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hiramaris · 4 months

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Kiss It Off Me

CHAPTER 4

Chapter Summary:

“Thank you.” She couldn’t stop smiling, not if she can’t help it. “It’s really sweet of you to do all this.” “No problem. I like it when you smile. Happiness looks good in you.”

Pairings: Haley x Fem!farmer

Disclaimer: I do not own Stardew Valley or any of the related characters. Stardew Valley is created by and owned by ConcernedApe. This fanfiction is intended for entertainment only. I am not making any profit from this story. All rights of the original Stardew Valley story belong to ConcernedApe.

Warning: Swearing, mentions of neglect

Y/n, I’m not really good at writing a note or apologizing in general. I just… feel bad about how our introduction to one another went downhill which I know is my fault. I know it's kind of rude, too to take someone's photo without their consent so, here you go. It's not the best photo but it's not, like, the worse either. And you look like you're in one with nature so the photographer in me couldn't help but to take the shot. Anyway, if you have time away from your farm, you can drop by at 2 Willow Lane in the morning or whatever so I can make it up to you somehow. It’s cool if you don’t want to if you’re, like, really mad still. P.S I don’t wake up until 8. Need my beauty sleep! - Haley <3

Spring 9

"Earlier, I was getting my mail."

Haley's chewing came to a halt as George began to speak. How odd. George wasn’t one to talk during meals. She knew this because there was never a time she missed mandatory weekly meals with the Mullners.

Nonetheless, she leaned a bit closer to hear him.

"I couldn't because of my...” he trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid. “Anyway, Pam's kid tried to help me, and I ended up shouting at her." "My goodness, George!” Gran Evelyn gasped softly, placing a hand over her heart. “Why did you do that to poor Penny?" "I— she pushed my wheelchair and touched my mail.” He averted his gaze, looking everywhere but at the three pairs of eyes focused on him. If Haley didn’t know him any better, he almost looked embarrassed rather than angry. “I... I didn't like it when people act like I'm so nimble." Granny shook her head in sympathy. "Still, honey... She's just trying to help." "I know, I know," George grumbled, stabbing his fork into a fried mushroom. "The new farmer even pointed it out to me." He looked up, his eyes boring into his wife. "I apologized anyway. It was just a bad day, and I happened to project my anger onto her."

At the mention of the new farmer, Haley perked up. Not to sound obsessed or anything or like she has been counting at all, but it has been two days since she had caught a whiff of that familiar scent of dirt and freshly cut grass that you seemed to radiate even from a mile away. If Emily’s going to twist her arm behind her back, then maybe she’ll be able to get Haley to admit that she’s the one doing the avoiding right now.

The fact that it was Haley herself who wrote a note for you to come by to make up for her rude behavior, and then when you did drop by immediately a day after, Haley would make sure she had plenty of excuses to not meet you at the door and have Emily answer on her behalf. It’s been days and she’s running out of reasons to tell Emily why she couldn’t meet her visitor, and it wouldn’t take a genius to know who’s avoiding whom.

How could she not though?

How can someone recover from a situation like that which was probably scraped off from a romantic script of a movie because it’s too predictable, and cringe?

How can you look at someone ever again knowing you had seen that face in mere inches, breath tingling the cheeks and then act like you weren’t fazed by it all?

Most importantly, how do you act after that? Apparently, it didn’t seem like a problem for you as you were so busy hustling and bustling in and out of the farm and into the town. And if you weren't busy doing your chores, then you were always dragged down by Sam’s little brother to their little class arrangement with Penny and often found you hanging out with them by the big tree just outside Haley’s home which is why she knows not because she’s actively searching for you, duh.

Okay, maybe you did try to come to her, and Haley's the one acting like you and she had a one-night stand for the way she avoids you like a plague.

Still.

She shook her head when she realized she’d been zoning out longer than she warranted. Evelyn is still giving George a piece of her mind for what he did. Haley’s so sure he’s regretting his decision by now opening this topic to his wife.

However, it was clear to Haley who was in the wrong here.

"If I may put in my two cents...?" she interjected, unable to hold back.

Alex raised a curious brow at her but remained silent. Granny, on the other hand, nodded encouragingly. "Go ahead, deary."

"I think George's reaction was valid," Haley began slowly, choosing her words carefully. "Penny touched your wheelchair and mail without consent, regardless of her good intentions, Mr. Mullner." And as an afterthought, she added, a hint of annoyance creeping into her voice, "And the new farmer agreed with her? She should have known better."

"Look at you, Hay. Queen of consent!" Alex teased, a smirk playing on his lips. "I love a girl who knows her boundaries."

Of course, the doofus would choose this time to speak.

"Haha," she rolled her eyes at a smirking Alex. He sure knows what buttons to push. "Asking consent is a bare minimum, you goof. You should practice it more often." "Hey!" "Hng," George grumbled inaudibly. "Little Miss Farmer did say that."

"Say what, dear?" "That Pam's kid should have asked me first.” George clarified. “But I should have handled it a little better, too. Can't say that she's wrong."

Despite his use of tone, he didn’t sound too upset. More like he’s in between of unable to believe that someone has the courage to stand up to him and tell him he’s wrong and still respect him as an elder, or being mad at this new farmer for sticking up her nose somewhere it doesn’t belong.

Either way, a George that isn’t grumpy is a win-win. So, they all will probably take it as it is.

"I'm glad you thought so too, dear." See? Even Granny thinks so, too. It’s better to have a plate full of her infamous cookies (and leek if you’re George) than to have a grumpy George on your plate. "Here, have some sauté leek."

George's face brightens up considerably. "I thought we don't have anymore from the pantry?"

"Miss Y/n dropped some earlier. Said to help cook your favorite dish. Isn’t she a sweetheart?”

"Hmm... I guess she's really something else then."

"I told you so, dear."

"Agree!" Alex raises a thumbs up. "She even knows how to play grid ball! She's new yet she's already better than the men here combined."

"That's lovely, deary. I hope she also influences you to read those books I gave you. I heard she's infatuated with books as Miss Penny does." "Yes, granny," Alex grumbled against his spoon.

Spring 10

She didn’t expect to see you so soon.

It’s not like she wants to avoid you forever. Ugh.

Why is this so difficult?

Her whole Spring routine is now in shambles because of you and your inability to dress nice, spreading your nasty farmer smell and being all happy smiles around children, elders, and women like some sort of Casanova and it’s infuriating!

“Hay?” Emily’s voice calling out from the kitchen stops her from her silent stewing. Haley was about to get up from her seat when Emily's voice continued, "did you clean the cushions like I told you yesterday?"

Her expression immediately turned sour, “I just cleaned them last week!”

The clanging from the kitchen stops, and the thudding of footsteps came closer. In an instant, Emily was standing in front of her with her spatula in hand.

“Yes, that’s last week. What about this week then?”

Haley rose to her feet, indignant. No freaking way she’s cleaning them again. “I always clean under the cushions and you damn well know it!" She jutted a perfectly manicured finger in Emily's direction. "It's YOUR turn this week!"

Emily scoffed at that. “You’re being childish, Haley. I do the vast majority of work in this house, and you know it.”

Haley rolled her eyes, feeling frustrated that Emily always played the responsible one. Just because she had a job outside the house, she acted like she was the only one doing anything. Haley does, too! She cooks, washes the dishes, does her own laundry, and cleans the house! But of course, Emily isn’t around enough to see all that because she has work and she’s busy thinking Haley’s lazy ass is just lounging in the house doing nothing all day!

“But that’s not the point!” Haley crossed her arms, a flash of irritation on her face. She wasn't going to let Emily get away with this. “We agreed to have schedules specifically for this and you’re not following it!”

Emily's eyes flickered with frustration. “Would it kill you to do them now? I had a rough shift yesterday.”

"You can't just pass off your responsibilities onto me every time you had a tough day at work. We made a schedule for a reason."

"I know, I know. But I just need a break today." Emily sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping.

The truth sets out then. She had a rough night and she passes the job onto Haley and made her feel guilty for it. Never mind that they agreed to have alternate schedules to do this specific job to avoid arguments yet here they are.

“Absolutely no—”

“Hello?”

Of fucking course, the farmer chooses that time to knock on their door.

Emily must have noticed the alarmed look written clearly on her face, making her smirk.

Oh, boy.

“Come in, Y/n/n! Haley’s up already.”

“Good mor—” You did a double take seeing a clearly upset Haley and an equally pissed Emily. “Am I interrupting something?”

“Yes,” Haley admitted bluntly, crossing her arms. A flash of recognition passed her eyes when she thought of an idea. A good one that’s for sure. “Since you’re a hard worker and all, I bet you’ll understand my point of view here.”

“Haley,” Emily warned. Haley ignores her, deciding to shift her attention to the newcomer.

You tilt your head in confusion. “What’s going on?”

Emily sighs in exasperation, before offering you a kind smile. “I’m really sorry to involve you in this, Y/n/n. Haley,” she shot her a dirty look, “is complaining because I asked her to clean the cushions—”

“— which you should be doing because it’s your schedule, not mine yet you’re shifting the blame to me.” Haley finishes for her. She turns to you, further proving her point. “It’s important to mention that I already cleaned them last week.”

“Haley…”

“Shut it, Em. I want to hear what she has to say. What’s the verdict?”

Haley may seem cool outside but she’s actually hoping for you to side her on this one. She knew she was on the right side. If you were to side with Emily, then that’s like a double edge of crap in some way and Haley refuses to bleed in front of you two.

You were silent for a good second, chewing your lips, deep in thought. Your eyes flicked back and forth between the sisters.

“Haley,” you prompted, voice slow and measured. Haley already knew at this point whom you sided with. “Why not have this be your one weekly job?”

Not that it��s important but it stings.

Haley turns to retreat to her room, but you must have noticed the look of utter disappointment on her face. You grabbed Haley's hand in panic, halting her in her tracks. The blonde couldn't help but freeze at the sudden touch. "W-wait. I’m not siding on anyone," You quickly clarified, hoping to diffuse the tension.

Haley raised a skeptical eyebrow, not entirely convinced. "Sure," she replied flatly.

“I just thought it would be the best course of action, so you don’t have to argue over it again. If you took this job, Emily won’t bother you again with cleaning the bathroom every two days. Isn’t that right, Em?”

“Yeah!” Emily agrees immediately. “Wait, what?”

Haley turns and finds you smiling down at her, clearly amused at Emily’s reaction. “doesn’t that sound more appealing?”

It does. She hates cleaning the bathroom with great passion, more so than cleaning under the cushions. If this also means it could possibly reduce Emily’s daily nagging, then your idea doesn’t seem the worst plan ever.

“Alright, you win.” Haley tried so hard to keep a straight face when she saw that stupid smile emerging again. “I guess this can be my job every week. Then there won’t be any reason to argue over it.”

Emily eyes her a bit at her sudden compliance with everything before turning back to you with an almost appreciative look. “Thanks, Y/n/n. That was a great solution.”

“Heh,” you must have noticed Haley’s eyes burning at your conjoined hands. With a timid chuckle, you retreated your hand back as you scratched your nape almost shyly. “It’s no problem, really.”

“Why don’t you stay for breakfast?” Emily suggested. “I’m almost finished cooking anyway.”

“It’s okay, thanks! But I don’t really want to impose.”

“Nonsense! I’m sure my sister won’t mind you joining us. Right, Hay?” Emily raises an equally blue eyebrow at her sister, who seemed to be in a daze.

“Your hands are rough and warm.”

“Huh?”

Your confusion snapped her out of her trance. She meets your eyes for a brief moment before glancing away. “I mean— what I meant to say was,” she sputtered pathetically. “Yeah, you can join us for breakfast.” She forces out a smile, hoping Yoba will answer her prayer one more time.

“Good!” Emily beamed. “Then I’ll get on with it. Haley, please keep our guest occupied.”

“You sure?” You asked one more time, probably noticing the grimace obviously etched on her face.

“Of course.”

“Hmm. Okay, then how about we clean these cushions now? So, you won’t have to clean them later?”

“Eh? It’s fine. I can do that later.”

“I insist. Two pairs of hands are better than one, y’know?”

“Ugh. Of course, you’ll say some dorky crap like that. Yoba, fine you can help.”

You can only laugh at her antics before moving to lift the couch.

Spring 14

She used to like her birthdays.

At least that’s what she likes to think.

What she allows herself to think.

And what she likes others to think.

It’s easier to blend into the stereotypes rather than oppose them and still get judged after.

Haley’s been called names already, all too many to even mention.

Spoiled.

Arrogant.

Self-centered and conceited.

If they are harsh enough, sometimes they’ll call her a dumb bitch.

As harsh as they are, Haley learned over the years to desensitize herself to them. Why allow yourself to be hurt by the same thing over and over again?

Her parents raised her and Emily in this big house back in Zuzu City. It was big, enormous even but empty. Can you call it home when no one cares enough to stick around? When all there ever was were big parties, and holidays spent with strangers she barely talked to, raised like the perfect little girl that she is, given with just as empty praises and gifts just as thoughtless.

Haley is practically the epitome of class and luxury. The living embodiment of perfection. Perfect face, perfect body, and oh-so-perfect stats. She’s smart (street smart or preferably photography smart if there’s one or whatever), rich and famous. Most importantly, she’s popular and has a reputation to protect. Everything that Emily probably isn’t. Yet she’s the one happier.

She’s the one who moved on while Haley remains still where their parents left them.

How could they be gone though if, in the first place, they were never present? Where were they when Haley won her first photography contest? Did they know the photo was Emily sewing her first design? Haley doesn’t think so.

They are not abusive though. In terms of needs, they never wasted seconds to tend them in the most grandiose and luxurious ways as possible— the newest phone, latest camera, expensive make-up, and all available seasonal designer clothes. Good but not great either. Haley can say they are just plainly emotionally unavailable. They weren’t ready at all to be parents. They were too young when they had Emily.

Early twenties were not even that young, but it was a stage of exploring the world and what it could still possibly offer them. They can’t have all that with children in tow. So, when the opportunity arises, they took it without hesitations. After all, both their children are fully capable on their own.

But Haley needed someone. She needed a father. She needed her mother. Hell, she needed her sister. She needed someone warm, a nicer, wiser person. Someone to cry to, to talk to, to laugh to.

She calls out but the house is empty.

So, tell me. How can I be childish when I’m forced to grow up because everyone already is?

Haley hated them with passion. The crumpled piece of letter in her hand was obvious enough to what extent she does.

Another birthday card.

No hugs and kisses.

No cake.

No parents.

Some birthday this is.

She lets out a dry chuckle. It seems Emily had forgotten about her day. She had taken off at dawn's first light without even a second thought. While Alex? She doesn’t expect him to remember. At least not until later than noon. The idiot, really.

“Thought I’d find you here.” Haley didn’t have to look up to see who it was, but she did anyway. There you are with your blinding smile again. Beads of sweat can be seen forming on the side of your forehead just below a small cut that seemed to be healing well already. Your clothes are lightly butchered, a sign she's up and about on her farm yet the sight of you lifted her spirit a little.

“Done with your chores?” She asked as you sat down next to her. Weirdly enough, the smell of dirt doesn't seem sore on the nose anymore, and Haley starts to wonder why.

It was a pleasantly warm Sunday. Usually, the kids will be playing here and Haley's glad she get to enjoy a quiet time in the park even for a little time.

You hummed. “Woke up extra early to finish them all.”

“Why? You have plans?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Naw, had to run some errands so I can give you this,” You turned to your rucksack that Haley failed to notice again. It was bulging. Haley could only catch sight of the color brown before you successfully hid it behind your back. “Held out your hands.”

Haley narrowed her eyes. “You’re not going to prank me, are you?”

“What? No, of course not!”

“Is it a bug? You know I hate them.”

“Just do it, Hay.”

Surprised at the sudden usage of the nickname, Haley finally complied. She desperately hopes the sunlight would hide the tinge of redness starting to form on her cheeks.

Carefully, you placed a coconut on her open palms. It was plump and perfectly shaped as if it had been carefully chosen just for her. It was even wrapped poorly with a red ribbon that is a bit wrinkly and crinkled on the edges which must be because of how it was forcefully shoved in her bag. But Haley didn't find it in herself to mind. Not when you're looking at her like that as you hold your gift. “Happy birthday, Haley.” You greeted warmly.

Haley blinked, her eyes started to water, her insides warming up in all ways possible. But she didn’t dare cry.

"I... I love coconuts." Haley looked up. Her own lips betrayed her as they curled up in the widest grin she ever had. “How did you know?”

“Well,” You scratched the back of your head, your cheeks turning a light shade of pink. “Remember when you treated my cut the other day? You made me choose between a sunflower band-aid or a coconut one. So, I kinda assumed they were your favorites.”

“B-but how? You can’t possibly summon a coconut tree at will, or even had the time to go to Calico desert.”

You laughed at that. “It was pure luck, Hay. I just talked to the traveling merchant the other day and she said she had a couple of ones in stock. But she warned me I had to buy one early today or else she’ll run out just before noon.”

“Thank you.” She couldn’t stop smiling, not if she can’t help it. “It’s really sweet of you to do all this.”

“No problem. I like it when you smile. Happiness looks good in you.”

Happiness looks good on you, too.

****

A/n: I hoped I did Haley's heart event justice because she deserved soooo much better. I refuse to believe her mean girl façade is because she's plain mean. My girl is better than that.

Anyway, sorry for the super late update. You know, the usual, due to school stuff and it just so happens senior year is the busiest year of all. Had to make sure I'm complying with all the needed requirements so I can graduate this year.

Thank you, guys, for your patience. Love y'all but I love my wife more <3

#stardew valley #stardew haley #stardew farmer #stardew fanfic #haley x reader #haley x farmer

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bones4thecats · 6 months

Note

Could I please ask for a dorm leaders with kianna

Also have a nice day and night and I really enjoy your writing

A/N: Hello there again @nunezs-stuff!! Thank you for the request on dorm leaders, I hope you enjoy~~

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Speaking about your past was hard. You held onto the past for a long time. You lost Yui, and you lost yourself in such a short amount of time that it made your relationship strained, so when your boyfriend went to figure out what was happening to you, he found something he never expected. And now he was confronting you about it… ●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・

❤️ He was furious.

❤️ He trusted you with his past, with all the pain that his mother forced upon him, from mental stress to physical stress, he shared it all, but you never shared all of this?!

❤️ Riddle knew of your scars and he knew to not pressure you, but finding a photo of six vampires with you and that woman that was your phone’s background just made him feel betrayed

❤️ Was he just a placeholder for them all?

“ I cannot believe you wouldn’t tell me about this?! Were you ever going to tell me?! Were you?! ”

❤️ You just froze in place before taking the photo, cutting the males out and tossing them into the fire, saying

“ I wanted to. But I prefer to not remember those monsters who dared harm my sister. And even if I did tell you, you wouldn’t understand. Nobody ever could. ”

❤️ Once you left the room, Riddle just ran his hands through his hair before finally thinking rationally

❤️ It wasn’t your fault for not telling him, it was just something you did to protect yourself

❤ ️ And now he had to make it up, he couldn’t stand having you mad at him the same way you were with both yourself and those men in that photo, whom he still needed to ask you, who and what were those things?

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・

🦁 This guy wasn’t nearly as mad as Riddle, but he wasn’t exactly calm about it either

🦁 You had photos of these men, these puny beings, in your room and you never once brought it up to him on who they were and what they were to you

🦁 He isn’t nearly as self-conscious as Riddle or the others are, but this was enough to make him rethink everything, was he just a toy?

🦁 Leona immediately stormed to you and held up the photo, demanding to know who these people were and why you kept a photograph of them without speaking to him on who they were

“ Were you ever going to tell me that I was just a placeholder?! Huh?! ”

🦁 He listened as you spoke, claiming that they were the ones who gave you the scars, and the ones who harmed your sister to the point where she had passed away in such a painful and slow manner

🦁 The beastman just sighed and growled under his breath, handing you the photo, but not without saying these words

“ If they ever, and I mean ever, find a way here, I will make sure they never harm you again. ”

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🐙 Self-consciousness to the max

🐙 Holding your past away from him, he could understand, he still didn’t wish to tell you about his

🐙 But keeping these photos away and just lying to him, saying you didn’t really know anyone in your world, when clearly you knew these men and that woman, who he didn’t quite know was your sister

🐙 Azul sat at his desk across the wooden table from you, a slight glint of anger and betrayal evident in his slow gaze

“ Angelfish, who pray tell are these men, and that woman in this photograph that the tweels found in your dorm. Were you ever planning on telling me about them? ”

🐙 You sighed and began to tell him everything, from the start of your stay with Yui till the end of your stay, when you had mercilessly killed those horrendous beasts, there was no point in lying to him, Azul was smart, and he had the tweels beside him

🐙 He grabbed the photo and began to lay it inside his desk, in the drawer labeled burn

🐙 The Octavinelle dorm head watched you stand up to leave before he walked to you to hold you close

🐙 Maybe now he could tell you about his past

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☀️ This guy is so innocent that he completely thought that the image you were holding in front of Scarabia’s fireplace (don’t ask why they have one) was just your old friends from your world

☀️ Kalim looked at the image and just asked you who they were, which prompted you to just shrug and answer with nobody

☀️ He may be quite oblivious, but he could tell when someone was upset about something, it was a talent of the dorm head’s

☀️ Kalim grabbed the photo and read the note at the bottom, From one sister to another, stay strong Y/N. Love you. ~ Yui

☀️ He gripped the image and began to grit his teeth

“ Were you ever gonna tell me that you had not just a sister, but others who cared for you? ”

☀️ You froze and held Kalim close as he began to cry, not knowing to the full extent how much pain those others brought you and Yui, but he’d learn eventually

☀️ Just not now

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👑 This fair man only found the photo because of Rook

👑 The hunter brought him a photo that he had yoinked from your dorm’s main room when he came to bring you to Pomefiore a couple days beforehand

👑 Vil is not known for being angry, but this made his blood boil, you never told him about this, why?

