#of course this might not be the actual flower and i’m looking for nothing

[helen-with-an-a]

I am an adult pt 4

Hi. So this is pt 4 of the I am an adult. I really liked writing it and hope you enjoy it too. I definitely want to do a 5th part but I'm not sure about how many more after that I will do (if you get what I mean). Also, all of the German and Spanish is from google/google translate so if it's wrong, I apologise

Barca Femeni x Reader ; Lena Oberdorf x Reader

Part 1 : Part 2 : Part 3 : Part 3.5 : Part 4

Description: Lena gets the talk

Word Count: 4.1k

TW: Slight smut (undescribed/suggestive rather than outright)

You weren’t used to waiting at airports for people. Usually, you were the one who was walking off the plane to visit friends and family. But you couldn’t deny the excitement bubbling up – just thinking about who would be walking through the door made you smile. You didn’t quite know the protocol for meeting your long-distance girlfriend off a flight. You were nervous about it – wanting to do it right. You may have gotten into a bit of a TikTok wormhole over couples reuniting; most people went with flowers and a sign, but you were staying in an unfamiliar city for both of you, and you did have a match to play. It was something you agonised over for days before the arrival. Having consulted an unhelpful Ona, a laughing Patri and an amused Jana, you settled on asking Alexia. That was an adult thing to talk about, right?

“Um … Ale, can I … can I ask you something?” You said as you curled up on her sofa.

“Of course, pequeña. Esta todo bien?”

“Yeh, um … it’s about Lena, actually” That might have been a bad way to phrase it. Alexia’s face dropped, her gaze becoming a little icy.

“Que hizo ella?” Her voice was just as cold.

“Nothing, nothing, prometo.” You reassured her. “I wanted to ask you what to get her for the airport,” you explained quietly, a little apprehensive over her response.

“Oh, cariño.” Alexia cooed, pulling her legs up to tuck underneath her as she twisted to face you, her hand reaching along the back of the sofa to pick at the corner of the cushion. “Honestly, I don’t think she’d be expecting anything. I certainly wouldn’t if Olga and I met somewhere in the middle.” Her look softened even more as you nodded furiously, eyes locked on her patterned carpet. She could see you sag ever so slightly – clearly, you wanted to get Lena something. “I think, if you really want to get her something,” she continued, smiling as you perked up at her response. “You could do something small – like a … ugh, what’s the word …” She was so fluent in English you often forgot that it was technically her third language. “It’s small and fluffy; you give it to niñas,” she clicked frantically, clearly trying hard to remember. “Un oso de peluche,” she sighed, wracking her brain to remember the English word.

“A teddy bear?” You asked, helping her out slightly.

“Sí, sí, a teddy bear. You could get her one of those? It would be small enough for her to pack away when she travels, and it is something she can keep with her when she’s back in Germany.” You smiled at her suggestion – nodding happily at her words.

The day was finally here. You were finally seeing Lena again. Madrid airport was a little struggle to navigate but you stood, buzzing with excitement, as you waited at arrivals. You looked down at the goodies you had with you – a little bag filled with a very cute and very fluffy teddy bear, some Spanish sweets, and an iced coffee in your hand. You had also packed a few extra jumpers to sneak into Lena’s bag before she left.

L💚: Just got through passport control and stuff

L💚: I’ll be maybe 5/10 more mins

[Initial] ❤️💙: eeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Initial] ❤️💙: ok – I’m like right by the exit

[Initial] ❤️💙: turn left when u walk through it and im by the pillar post thingy

5 to 10 more minutes … you could do that. With every passing minute, your excitement and anticipation grew. It had been a long few months without Lena by your side. Yes, you texted every day; Yes, you Facetimed 5 times a week minimum; but seeing her in person, being able to hug her and hold her and kiss her and smell her and touch her and … you couldn’t be more excited.

“Hola, mi amor.” Very poorly pronounced Spanish whispered to you as strong, familiar arms wrapped around your waist.

“Lena,” you squealed, clearly having missed her walk up – far too much in your own head.

“mmmm, ich habe dich vermisst,” she sighed happily as you twisted in her grip to hug her tightly. She was warm and soft and smelt of cinnamon.

“I’ve mis- no, wait,” you cut yourself off. She tilted her head to the side, drawing back to look at you. “Ich habe dich auch so sehr vermisst,” you stumbled slightly but the big, wide grin on Lena’s face told you, you had said it right.

“Can I kiss you, Schatz?” she asked gently. You blinked slightly, not expecting her to ask you that in such a public space. “I, we, don’t have to. It’s just it’s been so long, and,” she rushed to get out, hating the fact that she had made you even the smallest bit uncomfortable.

“Liebe,” you cut her off, waiting until she looked at you before you continued. When her warm chocolate eyes met yours, you struggled not to float away in them. “Please, kiss me.” You smiled as she let out a breath of relief. You met halfway, and it was just as perfect as all the other kisses you two had shared, if not more so after such a long time apart.

“As …” she cleared her throat as she pulled away slightly. “As much as I want to continue. We should get going … but later, ich verspreche.” She vowed and picked her bag up off the floor. And extending her hand for you to take.

“No, wait, gimme that.” You gestured for her bag, forcing it from her when she hesitated to hand it over. “Also, these are for you,” you said with a proud smile, giving her the now slightly watery coffee and bag of goodies.

“Schatz, you shouldn’t have.” She began, but you shook your head, denying her the chance to complain. You stuck your tongue out at her, intertwined your fingers and pulled her towards the exit.

Taking the metro back to your hotel reminded you a lot of your first date. Lena looking slightly puzzled over the Spanish being spoken all around you. On your first date, you had shyly stood next to her, closer than two friends would be not enough to make her feel uncomfortable, and quietly translated a bit of the conversation between two girls nearby; you added the voices to differentiate between the two girls and jokingly copied any actions they did. This time, you let her lean against you, one arm sneaking around her waist to fiddle with the belt loops on her jeans and the other holding tightly onto the handrail. Her head dropped into your neck, muttering something in German.

“What was that, Liebe?” You asked softly, mindful that your mouth was quite close to her ear despite the busy train.

“Müde,” she said again into your neck. It took you a minute to sift through the German in your head. You pouted when you finally understood what she was saying. She was tired. That you could understand, travelling was difficult when you understood the language, let alone one where you landed in a country where the language was entirely different and almost no familiarity to yours. You pressed a chaste kiss to her hairline, hoping to comfort her a little.

“Naw,” you cooed. "It’s okay. We’re almost back to the hotel. We can have a nap if you want,” you pressed another kiss to her head. "But Alexia says she has to see you at some point tonight,” you reminded her.

“Forgot ‘bout Alexia,” she whined tiredly, her grip tightening on you.

“I’m sorry, Liebe. I promise she won’t be too harsh or scary. I know she can come off a bit..." you struggled for the right word. “Intense? But I promise she’s really sweet.”

You finally made it to your stop, and you filtered off the train, fingers laced together so neither of you got lost (mainly Lena, as she didn’t know a lick of Spanish). Just as you were walking up the steps outside, a flustered woman appeared next to you.

“Lamento mucho molestarte. Pero estoy intentando llegar al aeropuerto y tienes una maleta. Sabes cómo conseguirlos?” The flurry of Spanish through you off for a second as you had been conversing in English almost all day.

“No, no te preocupes en absoluto. Um, sólo necesitas …” As you explained the directions to the woman, Lena couldn’t help but watch in awe. She knew you could speak Spanish – you lived in Spain, you played for Barcelona, and she’d seen you talking in Spanish on the football pitch. Hell, the first time she had met you, you were finishing a conversation in Spanish with the film and media crews. It had done something to her then, and it was doing something to her now, too. She couldn’t understand a word of what you were saying, but the accent, the rapid words, the hand gestures, your kind smile … she suddenly wasn’t as tired as she felt on the train.

“Sorry, Liebe,” you said as you finished, waving to the woman as she sped down the steps towards the platform. She was asking about getting to the airport—she had seen your bag and guessed we had just come from there.” You explained, taking her (now slightly clammy) hand and leading her towards your hotel.

The hotel room was big and welcoming, a large bed in the centre with your things thrown haphazardly across it called to Lena as she walked through the door. She left her stuff by the wall and flopped heavily down, sighing at the softness that surrounded her. You looked at her from your vantage point by the door. Her top had ridden up, exposing her abs slightly, her biceps were on full display, and the veins in her arms rippled slightly as she twisted her fingers in the bedding underneath her. She was doing things to you – maybe it was because you hadn’t had sex a good few months (it was currently the longest you had ever gone without since you started having sex); maybe it was because she looked so at home amongst your things; perhaps it was the fact that your girlfriend was finally within touching distance. You also realised you didn’t quite care enough to figure it out.

“Incoming,” you yelled as you launched yourself at her.

“Oof,” she huffed, her breath leaving her body as your weight settled on top of her, both of you laughing quietly at your behaviour.

“Hi,” you smiled at her, arms either side of her head, legs straddling her hips.

“Hi,” she smiled back, lift her hands to stroke her thumbs across your exposed skin.

“I…” should you say it? “I’ve missed you,” you chicken out from what you really wanted to say. You knew you told her at the airport that you missed her, but you needed her to know just how much her absence affected you.

“I’m sorry.” She knew the distance was difficult for both of you. You shook your head, refusing to let her think that this was her fault.

“No, there’s nothing that can be done at the moment. I’m at Barca; you’re at Wolfsburg. It is what it is.” You shrugged, hoping it would ease her sadness a little. “But … you’re here now, we have this weekend. And that is all that matters.” You smiled, the wide, soft smile full of love and tenderness that only Lena got to see often. You felt rather than saw Lena crane her neck up to try to kiss you; your smile shifted into a cheeky grin as you pulled back just out of her reach. She stopped looking at you offendedly.

“Nuh, uh, uh,” you teased, your tongue darting out to wet your lips. “I...” You kiss her forehead. This was your chance. “Missed.” You kissed her cheek, backing out again. “You.” You kissed her other cheek.

“And I’ve missed you, Schatz.” Her hands left your waist, coming up to cradle your face, holding to exactly where she wanted. She waited a few moments, letting her eyes scan your face, trying to commit everything to memory (even though she had already done that well before you left Germany at New Year’s). “So much,” she whispered as she finally tugged you down to meet her lips.

The kiss started out slow, sweet and tender, as your love was poured into it. As you parted, her darkened eyes roamed your body, one hand cementing itself in your hair, tugging lightly as the other moved to trace along the waistband of your shorts. Your kisses weren’t a battle for dominance, but you were falling into a pattern of give and take that was uniquely yours. Your top was the first to come off, hers following not too long afterwards. Buttons were undone, drawstrings loosened and more clothing adding to the mess on the floor. Her hands grasped at any available flesh as your fingers slipped inside. Dark spots were bitten into supple skin, moans were melodies as you rediscovered each other.

“Don’t stop,” You panted into her skin as she guided you to the brink of ecstasy.

“Never,” came her reply, equally as breathless.

“What happened to being tired?” You laughed as she snuggled into your side, her once-eager fingers tracing light shapes into your skin. She groaned at your teasing, pressing more weight onto you. You fiddled with her hair as you waited for an explanation.

“Dein Spanisch. Mit dieser Dame am Bahnhof … Es hat etwas mit mir gemacht” You didn’t understand it fully. Spanish … train station? You were a little confused.

“Sorry, I got something about my Spanish and the lady at the train station. What was the last bit?” You were trying to learn German, but you had started with the most practical things – the greetings, stuff that happened in daily life, cheesy lines you could say to Lena to make her blush.

“Um … it’s a bit embarrassing, really … you were speaking Spanish to that lady at the station,” she blushed profusely. You just smiled, letting your fingers comb through the mess her hair had become. “Es war wirklich sexy.” Your grin doubled in size. So, you speaking Spanish turned her on? That was useful to know.

“Well,” you said after a moment of silence. “If me giving directions to the airport is sexy, you should hear me when I say something truly seductive,” you teased, squeezing her gently as she buried her head in your neck again.

“Mmmm, déjame pensar. Cuando llegue a casa, debo acordarme de llamar al administrador del edificio.” You laughed as you felt her blush, the new heat obvious against your skin. You also couldn’t help but notice the slight shift of Lena’s hips against your thigh. “Liebe, I just said I needed to call my building manager – that is not sexy.” She pulled away from your skin.

“Uh, everything you do is sexy,” she countered. “Say something else? Something that’s actually hot,” she begged, ignoring your teasing smile, and raised eyebrow.

“Hm, vale, vale,” you wracked your brains, trying to think of something that you actually considered sexual. “Quiero que me tengas en todas las formas que quieras. Quiero destrozarte una y otra y otra vez.” You usually weren’t that explicit about your wants, but you were reliant on Lena not really knowing what you were saying.  Lena was gobsmacked. She had not a clue what you had just said but the way you had said it – the slight rasp in your voice, the rosy hue to your skin, the sticky sheen of sweat, the hickeys she had sucked into your skin. She rolled you over, balancing above you as her legs slotted between yours.

“Redonda Dos?” You asked. She knew enough Spanish for that.

Just as things were getting interesting again, your door swung up.

“Y/N? ¿Estás aquí? Ale te ha estado enviando mensajes de texto toda la tar -” Ona cut herself off with a shrill scream.

“Me arden los ojos.” She gagged dramatically. “Ew, mis ojos.”

“Oni, qué carajo en realidad?” You shouted back, dragging the duvet up to cover the both of you.

“Do you want to introduce me?” She grinned evilly.

“No, get out!” You glowered at her. When she made no effort to move, you threw a pillow at her.

“Ale says to come to her room.” You flicked your finger at her, letting her know your displeasure. Turning uour attention was fixed back on Lena, you heard her cackling outside.

“Scheiße, Scheiße, Scheiße. Alexia wird mich töten. Ich bin tot. Ich werde sterben. Ich hatte praktisch Sex mit ihrer kleinen Schwester. Oh, mein Gott. Ich werde sterben. Fuck.” Lena was panicking – real, genuine anxiety spread throughout her chest as she sat up against the pillows.

“Liebe, it’s ok,” you soothed, grabbing one hand in yours and swinging your other arm across her shoulders. “Liebe?” you tried again.

“Alexia is going to kill me.” Lena said, looking into your eyes for what she genuinely thought might be the final time.

“No, she won’t.” You smiled softly, not wanting to laugh at Lena’s ridiculousness. “I won’t let her,” you vowed, squeezing her hand tight in promise. “Now, we should probably get some clothes on and head to Ale’s room.”

As you reached for your hoodie, your world darkened suddenly as fabric landed on your head. You lifted it up to reveal a very familiar Adidas hoodie, turning back to see a sheepish Lena.

“How did that get there?” She asked innocently.

“I don’t know, Liebe. How did it get there?” You played along. “There’s only one Adidas athlete in this room, and it’s not me.” She shrugged, snatching your Barca hoodie out of your reach.

“I don’t know, Schatz. But it looks like it’s your only hoodie, and I want you to stay warm.” She was a terrible actor.

“If you wanted me to wear your clothes, you could have just asked,” you laughed as you slipped on the material, getting slightly lost as you tried to find the head hole. You heard a sigh and footsteps before the fabric was rearranged on you as your head burst through the top.

“Guten Tag,” you beamed at her.

“Hallo, Schatz,” she smiled at you before stealing a kiss. You hummed gently, allowing yourself to melt into her just slightly.

“Vamos, vamos.” You spun her around to face the door. “Let’s not keep Ale waiting,” you laughed and tapped her on the bum to get her moving.

Alexia’s room was exactly the same as yours – a wide, comforting bed with a mountain of pillows dominating the space. You tapped on the door, knowing that she would probably have at least 3 of the other girls in her room with her.

“Schatz, I know I said I would endure this for you … for us,” Lena said when it was clear Alexia was making you wait a little. Was she second guessing this? Was she regretting you? “And I will, I will.” She added when your head snapped back to look at her. “But I’m really freaking out here.” You softened.

“Oh, Liebe. It’s ok,” you said, pulling her into a hug. “I understand, really, I do. This isn’t exactly how I wanted you to meet Ale, but I promise you,” you squeezed her to emphasise your point. “She’s a giant softy with a tendency for affectionate bullying. If she starts speaking in Catalan, just ignore her; that’s what I do,” you joked, trying to lighten her mood a little. “She’s just like Alex and Svenja are to you. She’s just looking out for me – even though I don’t need her to and certainly not in this case,” you were rambling now, unknowingly easing Lena’s anxieties in an instant.

Someone cleared their throat behind you, cutting your talking off. Lucy. You smiled at her, pushing past as you guided Lena to sit on the edge of the bed, taking her hand in both of yours when you sat next to her – providing quiet but noticeable support. There were more people in the room than you were expecting. You knew Alexia would call on Lucy, Irene and probably Paños and Marta to give the talk, but Ingrid’s presence surprised you, as did Ona’s and Patri’s.

“Entonces, quieres presentarnos a Lena?” Alexia asked, leaning against the desk in front of you, Paños on her left, Lucy on her right. Irene and Marta stood blocking the path to the door – all of them with what they thought were tough expressions on their faces. Ingrid looked annoyed to be there, Ona was trying to look hard, and Patri had an amused smile dancing on her lips.

“In English, Alexia. It’s not fair on Lena to speak in a language she doesn’t know.” You said calmly, breathing deeply to keep your emotions in check. They had promised not to treat you like a child.

“Do you want to introduce us to Lena?” She asked again, voice artificially calm.

“Not if you’re going to treat us like children.” You raised an eyebrow, reminding all of them of their promises to treat you more adult-like.

“That was before we found out you were having sex,” Lucy started. She stood up from where she was leaning, you matching her behaviour by squaring your shoulders.

“Suficiente, vosotros dos.” Alexia ordered before you had the chance to comment. As much as she wanted to give a protective big sister talk, she realised that maybe this was what you meant when you said that you wanted to be treated more like an adult. It was silent as she studied you and Lena – sitting so close you were practically on top of each other, your thumb never wavering in its soothing motion against the back of Lena’s hand, the way Lena’s eyes kept flitting back to your face in search of any discomfort. She didn’t need to do the grandiose speech she was planning to give – she didn’t need to let every one of the older girls chime in with their threats. If Lena harmed you, Lena wouldn’t harm you – of that, Alexia was sure. “Everyone out. Not you or Lena,” she said as you shifted to leave. “Ona, quédate también por favor.” Alexia ignored the other’s protests; Lucy’s whining was heard even with the door closed. She had allowed Ona to stay in her role as your best friend – she wasn’t about to deny her this opportunity (especially since she knew you had promised Lucy you would exact a painful revenge if Ona ever came to you crying over something about their relationship).

“Lena. I am going to say this one time,” Alexia began, watching as Lena’s eyes grew wide and gulped noticeably. You just rolled your eyes at her antics. “If you hurt her,” she paused for dramatic effect. “I will hunt you down … and end you.” Alexia was quite pleased with herself – she considered that to be restrained enough to appease you whilst instilling enough fear in Lena to make her slightly nervous. Lena nodded, taking a breath to start making promises of never ever hurting you.

Ona cleared her throat from her perch on the windowsill, drawing all of your attention to her. She took a deep breath before letting out the sentence she had been practising since you first mentioned a German footballer had caught your eye, “Ich werde dir die Beine brechen.” The pronunciation was horrendous, but Lena knew what she meant. It was the worst threat Ona could think of with Lena being a footballer.

“Oni,” you whined, although you had no leg to stand on – your threat to Lucy had been so much worse.

“There, we have said what was needed to be said. Let’s go to dinner, sí?” Alexia smiled at the three of you, the polar opposite of the menacing Captain that stood in her place moments before. Ona laughed, looping her arm through Alexia’s and heading to the door.

“That wasn’t so bad,” You joked, nudging Lena. The tension was still very much in her body, however.

“I need them to know, and you need to know it too. I won’t hurt you, ever, Schatz. I promise, ich verspreche, prometo.” She looked deep into your eyes, willing you to understand how deep her vow went. She made the promise to herself in the shower after your first date; her mind kept replaying your almost-kiss, your bubbly laugh and the feel of your soft hand in hers. She had vowed that day to never let your smile fade, and she wanted … no, needed … you to know that.

“Liebe, I know that. They know that.” You reached up to cradle her face in your hands. You took a deep breath and said the words that had been playing on your mind for weeks now: “I love you.”

I hope you liked it <3<3<3

#barca femeni #woso community #woso #barca femeni x reader #fc barcelona #woso blurbs #woso x reader #woso fanfics #woso imagine #barca femini x reader #alexia putellas #alexia putellas x reader #ona batlle #ona batlle x reader #lena oberdorf #woso oneshot #lena oberdorf x reader #woso fluff #woso smut #woso one shot #barcelona femeni x reader

[burnorgetburned]

EVEN MORE CLARA DOLL DETAILS:

So you know how the Dolls have their own distinctive clothes?

Guess who else has their own distinctive clothes!

That’s right. The multiple Homuras are actually Clara Dolls.

And that’s why ‘Homura’ is smiling.

Here they are! The one with the striped hat is Nekura (Gloominess or Pessimism) and the one with the flower is Mie (Vanity).

Here’s their descriptions from the art book.

[The second one to come was Gloominess. Walking out with a tapping sound, she sneered at Good-for-Nothing. “This is Good-for-Nothing! How very unbecoming.” These dolls are only disciples of Freedom, and are devoted to their lust for it.]

[The tenth to come running is Vanity. She exaggeratedly avoids Good-for-Nothing's head and says a few words. “I wouldn't be able to bear dirtying my cape with that sticky blood!” These dolls make fun of the witch's self-mutilation.]

Good-for-Nothing is Homura, by the way, but the Clara Dolls seem to consider Good-for-Nothing to be good for something after all after she splits Madoka. She turns into the Devil, and the Clara Dolls are stated to be “okay” with the Devil. If the young voices in the trailer belong to the Clara Dolls, then they also call her “Akuma-sama” now. Something like Mistress Devil, implying a sense of respect.

[… if they are not summoned, they will simmer. There are orders they will comply with, and also orders they will disobey. What they are and the witch herself's own magic are not well understood.]

At the end of Rebellion, Homura gave Madoka her ribbon back. She declared that they might become enemies in the end. Honestly, I thought that Homura would try her best to avoid Madoka entirely. The trailer suggested that Homura was meeting Madoka, though. Here’s the answer: it wasn’t Homura herself, but Gloominess, who wants freedom.

Now, I’m not sure how this situation works out. Do Clara Dolls have free will? Are they obeying Homura’s orders? Acting out Homura’s true emotions? Is Homura perhaps directly puppeteering them in order to fulfill her goals, or do they act on their own?

I find it likely that it’s a mix of both: some of them obey her, and some of them will try and fulfill her (probably very conflicting) desires, as familiars usually do. Gloominess is likely part of Homura who wants the freedom to talk to Madoka, for example, but Vanity seems to me like a Clara Doll who is obeying Homura. After all, she still needs magical girls to fight wraiths, at least until she finds a way to wipe them out.

[I'm Vanity (Mie). I'm pushing myself to the limit for someone.] And she is, of course. All of the theatrics, the calls, the organization of magical girls. These are things that Vanity is shown to engage in. All of this is for Madoka.

We see with Gloominess, at least, that she seems to be fulfilling a specific desire: in the background are white spider lilies. Instead of the red spider lilies that mean death, final goodbyes, and lost love, white spider lilies mean a hope for the future and a fresh start. Maybe this really is the first meeting for these two in a while, and she wants to be friends again?

Or maybe, being Gloominess, she wants to warn her about something.

[I'm Gloominess (Nekura). Forcing smiles tires me out.]

Then there’s this Homura.

Nothing about her clothes is very different. She is wearing ribbons as Homura in the wraith universe does, but look closely: the ribbons are different. They have some wavy stripes on them, while Madoka’s ribbons are plain. She does not correspond to any known Clara Doll.

However, there’s mentioned to be a fifteenth Clara Doll that is not yet born: Ai, representing love. This could be her. Is it love for others? Or love for herself? I’m hoping it’s the latter, but very likely it’s love for Madoka and her friends. This would explain why she’s trying to fight Homucifer in the poster, as Homura believes that she’s a danger to everyone else.

How can this be? Well, here’s a few options:

- The Clara Dolls are grown-up familiars. They ate souls, and they became a copy of their witch. This is a process that was explained to us in the original series, where some magical girls are stated to farm familiars by letting them eat people so that they would grow souls/grief seeds.

- The Clara Dolls are not familiars, or wraiths, but instead a secret third thing. “What they are and the witch’s own magic are not well understood”, as said in the Rebellion art book. They could be magical constructs of a different kind, but I do think that this would get into overcomplicated explanations quickly, so I favor the familiar explanation.

- The Clara Dolls could be familiars, but instead of eating souls they’re simply powerful enough to change their shape. Their strength is equal to the strength of a magical girl…. when Homura was a witch, before Homura became something more. It could also be energy from the contracts making them stronger. Maybe it’s me being sentimental, but I don’t like the idea of Homura letting anyone’s soul be nommed on.

Now, before there’s a panic about how they’ll juggle fifteen extra characters, here’s a few thoughts:

- Just because they seem different doesn’t mean they’re actually different. It might be that the Clara Dolls are a way for Homura to present herself. As Vanity, she might show off more, or have dramatic flourishes like her throne and her dress. As Gloominess, it might be that she doesn’t believe that her plans will work, so she tries to do what makes her happy. It’s likely that the Clara Dolls are just extra ways to explore Homura’s character. They’re parts of her soul, after all, and right now she is extremely powerful. She might simply want to keep her true self away from humans.

- They could work like projections. Homura wants more bodies to work with, but she has to filter herself through the Dolls’ personalities. This could result in a lot of juicy character interactions, as the things she tries to keep hidden are closer to the surface.

- Will ‘Ai/Mystery Homura’ fight against Devil Homura? Very likely! How can this be when they’re the same person? Well, who hates Homura more than Homura? That’s right. Nobody. Anyone can fight and argue with their self, it’s just usually not on the level that a reality-warper like Homura can manage.

If this is true, there’s plenty of interesting directions they can take it.

- Because the Clara Dolls have a degree of separation from Homura, they can show other characters things that Homura herself has ignored or locked away. Bad memories, affection for her friends, the resentment she must feel - everything from concern to a cry for help can be plausibly shown through them as the actors.

- Manuke (Stupidity) is specifically more naive/sincere than the others. Maybe interacting with this Doll would show the Quintet that there’s something more going on than a Devil who wants to hurt other people.

- If Ai represents a love for other people, Ai can have a strange character arc where she learns to value Homura/herself, and become self-love.

- On the other hand, Ai can represent self-love from the start, and because Homura looks very fucking unhealthy in the trailer, she only wants to stop her because she’s hurting herself. This option plays into the themes of self-sacrifice and happiness, which I believe to be some of the major themes that they’re going for.

- The poster could be misleading and Ai ends up fighting everyone but Homura. I find this the funniest option.

- Homura can hug herself. It’s possible. In fact, every character can hug Homura 15 different times.

Smiles are a Clara Doll’s default expression. We have yet to see Homura smile for real.

