#the bee pollen thing is just such a little detail

[cutemothman]

The X-Files 6.04 Dreamland I

That is so you. That is so Scully. Well, it's good to know you haven't changed. That's somewhat comforting.

#txf #txfedit #the x files #x files #the x-files #gifset #dreamland 1 #6.04 #fox mulder #dana scully #i love this scene so so much #the bee pollen thing is just such a little detail #but it shows so much #they're best friends <3 #chrissy.txf #chrissy.gif

[nastyavolk-cp]

Little Owl - Yandere Platonic Athena x “Reader” (Part 1/3)

Second part of the story here

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[  January 7th, 2023 ]

Athena is not a goddess who would be easily captivated by a mortal, after all she is a goddess hundreds of years old, she has accompanied humanity since the beginning of Western civilization, she has witnessed absolutely everything that humanity has experienced since her birth. 

Of course, there were mortals she was already impressed with, even though she herself doesn't admit it, but she never interacted with them, it was just from a distance and with no contact. 

But one day, while Athena was in the city that bears her name, she was in one of the squares just watching the humans doing everything that would be usual in their routines. People playing with their dogs, mothers walking their babies in strollers, children running around, etc. 

However, suddenly, Athena hears a voice in which she had not recognized, asking if she could sit next to him. When looking in the direction of the voice, the goddess of wisdom was facing a teenager who appeared to be around fifteen years old, had tanned skin, dark brown hair tied in a simple ponytail, brown eyes the same color as her hair and the girl wore a dark purple sweatshirt that was too big for her size. 

Athena slowly nodded, so the girl offered her a grateful smile and settled into the seat next to the goddess. Athena was deeply bothered, because mortals normally did not have the ability to see supernatural entities, she came to research a lot about those humans who have the "mediumship" to see things that went beyond the physical plane. However, it was very rare for an ordinary mortal to be able to see a god and this girl in which Athena was 100% absolutely sure that she is just a normal human, saw her and interacted with her. 

This is news as Athena never met mortals like that many, many centuries ago. The girl took a brown hardcover book with a shiny gold lettering from her backpack and Athena immediately identified the book as the Iliad. 

“Do you like Greek mythology?” Athena asked the girl. Like it or not, Athena was facing a rarity. For as soon as humans stopped believing in the gods, they lost the ability to see them, so especially in the present day it's not something a goddess can easily ignore. 

The girl immediately looked at the goddess and nodded, then she completed in words: "My mother always told me these stories since I was little." 

The goddess nodded in understanding, for some reason something about the mortal girl, aside from the fact that she was literally talking to a goddess without knowing she was one, that drew Athena to her. As if the mortal had a strange magnetic field around her that drew the goddess to her, like pollen that attracts the bee.

“I don't see many people your age as interested in antiquity as you are.” Athena answers her and the girl faces Athena with a deep look in which she shows a certain interest in her words.

“Yes, actually, people my age would rather read Greek mythology comics than read the books that talk about it. I think very long texts make them bored, but this is the 6th time I'm reading this book and every time I read it I notice details that I never noticed or paid attention to before.” The girl began to explain and it was Athena's turn to pay close attention to what the girl was saying and to show interest in her words. 

“I don't think that Greek mythology is simple to explain, because there are many subjects involved, such as religion, culture, anthropology, historical facts, etc. I don't think comics convey that complexity even though I've read a lot of them and few have really caught my attention because they highlight interesting things.” The girl carefully explained to Athena and the goddess reflected for a few seconds, processing everything she had heard from the teenager. 

“Interesting point of view.” The goddess of wisdom answered her, as much as she is very proud and arrogant Athena could not deny that she had become interested in a mortal who does not have 1% of all the wisdom she has but who still had dominance and knowledge about what she spoke. And being a very young girl also contributed to Athena becoming more and more impressed with what she had heard. 

"Thanks." The girl answered her with a grateful smile, but before she could return to her reading, Athena asked her one last question. 

"What is your name?" For the goddess it was silly to ask the name of a mortal because they would all live and die, so there was no point in creating bonds with someone who would not live long, even if that mortal was able to see her. However, with this girl, Athena couldn't fight the urge to walk away as if nothing had happened. No, something inside the goddess screamed for her to know the teenager's name. 

“Alexandra, but my friends would call me Alexia if I had any friends.” Alexandra answers her in a neutral and calm tone, apparently not minding the addition of information. The goddess gets up from the bench and extends her hand to the girl. 

“It was a pleasure talking to you for a while, Alexia.” Athena said as the two waved their hands. As soon as they let go, the goddess decides to go on her way, but not before saying that she wished a good day and a good reading for Alexia, who just looked at the situation with a small smile and went back to reading her book. 

- x x x -

Athena arrives on Olympus and is faced with a familiar scenario, her uncle Poseidon arguing with Zeus, both were discussing something in which Athena did not give the slightest importance, after all these two fight for anything. 

As she started to walk to her chambers, the goddess of wisdom kept thinking about the meeting she had with the girl earlier. This left her distracted for a few minutes until she heard Zeus calling her with his impatient powerful tone. 

“Athena, my daughter, what is wrong with you?” The God of Gods questioned her with a stern look, Poseidon on the other hand had an arrogant smile. 

“If you ask me, I bet she must have lost her mind about something.” The God of the Seas replied arrogantly, leaving Athena slightly irritated, that man is not able to say something without provoking her, is he?

“Or even—” Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, chimed in and giggled a bit before continuing, “—she might have found her true love!” 

“You should care about more important matters than my nonexistent love life, Aphrodite.” Athena replied in a harsh tone to the Goddess of Love who pouted and whimpered. 

“Then why were you so scattered?” Zeus questioned her and all the gods that were around abandoned what they were doing to pay attention to the conversation.

Really, for Athena to be so scattered is because of something that had happened to leave her in that state and normally it wasn't a good thing. 

“I came across something curious just now.” Athena justified, drawing everyone's attention to her. “This morning in Athens I met a girl who was able to see me.”

That was enough to make the gods puzzled, it had been a long time since there were any more mortals who could see and interact with the gods. Even if they still existed, humanity no longer believed in their existence and most had emigrated to other religions or were no longer religious. 

“And what happened afterwards?” Zeus asked interested, by his look everyone had already realized that he had no good intentions so Hera faced him with a frightening look that immediately left the King of Olympus scared enough not to go far in these thoughts. 

“We only spoke briefly, she said she was interested in us but she must not know we really exist. And she just introduced herself as Alexandra.” Athena answered and everyone immediately became interested in this case, even Poseidon. 

“It's not every day we meet a mortal like that. That must mean something.” Zeus reflected and then in his blue eyes he showed determination for what he would say next. “Athena and Hermes, I have a mission for you both. I want you to find out everything about this mortal, family, life history, anything you find out will be helpful. Don't let me down.” 

“Of course, Father!” Hermes said confidently and excitedly, while Athena just nodded, accepting the mission her father had assigned her. 

Then Athena and Hermes return to Athens in the same park where the goddess had met Alexia. The girl was no longer there, but that wasn't a problem for Hermes, as he could find her within a few minutes. 

It didn't take long for them to spot her, she wasn't too far from the park, in fact she was coming out of a bookshop with some bags in her hands. Athena had immediately recognized her, because at that time she was wearing the same dark purple sweatshirt, a white shirt with black stripes, jeans with holes in the knees and a white all star that reached the ankle. 

Discreetly, Hermes and Athena followed the girl during the entire 20-minute journey and stopped in front of a 3-story residential building with a slightly old paint job. Now they knew where she lived and it wouldn't be difficult to find her apartment.

- x x x -

Alexia opens the door to her apartment and goes inside, takes off her shoes and places them beside the entrance. From there she was greeted by the smell of food, and her mother started to prepare lunch. 

“Sandra, is that you?” Her mother asks from the kitchen, Alexia answers yes and then goes towards the kitchen to see her mother washing the vegetables in the sink. Alexia gives her mom a tight hug and asks simple questions like “how are you?” and then what would be for lunch. 

After talking a little more, Alexia leaves the kitchen and goes straight to her bedroom. Upon opening the door, Alexia clumsily throws her bag of books on the bed and places her backpack next to the wardrobe. Then the teenager starts unpacking the books from inside the bag, among them was the first volume of Percy Jackson's book. 

At first, Alexia didn't have the slightest desire to read the book, or much less had the interest in reading it, but her followers who followed her blog on Tumblr had recommended that she read it, so she decided to give it a chance and bought just the first book, which was the Lightning Thief. So she was going to take advantage of the winter break to read that book before school started. 

So Alexia starts organizing her books on the shelf next to the bed and then lies down on the mattress with Percy Jackson's book in her hands. She couldn't deny that the cover was pretty and that the title caught a lot of attention.

The teenager takes a deep breath and opens the first few pages, she reads the author's thank you notes and as soon as she turns to the introduction page she begins to read carefully. 

While she was reading, Alexia heard something tapping on her bedroom window. She immediately stopped her reading and stood there waiting for the noise to happen again. As soon as she heard the same noise as before, she got up from the bed and went towards the window to investigate. 

To her surprise, she is startled to see a small owl at her window. Alexia found it interesting because she rarely saw owls like these where she lived. 

The teen then quickly took her cell phone out of her pocket and opened the photo app to take a photo of the owlet. As soon as she took it off, the owl immediately flew away, leaving Alexia a little sad, but at least grateful that she had taken a picture of the bird.

Next to the window was Alexia's desk where her computer was, but the teenager was determined to read the book to as many pages as she could, she didn't want anything else to distract her. Unless of course, lunch and dinner. 

As soon as she pulled herself away from the temptation to check out her blog on her computer, Alexia lay back on the bed again and went back to her reading. It was like this for almost 20 minutes, with her on the 35th page when suddenly she felt her eyes slowly close, which was very strange since she wasn't very sleepy. After all, she was taking advantage of her winter break to have a healthier sleep routine. 

But as much as she struggled not to give in to the inexplicable sleep, the girl yawned and with no energy left to fight, she fell asleep with the book lying on her chest. 

- x x x -

Upon opening her eyes, Alexia seemed to be in a place that was not at all familiar, but that the structure of the place was recognizable to her. She was in the middle of a Greek antiquity temple, she saw several columns of Doric style and in front of her she saw a marble throne which she had never seen in her life. 

Alexia slowly stands up on the cold marble floor, looking at the floor she notices that she was wearing a pure white peplos like ivory and on her shoulders in which she was holding the peplos to her body there were what looked like two coins, one in each shoulder, made of gold that reminded her of an ancient Greek drachma and on it was an engraving of an owl with huge eyes. 

“Alexandra.” A female voice echoed around the temple, making the girl look around to try to find the owner of the voice but she couldn't find anyone there, just her alone.

“Who calls me?” The teenager asks, still turning her body to find someone there who had spoken to her seconds ago. 

“Do not fear, Alexandra. Your time will still come." The voice answered her but still there was no one. Alexia then decides to walk around the temple in search of the person, even looking behind the cold columns, but without finding a single soul. Alexia then decided to face it the landscape outside, the temple apparently was on top of a cliff and underneath it it was possible to hear and see, under the light of the full moon and the sky full of bright constellations, the sounds of the sea waves crashing against the rocks and the wind from the breeze lightly hit the girl, making her long dark brown hair loose and sway over her back.

The teenager waited a little longer to see if she would hear that mysterious voice but at the same time, for some reason, brought an unusual comfort to her. Then suddenly, something caught her eye.

In the throne where before was empty, now there was a small owl, the same one where Alexia saw from her window a few moments earlier. The girl, as if hypnotized by that owl, began to slowly walk towards the throne. On the journey, which seemed like it took hours, she finally got closer and for some reason her vision was starting to get more and more blurry and cloudy.

But the strangest thing was that on the throne which she was slowly approaching, she saw what appeared to be an undefined female silhouette, as if it were a figure. Suddenly voices began to echo inside her already fragile and shaken mind, the voices screamed her name until suddenly Alexia felt a hand touch her shoulder from behind and called her name firmly. 

- x x x -

“Alexandra, wake up already.” Her mother called to her in a stiff, impatient tone, calling out to her sleeping daughter one last time. Until Alexia actually opened her eyes and stared at her mother with a confused and lost look. "This is the 5th time I've called you girl, is this time to be asleep?" Her mother scolds her and the girl rubs her eyes to wake up for good. 

"Lunch is ready?" The girl asks and the mother nods yes. Alexia then gets up, leaves the book on the bed and follows her mother to the dining table where on the table there was a large bowl with salad, a tray with 4 roasted and stuffed eggplants and there was also a bottle of juice of natural grape. And of course there were the plates, cutlery and glasses. 

The two women sat on the chairs and began to put the food on their plates, after wishing each other a good appetite, they began to taste the delicious food that the older woman had prepared. 

"Did I sleep too much?" Alexia asked her mother, the woman stared at her for a few seconds and nodded as she chewed on the stuffed eggplant. 

“I saw you had a new book, 'Percy Jackson', right?” The mother asks her daughter, totally mispronouncing the name of the book. Alexia gives a slight smile and answers.

"It's Percy Jackson." Alexia corrects her, pronouncing the name of the book's protagonist with the American English accent. Ekaterini, her mother, rolls her eyes a little but the two start to laugh with the older woman nearly choking. 

“Never heard of.” Ekaterini says, before putting another piece of eggplant in her mouth. Then she asks, “What is it about?”

“It's about a preteen boy who discovers he's a Greek demigod and is sent on a quest to retrieve the Master Bolt from Zeus.” Alexia summarizes in a simple way about the plot of the book. 

“Is he the son of Zeus?” The woman asks, but Alexia just shrugs. 

"I haven't gotten to that part of the book yet, he doesn't look like much, but I wouldn't be surprised if he turns out to be." Alexia justifies it and Ekaterini agrees. In almost a good part of the myths and stories they heard, most of the demigods were sons of Zeus and had their lives ruined by his vengeful wife, Hera. 

Alexia suddenly noticed that her mother was acting a little out of character, her face indicated that something was bothering her and because the two were quite close to each other, Alexia became worried and immediately put her food down, then she put her own hand over her mother's. 

“Mom, did something happen? Why are you so upset?” At that question, Alexia noticed how her mother's brown eyes stared at her in surprise followed by sadness and discomfort. 

“Sandra.” Her mother also abandoned her food and got up from her chair, the two women then went to the sofa and sat next to each other. Ekaterini was holding her daughter's hand and Alexia felt how the other woman trembled slightly, it was the answer to her anxiety which left Alexia more and more worried about what it was. 

“I have something very important to talk about.” 

- x x x -

After almost an hour of conversation, after finishing eating what was left on the table and helping her mother wash the dishes, Alexia returned to her room with a slightly melancholy expression. 

The teenager lay down on the bed and was reflecting on the conversation she had just had with her mother. Her father, Darius, had been in Romania, his home country, for a few weeks, as his mother, who is Alexia's grandmother as a result, was emotionally very fragile after her husband's death. Darius's two other siblings, Uncle Ivan and Aunt Amalia, lived in Bucharest while his grandmother lived in the city of Cluj-Napoca, located in the northwestern part of Transylvania. 

As his older siblings were unable to visit their mother often, due to the long distance, working a lot and having children to look after, Darius decided to stay with his mother, Bianca, to help the poor 64-year-old woman go through her grieving process. And because he was unemployed, he got a great job opportunity in the city and called his wife to consult her.

However, if he accepted the job proposal, he would have to live there permanently and he didn't want to be without his wife and daughter, so Alexia's parents had to make this difficult decision. Ultimately, with the long conversation the two had had last night, Darius had decided to take the job and Ekaterini and Alexia were going to move to Romania. 

The fact of going to Romania was not a bad thing, after all, Alexia loved it there, she had good memories, of the farm that her grandmother used to have with Alexia's grandfather, of her cousins ​​​​where they used to play and of the holidays that everyone spent together at her grandparents’ house. 

But while moving to Romania wasn't a big hassle, Alexia still loved Greece very much and she would miss the moments she spent together with her parents, hearing about legends of mystical beings, visiting the abundant islands and historical monuments rich in fantastic stories. It would be very sad for the teenager to simply leave the country she had grown up in all these years. 

Alexia didn't feel like reading the book anymore at that point, it lay untouched on the bed as she got up and went towards her desk, then she turned on her computer and instantly she went to check her blog on Tumblr as soon as it completely turned on.

She checks the notifications of the blog, which is mostly focused on Greek mythology, with Alexia writing her own headcanons about the gods, facts about the myths, even reblog stuff from some games that had this theme and also spoke a little about her opinion. 

While she was busy reading the various messages she received in her mailbox, she barely knew about the little owl that was now watching her and was listening to the conversation between her and Ekaterini. Now, satisfied with everything she heard, she flew to where her owner was, near Mount Olympus after having left the owl as a spy. 

- x x x -

“And then, Athena? Zeus asked impatiently sitting on his throne. “What did your owl discover?” 

“Her name is Alexandra Lykaios Romanescu, her birthday is February 1st, daughter of Darius and Ekaterini Romanescu, a Romanian and a Greek respectively. Her family is preparing for them to move to Romania, where her father is currently." 

"Romania? We can't let that happen. Can't we just take her?" Poseidon is disgusted, but is soon interrupted by Athena.

"It's not like the old days, the family will notice the disappearance and it would be a headache to kidnap her and put up with her crying and begging to leave. Besides, it's not like that we are stuck in the Mediterranean, we can go anywhere anytime at the snap of a finger. We still have plenty of time to get to know her better. No, I already have a plan in mind.” 

With that being said, all the gods present show interest, Athena is not a goddess that her plans usually fail in. She will not let this mortal escape the eyes of Olympus. And when the time comes, Athena will convince the girl to live as a goddess in the huge palace that is Mount Olympus along with the other gods.

In addition, for a strange reason, Athena felt an unusual connection with the girl, it was something that, oddly enough, she could not explain well. But that doesn't matter, with her goal set, she'll put Alexia in the hands of the gods and never leave her field of vision 

This will be exciting. 

#yandere athena #little owl au #alexandra lykaios romanescu #alexia romanescu/female reader #yandere greek gods #yandere greek mythology #Athena Route

[teawinx]

One of the things i really like about your reboot is how you want to focus more on the relationship between tge kwamis and their holders. Cannon kinda limits itself (ecept for plagg and tikki) with the whole temporary heroes stick. I'm especially excited to see how your alya interacts with trixx!

So my question of the day is:

How would you describe the dynamic between each holder and their kwamis? (you don't need to go into detail for each of your characters. I know that that would be a lpt of work)

However there is another thing I want to ask if I may...

So my BONUS question of the day is:

What is the relationship like between Marinette and Mullo (an tikki!)? Does Marinette interact differently with Mullo compared to Tikki? Do the kwamis get jealous of each other? Feel free to drop as much tea about them as you want to!

Yeah the kwamis could be the perfect way to delve into different aspects of each character. There are a loooot of various kwami human relationships, since the kwamis were all found and being used by various people. We'd be here all day, so I'll keep it to the main ones, okay? This is gonna be a long one!