👑 When he confronted you about this, you just starred and demanded the photo back

👑 He didn’t do it

“ Darling, were you ever going to tell me about these men? Who even are they, do tell. I’m waiting. ”

👑 You just decided to tell him after making way to his dorm room, not wishing to have anyone else hear the story of your past

👑 Hearing how much pain they had caused not only you, but your sister made his heart swell with agony, but he couldn’t image how much pain you were carrying every day

👑 Afterwards, he just makes sure you read a daily amount of words to make you feel worthy and happy

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🎮 Idia found so many photos on your phone when he was uploading them onto your new one that he had made himself

🎮 To say he wasn’t scared was a huge understatement, this man was horrified

🎮 He overthinks easily, but seeing how happy your appeared made him mortified with his thought

🎮 Was he just a placeholder?! Did he make you feel sad about losing them?! Oh god.

🎮 When you came by with Ortho to check on the materials Idia was using to make the new device, you saw him frozen, sitting on his bed before he told Ortho to go to the scrap-room in Ignihyde to grab some stuff for him

🎮 He then turned to you and you could see his eyes were slightly red and puffy from crying

“ Player Two? Please answer me honestly, even if it hurts. Who are these guys? Were you ever going to tell me about them? ”

🎮 Idia watched you walk to him and embrace him in a comforting hug, saying you were going to tell him later on, adding on that it was just difficult

🎮 He then said, with some surprising confidence, he’d protect you from them, no matter the cost

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🐉 The dragon fae found the photo when you were making some treats for the walk that night, he looked around your room that you left him in and smiled when he found a small box labeled Memories in a cursive font

🐉 Malleus held up the photographs that were inside of the box and smiled when he saw you and a blonde girl with pink eyes laughing as she held you up in the air, you were a baby it looked like

🐉 When you came back into the room, he had just found the photo of a certain red haired male with you, his creepy smile plastered on his face as he held you up by the neck, a purple haired boy taking a selfie in front of it all, a bear being held in his hand

🐉 Anyone could tell this wasn’t meant to be funny, at least to sane people

🐉 He glared at the photo and let a green fire erupt in his hands, successfully burning the photo to ashes

🐉 He saw you just look at the image without any sadness in your eyes and set the plate down to try calming him down

🐉 He’s a dragon fae, he’s possessive, so you expected that kind of reaction

“ When were you going to tell me about them, my dear? ”

🐉 You just answered him and held him close, basket long forgotten as he curled you into his lap on the bed

🐉 I guess the walk was canceled in favor to rest

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nikethestatue · 5 months

Text

A Match Baked in Heaven

Chapter 4 Here

Part V

My Girl

Nuala W. Raith.

27 years old. A cyber security senior analyst at the New Scotland Yard. Graduated from the London School of Economics. First job was with Accenture, but was quickly recruited by the government due to her phenomenal computer skills. Fairly successful modelling career in her teens and early twenties. Longest relationship was with a Canadian hockey player. Their engagement broke up when he was photographed with a scantily-clad stripper whose head was buried in his crotch.

Hobbies: gaming, football, rugby, cooking, live concerts

Competitive swimmer throughout her uni studies

Elain printed out the profile and placed the page in her bag. She slid her IPad into it as well and then went on to put on her coat.

She just received a message on her phone stating ‘come out, matchmaker!’ That was exactly what she expected from her wild and untamed client.

Piglet was freaking out at the door, snorting and grunting and giving a few pathetic little barks, while he clawed at the door, impatient to leave.

“Will you calm down?” Elain muttered, and opened the door for him and he sprinted out like his arse was on fire.

There was a Bentley idling at the curb and the moment Piglet rushed out, the car door opened and Azriel Night stepped out.

Elain Archeron paused in the doorway, watching her client and marvelling at his ungodly handsomeness. Unlike his usual uniform of jeans, boots and some kind of basic shirt, today, he was wearing a dark suit, which hugged his tall, slender, muscular form to ridiculous perfection. The white shirt that was open to the chest didn’t hurt either. The dark tattoos that snaked from under his shirt and spilled over his neck and his hands made him look dangerous and desirable. It was the dichotomy of his whole being in a handsome dark package–he was a combination of dangerous and damaged, aggressive and gentle, thoughtful and mannerless, inelegant and stylish.

Suddenly, he squatted right on the sidewalk, and opened his arms wide, while Piglet leapt at him, nuzzling at him wildly, and Azriel hugged him and stroked him.

“I missed you too, my little matey. How are you doing?”

Piglet stood on his one hind leg and placed his paws on Azriel’s shoulders, going in for a full body hug.

“How’s our girl? Is she wearing purple today, since you are rockin’ your purple tie?”

Azriel already knew the drill–outside, Piglet wore coats, ties or scarves. Today, he had on a Burberry jacket and a purple scarf that matched his coat. At home or inside, he wore his stylish bows.

At that moment, Elain stepped out of the house, and Azriel looked up and whistled loudly.

“No...she is wearing a trench coat…nice touch. I hope there is nothing underneath it…”

“Mr. Night!” Elain snapped at him, blushing profusely. “You are being scandalous and utterly inappropriate!”

He laughed, watching her, as he stroked Piglet’s back.

Elain seemed to look rather sensible, in her camel knee-length trench, a large leather tote over her shoulder, and sexy brown leather booties, but somehow, she made it all look incredibly elegant, and dare he say, sexy. Elain never went for ‘sexy’, but somehow, she made all her pristine, somewhat old-fashioned outfits look alluring. The fact that she was wearing subtle, nude fishnets didn’t hurt either. Azriel always found himself intrigued by what she was going to wear, and so far, he distinctly recalled each and every one of her ensembles. Now, he was actively pondering if the fishnets were stockings?

“She is mad at me already! I think it’s our record time,” he whisper-shouted to the dog. “Is it my fault,” he addressed her, “that trench coats look good on sexy women and make me wish that there was nothing beneath them. It’s every man’s fantasy, you know.”

“I am not here to fulfil your fantasy,” she cut him off. “I am simply wearing a coat.”

“Mmmm.”

He waited for her to come down the stairs and then extended his hand to her. She shook it reluctantly and he smiled brightly at her, his expression teasing.

“Did you watch the game?” he asked immediately.

“Hello to you too,” she said, while Azriel opened the car door for her and Pinky leapt in eagerly, ready for a new adventure.

“Well, hello then Ms. Archeron,” Azriel murmured, leaning so close to her that his nose almost skimmed her cheek. ”Allow me to help you inside.”

She frowned at him, as she slid inside the car, and Azriel followed her right after.

“Good afternoon, Miss,” the driver greeted her.

She greeted him back and then looked at Azriel, a bemused expression on her face.

“Where is Mr. Night? What did you do with him? And who are you?”

He laughed, throwing his head back and she looked at his thick throat, swallowing audibly.

“I mean, a car, you are being almost polite, dressed in a suit…that’s not the Mr. Night that I know. Usually he curses, argues and taunts me relentlessly.”

“Aw, Ms, Archeron,” he ran his index finger over her long lock. “Day is still young. There is time for all that.”

“Oh, phew,” she pretended to wipe her brow. “I was getting worried.”

“You shouldn’t. The arsehole is still here and happily present. So, back to my previous question?”

“Which is?”

“Are you wearing anything under the trench?” he teased and she seethed at him as usual, crossing her arms on her chest and glowering at him.

He raised his hands in mock surrender and said, “Okay, okay. I’ll behave. But…are you?” he whispered quickly.

“One more word, and I am leaving,” she warned.

“Dev, drive fast,” Azriel ordered and the driver smiled, as he sped down the road.

Meanwhile, Pinkly crawled over Elain and landed on Azriel’s lap, totally disregarding Elain’s displeased hiss. Azriel chuckled, while Pinky pressed his flat face against the window.

Elain reached into her bag and took out a pretty box with a scowl on her face. She pushed the box into Azriel’s lap without saying a word and then turned to the opposite window.

“What’s that?” he pondered.

“For you,” was all she answered.

Curious, very, very curious, he opened the box, while Pinky tore his attention away from the window and was now panting with anticipation.

“Is that for me?” Azriel gasped, but it was genuine surprise, and not mockery. Surprise and utter delight.

The box was filled with biscuits of all kinds. Homemade.

“I said it was for you,” she shrugged like she didn’t care.

“You baked? For me?” he whispered in disbelief.

“Well, not just for you,” she argued quickly. “We had Sunday lunch at my sister Feyre’s. She served some very dodgy salmon,”

“How dodgy?” he smirked.

“Dodgy enough that we mostly ate mash and these biscuits that I brought. I had baked entirely too many. So,”

“I am getting the overflow. Thanks, pretty matchmaker!” she elbowed her gently. “I can’t believe you thought of me and made me a box!”

“Well, these are lemon,” she began pointing at different varieties of biscuits in the box. “These are almond horns. Those are orange and hazelnut,”

“Oh my god,” he marvelled in appreciation.

“Chocolate and coffee nibs. And plain shortbread.”

He looked at her. Really looked at her. Her old-fashioned, picturesque beauty, the enormous eyes, the beautiful hair, and for once, he saw someone special. Someone who didn’t fit any moulds that he was familiar with, and once again, he was at a loss. He didn’t know what to make of her.

“Elain…” he said softly, and then immediately corrected himself, “Ms. Archeron. This might be the most thoughtful and kind thing anyone’s ever done for me. I thank you. Truly.”

“You are welcome. It’s not a big thing, but you seemed to enjoy them.”

“More than you think. You baked for me. Made something with your hands…That means a lot.”

“Well, enjoy it,” Elain said gently, while Pinky was growling with impatience.

“Can I give him one?”

“Just the plain shortbread,” Elain allowed, and Azriel fed one of the biscuits to the overexcited dog, who chomped on it noisily and messily. “He is perpetually hungry and if he could, he’d eat the whole box. He climbed onto the chair and then somehow got on top of the table and ate a whole bowl of raspberries. That was yesterday. A couple of days before, he somehow snuck into the open drawer of the refrigerator, stole a bag of sausages, ate them all, and promptly got diarrhoea…So there is that.”

Azriel was laughing silently, his whole body shaking.

“Oh no. Why did he get the shits?”

“Because he ate like 7 or 8 sausages. He is a smallish dog. It would be the equivalent of me eating maybe 15-20 sausages. I’d get diarrhoea too!”

“Valid. What else?”

“He ate three bananas, peel and all, again by way of stealing. Then, when I wasn’t looking, he grabbed half of my cheese and onion sandwich, and ate all of that too.”

“What about the dodgy salmon?”

“Even he wouldn’t eat that!” Elain laughed. “He did eat a good heap of mash and gravy, a bread roll with butter, then proceeded to steal my sister Nesta’s steamed tofu,”

“Jesus Christ,” Azriel gasped in horror.

“Immediately spat it out,”

“Not blaming him at all. I’d spit it out too!”

“And then went to my father and cried fake pug tears to him because he was so upset that he stole and ate the wrong thing. Of course my father then had to feed him cheese and ham. As compensation of some kind. Emotional distress I am assuming?”

“My god I love him!” Azriel groaned. “I might have to steal him from you.”

“Well, then you’ll die,” she warned placidly. Azriel was laughing loudly now, considering her nonchalant tone. When he finally came to, he prodded,

“So?”

“I watched the game,” she confirmed. “You did well–one goal and two assists.”

“What about Pink?”

“Piglet watched it too. Now I can show him reruns of football games–he seems to enjoy watching things run.”

“And I am a thing that runs?” Azriel chuckled.

“You certainly are. You have incredible stamina,”

His mouth quirked and he crooned, “You have no idea…”

Elain gawked at him, and then realised what she had said, and rolled her eyes.

“You do remember, Mr. Night that I am not the one who is auditioning to be your potential wife?” She reminded him primly. “I am not the match. I am the matchmaker.”

“How can I forget? Unless you finally change your mind and just go for it,” he proposed. “You already know what you’d be signing up for with me. I have a pretty good idea about you as well. I don’t know why you are fighting this so hard?”

“Yes. I wonder why indeed.”

They were driving through the city and Piglet was panting with enjoyment, looking out the window.

Azriel gently rubbed the dog’s furry neck, relaxed against the back seat, manspreading widely. Elain threw inquisitive glances when she thought he wasn’t watching, and they mostly landed below his waist. As was his usual manner, Azriel let her look as much as she wanted. The car was big enough–even with his height and spread, there was plenty of space. So it was her choice to look, and it would be rude of him not to let her.

“I don’t want you to get so close to him,” Elain said suddenly.

Azriel looked at her quizzically.

“Piglet,” she clarified. “He is getting attached to you. He waits for you at the door,”

At that Azriel smiled, but Elain continued,

“He thinks of you as a friend.”

“I am his friend,”

“But this is all temporary. You understand that, don’t you? Once you are matched with the right person, our relationship will end. And I don’t want Piglet to think that you’ll be around, coming to play with him or be present in his and my life,”

Azriel chewed the inside of his cheek for a long while, thinking about what she said.

“It doesn’t have to end,” he said at last.

Please don’t.

Don’t end it.

“You are a client, Mr. Night,” Elain added, “I can’t imagine you’d have time for me once you are getting to know your future wife and getting married.”

“That’s it then?”

“Couple of months, maybe three, at most,” she confirmed. “That’s how long most of my associations with my clients last. One lasted a year, but that’s highly unusual. Besides, you are under a time constraint. I imagine that by January, we will be done.”

“I am sorry, but I disagree, Ms. Archeron,” Azriel said firmly. “Perhaps this is how things have gone before, but I cannot accept it. Let’s come up with a new agreement then…a new plan,”

“What sort of plan?”

“Something that would allow us to keep in touch beyond this initial agreement,”

“Like what?”

He shrugged, scrubbing his hand over his chin.

“Teach me manners?” he proposed. “Proper manners. Like a gentleman.”

Elain laughed, “I am not a miracle worker, Mr. Night. I am not sure I have the capability to do something like that.”

“You aren’t giving yourself enough credit. But for now, why don’t we just leave things as status quo. Three-four months is a long time. Lots of things could happen in that timeframe. Meanwhile, I’d like to keep meeting with you and Pinky.”

“Yes, I suppose,” she agreed, somewhat reluctantly.

“Do you not like me, Ms. Archeron?” he queried, no hesitation in his question.

“No, I wouldn’t say that,” she admitted. “But you are an usual client for me, and I struggle with reigning you in,”

“Perhaps you shouldn't try? And just let things be as they are?” he suggested. “Maybe I am not meant to be reigned in?”

“It’s beginning to look like that,” Elain sighed. “Now, where are we going? Why couldn’t we meet at my office?”

“Where is your sense of adventure?” he smiled. “Don’t you trust me?”

“Hmmm…Very, very marginally.”

“Aw, you wound me, Ms. Archeron! But I will take you to a place you’ll undoubtedly enjoy.”

Elain looked outside the window and suddenly felt Azriel’s large, heavy palm cover her hand. He was silent, but he threaded their fingers together and held her hand firmly in his.

She turned her head and breathed, ‘Mr. Night’.

He looked straight at her, his face emotionless as usual, but said just as softly ‘Ms. Archeron’. He almost dared her to say something, or tug her hand away from his, but he wouldn’t allow it, and just kept her in place. To her credit, she didn’t attempt to either.

Piglet turned his head and looked at them, assessing the hand-holding. Then, bouncing with a surplus of excitement, he jumped on Azriel, bucking and shimmying wildly, before rolling onto Elain’s lap, waiting for a belly scratch, and then slithering back on Azriel.

“See, he is on our side,” Azriel chuckled, scratching the supple rolls of fat on the pug. “He is team Elriel.”

“Team what?”

“Elriel,”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“El–for Elain, and Riel for Azriel. Duh? Do I have to teach you everything?!”

“Where do you even come up with this nonsense?” she looked at him, perplexed.

“Elriel is not nonsense, Ms. Archeron. It’s our ship name. Pinky is the first shipper.”

“My god. You’ve read too many romance novels, Mr. Night.”

“Yeah, well, it gets boring on the road,” he shrugged. “So I read.”

“Romance novels?”

“Fantasy. Dark romance. Romantasy. Whatever.”

“Romantasy?”

“Are you judging me?”

“No, no. Not at all,” she shook her head, stifling a laugh.

They crossed the river, and Elain looked around, trying to figure out where they were going.

At last, she exclaimed, “Borough Market?”

“Nope,” he popped his lips.

“Where then?!” she whined.

“Patience.”

“I want the apple crisp!” she begged.

“You always seem to want some kind of apple crisp,” he teased.

“It’s my favourite. This one has bruleed custard on top. It’s so goooddd,” she moaned.

“Maybe next time,” he promised, smiling to himself.

The appreciation that he had for Elain’s unabashed love for food and eating was hard to describe. All the other women he ever went out with insisted on salads, pretended like they weren’t hungry, opted for tofu and seaweed, and in general, avoided eating as much as possible. Elain was about tea, and custard, and cake, and hearty stews.

“We are here,” he said at last. The car parked and he went to open the door. Pinky hopped out first, and then Elain climbed out and threw her head back.

“We are going to the Shard?” she asked.

“We are!” He curled his arm offering it to her and she took it.

Elain seemed surprised, but she followed him nevertheless, while Pinky stepped in front of them with his usual self importance, like he knew where he was going. Azriel could only dream of having this dog’s confidence!

The three of them took the lift up to Shangri-La hotel and were immediately greeted by an obsequious female hostess, who looked at Azriel like he was a dick-on-a-stick.

“Mr. Night, please follow me,” she flitted about, swaying her hips, as she paid no attention to Elain, and ushered them to a table in front of the windows, which overlooked the stunning vistas of London. It felt as if they sat right on top of Tower Bridge. Piglet plastered his face against the window, snorting with amazement. Whatever he was seeing, he was very impressed.

“He is a support animal. We have all the documentation,” Azriel told the hostess, but she waved her hand at him.

“Of course, Mr. Night. That wouldn’t be a problem.”

“He is very well-behaved,” Azriel assured her, while observing Elain’s pinched little face. She wasn’t liking what was happening here.

Finally, the woman left, and Elain muttered, “Why even ask me for help? You have a ready-to-go wife right here. Wives on tap, I am sure.”

Azriel laughed at her.

“If I didn’t know you better, I would’ve thought that you were jealous, Ms. Archeron.”

“Jealous? Hardly,” she scoffed.

“Phew, I was beginning to worry that you were developing feelings for me and my company,” he snickered. “Allow me,” he offered to take her trench–something the hostess should’ve done, but apparently, she was too star struck.

Elain unbelted and shrugged the coat off and Azriel looked her over with interest that he wasn’t even trying to hide.

“Blimey,” he exhaled.

Elain wore a form-fitting nude jumper and a knee-length skirt with brown and purple abstract pattern. Frankly, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the round pair of glorious tits that the jumper did all kinds of favours for. He even liked the one strand of fat pearls around her neck.

“None. Don’t worry. But,” she looked around, “this is nice. Thank you, Mr. Night. I appreciate the thought. Imagine–I’ve never been here before. It’s been on the list of places to go, but we never could make it. So, thank you! I’ve just checked an item off my bucket list.”

“The pleasure is mine, Ms. Archeron,” he included his head. “Care to share what else is on your bucket list?”

“No,” she told him immediately, as she pulled out her IPad from her bag. “We are here to talk about you.”

He held the chair for her and she sat down.

“And here I thought that this Pink Afternoon Tea will thaw you a bit! Champagne at least?”

“I’ll have a glass,” she agreed graciously.

“You are not pregnant or anything like that, right?” he goaded her.

She rolled her eyes and told him, “Not that I am not aware of.”

“So. There is someone in your life to get pregnant by?” he pressed.

“I’ll be asking you a series of questions,” Elain said, ignoring him and his probing. “Please answer truthfully. I am building your profile. There are no right or wrong answers.”

“May I tell you something meanwhile?”

“Sure.”

“You look sexy as fuck, matchmaker. It’s dangerous.”

She sucked in her breath and nervously picked at her pearls.

