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boldlyvoid · 3 years

Text

ain't it fun?

summary: reader just needs an NA meeting before they have a meltdown, they end up with the best friend they could ever make.

warnings: Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Drug Addiction, Trauma Bonding, narcotics anonymous meetings, Strangers to Lovers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, meet-cute,

word count: 3.3K

a/n: this is completely self-indulgent and overly personal but i def recommend writing why spencer would love you as a form of therapy

read on ao3

In the blink of an eye, she was up and racing around her apartment. Her mental health was like a teeter-totter, and right now she was on her way to the top. Mania was creeping in; changing from just anxiety-induced butterflied to the feeling that she could jump off a building and survive.

That was never a good time. All she wanted was to either spend all her money, fuck a stranger or get high as shit. It made her legs jumpy and her ears ring and she couldn’t take it anymore. It was all too much.

She threw on a sweater and jeans, her hair was up in a butterfly clip and she hastily threw on her fanny pack full of everything she needed as well as a big coat, and she then left her apartment. She got to the stairs before realizing she actually needed to lock the door.

Her hands shook and she tried to slide the key into the lock, dropping them as her neighbour rushed out of the room and startled her. “Sorry,” she heard him say.

She picked up her keys and turned to look at him, “can you help me? I can’t seem to stop shaking,” she asked as she held her keys towards him.

“yes, sure,” he rushed the words out as he walked towards her, only looking at the keys, never in her eyes. But that was okay, she was never a big fan of eye contact.

He placed her keys back in her hand and took a step back, “are you alright?” he asked.

“No,” she said honestly. “I’m going to find an NA meeting.”

“Do you have one in the area? I haven’t seen you around before?”

She shook her head, surprised that he was also an addict, he didn’t look like he’s ever even smoked weed.

“No, I moved in only a little while ago on a whim, but I think it’s time I got some support,” she said as they started to walk down the hallway together. “I’m Y/N, by the way.”

“Spencer,” he smiled softly. “I’m going to a meeting right now, actually, if you’d like to come? I won’t exactly be anonymous to you, but it’s a good one to go to if you just need one to fill the void until you find your preferred group.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I need.” She smiled at him this time as he held the door open for her. “So, have you lived around here for long?”

“For about a few years now.”

“The building is good then? I was a little hesitant but I needed to get away,” she said, this time holding the door for them to leave the building and turn down the street towards where she knew the subway was.

The moon should be out, she looked up but only sees buildings. It was the one thing she missed the most about not being in the country; seeing the stars and feeling like there was a reason to it all.

“Are you running from someone?” He asks as they start the walk down to the meeting.

“Myself,” she said softly. “I’m on disability and don’t drive and I lived in the middle of nowhere with my parents, well into my 20’s, and I needed a change so my parents surprised me by saving up money for a few month's rent and told me to follow my heart.”

“And you picked Virginia?”

“I stayed in Virginia, just moved into the city. I watch a lot of murder documentaries in my free time, I thought being near Quantico would introduce me to some interesting people, but I have yet to meet anyone from the FBI at all.”

She laughed to herself at how dumb it was that she wanted to meet a profiler like Holden Ford from Mindhunter, “either they are all very good at keeping their jobs secret or Virginia is a very large and densely populated area with a low percentage of FBI agents.”

“Interesting.”

“What?”

“How long have you lived here?” he asked, slowing as he walked so he could look at her.

“2 months.”

“It took you two months to meet the FBI agent across the hall from you.”

“You’re kidding?” she said, stopping on the sidewalk abruptly. “I knew that apartment was calling me for a reason.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but, are you really just coincidentally my neighbour or are you secretly spying on me because you have an evil plan to kill me and my co-workers?” he's completely serious, it's almost scary.

“No offence, Spence, but for a supposed FBI agent that’s a dumb question to ask,” she said, pointing finger guns at him, “you don’t think I’ll give up my cover that easily? Do you?”

He points a finger gun back at her, “technically, I’m a doctor.”

The two of them narrow their eyes at each other, slowly walking in a circle, still facing each other with their make-believe guns trying to hold back smirks. She lowered her ‘weapon’ first. “It’s okay, doctor, don’t worry. I’m not a spy just an idiot with an imagination.”

He giggled softly, “I’ve never felt this comfortable with someone this fast.”

“Well, you are with criminals a lot, right? That would be alarming if you bonded with them,” she said, bumping her shoulder into his as they walked. “But I feel the same. I actually haven’t talked to someone in person in forever.”

“No?”

“I do most of my work and socializing online,” She felt embarrassed, but in today’s day and age, it wasn’t that weird. “I’m not very good outside or with people.”

“If it wasn’t for my job, I don’t think I would go outside very often either. My co-workers are my only friends, they’re more like my family actually.”

“That’s so wonderful to hear, found family is very important,” her smile disappeared as she thought about how alone she was. “Um, can I ask what it is you do at the FBI?”

“Behavioural Analysis.”

“Holy shit," she gasps, knowing way too much about that unit thanks to fucking Netflix, "that’s what the BSU became right? Do you work with the really fucked up shit?” she asked softly.

He laughed, “oh yeah, I really do.”

“Do you share a lot at NA?”

“Kinda, I tend to ramble about facts when I’m nervous so sometimes my short talk becomes more like a ted talk and what was supposed to be just me saying I haven’t relapsed on Dilaudid becomes a lesson on how the human brain works,” he explained, rambling just like he said he would.

She nodded along as he spoke, “funny, that was also my drug of choice.”

“Liquid or oral?”

“Oral. I was given it after I had my appendix out when I was 17. They get you started real young now, big pharma has its hand in everyone's pocket,” she presses her lips together awkwardly, “it was rough.”

He hummed in agreement. “I was held captive by an unsub with multiple personalities. One personality drugged me till I died and the other one brought me back.”

“Spencer, Holy fuck?” she stopped and stared at him so incredibly concerned for someone who just met him. She reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder and looked him in the eyes, “I know I barely know you, but if you need someone to talk I’m literally always across the hall.”

“Thank you,” he smiled softly as he looked back into her eyes. “The meeting is right there across the street, do you want a coffee first? The place beside it is amazing.”

She nodded and he took her hand, looking both ways before J-walking across the street with her to buy her a coffee and a snack. Maybe that would help her stop shaking, he looked like he worried about her and she wasn't used to that at all.

He didn’t talk at this meeting, he sat in the chair beside the group leader, she sat down across from him in the circle so she could focus. When the floor was opened up to new members, Y/N stood at the first chance she got.

“Hi I’m Y/N,” she said, to which she was welcomed by the crowd.

“I’m new to the city and looking for a new home group, not sure if I’ll stay here because I know Spencer outside of here but I really just needed to come today.”

She takes a deep breath as she thinks of how to start it, opting to just explain it and let the rant go where it may.

“I’ve never lived alone before and it’s incredibly hard to occupy my time without drugs. I still smoke weed to help me sleep at night but my addiction is with Dilaudid and then Benadryl a little after having surgery in high school. I don’t know if it’s my trauma, my disability or my Autism, maybe it’s my OCD, I really don’t know, but I just feel so useless and alone and boring and lonely, the drugs used to help but they don’t anymore and I really just don’t want to feel this way anymore.”

They all looked like they understood, small smiles grew all around the circle as she took a lookout at the crowd, “Thank you for letting me get that out.”

Everyone clapped as she sat back down and wiped a tear off her cheek.

The meeting ended shortly after that, Spencer walked from his seat in the circle to where she was sitting, reaching a hand out to help her to her feet. “For the record, I think you’re funny, smart, kind and pretty. And you don’t have to be alone anymore if you don’t want to be.”

She slapped her hand into his and stood up with purpose, “Did we just become best friends?”

“I believe we did.”

The walk home was much like the walk there. They traded facts, they flirted, they laughed, she pushed him into a pole at one point, by accident as they laughed. The two of them stopping to sit at a bus bench, laughing so hard she felt like she would pee her pants right then and there.

By the time they were back on their floor, it was well after midnight. “I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to meetings with you.”

“Oh, why?” he looked disappointed.

“Isn’t rule 13 that you’re not supposed to want to sleep with your group members when you’re healing?”

“Wanting to and doing it are two very different things,” he corrected her as he waited at his own door.

She smirked, “you’re right. Still don’t think I can go back with you, however.”

“I’ll probably have a case tomorrow, they normally take me out of town for at least a week, but when I get back, can I see you?” he asked lightly.

“Knock on my door when you get back,” she said before standing on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. “See you.”

“Bye.”

They waved from their doors before departing, excited by something that felt better than drugs.

—

120 hours later there was a light knock at her door, she knows exactly how long it’s been because she’s been counting and looking out the door at every noise for the whole time he’s been gone. Waiting for him like a wife whose husband went off to war, not knowing when their next correspondence would be.

“Coming,” she called, stopping to fluff her hair and straighten her glasses before she opened the door.

“Spencer!”

“Hi,” he said softly.

She took a moment to look him over, a little in shock at what she saw. He was in a plain t-shirt and track pants, he had not one, but two black eyes, bandages on his brow bone and scrapes all along his arms.

“Are you okay?”

“You should see the other guy,” he giggled softly, rolling his eyes.

“Come in, let’s sit you down.” She worried, taking him by the elbow and helping him inside.

“I’m fine, really, I’m used to this.”

“Well I’m not,” she reminded him with a nervous pout, “am I allowed to ask about it or is it classified stuff?”

He sat on the couch and patted a seat beside himself so she would join him. He rested his arm against the back of the chair so that she could slide in beside him.

“Did you hear about the child abduction in Tampa?”

“Yeah? The two boys?”

“I was trying to talk the unsub down and he dropped the gun but he grabbed me as I turned him around and punched me in the face and we fell into the ditch and I luckily managed to flip over him and get his hands behind his back and cuffed faster than I ever have before.”

“You’re amazing,” she whispered.

He laughed, “if I really was, I would have waited for backup before talking to the guy.”

“I’ve always wanted to help other people get justice but not being able to go to school makes it hard to get a job doing anything meaningful,” she whispered, ashamed of the fact she wasn’t successful like most people her age.

“Our technical analyst was hired because she was an amazing hacker, they will hire anyone who is valuable.” He shrugs and watches her face light up at the idea.

“You know what, we have meetings all this week unless there’s an emergency, if you want I can show you around the office?” he offered. “It’s not illegal for you to pass by what I’m working on and notice something I missed.”

“Spencer, I don’t even know your last name and you’re inviting me to your government job? When just last week you asked, not so jokingly, if I was a secret agent trying to kill you and that you’ve been kidnapped before?”

“Doctor Spencer Reid, and what can I say?” he said shyly, “I’m trying to find excuses to see you smile all the time.”

She placed her hand on his cheek, the tips of her fingers lightly resting on his purple and yellow bruised eyes. She leaned in slowly and kissed him on the lips, so gently as if she’s afraid he’ll break or turn into a frog… he was too good to be true.

“You can see me whenever you want, Doctor Spencer Reid…”

He kissed her again, letting his hands roam her back and she trailed her free hand down his chest. She pulled back slightly to throw a leg over him carefully and sit in his lap. Holding his face in her hands now, she peppered kisses over his bruised face.

She stopped to look at him, still holding his face in her hands as his hands now rested on her hips. “I really like you, Spencer.”

“Really?”

She looks at him carefully, analyzing his response and seeing the hurt that rested deep inside of him, “I take it you’re like me?”

“What does that mean?”

“You try to not get too involved with people because no one has ever shown you true genuine interest or love, and you never think you’ll find it anyway so you push away all small acts of kindness, thinking it’s friendly because then you can’t get your hope up, just to have that person drop them?” she explained herself in a whisper.

He nodded, “you get it.”

She kissed his lips again, and then over his cheek and up to his ear, “I do.”

He looked extra sad when she pulled away, she just held his face gently as she mirrored his puppy dog eyes. Communicating with their eyes, she knew he was okay and he didn’t want to talk about it anymore, so she smiled.

“Want to watch a movie?” She asks softly.

He nods, looking behind her to see she doesn’t have a tv in the living room. “How?”

“In my room, the TV is on my dresser if you don’t mind sitting in my bed?”

He shakes his head in a simple no, picking her up and taking her to her room. He knew where it was purely because her apartment was just his but backwards. She laughs, holding onto him tight as she rests her head on his shoulder.

He sets her down gently, watching her move up to the headboard and wait for him. They got under the blankets and she found the remote in the sheet before she cuddled into him.

“You’re really cuddly,” she complimented him as he wrapped an arm around her and held her close. He kissed the top of her head as a thank you.

“I think I’m going to end up falling in love with you, Spencer Reid,” she whispers the words, afraid of them more than his response.

“I beat you to it,” he whispers right back.

She shoots up, turning to look at him with surprise. “How?”

He looks at her like she grew two heads, “what do you mean how?”

“How did you fall in love with me? You don’t even know me?” She’s so confused, no one has ever loved her before and it’s a lot to take in.

“Y/N…” his face drops, his heart physically breaks in front of her. “I don’t know you, you're right. Not all of you, at least. I’m sure you have your hidden doors and locked cupboards but from the outside, I see you’re so beautiful, you’re radiant… your mind is lovely. You’re so kind, you’re so brave, you’re everything I wish I could be as charismatically as you are.”

She’s just swallowing over and over as she shakes her head and breathes through her nose, processing it. She’s breathing deeply then, staring off and she feels like she’s having a new kind of panic attack. A happier one, somehow?

“I don’t like myself, but if you like me I guess I must be pretty nice,” she smiles, accepting his praise and believing him. “Yeah. Thank you, Spencer.”

He smiles then, it’s cute and press-lipped and she swears he almost has dimples. His eyes are like honey and his lips are like roses. She leans in, kissing him and reaching a hand back to cup the nape of his neck.

He doesn’t know it, but he’s the first person she’s kissed in a few years. They’re soft, peck after peck as they hold each other softly, eyes open as they watch each other experience the happiness of finding someone good, finally.

“I uh, I wanted to tell you I’m almost exactly everything you described yourself as in the meeting,” he whispers against her lips, the air touching her skin gently as she absorbs the words.

“What part? My diagnosis or my self-hatred?” She smiles, okay with either really.

“Almost both, I’m pretty hard to be around.”

She shakes her head, “I invited you in for a movie, not a pity party. You can tell me everything you hate right now and then we should just share the good parts okay? Brag about yourself. Tell me what you’re proud of.”

She was really serious, keeping a stern look on her face as she spoke. He nodded, “I’m anxious all the time, I’m always worried because I’ve never had anyone to worry about me. I don’t know how to be a real person really, all I do is drink coffee and solve crimes and I barely sleep. And the only time I was relaxed and okay is when I was on drugs.”

She nodded, “it fucking sucks, doesn’t it? Like why did we get stuck like this, I don't care about peaking in high school but didn’t we deserve some kind of love and support? I’ve never understood if souls and shit are real, why did mine pick this terrible meat suit and awful traumatic path?”

She’s crying because she’s angry and because she’s never said it to anyone before. He cries because she understands. She truly knows.

“I love you,” he announces. “Just because of that.”

Taglist: @blanchardsbk @shemarmooresfedora @spencers-dria @spookyspence @reidsfish @manuosorioh @mochionly @samuel-de-champagne-problems @jswessie187 @k-k0129 @calm-and-doctor

#spencer reid #spencer reid smut #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x you #spencer reid self insert #spencer reid request #criminal minds smut #criminal minds imagine

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heyyyharry · 3 years

Text

Deep End - Chapter 9: Closer

...in which Ezi has her first kiss.

Word count: 5.4k

AU: famous!harry, siren!mc, adult modern retelling of the little mermaid? lol, fake dating, enemies to lovers.

WARNING: MATURE THEMES

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A/N: Please tell me what you think about the chapter! Reblog if you could :)

“Do you know why there’s a true love’s kiss and not a true love’s hug?”

“Why?”

“What do you mean ‘why’? I was asking you.”

Harry sighed, his hands gripping the steering wheel. He had to keep his eyes on the road, but Ezi would keep distracting him with her shifting in her seat every two seconds and rambling on about silly topics he had no interest in. However, he’d promised to not be a dick whenever she talked to him, so he wouldn’t.

“Can’t you see that I’m driving?”

“So?” Ezi snorted. “Just answer the question.”

Harry sighed again. “I guess that’s because a kiss is more special than a hug...romantically.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

“Why not not? You’re just exchanging saliva.”

“It’s special if you’re exchanging saliva with someone you care about.”

Ezi still wasn’t satisfied with that explanation. “Okay, but what if the person won’t let you kiss them? How will you know if it’s true love?”

“If they don’t want to kiss you, it means they’re not interested, and therefore, it’s not true love,” Harry said. He couldn’t believe he was actually giving this some thought, but oh well, it was a long drive to the manor anyway. “For me at least,” he added, “true love must come from both sides.” Then he stole a glance at her and did a double-take. “Are you taking notes on your phone?”

Ezi flinched and put her phone into her bag right when she made eye contact with him. “No.”

“Liar. You were.”

“I’m learning to be human.”

“Just say you wanna kiss me.” Harry smirked. “We’re the only people here. This is a safe space.”

“It’s never a safe space when you’re in it,” Ezi said.

Harry’s eyebrows went high. “Excuse me? Yesterday you almost attacked a child for cutting the line in the supermarket.”

Ezi gave a firm nod without showing any remorse. “And the child would have deserved it. You, on the other hand, are deadly with your words.”

“How?!” cried Harry. “I’ve been nothing but nice to you ever since we started fake dating.”

Ezi rolled her eyes and checked her watch. “Yeah, your new record of being nice to me is two hours. Congrats.”

Harry exhaled, his shoulders slumped. “Okay, I think we should go over what to do when we see my mum, because if we act like this in front of her--”

“Why are we seeing your mother again?”

“Didn’t Jeff tell you?”

Ezi shook her head. She seemed quite confused, so Harry guessed Jeff had forgotten. To be honest, Harry found it funny and a little concerning that she had no idea why she was in the car after having been in the car for two hours. Someone could just kidnap her one day, and she wouldn’t even realise until they told her it was a kidnap. Or, maybe she just trusted him not to drive her to a government lab and donate her organs to science.

“Well, Jeff wants some new PR content of you hanging out with my family,” he told her.

“Why?” she asked, face scrunched up.

He lifted his shoulders. “To humanise you.”

“Good luck with that,” Ezi scoffed, rested her elbow on the window on her side and twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “It takes a lot to humanise me.”

“Well, not literally. Just in the public eye, because a lot of people suspect that this is a PR relationship. We’ve only been seen together as friends or co-workers.”

“That’s not true. We’re not even friends.”

“Exactly!” Harry exclaimed. “So if we can convince my mother that we’re dating, we can convince the whole world. Trust me.”

Harry didn’t even exaggerate it; his mother could detect a lie from miles away. He could count the number of times he’d got away with a lie to her on one hand. However, he had never lied to her about being in a relationship. So hopefully, she’d be too happy with the thought of him not being a player like his dad to tell the whole thing was fake.

And so for the rest of the drive, he and Ezi tried acting out scenarios for when they met his mother again. They broke out laughing most of the time because Harry would say something too cheesy or Ezi would use some lines she’d learned from those Netflix originals that Harry had rated one star. Now that they were standing on the steps of the manor, they had to keep it together. Because no one would shout ‘cut!’ if they messed up their lines. This was almost like going in for a blind audition, and Harry knew his mother would be the toughest judge to impress.

“Harold!”

“Niall?” Harry’s eyes went wide when his best friend shoved the butler aside and embraced Harry at the door. Mikasa, Niall’s girlfriend, was standing right behind him, wearing a dark green satin dress that fell loosely to her knees. She gave Harry a lopsided smile, her black curls bouncing on her shoulders as she approached.

Harry hadn’t talked to her for weeks, but he assumed she already knew about Ezi. Hopefully just as much as his mother did. Unless Niall had broken the bro code and told Mikasa everything.

“Mimi, long time no see!” Harry said as he went in for a hug.

Mikasa eyed him up and down with her big smokey eyes. He always imagined those eyes having a special power that enabled her to stare right into his soul and read him like an unsealed letter. She was a psychiatrist and always making her friends feel like they were having a regular session in her office.

“So this is your girlfriend?” Mikasa asked, smiling at Ezi.

Harry’s gaze jumped to Niall, who subtly locked his lips with an invisible key and tossed it over his shoulder. Niall knew about the PR relationship, but Harry could always trust Niall not to tell anyone, even Mikasa. Especially Mikasa.

“Darling, you made it!” exclaimed Harry’s mother as she descended the stairs. Harry was just going in for a hug when he saw who were following behind her. And he froze.

Dawson and evil Aunt Beatrice. Dawson was wearing a simple black suit, completely made invisible by his mother in the tackiest neon orange sundress Harry had ever seen. He could hear his stylish crying just from seeing this outfit.

“What are they doing here, Mum?” Harry quietly asked his mother as they hugged.

His mother kissed his cheek and whispered back, “Since you invited Niall and Mikasa, I thought I should invite Dawson and his mother.”

“How is that the same thing?”

“Harry!” Aunt Beatrice said in her glass-breaking voice as she pulled him in for a suffocating bear hug. “Ah, you grew up so fast! I hardly recognise you!”

“It’s only been a couple of weeks, Aunt Beatrice.”

“I know, right? Kids these days.”

“I’m twenty-four.”

“Harry,” Harry’s mother reminded him, so Harry took a deep breath and went to stand beside Ezi. She looked at him like a deer in front of headlights. This couldn’t be good. His family must be overwhelming for her.

“Hey, Ezili!” Dawson waved at her with a smile, and suddenly, her face brightened, and she enthusiastically waved back. Traitorous little fish, Harry thought as he watched the two greet one another.

“Congratulations, you two,” Dawson said.

Ezi opened her mouth to reply when Harry threw his arm around her shoulders and pulled her back to his side. He gave Dawson the best grin he could fake. “Thanks,” was all he said.

“Picture, everyone!” Niall interrupted the awkward interaction and pulled out his phone.

Everyone gathered together, and Niall winked at Harry. “Now, Mother Styles, could you stand closer to Ezili? Closer! Thanks. There we go. Looks like Ezili’s a part of the family.”

Once the picture was taken, he nudged Harry with his shoulder. “You’re welcome, asshole.”