Alya and her kwami seem to be very similar at first glance, with Trixx being 100% in on Alya's various schemes. But Trixx quickly realizes that Alya doesn't have any sense of self preservation when it comes to investigating and becomes the unwilling voice of reason. They are able to help Alya think things through more critically. Since Trixx very recently had a previous owner, their relationship with Alya starts out a bit rocky. Both Trixx and Alya have major trust issues, so sort through that together. Waizz is exactly who Nino needed at this point in his life. It's nice having someone who's very relaxed and willingly to lend an ear when he's feeling anxious or stressed. And Waizz sees Nino for who he is. People think Nino is some slacker with no real direction, but Waizz recognizes Nino as a fiercely loyal and loving friend. And Waizz just wants Nino to see that too, damn-it!

Chloe doesn't get to spend a lot of time with her kwami (at least as her holder) but the bond they share is close. Pollen, despite seemingly sweet and reserved, isn't afraid to speak her mind and tell Chloe when her behaviour is off (to mixed results). Chloe respects powerful women and Pollen is absolutely a powerful woman in her eyes. Pollen is very supportive of Chloe and her sports-star career but can clearly see the self-inflicted emotional and physical stress isn't good for her. Once she becomes Zoe's Kwami, the two are able to help Chloe choose to do what she actually wants to do, no what she's expected to do. Pollen and Zoe are very goofy together, with Zoe's immaturity rubbing off on her kwami a little too much. Which is when Chloe needs to bring them back down and to be serious. Bee girl trio rights.

Something that's gonna be very different is that the kwamis aren't a hivemind anymore. One by one Marinette collects them, rescuing some, recruiting others etc. But the kwamis will have spent around 100 years apart, so their perception of each other will have changed. Tikki and Plagg were the only ones really ever being used before, so they do have a sense of inflated self-importance, especially Tikki. And before the others would just follow her lead, but now that they've experienced more of life, they don't listen to her anymore. They've become independent. And Mullo is the wooooorst XD She loves Marinette and loves getting under Tikki's skin about it. The whole thing is to humble Tikki.

Tikki expects the very best from Marinette at all times, putting a lot of pressure on her holder. She can't take a step forward without Tikki breathing down her neck. The other kwami don't like it and take Marinette's defence, trying to convince Tikki to just let her live a little. Marinette also treats all the kwamis really well, making them a big dollhouse to live in with their own bedrooms, just somewhere nice to sleep instead of their boxes. And a private pool, obviously. Nice girl, we stan.

Marinette won't admit it, but she definitely feels more comfortable with Mullo than Tikki. She loves Tikki dearly, but she can be a lot sometimes. Mullo, by stark contrast, is very chill and she can be relaxed and messy and not perfect around her. Buuut Mullo isn't very good at giving good advice (she's really good at BAD advice though), she's quite immature and doesn't take things seriously.

Bit rambly and unfocused, but I hope this was interesting!

(I didn't include the relationships between my three ocs and their kwamis. I understand that OCs aren't really what people are here for, so I skipped them)

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug reboot #miraculous ladybug rewrite

[tiaamorosa]

Sunset Died - VJ / ???

Wonders

After VJ had finished talking to Morgana, he set off to hunt. By now he knew a few regions where there were a few deers. The sun was setting and his eyes had to be extra vigilant now.

And even the last rays of sun touching the horizon in the distance still make the autumn trees glow. Soon you might not be able to see your own hand in front of your eyes due to the darkness. But VJ didn't just want to go in search of a wild animal, he had recently found an old tree trunk with a bees' nest. And in the evening, the little insects are known to be calmer and less aggressive.

VJ is used to walking a lot, so he doesn't mind walking long distances. And his eyes work surprisingly well. A little further up a hill, there was a small, young stag that was about to eat some dry roots. VJ positioned himself so that the wind would not carry his scent to the animal and kept perfectly still. "Now it's your turn... Sorry".

He didn't hesitate for long, by now he had such a steady hand that he rarely missed his target. There were no distractions, so the shot was so precise that the animal fell down the slope after the hit. The little buck tried to get up, but the shot went straight through its neck. "Yes, oh boy! OK, I'll come and get you later, I just want to check on the bees".

The old tree trunk that housed a large bees' nest was far out, almost on the outskirts of the city. But people like to go that far to get something sweet. But to his regret, there was no honey to be had. Perhaps someone else had already helped themselves to it. But the bees like it when you leave them something, a bit of pollen… But then he suddenly heard a noise…

It rustled in the bushes, so VJ assumed that it was an animal. So he reached for his bow again and nocked the arrow. He drew the bow to shoot... "What the..."/ "for heaven's sake, please don't shoot!...". It clearly wasn't an animal, animals can't talk, usually... "Unbelievable, did you really want to shoot at us, VJ?"

VJ was completely surprised. He knew the people standing in front of him, at least he recognized some of them… "You can put that fucking thing down now, boy…" Of course VJ lowered his bow again. "Sorry, I just thought there was a bear or a fox…". The man with the hat was a little annoyed "very funny, there's no bears out here, boy"/"hey, who are you, Chuck Norris without muscles?"/"tz, if I didn't have a cracked rib, I'd laugh!"

The blonde woman being carried spoke in a trembling voice. "Is… Is that VJ?"/ "Yes, sweetie… He's standing in front of us with a bow and arrow"/ "Uh, VJ, can you… Take us home"/ "Blair?…"/ "I'm so tired…"/ "Are those chickens?". Again, the man with hat spoke in a strong voice. "She asked you a question"/ "um, sorry… Yes, of course, follow me, maybe to the hospital first?"/ "Yes, a good idea…", the other blonde woman answered…

The annoyed excited man's voice became calmer again. "It won't be long now, darling… then we'll be home again… Or what's left of it…"/ "Can you still carry me, Cy? You're in pain…"/ "I said I'd carry you until I can't anymore…". Blair cuddled her head against his chest, "hnhn, Chuck Norris, see, I told you so…".

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

End of this Part

Note: Staging this group picture was very fiddly, and I had to restart the game in between because I really wanted to have this awesome backpack in the game. It's from @aroundthesims , thanks for this great detail^^

@greenplumbboblover 😊

#sims3 #simsstories #sims3 story #sunset died #post apocalyptic #vj alvi #agnes crumplebottom #cycl0n3 sw0rd #Would you have recognized him? #blair wainwright #emma hatch

[inmyfxith]

Flowers

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x daughter

Warnings: External POV

A/N: Here is my entry for @deans-ch-ch-cherrypie's Hot Fic Summer Challenge! This is my first time participating in a challenge like this so I hope I'm following the rules! Congrats on the 1.2k followers, you totally deserve them!

Words: 716

If someone had asked Wanda what her best memory was, it would almost certainly involve her children. Which one? It would probably depend on her current mood, but one would likely stand out. Wanda would begin by giving you a quick description of the garden of her home in Westview, New Jersey, if she were willing to talk to you about it. Then she would close her eyes so that she could once again soak up this moment that was so special to her.

The garden was an idyllic, almost dreamlike place. The grass was impeccably green, perfectly trimmed, and dotted here and there with small herbs and other colorful flowers. One afternoon, Wanda found herself comfortably settled on a large red tablecloth with a gingham pattern on which were scattered small bowls and paper plates.

The sun had already reached its zenith for several minutes and its rays warmed the air without making it stifling. No matter what time of year it was, New Jersey’s temperatures were never particularly high, which made walks and other outdoor activities more enjoyable.

In a peaceful moment, Wanda observed Vision playing with their children as a normal family. Billy had raised his voice after his twin brother had used his powers while they were playing tag and, after exchanging a knowing glance with his wife, Vision had suggested that the boys play another game in which the powers could not be misused.

On Wanda’s lap, her little girl was contemplating the world around her as if she was discovering it for the first time. Her wide-open blue eyes marveled at the smallest detail, a butterfly flying in front of her face or the small grains of pollen floating across the garden.

As protection from the sun, her young mother had covered her head with a charming little hat decorated with colorful ladybugs. Her chubby hands moved around her as she reached for things here and there. The buzz of a bee on its way to do its job made her laugh childishly.

Wishing to put some order around her, Wanda delicately installed her baby treasure at her side, on the tablecloth. Not yet able to walk on her own two legs, the little girl was content to use her hands and knees to move around. She was surprisingly quick, so much so that she found herself on the grass with just a shake in just one movement of her mother’s head. Still busy putting away the plates, Wanda did not immediately notice the toddler’s slight escape.

Always safe, after a few meters, the little girl’s attention was drawn to one of the modest tufts of daisies that dotted the garden. Falling back on her bottom padded by the diaper she was wearing, she began to admire her discovery with all possible attention. One of her chubby hands vigorously grabbed a few flowers along with a few blades of grass. Her gesture was so brutal that the bouquet lost all its charm, which did not fail to make the child cry.

Alarmed by the moaning, Wanda had run to reassure her baby and tried to cheer her up. She knelt to take her in her arms before rocking her gently. In the greatest of secrecy, hidden from the eyes of her daughter and the rest of the family, Wanda had used her magic to bring the flowers back to life. The witch then slipped one between her toddler’s tiny fingers, which almost instantly brought a bright smile to her face. Her big blue eyes were riveted on the daisy as if it was the most precious of treasures.

As she returned to the tablecloth, the little girl hung the little flower in her mother’s hair and smiled before she put her head on her shoulder.

This is the best memory Wanda could have for you. Because of her actions, it would be more than logical for you to ask for some kind of evidence of what she said. To do this, the Scarlet witch would take out of her pocket a bracelet adorned with a small glass pearl in which was the previously dried daisy. This jewel had become her most precious possession and she would keep it as such. Woe betides the one who would take it away from her.

#wandavision #wandavision fanfic #wandavision imagine #wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff imagine #vision #scarlet witch #billy and tommy #wanda mcu #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #cherry pie’s hot fic summer

[nepalgram69]

Everything about Fresh Food

Farmers markets are fantastic locations to find options to factory-farmed food, whether that's vegetables and fruits or higher-welfare meat, eggs and milk. Whole lots of little, local ranches offer their items to the public at farmers markets, as well as they generally invite questions about exactly how animals are raised. If you're unsure where to start when chatting to farmers at the marketplace, we're below to aid.

Farmers' markets make it possible for farmers to maintain well over 90 cents of each buck invested by the customer. Food miles describe the range a food product travels from the ranch to your home. The food miles for items you purchase in the supermarket often tend to be practically 30 times more than the food miles for items bought from neighborhood resources.

You might assume that every person marketing at the farmers' market is really a farmer, but you would certainly be incorrect. Home page|Homepage at the market offer all type of items ranging from eggs, meat and also create to handmade crafts and also baked items and whole lots of points in between. In this post, we talk about the several points you can sell effectively at the farmers' market as well as make some profit.

What You'll Learn Today Fruits As well as Veggies Obviously, fresh produce is just one of the top things cost the farmers' market. If you're mosting likely to have a garden and also market the fruit and vegetables, bear in mind that uncommon kinds of fruit and vegetables will market ideal. As an example, it doesn't take anymore time or effort to expand treasure tomatoes in a fascinating variety of shades than to grow ordinary "garden range" tomatoes.

You can market seed startings, seed potatoes as well as home collected seed early in the spring. Offer pretty reduced flowers throughout the springtime in the summertime.

Bee pollen and beeswax are likewise greatly popular. Seasonal Specialties In the winter season, you can sell specialty baked products for the vacations in addition to greenhouse grown produce and/or very early environment-friendlies. This is likewise a good time to market any kind of craft products you might make it home. Individuals like to purchase handcrafted products to offer us holiday presents.

Attractive Display Keep current by sprucing up your screen at the farmers' market to show the period. Modification your designs as well as your set-up at the very least seasonally to keep it fresh as well as interesting. Article images on your social media sites pages and send notices in your e-newsletter whenever you change your products as well as gear up for a new season.

Be Trustworthy Once your consumers are utilized to seeing you in the exact same area at the exact same time on a normal, continuous basis, do not disappoint them. Treat your farmers' market gig as a routine job. Program up promptly; remain for the appointed time and always supply a constant and also trusted collection of items.

Be Respectful Be considerate of the guidelines and also regulations of the marketplace. Prior to you ever before established, make sure you recognize every one of the standards of the farmers' market you're taking care of. Be sure to remain in close adherence. Doing so indicates that you hold the marketplace as well as various other suppliers in appropriate respect.

Unlike some grocery store generate, farmers market produce had not been moved from thousands of miles away. 2. You can acquire right from the source. Farmers are specialists concerning their very own items. When you patronize a farmers market, you obtain details on exactly how your food was grown straight from the source.

3. Farmers markets supply opportunities to try something brand-new and also different. Farmers markets include a huge choice of different varieties of fruit and vegetables that are typically not offered at conventional grocery store stores. 4. You can obtain the kids included. Farmers markets offer wonderful atmospheres for children to find out and explore. The less-structured, outdoor atmospheres of farmers markets use more freedom as well as possibilities for youngsters (and also adults) to ask questions and also attempt something brand-new than do supermarket.

Search For Fresh Florida Products, Recently, there has been a boost in regional community farmers markets because of the popularity of neighborhood, fresh, sustainable and organic foods. The transfer to sustain little ranches and also companies and get in touch with the neighborhood has actually gone to the center of this growth.

#Desert Outlaws

[seokahwrites]

NUISANCE | chapter 2 (or, i hate him so much my heart skipped a beat)

5.6k

back to nuisance masterlist

pairing.

| lawyer! jeon jungkook x lawyer! reader

summary.

| all you wished for was a relaxing two weeks in a big ass boat eating some big ass shrimps, away from the real world. but instead you’re stuck with your arch rival with no means of escape — and goddamit why does the bastard smell so good.

tags.

| 2 BROOKLYN 99 REFERENCES TELL ME IF U CATCH THEM; paragraphs dedicated to jungkooks back muscles; im so sorry like a few parts were really thirsty; but there’s a very sweet paragraph dedicated to jungkook’s smile; reader and jungkook bonding???; jealous reader; smug jungkook; love sounds like hate; a lot of plot convenience if you haven’t noticed

a/n.

| hello everyone! first off THANK U FOR THE MASSIVE SUPPORT ILY. i feel like this could’ve been better but i’m not sure how. but no they’re not moving too fast bc… well 😃😃 also i’m planning on writing more serious pieces after this series even though i’ve barely started :P anyways, i hope u all have an amazing day lots of love

“What kind of neanderthal doesn’t go outside for two days?

Jungkook asks through the open bathroom door as he’s sitting on his couch, your mouth still too foamy and minty to give him a quick-witted answer.

You spit into the sink and glare at him through the mirror, “I was being productive and I cooked horrible food all day,” you splash water on your face and pause at the door frame on your way out, “Unlike some people that spend their hours hunting for their next prey.”

You don’t stick around to watch the way he rolls his eyes, walking over to your bed to grab the orange wrap skirt and white top for today’s outfit. But you couldn’t really put it on since someone was still in the room.

There isn’t an inkling of a thought in Jungkook’s doe eyes, the time it was taking for him to get a hint was more than enough for you to pass your eyes over his black tank top, stinky green shorts and dark sandals. How did he look better than you in a tank top? Fuck him. Wait, no he doesn’t. Still, fuck Jungkook.

Once your eyes are back on him, the fiend has a shit-eating grin on his face as if he’d just caught you red-handed in the middle of a dirty sin — you were just judging him.

You raise your eyebrows in an attempt to maintain your composure, “Well?” And wave the clothes in your hands to help him understand the situation.

No sound comes from the ‘Oh’ of his lips, his small brain finally coming to terms with reality. But just before he heads out the door, “We’re having lunch at the deck,” and he doesn’t wait for an answer, slamming the door behind him.

Who the hell did he think he was?

Now, you didn't have to go along with Jungkook’s plan — hell, it was probably the last thing you wanted. However, does going to the rooftop deck to have a nice lunch and a-little-too-early drinks really sound like a bad idea?

And the answer to that question is what led you to pulling your clothes over your head and reassuring nobody but yourself that, “I’m only going because of the fucking food,” cursing Jungkook here and there too, of course.

Just before heading off, you grab the cruise’s complementary sun hat, a long string of pastel beads for your neck and your favorite pair of sunglasses — not that you were going to use them for more than keeping your hair away from your face anyways.

Breathe in, Y/N.

You’re out the door, “I’m ready.”

Your exposed skin stings as you feel Jungkook’s eyes go from your leg exposed from the slit of your skirt, to your fluttering stomach and slowly — as if he didn’t want to miss a single detail — up, up, up, until his gaze meets yours. And that look is back, the one he’s only ever used whenever he couldn’t hide what he truly felt for you: aversion.

Yet, instead of the slander you were expecting, Jungkook does nothing but shake away whatever was on his mind and lock the door. Beep, And he goes the entire way to the elevator without uttering a single word.

Still, even if the silence was deafening you don't make much of a fuss, only observing Jungkook’s silent figure as he stared ahead and around anywhere he wouldn't have to meet your eyes.

He was a pain in the ass even when he wasn't speaking.

Ding.

You’re the first to exit, part because you were excited to get a breath of fresh ocean air and part because you couldn’t stand whatever the hell was happening in the elevator.

There were half naked people everywhere, kids running around and chasing after each other through the zig zag of chairs and tables. From the wooden floor to the samples of blue and yellow on the umbrellas, cups and slides, the view was the very core of vacation.

Jungkook suddenly stands before your wide eyes and takes you by the wrist, taking the lead as he shoves his way to the stairs that lead to the highly-expected rooftop restaurant, the place safely guarded on the opposite side of all the commotion.

As your sandals flip-flopped against the wooden stairs, you start to see a flood of blue and beige chaise lounges, white coffee tables centered in the space of each one and the alabaster bar surrounded by people in all sorts of summer attire. Maybe Jungkook was onto something.

Speaking of, he grabs your shoulders — ruining the view as always — and pushes you down the first empty couch he finds. “Stay here, I’ll get us some food.”

You don't fight him on it, deciding to just let the sea breeze caress your face, closing your eyes and taking it all in. Things were nice.

That is until you look at the entrance and see Jungkook talking to the same raven-haired girl from yesterday. The sight bothers you and you can’t quite put your finger on as to why, perhaps it was because he could’ve at least had the fucking decency to not hit on people while he was ordering your food. God. Only he could put a stain to an otherwise perfect morning.

And you could’ve looked away, but just as a bee is attracted to pollen or a driver is allured with the sight of a car crash, you simply couldn’t — not that you were attracted or allured to Jungkook in any way, though.

The woman’s cotton cover up flowed with her hand as she playfully hit Jungkook on the arm. You envy her, you’d never touched an implant before. Jungkook crosses his arms at this movement, probably thinking his biceps were going to pop out even more. Your body threatens to convulse in second hand embarrassment.

But the lovebirds are interrupted when the cashier calls out for Jungkook, his order ready and trayed up. You look away and could only hope it was just in time for none of them to notice that you were ogling, but Jungkook’s mystery girl catches your stare and her angelic smile dissipates in front of your eyes. Chills, literal chills.

You feign surprise when Jungkook sits beside you, placing the tray of colorful drinks and drool-worthy pasta on the table with a clang.

“I hope the mimosas are a good enough treat for your highness,” he bows his head.

You can’t repress your squeal nor your smile as the glass meets your lips and you have a real summer drink for the first time in forever, the girl’s glare fading with every sip you take. Jungkook simply watches, amused when you down half of the drink in one go.