“Mr. Night…”

“Ms. Archeron. I see what I see.”

At that moment, their champagne was delivered, followed by waiters with the tea service. Elain exhaled a relieved breath.

It looked spectacular–Reuben sandwiches, Truffle Egg and Cress, Smoked Salmon, Coronation Chicken–all done in various shades of pink. There were chicken liver parfaits, and tiny burgers. Pink scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam. And a variety of little architecturally-impressive pastries–a layer cake with pistachios and cherries, raspberry plum cake, something called shang mont rose, and the Pink Sphere.

The Pink Afternoon Tea at the Shard (Shangri-La Hotel, London)

They even brought a bowl of water and a bowl of whipped cream for Piglet.

“It’s beautiful. Almost too beautiful to eat,” Elain commented, inspecting all the offering.

“Almost,” Azriel raised his champagne flute. “But not quite. To us, Ms. Archeron. To our tenuous friendship. Maybe it will grow into something more.”

Elain glanced at him and whispered, “maybe,” before sipping her champagne.

“I won’t be able to train properly after all this,” Azriel commented, as he bit into one of the sandwiches, “but you only live once, yeah?”

“Your first concert?” Elain asked, looking down at her IPad.

Piglet already polished all the cream off, and was now snoring softly under the table.

Azriel thought for a second, and said,

“Eminem. I was fourteen. Cass and I snuck out and slept outside all night, but we got in. It was incredible.”

She smiled and whispered, “that must have been amazing…”

“It really was.”

“Favourite movie?”

“Fight Club.”

“Favourite singer or band?”

“Led Zeppelin.”

“I could’ve guessed. You seem like the type.”

“Oh, and what type is that?”

“Old-fashioned, but rebellious.”

“What about you? Tay Tay? Adele?”

Elain wrinkled her nose.

“If we are talking singers, then it’s Amy Winehouse,” she said. “Band–it’s always the Rolling Stones.”

“Ahhh…well, that’s to be expected.”

“Why?”

“You like the classics.”

“Look at us, figuring each other out.” Her tone was vaguely sarcastic. Then she asked the next question, “First celebrity crush?”

Azriel took a while to think about that one, sipping his tea, and finishing up his little burger.

“Brad Pitt.”

“Oh?” Elain smiled. “Really?”

“He is a beautiful man. What can I say? In ‘Troy’ I think.”

“First thing you do when you wake up?”

“Think about football,” he told her instantly. “I am dedicated to my game, my team, my city. I work hard for what I do.”

“What was your dream job when you were young?”

“I didn’t think I’d have one at all,” he told her honestly. Elain didn’t know how to follow up on that statement. “Thought I’d be in a gang, or something. Maybe in prison. Maybe dead,”

“That’s…very grim,” she frowned.

“That’s the reality of those lads who I grew up with. My reality. I just happen to run well with a ball.”

“How do you think others view you?”

“They either like me or hate me. I am good looking, so some respond to that. Others cannot abide my character. I don’t care, to be honest. I only care about the opinions of very few people.”

“Who?” she asked quickly, though he suspected that it wasn’t part of the questionnaire.

“Cassian, I suppose. Rhys. My team. Coach. You.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

Elain hid her face behind her cup, aimlessly picking at her sandwich, but Azriel watched her closely.

“You can’t ask questions like these and not expect uncomfortable answers,” he reminded her simply.

“Why me though?”

“For a posh, prissy bird, you are surprisingly accepting. I suppose I appreciate that, so I don’t want you to think of me…badly.”

“I don’t, you know.”

“I do. And that’s what’s so surprising. You are a nice sort of person.”

Elain adjusted her hair, trying to make herself comfortable, and asked,

“What do you not tolerate?”

“Disloyalty. Random cruelty.”

Her eyes fell on his scarred hands, while he spread some jam on his scone and popped it in his mouth. Despite the scars, his hands were attractive. Big and strong and sure.

“Where do you want to live?”

“London. It’s home. It understands me.”

“Biggest fear?”

He didn’t say anything for a while.

“I’ll tell you,” he drummed his fingers on the table, “but we say it together. You say yours, and I’ll say mine.”

“Mr. Night,” she began, but he interrupted her.

“No, Ms. Archeron. This is the way we do it. If you don’t like it, move on to the next questions.”

Elain sighed and murmured ‘fine’.

“On three then…One, two, three.”

Loneliness.

Both of them blurted the same word at the same time.

Loneliness.

Elain stared at him. A little shocked. Azriel only chuckled.

“Well then…”

He smiled again.

“I might need more Champagne.”

“I'll ask lighter questions,” she promised quickly, not commenting on their shared fear.

“Please do, before I get black out drunk at Afternoon Tea at the Shard. Do they have whiskey here?”

“Mr. Night, you aren’t drinking whiskey!”

“Not yet. But I might soon. Are you eating your burger?”

“No. You can have it.”

She typed something in her notebook and he meanwhile ate her mini burger in two bites.

“Do you wear pyjamas to bed?” came the next question, and Azriel huffed at it.

“No. I sleep completely naked.”

She cleared her throat and went on,

“Boxers or briefs?”

Azriel grinned and leaned back in his chair, as was his manner when he got comfortable and amused.

“Well, well…Boxer briefs, Ms. Archeron,” he answered with a wink. “I normally like everything to be tucked in there, and not flop in the wind.”

Elain snorted a laugh.

“You see,” he continued. “The Lord hath endowed me well in that region. There is much to hold in place. It’s like wrestling a python into my poor drawers every morning…”

“Oh, how tragic. It must be very difficult for you,” she mocked.

But Azriel didn’t miss the lovely blush that spread on her cheeks.

“It is a struggle, but one that I accepted humbly. Wouldn’t be surprised if they could see it all the way in America. Makes our American cousins all kinds of edgy seeing a British cock in all its glory.”

“Oh my god,”

Leaning towards her, he whispered conspiratorially, “don’t tell Cassian. He gets a bit…competitive.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” Elain promised.

“Hardly a secret. Anything else you’d like to know, matchmaker? Or see?”

“The most significant of your tattoos?” she hopped over his proposition just like that.

He rubbed his chest, and said, “A Churchill quote: It is the time to dare and endure.”

“Is that something that helps you?”

“Something to keep me grounded when things get tough. I also have this one,” he pointed to his forearm. “Arsenal crest. And a Union Jack on my shoulder.”

The next question was Azriel’s favourite. Elain asked,

“Maradona or Pele?”

“Diego Armando Maradona,” he said at once.

“Do you believe in god?”

“No.”

“Can you change a tyre?”

“Yes.”

“The first thing you look at in a woman?”

“Her gaze. Her look.”

“Have you ever been in love?” she asked quickly, without raising her eyes from the tablet.

“No. Never. Have you?” he asked quickly.

“This isn’t about me,”

“Answer the question,” he ordered.

“No, Mr. Night. I have not been in love. Do you want to marry?”

“Seems like I have to.”

“If you didn’t need to.”

“Marriage changes little, but if the woman wants it, then yes, I would marry.”

“And children? Would you like to have children?”

“Yes. Four.”

She glanced at him and repeated, “Four?”

“Yes. Four.”

“What do you know how to cook?”

“Steak. Only the best eggs you’ve ever eaten. Really good lamb stew. A bacon sandwich. You won’t go hungry with me, pretty matchmaker. Don’t worry.”

“Is this another proposal?”

“Always!” he grinned at her. “Now that you know everything about me, am I making a more appealing candidate?”

“I am sure that you are, for others. I am not looking for a husband, Mr. Night,” she reminded him dryly.

“Why hasn’t the ginger bloke closed the deal?” Azriel started on the pastries, popping one of them in his mouth whole. That solicited a frown from Elain, but he only smiled at her. “What’s he waiting for?”

“Why do you think it’s the man, and not me?”

“You are a fucking matchmaker, princess. Of course you wanna get married. Come on now,” he bubbled his lips. “It’s like saying I am a footballer, but I don’t want to win the Ballon D’Or. Of course I do. Probably no chance of it, but nevertheless, the dream is there.”

“Maybe, hypothetically, I want to get married. But it’s nothing and to no one specific,” she finally relented.

“Well, that’s a start,” he smiled. “Anything else? What do you want to know? My favourite colour? It’s cobalt blue, by the way. Funny how you wore a skirt in that colour the first time we met. You think it’s a sign?” he winked at her.

“No. I do not.”

“You are so hard to impress,” he complained jokingly. “Tough little cookie. But I’ll break that hard exterior and will get to the soft, gooey inside, the delicious centre.”

“Mr. Night, please remember that ours is a professional relationship. You aren’t breaking me in or whatever it is you just said. It definitely sounded wholly inappropriate.

“I, however, must ask you more personal questions…Which, honestly, I am dreading,” she added sombrely.

Azriel stretched his very long legs under the table and crossed them at the ankles, before lacing his fingers on his stomach and smiling like an asshole at her.

“Come on then, pretty matchmaker. Bring it on! I won’t put the moves on you–unless you want me to–and I will behave,”

“Why am I doubting everything you just said?” she whispered with a heavy sight.

“Oh, don’t. Come on, ask away!”

“I preferred you when you were reluctant and a moody arsehole, like you were at our first meeting.”

“Oh, I am still that. Don’t worry. But I am making an effort here and want to make your life a bit easier.”

“How are you in bed, Mr. Night?” she blurted out. “Any specific preferences that a prospective match should know about? Dominant? Submissive? Rough? BDSM? Any fetishes? Any musts? Any hard limits? And how do you feel about fidelity?”

“Well, fuck me that’s a lot of questions! I think I will have that whiskey after all.”

They waited for his whiskey to be delivered and Azriel took a sip, smacking his lips with appreciation.

“You are a bad influence, Ms. Archeron,” he told her. “You make me want to live.”

She looked at him and his declaration with surprise.

“And you don’t live otherwise?”

“I dunno. With you, things seem…easier. Lighter? Like I don't have to worry about my form constantly, or think about the game, or training, or restrict myself. It’s nice, you know. It feels like there is more to the world, and to my life than what I am used to. I can have a drink, and have some pastries, and wear a suit…Not just trainers that sponsor me, or salads and leafy greens and lean protein.”

Elain smiled, “You sound like my sister Nesta. She is a dancer. She is very careful about what she eats,”

“Hence the tofu that makes Pinky sick.”

“Indeed.”

He resumed his position, with his hands on his stomach and then said,

“I am rough. As a lover.”

Elain stopped typing in her IPad and stared at him, clearly not expecting this nugget of info to drop on her lap.

“Rough?” she repeated at last. “As in…violent?”

He chuckled.

“Nah, I ain’t violent, pretty girl.”

“Mr. Night,” she snapped.

“Sorry, sorry. Ms. Archeron–where I come from, fucking is quick, hard, rough and unromantic. There ain’t no flickering candles, soft music, gauzy curtains,”

“I am impressed and a bit alarmed that you just used the word ‘gauzy’,” Elain commented.

“All, I’ve been hitting the dictionary every night. Picking up fancy words to impress you with!”

“You should be impressing your future matches,” she reminded him with a meaningful look, and he nodded in acquiescence.

“Yeah, I remember. The matches.”

“So, you are rough,” Elain repeated.

“Listen–on and off for a few years, I didn’t even have a place to sleep when I was a teen. Three months with one family, six weeks with another, four days with another…Stretches of time in between where Cass and me had to fend for ourselves. But you know…needs must and all. My dick was a teenage dick regardless of what my family situation was, so I had to get it where I could.”

Elain listened without commenting, her face expressionless. Azriel wasn’t sure if she was shocked, or repulsed, or judging him. That damn poker face of hers was on point.

“And where could I get it? Against the wall near the chippy, or on a park bench, or in a stairwell. That doesn’t bode well for lengthy sessions of tender lovemaking.

“So I go in pretty rough. I’ll make you come–a lady, I’ll make a lady come–but if she is looking for prim and proper that ain’t me.”

He scrubbed his hand over his face.

“I ain’t mean, Ms. Archeron. I am an athlete–I am controlled and powerful. Before I took up football, I used to box. There wasn’t much else to do where we lived, and because Cass and I were so big, we joined the local church’s boxing club. It taught me how to control my strength, my physicality, and my size. There ain’t ever been a need to be physically rough with the girl. Why? What’s she gonna do against me, you know?”

“Anything else?”

“All that other stuff you’d mentioned–BDSM, dom and sub–I don’t have any interest in that. I don’t particularly like inflicting pain, especially not on women. But if you’d like me to spank you or tie you up, I’ll tie you up. Whatever you fancy, Ms. Archeron.”

Elain blushed violently and adorably, as she scrambled to pretend to type something.

“So you do like to be spanked?” he grinned at her. He knew that she was fake typing right now.

She squirmed in her chair, and woke up Piglet, when she poked him with her foot. He snorted his disappointment and then emerged from under the table and immediately looked at Azriel with a pleading gaze.

“I saved you a sandwich,” Azriel chuckled, tearing a piece of the sandwich and feeding it to the pug. “Coronation chicken, no less.”

Piglet began chomping on the sandwich with delight, finding a kindred spirit in Azriel.

“I am still waiting for an answer, Ms. Archeron,” Azriel teased. “Spanking? Tying up? Are you a dom? Or do you like to submit? And before you tell me that this is not about you, I’d still like to know.”

“Well, this is not about me,” she hissed.

Azriel cocked his head to the side and looked at her with a humoured look in his eyes, asking,

“Are you a virgin?”

“For god’s sake, Mr. Night! Why are you asking me this?!” she demanded, scandalised.

“No shame in that,” he said lightly. “If you are, I mean. I am not judging.”

“Well, I am not, Mr. Night. I am a grown woman. And not a virgin. Are you the one who is going to be asking questions now?!”

“Yes, now I am kind of into it. What’s your favourite colour?”

“Pink!” she snapped.

“How about favourite food?”

“Sushi!”

“Cold raw fish–yum. But like I said before, no judgement.”

“Feels like judgement,”

“What else can I ask?”

“Nothing!”

“Do you find me handsome?”

“No!” she cried out.

“No? But I am a handsome footballer, what’s wrong with me?”

“Your gigantic ego.”

“Ego just corresponds to other parts of my anatomy,” he shrugged innocently.

“Oh lord. We are quite finished here, Mr. Night. I think we should get the bill.”

“I think I’d like another whiskey,” he argued.

“Well, you’ll be drinking it alone.”

“Naw…Pink is staying here with me. I am feeding him sandwiches and you know he ain’t going anywhere. Sit that pretty plump arse of yours down, Ms. Archeron. We’ll go soon enough.”

She pouted, but her traitorous dog was only proving Azriel correct, as he slurped his water and chewed on the sandwich that Azriel kept feeding him.

“My arse isn’t plump,” she muttered.

He glanced at her and smiled, “I’ll be the judge of that,” he decided. “Hope the ginger bloke appreciates your arse and worships it the way it deserves to be worshipped. It’s a hella nice coupla buns. Sorry and all…but I noticed,”

“No. More. Whiskey.” Elain ordered, wiping her brow. She was going to lose 10 kilos by the time all of this was going to be over. This man needed to be in some special institution.

“I know what kind of a wife I want!” he suddenly declared, rubbing his hands excitedly.

“Oh you do, do you? Please tell. I am…well, scared, but also intrigued.”

“I want the kind of girl who kisses me at red lights.”

“That’s actually…kind of romantic,” Elain agreed, surprised. He made no sense this man, but he definitely kept her on her toes.

“Yeah, kind of like she can’t even wait to give me a hot and sloppy one. So she waits until we are at a red light and goes for it.”

Meanwhile, Piglet finished his sandwich and ambled towards the massive wall of windows, looking out with great interest. Because he was wearing his Burberry jacket, and now stood in front of a window overlooking the Gherkin, the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge, charmed tourists and other guests began pointing at him and oohing and ahhing with delight, completely awed by the stylish pug.

“They gonna start taking photos of him.” Azriel whispered to Elain, and she smiled, nodding, while she quickly snapped a pic of her own.

“Going on his Insta?” he joked, while the waiter brought another whiskey. Azriel figured that he might not be leaving here any time soon. He hadn’t felt this relaxed in god knows how long.

“Obviously!” she tapped something quickly on her phone and in the next minute, showed it to him.

It was an amazing photo, considering that she barely even moved to take it–but Piglet looked like he was floating above the city, his expression pensive, his jacket on point, every landmark below him captured with crisp precision.

Enjoying London Town #puginthesky #whenpugsfly #puglyfe

“How do you even come up with these so quickly?” he shook his head, but then quickly requested, “send it to me. I want to have it. Also, it��s a gorgeous pic!”

“Thank you.”

Elain reached for her bag and then withdrew a folder, which she lay on the table, between the two of them.

“What’s that?”

“Mr. Night, I wanted to mention this before we go further.”

“Sounds ominous,” he huffed.

“Are you currently…sexually active?”

He cocked his brow at her and chuckled, “what a question, Ms. Archeron! Why? Are you interested?”

She ignored the suggestive quip and said, “It’s just that it would be preferential if you maintain a certain amount of abstinence while being matched. You can certainly decide to engage in sexual relations with the match when the two if you are ready, but I would ask you to treat it as you would a normal relationship…”

“I’ve never been in a relationship,” he sipped his whiskey. “So I am no expert. But I think I can manage it.”

“You truly haven’t been in a relationship?”

“No. Not really.”

“And yet you can abstain?” she confirmed.

“Matchmaker,” he sighed, “I am almost 30, I have some self-control. It’s been a while since I’ve lost control over pussy,”

“Mr. Night!”

“Sorry, sexual relations. Listen, I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my youth. Nothing too terrible, but I should’ve done better. Now I am the Captain, and the younger lads look up at me. I want to do right by them, make sure that their careers don’t blow up, that they are careful with their money and the women that they are with. With us–you can get one injury, and it could be career ending. Everything you’ve been counting on, planning on, expecting, working for a decade towards–poof, gone! All because someone made a bad tackle, or you ran wrong, or a ligament snapped. And you are left with nothing, all the contracts and games and endorsements are gone just like that,” he snapped his fingers. “Everyone thinks they’ll be a Ronaldo, or a Messi, or a Zidane, but that’s untrue for most players.

“So now, I feel a sense of responsibility. Look at me–I am an old fucker,” he laughed. “But it’s true. So yeah, I can abstain. When we travel, I don’t party all that much. After dinner, I usually go back to the hotel and play Candy Crush. Or read dark romances.”

At that, Elain giggled, “you do not read dark romances!” she argued.

“Yeah I fuckin’ do!” he insisted.

“Such a liar!”

“Telling you,”

“Okay, so what are you reading currently?”

“Shantel Tessier’s ‘Carnage’,” he reported immediately.

“What?”

“Yeah, it’s super smutty,” was the verdict.

“You do not read Shantel Tessier!” Elain gawked at him adorably, completely taken aback.

“You’d be incorrect. Listen, I had an injury a couple of years ago and was in rehab for two months. I was bored out of my mind. The nurse who was taking care of me got me hooked up on dark romances. I fuckin’ love that shite!” he admitted excitedly. “You ladies write some bloody crazy shit. Never read anything like that written by a man!”

Azriel glanced in Pinky’s direction and smiled widely. The pug was legitimately posing for photos and creating a mini stampede around him. He was even giving over the shoulder looks, not to mention all sorts of side and front poses, knowing exactly what needed to be done to gain the most reaction.

“Hey mate, you can photograph him, but don’t touch him,” Azriel said protectively, when some guy wanted to pick the dog up. “He doesn’t like anyone but me and my girl touching him. He bites.”

Maybe the truth was stretched a bit, but whatever. It worked, because the bloke stepped back cautiously and didn’t attempt to touch the dog anymore.

‘I am not your girl,” Elain said quietly, crimping the napkin on her lap.

“No. But you could be. Nothing’s stopping you,” he said simply.

With that, Elain pushed the folder towards him and explained,

“Your first match”.

#elriel #elriel fanfic #my writing #elain archeron #azriel #azriel and elain #elain #pro elriel #elain x azriel #A Match Baked In Heaven #new chapter #Acotar Fanfiction #Elriel fanfiction #elriel fic #acotar

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raquellemonsta · 10 months

Text

kiss me more (bokuto x reader)

previous || next

chapter 7: gossip

Usually, when you woke up in the morning and checked your phone, you'd only have a few notifications from random apps and maybe a friend. You hadn't been expecting what you woke up to this morning, to say the least. Friends were sending you news sites and posts all about the same person: you. You read through some of the headlines:

"MSBY star Bokuto Koutaro seen leaving shop with mystery woman"

"Who is Bokuto's new girlfriend? (Pictures and more)"

There were even some of his fans on Twitter dragging you for basically no reason other than the fact you were seen with their sports crush. While some were nice (calling you cute or saying you looked good together), others were saying things like "the girl in those pictures with Bo is soo average" and "she's lowk ugly... he can do better".