Harry patted him on the back. “Send it to Jeff for me.”

“Boys, are you coming?” asked Mikasa, who was walking ahead, holding Ezi’s hand.

“Coming, lovebug!” Niall shouted at her and told Harry. “See? She likes Ezili.”

“So what do you do for a living?” was the first question Harry’s mother asked Ezili when they sat down at the lunch table. They were eating in a glass house in the flower garden by the lake. There were people dressed in uniforms serving them tea and appetizers, and Ezili felt like she was Alice having tea with the Queen of Hearts and her courtiers in Wonderland.

“I work at a bookstore,” she said when one of the maids filled her cup with Jasmine tea.

She didn’t understand Harry’s mother’s appalled reaction and why Harry had to add, “Ezi owns a bookstore.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Harry’s mother said, sounding strangely relieved.

Irritated, Ezili leaned in and whispered to Harry, “Why did you lie?”

But he didn’t answer and only shushed her before smiling at his mother again.

“Can’t believe I get to live to see Harry bring home a young lady!” said Aunt Beatrice. Dawson opened his mouth to interject, but she didn’t give him a chance, “I always thought you were gay!”

At that, Niall choked on his tea, and Mikasa had to rub his back as he coughed violently into his fist. Ezili knew what gay meant, but why was it a bad thing?

“What if I were?” Harry asked his aunt. “I don’t see the problem with me being gay, which I’m not.”

“These biscuits are so nice, Aunt Annalise,” Dawson told Harry’s mother, probably trying to save the conversation from turning into a fight. But it seemed like Dawson’s mother was out for blood this morning.

“Harry,” Aunt Beatrice started again, and Ezili saw Mikasa and Niall sink into their chairs. “You’re a celebrity and the heir to this manor and your father's business. It’s so...unexpected of you to be dating some girl who works in a bookstore.”

Ezili wasn’t dumb. She might not understand a lot of things humans said, but she knew sarcasm like her mother tongue. It was her time to say something.

“What’s wrong with working in a bookstore?” she asked, making direct eye contact with Aunt Beatrice, who was shocked by the question. Everyone at the table seemed to be holding their breath.

“How much could you possibly do and make by owning a bookstore these days?” Aunt Beatrice laughed.

Ezili smirked and shook her head. “You could do and make a lot if you knew how to read.”

Harry kicked Ezili’s foot under the table, but she didn’t pay him a single glance. She believed she’d said nothing wrong at all. It was only the truth. Because why look down on people who worked at a bookstore unless you hated books because you couldn’t read?

Seeing his mother’s face turning red, Dawson burst out laughing. “Oh my God, she’s so funny!” Mikasa and Niall started laughing, too, and Harry’s mother awkwardly joined in.

“That’s what they call dark humour, Aunt Beatrice,” Niall told the angry giant lady. “Ezi’s a true Gen Z. She’s all jokes.”

Aunt Beatrice said nothing else. She shot a glare at a smiling Ezili and lifted her cup to take a sip.

“Oh, there’s my new cook!” said Harry’s mother as she waved at the door. “This is Dolores' first day at work. Come say hello, Dolores dear.”

“Good morning. I hope everyone’s having a wonderful time.”

Ezili’s entire body went stiff. Her eyes almost popped out of her head and dropped onto the plate in front of her. She knew that voice. Her heart was slamming against her ribcage as she held her breath. She felt the person’s presence beside her heavy like a weight ready to crush her bones into dust. Out of the corner of her eyes, she looked up.

Her sister Koa was grinning down at her.

“Ezili, are you okay?” Dawson asked, snapping Ezili out of her numbness.

Koa’s devilish grin remained as she circled the table after wishing everyone a pleasant meal, then disappeared out of the entrance.

Why was she here? Why did she have legs? How had she found Ezili?

“Okay, let's get straight to the point,” Aunt Beatrice started again, and everyone groaned at once. “How much did he pay you?”

“Mum!” cried Dawson.

“Excuse me?” Harry arched an eyebrow.

“It’s PR, isn’t it?” Aunt Beatrice said to him. Ezili was having a hard time paying attention to the argument while her heart was still pounding in her head. Her sister was here, either for her, or after her.

“You can’t do that to your mother, Harry,” Dawson’s mother went on. “She might be easily fooled but I’m not.”

“We should’ve gone for mini-golf,” Mikasa muttered to Niall, who exhaled into his hand.

Harry turned to his mother. “You’re just gonna let her disrespect my girlfriend like that?”

His mother opened her mouth to speak, but his aunt was faster. “If she’s your girlfriend then kiss her.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Harry scoffed and threw his hands in the air.

Ezili immediately stood up. All eyes fell on her.

“Excuse me,” she said, her voice trembling. “I must go to the bathroom.”

“I’ll take you--”

“No, Harry, you stay.”

Harry slowly sat back down as Ezili pushed her chair out and headed straight for the door. Thankfully, he didn’t follow her.

She crossed the garden and asked one of the employees where the kitchen was. As it turned out, they had a separate kitchen for when they served food in the glasshouse. Ezili couldn’t see the point of having more than one kitchen, but this was no time to question it.

When she found Koa, no one else was there but them. It seemed as if Koa had known Ezili would follow her here, so she’d asked everyone else to leave.

Ezili stood at the door while her sister stood by the counter with her back turned to Ezili. The first thing Ezili noticed was the knives within Koa’s reach. Ezili must be wise when confronting her sister.

“What are you doing here?” she asked Koa in Séren.

Koa slowly turned and leaned against the counter, arms crossed. “I’m a cook. Can't you see?”

“How did you find me?”

The corner of Koa’s lips curled as she unbuttoned the collar of her white shirt and revealed a gold necklace. Ezili sucked in a breath when she saw the shiny trident-shaped medallion on her sister’s chest.

“Is that--”

“Mother’s trident,” Koa sneered. “Yes, it is.” Then she buttoned up her shirt to cover it. “Now we can see who mother trusts more.”

“Why--”

“Aunt Nerissa came for a visit last week,” Koa said. Ezili knew that name could never be associated with anything good. “Mother doesn’t trust her, so she asked me to go on land to find you, but also to keep the trident away from Nerissa’s clutches.”

Ezili swallowed hard, her fists tightly glued to her sides. “What happened to the cook?”

Koa clicked her tongue. “She’s swimming with fishes now. Like the ones swimming in her pot just then.”

“You drowned her?!”

“In the lake.”

Ezili gripped her head and advanced towards Koa. “How many humans have you killed?”

Koa chuckled and took a few steps forward until she was dangerously close enough to hurt Ezili. She stood with her back straight and arms folded, her silver eyes flickering in the sunlight. “The important question is…” She stared Ezili down. “How many have you killed?” Ezili bit her lip when Koa poked her chest with her long nail. “Or are you too busy dating now? People are talking about it everywhere.” Ezili said nothing, so Koa went on, “It’s a fake relationship, isn’t it?” She leaned in, taunting. “Come on, Sister. Admit that you’ve failed. That you can’t make the human fall in love with you. Why so quiet? Is it because if you admit it, you’re an embarrassment and you lose the trident to me, and if you deny it, then it means you’re becoming way too human to kill him.”

At that, Ezili shoved Koa away and stabbed a finger at her. “Leave me alone. Mother gave me a year for this mission.”

“We won’t have that much time, stupid,” Koa snorted. “Narissa is onto something. The queendom is already in danger as we’re speaking. And you’re here having...brunch?” She clicked her tongue, shaking her head. “Pathetic.”

“Ezi?”

Both of them whipped their heads around and saw Harry, who stiffened in the doorway.

“Ezi?” Koa cackled, hugging her stomach. “Is that your human name? Are you his pet now?”

Though confused, Harry stepped into the kitchen anyway. “Ezi, you’re alright?”

“Harry, watch out!” Ezili shouted, but Koa was already on top of Harry on the floor. She sank her fangs into Harry’s arm with the rolled-up sleeve. Harry yelped in pain as Ezili dragged her sister off of him and slammed Koa’s head against the table. Hissing, Koa grabbed a knife on the counter and aimed it at Ezili, but Ezili was fast enough to kick it out of her sister’s grip and sent one more kick into Koa’s stomach. Koa was stronger than Ezili had thought as she plunged at Ezili again.

“Harry, run!”

But Harry didn’t run. He was back on his feet, grabbed a vase and smashed it onto Koa’s back. “Do not hurt my fake girlfriend!”

Koa rolled off of Ezili. The last thing Ezili could see was her sister’s bloodied face as she stumbled towards the door and ran off into the light.

Ezili lay there until her vision cleared again, and Harry helped her back to her feet.

“What the fuck?!” he yelled. “Who the fuck was she?!”

“My sister,” Ezili said, still holding her aching head.

“The one who tried to drown me? Why is she here?”

“To kill me, I think.”

“Why?”

“Harry--”

But Harry wasn’t listening. He was pacing back and forth like a mad man. “This isn’t good, Ezi. This is bad! Your crazy sister is gonna expose us!”

“Expose us?” Ezili grabbed him by the arm and spun him around. “She almost killed you.”

It seemed as if Harry had forgotten that his arm was bleeding until Ezili had brought it up. He suddenly winced and fell into a chair.

Ezili scanned her eyes around the messy kitchen, panting as she tried to make sure that Koa had escaped. Then, she got down on her knees beside Harry and reached for his wounded arm.

He stared down at her in confusion, then his expression turned horrified when she leaned in.

“What the fuck?!” he hissed and yanked his arm away.

She glared up at him in annoyance. “Let me help!”

“Hell no! You’re not gonna lick my blood.”

“You need to clean the wound!”

“With water! Not by sucking it!”

Ezili huffed and aggressively got up while silently cursing Harry in Séren.

“There’s a--” His voice cut off when she tore off a piece of her dress “--towel over there,” he trailed off. She ignored him and went to the sink to soak the piece of fabric in water. He shook his head and blew up his cheeks. “Nevermind. You do you.”

Still glaring at him when she returned, Ezili got back down on her knees and started cleaning Harry’s arm. The place her sister had sunk her fangs into had turned dark red. It would definitely leave a huge bruise tomorrow.

“Lucky for you Koa was distracted and didn’t aim to bite your whole arm off,” Ezili whispered and glanced up, meeting Harry’s gaze. “You sure you don’t want me to lick your wound?”

“Well, now that you’re already in this position, you could just lick something else,” he chuckled.

Ezili’s eyes narrowed. “Like what?”

To her confusion, Harry covered his face and shook with laughter. “Sorry, that was a dumb joke. I just couldn’t help it.”

“I didn’t get it.”

“Yeah, that’s how a joke loses its funny,” he sighed then snapped his fingers. “Ooh, maybe I should just pretend that I don’t understand whenever someone tells me a joke, so that they gradually lose their funny.”

“That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard,” Ezili remarked.

“What do you mean?” Harry pouted. “I don’t get it, babe.”

Ezili rolled her eyes at his childishness, still, she couldn’t help but smile a little.

Once she had wrapped the piece of her dress securely around his arm, Harry pulled down the sleeve to cover it as he got to his feet. “That should do. Let’s hope my mother won’t suspect that we just got attacked in her kitchen by her cook, who was your evil siren sister in disguise. Damn, that sounds crazy even for me.”

Ezili stood with her arms crossed. “Do you think your mother can tell we’re not really dating?”

“Nah, my mother totally believes it.” Harry shrugged. “Honestly, I think we’re doing a great job pretending we’re in love when we can’t even have a conversation without insulting each other.”

“I don’t get paid enough to call you babe so many times.”

“Neither do I. This PR relationship is harder than I tho--”

Harry’s sentence got cut off by a sound at the door. When they both turned to it, Dawson was standing there, his eyes wide with shock.

Ezili was hoping that was the reaction to the messy kitchen and not to what she and Harry had said. However, luck wasn’t smiling at her tonight. Dawson’s appalled gaze jumped from Harry to Ezili. “What do you mean by ‘PR relationship’?”

“I can explain,” Ezi said, reaching for Dawson, but he backed away while staring at both her and Harry in disbelief. Harry believed Dawson wasn’t shocked that Harry could pull something like this, because Harry hadn’t been exactly the good kid growing up. What Dawson hadn’t expected was Ezi being part of this plan. Ezi must be an angel in Dawson’s eyes.

“So my mother was right,” Dawson said, flicking his finger between Harry and Ezi. “You were lying to everyone.”

“Dawson--” Ezi began, but Harry pulled her back by her wrist.

“Please don’t tell my mother,” he told Dawson and received stunned looks from both Dawson and Ezi. They probably hadn’t expected that coming from him. “This means a lot to her, and I don’t want her to be any more let down,” Harry continued. “Also, Ezi needs money, and I’m just trying to help. She’s also writing the next album with me, so it’s all good business.”

Dawson peered at both their faces for a long moment as if he was psychoanalysing each of them. Then, he breathed, “So you two don't have feelings for each other?”

“No.” Ezi shook her head fast and tugged at Harry’s sleeve. “Harry, tell him.”

Harry opened his mouth. Suddenly, he thought about how frightened he’d been when he’d thought Ezi’s sister was going to kill her. He could’ve run off and let her deal with it alone since he hadn’t asked to be part of her family drama, and he wasn’t brave, either. Nevertheless, he’d jumped in to help her.

“No,” he said, only to realise he shouldn’t have taken such a long pause to say only one word.

“See?” Ezi smiled at Dawson, who seemed less sceptical now.

“Okay,” Dawson said, his face relaxed as he put his hands on his hips. “Who else knows? Niall and Mikasa?”

“Mikasa doesn’t know,” Harry said. “Only Niall.”

“Alright.” Dawson nodded and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “But you guys are really bad at pretending to be in love,” he told them after another moment. “I’ll try to tell my mum to stop being rude to you. But just to be safe, you should make it more convincing.”

Ezi heaved a sigh of relief and placed her hand on Dawson’s arm. Harry swore he saw Dawson hold his breath as if Ezi had the Midas touch, and Harry had to fight the urge to roll his eyes.

“Thank you, Dawson,” Ezi said in the softest tone Harry had ever heard.

“Your dress,” Dawson pointed out while eyeing her and then the kitchen. “What...what happened here?”

“There was a rat,” Harry blurted.

Ezi joined in, “Harry tried to kill it then it knocked over the vase, and I fell and pulled him down with me and ripped my dress on the glass.”

Dawson furrowed his brows as he nodded at the piece of Ezi’s dress in her fist. “That’s your blood?”

Ezi shook her head. “It’s the rat’s.” Then, she looked over at Harry, suppressing a grin. He stayed quiet and glared at her.

“Oh, God. That’s disgusting,” Dawson made a face. “Need me to help you clean up?”

“No, I’ll take care of it,” Harry said. “I’ll take Ezi upstairs to clean up. Could you distract everyone for a while?”

“Yeah, sure,” Dawson nodded, gave Ezi a tight-lipped smile and turned to the door. “Now, where the hell is the cook?”

Harry could hear every single word of the Jonas Brothers song playing downstairs. It seemed like everyone had finished brunch without him and Ezi, and now Niall was turning the manor into a concert. Niall and Mikasa had met at a Jonas Brothers’ concert years ago, and they would not let people forget about it. What they had was cute, but Harry could not imagine being with someone for that long. A PR relationship was tiring enough; he didn’t think he could ever handle a real one.

Back against the wall, he stared at his watch and tapped his foot impatiently before he came to knock on the door to his mother’s walk-in closet. “Ezi, are you done?”

“I don’t know how to put this on!”

Harry tossed his head back and groaned. “Do you need help?”

“Yeah!”

“Goddamn it,” he muttered under his breath. “Cover yourself. I’m coming in.”

Just to be safe, he had his hand over his eyes when he opened the door.

You'll say my name like it's been on your lips

Familiar in ways I can't explain

You got a heart that I know I can miss

Hold me like that and pull me right back again

The music outside became muffled. Harry peeked through the gap between his fingers, and nearly had a heart attack when he saw Ezi standing there topless with only jeans on. “I told you to cover yourself!”

“Oh, please, there’s nothing you haven’t seen.”

“It’s different every time.”

“How? I’ve only got one body.”

“No, seeing you feels different every time. It’s weird.”

Time stands still and it's only us

What we feel started way before we ever touched

Just imagine only us

Yeah, you found me right before I'd given up

Ezi said nothing, and Harry lowered his hand, feeling glad that she was facing away from him now. She looked over her shoulder, frowning. “Help me with this shirt!”

He ruffled his hair and padded over to take the shirt from her hand. “You got the button stuck?! This is my mother’s favourite Chanel shirt!”

“It was like that when I found it.”

“Liar.” Harry shook his head and started examining the stuck button. Ezi turned around, hugging her chest so her breasts weren’t exposed to him. He was trying his best not to look. Maybe he shouldn’t have put her in a dress that didn’t require a bra. He guessed he’d played himself.

“Harry.”

“Damn, maybe I should get you another shirt and buy a new one for my mum. I don't know how to fix this.”

“Harry,” Ezi repeated and tapped Harry on the arm. He looked up, face heating when he saw her.

I just saw the lightning strike

Knew it right then when I looked in your eyes

And I said to myself, "It's no surprise we ain't strangers"

Strangers tonight

Still, he acted indifferent. “What?”

“I think we should kiss,” she said, making him flinch.

“Why?” He was already sweating through his palms. His mother’s shirt could no longer be saved now.

“To make it more convincing,” Ezi said as if them kissing wasn’t a big deal to her. “Maybe if there’s a picture of us kissing--”

“Have you ever kissed anyone before?”

She froze at the question and blinked at him.

I came here looking for another excuse

To run away from something beautiful

It's like it's driving me closer to you

Every step back pulls me right back

At this question, Ezi’s whole life up until that point flashed before her eyes. She had lost count of all the times she’d kissed sailors before drowning them. But she wasn’t going to kiss Harry to kill him. Not yet at least. He would still be there, alive, when she opened her eyes. He would still be aware of her lips against his. And she would, too.

“No,” she lied.

And he believed it. He cleared his throat. Suddenly, her standing there topless wasn’t weird anymore. “Okay, it’s pretty easy.” He put the shirt aside. His fingers were shaking so he opened and closed his fists a few times before beckoning her over. “Come here.”

She took a step forward.

“Closer.”

Another step.

Harry’s face reddened with a small smile. “Ezi, closer.”

He’d never talked to her in that tone before. It was soft and firm at the same time, and she completely forgot having sworn to herself that she would never let him tell her what to do. She came so close she could not tell his breath from her own. His eyelids fluttered, and his pink lips parted, yet no word escaped. Then, he leaned in.

Must be from a different life

Been here before and it just feels right

No, this ain't the first time for you and I, we ain't strangers

Strangers tonight

But it was her who took his face between her hands and kissed him first. He froze for a second, then started kissing her back, his arms circled around her waist, pressing her against him.

Harry’s entire body grew hot. The voice inside his head told him to stop, but it only made him bolder. He liked that she’d taken charge. Her hands were under his shirt as his roamed across her naked back. His eyes went wide when she unconsciously let out a moan.

Strangers

Strangers tonight

“Ezi,” he breathed against her lips. But before he could say anything else, there was a knock on the door.

“Harry, are you in there?”

Ezi pulled away as Harry threw his head back and exhaled harshly. “Yes, Niall?”

“Is Ezili there with you?”

“Yes,” Harry answered in a croaked voice and quickly cleared his throat. “Yes,” he repeated, sounding more stable. “Why?”

“You missed all the fun stuff. Your mother scolded your aunt for what she’d said to you and Ezi, and Dawson had to take his mother’s home.”

Harry looked over at Ezi, expecting her to be thrilled by the good news, but she only gave a small smile, her arms still tightly wrapped around herself to cover her breasts. Was she...shy?

Yes, yes she was. Ezi didn’t think she could ever be shy. But here she stood, blushing all over from a stupid kiss.

“Are they in there?” Harry’s mother’s voice outside the door made Harry and Ezi jump.

They looked at each other, scared when Niall told Harry’s mum that they were in the closet together.

“Not in my closet, Harry!”

“I’m just helping Ezi get changed, Mum!”

“You better!”

And then their footsteps faded down the hallway, along with his mother’s laughter.

Ezi and Harry made eye contact with each other and looked away at the same time as silence ensued. Suddenly, Harry started sniffing.

“What is it?” Ezi asked, worried.

Harry leaned in and started sniffing her neck, and she pushed him away. “What the hell?!”

“You smell.”

“Excuse me?!”

“No.” Harry shook his head fast. “You smell good. But..you didn’t have a smell before.”

Ezi quickly lifted her arm to smell herself. “I smell nothing.”

“That’s because it’s your own smell, so you don't recognise it. But--” Harry cut off midsentence and picked up a strand of her hair and brought his nose to it. Then, his lips curled. “Aww, my kiss turned you a little more human.”

“Shut up!” Ezi shoved at his chest. “I’m not turning more human! That’s not true!”

“It is true! Kiss me again. I’ll prove it.”

She said nothing, only glared at him as he burst out laughing and tossed her a t-shirt.

#harry styles #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles imagine #harry styles fluff #harry styles smut #harry smut #harry styles angst #harry styles series #harry styles imagines #harry styles x mc #harry styles fic

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vivian24l · 3 years

Text

Dream

“I remember that day clearly, my last birthday with them. Father knows I hate large gatherings, yet he threw me a big party anyways. Everyone showed up. The Leaguers, the original Leaguers, the Titans, my friends and family.

I didn’t appreciate it back then. Now I can only look back and wish I could experience it once more. Wish I could see them once more, happy, together, not having to worry about an ongoing war.

I remember racing my cousins. I wish I hadn’t cheated in that race. Uncle Jon said Mother had used the same trick when they were kids. I practiced magic with Tiago and the Constantines. I remember Aunt Kori pulling me into an unbreakable hug. She had told me I’m growing to be just like my mother.

I used to look like her. Both with purple eyes and purple hair. My skin had more color. Now I look nothing like her. I no longer have her purple eyes, but green like Father’s, my hair has become a brighter shade of purple.

I miss them. Father gave me a silver dagger that day. He never lets me play with sharp objects, we only used wooden sticks when training. Mother gifted me with a spell book, it contained a vast collection of spells ranging from beginners to highly advanced. I lost both of them. The only things I have left of my parents, lost, gone forever. I long for them to return. My parents and their gifts.

