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sorryimananti-romantic · 1 year

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Deja Vu

hades!seonghwa x persephone!reader / prosecutor!seonghwa x florist!reader

past life/reincarnation au

genre and warnings: a lot of fluff, lots of angst, slow burn, suggestive, swearing, violence warning

word count: 22k

synopsis: you move to the city to open a floral cafe with wooyoung but encounter seonghwa by chance and become involved with him as he investigates the biggest drug scandal in the history of wonderland. however, a number of coincidences follow and you start to question if you were meant to meet him especially when you're plagued by dreams of another life with him. as the events of the past intertwine with the present, you both struggle to keep your feelings in check.

There were a number of things you had been afraid of ever since you moved into the heart of Sector 1 to live with your friend Siyeon after spending your whole childhood with your overbearing mother at the outskirts of the town.

Some of them included the ‘basic’ fears that you shared with your mom- you’d get into an accident, get kidnapped, get in trouble, etc. The list was never ending and also unlikely to happen if you had to say.

Your own fears were more like your mom paying a surprise visit to check on you, finding Siyeon doing something weird like she was always doing and take you back home. Or, she could be visiting the city and accidentally run across you and Wooyoung while you scrooged the area for a potential place for your cafe, find Wooyoung doing some crazy shit like he was always doing, and lose her blind trust in him and take you back home. You were surrounded by the craziest people but somehow, your mother trusted you with both Siyeon and Wooyoung.

However, as you grabbed the hand of a stranger and ran for your life while gunshots sounded behind you, your first thought was, now that’s one scenario I didn’t prepare myself for. Especially when you didn’t even know why you were running.

You ran from one street into another, his hand gripping yours tightly, until you took the lead and slid into a narrow alley, hiding yourselves behind large boxes. You both waited for the sound of running footsteps to fade when you finally looked at him-

And found a very familiar face staring at you. You frowned in confusion- you had definitely seen him somewhere, but you couldn’t recall where. And he, too, frowned as if he was trying to make sense of you. You scanned his appearance- he was dressed in a suit, his dark hair matted on his forehead, eyes sharp. You licked your dry lips. “I’m sorry- do I know you?”

“If you’re wondering why I dragged you,” he said and you thought his rich deep voice sounded familiar too, “Those men were after me. They wouldn’t have cared if you had gotten in the way- they would have hurt you.”

You rested your head against the wall, trying not to groan. You were out of breath. The man asked you to wait and went to check if the area was clear. He returned looking relieved and offered you his hand which you took to get up. He took out a card. “Prosecutor Park Seonghwa. I’m sorry for involving you- investigation went wrong.”

You gave him a sceptical look as you scanned the card. “Must be a dangerous case you’re working on.”

“You could say that,” he shrugged. “Are you alright? You scraped your feet- let me take a look at that.”

Before you could protest, he was down on one knee examining the long slash across your feet. It wasn’t noticeable when you were running but it ached now. You stepped back. “I’m okay.”

“Are you sure? It looks painful,” he bit his lips as he got up, looking guilty.

“I didn’t even notice it before-”

“Let me accompany you to the convenience store then,” he insisted.

“It’s not necessary,” you almost pouted but he didn’t look like he was going to back away. “Okay. I’ll accept that as an apology.”

He scoffed, urging you to follow him, watching you to check if you had a problem walking. Thankfully, you didn’t and you walked with him to the store which was a few minutes away. He made you sit inside and paid for the first aid and while you applied ointment on the wound, he made you some ramen and even got a few side dishes.

“You didn’t have to,” you smiled at the gesture.

“I also need something in my system right now,” he sighed, sliding you the chopsticks. “I must say that I didn’t expect you to be this calm about it.”

You wondered if you could tell him that there were a number of scenarios you were more scared about, and most of them included your mother. “I’ve seen worse. Not guns,” you corrected when he raised his eyebrows at you. “But… yeah, nevermind. I guess I’m good at keeping my cool.”