Those pissed you off, but you knew better than to keep reading tweets. You could get lost in it for hours and that was when you weren't the one they were talking about. It probably wasn't good for your mental health (in fact, it definitely wasn't). Also, seeing the pictures kind of freaked you out. It was like having a stalker even though it was just paparazzi offshoots that were doing it for their job. It was still unsettling to see the two of you walking out of Onigiri Miya, and even entering your apartment building. What if people started showing up at your building in the hopes of meeting Bokuto? Or worse, what if they waited outside of your apartment for you to question you or more. You shut your phone off and went into your bathroom. You had to admit, it was kind of surreal seeing yourself on social media in the context of people who don't even know you. You pumped some moisturizer onto your hands and spread it across your face. You took longer than necessary in an effort to lower your heartrate and ease your mind. After you were calmed down, you went back out to your room and picked up your phone again. This time, you noticed a text from Yachi.

Yachi 💫

hey can you tell me why everytime i open social media i see you?

(y/n)

I DONT KNOW it's not my fault i swear idek what's happening

Yachi💫

well it looks to me like you've made a lot of bokuto stans really mad lol 😜

(y/n)

😔

You let out a sigh, tossing your phone on your bed and then falling back onto it yourself. It was just your luck to have something like this happen. You barely even had time to savor your date with Bokuto before the internet found out and made it their major topic of the day. The whole situation was honestly one big headache. You weren't even officially dating, yet here all of these people were commenting on your relationship that even you weren't entirely sure about.

You couldn't help but imagine how people would react if you two actually became official. Would he announce it? Would they just get used to seeing the two of you together? Or would they inevitably hate you for taking up their volleyball god's attention and ruining their chances of getting with him? You weren't sure and in the present you didn't care.

Instead of focusing on that, you decided to actually do your job and opened your laptop. The advertisements for the match had been up all around Tokyo, and the big posters that would go up on the side of the arena they would play at should be coming in soon. The company paid people to hang them up, since they were giant and it was far out of your skillset.

The process of making them had been really fun. The team got to have a photoshoot with plenty of action shots (you definitely didn't ask the photographer for a print of Bokutos). From there, you had just designed some fun slogans to slap onto them, along with labeling the players. While they were attracting a lot of attention to the match, you had been informed that they were still looking to get more sales for tickets and merchandise.

This whole social media thing this morning had effectively distracted you from being able to do your job or come up with strategies to get more attention on the match.

Then, you had a brilliant idea. What if you used this whole situation to your advantage? You could use the buzz around you and Bokuto as a way to get more spectators for the MSBY vs Adlers match, both in person and watching it on tv.

You shot a quick email to your company's social media marketing sector and asked them to put out posts wherever they could essentially saying the same things. It wasn't long before you got an email back, confirming that the posts would be out soon. Not long after, you got a twitter notification for your company's 'news' account:

"Will Bokuto's mystery woman be at the MSBY vs Schweiden match? Find out here", along with a link to both tickets to watch in-person as well as information for where to watch it.

You grinned widely and even laughed at describing yourself as a 'mystery woman', but you had an idea and went with it. Then, you thought for a moment and wondered if Bokuto had any idea about everything that had been going on. You weren't sure if he seemed like a big social media, though for all you knew he could be crazy for it.

There was a text from him you hadn't noticed before, from around 20 minutes ago. You had probably been too busy emailing your work.

Koutaro ⭐

Hey hey hey how has your morning been?

read 11:26am

It put a smile on your face to know that he was thinking of you, but you were also confused. Did he have no idea about what people were saying? Maybe he didn't have friends like yours that spammed you with posts about yourself.

(y/n)

i've been okay. it was kinda weird seeing people posting about me everywhere but other than that

You didn't expect him to respond so quickly, especially when it had taken you so long to text back, however the three dots popped up only seconds after your text. You waited somewhat intently to see what he had to say.

Koutaro ⭐

Are people posting about you? What did you do??😲

It took everything in you to not literally laugh out loud. Again, with the grown man using emojis (which was extremely unserious but in a cute way), but also because it seemed he really had no idea about any of it. You sent him a few of the links your friends had sent you and explained it to him, before your phone started ringing and you saw his contact again. You quickly picked it up, but had to pull it away from your ears due to how loud he was.

"I'M SO SORRY, THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!" he yelled, "I HAVE CRAZY FANS!" he yelled. When your ears stopped ringing, you responded back.

"I can tell" you encouraged him to lower his volume. You shook your head at his absurdity. Two months ago, you would've never been able to guess this would be your reality. You decided to tell him how you had used it to your advantage, and how more people would be attending the game to support MSBY.

"You're so smart (y/n), I don't get how you do it". You felt a fluttering feeling in your chest before you got a hold of yourself again. He didn't give himself enough credit. While Bokuto seemed airheaded at some points, he was actually very emotionally intelligent and made up for lack of book smarts with his people skills.

"It's my job" you said and smiled, even though he couldn't see it. It was nice to talk to him, even though it had only been half a day since you last heard his voice.

"Thank you for last night again" you spoke, much quieter before. On the other side of the line, Bokuto smiled at the thought.

"Anything for you" he responded. You two exchanged a few more words before deciding to hang up so you could finalize one of your projects. Your phone buzzed one more time, and you checked it before putting it on do not disturb. You ever-present smile became even wider when you read it.

Koutaro ⭐

Come see me after the game on Saturday 😊

You were definitely ready for the match this weekend.

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #bokuto x reader #bokuto #hq yachi #msby

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gibmb · 11 months

Text

In a new skin chapter 2

Chloe was certain that this was Hell and that the Devil had a sense of humor. She went out of her way to prevent an akuma and wouldn't you know it, someone else got akumatized! And guess what? It was probably her fault this time too, if she knew her luck. Chloe sighed as she kept her back pressed against the door to keep it shut.

“This is just great,” she muttered to herself before daring to open the door slightly to peek out and see a student get captured in a picture by the akuma. She frowned, “Is it the photographer? What the hell happened while we were gone?”

“I don't know but I don't think I want my picture taken by him if that makes you feel better,” Juleka said, peeking out with Chloe before they eased the door closed. “I guess I am a jinx aft-” before she could finish Chloe put her hand on her shoulder

“Listen, after this is over I'll take your picture, or hell, I'll paint a portrait of you. And if something tries to stop me, bad luck or no, we'll see how it fares against me. Right now though, we've got an akuma out there and we’re trapped in a bathroom with one exit and Ladybug is not here yet,” Chloe said, looking around the restroom.

The restroom was simple with a few stalls and sinks. It wasn't until she spotted the high windows in the back.

"There, we’ll use a window to esca-" Chloe was about to say but heard a student call for help from the courtyard and froze. Was she really going to run away? She didn't have powers but would she be any different from her old self if she just abandoned those kids out there? She looked to Juleka, who was waiting for her to finish speaking, then she straightened her posture. “I'll help you up to a window and you'll go find help, ok?”

Juleka looked to the windows and back to her.

“What about the others?” Juleka asked, worried slightly and shaking after they heard another scream outside.

“I'll try and find that out while you get help. After all, I'm the loudest. I should be able to make his ears bleed and while he's busy chasing after me, the others can get to safety until Ladybug arrives,” Chloe said with a confident smile but Juleka looked at her like she was truly crazy. Before she could speak, Chloe started moving her towards the window. “No time to argue so up and out the window for you.”

“But what if something worse happens?” Juleka asked in a shaky tone once they were at the window. Chloe stood in front of it and crouched to give her something to stand on.

“Then something bad happens, but right now isn't the time to discuss this. Now up you go,” Chloe said in a stern tone, looking at Juleka with a gaze she often used on her most defiant students, which had been mainly all of them. It worked as Juleka took a moment before nodding and climbing up, placing her foot on Chloe's hands and Chloe helped push her up. Once Juleka was up and out the window Chloe dusted off her hands.

“I promise I'll be back quickly, ok? Don't do anything stupid!" Juleka said from the other side before going quiet. “Well stupider than what you're about to do.” With that Chloe could hear Juleka running off. Chloe let out a sigh of relief before making her way to the door and opening it to the madness on the other side as students ran around in terror while others disappeared in a flash by Picture Perfect.

“Well Chloe, you said you'd distract him, time to do your best.” She ran towards the area where the akuma was and once she was close enough, “Are you that pathetic? I mean really? Just cause two kids weren’t in your shoot that you couldn't even get right, you go full akuma? That's just sad."

At that, the akuma turned to look in her direction, giving her a good look at him. It was definitely the photographer and he had been transformed into a black suited figure with a camera lens in the center of his right palm and the flash from his camera in his left. He frowned deeply at Chloe as he hovered in the air.

"Kids? There were no kids missing! It was a bird! It ruined my perfect shot! So now I, Picture Perfect, will give everyone," he held up his hand with the camera lens, "a perfect shot!" He laughed before pointing his palm at Chloe, making her yelp and dive to the side as he took a photo capturing the door and some of the wall behind her. “Hey, stay still! You look like you'd take great photos!” He laughed as he tried to take another photo of her. She fled from his shots, watching items or chunks of the building disappear into photographs, all the while she was cursing in her head.

"Well it's gonna suck for you, cause I'd rather let a homeless blind man take my picture before I let you!” She heard him yell in anger before she dove for cover in the science classroom on the ground floor. She quickly crawled for the teacher’s desk on the raised dais in the room, spurred on by the akuma’s approaching footsteps. She tried to still her heaving chest as he checked inside, his steps around the class getting closer.

"Come on out miss, I swear I'll give you a picture you'll never forget. You'll never ask for another ever again,” he said with smug malice. As his feet drew closer to the desk, she held her breath, readying herself to bolt for the door.

“Hey discount photobooth! You missed someone! I guess that's two shots you've ruined!" someone yelled from the entrance and Chloe recognized the voice of Alix, a punky tomboy in her class. Alix started running the moment Picture Perfect turned to chase after her, his feet stomping loudly as he left. Chloe waited for a moment before poking her head out.

"What is wrong with that girl?" Chloe breathed out

"I could ask you the same thing?" Chloe jumped, looking to her side to find the poppy red haired girl beside her.

"Wait, but how did you-?" Chloe looked at Alix in confusion.

"Yeah, he's not that smart. The moment he shot out of the class I got Kim to nail him with one of his shoes, so now he's after him while I get you out of here. But first, what is wrong with you?" Alix said, waving her arms about. "I get you like the attention but you are trying to get yourself killed? Or is this some crazy cry for attention? Everyone else got out but here you are pissing him off!" she sighed and looked out the door.

They could hear Picture Perfect ranting as he tried to catch Kim. Chloe was worried that despite Kim’s athleticism, he would get caught. She was about to get up and go outside but Alix grabbed her wrist and Chloe turned to look at her with a stern glare that made Alix pause before giving herself a shake and gathering her resolve.

"Just stay here! Ladybug will be here soon and she will fix everything. No offense, but I don't think someone as pampered as you can stop him or do much more than annoy him," Alix chided but Chloe pulled her hand free and quietly made her way to the door. She ignored the angry looks Alix shot her and witnessed Picture Perfect catch Kim in a photo, trapping him before he went looking for more students. Chloe motioned for Alix to hide as she took a deep breath.

"HEY LOSER! YOU MISSED ME! " she shouted, getting him to turn towards her. She bolted the moment the words left her lips, hoping to lead him deeper into the school but a voice surprised her and stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Juleka? Chloe? Are you here?"

Chloe turned to see that Rose hadn't left with the others but instead had gone looking for her and Juleka and was just exiting the bathroom. Chloe's heart sank at the sight of the petite blonde looking around desperately but when Picture Perfect turned to look at Rose, readying his camera hand to catch her in a photo.

"Rose, run now!" Chloe shouted. Her body lurched as she started to run for the other girl, reaching her hand out in a futile attempt to warn her as Picture Perfect was about to snap his shot. A textbook soared through the air past Chloe and she glanced back to see Alix standing in the doorway of the science classroom, her focus on the book she had thrown.

The book hit Picture Perfect’s arm with enough force to make him spin and his hand went up as his power went off. Chloe’s eyes widened in horror as one of the two tethers holding the basketball hoop in the courtyard disappeared into a photo, causing the hoop and backboard to swing down like an athletically themed blade, right towards Rose.

“No!” Chloe screamed, her voice cracking as panic and terror welled up inside her until it felt like time slowed around her. It didn’t change anything as Rose turned from Picture Perfect to the basketball hoop, her brilliant blue eyes widening in fear.

The thunderous crash of the hoop made Chloe wince but she still ran towards Rose, heedless of Picture Perfect’s threatening presence. There was a small cloud of dust that had been kicked up from the crash and Chloe tripped over debris as she ran into it while she searched for Rose, ready to drag her out from under the fallen object. She hissed as she felt a stinging pain down her arm and saw a splintered piece of wood as scored a long red line along her forearm. She pushed the pain aside as she looked for Rose. Amazingly, Rose was nowhere to be found and Chloe found herself dizzy with relief and confusion.

“Chloe,” a voice called out to her in a loud whisper and she looked to see Rose standing by the lockers, nearly two whole meters away from the debris.

“How-?” Chloe began to ask before maniacal laughter reminded her of the looming danger of Picture Perfect. She rose and spun back to face him and found he had her dead-to-rights. There’d be no dodging at this distance.

“Smile for the camera,” Picture Perfect said wickedly before a red yoyo with black dots wrapped around his arm and yanked him off his feet.

Ladybug swung down from above, using Picture Perfect as a counterbalance to come down and scoop Chloe up to carry her away to the far side of the courtyard. Chloe couldn’t help being stunned, even after everything she’d been through, the sight of Ladybug still filled her awe but now there was an undercurrent of guilt at seeing her old hero again. She quickly righted herself and pushed herself out of Ladybug’s arms, surprising Ladybug and causing her to frown, which made Chloe flinch in shame.

“T-thank you Ladybug. I think I’d be a picture in a scrapbook if you hadn't shown up,” she tried to say appreciatively but Ladybug continued to frown before sighing.

“What do you think you were doing?” Ladybug asked as she crossed her arms.

“I was distracting him so the others could get away. You weren’t here yet and he was capturing people, so I took it upon myself to help them,” Chloe said. She tried not to sound so timid but there was a nagging thought in the back of her head that this situation was still somehow her fault. “I mean what else was I supposed to-” She was cut off as Ladybug raised her hand.

“Chloe, you're not a hero,” Ladybug said in a stern, lecturing tone that made Chloe straighten up. “You don't have any powers and you could have been seriously hurt-”

“I hate to interrupt your little talk, m’Lady, but we should probably see to our friend here,” Cat Noir called out, making them both turn to see that he was fighting Picture Perfect with his staff, knocking the akuma’s hands aside to keep him from using his powers.

“Chloe, get somewhere safe,” Ladybug commanded before she threw her yoyo and swung up to the roof of the school. “Hey Picture Perfect! Let’s go someplace more scenic for a real photo op!”

“Come back here!” Picture Perfect shouted as Cat Noir followed Ladybug with his extending staff and the two of them led the villain away.

Chloe’s knees gave out as quiet descended over the courtyard and the rush of adrenaline that had fueled her passed.

“Chloe!”

Chloe looked up to see Rose rushing towards her. The smaller girl knelt beside Chloe and began looking her over frantically.

“Are you ok? I thought I heard you cry out after the basketball hoop came crashing down,” Rose said, though clearly she was still too rattled to notice the ugly scratch running down Chloe’s arm.

Chloe quickly pulled her sleeve down to hide the injury. There was no need to panic the other girl more than she already was.

“I’m fine. How are you ok? I was certain that backboard was going to take you out,” Chloe said as the memory replayed in her head. She was even more certain as she thought about it.

“Me too!” Rose said, her voice climbing so high it was almost a squeak. “One second it was coming right for me and the next I was nearly halfway back to the bathroom. Maybe I jumped back without realizing it?”

Chloe felt that reasoning was dubious but she didn’t have a better answer at the moment. Before she could puzzle over it more, another voice called out to them.

“Rose! Chloe!”

They both looked to see Juleka running down the entranceway stairs towards them. She enveloped Rose in a hug before surprising Chloe by reaching an arm out to bring her into the hug as well.

“I’m so glad you’re both ok!” Juleka said softly.

“Juleka!” Rose cried out happily. “I was so worried about you. You wouldn’t believe how brave Chloe was facing off against that akuma.”

“I bet I have an idea,” Juleka murmured as she pulled back and gave Chloe an appreciative look.

Before anymore could be said a swirling storm of ladybugs swept through the area, restoring those who had been trapped in photos as well as repairing the damage caused by Picture Perfect. A cheer went up at the sign that Ladybug and Cat Noir had won the day again.

Juleka and Rose both stood and offered their hands to Chloe to help her up. She took them and winced as pain shot down her arm.

‘The scratch is still there?!’ Chloe thought to herself. ‘How? Ladybug’s magic always fixes everything that results from the akuma’s attack.’

“Is everything ok, Chloe?” Rose asked, bringing Chloe back into the moment.

She managed a small smile and nodded, “Yeah, I just hope we’re finally done with that photographer. I don’t think I could stand to look into a camera lens at the moment.”

#fanfic #story #miraculous fanworks #miraculous ladybug #chloe bourgeois #juleka couffaine

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look-at-the-soul · 2 years

Text

The Photoshoot (Part 21)

Cillian Murphy

Previous parts here

⚠️ Warning: delicious photos below 😊 maybe after this you will want to go to a Mexican restaurant 🌮

💠 When you find this line (———) it’s because the next part is set in another day. (****) this is to separate the story from one place to another but on the same day. Thank you for reading!!! Let me know what you think 🙌🏻♥️

Edit: I found the Photographer! Promo for Ballyturk credits goes to Jean Goldsmith

Yael pressed the red button to cancel the call, she couldn’t reach Cillian, he was probably busy with the play. She was finally back home from work and all she wanted was to cuddle next him, tell Cillian about her day and listen about his. The simple, yet meaningful things in life.

She could feel the stress forming inside of her body and she tried really hard not to scratch her arm but it was impossible.

Knowing how that would end, she decided to accept her parent’s invitation for dinner, with her mind worried about him, she knew no editing work would be finished that night.

Sorry didn’t hear the phone, I was in the shower… going out. Talk to you tomorrow? Love you lots. Cillxo

Yael smiled at the message. Sometimes he called her apartment phone line because he couldn’t find his cellphone, of course it was in silent mode.

It’s OK. Have fun, I’m having dinner with my parents. Love you more xo

Grabbing her purse, she went to the door, but then she remembered how her mother would be so mad if she forgot the printed photograph from the Easter egg hunt day. Somehow, she managed to get all the kids and adults together posing for her lens outside the cottage, Cillian standing next to her.

Even though she missed Cillian so much, being with her parents filled her heart of so much love that it made her feel better and they wanted to hear everything about her trip to Ireland, so it would be a long and entertaining dinner after all.

After finishing their meal, Yael and her dad cleaned out the table while her mum was chatting by the door with her neighbor. So, it was the perfect time to have her dad clear her heart.

“Daddy?”

“Yes pumpkin?” A nickname only reserved for when they were alone, her brothers picked on them for that.

“Can I ask you something?”

Bryan looked at his daughter over the top of his reading glasses. She seemed like reaching the boiling point. “Sure thing my heart, do you want to go for a walk?” Yael nodded.

They walked past Isla and the neighbor, she was about to ask where they were going at that time, but Bryan shook his head. Yael was really close to her mother, but the bond she had with Bryan was unbreakable.

“Do you want to tell me what is worrying you so much?”

Yael sighed and linked her arm with his. It was a quiet night in the neighborhood, and she was grateful for the company.

“How did you know that you wanted my mum and her extra luggage?”

A small laugh left his chest. “You were never an extra luggage, you know that… but I remember that moment as if it was yesterday, she was crying alone by the lake, the sun was starting to fade away and when I asked why she was crying she said that she couldn’t allow herself to break in front of her little girl.” Bryan made a short pause trying to think of the right words to say. “That was the day she realized your dad wasn’t coming back, after he was released from prison she waited for him to show up at the hospital to check on you, but he never did. She told me she wasn’t crying for him, she was crying because she knew you would disappointed by him.”

It took her some time to fully understand it wasn’t her fault.

“She already had five reasons to smile… I wanted to be the sixth.” He had been the most understanding man since then.

“And it never crossed your mind that you didn’t want that kind of responsibility? Weren’t you scared?” She looked up at him.

Bryan was already shaking his head. “By loving your mother, indirectly or more likely directly I had the same kind of love for you and your brothers, it was a natural thing, an extension, my love grew from one person to six in total in a matter of a few weeks, I won’t lie, I was a little scared…” she pondered at his words. “But only because I didn’t know how to be a parent, I wanted to be a good role model to five kids who probably didn’t want me in their lives, I was scared to disappoint you the same way your father did.” His wife passed away and they never had family on their own, Bryan was alone for four years until he met her Mum.

On the walk back home in silence, her heart felt lighter than ever. She could see now how she wasn’t completely out of her mind by the thoughts she had been having towards Cillian’s child, accepting the fact that it was a reality and that baby would be part of her life too, there was no use to make things harder for Cillian, life it’s complicated itself so why make it even more on purpose? After all, that child would be half Cillian, how could she possibly think she wouldn’t love he or she as an extension of the love she had for Cillian?