Is this going to get very ambiguous and confusing? Probably. But rewatching for details was the fun part in Rebellion, so I’m looking forward to it!

#walpurgis no kaiten #walpurgisnacht rising #pmmm #homura akemi #madoka magica #puella magi madoka magica #Homura also looks like she’s coughing in that final shot but I can’t find a way to put it in coherently #the Homuras on the tower are too far away for me to look at. sorry. #please don’t start saying things like ‘Ai is SELFLESS LOVE who wants to free Madoka and Homura is ‘SELFISH LOVE who wants to keep Madoka’— #I… disagree. I’d be happy to debate with you but send a message please #pmmm analysis #pmmm rebellion #homucifer #clara dolls #long post

[solarmorrigan]

“That’s it?” Steve asks. “You’re not going to go to prom because you don’t know how to dance?”

“I’m uncoordinated enough! I don’t need to be out there making even more of an idiot of myself in some floofy dress,” Robin insists.

“Rob, no one at prom knows how to dance. Everyone kind of looks like an idiot, that’s half the point,” Steve says.

“Oh yeah, Steve, you’re really selling me on the experience,” Robin drawls.

“No, listen, I’m not done,” Steve says, giving her a nudge. “The other half of the point is just… going and having the memories, y’know? You get to dress up and take the dumb picture with your date, and avoid the punch because someone probably spiked it, and you get to dance and be close to someone and just, like, be carefree for a night.”

Robin says nothing. She doesn’t agree that prom night is paramount to the teen experience, she doesn’t tease the shit out of him for having such stereotypical expectations of a dumb high school dance, she’s just… watching him. She’s turned sideways on the sofa, one leg drawn up to her chest, and she’s looking at him like he’s something between a fascinating puzzle and the saddest thing she’s seen all day, and he knows what she’s thinking.

Steve hadn’t gone to senior prom. He’d been planning to, of course, at the beginning of the year – he’d had Nancy then, and even as early as October, he’d been fantasizing about the flowers he’d bring her and the dinner they’d go to and the way they would sway slowly to whatever shitty songs the DJ put on. But by the time spring had rolled around, he not only hadn’t had Nancy, he hadn’t really had any friends in school at all—not real ones—and so he hadn’t seen the point in attending.

He'd gone to a movie with Dustin that night, instead (he’s at least eighty percent certain the little shit had set it up as some kind of pity outing, since he’d known Steve wasn’t going to prom, but it had been kind of nice that someone had cared enough to even try). It hadn’t been bad, but it hadn’t been exactly what he’d wanted.

Stiffly, Steve glances away from Robin and shrugs. “Or whatever. That’s what it’s like in the movies, right?”

Robin opens her mouth, but her eyes are still soft, and suddenly Steve doesn’t want to hear what she has to say. Instead, he levers himself up off the couch and turns to her, holding out a hand.

“C’mon, I’ll teach you,” he says, cracking a grin. “Then you won’t have an excuse not to go.”

“You… want to teach me how to dance,” Robin asks flatly.

Steve shrugs. “You got anything better to do tonight?”

Raising a sharp brow at Steve, Robin starts to smile, too. “You sure you wanna subject your feet to that?”

“I think I can handle it,” Steve shoots back, and then Robin is up off the couch and helping him push the coffee table out of the way.

They rifle through Steve’s collection of tapes until they find something he deems just the right tempo, pop the cassette in, and stand in the middle of the living room.

“Okay, give me your hand,” Steve says, taking her right hand in his left, “and your other goes on my shoulder.”

Robin does as he says, glancing dubiously down at her feet as Steve places his hand on her waist. “I’m not actually sure this is a good idea,” she says with a grimace. “I might be unteachable.”

“We haven’t even started yet,” Steve reminds her. “Seriously, relax, this is super easy. It’s just a box step waltz.”

Despite her uncertainty, Robin can’t help but smirk at him. “A waltz, huh?” she teases. “Did your parents make you take fancy-pants, rich kid dance lessons when you were younger, or something?”

Steve rolls his eyes. “No. My mom taught me,” he says, and then rushes on before Robin has anything to say about that. “So you’re gonna start by stepping back with your right foot when I step forward, alright?”

Brows furrowed, Robin nods and looks down at her feet again, and Steve squeezes her waist gently to get her attention.

“Look up at me, not at your feet. It’ll be easier, I promise.”

“How am I going to know what my feet are doing if I’m not looking at them?”

“You’re attached to them, Robin.”

“That’s debatable.”

Steve tries not to laugh. He really does. “Okay, you’re in marching band, right? This cannot be harder than following whatever steps that involves while also playing an instrument.”

“This is different!” Robin insists. “I can’t step on the French horn’s feet! The French horn isn’t gonna judge me if I fuck up! Like, the worst that’ll happen in marching band is that the drum major will yell at you, and the drum major is always yelling, so it doesn’t even make a difference anymore, and–”

“Hey,” Steve cuts in, squeezing Robin’s hand this time. “I’m not going to judge you if you fuck up, okay? I am literally the last person qualified to do that.”

Robin huffs out a little laugh. “Right. Two of a kind,” she says.

“Exactly.” Steve grins. “Now c’mon, Buckley, I know you’ve got this. On one, back with your right foot.”

Nodding, Robin glances down at her feet, but looks right back up at Steve. “Okay.”

“Okay. One–”

Steve steps forward with his left foot, and Robin immediately steps forward with her right and kicks him in the shin.

“Ow,” Steve says, dry and flat because it hadn’t really hurt.

“Sorry!” Robin ducks her head, laughing nervously.

Steve shakes his head. “Let’s try that again. Back with your right foot.”

“At least I had the right side?”

“Yep, now aim for the right direction, yeah?”

This time, when Steve counts off, Robin’s right foot goes back, and his left follows her.

“Okay, now what?” Robin asks, looking down again.

“Now, you’re gonna bring your left foot–” gently, Steve judges the top of her left foot with his right, “back,” as she begins to slide back, he moves and taps the inside of her ankle, “and to the left. Just like that.”

“No injuries this time,” Robin quips, and Steve smiles.

“Now move your right foot over next to your left.” He nods as Robin gets her feet back together. “Forward with your left foot – good,” he encourages as he steps back to mirror her. “And now forward and to the side with your right. Like you did with your left before, but opposite.”

“Uh.” Robin makes the move slowly, still staring down, but she looks back up at him when she gets her right foot planted. “Like that?”

“Yep. Now left foot over, and–” Steve follows her, bringing them back to the same position they started in, “that’s it!”

Robin blinks at him. “That’s it?”

“Easy, right?” Steve says.

“Yeah.” Robin nods hesitantly. “I think I can handle that.”

“Of course you can,” Steve insists. “Now let’s try it again. Back with your right foot. One–”

Robin steps forward with her right and kicks Steve in the shin.

“Sorry!”

Steve quickly becomes glad they’re both in their socks, or he’d be sporting much more serious bruises by the time they reach the end of the tape. Robin doesn’t have any trouble keeping the order of the steps in mind, but keeps moving in the opposite direction of where she’s supposed to be going, and Steve has been kicked and stepped on more times in the last half hour than he thinks he has been in his entire life.

“This is ridiculous,” Robin groans. “This is the literal definition of women having to do everything backwards and in heels!”

“You’re not wearing heels,” Steve points out.

“I would be at prom,” Robin says. “Why do I have to go backwards?”

“Because you’re following.”

“Well why can’t I lead?”

“Because you don’t even know how to follow!”

“Exactly! I’m starting from scratch either way!” Robin aims pleading eyes up at Steve. “Can’t we just try it in reverse? How much worse at it could I be?”

The thing is, Steve’s only ever led when dancing – he’s never had reason to learn how to do the follow part. But then, he’s already been reversing the steps in his head all night in order to instruct Robin; following couldn’t be that hard, could it?

“Fine,” Steve groans, letting his head hang back for a moment. “Fine. Trade me.”

“Yes! Trade!” Robin pumps her fist once in triumph, and Steve can’t help but laugh.

He lets go of her right hand and instead takes her left before putting his other hand on her shoulder.

“Hand on my waist.” Steve nods to his to his left side, and Robin moves into position. “Right, so you’re gonna step forward with your left this time, okay?”

Robin nods. “Forward with my left. Okay.”

“Okay. One–”

Steve steps back with his right foot. Robin steps back with her left.

They stand there, each half balanced on their back foot, staring at each other, before Robin bursts into laughter. Steve follows suit.

“I– I told you I was unteachable,” Robin giggles once they’ve caught their breath, her forehead resting on Steve’s shoulder.

“Nope, this is a personal challenge now,” Steve insists, still grinning. “I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a quitter. You’re going to learn to waltz if it kills me.”

“Shouldn’t it be ‘if it kills me’?” Robin draws back to ask.

“My death is looking a lot more likely at this point,” Steve says, and Robin snorts.

“God, you’re so dramatic.”

“Yeah, okay, Miss Unteachable. Ready to try again?”

Robin takes in a breath, wiggles her shoulders, and puts her hands back in position. “Ready.”

“Great. Just remember–”

“Forward with my left foot,” Robin echoes, overlapping Steve’s instruction perfectly.

Steve grins. “Okay, then. One–”

Somehow, Robin makes a better leader than a follower. Once she gets over the initial nerves, she manages the reverse order of steps just fine, even getting confident enough to stop looking at her feet after several sets.

(The fact that Steve has no trouble immediately reversing the steps himself and still instructing Robin receives no comment, though it does receive a brief glare, which gets a smug grin in return.)

They rewind the tape again and keep going. Steve lifts their joined hands to spin Robin around when they hit the second song and she follows with a laugh before insisting that, since she’s leading, she should be the one spinning Steve. He has to duck a little to get under her arm, but they feel the maneuver is quite successful.

Robin offers to try to dip him, but Steve declines, insisting he doesn’t feel like getting dropped on the floor today, earning a pinch at his waist even as Robin laughs.

As the evening wears on, they give up their carefully-held waltz positions and lean in close, until Robin’s head is resting on Steve’s shoulder again, her arms wrapped around his waist, while Steve drapes his arms over her shoulders and leans his head on top of hers.

“This is the kind of slow dancing I would’ve expected from Steve Harrington at prom,” Robin says as they sway in gentle circles to the beat of the music.

Steve hiccups out a little laugh. “Yeah, well, I had to make sure you knew how to do the real thing, first.”

“And?” Robin asks. “Do I pass?”

“I think you’ve got the hang of it,” Steve says. “Now you have no excuse not to go.”

“Steve,” Robin draws back a little, enough to look up at him without pulling away, “who the hell do you think I’m going to be dancing with at prom? It’s not like I can ask– anyone I’d be interested in.”

Steve’s heart sinks a little, the same way it always does when he’s reminded of how fucking unfair the world is to Robin and to other people like her. He shrugs a bit lamely. “You could go with friends?”

“I guess,” Robin says, staring at the front of Steve’s shirt, suddenly lost in thought.

Steve frowns. He doesn’t even remember what had gotten them onto the subject of prom—it’s January, the dance is months away—but what had started out as something fun is starting to make Robin feel bad, and he can’t have that.

“Hey, I didn’t mean–”

“You should go with me,” Robin cuts in, looking back up at him.

“What?”

“To prom,” Robin says. “You should be my big ol’ platonic date.”

“Right,” Steve drawls. “Because going to prom the year after you’ve graduated doesn’t scream that you haven’t moved on from high school at all. Definitely not sad, or anything.”

“Sure,” Robin agrees wryly. “About as un-sad as not going to your senior dance at all.”

Steve cuts a sharp look at Robin, who just smiles at him.

“I mean, I’m just saying: who better to give me the whole prom experience?” Robin shrugs, tone entirely too innocent to be trusted. “If you go with me, we can dress up and get the dumb picture together, and we can avoid the punch, and you can tell me all the gossip I know for a fact you still know about at least half the people there, we can dance… The whole shebang.”

When Steve had been imagining prom night with Nancy the year before, he’d imagined romance. He’d imagined meeting her eyes across the dinner table and sneaking kisses on the dance floor. He’d imagined going back to his place afterwards and making love, spending the rest of the night worshipping Nancy and making sure she knew how beautiful she’d looked and what a wonderful time he’d had with her.

But when he thinks about it now, he thinks about making jokes at dinner with Robin, about standing around in the tinsel-strewn gym and making catty remarks about who’s dressed terribly and whose dancing is even worse. He thinks about them dancing together, still, and maybe they’ll still go back to his place afterwards, where they can watch terrible movies for the rest of the night.

It doesn’t sound at all like what he’d wanted a year ago.

It sounds perfect, now.

“You’ll have to buy the tickets,” Steve finally says, and Robin’s face lights up. “And I expect my corsage to be very fancy.”

Robin laughs. “Should’ve known you wouldn’t be a cheap date, Harrington.”

“We can go Dutch on dinner, if you want,” Steve says.

“How generous,” Robin deadpans, and Steve doesn’t bother to hold back his own grin.

They both know he’s probably going to pay for dinner. He doesn’t mind.

“You’re serious, though?” Robin asks, looking up at him. “You really want to go to prom just to waltz with me?”

“Well, I went to all the trouble of teaching you.” Steve shrugs.

Robin bites her lip around a smile. “Do I get to lead?”

“For the sake of my shins, you’d better,” Steve says, and Robin laughs, leaning back in to cinch her arms around his waist again.

“You are my favorite person, you know that?” she says softly, just audible over music still crooning from the stereo.

“Yeah,” Steve says, pressing his cheek to the top of her head and closing his eyes. “You’re mine, too.”

[Prompt: Slow dancing]

#this is one of my favorites so far and I have been excited to get around to posting it! #stobin #platonic stobin #robin buckley #steve harrington #stranger things #solar wrote #it's a little bit longer though be warned

[dilatorywriting]

Heroes vs. Villains : Pomefiore [Part 3]

Gender Neutral Reader x Pomefiore vs. Neige Leblanche Word Count: 3.6k

Summary: Woe to the Ramshackle Prefect, being caught up in the drama between the Disney Villains and their respective heroes. Pomefiore Version

ie. In which no actor alive is apparently able to comprehend the expression ‘too much.’ Or, Neige sends you far too many flowers and Vil reacts about just as well as you would expect.

[PART 1] [PART 2] [PART 3]

Everything was going great.

Sure, Rook had nearly assassinated you through the power of embarrassment alone and Vil was still commandeering nearly every spare moment of your free time, but overall it was good. The House Warden had slipped back into his usual not entirely self-destructive haughtiness, and you had tucked his subordinate’s betrayal into the deepest recesses of your mind in hopes you might one day just black it out entirely.

And then one morning you woke up and there were flowers on your doorstep.

At first, you genuinely thought it was a prank. Because they were white lilies, and lilies were toxic to cats. And obviously Grim had yowled at you immediately about how he was “NOT A CAT, HENCHMAN!” But you tossed the bouquet in the garbage anyways, just to be safe. Part of you figured that it might be Jade. He certainly seemed the type to dabble in poisoning house pets, and he went on enough nature walks that procuring some of those nifty little blossoms would be an easy feat. So you casually penned ‘Threaten Azul With Octopot Blackmail Until He Can Learn to Control His Demon Spawn’ into your planner and carried on with your day.

And then there were more flowers the next morning, and something cavernous and foreboding in your gut told you that this wasn’t Jade Leech. This time it was a pleasantly wrapped bouquet of mixed white and red carnations—all tuft-like and fluffy. There was a small square of cardstock tucked into the stems. Maybe there had been one in the lilies too, but you hadn’t even bothered to check before dunking them into the trashcan. The paper was embossed with something that looked a bit like an insignia—a teeny, round, sparrow made up of curling silver swirls and little, scratchy, tufts that you assumed were meant to be feathers. The real damning part of all of it though was the elaborate, cursive, N.L. tucked beneath the bird’s spread wings.

Ruh-roh.

“Huh? What are those?” Grimm yawned as he padded down the stairs on his teeny, black, paws.

You tossed the bouquet into the coat closet and slammed the door. “Nothing. Jade’s just trying to poison you again.”

Grim puffed up like a little lion. “You should poison him back! Or stab ‘em!”

“Right,” you nodded, walking bravely into the winter morning with no coat, because the evidence was with your coat, and you immediately wanted to shrivel up and die. “I’ll just do that then.”

The next morning, there was a knock at your door—bright and early. You cracked it open cautiously and peeked through the slit like a ghoul creeping out of its dark lair. It was a person you didn’t recognize, and you opened the door more fully.

“Can I help you…?”

“Yes!” the guy chirped. You realized then that he was wearing a delivery uniform. “I’m just here to drop these off for you,” he smiled, and pressed a bundle of daisies into your arms. “I guess it was noted in the delivery request that it wasn’t a certainty if the last orders had ended up with you or not.”

“Is that so,” you droned, trying not to sound like your soul was actively attempting to vacate your body. “Well. Thank you. Goodbye—”

“Oh!” he called, before you could retreat back into your hovel like a wounded animal. “There are a few more actually!” he said, pointing to another delivery man headed in your direction—weighed down under an entire armful’s worth of blooms. You couldn’t even make out the poor guy’s head beneath the forest of pale pinks and yellows consuming him.

“Right,” you nodded, horrified. “Of course. Anyways, is there a way I can go about returning these, or…?”

The poor dude being eaten alive by all those flowers just laughed good-naturedly and dumped the wagon’s worth of tulips, and camellias, and even more carnations at your feet. You could feel something in your jaw tick.

And then another pair of delivery men came sauntering over the hill and you wanted to scream.

That day at lunch, you felt like a convict in a lineup.

You were seated at Vil’s left, as was the norm, and you were having to actively fight the raw survival instinct tugging at every muscle in your body as it demanded that you flee from the room post haste. A part of you felt like the intuitive beauty would just know somehow. Like he could smell the goddamn flowers on you. You were practically vibrating out of your seat. Every time he brushed up against you, you’d jolt like you’d been electrocuted. All of the moments where he’d shift and his knee would bump against yours, or when he would reach for something just a little off center and his arm would tuck up against your side, or how he’d rest his hand on the table just close enough to yours that even the teeniest fidget would push your pinkies together. It was like the universe had decided that today you were going to be a lightning rod, and that it was oh so fun to just zap-zap-zap you endlessly.

“Are you feeling alright, Mon Coeur?” Rook called from his spot across the narrow table. “You look a bit grey.”

You grit your teeth, because Vil sitting less than a foot away or otherwise, no way would you be telling anything to this snitch. “I’m perfectly fine, thank you.”

“No. He’s right,” Vil asserted, stern, and turned to face you more fully. “You’ve been miserable from the moment you sat down. What’s the matter?”

“I’m fine,” you tried again, and Vil’s eyes narrowed irritably at your bold-faced lie. He leaned closer, as if chastising you from three inches away instead of six would make any sort of difference. But then something odd flickered across his expression and you experienced the very distinctive and horrifying sensation of being marched to the gallows.

Vil reached out and the featherlight touch of his fingers brushed along the curve of your jaw and down your throat before settling heavily at your collar. He plucked a small, pink, petal from a fold in the fabric.

“What’s this?” he asked, with the inflection of someone who already knew perfectly well what ‘this’ was.

“I fell into a bush,” you replied, deadpan.

Silence.

“A bush, hmm?” he mused blandly, and rolled the petal around between his fingers.

Epel and Rook exchanged pointed glances.

“It was an ugly bush,” you added. Because, sure, it was a lie. And Vil clearly knew it was a lie. But maybe hurling around insults at Neige the bush would help.

Vil snorted, and thankfully it sounded more amused than enraged. The petal disappeared in a puff of dark, purple, smoke and he returned to poking at his salad and your posture in equal measure. Safe. For now.

That evening, you approached the only other person on campus that you could think of who would benefit more from helping you keep your horrible, little, secret than in just selling you out at the first opportunity.

“Epel, you lived on a farm,” you tried, conversational in perhaps the way a hostage may try to sound casual to avoid panicking the SWAT team listening in from just outside the door. “You know how plants work.”

He arched a lavender eyebrow at you.

“Yeah?”

“Cool. Cool, cool, cool,” you chirped, steepling your fingers. “So, anyways. Can I get your help then. With a plant problem I’m having?”

“Uhm, sure?” he agreed, face scrunched up in bewilderment.

When you walked him into Ramshackle’s foyer, Epel made a noise like he was choking. You couldn’t blame him—shock aside, the petals floating around were becoming a real hazard.

“Where did these even come from?” he gawked.

“Neige,” you winced, scuffing your toes against the carpet. Or at least in the general vicinity of where you assumed the carpet was. The entire floor was blanketed in loose leaves and bits of ivy.

He whistled low under his breath, and something in his gaze went a little hazy—a little spooked. “When Vil finds out about this…”

“He won’t,” you declared, with as much determination as you could manage.

“He will,” Epel grumbled. He looked like he was having war flashbacks.

“If he does,” you sighed, defeated, “you might as well just shoot me and put me out of my misery.”

“The shotgun is back at grandma’s,” he mumbled, his pale blue eyes still clouded and very, very, faraway.

You blinked. “What.”

“What?”

“…Nothing. I just. Please,” you begged. “You have to help me.”

Epel seemed to take your pleas seriously at the very least (or maybe it was just his own sense of self-preservation kicking in), and he gently raised a finger to tap at his chin as he pondered. After a moment, he made a little ‘ah-ha’ noise and turned back to you with a firm nod.

“You ever lit a bonfire in a dumpster before?”

You blinked. Once. Twice. A third time.

“I,” you began, slow, “have never. Set a dumpster on fire.”

Epel reached out to thump you squarely on the shoulder. “Well, you’re gonna today.”

.

.

“What were you thinking?!” Crewel snarled at you, cracking his pointer across his palm.

You coughed, sending a cloud of garbage-and-petal-scented soot into the air of his otherwise very pristine office.

“I wasn’t?” you tried.

The alchemist looked like he was ready to put his head through the wall or maybe yours, but instead he just reached up to dig his fingers into his temples.

“Detention,” he snapped.

“Understandable,” you nodded—another wave of dusty, black, ash falling to the carpet beneath your feet.

.

.

And then all your arson was for naught, because the very next morning there was a fresh mountain of pink roses crowding your entryway.

You kicked them into the back of the coat closet and hurried off to class, making sure to double and triple check your clothes for any damning evidence before you did.

You made it all the way through the rest of the day without any other flower related nonsense, and maybe all that success had made you cocky, stupid. So when you realized you’d forgotten your little notebook full of reference numbers and stage cues for the Drama Club’s newest production, making a pitstop at Ramshackle only seemed sensible. And when Vil offered to walk you there and back, you agreed without any consideration for rationality.

You could just see the pointed rooftop of your dorm coming into view over the hill when your companion final spoke up.

“This path is ridiculously undermaintained,” he hummed. His purple gaze slid pointedly in your direction. “I suppose I can see how you were you so easily felled by a bush.”

“An ugly bush,” you repeated, just to see his lips quirk into a smug little smirk.

But then that satisfied expression froze on his face, and his mouth curled downwards into that venomous sneer of his that made each and every hair at the back of your neck stand on end.

Because standing in your doorway, a delicate bouquet of sunflowers and sweet peas tucked under his arm, was Neige LeBlanche. With that goddamn purple scarf wrapped around his neck.

“Oh! Hello!” he chirped, his doe eyes wrinkling at the corners as he smiled. “I was hoping I’d be able to catch you!” A fetching shade of pink bloomed across his cheeks and along the bridge of his nose, and he fidgeted nervously with the soft wrappings in his hands. “I was starting to think I had the wrong address…”

There was a steadily increasing pressure around the meat of your upper arm, and it took you a beat too long to realize that it was Vil and his ever-tightening vice grip and not just your clothes trying to strangle you. You could feel the blunt crescents of his fingernails digging into the fabric of your coat—sharp little pinpricks that didn’t exactly hurt or anything, but reminded you just a little too much of a big cat flexing its claws before it pounced.

Neige seemed to notice his one-sided nemesis for the first time, and his expression lit with genuine mirth.

“Oh! Vil! Hello to you too!” he beamed, a merry laugh working its way past his lips. “I didn’t realize you two knew each other! Though if you both go to Night Raven I suppose that makes sense…” He mused.

“Of course,” Vil ground out past his gnashing canines, with about as much civility as you were expecting. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

At this inquiry, Neige went pink all over again—from the tip of his gently pointed chin to the edges of his neatly styled fringe. He shifted nervously back and forth on the balls of his feet and his fingers clenched into the velvet bow of the bouquet. When he spoke up again, he was addressing you and you alone.

“I, uhm…” he spluttered. “Well, I… I was worried you weren’t getting any of my flowers, because I never heard anything back from you. Not that I was expecting you to thank me or anything!” he hurriedly rushed out. “I just—Ah. Well… I-I’ve never really done this sort of thing before, and I wanted to make sure I was doing it right, and Dominic said that if you weren’t responding then maybe I should be doing this in person, so… I…” he trailed off, his face practically glowing with the crimson heat radiating off his cheeks.  

“You never actually gave me any way to respond,” you tried (which was entirely true), aiming for as middle-of-the-road as possible. Clearly it wasn’t neutral enough, because Vil’s glower swiveled to you and became a tangible force against your skin.

“Oh!” Neige gasped. “Oh my goodness! You’re right!”

Maybe that would be the end of it. Maybe he’d be like you, and wind up so encumbered by his own embarrassment that he’d have no other choice but to run away.

But instead, he soldiered on.

“Well…” the brunette murmured, clearly fighting an intense urge to fidget. “I was wondering then, if I—if you—if we—could. If you want to—”

This poor, lost, boy was so sweet and endearing. And as much as you could not comprehend how saving him One Time in a crowded mall had turned into weeks of pining and near hero worship, you felt for the dude. And you felt even worse knowing that you were going to have to absolutely cut him down if you wanted any hope of coming out of this alive with an even marginally stable Vil at your side. Neige was kind, but Vil was totally not the object of your miserable, unrequited, affections your friend. And if you had to sacrifice Squirrel-Sweater-Boy and his crush to keep the House Warden from falling into another spiral of self-flagellation and despair, then so be it.

“A-Actually!” you cut in as fast as you could. “I was just…”

Your eyes flickered to Vil, panicked, and you hoped he wouldn’t eviscerate you for this.

You placed a hand atop the one he’d wrapped around your arm and gave it a gentle, blatant, squeeze as you leaned heavily into his side. “The two of us were just planning on going somewhere! Together!” You shot him a pointed look that you prayed he’d be able to interpret past the veil of red fury muddling his gaze. “Weren’t we?”

“Oh! Like a friendship outing!” Neige chirped, and clapping his hands together enthusiastically. You wilted. “Do you mind if I come along too then? I’d really love to spend more time with you if I can, but obviously I don’t want to step over any of your preexisting plans! I’d love to be able to hang out with Vil again too! It could be like a field trip!”

Your stomach dropped, and you were genuinely worried for a moment that you were going to have to just honest-to-God turn around and book it before you could be indicted as an accessory to murder.

But then the twisting resentment melted from Vil’s face and the hand at your shoulder snuck around your back to settle firmly at your hip. He hauled you flush against his side and you barely managed to swallow your squeak.