You’re content, only with a simple worry in your mind. “What time is it?”

Luckily Jungkook had brought a watch on his wrist, your phones long forgotten on the nightstand, “One something,” he grabbed both plates, handing over yours, “Why? Gotta run away from me again?”

You try to scoop as much chicken, sauce and pasta as you can twirl on your fork, practically salivating once you're munching down the food. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

Jungkook crosses a leg over the other as he eats the chicken from his own plate, “What are you up to today?”

Huh. You asked yourself the same thing. “I actually have no idea,” you admit, “I just saw the words massage and wine and thought ‘I have to go’.”

“Of course,” and he doesn’t sound the least bit surprised — or judgemental, at that. “You did the same exact thing at the last firm getaway.”

Your hand flies to your mouth, “Oh, God. Why would you remind me,” Jungkook is slapping his knee at a miserable attempt of stifling his laughter, “Nothing will ever compare to the misery of being surrounded by a bunch of sobbing tipsy widows.”

His laugh only booms alive and you try to convince yourself that it scratches your ears, but it doesn’t and you find yourself giggling as well. What the hell was in that mimosa?

“God, youre such a fucking idiot.”

“Lower your voice, boozer,” you slap his thigh — hurting you much more than him — and catch a few glares in your direction.

Jungkook drinks his entire glass, “Eh, screw them,” not sparing a second thought to the strangers, “Are you heading to the fifth floor again?”

The alfredo pasta in your plate has been reduced to nothing, “Yeah, why?”

“I’m heading that way too.”

You snort — you know, like a wild boar. “Gonna meet up with yesterday’s catch?”

He has a conceited smile on his face and you fear the next words to come out his mouth, “Maybe,” he places his plate on his lap and leans closer to you, his breath tickling your ear, “Jealous much?”

Scoff.

You push him away, drinking the rest of your orange juice. Scoff (again). You’ve never met someone so egotistical. How dare he?

“Don’t act like being seduced by an incubus like you is such a big deal,” you hope to poison him with your words but he only bites down a sweet smile, “And it’s not like she’s seen anything that I haven’t in the past two nights.”

Goddammit, Y/N. Where the fuck did that come from?

Jungkook drapes an arm over the couch, “Someone’s been enjoying the view.”

You try your best to scowl at the demon, but when your eyes accidentally tarry on Jungkook’s collarbones and arms — why is it always the fucking arms? — for a few moments too long, red paints your cheeks instead and you simply fiddle with your empty glass.

Jungkook’s victory weighs heavy on the lifted corners of his lips as you wait for him to finish the rest of his food — he ate like a five year old.

“This is where I leave you, I guess.”

The walk to the fifth floor was a quick one, you and Jungkook standing in front of the familiar entrance, that same chalkboard from yesterday scribbled with roses this time.

A woman is the one welcoming you at the door today, the same list and my-boss-forced-me-to smile on her face, just like yesterday’s guy.

“Ms. L/N,” she calls out as you and Jungkook come closer, “You must be the last couple to join us today!”

She manages to sneak her way behind you, pushing both of you into the dim room before her words could even reach your eardrums. Did she say couple?

Jungkook attempts to correct her, “I’m just here to drop her off—,” to no avail.

The woman has a menacing smile and look to her eyes that shuts the both of you right up, “The first activity was just about to start,” she rushes to the exit and shuts the door, but not before a friendly, “Have fun!”

Was this cruise actually full of psychos?

You and Jungkook are frozen in place, only noticing the handful of couples sitting on the floor, the petals spread across the room and romantic candles sticking out the walls, a moment too late.

“Welcome! Welcome!” An elderly woman approaches you, her short hair wrapped in a pink bandana, the boho print matching the rest of her clothes and chunky jewelry, “I’m Hattie, your instructor. Why don’t you two sit down so we can start?”

Though you're both in shock, none of you attempt to make an escape, taking quick but hesitant steps to the last empty space in the back. A flustered Jungkook is the first to talk once you’re sat down, “What the fuck, Y/N?”

Hattie seemed to have been saying something when Jungkook whispered a tad too loud, both of you putting on a smile when she looked. “I have no idea what’s happening either,” you grit through your teeth,

Once she looks away, you and Jungkook take a breather.

“I legit didn't see anything about onboard couple’s therapy, I was really tired,” you rub between your brows, “You can go, Jungkook,” your head gestures to the sealed exit, “I can take the embarrassment. Plus, that’s kind of the whole point.

“But that guard lady locked us in here,” his fading hope is visible in the way he buries his head in his hands, seemingly forgetting who he was with when he asks, “Am I really stuck here with Y/N?”

Are you fucking kidding me. You can’t believe you were empathetic with the monster for even a second. “Don’t be over dramatic, it’s only until six.”

His shock takes over his hands and the volume of his voice when he hits his legs, “WE’RE GOING TO BE HERE FOR FOUR HOURS?”

The murmurs and whatever that instructor was saying, are quickly silenced.

“We’re sorry,” you apologise on his behalf as he struggles with reality, “Please, continue.”

She coughs and puts back that old lady smile of hers, clasping her hands together, “As I was saying, we have three tasks ahead of us,” she puts up a finger for each one she lists, “A loving touch, a loving conversation and a loving drink.”

Her voice is drowned out by your dread, your eyes glancing at the couples holding hands and touching, whispering what were surely forbidden secrets into each other’s ears, the candle wax melting and falling in a picturesque way and how the music was crispy to the ears. It was all so… romantic.

And then there were you two idiots that stuck out amidst the crowd, both awkward yet number one is redder than the roses and number two was sweating like a hog. I’ll let you decide which is which.

Hattie’s words are what bring you back to the present, “For us to loosen up, we will begin with the loving touch session,” please say massage, “Each couple should head up to their respective massage rooms.”

At last, the sun is found in the storm.

You follow with an excited sway when Hattie finally comes to bring you to your room. She closes the door behind her with an, “Enjoy!”

A masseur is waiting on the opposite side of the massage bed with welcome arms, “Good afternoon, Mr. and Ms. L/N.”

Jungkook raises his hand, “I’m actually Jeon, she’s the only—.”

“My mistake, Mr. and Ms. Jeon,” Goddamit, Jungkook can’t you say anything helpful for once? “Which one of you will be massaged first?”

You practically leap to grab the robe in his hand before Jungkook could steal the chance, pointing to the jade door, “Is this the changing room?.”

The man nods, a little taken aback from your excitement.

You're out of your clothes and in the backwards robe in the blink of an eye, laid down on the bed in less than a minute, your head now resting on the top of your crossed arms.

“So, Mr. Jeon,” you feel a cold oil drizzle over your back, experienced hands spreading it across your back, “You’ll be placing your hands—,” wait, where did they go, “— right here.”

And just like that Jeon Jungkook’s hands were on your bare back, the concept of a loving touch finally flickering in your mind. His hands were a little more rough and shakier than you would’ve imagined.

Why was that going through your mind?

You should’ve been wishing death on him, yourself and everybody else in the boat, shouldn’t you?

“A loving touch is all about, not only a physical connection but really feeling your partner’s body, go ahead.”

Jungkook, being the pet he was, followed his orders and he did it a little too well, he slowly moved his hands from the knots on your shoulders to the very low of your back and you’d be lying to yourself if you said it felt horrible.

“It’s connecting on a whole new physical level with the other,” Jungkook’s hands travel to the dimples of your spine and linger for a moment too long, but they quickly come back up and focus on the crevices of your neck instead, each movement seemingly aiming for all of your stiff muscles.

Not too bad at all.

The masseur’s philosophical rant about touch and love is completely ignored, your mind hyper focused on every inch of skin Jungkook set his fingers on, his hands sailing further down the sides of your body, the extra attention he pays to your waist not unnoticed.

“Fuck.”

Indeed.

Oh, God. What did you just say?

No, no, no.

Perhaps it was just low enough for nobody to hear it—

“I guess that means you should switch now,” the masseur chuckles with a cringed tone.

It was not.

You prop yourself up and look at Jungkook who you could only hope wasn’t laughing at you, your eyes glassy and pleading for something unclear.

And the bastard was snickering, looking in no direction in particular with a blush to his cheeks and a mocking, lip-biting chuckle on his face.

Once you’re up and standing, it quickly dawns on you that it’s Jungkook's turn. Meaning you had to touch Jungkook and massage Jungkook and touch Jungkook.

The world did hate you.

Jungkook realises he was taking too long and mutters a quick, “Uh,” before pulling his top over his head and you shut your eyes — weren’t you Ms. Jeon, though?

The masseur has to call out your name for you to open them back up again, Jungkook laid on the bed with his head on top of his arms.

“I suppose you know what to do, Miss,” the man smiles.

“Yeah, Y/N,” he exhaled and you can hear his smug, “You know what to do.”

The square footage of Jungkook’s back intimidated you the tiniest bit now that it was splayed out before you, you must admit. Still, you place gentle hands on his back and you’ve confirmed once and for all that those bumps were indeed not from a disease but muscles. Rock hard muscles.

You don’t even remember you had to repay him the favor of embarrassing you — because yes, it was his fault — as you get lost in every dip and fold of his skin, your fingers moving on pure intuition.

The curve of his back, the ridges of his shoulders and the little jolts on the surface of his skin, you could feel all of it.

A hand to your wrist jolts you awake, Jungkook stirring with a glaze to his eyes as you both look up at the masseur, “It’s time for your next activity, Miss.”

Oh, God. What just happened?

You cough and don’t bother to excuse yourself as you leave the room, Jungkook grabbing your forgotten clothes and putting on his robe as he follows behind you.

You try to shake away the burning that creeps it’s way to your fingertips and cheeks as you sit back down on the floor. But it doesn’t work, your sweaty palms joining the party instead. Great. Just great.

Hattie’s voice saves the day, “I hope we’re all relaxed and ready to converse with our partners,” not at all, “If you could all just face each other, cross your legs and hold hands. This intimacy is important when facing important feelings and questions with your partner.”

As if Jungkook slathering oil on you like you were a nice roast chicken wasn't enough, now you had to hold hands with him. Is death still an option?

You’re facing each other, Jungkook’s palms up, “Shall we?”

Uneasiness settles in your stomach, a feeling you’ve never felt with Jungkook before. Sure, you’ve felt judged or uncomfortable but never truly uneasy. Maybe it was just your body reacting to the physical trauma you had to endure.

You nod.

“You know,” Jungkook seems to still be waking up, “You’re not too bad with your hands,” and he laughs.

But it’s a welcome sound that unbundles your nerves in the most peculiar way, your own smile coming back. “You’re not shabby either.”

“I could tell—.”

“I suppose you honeymooners didn’t hear my explanation,” None of you bother to correct her anymore as she places a deck of cards between you, “But all you need to do is pick a card in turn and answer the question. Don’t forget to look into each other’s eyes,” she winks and stands up, making her way to the front of the crowd.

“I guess this is when we start asking each other the questions,” the cringe in your tone is all that rasps your ears as you hold hands… with Jungkook.

“Go ahead,” his head points to the pile of cards in front of you but his eyes only look at Hattie and the way she seemed to ignore every other couple in the room except the both of you.

You breathe in as deep as you can, your hand grabbing the first question, your uncontrollable blush heating up tenfold when you realise this was probably even more intimate than the event-that-shall-not-be-named that occurred in the massage room.

Your mouth stumbles before properly saying, “How long have you been together?”

But Jungkook doesn’t seem as embarrassed as you, the same tint painted on his cheeks but he manages to laugh all the same, your chuckles joining his.

“I’d say about two years?”

Sly bastard. “I’d say two years too.”

He’s the next to grab a card, placing both of your hands on his left one before reaching.

“This is a great one,” he snorts, putting on a serious face when he replaces the card with your hand, “Are there any issues you’d like to bring up?”

You throw your head back just like the exorcist girl, and cackle— were you okay?. “Well, where should I start?”

This was actually kind of fun.

“Okay, but let’s be real for a moment,” he lightly squeezes your hands, “What is your issue with me?”

Or, maybe not.

“Well,” you curse at the old woman for putting you this close, your eyes left with close to no space to avoid Jungkook’s, “There’s just this way you look at me.”

Your gaze is back on the confused boy, the furrow between his brows strong enough to be considered a wifi connection. “What are you talking about?”

“Like—,” you try to come up with some way to explain, “—The first time we met, right? It’s like, you just go silent for a few seconds and literally look through my soul. It makes me feel like I murdered your entire family.”

Jungkook’s eyes grew wide with every word you spouted, the flush on his cheeks practically steaming from his skin.

Did he seriously not know? Oh, well.

“I’m just gonna go ahead and grab the next one,” you say to the top of Jungkook’s head since his face was pointed to his lap.

“Oh, God,” you squeeze Jungkook’s hands with a little more force than necessary, but at least it makes him look up, “You ready?”

Nod.

“What do you love most about your partner?”

Now that was a real couples’ therapy question. Great job, Hattie.

“I think you should answer this one,” you seem to state the obvious, “Since I was the only person to answer the last question.”

Jungkook’s shoulders fall from their perfect posture, “Fine.”

His eyes have that same glint you mentioned before as he scans you up and down. Was that the fifth time today? New record, guys.

“I guess,” he purses his lips with a slight smile, “She always knows how to make a moment memorable. Oh?

Your palms were sweating once again and you wouldn’t have taken note of it if you weren’t holding Jungkook’s goddamn hands at the moment. Why you of all people?

“Coming of a little strong, partner,” the nervousness in your giggly tone ever the obvious thing.

A small smile, “What about you?”

Oh, right. You needed to answer.

It wasn’t like you were an actual couple, “Uh—,” but why is the air between you so thick?

You struggle to find an answer and decide to go with the first thing that pops in your mind,“Well,” Shut up, Y/N, “He always manages to sneak his way in my thoughts.”

Why didn’t you shut up?

However, at this Jungkook smiles, but it isn’t the taut one you’ve seen hundreds of times before, no. Jungkook’s entire face scrunches up and the moons under his eyes seem to have constellations that creased outwards; the way his nose rumpled, his cheeks puffed up and his front teeth steamed the spotlight. Jungkook wasn’t smiling, the boy in front of you was beaming.

And he was beaming at you.

“Next one?” He asks, his face still shining.

You can’t even move at the sight.

Shuffle. “What is your favorite memory with your partner?” He puts it down, “I have like three answers for this one.”

The lightness is back in an instant and you keep that picture of Jungkook on the back of your mind, “You do?”

“Yup,” he pops the P, “First, at the last Christmas party, I go to take a piss at the men’s bathroom, as one does.”

“Please, don’t say it,” you groan and you can’t even hide your face because Hattie would probably slap your hands into Jungkook‘s.

“But, wait,” he feigns shock, “I hear someone gagging in a stall, more specifically a woman. And who else could it have been but the Y/N L/N.”

The almost forgotten memory of you retching your heart out in a smelly toilet and a suited Jungkook carrying you back to Seokjin comes back, and though it’s fuzzy and the mere thought of it is dreadful, Jungkook’s laugh is contagious, even to you now.

“Ah, I never thanked you for that.”

“You don’t need to—.”

“I didn’t finish,” you look at him disillusioned, “And I shouldn’t, because Mother Jin rubbed it in my face the rest of the night about how I was the boss and he was the lousy, underpaid assistant.”

“Classic Jin,” he chuckled. “Okay, second of all, when you threw a coke at my face two seconds after meeting me.”

“Ha, ha. Very funny, Jungkook,” your voice is dry, “But to my defense—.”

“I looked at you weird, totally a justifiable course of action,” he raises his brow, “What about you?”

“What about me?,” Your confusion is cleared up when you’re reminded that you were simply playing a silly card game, “I would have to say… Watching your boss throw a drink at your face after you asked her to make you a partner in the firm.”

Jungkook seems to have buried the memory, “What is it with you people throwing liquids at me?”

You put a thoughtful hand to your chin, “You just have a very drink throwable face.”

He’s quick to snatch your hand back into his and it doesn’t even ring in your mind, “Another one.”

Groan. “Fine, uhm—,” you purse your lips, “Honestly? Maybe, right after that when you were on the sidewalk crying and piss-drunk and you just kind of talked to me.”

Jungkook’s surprised expression has a genuinity to it, “Oh, no. What did I say?”

You shake your head as if to say ‘Nothing’, “You were just going on about how hard you’ve been working and you couldn’t even go out with your friends and you didn’t look at me in the eye even once,” you’re staring into the empty space, “You just said ‘this was a nice dream but I have to wake up now’ and blacked out.”

Your giggle is akin to a little schoolgirl’s and you look backat Jungkook, the night sky in his smile back once again. Hm. Cu—

Hattie claps and the noise bounces you back from your trance. You whip your hands out of Jungkook's hold, afraid they were going to end up drenched from your heart palpitations — Seriously, why was it so hot in the middle of the ocean?

You avoid Jungkook’s searching eyes to the best of your abilities. This could only be a fever.

“We seem to have reached the end of our loving session,” the biggest smile on her face, she can’t wait to get rid of us, “Each couple’s loving drink is awaiting at the exit. The robes are complementary, please do not forget your possessions and stay in love!” Thank God.

You’re on your feet in no time, practically jogging to the exit when Hattie suddenly grabs hold of you, making Jungkook stop in his tracks.

“You two kept on interrupting my class,” she narrowed her eyes but there’s a nicety to her, “But I let it slide, it’s not like I haven’t dealt with worse. Plus, you two have something special that most of the other couples in this room didn’t have.”

A woman scoffs at Hattie’s words when she passes by with her own wife.

Your lack of response is filled with Jungkook’s curious words, “And what is that?”

She leans in a little closer, “Shine,” she whispers this time, “A shine to your eyes and a shine to the way you dance around each other, it’s envying.”

The shine she was referring to was surely the dislike you had for each other. Surely.

You were so sure that you wouldn't stick around for another crazy word of hers and you go back to your almost-running pace to the elevator, not looking back to check if Jungkook had followed behind you.

Why were you so embarassed?

You reach your room in no time and hide yourself beneath the sheets. For a few moments you don’t move, as if you were waiting for something, or someone, to come knocking at the door; and when no one does, your chest weighs a little heavier as if you were disappointed.

“Are you telling me that Jungkook made you moan?” Jin’s voice shrill through the speakerphone, your knees to your chest as you sat at the balcony.

“That’s besides the point, Jin,” you groan, “But, yes.”

He hisses through his teeth, just like the snake he is, “Yeah, there’s no coming back from that.”

“Please,” you’re begging at this point, “Help me.”

“I don’t know what to say Y/N. The symptoms you described don’t sound like the flu, it sounds like raging thirsty hormones.”

Beep, you hear through the glass doors, making you turn, “You’re the worst,” the handle was rotating, “I gotta go, Jin. Love you, bye,” you whisper into the microphone as you grab the phone and make your way into the room for who knows what reason.

And there you were, like a fucking idiot, standing in the middle of the room when Jungkook walks in, scratching the back of his neck when you lock eyes.

“Hey.”

You bite your lip, “Hey.”

The air weighs down with words that wanted to be said and the uncertainty of what they meant, and nobody says anything as you fidget with your skirt Jungkook makes his way to his pile of clothes.