I wish for all of them to return. Not just my parents but everyone. I wished this never happened, I wish the war never started. I wish I had been more grateful for all that they have done for me.”

“Do you remember the day they left you at that place? That place that was supposed to be remote, guarded, and free of any upcoming parademon attack?” he asked the young girl.

“How could I not? That was the day I lost them. That was the day they left.

Grandmother Talia greeted us at the harbor of Infinity Island. I didn’t know, back then, that it was the last time I'd see them. They told me I’ll be staying with Grandmother for a while, I didn’t think of asking how long. Then they hugged me. I missed that. I missed the way they’d cover me in their warm embrace. The way Father wraps his arm around both me and mother. I caught a shimmer of a tear from the corner of Mother's eyes. I felt their sadness. It was when I saw that tear slip, that I knew something was wrong. When I felt Father fighting to keep his posture, his stoic manner, that was when I knew I would be there for longer than ‘a while’. I wish I could’ve told them how much I loved them, I wished I could’ve given them one last hug,” she closed her eyes. “But I didn’t. I didn’t because I was a dumb eight year old who didn’t know what to do.”

“Do you remember the day you died? The day those hybrids took you down? The day you visited me in my realm and left to rejoin the living? The day you left something very valuable behind?” he asked.

“Why are you asking me these questions?” she asked miserably.

He smiled. “Because Granddaughter, it is good to learn from the past, to take the pain and turn it into strength. Now, tell me of that day.”

“I-I remember running to the courtyard. There were screams coming from outside. An assassin crashed through the window, his legs were gone. I was...horrified, yet I kept going. I was stupid, thinking I could help. When I reached the courtyard, I saw corpses everywhere. Ripped up and severed. Grandmother and her elite archers were shooting down the creatures. My uncle calls them Paradooms. Parademons mixed with Kryptonian DNA. Grandmother’s supply of kryptonite-infused weapons was running low. I thought I was strong enough. I summoned beams of energy. I kept using magic until I had no energy left. I kept going. I should’ve stopped. I continued to fight. Picking up a stray sword with a kryptonite blade. It cut through plenty of monsters. Then Grandmother called my name. It was as if time slowed down. Her face contorted to horror, an emotion I have never seen her express. I felt a wave of emotions coming from her. Yet, nothing from myself. The pain was so bad, it felt like nothing. My vision had begun to blur when I noticed the sharp point of a claw emerging from my chest. I remember the paradoom falling as I laid on the ground. Grandmother rushed to my side. She told me not to worry. Then I came here. To this place you call home.”

“I never see this hellish realm as home. I am a conqueror of worlds, I focus on establishing and controlling new frontiers.”

“TT. We can agree that we have very different interests, Grandfather.”

“Indeed.”

“Now, I must ask. Why are you here? Why am I here? Why have you called upon me?”

“I am here to remind you. It takes a lot of energy to escape that prison in your mother’s head to visit you in your dream. This location is where your subconscious wants you to be, because deep down you know where to go. You know how to end this. You blame the Lazarus Pit for your loss of powers, but have you really lost your powers?” He gave her an amused smile, knowing the young girl was conflicted.

“Yes. No! I don’t know! I can still feel emotions, I can feel energy within me, but I can’t access it. I can’t perform a single spell, not even the simplest,” she confessed.

“The Pit is supposed to revive and strengthen the one of dips in it, that is if they are able to control the evil temptations of the Pit. You, Granddaughter, were already powerful. You still are. The Pit boosted your abilities, but you haven’t brought them back with you.”

“You’re saying...that I left my powers in Hell?” Rashida asked skeptically.

“What else could I be saying, dear?”

“What’s it in for you? Why are you helping me?”

“Because I would like to conquer Earth. I shall not let that weak, ‘New God’ destroy this planet before I do. Besides, I need a body to inhabit once I break free. Your mother won’t last, she is already weak.”

This got Rashida’s attention. “Then how do I get my powers back? How can I get to Hell without dying?”

“Hm. I’m sure that spellbook of yours would be useful. Once the proper ritual is performed, you should be able to enter and exit that realm.”

“But, I’ve lost it. The book was burned during the first paradoom attack.”

“You are the granddaughter of Trigon. The granddaughter of the first Batman, Bruce Wayne. The great granddaughter of Ra’s Al Ghul. The granddaughter of Talia Al Ghul. The daughter of Raven, the Queen of Hell. The daughter of Damian Al Ghul Wayne, the current Batman. You have a powerful heritage. I expect you to live up to your blood.” He gave her an expectant look. “And let’s not forget that family that took in your mother when you first came to Earth, the Kryptionians,” he added.

“Bart explained this to me the other day, something about a multiverse. The book is lost in this world. It no longer exists in this universe. However, there are many alternate universes, different worlds out there. If I’m able to locate the right one, I should be able to get that book”

Trigon smiled. “Correct, my dear. Now, time is running short. I suggest you make haste.”

Rashida looked up from her internal thoughts. “Wait, what do you mean by that?”

But it was too late. Her surroundings have begun to shift. Trigon had swirled into a translucent black shadow and disappeared through the cracks of the room. She no longer sat in the obsidian chair in the Underworld’s throne room. Instead Rashida sat up with a jolt in her uncle’s base. Her head was beaded with sweat. She left the little room, which she had claimed to be her sleeping quarter. Jason was still asleep in front of his computer. Judging by the position of the sun in the cloudy red sky, it was late in the morning.

Artemis looked up from her daily ritual of sword sharpening. “Good morning, kid.”

“Why did you let me sleep in?” asked Rashida.

“Last night was rough. I thought you needed the rest,” she glanced at Jason and Roy, who was still asleep on the worn down couch. Artemis held up a tin can. “Pineapples?”

Rashida accepted the fruit. “How did you get your hands on pineapples?”

Artemis shrugged. “Oh, you know. Quinn and her buddies were in the area.”

Rashida took a bite of the diced pineapples. “I have to say, I envy them. They get to do the cool stuff like infiltrating LexCorp. While, we’re stuck fighting off the parademons and thugs.”

“This’ll be over soon. And then, you can do the cool “infiltrating” stuff as well,” assured the Amazon.

#damian x raven #rashidawayne #apokolipswar #damirae #demonbirds #trigon #dreams #multiverse #damiraekid #this is the start #Outlaws #Rae’s with her fave uncle #War #childhood #damiraefankid

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george-mackay-macfine · 3 years

Text

Let's play a game. Prt 4.

A/N: Sorry it took so long, I had uni but how are you all liking the story and the characters?

Tag list; @neocil @cjand10 @queen-bunnyears @rebelflower19

If you want to join the tag list let me know.

"Let me in, Edwards." Hastings continued to bang on the door.

"No," I called back at him. "I don't want to spend another night in your bed. Never. Ever." Back braced against the wood.

"Don't lie. You'll make the baby Jesus cry."

"Shut up, Hastings." I turned, fingers digging into the wood grain as I stood on my tippy-toes watching him. There he was out in the hallway, one arm resting on the other side of the door, his teeth showing as he laughed all too easily at his own dumb joke. "I'm not opening the door, so you may as well leave." He rolled his eyes, looking at the peephole. "I'm serious." He stood there for a minute, contemplating the options I'd given him.

"Fine." He pushed away from the door. "Have it your way." and then he was gone, disappearing down the hallway.

"Alone again, finally." I pushed myself away and walked back into my kitchen, where my frozen meal sat on the cutting board. I'd been reading the directions before Hastings had so rudely interrupted me. "Heat on high for ten minutes… ten minutes." I picked the box up and looked at it. "You're supposed to be easy and quick!" I cried at it as if it had the ability to apologise for the disgusting amount of time I was going to have to wait for it to heat up.

"I am sorry about this." I heard Hastings voice from the hallway. "Forgot my key again." Jude Hastings says what now?

"It's not a problem, Jude. I'm just happy you and Darcy finally got over your issues." The voice of my too sweet, too kind, too naive landlady Patricia Gregson cooed at Hastings. "And what you have planned for the night, It's the least I can do after the effort you've gone through." Was the last she said before the door swung open.

"Honey, I'm home." My own personal demon smirked, stepping into my house. My domain. He was not allowed in my house. "What are you doing there? I told you I was taking you to my apartment for a special dinner." He walked in like he owned the place.

"Hi Darcy, sweetheart." Patricia waved from the hallway. "I was just telling Jude here how happy I am for the two of you." She smiled happily. "If my Colin was around to see you two now." She shook her head, her eyes glazing over to another time. She pulled herself back, shaking her head, looking at both Jude and I. "He'd be so happy to see this. We always knew you'd wind up together."

Oh, Patricia. If only you knew.

"Yeah." I nodded my head, unable to break her heart. "It's a shock to us all." I walked over to where he stood and slung an arm around his waist. "Thanks for letting him in." I smiled through gritted teeth. "I must have been in the bathroom when he was knocking."

"You've been peeing a lot lately." Hastings looked down at me. "When was your last period? You don't think-"

"I better be off, lots to do." Patricia reached in and grabbed the door handle, quickly pulling it shut behind her. When I'm sure she was gone, I pushed Hastings away from me, shoving him hard.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"What?"

"What?" I mimicked his stupid voice. "You just insinuated to my landlady that I am with child, you absolute dickhead."

"Sorry." He snorted.

"Sorry?"

"Yeah, sorry." He turned away and started to look through my house. "You packed your bag yet?"

"You know I haven't." I sighed.

"Well, go pack one." He put his hands on his hips, his shirt lifting as he moved to reveal the slither of flesh that I have a distinct memory of running my tongue across last night.

"Look, Hastings… Tonight really isn't a good night." I ran a hand through my hair. "I have to be at work early tomorrow, and it's just… I don't know how ready I'll be to teach a group of kids if I don't wake up in my own bed, and I'm still tense from a sleepless night lying beside you." I admitted. "I know what the whole game is, but I don't know if I can play tonight-"

"Darcy." He stopped me mid-speech. "Don't worry about the game. Your job's more important." He pointed through to where my bedroom was visible. "Besides, your bed looks comfortable, so I don't mind. I'll sleep here." He shrugged, walking into the small kitchen. "We'll order some food because that looks like unappealing crap… watch a movie, and then I'll woo you to death." I watched him. For the first time in a long time, I watched Jude Hastings rifle through the assortment of take away menu's I had hanging on the fridge. His body looked abnormally large in the small kitchen. "Aha." He cheered when he found a menu he liked. "Chinese." For the first time in a long time, all I could think was maybe this wouldn't be the worst night ever.

"What are you doing."

"Ordering us Chinese." He waved the menu. "Still a fan of chow mien?"

"You remember?"

"You ate it every Friday for a year." He winked. "And I have a good memory."

"I see your good at self-encouragement."

"It's not the only thing I'm good at." He smirked, holding his phone to his ear. "I'm also good at rescuing a damsel in distress from a microwave meal."

"I'm not going to sleep with you again, Hastings." I walked to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of wine, grabbing the nearby glasses. "So this whole thing, the hot guy coming to order Chinese food with his dreamy bedroom eyes… It won't work."

"You think I have dreamy bedroom eyes?" He gave a lopsided grin. "Hi yes," He spoke into the phone. "Can I order a delivery please." I tuned him out as I poured the two glasses of white wine and sat down at the small island bench. I wasn't even sure if he drank wine, but it was open, and I wasn't one to waste alcohol. "It'll be about fifteen-twenty minutes."

"Okay." I passed the second glass of wine to him, taking a large sip of my own.

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"Only if it's a good one I don't want anything subpar." He moved, sitting beside me on the second chair. His glass of wine clanking against the bench as he moved. He leaned in, his free hand brushing hair behind my ear, teasingly slow.

"If you think I was giving you bedroom eyes before." He chuckled lowly, head dipping so our eyes were level, the very tip of his nose bushing mine. "Then you won't believe what it's like when I really give you bedroom eyes."

"You think you're so smooth, don't you."

Part of me really wanted to see those bedroom eyes, the other part of me knew that I may not have the will to not sleep with him again if I did.

"I don't, actually." He pulled away slightly. "But I'm trying to win your heart, and your beautiful, so I'm going to tell you."

"Are you drunk?"

"No." I leant an elbow on the counter, laying my head in my hand looking up at him. "And tomorrow morning, I'm still going to be sober, and you." He shook his head, looking up to the ceiling. "You… You are still going to be beautiful." Am I imagining this, or is THE Jude Hastings giving me a compliment.

"Woe." I couldn't help the smile that came to my face. A big smile, one that felt like it was the first genuine smile I'd had in years. "You really are a smooth, smooth man Hastings."

"Why do you never call me Jude?"

"Why do you hardly call me Darcy."

"Because you call me Hastings all the time."

"I only call you Hastings because—"I stumbled. "I don't know I've just always called you Hastings." I sat up, pulling one of my knees up into my chest. "Who knows, maybe one day I'll call you Jude."

"I think my heart would stop if you ever did that,"

"How do you think the town is taking the news of our epic romance?"

"Well, I checked the obituaries this morning, so far we haven't shocked anyone to death yet."

"So you're saying we've failed." I laughed. "A day of pretending to be a couple and no one has rolled over and died?" I gasped.

"Maybe that means that we need to step it up, huh?"

"Flattering, but I am not interested."

"Honeybird," Another new nickname? Calm down Edwards. "You looked me in the eye a little too long to not be interested in me."

"You're really trying this aren't you." I waved a finger between us.

"Trying what?"

"To get me to fall in love with you." A smile pulled on his lips, not his usual asshole smirk, but a genuine smile, the one that to make butterflies launch themselves all around my stomach.

"It'd be an honour to have the Darcy Alice Edwards fall in love with me, so I'm going to give it my all."

"As it would be an honour to break your heart, Jude Alexander Hastings."

"So you do know how to say my name." He sat back, arms crossing over his chest as he looked me feigning shock. "I'm also going to need you to tell Sato that Fredrick isn't my real middle name."

"No." I began to pick at the hem of my nightgown, thankful he'd given me a Segway comment from the conversation that was getting all too serious too fast. "I don't think I can do that,"

"What is the obsession."

"With?"

"Telling people I have that heinous name as any part of me?"

"I like the idea of all these girls being so enraptured by Jude Hastings, picturing themselves as Mrs Jude Hastings, then having that dream crash and burn around them when they think that your middle name is Fredrick… I mean the name isn't exactly a turn-on." I shrugged. Hastings watched me for a moment, studying me as if this was the first time he, a male, had ever come in contact with me, a female.

"You really are evil." His hand stretched out, his fingers tapping against my temple gently. "This brain in here, it was made for terrible, terrible things,"

"Not terrible things." I denied. "Just terrible things when you're involved."

I needed him to stop touching me, because the slight rub of his fingers over my skin made flashbacks from last night pop up all over my brain, which caused my heart rate to increase, which caused me to want to see if he was as good as he was last night sober, which was a horrible thought to have indeed when you're dealing with a childhood enemy.

"More wine." I stood and walked back to the fridge, ignoring the half-open bottle on the table. I needed space from him.

"There's wine here." I kept my back to him, walking to the small sink and standing in front of it. I needed my space. I hated Jude Hastings, with a passion… But something inside of me wanted to let him in, let him change my mind about him, or at least let a part of him in… "Darcy." His voice was suddenly behind me, his hands on my hips, the edge of my shirt lifting as he held on.

Stop it Darcy. Stop thinking with your metaphorical dick.

His right hand left my hip and went to the hair that covered my neck, pushing it out of the way. My hands gripped onto the bench tighter, as I told myself over and over not to turn around, not to face him because if I did then that was it. We'd end up in my bed, our incoming food forgotten. But then his lips touched my neck and my knees went weak as my head lolled backwards resting on his shoulder, and I wasn't sure I was in the mood for Chinese anymore. I turned around, looking up at Hastings.

"Do you want to know what I think when I think about you, Darcy?" He whispered, his hands pushing the hair behind my ear as I numbly nodded. "I see the little girl who wore a sunflower sundress and ran around my parents' backyard like a kid on a sugar high." I knew the exact dress he was talking about. "The little girl who I got Christmas photos with every year up until we were thirteen… That was when you started to hate me." He was right. "You will always be the little girl I had a crush on when I was eight."

"You… You had a crush on me?" A smile that made my heart race spread across his lips.

"Only the biggest one, you were the cutest girl I'd ever seen."

Don't fall for it Darcy, this is all part of his big old plan to make you fall in love with his stupid squishable face.

"Dinner will be here in a minute. I'm going to wash up." I sidestepped around him and made my way to my small bathroom. "Get together, Darcy." I muttered, leaning against the door as soon as I'd shut it, disconnecting myself from the girl who was just fawning all over Hastings. "Fuck," I walked over the sink and took a look at myself. My cheeks were flushed and my hair was slightly puffed from where Hastings had moved it aside to kiss my neck.

Involving parents and colleagues was a level of dirty. Inflicting emotional bullshit from the past was a whole new level of dirty. Clearly, Hastings had no problem playing that card.

If he really thinks he can get me on the sentimental crap just because I'm a woman, then I'm going to use the greatest weakness of a man against him.

"Hastings, you are going down." My hands gripped onto the edge of the sink as I formulated my plan. Thankfully years of watching Hastings be a man whore in front of me I knew exactly what to do to get his blood pumping.

"Darcy," His fingers tapped against the door, "Dinner is here."

"You start." I walked over pulling the door open wide. "I'm just going to change." I walked past him and into my bedroom, shutting the sliding doors that cut it off from the rest of the apartment, making sure I left a sizeable gap for any peering eyes - trust me, there were going to be peeping eyes. "Where are you," I muttered, looking at the pile of clothes I'd discarded before I'd begun cooking today. I needed Hastings shirt. "Bingo." I spotted the white material underneath my jeans. Stripping from the dress I made sure the straps of my bra - I'd paid a lot for it once upon a time, I needed it to come through for me - could be seen, or at least enough for Hastings to see through the thin fabric of his shirt. Pulling it over my body, I fastened the buttons before pulling a pair of white socks over my feet. I could feel his eyes on me as I stood back up, fixing my hair and pulling the shirt down.

Play innocent, Darcy.

"Smells good." I called out as I turned. There he was, standing at the kitchen bench filled with Chinese take out watching me. His eyes looked drastically darker and I don't think it was just because of the distance between us. I pushed the doors open trying to control the smile that wanted to break out on my face as I walked over to the bench. "Yum." I picked up the container of chow mien. "You not eating?"

"What I want isn't exactly on the menu."

"Oh?" I picked up the menu and waved it. "They're usually pretty good. You could have asked them to make it." I lifted myself up onto a clean spot on the bench, crossing my legs underneath each other. "I'm sure it could have been on the menu."

"Darcy," His eyes were travelling all over my body. "This isn't fair."

"What I'm going to eat all this Chinese, and you don't get any?"

"Yeah." He picked up a nearby carton and shoved a pair of chopsticks inside. "Something like that."

"I can't wait for bed." I lifted one of my arms above my head and stretched, cool air hitting the newly exposed skin. "I'm so beat."

"Fucking Christ." He mumbled, shaking his head.

Darcy - One.

Man-whore demon - nill.

"Language." I quipped, picking a noodle from the carton and popping it into my mouth. "Mhhhmm." I moaned excessively at the taste. Turn it up, why don't you, Darcy.

Good luck not busting a nut tonight, Hastings.

#dylan o'brien #dylan o'brien imagine #Dylan O'Brien story #Dylan O'Brien Head Cannon #dylan o'brien x reader #Calahan Skogman #Calahan Skogman imagine #Harry Styles #Harry Styles Imagine #Harry Styles one shot #Dylan O'Brien One shot #George MacKay #George MacKay imagine

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theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin · 3 years

Note

ohh i saw your answer about the sequels of star wars. id love to read you tear through the whole trilogy

Well, I’ve avoided this ask long enough. Part of the reason is this is really a huge topic, far too much for one ask, so I’m going to have to do this at a very high level.

In short, the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy is what one gets when you slap together the goal of selling merchandise and making tons of money, being as risk averse as humanly possible, adding a handful of warring directors with incredibly different visions, and having virtually no imagination when it comes to the imagining and writing of characters.

And we get this beautiful, awful, franchise that for reasons beyond me people seem to actually like (though interestingly, no one seems to like all of it, they may actually like one or two of the films, but no one says all three are actually in any realm of good).

With that, let’s begin.

The Force Awakens

For me this is easily the most tolerable of the sequel trilogy: it’s not great, it’s not terrible. It’s thoroughly watchable, you can be taken along for the movie’s journey and not raise your eyebrows too much at the action and leave the theater feeling this maybe wasn’t a complete waste of your time.

There’s a good reason for that. That reason is called the most blatant form of plagiarism I have ever seen in cinema in my life.

“The Force Awakens” is just “A New Hope” wearing a mustache. Only, it’s one of those cheap mustaches you get from a party store that, if you stare at it too long, just looks like the most false and awful thing you’ve ever seen. The mustache actively makes it worse. “The Force Awakens” is “A New Hope”, but worse.

Seriously, every major character, every major plot point, every major scene I can go directly back to “A New Hope”.

Our story begins when the Resistance, at great cost to our valiant heroes including torture at the hands of the Emperor’s second in command, sends a file out into the wilderness to be received by his people. This file contains plans for the Death Star.

The film then focuses on Luke, er Rey, getting involved in the Resistance, boarding the Death Star, and successfully destroying at the same time even at the lost of a beloved mentor that she just met (trading in Obi-Wan for Han Solo).

Our evil empire is run by an evil emperor who is so evil he sits in a chair, is served by very Moth Tarkin-esque human storm troopers, and has a second in command who revels in the Darth Vader get up (for no other reason that it makes him feel cool but we’ll get into this).

It’s “A New Hope”. Rey is Luke, Han Solo is Obi-Wan, Poe is a kind of Han Solo, Kylo Ren is Vader, Snoke is Palpatine, Hux is Tarkin, BB-8 is R2-D2, etc.

“But that’s not terrible,” you say, “I liked A New Hope?”

First, it is terrible, it gives a very bad sign of where the sequel trilogy is headed and is just lazy writing. It means that those who produced this franchise were so terrified of taking risks, of possibly ending up mocked as the prequels were, that they will deliver exactly what the original trilogy was. And what’s that? Uh, evil empires, scrappy desert kids, AND MORE DEATH STARS!