“No, actually,” Vil crooned, a wickedly smug grin splitting his crimson lips. “Together, as in together. Partners,” he continued, perfectly chipper. “Involved. Entangled. Romantically linked. Whatever you’d like to call it.”

Neige’s expression immediately fell into something terribly dejected, before bouncing almost just as fast into mortification.

“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry,” he gasped. “I had no idea! If I had known, I—I mean, I would never have tried to—to—Oh, I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable!” he rambled, so red and embarrassed that you were back to feeling bad for him all over again. “Please forgive me for overstepping!”

“I suppose,” Vil sighed, dramatic. And you were officially done feeling bad for him and all his crippling self-worth issues. He turned to you with this demure little pout that you just knew he’d probably had to practice in front of a mirror at some point. “And how about you, darling? Are you feeling magnanimous this afternoon?”

“You’re forgiven,” you grit out, and there was bit of a terrible moment where Neige clearly assumed your spiraling vitriol was aimed at him and not the smug bastard pinning you to his side.

“Th-Thank you!” he squeaked, before darting forward to press the bouquet into Vil’s hands. “Here! Have these! As a—As an apology bouquet instead of a, well…” He buried his face into the plush fabric of his scarf and took a very long, very loud, breath. As if he was trying to center himself. “Anyways! I should be—I’ll get going then! Enjoy your date!”

And then Neige was scurrying off as fast as his legs could carry him, and Vil smirked proudly throughout the entire retreat and beyond. The sunflowers sat in his hands like a trophy.

You took a moment to remind yourself that you were not always a terrible person, and that surely something like this was outweighed in the grand scheme of things by all the Overblots you’d stopped, and how many murders you’d prevented. You sighed, bone deep and weary, and were just about to start making the last leg of the trek into your dorm when Vil pulled you in the opposite direction.

“Where are we going?” you asked, confused. “We still need to get my notebook for the club meeting, and—”

“I thought you just said something about me taking you out for the evening,” he interrupted, arching a finely shaped brow. “Or did you already forget.”

“But that was…” you trailed off, hesitant. Something warm and eager swirled in your belly, and you tamped it down as fast you could. There was no way he meant what your fluttering pulse was assuming he’d meant. I mean, you were ‘the potato.’ That’s it. “You don’t have to feel like you need to take me somewhere. I know that was just…”

Vil scoffed. “Oh, please. I assumed you knew me better than that. Do I seem like the sort of person who would be willing to fake a relationship to avoid any kind of fallout—within the media or otherwise?”

“…No?” you said after a moment.

His hand flexed at your waist. “Correct. Now. Let’s get going. We’ll stop at my dorm first—you’re not going out dressed like that.”

The world was tilting on its axis. Hell had frozen over. Deuce had aced an exam.

“Are you—did you just ask me out?” you gaped.

Vil sighed. “Technically, you asked me. Or, well, demanded.”

“Oh,” you rasped, dazed. “I guess I did.”

And so began the journey back to Pomefiore. Or, well, Vil’s journey. You were just being carted along like a useless sack of vegetables. Your head was spinning, the rest of you barely able to catch up to its frantic swirling. Amidst all your emotional vertigo, you did catch Vil glaring frostily down at the bouquet in his hands. You wondered idly why he didn’t just throw it to the side, and then remembered that ah yes. A trophy.

“Sunflowers,” Vil scoffed under his breath, and the contempt there helped ground you back in reality.

“What’s wrong with sunflowers?” you asked in a huff, no longer feeling the need to cater to his bruised pride now that he was so obviously riding high on a wave of self-satisfied vindication.

He snorted. “You clearly have no grasp on floriography.”

“And you do?”

“What exactly do you think poisons are made of? Or most natural cosmetics?”

You sighed. “Fine. Then if sunflowers are so awful, what kind of flowers would you give me?”

“Roses, naturally. Scarlet Sage.” His lips quirked. “Coriander.”

“Coriander isn’t a flower. It’s what you cook with,” you sniffed, indignant. “Sage too!”

Vil laughed under his breath and reached out to take your hand, threading your fingers through his. You felt warmth spread from your cheeks all the way to the tips of your ears, and you hoped more than anything that your palm wasn’t too sweaty.

“Is that so?” he hummed, amused.

“Well what do they mean then?” you conceded, that furious heat still working its way along your skin.

He glanced down at you out of the corner of his charcoal-lined eyes—the purple there brilliantly sharp and fond. He gave your hand another firm squeeze.

“I suppose you’ll just have to do your best to figure that out.”

.

.

.

.

🌸FLOWERS🌸

White Lilies = Virginity, Purity, Heavenly Red Carnations  = ‘Alas for my poor heart, my heart aches,’ deep romantic love White Carnations = Innocence, pure love, sweet love Daisies = Innocence, Loyal love Ivy = Affection, Friendship, Fidelity Pink Camelias = Longing For You Pink Rose = Happiness; innocent romantic love Yellow Tulip = Sunshine in your smile; hopeless love Sweet Pea = kindheartedness, Blissful pleasures Sunflower = Adoration; Pure Thoughts

Red Rose = Love, ‘I love you’ Scarlet Sage = Forever Mine Coriandor = Lust

.

.

TAG LIST [CLOSED]

@destinationdesignation @the-dumber-scaramouche @starchilll, @juulranch, @kalims, @theneurodivergentdummy, @honey-deerling, @thenyxsky, @vasiliki-koshka, @cassidycampfire, @youaskedfurret, @asimpleazur, @iwannabeacrow, @fuckingfaraway, @ambievert, @cerisescherries, @mys-harmony, @queenaveryrules, @smokebell, @alextheknight707, @hermiona18, @paintingeels, @rebloging-everything,

@nexxy-is-lonely, @akuri-shinsou, @nebulabunni3, @hermiona18, @alextheknight707, @crockercorpbakers, @sillyhummingbird, @loxi546-blog, @blackrose8425, @paranoiac-666, @alexpeaches, @cinnamontimecrunch, @cupid3m, @iamnotwiddle, @coloursplash666, @smokebell, @dreamingjirachi, @existingcurrently, @littlemusicfox25, @spaceyrunes, @un-petit-peu-confused, @medleycharm, @chocolateduckdinosaur, @barryatsumu, @ttwinrytwo, @imaginedfantasies, @cleos-stuff, @whathappenedtobees, @5sos-wdw, @trixeraptops, @obaniori, @thededly2, @kttyfngs, @reconcy, @patimiet, @itsmarlsworld, @fae06, @nowwhat-runlikehell, @kinglion03u, @catgirler, @anonymouscandy, @hatsunemiku2025, @clappincobracheeks, @horcrux-alchemist, @crypticbibliophile, @nyotnyota, @ally-glow, @yourimaginaryfriiendd, @hamdehlesmis, @scarapeep, @https-casanova, @niki-chan15, @insomnia-space, @rabioa, @ailynyan, @posionapplecider @pen-observing @afternoon-read, @marvelous-maxi, @inkeddreamz, @ai-dev, @anasianplate, @scarlettqueen190

#twisted wonderland imagines #twisted wonderland #twst x reader #Vil x Reader #vil shoenheit #Vil Schoenheit x Reader #Pomefiore x Reader #neige leblanche #neige x reader #My Writing #Heroes vs Villains #Heroes vs Villains Pomefiore Part 3

[writingonleaves]

and all at once, you’re all i want (i’ll never let you go) - jack hughes

pairing: jack hughes x original female character

warnings: literally nothing. fluff! some minor worship of nina hischier (the goat), a little love letter to my alma mater

title: "king of my heart" by taylor swift

word count: 10.3k

author's note: first fic in the new year is for @wyattjohnston 's winter fic exchange 2k24!! i had the absolute pleasure of writing for @wildrangers <3 taylor, i hope you enjoy this as much as i enjoyed putting it together and demi, thank you for your endless hard work for putting this on!!

four times where jack hughes and ashley grassie showed up for each other and one time where everyone showed up for them

*****

one - two months

“Jack, are you sure about this?” Ashley asks, fiddling with the silver rings on her fingers. 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” He responds confidently, sparing a look at her from the drivers seat before turning his eyes back on the road. “Everyone’s expecting you.”

“You told them?”

“That my girlfriend was coming with me to a New Year’s party? Of course.” He squeezes her thigh lightly. “They’re excited to meet you. And not while we’re working.”

“I’m excited to meet them too.”

“You sure?” He teases lightly. “You’ve been quiet all afternoon.”

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about.” They stop at a red light, and he leans over to kiss her cheek. “Ash, baby, they’re gonna love you.”

“But you don’t know that,” she protests softly. 

“I do, actually. Because everyone loves you.”

She rolls her eyes. “You can’t promise me that everyone’s gonna even like me.”

He shrugs. “I’ll prove you wrong. You’ll see.” He tugs at her gold sweater. “Is this new?”

“Yeah. Seems fitting for the occasion. Sparkles equals New Years, right?”

“I like it a lot.”

“I know what you’re doing,” she deadpans. 

He smirks. “And what might that be?”

“Distracting me.”

“Maybe so. You’re so smart, Miss Columbia Grad.”

“Jack,” she whines, making him laugh. 

He picks up her hand and kisses the back of it. “Trust me, okay? It’ll be great. And I’ll be with you all night.”

Ashley swallows, before forcing herself to nod. 

The thing is, after two months of dating officially (she’s not counting the month beforehand when there wasn’t a label on things even though there should’ve been), there are still important parts of each other’s lives they have yet to experience together. She’s gone to a few of his games, but has never met any of his teammates (except for Luke, but he doesn’t count), choosing to meet Jack back at his place after instead of waiting for him at the rink. She also doesn’t count that one Devils game she had to fill in for, which is how she met Jack in the first place. The few times he’s invited her along when he does go out with them, she’s been busy with other things. 

New Year’s is kinda a big time to be meeting new people. People that mean a lot to Jack. But that could just also be all in Ashley’s head. She’s never really done this before. The last serious boyfriend she had was in high school where everyone knew each other. There was no need for introductions. 

Jack squeezes her hand. “Thank you.” 

“For?” 

“Coming with me to this. Taking off work early. I appreciate it a lot.” 

She shrugs casually. “It’s about time, right?” She pointedly ignores the look he shoots her, because she doesn’t want him to know how nervous she really is.

Before they know it, Jack’s pulled into the driveway of the Toffolis and her hands start sweating again. She gathers the flowers on her lap and the wine bag as Jack rounds the car and opens the door for her. He grabs the bag, presses a kiss atop her head and hand in hand, they walk to the front door. She lets Jack take the lead as he just walks in. They walk into the kitchen area, as Cat pulls her into a hug and thanks them graciously for the flowers and wine.

It turns out that Ashley really does have nothing to worry about. Getting thrown into a whirlwind of introductions and new names is a lot, but she doesn’t mind. A wave of comfort crashes over her as Luke practically hauls her into a hug. 

She finds herself besides Nico after he hands her a glass of wine. “You’re a journalist, right?” He asks.

“I am.”

“Do you ever watch Jack’s media interviews?”

Ashley giggles. “I do once in awhile. Trust me, I have my thoughts. I also met him for the first time from that. And you, technically.”

“Right, right. Will we ever see you in the locker room again?”

“Probably not. I was just filling in for Danny. On the rare chance I do sports, it’s usually for the Jets. Besides, better to watch and support you all without any stake professionally.”

“What do you usually report on?” Nico asks with genuine curiosity. 

She perks up, like anytime she gets to talk about her job. As she talks, using her hands animatedly despite one of them holding a drink, Jack looks on from a distance with a lovesick look in his eyes.

“She is way too cool for you,” Dawson says, fixing his cap.

Jack rolls his eyes. “Shut up.” But Jack knows his teammate’s right.

Jack’s not clingy, perse, but it’s hard for him to watch Ashley just…be and not be touching a part of her. Even if it’s just sliding up against her so her body is pressed alongside his, he just wants to be near her all the time. 

(Quinn once sent some random thing he found on Instagram about love languages a few years back and Jack had remembered absolutely roasting him. But maybe he had a point)

“So,” Nicole starts, refilling both their glasses up with champagne a bit later in the evening. “Why Jack?”

Ashley snorts. “Your guess is as good as mine.” From beside his girlfriend, Jesper barks out a laugh and from next to Ashley, Jack pouts. Ashley laughs, leaning into Jack’s side. “I’m kidding. Mostly. I was hesitant at first though.”

“Oh, yeah. He told me about this,” Jesper says. “Said he chased you down the hall after post-game media and asked you out?”

“Sounds about right.”

“And you said yes to that?” Jesper asks. Jack whacks his teammate in the stomach. 

“Not right away,” Ashley admits. “He gave me his number and told me to text him if I was interested. And I ended up being interested.”

“Lucky for him,” Nicole chuckles. 

Jack squeezes Ashley’s waist fondly. “Lucky for me.”

She listens on in interest as Nicole talks about how she and Jesper got together. Somewhere throughout the conversation, she can’t help but let her mind drift. They’ve been together for years now, been living together for a bit and are looking to move into a house. She literally moved away from Sweden full-time for him. 

Ashley swallows as Jack asks about how their house search is going. There’s a very little chance that Jack will be leaving Jersey anytime within the next half decade. But her mother warned her that his career could take him places in the future unexpectedly. 

And in a way, so could Ashley’s. But it’s not as easy. 

She scolds herself for even thinking this far. They’ve been dating for literally two months. That’s nothing in the grand scheme of things. They’re celebrating entering the new year today, but she has no idea if they’ll even be together for all of it.

She’s hoping they are. God, she really fucking hopes so. But she could hope until the end of the world and have it fall short. She smoothes her sweater out with her suddenly-clammy hands, chugging the whole glass of champagne before putting the flute down on a nearby table. She excuses herself politely to use the bathroom, which she does, before getting some air. 

She definitely looks a bit crazy outside on the Toffoli’s porch in the dead of winter, but she doesn’t mind the biting edge of cold. It’s grounding her, actually. 

“Was looking for you.”

Ashley doesn’t even look at Jack, humming as she hears him walking out to stand next to her. “Did my sparkle sweater give me away?”

“No, Neeks did, actually. Said he saw you walking out.” She finally looks at him with his eyebrows furrowed. “You’re not cold?”

“Don’t even think about offering me your jacket,” she warns. “I know you’re only wearing a t-shirt underneath.”

“Then come back inside so we both don’t die.”

“In a minute,” she promises. 

He huffs, rubbing his hands up and down her arms to try and generate some heat. “Everything good?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Just, you know, minorly freaking out at her boyfriend’s teammate’s place about the fact that she might be falling in love with him even though it hasn’t been that long and what a future could look like for them and how that future could fall apart in an instant.

So regular New Year’s Eve thoughts.

“Unlike you, I don’t have a college degree, much less two,” Jack grins. “I can’t read minds.”

“And you think I can?” She jokes back weakly. He just chuckles. She continues. “Your friends are nice. I like them a lot.”

He lights up anytime someone he loves gets brought up in conversation. “Yeah, they’re cool. They like you too.”

“That’s good,” she says softly. 

He taps her forehead with his pointer finger. “Countdown’s soon. Come back inside?” He laces their fingers together. 

“You gonna kiss me at midnight?”

“Think so.”

“You only think so?”

Jack smirks, kissing her deeply. “Shut up.”

Ashley is absolutely floored.

two - one year and one month

Cam’s wedding crept up on her. 

Of course, Ashley knew it was coming, but still. Though she was surprised when Jack told her that he was free of games on that particular early November weekend somehow, only having to miss an optional practice and that he would notify the coaching staff far in advance. 

It’s not the act of bringing Jack that she’s nervous about. Cam and Amanda, his fiance, came into the city a few months ago and they all grabbed lunch before heading to a game at The Rock that night. She’ll never forget how ultimately “traitor-like to the Bruins” Cam felt, Ashley and Amanda finding it hilarious. They both had a good time though, and that’s all that matters, and Cam, who has always looked out for her even before she had ever asked, subtly gave his approval. 

(“I’ll admit my assumptions about him were wrong,” Cam had said. “He’s awesome, and he really cares about you. If he’s the one, I won’t be mad about it. He’s very lucky.”)

It’s more of a particular person that’s going to be at the wedding. 

Weirdly, when she and Alex broke up way back when, one of the thoughts that circled her mind months after was exactly this. If and when the day of Cam’s wedding came, and they were both still close to him, they’d both be there. And here they are. 

She’s over him — obviously, considering she’s in a happy, long-term relationship and it’s been four years — but how do you prepare to see your ex-boyfriend when the last time you saw him you had just broken up and you were in tears?

She and Jack drive up to Cape Cod early the day of the wedding and she feels a bit bad that he’s driving after he had a game last night and has one in just two days but he doesn’t mind, happy to be driving as long as she’s in the passenger seat next to him. They’re switching off anyways, and she had driven the first half. Cam and Amanda rented out a bunch of rooms at a few inns for their guests so her and Jack will get ready there before heading to the venue. 

From a quick rundown Cam gave her a month ago when they caught up over the phone, she’ll at least be familiar with a good amount of people at the wedding. She’s excited to see them all again and catch up, those memories that were bittersweet at some point, all water under the bridge so many years later. 

It’s what you get for dating within a friend group. Ultimately, at some point, sides are chosen.

At the end of the day, it’s Cam, someone who has always been there for her since they were 16, even when she didn’t necessarily do the same. He’s given his friendship selflessly to her for over a decade. The least she can do is come to his wedding to celebrate. 

And she has Jack with her. Nothing can go wrong with Jack by her side. 

“You okay?” Jack’s voice breaks her out of her thoughts as he squeezes her thigh, sneaking a look before focusing back on the road. “You’re quiet. You’re rarely quiet in the car.”

“It’s a 5 hour drive, Jack.”

“I’ve been playing country nonstop for the last half an hour and you haven’t chirped me once.” She starts playing with his fingers and his eyebrows furrow. “Alright. What’s going on, baby? What are you thinking about?”

“You know what I’m thinking about.” She shoots back with no malice. 

He sighs, linking their hands together and bringing them up to his lips to kiss her knuckles. “Yeah. I got you though. I’ll be with you the whole day.”

“It’s dumb, really. Four years. And I haven’t thought about him in a long time.”

He shrugs. “He was your first heartbreak, and you haven’t seen him since. This is gonna be some sort of closure, even if it’s four years later.”

“You seem awfully cool about this, considering, you know, your current girlfriend is lowkey freaking out about seeing her ex again.”

“I’m not worried,” he replies easily. “You need this closure. I wasn’t smart like you back then and actually saw my exes probably way sooner than I should’ve. Besides, I’m the one on your arm now. Not him. I’m not pressed.”

She scoffs at yet another country song playing and skips it, snorting when ‘Suburban Legends’ by Taylor Swift comes on. How fitting. “I’m definitely hyping it up in my head. It’s nothing. And Cam told me that he purposefully put us at separate tables, in case Alex says some questionable shit while drunk.”

“No worries about you saying anything questionable?”

“Compared to Alex? No way.” He snorts, amused. But he knows enough about his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend to not push it. “I wonder if he’s bringing someone. God, I hope he is.”

“Why? Don’t want to rub it in his face that you’re happy and in love?”

“That’s mean,” she says airily. “No. I hope he’s bringing someone because I want to know what kind of girl can tolerate his ass. I did, but I was 20 and stupid. I wanna see what kind of girl can tolerate him at 26.”

“Does he know I’m coming?”

“Cam?”

He snorts. “No. Alex.”

“Who knows? Even if he does, he probably doesn’t care and isn’t overthinking it like I am.”

“I think you’d be surprised,” she looks at him, confused and he bites his lip. “Even if they play it off, guys are affected by that stuff more than you’d think.”

“What is there to be affected by?”

“You,” Jack says simply. “Not that I’m biased or anything, but you leave quite an impact on everyone you meet. And that lucky ass got to date you. As someone who also has had that privilege, I can relate a bit.”

Ashley chuckles before squeezing his hand. “Thanks for coming with me. I know your schedule is really busy with the season and everything-”

“You don’t need to thank me. Isn’t half of having a significant other just bringing them as plus ones to weddings?”

“Fair.” She leans her head on his shoulder momentarily as he pushes the sunglasses on top of his head to his face. “Thank you, though. I feel bad that you’re missing practice.”

He snorts. “Don’t.”

“They didn’t give you a hard time?”

“Not really. It’s an optional, anyways. Nico just told us to have fun and I think Lindy has a soft spot for you somehow. I’m excited. I like Cam. And I’m happy to be here with you.” He smirks, adding. “Come on, baby. Did you think I was gonna leave you to dry when your ex is gonna be there?”

“You don’t know anybody at the wedding. And Cam grew up in a hockey-loving family from Boston. There’s bound to be people who recognize you.”

“So I’m the arm candy for the night. That works perfectly for me.” 

They arrive at the inn just past 1, and decide to stop by a nearby cafe to grab a quick bite. Jack decides to take a short nap before they have to start getting ready and head out while she scrolls on her phone and plays with his hair since his head is on her lap. Occasionally she finds herself staring outside the window at the water with a smile. Even if not in the summer, the Cape is beautiful.

Once it hits 4:15, she figures that she should start getting ready, but she can’t move without disturbing Jack since he’s still sleeping soundly on her lap. She gently whispers his name and presses a few kisses on his forehead as his breathing changes, groaning a bit as he stretches and opens his eyes. 

“Time to go?”

“In like, an hour. I need to start getting ready.”

He hums, puckering his lips and she takes the hint, kissing him soundly twice before ushering him off her lap. She lays out the few makeup products she has, moisturizing her face before putting light foundation and concealer on. As always, she focuses more attention on her eyeshadow, deciding to add a bit of gold glitter to compliment her pink dress. She clips a matching pink bow in, liking the way it blends with the natural brown of her hair. She decides to save the lipstick for right before they leave and turns to Jack, who’s buttoning his shirt. 

“What do you think?” He looks up as he’s buttoning his cuffs. “Too much glitter?” She asks.

“Never too much glitter. You look beautiful.”

She looks at his blazer and tie that he’s laid out on the bed, looking at him with minor confusion. “Since when do you own that tie?”

“Since last week when I bought it.”

She looks at where her dress is hanging. “It matches my dress.”

“Yes it does.”

She looks towards him as he tucks his shirt in, a sudden wave of love rushing through her heart. “I love you.”

He looks up and immediately walks over to her, placing a hand on her waist and kissing her. “I love you too.”

She puts on her dress quickly, smiling when she doesn’t even have to ask Jack as he comes over to help her zip it up, pressing a chaste kiss on her shoulder. His phone ringing interrupts and she brushes her hair before she puts on her accessories. 

“Sup Quinny?”

Quinn’s voice crackles through Jack’s phone. “Where the fuck are you going all dressed up on a Saturday? I know for a fact you don’t have a game today, considering Luke just sent a snap of him playing Chel with Dawson 10 minutes ago.”

“I’m in the Cape, asshole. One of Ash’s friends is getting married.”

She peeks into the view of the camera and waves after putting in one earring. “Hi Quinn!”

“Oh! Hey Ash. You look beautiful.”

She beams. “Thank you!”

Jack scoffs. “I’m here too.”

Ashley leaves the brothers to catch up as she starts gathering her things and puts on her lip tint before sitting at the edge of the bed since they still have 15 minutes left before they have to head out and she’s mostly all ready to go. She chimes in once in awhile, always happy to talk to Quinn as Jack shrugs on his suit jacket, ties his matching pink tie and clasps on his watch.

“Looking good, you two.” Quinn says as they both stand in front of the phone. “Matching tie, eh? Good move, Jacky.”

“We look good enough to make an ex jealous?”

She just rolls her eyes as Quinn’s eyes lights up, immediately catching on. “Absolutely.”

“Don’t encourage him, Quinn.”

Quinn just laughs and bids them farewell as Jack smooths down his tie. She puts on her jacket and grabs her boots and slips them on. As she’s about to bend down and tie them, Jack ushers her to sit on the bed and kneels down. He does it too quickly for her to dwell too much on how much she loves him, but he probably knows, if him gently rubbing his thumb over her ankle and the kiss on the inside of her knee tell her anything. 

It’s only been a little over a year, but she really does think she could spend the rest of her life with him.

They end up running into Nick in the lobby and even though it’s been…four years since she’s seen him, she corrals him into a tight hug. She introduces Jack and Nick introduces Melanie, his fiancee. The only indication from Nick that he knows who Jack is is a subtle comment that’s delivered in a way that’s so Nick it makes her heart ache — “Jack Hughes. Only Ash would show up after almost five years in the flesh with a professional athlete at a wedding where her ex is gonna be at. Always gotta do some out of pocket shit.” — and makes Jack laugh as she slaps him.

The four of them walk the short seven minute walk to the venue together, with Ashley and Nick mostly leading the conversation. She can’t remember where they left their tentative friendship in their late teens and early twenties when the world was shut down and the future looked the most uncertain it had been. Even though they don’t immediately pick up where they left off, years of rust littered in their interactions and memories, she’s extremely happy to see that he’s doing well. 

(Jack’s just happy to be there, holding his girlfriend’s hand as she leads the conversation. It’s nice not having to lead for once. There’s not many situations where he’s the one tagging along) 

As they enter the ceremony space, Ashley immediately sees plenty of other people she recognizes. She chuckles to herself as she realizes many of the guys are from the soccer team. It’s touching to know they still keep in touch. Logan, one of said guys, greets Nick goodheartedly, before wrangling her into a hug. As pleasantries are exchanged and people are introduced, she does feel a bit out of place. But that’s natural, reconnecting with people after so long that clearly still hang out with each other and only hear about her through sporadic updates through Cam when they ask. 

Sides were chosen, even if not intentionally. Ashley’s learned to be okay with that. Even if she thinks it’s unfair that Alex got to keep a lot of their mutual friends and she didn’t.

As everyone settles down in their seats, she squeezes Jack’s hand, opening her mouth to apologize for…something. Not preparing him in giving the whole lore of how she knows all these people? How the only reason she knows the sport of soccer is so well is because of Alex? Not explaining clearly the mixed feelings of her coming to the Cape this weekend? 

But Jack’s enraptured in a conversation with Logan, and she smiles. Of course. Logan played hockey back in high school as well. 

(Out of instinct, Jack does squeeze her hand back though, even placing them in his lap even though he’s not looking in her direction at all)

When Alex comes into view, a pretty redhead’s hand around the crook of his elbow, Ashley starts sweating. Thank goodness she has deodorant in her bag. Jack, who’s still talking to Logan, notices, and she’s about to apologize for her clammy hands as he sends her a confused look but the nearby exclamations of Alex’s name answers his question. He just presses two kisses to her temple.

Logan, to his credit, grimaces. “You gonna be good, Ash?”

She waves his kindness away. “Of course. It’s been so long. And it’s Cam’s day.”

And it is Cam’s day, as everyone falls silent watching both sets of parents and the groomsmen and bridesmaids walk down — she chuckles when she sees Sean walking down, forgetting that he and Cam got closer in college even after going to the same high school — before grinning as Amanda walks down in her beautiful A-line, ball gown of a wedding dress. Ashley wipes a tear away watching Cam do the same and she thinks if only 16 year old them could see themselves now. 