You watch as he digs his way and he seems to be looking for something.

Does he need help—

“Fucking hell, Y/N?”

Excuse me?

You come closer to his little circus act with your hands behind your back, “What?”

Jungkook stands up and you can feel his breath on the tip of your nose, “Where’s my shirt?”

Now, you were truly baffled.

“What shirt?”

He goes to the bathroom and continues his search for said shirt, “My hawaiian shirt,” his voice echoes, “It’s pink, it looks exactly like yours.”

Wow. And he picked on you for that on your very first night together. Wow.

“Why would I steal it?” You start searching through the pile of clothes on the chair, sure to find something.

“I didn’t say you stole it,” Jungkook is striding towards you, “You could’ve just gotten them mixed—.”

His sentence never finds an end when you stand up and turn at the very same moment he comes behind you, your bodies clashing and falling to the floor with a bang. Jungkook is on top of you, the only thing stopping your faces from touching being his upend arm, you don’t even notice your hand was holding onto it until you feel something flex beneath your fingertips.

Could this day get any better?

It takes a few moments for any of you to move, but when you do it’s up and rushing, both of you dusting off your clothes as if there was anything to dust off and staring intently at the ground.

“Uhm—,” Jungkook is the first to break the silence as he grabs something from behind you, “Found it.”

And you both wait for someone to say something else, still no one does and Jungkook puts the shirt back in the pile, walking towards the door.

But just before he could take those final steps, you grab him by the wrist and breathe out. You hated this.

“Look, Jungkook,” he does, “I’m really sorry for running off, I just felt really weird, you know?”

He early waits for you to continue.

“It’s just—,” you let go of him, your fingertips burning from the touch, “—today was a lot. I think we’ve never had real, sober time together that lasted for more than an hour and there was so much touching and talking,” you find yourself rambling, “It was just, really overwhelming because we’re not that close, “So, let’s just go back to insulting each other every two seconds and have a good dinner?”

He seemed to be expecting more, but if he was he doesn’t say a word about it and puts on a happy façade, “Only if you promise to not moan in the middle of our meal.”

Your expression falls flat. “You know what, forget it—.”

“Fine, fine,” he puts his hands up in defeat and unlocks the door, “They’re serving sushi tonight,” he doesn’t wait for you as he heads to the elevator, “So hurry up, dumbass.”

You smile, tucking your hair behind your ears.

Dumbass.

taglist. (open)

| @fangirl125reader / @vantxx95 / @jinpanman / @ggukkieland / @miniiimee / @giadalin / @mrcleanheichou / @btsmylife21 / @primadonnasdream / @paizthemaiz

#jeon #jungkook #jeon jungkook x reader #jungkook x reader #jeon jungkook fanfiction #jungkook fanfiction #jk x reader #jk fanfiction #bts x reader #bts fanfiction #bts fluff #bts angst #jeon jungkook imagine #jeon jungkook au #jungkook imagine #jungkook au #bts imagine #bts au #bts smut #jeon jungkook smut #jungkook smut #jk smut #bts v #bts jungkook #taehyung x reader #kim taehyung x reader #v x reader #kim #taehyung #nuisance.

[zoe-oneesama]

Okay, semi-serious question! What would each member of Miss Bustier's class in the Scarlet!AU, including Lila, dress up as for Halloween?

Well I think my ideas would probably apply to canon. And obviously I know France doesn’t really do Halloween (at least not how America does), so we’re gonna just retcon reality and pretend Halloween is a common thing to these kids, so basically:

Marinette: A character costume. From a cartoon or movie or game, whatever it is she’s handmaking and handstyling all of it and is scouring the internet to make sure every detail is 100% canon accurate. Every year she tries to outdo herself by getting more and more intricate characters. Year 1 - Princess Peach Paper Mario version. Year 5 - Princess Peach Smash Bros verison.

Adrien: It’s the first year he gets to participate and it’s not some bougie adult wine drinking party, so he either goes for a visual pun (sticking a bunch of beige paint swatches to himself to be 50 Shades of Grey) or goes super basic royalty free costume, like A Vampire or A Devil. If he has a partner he’d totally go couples costumes, but who decides the costumes depends on the partner. (Marinette would totally bow to his whims but Kagami would reel him in)

Alya: She’s been in different store bought Majestia costumes since she was old enough to call the shots. Only this year is she going for Hometown Heroes, but she’s completely caught between who to choose - Ladybug because obviously, or Carapace because her boyfriend, or Rena Rouge because it’s hilarious?! So many options!!!

Nino: He’s never gotten super into it but keeps it alive for Chris. Typically he’ll pull together a “closet costume”, like pulling out the plaid button up and sticking some straw out of the pockets to be a scarecrow. Going to parties with Alya makes him want to try a little harder this year so he’ll probably actually buy a full costume this year to go with whatever she decides to be (”Wait, you’re gonna dress as me this year?!”)

Canon Chloe: She’s worn her Ladybug costume a few too many times in public, so she’ll probably go for Queen Bee but with a twist - like a full ballgown princess but Queen Bee themed. It’s super expensive decorated with real rhinestones, as are all the costumes she’s had in the past because she’s in a personal competition with Marinette. It kills her that Marinette always gets way more compliments on her costumes. 

SL Chloe: Same as above but Scarlet Lady themed. She’s at least smart enough to forgo the mask and demands pockets to shove Tikki into.

Canon Sabrina: In order to match Chloe but not outshine her, Sabrina is ordered to be a bee (to be Queen Bee’s “Pollen”, though Sabrina doesn’t know what that means). She’s an adorabee and her outfit is also pretty expensive because it was commissioned by Chloe, but that also means Sabrina got zero input on it. 

SL Sabrina: It’s the first time Sabrina hasn’t relied on Chloe to “make” her costume (or rather DECIDE her costume) and all the independence has Sabrina scrambling a bit. In the end, by borrowing some of her dad’s old things, she dresses as a Cutie Cop complete with a too big hat and handcuffs she has to SWEAR not to use.

Max: With some carefully painted cardboard and foam, he’s one of the bots from UMS III. Despite the crudeness of the costume, it is also meticulously model accurate, and also very difficult to move in.

Kim: 100% one of those inflatable T Rex costumes.

Alix: She’d probably wear her regular clothes but invest in a high quality wolf mask and hands and sneak up on people all night.

Nathaniel: He’d have to prepare months in advance but he’d show up as Super Nathan. He skips on the face paint but considering it’s his OC and he still draws it in his comic, I think he’s not emotionally tainted by being an akuma and it’s own little “Fuck You” to Hawkmoth. Plus it makes Chloe stay 10000 miles away from him. 

Mylene: Mylene walks into a costume shop with no plan, wanting to be taken in by how a costume looks and feels on her. Because of that she has an eclectic background and no one ever knows what she’s going to come as. Last year she was a racoon because the costume dress had ears on the hoodie, but maybe this year she comes as a Mad Hatter because the costume came with a lot of pieces. Who knows?!

Ivan: He knows he’s going to avoid anything with a mask if he wants his girlfriend to come near him. That does knock off a lot of his favorite horror characters, so he goes an Adrien route and shows up as A Ninja. Yep. Definitely not a video game character, noooo, this is TOTALLY just A Ninja. Uhuh.

Rose: Unicorn Princess. With wings. And a tiara. And A wand. And a tail. And rainbow chalk in her hair. And stickers. 

Juleka: She’s a witch, but not a store bought cute short skirt one. Like a voodoo hag that dragged herself out of the swamp to curse mankind. She’s basically one every year so she just adds onto her costume and every year her witch costume just increases in collectables. Vials around her waist and a fake crow on her hat, a spell book appeared one year, and spider webs draped over her shoulders. Uh, are you sure that’s just a costume Juleka?

Canon Lila: She doesn’t care much about the actual costume but takes a lot of care making sure it’s juuuuuust towing the line between cute and sexy. It needs to be attention getting but not bad attention. She goes for slightly childish characters, like Little Red Riding Hood, so she can get away with saying she thought it was “just adorable!” when she knows it’s showing her off. If I wanted her to be even cheekier, I’d have her find a “Sexy” Rena Rouge costume that’s pretty much Rena Rouge but in a skirt, and watch Alya convulse.

SL Lila: Drop the act and just admit she likes feeling sexy. Her friends help her find costumes that are age appropriate but scratch that itch and Lila puts more thought into the actual character. She gets a new appreciation for merging horror with pretty stuff - like a Zombie Cheerleader or Elsa but with ice coming out of her skin. It also lets her stretch her makeup skills. 

#on the lila thing I just wanna say that I used to have that embarrassing 'i wanna be a sexy grown up' phase #so that's where I'm coming from with that logic #halloween #my opinion #halloween costumes #ml #miraculous ladybug #crisisdparity

[there-is-some-madness-in-love]

When the Bees Start Buzzing

Greetings, humans and non-humans alike! It has come to my (very short) attention that there are some bees buzzing around here, hopping from flower to flower, bringing with them the supposed Pollen of Truth about who I truly am.

The gist of it is that I’m apparently a planted sock account, arrived on Tumblr just before the Certificate of Doom was supposed to show (where is that, by that way, has anyone got an extra copy they can lend me?) and just when MiK was about to premier. I’m supposed to be a plant that’s been deployed here to do damage control — or was it to cause more damage? I’m a bit hazy on the details, but either way, I’m a phony, a fake, and very unfeminist to make you all believe in what I believe (but not know because like I said in my previous blog, there’s a difference and that’s why I’m the new Anti-Christ).

I did arrive here pretty late to the party so I suppose I am a “newbie” at that, came here around late December 2020. I was watching Outlander way before that, but I didn’t think it right — or perhaps I was only all too cautious — to put a voice to my in-real-life shipping opinions until I’ve fully formed them. So I read blogs and articles and interviews and pretty much spent my entire Holidays carving out a quiet little corner of the fandom where I can chat and make new friends with people who believe in the same things I do. And I have done that, I’ve found a few friends that I do trust and talk with often. The best part is we talk about things outside of Outlander and SC because that’s how you make friends. Something perhaps these bees are unfamiliar with, given how paranoid their little antennae are about every little thing.

So I will address this buzzing at least just this once because I am over here minding my own business, not bothering anyone, only out here shipping what shippers ship, and I do not at all appreciate people stirring up shit insects circling where they have no business to be had. I am also not the type of person to take shit while sitting down. I’m saying this again, this fandom is not my first and if you think I’m any more meek and obedient in the others, oh, my sweet summer child. But I digress.

My name is Jessica. Let’s start with that. No, I’m not the SamCait Life Fairy. You are all welcome to call me Jess. I’m a writer and researcher in real life and I have a degree in English Literature, even if English is not my first language. I live halfway across the world from Scotland, where SC live and work and breathe, literally on the other side of the equator. I haven’t come here to declare myself as your One True Savior, a prophetess of Truth and Knowledge. I came here to have fun and to write, because those two are synonymous in my book, most of the time. I came here to make friends, because we are all on lockdown with next to nothing to do to fill our time except safely connect with other human beings using this nifty little thing called the internet.

Pay attention now because this is important: I am not paid to blog about the things that I write. I am not connected to anyone at Sony, Starz, LG, Hollywood, or anywhere else. Sam and Caitríona have no idea I exist, and I am perfectly fine with that. I am Jess, plain and simple and honest. You may not agree with the things I say, or I may come on too strong for your liking, but one thing I will never do is silence my voice to give way to yours. Your feelings of dislike towards me is your business, but keep my name out of your mouth and don’t start up unfounded rumors to share with your thousands of followers because I will not just sit back and watch.

If you wanna ride my dick so hard, I charge extra. Pay your dues before you hop on.

Yours in Fauxery,

Sunflower 🌻

—

P.S.: To all my friends and followers around here, I promise I’m not usually this revved up LMAO. I want you guys to know you are always welcome to have an open and civil discourse with me about anything and everything, as long as you and I both stay respectful about our opinions. I welcome you into my DMs, my blogs, and wherever else you wanna talk. Let’s make fandoms a good space for communication again, shall we? Y’all take care and stay safe now.

#Word vomits #With a dash of spice #irl shipping is hard but someone’s gotta do it #SC Asks

[trashyswitch]

The Strange Flower

Logan and Roman take a walk in the imagination. Not long after, Logan is plagued with the giggles and phantom feelings! What ever could they be from?! Whatever it is, Roman is loving it!

I'm gonna be gone to the cottage for a week starting today. So, I'll be working on fanfics a little, but less than usual. It's a vacation!! I'm actually really excited!

This fanfic prompt came from @little-lee-lo-simp. Thank you so much for the prompt and I hope you enjoy the fanfic.

These are the morning Giggles:

Logan was walking around with Roman in the imagination, admiring the many flowers and trees surrounding them. There were so many colors! And so many different fruits and things hidden within the trees! From creatures to vines and flowers, it was beautiful.

There were poppies with smiley faces on them, different fruits that were covered in ‘paint splash’ syrup, there were lettuce bits that could be fresh, sweet or crunchy depending on your preference, and there were banana-shaped fruits that had edible skins and pomegranate-like seeds in the middle of the fruit.

There were vines covered in pickable sticks that were edible and used for healing purposes, and twisty flowers that had yarn-textured petals yet, were still real and growing on their own. There were thick leaves that held different-colored inks in them that could be used for mixing and writing, and there were thin large leaves that could be written on like paper without ripping when written on with a stick.

Many flowers looked like they were squirting different things. One flower had honey running down the stem. They were labelled ‘Buzzy suckles’, a wordplay of honey suckles. There were even different colored roses that looked like they were splashed with layers of watercolors. Red, yellow, purple, pink, they all covered the roses in a drippy paint-like pattern.

Logan smiled as he knelt down to look closer at the small cluster of roses. “These are beautiful, Roman.” Logan reacted calmly, filled with awe and delight.

Roman smiled at the complement. But when he looked upon the flowers that Logan was looking at, Roman tilted his head in thought. He...didn’t remember what he had called those specific flowers. Obviously they were a type of roses, but he liked to give them a spinney, cute kinda name to go with them. But...Roman had forgotten this particular cute name.

But he most certainly remembered how beautiful they were! “Thank you!” Roman replied.

Logan picked one of the roses and put it behind Roman’s ear. Roman giggled at this and wore the rose with confidence and pride. The flower started blooming little sticks that had...rectangular flags on them? And they had the gay flag on each one of them!

“Awww, it knows you’re gay!” Logan reacted.

“Yup! This flower can specifically tell what sexuallity you are. If you were straight, you’d have a straight flag. If you were pan, you had a pan flag. If you identified as multiple things…” Roman looked at the flower and pointed to hated multiple Gay pride flags that popped out. “Each of these flags would be different, to identify what kind of person you are.” Roman explained. “And if you’re more than 3…” Roman poked it and watched as a single LGBT flag poked out. “The LGBT community flag will pop out, specifying anything!” Roman explained.

“I love it!” Logan reacted.

“You can also use this flower to find out what you are in a few seconds.” Roman added.

“But it still has the usual sexuality journey, right?” Logan asked. “Cause everyone needs a journey.”

“Yup!” Roman replied proudly.

Logan continued to look around at the different varieties of flowers and plants that filled the imagination. There were even weeds that looked surprisingly pretty! A few of the weeds had pretty leaves and pretty flowers that were hidden within it. Even the dandelions were nicer to look at. They were more of an orangey yellow color, and were slightly bigger than the usual dandelions.

But in a specific spot: a small field of these strange flowers had been planted. They were blue flowers that looked a lot like Morning Glories. But...they resembled a heavenly blue version, and had a very visibly yellow middle. “Wow..I’m gonna head over here.” Logan decided.

Roman didn’t think much of it. “Okay.”

Logan walked to the blue and yellow flowers, and laid down inside the flowers’ fields. They looked so pretty...and very detailed when he looked closer at them. They had these dark green leaves that extended out of the stem. The flowers actually looked like they were dancing in the wind like Groot did in Guardians of the Galaxy. It looked really cute. It also seemed to be spirting out tiny bits of pollen. Logan tilted his head and placed a finger closer to the pollen. It was yellow looking, like all pollens were, and looked fuzzy.

Strange...

Logan got up and walked away from the pretty flowers a little while after. He dusted off his fingers on his shirt and pants to get rid of the pollen and walked to Roman.

“You have some really pretty flower and plant ideas. I love them!” Logan reacted.

Roman smiled eagerly. “Thank you! I worked really hard to make sure every single one of my flowers were distinctive and different in their own way.” Roman declared proudly. “Now: Cherry?” Roman asked, holding up a black cherry to him.

Logan smiled and took it. “Thank you, Roman!”

The two boys walked themselves out of the imagination and back into Thomas’s house. Logan was feeling a bit of an itchy feeling, but he didn’t think much of it. He just kept scratching it and continuing with his day. But soon the itchy feeling turned tickly. And it started spreading.

Logan attempted to ignore the feeling and hid his smile, but it felt like a single finger was scratching at one side each. It was distracting and made him wanna tense up. Soon, the feeling moved to his ribs. It felt like poking and wiggling in between his ribs. Logan could barely hide his smile without looking like a doofus that was trying not to laugh at a stupid joke. Logan looked away from Roman in an attempt to cover it up. But Roman could tell something was up.

“Logan...What are you smiling about?” Roman asked. “Are the smiley flowers making you smile?” Roman asked, referring to purple poppy’s that had a smiley face on each petal.

Logan shook his head and hummed ‘no’.

“Huh...I thought that may have been it. What’s making you smile, Logey Bee?” Roman asked. Logan accidentally let a giggle slip at the weird and strangely cute nickname. “Ooooh, you’re a giggly bee! I see now!” Roman declared. “What’s making you so giggly?” Roman asked.

Logan shook his head and couldn’t stop the giggles that left his mouth more and more. That’s a good question! What IS making him so giggly? He’s never like this!

“Iiiiis it a funny joke?” Roman asked. “Hey I’ve got one for you:” Roman cleared his throat. “What do dentists call their X-Rays?” Roman asked.

Logan frantically shook his head. Even if it wasn’t funny, any amount of jokes is gonna worsen his giggles!

“Tooth Pics! Dentists call X-Rays tooth pics!” Roman declared proudly.

Logan squeezed his eyes shut. That was a bad one...An obvious joke- “Hehehehehehehe!” Logan giggled. SHIT!

Roman gasped. “PATTON! PATTON, I MADE LOGAN LAUGH AT A JOKE!” Roman shouted. “YESSS!”

Logan growled through is giggles. “Nohohohohoho! Stahahap ihihihit!” Logan begged. Logan covered his belly as his inner stomach was attacked with the strangest phantom tickles he’s ever felt in his life. “Thahahahat tihihihicklehehehes!” Logan giggled, nearly falling over. He was beginning to lose his balance.

“Tickles? What tickles?” Roman asked, getting closer. “Does your belly tickle? Maybe your sides? Or your neck?” Roman asked.

That word was enough to throw Logan into full on laughter, mixed with giggles in between. “HAhahahahahaha! Rohohohomahahahan whahahat dihihihid yohohou puhuhuhut ihin yohohour flohohohowehehers?” Logan asked.