When most of her life she had been loved by a man who hadn’t fathered her, but made sure to show her the way and made her who she was today.

Her mum was reluctant at the beginning, she didn’t accept Bryan’s offers to walk around the cottage to clear her mind, he showed up with homemade meals so she didn’t have to worry about cooking for her children while focusing on helping her daughter with the painful rehab she had to endure in order to walk again after the accident.

She remembered other times when ‘her mum’s friend’ showed up at the cottage with books and board games so her mother could focus on helping her brothers with their homework. Bryan was the one carrying her bridal style from the bed to the car so her mother wouldn’t hurt her back.

Yael remembered every little thing Bryan did for her, he was the one who encouraged them to try rehab, he never let her give up when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, and seeing him love her mum the way he did, made her realize that mum was smiling again after her biological father disappeared out of guilt after the accident, Bryan was her accomplice when over a year and a half later after so many surgeries and months of rehab, she was able to finally walk again on her own. Months later, she was the flower girl at their wedding.

He had been the best example of love. And she would do the same for that baby.

_____

“I’m so full I will have to walk for a while.” She smiled at Cillian for his comment, he ordered a burrito filled with chicken, peppers, beans, cheese, avocado and jalapeños, it could barely fit his mouth.

Enda smacked his arm. “It’s the price you pay after you ate half my nachos.”

“Gracias!” Chanted Cillian, Stephen and Enda right before leaving the Mexican restaurant. It was close to the place where they were doing the rehearsal. They had asked Yael how to say thanks in Spanish since she was the one translating some things of the menu.

“Why do you know Spanish?” Asked Enda out of curiosity.

She felt her tongue like burning, shouldn’t have trusted Cillian with the sauce. “Lived in Spain a few months. I took a photography course over there, the architecture is absolutely fantastic, out of this world.” The enchiladas she ordered were delicious, Cillian kept stealing the cheese on top.

“I don’t understand why the name is ‘The Border’ instead of the version in Spanish.” Enda complained.

“To make your life easier, imagine being pissed off and trying to pronounce the name.” Stephen laughed.

He held the door open for her, slapping her butt on her way out.

He looked so handsome wearing his usual white t-shirt, black jeans and denim jacket. But after he put on his sunglasses, she realized he evoked a super model effortlessly.

“Go ahead you two.” Instructed Enda looking at Yael. “I have business to do with your girlfriend.”

Cillian gave her a warning look. “Just so you to know, he’s not paying for that shooting. He wants it free.”

“Why would I pay her to take photos of her boyfriend?” Enda shook his head. “You shouldn’t mix pleasure and business. But since I’m a good friend, you can have a day off if you want.” They all laughed at that.

Yael winked at Cillian, taking his photographs was her absolutely favorite thing in the world. Enda demanded her attention.

“So, I have this idea, with a big screen in the background…” Yael and Enda walked behind them.

“Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.” He smiled, but just as they crossed the street, he noticed a man in front of them. Snapping photos of them.

Enda cut himself mid-sentence as he heard Stephen asking someone to let them walk.

“I just want to know if you are the father of that child.” Cillian clenched his jaw, not answering.

Turning around, to check on Yael, he waited for her and Enda.

“Oh! That the new girl Sillian?” He was known for pushing people’s buttons. And Cillian wasn’t giving in into his dirty ways.

“Frank there’s no need.” Enda tried to reason, while Cillian wrapped his arm around Yael’s shoulder.

“Heard she’s the new photographer for Peaky Blinders.” It wasn’t official yet. Frankie had his camera on her face practically. “That’s how you got the job bombshell? Bang the lead actor, make him leave the pregnant ex?”

Cillian was known for being a pacifist, but this time, this man went too far. Stopping on his tracks, he placed his hand on Frankie’s chest, barely touching him. Enda and Stephen flanking Yael, but Frankie wanted a reaction, a snap, forcing his way around Cillian, he moved erratically pressing the shooter like a maniac, the lens hitting her hard on the cheek, close to her eye. A sharp pain ran through her face.

Stephen and Enda held Frankie by an arm each. Cillian took a shocked Yael inside the building, asking the guard to go outside.

Cillian was all over her, checking her face, whispering he was sorry for the incident.

“Fucking Frankie, he thinks he is Perez Hilton.” Enda approached them. “You need some ice for that.”

But Yael wasn’t worried about the bruise. “How does he know about the baby?”

——

The apartment was quiet, she didn’t want to call his name in case he was on a phone call or interview, he had been very serious since the day before, after the incident with that man, the rehearsal was canceled and they went back home. She was grateful they were able to spend the day together but she couldn’t stand the worry on his eyes every time he applied on her cheek some arnica balm, it was almost as if he was blaming himself for it.

He left the tea she made for him untouched, it was now cold between his hands. Cillian was lost on his own thoughts. Yael wrapped her arms around his neck, her hands caressing his chest from behind, rocking their bodies from side to side gently.

“Enda called, to check if you’re still up for the shooting.”

He wasn’t, but he needed something to distract him. He was so immersed in her embrace and how good it felt that he didn’t answer.

“We can do it the next time I come here if you want?” She didn’t want to put him into any more pressure.

“It’s fine, I was just… distracted.” Cillian kissed the inside of her arm that was at his lips level.

Walking around him, Yael placed herself between his legs, her fingernails running through the still shaved sides of his hair, making him close his eyes at the sensation. Her lips on his taking his mind off completely of any worry. She felt his strong arms wrap around her back, pulling her body down to his.

“We need to go.” She whispered.

“Why did you accept to take those photos again?”

“Because I love your work and Enda is your friend.” As they were kissing again, a wet nose got in the middle of their bodies.

“Oh hi there.” Scout loved the attention. “You want some love too?”

Yael scratched behind the ear. Cillian took her hand and placed around his neck again. Scout sneezed. “Bless you.” With his paw, he touched Yael’s arm, trying to get it back. Cillian tightened his arms around her. “Mine.” He declared looking at Scout, who barked in response. “Alright let’s go, because I feel like Enda is going to show up any minute now.”

“I really like the jacket, the combination of blue and green will look great on the photo.”

“You say that to every color I wear.” She then confessed it wasn’t the color, it was him.

***

“What do you think? Will this outfit make me look as good as him?” Enda asked doing a whirlwind around himself, then turning to Cillian he added: “Don’t worry, I’m not trying to steal her.”

“You look great Enda.” Yael praised him.

“I hope you make me look better than him.” As Yael nodded, Cillian was rolling his eyes.

“Can you two look over here please? Otherwise it will look like this is a pre-wedding shooting.”

Enda told him looking up from his chair: “I like her, can you keep her?”

Cillian had his hands inside his pockets, he crossed one ankle over the other and looked straight to her.

“I’m planning to do that… forever.”

Yael pressed the shutter.

____

Their shooting was interrupted by Cillian’s agent who called to let him know that Frankie was asking for money in order to not leak the news on the internet. They barely had a few shoots done, and Enda was very supportive telling Cillian he shouldn’t do the rehearsal that day either, Enda trusted him and knew he would deliver an incredible performance on stage, there was no need to have him doing a rehearsal when his mind was somewhere else.

Cillian decided he wouldn’t give Frankie any money because he wasn’t going to finance his way of getting information and blackmailing people.

As they were about to sit to have breakfast, his cellphone rang. It was his mother, announcing they just arrived but didn’t remember the number to his apartment. Cillian totally forgot he agreed to have some time with them before the rehearsal was canceled.

“My parents are here, sorry I forgot they were coming over.”

Panic ran through her face, she was more mortified because she was only wearing her underwear and his green shirt. Quickly, she tried to brush her hair with her fingers, she didn’t have a lot of time, she needed her jeans and some body lotion, how embarrassing meeting his parents like this. Pinching her cheeks to have some color on her face, she hurried up to manage some concealer under her eyes. And that was pretty much all because they were knocking on the door already.

As the couple made their way inside and after giving their son a hug, they smiled at her. Yael just finished making a knot with her hair tie to try to make his green t-shirt fit her better. Cillian made the proper introductions and she was pulled in for a hug as well.

“We are sorry to interrupt you.” She now knew the reason behind those ocean eyes, both of his parents had beautiful eyes.

“No, please join us for breakfast, I changed my flight for tomorrow, I should be the one apologiz-”

“None of that sweetheart.” His father said kindly.

“I was just making some French toast, hope that is alright.” She loved that the last time, so he thought he might repeat it again.

Brendan offered to help him, apparently, Cillian shared with his father the love for cooking. Yael got two mugs from the top cabinet and filled them for Cillian’s parents.

“We haven’t seen him much, he’s been busy with the new play.” The woman touched her arm in a tender motion. “But of course, you must’ve learned that by now.”

Yael nodded. “But he is so good at what he does, and time is subjective.”

“It is.” Cillian confirmed placing a plate in front of his mother. “We try to make the most of it when we are together.”

“Are you alright sweetheart?” Cillian’s Mum pointed at her cheek, the bruise was purple now.

“Yes, I was taking a photo of Scout, he jumped and the camera hit me.” She hurried to explain without looking at Cillian.

“I’m just glad that you are back now son.” Cillian patted his father on the back.

“Will you be traveling to see the play darling?”

“Absolutely, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” She winked in his direction as he was sipping on his coffee in front of her.

“Maybe you could join us for our Sunday brunch next time you are here.” His father suggested.

Cillian nodded, she would like that.

As they were done with their food, Yael hurried up to get the plates and mugs off the table. Cillian tried to help her, but she ushered him to go to his parents, they wanted to be with him too.

As he walked to them to offer something else, he found his father trying to stop his mother.

“What is it?” He looked between them.

His father tried one more time to stop his mum, but she spoke anyways: “I found Erin’s mother one day… I know you broke up with her, but she is worried.” Rubbing his forehead, he listened to his mum. “Erin is pregnant and she doesn’t want to tell who the father is, said she’s never seeing the father of her child again, do you know if she went out with someone after your break up? Her father is so disappointed.”

So she kept her promise after all, about not saying around the baby was his. He pointed the living room, asking them to take a seat, as well as Yael.

By the look in his eyes, she knew he would tell them the truth.

“Want me to take Scout out?” Her hand caressed his face.

He needed her, his eyes pleading her to be by his side. Yael nodded, one look and she new what he was thinking.

Linking her hand with his, she was giving him the strength he needed.

“Eventually you will find out, and I want you to know this from me.” It was now or never. He took a deep breath. “The baby Erin is waiting… it’s mine, we broke up without knowing she was pregnant.”

The room went deadly quiet, the only sounds that could be heard, came from the coffee machine.

“I will try to get an arrangement, well my lawyer will, so I can have the baby sometimes and of course, you are more than welcome to visit if you want to be involved.” He added nervous, Yael squeezed his hand in an attempt to offer some comfort. She was past the shock by now, so she could completely understand the Mrs. and Mr. Murphy reactions.

Brendan looked at Cillian perplexed, then to the floor, and then back to his son. Finally, he shook his head a little. His mother, on the other side, clasped her hands over her mouth. She wanted to tell them everything would be alright, but it wasn’t her place, she was there just to support Cillian.

But when her mother in law spoke, Yael wished they could go back to the silence: “She is having your child and you aren’t marrying Erin? What kind of family is that?”

“Things now are hardly as they used to be mum.” She looked in Yael’s direction.

“I’m sorry sweetheart.” She apologized to Yael for what she was about to ask. “How do you expect to raise a child when you left Erin?”

“That is something we will figure out, when that time comes.” She touched his knee, sometimes he spoke in a tone that could be taken as arrogant and cold when he wasn’t. “And I didn’t leave her, we broke up, then I met Yael and later Erin found out she was pregnant.”

Yael knew they were holding back their questions because she was there. She tried quietly leave them to talk it through, but Cillian stopped her, asking her to stay.

Just as his wife was about to bombard him with more questions, his father spoke: “For God’s sake don’t you remember how miserable he was with that woman? Always fighting, shouting at every family gathering, perhaps they get along better now that they went separated ways.”

“We will see how that goes.” His back was so tense, the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“Do you know how it’s the baby doing?” His father asked.

She saw Cillian nod. “Good, everything’s good.” Looking at them, he added. “I know this is far away from the perfect marriage picture you have, but that’s exactly why I won’t marry Erin, she’s not the woman with whom I could have a marriage like yours.” He said looking in Yael’s eyes.

Brushing away her worries, as well as his.

_____

What do you think? Should Yael become part of the photography team for Peaky Blinders or not? 🤔

#That’s what Cill said #cillian murphy #cillian murphy imagine #cillian murphy x oc #cillian murphy fanfic #cillian murphy fanfiction #cillianmurphy #cillian murphy x reader

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stellylee · 7 months

Text

TASK #11 WRITE A LETTER

triggering / sensitive content: abandonment, cheating.

I hesitate to address this as 'dear dad' because you haven't been for a while. Unless you count the occasional text, or the cards at Christmas time. I'm not even really sure that you remembered my birthday this year, but it wasn't like I was waiting for you to call. I had a good time with Mandy and my friends.

And I know that I'll never actually send you this letter, because what would either of us get out of it? I don't need to guilt trip you into feeling bad about not being in my life, because I've got a great life despite your absence, and I don't see that changing any time soon. I'm happy. I guess I'm just writing it all down because I have the opportunity to, and why not?

At this point, I'm done being mad at you. Which took a long, long time to realize. Because when mom closed my bedroom door and told me that she needed to talk, I knew that it wasn't going to be an easy conversation. I was only twelve years old, and she told me that we were going to move. Not to another apartment, or another area, another part of the city... or even somewhere else in the state. No, we were moving up the coast, to Maine, of all places, and you weren't coming with us. She never actually told me that you cheated, you know that? I think because she wanted me to have a good, solid relationship with you, which maybe makes it harder that you didn't want that with me. I think it took me a long time to reconcile that feeling and realize that it wasn't all my fault. But, regardless, we moved to Maine and I was absolutely miserable. I hated how remote everything was, how quiet. I was also a pre-teen slash teenager who hated life in general, coming into my own and making decisions about my identity in a brand new place, which I guess was okay. Because I got to be Stelly in my own way. So, hey, I guess thanks for knocking up that chick. Helped me find myself?

Mom fell in love, which at first pissed me off (not just because it made me get a step brother, but just because she moved on), but now I an see that he's really good to and for her. She's happy, which is more than I can say about those last few years in New Orleans. I slowly learned how to not hate Maine. I got into photography, and I waitressed after school while I went to college, and eventually took some bartending classes. Now, I'm lead bartender at a sports bar and I kick some serious ass. I got a job with the local paper, photographing events and taking assignments when they need me, and I'm friends with journalists and editors and all the higher ups. I live in a downtown home that I share with some friends, it needs some work, but it feels like a place that's mine. And I have some really good friends who love me for who I am. And a dog.

And Mandy.

I lied, because sometimes I am a little bit mad at you, knowing that you'll never know how cool she is, or how she makes my heart skip a beat when she kisses my cheek. The way she likes my black jeans and ripped tanks, and the way she doesn't mind that it clashes with her pink hair or the bubblegum way she smiles. The thing is, I definitely gave up on the idea of love and relationships when I found out what you did and how much you hurt mom, but then Mandy stopped by Touchback more and more and I realized it was for me, to see me, to spend time with me... and I realized that maybe humans aren't always so awful to each other. Maybe you can genuinely, really care about a person.

The whole point of this was to let you know in my own fucked up way that... I'm okay without you. That I reached that point where life goes on and everything doesn't feel heavy, and I think about New Orleans with fondness in my heart, instead of the bitterness you planted there. But I could be okay with you, too. A part of me hopes that someday, you call instead of text. Just so I know that you sometimes still think about us, too.

#merrocktask

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obsidiancreates · 1 year

Text

The Creeping Doom Liveblog

Full disclosure, I watched this one already recently. But this'll still be a train-of-thought liveblog, just not a first impression.

MIKEY STOP FUCKING AROUND IN DONNIE'S LAB I LOVE YOU MIKEY AND I KNOW YOU JUST HAVE UNMEDICATED ADHD BUT PLEASE SWEETIE THERE'S EXPLOSIVES AND POISONS AND ACIDS ALL AROUND YOU

Mikey- oh Mikey...

Mikey has a photographic memory, which is cool but also concerning given all the horrifying shit they see all the time

This episode upsets me because April is the only one to actually show concern for Donnie's dementia-like symptoms and no-one notices him constantly scratching that burn. It makes me mad at everyone but April.

CREEP DRANK BRAIN JUICE NOW HE SMART LAD- god the breathing sounds are distressing

Oh he's so distressed, he just looks sad, he's not even like frustrated now he's just upset and confused...

Hey wait Mikey slipped in the Brain Eating Juice but it doesn't affect him during the episode. More Magic Mikey Evidence?

Oh poor Mikey, he's so upset about being blamed and so desperate to help out, he must be wondering if his accident earlier lead to this. Awww he's trying to make them laugh... sweet boy... his RSD must be going nuts right now

ICE CREAM KITTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

You sense something is wrong? I'll say HIS NEURONS ARE DYING

Okay yeah Donnie puts too much burden on himself, yes, but the rest of you don't help. He takes on those burdens because he's been conditioned to, by everyone relying on him all the time for all the answers. Including you, Splinter. Everyone takes advantage of him and he feels the pressure of it.

HEY APRIL THERE'S GLOWING GREEN EYES BEHIND SPLINTER MAYBE NOTICE THAT

NOOOOOOO ICE CREAM KITTYYYYYYYY DON'T MELT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

This Jason Vorhees-ass bitch- HOLY FUCK HE CHOKED LEO OUT

He needed to glow for a second before an idea same to him, it happens.

It kinda was your fault though, Mikey.

Oh Donnie he looks so confuseddddddd someone notice his itching his hand ohhhhh he just looks so sad and lost. Later in the episode they play it more as a joke but right now it's just making me think of dementia.

Awwwww his face playing the game though is adorable.

GUYS GUYS DONNIE WENT FROM SPEAKING FULL SENTENCES TO JUST MOANING TIREDLY IN LIKE TWO SECONDS MAYBE THAT'S SOMETHING TO NOTE WITH CONCERN

Aw bless him he's trying.

Now he's making random sounds and staring at nothing, ohhhh it must be so awful god I hate the idea of losing your ability to think like he's losing it, this episode is so sad for him, must be terrifying

I JUST REALIZED THE FRIDAY THE 13TH SOUND THAT HAPPENS AROUDN THE CREEP IS SAYING "MUT-A-GEN" HOLY HELL HOW DID I ONLY JUST REALIZE THAT

LOVE that Raph gets to fight The Creep solo, he deserves some revenge stabs.

OH DONNIE IS HIDINGGG

OH AND THE MOMENT OF PANICKED LUCIDITY "I DON'T UNDERSTAND I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING" OH WHAT A FUCKING AWFUL THING TO EXPERIENCE

Oh he's so scareddddddddddd oh good the squirrel made him less so MY BOYYYYYYYYY

Andddddd now we're getting into his brain damage being more comedic and almost weed-high-like than dementia

Now they just told Rob Paulsen to make random laughs and annoying noises I think, just popped him into the booth and said "Make whatever noises and say whatever random lines you want, we'll animate around it."

I DON'T THINK A LOT OF MEDITATION WILL HELP SPLINTER (I shout this lovingly, I know he's just trying to find solutions among what he knows)

YEAH WELL NOT JUST THE MUTANT WASP MIKEY MAYBE ALSO REMIND THEM HOW YOU MADE THE RETROMUTAGEN A MILLION TIMES BETTER

They really all just watched Donnie chug that shit without even trying to grab it away.

PFFFFFT SPLINTER'S FACE WHY DID HE MAKE A "Well. Awkward..." EXPRESSION

HEY HEY GUYS MAYBE DON'T LEAVE THE VULNERABLE BRAIN-DAMAGED DONNIE ALONE AND UNPROTECTED DURING AN EARTHQUAKE THAT'S MAKING ROCKS FALL OUT OF THE CEILING MAYBE THAT'S A BAD IDEA

Ooooooh That's what the big wooden spiral is for, a periscope, ooooohhhhhh okay

I'd say they're being too harsh on Mikey and the episode proves Mikey was right but, also Mikey did still feed his brother unknown and dangerous chemicals

AWWWWWW DONNIE IN THE DRINK HATTTTTTTTT HE'S MAKING SUCH CUTE FACESSSSSSSSSSSSSS

"Highly doubtful" at least try motherfucker it worked on CURING POISON

Very fortunate that Donnie thought of the mower cart before his dementia serum debacle. Must be because he worried The Creep would be back someday.

LEOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

SHIT MIKEY ATE IT

Uhhhh why is this shot from behind? Weird vibe to that shot.

RAPHHHHHHHHHHH

MIKEY I LOVE THE CONFIDENCE BABY AND IT'S NOT UNWARRENTED BUT BE CAREFUL- YEAH SEE

YAY DONNIE TO THE RESCUE IN A NEW VEHICLE!!!!!!!!!!