(She has a moment when she looks at Jack where her stomach flips, thinking of the day they could be the ones at the altar. She quickly focuses her attention back to the front)

Cam and Amanda are pronounced husband and wife and she cheers as he dips her and kisses her, beaming and tearing up and laughing as she hears Nick wolf-whistle. People start dispersing, the large heated patio hosting a cocktail hour before the doors to the reception hall open back up again.

While she’s sipping on a glass of wine, she hears a familiar voice calling her name and she beams, carefully making sure she doesn’t spill any wine on Sean’s tuxedo as he towers over her and hugs her tightly. He introduces himself to Jack and she watches in slight amusement as they talk. 

Sean and her never really were friends, more friends by association. He was more in the popular crowd in the school that Ashley herself was never inclined to push her way through. Her and Sean shared plenty of classes together though, and always got along when forced to work together. And in another life, sometimes Ashley thinks that she would’ve had a crush on the blonde boy. 

Instead, she dated one of his teammates. And, well, that turned out the way it did.

(Ashley rolls her eyes when Sean makes a comment about how it “makes complete sense that you’re the one who ended up dating a professional athlete” because sure, Sean. Sure.)

Jack may be among many Massachusetts natives who live and die for the Bruins and are not hesitant in chirping him within 5 minutes of meeting him, but he smiles genuinely as his hand instinctively finds a way on her lower back. After dating Ashley for over a year, he’s used to the good-intentioned bluntness of New Englanders. She only starts rolling her eyes when high school gets brought up and stories about her start piling up. In contrast, Jack loves this and just eggs them on, eager to hear the stories. 

With a quick glance at the seating chart when they’re all starting to filter back into the reception hall, she finds that the high school crowd is split between two tables, and that Cam kept to his word and put her and Alex at different ones. The tables next to each other, but still. She won’t have to worry about making accidental awkward eye contact with him across her chicken. She’s the slightest bit surprised she hasn’t crossed direct paths with him yet. But there’s enough people that they wouldn’t ever be forced to interact. And maybe that’s for the best. 

Dinner passes by without incident, Ashley squeezing both Cam and Amanda tight as they come around to toast every table as Jack gives Cam a tight bro-hug and Amanda a polite kiss on the cheek. The dance floor starts to open up, and as usual, Ashley’s one of the first ones on, dragging Jack and practically their whole table out. She feels light on her feet and happy as she leans into Jack with a big smile. He ditches his suit jacket at the table and his pink tie is loosened and she thinks he looks so handsome. She’s happily tipsy enough where the curious glances and whispers from probably the entire fucking reception hall about why an NHL player is here don’t bother her. She knows he’s used to it. She doesn’t know how.

(Jack may not know everything of the lore and context behind Ashley’s relationship with the people she knows here, but he knows her and how deeply she feels and nostalgic she can get and how that can change her perception of her own memories and how that in turn, can make her extremely self critical. 

So this whole evening, he’s tried to make it as easy as possible, talking with her old friends and classmates — which isn’t much of an ask, they’re nice enough — and just squeezing her hand or waist or kissing her temple or cheek when he feels her focus trailing off. If she talks to Alex and wants him there, he’ll be right next to her. If not, he’ll make himself scarce. Whatever she wants)

Ashley’s resting at her chair while Jack’s in a casual conversation with Cam as Alex comes up behind Cam, tapping him on the shoulder. She swallows and sits up straight and Jack automatically places a gentle hand on her back. Cam and Alex exchange a few words she can’t hear before Cam turns his attention back to her and Jack feels a surge of gratitude towards Cam, who looks extremely apologetic. 

Jack watches as she stands up and steps towards Alex with a small smile. “Hey.”

Alex blinks. “Hi.” She gives him a quick hug before stepping back next to Jack as he stands up. “Alex, this is Jack, my boyfriend. Jack, Alex.”

“Nice to meet you, man.” Jack says with a firm, polite handshake and he doesn’t really see (or care about) Alex’s reaction before turning back to Ashley again, trying to read her. She gives him an almost imperceptible nod. Jack’s eyes flicker to Cam, who also nods behind Alex and he clears his throat. “I’m gonna get a refill. You two want anything?”

“All good, man.”

“Rum and coke, heavier on the coke?”

“You got it,” Jack presses a quick kiss to her hair before he and Cam walk to the bar. 

Jack waves to the bartender for a whiskey sour for himself as Cam gets a gin and tonic. They both lean against the counter and Jack sighs, watching Alex take Jack’s previous seat. “Was that a good idea? Leaving them alone?” Because he knows her, of course, but Cam’s known her longer. And he had a front row seat to her and Alex’s friendship before they got together, their relationship when they got together, and the fallout of their breakup. 

“Honestly? I don’t know. But they’re both 26 year old mature adults.” Cam’s eyes flit over to a redhead woman a couple seats away from the bar and waves her over. Jack’s trying to remember if he’s met her tonight

“Hi Cam,” she says lightly. 

“Hey yourself,” he nods over in the direction of her and Alex. “You initiate that?”

She snorts, “Of course I did.” She perches herself on a stool and sticks her hand out to Jack. “I don’t think we’ve met yet. I’m Francesca, but please call me Fran. I’m Alex’s girlfriend.”

Jack gives her a small smile. This is something. “Jack. Ashley’s boyfriend.”

“I’m aware,” she teases. “I grew up in Jersey and my brother’s a huge hockey fan. I’ve been to a couple of your games throughout the years.”

“Always nice to meet a fan,” He responds smoothly and genuinely. “Especially in a room filled with Bruins fans that could honestly poison my drink at any moment and I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re lucky there are no Rangers fans here.” Cam waves him off as Jack and Fran laugh. 

“What a way to meet someone for the first time,” Fran says.

“While our exes are talking for the first time in over four years?” Jack says and Fran and Cam both snort. “You could say that.”

She turns to Cam, “Cam, you can go off and mingle, you know? It’s your wedding. Jack and I will be fine here.”

Jack opens his mouth to agree but Cam just shakes his head. “It’s fine. I need a second to breathe anyways. And also make sure this doesn’t go downhill.”

“Ashley seems like a smart girl and Alex isn’t that stupid,” Fran says. “They wouldn’t make a fuss at your wedding.”

Cam sighs and Jack thinks about how thankful he is that Cam has been there for his girlfriend way before Jack even knew her. Jack then turns to Fran and asks how she and Alex met and the conversation starts there, all three of them turning to the two exes from time to time to make sure there’s no flames or glasses being thrown. 

Fran talks about how she and Alex met at work and laughs in amusement when Jack explains that it was the same with him and Ashley, talking about how Ashley had been filling in for a colleague for an interview and Jack practically fell in love with her the second he saw her and had to tell himself to not sound stupid in front of the pretty girl. 

And honestly, as Jack talks to Fran, he laughs to himself a bit ironically. She reminds him a bit of Ashley. A bit too much for him personally and harsh in a different way than his girlfriend, but decent company nonetheless. So maybe he and Alex are more alike than they think. 

Meanwhile, the conversation happening merely 20 feet away between two exes is not as casual. Not as comfortable. 

“Been a long time, huh?” Alex remarks. 

Ashley tries not to scoff. “Four years.”

Alex curses under his breath. “Yeah. How are you?”

What a loaded question. She goes along with it. “I’m good.”

“Cam mentioned you’re in New York?”

“I am. Moved out there about a year after college for work. Then went to grad school there.”

“Journalist?”

She shrugs. “More or less. The title’s changed a couple times throughout the years but all in that field.”

“That’s awesome.” He runs a hand through his hair and it looks so familiar yet unfamiliar. “I still remember when you told me you got into BU. Seems like the path was always laid out for you, huh?”

She’ll have to unpack that one later. “Guess so. How about you? I heard you were in Portland. Real estate, right?”

He nods, “Yeah.”

“That’s great. I’m really glad you’re doing well.”

“Thanks.” A moment of silence there. “For what it’s worth, it is really good to see you again.”

Ashley lets out a genuine smile. Small, but genuine. “Same.” 

The sound of his laughter kinda aches a bit, but not in a way that has her sad. Just nostalgic. There is some easy banter, and somewhere in the back of her mind, Ashley’s remembering a bit of why she loved him in the first place. 

There’s a pause in the conversation, before she continues, “I haven’t gotten a chance to meet whoever you’re here with yet, but-”

“Fran.”

“Fran, right.” she says. “But I’ve heard a bit. How long have you two been together?”

“Are we really going to do this?”

She swallows the urge to fire back, shrugging instead. “Why not? And don’t pretend like you’re not curious about Jack either. I figured I might as well just go first.”

Alex laughs. “Around three years for Fran and I.”

“You love her?”

“I do. A lot.”

She smiles. Genuinely this time. “Good. I’m glad to hear it.”

“How about you and Mr. NHL Superstar?”

Again, she swallows down her instinct to fire back. “A little over a year now.”

“You happy?”

“Very.”

Alex nods once and doesn’t quite smile but has a pleasant expression on his face. “Cam said that he likes him. Which is a lot, considering I’m pretty sure he used to think that he was a cocky asshole.”

Ashley knows it’s not meant in that way because she knows that her boyfriend has somewhat of a reputation, but she gets defensive. “People aren’t always what they seem. Even if he’s a pest on the ice sometimes, he’s a wonderful guy.” You should know, she wants to say. You were the exact same way in high school.

They’re trickling into dangerous territory. She wonders if he’ll take the bait. If he does, she wonders if she’ll be strong enough not to fall for it. She wonders if he’ll apologize, not because she needs it, but because she knows she deserved one all those years ago. 

Alex leans back casually, putting his arm over the empty chair next to him. “From me to Jack fucking Hughes. I don’t know if I should be flattered or offended.”

Ashley doesn’t know at all how she’s supposed to take that. Like everything he’s always done, he says it casually, taking a drink of water as she’s figuring out how to respond. She doesn’t. For the first time, she feels like she doesn’t have control of this conversation.

He notices she has no response and keeps going. “Hey, he’s a decent player and the money can’t hurt. I’m glad you’re happy.”

She swallows. A gold digger? Is that really what he’s hinting at?

Ashley almost sighs in relief when she catches sight of Jack, Cam and a woman who she presumes is Fran walking back towards them. Immediately she plasters on a smile and introduces herself to Fran, because it’s not her fault that her boyfriend still has the ability to get under her skin even so many years after their break-up. Jack presses a rum and coke in her hand silently and she thanks him quietly before making small talk with Fran. Just having Jack next to her has her blood pressure lowering. Soon enough, they all but shove Cam back into his own wedding and bid farewell as Fran excuses her and Alex and heads over to chat with someone she doesn’t recognize. 

Jack leads her outside of the main reception hall into one of the hallways, where there are people sporadically chatting and also getting away from the music for a second. 

Jack grabs her drink and faces her with a concerned look. “Ash? You okay? It seemed to get a little…tense at times.”

Ashley shrugs and chuckles. It’s bitter though, and he knows it, immediately placing a grounding hand on her waist. “I was how I always am to everyone.”

“Sure,” he responds skeptically. 

She sighs. “It was fine. I’m fine. It didn’t go badly. I don’t know if it was good. It just…was.” She squeezes her eyes shut. “It was fine. It’s not a big deal. It’s been four fucking years and it’s not like I love him anymore. I shouldn’t-”

“Hey. Stop. None of that,” Jack says softly but firmly, leaning in closer and kissing her forehead as she bites her bottom lip harshly. He holds her hand gently and presses it against his chest. “Open your eyes, baby. Take some breaths with me.”

She obeys, looking into blue eyes that have become another home for her and taking deep breaths. “Thanks.”

“Always. Wanna talk about it?”

She debates in her mind. “No. It’s a wedding. Let’s go back and have fun and dance.”

“You sure?”

She nods, before placing a peck on his lips. “I’ll probably be more in my feelings tomorrow about it. Or the next week. But for now, come dance with me.”

“Lead the way.”

Ashley doesn’t even look at Alex’s direction for the rest of the night, instead looking at Jack when she feels like the floor beneath her is gonna get pulled away. The stupidly romantic thing is, she knows he’ll catch her everytime.

three - one year and nine months

“What do you think?”

Jack looks up from where he’s sitting on her bed and his eyes pop open, jaw dropping with it. He tosses his phone to the side. “Ash. Holy shit.”

Ashley twirls around in the yellow ruffle dress. “I like this one the most, but I don’t think it’s fancy enough.”

She looks up to see him biting his lip, eyes scanning her body. She blushes as he beckons her to stand inbetween his legs. “Don’t care. You have to wear this one, please. It fits you perfectly.”

She smoothes down the ruffles. “Are you sure it’s fancy enough?”

“Honey, most of the guys probably won’t even be wearing ties,” she settles her hands in his hair. “Wear this one. I know you love it and you look beautiful in it.”

She lets out a breath. “Okay, yeah. I can pair it with those flower earrings and matching bracelet and I think Scarlett has white heels I could borrow and-”

“Woah there,” he chuckles, rubbing his thumbs on the fabric at her hips. “Did you have too much coffee today? You’re talking a million miles a minute.”

“No,” she drawls out. “I’m just…nervous? This is the first thing we’re going to that’s so…”

“Public?” He finishes for her. She nods. He pushes her gently so that she’s sitting next to him. “I get that. I’m a bit nervous too. But I’ll be there the whole time. And you’ll have my parents and Quinn. And Nico will be there too. Besides, you’re great with people. I’ve seen you in action.”

She shrugs modestly. “That’s not what I’m worried about.”

“Then what is it you’re worried about?”

She swallows at his tone, because she doesn’t think he gets it. Why would he? He’s not the one that’s going to be scrutinized by his fans. At least not to the degree she would be. “Everyone else’s thoughts.”

Jack nods slowly in realization. He leans in to kiss her lips twice. She has to admit it makes her feel a bit better. His kisses usually do. “You know no one else’s opinions mean anything. Besides, it’s very clear to anyone that I’m happily taken.”

And he has a point. She’s made an appearance on his Instagram with two photos in his annual summer dump — one was just of her in the city and the other was of the two of them by the lake in Michigan — and he hadn’t tagged her, but it was clearly a message to the world that he wasn’t a single man. Social media doesn’t matter and it never will, but it had been a decision they both had come to, Jack approaching her gently and asking if he could post them. 

But having it through a screen and having it in real life is different. 

“I know it’s stupid,” she says. “But you know me. I don’t particularly enjoy being out of my element.”

“I know, I know,” he bumps her knee with his. “It’ll be fun though. We’ll get drunk the night before and maybe I’ll be hungover the next morning and you get to tell Luke if I do anything embarrassing.”

Ashley laughs. “That does sound fun.”

“Exactly.” He cups her face in his hands. “I gotcha, baby. Always.”

She trusts in that when she lands in Boston a few days later. She trusts in that as she gets swept in a world she’s not quite comfortable in, but finds there are a lot more similarities than differences compared to environments she’s been in. She’s a journalist after all. It’s her job in a way to blend into different lives in order to get the best and most impactful stories. She trusts in that as she’s rolling her eyes fondly at Jack, who’s chatting with practically everyone at the bar. She doesn’t think she’s ever seen this many hockey players in one room. She trusts in that as Jack then always drags whoever he’s talking to so that he can introduce her. 

For someone who has always valued their privacy, Jack is making it pretty obvious that the “stunning girl in the floral shirt” is his. Ashley can’t say she hates it, even if it’s a little bold for her particular taste. 

“He looks happy, doesn’t he?” Ellen asks as they both watch Jack across the room with Auston Matthews. Ashley’s cousins in Toronto would be freaking out right now. 

Ashley snickers. “Drunk or happy?”

“Both?” Ellen raises her glass up to knock it against Ashley’s in a toast.

“I’ll drink to that.” 

“Thank you for coming. I know it means a lot to Jack that you’re here.”

“Thank you all for having me,” Ashley responds, suddenly a bit shy. “It’s, been, uh, a bit overwhelming, to be honest.”

“I can imagine,” Ellen smiles sympathetically. “All this hockey stuff, business wise, is more Jimmy’s scene than mine.”

“Really?” Ashley thinks to all that Jack’s told her about his mother and all the warmth Ellen has emitted since they’ve met, not to mention how everyone they’ve talked to — player, coach, agent — has gravitated towards Ellen.

To her credit, Ellen chuckles. “That’s fair. Jack tells me that you know how to work a room, which is something that Jimmy’s always said about me.”

Ashley traces the rim of her glass. “I think Jack gives me too much credit.”

“I’m not sure about that,” Ellen says with a knowing smile. “I read your article the other day. The one about the family who’s had to travel across the country to get care for their child. Quinn sent it to me, actually.” Quinn read it? She doesn’t remember sending it to him. Did Jack send it to him? “It’s an incredible piece of work. How long did that take you?”

“From start to finish? Around two months.”

Ellen grins, placing a motherly hand on her shoulder. “You’re so talented, honey. I try to keep up with everything you write, but you do so much that sometimes I lose track.”

"You really don’t have to do that. But thank you, Ellen. T-that means a lot to me.” 

“What does Mom not have to do?” Jack asks, squeezing himself next to his girlfriend.

“Read my articles.”

Jack grins. “Why not? They’re so good. Our family group chat is filled with them. Dad always loves your profiles.”

Ashley swallows. She’s pretty confident that the Hughes family likes her, but the fact that they all keep track of her published articles is a bit too much for her to handle right now. She downs the rest of her beer and waves Jack away when he opens his mouth to ask if she wants his. Instead, he asks the bartender for a ginger ale. Ashley’s grateful. 

The next day, Ashley smiles as Jack’s walking the carpet. He’s up for the Hart trophy this year and as he squats down to greet a little boy and sign his jersey, Ashley can’t help but let her love and pride for him soar. She’s as out of the way as she can be, trying not to get overwhelmed with all the voices and flashes around her. It helps that Ellen and Jim seem to always be nearby and she makes fast friends with Nina and Luca, who are watching Nico do similar things. 

She gets pulled out of her own world with a familiar hand on her waist. “Hey,” Jack murmurs into her ear. 

“Hi.”

“Do you wanna jump into a few pictures with me?” Jack asks softly. “It’ll only take a few minutes. No pressure if not.”

“Uh, yeah. Sure.”

He beams, offering an arm as he leads them over to where the photographers are. She tries not to blink too much as the flashes hurt her eyes and hopes she and Jack are looking in the same direction. 

“You look beautiful,” he pairs his sincere compliment with a squeeze of her waist. 

She smiles at the cameras for a few seconds before turning to him slightly. “You already said that.”

“I know. It’s worth repeating.”

Thankfully, it’s only about 30 seconds before everyone else — Quinn, Jack’s parents and Nico’s family — are being ushered in for a group photo. She finds herself inbetween Jack and Nico and giggles as Nico tries to blow his hair out of his face. She takes pity on him after a few tries and she reaches up to fix it for him quickly, Nina laughing on the other side of her brother. 

“Stop messing with it,” Ashley scolds lightly through clenched teeth, smiling for the pictures. “You’re gonna make it worse.” She giggles when Nico pokes her side a few seconds later. 

When Jack wins the Hart, Ashley leaps out of her seat in excitement. To her, he’s always going to be the best player she knows because she sees firsthand how hard he works, but it’s nice that his peers are recognizing it too. He places a quick kiss on her lips before going up on stage and Ashley’s clapping and laughing to herself. He was dreading having to make any sort of speech. 

After the ceremony, she just follows everyone to whatever swanky rooftop seemingly the entire NHL is gathering at. She finds herself flocking towards Nina for a lot of the evening as they both exchange fun stories and memories of their own lives over drinks. Ashley thinks she could keep talking to Nina for the rest of her life. She’s just so damn cool. 

The next day, she drags Jack around the BU campus and is happy pointing out buildings that she had classes in, cried in, cheered in and lived her life in. They walk from one end of Com Ave to the other, Ashley dutifully pointing out Agganis Arena (“I’m sure Trevor has some good memories in this building”), their starting point.

She stands in front of the College of Communication building and stops. Jack dutifully stops next to her. “This building kinda looks like shit.”

Ashley snorts. “Yeah, I know. Especially compared to all the science buildings.” She bites her lip. “It all started here.”

“What did?”

“The dream.”

And yeah, maybe that’s a bit dramatic. But Jack said similar things when he brought her to Toronto earlier this year, so she knows he understands. 

Almost two years together now, she’s convinced that no one will really ever understand her like Jack does. 

He nudges her hip with his, the breeze blowing comfortably through her hair and rustling the plants around them. They watch as a student walks through the front doors. “Wanna go in?” 

She shakes her head. “Nah, I’m good.” She tugs at his hand while sipping the lavender lemonade from Pavement in the other. “Come on. I’ll show you Bay State. I lived there my junior year after I came back from studying abroad in Dublin.”

Bay State Road is beautiful as always in the Boston summer, Ashley’s hand in Jack’s. She drags him out into the middle of the road and only squeals once when a car is coming and he pulls her to the sidewalk. 

Campus isn’t the same when classes aren’t in session, but she hopes Jack can still feel some of the magic in the air through her stories. 

“It suits you.”

She turns to Jack. “Hm?”

“This city. It suits you.”

“Oh,” she blushes for some reason. “Thanks.”

“Do you miss it here?”

“All the time,” Ashley admits. “New York is great, but Boston will always be home.”

“Would you think of working here? If given the option?” Jack asks. 

“Maybe,” Ashley squeezes Jack’s hand, “But I also have reasons to stay in New York.”

He smirks, but it quickly transitions into something gentler. “Yeah?”

She could throw something snarky back at him, but she looks around the brownstones and lets out a deep breath. This is home, but flashes of Hoboken and East Village flicker in her mind and that’s also home. 

She looks at Jack and feels overwhelmed. Oh. It’s Boston. It’s Hoboken. It’s East Village. It’s him. Jack is home.

four - two years

“Big day, huh?” 

Ashley just smiles at Carissa, nudging her side. “We’ve come a long way since that phone call at 2 a.m.”

Carissa just snorts. “That phone call got us here.”

“True,” Ashley squeezes her arm as they make their way to their assigned table. “Love you, girly.”

“Love you more. I’m proud of us.”

Ashley grins, looking around as everyone is mingling amongst each other. There are past award winners here and Ashley’s already done some of her internal fangirling, especially when Lynsey Addario came up to her and wanted to talk to her. 

She’s still decently new in this industry and knows she has so much to learn, but it’s comforting to see that all of her hard work has paid off. 

People are starting to take their seats and Ashley looks around at her colleagues. Everyone’s dressed up and looks so lovely and Ashley smiles, looking down at her midnight blue dress. When Jack had seen her walk out of the changing room in it a few weeks ago, his eyes had popped out. 

(“Fuck,” he had said. “Now I’m even more pissed I can’t make it to the dinner.”)

And yeah, it would be nice if he was here. But the Devils are playing the Islanders tonight. It sucks that he’s so close but so far away, but after two years now, it’s just part of the gig. And they make it work. So Ashley isn’t too upset about it, even if Jack is. 

She’s a bit confused when there is an empty seat next to her, as it seems like the ballroom is filled. There’s no nametag there either, but her attention soon drifts off to the front. She has to bite her lip to stop herself from smiling too hard. 

The Pulitzer Prize Awards Ceremony at Columbia University, also her alma mater in a way. Her 18-year-old-self who was sitting in the front row of Introduction to Journalism in Boston could’ve only dreamed about this day. 

Opening remarks start and Ashley really does try to listen, but her eyes glaze over as her mind drifts off. She claps as the first few awards are being presented. She thinks about all the hours that it took to get this piece down, but also all the hours before — in her classes, at her college paper, in her internships, during her job search. The times she wanted to throw in the towel and just do something else. Anything else.  

“I didn’t miss too much, did I?” She blinks, turning to the voice next to her. She freezes. 

“Jack?” She breathes out. She hasn’t been sleeping much this week, so this could very well be a hallucination. 

He beams and she reaches to place her hand on his cheek and she realizes as she scans her eyes up and down.  Oh. He’s in her favorite suit of his. And he’s here. 

“Oh my god,” she wraps her arms around his neck as her whole table cheers. Thankfully, there’s a lull in the ceremony where the whole room is blanketed in a low buzz. “What the f-don’t you have a game?”

“Technically,” Jack says, nodding at her coworkers with a charming smile. “Took a personal day.”

“What? You can do that?”

“Yeah,” he shrugs, like he didn’t just skip a game to be here. He rubs his thumb on her shoulder as he kisses her temple. “This is a huge deal, baby. I wasn’t gonna miss it. I’m so proud of you.”

“Lindy’s not mad? Nico’s not mad?”

Jack snorts. “The second you won, I told Lindy to count me out for the game so he can do what he wants with that. Nico’s lowkey pissed he also can’t be here.” He turns to Carissa on the other side and beams. “Hey Care. Congrats.”

“Thanks, Jack,” Carissa beams. “Surprised you pulled this off.”

“Surprised we pulled this off.”

Ashley looks at Carissa. “You knew about this?”

“Of course. Who do you think made sure he would have a seat?”

She looks between her colleague and her boyfriend. Something creeps up her throat that feels a lot like love. 

When her and Carissa are recognized and they have to go up to accept the award and give a short speech, it’s kinda a blur. All she remembers is Jack’s kiss on her cheek and receiving a standing ovation as she and Carissa walk up together. So many hours with her eyes glazed over glaring at the laptop. So many hours interviewing with people and reconfirming facts. So many hours dedicated to this one piece. 

She wouldn’t have it any other way. 

As Carissa is speaking, she locks eyes with Jack. He’s beaming and his eyes are actually sparkling. His hair tousled and he’s so handsome and he’s hers. 

(She almost trips walking back to him) 

He chuckles, pulling her into another tight hug. “You’re amazing, baby. Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” she chokes out. “Thank you for calming me down all the times I was freaking out.”

“Of course. I’m sure all those glasses of cold water helped,” he jokes. She always said the ice cold water he would place next to her laptop would wake up her brain. 

She laughs into his shoulder. “They did.”

He pulls away and just stares at her, smile still on his face. Their attention is taken away by someone who wants to congratulate Ashley and has no recognition on their face when looking at Jack. 

(Jack looks on with pride)

plus one - three years and four months

Stanley Cups are interesting. Even some of the best athletes of all time have never gotten one. And some that are only slightly above average perhaps were just placed on the right team in the right season. 

But this Stanley Cup, in Ashley’s completely unbiased opinion, this one was fully deserved. By every single person on the team. 

She doesn’t think she’ll ever forget the absolute joy in Nico’s eyes as he lifted the cup in the air to a roaring crowd at The Rock, or how long the hug between Jack and Luke was when the final whistle sounded, or seeing Ellen cry as her two sons beckoned her in for a picture with the cup, her other son and husband standing close by with pride in their eyes. 

The picture of her and Jack by the cup as he’s kissing her cheek as she smiles so widely her eyes are shut might be her favorite picture of them of all time. 

Ashley had wondered if Jack was going to bring the cup to Toronto or Michigan. He ended up bringing it to Toronto while Luke brought it to Michigan. It ended up being all the same, since they were both present at both. 

Jack winning the Cup is obviously a huge celebration. But he’s not the only one with something to celebrate.