“Well that depends. The smiley Poppy makes you smile uncontrollably. The blue and red Mushrooms make you overly hyper. The morning Giggles make you- Ooooooh…” Roman turned to Logan. “Did you cover yourself in the pollen from the Morning Glory flowers? You silly, giggly goose!” Roman teased. “Those are called Morning Giggles! They make you giggle and laugh through means of tickling and softly teasing your ticklish spots!” Roman declared.

Well, that seemed to be the most conclusive answer.

“But when did you get in contact with the morning giggles? You never struck out on your own until the end- Oooooooh…” Roman smirked and leaned into his ear. “You brought this upon yourself, Giggle berry~” Roman teased.

You could say that again...He really did get himself into this. But why didn’t he warn him!

“If I had known you were gonna look at the morning giggles, I would’ve warned you! But nope! Telling by the spot you’re holding so tensely, it looks like you decided to lay on your poor, ticklish belly to admire the beautiful, giggle blooms!” Roman declared. “Does that sound about right?” Roman asked.

Logan finally kneeled over and flopped onto his side with laughter. With his feet free, Logan started kicking and squirming on the ground, unable to contain any of it. The pollen was tickling everything it touched. His belly, his thighs, his nose, his neck, his abs, his feet, the tops of his feet, even his armpits were partly covered in ticklish pollen! It felt like the pollen bits were jumping around and snuggling into Logan’s ticklish spots on his body! Even his hands were being tickled by the micro-sized pollen bits! What a strange conundrum!

To make things even worse, Roman’s teases were flustering him beyond saving. Logan was practically the color of a strawberry! How dare!

“Aww! Listen to that sweet little laugh! It’s so fun and cute!”

“You should laugh more often, Logan. It suits you! And you of all people know, laughter is very good for you!” Roman teased.

Logan covered his face and cowered into the fetal position.

“Where is my camera? I need to get a picture of this. Or maybe even a video! Or 5!”

Logan whimpered and whined. “SHUHUHUT UHUHUP!” Logan ordered.

“Are you whimpering now? You be careful doing that! Patton just might think there’s a puppy in this house!”

Logan whimpered again and covered his mouth. Just about every part of Logan’s front side was being tickled by the bits of pollen. It was so much tickling at once.

“HEHEHEHELP MEHEHEHEHEHEHE!” Logan begged.

“Hmmmmmm...Maybe in a bit. I wanna enjoy this for a little longer! Then I’ll dust you off!” Roman decided. “How’s that?”

Logan whined and groaned. “FIHIHINE…”

Logan handled the tickling for a little longer, despite his want for it to stop. It was getting to be too much light tickles for him to handle. “Ihihihit’s soho lihihihihight!” Logan reacted.

“Ohh! Do you want more? Does the blueberry Logan bean want the stronger tickle tickle tickles?” Roman asked politely.

“Yehehehes plehehehehease!” Logan begged.

Roman nodded. “Your wish is my command, your royal blueness!” Roman grabbed Logan’s hand and started tickling his palm.

Logan’s laughter TRIPLED in volume! “OHOHOHOHO NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Logan screamed!

“WHOA! Okay! What’s up with you?! You sound like you’re gonna rip a vocal cord if you keep screaming like that!” Roman reacted.

Logan cackled and laughed hysterically as his hand was attacked by Roman’s hand. His hand was moving the pollen around, which only made it tickle even more! And the pollen in Logan’s armpit was more free to move around, making the pollen tickle much worse in that spot too! There was just so much tickling!

Not that Logan minded, of course…

Logan squeaked, squealed, cackled and snorted through the whole thing. “OHOHOKAHAHAHAY, OHOHOKAHAHAHAHAHAY! EHEHENOHOHOUGH! IHIHI CAHAHAHAHAHA!” Logan couldn’t even get some of his words out properly at this point.

That was when Roman realized he should probably stop. Roman let go of his palm and placed it down. Then, Roman summoned a big broom-like paintbrush and brushed off the pollen. Though the pollen did end up coming off (Which lessened the tickling), the brush itself tickled as well. Even with the shirt and the pants on, it tickled! Logan giggled and squirmed around as Roman brushed the pollen off his poor body.

Roman soon stopped and looked at Logan. “Alright. I have a new plan.” He decided. “Let’s get you into a shower to let the pollen wash off you.” Roman decided.

Logan nodded as he held his belly somewhat lightly. Roman walked to the shower, started it up, checked the water, and left the bathroom so Logan could get in.

30 minutes later:

Roman was playing a game on his iPad when Logan walked in with his hair somewhat wet, and his body in new, yet identical clothes. Logan had a small smile on his face. “That was quite the ordeal.” Logan admitted.

Roman giggled. “I’ll say. I guess you gotta keep in mind the morning giggles from now on. And some of the other ones I mentioned.” Roman added.

Logan sighed and looked at him with a serious face. “I have another idea:” Logan picked up a sign that said ‘Morning Giggles: Pollen makes you laugh’ on it. “How about placing signs in front of the plants?” Logan asked.

Roman nodded and took the sign he made. “Thank you Logan. That’s a better idea than I could’ve come up with!” Roman reacted.

“No problem.” Logan replied. “Though I will say…” Roman turned to face Logan as he continued. “I would consider laying in the morning glories- giggles again.” Logan admitted.

Roman bursted out laughing at that. “Yohohou know you can just ask people to tickle you, right?” Roman added.

“Yes, I am aware of that. But doing that would ruin my image. I would much prefer there being an uncontrollable reason to my giggles and laughter.” Logan explained.

“Okay. Suit yourself.” Roman replied, sneaking a poke to both sides.

Logan jumped and shot a wobbly glare at him. This just made Roman laugh at him more.

Roman’s imagination is filled with thousands of different flowers. But only one flower’s pollen can make the most monotone person laugh beyond their years:

The Morning Giggles.

#the imagination #flowers #tooth rotting fluff #ticklefic #lee!logan #ler!flower #ler!roman (kinda)

[imthepunchlord]

Kagami’s Best to Least

Marinette, Adrien, Alya, Nino

Kagami, unfortunately, wound up having some very different personalities depending on the episode you’re watching, so can’t entirely work off narrative as she got some of the worst in writing. Forewarning that I’ll be working off preferred traits that I have seen and picked up for this that seem persistent and are potentially what her character truly is. 

Kagami herself is very dynamic, direct, and intense. She can be (aggressively) competitive, has an eye for detail, and is incredibly skillful at a lot of what she does, making her very adaptable and versatile. She is another who is ruled by her heart, which when she feels, she goes all in to that feeling. When she falls for Adrien (somehow), she goes with the feeling a 110%. There is no doubt, no hesitance; she knows what she wants and she will go for what she wants. She has issues of being too reactive, can be reckless in her bravery and aggression, and can be quite closed minded and cold. This sets her up as a no nonsense character but most of her eps set her up to have surprising tolerance, allowing her to have more patience than expected. 

Kagami’s best is the Bee, Bee matches her in how driven she is and how she delves into her goals at a 110%. Similarly to how bees work off their own sense of order, Kagami also works off how she expects things to be, living off her own sense of order, from dealing with issues and wants immediately to the bafflement of seeing others fumble around. This miraculous also allows her to be directly involved and on the front lines where she would like to be. And playing off that tools adjust to the user’s wants, the trompo’s point could easily extend and be a rapier for her to use in battle, allowing her to fully embrace her fencing theme. 

Despite this there are some issues still, as Kagami can be way too aggressive and bees aren’t meant to be aggressive. They can only sting once so that aggression should be saved as a last resort. Chances are incredibly good that when she uses Venom, it’ll be used well, but she can end up too quick to sting. 

Growth wise, this would offer her the most. To learn patience as she can’t be too hasty with her sting, can have her work with a team more as she’s quicker to be reactive and go in herself. And according to Ikari Gozen, she would like to make friends and bees are sociable creatures that work off with their hive. This can have Kagmai work on her relations with others to find her own hive to be apart of. 

 Though kwami wise, I see things being tense with Pollen, especially at first. In Kagami’s eyes, Pollen would probably appear to be a suck up and pleaser and she’s not one who wants a pleaser. And chances are good that Pollen would be intimidated by how intense Kagami can be. I can see the possibility that Pollen will step up as she does want to please and connect with her current human, and clearly a more direct approach is more desired with Kagami, but over all, at least for a while, I do see tension between the two as they struggle to click. 

Kagami’s second best are the Turtle and Peafowl. Turtle keeps that theme of being very involved and in the heat of things and reacting to them quicky. Peafowl has enough flexibility to allow Kagami to be in the heat of things where she would like, and allows her to play by her rules as she would like. But what keeps these two from being part of her best is the less ideal aspects. 

Turtle at the core isn’t meant to be an aggressive miraculous, it’s a deeply involved support miraculous that’s about self protection and protecting others. Kagami at the core isn’t one to be conscious of others or be conscious of her own safety, she can be as we see in Miracle Queen, but its not a core aspect of her. She’d rather directly deal with the issue itself than being a protector. She wants to be the aggressor and Turtle will limit her on that. Especially since a shield isn’t what she’s used to. Mindful, the miraculous could adjust normal items and adapt her rapier to be a tool to use, so she can use a sword and shield, but that’s something that has yet to be confirmed. If its a possibility, Turtle could be bumped up to a best fit as well. But assuming its only a shield and there’s no adapting extra tools to it, its currently a 2nd best. 

Growth wise, Turtle can help cool down that aggression, and help her form connections with others like she wants to, but it would take some time and require an adjustment period. Ideally can also help her slow down and not be so quick to react, hang back and take in more details. 

Kagami and Wayzz I do see headbutting a bit, largely more due to her being a very reactive character who is quick to judge and quick to respond. While Wayzz is one for quick actions, he’s not one for reckless choices. I do seem him trying to slow Kagami down and to be more conscious of all factors than just what she sees at surface level. On Kagami’s end, I can see her getting irritated as Wayzz would intervene with her choices often, but she’d listen to him more than she would Longg as Wayzz gets to the point (where Longg is a rambler which Kagami doesn’t have patience for). Adaptive as he is, they would quickly become friends and she would hold his views in high regard and consider his words. Assuming Turtle has been used a lot, especially in battle, I can see her being very interested in the stories Wayzz could share in where he’s been used. 

With Peafowl, issues can stem with how quickly Kagami responds to things. She’ll work off her quick evaluations, and while many would work, she doesn’t take the time to look past surface level details. This will lead to moments where the golem she makes isn’t so ideal for a situation. it will be better than Butterfly as the golems she creates will be on the same page as her, but she’ll need to be more conscious to not always go with her first evaluation, which is the biggest thing to offer growth wise for her. Otherwise this miraculous can be solid for her. It’s flexible enough that she can be wherever she likes in the field, and offer a new type of Japanese fighting style to try and explore, using the war fan. Something I see her being intrigued in exploring. 

Based on the little we see with Duusu, I don’t see Kagami having a lot of patience for her with her bubby energy and chattiness. Kagami likes straight to the point and focus, while Duusu is a reactive kwami that takes in a lot and has a lot to say. And with Duusu, I see her regarding Kagami being too stiff and intense. She’ll work on Kagami seeing more than the surface, but she may not be listened to that often with her spazzy energy. It’d be a pair that would struggle to work something out. 

Kagami’s least fit are the Fox and Butterfly. Much like many of the least fit, they can offer a lot of growth, as they are opposites of what Kagami currently is, but as opposites they are the ones Kagami would struggle most with. When you want a miraculous to be used as effectively as possible, it doesn’t make things so ideal for her to get these. 

Despite being ruled by her heart, Kagami isn’t the sort to get others feelings well, which would make Butterfly a struggle. She’s not one to take a moment to try and understand where someone’s coming from with how their feeling and why, she’s too quick to judge what she sees at surface level, too direct with her words and can end up harsh, can be intense, and doesn’t easily let things go and give someone distance to handle things themselves. This is also a power that’s more about relying on another where Kagami is largely a solo show, ready to rush in and address things herself before the thought of working with another comes to mind. There’s also an issue that this miraculous requires capability of easing away and allowing breathing room, to have patience to allow another to sort issues out. Kagami herself can be intensely involved and pushy, seeking to have things resolved quickly, which can lead to issues with her connection to her champion. 

Growth wise this can offer a lot as she’ll have to learn to be more patient and conscious of others, not be so quick to judge or intense; but that’s not an aspect that will come naturally and will be a struggle to adjust for her. 

With Nooroo, I see some similar issues that she’d have with Pollen, particularly Nooroo being very gentle and soft spoken, I can see Kagami’s intensity being a little much for him. Though he’s not a pleaser and will be direct and to the point, chances are better for Kagami to listen to him and may do what she can to not intimidate Nooroo. But this is a pair that will take some time to get used to the other. 

With Fox, Kagami can match as a risk taker, and we see that Kagami is capable of lying (specifically to her mother to spend time with Adrien), but the deceptiveness and manipulation aren’t who she is at the core. She is ultimately upfront, direct, and honest. She is also the sort who prefers to be directly involved and in the heat of things. With her lack of subtlety, how reactive she is, and the factor that she takes everything at face value, Fox would be a struggle for her as this is more designed to be in the shadows and look more underneath, to evaluate and consider everything. To know people well. Kagami doesn’t easily know people well. Chances are incredibly good that her illusions will be direct and upfront and will lack the needed subtlety. 

Growth wise this offers her patience and a means to step back, and to reconsider everything about a situation and the people she sees. But this will take a lot of time to adjust to as she’s quick to react and likes to be upfront and direct. And while capable of manipulation and being deceptive, its not who she is at the core or her preference.

With Trixx, I see a lot of respect and frustration in her interactions with him. While not one to ramble, Trixx is vague, as he likes to verbally guide his humans along into making the right decisions, leading them to come to their own conclusion through the smallest nudge. With Kagami, who likes those to be upfront and direct, Trixx’s intentional vagueness I see getting on her nerves as he wants her to figure things out herself, never telling her his thoughts and opinions. While capable of being adaptable and having a very good read on people, Trixx can be more direct when required, but I can also see him intentionally keeping up the vagueness as a means to both rile Kagami up and to get her mentally working. Ultimately I see him as a kwami she wouldn’t enjoy having in her presence for too long. 

Between Ladybug and Cat, Kagami should receive Cat. Cat has a lot of the appeals of Bee, and allows for more variety in attacks, making it not as limiting as the Bee is who only has one aggressive move to make use of. Only thing to struggle with would be her recklessness but I don’t see it being as big of an issue as Adrien as we see her being more battle smart in the field. 

Biggest thing to bring down this match up is Plagg himself. I can easily see him as a kwami that would drive her up the wall with his lazy nature and selective attitude on responsibilities. And he himself will probably find her to be too hotheaded and stiff. With his attitude and behavior, I don’t see her having a lot of patience or respect for him. There’d be a lot of clashing and headbutts at first as these two are polar opposites. Plagg I do see ultimately helping Kagami with her desires to rebel and explore new things and have fun, but it’s going to take a while to get to that point with them. 

#miraculous ladybug #tsuragi kagami #kagami tsuragi #character study

[creacherkeeper]

Sometimes Aziraphale feels old. Or, he feels weary and achy and tired. He is old, that’s for certain, but angels don’t really get old. He’d been wearing this face since the dawn of time, and sometimes his cheeks were plumper or thinner, and sometimes there were bags under his eyes, but it hadn’t aged a day. Sometimes he remembers the inquisitions, the revolutions, the crusades, the war and the horror of it all, and he laments how much his years have let him see. 

And then Crowley will do something like start humming. He’s wandering around the bookshop, idly rearranging things. Aziraphale doesn’t have his books arranged by the alphabet or Dewey Decimal--no silly human classification. He’s not an animal, he has a system, it’s just that only he knows what it is. And Crowley, maybe. He seems to have figured it out, or otherwise is using his demonic instincts, because he’s putting the books he plucks from the shelves in exactly the worst place he could put them. Aziraphale would be mad, but it gives him something to look busy doing when customers come in asking questions. 

He can’t place the tune. It’s familiar, so familiar, but he can’t place it. He doesn’t realize at first that he’s been following Crowley around the shop, brows furrowed, following the sound like a bee tracking pollen. 

Crowley finally notices him, but doesn’t stop, making contact through his glasses as he reshelves a book. The humming gets a little louder, a little more pointed and teasing. 

“What is that tune?” Aziraphale finally asks. “It’s driving me mad.” 

Crowley quirks a grin, taking a moment before he stops to respond. “Willard Bourke. Pianist. We saw him play in the 70s, in that little tavern, you remember. You thought he was handsome.” 

Aziraphale blushes, but, yes, he does remember now. They’d been there for a drink, and Aziraphale had been mesmerized by the man’s deft fingers. “Ah.” Aziraphale clears his throat. Crowley says the 70s, like there’d been only one of them, but it had in fact been the 1770s when they’d heard him play. “I do remember, yes. I thought he’d be famous. Pity no one remembers.” 

“We do,” Crowley says, and goes back to humming. 

Or that time he stops by Crowley’s flat, just for some tea, just for a chat. He finds Crowley in the middle of cooking, cursing quietly to himself. The demon looks frustrated. He’s positively glowering when Aziraphale enters. 

Aziraphale surveys his ingredients, face screwing in confusion. “Whatever are you cooking?” 

“Stew,” Crowley responds glumly. “Or, at least, I’m trying to. I can’t get it right.” 

“Part of the joy of stew is that you don’t have to get it right.” He waves his hands. “The pot does most of the work.” 

Crowley hisses, raising his fingers to rub against his eyes. “No, it’s ... It’s a specific stew. I’ve been craving it for ages, but no one makes it anymore. It came with these little roasted dill seed bread balls and ...” He cuts himself off. 

“Crowley--” Aziraphale squints suspiciously. “How old is this recipe, exactly?” 

Crowley sighs, already defeated. “Mesopotamia?” he ekes out, abashed. 

Aziraphale laughs. “Oh, good! It’ll be a challenge, then.” He pulls the spoon from Crowley’s hand, taking a sip. “Juniper berries,” he decides. “You need juniper berries.” 

Or when Warlock is young, maybe 6, not more than 7, though Aziraphale finds it so hard to keep track. He and Nanny Ashtoreth are sitting in the garden, drawing. It’s one of the rare moments when they’re both calm, worn out from a long day of chasing and yelling and plotting. 

Aziraphale pretends to mind his rosebushes, but he’s been watching them for some time. Finally, he breaks and walks over. 

“Ah, young master Warlock,” he says, peering over their shoulders. “What a wonderful drawing you’ve done. You like dinosaurs, hmm?” 

Warlock looks up, colored pencil held tight in his fist. “Nanny is teaching me about extinct animals. Like dinosaurs and thylacines and unicorns.” 

Aziraphale shoots Nanny Ashtoreth a look. She doesn’t look back. 

Warlock pipes up again. “Nanny invented dinosaurs, did you know?” 

“Did she now?” Aziraphale asks. It’s hard to keep his voice straight, because he knows this to be a fact. Crowley had been quite drunk at the time, but he thought it would be hilarious. “Big ‘ol lizards,” he’d said, “just huge, you know. Like a dragon, but they’ll think they’re real, see. Biggest things ever. ‘ould barely fit in the garden, them. Big buggers.” 