Love that they showed us Donnie is back to normal by immediately having him use Big Latin Names Of Plants.

Evil Laugh Donnie Mad Scientist Donnie fuck him up my mad scientist boy!

Donnie please try to teach Mikey proper lab safety he clearly has a talent for this chemistry stuff.

WHY DOES PIZZA ALWAYS FINALIZE THE CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS IN TMNT STUFF IT MADE THE RETOMUTAGEN IN SECRET OF THE OOZE WORK IT MADE THE RETROMUTAGEN 2.0 IN THIS SHOW WORK NOW IT MAKES THE BRAIN JUICE WORK IS PIZZA MAGIC IN THEIR UNIVERSE??!?!?!?!

Donnie you're smirking about that subtle jab now but what this end card doesn't show is that two second later he ate shit so hard that he got yet more brain damage and Splinter had to use his Healing Spell and realized "Shit, his brain's more battered than out training dummy."

#tmnt 2k12 #tmnt 2012 #sid blogs live

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now-we-say-c0ral · 10 months

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July 2, 2023

I have to remind myself to set a more gentle alarm tone because my homepod is just the nightmare if I'm being totally honest.

Woke up at 6am today because Porcia, curses to her, booked our riffle and arrow slot at 9am. I was on my way to Kingston to meet up with them when Porcia reminded us that we should bring our IDs. I didn't bring anything but my phone and she reminded me if I had registered for this excursion to which I didn't. I just knew that I'll be fucked up today and won't be joining them but I had my hopes up.

We met at Starbucks around 8:20am and I ordered my usual matcha frappe. We talked about some stuff about one of our friends and to be really honest I don't think she'll rat us out. It's not even the benefit of the doubt but I just trust her so much that I wouldn't think of her being able to expose us out.

We took an Uber and headed to Richmond. When we got there, I asked one of the ladies if I could present a photograph of my passport to register and this guy came and said sorry because I couldn't. I completely understand to be honest because it's entirely my fault. I was so psyched and stoked to finally try the bow and arrow more than the rifle shooting but then I forgot my ID. Good going, Ian. I just sat there and played Unite the whole morning.

After, we went to Carluccio's at Richmond and had some carbonara. It was really good I'd go again if I ever end up in Richmond again. It's so nice to be able to see the girls and just talk like I wasn't even away. I love our relationship and I don't see this ever stopping. I'm loving how they're still trying to take care of what we have.

Got some stuff from Sainsbury's because Eddie will be cooking our lunch for later and after took the National Rail then the tube home. Got dressed and cycled to the gym and did biceps, triceps, shoulders, and some cardio. My triceps were really mad. I was planning to take a mirror selfie but there were just too many people. Why am I even shy I don't know.

Went home and played Pokemon Unite and some Diablo 4. Eddie's home now and he's cooking. I can't wait to see him downstairs and give him a hug. I also kind of went overboard with my online shopping. A bag from Stubble and Co and some clothes from Zara. I'm broque.

Today was such a lovely day even one thing didn't go as planned. Still so much to celebrate.

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russilton · 2 years

Note

there are so many nasty comments about george (he has even hidden several) and it is so unfair because I don't see where he went wrong? it was a decision made on the spot when he saw that he was going to be overtaken by charles and max. it wasn't something intentional to harm lewis. so we have people extremely close to lewis (S****) enjoying nasty posts made to attract hate for george (who always praised lewis, said he was his hero and as far as i know doesn't have a bad bone in his body) and i can't stop thinking that this must be lewis' opinion too. thousands of people saying that >>nico rosberg<< is right as if he said that to support lewis and not to fuel the rivalry between them as he always tried to do. it's not lewis' fault, it's not george's fault, the only guilty party is mercedes that didn't call both drivers to change tires and doesn't move a finger to defend george from the attacks and i don't think they will do anything about it. sorry for the long text mark is that i saw you were one of the few britcedes enthusiast i follow that didn't abandon ship and needed to get it off my chest :)

I’ll let you air your gut here anon but I encourage you to remember from now on, that George could bend over and let Lewis fuck him in front of the entire Silverstone crowd and people would STILL SOMEHOW find a way to hate him. This weekend people got hopped up on energy and delusion slightly more than normal because they thought they found ‘evidence’ of something that doesn’t exist. Next week they’ll do the same thing.

I also would encourage you not to read to much into what Lewis’ friend likes. He also likes Chris brown. Frankly he’s a regular, not f1 based personality, he’s a photographer there for Lewis. He’s going to support Lewis pretty blindly. His feelings don’t necessarily reflect Lewis’ and for the sake of your sanity I wouldn’t go digging around his likes you’ll drive yourself mad. Trust Lewis to be truthful in what he says and leave it there

#asks #anonymous #mark’s driver meta

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missywritesfor7 · 7 months

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🌺 Promise Flower | PJM 🌺

Synopsis: Jimin is a popular dance student and the best one at his university. Mina is a photography student and has known Jimin since high school. An idea for a photo project finds Mina getting closer to him than she ever has before. She learns how big his heart is, but also learns how closely he guards it. Every time she thinks he'll let her in, he pulls away again. Is it even worth the trouble?

Pairing: college student!Jimin x fem!oc

Warnings: depression, anxiety, panic attacks, alcoholism

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|| Ch. 29: Hide and Seek ||

Everything seems to be settling back into some form of peace and normalcy. Jimin isn’t mad at me so much, although even the mention of alcohol is shut down by him. I had a glass of wine with Tae one night and I thought he was going to start breathing fire. I’m sure if he hadn’t been with me to monitor how much I drank he would have been beside himself. I guess it’s my fault so I can’t blame him.

The end of the semester is quickly approaching and that means everyone is becoming increasingly stressed. Tae and I have our final photo project to work on so our professor devoted class time for the last 4 weeks of the semester to letting us shoot and develop our film as we need to.

Today however we have a guest speaker in class. I was surprised and a little excited to see that the guest speaker is one of the photographers I met at the exhibit I went to before New Years, Daniel. He had given me his contact information saying he was interested in seeing my work if I cared to share with him. I never reached out though because I feared my photos weren’t good enough. Struggling to get a decent grade in this class really fucked with my confidence and I felt like I’d never be good enough to put my photos on display for the public.

At the end of class Tae and I stay behind to chat with Daniel. To my surprise he seems to recognize me from our brief encounter months ago.

“Mina, right?” He says with a smile. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Good to see you too. What brings you here to our class?”

“Just spreading knowledge and wisdom,” he chuckles. “But honestly, we’re putting together another exhibit at the gallery in a couple of weeks and I thought it would be nice to add the work of a student to the showcase. I wanted to take a look at what you guys have been working on and see if anyone would fit well in the gallery.”

The mention of that makes Tae’s eyes light up and he excitedly nudges me to introduce the two.

“Oh that sound great. This is Taehyung by the way.”

Tae reaches out and shakes Daniel’s hand enthusiastically. His big boxy smile filled with excitement from meeting a professional in our field.

“Nice to meet you,” Daniel says smiling back at Tae’s hopeful smile. “So, I know I asked you this when we first met, but I never heard from you after that. Could I see some of your work?”

“Right,” I say nervously. “I was going to, I just wasn’t sure I had anything that was any good to share with you.”

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?” He points to the binder I’m holding which is filled with all of my photos from the semester.

“Uh well…” I hesitate. Tae nearly nudges me over trying to urge me to show Daniel my work. “Yeah, sure.” I hand my binder over and feel my knees get weak from nerves.

He silently flips through my photos and I can feel my stomach rolling around in suspense. It’s hard for me to tell if he’s liking my pictures or not, but I can’t keep from making excuses to explain why my work isn’t very good.

“These are only the photos I took this semester,” I say nervously. “I actually usually shoot with my digital camera, so these aren’t quite as good as they could be because I never worked with film before. I’ve never had to develop my own film either so there’s a lot that could be better.”

“Shut up,” Tae says sharply eliciting a laugh from Daniel.

“These are really good actually,” Daniel says still flipping through the pages. “I know film can be tricky but I can see plenty of photos here that would go well in the gallery.”

“Really?” I say with a mix of excitement, confusion, and flattery.

“Of course! We only need 8 photos for the exhibit and you have much more in here worthy of being on display.”

“Can you tell him that?” I gesture towards our professor who’s standing at the other end of the room speaking with another student.

“It’s ok,” Daniel laughs. “We don’t check grades at the gallery. I get the feeling though, I didn’t ace all my photo classes when I was in school.”

“See!” Tae chimes in. “I told you your grade from one professor in one class won’t define your worth.”

“Hush,” I say nudging Tae although I know he’s right.

“If you’re interested,” Daniel continues. “Would you like to submit 8 of your photos? You can choose whichever ones you like, there’s no set theme to the exhibit so you have some freedom.”

“Wow,” I say nearly in shock at this amazing opportunity. I haven’t even fully processed the praise he gave for my photos that my low grades had me thinking weren’t good enough. “I would love that!”

“Great! Send me your email and I’ll give you all of the details.”

The entire evening Tae is linked to my side wanting to be part of the entire process. He tells me he’ll offer me his consulting services since I’ve never had to choose photos for an exhibit before, but neither has he. We go back and forth choosing which photos would look best, brainstorming a theme, and exploring the possibility of not having a theme at all. It’s a lot for me to think about so it’s good to have him to get feedback from.

Jimin comes over after his rehearsal with his class. Their end of semester performance is coming up soon and that’s only caused him more stress by the day. He tries his best to contain it so I don’t worry about him, but I can see it written all over his face. He still hasn’t been cleared to dance, but he’s been working just as hard as the students since he’s the one who put the routine together.

I make him his favorite foods and send him to class each morning with an extra drink or snack bar because I know there’s a good chance he’ll be on campus late and an even better chance that he won’t make time to get something to eat.

I get him settled on the couch where he notices the mess of photos and brainstorming notes Tae and I have all over the coffee table. I start to explain the events of the day that resulted in me getting my first chance to display my work in a gallery, but Tae spits it out before I finish my first sentence.

I shoot him a few daggers and he only smiles and tells me he’ll talk to me later. And in typical Tae fashion he leaves when he knows I’m about to strangle him. He’s very good at lighting a match and running away to avoid punishment. I love and hate him in so many ways.

“A gallery?” Jimin asks once Tae is gone. “That’s amazing, babe!”

“I know! I’m so excited but really nervous,” I pout.

“You’ll be fine,” he says pulling me in for a kiss. “When does the exhibit open?”

“Well…” that’s the thing I’m afraid to tell him. The information Daniel sent me stated that the opening night of the exhibit will involve an opening ceremony honoring the photographers who’s works are on display. “It’s in two weeks.”

“Two weeks?” He asks.

“Yeah. That Friday night.”

“Friday night? The same Friday as our performance?”

“Yeah,” I say hanging my head. “But it’s not a requirement for me to be there for the opening. The exhibit will be there for a month so we can always go any time.”

“I don’t want you to miss that,” he says unable to mask the disappointment in his voice. “It’s a big opportunity for you. I’m not even dancing so it’s not like the performance is a big deal.”

“It doesn’t matter that you’re not dancing, you still put the whole thing together and I want to be there to support you.” He’s put his heart and soul into this choreography. He’s had many sleepless nights and worked extra long hours with his students to make sure everything is perfect. There’s no way I’m going to miss being there to support him.

“I’m not going to let you do that.”

“What about this,” I say not giving him a chance to give another excuse. “The opening of the exhibit doesn’t start until an hour after the start of your performance. I’ll go there with you and then leave for the gallery after. Then maybe you can meet me there once the show is over?” I would be cutting things very close, and I’m not even sure how long his show is supposed to be since there’s going to be multiple performances in one night, but I could at least be there to support him in the beginning then he can come support me in the end. Everyone wins. I think?

“Do you think that would work?” He asks raising his brow. “You wouldn’t be at the performance very long before you have to turn around and leave for the gallery.”

He’s right. It’s disappointing, but I can’t think of anything else. I want to be there for him. At the same time I would love to have him by my side at the opening of my first exhibit. I could go alone, and I know Tae would be there, but I can’t shake the disappointment knowing that neither one of us would be able to support each other the way we want to that night.

Throughout the week we discuss ways to make it work but nothing seems feasible. We finally decide that the best option would be to simply go to our respective events and Jimin will come to the gallery as soon as his group’s performance is over.

It’s not ideal, but he shows me a practice video of the performance so I don’t feel like I missed out completely. He didn’t have to do that, but I’m happy he did. The entire choreography is quite intricate and detailed. I can tell he took a lot of care in perfecting each and every part. He blushes with every word of praise I give him which makes me want to pinch his cheeks. I’m so proud of him, and although I can’t be there to see it live I just know his class will do amazing.

The night comes and we’re both at my apartment getting ready. Jin cooked us a small congratulatory meal before running off to attend his own theater event. It’s a busy time for everyone in the art department and I’m lucky I was able to catch a glimpse of his face before he took off.

I shower Jimin with kisses before he takes off. I wish him luck and apologize yet again for not being able to make it. He assures me it’s ok and as soon as his group is done he’ll rush over to the gallery to be with me. I can only hope it’s not too long.

I’m a ball of nerves walking into the gallery by myself. There’s a lot of people in attendance of all status levels and it’s taking every bit of strength in me to keep from throwing up. I wish I had Jimin next to me to put me at ease. Just one look at him always brings me back down to a calming place.

Thankfully I find Tae and Taylor who came to support me. I feel a little better now and remain near them just for a small sense of security. We walk around the gallery a brief moment before everyone is called to the front for the opening ceremony.

There’s champagne and hors d’oeuvres being passed around as we all gather around a small platform that’s being used as a stage. A few people go up and speak giving an overview of the exhibit and the purpose of why it was put together. We’re introduced to the curators of the entire thing, which includes Daniel.

Lastly, the photographers are introduced. We’re called to stand in front of the crowd as a small intro is read about each of us. I realize I’m the only person who’s still in school and that makes me feel both honored and a bit out of place.

Once it’s all over I take my place near my photos. I know I don’t have to stay in this spot the entire time, but I’m anxious to hear feedback from the people that come by. I also want to meet any and everyone I can since this is a great networking opportunity.

It proves to be a great idea. I meet a few curators from other galleries, talk with other photographers about techniques and inspiration, and discuss being the only student here with nearly everyone that stops by. I trade information with various people in the industry, some interested in seeing more of my work, others offering internship opportunities.

I even get an opportunity to be interviewed for an article. I’ve never been featured before so naturally I’m a bit nervous but since it’s Namjoon I know it won’t be so bad. It seems he’s covering a lot as the semester is ending, so just as soon as he comes over to talk, he’s gone again on to the next art event going on today.

Shortly after, Tae and Taylor come by to let me know they’re leaving. They congratulate me again on my first exhibit and take off for the night.

I haven’t had a chance to pay much attention to my phone so I’m not sure if Jimin has texted me or not, I just hope he’ll be here soon since now I’m alone. Every time I try checking my phone someone else comes to me and I find myself deep in another conversation about photography, art, and myself.

“Look who’s a big shot now!” Says a voice behind me as the elderly couple I was talking to moves on to talk to the next photographer.

I turn around and the oxygen is nearly sucked out of my lungs. Standing 5 feet away from me stands Ryan looking an absolute mess, more so than usual.

“What are you doing here?” I ask instantly feeling my body switch into defensive mode. My eyes are on him and also trying to make sure no one is close enough to hear our encounter.

“I came to support my little sister’s first big exhibit,” he says stepping closer and making the alcohol on his breath very evident.

I guess the better question is how did he find me, and how did he get out of jail?

“Did mom tell you?” I ask trying to keep my voice low and my tone as neutral as possible.

“No,” he says gritting his teeth. “Mom didn’t tell me anything. It only took a quick search online to find out our perfect Mina was going to be here showing her perfect little pictures.”

“Oh,” I say slowly backing away to put more distance between us. “So…when did you get out?”

“Why do you care?” He asks closing the distance I just made between us. “I’m just glad I have some other people in my life that are better than my backstabbing fucking family.”

“Why are you here?” I’m running out of space to back away from him and I’m secretly hoping I magically obtain the power to move through walls.

“Where is she?” He growls.

“Who?”

“Don’t play dumb with me!” He shouts startling a few people standing nearby. “You know where she is! Where is she?! Where did she take Lilly?!”

“Let’s go outside and talk,” I say trying to get out of the view of every person here who one by one are starting to notice the commotion.

My heart rate is through the roof, and I want nothing more than to run and hide. I’m embarrassed now that people are noticing and I start to fear that no one would want me in their gallery if I’m going to come with this type of craziness.

“We don’t need to go outside,” he growls getting within two inches of my face. “Just tell me where they are!!”

“I don’t know!” I shout with my back against the wall. All I see is rage in his eyes and I’m terrified. But no matter how terrified I am I’ll never tell him where Keri and Lilly went. I wouldn’t put them in danger like that.

“You do know! All of you are hiding them from me and that’s bullshit! Tell me where my fucking daughter is!!” He’s got a fist raised and I’m bracing for impact. I can’t move so all I’ll be able to do is take the hit and hope the feeling returns to my hands so I can attempt to fight back.

“Hey!!” A voice shouts behind Ryan as a hand grabs his balled up fist and forces his entire body to turn 180°.

I quickly step to the side and see Jimin standing there with steam coming out of his ears. I’m paralyzed, anxiety has claimed every part of my body and all I can do is stand there grateful that Jimin arrived at the perfect time, but also terrified of what might happen.

I’ve watched Ryan fight a doctor. I’ve watched him fight many people over the years, including my dad. He’s violent and unpredictable especially when he’s drunk. I’m so terrified and still trying figure out how someone like him would ever be let out of jail with his history. Who bailed him out?

“Don’t put one finger on her!” Jimin yells. His voice is low and the veins in his neck are protruding like I’ve never seen before. It’s almost scary.

“Yeah and what are you going to do?” Ryan roars back getting closer in Jimin’s face. “Am I supposed to be scared of you?”

“You should be,” Jimin growls. “If you ever touch her I will become your worst nightmare. If you ever hurt her again I will make sure you spend the rest of your life feeling my wrath choking you out until your last breath.”

He’s angry. Very angry. And holy shit it’s starting to turn me on. This isn’t the time for that, but the fire in his eyes is burning through me in a way he doesn’t even realize.

Ryan chuckles getting nose to nose with Jimin. I have to admire his restraint because I don’t know many people that would let a drunken lunatic get that close to their face without swinging. It also doesn’t help that Ryan is about 5 inches taller than Jimin.

“That’s really cute,” Ryan smirks. “I see why she likes you, you’re adorable, but you need to know your place, which is out of my fucking business.”

Just as he says that he pushes Jimin back and launches a wad of spit right in his face. Jimin maintains his balance and fires off a quick and powerful uppercut right to Ryan’s jaw. My legs find feeling again and I jump in front of Jimin before Ryan can get back on his feet and start a complete brawl.

A couple of officers run over and grab Ryan before he can get his hands on either one of us. Jimin is seething mad and barely giving me a second look as I try to guide him towards the door so he can calm down outside. Ryan is still yelling and trying to get his hands on us but the officers have him in a tight hold.

I’m angry, relieved, and completely embarrassed as I try avoiding eye contact with everyone as we step outside. This was supposed to be a good day for me. Things were going so great until Ryan showed up.

“Are you ok?” Jimin asks holding my shoulders and giving me a full inspection.

“Yeah I’m fine,” I say. “Are you ok? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine, baby,” he says pulling my trembling body into his frame. “I’m fine as long as you are.”

His scent triggers everything in me to come spilling out and I begin crying into his chest. I want to fight but I also want to run and hide. I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with Ryan again but he managed to look me up and find me and that makes me feel so unsafe. At the same time I’ve never felt more protected than I do right now in Jimin’s arms.

Ryan is escorted out shortly after still screaming at us and everyone else in his path. He yells obscenities at me still demanding I tell him where Keri and Lilly are. Then he yells a few threats at Jimin, but instead of being shaken up by it Jimin only smirks at Ryan.

“Clean your face up,” Jimin says gesturing at at the fist sized cut on Ryan’s face that’s got a good amount of blood coming out of it.

Ryan tries charging at us but the officers throw him in the back of a car and shut the door before he can take a single step. Daniel and a few other people come out to make sure we’re ok, and thankfully we are. I’m still shaken up and dying from embarrassment, but I feel a little better when Daniel tells me not to worry and the gallery staff are willing to help me in any way if I need it.

The police speak to us to get our side of the story and speak to a few other people that witnessed the whole thing and concluded by offering me information on filing a restraining order, which I absolutely plan to do.

When the dust has settled and Jimin is convinced that I’m ok we take off for my apartment. I was hoping to stay a little longer, especially since he just got here, but I know I can’t face anyone right now. I can barely stand on my feet without my knees threatening to give out.