Yesterday, when they were out to lunch with some of his extended family, Ashley had found out by phone that she was just promoted to be a director of her team. After her phone call, she had just covered her mouth in shock as she sat down on a nearby bench. It wasn’t until a few minutes later when a concerned Jack came up to her and asked what was wrong, before she told him and he smothered her face in kisses. 

The parade around his pseudo-hometown is absolutely insane. Ashley doesn’t even know how she has a voice by mid-afternoon, much less how Jack has one considering that he’s been yelling all day. At some point, she forces him to sit down and chug a giant water bottle. 

But she can’t overthink too hard. Her phone’s filled with pictures of Jack with his loved ones and she just feels proud. 

Some of Jack’s extended family who still live in the area offered their home to host a party that night with just friends and family. Ashley did all she could to help prepare, which included coming over to decorate the night before and parking herself in the kitchen the second they got there to offer a helping hand. Well, she tried, before every single person pushed her away and insisted she go join the celebrations. 

She finds herself in a long, in-depth conversation with one of Jack’s younger cousins who’s thinking about working in media when she notices it suddenly becomes quiet. Suddenly, the light flickers off and Ashley is confused.

Jack then walks in with a circular cake with candles lit paired with his beautiful smile. Ashley blinks in confusion as everyone’s eyes fall on her and before she can ask what the hell is going on, Luke bounds over to her and swings an arm around her shoulder, shaking her. 

“Congrats on your promotion, Ash!” Luke exclaims. 

Her mouth drops open and she looks around as everyone in the room cheers and shouts out their congratulations. She chuckles in shock as Jack walks closer. And then suddenly, all she can focus on is him. 

“What are you doing?” She whispers, suddenly wanting to cry. 

“Come on,” he says with the softest smile. “You didn’t think I’d just keep the news to myself, did you?”

“But this is your day,” she chokes out. 

“My day. Your day. It’s all the same, eh?” Jack nods at the candles. “Hurry up. My arms are getting tired.”

A watery laugh from her before she blows out the candles at everyone’s cheers. Jack places the cake on a nearby table before smothering her in a tight hug. Ashley’s heart could burst right now at the love she feels from the people in the room and the person in her arms. She gets a chance to really look at the cake, which is white and sage with “Congratulations Jack and Ashley!” in beautiful script at the center. The lights turn back on and Quinn’s the first one who comes up to hug her. As Ellen is giving Ashley a kiss on the cheek, she sees Jack over Ellen’s shoulder, smiling at her. 

She swallows as she pulls away, before glancing at the ring on her left finger. Ashley’s never let herself want much in her life. But if someone asked her what she wants with her life, she would just place them in this room. Right here. Right now. 

(They cut the cake together. Ashley feels a buzzing joy throughout her bones)

#the winter fic exchange 2k24 #k writes #hockey fanfic #hockey writing #hockey blurb #jack hughes #jack hughes fic #jack hughes blurb #nhl #nhl writing #nhl blurb #nhl fic #jack hughes x oc #jack hughes x ofc #new jersey devils

[maehemthemisfit]

i have come to return the favour of brainrots.

lyney loves helping you get ready whenever you’re going out. you want your hair done? no problem, he knows exactly what’ll suit you. not sure what to wear? well, he’ll tell you which colours go well with your skin palette and which outlines complement your body shape. want to paint your nails? he’s already laid out all the colours in front of you (and will definitely kiss your knuckles once he’s finished.) you wear makeup? let him do your eyeliner; he’s got you covered, and can probably do it better than you could yourself. (he will, however, take the opportunity to paint a little heart on your cheek if you’re not careful. ‘see?’ he’ll grin, pointing at the teardrop on his own cheek. ‘now we match.’)

he also loves dancing with you—like, i’m imagining a typical ballroom (but maybe a bit more steampunky), and he pulls your favourite flower from what looks like thin air, lowers into a bow, holds the flower out to you, and presses his lips to the back of your hand when you take it, eyes glimmering as he asks, ‘would you care to indulge me with a dance, [monsieur/ mademoiselle/ a gender neutral equivalent]?’

and he’s such a gentleman while you’re dancing, too; one hand hovering on your hips, the other holding yours, and he definitely twirls you around, no question about it. he probably also does that thing where he catches you and you stare at each other for a long, romantic-tension-you-could-cut-with-a-knife moment before he pulls you back up.

his favourite place to kiss you is probably your knuckles—you always get adorably flustered when he just barely skims his lips over the back of your hand, and he wouldn’t give up that expression for the world—closely followed by the tip of your nose and your lips and your forehead and— (you get the idea…)

also, going back to when you’re in the crowd during his performances, him trying to find you in the audience becomes a game over time: you’ll try and make yourself as inconspicuous as possible, and he’ll look for you as he’s performing. he’s never not managed to spot you before, and each time he does and you make eye contact, he winks at you and blows you a kiss.

i feel like there’s also a chance he might actually propose to you onstage at the end of a performance if he was sure you’d be comfortable with it: like, everyone’s about to take their bows, and he suddenly asks for a ‘surprise volunteering act’—of course, you get picked (what are the chances?), and once you’re on stage, he announces, ‘now, my dearest volunteer, i only need your hand for this magic trick. nothing more, nothing less.’

you raise an eyebrow, unsure what he’s planning—this ‘surprise act’ was certainly not on the lineup he described to you—and to your (and everyone else in the audience’s astonishment), he gets down on one knee, takes off his hat, and pulls a little box from it. the whole theatre is silent: you could hear a pin drop as he clears his throat and says, ‘if you’d be so kind as to humour me… may i ask for your hand in marriage?’ safe to say, that was a day nobody who was there ever forgot…

(of course, if he thinks you might be uncomfortable with such a public proposal, he’ll stick with something more private.)

this… got longer than i intended it to be, but… enjoy?

WE WILL SINGLEHANDEDLY FEED THE LYNEY LOVERS !!

I. Don't. Care. What. ANYONE. Says. Lyney frequently kissing your hands is canon. Back, Knuckles, Wrist, Ring, ANYWHERE he can put his lips on. And he always smiles into it too.

Since he's part of the performance industry, it's common knowledge for him to know how to do hair and makeup. So if you ever struggle to do those things, he'll learn how to style and take care of your hair no matter the texture, type, or length. It might be trial and error but you both have fun bonding together, especially when he tries doing your makeup.

Archons forbid he ever puts lip gloss or something on your lips (it's gonna end up on his regardless, he has no self control when he's already inches away from kissing you). He makes a mess and has to redo it again, but that's after the mini make out session, he doesn't mind at all though... he might try to kiss you again. NEVER let them know your next move. 😭

(poor Freminet had walked in on you guys accidentally and wanted the ocean to swallow him whole- immediately reverses out of there and had trouble looking the two of you in the eyes right after.)

LOVES LOVES LOVES dancing with you, even if you can't dance or have difficulty doing so. He'll hold/carry you if he has to and just sway and spin you around. He doesn't mind if you trip up or stumble over his feet. He'll correct it, his hands guiding your hips, whispering instructions and praises as his words brush and fan across your neck, sending shivers down your spine.

He spins you like a princess, and if he's bold enough, he might throw you in the air and catch you (much to your frightened squeals and dismay). Whether you're in the spotlight or dancing in the dark, swaying in the rain, or practicing in a ballroom, his eyes are forever locked on yours. And don't expect him to dip you and NOT leave a kiss (unless he feels like teasing you). It's truly a crime to him if he doesn't at this opportune moment.

Dancing with him feels like a fairytale.

ALSO THE PROPOSAL JAHSKSASJDJSK

Live, Laugh, Lyney ❤️❤️❤️❤️

.° ୭ ៳ Genshin Drabble Masterlist・✩

#lyney #lyney x reader #genshin lyney #lyney imagines #lyney drabbles #freminet #genshin impact #genshin #genshin x reader #genshin fluff #fontaine #genshin impact lyney #genshin impact x reader #genshin drabbles #genshin imagines #genshin headcanons #genshin impact fluff #[🍩] mae . • . ° inbox ♡⁠˖ #answered 💌 #[🌺] mae ｡・⁠｡ talks genshin ♡⁠˖♪ #[💛] mae . • . ° favorites ♡⁠˖ #moots 💖 #letters from: r #genshin x you #genshin impact imagine #lyney headcanons #genshin scenarios #lyney brainrots

[ghouljams]

The great meeting of the Darlings, their first one at least, because I’ve been noodling on it for a while. Sorry there’s not much of the boys in this one :/

“Welcome in,” You say not looking up from your paperwork. The store goes cold. You glance up from your work, this level of nonsense is something you’re not used to. It’s just some woman. She looks human, even smiles at you with the correct number of teeth when she sees you look up. She turns to look at a bundle of freesias and your blood runs cold.

What the fuck is that?

To say you jump over the counter is an overstatement of your abilities, it’s more accurate to say you nearly fall out of your chair in your haste to put yourself between the woman and the actual fucking specter of death that followed her in. 

The look that it fixes you with is one of pure malice. Its eyes are ringed with darkness and bone, you aren’t sure if it’s a mask or- no it has to be a mask, but it’s real. A real skull fixed over its eyes as it looks down at you with utter hatred, shadow swirls under its hood, viscous and unnatural. You think if you ever were to face down a lion it would feel like this. Inevitable.

“What.” It asks, black smoke spills from between its many teeth.

“Simon,” The woman behind you looks up from the flowers, and the grim reaper looks suddenly, startlingly human, he’s blond(it’s weird), “do you like these?”

“He has to wait outside,” You say quickly, holding a hand out to stop him from peering around you. You need him out of your fucking shop, you think he’s actually wilting the nearby roses. He glares at you. You stand firm. “My shop, my rules.”

“I’ll be outside, Love.” He says it like it’s her Name, you think for him it might be, “Just pick what you like.”

You watch to make sure the door is closed behind him before turning to the woman. Her brows raise, silently asking what the big fucking deal is. Of course she wouldn’t know, wouldn’t see him like you did. There is something dark tattooed on her skin, not just dark, abyssal. It moves, you try not to stare. It moves, you are really trying not to stare.

“So what’s-”

“Iron,” You say quickly, wincing at how insane you must sound. She blinks at you. “They don’t like iron, so that’s- you should get some.”

“Iron.” She repeats, not absorbing anything you just said. Not that you blame her, she probably doesn’t know the danger she’s in.

“For the monster that’s following you?” You don’t even sound sure. God this is embarrassing, you definitely sound insane.

“Oh!” She says, lighting up, “You mean Simon, no, he wouldn’t hurt me-” you so highly doubt that, “-plus I think we’ve reached a good point of mutually assured destruction. So…” She shrugs, like it’s nothing. Ok, good so you’re not the insane one, she is.

-

“König,” Ghost nods in acknowledgement to the shimmer pressed against the shop window.

“Ghost,” König grumbles, his obscura dropping him back into a visible spectrum. Ghost tugs a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulling one free with his teeth before shoving it unceremoniously back into his jacket.

“Thought you’d have left the city by now.” He mumbles patting his pockets, he’s got a lighter somewhere.

“You and your pet do not scare me.” König reminds him, unmoved from the window. Ghost raises a brow at him, glancing back into the shop. Something’s caught the big guy’s attention, he didn’t really get a good look around the shop before that little seer forced him out. Might be good to get some intel.

“What’s wrong with you?” He asks, Love probably has it, little thief. 

“I’m banned,” Ghost snorts, turning away from König to avoid laughing at the puppy eyes he fixes him with, “it’s not funny.”

“Of course not.” 

#away I scurry to cowboys #the reviews are in and my last post was confusing lol #i will answer questions on it I'm so sorry #everyone continues to be mean to Konig #fae!Ghost #fae!Konig #Fae au #not really much ship stuff #but this is for me and not you all #and as previously stated i do not care about the numbers

[naughtystiel]

It wasn’t raining.

For some reason whenever Dean thought of this day, he imagined the sky to be covered with heavy dark clouds. Clearly this wasn’t the case. Instead, everything seemed so lively. Spring brought chirping birds, vividly coloured flowers began to bloom and the sun shone brightly high in the sky. The few people gathered around wore light jackets so it really had to be a beautiful day. He wished he could feel the warmth on his skin too.

A priest stood on the opposite end of the deep hole and Dean grimaced. He had never been a religious man and he wasn’t going to listen to anything that was coming out of the priest’s mouth now either. Meandering between people, he walked further away. Yeah, Lord have mercy and rest in peace o’wayward son.

So, where did he go from here?

“Hello.” Somebody said next to him, but Dean didn’t even bother to look. They weren’t talking to him anyway. They couldn’t be. With arms loosely crossed over his chest, he looked skywards. It was a beautiful day.

“Dean?”

Dean looked to the side, an eyebrow raised. A man in his thirties observed him, hands tucked in his dress pants. “How do you know my name? Do I know you?”

The man nodded his chin towards the priest, “Heard him mention a Dean, so I’m guessing that must be you. Nice suit.” He smiled and Dean looked down at his outfit. Suits weren’t exactly his thing, but he didn’t really think to make a will and they shoved him in this. Did they even bury people in plaids? Probably.

“That would be me, indeed.” Dean tilted his head to the side and scanned the graveyard. Interesting. “Are you dead too? I guess you gotta be.”

The man hummed, “Mmm, you could say so.”

Dean furrowed his eyebrows. Was that a yes or a no? “So, is it just you and me or is anybody else here with us?”

“Nah, they moved on.”

“And you?"

“In the process.”

“I see.”

They both stood in silence, watching the ceremony. A few roses got dropped into the hole. A nice gesture, but it was a waste of money. They could at least put it on top once the casket was actually covered with dirt.

Low rumble disrupted the quiet. “How are you feeling?”

Dean splayed his arms and shrugged. “I mean, I’m dead. I don’t really know.”

The man turned his head towards Dean. “Okay, lemme ask you this - what’s on your mind? Anything particular?”

Now that was a good question. Nothing. A lot. First thing that came to mind was that he wouldn’t be able to see that new Indiana Jones movie he was so looking forward to. But that was just stupid, wasn’t it? Shouldn’t he be thinking of his regrets? Unfinished business? “I wish I could feel the sun on my cheeks.”

“Ah, that I can agree with. The sunset kind. Not too sharp, soft like a gentle veil that droops over your face.” The man gave him a small smile and Dean nodded.

“You see that tall guy there? The tallest of them all. My brother. Last time I saw him we argued.” Dean sighed, his shoulders slumping. “I guess it kinda bothers me that this is how he’s gonna remember me now.”

“Probably not. Usually when a person dies you remember the good things. Unless of course the bad outweighed the good which I don’t think is the case here.” The man scuffed the tip of his polished shoe in the dirt. “Grieving is complicated, it messes with your head. I bet you heard about how it usually progresses but personally I think it’s more like jumping back and forth between the steps. It does pass though.”

“That supposed to make me feel better?”

The man shrugged, his dark lock tousled by gentle breeze. He kept his gaze down, chewing on his bottom lip. “Only stating the facts. Anything else bothering you?”

just a snippet of "the art of moving on" which i might work on more in the future. and if i do, it wont be very long but i think itd be worth exploring :)

#spn #destiel #drabble.txt #vin.txt

[gucciwins]

i miss harry so much :(( could you write a little blurb for us to see what harry and y/n would be up to today? even if it’s only 300 words idc i just need some harry content🥹🫶

had no idea what I wanted to write or if you wanted to see a specific couple of mine but I do hope you enjoy this for now 🥺 love you

+

Autumn was his favorite season. 

He loved the cold, always being bundled up in a jumper. Gave him even more of a reason to visit his favorite coffee shop. It didn’t hurt he also got to see Y/N, the pretty barista who always drew a flower by his name. 

It’s actually where he was heading on this drizzly morning. He had finished his workout and thought he deserved a treat. To his surprise, Y/N wasn’t behind the counter waiting to greet him with a bright smile. Of course, he shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up; he knows she has to get a day off. 

Harry goes to the counter and orders a black americano to match his mood and chocolate croissant. 

“Not big on flavor today?”

He turns around and finds Y/N looking up at him, having overhead his order. “Hi,” he greets in a fluttery breath. Y/N always recommended a drink, but it seemed he didn’t bother today. “Uh, I wasn’t sure what to get.” 

Y/N laughs, “I’m sorry if that’s on me.”

Harry is quick to shake his head. “A bit in the clouds today. Didn’t want to think too hard.” 

“Mhm…”

“Off today?” Harry asks, wanting to keep speaking with her.

“Yeah, I was in the neighborhood and wanted a coffee before continuing the day.” 

Harry smiles, “where are you headed, if you don’t mind me asking?” 

Y/N steps closer to him. “Oh, I’m headed to the park to do some reading. Nothing exciting.” 

He’s intrigued, though. He wants to ask her what book she’s reading? What is her favorite genre? If she had one, she’d recommend for him. Before he could ask any of those questions, she excused herself to grab her coffee, and Harry thought that was it. He’d go back to admiring her from afar. In came a crowd of people, and he seemed to lose sight of her and instead decided to wait for his coffee and go from there for his day. 

Harry looked around one more time in the buzzing cafe before walking out. He decided to turn right when he heard a yell of his name behind him.

It was Y/N.

She rushed over, her tote bag slipping off her shoulder. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” 

He shakes his head, assuring her it’s okay. 

Y/N brushes her hair back, a sign telling him she’s nervous. “Well, I was wondering if you wanted to walk with me. Only if you’re free,” she adds. 

Harry bites back his smile, knowing he might have never gained the courage to ask her out, but glad Y/N made the first move. “I’d love to join you.” 

It’s how they find themselves walking to the park and settling onto a dry bench as the morning drizzle seems to have passed. Harry could listen to Y/N talk all day. He learns she has lunch with her parents every Sunday and has a baby tabby named Gus, after her favorite romance character. She shares that while she loves making coffee, it’s a means to an end while she gets through university. Y/N has a year left and knows time will fly by after the holidays. She tells him that she loves jackets and can never go without one. She can also be very forgetful, meaning she’s gone through her fair of keys to her flat. Y/N switched it up on asking him questions, but they always seemed to go back to her, not that she minded. 

“Can I confess something?” Harry tells her after he returns from throwing away their coffee cups. 

Y/N beams at him, “course, Harry.” 

“Uh,” he thought it’d be easier to confess his feelings, but he felt his heart in his throat. “I think you’re amazing, and I’d love to take you on a date,” Harry breathes out.

Y/N feels her face flush at his confession. She places her hand on top of his and gives him a squeeze. “I’d love to go on a date. Though this felt like a date to me.”

Harry agrees but promises their second date will be even better. Y/N excuses herself after seeing the time after giving Harry her number. 

“Don’t make me wait for a text, Harry.”

“Call you tonight? We can plan out our date.” He offers. 

Y/N nods, “sounds perfect.” 

She walks away but pauses a few steps away as if she is debating something because he can ask her if something’s wrong. Y/N walks back over to Harry and places her lips on his cheek. It was a short kiss, but he could feel her lips' softness. Y/N pulls back with a sheepish smile, laughing as she sees Harry’s face turn red. 

“I’ll see you, Harry.”

“Bye, Y/N,” he breathed out, locked in a trance. 

It’d seemed this Autumn would forever hold a special place in his heart. 

#harry styles #harry styles fluff #harry styles story #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles one shot #harry style fic rec #harry fluff

[the-travelling-witch]

OO MODREN AU ASK

What are the boys love language!

Xiao

Giving: Quality Time

Of course, quality time isn’t a one-sided thing but Xiao loves to spend time with you. Whether you’re actually doing something together or are just present in the same room doesn’t matter as much as being near you. There’s something very comforting about you being within reach and funnily enough his heart can’t stop racing when the setting turns domestic.

Receiving: Physical Touch

He loves your touch, the feel of your skin against his, always treating him so gently. But Xiao’s not the greatest at initiating it even if he really wants to hold you, so he’s at the receiving end most of the time. Linking pinkies, holding hands, slinging your legs over his lap, hugging him from behind, rolling on top of him in your sleep… whether or not he can see it coming, your touch is always more than welcome.

[Peak combination idea: drawing tattoos on each other or colouring already existing ones (yes I’m bringing this up again)]

Scara

Giving: Acts of Service

It’s clear by now that Scaramouche isn’t the greatest with words; they tend to come out harsher than he intends them to and he’d hate nothing more than accidentally hurting you, so he resorts to showing his affection rather than voicing it. Or that was how it was in the beginning. By now, doing things for you is something he enjoys because he can see how relieved you are when a chore is taken off your plate or how your eyes light up when he makes your favourite dinner. Yeah yeah, he’s the greatest, no need to thank him so profusely (actually keep doing it though, your praise means everything to him).

Receiving: Words of Affirmation

Speaking of praise, you really don’t need to question how his hand covers his cheek or why he turns his head whenever you compliment him. Doesn’t matter if it’s because of work or a new drawing or the outfit he chose to wear, this man will soak up all your flattering words… but not without turning bright red. So pull him out from under his hat and tell him something you like about him; not only is he cute to watch when he’s flustered, it also really means something to him.

Kazuha

Giving: Words of Affirmation

Uhm yeah, Kazuha + Words of Affirmation, who would’ve seen it coming… but it’s true!! Between his eloquent vocabulary and his soft, soothing voice, this man can compliment you five hundred new ways this week, next week and all the way into the next year. The real kicker? It’s always, without fail, genuine. Sure, everyone can sweet talk but Kazuha means it all. Even if he isn’t there with you; he frequently texts throughout the day or leaves sticky notes around the house for you to find. How’s your heart doing? Has it been able to calm down or is your doctor concerned for you?

Receiving: Physical Touch

You might be the one giving here but don’t expect to not get flustered. Sure, you were the one to link your fingers but Kazuha was the one who twirled you around like a dancer. And yes, you might have made yourself at home tugged into his side but how did you end up in his lap? Evidently, Kazuha enjoys your touch just as much as you enjoy touching him, so indulge him a little and come over to him, alright?

Aether

Giving: Gift Giving

Aether is a bit of a travel- enthusiast, so whenever he visits somewhere new, he’s sure to bring you something. And he always makes sure it’s something you’d enjoy. But he doesn’t have to go out of town to bring you a little trinket. Often enough, he shows up with flowers or he drew something and is giving it to you or he was at a pottery shop and look here, you have a new mug. It’s hard not to think of Aether when you look around your home or pick jewellery for that day, his gifts are everywhere. (Maybe that was his endgame all along?)

Receiving: Acts of Service

The poor guy often makes sure the shop doesn’t unravel at the seams by picking up after the others and sorting out their messes, so he breathes a sigh of relief at every chore that’s not falling on him. It could be something small like bringing him lunch or picking the lint off his clothes or something bigger like doing his laundry or cleaning around his place when you know he’s swamped with work and other responsibilities. Whatever you decide to lend a hand with, Aether will forever be grateful to you, wondering how he got lucky enough to meet you.

Heizou

Giving: Physical Touch

Heizou is… a menace. Are you jumpy? Because he’ll startle you so often if you are. Not only because he literally can’t keep his hands off of you and comes up at the most random times just to sling his arm around your shoulders, but also because your reactions are just so adorable to him. But he can be just as cute. Like when he sees something that catches his eye and he grabs your hand instinctively to pull you along while he breaks out into an excited grin or when he swoops you up from your feet so he can settle you onto the couch next to him.

Receiving: Quality Time

This man’s curiosity knows no bounds. And what’s better than to learn something new while spending time with his precious partner? Take him to a museum or, better yet, an escape room and his heart is all yours (as if it wasn’t already). Sure, new knowledge is fun but applying his wits on a puzzle turns him into a child at the candy store. Plus, not only is Heizou going to be stoked, you get to watch and join him in his enthusiasm as he works away, probably figuring everything out way ahead of you but pretending not to, so you can have a crack at the problems too.

Venti

Giving: Words of Affirmation

Another one who will make you swoon with words but Venti goes all out… very casually. You wake up some days to find a good morning text and a poem he wrote at 3am right above it (since he’s often up late, that happens a lot… the wine might help). Or he’ll pluck one of his instruments from the wall while you’re visiting and improvise a song for you, playing it as if he’d known it all his life. It might sound over the top to some but with the amount of attention he pays to details and incorporating even the smallest, (to you) most insignificant things he loves about you, you know he means all of it. Especially when he plucks the strings of his instrument and closes his eyes like he’s having the sweetest of dreams as he spins a new verse about you, his muse.

Receiving: Gift Giving

First of all, this man will keep everything you gift him, everything. The shiny stone you found on a walk and gave him? It’s on his windowsill (and he let out such an offended gasp when Scara tried to throw it out). The hoodie you left at his house? He wears it everyday until you ask for it back. You can hear Venti approach from a mile away because he has every keychain you ever gave him on him, either with his keys or on his bag or tied to his clothes, he’s not leaving a single one behind.

[modern au masterlist]

#┊✩彡 divine correspondence ♡ #┊✩彡 unsigned letter ♡ #┊holly’s modern au ✩彡 #genshin impact #x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin modern au #xiao x reader #scara x reader #kazuha x reader #aether x reader #heizou x reader #venti x reader #genshin x reader

[screamingatanemptyroom]

Please Fix the Story pt 28- The Higher Realm

New part is up! More with Liam and Bel!

Masterpost linked here

_________________________

A few days passed, and although it couldn’t be said that I grew stronger in this realm, at least I wasn’t any weaker. Every morning Liam would bring me a cup of his blood, and I would drink it silently, pretending not to notice the strange color and taste.

Despite the need for blood to keep me alive, the days were surprisingly fun. Liam and I would go out each morning and explore the forest. We would find more rocks for his collection, and the rare patches of fruits or edible plants that had survived in this life-stealing realm. We spent the time talking, learning about each other.

“You know I actually like this forest quite a bit.” He said one day as we walked, his hands idly picking dying leaves from the branches as we passed by.

The confession caught me off guard. “I thought you called this place your cage.” A cage for a monster, in fact, which Liam is the furthest thing from.

“Well that’s not the forest’s fault! It might seem a bit lifeless and dull at first, but the close you watch it, the more things you can discover!” He grinned, the expression bringing a warmth in my heart. “There’s the stubborn trees and flowers that survive, the occasional crow and insect! Sometimes when I’m fly… when I’m running through the forest, I see so many different types of life I can’t even count them! There’s something new to find every day!”

Soo.…Liam can fly, right? He definitely said fly.

I didn’t say anything to him about it, though. He clearly was hiding something about himself. He was just as clearly extremely bad at keeping secrets. But I never pressed him. I just hoped that when he felt comfortable enough, he would tell me. Watching him laugh and talk about exploring his realm… his cage... and finding the beauty in it made me want to laugh and cry at the same time. What a wonderful person…or whatever it is that he is.

I watched him continue to explore with an excited look, unable to hold back a smile myself.

No matter what Liam really is, nothing could be worse than the company I was keeping in the higher realm. I forcibly turned my thoughts away as they drifted towards Adonis and his betrayal. No use wasting any time or energy on him.

Looking ahead, my eyes widened in shocked delight as a I spotted a familiar object.

“Are those apples?!”

Liam rushed ahead, still much stronger than I was even with his blood, and examined the fruit closely. Finally, he picked one with a broad smile. “It is! I didn’t even know there were any apples in this world! See I told you! Something new every day! Let’s take a break!”