That brings us to point number two, the world of Star Wars after the events of the original trilogy shouldn’t support such things. And, if it does, my god what a bleak existence this place has turned into.

The First Order being able to rise easily from the Empire’s remains means that Luke accomplished nothing. Anakin sacrificed himself and had his moment of redemption for nothing. There was no happy ending to the Original Trilogy, our heroes failed miserably, and there is no indication that our new band of heroes can possibly succeed in their place. (More on this as the movies progress).

We now are in a galaxy where this new Republic is so pathetic that Leia doesn’t even give it the time of day and builds her own private army to battle the Empire. The First Order is able to not only rebuild a massive army by raiding villages on many different worlds and stealing children and do so successfully for at least ten years but is able to build a Death Star bigger than any we’ve ever seen before.

And the movie tries to convince us these are completely new problems, that Luke Skywalker is a hero (remember this is TFA, not TLJ yet), and that somehow these things just sprung up out of nowhere. BUT YEAH, RESISTANCE, WOO!

As for Rey, she’s like... a worse version of Luke. Her only motivation through the entire series is her trauma at being abandoned by her parents. That’s it, there’s nothing else to her, nothing else she ever wants or feels conflicted by. She struggles with the dark side because... the dark side? Genetics? Unclear? She’s absurdly, ridiculously, powerful in a way that’s acknowledged but never that acknowledged (we’ll get into this) and the movies just fail to sell me on her in any way.

Honestly, an easy fix for me would have just been making Rey a much younger character. I could believe a fourteen-year-old having stayed in the desert, scrounging for scraps, believing her parents are coming back every day now. As a twenty-something year old... It starts getting hard to believe she never left. (Also, this gets the benefit of getting rid of Reylo, which is always a plus for me).

As for Kylo Ren, I legitimately walked out of TFA thinking he was supposed to be comic relief. He’s what happens when someone desperately wants a likable, redeemable, villain and we get... Well, as a reminder his opening scene is one of genocide: he pillages and destroys a town with no regret and brutally tortures a man for information. We’re told he’s like this “because evil evil Snoke” and that may well be but throughout the film (and the series) it becomes clear that Kylo Ren’s main motivation is he deseprately wants to be cool. He wants to be a badass like Vader, he dresses in Vader cosplay (either ignoring or not knowing that Vader only dressed like that because his body was completely destroyed), he has these huge temper tantrums and nobody respects him because he’s a toddler in a Vader suit.

He murders his own father, his parents who (at least in the films themselves) show every willingness to take him back and forgive him what he’s done, so that he can fully embrace his own “evilness”. In other words, he commits patricide to feel cool about himself, then it doesn’t work.

And the movie series really banks on me feeling conflicted about Kylo Ren or at least wanting him to be redeemed. Granted, the wider internet seems to love him, I just can’t.

Oh, before I forget, the other thing I love about Kylo Ren is that the movies insist he’s a) strong in the Force b) is equal to Rey. Rey consistently beats the shit out of him with 0 training. Kylo Ren has been training in the Force for years. Guys, they are not a Dyad, Rey is far far far stronger than he is and for whatever reason the films never want to admit it. Because I guess we like things coming in pairs now.

But yes, “The Force Awakens”, at a distance not great nor terrible, but a rip off of a movie we’ve already seen that left me going “Welp, the next one’s probably The Empire Strikes Back then I guess we’re getting Ewoks”. I was sort of right on that and sort of wrong.

The Last Jedi

So, JJ Abrams clearly had a vision of where he wanted this sequel trilogy to go. He set up these big questions such as what’s up with Finn, who are Rey’s parents and why was she left on this nowhere planet, will Kylo Ren be redeemed and how, who is Snoke, etc.

Now, I’m not saying these aren’t stupid questions. To be frank, they kind of are. Finn being Force Sensitive was the most inconsequential thing I’ve ever heard of, Rey’s parents should not have been used to drive the plot the way it was, as spoken above I’m clearly team gut Kylo Ren, and that Snoke was actually just Palpatine being the world’s largest cockroach is a beautiful but hilarious answer.

That said, what Johnson did was he decided, “You know what, I’m going to take every trope of Star Wars and completely flip it on its head and absolutely doom the sequel to this movie.”

And by god, he did.

We get a weirdly pointless movie in which Poe, SINGLEHANDEDLY, completely obliterates the Resistance. He first obliterates their bombers by failing to follow command, then goes and bitches about how he’s not put in command when he clearly shows no ability to understand how a military works, actively subverts orders which in turn obliterates the entire Resistance fleet until the only survivors can fit on the Millenium Falcon. They have no ships, no weapons, barely any people, and are ultimately doomed doomed doomed.

We have Finn’s weird subplot with a suddenly introduced character Rose in which the pair aid in Poe’s blowing up the resistance (they send sensitive information using the communication equipment of a guy they do not know, who fully admits to being shady and out for his own skin, and are flabergasted when he betrays them).

Rose herself is this weirdly sweet person who seems forced into the plot to a) provide a love triangle for Finn and Rey b) provide this forced sunny outlook that I didn’t really need in the film.

We get Rey never really being trained, going into the Cave of Wonders for a few seconds, falling in love with Kylo Ren over weird Force Skype calls (where I did not need to see him shirtless, thank you film) and being horrifically betrayed when Kylo Ren turns out not to be a great guy. Never saw that coming, Rey.

As for Kylo Ren, well... God, we get Emperor Kylo Ren. Kylo Ren, the Emperor. I’m not even that upset about the anticlimactic murder of Snoke (that was kind of funny, especially in the context of Palpatine going, “Bitch, please, you’re in my chair” immediately in the next film) but just Kylo Ren being emperor. And also that the Resistance only escapes at all because he’s so dumb he made their dumb plans seem smart (i.e. concentrates all his firepower on an illusion for ten minutes while Hux goes, “Emperor, sir, we could actually destroy the Resistance right now.”

Now, you’ll notice I didn’t complain about Luke. A lot of people are upset he became a grumpy, miserable, old hermit who sits around waiting for death. Frankly though, in this universe, that’s exactly where he is. He left “Return of the Jedi” thinking he’d saved the world, he’s resurrected the Jedi Order, and all is well. Only a decade later, his students are all murdered by his nephew, the Empire’s back, and he accomplished nothing. He’s an utter failure as a Jedi (though Luke never realizes he knew jack shit about the Jedi Order and was in way over his head but I guess that’s beyond him). Why shouldn’t he go sit on a rock and wait to die?

Now, did he have to drink that blue dinosaur milk? Well, I guess it was funny, gross but funny so... Sure, I guess he did. But I do like that he gave Rey 0 training, they had one meditation session and then he whined about how Obi-Wan was such a stupid asshole. And then Rey ran off to be with her boyfriend, who then told her that her parents were gutter trash (which again, was funny, but I don’t think that was supposed to be funny).

Of the characters introduced in the movie, the only one I really liked was the hacker, and it was for the actor/the beautiful way in which he gracefully exited stage left with zero shame going, “You all knew I was going to betray you!” You beautiful man, you.

Rise of the Skywalker

First, when something is called “Rise of the Skywalker” you know you’re in for a rough time.

But anyways, TLJ was filled with a controversy Disney didn’t want (half their audience hated it, half loved it, but at least they sold those penguin dolls) so they desperately get Abrams back. Only, what he clearly wanted from his series has been shot to hell, and now he’s left with Emperor Kylo Ren, a completely obliterated Resistance, a dead Luke, a love interest he never planned to introduce for Finn, Rey’s parental crisis being solved with trash people, Snoke just suddenly dead, Hux planning revenge, and then some.

And so, Abrams goes the brave and hilarious route of shouting “PRETEND THAT LAST MOVIE NEVER HAPPENED”

We open to a fully functioning Resistance (their bomber fleet is back, their fleet period is back, they have all their fully trained personnel). We have Rey getting the Jedi training she needed this time from Leia, who is now a Jedi, because yay feminism rammed down my throat to make the audience feel better. Rose says “It’s cool guys, I don’t want to join the adventure this film, I’m going to stay here and work on robots” so that she can gracefully exit the entire plot. Kylo Ren is demoted from Emperor in two seconds when we discover that a) Snoke was apparently Palpatine b) for unexplained reasons Palpatine’s alive (and I am now convinced that man will never die). Kylo Ren tells Rey at the first opportunity that he lied about her trash parents AND REALLY SHE’S A PALPATINE! THIS WHOLE TIME, REY! THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. I’M SUPER SERIAL THIS TIME, REY.

Basically, in the course of an overly long movie, Abrams desperately shoves in everything he was trying to get out of the series, while sobbing, and sobbing even harder when things like Finn being Force Sensitive or Lando having a secret daughter get caught. I actually agree with the Producers on this, by the way, the Finn trying to tell Rey something scenes were weird and indicative of a love triangle but him being Force Sensitive instead... It says a lot that the movies did not change when it was removed, at all. And Lando was just this strange cameo who was in the film to make us feel nostalgic.

And this isn’t even getting to the ridiculous 24 hour time limit (which made me think there should have been some video game style clock in the corner letting us know when Dawn of the Third Day is coming), Palpatine’s other secret army on a secret Sith planet that can be easily taken down by taking out one navigation tower, Rey’s hilarious struggle with the dark side in which she has a vision of herself in a cape hissing, Kylo Ren’s hilarious redemption in which the movie in the form of Leia and Han Solo says, “Alright, Ben, it’s time to stop being evil” and he says “okay”, the fight with Palpatine in which I’m supposed to believe he dies for reals because... I have no idea why I’m supposed to believe he’s dead. The Reylo, god the Reylo, and Kylo Ren’s tragic, hilarious, death.

And then, of course, the ending where Rey decides she’s a Skywalker now.

I actually did laugh all the way through “Rise of the Skywalker”, you can’t not, I mean it’s a hilariously awful movie. The only thing that might have made it more hilarious was if we actually did get those Ewoks.

TL;DR

They’re all bad movies, if you want more specifics than this, you’re just going to have to ask me questions.

#ask #anon #anti star wars sequels #anti rey #anti kylo ren #anti reylo #ah what beautiful awful movies #i look foward to the characters being shocked and appalled when yet another evil empire arises in five years #i look forward to them being even more shocked when palpatine's still not dead #that man will never die

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mentallydatingahotcelebrity · 3 years

Text

LOKI SHOW AU:

Sylvie is a 16/17 year old character called “Nokka” (which is Norse feminine for No One). Loki reluctantly takes her under his wing when he meets her. After some time running from the TVA, and dealing with issues where Nokka “wants revenge” but struggles with hurting people when it comes down to it (esp from the TVA because she knows they’re all mind-controlled variants) Loki sits her down and demands to know the truth “because for a Loki you’re a terrible liar”.

Nokka admits/reveals that she’s NOT a Loki at all, just an Asgardian orphan who messed with the time-stream by accident (overhearing Loki tell a guard to inform Odin Thor was going to Jotunheim and running ahead to tell the Allfather when the soldier sneered at Loki’s back or smth else trivial). Loki asks her why she never chose a name for herself aside from what others gave her, and she says she didn’t really have time while being on the run to think of anything but Loki.

Loki is semi touched by this (but says nothing). (Nokka wistfully mentions in passing that while hiding on Midgard she heard the name Sylvie and thought it was nice too). Loki comforts her with a bit of awkwardness, then announces he’s going to help her with her powers and how to fight “less like an alley cat and more like a warrior from Asgard”. He also tells her that if she truly wants vengeance, she’s going to have to kill people. Nokka rebuts this with the declaration that she’s already killed people—citing those she’s had to kill to survive. Loki acknowledges that, but states that those killings are different from what she’s going to have to do if they want to win and get out with their lives.

(Aside: Kang wants Loki captured because OG Loki is different from the rest of his variant selves because he ADAPTS and grows his personality and character—whereas other Lokis do not. Kang feels OG Loki and Nokka are a threat to his rule, and he wants to permanently erase them to keep his rule over the Timeline secure)

Loki and Nokka make their way through the worlds and pull off a heist and crash the TVA with Mobius’s help. Ravonna prunes Mobius and Nokka out of rage and bitterness for destroying the order/TVA she loves—Loki, though he could escape, prunes himself too (showing how he can change his character from the other variants of himself).

In The Void, Loki stumbles among other loki variants, and finds Nokka moping by herself in one corner of Kid Loki’s underground palace. At the same time, Mobius arrives and busts them out of “Loony Loki Jail”. Impressed and amused, once they’re safe Loki asks how Mobius found them. The TVA agent declares that he found a trail of “complete and utter chaos, and followed that”. The trio share a laugh over this before growing solemn and trying to figure out what to do. Loki discusses Alioth and the strange energy the monster gives off, as well as the malevolent eternal purple mist. Mobius makes the offhand remark about going into it, or Nokka using her “wacky mind-controlling powers” on Alioth to get passed the giant to explore the mist.

Nokka hedges, nervous because she’s never controlled anything that big before. She walks away to sit by herself, staring out at the undulating violet mist. Loki likes the plan and irons out some details with Mobius before wandering down to Nokka. He sits beside her silently. Nokka announces “you can’t manipulate me like Thor—no Jotunheim trip 2: This Time Alioth.” Loki agrees that he can’t. Nokka smiles but hugs her knees to her chest with a shiver, rocking slowly. Loki asks what’s wrong—if she’s scared. Nokka shakes her head “just cold”. Loki magicks a blanket and gives it to her kindly, petting her hair (in a dad way lmao). They sit in silence staring at the mist. Loki quietly messes around beside her, magicking knives and bracers and other small pieces of armor for himself (we’ll give him an Asgardian tunic somewhere along the line because BURN the fugly TVA clothes). Nokka glances at him as he does this. Loki catches her and they share Looks.

Nokka shrugs and turns away. Carefully, as he cleans a dagger with a cloth, Loki wonders about two people controlling Alioth. Nokka eyes him warily. Loki briefly demonstrates/elaborates on how he can reveal or illuminate thoughts and parts of the mind, but can’t control it like she can. He quietly declares that if she shows him how, perhaps they can do it together. Nokka hesitates, but agrees.

So Mobius goes to distract Alioth. Classic Loki sees this (and as the only one actually paying attention to Nokka and OG Loki, runs in to help, doing the same thing he did in the show, allowing Mobius to escape). Nokka falters with the mind control, but Loki takes her hand and encourages her (insert some witty line about “only learning that day himself, after all”) and Nokka presses on. They succeed, and stare at a pathway through the mist.

Loki glances at Nokka, and tells her to “lead the way”. Grinning, but quickly sobering, Nokka heads toward the path. Mobius catches up to Loki then, and informs Loki he’s going back to the TVA to “raise more hell”. Loki grins, and Mobius “thanks him for the spark” like in the show. They embrace (to Loki’s surprise) before Loki follows Nokka. Mobius watches them until they disappear into the mist and then summons an orange portal and vanishes himself.

Walking through the mist, Nokka declares something “off”, and Loki agrees “like being laid in ambush”. Unsettled, they continue—but draw blades. At last they reach a half-burned and dilapidated castle at the edge of a cosmos. They come up to the black doors but nothing happens. Nokka blasts the doors off their hinges, increasingly paranoid. Loki criticizes the action but they proceed anyway. (Everything basically happens as in the show, but Kang is Not Friendly—menacing and ominous (think horror movie character—something off but not obvious) due to him wanting to destroy both Loki and Nokka). Loki catches on before Nokka to Kang’s intentions, and stands, lashing out at Kang. Nokka is confused and feels lied to (let’s say there’s some truth twisted into lies Kang said about Loki “and his lust for power” so she feels uncertain). A fight ensues between Kang and Loki but Kang uses Loki’s Frost Giant heritage against him. Kang says he’d accept Nokka as a protégé “because I’ve watched you—you’re teachable” but wants her to kill Loki “to prove she’s not as worthless as he is”.

Loki looks at her as she walks up to him, and he tells her “you only grow as far as you allow people to cage you” (or some other philosophical elegant line). Making the realization that Nokka will truly be just an imitation of all the other Loki variants if she kills Loki for her own self-succession, she drops the knife and instead frees Loki from whatever magical/enchanted snare Kang got him into. Kang lashes out, but Loki jumps up in front of Nokka, and takes whatever blow it was (maybe permanent obliviation, maybe transport to another timeline idk yet). Looking triumphant at the empty room, Kang turns around and wanders back to his desk “another mess all cleared up” he hums to himself.

Nokka appears out of the shadows and grabs his arm as he moves to sit, whirling Kang around. Angrily, tears in her eyes, she stabs him twice in the chest with one of Loki’s daggers he’d dropped. Kang collapses back into his chair, and laughs at her. He says some things about his alternate selves being even more cruel than him, that he’s “a kitten” in comparison, and she’ll never defeat them—“just a little nobody. Doomed to fail because you don’t have a name to be remembered by. A No One.” Nokka stoops over him, wielding Loki’s knife.

“I’m not no one—I’m Sylvie. Lokidottir.” She stabs Kang. After he dies, she wanders to the window, staring out at the splintering multiverse. She collapses, crying, because she’s alone. “You promised we’d win together,” she whispers to herself, a little broken.

(Opening to Consider for a potential Part II: a large flash of green out in the multiverse. Sylvie jerks her head up and stares—before grinning.)

Some notes:

The whole “love yourself” angle in this AU of the show is Loki learns to care for Sylvie even when she lashes out—and treats her as he would have wanted to be treated when he lashed out.

Kang is Not Nice. He’s not as bad as other versions of himself, but he is absolutely the bad guy in this AU.

Loki isn’t an idiot. Full stop. And he uses magic A LOT.

Loki takes a mentor role in this. HE IS THE MAIN CHARACTER, and Sylvie is a secondary role that morphs into an MC. He doesn’t get run over by Sylvie’s girl!pain backstory.

Sylvie isn’t a shitty annoying asshole kween. She’s a scared teenager. She’s not capable of huge fights or dumb shit like the canon shitshow.

This is Very Much a sibling or father/daughter relationship between Loki and Sylvie. No romance. PLATONIC ONLY!!!!

The TVA is EVIL. Not “a necessary evil” but completely, absolutely, reprehensibly evil. Autocratic and fascist, if you will. The interrogation Loki endures in the first episode (and then with Sif in episode ???) will be framed as torture.

Can’t really think of a faceclaim to the Nokka/Sylvie character (cuz DiMartino would be WAAAY too old for this one). But I’m thinking like a young Maia Mitchell or Mackenzie Foy type teenager. Gotta be brunette—cuz the blonde is stupid as shit and makes no sense. We want a Lady Loki lookalike here, folks (even if she’s NOT Loki; Nokka made herself APPEAR like him after taking his name so she could to be called one of his variants).

This makes room for a Loki “replacement” so Hiddleston could bow out, AND makes it “feministy” for the ladies; but ALSO allows for GOOD WRITING and Loki to keep his dignity/agency as a main character/antihero.

This whole thing was fully and completely inspired by this song while I drove home from work:

youtube

@fast-and-the-curious what say u to this AU?

#anti loki #the shitshow: a rewrite

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cherripeach · 3 years

Text

Chapter 1

Little Match Maker

Summary: Your life motto is "I have the power of god and anime on my side, don't mess with me," and you stand by that with your life. No human, magician, or random creature could ever stop your firm belief in it.

However, getting transported to this world that seemed to turn your already bad luck worse was not what you wanted to be in your life story, but you made the most of it.Making friends, enemies, and disasters, you were in your prime in this world, and so you decided to help as many people as you could flourish, at least what you believed to be.

Prologue 1-2: Is this a kidnapping?

Chapter Summary: Waking up in a coffin is a great way to spend your day! Don't even ask about the sus masked man and creepy cat.

Words: 3.5k

Relationships: Developing as of now, but future twisted character/reader

Warning: Curse words, jokes about death because lack of fear of danger, joke about Crowley being mentally insane, low-key sex jokes, self deprecating humor, (If I missed anything, please tell me)

Covered in darkness, you were stuck in a small, somewhat squared space. It seemed like today was not your day, but you did get a lot of sleep, you assume. You reached out to every side to make sure that there was no opening or latch that you just could not see. While you were reaching around for something, all the sudden you heard an old creaky door open. Apparently, you were supposedly in a bigger room if this large box containing you could fit in it.

“Was I... kidnapped…?” You could have never guessed this would happen, and you always thought they would be too annoyed with you to actually keep you, “but I’m not a kid.”

It seemed that really nothing would ever go your way because immediately after you affirm your belief that you would not be someone good to kidnap a much greater voice entered the room, and so you stopped your mind to process the words being said, “...lid is too heavy.. Time for my secret move!”

Confusion seemed to radiate off of you at that line, at least, until there was a sharp thud to whatever you were in. But after the thud was a second of calm; nothing happened, no footsteps were heard, and no one spoke. Yet suddenly instead of a loud thud there was slowly heat entering the area you were in. The heat began to engulf the box around you, and soon you could see the bright blue flames eating everything up. In your desperation and in your brain’s rush of survival skills, your mind freaked and decided to take control of your body to both scream and kick the front of this box. The door or whatever of the box spasmed when your kick hit it and your body threw itself up from the heat located in the now black box that looked really much like a coffin. Your observations on where you were ended quickly when you saw a little being running to you. The creature looked like a weird cat mix between a fox or something, but the fact that it was running on its back legs really threw you off. The creature stared at you after you stopped your evaluation of this strange being, and he panicked much like your previous actions.

“wHY aRe yOu up?” the creature could never seem to stop mumbling to themself you learned, and you only heard his last phrase before you could process the rest.

“Wow, the CGI on you is amazing!” This place seemed to be like a living breathing set from your assumption because no kidnapping could ever be as odd and elegant as this place. You always assumed that whenever someone gets kidnapped they would wake up in an abandoned warehouse tied to a wooden chair and men with weapons would come in and interrogate the kid. Waking up in a coffin is not how a kidnapping should happen. Anyway, the cat just seemed as stunned as you and stopped his motions.

“CGAI?? What are you talking about? I am the Great Grim,” the cat bounced back awfully quick after your so-called rude statement to him, “Now give me your clothes, human! Otherwise,... I’ll roast ya.” This “Great Grim” seemed to have quite the ego to think that you would strip for him. He even puffed out his chest throughout his speech and put his paws on his hips.