“You must be, Miss…”

You told him your name and he nodded along, taking a bite of his ramen. You watched him curiously. “Is this your first time being chased like this?”

“Not really, no,” he replied. “Sadly, I’m kind of used to this now.”

“That’s a shame,” you took a bite, thinking. “I mean… what if something happens to you? Because you could have died- we could have died tonight. So if you die now, won't you have any regrets?”

He gave you a curious look and you memorised his face- he was very handsome, you noticed. You couldn’t stop staring at him and you were wondering if it was because you wanted to recall where you had seen him or because he simply was too handsome to not look at. He took a deep breath. “I would like to finish this case before I die. It’s more complicated than I thought and if I don’t get to the end of it, I’m afraid no one will.”

“That’s a work-related regret,” you pointed out in disappointment.

“What about you?”

“Well, I also have unfinished business, quite literally,” you laughed. “I’m opening a floral cafe with my friend. I’ve been dreaming about it for like, a decade. I’d like to serve at least one customer before I die.”

“Isn’t that a work-related regret as well?”

“It’s my dream too, but I suppose you’re right,” you grinned and he joined despite himself, waiting for your answer. “I’d like to explore a bit. Live a little.”

Seonghwa could resonate with that. “I think I’d like to live a little too.”

You nodded, finishing the food. “Thank you so much for this- you really didn’t have to.”

“Consider it my apology for involving you,” he said. “Can I have your contact number? I might have to call you for a witness statement, if you’re alright with that.”

“Sure,” you took out his card and texted him on the number. “I don’t think I’ll have much to say though.”

“That’s okay, it’s just for paperwork,” he assured you and you got up, telling him you’d take a cab back home. You watched him leave first and then you slumped down on the chair as you wondered if those familiar sharp eyes were the ones you’ve been dreaming about for almost half your life.

What would that mean for you?

—------------------------

Flowers often wilted under your touch, and though your mother called it ‘wrong’, it somehow felt right.

That didn’t mean you felt excited about it. You were the goddess of spring. You were supposed to give life to flowers, not kill them.

You sat by the stream, digging your fingers under the soil. You laughed to yourself as you scanned the dead flowers around you, and you wondered what Lord Hades would think about this, because it seemed like the flowers were-

“Straight from the Underworld,” a voice sounded and you froze for a moment before you turned towards the dark figure of Hades announcing his arrival. You tried to look at his face- you could almost see it now…

“Interesting that they call you Persephone,” the King of the Underworld slid closer and then was down on one knee before you. “Why did you call me here?”

“I- I didn’t call you,” you managed to say, wanting to scoot away from him but you were captivated. “How?”

He smiled, glancing at your fingers still buried under the soil. Gently, he held your wrists and took them out, dusting your hands carefully. You tried taking your hands away. “I could hurt you.”

“No, you won’t,” he said nonchalantly before looking at you. “Have you ever hurt someone?”

“I think I have,” you found yourself saying.

“And why would a sweet thing like you hurt someone?” He took one of the wilted flowers and tucked it behind your ear. “They probably deserved it, didn’t they?”

You were about to say something but he got up. “Go back before Demeter comes to find you. I’m not sure she’ll like this.”

“But…” you sighed, an indescribable ache in your heart. “I don’t know what to do. I feel helpless.”

“You’re not alone,” he simply said. “And if you ever feel lost, you can call for me.”

—-------------------

This wasn’t the first time you had that dream, however, this was the first time the voice sounded so familiar.

As you got ready, pairing accessories with your pastel blue outfit, you wondered if you were closer to discovering the identity of the person you were dreaming about for so long.

Yes, it was probably a fictional story your mind had created for the sole purpose of your entertainment, where you were playing Persephone and your mother was playing Demeter. When you first started having these dreams a few years ago, though not as frequently as nowadays, you let the story play in your head until one day something occurred to you which prompted you to google the story of Persephone and Hades-

And left you gaping in surprise because it really did seem like you were legitimately seeing it from Persephone’s eyes.