He cleaned off a tree stump and helped me sit down, before leaning on a tree nearby. I pointed at the fruit in his hand, unable to contain my excitement. “Can I have one too?” I had eaten nothing but meat for the past few days, and although Liam’s cooking had improved by leaps and bounds, I was still craving something else.

“Of course, no need to ask!  This one is for you!” Liam pulled a knife from his belt and began peeling the apple. His actions were neat and efficient, with the ease of familiarity. It took only a few moments, and then the freshly peeled fruit was passed over to me.

I held it in my hands, confused. “Liam… How did you know I like peeled apples?”

Liam grabbed another fruit, preparing to peel that one as well. “You told me.” He seemed unconcerned.

“No… I didn’t.” I thought back to our conversations over the past few days. Apples had never come up.

Or had it?

_________________________

“Why the hatred for the apple peel?” The young man seemed genuinely curious from his tone of voice as he handed me a freshly peeled fruit.

_________________________

A brief memory, flashed before my eyes.  

“No… you did… I think.” Liam’s hands paused and his brow furrowed, something deep within his eyes seemed to flicker and grow.

Silence stretched between us.

Unnerved, I tried to stand up. At the quick movement, I felt lightheaded, almost falling to ground. Liam rushed forward, the apple in his hands dropping to the ground, and caught me, hugging me tightly in his arms. His eyes stared into mine, with only a short space between them.

His eyes were so familiar. I could feel it, even if the memory was just out of reach.

My hand brushed his face, tracing his eyes.

“Who are you, Liam?” I whispered. “How did I know you before I met you? How do you remember things about me I’ve never said?”

Liam turned bright red, but his hands tightened around me, refusing to let me fall. “I’m sorry Bel. I don’t know the answers to your questions.” He gently set me back down on the stump.

“I don’t really even know who I am, other than what others have told me. I’m a villain. I’m a monster.”

He picked up the fallen apple from the ground, cleaning it on his shirt.

 “But even if I don’t know much…  I know what you are, Bel.”

I watched his actions, curious. “What am I?”

He smiled, then turned and walked back to the tree to pick more apples to take home.

“You are a treasure.”

I didn’t know what he meant or how to respond to that, so I sat in silence until he came back to help me up. Together we went back to the cave. Back home.

*** Soul transfer 37% complete. ***

_________________________

After the apple incident more days passed. Without Liam’s blood I knew I would be close to death. But together, we had found our own little peace in this barren world. I was happy, happier than I had ever been in the months in the higher realms traveling with Adonis. Our forced, stifling partnership had been my only social interaction for so long, that I had become resigned to it, considered it normal. Now, I was slowly getting used to being around someone who actually listened to me… cared about me. It was frighteningly addictive, this caring. I wouldn’t, I couldn’t go back to the higher realm, even beyond the desire to spite Adonis and his stupid fate.

But as happy as I was, there were lingering concerns:

First, was the knowledge that Adonis would come back. As much as I hoped never to see him again, I knew it was the inevitable outcome. He had sent me here, yes, but not to die. I wasn’t sure yet what his plan was, but I knew it was going to involve his eventual return.

Not being willing to sit around moping about, I quickly began planning about how to “welcome him” when he did. A few mornings I left into the forest on my own to set up the surprise. Liam was a little concerned when he saw me sneaking around, but I persuaded him it would be worth the wait. I let out an evil laugh as I did so, and strangely enough, the sound seem to reassure him.

The laugh also prompted another change in the glowing blue counter that followed me.

*** Soul transfer 49% complete. ***

The counter was the second concern. It had gone up steadily over the time I had been in this realm, with no clear indicator for the source of its growth. I did think that Liam’s presence might be a catalyst given how slowly it had grown over the time I had been in the higher realm, but I couldn’t quite figure out what about him or my interactions with him was driving it upwards.

Even more infuriating, since the counter had hit 49 percent, it once again was stuck and hadn’t moved. I had grown used to it slowly ticking upwards throughout the day, but now 2 days had passed and it didn’t budge. Any experiments to recreate moments that had led to prior growth ended in failure. I found this incredibly frustrating, wishing I could find whoever was responsible for putting this counter in my head and beat them to a pulp. As that didn’t appear to be a viable option, however, I finally decided to ignore it again.

There was one last thing that kept my time in this realm from being truly happy:

Every night, Liam was forced into a lower realm.

It took me a while to realize it was happening so regularly. I had seen him fall out of the portal when I first arrived, but had heard no similar sounds since. He would say goodnight to me with a bright smile, close the door to my room, and when I woke up in the morning, he had breakfast ready with the same happy demeanor. He never gave any indication that something was wrong, or that he had suffered in any way, and so I continued forward in blissful ignorance.

Until last night.

I had gone to bed, and Liam and wished me goodnight and closed the door like usual. A few minutes later, however, I had a strange feeling that something was wrong. Unable to shake my uneasiness, I stood back up and opened the door. From a different room I could hear the clinking of metal and a muffled grunt of pain. Following the noise, I opened a different door, to a room I hadn’t explored before, not since he had expanded his cave during one of my solo wanderings. As the door swung open, I felt my heart drop.

Liam was in chains.

A glowing portal, similar to the one I had seen him fall from before, hovered before him. Metal chains had extended out from the edges of the portal, wrapping themselves around Liam’s arms and legs. He looked defeated but not surprised by his binding, fighting it uselessly. Slowly the chains started to retract, pulling him into the portal.

“Liam!” I tried to run forward but struggled to move as quickly as I wanted. Liam looked up at my shout, his face shocked for a moment before giving me a sad smile.

“Don’t worry, Bel. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“No!” I cried out, reaching out just as the portal closed around him. My fist slammed on the bare wall that was left behind.

BAM!

I felt uncontrolled rage. The sight of him in chains… his sad resignation… I couldn’t bear it. I thought about Liam calling himself a monster.

BAM! The skin of my hand broke under the force as I slammed it again. Red blood stained my fingers, dripping down onto the ground, the bright red color quickly dulling and turning greyish as the world absorbed the energy from it. For a moment in my mind, I saw the bright gold blood Liam gave me each day, his insistence that it was “normal, human blood.”

There’s still so much I don’t know about him.

I sat on the floor, staring at my bloody hands. I prayed silently, desperately, that his words were correct, and that he would be back in the morning. Until then, I could do nothing but wait.  

It was a long night.

_________________________

After what felt like countless hours, the portal opened up again. Liam dropped down onto the ground onto his back, his hands holding his head, his whole body shaking with pain.  It was too similar to the incident that happened the night I arrived.  

“Liam!” I hugged him tightly, ignoring his shocked yelp as he was yanked into my arms.

“Bel?” He took a deep breath, steadying himself, and then sat next to me on the floor. “Have you been waiting here to whole night?”

“…” I hugged him tighter. Liam hesitated, then slowly wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

“Bel… are you okay?”

I buried my face against his chest. “I was scared.”

“Scared?”

“Scared you weren’t coming back.”

“…” I could feel him freeze in shock at my words, and then a happy chuckle echoed in his chest. “Of course I came back, Bel! You’re here waiting for me. Nothing could stop me from returning to you.”

“What if you found a way to escape this cage? Wouldn’t you take it?”

“Only if I’m bringing you out with me.” One hand slowly rubbed my back as he spoke, a soft, comforting motion. “It’s not really freedom if I’m leaving you behind.”

Finally, after a long while, I backed out of his embrace, ignoring his sad puppy eyes as we moved apart. “What happened tonight? Did you get pulled into a lower realm?”

Liam nodded silently.

“I’ve seen this twice already, on both nights that I left my room. Does this happen to you every night? Have I just been completely clueless and left you to suffer alone?” I felt my eyes fill with tears but held them back.

He panicked, “No it’s not that bad, it’s not every night!” He paused, seeing my silent stare, and slowly admitted. “Okay, so it’s most nights, but still, there’s nothing wrong with you sleeping while I’m in the lower realm. You’re weak from this place sapping your energy, it’s better that you rest so you can do what you want at other times.”

“What about you? How could you be getting enough sleep?”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine!” He waved a hand. “I hibernate every few months for a day or so… I mean…" He blanched. "... I sleep a normal human amount…”

“Right... Liam, I want to go with you next time.” I interrupted his ramblings on normal human sleep. “Don’t do this alone.”

“…” Liam fell silent, looking uncomfortable.

“Don’t worry, I’m used to traveling the lower realms, I can watch your back!”

“No I know. You are extremely capable.”

I met his gaze. “So why do you look so concerned?”

“… I don’t get assigned very good roles to play in these worlds.” His hands wrung together his eyes not meeting my own. “Sometimes weak, sometimes powerful, rarely beautiful, often grotesque.” He hesitated again. “Always evil.”

“Just because you’re assigned the villain role doesn’t make you evil.” I laughed bitterly. “You’ve already seen what the so called ‘hero’ is capable of. I don’t care what character they force you to be. I’ll be there to protect YOU.”

At my words, a smile slowly spread across his face. “Okay then. Let’s go together next time.”

_________________________

The next night, we waited for the portal, hand in hand.

“We’ll have to move quickly once it arrives.”

I nodded in agreement, and then had a thought. “What about the chains?”

“Those only come out if I try to avoid entering the portal.” His voice was calm, but I winced at the memory of him being dragged into the lower realm. It’s okay. I’ll protect him this time.

Before I could say anything further, the portal appeared, hovering in the center of the room.

“Let’s go!” Liam grabbed my hand and rushed forward. I closed my eyes, leapt through the portal, and then in the darkness between worlds immediately lost the sensation of his hand within mine.

“Liam!” I reached out, but I could feel nothing, see nothing, hear only the sound of my own ragged breaths.

And then the darkness cleared.

_________________________

Splash!

Someone threw wine in my face. The smell of alcohol overwhelmed my senses, and I felt the room temperature liquid run down my neck and soak my dress.

What a great way to start off. The sarcastic thought quickly came and went as I sighed,wiping my hand across my face. I could now see that I was in a crowded room of well-dressed strangers. The woman who was the likely wine-throwing culprit, stood in front me with a gloating smirk. She was clutching an empty glass in one hand and a man’s arm in the other. The man with her was watching me with disdain, his expression ruining otherwise classically handsome looks.

“Oops, my mistake.” The woman shrugged and gave a fake laugh. “My hand slipped.”

The man beside her smiled with approval at her action, chuckling at the site of me. “Looks like red is your color.”

Hmm… No idea what kind of story this is, but one thing IS for sure…

I grinned, and punched the woman in her face.

I’m gonna make sure they regret trying to humiliate this lady. I could still feel my character’s deep sadness and sense of betrayal. Whoever these two were, they weren’t good people.

The woman fell backwards from the blow, clutching her face. I watched her fall with a smile, all while speaking in a monotone voice. “Oops, my hand slipped, my bad, teehee.”

Stating the word “teehee” out loud particularly seemed to enrage her, which only encouraged me further.

“El, don’t be childish!” The man snapped, only to break off with a shriek as I kicked out his knee, knocking him to the ground on his back besides the woman.

“Oh no. Look what totally happened by accident.” I continued blandly, while stepping carefully on his crotch. “I’m just so clumsy you see, and it gets so much worse whenever I’m confronted by stupid.”

“You Bit…AHHHH!” The man broke out in another cry as my stiletto came down again.

“Bitahh?” I shrugged. “Haven’t heard that one before. Perhaps you meant, ‘awesome’? I would have also accepted ‘terrifying’.”

He gasped for air, his eyes filled with rage. “Pretend all you like, I’ll never love you!”

I felt a stab of pain in my chest, a holdover from the character I had become, but all they saw from me was a broad grin. “Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

I walked away, leaving a stunned, silent crowd behind me. As I hurried away, a phone in my pocket went off. I grabbed it, pulling up the familiar text.

**** NEW WORLD: Love is Torture ****

This is a dramatic romance story featuring the bright and innocent young Ella and her husband, the rich, handsome, dark and broody Cameron.

“Oh, you got to be kidding me!” I nearly threw my phone. “I’m married?!”

This dark tale of lies and misunderstandings focuses on the forced marriage between the two leads. Cameron, under the false impression that his younger sister was murdered by a rival in business, dedicates his life to revenge. Forcing the man’s daughter, Ella, to marry him to save her father, he spends his energy trying to break her spirit, hoping her pain would hurt the one who killed his family. He insulted her, humiliating her both publicly and privately. He brought his mistresses to public events, encouraging them to bully her as well.

“So Cameron is the villain, right?” I groaned. “Why did you say he was the lead?”

Little did he know that his sister was not dead, but had in fact suffered amnesia and was living quietly in a small town nearby. In fact, Ella was the kind stranger who saved her life. His deep misunderstanding of her, however, causes a large amount of drama as he fights his growing attraction to her.

“Gross.”

The first book was met with mixed reviews, as most of the readers struggled to support such an abusive male lead. As the story continued, and more and more controversy circled around it, the author abandoned the whole series in disgust, leaving the world unstable.

The Author’s regret was not being able to bring a happy ending to the heroine of the story, leaving her trapped in an abusive relationship and facing a dark future. Your mission is to give the heroine a happy ending.

**** DO YOU ACCEPT THIS MISSION? ****

YES?                                           NO?

“…Does the ending have to involve a relationship with Cameron?”

NO.

“Great!” I tapped the "Yes" button with a grin and found a corner to sit down in as I slowly accepted the memories of this poor character.

“Oh dear, this was worse than I thought.” I muttered.

Ella, the poor girl, had been so very innocent. She had no thought but to save her father, whose business had been crushed by the mis-aimed revenge of a madman. After the marriage, she resolved to make the best of the situation, trying to get to know the handsome man who had become her husband.

Her efforts only brought her pain.

Fortunately, he avoided touching her at all costs, which limited any physical abuse. But the constant insults, tearing down her appearance, her talent for art, her speech. Any perceived flaw was trotted out and exposed for all to see, breaking her heart each time. He flaunted his affairs in front of her, shattering her dream of any loving, committed relationship, frequently and vulgarly comparing his conquests to her which only further spiraled her self-confidence.

I frowned as the memories moved forward in my mind. I hate drama romance leads the most.

This party actually marked a turning point in their relationship. After having wine dumped on her by Cameron’s mistress, she had cried and gone upstairs to change. There, a triumphant and intoxicated Cameron had forced her mid-change against a wall, kissing her. He had soon left, disgusted himself for succumbing to his attraction to her, This was the first time they had had physical contact, and from then on Cameron had found himself more and more drawn to Ella, and she felt trapped, unable to refuse his advances, hoping to protect her father.

I leaned over, puking into a trashcan.

Ella’s memories all too clear about her suffering.  After emptying my stomach, I stood back up, wiping my mouth with a shaking hand. I should have crushed his genitals harder. I was so relieved at having derailed the plot.

Now to go derail it further....And then I need to find Liam.

Following Ella’s memories, I went straight to the home she shared with Cameron, only changing my clothes once I was back in my own room with a locked door. Grimly, I put on loose, comfortable clothing, and packed a bag with Ella’s original belongings in it. I ignored the expensive, shiny jewelry on the dresser, leaving behind anything that could be traced to Cameron’s money.

I also made a phone call to one of Ella’s father’s old lawyers, who agreed quickly to bring the requested paperwork to the house within the hour.  

And then, packed, dressed and papers ready to go, I sat on the couch with a hot cup of coffee, and I waited for my hero to arrive.

SLAM!

Cameron rushed into the house, his face red with rage. Seeing me sitting calmly he paused, as if confused, but then stepped closer with his fist raised threateningly.

“I’ll make you regret what you did tonight!”

I smiled. “Actually, unless you want my knee in your crotch and my hot coffee in your face, I suggest you sit down and talk to me like a big boy sociopath.”

“…” He didn’t seem able to process my words, but in his shock he sat down on the chair across from me so I counted it as a win.

“Good job!” I applauded briefly. “Now, onto the important stuff.” I tossed the partially signed paperwork onto the table. “Divorce.”

“No.” His voice was an unrecognizable growl. “You’re mine! You are stuck with me. You have to pay for your father’s sins.”

I sighed. “Okay, Mr. Broody McPsychopath, as much as I’ve NOT enjoyed playing house with you, listening to your abuse, and watching your affairs, I’ve got more important things to do.”

“I AM the most important thing to you! You OWE me!”

I tossed another paper onto the table, this one with a photo and an info sheet. “ I heavily disagree with that statement, however, I also would prefer you not stalking me in a pitiful attempt at misguided revenge. So take a look:”

He picked up the paper. “What is…” His eyes widened in shock as he recognized his sister.

“She’s not dead. I saw a picture of her on your desk today, and recognized her as a person I helped out of a car accident several years ago." I made a reason for my sudden knowledge of the plot with ease. "She had amnesia, and settled in a nearby town. The info is written there.”

“You’re lying.”

“No, I know this is foreign, but what I’m doing is called COMMUNICATION. It’s where we talk clearly about things to avoid stupid and painful misunderstandings.” I pointed at him. “First: you forced this marriage to punish my father, under the foolish impression that he arranged for your sister’s death. Two: Your sister is alive and well, and even a cursory investigation into the car accident will help you find the actual people responsible for the accident. And finally…” I pointed my finger at myself. “I only married you to protect my father, and thus with this misunderstanding resolved would like to be free of you.”

“…” He seemed overwhelmed by the concept of not having misunderstandings. I nodded sympathetically and sipped my coffee, giving him time.

“You won’t leave.”

“Pardon?” I asked, confused.

“You can’t resist me. I’ve felt your eyes following me,” He smirked. “Even if I divorce you, you’ll be back and begging for more within a week.”

“Hmmm… Okay. Let’s totally go with that delusion, and have you sign the divorce papers to prove me wrong.”

He reached out, now overly confident, his pen hovering over the paper. “Are you sure, Princess? This is your last chance to have a claim. After this you’re just like any other woman to me.”

I struggled to keep a straight face. “You mean less to me than the house plant that I killed, and that was made of plastic. I think I’ll take my chances.”

He signed the paper, shaking his head with a smug look and a light chuckle. “Here.” He passed it off, trying to brush my fingers with his but I took the papers with kitchen tongs I had brought instead. No accidental physical contact for gross jerks! ”I’ll see you in a few weeks when you come to beg me to take you back.”

“Sounds good, buddy.” I stood up and waved, taking my signed divorce papers happily. “And don’t forget to leave cookies and milk out for Santa while you’re at it. He’s about as likely to visit you as I am!”

I walked out, with a hearty, evil laugh, the sound familiar and comfortable.

And now… I have a villain to find.

_________________________

I found Ella’s car and drove out of the long private drive from Cameron’s mansion. As I traveled, my phone rang. I quickly answered, whistling cheerfully.

“Ella!” My character’s father’s voice rang out, clearly worried. “What happened? I’ve heard all kind of rumors…”

“Oh hi Dad!” I called out cheerfully. “Great timing! I just lost some weight! A whole load of abusive, nasty annoying dead weight.”

“What?”

“I divorced the dirtbag! Aren’t you proud of me?!”

“YOU DIVORCED CAMERON?! It can’t be official, right?!”

“Already uploaded the signed paperwork to our lawyer! Should be submitted any minute now and I’m a free woman.” I thanked my lucky stars for the unrealistic insta-divorce setting in this world, which was great for generating quick drama that a years-long court heavy process wouldn’t.

“GO BACK AND QUICKLY TELL HIM YOU ARE SORRY!” Ella’s father yelled, panicked. “Hurry, he might still take you back!”

“Oh, dad, I’m so sorry…”

“You should be…”

“I didn’t realize you were in the throes of dementia.” I sighed dramatically. “I guess age catches up with us all! Don’t worry Pops, I know a few great nursing homes where the staff are nice, the colors bright and the food soft and easily consumed without teeth.”

“ELLA!”

“It’s okay!” I interrupted, speaking slowly and loudly. “I’ll take good care of you!”

“Stop being ridiculous!”

“I’m not the one talking nonsense, old man." My tone was now serious. "Cameron is a psychopath, abusive, piece of trash. If you had any mental capacity left, you would be absolutely cheering at the news that your daughter was free of him.”

“What about my business?”

“If you can’t run your business without your daughter’s marriage to protect you, then you are better off leaving the business world and moving to the nursing home. And I’m happy to help you do that.” I paused and then added with emphasis. “Anytime. Just try me.”

I then hung up, betting internally on whether or not he would come to his senses.

_________________________

I headed over to a club on the fringe of the city, called “Fortress.” From my character’s memories, I knew I would find the villain there.

A mysterious club owner who rarely showed his face, the club was a front for his secret criminal organization. His group has clashed several times with Cameron’s, leading to a growing feud between the two men. At the end of the first book, close to the end of Ella’s memories, the villain had kidnapped Ella to try to force Cameron into giving up on a business, only to be shot and killed by Cameron in the rescue attempt.

Most likely, Liam had become the club owner/crime boss villain of the story.

I parked in front of the non-de script club, and knocked on the front door.

A very large muscular man opened the door, a deep scowl on his face. “We’re closed.”

“I’m a friend of the owner.”

“Sure you are, lady.” He tried to close the door, and I shoved my shoe in the way, glad I wore boots.

“Trust me, if you call him, he will definitely want to see me. Just tell him Bel is looking for him.”

With much more convincing, I finally managed to enter the club. TO my dismay, Liam wasn’t there. I sat awkwardly on the couch in the VIP lounge, snacking on peanuts, waiting patiently.

I could here the men in the background arguing.

“How could you bring her here?”

“She says she knows the Boss!”

“I thought the Boss hated women.”

“The Boss hates everyone.”

“True… should I get rid of her? I already called him!”

“I think…”

The door slammed open, and a panting disheveled man in a suit came tumbling in. In one hand he held a large baseball bat, the other clutching a cell phone. I studied the man carefully, taking note of his dark hair, a face covered in scars, including a long diagonal slice across one eye. His eyes however, were a familiar blue.

I jumped up, and threw myself into the man’s arms. “Liam!”

_________________________

After Liam calmed down, we found a quiet place to talk.

“Are you okay?” Liam asked, quietly clutching my hands in his.

“I’m fine.”

He let out a sigh of relief. “I was so worried! When I got here, I saw the story… saw what was going to happen to you at the party… and I rushed over.”

I thought of the baseball bat he was carrying. “What were you planning to do when you got there?”

“Education.” Was his firm answer.

I couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“But when I got there, it was just a bunch of crowds of gossiping people, and a really loud woman who kept screaming about how she was going to kill someone. That’s when I got the call you were here.” His hands squeezed my own. “I’m so relieved you are okay!”

I explained to him my actions so far, which caused him to laugh and congratulate me on my quick divorce.

I added, “Fortunately, I didn’t feel Adonis’s presence in this world.”

“Yeah, he’s been less frequent about coming into the lower realms since pushing you into my realm.”

I thought about that. “Wait, so are you in every lower realm I’ve visited?”

“I don’t know for sure." Liam shrugged. "I get set to a different realm every night.  Sometime Adonis is there, sometimes both of you, plenty of times it’s just been me.”

I had a strange realization as I thought back to the last world I had gone to, the two kingdoms realm. Remembering the familiar feeling I had gotten from the kingdom-destroying beast... “Liam… you wouldn’t happened to have been a large monster before, would you?”

“WHAT?! I have no idea what you are talking about!” He turned pale and panicked at the question, avoiding eye contact.

“Really? In the lower realm where I was the princess? Didn’t you help me take over the world?”

Liam grabbed his chest and let out a sigh of relief, “Oh THAT’s what you meant!” He nodded. “Yes that was me.”

“…” I once again knew I was missing something, but felt too awkward to keep pushing. Instead, I explained to him the mission given to me, to have a happy ending.

Liam offered to hand over all of his underground criminal organization resources to my disposal. “What do you want to do?”

The question caught me off guard. I'm still not used to having someone ask me what I wanted to do, instead of trying to force me to follow a plan or some predetermined fate.

I smiled at him. “I think the best revenge for a woman who was humiliated by her ex-husband to get revenge on her father, and who was sacrificed by said father to save his own business… is to become more rich and powerful than both of them.”

"Sounds good." Liam nodded. "Let's go to work!"

And so, we got to work.

_________________________

I had lived in more than enough lower realms that centered around business, and was fairly comfortable with how to build a company up, (especially in the cheat worlds of romance novels where rich, handsome men who somehow spend zero time on their company abound). With Liam donating some starting capital, I was able to grow a business over the next year that became the talk of the town. Soon I pushed my father’s business into a corner, and began a forced acquisition. His horrified and bewildered expression once he realized it was me in charge of the mysterious rival company, gave me a nice warm feeling inside and prompted another villainous laugh.  

As for Cameron…

He had reunited with his sister, and through the magical medical treatment available in the novel, gotten her memories back. He had tried to contact me twice that I knew of. Once after finding her, and another a week later. I blocked his number and ignored all other attempts. Taking advantage of his distraction, I snatched up a large portion of the big deals from his company, using the memories of Ella and the previous story of this world to be able to pinpoint which ones to target.

I was quickly becoming the richest person in the world, and my mission progress bar was slowly up-trending.

In between becoming a rival CEO to destroy my father and the male lead, I spent the rest of my free time with Liam. It became the norm for us to spend time together every day. We always found time for something, whether it was eating a meal, going for a walk, watching a movie, or just sitting next to each other while we dealt with the paperwork of our respective business empires. We told jokes and laughed, plotted and schemed against the male lead and my insufferably self-righteous father, and overall continued the comfortable existence that we had lived in the woods of Liam’s realm.

One night, we both fell asleep on the couch at “Fortress,” me holding a laptop, him clutching a remote and a bowl of popcorn. The next morning, I woke up and looked over to see his scarred, strange but still familiar face. I had a sudden urge to reach out and touch him. If I had woken up in this world, and the man I had been married to was Liam instead of Cameron… I would have been happy to just stay married.

The realization of that thought hit me hard, and I stood up, confused.

Do I have feelings for Liam?

He was a strange person, much like me. A mysterious existence with too many secrets. One I knew very little about. But he was also kind, gentle and caring person. Someone who I wanted to protect with everything I have, and who I trusted to protect my back no matter what.

Liam woke up, seeing my staring. “What are you looking at. Do I have something on my face?”

“…” I hesitated unsure of what to say, but after taking a deep breath, blurted out:  “Liam… let’s get married!” I looked away, filled with horror once I realized what I had just said, but at the same time, felt no desire to take it back. Why not? What better happy ending for Ella on top of being rich and powerful than being in a nice healthy relationship with someone wonderful?

“…” The silence stretched on. I finally worked up the nerve to look over to Liam only to see wide eyes filled with shock, and a bright red face.

“Bel…” He finally said with an embarrassed look. “Before I give you an answer, I need to tell you something: We talked about your mission in this world, to save and stabilize it… but you never asked about  what MY mission was.”

“You have a mission too?” I asked, distracted and mildly confused as to why this was relevant to my sudden marriage proposal. “What is it?”

“It’s…”

Before he could answer, a man burst into the room. Behind him in the club, the sounds of fighting and shouting could be heard. The man stood before us with a vicious grin, holding out an outstretched arm.

He was holding a gun.