“Ah ah, no way am I stripping without you giving me money.” You would not be stopped or told to do anything by a little creature that in your eyes could not hurt you.

However, the creature could not swallow your lack of obedience or the words that came out of your mouth, so he in all honesty started to attack you with this “CGI blue fire” again. He acted a lot more like an arrogant child than an arrogant child would act. He even screams something about him being “The Great Grim” again before he gets closer to you. Once he got close to your personal bubble, you decided to see if the fire really was the claimed hottest fire in the world because of its color. You reached out and basically grabbed the fire with an open hand and left it there letting your mind pend what was going on around you, and immediately your brain and its nerves picked up on the pain in your hand. Not believing your nerves, you kept your hand there for another second and pulled it away to look at it, only to notice that the skin on some of your hand was distinguishably different from the rest of your hand. Your mind paused, and you snorted at yourself while you observed your hand and slowly turned around and sprinted from the creature that was gaining on you while you stood there gazing at your hand.

This set or whatever had very real effects as seen by the cat that was continuing to chase you and scream for you to give him your uniform or something and by the bright blue flame. It didn’t just look cool but it also hurt and in your book that’s amazing! The world of CGI and effects really have changed, and wherever and whenever you are, they are way ahead of their time.

Your running from the cat never seemed to stop and you passed tons of weird areas. There was a little classroom, a weird well, and some odd architecture but overall this set was ‘set to perfection.’

You decided to go into the next room you saw to see if this set continued or had any more different scenes, and so you went into this library with tons of floating books. When entering, you noticed that the cat creature was still behind you, but you paid it no mind, not willing to listen to the being and continuing to explore this library.

“You really thought you could get away from my nose? Dumb human! Hand over your clothes if you don’t wanna-” The creature really seemed set on your clothing, but another great sound cut him off as he screamed a large “owww” and later only to respond to the previous sound with a “What’s this cord?”

You turned from the books you were observing and saw a tall man with a top hat and a bird mask like a masquerade party. His cloak and whole ensemble appeared to be out of a fairy tale; he looked like a misunderstood villain whose whole family and lover had died in the past and so he turned to evil in order to help himself deal with the pain. He did look somewhat like an asshole though. Not the point though, let’s get on task.

“This is no mere cord. It is a lash of love.” Briefly in your head you thought that this man deserved to be called clinically insane, but at this point that’s just being rude to those who are. The man after he caught the cat by wrapping the cord around the creature turned to you. “Found you at last. Are you one of the new students?”

And in your haze instead of being confused you nodded, so he continued his speech.

“You should not do things like that. Leaving the Gate on your own!” his manner of speaking was almost too flamboyant for you, but right now all you can do is stick with him and get out of this place, “Not only that, you have yet to tame your familiar which has broken a number of school rules.”

Just as confused as seeing the talking cat, you decided to nod your head and shepley mumble an apology so this man would get off your ass about the talking CGI cat and you apparently. And as quickly as you thought you figured out the situation and what he was trying to lecture you on, the man continued his speech after the cat screamed out that he “wasn’t your familiar!” or something and another.

“Sure, sure The rebellious ones always say things like that. Now quiet down for a moment.” You just watched on as the man slammed his hand over the cat’s mouth and continued on talking, “My goodness. It’s unprecedented for a new student to leave the Gate on their own...how impatient can you be?” His eyes locked on yours to make sure you were paying attention, so you just nodded your head again to show that you were listening when you weren’t.

His speech seemed to be going for a century so you got bored and noticed that after a while he closed his eyes and was not paying attention to you while still having animated hand movements. You, then, began to observe the shelves around you again to see if there was anything odd, and there was, many of the books seemed to be in this weird language that you have never seen. The language looked like something you would find in a horror movie where the people would be so curious to actually touch the book and not throw it away like they should have, so you decided that as much as this place was odd and mysterious you did not want to be that kind of idiot. However, in your inner dialogue of stupid characters in horror movies, the theatrical man turned around with his cap flying behind him and sauntered on out of the room. You realized he probably said something important, but the worst case scenario is he was the one that kidnapped you and would kill you later. No big deal. The main problem right now is that the man was walking too fast for your tastes and has already disappeared from your vision, so you ran to catch up with him.

Finally, you met his step in a hallway, and you decided to ask just what this all was. “Wait, wait, wait sir. First, what’s this Gate or whatever?” You did fake quotes around the word gate by putting up peace signs and bending your fingers, and then you looked at the man with your arms situated over your chest and puffed your chest out to show you meant to be answered when you resumed with “And who are you, man?”

The man, though, was not at all bothered at your vibe and started a new explanation, “It’s the room you woke up in with all the doors...” Then, he went on about this “academy” or something, and you were getting the vibe that this man and this set had to be some kind of prank, “Let’s get a move on!”

You really seemed to be missing the important parts of the conversation or lecture of whatever this so-called teacher is doing if this even is a school, but at this point and time you just want to go back to bed.

He began to stare at your dazed and puzzled form and said, “For I am gracious I will explain everything to you!” This man is like teachers in the fact that if you nod your head and look like you are paying attention, anything is possible. At the end of his speech, you caught the word “ceremony” before he sped off for you to only follow behind him. You went through several more hallways to get to where you think you woke up around. No one remembers what happened once they woke up; it is all just blurred reality.

The man in all of his glory decides that once you arrive at this large door to fling the door open and teacher-yell “Not at all!”

Out of the flurry of voices you were greeted by once the door was opened one person in the cloak just like you calmly states a little disappointedly “Ah, he’s here.”

You decided that with the added amount of people you should probably pay more attention so you can get home quicker and figure this prank out.

“I cannot believe you all…” You really are getting better at tuning the man out because after his short speech this time he turned to you as motioned for you to move in the direction of another object that would come out of a horror movie. You having no context for this mirror or what you were going to do started walking for the mirror while making out the mirror and area around it. Actually, there was a familiar face in the mirror, something you think you have seen from a Disney movie. It was the magic mirror mask (?) from the Snow White movie. It did look a little different with some mask markings by the face’s eyes and the mirror had some more intricate details, but other than that the mirrors looked almost identical.

After your moment of remembrance of the past, you stopped from your walk and put your hand on your chin and just paused to process it all, causing the entire room to stop from their constant talking that you didn’t notice and stare. In a brilliant moment of association, you turned around to the man and the cat that was still in his arms and tried to get out all of what your brain has concluded from the situation, “So like can we just stop this… like I know you were probably hired to prank me or something, but this situation is giving me hardcore cult vibes. Are you gonna like sacrifice me to Satan or something? Please do tell.” The time of the room stopped waiting for a single response to your question. Before there were murmurs here or there as the people were watching you, but now silence pierced the air.

You watched the man’s face after you said your opinion, and while it was covered by a mask, it was clearly obvious from his open mouth and sagged shoulders that he was shocked about the situation. After a moment, he adjusted his tie and dusted his shoulder off in an effort to steel himself, but you were having none of his b.s, and prattled on again.

“Like, I’ll tell you, you lecturing me about this school and that cat is not what I was planning to do today. I would like to get back to my bed and sleep.” You even told him the name of your town, but this just made him more lost than before.

He repeated your town and asked, “Are you even from Twisted Wonderland?”

“Twisted what,” now both of you were lost and gawking at each other.

“Were you not listening to me?”

“Honesty, I thought this was a prank from the second you walked in, and I still kinda do, so I blanked everything out.” You scratched your cheek and made sure you lost your previous eye contact with him. The lack of of chatter from the crowd made your interaction more awkward than even you could make one.

He placed his free hand on his forehead looking almost as disappointed as the first voice you heard besides him and looked down to the floor.

“Right now we are in Night Raven College in Twisted Wonderland where we are at the end of the entrance ceremony. You should be here to become a student at this school as a magician. However, even if you are not from here, the mirror did send for you, so please,” he paused and weakly threw his hand back in the direction of the mirror, “Step in front of the mirror.”

While you knew you could not trust the man, the only thing to do in this situation is turn and step in front of the familiar mirror. The mirror then grasped the attention of all those in the room as asked you to “State thy name,” and you told the mirror your name.

“The shape of thy soul is…” Consequently, the mirror began to join in the confusion of you and the man behind you, “I don’t know.”

You turned around and threw both your hands up in a “don’t look at me” sign only for the man to gaze right in the mirror past you. “Come again?”

The mirror still pulling a puzzled face when it was only a mask tried to state what it knew, “I sense not a spark of magic from this one… the color, the shape, all are nothing. Therefore, they are suited for no dormitory.”

While the people around you began their whispers, and the man behind you gasped in a weird over exaggerated way, you decided to state your mind. “So, like I knew that, but pissy. I’ve always wanted magic and stuff.”

The masked man did not comment on what you said; you think that he probably has had enough of everything. “An Ebony Carriage would absolutely never go to meet someone who can’t use magic. In a hundred years, there has not been one mistake in student selection. So why in the world…”

You cut in with “I’m a total mistake, sir, that’s why,” but the CGI ‘Great Grim’ jumped out of the man’s hold and further cut you off: “Then, I’ll take their place!” All of this is getting too weird too fast so you just casually walked out of the limelight next to someone who was in a group of five, you think, not counting the floating tablet (??). The cat appeared mad before but being in that man’s hold just made him worse.

“Stay right there! Raccoon!” The masked, clearly sus man bolted out after the cat and chased him around at least for a few feet.

“Unlike that dumb human, I can use magic! Let me in the school instead! If you need proof, I’ll show you right now!” The cat was running around the room trying to avoid as many things as possible. You thought that he looked like a crewmate in the waiting ship for Among Us.

The peace did not last longer before the same disappointed voice from when you walked in the room became cross while screaming “Everyone, get down!”

The cat, then, spit out fire in every direction. Neither you nor the person next to you ducked, but you noticed some fire make its way to you and tried to get them out of the way before anything happened. Just as you were about to reach them, they caught on fire. Oops.

“Waaaaah! Hot! My butt’s on fire!” the male, you assumed, yelled right in your ear vibrating your eardrum and causing you to take a step back before fixing the problem. You spotted the man from before screaming to the other people in the room, and then, pointing at the cat.

Two of the taller people next to you began a conversation which you tried to listen in on:

“Good at hunting?... nice, plump snack?” You don’t think you wanted to hear this conversation.

“...Do it yourself.”

You focused your mind back to the boy who was still screaming in your ear until more voices piped up in response to the man.

“Mr. Crowley, please leave it to me.” another boy in the group of five said with this really profound voice. You could just tell he was a bottom or something. You are also assuming that “Mr. Crowley” is the masked sus man.

“That’s Azul for you. Always trying to earn himself points.” Let’s just ignore the talking, floating tablet and everything that should be questioned and focus on the fact that the bottom’s name is Azul.

The boy next to you with his butt still on fire did not find this conversation as interesting as you which in retrospect is obvious because of the fire on his butt. “Um, hey, could someone put out the fire on my butt already?”

“O gosh, I’m so sorry. I got really distracted by everything,” You aimed all your concentration that you had at the boy. You slapped the area that was on fire several times to get the fire out, and after a few slaps, the fire slowly extinguished on the boy. The fire was not as bad as it looked.

The boy turned around to face you and beamed at you as you believe the personification of the Sun would look like. “Thank you!!” His bright red eyes gazed right through your soul through your eyes, sparkling every couple of seconds. You patted the golden retriever’s hood as he just continued to beam through you. He even grabbed your hands and shook them rapidly several times to show his thanks to you and squeezed them to finally drop his grip.