You never mentioned it to anyone. You weren’t so sure you needed to- after all, there were various interpretations of the stories of the Greek gods. However, the character of Hades intrigued you a lot, and it was a shame you could never remember just who he was. Also, it didn’t help that your mother had been calling you Kore forever- she had been obsessed with Greek mythologies when you were little and read those to you as your bedtime stories.

Perhaps these dreams were a result of hearing those dreams as a child, a trauma-

“If you’re done staring at yourself, the breakfast’s getting cold,” Siyeon popped her head in your room, snickering. “It’s only Wooyoung. Who are you getting pretty for?”

You glared at her. “Rich coming from you when we all know how big a crush you harbour-”

“Shut up and be at the table in a minute if you want me to drop you off.”

“Alright, madame,” you made a face and sighed, your mind wandering off to the familiar voice of Hades-

Your phone vibrated and you read the text from Prosecutor Park Seonghwa asking you if you were available to meet at the police station in an hour. You texted that you were and told Wooyoung that you were going to be a bit late before joining Siyeon at the table.

“Wooyoung told me you might have found a place for your cafe?” Siyeon asked and you nodded.

“We’re reviewing our options today and I hope we can finalise something,” you took a sip of coffee, sighing as you slumped back. “It’s about time we actually started running the business instead of just dreaming about it.”

“Right,” Siyeon nodded. “Your mother called me last night. Apparently you weren’t picking up?”

“Oh, I forgot to call her back,” you groaned. “What did she say?”

“Just the usual,” she grinned. “Tell y/n to stay safe, pick up her calls, stop roaming around so late at night- I don’t know how she’s gonna digest the idea of you and Wooyoung working together with actual people around you until midnight.”

“Yeah, I told her to be mentally prepared. I don’t know when she’ll understand I’m not a kid…” you sighed deeply. “Though after last night, I can kind of understand why she’s like this…”

“What happened last night?” Siyeon frowned.

You told her your story on the way to the police station where she was to drop you off. She was surprised but also momentarily got possessed by your mother as she scolded you for roaming around strange places all alone so late at night. When you arrived, the prosecutor was already waiting for you and Siyeon did a double take.

“That’s the Prosecutor that got you in trouble?”

You raised a brow. “You know him?”

Siyeon scoffed, getting out of the car and haughtily walking towards the prosecutor who looked at her and then at you, and then groaned.

“I can’t believe you almost killed my friend, Park Seonghwa.”

You gaped between the two, and he sighed deeply. “That’s an exaggeration, but good to see you too.”

“This is the Prosecutor who made my life at work hell a year ago,” she pointed and you nodded in realisation, stifling your smile- you had only heard bad things about him.

“But we became friends over a few drinks, didn’t we, Siyeon? Or are you going to forget how I helped you out and saved your sorry ass?”

“I’m sure he was just doing his job,” you patted Siyeon’s arm. “You should go now- stop giving him that look.”

Siyeon glared at Seonghwa before saying bye and you gave the man a sorry look. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting for too long, Prosecutor Park.”

“Just call me Seonghwa. I’m sorry I had to call you. I would have dealt with it, but…” he sighed. “The police here don’t really like me.”

You looked at him in confusion and he led you inside. The officer in charge of the case made you both wait 10 minutes just because he was going through his phone (judging by the smile on his face, you were pretty sure he was talking to his partner), and though you both had stayed silent while you waited, you decided to break the ice.

“Looks like you have some beef with him,” you commented.

“I don’t have beef with him,” Seonghwa laughed, caught off-guard by your comment and it made you stifle a grin. “We’ve just not had the chance to meet on good terms.”

“Same difference,” you muttered.

Before he could retort, the officer finally looked up from his phone and gave you two a tired look, fixing his gaze on Seonghwa. “Prosecutor Park… ever so busy, eh? Still going after the elites just because they seem to be having fun? Still called the Underworld’s Grim Reaper?”