We don’t say much when we get back to my place. We undress and lay in the bed where Jimin has me tightly wrapped in his arms. He’s not letting go and I don’t want him to. I never want him to let me go.

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chandelyer · 6 years

Photo

Paolo Sebastian f/w 2018-2019 couture

#fashion #fashionedit #couture edit #haute couture #paolo sebastian #fw18 #fall 2018 #newedit #I hate how I edited this!!!!#the last three sets are too huge #it's not my fault the photographer went mad #!!!!!!

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superhero--imagines · 3 years

Text

Etsy Store Here l Ko-Fi l Commission Info

Part 2 Here!/ Part 3 Here! / Playlist Here!

* Sorry guys but this mans been living in my head rent free

* So the first time you see Satoru it’s with those black specs he likes to wear and you get a glance at those GORGEOUS eyes

* He meets your eyes for a second before looking away, it’s the briefest of interactions

* But your heart is racing and you can feel the familiar heat of attraction starting to lap at your face

* ‘He looks just like a prince’ you think

* You find out pretty fast the ‘prince’ similarities stop at appearance

* “Ah it’s not my fault you’re so weak~” You hear him say with the princely smile as he teases Utahime

* It looks like he’s held something so high she can’t reach it

* “Try your best, if you drink plenty of milk I’m sure you’ll be tall enough one day~” he says before laughing with that same princely face

* “You shouldn’t pick on those that are weaker than you” Geto intervenes, somehow making the entire situation worse

* You watch as Gojo laughs

* You’re starting to think he might be the real curse you need to exorcise

* You continue watching him as Utahime tries to kick him in the crotch

* “You silly girl, did you forget there’s an infinity between us?” Cue Gojo’s “A-hahahahaha” laugh

* Yeah, he’s definitely a demon

* You keep your distance, Gojo’s beautiful and all, but you’re not dumb, you’ve heard about the Satoru clan.

* “Hey Geto-Kun, who do you think would win in a fight me or a lion?”

* Besides that guy is way too reckless, you’d rather not get all mixed up in that if you can help it

* You watch as Satoru takes his shirt off, his well defined chest glistening

* Still, you’re grateful for the show

* Little do you know the famous Gojo Satoru has taken note of you as well

* Naturally given his ability he notices everyone, but he especially takes note of you

* It’s not because you stand out, quite the opposite

* You blend into the background easily, supporting others when needed

* But not to the degree where you unable to defend yourself, or you’re sacrificing your own life for someone else

* He grins

* Looks like he found something interesting

* You’re at the vending machine eyes racking over the drink selection

* But there’s another thirst quenching sight right next to you, their hand resting on the vending machine, that princely smile aimed right at you-

* “So what do you say?” Satoru asks, and you start to wonder if that princely smile seems just a bit wolfish “Do you want to be my lover?”

* You’re kind of annoyed

* What an impetuous question, you can count on one hand how many times you’ve spoken to each other, and you only need both hands to count the words said in each of those encounters

* “No”

* You turn your attention back to your drink choices, it’s pleasant weather so you don’t want anything hot.

* Anything carbonated is out of the-

* Gojo moves closer, peering into your face with that grin

* Ugh does he have to stand so close

* “Why ‘no’? I know you think I’m attractive”

* “I also think you’re a womanizer with a god complex”

* And really why shouldn’t he be?

* He’s probably the most beautiful man you’ve ever seen in your life, not to add the sheer power he contains in that body of his

* But just as he has the right to be a womanizer with a god complex, you have the right not to take part in that narrative

* He backs away, leaning back against the wall

* So he’s not going to deny it

* Well, at least he’s somewhat self aware

* Those clear blue eyes catch yours again, and you have to fight against every human instinct from showing any human reaction

* You turn back to the vending machine making your selection when a smile lilts onto his mouth

* “Friends then”

* “Just colleagues” you reply, grabbing your drink

* But as you walk by you push a canned beverage into his chest.

* It’s a can of green tea

* It’s his favorite drink

* He looks to you seeing a bottle glinting in your hand

* So you didn’t sacrifice your own thirst, but you also didn’t ignore his needs

* He feels that same wolffish grin curl onto his mouth

* “What an entertaining person”

* After that if you’re anywhere within a 50 feet radius of him he’ll go out of his way to get your attention

* “Oh wow, looking especially radiant this morning (Y/N/N)” he’ll say with a playful seductive wink

* When you don’t respond he tries annoying you instead

* “Ah you can’t reach that? Here let me-” and then he’ll proceed to hold it even further out of your reach

* He’s expecting you to jump up and down, or at least give some sort of response but you just walk away

* Well that wasn’t what he expected

* He feels that grin spread across his face again

* Very interesting

* His attraction to you is pretty shallow

* He’s interested you because you’re entertaining

* And you’re entertaining because you aren’t interested

* Which only makes him that much more interested in you

* Its a paradox

* You watch him flounder around, annoying Utahime for a giggle

* Well it doesn’t matter anyway, you know how he is, he’ll get bored soon enough and lose all interest in you

* He’s not the strongest {f*ckboy} for nothing

* You see him turn to meet your gaze, offering a boyish smile and a wink

* You make sure not to give any reaction, turning to listen to something Shoko is telling you

* You hope he can’t sense the twinge of heat you feel on your face

* You’d be lying if you said you didn’t find the attention a little flattering

* I think for the most part you’re right, Satoru is mostly playing around-

* At least at first.

* You’re just something new and fun no one knows about, and wildly entertaining since you never respond the way he thinks you will

* You’re kind, but not at the expense of yourself, and he likes that

* Besides you’ve got this quite sort of consideration for others-

* It’s not flashy, it’s so subtle most people hardly notice

* It’s in the way you bring an extra snack for Utahime when she’s running herself ragged training

* “They were having a two for one special”

* Or the way you’ll get your teacher a plushie you saw at a shop at the station because you know he needs more

* “I just thought it was cute, but I haven’t got any room for another one”

* You’re quiet, someone who hears things and she’s things, but never says anything about them

* A wallflower

* But you’re not weak

* There’s something about those two things put together in the same person that entertains him to no end. Like a paradox or a puzzle he can’t seem to solve no matter how hard he tries

* Satoru’s had at least a hundred lovers, and a great many of them had provided him with their own brand of kindness and consideration

* But he’s never felt something as warm as when he see’s a lunch box in his dorm after he hobbles back from a mission that lasted a little longer than expected

* He peers at the note attached, it’s not even signed but he knows it’s from you

* “I know you think you’re god or whatever, but even gods have to eat”

* He doesn’t know why, but he’s overcome with the urge to cry

* He gulps hard- it’s not like this a lunch you made by hand or anything, it’s just something from the convenience store

* And it’s not like this note is particularly affectionate or special either, he’s gotten entire love letters from his previous lovers

* So he’s not sure why he saves your note, placing it behind a picture frame where only he’ll know it is , or why he thinks that convenience store lunchbox is the most delicious thing he’s ever had

* Even though he knows he cares about you, and that he’s grown quite fond of you -

* I don’t think it clicks for him

* And part of that is because well, he’s Gojo Satoru

* He collects lovers like some people collect photographs or memories

* They serve their purpose, and he lets himself be entertained by pretending all the feelings are real, and then he moves on to the next one

* It’s just what he’s used to

* And this whole paradox you two have going on could go on for a few years until something finally shifts

* He went a little too far with one his half-flirting-half-tormenting pranks

* And for the first time you give him a reaction, it’s only for a second, but annoyance and anger mar you face

* And then just like that, it’s gone and you turn and walk off in the other direction

* Sh*t.

* He went too far didn’t he?

* It should be fine right? You’re not too mad at him right? You’ll get over it-

* Right?

* But for the next few days you don’t speak to him, and you don’t make eye contact

* It bothers him more than it should

* Normally he would be annoyed that his toy would have the gall to blatantly ignore him like this-

* But this is different than that.

* He’s-

* He’s feeling regret

* He shouldn’t have acted that way to you, maybe if he had just done something differently, or said something differently-

* It’s not like the way things were between you two was ideal or anything,

* But at least then you would at least speak to him

* ... and every once in while he would get to see you smile

* It’s never at him, it’s mostly when you’re with Shoko or Utahime

* Occasionally when you’re with Nanami or Geto, who you’ve been talking to more recently

* He’s pretty sure you three are talking about him, just one day away from forming a “down with Gojo Satoru” club

* Still that smile when you laugh-

* The way you look so carefree and young and so full of life is worth all the slander in the world to him

* He needs to see that smile, to know something that wholesome and kind exists somewhere in this cruel world

* Satoru’s thinking about how to go about apologizing to you

* He’s caught between buying you a Lamborghini or buying you a special grade tool when he ends up running into you

* “Ah, could you help me with something?”

* He would quite literally give you the clothes on his back right now if you asked

* You stand up on a a chair holding a glass of water

* “Apparently this is supposed to help with concentration or something” You say pressing the glass full of water to the ceiling

* “Can you hold this broom?” You ask and Satoru nods, holding the broom handle steady as you make sure it’s pushed against the glass holding it steady

* You nod approvingly down at him

* The rest happens pretty fast, you’re off the chair, carrying it away

* “The broom is actually a special grade tool, so cursed energy won’t work on it”

* You grin

* “Have fun figuring how to get out of that Baka Prince!” You say with a laugh

* And Satoru is dumbfounded

* But not because you just pranked him into a holding up a glass of water with a broom

* But because as you were rushing away, you showed him your teasing grin

* It’s the first time you smiled at him

* And as he looks up at the glass of water, a smile slowly spreads across his face

* It’s not the wolffish smile he usually has when he’s around you, or the princely smile he uses when he’s trying to get something

* It’s a genuine smile

* Ah, so that’s it

* He’s fallen in love with you

* If you’re not the one entertaining him, then he’s just not interested

* Ah geez

* He was so focused on trying to get you to fall in love with him that he really didn’t see this coming

* Well he’ll have to start being serious about pursuing you now-

* Though for you to pull off something like this on him tells him you’re his ideal match without a doubt

* A wallflower with a mischievous streak, he likes that.

* He scratches his head with his free hand

* “I wonder how I’m supposed to get out of this?” He muses looking up at the glass full of water

#jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen imagine #jujutsu kaisen reader insert #satoru gojō x reader #gojo satoru #satoru gojo #satoru Gojo imagine #satoru gojo x you #gojo satoru x reader #Gojo satoru imagine #Gojo satoru headcanons #satoru Gojo headcanons #jujutsu kaisen headcanons #superhero—imagines

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onlydreamofmysoul · 3 years

Text

Speak Now

This.... was supposed to be short. But then it spiralled. I hope you guys like it! Characters and their world by @lumosinlove

Julian

“Re?”

Julian’s voice was quiet, but his brother heard him anyway. Remus always heard him. Sitting out on the porch under the starlight, just like they used to do when Julian was very small and Remus would let him sneak out of his room after their parents put him to bed. They would sit on the porch swing under a pile of blankets, usually with a mug of hot chocolate and just hang out. Sometimes they were quiet. Sometimes they laughed at jokes, but no matter what they were doing, Jules treasured every memory.

It was fitting this was how he was spending the night before his wedding.

“Yeah?” Remus half hummed, tilting his head, tearing his eyes away from the stars to his brother.

“Were you scared? The night before your wedding?”

Remus smiled softly, cupping his mug. “I was a hell of a lot of things before my wedding. Nervous? Sure. But not scared.”

Julian nodded, the heavy knot in his chest twisting. Maybe he really was making a mistake.

Then

“Hi, I’m Katie.”

Julian grinned and shook her hand. “I’m Julian, but you can call me Jules if you want.”

Katie nodded, a funny little business -like movement as she stood in her fairy costume, wings poking over her shoulders. “We’re all playing downstairs, wanna come?”

Julian nodded eagerly, pulling away from Remus and his parents and rushing down to the basement. His feet halted when he reached the bottom, his eyes wider than dinner plates.

“Woah,” He breathed. “You have a rink in your house!”

Katie nodded, giggling. “Oui. Jouez-vous au hockey?”

Jules blinked, looking at her in confusion. “Oh, I uh, I don’t speak French, sorry.” He said as his face flushed a little but Katie just grabbed his hand and pulled him over to a wall of skates.

“That’s okay. Do you play hockey?”

Now this, Jules understood.

“Yes!” He said, bouncing on his toes in anticipation, noticing all the other kids playing on the ice and realising that he might get to as well.

Katie looked pleased as she pulled a small pair of white skates and took off her shoes. “My brothers have lots of skates, you should look and see if there’s some in your size.”

Julian went to them immediately, looking at them in awe, all of them far more elegant and expensive than any he had ever owned. He found a pair in his size and pulled them out gingerly, even though they looked well worn.

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to borrow them?” He confirmed with Katie, even as he pulled off his shoes. Katie just nodded impatiently, having already laced up.

“Oui, it’s okay I promise. Now come on! I wanna go skate!”

“You can go,” Jules said, rushing to tie them up, “I’ll catch up.”

Katie looked at him like he was crazy. “Don’t be silly.” She said, reaching a hand out to take his. “We can go together. Come on.”

Julian finished tying his skates, stood up and took Katie’s hand. Together, they stepped onto the ice.

Now

“Are you scared?” Remus asked, his concerned voice cutting through Julian’s thoughts. “Because it’s not too late you know.”

“No, no it’s fine.” Julian said, hoping it sounded reassuring to Remus. It didn’t to his own ears. “Just nervous I suppose, but you said that’s normal.”

Remus tilted his head the way he did when Julian would pretend he hadn’t eaten the last chocolate bar, even with the evidence all over his face.

“You know you can tell me anything, right?”

Julian sighed, resting his head on his brother's shoulder, hearing the heartbeat that used to rock him to sleep.

“Yeah, yeah I know.”

Then

“Hey Katie.” Jules said, still a little shy but glad to see a friendly face in the locker room.

“Jules!” She beamed, bouncing over in her ‘Dumais’ jersey. “Whose number did you wear today?”

Jules flushed as he lifted up his number six shirt to reveal the number twelve underneath. “Both.”

Katie nodded, impressed. “Cool. Hey wanna go get some snacks?”

Jules didn’t even respond, just told his mom where he was going and raced her down the corridor to the kitchen, running past the rows and rows of framed photographs and dodging photographers and reporters.

“Ha! I win!” He yelled as they burst through the door to the kitchen, racing through the doorway at the same time. If they had been a little bigger, they might have gotten stuck in the frame.

“Nah ah!” Katie protested, “It was a tie.”

“My foot went in first”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“Yes I do.”

“No you don’t.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Whoever wins the race back to the locker room is the actual winner.” Katie proposed and Jules nodded, satisfied.

He climbed onto the counter to reach the high cupboards, only to discover the cabinet stocked with mugs and glasses.

“Over here,” Katie said, giggling as she opened the fridge, scanning for something good. “Ooh, chocolate!”

Jules jumped down and went to her side. “Can we just take it?”

Katie nodded. “Oui. Plus, they’re not supposed to eat chocolate, so we’re doing them a favour by taking it away.”

Julian donned a matching smirk. “Katie, I like the way you think.”

Now

“Oh here you are!” Sirius half-whispered as he poked his head out the front door. “I’ve been looking for you two everywhere.”

Remus pulled back a corner of the blanket and patted the bench beside him. “Wanna join us?”

Sirius looked to check with Jules first, before nodding and sliding in next to Remus. Julian had long since overcome his starry-eyed obsession with Sirius-the-hockey-god but he’d never be over the love for Sirius-his-brother-in-law. Sirius who had come to all of Julian’s big games. Sirius who tended to be awake whenever Julian couldn’t sleep, so he would wordlessly take him out for midnight drives. Sirius who had later taught Julian to drive in that same car Julian accidentally crashed one icy morning. His brother in law hadn’t even gotten mad, not for a second. Julian had personally seen one of his friend’s parents red with anger after spotting a scratch in the paint, but Sirius hadn’t even blinked at the massive pole shaped dent in the hood of his car, just run to make sure Julian was alright.

“Sirius?” Jules asked into the soft silence. Sirius just hummed in response.

“Were you scared? When you were getting married.”

Sirius seemed to still for a moment, a gentle breeze rustling his curls as he thought. “Non.”

Remus’ chin ducked towards his chest, his eyes flitting to Sirius. “Really?”

Sirius scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “Well, I was scared for sure, but I was scared of messing it up, or that my family would make a surprise appearance at the reception or that we’d lose the rings. But I was never scared of a life with Re.”

Remus laughed softly. “We did lose the rings.”

“Oui. But it didn’t even matter, it all worked out, ouais? So really I had nothing to worry about.”

Julian and Sirius chuckled too, all three of them remembering back. Julian had nearly forgotten about that - surprising since it had been partially his fault. His and Katie’s. They had become inseparable by then and the two of them together had gained the name ‘JK Chaos’.

Then

“Come on, let’s see what’s in here!” A nine year old Katie whispered to an eleven year old Jules as they crept through the country house that was being used as the staging house for Remus and Sirius' outdoor wedding.

Katie rattled the brass door handle, but it was locked. “Do you have a key?”

Julian gave her an incredulous look. “I don’t have a key to my own room, why would I have a key for here?”

Katie shrugged, her dress swishing gently, the bluebell shade bright against her skin. “I dunno - groomsman duties?”

Julian laughed but shook his head. They walked down the corridor a few paces, stopping at the window that overlooked where the ceremony would take place. Chairs bedecked the grass, all turned to face the focal point - the beautiful ivy arch, bedecked in flowers. Everything was immaculate, untouched. Any guests staying in the country house were still getting ready and the rest had yet to arrive. Jules lifted on his toes to see a little further out the window, but a tall sturdy tree to the right blacked his view.

He turned so quickly he nearly got whiplash, grabbing Katie’s wrist unconsciously.

“Look! A tree!”

Katie raised her eyebrows at him. “Jules, I’m pretty sure they have trees in Wisconsin too.”

Julian shook his head, too excited to even roll his eyes. “No, look where that tree is! If the window to the locked room is open…”

Katie’s eyes lit up, her mischievous grin returning. “We might be able to get in.” She breathed. “Jules, you genius.” She grabbed his hand and began rushing down the corridor. “Let’s go!”

“Is it open?” Julian called, a couple of branches below Katie.

“Un moment.” She muttered and he smiled, knowing she was concentrating too much to even have listened to him, never mind switch to a language he actually understood. She paused and grabbed the silky top layer of her dress, gathering and tying it in a knot around her waist, leaving the white underskirt hanging. “Allors,” She said, sounding much more satisfied. She climbed onto the branch that extended towards the window and shuffled along it, craning her neck.

“It’s open!”

Jules let out a whoop of victory and climbed the rest of the way, careful not to stain his suit as she slid her fingers into the small gap, prying the window open so they could both clamber in. The room was unimpressively empty. Lovey, like all the other rooms, perhaps a living room if the several couches were to be trusted. A wall of shelves boasted an impressive amount of books and everything seemed to be edged with gold. Other than that though - Julian couldn’t see any reason why the room should be barred.

“A mystery.” Katie said as she trailed her hand along a bookshelf. Julian agreed with her as he sat down on one of the luxurious chairs, a little side table with a lamp on his left.

“What’s this?” He voiced as he picked up the little black box that had been resting in the light streaming in from the window. Katie wandered over to peer at it as he opened it carefully to find two gold rings resting inside.

“Oh.” Jules whispered, finally understanding. “That’s why it’s locked.”

They both picked up a ring, looking at them curiously. The metal glinted in the light and Jules angled the one in his hands to read the inscription.

“Mon voeu.” He muttered. “What’s mon voeu?”

“How would I know what you wish for?” Katie retorted, before she read the engraving on her own. “Oh right I see. ‘My wish’.”

“Oh.” Jules repeated. “That’s really nice.”

Footsteps and voices came from down the corridor and Julian and Katie froze.

“Did you see the cake?”

“It’s literally all I’ve been thinking about since the tasting.”

Julian met Katie’s eyes, both of them hardly breathing as they listened carefully. Lily and James.

“The tasting was months ago!”

“So you can guess I’m pretty excited about it.” Lily chuckled. “Do you have the key?”

Julian rushed to put the box back on the table and he and Katie half flew in their rush to get back out the window. Katie went first, Julian close on her heels as they scrambled down the tree.

“Where did they say they left it?”

“On the side table with the lamp.”

“Oh I’ve got it, come on, let’s get back.”

Julian let out a sigh of relief while Katie looked at him in horror.

“Jules…” She whispered as she pulled a gold ring out her pocket. “We have a problem.”

Julian felt his heart speed up as he pulled out the matching ring. They had been in too much of a rush to put them back.

“We are gonna get in so much trouble.”

Now

“You were so scared.” Remus laughed, tears forming in his eyes, matching ones already wetting Julian’s cheeks as he lost himself in the memory. It was true - to this day, Julian remembered the way their hands trembled and they stuttered through the explanations, but in the end, no one had cared. It became a funny story to tell at the reception.

“You laugh, but we dropped them in the grass on the way to bring them back and it took us so long to find them again, we were seriously trying to come up with something to replace them with.”