You ignored the conversation that was happening between several others of the group of five in favor of staring at the young sun. A couple seconds after two of the clocked people began to run after the cat. That was your clue to start to pay more attention to the situation at hand than the sun.

~~~

So this was supposed to be a lot sooner but then exams hit and that's always fun. This chapter just had to have my mind commenting on everything, so half of the chapter we don't even know what happens, but it's really only gonna be for this chapter. Thank you for reading this, and I apologize for any mistakes, but I hope you enjoy it! Have a great day or night!

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jombocostello · 3 years

Text

You’ll Never Be Alone Again (Polnareff x Reader)

Anonymous asked: would it b possible to request some angsty polnareff stuff 😳😳😳✌🏼❤️

I would like to formally thank you for sending me this request. I’ve had this idea for a couple months now and you finally inspired me to write it out! I really hope you enjoy it, it was certainly very fun to write. Thanks again!!

(I’m also gonna add a link to a Polnareff fanfiction I did back in April that fits this request too if you want to check it out!)

It's been a pretty busy day today. Ridiculously so, in fact. You and your fellow crusaders arrived in Cairo, Iggy went off on his own and defeated a stand user, and Kakyoin made his long-anticipated return from the hospital. And maybe most importantly - you now know where Dio is.

The seven of you stand outside of Dio's mansion, staring warily at the tall front gate. You can feel your heartbeat speed up in your chest as you realize what this means: you're truly going to have to fight Dio. Maybe even today. You've been building him up in your mind as this ultimate evil, who's virtually unkillable...and now you're going to have to kill him. You take a quick breath and fold your arms over your chest.

The others seem to share your feelings. Everyone looks either anxious, frightened, or some mixture of the two. No one wants to speak, so you all just turn your gazes to Joseph, who's at the front of the group.

He turns around when he realizes there are eyes on him, and he takes a deep breath. "...We shouldn't attack today," he finally says, and you feel your whole body relax. "We'll get a hotel tonight and move tomorrow, in the early morning. So that Iggy and Kakyoin can rest." You glance down at Iggy, whose leg is wrapped in bandages. He'd taken a horrible beating from whatever stand user had been guarding Dio's lair. Kakyoin seems alright, though you haven't seen him without those sunglasses yet. You wonder if his eyes are looking okay.

"Thank you, Mr. Joestar," Avdol says, breaking you from your thoughts. "I think a night in a warm bed will do all of us some good." Jotaro nods from beside him, somehow looking even more somber than he usually does.

"Of course. I agree." Joseph begins heading in the other direction, and you follow him, walking quickly to keep up with the group's long strides. After all this time, you're still in awe of the sheer height of these guys. Joseph and Avdol are speaking in hushed voices a ways ahead of you, and Jotaro and Kakyoin are doing some catching up as they walk. Kakyoin holds Iggy gently in his arms, and Iggy seems really pissed about it, but he puts up with it for the moment; his leg probably kills. That leaves you at the rear of the formation, all caught up in your thoughts.

"How are you feeling, (Y/N)?"

Oh. Polnareff. You look up when he speaks from just behind you. "Uh... I'm trying to work that out right now." He smiles a little at your reply and falls in step beside you. He doesn't walk as quickly as everyone else; he always tries to match your pace. "I'm just glad that we're gonna do it tomorrow."

He lets out a big sigh, nodding exaggeratedly. "So am I. I can't even begin to tell you how anxious I just was. I felt like my heart was going to explode."

You laugh a little. "Yeah, me too. It really sucked." You tuck your hands into your pockets. "Now we're just putting off that feeling until tomorrow, but... Whatever. One more normal night."

"Not just normal," Polnareff interjects, and you look back at him, raising your eyebrows. "One more great night! We've got to make it a night to remember, don't you think?"

You grin now, and you've almost completely been freed from the anxiety of a few minutes ago. "Yeah. That sounds like a great idea, Polnareff." He nods his head definitively and keeps walking, and as he turns away you do as well.

You're glad that Polnareff wants to spend tonight with you. You had figured that he would; you two have gotten along really, really well on this trip. You share a lot of traits, like your sense of humor, your confidence and sometimes smugness in your fighting abilities, and your semi-often moments of stupidity. Really, you just like goofing off together.

You hope you'll be able to do that tonight, if the two of you can push through the somber cloud hanging over the whole group.

After a bit more walking, you reach a nearby hotel. You step inside and sit down on a chair near the front desk, sighing. Joseph and Avdol head over to speak to the receptionist, and everyone else huddles around your chair.

Kakyoin seems a little tired of holding Iggy, so you outstretch your arms. "Hey, I'll take him." Kakyoin smiles gratefully as he hands you the little dog, who seems to have resigned to being carried like a baby. You set him on your lap and yawn, absentmindedly petting his smooth fur. Before you've even realized what you're doing, he reaches around and nips your hand. "Shit - what was that for?!" you yelp, looking down at Iggy with wide eyes. He just shrugs (as well as a dog can) and gets comfortable again.

"I told you that dog is an asshole," Polnareff says, pointing forcefully at the innocent little Boston terrier. "A very self-aware asshole."

You glower at the smug dog sitting in your lap and nod. "Yeah. Thanks for that, asshole dog." Kakyoin laughs a little at your insult, while the dog just rolls his eyes. You know he seems to terrorize Polnareff the most for some reason, but you have a feeling it's started to come from a place of love, even if Iggy would never admit it. Just as you're about to tease Iggy about his secret friendship, Joseph and Avdol return to the group.

"This place is packed," Joseph announces, jingling the keys in his hand. "We've got three rooms. We can divvy them up however we want." Joseph makes the first move by clapping his hand on Avdol's shoulder. "I'll be staying with Muhammad here!" Avdol smiles, with just the slightest tinge of exasperation in his face at Joseph yelling in his ear, and Joseph dangles the other two room keys in front of you.

"I'm sure I can guess who you're choosing, (Y/N)," he says, a teasing smirk on his face.

You roll your eyes and snatch a key out of his hand, tucking it into your pocket. "Yeah, I'll be staying with the second best stand user here." You look up at Polnareff and grin.

He pretends to be mortally hurt by your words, clutching his heart. "Second best? You wound me." He lets out a full laugh, one that you feel in your own chest, and your smile turns into something softer. "I'm kidding. I know you think just as highly of me as I do of you."

"I could tell, dude," you say to him, laughing under your breath. "But thank you. I'm glad you think that." You lean back in your chair, looking around at everyone else.

While you and Polnareff have been playing out your dumb little rapport, the final room assignment has been established. Jotaro and Kakyoin pick up their small luggage bags and turn towards the elevator. "We're going to head up now, Mr. Joestar," Kakyoin says, smiling politely at the older man. "I want to try and get to sleep early."

"Of course." Joseph nods and starts to wave goodbye, but before he does, he stops himself. "Wait! If you don't mind, Kakyoin, would you take those sunglasses off? I want to see how your eyes are."

Kakyoin's expression drops a bit, but as Joseph starts to tell him he doesn't have to, he nods. "Sure. I haven't checked a mirror in a bit, so I honestly don't know how they look." He takes a quick breath and removes his dark sunglasses.

They honestly look alright. His eyes themselves, other than being a little red, look fine, and the only noticeable changes to his face are the light pink scars that run above and below each eye. You smile at Kakyoin, who looks nervous. "Well, it looks alright to me. How are they feeling?"

He's thankful for your words, you can tell. "They've been getting better. Looking at light was pretty hard yesterday, but today it's improved a lot." He reaches out and places his hand on Joseph's arm, who looks up at him with raised eyebrows. "It's because of you that I've recovered this well. Thank you."

Joseph smiles softly, nodding. "Of course. Now you get some sleep." Kakyoin slowly brings his hand back to his side and heads for the elevator.

Jotaro turns to follow him, but before he does, he lowers his head a bit. "I'll see you guys tomorrow," he says gruffly. He won't look any of you in the eyes.

"You as well, Jotaro. I hope you sleep well." Avdol's voice is much smoother and soothing than Jotaro's, and Jotaro seems to appreciate his tone. After you all bid him good night, he follows Kakyoin to their room.

Now it's the four adults and the asshole dog left in the lobby. "They're not gonna be able to get any sleep right now," Polnareff says, frowning. "They both look stressed out of their minds."

Joseph sighs. "At least they'll have each other." He forces the frown from his face and paints a grin onto his features. "So, what are your plans for the evening? Avdol and I are going to get things sorted in our room and then head down to the bar."

You smile when you hear that; you'd been hoping for one last drink with these three. On a couple previous hotel visits, you, Joseph, Avdol, and Polnareff had shared drinks at the hotel bar, usually until the early hours of the morning. They each get a little...different after a few drinks, in their own ways, and you're sure you do too. Either way, it's always fun. "Well I'd love to join you guys. Polnareff?"

When you look over at him, you're surprised to find his eyes already firmly set on you. He's not wearing an expression you were expecting; his eyes have a far-away quality that you don't recall seeing in him very often. He shakes himself a bit and smiles, nodding vigorously. "Of course! Yes, that would be great." He picks up his bag and slings it over his shoulder. "Should we get going, (Y/N)?"

"Yeah." You stand, lifting Iggy with you. "Who are you staying with, you rude little dog?" you ask, squinting at him. He turns his head to Avdol and lets out a little yip, which doesn't really surprise you; he's probably the only guy in this assembly of people that doesn't annoy Iggy on a daily basis. "Okay." You hand the dog over to Avdol, who takes him carefully. As you pick up your own bags, you turn to Joseph. "See you soon, alright? You too, Avdol." They both wave to you as you and Polnareff walk to the elevator to head up to your floor.

You're the only two in the elevator, somehow. You punch in the number and lean against the wall, letting go of a deep sigh. "Thanks for rooming with me." You look up at Polnareff, who looks like he's feeling alright, considering the circumstances. "(Y/N), it's really been great getting to know you on this journey. You're my best friend here - well, you're really my best friend anywhere."

Oh, wow - you blink, completely surprised by Polnareff's transparency right now. Usually you two just joke around together, and that seems to get your feelings across - but Polnareff's being completely genuine right now, and for some reason it's really doing something to your heartbeat. Polnareff takes a couple steps closer to you, and your breath catches. "I want you to know that I - "

The elevator dings loudly and you both jump, turning to the door. A few young women walk inside, laughing loudly with each other. You back into the wall a bit to make room for them, clutching the strap of your bag. One of the girls looks from you to Polnareff and then smiles widely. She starts murmuring something to Polnareff that's just soft enough to be indecipherable to you - and Polnareff's eyes widen. He looks at her and shakes his head, and when the girl's face falls, the elevator dings again and opens to your floor.

You slide past the girls and step out of the elevator, Polnareff following close behind. As you walk down the hall, you turn to look at Polnareff. "What was that about?" you ask.

Polnareff shrugs, looking sheepish. "She just wanted to know what I was doing tonight. Obviously I told her I was busy." You feel your face grow a little warm when you hear that. It's the last night before Polnareff is going off to risk his life, possibly his last night even being alive - and he turned down spending it with a beautiful girl to stay with you. You know he isn't the type to leave you like that, but the idea still makes you feel good.

You nearly run into Polnareff when he stops suddenly. "Here's our room," he says, glancing down at you and grinning. "I hope it's a nice one."

You pull the key out of your pocket and unlock the door. You both walk inside, taking a quick look around. There are two queen beds in the center of the room, and a TV sits on a little dresser against the far wall. The bathroom is just around the corner from the door. "Certainly good enough for me," you say, tossing your bag onto the bed farther from the door. As Polnareff shuts the door, you flop onto your bed and sigh. "Fuck, I'm tired."

Polnareff laughs as he sits on the other bed. "You can say that again. I've been exhausted for a week." He chuckles again, his voice slowly fading away as he leans back. "It's cozy in here."

"...Yeah, it is." The wallpaper is a warm orange color, and the sheets on your bed are pretty soft. There's a large window next to your bed that opens up and leads to a little balcony. You'll certainly spend some time out there tonight. You sit up a bit, looking over at Polnareff. "Do you think Joseph and Avdol are down there yet?"

He shrugs. "Yeah, probably. Wanna go meet them?" You nod and hop up, quickly adjusting your shirt and brushing a hand through your hair. Polnareff stands up as well and pops his head into the bathroom, eyeing his reflection. "Does my hair look alright? I didn't know if the wind had messed it up."

You smile and take a couple strides over to Polnareff, then pop up on your toes and tuck a few loose strands of hair behind his ear. "You're all good now," you say, laughing as you pat him on the cheek. He lets out a bark of laughter as you pull your hand back.

"What the hell was that?" he asks incredulously, walking to the door.

"Oh, you're just too cute, Polnareff," you answer, batting your eyelashes in the most over-the-top way you can manage. This just sends you both into a fit of giggles as you leave the room and make your way back to the elevator.

The ride down is a lot less tense than the ride up had been. You hum along to the elevator music, idly bobbing your head as you listen. Polnareff watches the numbers tick down one by one, until you reach the first floor.

It's pretty easy for you two to find the bar, and it's even easier to find Joseph and Avdol - they're easily the tallest and most muscular people in the area. You take a seat at the counter next to Avdol and pat him on the back, much like Joseph had done earlier. "Hey," you say with an easygoing smile. "What did we miss?"

"Nothing at all." Avdol slides a beer towards you, and you take it. "We just got your drinks." Polnareff takes a seat beside you and Avdol hands him another tall glass. "Do you like the hotel room?"

"Oh, it's very nice," Polnareff says. He pauses to take a swig before continuing. "I like the balcony."

Joseph nods, leaning forward so he can be seen. "It's a great hotel, I'm glad Avdol spotted it." He leans back, and the group falls silent.

You know this is just dumb small talk that's only happening so you can try and ignore the elephant in the room. You can feel yourself getting more and more anxious as Joseph, Polnareff, and Avdol keep going on about whatever they can think of - the hotel, the drinks, even the goddamn weather. You sink down lower in your seat, but before you can completely lose it, you hear the faint radio switch to a new song.

"Oh, dude!" You turn to Polnareff with a bright smile on your face. "I love this song!" He breathes out a little laugh as you start singing along. You grow gradually louder and start swaying to the beat, slinging an arm over Polnareff's shoulder and pulling him into your impromptu performance. He tries to sing along, but he clearly doesn't know the words, so he's sort of mumbling without any direction.

"You don't know the words to this? Jesus, dude, it was huge a few years back! Paul McCartney's been the king of the eighties." You let go of Polnareff and turn to face him.

He shrugs. "I don't really listen to music."

You're dumbfounded by this, and your expression reflects it. "Holy shit, Polnareff. When we're out of here you're getting introduced to the pantheon of rock."

Joseph perks up when he hears this. "I hope you'll start with the Beatles?" he says, squinting at you.

You laugh, nodding. "What kind of person would I be if I didn't?" You drink some beer and gently set down your cup. You listen as the guitars slowly fade away, and then a new song starts that you've never heard before. You think it's in Arabic. "Well..." Now that your fun little distraction has run its course, you're sort of back to square one. At least you'd made everyone smile.

"Say, Polnareff..." You all look to Joseph when he speaks. He takes off his hat and runs his prosthetic hand through his hair. "Can I talk to you for a bit? To get you started on that rock and roll education." You smile a little at that, even though it's obviously not the real reason.

"Sure." Polnareff seems to know what it's about. "I'll be back in a minute, (Y/N)." He gives you a tight-lipped smile before getting up and following Joseph out of the room.

You take Polnareff's glass and slide it over next to yours. "What do you think that's about?" you ask Avdol, who's been relatively silent for a while.

"It seems to me like Joseph's confided in Polnareff about some massive secret that's been eating at him for years. They've had a few little meetings like this before." He huffs out a laugh. "But I've got no clue what that secret is."

"Oh." Maybe Joseph wants to get it all off his chest before tomorrow, in case he - you grit your teeth. You can't get choked up now. You force yourself to drink. "How are you doing?" you ask Avdol, resting your chin in your hand and looking straight ahead. "If you don't mind me asking."

"Why would I mind? I appreciate it." You kick yourself a bit; it would only make sense that Avdol has a much better handle on his emotions than you do. "It's helped me to acknowledge that this is inevitable. It's either we fight him, or he ruins the world. It's just...a duty. It's what we have to do, because we have the powers we have."

You take a shaky breath in, nodding along slightly as he speaks. You can understand that perspective - you just wish you didn't have to. But there's no point in wishing, not this late in the game. "That makes sense," you say softly, your words muffled by your hand. "...I'm having a hard time."

He turns to you, but you can't bring yourself to look at him. "Anyone would," he says lowly. "I get it."

You steel yourself, blinking hard a few times. "Yeah. I know we're all going through the same thing right now."

He places his hand on your back, and you find your lips turning up at the gesture. "Just try to take care of yourself."

You finally look at him, and you muster a better smile. "Thanks. You too." He nods and returns your smile. As you both drink some more, a thought comes to you. "I know it's weird to think about it like this, but it's been really fun spending time with you all."

Avdol's expression brightens. "No, I agree! It's been a pleasure getting to know everyone. I know our group was thrown together under dire circumstances, but I think we've managed to make something good out of it." He's put your thoughts to words perfectly. "And... After all this, after we defeat him - just know that you'll never be alone again. We'll all be together for the rest of our lives, I know it. You'll always have friends in us."

You're suddenly struck by the urge to cry - for once, not out of abject despair. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right." You will the feeling away. "I'm actually planning on going back to New York with Joseph after this is over. I've wanted to live there all my life."

"New York?" Avdol quirks an eyebrow. "It's horribly crowded, you know."

"I don't think it's so horrible." You shrug, smiling a bit. "There's so much to do, so many new places to find... If you want, every day of your life can be a completely unique experience there." You pause. "Or so I've heard."

Avdol laughs, a rich sound that makes you laugh a little too. "Well, I hope you enjoy it there. I'll just be getting back to my business." Ah, yeah - you'd forgotten that he works right here in Cairo.

"Do you like it? Your work, that is."

"Yes." His answer comes quicker than you expected. "I think I make people happy, usually. It's not often that I have to deliver bad news. When I do... I really hate it."

"I would too." The mood's shifted into some mix of reminiscence and melancholy. You catch yourself wondering if he'll have to deliver bad news tomorrow - if he'll have to tell your family members where you've been all this time, and why you're not coming back. Jesus. You grimace; you've been fighting this thought ever since you left on this trip, but you feel the need to vocalize it.

"Hey, Avdol." He hums, glancing over at you. You shut your eyes. "I... I have a feeling we're not all getting out of this."

You hear him breathe deeply from beside you, and your frown only deepens. You slowly open your eyes, but you can't turn to face him. "You're the fortune teller. What do you think, am I right?"

You can tell he doesn't want to voice his answer, which is too telling. Finally he does. "...Yeah. I agree." Your heart drops. "I don't know who, but yes - we're not all going home tomorrow."

Your eyebrows furrow and you look down at your hands, clasping them together so tightly they hurt. Avdol is quick to speak again. "But don't let yourself give up, please. (Y/N) - if we try, we might be able to fight this." It's clear that he doesn't believe this, but you're grateful for his efforts.

"No, I won't," you reply, and you hardly feel like you're talking. "We've just got to hold on until we beat him - "

"(Y/N)!" You nearly shout when a hand lands harshly on your shoulder and a booming voice speaks your name. You whip your head around and find Polnareff grinning down at you like an idiot. "What's with the long face? Did we miss something serious?"

"Nah," you answer, watching as Polnareff sits down next to you again, and Joseph follows suit at the other end of the bar. You slide him his drink, which he gratefully accepts. "Just talking about the future."

"Hm. The future." He nods pensively. "Well, Monsieur Joestar and enjoyed a wonderful conversation about the discography of Elvis Costello." You nearly laugh at that. "But now, there's something I want to say." The three of you all look to Polnareff, who's become a bit more serious.

"You all mean so much to me. I was completely lost before I found this group - even before I was under Dio's control. It was as if all I could feel was sadness and rage, or some mix of the two. But you've all made me... Well, you've helped me to feel again." He doesn't seem very nervous, which leads you to think he's been holding on to these thoughts for a long time. "Joseph, your advice will stay with me for the rest of my life - and Avdol." He looks solemnly at the man to your left. "You've taught me so much in such a short amount of time. You'll never understand how grateful I am that you're here right now. You truly mean the world to me."

Avdol reaches out and takes Polnareff's hand, who squeezes it tightly. "Of course. It's been a delight traveling with you too, Polnareff. You've taught me a lot as well." Polnareff gives him a soft smile and lets go. As he does, he turns to you.

"(Y/N)..." You smile up at Polnareff, wondering what he might say. There's something very heroic in the way he looks right now - high above you, giving a speech that would usually be saved for the third act of an epic. He opens his mouth, and you smile a little wider. As he's about to speak, though, he's suddenly struck by a thought - and instead, he shuts his mouth and wraps his arms around you tightly.

You gasp a bit, unable to hold back your wide grin as he hugs you. You can feel your heart thumping away in your chest - you wonder if he can too. "Thank you," he whispers in your ear, "for always being with me."

"Of course," you tell him softly. "Thank you for being there for me too, Jean." He pats your back and then lets go, leaning back and beaming at you. You feel oddly exposed without his arms around you.

"With that - " He grabs his glass and raises it into the air. "I propose a toast. To our crusade and to our friendship." You pick up your glass and watch as Avdol and Joseph do the same. All at once, you clink your glasses together, laughing as Polnareff spills a bit of beer due to his enthusiasm. Once you've all finished your drinks in one long swig, you set down the empty glasses. You can't get the smile off your face.

"I'd say that was a good end to this little outing," Joseph says. "Goodnight, you guys. I'll see you tomorrow morning." He stands, and you follow suit.

"Yeah, goodnight. I hope you guys sleep alright."

Avdol nods his head. "I'm feeling pretty good, actually. I don't think sleep will be too difficult." As he speaks, he gently places his hand on your arm. "Thanks, (Y/N), for the words of reassurance."

You're pretty sure he had been the one reassuring you, but you don't saying anything. He draws his hand away and turns to Joseph. "I guess we should head back."

"What about Jotaro and Kakyoin?" You look up at Polnareff, who just brought up a point you're a little ashamed that you'd forgotten about. "We should check on them, see how they're holding up. Is that alright with you, (Y/N)?"

"Yeah, of course. It would be nice to say goodnight to them too." You crack a smile. "And maybe you can give them another one of your rousing speeches." Avdol chuckles a bit, while Polnareff's face goes red.

"W-well, anyways, we should be off. Good night, you two." Joseph and Avdol wave goodbye as you and Polnareff walk quickly to the elevator.

You share the elevator with a small, older man who looks pretty damn tired. You find yourself wondering what he's doing here - is he with his family? Away on business? Though he looks exhausted, he also keeps smiling a little to himself. You catch yourself thinking that he's a stand user, but you force that thought away. And just like that, the door opens, and he leaves. You guess he was just happy about something.

You and Polnareff get off on the next floor, which is still one below yours. You realize as you step through the doors that you forgot to ask Joseph what Jotaro and Kakyoin's room number was. "Shit," you breathe, turning and surveying the seemingly endless hallway. "I don't know which room is theirs."

Polnareff has to hold back a laugh at your expression. "Shut up," you say, punching him in the arm. "You're the one who suggested it, why the hell didn't you ask for the number?"

"Because I'm dumb! I guess we're both just dumb." You sigh, unable to keep from laughing at Polnareff's stupidly wide smile. "I suppose we can try yelling their names in the middle of the hallway until they hear us."

You nearly snort at that. "So this is what it's come to... Fine." You cup your hands around your mouth and bellow, "Jotaro! Kakyoin!" The second you do, Polnareff breaks down, folding over and absolutely dissolving into giggles. You yell again, a little louder this time. "Jotaro! Yo, guys! Kakyoin?"

The door right next you is suddenly punched, and you jump nearly a foot in the air. It seems you're disturbing the hotel patrons. You snort, leaning on the other wall and wheezing out one of the hardest laughs of your life. Polnareff grabs your shoulder and takes a shaking breath, struggling for air through his laughter. A few more people knock angrily on their doors, now annoyed with your obnoxious giggle fest in their hallway.

You suck in a deep breath and shout as loud as you can, "JOTARO!" The second the word leaves your mouth you collapse onto Polnareff, grabbing his arm as you try to stop howling with laughter. He grabs your waist to try and right you, and it nearly surprises you out of your giggles - it's quite a comforting feeling, having his hands on your waist. But the moment's over as soon as it began, and you're back to crying laughing with each other.

"Polnareff! (Y/N)! What the hell are you doing?" You both look up when you hear someone hiss at you from down the hallway. It's Kakyoin, with his head poked out of the doorway. "Just shut up and come in." You both walk over and enter his room, wiping tears from your eyes.

Their room looks just like yours. Kakyoin shuts the door behind you two and gestures for you to sit on the bed. You sit down next to Polnareff, looking around for Jotaro - he's nowhere to be found.

"He's in the shower," Kakyoin says. He sits down on the other bed and faces you. "Uh... Is there a reason you guys were screaming in the hallway?"

You snort, making Kakyoin jump. "Ah, sorry - we, uh, we didn't have your room number. So we had to resort to desperate measures." Polnareff has to hold back a laugh as well, while Kakyoin looks relatively unamused. "I'm just glad we found you. We wanted to say goodnight to you guys."

Kakyoin does smile at that. "That's nice of you. I appreciate it." You hear the shower turn off, so you figure Jotaro is done. "I... I haven't been able to get any sleep."

"I figured," Polnareff said. "This is hard to deal with. I don't know that I'll sleep much tonight either."

Kakyoin nods, playing with one of the buttons on his uniform. "Yeah." You're all silent for a few moments, until the bathroom door opens.

Jotaro steps out in a t-shirt and some pajama pants, and without his famous hat. "Looking good, Jotaro!" Polnareff calls with a grin, and Jotaro just glowers down at him.

"Hi, Jotaro," you say to make up for Polnareff's buffoonery. "So, uh..." You turn back to Kakyoin. "Was there anything you guys needed? Or did you want to do anything? We could all play cards if you want."