Warlock nods. “My favorite is the T-Rex. Nanny says it would eat you in one bite.” 

Aziraphale hums, discontented, as Nanny Ashtoreth quirks a grin. He spares a glance at what she’s drawing, and stops. It’s the most beautiful drawing of a passenger pigeon he’s ever seen. The reds and blues of it, every detail in its feathers. They’d seen them together, before, before they’d all gotten hunted out. 

“It’s a lovely drawing, Nanny,” he says, voice a little more earnest than he means it to be. 

The pencil stops, then keeps going. 

Warlock looks up at him again. “Nanny says she ate the last one.” 

“I did,” Nanny Ashtoreth responds. “And don’t you forget it.” 

It’s the little things, the things that, by himself, Aziraphale might not remember. It’s the feel of the earliest silk, the thrill of his first moving picture, the clamor of a Roman marketplace on a hot day. Aziraphale is good at the experiencing, but Crowley has always been one for the remembering. Things stick with him. Things that, otherwise, would have been lost to time. 

They’re curled up in bed, two commas together, and it’s been one of those days. Every shine is the glint of a sword, every wayward noise a battle cry, and Aziraphale can’t seem to stop remembering. He remembers the mess and the horror of it, he remembers the loss. All six-thousand years of loss. 

Aziraphale swallows, and he hates how thick his throat feels. “Tell me good things,” he asks, meek, tired, and Crowley hums and presses a kiss into his shoulder. 

Do you remember? Crowley asks, and keeps going. Do you remember, do you remember?

Yes, Aziraphale responds. Yes, yes, I do now. 

They lay there, and remember together, six-thousand years of good and light, and fun and joy, and it’s easier. It doesn’t take away all the bad that he’s seen, but it’s easier. He remembers the food and the smells and the heavy cotton, and the music and the laughter and his first taste of wine. The bad isn’t gone, but there’s good, too, pushing it’s way in to make room. 

Do you remember when we met? Crowley whispers, their hands linking. 

Aziraphale pulls them up to place a kiss against his knuckles. It was so long ago, a lifetime, but yes, he does. 

I remember, he says. 

#good omens #aziraphale #crowley #ineffable husbands #good omens fic #i tried to draw today and it didnt work so have this instead #my gomens #my go fic

[bookwyrminspiration]

Shattered Upside Down

A kotlc wings au: masterpost here

Chapter 10: The Reconnections

word count: 8.6k

chapter summary: So many things just went wrong, now Sophie and her friends have to pull themselves together and help each other process it, otherwise they'll never figure out what to do next.

warnings: mentions of blood/injury, brief mention of bodies (non-human), general distress and confusion, suppressing emotions, panicking, crying, swearing, purposeful misuse of grammar, a lot of caps (not in an angry way, just excited yelling), and I think that's everything

taglist: I’ll reblog with it. let me know if you want to be added or removed!

Hello! Ten chapters! We're in the double digits now! To celebrate I'll be posting a deleted scene from the earlier chapters, so if that sounds interesting to you, feel free to check it out! Now, I know you're probably eager to find out what happens next, so I'll stop !!

ao3 link here or read below

Everything froze.

The world was silent.

That little girl looked at her, tears streaming down their face, fingers clenched in that creature’s fur, nearly tearing it apart. They stared at her, and Sophie stared back.

Her friends were arranged in a circle around them, stumbling from the rubble, slipping in the carnage, trembling forward. Everyone’s eyes wide, mouths agape, dust clinging to their skin.

Eyes on the girl.

The girl wouldn’t take their eyes off Sophie. There were ten of them arranged in a perfect circle around them like some sick ritual from a human horror film.

Their mouth fell open, salty tears clinging to their lips,

and

they

screamed.

Cracks and tremors exploded their way through the rough ground cascades and shock waves of terror and sheer power ricocheted through the pathways of earth travelling along hidden roots and sending the whole world into a frenzy and it was so so so so unbearably loud.

Sophie clapped her hands over her ears, gritting her teeth as she tried to stop her very brain from rattling about in her skull. Her eyes closed for one moment but that was all it took.

The girl was gone when she opened her eyes.

There was a bag in her hand. Heavy, stuffed with metal pieces and tools and things she didn’t understand. Someone was holding her hand. A cloak had been draped across her back.

People were asking so many questions. What to do. Should they leave? Was Sophie’s shoulder okay? Was anyone else hurt? Would their parents try and come back? They couldn’t, she had their pathfinder. Should they just leave the bodies here?

Because there were bodies everywhere. Flattened into the ground, entrails strung between crumbled buildings like streamers. Thick, gleaming rivers of blood filled the cracks in the pavement, inching ever closer and closer, turning the claw marks and paw imprints in the ground into puddles, into drenched ground and soaked soil.

There was a dandelion growing between the cracks, petals now completely, entirely red.

She couldn’t see through the glass on the building to her side, but she could see her crimson reflection in the sheet of blood running down it, the drops drying like wax to the side.

It vanished, feathers blocked her view.

Deep browns spattered with gold and teal, a grey so dark it looked black, and--blue. A deep, rich blue.

Fitz, Keefe, and Maruca stood at three different points, a triangle amongst the ten of them, wings spread as the entire group faced inward. Blocking everyone’s view.

“What--what now?” Biana whispered, face drained of all color. There was a smudge of dirt on her cheek, bite marks in her lips.

“Who was that?” Keefe asked, grimacing, his hands held awkwardly at his side, like he couldn’t figure out just what he was supposed to do next.

Her fingers tightened around the pathfinder to the point of pain. Sophie just wanted this to be over. She’d been fighting so many people for so long. She didn’t want to anymore. She wanted to take a break, to go to the beach at midnight and push her friends into the water. To tend to a garden because she wanted to and not because she’d die without it. To listen to music on a blaring speaker without the looming terror it would draw something terrifying, something unnaturally scarier than her.

Twirling the pathfinder rhythmically beneath her fingers, she sighed. “Let’s just go.”

Keefe looked to her, alarmed. She didn’t care.

“Anyone have any last minute errands to run while we’re here,” she said, much too lightly. She couldn’t see the carnage through the feather barrier, but she could see it, knew what it looked like. The image was burned blisteringly detailed into her mind, and would remain for the rest of her goddamned life.

“Um...no,” Wylie answered, a bit confused, scratching at his head.

Sophie rubbed at her face; it felt like there was something stuck to her skin. A layer of filth and grime and wrong shuddering through her cells that refused to go away. She gasped, stumbling slightly--her shoulder. The movement jostled her shoulder. Throbbing aches thrummed their way through the surface of her skin, melting her nerves into rivulets of illusory, constant stimulation. Trembling, she exhaled.

Fitz reached out to steady her, frowning as he pulled her in to take a closer look. She didn’t let him. Covering it with her good arm, she tried to sort through her thoughts.

The sight of that little girl again…

“Then let’s just go.” Sophie looked up, startled. Linh. That had been...Linh. Her arms were crossed against her body, brow furrowed. Tam hesitantly placed his hand on her shoulder, seeming to convey something no one but her could understand. Linh shrugged in response and his expression only darkened, fingertips noticeably darker when he dropped his hand.

Almost reluctantly, they all linked hands. Like they were uneasy leaving this place the way it was. But what choice did they have? What could they possibly do?

Run away. That’s what they could do.

Again.

She couldn’t get it off. She couldn’t get anything off. The dust and grime from that haphazard city stuck to her skin like pollen and her clothes were damp with sweat and suctioned to her body and those wings were stuck to her back and she wanted to rip rip rip them off and set them alight and dance through the flames.

But there was dirt on the porch and she needed to sweep it off.

There were flower petals on the couch and she needed to clear them away.

There were wires and metal plates and parts to be sorted.

So she pushed it away. Pushed it down. Took a deep breath. And got back to work.

Unnerving quiet crept through the cracks of the wood planks beneath her feet. Too quiet. No wind blew through the canopied trees, no animals chirped in the forest. Everything had...paused. Or maybe that was just her, unaware of the world around her as she methodically plucked flower petals from the seat of the chair, tossing them out a window.

Everything she did pulled against the bandages wrapped haphazardly around her shoulder. She’d popped a few pills when she’d gotten back, human medicines she’d grabbed with Tam, rinsed the wound off, poured an antiseptic over the top--it’d stung like a bitch but she’d live--and wrapped the thing up. She didn’t want to deal with it anymore than she had to.

Attempting to clean her wound had disturbed some of the neatly wrapped bandages from Elwin--which was surprisingly difficult with all the pollen. But her right arm was still good and covered, the other good from about the elbow down. Right now, she could probably pass as one of those haunt actors in a human haunted house, some kind of resurrected mummy.

As she wandered around, she passed by friends moving, living their own lives, shadows trailing behind them, marring their faces. Biana and Fitz had disappeared somewhere the moment they’d gotten back, tears trailing down their cheeks. Linh had vanished too, arms crossed and expression tight, Tam right behind her, apprehensive, unable to deduce what was wrong.

What wasn’t wrong? That would’ve been a better question.

They were living just to the left of where they should’ve been. They were all together, everyone was alive, but everything was just slightly off. This was not right. They weren’t supposed to be like this. What had happened to them? Was it still happening? Who was that little girl?

She found a closet in one of the empty houses, a broom and some lengths of handmade rope, flowers curling out from a handful of the woven vines. That...didn’t seem like how rope was supposed to exist, but she also didn’t know much about making rope. Or anything about it.

A broom sat in the corner of the closet, which she made sure to note. She’d need that.

Slinging the length of rope over her good shoulder, she carelessly tossed a throwing star from hand to hand as she made her way through the village.

The bridges needed repair.

Just ahead, one of the bridges had snapped off entirely on one side, dangling over the edge and into a sharp drop much in the way those comical action movies had shown from when she was little.

Thunk. She’d set the supplies near the edge of the platform, but she didn’t care.

Tossing her legs over the edge, she braced herself; this would take a level of control she wasn’t sure she possessed--especially not right now.

Pressing off with her hands, she lowered herself into the air, just like when she’d lowered herself into swimming pools as a kid. Not the time to be nostalgic, Sophie. But she couldn’t help it. The sun had been overwhelming, the air muggy and humid. A beehive had started to form under the water slide and her and her sister would always plunge beneath the chemical surface when a bee flew near, or even just the sound of those wings approached.

The very same sound her own wings were now making, holding her gently in the sky as she urged herself forward, muscles in her back tearing at the scratches, the mite marks in her shoulder. Grabbing the frayed ropes and hauling them back to the platform she’d jumped from, she used her body weight to anchor it down while she tied and wove and cut the fresh rope--that’s what the throwing star was for. She didn’t think there’d be any scissors in an abandoned village, but she was open to surprises.

Actually, no she wasn’t. The unexpected oh so frequently came begging alongside disaster and terror, singing a sweet song of promise only to rip it to shreds as soon as you let it in.

Testing the strength, she tentatively walked across the planks, bouncing in the middle. She probably shouldn’t have been walking on it if she was unsure of its stability, but she wouldn’t fall if it broke. A dangerous mindset to play with and she knew it, but she didn’t care. Either way, it held. Good. Something was fixed. Something was better now.

She did it again. Time ticked passed, the supply of rope slowly dwindled, knot after knot slipping through her hands, fixing bridges until her fingers were raw and red and the muscles in her back were threatening to pop out. Her shoulder stung, the entire area burning as if set alight, but she didn’t dare take more than a minute’s break. Anything more would snap her out of this zone.

Back to the closet, then. She grabbed the broom. Anything, anything to keep her body moving, physical labor to numb her mind.

Dust showered over the edge, tumbling towards the ground far far below. She could watch it touch the ground if she wanted; instead, she let her mind disappear. Letting herself live in her own body would lead to circles and circles and circles, coming back to everything and anything she’d ever said.

Each mistake she’d made. There was nothing she could undo, but her mind could replay the possibilities over and over and over again. What if she’d tucked the wings inside her shirt instead of relying on just the cape after they’d escaped that creature. What if she’d agreed to meet in a different city, let Mysterium be just a mission for Dex, contacting their parents separate.

She should’ve tried harder, fought stronger. Should’ve. She hadn’t. An infinite cascade of what-ifs and maybes were drowning her, shoving her head under the water and there wasn’t a drop of energy left in her to scream.

Bristles brushed against the wood, precise. Methodic. She worked her way out from the inside of the platform, moving the dirt to the edges to watch it fall away.

Realizing there was grime inside too, she entered her little home. When had she come back to it--she could’ve sworn she was out further. Shifting the rug out of the way, she efficiently swept the floor. Kicking aside furniture with barely half a thought, holding a couch up with one hand, careful to avoid stepping on the stained glass littered about the floor. Bare feet didn’t mix well with glass, and her body was too bruised to torment further. Not that it was stopping her.

There was so much to do, so many tasks to complete.

This wasn’t right. This wasn’t how she was supposed to react, she knew that much. She had quite possibly just permanently severed her connection to her old life. Had maybe seen her father for the last time. He’d seen her, knew there was something wrong.

And she stood here with a broom she’d found in that empty home, sweeping rivers of dried dirt off the wood floor, watching it shower all the way down to the ground below.

She didn’t remember how she got back here.

She didn’t remember what she was supposed to do next.

She didn’t remember her name.

“Hey, you,” he said, gently, approaching hesitantly from behind. She still flinched, muscles tensing. Keefe took the broom from her hands, setting it to rest against the side of a nearby wall. That--that wasn’t her wall. When had she strayed so far from her cottage?

She hadn’t realized she’d stopped moving.

Almost like he was afraid he’d break her, he pushed a few strands of hair back behind her ear, the ones that were obscuring her face. Hiding the trails of tears crying silently down her cheeks.

He inhaled softly, eyebrows creasing with concern as his other hand came up to rest on the other cheek, holding her in his hands. She hadn’t even looked at him and yet she could still picture every minute detail of his expression.

“You okay?”

She didn’t know if she was physically capable of responding. Softly, her own hands covered his, savoring the warmth of his skin against her own, pressing her eyes closed in a futile attempt to dry her eyes.

Sophie leaned forward, her forehead pressing against Keefe’s chest as his arms widened around her, caught off guard for a moment before his hands slowly settled on her back, careful to avoid the wings.

“O-oh. Okay. We can--we can do this, then. If you need.”

She did need. Desperately. Tilting her face to the side so her cheek was pressed to his chest instead, she held him close. And let him hold her. They didn’t talk. Just stood there, bodies flush.

Eventually, he raised one of his hands from her back, brushing it through her hair, chaotic and tangled from the style she’d hastily torn out. She felt his fingertips combing through the strands, ghosting across her scalp as he pulled at the knots, untangling it with his fingers the best he could. His fingers slid against the back of her neck, lifting the strands stuck to her skin. Gentle. He was oh so gentle with her, like she was a porcelain doll and one wrong move would shatter her into pieces.

“You doing alright, Sophie?”

Sophie pulled back and nodded, smoothing out his shirt, pulling it back down and pointedly avoiding eye contact. He wasn’t having it.

Keefe held her chin, slowly directing her to look back at him, his skin warm against the dried salt on her own.

“Are you okay, Sophie? Please talk to me. Or anyone. I know that mission didn’t go well and--”

“Stop,” she whispered, and he shut right up. It was so so much harder to talk than she thought it would be. “I can’t. Not right--I can’t. Too much. Everything. All at once. I can’t.”

He was nodding, the wings at his back shifting slightly, readjusting themselves, a deep charcoal grey. Her fingers tightened into fists in this shirt before she realized what she was doing and released the fabric, stepping back, exhaling.

Today had been absolutely awful and she hated everything about it. From pushing her old life even further away to accidentally revealing the wings to the little girl on that intelligent monster down to the chill in the air that morning.

But Dex had gotten his supplies. He’d had everyone help carry everything back--though he tried to get her to let them all handle it, what with the shoulder. And they were all still here. And everyone else had been taken back to the underground unharmed. Those were wins. They were positives. They were good things but she just couldn’t focus on them.

“Do you...want a distraction?” Keefe asked, hesitantly waving a hand in front of her face to bring her back to reality.

She nodded, running her hands down her face. It was too much. Too many things had gone so wrong so quickly and she’d wanted to bury her imparter beneath her mattress because it was exploding with messages and hails and just the thought of reading them made her so nauseous her knees had buckled and she’d had to lay on the floor for several minutes.

That’s when she’d remembered how disheveled the place was. So she’d started cleaning and hadn’t stopped. Not until he’d come to find her.

“Okay,” he breathed, hands combing back through his hair as he squinted off into the distance. Thinking. He hadn’t had anything planned and was thinking on the fly. He glanced to her.

“You stole Grady’s pathfinder, right?”

“No need to rub it in,” she grumbled, patting at various points all over her body, trying to remember where she’d put it. She’d thought she’d tucked it into her waistband, but it wasn’t there. “I think I left it inside.”

He pulled at his lip with his fingers, lost in thought. “Okay. Cool. Where?” She gestured for him to follow her, leading him across a few bridges, some she’d repaired and tied back into place, others they had to take a route around because she hadn’t fixed them yet.

She ducked her head inside, scanning the space, the little tables. There. She jogged inside, snatching it off a chair and returning back outside, holding it out to Keefe.

Taking it from her, he began to spin the facets, a new pattern emerging. It seemed familiar, although she could never quite understand how the crystals worked.

He smiled slightly to himself, glancing. When he saw her looking back he quickly averted his gaze, cheeks turning red. Tilting her head to the side, she watched him hold up the pathfinder to the afternoon light.

Lacing their fingers together, he looked over his shoulder at her. “I don’t think you’ve ever been where we’re going, but it’s not the location that’s important. Got it?”

She shook her head, but he didn’t elaborate further, pulling them both into the light.

Purple grass had never made much sense to Sophie. Foxfire had purple grass, but no one bothered to explain why. It was one of those elvish things that hadn’t been deemed important enough for her to learn.

This grass wasn’t just purple, but varying shades of seafoam greens and delicate blues as well. Tall, reaching to about her knees, some adorned with flowers.

That was all. Grass, as far as she could see.

Keefe sighed next to her, then rubbed at his neck, smiling sheepishly. “I wasn’t sure if this place would be clear or not.” Clear of monsters. Taking a chance, coming here without scouting or defense aside from their new mobility and Sophie’s strength--not that she was in great shape at the moment. Perhaps the others had strange new traits too, not that she’d ask. Fitz had been staring off quite a lot recently, but she didn’t know if that meant anything.

“What are we doing here?” she asked, looking around. There was...nothing. Nothing was good. Nothing meant they were safe. Nothing meant this place hadn’t been overrun or corrupted just yet. But it also wasn’t like Keefe to do nothing.

Tucking the pathfinder away, he ran his fingers through his hair, standing slightly taller, pulling himself together. “Okay. Look around. What do you see?”

“Grass.”

“Yeah, there’s grass. Who do we know who likes grass and fields and streams?” He was trying to lead her somewhere but her brain had turned to lead. Wait. A stream? Huh, now that she thought about it, the faint gurgle of something wet rushing by could be heard. Water pouring over rocks.

Sophie rolled her eyes at him, but he just smiled back. Okay. Grass. Someone who liked--

“Oh!” She could feel her eyebrows shoot up, putting the pieces together.