You blinked at the nickname and then it dawned on you why his voice sounded so familiar-

It was the same voice you had been hearing in your dreams.

“Officer Lee… I see you haven’t changed. I thought you got promoted after you rattled on about me to the superiors, but… too bad.”

The officer gruntled at that and you pursed your lips, looking back and forth between the two. Before they could make another jab, you cleared your throat and raised your hand awkwardly. “I’m here.”

Officer Lee passed you a page. “Fill this up and then answer my questions.”

You filled the page with your private information and then the officer asked you to narrate the events. By the end of it, he was tsk-ing at Seonghwa. “Now you’re troubling innocent civilians too. Do you have to go so far? Don’t you remember the last time you got a civilian involved-”

“You don’t have to worry about her inconvenience,” Seonghwa countered. “She’s a… friend.”

You raised a brow at that but decided to play along- it looked like the officer really wanted to get to him and you wondered just what had happened between the two.

“Well, you’re free to go then,” he said after he asked you to narrate the event and you got up, bowing and waiting for Seonghwa who was still glaring at the man and then he exhaled deeply, getting up and going ahead without waiting for you. You followed him outside, watching him stop and run a hand through his hair, almost in frustration.

“You okay?” You asked cautiously.

“Yeah. I’m good,” he nodded after a moment, scanning you- you suddenly felt like a child out of place in your pastel outfit. “Do you need me to drop you off?”

“No, it’s okay, I’m meeting a friend at the intersection,” you told him. “I’ll walk.”

“I’m passing by, so get in,” he motioned to the car and went ahead before you could refuse his offer, making you shrug and follow.

“Sorry for today,” Seonghwa said after a minute as he drove. “I won’t bother you again.”

“It’s okay, I didn’t mind,” you told him.

“I’m sorry for that day too,” he continued. “I could have gotten you killed, like Siyeon said.”

“It’s okay, it was just a big coincidence,” you shrugged and he glanced at you. “I’m just glad we’re both unhurt.”

Seonghwa raised a brow at your candidness. “Have you always lived in Sector 1?”

“I lived near the Sector 2 border- the town with the hills,” you told him. “I commuted for college and moved here not too long ago.”

“Is that where you met Siyeon too?”

“No, we’re school friends,” you smiled. “She also lived there back then.”

“Ah, I see.” A ghost of a smile lingered at Seonghwa’s face and you watched him, intrigued. “I don’t think Siyeon ever mentioned you but… we weren’t best friends either.”

“Siyeon never mentioned you either, I think- not directly. She did mention some jerk making it hard at work, but,” you laughed and he joined. “That’s about it.”

You spotted the intersection and told him to drop you off there. He offered to wait with you until your friend arrived, but you insisted that it was fine. Seonghwa did look at you a moment too long before he sighed. “I guess this is goodbye then. We probably won’t be seeing each other again.”

You scanned him, his sharp eyes just as familiar as his voice. You wondered if the ache in your heart meant anything. “Let’s hope if we do meet each other again, it’s when we’re not running for our lives or going to a police station.”

Seonghwa smiled at that and you watched his face transform into pure warmth, his eyes sparkling. “Sounds good.”

You watched him leave, wondering just what his deal was. He seemed to be dealing with a lot and you made a mental note to ask Siyeon just what exactly the officer meant by him being the Underworld’s Grim Reaper. At the sound of a horn, you turned to Wooyoung sticking out his neck and waving at you and you immediately got in the front seat.

“Did I keep you for long?” He patted your arm as a greeting before he drove off.

“Not at all,” you told him. “I hope you’re in full spirits because we’ve had enough of scouring potential buildings for our cafe. We need to decide today, Wooyoung. Don’t be a sloth.”

“Okay, okay,” he nodded his head furiously, his dark hair falling over his forehead. “I have a feeling that today is a lucky day.”