"I'm never playing cards again," Jotaro says from the other side of the room. "So no."

You suddenly remember when Joseph and Polnareff's souls had been trapped in poker chips, which Jotaro had to win back from the enemy stand user. Yeah, that's a good reason to never want to partake in cards again. "Ah. I get it." Jotaro sits down next to Kakyoin. "So you're all good?"

"Yes. Thanks for checking up on us." You and Polnareff both stand up.

Jotaro clears his throat. "But you don't have to treat us like little kids, assholes."

You frown. "Well shit, I wasn't trying to. I'm just worried for everyone, I guess."

Jotaro's expression eases a bit, and he nods. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I'm... I'm pretty nervous."

"Anyone would be," Polnareff says from beside you. You glance at him, and he looks a little anxious as well.

"But I'm gonna see my mom tomorrow, so it's alright." You look back to Jotaro, who has the hint of a smile on his face.

"Oh, yeah! I hope I get to meet her too, I've really wanted to."

"Yeah, I'm sure you can. She loves having people over." Jotaro shrugs. "So I guess we all just have to get through tomorrow."

You start to agree, but you suddenly remember what Avdol and you had spoken about earlier. You instead just nod your head. "Yeah." You turn to Polnareff. "Should we head back?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired." You both turn to the door, and Polnareff opens it.

As you leave, you turn around to look into the room one last time. "Goodnight, guys. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning." You give them a grin and a thumbs-up.

Kakyoin returns the gesture, which delights you. "Yeah. See you two tomorrow." And after one last wave goodbye, you leave and shut the door.

You get back to your room rather quickly. The first thing Polnareff does is flop face down onto his bed. He groans loudly and stretches his arms out to either side of him, nearly hitting you in the leg in the process. "Watch it," you say, narrowly dodging him and hopping onto your own bed. As Polnareff sits up, you grab your bag and cross your legs. "So what do you wanna do? Are you tired?"

He purses his lips. "Ah... No, not really. I'll go take a shower." You watch him stand and walk over to the bathroom, and then he disappears behind the door. Before he shuts it, he pokes his head out and calls, "See you in a minute." And with a grin and a silly wave, the door closes.

Now it's just you. You turn back to your bag, the remnants of a smile on your face. You feel really lucky to have Polnareff right now. He's such a bright and happy guy, and he's so fun to be around... You lean back against the wall and sigh.

You've learned a lot about Polnareff on this trip. He was open with you all from the very start, when he told you the story of his sister's death. It had broken your heart, hearing that. You tried to be nice to him when he joined the group; everyone else seemed a bit wary for a little while. Once you reached India, though, was when you became truly close. You hadn't gone with Polnareff when he broke off from the group - you weren't sure that he wanted you there - but you were with him the next day, when Hol Horse killed Avdol. Well, when you thought he had killed Avdol. You were also kept in the dark about that important little detail, which still pissed you off sometimes.

When the two of you had gotten back to the hotel after finding and killing J Geil, Polnareff had been a mess. You were both upset, of course, but Polnareff completely blamed himself for Avdol's death. You had held him that night, which was so unfamiliar; you'd never done that for someone before. But there was something about seeing Polnareff cry that filled you with utter sadness, and you knew you had to help him feel better. You needed to be there for him.

When it had happened, sure, you were a little flustered - who wouldn't be? It was an intimate position to be in with someone, but Polnareff was a close friend and you knew he needed it. As you reminisce on that emotional night, you hear Polnareff start singing in the shower. It's something in French, so you have no clue what he's saying, but he's clearly putting a lot of heart into it. You're smiling before you even realize it, and you find yourself humming along with his little ditty.

Polnareff always has the power to make you happy, no matter how you'd been feeling before. On occasion, you'd confide in him your anxieties with the trip, and the battle that faces you all at the end of it. He's always been able to calm your nerves, and usually he can make you laugh to boot. You really are lucky that you ended up with him. You honestly love being around him.

Love... Love. It's a serious word, but it really is true. He's always been there for you whenever this journey's gotten especially taxing, and you think you've been there for him too. You think you'd like to stay with him after this is over, no matter where he wants to go. You think you love him.

Suddenly, your conversation with Avdol earlier hits you like a truck. "I don't know who, but yes - we're not all going home tomorrow." You take a deep, shaking breath. You might not be going with him anywhere. You might not even see him again. As these thoughts continue, each one worse than the last, you can feel your eyes welling up with tears. You haven't cried once in these past few months, but this makes you feel completely hopeless. You can't imagine being without Polnareff.

He's still singing in the shower. You stand up and walk to the balcony, and as you make your way over, you feel like you're floating. You open the sliding door and shut it tightly; you don't want any cold air getting in. You lean up against the tall railing, looking down at the brightly-lit city. Now the tears start to fall.

You cross your arms over your chest, sobbing. It's as if this is the first time that you've truly realized what could happen tomorrow - you could die, Polnareff could die, shit, you both could die. Your heart pounds in your chest as you take another shallow, unstable breath. You could lose the one person who makes you happier than anyone else in the world. Another harsh sob wracks your body, and you sink to the floor, leaning against the door and holding your head in your hands. You feel horrible, worse than you ever have. You don't want to have to give up this new life, this new little family - the man you love.

When the door slides open behind you, you nearly scream. "(Y/N), what are you doing out here? It's freezing." You hesitantly look up at him, knowing what you must look like, and Polnareff's face instantly falls.

"Sorry," you say almost reflexively. You feel the need to explain yourself. "I-I just - "

Before you can finish, Polnareff crouches down and pulls you into a tight, almost crushing hug. Your breath catches in your throat and you can only let tears stream down your face. "Ne pleure pas," he murmurs, and you're too caught up in everything to ask what that means. "Please." You hiccup and wince, trying to keep yourself from sobbing again. It feels so, so right being in his arms - but this might be the last time you ever get to feel it.

"Can I help you up?" he asks you softly. "We should go inside. It's too damn cold out here." You nod shakily, and you let him take your hands and pull you gently to your feet; he does it like it's nothing. Not letting go of your hand, he opens the door and leads you inside. He shuts it as you sit down on the bed.

You can't bring yourself to look at him; you think if you get a good look at his face you'll utterly break down. He sits down next to you and wraps his arm over your arms, and you cry a little harder at how tenderly his fingers rest on your shoulder. "I think I know what's wrong," he starts, almost cautiously, "but do you want to talk about it? You know I want to listen."

I love you. "...It's just everything." You're not lying, technically. "I-I'm sorry, I've never done this before but I -"

"Stop apologizing," he tells you, his voice firmer than it had been before. You finally chance a look at him, and his expression nearly knocks the breath out of you. He cares deeply for you, you can see it in his eyes - if you're being honest with yourself, it's an expression that's clearly rooted in love. You try to shove the thought away but you can't. It almost hurts you to see him so invested in you. "Remember back in India? When we thought Avdol was dead? I cried, God, I cried so much - and you were there for me the whole time. You helped me so, so much. What kind of man would I be if I didn't do the same for you?" He leans back in and hugs you again, catching you off guard. You hesitantly wrap your shaking hands around his broad shoulders, leaning your head into the crook of his neck.

He speaks, and you feel his voice all through your body. "I know how you feel," he says softly. "Trust me, I do. I'm fucking terrified. I can't begin to describe how scared I am of losing you." You've nearly run out of tears to cry at this point, but his admittance makes you hold back a sob. "I swear to you - I will do everything in my power tomorrow to keep you safe. I'll protect you with everything I have, (Y/N). Tomorrow... Silver Chariot is yours."

"That's not what I want," you say quickly, surprised by the hollowness of your voice. He pauses, and while you can't see his expression, you're sure he's confused. "I just need you to live, Jean. I need - I need us to be together after this is over." You hardly realize what you've said until the words leave your lips. "With everyone. I can't lose you guys."

He doesn't seem completely convinced by the last words you tacked on to your statement. "Yes, alright... We'll protect each other. We'll stay together and we won't let anything happen. Okay?"

You sniff, thinking suddenly of all the tears you must have gotten on Polnareff's shirt. "...Yeah. Yeah, I'll be there for you no matter what happens." I love you.

He nods against you, and you let go of a shaky sigh. "Good. Good, (Y/N). I won't let anything happen to you." It's a promise he can't keep, but for some reason it makes you feel better hearing it. You think you might finally be done crying. "Do you want to try and get some sleep?" he asks gently.

"Yeah, I - I just have to change." You carefully untangle yourself from Polnareff's arms and stand up, feeling horribly nervous. You grab your bag and quickly shut yourself in the bathroom.

You can't get yourself to breathe evenly. You lean against the wall, trying to avoid your reflection in the mirror. You really hadn't meant for that to happen. You had planned on keeping it together tonight, on not making anything weird - but you fucked it up. You pull your pajamas - an old band t-shirt and a pair of sweats - out of your bag and set them on the counter with shaking hands. Maybe you should take a minute for yourself in here.

As you change, you think about what just happened. Polnareff had essentially done for you what you had done for him all those weeks ago, when you shared the room after Avdol's death. There's something so right about being in each other's arms, for both of you it seems. You wonder if he feels for you how you feel for him.

You're not sure if you want him to. That thought might even be scarier than him not reciprocating your feelings, because if he dies and you know that he loved you, you just might lose it. Every time you think about the potential of dying, a dull pain begins to thud away in your head and you feel your breath get shorter and shallower. You throw your dirty clothes into your bag and grip the counter tightly with both hands, staring into the mirror.

You look like a wreck. It's written on your face that you've been crying nonstop for the past half an hour. You force yourself to even out your breathing, and then you wipe your eyes rather aggressively. After one last look in the mirror (which really doesn't help), you pick up your bag and leave the tiny, stifling room.

Polnareff is sitting where you left him. "Hey," you say quietly. He turns to you and smiles a little as you set down your stuff on the ground. "Well, I'm ready to go to bed. Are you?"

"Yeah. I'm falling asleep a little already." He gives a clearly exaggerated yawn, and you laugh shortly at his efforts. He stands up, pulling the covers back on his bed. You watch him, expecting him to climb in and bid you goodnight, but he doesn't move.

"...(Y/N)?" he says, a little hesitantly. You raise your eyebrows. "...I - " He huffs out a laugh, and you frown. "You're really going to make me ask?" It's clear that you're still not getting it. He smiles softly. "Would you like to share the bed?"

"Oh!" Your eyes widen, and you smile a little nervously. "I, uh... Yeah. Sure." Polnareff lays down on the bed and you follow him, grimacing as you clumsily elbow Polnareff in the arm. Polnareff's laugh wipes the frown right from your face, though.

After a silent, weird moment of laying on your backs together, staring up at the ceiling, you both turn inwards and face each other. "I won't go back on my word, okay?" Polnareff whispers, reaching out and taking your hand. You nearly shiver at the contact. "I'll stay alive for you, so we can be together after all this. It's all I want."

"Me too. I'll protect you, and I - I'll do everything I can to stay alive." The words sound a little hollow coming from you because you're not sure if you can believe them, but Polnareff still smiles in appreciation.

"Good night, (Y/N). I'll see you tomorrow." The word "tomorrow" grips your heart and makes your breath catch in your throat, but you try not to think about it. It's just another day. It's just another day, and you're going to see thousands of more days after it. You and Polnareff, together.

You give him a slight nod and turn around, and Polnareff wraps his arms tightly around you. You hold his hands against your midsection, sighing as you feel him rest his head next to your shoulder. You shut your eyes, and it takes you a second to realize you're crying again. You suppose you'd been waiting to be out of his line of sight. As the tears stream down your face, though, you stay silent - you don't want to jeopardize this lovely, loving feeling. His arms around you are like heaven. Every time his breath tickles your ear you want to cry harder. You're feeling too much, love and grief and fear and passion, all at once and it hurts more than you could ever imagine. I love you.

He mumbles something that you can't quite understand in a half-asleep daze, and you nearly melt when he snuggles closer to you. You want so badly to verbalize your thoughts and tell him how much he means to you, but you can't - you can't bear to lose him tomorrow, or to die and leave him alone after spending only one night together, when it should've been every night. I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you... You repeat it in your head like a mantra as you slowly drift to sleep.

---

You wake up alone. When you realize it, you're stricken with panic, but as you sit up, you catch a glance of Polnareff slipping into the bathroom. You lean your head back against the wall and sigh, shutting your eyes. It's here.

Polnarff looks over at you from the bathroom and smiles. "Good morning," he calls, as he messes with his hair.

"Morning," you answer groggily, rubbing your eyes. "How long have you been awake...?"

"About an hour. I thought I'd let you sleep." He turns away and starts attacking his hair with hairspray, and you smile. It was a thoughtful little thing he said, and it makes you feel cared for.

"Thanks." You look over at the clock and see that it's 8:30. "They want to meet at 9, right?"

"Yeah."

You nod and force yourself to get out of bed, wincing as your joints crack. "I'm gonna change in here, Polnareff. Close the door." He looks over at you and nods, reaching out and closing the bathroom door. "Thanks," you call as you take out your clothes.

You get dressed and then pack away what other things you have. You really hadn't brought anything on this trip. You throw your bag over your shoulders and sit on your bed, kicking your legs back and forth. After a few minutes, the bathroom door opens and Polnareff steps out, clad in his usual outfit.

"Hey." You look at the clock again. "You know, we've still got twenty minutes. Do you wanna grab some coffee?"

"That sounds great." He picks up his bag, which he's already packed, and you both say goodbye to your little hotel room.

The elevator is empty, as it's still a little early for people to be out and about. You listen to the elevator music as you lean against the back wall, looking at your distorted reflection in the metal door. "(Y/N)," Polnareff says, and you look over at him. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," you answer quickly. You don't quite know if you actually are feeling more at peace with your situation, or if you've just gotten over the urge to cry. "Thank you again for last night. I'm sorry I -" You catch yourself apologizing and stop before Polnareff can say anything. "Thank you."

"Of course." He moves his arm towards you, and he hesitates for a moment before gently hugging you. You hug him back, resting your head on his chest. "Just remember what we said. We'll both be fine."

"I will," you promise, and you think you might mean it. The elevator dings, and you both pull away as the door opens to reveal the main floor. "There's gotta be a coffee place right outside, don't you think?"

"Probably." You both head outside and survey the area, searching for any sign of a coffee shop. "Oh! There's one." Polnareff grabs your hand and pulls you over to a small store a few buildings down. You smile as you follow him, holding tightly onto his hand. It's so warm - he's always so warm.

Once you reach the store, you head up to the counter. "Uh..." There's an English translation of the menu in small print on the back wall, and you squint at it as you decide what to get. "One large iced coffee, please."

"Iced coffee?!" Polnareff looks down at you in surprise. "You drink that stuff?"

"Why not? It's really good." You pull out your wallet and grab the appropriate payment, making sure to check twice - you don't know the currency very well. "Have you ever had it?"

"No. I drink hot coffee like everyone else." You roll your eyes as you pay, and then you move over so Polnareff can order.

"I swear it's really good, dude. You should get some!" Polnareff frowns, and you laugh. "You know, I read somewhere that the French invented iced coffee. I don't want to see you betraying your homeland."

He pouts, and begrudgingly he turns to the cashier. "One large hot coffee, and one large iced coffee." After he pays, he joins you at the counter. "If the French made it I'm sure it's alright, at least. But if I hate it, you can have the rest of mine."

"Oh, thanks! But I think you'll like it." You both stand and wait for your drinks, listening to the faint radio playing in the store. It's jazz - it fits the little shop.

After a few minutes, your orders are both finished. You put some cream and sugar into your coffee and stir it with your straw. "How do you take your coffee?" you ask Polnareff. "I don't think I've ever noticed."

"Lots of cream and sugar." He proves his point by dumping a shocking amount of sugar into both of his drinks. He does the same with the cream. "I like sweet things."

You grab a table next to a window and sit down, setting your drink in front of you. You take a sip and smile; it's some of the best coffee you've ever had. "It's the moment of truth," Polnareff mutters, eyeing his cold beverage with raised eyebrows.

"It's not gonna kill you. Try it!" He nods, taking a deep breath, and quickly he takes a large swig of the iced coffee.

You can't tell immediately what he thinks of it. He sets down the cup and hums, then sighs. "You're right. It tastes great."

You laugh, putting your hand in the air for a high-five. "I knew it!" He high-fives you, but he doesn't look very happy about it. "I knew you would like it."

"I can't even try to deny it. It's really good." You laugh again at his little admission and drink your own coffee. "Do you want the hot coffee too? You seem a little tired."

"Uh..." You are feeling a little sluggish, and your brain is using up a lot of energy to push all your existential feelings of dread to the back of your mind. "Yeah, if you don't mind."

"Of course not! Here you go." He slides it to you and you take it.

After a few more minutes, you've both finished your heavenly iced beverages. "They're expecting us in...five minutes," Polnareff murmurs, checking his watch. "You ready?" You nod and grab your second coffee, and you head out the door.

You're glad you made that little stop, and you're glad you were the person to introduce Polnareff to the wonders of iced coffee. You'd been afraid that once you reached today, everything would be over - you would be completely consumed by your nerves. But that doesn't seem to be the case. At least you've made one last good memory with Polnareff before you confront Dio.

You reenter the hotel and find everyone standing in the lobby. "Where were you guys?" Avdol asks.

You raise your cup of coffee. "Just went for a morning pick-me-up," you reply, smiling. Kakyoin rolls his eyes at that. "Are you guys all ready?"

Everyone nods. The mood is somber among you all, which is obviously expected - but it doesn't make it any easier to face. You don't really know what to say to break up this oppressive atmosphere, but luckily Joseph speaks for you. "Then let's head out. We've got a long day ahead of us."

And with that, you're off. Joseph leads your ragtag group out of the hotel and down the streets of Cairo. It feels a lot like your walk yesterday - with Joseph and Avdol discussing game plans in the front, Jotaro and Kakyoin talking about more casual topics with Iggy beside them, and you and Polnareff at the back. You feel a little better now, somehow. You might even be letting yourself hope that everything will be alright. You reach out and brush your pinkie against Polnareff's hand, not turning to him. He gets the message instantly and wraps his larger hand around yours. It's sweet and comforting and so full of love, and you never want to let go. You won't let go, until you've killed Dio.

---

The mansion would be pitch black if not for Avdol's strong flames illuminating the hallways. It's only you, Polnareff, Avdol, and Iggy now; the other three crusaders had fallen into some sort of trap placed by Terence D'Arby, Dio's butler. He looked like an asshole. You hope they're doing alright.

You walk carefully, making sure to take a good look around before every step. Polnareff is beside you, being just as cautious, and Iggy and Avdol are in front of you two. Avdol leads the way with the compass of sorts he's created, which can sense the movement of any stand or human. "See anything, Avdol?" Polnareff whispers, and Avdol just shakes his head.

Thankfully, the mansion isn't as large as it looks. You'd encountered a little guy earlier whose stand had been creating an illusion throughout this main floor that made it much more complex than it truly is; after you pummeled him, the area shifted into a much more manageable space. Still, though, you're scared out of your mind of what you might uncover in each dark corner. You're not holding Polnareff's hand anymore, but it really feels like you are - you can tell he's looking out for you from the way he leans towards you with every step.

A few more minutes pass, and you finally encounter something new. It's a large column with seemingly no purpose. Avdol brings his flame closer to the pillar to get a good look at it, and as he does, you can vaguely make out words etched into the stone surface. Avdol leans in to read them, and you go to do the same, but suddenly Avdol whips around and grabs you by the arm.

You frown, trying to shrug your arm out of his grasp. "What is it?" you ask, but Avdol's frantic expression tells you all you need to know - it's not good. "Seriously, Avdol, tell me - "

His eyes shift to Polnareff, who's about to step right behind Avdol and adjacent to the pillar. "Polnareff, watch out!" Avdol screams, letting go of your arm and shoving you away. As you stumble back, completely confused, Avdol grabs Polnareff and pushes him harshly towards you. "Just stay back," he breathes, turning and looking pointedly at you, "and you'll be - "

It happens before you can even comprehend it. In the blink of an eye, Avdol vanishes, and you hear a loud thud. Your head whips downwards and you gasp loudly when you see his arms lying motionless on the ground, detached from his body. You feel yourself start to shake as you turn to Polnareff, who's equally shocked. "Fuck," he breathes, falling back into the wall behind him. "Avdol!" he shouts, clearly desperate. "Avdol, where are you?!"

Instead of getting an answer, you're only horrified further when Avdol's arms are lifted into the air and seemingly swallowed by nothing. As you watch, mortified, a figure slowly fades into view; it's some sort of floating being with no legs and an impossibly large stomach. You stare at it, unable to move, until Polnareff's frantic voice breaks you from your shock.

"What the hell did you do to Avdol?" he screams, summoning his stand at once. You blink and do the same - you were so caught up in whatever the hell you've just witnessed that you forgot to get your stand.

A voice echoes from deep within the stand in front of you. "I placed him in the void."

He doesn't explain. He just states that, as if it makes any sense. "What - what the fuck is that? Where is he?" you breathe, your voice shaking.

"Not even I know where the things my stand swallows go," the voice replies. "Who's to say where he is? He's certainly not on Earth any longer. Wherever he is, I'm sure he's dead."

You can't take a full breath. "I..." You hear Iggy take a shuddering breath from beside you, and you look down at him with wide eyes. He looks totally stunned; he's clearly in shock. You somehow manage to steel yourself, and in a flurry you prepare to attack. Your stand has long-ranged attacks - as the Knight of Cups, it shoots powerful arrows from a far distance. Your stand pulls out an arrow and shoots instantly at the stand, but before it can hit, the stand opens its gaping mouth and swallows the arrow just as it's about to pierce its eye.

"Fuck," you mutter, and you back further into the wall. Tears are forming quickly in your eyes. "Polnareff, what do I -"

When you hear Polnareff sob, you turn to him. He's sunk to the ground, shaking with tears streaming down his face. Iggy still hasn't moved; he still can't believe it. You drop to your knees and place your hands on Polnareff's shoulders, trying to spit out some comforting words in the haze of your mind, but before you can, the wall behind you is smashed and breaks into pieces.

A couple small pieces of concrete fall on you, but you hardly even feel it. Had the stand - can it make itself invisible? You hadn't seen it hit the wall, shit, you hadn't seen anything. You're totally at a loss here. "We've gotta go, Polnareff," you tell him, urgently pulling on his arm. Still beside himself, he stands up with you and stares at the large hole in the wall. "I - I don't know how he -" Your voice cuts off and is replaced by something between a cough and a sob. "He's - he's probably going to Dio. We have to..." You can't force the words out - it's your worst fear. You know it's what you have to do, though. "Follow him. We have to follow him up. " You grab Polnareff's hand and hold it so tightly it must hurt, and you drag him along. Your heart is pounding non-stop in your chest, and sharp pain is starting to spread all throughout your body. You can't believe that Avdol is gone - really, this time. You're not sure if you've even fully realized it yet.

You don't even wipe the tears from your face as you sprint up the stairs, with Polnareff and Iggy hot on your heels. You keep stumbling, but every time you manage to push yourself through it and scale another two steps. Your brain is on autopilot now - you know if you don't move quickly, and move right, you're going to die. Once you've reached what you're pretty sure is the third floor, you spot a large, circular hole in the wall that's nearly identical to the one the stand had left downstairs. You skid to a stop, and Polnareff runs into you and nearly knocks you to the ground. He manages to catch you, and you both stand and stare at the large hole, trying desperately to catch your breath.

Polnareff's hands leave your sides and he walks slowly towards the hole. It seems to lead into a large ballroom. "Shh," he hisses at you, and you nod, creeping towards him. Iggy walks beside you, just as quiet. You both step through the hole, then you lift Iggy through and place him on the ground next to you. The room is large and beautiful; the walls are lined with intricate designs, and a large window covered by a thick curtain is on the far wall.

"Where the fuck is he?" you breathe, taking a few steps into the room. It's totally empty. "Where's Dio?"

"I have already consulted Dio." You scream when a voice echoes from behind you, and you stumble before turning around. A large, impossibly muscular man stands before you three, with long brown hair and a stony expression. "He has granted me the privilege of killing you all. He gifted me, Vanilla Ice, his blood and this opportunity." You feel horribly sick to your stomach when Vanilla Ice's face twists with pride. "You'll go first. You dared to try and attack me."

You summon your stand, but before you can make another move, Polnareff pushes you to the side. You stumble back, and you watch in horror as Polnareff takes out his stand and points Silver Chariot's sword directly at Vanilla Ice. "You'll have to get through me first," he spits, voice full of venom, but Vanilla Ice just laughs.

"Alright." He leaps into the air, and suddenly his stand reappears; it seems to swallow him up before vanishing again.

You run to Polnareff, grabbing his arm and pulling him down to the ground. "Fuck, Jean, you didn't - why did you do that?" you hiss. "If he wants to fight me, let him -"

"No." His voice is firm, and it shocks you; there's a new determination in his eyes that you hadn't expected to see. "I won't let him kill you, (Y/N)."

Suddenly, Iggy barks, jolting both of you out of your conversation. You hop up and run over to him. "What is it?" you ask, crouching down in front of him.

He runs over to a large curtain beside a staircase on the other side of the room, and you and Polnareff follow. You both lean against the side of the stairs and cover yourselves with the curtian. "What the fuck are you doing, Iggy?" Polnareff whispers, watching the dog.