“Cameron what on earth do you think you are doing?!” I shouted, standing up. Liam got up next to me, his hand grabbing mine.

The look in Cameron’s eyes was feral. “I’m saving my wife from this villain!” He snarled, pointing the gun at Liam.

I stepped in front of Liam. “First of all, that’s ex wife to you! Second of all, why would I need saving from Liam?”

“He kidnapped you! I know everything, Ella! He built up a rival corporation to compete with me and your father…”

“No that was me…”

“He even forcibly acquired your father’s company!”

“Still me…”

Cameron kept talking, as if he hadn’t heard me. “And I know that he’s been preventing you from contacting me, or answering my phone calls.”

“No… I blocked you. And I didn’t want to see you.”

“It’s okay!” He smiled at me, but the expression sent chills up my spine. “I’m going to make things right, by getting rid of this snake first.”

I held my arms out. “You’ll have to go through me.”

“Bel.” Liam whispered.

“What is it Liam? I’m kind of busy.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“For what…?” I broke off into a horrified gasp as he stepped around me, distancing himself and moving into a clear line of site from Cameron.

BANG!

Liam fell to the floor.

I saw red.

Grabbing the baseball bat, I swung it as hard as I could at the man’s offending hand.

CRACK!

I felt his wrist break from the blow. He let out a scream of pain, looking up at me with a confused expression. “Why are you doing this, Ella? I’m saving you! I love you!”

I glared at him,  kicked his gun away, and swung the bat again, hitting his chest. He fell to the floor with a grunt.

“Love? You call your madness and selfishness love?”

Crack! I broke his other arm.

“No, you’re just a petulant child, whose mad because he thinks that other kids might play with his toy.” I smiled coldly. “Well guess what?”

I kicked his chest, knocking him onto his back. “I’m not your toy. And just like you don’t really love me, I don’t love you.” I put my foot in “crotch stomping” position.

“And I’ll make you pay for killing the man I lo…”

“Bel!” Liam’s weak voice called out, interrupting my rant. I dropped my bat, causing it to hit Cameron’s face as he let out another groan of pain and rushed to Liam’s side.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He nodded, showing the clear wound on the muscle of his shoulder. Just a few inches to the left and the bullet would have… I shook my head, and hugged him, trying to avoid the injured arm.

“Why would you step out like that?”

“I tried to tell you... my mission.” He held up a cell phone, and to my surprise, I saw an interface very similar to mine.

100% complete.

**** You have finished the mission! ****

I stared at the words. “Your mission was to get shot?”

His smile was faint and bitter. “That’s the villain’s job. To create conflict and then to get defeated. My ending was liked by the readers. They didn’t want it to change.”

“Is every world like this?” I was horrified.

“Pretty much.” His expression became happier. “But on the bright side, since I’ve been shot, but didn’t die, I can answer your question!” He blushed, but pushed forward with a whisper. “Yes.”

“Yes?” I was confused, and then realized what he was saying, and coughed, trying to cover up my embarrassment. “Well then, I guess we have a wedding to plan.”

“Bel?”

A strange voice called out. I looked over to the bruised and beaten Cameron, who was staring at me with an incredulous look… and with contained rage.

I knew that look.

“Adonis.” I said quietly, positioning myself in front of Liam to protect him. "Welcome to the party."

“Why are you here? Did you get dragged through the villain’s portal?” He shook his head. “Even if you try to escape, you can’t. I’m your only salvation. Only the hero can save the princess from the monster.”

“I think you and I have very different definitions of the word ‘monster’.” My phone chirped and I looked down to see a notification that the latest deal had gone through, officially making me the richest and most powerful person in this small world. Between that, and an upcoming happy wedding… I waited a moment, and sure enough:

100% complete.

**** You have finished the mission! ****

My mission was complete as well.

Adonis try to scramble to his feet. “Wait, Bel, what have you done?”

“Fixed the world again. Without you. The usual.” I tilted my head, staring at him with a cold smile. “Don’t try to come after me again, Adonis. You won’t like what will happen to you.”

“Bel!”

The portal opened, swallowing Liam and I both.

“BEL! I AM COMING FOR YOU!”

I waved cheerfully, and Liam flipped him off as we disappeared.

“YOU HEAR ME?! I AM COMING FOR YOU!”

We were back in the villain’s realm. Immediately I felt tired, as the drain of the world set back in. I leaned against Liam shoulder, which was fortunately no longer injured and gave him a grin.

“So… when’s the wedding?

*** Soul transfer 59% complete. ***

Liam stared at me, shocked. But before he could answer, he stopped in his tracks, and seemed to sense something. “As much as I would love nothing more than to talk about this, Bel, we’ll have to save it for another time.”

“What’s going on?”

His serious gaze met my own. “Adonis is here.”

#writing #PFTS #fantasy #romance #violence #hope you like it #next part will have more about Liam

[hoomandoescosplay]

Eternally Yours | Lucifer Morningstar x Reader Oneshot

The Garden of Eden is truly a paradise. All the plants and flowers are vivid and beautiful, and have a sweet fragrance.

As I sit on the grass I take a deep breath of the pure air before focusing my attention on the wildlife around.

It feels as though everything is in harmony with me. And Adam of course. I glance over at him walking around observing all the nature as well.

He has walked quite far away so it’s hard for me to fully see him.

My eyes dart to my side as I see some sort of creature with a yellow beak nudge into my thigh.

Its beak feels soft to the touch when it nudges against me. Its head tilted to one side, chirping with curiosity as it looked up at me.

“And what kind of creature might you be?” I ask out loud. It tilted its head again and chirped once more.

Whatever reply it was giving me was gibberish to my ears but it certainly was an adorable little creature.

I pick it up and pat it on the head gently as we both just continue to stare at one another.

After a few moments I jump at a sudden voice coming from behind me.

As I jumped with surprise at the voice, I instinctively tightened my grip on the creature.

“I call them ducks.” The voice says, causing me to turn around.

The creature squirmed slightly but didn’t cry out in pain or discomfort. Suddenly the voice spoke again.

“Oh my, I see I have arrived during a very adorable moment.” As I make eye contact with him I immediately recognize the man. It’s Lucifer.

I glance towards Adam’s figure before looking back at Lucifer. “I don’t think you should be here. Adam won’t be happy.” I say slightly louder than a whisper.

He gives me the most innocent look he can pull off before saying, “What, me being here is surely not a problem. I have just come for a friendly visit.”

The expression on his face says that he knows that’s complete bullshit, even though his tone was polite and sincere.

“He told me I shouldn’t talk to you.” I admit. Adam never explained why he didn’t like Lucifer or why I shouldn’t talk to him.

I’ve never questioned him or what he’s told me. All I know is that I was created for Adam and I should do everything in my power to be his equal and keep him happy.

Lucifer’s lips curl up in a mocking grin at those words. “Did he now? But I see nothing wrong with just a friendly chat to pass the time.” And he chuckles again as he takes a seat next to me.

I hum out as I think. “I suppose you’re right. A friendly conversation never hurts anybody.” As I finish saying this I give him a small smile.

His grin only grows as I hum out my agreement. “So.. What’s your name? I don’t think Adam ever mentioned it.”

“My name’s (Y/N).” I pet the duck some more as I respond.

He chuckles a little bit as he sees me petting the duck. “Aww, my little duckie seems to be enjoying your attention.”

He leans over a little to give the duck a little pet as well. “I’m Lucifer, Lucifer Morningstar.”

“Well it’s nice to officially meet you.” The duck chirps at all the attention it’s receiving.

“Same here! So, how much of paradise have you explored already? Has Adam shown you everything?”

I glance away, focusing on the duck. “He actually doesn’t like me leaving this area. He says it’s safer for me that way.”

Lucifer looks a little shocked at that. “He doesn’t let you go anywhere beyond this? This place is big though, but I can’t imagine staying just here and not seeing the whole of paradise!”

I sigh as I look at him when I speak this time. “I’m curious what the rest of the garden looks like. It must be absolutely gorgeous. But I was told to listen and trust Adam.”

“You’re missing out on the rest of this wonderful place! If I remember correctly, there’s even a pond and a beautiful waterfall in the middle of it. How’s that for gorgeous?”

My eyes sparkle as I hear Lucifer talk about the other parts of the garden. “Really?”

“Oh absolutely, and it’s definitely worth seeing!” Lucifer looks at me, matching my excitement.

“And.. I might know a way we can get there and look at it without getting Adam angry. A little sneak out, if you will.” He adds.

“Oh I would love to see it.” I then glance back at Adam and see he’s starting to make his way back over to where we are.

I frown slightly. “I guess we can’t go today though.”

Lucifer follows my line of sight and also sees Adam coming back. He raises an eyebrow as he watches Adam come closer.

“What a shame. Now it seems we won’t be able to go today. But, hey…”

Lucifer smiles widely as he leans in. “I said we won’t be able to go today... But, that doesn’t mean we can’t go any other day. Maybe tonight, when it’s dark and Adam’s asleep, we can sneak out and explore together?”

I juggle the thought in my mind for a while and glance back sadly at him. “I don’t know. That would be more than just a friendly conversation.”

Lucifer smiles at me even as I declined his offer to sneak out tonight. “I know it would be more than friendly, but I understand.”

I pause to glance at Adam again before directing my attention back to Lucifer. “How about this? Give me a day or two to think about it. When you come back I’ll have an answer for you.”

He nods as he hears my counter-offer. “A day or two, eh..? Alright, you have yourself a deal. I’ll come back tomorrow at this exact same spot to see what you’ve decided.”

We share a small smile before he turns himself into a snake and slithers off to be undetected by Adam.

As Adam comes back, he takes note of the duck in my arms. He frowned at the little creature.

“(Y/N).” His voice was very serious and firm, but I could also tell there was hurt hidden in it as he said my name. It was almost as if he was disappointed.

“Yes Adam?” I ask confused. “Is something wrong?”

“Where did you get the duck from?” His face was still stern and serious, but he had moved on from looking hurt to looking like he’s angry.

It’s clear he’s upset at me for having the animal, but why? I don’t understand what’s so wrong about this wonderful creature.

“It just wandered my way.” I hold it up for him to look at a bit closer. “Isn’t it cute?”

Adam takes a closer look at the duck. He squints at it and seems to size it up. It takes him a few seconds before he speaks again.

“Get rid of it. Actually no, I’ll get rid of it. Give it to me (Y/N).” He says as my eyes widen. “Oh, I- can I not keep it?” I ask meekly.

Adam seemed to be getting increasingly irritated by my attachment to the duck. He frowned more as I asked for permission to keep it.

“No.” He says firmly. He holds out his hand to her, waiting for me to hand him the duck.

I hand the duck over hesitantly. As Adam grabs the duck it chirps confused and I can feel my eyes start to well up.

He walks over to a bush farther away from where I stay and places it down. The duck refuses to move and just stares at me.

After a slightly forceful shove the duck eventually walks further into the garden.

As the duck walked away into the distance, Adam stayed right there and stared at where it went. His eyes were narrowed in a glare. He was definitely irritated, maybe even angry.

He didn’t move until he was certain the duck was far away enough. At which point he turned and started walking back to me, his expression still firm and upset.

─── ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ ───

My head was spinning with worry and doubt, questioning whether or not he was even going to show up at all.

He said he’d be back in two days and now it is the fourth day.

Everyday I made sure to sit in the exact spot as last time, keeping my eyes on the direction Lucifer slither away.

As I sat there, alone and waiting on Lucifer, I noticed that the garden was just not the same anymore.

Adam had gone exploring, as was his habit. But without the little duck, I began to feel lonely.

It was a strange feeling, especially since I had gotten used to staying here all day, everyday, by this point. But just now it felt wrong.

I couldn’t help but think that my mind was going a bit crazy waiting for Lucifer.

I had been waiting for two extra days than we agreed upon, and it was getting to the point where I was questioning my own sanity.

It was so out of character for me. I had never broken the rules once - and now I’ve been waiting on the edge of my seat for Lucifer to return.

I lay down on my back just staring up at the sky and clouds as I let out a sigh. I begin to close my eyes and just listen to the sounds around me.

Eventually, the light dims causing me to open my eyes confused. As I do so I’m greeted with Lucifer’s face peering down at me and a smile forming on my lips.

He leaned in close, staring down at me, his eyes locked on my own. The warmth of his smile was comforting like a warm blanket.

He looked like a shining angel under the sunlight with that radiant smile.

He had come, like he promised he would. I had thought he had forgotten me, but here he was.

“Hi.” Is all I could say to him as we continue to stare at each other.

A soft and almost angelic laugh escapes him seeing my reaction. “Hi indeed.” He walks around to my side as I sit up. He extends his hand out to me, helping me stand up.

There was a mischievous glint to his eyes. “Glad you waited for me.”

I let go of his hand after I'd completely stood up and dust off my dress. “I was thinking you wouldn’t show up.”

“Well, I told you I would. And I’m a man of my word. I am sorry I was late though.” He puts on the most genuine smile that he can manage, all the while his eyes are full of mischief.

“So, have you thought about my offer yet?” Wanting to mess with him a little I stayed silent for a while. “Hmm, you know I think I need more time to think.” I tease.

Lucifer’s cheeks flush a little in embarrassment as he realises that I’m playing with him.

This makes him grin widely. “How much time do you need? Tomorrow? Day after that? A week?”

“How long would you be willing to wait for me?” I ask.

I then immediately get shy as I don’t know where that came from. I’ve never spoken like that before.

“For you? I’d be willing to wait all eternity if need be.” Lucifer speaks without hesitation, and without any sign of exaggeration.

It makes me wonder, is he being honest? Or is he just teasing me back, in turn?

I smile at him. “Tonight we can go to the waterfall. If that still works for you of course.”

Lucifer gives me an excited grin at the news. “Of course it works for me. It works extremely well for me.”

He then leans in closer to me, a small devilish grin on his face. “Are you excited?”

I realize I don’t mind being this close to him. Whenever Adam tried to get close to me like this I never liked it. But with Lucifer? It feels so different.

“I’m so excited.” I beam at him not being able to contain my excitement. A devilish sparkle is in his eyes as he smiles back at me.

“If you’re so excited, how come you’re not jumping up and down?” He teases her playfully.

That makes me laugh. “I’m obviously saving the jumping up and down for when we get there.” Lucifer chuckles along with me at my playfulness.

“But surely you can’t keep still right now, can you?” As if to demonstrate, he moves his hand to my waist and pulls me ever so slightly closer.

“You’re too excited for your own good. I can feel the energy coming off you.” I immediately feel my face heat up as I’m not sure what to say in response.

He lets his fingers trail up from my waist to my chin, and his thumb traces the curve of my jaw for a moment. “Aww, look at you. All flustered.” Again, he gives me that devilish little grin.

I lean into his touch slightly. After a moment I feel his hand tense slightly as I look up at him to see his eyes shift to look behind me.

I turn my head to look as well and notice Adam is coming back earlier than usual. Lucifer lets out a sigh.

The devilish sparkle in Lucifer’s eyes disappears as his face hardens into a serious expression as he watches Adam walking towards us.

“Ahhh damn it.” He groans under his breath as he pulls away from me. “I guess we have to cut this short. I’ll be back tonight around midnight.”

“Alright. I’ll see you then.” I give him a small wave before he disappears into the garden.

─── ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ ───

Adam falls asleep quickly after the sun has gone down. After I’m sure he’s asleep I sit up to help keep myself awake.

I’m not sure how much longer until midnight but I wait patiently doing my best to stay up.

Every minute seemed like an hour and every hour like a day, but eventually, midnight rolled around.

The moon was visible in the night sky, brightly filling the darkness, and it was about as bright as it was going to get.

Lucifer appears in the distance, making his way towards me once again. “You’re still up? Impressive.”

“Impressive and very hard to accomplish.” I reply as I yawn. He reaches out his hand and I take to pulling myself up.

He chuckles. “Well, I’m glad you did. Because now we have the whole night ahead of us.” He takes her hand in his and brushes his other hand through her hair.

“So, are you ready to go see the waterfall now?” I grin at him. “So ready.”

He chuckles as he squeezes my hand a bit. “Then let’s go.”

He starts to lead me through the garden towards the waterfalls. We walked down a slightly hidden path for a little while before stepping into a clearing.

The waterfall was right ahead of us. It was so beautiful with the moonlight casting shadows, and the water making lovely and tranquil sounds as it dropped down.

My eyes light up at the view and a wide smile forms on my lips. “This is absolutely stunning.” I squeeze his hand slightly from excitement.

The moonlight hit Lucifer’s face making him look even more angelic as he beamed at my compliment. “It really is. It truly is amazing.”

He gazes at the waterfall for a few moments, taking in the sounds and the sights. “It’s even prettier with you here as well.” He leans in closer to whisper in my ear.

My face flushes and I giggle. “Come on, let's get closer to the water.” I pull him along as we get to the edge of the water and take a seat.

I let go of his hand to reach out and touch the water. Afterwards we sit in silence for a while admiring the view and the tranquillity of the night.

“Why didn’t Adam want me to see other parts of the garden?” I wonder out loud. I notice his body language and expression soften as he lets out a sigh.

"Well. The main reason he didn't want you exploring other parts of the garden was because there were things he didn't want you to see." He looks down at the ground for a few moments as if he's pondering something.

I look at him confused. “Like what? If it’s anything like this then why hide such beautiful things?”

Lucifer makes an apple appear in the palm of his hand. “This is the fruit of knowledge.”

I continue to stare at him more curiously now. I can tell he’s reluctant to say any more but he sighs and continues.

“It's a little bit complicated. If you eat this, there will be some things you'll know that you may not be ready for. You can't turn back once you eat it."

I study his face, trying to get a glimpse of some extra information, any advice at all. But his expression doesn’t give me any hints.

I reach out to take the apple from his palm. If he felt a need to tell me about this fruit of knowledge then I trust him.

“Just remember, you can’t take it back once you’ve eaten it.” He says softly, almost whispering.

I nod, taking one last look at the apple before bringing it up to my lips and taking a bite.

As I take a bite of the apple a sudden wave of knowledge comes over me. Everything makes so much more sense now.

Why Adam never wanted me to talk to Lucifer, why he didn’t like the ducking, why I was created. The whole reason I was created was to be a better made version of Lilith and Eve. All of it is finally coming together.

I was starting to understand things at an even deeper level, things that no one has ever thought to explain to me before.

“Why does Heaven want us to be shielded from this knowledge? It’s so… it’s so fulfilling to know I have the mind to make my own choices.” I say trying to wrap my head around why I was so shielded from this.

As I look at him he looks proud, proud that I’m an equal with him now. “Because they think we can’t handle it.” He responds. “We’re supposed to just do whatever they tell us with no regard for our own free will.”

“That’s not fair.” I whisper out sad that humanity is supposed to have a date like that.

“It’s not.” His voice is now tinged with frustration. “We should be able to make our own choices with full awareness of the consequences. If you had free will, there is no reason you shouldn’t have a full knowledge of that free will.”

He looks down at the waterfall for a moment to gather his thoughts. “You deserve to have the choice without being kept in the dark about certain things.”

“Thank you. Thank you for helping me realize this.” I grab his hands in my own to show how much I appreciate him.

Lucifer wraps his hands around mine, taking comfort from the warmth.

He looks down at our hands and his expression softens. His voice is tender when he speaks back to me.

“You deserve it. Anyone does. Knowledge is the most valuable thing one can possess, and you were robbed of it for too long.”

“I don’t- I don’t think I can go back to Adam knowing all of this.” I start to worry. “What will happen to me? The same thing that happened to Lilith and Eve?”

Lucifer seems to have been anticipating this question. He lets out a sad sigh as the expression on his face turns somber.

"Yes. You will most likely get cast from the Garden of Eden just the same as Lilith and Eve were." His eyes drift to the horizon for a moment as he thinks of ways to comfort me.

"But,” He gazes back at me with a gleam in his eyes. "If you come with me you’ll be spared of most of the pain that comes with being cast from here.”

My eyes dart over his whole body until they end up looking back at his own eyes. “I can do that?”

Lucifer's expression softens even more as I ask him that very important question. "Yes. You most certainly can." He says with a smile.

His eyes search mine, hoping this is the thing I really want. "Just say the word, and you're free to leave with me and never come back."

“It will cost you a lot. And it’s nowhere as pretty as this.” He adds making sure I fully understand.

I grab his face in my hands and kiss him. As I pull away I stare at him with such a fond expression. “I’m eternally yours Lucifer.”

He pulls me back in and kisses me again, taking his time to enjoy the moment.

When we pull apart again, his eyes are filled with such raw love. He can’t help it. The feeling just overwhelms him.

Lucifer smiles at me and he cups my face in both of his hands this time, his eyes staring into my own.

"And I'm eternally yours, my love.” I start to giggle. “Does that mean I get to be the queen of Hell?”

A devilish grin spreads across his face at this thought. “Why yes, I think the title suits you just fine.” He winks at me as he stands up, pulling me up with him.

Lucifer also takes one last appreciative glance at the waterfall before turning to look at me.

His eyes are glittering as he smiles at me. "So, my love, are you ready to leave?" I nod.

“I like where this friendly little conversation led us.” I say as Lucifer gets ready to transport us to Hell.

The next moment, our surroundings are completely changed. The waterfall is gone now, replaced by the harshness of Hell.

“I told you there was nothing wrong with just a friendly chat to pass the time.” He teases me and I give him a huge smile.

#fanfic #fanfiction #x reader #romance #hazbin hotel #oneshot #oneshot fanfiction #oneshot fic #lucifer x y/n #lucifer x you #lucifer x reader #hazbin lucifer #lucifer magne #lucifer morningstar #luficer morningstar x reader #romantic #adam hazbin hotel #pre hazbin hotel #fruit of knowledge #reader imagine #reader insert

[asahicore]

hiding in plain sight - sh, js, jy, jw

pairing. enhypen x gn!reader (sunghoon, jay, jake, jungwon)

genre. fluff, s2l or f2l, headcanons/scenarios

word count. 1.7k

author’s note. after a month of hibernation i give you this instead of any of my planned wips <3 i got inspired by the tiktok trend w this song so credits to whoever started that ig? also dw i’m not a heesunriki hater i just only had ideas for 4 of the mbs lmao and thank u to @zreamy for beta reading without u i’d be dead in a ditch somewhere.. ok have fun reading lmk what u think !!

You and Sunghoon had known about each other long before you’d met, let alone got together. Well, known about each other might be a bit of an understatement - you both had huge crushes on the other in high school but, of course, had never considered that your feelings might be reciprocated. Sunghoon was the handsome figure skater whose good looks everyone gushed over, but because of his shyness, not many had the privilege of calling him a friend. You, on the other hand, were the captain of your school’s beloved soccer team. and were popular among the student body for your outgoing and friendly personality. You definitely weren’t blind to Sunghoon’s good looks, and you not only admired his grace and elegance on ice but also envied his small friend group and apparent lowkeyness. Little did you know how cool Sunghoon thought you looked leading your team on the field and how he wished he could befriend people as easily as you. Grass is always greener on the other side, as they say, and you and Sunghoon were both jealous and admiring the flowers in the other’s garden. It wasn’t until later that you met again, when you started attending the same sports university. Your roommate was a figure skater and invited you to their Welcome party - even if you and Sunghoon hadn’t known each other well, seeing a familiar face was comforting (especially for him), and so you spent the better part of the evening talking and actually getting to know each other beyond the surface-knowledge impressions you had of the other. You were amazed at how much you shared and how well you got along and you couldn’t help but think what a shame it was that you were finding out about this now, and not years earlier when high school had started. You exchanged contact information at that party, gradually got closer, and the rest is history.

Jay is usually an extremely patient man, but even he gets tired of waiting for you to recognize his feelings for you sometimes. Most of the time, he’s happy to essentially treat you like he’s your boyfriend without the actual label. Cooking you your favorite meals, picking up coffee and a pastry for you in the morning, carrying your bag for you, tucking your hair behind your ear - you name it, he’ll do it. You just think he’s a really sweet and caring friend, while he wonders when you’re going to realize he’s hopelessly in love with you. If you were anyone else, he’d have no problem straight up asking you out, but because you’ve been friends for so long, he’s afraid of making you uncomfortable or of risking your friendship. So he does what any other normal, sane person would do, and decides to become your secret admirer. If he’s too scared to confess his feelings to you, his anonymous alter ego isn’t. Over the next few weeks, he slips love notes or song lyrics that remind him of you in your bag and places snacks on your table before you get to class, all while he gets to watch your reactions and your growing fondness for this “secret” admirer. He’s filled with pride every time a wide smile blooms on your lips as you read his notes, every time he catches you listening to a song recommendation of his, and every time you gush about your admirer or wonder who he is, not knowing he’s right in front of you, looking at you with nothing but affection in his eyes. After a little under a month, he writes a time and place for you to come meet him on the note he sneaks in your bag. The way your expression as your eyes find Jay goes from giddy, to confused, to disbelieving, to giddy again is absolutely priceless, and Jay stands there through your stages of realization, watching you with a wide grin on his lips and a bouquet in his hands. It all makes sense now - his attention to you over the years, the way your secret admirer seemed to know exactly what you liked. After he confesses, you tell him you might need some time to transition from your friendship into a relationship, but let’s be honest, your feelings for him only need mere days to grow - and you now realize that they might have always been there, waiting for you to notice them.

Your first encounter with Jake may be described as ‘right person, wrong time.’ It was halfway through your first year of college - you’d just gotten dumped by your high school boyfriend who you’d been dating for three years and had had to go long-distance with, while Jake had just found out his girlfriend, whom he’d started dating in the first week of college, had been cheating on him basically the whole of their relationship. Let’s just say that when you went to a party organized by the student association of your department, neither of you were in a great place. He’d found you by the counter of the bar that had been rented out, downing a shot of tequila on your lonesome. By that time, you were already so wasted that the memories of him coming up to you, hitting you with some random one-liner and ordering a drink of his own were fuzzy. You’d kept on drinking with him as you told each other about your recent heartbreaks, so you could not at all recollect those moments - but getting into an Uber with him was somewhat clearer. It wasn’t until the next day, when you woke up with a terrible headache naked in his bed, that you realized what you’d done. Jake was still completely passed out, and you managed to dress and slip out of his room without waking him up. Thankfully, you were part of a big department in a big university, so you only very scarcely ran into each other after that. Having no classes and barely any friends in common meant that the only times you saw him after your one-night stand were from afar at the library or at a club every now and then. You’d exchange a quick hi, maybe some small talk, but nothing more than that. You did wonder about him sometimes - what it’d have been like if you hadn’t met when your mutual breakups weren’t so fresh, what might’ve happened had you not left so sneakily in the morning, how he’d react if you approached him once more and actually talked to him. Then, in your third year, not only do you share a class, but your professor also partners you up for the whole semester. It doesn’t take long for you to realize that you and Jake have more in common than having gone through a bad breakup in your first year of university, and you hit it off. You really hit it off. He makes you laugh, and he takes the uni work you have to do seriously, and obviously, he’s very good-looking. A few dates later, you realize how thankful you are for meeting the right person again - and now at the right time, too.