Keefe full on grinned now, but she shut her eyes, sinking to her knees amongst the foliage, deliberately ignoring the light, tickling brush off the blades against her skin. .

Bracing her, holding her steady just in case, his hand rested atop her shoulder as he came to stand behind her.

Pressing her fingers to her temples, she transmitted her query across the world. Hello? Are you there? Over and over and over again, unsure which direction to send the message so sending it everywhere, a full 360 around her body, waves of power rushing from her mind that no one but people like her could sense.

Finally, her message was answered.

SOPHIE! HELLO! FRIEND!

Silveny’s exuberant shouts filled her mind and she barely even grimaced. Apparently maintaining the mindbubble so often had built up her resilience to pounding noise inside her head.

Yeah, she responded, leaning back into Keefe. Do you want to come visit? Me and Keefe?

FRIEND! VISIT! KEEFE!

Sophie nodded her head, then realized the glittery horse couldn’t see her. Yes. It’s safe. Well--yeah, we’ll go with that. Safe! Just a really quick visit, okay? I don’t want to put you in danger.

Keefe was fiddling with the sleeves of her shirt, unrolling the parts that had gotten bunched up.

VISIT! SAFE! SOPHIE!

Yes...that is...that’s what I said.

WHERE! WHERE! WHERE!

“I’d like to contact whoever designed alicorns and file a formal noise complaint,” she grumbled, and she could faintly hear Keefe’s snickering before her attention was too far gone to process anything anymore.

I’ll show you, she said, gathering up an image of the place. That must’ve been why Keefe had asked her what she’d seen, to ensure she had a clear visualization before reaching out. Hadn’t he come up with this on the spot? Why was his attention to detail so casual?

Almost immediately after sharing the image, Silveny severed their connection, still mulling over and looking at the details Sophie’d provided.

Groaning, she sat back up, realizing she’d been leaning practically all of her weight onto Keefe, who’d sat down behind her at some point during that conversation--it must’ve lasted significantly longer than she’d realized.

“So?” he asked, shaking his arms out and stretching a bit, rolling his wrist and straightening his shirt.

Sophie blinked a few times, the fading light still too bright after her eyes had been closed for so long “She cut me off. I showed her where we were and then she severed the connection, so whatever that means--”

Crackling thunder rolled through the air, making them both jump as a hole tore itself through space, several sparkling winged alicorns emerging, prancing their way through the sky as they circled down to land a ways away, trotting over to where they both sat in the grass.

“Hey, Glitter Butt,” Keefe whispered, stroking her face, brushing the icy strands of hair out of her eyes. She snorted and butted his hand in return, pressingly firmly into his hand. His smile was infectious, the wings at his back a near blinding white to match the alicorn before him.

KEEFE! KEEFE! KEEFE!

“She’s sure excited to see you,” Sophie told him, rubbing at her temple; Silveny was even louder in person.

Meanwhile, she was surrounded on either side by two little foals bumping up against her thighs, trying to knock her into the grass so they could play. But their movements were...disjointed. Erratic. Colored with fear and panic.

“They’re anxious,” she realized, frowning. Keefe’s expression had darkened slightly too, his wings shifting back to grey.

“Are you, mama?” He consoled, pressing up close to her neck, petting her all down her side. She didn’t know why she’d bothered to say it aloud--he could already feel it.

Sophie relented after a particularly brutal push from Wynn, sinking to the ground once more, letting him curl up in her lap, trembling beneath her fingers as she stroked his mane. Luna took more to Keefe, pulling at his shirt with her teeth, nearly tearing the fabric, pressing her wet nose to his skin, making him jump slightly.

He laid back in the grass, wings spreading behind him, Luna curling up beside him and laying her head atop his stomach. It was in this moment, the wind gently stirring the pastel grass cushioning their bodies, the intertwining feathers, the way his eyes closed and he leaned back, hand tangled in Luna’s mane, that Sophie yearned to be an artist. To capture this moment right now and make it real somewhere else, to allow it to exist outside her mind.

What she wouldn’t give to preserve this moment, this reprieve.

KEEFE? KEEFE? KEEFE OKAY? Silveny interrupted, blasting her thoughts into Sophie’s mind, hopping about anxiously, refusing to settle. Greyfell stood a little ways back, wary eyes observing the environment.

There’d been no news of anything catastrophic that Silveny had shared with her, nothing alarming or dangerous. But she’d kept secrets before. What had they seen? What had they met that made them so skittish?

Wynn butted his head against her side, demanding more cuddles and attention.

Yeah, Keefe’s okay. Why?

Silveny had pressed in closer, stomping at the ground. She tried to grab him by the shirt, pull him closer to her, but he ducked back, holding up his hands.

“Hey, hey, hey. You’re fine. It’s okay. Calm down, mama,” he whispered, gently stroking her head, trying to calm her. It was only marginally effective; she stopped her stomping, but her eyes were frantic, darting between Keefe and the ground and the area surrounding, sniffing the air, exhaling heavily.

Keefe glanced to her in question. Asking what was wrong.

Silveny. What’s wrong?

MONSTER! KEEFE! PROTECT!

I--what? What are you talking about? To Keefe she said, “Something about monsters. I think she’s trying to protect you.”

SMELL! MONSTER! PROTECT KEEFE!

Turning towards the panicked alicorn, he smiled slightly, nervously. “Thanks, but I’m good. You don’t need to protect me. You need to protect yourselves and your family. I’ve got other people to have my back.”

Silveny wouldn’t relent, her motherly concern boiling over and exploding from within her too-caring heart. Pressing forward, she tried to snap at Keefe’s wings, biting at the feathers.

They pulled back, snapping shut behind him just before she could reach as he sat up fully, backing away from her.

Oh.

Keefe.

Monster.

He was the monster she was scenting.

Silveny didn’t seem to understand anything Sophie tried to explain. Not until she told her that biting those wings, the monster, would hurt Keefe. Then she stopped trying.

But she didn’t give up, convinced there was something she could do to protect him from some creature, not understanding it was him she scented.

“I didn’t realize just how much our scents had changed. I mean, I know Ro told us but--” he cut off, still slightly shaken, expression drawn. Luna still curled around him, but the wings were tight to his back now, significantly darker. More shadowed. Haunted.

Silveny refused to leave his side, pressed close to him in the grass. Sophie had kept her own wings tucked in close, flat against her back. It felt unnatural, like they wanted to remain spread, but she could do it easy enough. Keefe’s were so much more obvious, that’s what’d tipped the alicorns off. Hers could be hidden, discreet. Anything to prevent more disruption, to worsen that aura of hurt lingering around Keefe, the one he was trying so hard to pretend didn’t even exist.

Sophie couldn’t think of anything to say, instead staying silent.

Distraction. They needed a distraction. That’s why they’d come all the way out here, although she didn’t know where that was. To have fun. Relax. Ignore everything else for just a single moment.

You know what? Fuck it.

Hey, Silveny? Want to fly?

Head perking up, her eyes focused on Sophie.

FLY? FLY? FLY?

She nodded, debating how she was going to navigate this. Yeah. Fly! Her shoulder could probably take it. She’d regret it tomorrow, but it wasn’t tomorrow yet.

“What are you saying to her,” Keefe hissed, leaning back a bit as Silveny’s wings began to flap slightly, rising from her sitting position to towering about the two of them sitting before her. Even Sophie felt as though she could feel the waves of excitement radiating off her, and she wasn’t even the empath. Keefe’s eyes were slightly clouded, like he was sorting through something before coming back to himself.

Sophie brushed him off. “You asked me to trust you when coming here, now it’s your turn to trust me.”

“That is so unnecessarily cryptic, Foster.” She stared at him. “Okay, alright. Point taken.”

Silveny bent down, expecting the two of them to climb atop her back, but Sophie shook her head. Keefe’s eyes widened and he slowly turned to look at her, mouth comically agape, like he was questioning whether her mind still worked properly. Probably not.

No. We’re gonna do this a little differently this time, okay? Trust me.

DIFFERENT FLY? TRUST? DIFFERENT FLY?

Shaking out her hands, trying to dispel the nerves, she nodded. Yep. Trust us. You go ahead and we’ll join you.

It took a minute or two more of explanation, but finally the stubborn alicorn relented, her family following behind. Taking off into the sky, the four of them began to circle a few dozen feet about the ground, moving around the two of them left on the ground.

“Are you serious? You’re really--are you sure?” he asked, hands on either side of his head, fingers digging into his scalp as his eyes remained oh so open, scanning her from head to toe.

She shrugged, turning away as she straightened her clothes out; the fabric had bunched and remained full of grass. “Want to join them or not?”

“Well--uh--you know--ah--we can’t--why…” Sophie looked to him over her shoulder, realizing he truly was stunned. Entirely at a loss for words.

“Hey, you don’t have to, you know. You’ll be fine either way. Nothing will happen.”

He rolled his eyes at her, insulted. Of course he would follow her, he just couldn’t believe who she’d become. The decisions she made so casually that would’ve sent her spiraling into anxiety before. Part of her didn’t believe it either, pretended nothing had happened at all.

Crouching down slightly, she gathered her energy for a moment before leaping into the sky, wings snapping out behind her. Steadily, she made her way into the sky, turning back to see Keefe.

His wings beat steadily behind him--he must’ve practiced, she realized with a start. Light grey feathers shivering in the wind as he caught up to her, color staining his cheeks already.

“See? Everything’s okay,” she whispered, unsure whether she was comforting herself or him. Either way, he smiled in return, chaotically bumping into her with his shoulder, nearly tumbling out of the sky in the process. Hiding her wince, she smiled wider. Yeah, that injury did not like all this movement, but she’d never been known to listen to her body.

“Yeah. Okay. We’re okay.”

With each beat, it grew easier. The tightness in her chest eased, her smile gradually felt true. Every time she took to the sky she landed more skilled, more aware of her own body. They worked in tandem, the two of them. Her and the wings.

SOPHIE! KEEFE! FLY!

The impatient alicorn had darted down and was now flying in concentric, tightening circles around the two of them, whining in excitement.

Yeah, Mama. Fly. Silveny let out a shriek of excitement, tumbling through the air, her two little trouble makers coming up beside them to butt into their legs, testing their balance.

Sophie moved much more sporadically than the five of them, rhythmically shifting in the sky while they moved steadily; something about their wings having feathers and hers being insect-based, she assumed. But she didn’t want to do any thinking right now.

Right now there were four alicorns and someone she loved right beside her, laughing and intertwining and dipping through the sky.

Keefe waved frantically, drawing her attention. “Foster! Look!” Wynn hovered beside him in the air, and on some unknown signal both of them snapped their wings shut, gravity taking them by the hand and dragging them down head first, dozens upon dozens of feet rushing past in a few moments as the ground grew nearer and nearer.

At the last possible second, they both opened their wings, pure white feathers catching the wind as they pulled a sharp turn, skimming the top of the grass before the momentum sent them rocketing back into the sky, looping around to come to a mostly steady pause in the air.

“Why? Why would you do such a thing,” she managed, clutching her chest. She’d trusted him, but watching him drop headfirst, unprotected, had ignited some visceral panic, adrenaline humming through her veins, making it slightly more difficult to maintain her position in the sky.

KEEFE FLY! KEEFE FLY! KEEFE FLY! Silveny cheered in her mind, but Sophie tried to ignore the pestering. Greyfell seemed to be occupying most of her attention anyways.

“Aww, what? Do you care about me or something?” he teased, circling back around to her, squishing his cheeks between his palms.

Swatting at him, she glitched back a little, wings buzzing and failing to hide her grin. “Unfortunately, I’m invested in your physical and mental well-being, you dumbass.”

Keefe scrunched his nose up at her, pressing in close and grabbing her by the wrist, drawing her away slightly, leading her through loops in the air. He let go eventually, realizing it was much more difficult when holding on to someone, the same way running was so difficult when holding someone else's hand.

She missed the warmth of his skin, though. Missed it desperately.

Music. In a human film, there’d be soft, soothing music playing over a montage of the two of them whirling through the sky, the sound of their laughter cutting through when Sophie’s shirt rode up and the fabric got bunched on her face, when Keefe tried to stay low and fell from the sky, instead ending up rolling through the grass.

Everything was okay, just like they’d said. Like they’d promised. All she could hear was Keefe’s voice, his ringing laughter, and all she could see was his smile, the blinding, near glow of his bone-white feathers.

They let the time pass.

They stopped trying to stop it.

Hey--where are you? Fitz interrupted her as she darted around an alicorn wing, testing her own agility.

Hmm? she replied, startled.

I asked where--

Oh. Mind processing what he’d said a few seconds later, she interrupted him. I don’t know. Keefe took us here.

She could’ve sworn Fitz was mentally trying to strangle her, shake some sense into her. Sophie took the brief moment of silence to slow down, coming to a hover as she closed her eyes, focusing on the conversation. It was hard to escape her body with the pounding in her shoulder, but she managed.

Alright, he said finally, clearly distracted with something on his end. Can you come back, please? Did you even tell anyone you were leaving? What are you even doing--you know what? Later. Just...I need you. Please.

Wings rushed rhythmically beside her, Keefe having noticed her distraction and coming to make sure she didn’t tumble from the sky. How considerate.

Are you okay? Heart skipping a bit, she resisted the urge to pull at her eyelashes. It was that brief moment before disaster, that poignant pause where the next few words would determine whether the adrenaline kicked in in full or her panic would waiver and they’d laugh about it later. Those few seconds before it set in where you tried to figure out if it was real.

He hesitated. I--I don’t know. Is it even possible to be okay right now?

Okay, okay, she consoled, instincts kicking in. Give us a few minutes and we’ll be there, okay? I promise. Don’t do anything stupid, please. We’re coming.

Yeah...okay.

The connection cut out and she opened her eyes, disoriented for a moment. Keefe was grimacing, shaking his hands out, trying to dispel something.

“What’s got you all anxious, Foster?” Ah. Right. He could feel the sudden souring of her mood.

Moving away from him, towards the alicorns, she called over her shoulder. “We need to go. Fitz asked for us to come back and he sounded really upset.”

Keefe started for a moment then followed after. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. But he wants us back so we’re going back.”

“Okay, yeah. Yeah let’s go.” he repeated himself a few times, and Sophie swore if she were an empath she’d feel the same waves of dread and anxiety rolling off of him as he felt from her.

Silveny, Keefe and I need to leave. You and your family need to go back to wherever you’re safest, okay? I’m sorry we couldn’t stay longer.

KEEFE! SOPHIE! STAY! She begged, sounding like she wanted to kidnap the two of them and steal them away permanently, convinced she could protect them.

She shook her head, curled up in the air beside the alicorn, cradling her head between her hands, pressing their foreheads together. We can’t, mama. But you need to stay safe. We’ll see you again soon.

SEE SOPHIE SOON!

Yeah! We won’t wait so long next time.

SEE KEEFE SOON! Silveny playfully bumped into Sophie, circling away to do the same to Keefe, who said much of the same as she had, wishing her well and promising to visit sometime.

Neither of them knew if they’d be able to keep that promise.

Wynn and Luna butted against them too, demanding a few last pets and snuggles before they followed behind their parents, Greyfell unexpectedly brushing wings with Keefe in farewell before they vanished into the void with one last message.

SOPHIE SAFE! KEEFE SAFE! STAY SAFE!

It was useless to wait here any longer, but they both hesitated for a single moment, long enough to take a breath. To watch the grass shiver in the breeze, the pollen dance through the air.

Offering Keefe her hand, Sophie conjured the clearest image she could of the gnomish village, the way it looked from up above. Their fingers intertwined and Sophie stopped beating those wings, letting herself fall into a dead drop just as Keefe had, but this time they didn’t catch themselves: they plummeted into the void.

Humidity condensed into clouds, obscuring her vision. Apparently her best image of above the village was from that dragon fight, much higher than she realized. The two of them descended in slow, coiling circles, both of them wishing they could go faster but not sure if they should risk it.

Wylie waved at them as they landed from a bridge a little ways away, so she waved back.

We’re back; where are you? Hand dropping back to her side, she resolved that if he didn’t respond within the next fifteen seconds she was tracking him down.

She reached ten before his voice filled her head.

My...house, he said, unsure what to call it just like the rest of them.

Biting her lip, she glanced to Keefe. “Do you know where Fitz is staying?”

He nodded, taking the lead. A stab of guilt threaded its way through the lining of her stomach, coiling around her ribs and squeezing tight. How shameful that she’d gotten so caught up in her own life, her own troubles, that she didn’t even know where he was staying.

Leading her through a series of bridges and turns, a cottage came into view, slanted and twisted around the side of a tree, a spiral of stairs leading towards a splintered door left agape, a pattern of slashes in the front that she forced herself to remove from her mind.

It was the highest building in the village, roof open to the sky.

No creaks or groans came from the stairs as she practically ran up them, imagining the worst of possibilities, heart lagging behind, stumbling with dread. Keefe was only a moment behind, cursing as his feathers snagged on a tear in the railing.

Tentatively, she knocked on the door, but when no response came she just pushed inside.

“Fitz? You alright?” she called out, glancing around the area. Gasping, she let the door swing behind her. The room was in chaos, papers strewn about the floor, his bag discarded near a beanbag chair, spilling empty vials and snack bars onto the ground.

A shuffling came from upstairs--there was an upstairs? Fitz tumbled into the room a few moments later, disheveled, like he hadn’t realized they were actually coming.

Keefe let out a low whistle. “Okay, buddy. What the fuck.”

Fitz was picking at his lip, distracted, frantically scanning the papers on the floor like he was looking for something. “Hmm. Yea,” he responded absentmindedly.

Sophie was too busy scanning him from head to toe, searching every inch for sign of injury or distress. His knuckles were red and raw, his hair sticking out in every possible direction like he’d been running his hands through it, pulling at it.

“What did you need?” she asked, voice soft and gentle. Something was wrong. Something was eating eating eating at him enough that he’d asked her to come.

Fitz exhaled heavily, reaching up to run his hands down his face, then dropped them to his sides. “I don’t know,” he whispered, clenching his jaw. “It doesn’t make any sense.” he was picking at his lip again, arm shaking.

She tried again. “Well, maybe if you tried describing it, we could figure--”

“No.” He had turned around, lowering himself to the floor, collecting the papers and starting to place them in some sort of order. Where had he gotten paper? He glanced at her guiltily. “Sorry. That sounded rude. I didn’t mean--I’m sorry. I don’t mean that I don’t know what the problem is, the problem is that I don’t know. I don’t understand this. I keep--I keep going over what we know, organizing it into notes and sections and treating it like a goddamned homework assignment but I just...the pieces don’t fit together. And there are so many loose strings and things to tie up and come back to and I can’t get that information, which just makes it--”

“O-kay, babe. Let’s slow down there for a hot second,” Keefe interrupted, lowering himself next to Fitz. Fitz slumped, all the air rushing out of his body seemingly at once, expression softening into delicate pain.

Sophie just stood there for a moment before shaking herself out of it, kneeling on the floor beside him, taking the papers from his hand. It was just pages upon pages of notes, scribbled diagrams besides carefully organized and sectioned observations, notes about the wings and the creatures, notes about the little echo and the way Tam’s eyes had changed.

“Here,” he said, handing her a book on top of it all. “That’s what I’ve been working on.”