They burst into a new round of laughter, Hope coming outside at the racket.

“Boys!” She scolded as if they were all little kids. “You should be in bed - it’s a big day tomorrow.” Despite her commanding tone, her eyes were soft. Time was a fickle friend to all but Hope Lupin, who looked just as lovely today as she did twenty years ago. And perhaps even twenty years before that.

“We’ll be in soon.” Sirius promised and she nodded satisfied, vanishing indoors again.

“Suck-up.” Julian teased, elbowing Sirius. “Always wants to be the favourite.”

“I think he is the favourite.” Remus grumbled. “You’re the youngest Jules, so you’ve got that going for you. I, however, have been replaced.”

Sirius chuckled, a low sound from his chest and curled an arm around Remus. “You can be my favourite.”

“You can’t cook like she does.” Remus lamented dramatically, but grinned to show he wasn’t serious before kissing Sirius’ cheek.

“We probably should get to bed though. Especially you Jules, you need all that beauty sleep you can get.”

“Hey!”

Then

Hey Jules!

You got a phone!

Yup! JK Chaos can finally go viral!

Thirteen year old Julian chuckled as he sat in the passenger seat of the car on the way to practice.

Sirius says hi. Katie texted and Julian sent a picture of him waving in response before tucking his phone into his bag and climbing out of the car.

“Thanks mom!” He half yelled as he closed the door and ran inside to the rink, waving at his friends.

“Hi Julian.”

Julian turned to see one of the members of the girls team - Anna. They were the same age group and the two teams often had to share the ice if the rink was busy.

“Oh hey Anna, how’re you?”

She grinned, her light hair tumbling around her face until she scraped it back into a ponytail as she chatted to him. Julian was never sure how girls managed to tie their hair back so quickly with so little effort but it was pretty cool. He wondered if maybe he should learn so he could do Katie’s sometime.

“I’m good! I’d better run though, I’m late for practice.”

Jules nodded and with that, Anna was gone. He blinked and continued his way to his own locker where many of his own team were already gathered.

“Hey guys!” He grinned, and just like that, his head was back in the game.

Now

Julian stared up at the ceiling of his childhood bedroom. The glow in the dark stars were still there, although their glow was very faint now. Not that Julian needed their light to guide him, he had looked at those stars all his life, he could map them out better than a sailor.

He was getting married tomorrow.

And so, he did as he so very often did. He texted Katie.

Then

The Christmas party was loud and busy, people seemingly in every nook and cranny in the house. Julian looked around for Katie, he had been here for at least an hour but he had only seen glimpses of the other girl and she had always been busy, whether it was helping Celeste put out food or chatting to others and once even putting out a minor fire she had certainly not caused by tipping over a candle but so far, she hadn’t been able to talk to Julian.

Julian finally caught her eye and they managed to slip away going out to the garden, past the pool and down to the swing hidden by a great big tree where they had always plotted and planned.

“We need a code word.” Katie said by way of greeting. “So we can say it and the other knows we need to talk, just us.”

Julian agreed. He couldn’t believe it had taken this long to think of something like that. At fifteen, he and Katie had been best friends for at least six years now.

“What should our code word be?”

Katie shrugged, sitting on the swing and rocking back and forth gently. “Pancakes?”

Julian laughed, but he nodded. “Yeah that works.”

Katie grinned, but her face quickly became more serious.

“Hey Jules?” She asked, her voice softer than he had heard it in a long time.

“Yeah?” His tone matched hers, but he didn’t know why. He hadn’t planned it.

“Have you ever kissed anyone?”

Julian froze, his heart stuttering. In the moonlight, Katie’s hair glowed, silver catching on the dark strands braided back, her jeans and jumper not suitable for the weather, nor were Julian’s own but they hadn't planned on coming out here for long. “No.” He whispered.

Katie nodded. “Yeah, me neither.”

She stood up, shivering a little. “Come on, we should get back inside.”

Julian could only blink, but made to follow her. “Yeah okay.” He followed, taking a few quick steps to catch up with her when Katie turned quickly and they collided.

Katie reached out and steadied herself with Julian’s shoulder before surging forward and pressing their lips together. Julian stayed frozen where he was, her lips warm against the cold night.

Katie pulled away and stepped back, nodding to herself. “I just wanted to know what it’d be like.” She explained and then launched into a description of what new drills her hockey team were learning. It was funny, everything was different, but nothing had changed.

Julian thought about the things they were learning in science, all the calculations. How there always needed to be a constant.

He thought maybe Katie was his constant.

Now

You up?

Is this a booty call? Cause I gotta say, it seems like inappropriate timing.

Julian laughed, then covered his mouth, hoping he hadn’t woken anyone. Katie’s quick wit had never once failed to amaze him.

Darn, there goes my plans

Why are you still up?

I just can’t sleep

So you’re texting me?

Who else?

Then

Julian got his first girlfriend at seventeen.

Anna was lovely and bright and sweet. They had been dating for around six months already when she finally met Katie, the Dumais girl arriving in Wisconsin for a weekend visit.

Julian didn’t know why he had been nervous - they both got on really well. He had had no indicators to suggest otherwise and yet the entire week leading to their meeting, his head had been full of anxious ‘what ifs’. Not to mention the knot in his chest.

But there was no reason to be nervous… right? He just felt like this because Katie was his very best friend. He wanted them to get along. Yeah, that was it.

“I like her.” Katie commented as Anna left the Lupin house.

“Yeah, me too.” Julian said automatically, laughing when Katie elbowed his side.

“Well duh. That’s why you asked her out.”

Julian shrugged as they walked back inside waving to his dad who was on the phone in the kitchen. “Actually it was the other way around.”

Katie barked a laugh as she threw herself on Julian’s bed, tucking her arms behind her head, lounging as if she owned the place. “Why am I not surprised?”

“I’m not sure if I should be insulted or not.” Julian said as he lay down next to her, staring up at his stars.

Katie was the one to shrug this time, shifting with the movement. “Neither. It’s just an observation I suppose.”

“And what would that observation be exactly?”

Katie tilted her head to look at him. “You’re careful. Not with other stuff, mon dieu, we all know you’re a reckless idiot on the ice but with this kind of stuff. You’re gentle I guess.”

Julian smiled, that warm rush of feeling known to your core washing over him. “And you’re the exact opposite.”

Katie grinned, some of her dark curls coming loose. “But of course! JK Chaos wouldn’t be balanced if I wasn’t.”

Julian smiled, holding out his hand and they performed their super secret, super complicated, super cool handshake. Katie had named it when she was ten and it had stuck.

“Well we need balance.” Julian agreed and Katie nodded, blue eyes meeting his for a moment before she turned away, biting her lip.

“Ouais.”

Now

Julian looked at the words on the screen, his heart clenching.

So you’re texting me?

Who else?

Your soon to be wife for one

Julian didn’t know what to do. He felt like Katie was the only one who could help him figure this out, but Katie was the last person he should ask.

Ha ha. He said, because even that was better than the turmoil inside him. Guess I’m just nervous.

Why?

Why am I nervous? Cause I’m getting married. I know I call you Katie Kat but I sure hope that brain isn’t made of chocolate.

We should get you up on a stage. Katie responded and Julian snorted, practically hearing her sarcasm even as he lay alone.

But what do you have to be worried about?

Um.., How about the terrifying concept of making the wrong decision?

Katie was quiet for a long time. Julian thought maybe she had fallen asleep when a reply finally came through.

Do you think you’re making the wrong choice?

Julian paused. Was he?

I don’t think so?

Do you love her?

Yes. Julian wrote back, even as something thundered in his chest.

Well then, you have your answer I guess. Katie responded. I’d better get to sleep.

Jules held his phone close to his chest.

Yeah, me too. Night Katie Kat

Then

“Do you love her?” Katie asked out of nowhere as they passed the puck back and forth in her basement.

“We’ve been dating for two years.” Julian replied, sending the puck back to her harder than he meant. From her raised eyebrows he knew she had noticed, but she didn’t comment.

“That’s not what I asked.”

Julian shrugged, taking the puck and dragging it around the goal.

“I guess? How do you ever really know you’re in love.”

Katie raised her chin, blue meeting brown as their eyes focused on each other. Julian could have sworn she was staring at his soul.

“I suppose it’s something you just know.” Katie said. “My maman and papa are in love. And Re and Sirius. Leo, Logan and Finn. Your parents. They all seem to know pretty well.”

“Yeah.” Julian whispered, his mind reeling. Remus and Sirius were his role models for just about everything, including the love he wanted to have. Was that what he shared with Anna? How had they known? How would Julian know?

Now

Then Jules crept into Remus’ room once more.

“Re?” He whispered into the dark. The light from the hall dimly lit the room and Remus stirred, Sirius sleeping soundly next to him.

“Jules?” Remus whispered, even as he threw back the covers to climb out of bed, tiptoeing so he wouldn’t wake Sirius and following Julian back to his room. “Hey Jules, what’s up?”

Remus climbed onto the bed with him, just like he used to do when Julian was small and had a nightmare.

“How do I know for sure?”

Remus didn’t have to ask what he meant. “I guess you never do. You just have to trust that you love someone and they return that same love back to you.”

But what wasn’t quite what Julian meant. He didn’t doubt that Anna loved him. He was just never sure if he loved her the same.

He thought he must. Julian was twenty six years old, they’d been dating for nearly ten years. Although sometimes… just sometimes Julian thought that was maybe why he had proposed. Because that’s what everyone expected from them, particularly as they had been together for so long. It was the logical next step.

“Right, yeah.” Julian muttered. “That makes sense I guess.”

Remus held out his arm and Julian hugged him tight.

“I can hear you mind whirring.” Remus murmured, but Julian just tucked his face into his brother's chest. “It’s not too late Jules.”

Tears burned Julian’s eyes but he refused to let them fall. It was too late, it was all too late. He was on the ice and he could see the collision coming but there was nothing he could do to stop it.

A song he had heard a long time ago rang through Julian’s head, one line playing over and over again on loop.

And I asked my friend, what’s a fella to do? Cause her hair was black and her eyes were blue.

So Julian held his big brother close, and fell asleep.

Katie

Now

“I still can’t believe it.” Marc laughed as they ate breakfast at the hotel, his plate piled with food from the buffet. “Little Julian getting married.”

“Yeah.” Katie agreed, taking a big drink from her coffee. “Neither can I.”

Marc continued eating, oblivious to the storm raging inside Katie’s heart. “Why aren’t you best man?”

Katie raised an eyebrow. “Well for one, I’m not a man.”

Marc rolled his eyes, pausing to take a sip of orange juice before shovelling another forkful into his mouth. “Y’know wha- I mean.”

Katie covered her face with her hands. “Okay ew, first of all don’t talk with your mouth full. You’re not five. And second of all, Remus is his best man.”

Marc tilted his head, accepting the answer and Katie could have sighed in relief. She was already tense enough, two people had already come up to her for a picture and at least three had ‘discreetly’ photographed her as she just tried to have her breakfast. She hadn’t even showered yet so she was not looking forward to what the media would come up with later.

Then

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Katie grumbled to Adele as her sister finished pinning her hair. “Why am I doing this again?”

Adele didn’t miss a beat. “Because prom is fun, and even if it’s not, hanging out with your best friend in fancy clothes is always funny.”

Katie couldn’t argue with that. Sighing, she stood up and turned to Adele, her floor length gown comically out of place in her room cluttered with hockey sticks and signed pucks, helmets and polaroid's of her with her team.

“How do I look?”

Adele beamed and kissed her cheek, being careful not to smudge Katie’s makeup. “Comme un ange.”

Katie rolled her eyes but smiled and began to leave her bedroom, hearing the doorbell ring.

“Wait, shit I can’t go down now!” She said in a mild panic. “Jules is here, if I go now it’ll be like some dumb movie when the girl comes down the stairs as the guy just stares at her. It’s weird and awkward.”

Adele bit her lip as if she was trying to suppress a smile. “Okay, I’ll go and distract them and you can sneak down, ouais?”

Katie nodded gratefully. “Ouais. Merci.”

Katie waited in the upstairs corridor, hearing Adele lead her family into the kitchen. When the voices had dimmed a little, she gathered her skirts, her sneakers peeking out at her as she crept down the stairs.

“Oh, wow.”

Katie whipped around to see Julian walking out from the bathroom, eyes wider than Katie had ever seen them.

“I thought you were in the kitchen.” Katie groaned as she let her dress drop inelegantly around her legs once more. She looked him over, eyeing his blue suit with a careful eye. “You don’t look half bad.”

Julian laughed and took a step closer, holding his hand over his heart dramatically. “Wow Katie Kat, you sure know how to flatter a man.”

Katie raised a single eyebrow, a power play of there ever was one. “I mean, you’ve said nothing about how I look so really I think I have the upper hand here.”

Julian quirked his signature goofy smile before finally pulling Katie in for a hug. “You look incredible.”

Now

“Katie, ma cheri, es-tu prêt?”

Katie looked up from where she was rooting through her suitcase to see her mom, stunningly beautiful as always in a deep red dress.

“I’m ready.” She cleared her throat, standing up straight. “You look amazing.”

Celeste waved her off with a flick of her wrist. “Oh non, look at you.”

Katie blushed, her forest green dress fluttering around her. “Merci.”

Celeste took a step forward, cupping Katie’s face in her hands. “You love him.”

Katie didn’t even have it in her to be surprised. Of course her mom knew. She felt tears well up in her eyes but tried her best not to let them fall - it had taken her long enough to do her makeup, she really didn’t want to have to do it again.

“Oui.”

“Does he know?”

Katie shook her head sadly. “Of course not, he loves someone else.”

Celeste carefully wiped away the stray tear that had danced down Katie’s cheek. “Are you sure?”

Then

“I think I have literally never seen it rain so hard.” Julian commented as the two of them stared out the car windshield as the rain poured around them. They faced the hotel where the dance was being held, but even stepping out of the car would have them soaked instantly.

“See, this was a sign that I wasn’t supposed to come.” Katie commented, her tone dry. Julian side eyed her, not saying anything for a minute before he turned up the car radio.

“I have an idea.” He said, opening the door and stepping out into the car park in the lashing rain. He ran to Katie’s side and opened the door, holding out his hand.

“Come on! Come dance in the rain.”

If she had been Adele, she might have refused or protested. She might have even taken off her dress to protect it.

But she was not Adele.

So Katie took Julian’s hand, laughing at his curls, already flattened against his forehead and shut the door behind her, watching splotches of water darken her dress until she was fully saturated, tilting her head back into the sky.

She opened her mouth, sticking out her tongue to catch the raindrops, Jules giggling as he followed suit, the two of them looking absolutely ridiculous and getting very strange looks from passer byers who had made use of the wonderful invention that was the umbrella, but they didn’t care.

Katie connected her phone to the car speakers and pressed play to a song, grabbing both of Julian’s hands and spinning them in a fast circle, round and round until they fell together, laughing as hands slid over slippery skin and hair stuck to them better than any tattoo.

And I don't know how it gets better than this

You take my hand and drag me head first

Fearless

And I don't know why but with you I'd dance in a storm in my best dress

Fearless

Now

Katie couldn’t help but think about that day lying on Julian’s bed. She had said he was careful and she was not. She was supposed to be his counterbalance.

Katie had been too careful, she hadn’t been doing her job.

“It’s not too late.” Her mom had whispered.

Speak now or forever hold your peace.

Heart thundering, Katie picked up her phone. Six hours until Julian’s wedding she pressed his contact and texted him one word.

Pancakes.

Then

Was it just Katie or did Julian seem nervous? Julian was never nervous with her. Maybe it was just the connection of the phone call, she should move to a place where her signal was stronger-

“Katie, I um.. I’m gonna ask Anna to marry me.”

Katie’s eyes snapped to his face. “Quoi?”

Julian swallowed, and Katie watched from miles away as he pulled out a ring.

“Yeah, I figured it was time.”

“Romantic.” Katie teased as she tried to quell the feeling that she was going to throw up. This was not how it was supposed to go. It had taken her a long time to figure out her feelings for Julian, but at twenty four she had finally worked it out. And he was going to marry someone else.

Now

“Hey Katie Kat.”

Katie smiled weakly, shoving her hands in her coat pocket to hide the trembling. She felt overdressed in her outfit for the wedding when Julian was still in jeans but that couldn’t be helped. Katie sat next to Jules on the Lupins’ porch swing, glad she was wearing makeup because maybe it would help hide her blush.

“The weather’s really nice today, huh?” Jules prompted, but Katie just smiled, steeling herself. She couldn’t idly talk about the weather, she would lose her nerve. So she threw back her shoulders, raised her chin and-

“Julian, I love you.”

Julian frowned, taking her hand. “I know, I love you too Katie, what-”

Katie shook her head. “No, Jules, listen. I’m in love with you.”

Julian froze and Katie’s heart beat over a hundred times a minute. Or maybe it had stopped completely. Either way it certainly wasn’t doing what it should be and Katie’s hands shook and she bit her tongue to stop herself from blurting out more when Julian obviously needed to process things.

Julian stood up abrupt, taking his keys out of his pocket. “I have to go.” He said and took off, getting into his car and driving away. Katie sat frozen where she was, alone once more, lost in the place where she had always felt found. Julian drove away, the world spun around and Katie stayed right where she was.

Then

Katie opened the door to Sirius and Remus’ house with her key - she had been given one for when Julian had come to stay, so she could come and go as she pleased.

“Salut, it’s me!” She called into the empty hallway as she dropped her bag and ventured in a little further. Sirius was in the kitchen pouring a cup of coffee and he just smiled at her as he pulled out another mug.

“Hey Katie, you here to get into some more JK Chaos?”

Katie chuckled and accepted the coffee with thanks, cupping it with both hands and holding it close to her face. “What else would I do?”

Sirius just smiled as Julian came into the room, wordlessly greeting Katie with their super secret, super complicated, super cool handshake.

“See you later!” Julian said to Sirius and Katie waved goodbye before they went out the door, getting into the car and driving away.

“What’re we doing today?” Katie asked as she drove. Julian shrugged in the passenger seat.

“I don’t care, as long as I’m with you.”

Now

Someone was knocking on her hotel room.

Katie had made her way back, she hadn’t even said goodbye to the Lupins - she didn’t think she could without crying. Instead she went home alone and straight to her room, knowing she couldn’t miss the wedding no matter how much she may want to. If she didn’t she knew that one day, she’d look back and wish she were in the pictures. Wish she was there for her best friend. So she was going to go and smile and be happy because she loved Jules and she could do this for him.

There was another knock on the door and Katie rolled her eyes. “I’m coming, jeez calm down.” She muttered, the door handle cold on her skin as she opened the door.

Julian was waiting on the other side.

“I called off the wedding.”

If Katie had been holding anything, she would have dropped it. As it was, she took a step backwards, blinking. “What?”

“I called off the wedding.” Julian repeated, running his fingers through already very mussed hair. “I love you. I’ve always loved you. I’m a blind idiot, but I love you.”

Katie was beginning to wonder if any of this was real when Marc came up behind Jules, completely oblivious.

“Hey Katie, did you get that text saying the wedding’s off? Weird, what’s that abou- Oh hey Jules.”

Katie turned to her brother.

“Marc, I love you, but if you don’t leave right now I might have to kill you in your sleep tonight.”

“So that’s why the wedding’s off.” Marc commented before backing away, no doubt rushing off to tell everyone what he had seen.

“Come in before anyone else sees.” Katie said as she took Julian’s hand, pulling him in and shutting the door.

Julian’s hands were shaking. “Am I too late?” He whispered. “Please tell me I’m not too late.”

Katie smiled as she brushed a stray curl out of his eyes. “You’re right on time.”

And then she kissed him.

Once upon a time, there had been a girl who kissed a boy in her back garden at midnight. She had been young and inexperienced but even then, she knew the kiss had been magical.

Today, there was a girl who kissed a boy in a hotel room on what should have been his wedding day. She was still young, but much more experienced so she could now say with much more confidence that if their first kiss had been magical, this one was earth shattering.

“I love you.” Julian whispered again and again between deep kisses that made Katie feel like her soul was bared.

“Took you long enough.” Katie grumbled, but kissed him again, twining her fingers through his hair like she always dreamed she would. “I love you too.”

Soon

Katie blushed as she sat in a room, surrounded by both their families. Her dad kissed her on the cheek before handing her a drink and proposing a toast.

“To JK Chaos,” Dumo said, his knowing smile nearly splitting his face. “For finally getting their shit together.”

Everyone cheered while Katie just laughed, lifting her hand to show off the engagement ring and tilting her head a little to give Julian a chaste kiss. He grinned down at her, hand resting delicately on her waist.

He surveyed the crowded room for a moment, before ducking down a little to whisper in her ear; “Pancakes?”

Katie was pretty sure her eyes sparkled as she winked at him. “I’ll meet you outside in ten.”

The End.

#julian lupin #Katie Dumais #speak now #sweater weather lumosinlove #lumosinlove #Katie and Julian #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #cw food

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