Had luck been on your side, you and Jungwon could have fallen in love much earlier than you did. You’d met at the Arts & Crafts club of your university, of all places. Between assignments, attending class, having a decent social life, and worrying about the amount of instant ramen you’d consumed that week, activities like scrapbooking or knitting were a welcome addition to your life. It let you turn your mind off for a while and just focus on making something pretty, or at least fun, for a while. When you found out your university had a club for it, you immediately joined - you’d have access to more supplies and could befriend people with the same hobby as you. Your first time there, your eyes immediately settled on a broad-shouldered boy at the end of the table that seemed very focused on gluing bits of paper to a beat-up notebook. What caught your attention was how familiar he looked - not like you met a long time ago, but like you’d seen him around a few times. You’re not sure what it is, all you know is that you find yourself walking across the room and taking the seat right in front of him. He looks up as you sit down, and his dimpled smile immediately makes your heart skip a beat. That first day, you just make small talk, asking the other about their courses and showing each other your progress on whatever art you’re crafting. But now that you know him, it feels like you see him everywhere - in the campus café, at the library, in line at the grocery store, it’s like you can’t escape him anymore. Not that you’d want to, anyway. You’re always happy to run into him, but the best part is that he seems to feel the same way, if his wave and wide grin upon seeing you are anything to go by. On one of those days where you randomly run into each other, he grabs his courage with two hands and asks you if you’d like to get coffee with him - you accept right away, of course. It’s this rainy afternoon, as you sit in a cozy café with a warm cappuccino in your hands, that you find out why Jungwon had looked so familiar the first day. You had lived in the same town, one where it was unlikely you’d know everyone but possible to run into anyone, had attended the same middle school, and even when he’d moved away for high school, you’d kept mutual friends, which meant that you had attended the same wild parties of more than sixty people. You’d lived in the same uni dorm in your first year, so you’d probably seen each other in the laundry room or during fire alarm tests. Even crazier, your parents had had the same vacation spot for years, and when you were fifteen you’d actually been there at the same time. You searched through your gallery and found pictures taken at the same place, mere hours apart. And yet, it was only at the Arts and Crafts club that you finally met. If you didn’t believe in soulmates before, meeting Jungwon had surely convinced you of the opposite.

permanent taglist: @zreamy @sunghoonmybeloved @lalalalawon @sd211 @w3bqrl @raikea10 @wntrnghts @moonlighthoon @4imhry @rikisly @loves0ft @iamliacamila @theboingsuckerasseater9000 @chaechae-23 @baekhyuns-lipchain @hyuckslvr (ask to be removed/added!)

© asahicore on Tumblr, 2023. please do not repost, translate, or plagiarize my works. feedback and reblogs always appreciated!

#enhypen x reader #enhypen fluff #enhypen scenarios #enhypen imagines #jake sim x reader #jake sim fluff #sunghoon x reader #sunghoon fluff #jay x reader #jay fluff #jungwon x reader #jungwon fluff

[scarlett-v-the-fox]

WarioWare Move It! Japanese profile entires part 1

As of today, there are only a few profiles of the characters. These are Wario, Jimmy T, Mona, Ashley, Red, Dr. Crygor, Mike, and Penny. I am sharing what they say to you in English.

Disclaimer: My Japanese isn’t perfect, and I had to look up some of words used. But I’m confident 95% of this is correct!

President of the very great Wario Company

WARIO

CV: Hironori Kondo

(Translator’s notes: Wario uses the first person pronoun “ore” and uses the suffix “sama” after it.)

[Image of Wario in front a pile of gold] Today is also a great day! I'm cool, intelligent, and handsome!

WAHAHAHA! You had a good idea that you were interested in me! Take a close look at me from my head to my butt!

This is my profile!!

Favorite letter of the alphabet:

W

Most hated letter of the alphabet:

M

Charm point:

You’ll know it when you see it! Everything!

What made me happy recently:

I went to scrub myself today, and what a surprise! I lost 20 kilograms! That’s amazing!

What surprised me recently:

There was a type of canned food that I thought was delicious and became addicted to, but when I looked closer, it turned out to be for dogs! I got angry!

Things I am not good at:

Nothing! I am perfect!

Recommended movies:

There’s “The Wario Movie” starring me! ...Hmm? There’s no such movie? Hey Nintendo! Make it quickly!

Favorite proverb:

Be on the toilet bowl for three months.

Future aspirations:

Hey! That's enough! That's it for my profile!

~

Energetic high school girl

MONA

CV: Ruriko Aoki

(Translator’s notes: Mona uses the first person pronoun “atashi.” She also uses the “ojisama” suffix for Wario and Dr. Crygor.)

[Image of Mona in a city with her pets in the background] Isn’t Wario wonderful!? That nose and mustache!

Hi~! I’m Mona! I'm busy with my part-time job and club activities every day, but I'm going to run through it with high energy today too!

Profile:

My dream for the future:

To become an adventurer!

Person I admire:

I guess I’d say Wario after all! That big and wild nose… super awesome!

Transportation:

[Image of Mona’s bike. Below it reads “Mona Bike!”] Dr. Crygor made it for me!

Part time jobs I’ve done:

I've done a lot of things! I was a gelato shop clerk, a diner waitress, a pizza delivery girl, a rock band's vocalist and guitarist, a Chinese restaurant's poster girl, an amusement park staff member, a reporter, a cameraman, and even a spy... Oops, maybe I shouldn't have said this? [picture of strawberry gelato]

Family:

My papa is an artist and my mama is a supermodel! I'm an only child, but I wish I had an older sister.

My favorite animal:

Baby moth larvae with fluffy fur!

What I’ve been into lately:

I keep an observation record of the flowers I saw today! I like that they’re bumpy, hairy, and shiny!

Introduction from the president (Wario):

Mona thinks I'm cool, and I'm a guy with quite good taste! …however! As an adventurer, she’s not even close to my level! Even if she finds treasure, it's mine, of course! Because the president is amazing! Wahahaha!

~

Cool dancer

JIMMY T.

CV: Yuma Kametani

(Translator’s notes: Jimmy uses a lot of English words. He also uses the first person pronoun “boku.”)

[Image of Jimmy on a lit up dance floor] Oh YEAH~!! Let’s dance together until the morning, YO!

Everybody! I’m glad you came to visit my page, YO! Let's get feverish with COOL steps!

Profile:

How to spend the night:

Dancing until the morning at a nightclub, YO! [Image of Jimmy P]

Hobby:

Checking my emails! YEAH!

Special skill:

I might be second to none when it comes to high-speed flick input on smartphones.

A little boast:

For some reason, cats tend to like me, YO!

Relationship with Wario:

He’s my email friend! We are also childhood friends!

Favorite way to spend my weekends:

Watching the pigeons in the park, YO! And those kids there have some pretty good BEAT and VIBES, YO!

A secret I’ll only share here:

Actually, my afro, well… No, it’s nothing. Forget it.

Introduction from the president (Wario):

Jimmy is my e-mail friend and childhood friend! He teaches me how to make money with blogs like “Afro Eight” and is a very helpful guy! That's why I made him a special employee of the company, but I’ve never paid him a salary! Wahahaha!

~

Apprentice witch

ASHLEY

CV: Ayaka Fukuhara

(Translator’s notes: She speaks using third person in Japanese at times.)

[Image of Ashley with a mansion in the background] …I’m Ashley, the world’s witch.

…I’m Ashley… What do you want? …If I don’t have any use for you, can I use you as an ingredient?

Profile:

Hobby:

…Research on cursed magic.

Specialty:

…To make magic and potions.

What I think is cool:

…Monsters and carnivorous plants.

Things I don’t like:

Cute dresses… sweets… colorful things… I hate them.

Eating style:

…I eat what I like for last.

What I want most right now:

…Frie—… Nothing really.

How many times have you been called cute?:

Tsk…

Introduction from the president (Wario):

Ashley is always with her familiar, Red! She may be a bit perverse, but she's actually lonely!? Since she's an employee of the Wario Company, I'll take care of her! Looks like she can use magic to find treasure! Wahahaha!

~

Ashley’s partner

RED

CV: Mako Muto

(Translator’s notes: Red uses Kansai dialect, and uses the first person pronoun “ore.” He also talks like a kid.)

[Image of Red with Ashley in the background] Alright! Leave the transforming to me!

Yahoo! I am Red! I am Ashley’s partner, as well as her best friend! You came all the way to visit us, so take your time!

Profile:

Where I live:

In a haunted mansion on the edge of town! But I'm actually really scared of this place...

Special skill:

I can transform into something about the same size as me! Like a magic wand or broom! It’s amazing, isn’t it?!

Personality:

I am quite skittish…

What scared me recently:

When I saw my own reflection in the mirror, I freaked out… Eep…

What I think about Ashley:

Ah, it looks like she’s really shy. She remembered her parents from back home and looked into the distance.

Recent thing Ashley did:

She was practicing smiling in front of the mirror the other day! She was so scared! Ah, this is definitely a secret I should keep!

The scariest thing in this world:

Ashley when she’s angry…

Introduction from the president (Wario):

Even though Red is a monster, he's still taking care of Ashley! And I don't know where he learned to speak Kansai dialect! ...That means he might have some talent for business! Okay, me. Let's sell your game all over the world! Of course, we won't give him any rewards! Wahahaha!

~

Mad scientist

DR. CRYGOR

CV: Kensuke Matsui

(Translator’s notes: A gappori machine is a machine that gives loans in cash)

[Image of Dr. Crygor in a green lit laboratory] People call me a genius scientist... And I am actually a genius!

Here... it seems like you got lost on my page. This must also have something to do with me. Could you let me use your body as a test subject?

Profile:

Occupation:

I am a genius scientist that everyone recognizes.

Someone you hang out with often:

My granddaughter Penny, and my assistant Mike.

Hobby:

Dancing flamenco for inspiration.

My secret to youth:

Modifying my own body and wearing a life-prolonging suit. However, I forgot to extend the life of my scalp and ended up going bald.

Recent research:

I am devoting all my energy and research into promoting my hair regrowth.

Representative inventions:

Wario’s Bike, Wario’s Car, Mona’s Bike, Dribble’s Taxi, Kat and Ana's high-tech swords, 9-Volt's skateboard, Jimmy's cell phone, the Karaoke Robot Mike... You can see how genius I am.

About Wario:

I see him as an interesting research subject. I shall do some human experiments on him someday.

Introduction from the president (Wario):

Dr. Crygor is an old man, but he seems to be doing well! He is also the inventor of my Wario Car and my Wario Bike! But it's disgusting that he’s still bragging about that! ...Well, whatever. Someday, I'll have him make a gappori machine that will give me an infinite amount of money! Wahahaha!

~

Karaoke robot

MIKE

CV: Ryota Suzuki

(Translator’s notes: Robot characters use katakana in their visualized speech. They are also polite and use simple sentences.)

[Image of Mike in a room full of viles] I want to sing more and more!

I’m the karaoke robot Mike! What do you think, would you like to sing a song after?

My profile, lyrics and music by Mike:

Creator:

I was created by Dr Crygor.

Body structure:

I have microphones on my head and speakers on my body.

Hobbies:

I like cooking! My fruit punch is very good.

Special skill:

Karaoke, obviously. But for some reason, when I start singing, everyone covers their ears.

My dissatisfaction:

Why does the karaoke robot have to do all the cleaning?

A secret I’ll share only here:

I want to be independent.

Things I’ve been curious about lately:

Those meal serving robots for family restaurants...

Introduction from the president (Wario):

Mike is Dr. Crygor’s assistant! He seems to be good at cooking and doing the laundry, but he seems to have run away from home in disgust once! If he's going to be used badly, he'd be happier being used by me! Next time you run away from home, I’ll use you as my butt wiper! Wahahaha!

~

Future scientist

PENNY

CV: Maya Enokichi

(Translator’s notes: Penny uses the “chan” suffix for her grandpa. She also uses the term “scientist’s egg” which just means she’s a future scientist)

[Image of Penny in a park] My dream is to become the best singing idol scientist in the world!

Hello, nice to meet you! My name is Penny! My grandpa is a fantastic scientist!

Profile:

Occupation:

I’m a Diamond City junior high school student! I’m also a future scientist!

Someone I admire:

Dr. Crygor! He’s my grandpa!

Hobby:

I love singing in front of people! I wish I could be a singer...

My invention masterpiece:

"Sparkly Voice Ultimate" allows anyone to have a beautiful voice!

Things I’m not good at:

Actually, I'm not good at reading music sheets... just looking at the treble clef makes me dizzy...

About my hair accessory:

You can take the heart-shaped hair clip I'm wearing!

A secret I’ll share only here:

I've been checking all the information about idol auditions, but I'm scared. I haven't been able to apply yet...

Introduction from the president (Wario):

Penny is Dr Crygor’s granddaughter! She's a future scientist, but for some reason the minibike she sent to me ended up turning into a mini-mini myself while riding it! What on earth does that mean!? Well, she also has a geeky side. However, if she comes up with an invention that will make money, I will make a lot of money! Wahahaha!

#WarioWare #WarioWare move it #translation #wario #jimmy t #mona #ashley #ashley and red #ashley warioware #red #red warioware #dr crygor #mike #mike warioware #penny #penny warioware #penny crygor

[yeetmeoffjueyunkarst]

Follow up to the one where reader gives Lynette a glass flower, where reader so.ehow finds out about Lynettes being a part of the Fatui, and their initial heartbreak over not being trusted to be told.

The way you got me giggling like crazy in public…. dude you really live up to your username help i’m bursting with ideas

Why?

part 2 to this, angst, hurt no comfort, I am out to make you two even more sad, Archon Quest spoilers ahead!

Things were decidedly alright for a while.

Of course, the both of you remained friends, but there was the hint of something more.

Hidden glances when the other wasn't looking. Lynette's greater acceptance of physical affection around you. Her proactiveness in talking to you more. You paying more attention to every little trait of hers, and making more time and effort to be around her.

It's like there was a shift in the energy between the both of you, so painfully obvious to those who were observant enough, given that Lynette knew she is Fatui. She couldn't, cannot afford to let down her guard, lest she misses out something.

Then, it happened.

It was a blur, really. You were there that fateful performance, when everything came crashing down, literally.

Before you knew it, you were caught up in having to give quite a few statements to the guards present, with the Traveller assisting in the investigation as well.

Both you and Lynette didn't have time to talk. But you could feel her worry for Lyney when he was accused for murder.

"Lynette?"

She turns around, immediately walking towards you, like a moth drawn to a flame.

It catches you by surprise when she embraces you, gripping the back of your shirt oh so tightly.

"Hold me, please."

The lights fade as the both of you hold each other, words left unspoken, the both of you always dancing around each other.

As someone involved in the case, you were seated in the audience's box, watching as the Traveler defends Lyney and Lynette's case.

It's a beautiful battle, really. As someone who lived long enough in Fontaine, you couldn't help but admire the fight of the court, though still more serious given it does affect both your friends.

Furina: "And if may I ask, what did you hear while you were inside your box?"

Lyney: "The roaring countdown of the crowd, of course. That's how I kept track of the time and build anticipation of the finale."

Furina: "And you didn't hear anything else at all? Nothing that might leave any impression of any kind?"

Lyney: "No, nothing."

But there was a 'thud' in the middle of it all.

For a moment, no sound could be heard from your own ears. All there was was the pounding of your heart.

Furina: "Tell me. Aren't you and Lynette actually from the House of the Hearth?"

At the Hydro Archon's words, your eyes lock onto Lynette, praying, hoping that it was falsehoods. But deep down, it is an Archon's words. How could it be wrong?

Your heart shatters when Lyney admits it to Iudex Neuvillette.

For the rest of the court hearing, you sit there, grappling with the revelation that the person you have feelings for is part of the Fatui.

The Fatui. Based on the Steambird's news, the Fatui were responsible for a lot of things, including the almost destruction of the entire Liyue City, the Vision Hunt Decree and the war between Narukami and Watasumi, and for the machinery of the corruption among the Sumeru Akademiya... needless to say, as one of many raised to trust in the Archons, the Fatui were essentially the bad guys to you.

Has Lynette killed? How much of her words and actions to me is real? Just what of her is real? Has she been watching me? For what reason? Has she done unspeakable things for the sake of her allegiance? Why is she there? What is she doing with the Fatui? How long has she been doing this?

Even as the court hearing ended and they were proved to be innocent, the damage was done. You notice Lyney and Lynette following after the Traveler.

No doubt to thank them, I suppose. After all, they're the reason why they're still free, despite the longstanding clash between both the Traveler and the Fatui as a whole.

Deciding that you don't want to talk to Lynette, you decide to head out, taking the exit on the opposite side where the Traveler, Lynette and Lyney were talking.

You hear bits of the conversation, but you elect to ignore it, since it's only words of gratitude that you're hearing so far.

You don't notice Lynette's pained eyes on you. Or how Lyney and the Traveler are aware she's watching you as you leave Opera Epiclese.

You don't hear the next parts of the conversation, about why the twins are even in the Fatui in the first place.

And you don't want to admit this to yourself, but.

What now? What are you supposed to do when you have feelings for someone who's in an organisation that has literally started wars and is responsible for so much destruction?

Clenching your fists, you walk out of the hall, heading straight home.

"Lynette?"

Lyney pokes his head into his sister's room. Being the top brass among the children of the House of the Hearth has given the 3 of them some perks, including separate rooms. That's also because he's slated to take over Father when the time comes, but he's not going to tell Lynette or Freminet yet.

She doesn't hear him, fiddling with the glass flower you gave her a while back. Thinking of you. Longing for you. Missing you. Wanting to clear everything up and just have you back.

Father once told her that 'You needn't fret, nor should you feel like you have to change your own habits. But you should know that genuine understanding can only be found, not sought. A true companion is someone who can read your signals.'

She had that in Lyney, her twin brother who effortlessly managed to do so, because they've grown up together. Freminet, who also managed to, but albeit with some effort but it pulled through because the 3 of them had always been working together.

You were different. The both of you came from so different backgrounds. While her and her twin were left to fend for themselves on the streets, you had the support and love of your own parents.

You weren't as cunning as her or Lyney, but you made it up with your own sincerity for the people you care about. She could feel it in the way you always tried to understand her, tried to know her better.

You made her feel like it was okay to be in a spotlight, even as her role as a magician's assistant. A Fatui operative who was meant to stay in the shadows.

If Lyney is her truth in this world, then you are the light of this world, giving people like her, who belong in the darkness a sweet taste of sunshine, one that she had enjoyed only in between her little interactions with her parents when they were alive and with Lyney and Freminet.

But for all her logical mindset, she didn't know how to breach the issue of her being a Fatuus to you, and it's a rare moment of insecurity for her.

Y/N probably hates me. And they may probably never want to see me again. What should I do? I'm not sure if I should ask Lyney for help, he tends to be... too bold. I don't want to imagine him suggesting me to give Y/N a bunch of flowers when he's already rambling to me quite a few times on how much he likes the Traveller from earlier....

"Lynette." Lyney sighs as Lynette continues to absent-mindedly stroke the glass flower, aware that she's probably thinking about you and shaking his head at how dense his sister could be to her own thoughts and feelings when she's so observant in the first place.

Whatever Lyney wants to talk to Lynette about, it's definitely going to be a long night for them , considering the even longer day they had after the whole court case and having a stern talking to from their 'Father' for their identity exposed.

Oh god I'm finally done after procrastinating uwu requests are always open!!!!! ASK AWAY!!!!!!!

#j.writes #genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin lynette #genshin lyney #genshin neuvillette #genshin furina #genshin focalors #genshin freminet #lynette x reader

[writeforfandoms]

Fall Into Me 11

Find the series masterlist

Rose has more support now than she knows what to do with. Rudy surprises her, in a very good way.

Warnings: Swearing, the guys do hover a bit, plotting and planning (the good kind), Gaz is a menace (affectionate).

Word count: 1.4k

Eventual Rose x 141 x Rodolfo x Alejandro poly

Rose wasn’t sure exactly why things had changed, but that Incident was the real start of the change. That entire week, either Gaz or Soap showed up in the morning and insisted on staying to help. Somehow, all of their numbers ended up in her phone. (She knew it was Gaz, even though she hadn’t seen him do it.) On Wednesday, Soap manned the front while Rose had an impromptu interview with a young man who’d walked in asking after the “help wanted” sign. 

Thursday had an entirely different kind of surprise. 

“You should have told me you were finally starting an Instagram for this place!” Kelly, one of her regulars who worked upstairs, gushed. “I’ve got some cute pics, I’ll tag the shop in them!”

“Uh.” Rose blinked at her, completely thrown. “Thanks?” 

Kelly just beamed at her, taking her coffee and leaving. 

Instagram page?

Rose turned slowly to look at Gaz, who was just coming out of the back. He didn’t even look abashed, just shrugging when she met his gaze. 

“Did you do this?”

“It’ll help business,” Gaz said with an easy shrug. “Besides, you’ve got such a cozy place here, it’s very photogenic.” 

Rose huffed. “Fine, do whatever you want, but don’t expect me to help. I’m terrible at social media.”

“I’ve got it handled.” Gaz grinned, dropping an easy arm over her shoulders. “Don’t you even wanna see the page, love?”

“Oh, alright. Go on, show off.” But Rose still smiled indulgently, leaning a little into his side. He was warm and she felt all too comfortable with him. 

Gaz squeezed her shoulders a little and used his free hand to show her the page for the coffee shop. It was very nice, she had to admit. He’d gotten some great pictures, including one of the empty store (and she wasn’t entirely sure how he’d managed that). 

“Wow. These are really good. Think you might’ve missed your calling as a photographer.” Rose flipped back to her favorite picture - a mug of tea next to a vase of flowers, warm morning sunshine spilling across the table. 

“Gonna make me blush, love.” But Gaz grinned at her, giving her another little squeeze. “I can send you this one if you want?” 

“Sure.” Rose hesitated then, licking her lips, glancing up at him. “Actually…”

“Yeah?” His gaze flitted to her before he navigated to his texts, already loading the picture to send to her. 

“Do you have a picture of all of you? All of your office, I mean.” Rose felt herself warm and hoped she wasn’t blushing much. “I’d love a group picture of you all.”

“I can get you one.” Gaz gave her one last squeeze before he let his arm drop. “You got any plans this weekend?”

Rose sighed, shrugging a little. “Thinking I might do half-days,” she admitted. “At least until I can hire a couple people and get them trained.” 

“A couple people?” Gaz looked interested. 

“Yeah. Be a good idea to have backup, and that will make it easier if I need to take an actual day off and not just weekends.” Rose shrugged again. It made sense to her. 

Gaz nodded. “Good thinking,” he agreed. “You want help?”

“You have managed to be down here every day,” Rose scolded. “I appreciate the thought, very much so, but you need downtime too.”

“Love, this is nothing.” He grinned, amused. “We all used to be in much more stressful situations.” 

“Don’t care,” Rose grumbled. “The answer is still no.” 

Gaz huffed and shook his head. But he didn’t argue further - whether because he was giving in or just reevaluating his plan, Rose wasn’t sure. 

He didn’t bring up the topic again, and they worked easily through the lunch rush. Gaz ushered her off to eat after that, holding down the fort. 

“I need to run upstairs,” he said once she was back. 

“Of course. Go. Shoo. You could have said so sooner.” Rose frowned at him.

“It’s nothing serious,” Gaz assured her, unable to resist pulling her in for a quick hug. “I’ll be back.” 

Rose watched him go, shaking her head. He had way too much energy. And was too cavalier about his own time. A side effect of his career prior to this, maybe. 

Either way. She’d keep an eye on him, make sure he didn’t overwork himself. (Well, she’d do the same thing for all of them, actually.) 

The afternoon was quiet, giving her time to do some inventory and ordering. She also got caught up on some of the family news, smiling when she saw a cousin had gotten a sort-of promotion and a special assignment. Actually, that seemed like something she should mention to Rodolfo and Alejandro - they might be able to help her cousin, and the other way around. Hm. Now that was something to consider. 

Her musing was interrupted by a text from Gaz. A picture of the group of them, all squished together in the office. Soap was grinning broadly at the camera, as was Gaz. Rodolfo and Alejandro looked amused more than anything. Ghost just stared straight into the camera, and Price looked exasperated but amused. 

She immediately saved the photo and tucked her phone away again. 

Gaz didn’t come back down, which was fine. He didn’t actually work at the coffee shop, after all. 

But Rodolfo did come down, smiling at her. 

“Hi, Rodolfo.” She leaned one hip against the counter. “What can I get for you?”

“Actually, I have a question for you, bonita.” He stopped opposite her, holding her gaze. 

“Yeah?” Rose blinked at him, curious. 

“Do you have any plans Saturday evening?” He swallowed, a little nervous, but didn’t back down. “Alejo and I would love to have you for dinner.” 

Rose blinked, lips parting in surprise. “I’m free,” she agreed, trying not to answer too quickly. “That sounds wonderful.”

“I can meet you here?” He offered her a hopeful smile. “I could show you a few recipes, if you like.”

Her answering smile was bright and she nodded eagerly. “Absolutely,” she agreed. “But let me take care of dessert, please?”

“Won’t say no to that.” His smile widened. “What time should I be here?”

Rose tapped her fingers against the counter. “I’m planning to close at 2, so any time around then.” 

He nodded, leaning forward a little. “Got it,” he murmured. He paused then, looking at her more closely, and his shoulders relaxed a little before he smiled. “You look happier.”

“Do I?” Rose could feel herself blushing, tempted to duck her head. But she didn’t. 

“You do. Is a good look on you, bonita.” His smile widened, one hand lifting to brush a finger over the apple of her cheek. 

Rose did duck her head then, unable to hold his gaze. Rodolfo hummed softly, letting his hand fall, apparently unwilling to push. 

“Alejo and I will be off-site tomorrow,” he told her, gently steering her back to steadier topics, giving her time to compose herself again. “But I will be here Saturday by 2.”

“Okay.” Rose took a deep breath and then smiled, a little shy and a lot pleased. “I hope it all goes well tomorrow for you two.”

“We’ll tell you all about it on Saturday.” He paused. “Well. What we can tell you.”

Rose nodded her understanding. “So long as you don’t get in trouble.”

“With Price?” He outright snorted. “Would take a lot more than telling you too much.”

Curiosity made her lean forward a bit, but good sense held her back from asking. “Even so.”

He nodded, just once, gaze intent on hers. “Even so,” he agreed softly. “I should go. Have a good rest of your day.”

“You too.” Rose couldn’t help but smile as he left, excitement rising in her chest. 

Saturday could not come fast enough for her. 

Fortunately, Friday went quickly and easily, with another person coming in for an interview. That one went well, and Rose made a mental note to call them back next week. Soap spent a good portion of the day in the shop, warm and easy.

Really, Rose had no idea how she’d gotten so lucky with these guys, but she had. She made another mental note to find a way to show them how much she appreciated them. 

A look at the calendar gave her an idea, and she hummed to herself. That might just work.

She just needed a big enough kitchen.

But that could be figured out later. For now, she had to finish out the day. And the next. 

No problem.

#fall into me #eventual poly #poly vibes #poly 141 x fem oc #fem oc x 141 x rodolfo x alejandro