Luke was almost a child of the big three (specifically Hades for some bizarre reason--don’t ask me why, I don’t know how my brain got on that) but then I remembered that Hecate was a thing soooooo... Luke Skywalker, the son of Hecate, goddess of magic. He manipulates the mist and stuff like that. Also likes to fly Pegasi.   

Leia... okay, this is going to sound really weird but I kind of see Leia as a child of Aphrodite. Not obsessed with how she looks and all that stuff, but more like Piper. Very strong willed, determined, and keeps your attention. She fights for what she believes in (loves) and can kick butt. It was either that or Athena but... eh, let’s turn that on it’s side, shall we?

Han is Hermes. What did you expect?

Chewbacca is a satyr. I don’t know if you expected any differently, but I’m picturing Coach Hedge just not... insane. Very much likes to fight monsters and is very protective of Han.

Lando is... tricky. I’m going to go with Dionysus simply because of the party factor, but don’t cross him. He can mess you up.

Sequels:

Rey is unclaimed. She chills in Hermes cabin and has no idea who her Godly parent is... which she mopes about a lot. ((I literally could not figure out who’s daughter she would be because that’s kind of the whole Trilogy. And then it hit me like an out of control Pegasus.))

Poe is from Apollo cabin and can usually be found on a Pegasus. His favorite is nicknamed BB and is white with “orange” spots. Very good at flying and shooting a bow at the same time. Yes, he’s a show off and yes, he’s very good in a fight.

Finn is in Ares cabin. But he’s more like Frank in the sense of he’s definitely nicer then most of his cabinmates. Excellent fighter but does not have that stupid Ares temper... most days (don’t cross Finn or he will mess you up)

Rose gets to be a child of Hephaestus. She’s smart and is an engineer, simple as that.

Kylo/Ben is in Aphrodite cabin simply because I want him there. He’s prissy, full of himself, and a jerk and if that isn’t Aphrodite, I don’t know what is (I’m sorry, I just hated Aphrodite in the books and Kylo was kind of a “meh” character soooooooooo...)

#fandom meets fandom #percy jackson #star wars #star wars original trilogy #star wars prequels #star wars sequals #star wars rebels #star wars the clone wars #too many characters to tag #au #au's galore #would you believe luke and leia were the hardest to come up with? #seriously #i could not figure them out for the life of me

[absent-o-minded]

SHADOW AND BONE SPOILERS

I binged the show yesterday in two sittings (Eps 1-5 in one, Eps 6-8 in the other) and I thought that I'd make a list of some of my favourite moments/lines throughout the series. (This is going off of memory as I haven't done a rewatch yet, so I'm sorry if some quotes aren't word for word.) Part 1?

- Milo The Goat being the Main Character for 10 minutes straight

- "She's not like you. No one is." I wasn't expecting to get fucking whipped so hard so early by Kanej but ThErE We gO

- The entire scene of Kaz dressing up as a painter just to get a look at the blueprints to the Archive Library because...why not?

- Alina and Mal being cutie patooties in the Camp before shit hit the fan.

- An underappreciated moment: When Mal said that Alina "looked healthy" and him smiling at the fact that she had developed an apetite from using her powers. I thought that it was a very tender moment.

- Ben Barnes as the Darkling having soldiers make room for him to walk because he is THAT BITCH.

- Mikael and Dubrov! It's always a good ol' adrenaline kick when a TV Show takes your love for two minor characters and shoves it in the blender right before your very eyes...Thank-Thanks Shadow and Bone.

- "Your tracker friend liked it when I put him on his back too." Even my face felt the burn of Zoya and I knew that it didn't even happen.

- The Crows in general were immaculate. Everything from the representation of Inej's religious standpoint (which I thought was done incredibly well) to Kaz being an emo boy (...she said see ya' later boy...) to Jesper going "Bang bang bullet bullet gun!"

- Jespers fucking lines, with some special mentions but not limited to: "...He threw a book at me?..." "I'M NOT THROWING OUT THE GOAT...so soft." "(*Insert Screaming*)" "I lost a little bit of money...I lost all of the money." "Of course, love." "I know. I'd miss me too. I'm fantastic."

- Alina's powers were beautiful (Mega props to CGI). Imagine having the power of being a literal ray of sunshine and then playing a character who has the power to summon literal rays of sunshine? That's Jessie Mei Li.

- The wholesomeness of the Inej and Jesper scene where Inej is trying to stitch her self up and there is a mutual understanding of her position of going back and Jesper inadvertently says that he values her.

- "My Crows." UHHHHNNNNNGGGG

- Genya saying that the Queen has saggy tits had me rolling.

- SPeakIng of GeNYA, Genya and David. The small snippets we got of the two are enough to last me lifeti-yeah, no, about two weeks, I love them both so much, please gimme.

- "You don't have to put-" *sigh* "Yes, David?" PFFF.

- Helnik in the Whaler's hut. I cannot pinpoint one particular thing. Wholesome.

- The build up of the Darkling x Kaz confrontation over the few weeks leading up to the Shows Premiere, the plethora of theories that involved Cane Whacking and Shadow Summoning and Insult Throwing and Fashion Copyrighting, and what did we get? The peak humour that was Kaz fucking throwing down a flash bomb and dissapearing like my perception of time and space after sitting in the dark for 5 hours watching the show. I do not know why I expected anything less, that scene was beautiful.

- The bit where Alina directly put her hands over the mans eyes and radiated her light directly onto his eyeballs? It was brief and swift but I found that so cool.

- As a Film Student, I can just really appreciate the overall aestheticism of the series. They managed to encapsulate both the quintessential elements (The setting/locations, The Score, Costume Design etc) and as well as the more meticulous, intricate details (Again with Kefta details, but also with Characterisation, Prop Design of the Crow Club) and so much more. The essence of the world that Leigh Bardugo has built was captured as if it had been plucked straight from my mind and I revelled in it for those 8 hours.

There are so many moments that I have missed or have not spoken about but I'll end that here as its been quite long, but this series was utterly beautiful, and all of those involved: The incredible Cast, the most talented of Cinematogrophers, Designers, Camera Workers, Writers, Hair and Make-Up Staff, truly to every single person involed - Thank you so much <3

(Also - Please feel free to add anything in the comments, or message me if you want to talk about the show. I'm debating whether to do a more consice review, but we'll see how lazy I'm feeling tbh. Take care everyone <3 )

#shadow and bone spoilers #sab spoilers #s&b spoilers #shadow and bone #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #jesper fahey #alina starkov #the darkling #mal oretsev #nina zenik #matthias helvar #grishaverse