Iggy summons his stand, and instantly sand starts to swirl around the room. You watch as it all comes together and begins to take the shape of a man; as you keep watching, it eventually turns into an exact replica of Dio. "Shit," you breathe. "Nice thinking. He's not still in here, is he? Did he see that?"

"There's no way to tell," Polnareff murmurs back. "We just have to wait -"

"Lord Dio!" Vanilla Ice materializes once again at the other end of the room. He rushes to the sand statue and drops to the ground, bowing deeply. "What are you doing here?" he says to the ground. "You should be in your study."

"I grew tired of waiting," the statue replies, and your eyes widen; Iggy's stand is a lot more powerful than you thought. "Are they dead yet?"

"No, my lord," Vanilla Ice replies. "I apologize. They will be dead soon." He takes a deep, shuddering breath, and stands. "I thank you for the gift you've given me, Lord Dio," he sighs, taking the statue's hand and caressing it. "Your blood gives me more and more strength by the minute. With your blood flowing through my veins, I'll kill them without having to lift a finger." He lets go of the sand statue and turns around, scoping out the room. "I just have to find them."

Iggy slowly raises the statue's hand into the air, so he can strike down right at Vanilla Ice's neck. Finally, after a few agonizing seconds, his hand is fully raised. Just as he brings it down, though, Vanilla Ice turns around and smacks it. It, and the rest of Dio's body, dissolves into sand and blows away.

"You must think me an imbecile," he shouts, eyes wide in a crazed rage. "Lord Dio would never set foot in this room, you idiots. It has a window." Fuck - you all had forgotten. "You'll pay for this, scum. You've insulted Lord Dio in the most unforgivable way. He is too mighty to ever be represented by your filthy false icon." Your heart drops into your stomach, and you try as hard as you can to remain still. Iggy had taken some damage from Vanilla Ice's strike, it seems, so you dive down quickly and pick him up. The motion doesn't seem to alert him, thank God.

He disappears once again, and before you can blink a hole appears in the wall right next to you. You shriek, falling back into Polnareff, and the three of you all hit the ground hard. You try to scramble away - you know another attack is coming soon - but before you can get out from behind the curtain, an impossibly fast force runs straight through your leg.

You scream as a chunk of your leg is ripped straight off and blood immediately pours from the wound. You reach down and grab at it, sobbing, but nothing you do relieves the searing pain that spreads all throughout your body. Polnareff freezes, stunned, but not a moment later he lunges towards you and crouches down. "Fuck, (Y/N), you'll - you'll be fine," he mutters, grabbing the curtains and tearing off a large piece. "Let me - let me tie it, and then you'll..." He wraps the curtain around your wound and knots it, pulling the curtain tight, and the pressure makes your head spin.

Your head lolls back and you feel yourself nearly slip from consciousness, but before you do Iggy quickly forms a hand from sand and smacks you in the face. "Fuck!" you shout, grabbing your cheek, but you quickly shake yourself and snap back to reality. "Thank you."

"Can you stand?" Polnareff asks you quickly, stretching out his arms. "Let me help you." You steel yourself and take his hands, and he gently pulls up up onto your feet. It hurts more than anything you've ever felt, but - you can hold yourself up just barely. You limp a few steps away from the wall, and Polnareff reaches out and wraps his arm around your shoulders. "Fuck, be careful! Don't fall." Suddenly, another smash echoes through the room, and you swallow back a scream.

It's the spherical shape again, but this time it's moving; it carves a path into the perimeter of the wall and just keeps going, until it hits the corner of the room and jerks in the other direction. It seems to be outlining the room. "What the fuck is he doing...?" you breathe, watching as the grooves in the ground continue down the next wall.

It hits another corner and spins around to the next wall. It's getting the perimeter of the room, but why...? Suddenly, you realize what he's doing. "He can't see in there," you say softly. Polnareff and Iggy both look to you, confused. "He can't see. Everything he's done so far has been blind shots. Now, he's just - he's covering the entire room from the outside and in to the middle. If he does that he's gonna hit us eventually."

The second you finish talking, you hear Polnareff scream from beside you. It seems that the stand had managed to sneak up on you; he'd moved just an inch in closer to the middle, and it caught Polnareff. You grab him, righting him. "What happened?" you ask, running your eyes over his body to see where he was hit. He lifts up his right hand, shaking, and two of his fingers are gone.

You feel like throwing up. "Iggy, can you get more of that curtain?" you ask, your voice high-pitched with anxiety. He nods and runs over, ripping off a large piece with his teeth. You take it from him and start to wrap up Polnareff's hand, which is gushing blood. He grits his teeth and hisses as you tie it up. "You'll be fine, I've got you. We'll figure this out, I swear -"

"Just get to the middle," Polnareff manages to say, and you nod hurriedly. You yank him over to the center of the room and you hold back a scream when pain shoots up through your leg. "Sit down," he tells you, and you let yourself hit the ground with a dull 'thud.' "What the fuck are we gonna do? How do we escape this?" The sound of Vanilla Ice carving up the floor is getting louder and louder. Iggy joins you two and watches as the invisible sphere spins round and round, revolving like the moon around you helpless three.

Polnareff suddenly sits up, and it's clear he has an idea. "We've gotta get out of this room," he says, grabbing your hand and gesturing for Iggy to hop up onto his shoulder. "I'll get us out of here. Just hold on and we'll get out through the window. Iggy, can you make some kind of cushion if we jump?" The dog yips in a way that sounds affirmative. "Good. Get ready." Polnareff stands, pulling you up with him, and he makes for the window.

Vanilla Ice is blind right now, you're sure of it - but it seems he can hear. The sphere swerves without warning and collides with Polnareff's left leg, and nearly all of his calf is torn off of him. He falls instantly, but just as quickly he tries to stand - and finds that he can't. With you and Iggy, he can't force himself up. "Polnareff!" you cry, reaching out and pulling him back towards the middle. "Just - we can get back. If we get back to the middle we'll have time to think." The three of you, all injured in some way, manage to push yourselves back to the middle of the room.

Vanilla Ice is nearly at the center now. You've been crying since you first encountered, but this is the first time since Avdol died that you're really conscious of the tears streaming down your face. You look at Polnareff, who's choking back sobs. "This is - fuck, this wasn't what was supposed to happen," you whisper, reaching out and holding his uninjured hand. "I can't move. I - I can't do anything, I -"

"You're not dying," Polnareff nearly yells at you, and you're so surprised that you stop crying. "I'm not letting you go, (Y/N)."

"How? We can't move, Polnareff. We're stuck here and we're fucked, he's gonna -" You've been staring at Polnareff, but for a second you glance behind him and you see the ground cave in just before the two of you. You shut your eyes and hug him, burying your face in his chest, but just as it's about to hit -

You're launched into the air - you have no idea by what. Your eyes snap open, and you turn your head; Iggy remains on the ground, breathing heavily, and Vanilla Ice stands before him looking utterly confused. Slowly, his gaze turns upwards, and you and Polnareff are dropped unceremoniously on the ground by Iggy's stand.

You cry out when your head thuds against the ground and you land hard on your right wrist - you think it's broken. You grind your teeth together as you try to sit up, just barely pushing yourself up against the wall. It seems Polnareff had landed a bit more gracefully, and he tries to crawl over to Iggy - but Vanilla Ice beats him. He snatches Iggy up by the neck and throws him, as hard as he can, into the wall.

You're fucking enraged. You watch, unable to do much else, as Vanilla Ice kicks Iggy hard in the stomach. Polnareff swears beside you, and you watch as he manages to pull himself to his knees. He turns around and meets your eyes, then looks to Vanilla Ice. He's planning something.

Polnareff silently walks on his knees to Vanilla Ice, and as he does he summons Silver Chariot. He's in the perfect position to stab him in the head, but you both know the stab alone wouldn't be enough. You get your own stand and conjure up the most powerful arrow you can muster. As Iggy's cries echo throughout the room, you let the arrow shoot directly into the back of Vanilla Ice's head, and you fall back. It had taken everything just to do that. Your vision is swimming, and you can't even force yourself to sit up and see what's happened to Polnareff and Iggy. Despite your best efforts, your eyes slide shut, and you pass out.

---

You slowly fade back into consciousness, and the first thing you notice is that you're in motion. You crane your neck to get a better look at your surroundings, trying to ignore the screaming pain all throughout your body, and you're clearly outside now - all the buildings and the stars soaring past your vision is making you horribly dizzy. You groan, shutting your eyes, and suddenly the vehicle you're on stops. You lurch forward and nearly vomit.

"(Y/N), you're awake!" You blink when Polnareff shouts loudly in your ear. He picks you up and grins down at you, and it's clear he's been crying more. "Fuck, I was so scared. I thought you died."

"...Can't get rid of me that easy," you rasp, surprised by how dry your throat is. He nearly laughs, and gently he sets you down.

"I'm glad you're okay, (Y/N)," you hear someone else say, and you turn. It's Jotaro, and thankfully he looks unharmed. "You look like shit."

"I feel like shit."

He nods - fair enough - and turns to Polnareff. "Stay here with (Y/N), I won't be long." He starts to leave, but Polnareff reaches out and grabs his hand before he can go.

"You're sure you won't need me?" he asks, frowning. "You have no idea what he's capable of."

"You're in no condition to help anybody," Jotaro replies, shrugging Polnareff's hand away. "Just stay safe and keep (Y/N) safe. You're both too badly hurt to do anything but that." And with that, he leaves you and Polnareff alone in a dark, silent alley.

You've got a bit of a view of the street from here, and you can see Jotaro walking down the sidewalk with clear purpose. This is everything he's been waiting for - the chance to save his mother. You can tell he's eager for it to be over. "Well..." You look to Polnareff, who sits down beside you and takes your hand. "We did it. We're both still alive." You think back to Avdol, and guilt rushes through you; you never could've expected that he had been referring to himself with his premonition last night. You try not to cry as you slightly adjust yourself. You can't get comfortable, no matter how hard you try. Everything hurts too much. "Hey..." You realize suddenly that you're missing someone. "Where's Iggy?" You figure Polnareff had managed to get him out of Vanilla Ice's line of fire with that last shot by Silver Chariot.

Polnareff's face drops, and your expression falls. "He... He didn't make it. It was a second too late." You turn away from Polnareff and cover your face with your hands, trying not to scream. He's just a dog, he - God, he hadn't deserved any of this.

"He should be here," you murmur into your palms. "Avdol should be here right now, sitting with us." As you speak, Polnareff leans against you, and you feel his tears drip onto your arms. You shut your eyes and rest your head against his shoulder. You're too tired to even open your eyes. You drift back out of consciousness while Polnareff cries silently beside you.

A motion from next to you is what stirs you, and you open your eyes. Polnareff is trying to get up, but he's clearly having a hard time. "Where are you going...?" you mumble as he finally gets to his feet. He looks down at you and his eyes widen; was he trying to sneak away...?

"I have to go, (Y/N), please." Go where? Polnareff glances back at the entrance of the alley, and you look as well. You gasp when you see Jotaro lying motionless on the ground, and what must be Dio looming over him with a road sign in his hand. "He's about to die, and I have to do something."

You know he's right, and you fucking hate it. "No," you say softly, reaching out and taking his hands. "Don't. You'll die, Jean, I know you will, you have to stay with me." You've fully gained consciousness now, and your mind is absolutely screaming. You thought you'd done it. You thought you'd leave here with him and be with him for the rest of your life. He can't go and you can't lose him. It's getting harder to breathe.

"Non," he replies gently, crouching down. He seems much more at peace with this than you are. "S'il te plaît, ne sois pas fâché," he murmurs, and he leans in and kisses you.

You reach out and wrap your arms around him, pulling him close. His lips are soft and he's gentle as he presses them to yours, reaching up and running a hand through your hair. After a moment of taking each other in, reveling in your closeness, you part. You feel indescribably empty. "I'll be back with Jotaro," he says, and he presses a kiss to your forehead before walking away and leaving you alone. Completely alone.

You try to follow him, try to pull yourself up or even drag yourself out from the alley - but nothing works. You push yourself back up against the wall and let out a gut-wrenching sob, covering your mouth to muffle the noise as best as you can. You can't stop shaking, and you can't stop feeling the lingering touch of Polnareff's lips on yours. You love him. You love him and you need him like you've never needed anyone before, and you're about to lose him. He kissed you and he left you. You pull your knees up to your chest and sob until you can't anymore, and once again fatigue grips you and pulls you under.

---

When you wake up this time, you're alone. There's no one to reassure you, to fill you in on what's happened - you're alone in a hospital bed, with only the beeping of the various machines to give you company. You crane your neck to the door and see that it's open; you consider calling for someone, but instead you just lay your head back on the pillow beneath you. You feel so much better than you had the last time you were awake; it seems like they've done a good job of patching you up. Curiously you reach down and poke your leg, where you'd been hit, and other than the jolt of pain at the touch it feels relatively normal. You push yourself up a bit so you're leaning against the wall, and you clasp your hands and set them on your lap.

Is Polnareff dead? The question is like a smack to the face. You suck in a deep breath and shakily release it, swearing to yourself that you won't cry. You've done too much fucking crying.

THere's no way he survived a face-off with Dio, just no way. He had already been beat up; even at his best he wouldn't be able to stand a chance alone. You grip your hands together so tightly they start to hurt, but you can't stop. It's a distraction from all the horrifying images your brain is conjuring up, of Avdol's arms lying alone on the cold ground, of Iggy being kicked and punched over and over and over, of Polnareff walking away and leaving you to watch him die -

"(Y/N)!" You look to the door when you hear your name called, and you nearly burst into tears at the sight of Joseph's grinning face. He bounds into the room, which surprises you; he's covered in bandages. "Oh my God, I'm so glad you're alright. How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess." You lift up your hand and look at your wrist, which is wrapped in a cast. "Yeah. I feel a lot better." Joseph reaches out and places his prosthetic hand delicately over yours, and you can't express how much you appreciate it. "...What did I miss?"

He looks up at you and frowns, and you elaborate. "I was really out of it. Last I remember I was..." You're afraid to mention Polnareff; that might spur Joseph to deliver the bad news. "I was watching Jotaro fight Dio. I thought Jotaro was dead."

"He was pretending to be dead, actually. Used Star Platinum to stop his own heart." Your eyes widen, and Joseph nods knowingly. "I have the most impressive grandson, don't I?"

"Yeah, you do. Holy shit." You'd all made monumental sacrifices in this fight, it seems. "So... He beat Dio?"

"Yes. I nearly died, too, when Dio drank my blood, but Jotaro had the bright idea of performing a blood transfusion once Dio was dead. He truly saved my ass in every way."

"Wow. We're really lucky we had him."

Joseph's gaze flits down to his hand over yours, resting on the bed. "I'm assuming... I'm guessing you know about Iggy and Avdol."

Your throat tightens, and you nod. "Yeah. I saw it." You can't stop thinking about it, honestly. Even while talking to Joseph your mind is running a slideshow of every horrific thing you witnessed.

"I'm sorry." He takes your other hand, surprising you, and holds it tenderly. "Avdol was a good man, and a dear, dear friend, and I'm going to miss him. He deserves to be here with us."

"It's not fair," you say in an exhale, and you nod your head in agreement with Joseph. After a long moment of silence between the two of you, in which you both think about everything you loved Avdol for, you look up. You have to ask the question, no matter how much you're dreading it. "How's everyone else...?"

Joseph meets your gaze, which is somewhat relieving. "Polnareff is fine. He was in rough shape when they brought him in, but he'll definitely be alright."

You fall forward a bit, letting go of your breath. Joseph smiles a bit and puts his arm on your shoulder as you grin at him. "Thank God," you say, not really to Joseph but just to the world. "Holy shit, I was so terrified. So he's fine?"

"He's been sleeping for most of the day, but he woke up once to ask how you were and then passed right out again." You laugh out loud, leaning back, and Joseph watches you with an easy smile on his face. "Please tell me he told you."

You smile. "He did, but I kind of figured anyway."

"Kind of? Jesus." He laughs shortly, and then his smile fades a bit.

"So what about Kakyoin?" you ask, running a hand through your hair. "What's up with him?"

Joseph's expression is like a shot to the heart, and before you know what you're doing you grab him and wrap your arms around him. You rest your head on his shoulder with wide eyes that are quickly welling up with tears - you think you'd grabbed him so quickly so you didn't have to see his face. It told you everything in less than a second.

"Who did it?" you whisper, not trusting yourself to speak.

"Dio," Joseph responds, his voice much more steady. "Kakyoin died telling us the secret of Dio's stand. He's the reason we were able to win."

"...Oh." You squeeze your eyes shut and force yourself to breathe evenly. Fuck - he was seventeen. He shouldn't have had to die for anything. He was just a kid, and Iggy was just a dog, and Avdol was a good man who deserved only great things -

"(Y/N)." You open your eyes when Joseph's voice tears you from your thoughts. You slowly lean back and let go of him, reaching up and wiping your eyes. "I have to go check on Jotaro. I'll be back later, hopefully with him. Okay?"

You nod, sniffling. He takes your hand and lifts it to his lips, gently pressing a kiss to your knuckles. "I know how it feels," he says softly, letting his hand linger in yours. "Trust me, I know how much it hurts. You're one of the strongest people I've ever met, (Y/N). If anyone can get through this I know it's you. And don't forget that we're all here to help you, okay? And help each other. You'll never be alone again."

You think Avdol had said that to you last night. You feel a smile slightly lift your features, and you squeeze Joseph's hand. "Thank you, Joseph. Really." You give him one last hug, and as he stands up, you say softly, "I love you guys." Joseph smiles widely, almost looking teary-eyed, and he leaves the room after one last wave goodbye.

You're alone again. You turn onto your side, wincing as you shift your leg, and you think about the three people you lost on this journey. Your eyes are dry but your mind is screaming. The only thing that makes you feel slightly better is knowing that Polnareff is alright, and that you'll be able to tell him you love him soon. Finally.

The next morning, you're greeted by a couple nurses. They tell you you seem much better, and that you can try to get out of bed. With their help, you swing your legs over the side of the bed and shakily stand up. Apparently you're a lot better than they'd expected, which makes you very happy, so you're sent on your way with some crutches and a cast around your arm.

The first thing you do is walk, with some difficulty, to Polnareff's room. You peek your head inside and find that it's empty, save for him lying on the bed in the middle of the room. You make your way in as quietly as you can - it looks like he's sleeping - and you sit down in a chair next to his bed.

You want to wake him up and tell him you love him right now. All you want is to throw your arms around him, to kiss him and hold him and make some shitty joke that sends you both into a fit of giggles - but he looks so peaceful. You can't.

You reach out and brush his hair out of his face; it's not in its usual, inexplicable style, and instead it gently frames his face and falls down to his shoulders. You've never really given his appearance much mind, now that you think about it. You've been so focused on the way you feel around him and the way he makes you laugh. But looking at him now, totally serene, he's actually handsome.

You take his hand and hold it loosely. You watch him for a while and then look at the clock, which reads 8 AM. It's pretty early, so you're not surprised he's still sleeping. You sit for even longer, thinking about how lucky you are that he lived. Going up against Dio alone was suicide, you both knew it, but he still forced himself to try. He's almost stupidly brave, and you can even love him for that - even though he scared the shit out of you.

You glance at the clock again, and when you look back, Polnareff is awake and looking at you with a drowsy smile and half-lidded eyes. "Good morning," he murmurs, looking down at your hand wrapped around his. "How are you doing?"

"I love you," you blurt out, and this shocks Polnareff into full alertness. He sits up and stares at you, and you stare right back. You hadn't really meant to do that. "Jean, I think I've loved you for a long time. You do so much for me and you always make me feel so - so much and I don't know what I'd do without you. I'm just so fucking happy that you're okay." You take a deep breath and watch him; he's oddly unresponsive. You frown and start to tell him to answer you, damnit, when suddenly he leans forward and sweeps you into his arms.

He kisses you with an extreme fervor, which is something you've never really felt before. It's almost as if there's an urgency to it, like he needs you to know now how passionately he feels for you - and it's working. You kiss back, wrapping your arms around him but being careful to avoid any bandages. His teeth brush against your bottom lip and you nearly shiver. He smiles a little teasingly against you when he feels it, and you're about to push him back and yell at him when he presses his body flush against yours. He moves from your lips and kisses your jaw sweetly, letting his lips linger before moving down to the top of your neck. You sigh, leaning even further into him, and he peppers kisses down your neck before finally pulling away.

It's not really "away," though - you're practically laying on him. "Are you comfortable...?" you ask, really not sure of what to say, and he laughs loudly.

"I love you too, (Y/N). So much. Ever since I met you I knew I liked you, and I've grown to need you. You're an angel, (Y/N), mon amour. Please stay with me." He kisses you one more time, and when you part you nod your head a little clumsily.

"I thought we already agreed on that," you say, smiling, and Polnareff nods. "But I'll doubly promise that we're staying together."

Polnareff's face is bright red, and you're sure yours is too. You place your hand over his. "So how are you? Did they fix you up?"

"Yeah, and you're never gonna believe this." He picks up his other hand and all but shoves it in your face, and you gasp. He's got two prosthetic fingers; they're shiny and metallic, and they stutter a bit as he moves them. "They're not perfect yet, obviously, but we're getting there."

"Jesus, Polnareff, I..." He had taken that hit for you. A pang of guilt enters your mind, but soon it disappears and is replaced by unbelieveable gratefulness. "I love you so much." You wrap him up in a hug, and he hugs you back, a little startled.

"I love you too," he says, rubbing circles into your back. "You know... A month ago or so, I wanted to start calling you 'mon amour.' I wasn't sure if you knew what it meant, though, so I didn't want to risk giving anything away."

You look up at Polnareff and snort. "I know what 'mon amour' means, you dumbass," you tell him, laughing. He laughs too, and you both sit there, giggling in each other's arms. This is exactly what you've wanted for the past month, and what you want for the rest of your life, and it's finally yours.

A couple days later, you all arrive at the airport. Jotaro has healed up well, and he' retold the story of his battle with Dio to you. You're so thankful for everything he did, and you make sure he knows that. He's like family to you now.

"You all have everything?" Joseph asks, checking his own bag for the hundredth time.

"Yes. How many times do we have to say it?" Jotaro mutters from beside him.

Joseph sighs and relents, zipping his luggage back up. "You're right." He looks at Jotaro and then you and Polnareff, who are facing the two of them. "You're all ready?"

"Yeah. I'm really excited to meet Holly," you say with a wide smile. "She sounds amazing from what you've both told me."

"Yeah, she's pretty great." It almost sounds like Jotaro doesn't mean it, but it's clear from his small smile that he does. He obviously loves her a lot. "I'm sure she'll love you guys."

"I hope so." As he speaks, Polnareff takes your hand in his. "Well, we don't want to miss the flight."

The four of you board your plane and make your ways to your seats. Everyone save for you has a bit of a difficult time, seeing as they're impossibly tall and ridiculously buff, but it's all figured out soon enough and you're on your way.

You take the window seat, and Polnareff sits next to you. Joseph and Jotaro are on the other side of the aisle from you two. You lean your head against the window and sigh, shutting your eyes. You don't really care for plane rides, so you figure you should try to sleep.

One by one, the moments flash by. Avdol's body simply ceasing to exist, and the dull thud of his arms as they hit the ground. Iggy's howls of pain as Vanilla Ice kicked him again and again and again. You hadn't seen Kakyoin's death so your mind kindly fills in the blanks for you - you see him lying motionless on the roof of a building in Cairo, completely drenched in blood. Dio stands over him and laughs and laughs, and he looks at you and laughs harder.

Your eyes snap open and you gasp, shooting up in your seat. "Shit, (Y/N) - are you -" Polnareff is cut off by you hugging him tightly, pressing your face into his shoulder. "...Did you have a nightmare?" he asks softly.

You feel like a child but there's really no other way to put it. "Yeah," you answer, your voice muffled. "It was - well, you can figure what."

"Yeah." You can feel yourself shaking. You hadn't realized that your feelings of dread and anxiety, from all the way back on the night before you fought Dio, would follow you out of Egypt. "Mon amour..." Polnareff kisses the top of your head, and you nearly start to cry - you're so fucking sick of crying. "I've been going through the same thing. I'm sure we all are." You force yourself to let go of Polnareff, and you look up at him with teary eyes. "We'll all be able to help each other in Japan, even if it's only for a few days. Someday these feelings will subside and we'll be left with all the great memories we made with them."

Polnareff looks melancholy, which isn't an expression you often see him wear. You're sure he must miss everyone just as badly as you do, and Joseph, and Jotaro. It's a unique thing, to share this struggle with three wonderful people, and you feel lucky you have them to support you - and to support. You want to help them as best as you can, though you're still not great at talking through emotions. As you lean your head back and think about how you'll try to open up a bit more, Polnareff speaks. "I'm really excited to get to Japan," he says eagerly with a smile on his face. "Do you think there’ll be any sushi places around? I've never had it."

You gape at him. "What's the deal with you? Music, iced coffee, and now this?" You laugh. "When we get a place in New York, we're gonna get sushi and listen to all my favorite albums, okay?" He nods, grinning. "Well, my favorites and some historic ones. I'll try not to be too biased."

"I'm sure you'll only choose the best," he tells you, wrapping his arm around your shoulders. "I trust you."

You lean against his side, unable to stop smiling. You've don't think you've ever been this happy. You feel like laughing and crying all at once. As Polnareff pulls you closer to him and starts to hum - it's whatever he'd been singing in the shower a few days ago - you shut your eyes and take in this feeling of utmost contentment. You're a little afraid of what the future holds, in coping and learning how to live after this experience, but you're confident you'll get through it with your new little family by your side. You'll all be together for the rest of your lives.

#JoJo's Bizarre Adventure #polnareff x reader #jean pierre polnareff #polnareff imagine #jjba x reader #jojo imagine #my writing #thanks again for the request! i hope you enjoyed this beast of a story lol. its like 16k and i dont know how that happened

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