Oh. It was the book. The monster book. The journal they’d all started who knew how long ago, a collection of notes and things known about the various creatures they’d encountered so far. Their behaviors, their traits, the noise they made if any.

She’d forgotten they’d brought it along.

He clearly hadn’t.

“Okay,” she said, trying to collect herself. “What is...what have you been working on?” His thoughts were so disjointed, something occupying his mind so intensely he wasn't speaking clearly. Hard as she tried she couldn’t make sense of it.

Fitz gestured like it was obvious. “I’m trying to solve it. The wings.” He scooted closer to her, reaching out to flip through the pages to a new section.

A section...about all of them.

It felt so very wrong and off-putting, seeing themselves beside all those horrid things in that book. But she shook it off. Not now.

“Solve? What do you mean ‘solve?’” Keefe asked, leaning in closer to see the pages, quickly turning away when he caught a glimpse of a few sketched feathers, all in various shades of grey.

Fitz groaned, rubbing at his face again. “I can’t--I can’t explain it, okay? It just--it doesn't want to make sense. I swear it makes sense. There’s just--I’m just missing something and then I’ll figure it out and--there’s an explanation somewhere. If I just find it then we can--”

“We can what, Fitz?” Keefe asked, painfully soft.

He went quiet. His fingers curled, nails digging into his face until Sophie reached out to pull them away, lacing her fingers through his own. The movement aggravated her shoulder but she ignored it, letting out only the smallest sound. It didn’t matter. He was crying.

Keefe moved closer and began rubbing his back, the space between the protruding wings, telling him to breathe, the instruction accompanied by a wince of his own as all of Fitz’s...whatever it was hit him, flooding through his mind, visible on his face. But he just shook it off, continuing the slow circular motions.

“I don’t even know what I’m trying to do,” he laughed, hollow. His fingers tightened around Sophie’s before relaxing, falling into his lap. “We’ve already messed everything up. There’s no coming back from this. I don’t even know why I’m trying.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Sophie said, rubbing her thumb against the back of his hand. “We’re still trying. We’re always going to try--it’s what we do, right? Together. All of us. That’s how we work. That’s us. I like it that way.” She had no idea what to say.This was so...unexpected. Out of nowhere. Or maybe she just hadn’t been paying as much attention as she should’ve been.

He hummed half-heartedly in response, cheeks flooding red. Keefe absentmindedly reached up to brush a stray piece of hair from Fitz’s forehead, bumping him lightly with his shoulder.

“You should listen to Foster; she knows what she’s talking about most of the time.”

Sophie rolled her eyes at him, but Fitz was smiling slightly. “Yeah...she usually does. I guess that’s why I asked for you.”

“You don’t need a reason to ask for me,” she reminded him, letting go of his hand to flop back against the hard wood of the floor, the sound of something clattered to the ground accompanied it. But she didn’t notice, flinching as she hit her shoulder, staring towards the sloped ceiling, the veins of vines curving around the roof. Like the ones that had trapped that creature.

A pang of guilt overwhelmed her for a moment, almost enough to take her breath away. She still hadn’t told anyone about that. But she turned her attention back to the situation at hand. Keefe was looking at her funny, but he shook himself off and turned away.

Fitz shifted forward, flopping down on the floor beside her, wings spreading beneath him to accommodate for the shift. She couldn’t imagine it was comfortable, but he seemed fine.

“I know,” was all he said.

Keefe frowned. “Well now I feel a little left out. Do I get to join the cuddle session?” Fitz laughed, a real laugh, patting the open space to his right, inviting Keefe in.

When Keefe joined, Fitz was sandwiched between the two of them, the three of them looking off at nothing, pretending they didn’t notice the way their skin brushed against each other. No one spoke, the echoing of their heartbeats more than enough to fill the passing time.

They had responsibilities, yes. But this mattered more. Her friends, her family, would always matter more.

Fitz’s breathing evened out, the tension draining from his muscles. Whatever distressed frenzy he’d been in when they arrived started to ebb, his pulse slowed.

Sophie counted each beat, the three of them combined, still unnerved that she could even hear their hearts. Fitz’s hand was playing with her hair, rearranging it around her face as he lay beside her, oh so careful not to jostle her shoulder, the bandages. They’d shifted at some point, Sophie now more atop his wing so she could be closer to his body, Keefe the same on the other side. He was fiddling with Fitz’s hand, pulling at his fingers and tracing the lines with his palm.

“Thanks for coming,” Fitz whispered, breaking the long silence.

“Hmm?”

“You didn’t have to come,” he explained, not looking at either of them. “But thank you. I..I needed this. Someone.”

Keefe rolled over, propping himself up on his elbows, looking down at the two of them. “We’re always going to be here when you need us, Avery.” Fitz rolled his eyes at him, smiling.

“Just…” Sophie began, pausing and restarting. “Thanks for reaching out. Instead of dealing with it on your own. Thanks for letting us in.” He blinked, like he hadn’t thought of it that way before.

Keefe pushed himself up further, looking over at something, drawing both of their attention. “Hey, uh. Foster? You’re getting some messages.” Her imparter--oh, that must’ve been what the noise was. It had fallen from her pocket, discarded somewhere on the floor--she’d turned off the vibrations and sound so she wouldn’t hear it if someone said anything. It was stupid, she knew, but she hadn’t known what else to do.

Exhaling, she closed her eyes. Yeah. She should deal with those now. Nodding to herself, she pushed herself into a sitting position, bearing her weight on her good arm. Keefe lowered himself back down next to Fitz.

One thing at a time.

Reaching over, she grabbed her imparter, bringing it to her lap so she could see it better.

Her mouth fell open. Fitz was watching her carefully, messing with Keefe’s hair and trying to act nonchalant, like he wasn’t observing her every move, gauging her reaction.

“How bad?” Keefe asked, head resting on his arms.

Sophie didn’t even respond, sitting up straighter and thumbing open the device, going straight to her messages. The most recent ones.

“Elwin--he messaged me.” She blurted out, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

They both stopped moving.

“He says he wants to meet up. Secretly. Just--just with him.” Trembling, she turned the screen around so they could read it.

Sophie. I don’t know what’s going on with you or your friends, but please let me help. I want nothing but the best for you and I can’t help you if you’re hidden. I’m not asking you to reveal your secrets, but let me in just enough to patch you up. I don’t need all the answers, but I won’t sleep well until I know I’ve done everything I can. You have injuries left untreated.

But it was the last part of the message that really stunned her.

No one knows I’m sending this, so don’t let them know. We can keep this just between us. You’re a strong, independent young woman, but I hope you’ll accept my help.

#:)))) #cliffhangers my beloved #someone scream about this with me #ahhhh #ten chapters in now!!! #it's getting so long!! #it's officially longer than some published novels!! #i have books on my shelf shorter than this au!! #anywaysss #how we feeling? #i told you not everything was bad #i will admit some parts were #but still!! #(also bad as in emotionally challenging/upsetting) #kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #kotlc wings au #shattered upside down #shattered upside down chapter #quil's quill #kotlc fic #kotlc fanfic #long fic

[starlit-lion]

Tell us about your OCs!

Well basically my main OCs right now are my two most recent DnD characters, Ellywick Asbestos Wormwise and Bellona Bumblefoot. Ellywick is a Gnome Alchemist with bubblegum pink hair and a little apron outfit that is meant to look sorta like a garden gnome as well as functioning as lab gear when you throw in the gloves and goggles. She's on the short and chubby side and has round baby face, which is all meant to make her very cute at first glance. But in reality she's a mad scientist and her alignment is chaotic neutral bordering on evil as she uses the party and enemies alike as lab rats for her inventions and elixirs (Though she comes to like the party as true friends in time). Her favorite cantrip is Acid Splash out of a self-filling beaker, and in the latest campaign I played her in she had a flintlock pistol with Repeating Shot on it, which I flavored as her modifying the gun to shoot non-Newtonian oobleck (I actually made annotated drawings and wrote down exactly how the magic on it worked too, haha). Usually Ellywick has or eventually gets the Homunculus Servant infusion to make a sort of toad-shaped cauldron with bat wings that she names Silly. Bellona is a Swarmkeeper Ranger who carries around a hive of magical honeybees and never takes her beekeeping gear off, meaning the party doesn’t know her true appearance for a long time after meeting her. Her overcoat is inspired by medieval beekeepers with the round, wicker masks, with feathers in the hood to look like antennae among some other little insect-inspired details. I legit just love to draw Bellona because I’m super proud of her design, haha. Under the mask, Bellona is secretly a Goblin, and constantly worries what others will think of her because of that. She’s good-aligned and very kind, so she always wants to see the best in others too, when it’s not at odds with her social anxiety. Being genuinely good-hearted wins over certain NPCs, though it can also lead her to be naive, which I really want to get the chance to play up as a flaw sometime. Also I like to flavor all her Ranger spells as things the bees do, rather than something she can cast by herself. And they take on according flavors, such as Goodberry being magical honeycomb, and Faerie Fire being fluorescent pollen. Bellona herself has some trouble grasping magic, especially non nature-related things. To the point of being a little stubborn about it.

#Sorry this took me a little while to get to! #Thanks for asking and letting me ramble haha #Bellona #Ellywick

[saltymiraculer]

A Pretty Flower for a Pretty Girl

I’ve stayed up until midnight reading @zoe-oneesama ‘s Scarlet Lady comics a few too many times, so I thought I might as well finally turn my ideas into a fic!

Also, this was too adorable for me not to.

                                                       -🌼-

Life just couldn’t give him one day off? Not one?

Apparently not, or else he wouldn’t have to be fighting a giant glob of cafeteria food and compost that insisted on being called “Lunchion”.

You know, Adrien could appreciate the pun if he weren’t covered in banana peels and eggshells, and–was that a hamburger patty? He pinched his nose and extended the baton towards Lunchion’s weak spot, the plastic tray it used as a shield.

You’d think an akuma wouldn’t use their most important object as a deflector, yeah?

Lunchion made a gargling noise and blasted him with another garbage-truck’s worth of compost.

Scarlet Lady–did he forget to mention her?–screeched and jumped backwards, catching herself with the yo-yo she had finally figured out how to use.

“Disgusting! I’m out of here. Call me when you get the akuma!“ she called back to him, swinging away and disappearing in the direction of the Grand Paris. He groaned and pushed himself off of his knees.

“Shtay Awaysh!“ the blob gurgled. “Give me your Miraculoushes!“

“Not a chance, trash can!“ he yelled, jumping just out of shooting range.

“It’sh Lunshion, idiotsh!“

“Yeah, whatever!“

As much as he wished he didn’t, Adrien needed some help. Without Lucky Charm, which he could normally figure out how to use, he didn’t have too much of a plan.

Wait a second…was that a miraculous box?

And so it was, sitting on the ledge of a building. Holy cannoli, he was actually going to have a competent partner for once!

Just who to give it to? He opened the box, and inside was a small comb, in the shape of a bumblebee.

Oh, wait a second.

Which classmate had the adorable, tinkling laugh? Which classmate had the sweet-as-honey smile? Which classmate had he had a crush on since day one?

Ding, ding, ding, it’s Marinette Dupain-Cheng!

“Um, give me a minute!“ he said, jumping as far as he could away from the akuma and running to the bakery. He landed on Marinette’s balcony, nearly knocking over one of her potted plants.

“Eek!“ he squeaked, catching it just before it hit the wood. The last thing he wanted was to destroy her porch.

“Hello?“ Marinette asked, startling him out of the panicked state. “I-is there a reason Chat Noir is standing on my porch, or am I just that lucky?“

“Oh, uhhhh–“ he fumbled the little box out of his pocket, holding it out to her. “–yeah, I need some help, so…“

“No. Freaking. Way. No way, no way, no way! Awesome!“ she cheered, immediately slapping a hand over her mouth. “Sorry.“

“it’s fine. You just transform and let’s go!“

“…how?“

“Dang it.“ 

Once Marinette had consulted the kwami–after momentarily freezing–she transformed and they looked at each other, nodded, and jumped on building after building, chasing the glob of garbage as it made its way downtown.

“You know, I’ve always hated just sitting around during akuma attacks!“ she said brightly.

“Is that why you get caught up in every single one of them, then?“

“No! I mean, I don’t want to get caught up in them, but it just happens!“

“Sure thing, Marigold. Sure thing.“

“You’re incorrigible, Chat Noir.“ she joked. He chuckled, halting to a stop and sticking out his arm so Marine–Marigold, sorry, wouldn’t fall off the edge of the building.

She slammed into his arm and fell backwards, and fortunately, he caught her.

But, sine life couldn’t even give him five minutes off, they were in the exact same positions as ballroom dancers. And she was blushing.

Dammit, life!

“I’m sorry!“ he said, letting go as fast as he could. Marigold was still looking down, a hint of blush still spread across her cheeks.

“It’s okay,“ she whispered. “It was nice.“

“O-oh. Let’s keep going, yeah?“ he set off again, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. They arrived where the akuma was about to take the top off of a restaurant, swinging their respective weapons defensively.

“Who’sh the bumblebee, pushycat?“

“That’s Marigold to you, Lunchion!“

“Finally! Shomeone getsh the name right!“

They took down the akuma in a matter of minutes, thanks to a well-timed Venom from Marinette and the smart idea to fake a Cataclysm to get Lunchion in weapon range.

“Ugh, now I’ve got to call Scarlet,“ Adrien groaned. Marinette stuck her tongue out and gave him the thumbs-down. He agreed nonverbally.

Scarlet Lady appeared, swinging in from stage right, and landing neatly on the roof ledge parallel from them.

“Ugh, finally. What took you so long? And who’s this?“

Marinette gave him a look that he interpreted as ‘spite Scar as much as possible’. He nodded.

“Marigold’s my new partner! Scar, this is Marigold! Marigold, Scarlet Lady.“

“Let’s hope she’s a good sidekick for my sidekick, so the battles won’t take as long! They’re just exhausting! And that’s Scarlet Lady to you, you mangy cat.“ Out of the corner of his eye, Adrien could see Marinette mocking Scarlet Lady, exaggerating the stuck-out hip and the way she rolled her eyes whenever she could.

He stifled a laugh.

“Look, Scarlet, there’s Nadja Chamack!“ he said, snapping her out of the stupor she was in. She applied a fresh coat of red lipstick and swung off to the ground, casting Lucky Charm and using the Miraculous Cure simultaneously.

                                                      -🌼-

“That was good,“ Chat Noir whispered. “but we’ve got something more important to attend to.“

He pointed at a little boy, who couldn’t be more than eight or nine, sitting on the ground on the verge of tears. The walked over to him and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“Are you alright?“

“N-no!“

“What happened?“ Chat Noir asked gently, landing on his other side.

“My brother got really sick–because of the cafeteria food–and he’s in the hospital, and I’m really scared he’s not going to be okay!“ Marinette exchanged a worried look with Chat Noir.

“Hey, it’ll be okay! The people at the hospital will help your brother, all right? He’s going to be just fine.“

The little boy sniffled. “Th-thank you, Chat Noir and Bee Lady.” She smiled and patted his arm.

“I’m Marigold, okay? Remember that.“

“I will, Miss Marigold.“

“Good,“ Chat Noir interjected. “But we’ve got to get you back to your family. I’m sure they’re worried about you.“

A lady who they assumed was his mom ran up and hugged hum, telling the little boy it would be all right.

                                                        -🌼-

“And that’s why I’m the true hero! See, even you can–“ Scarlet Lady was saying. Nadja cut her off with a shhh noise. 

“Hey, it’ll be okay! The people at the hospital will help your brother, all right? He’s going to be just fine.“ a yellow-and-black striped hero said, comforting a little boy.

The little boy sniffled wetly. “Th-thank you, Chat Noir and Bee Lady.” She grinned and patted his arm.

“I’m Marigold, okay? Remember that.“

“I will, Miss Marigold.“ Nadja chuckled at the little boy.

“Good,“ Chat Noir said. “But we’ve got to get you back to your family. I’m sure they’re worried about you.“

She walked up and tapped Marigold’s shoulder.

“Excuse me, but can I get an interview?“ She looked at Chat Noir hopefully. He nodded and smiled, grabbing Marigold’s hand and pulling her next to him.

The cameras swiveled towards them.

“But first, has anyone met my amazing new partner?“ Nadja could hear Scarlet grinding her teeth loudly behind them, but paid that no attention.

After a few questions and some cooing over the two heroes’ banter, their miraculouses beeped and they both looked very startled.

“Sorry to disappoint, but we’ve got to run!“ Marigold said, yanking Chat Noir’s arm urgently.

“If the lady insists! Next time, Nadja!“

“Um…goodbye!“ she called after them, watching the duo swing off into the sunset.

                                                       -🌼-

They landed in front of the rosebushes of Dupont, each of which was covered in pretty blossoms.

They bumped into each other as they landed, stumbling back, leaving them about an inch apart. He took the time to notice the tiny details of her makeup–the way her eyelashes had the tiniest gold jewels on the tips, the orangey sheen over her lips, and the way the sparkly yellow mask framed her eyes.

“So–um–we’re about to transform back,“ she started.

“You’re right, um, I’m going to need that back?“ he said, pointing at the comb. She pulled it out of her hair and handed it to him, Pollen materializing immediately.

“Sun salutations, Chat Noir!“

“You ready to go back in your box, Pollen?“

“Hmmm…not really. Can I stay with Marigold?“ Chat Noir looked to at Marinette with a surprised expression.

“You can do that?“

“Of course, I can!“ Pollen huffed. “Now give the comb back to Marinette.“ He handed the silver comb back to Marinette, who pocketed it immediately.

They stood there in awkward silence for a inute until Chat Noir’s ring beeped again. he dashed into a bathroom, stuffed a wedge of camembert into Plagg, and ran out of the bathroom, back to where Marinette was conversing with Pollen.

“Out of all the 19 kwamis, I had to get the hippie one? Not that I’m complaining, but…yoga? Now?“

“Don’t complain, mine eats cheese 24/7.“

He shook his head and broke off one buttery yellow rose from the bush.

“A pretty flower for a pretty girl,“ he announced, offering her the rose. “Before I go.“

“Friendship,“ Marinette said softly. Wait, did this mean she only wanted to be friends? Shoot. “The rose, I mean. Yellow roses mean friendship.“

“Oh,“ he said, looking down. Double-shoot.

“Unless it’s thirteen of them, though.“ He looked sideways at the bush before Marinette put her hand on his arm.

“Don’t you dare. Those roses aren’t supposed to be picked, you know.“

“Sorry, Marinette. I–um–is it okay if I call you Goldie?“ Marinette smiled warmly.

“Of course, but only if I can call you kitty.“ Adrien felt a warm, tingly feeling in his chest, rising up until he felt like he could float.

“Yeah! Let’s go, Goldie. We’ve got a fanclub to meet.“

They walked the around the building, over to the class, who immediately burst into applause.

“You were amazing!“ Kim cheered.

“Yeah, I’m changing it from the Ladyblog to the Goldie-Noir Blog!“

“So you heard that, huh?“

#scarlet lady au #chatgold #chat noir #adrien agreste #marigold au #marigold #marinette dupain cheng #marichat? #marichat #adrienette