Today was indeed lucky. By the late evening, you went through your top 5 picks and decided on a spot to open your cafe- it wasn’t in the hotspot of the city but quite near it, and you were very satisfied by its architectural design which allowed you to make the most of the ‘floral’ part of the cafe. Wooyoung had no problem with it either, so you signed the deal and shook hands with him.

“I can’t believe we managed to do this today- I thought we were bluffing!”

“When I put my mind to something, I do it, y/n,” he simply stated. “Now let’s go for dinner- I’ll call the boys and you can call Siyeon- I hope some of them can make it. I need to introduce you to my other friends too.”

“Yeah, you know how hard it was for me to come back here when college was over,” you sighed. “And your ‘other friends’ are always too busy.”

“We should plan a proper party, though, what do you say?” Wooyoung asked. “We’ll treat them and then force them to help us.”

“That… sounds pretty good actually,” you grinned at him and he grinned back, bumping his fist with you as you both plotted the demise of your friends and how to exploit their services.

With that, you and Wooyoung arranged a welcome party at a restaurant near your cafe on the weekend so you could have dinner first and visit the venue later. You invited Siyeon, which you started regretting when she decided she was in charge of dressing you up for the night, and you ended up in all black, with your hair and makeup more edgier than usual- she insisted you needed to look like you had your shit together and could tolerate doing business with Wooyoung which was no small feat. She still couldn’t believe how Wooyoung, who was the loudest and most blunt and outgoing person she knew, could be friends with you who was timid and always fidgeting with her words.

“But you can shut Wooyoung up, so I guess that counts for something.”

“I can shut you up too,” you countered. Siyeon snickered at that but didn’t deny it- you may have grown up sheltered and were just learning about real life and its responsibilities now, but Siyeon knew there was an undeniable fire within you.

“But I don’t blab as much as him,” Siyeon pouted.

“Gosh, just tell Wooyoung that you like him, you’re so corny,” you threw your makeup sponge at her as she turned to hide her face after making that comment.

“I don’t like him,” she looked baffled. “He’s too much.”

However, as you entered the restaurant, you watched how Siyeon’s eyes darted immediately to Wooyoung and you rolled your eyes, greeting the rest of his friends- Yunho, Mingi and someone you hadn’t seen before. Yunho and Mingi you knew from college and met with them often.

“This is the famous Kim Hongjoong who is very hard to reach,” Wooyoung pointed and Hongjoong laughed in embarrassment. “You two better get along. We’re still missing one, but he’ll be here soon- he said we could start dinner without him.”

“Oh, we could wait?” You asked but Wooyoung told you it was okay, and you sat across Hongjoong, learning that he was a famous composer and Wooyoung told you that he was producing a soundtrack for your cafe as a gift too, which you really appreciated.

“Once I see what the vibe is, I’ll come up with something,” Hongjoong promised.

“No way, aren’t you asking too much from him, Wooyoung?” You looked around in disbelief and everyone laughed.

“It’s the least I can do-”

“It’s the least he can do,” Wooyoung announced and you laughed harder, Hongjoong promising to mess up the track if Wooyoung annoyed him too much and you enjoyed the bickering as you finished dinner and you all decided to walk to the cafe. You fell behind the group, watching them laugh over something and you smiled to yourself, glad you had such good people in your life-

You turned to your right and spotted none other than Seonghwa, dressed in a suit, probably coming straight from work, holding a big wrapped box. You met eyes with him and he stopped in his tracks when he saw you with the rest of his friends.

While you both stood gaping at each other, you suddenly had a flashback of the recent dream you had-

“I wish you weren’t so afraid, Persephone,” Hades crawled behind you, letting his fingers run down your sleeves and catch your trembling fingers- somehow, his touch comforted you more than anything else in this world.

“I just don’t understand what I’m supposed to do,” your voice wasn’t even and you looked down, watching his fingers interlock with yours as he rested his face next to your head. “I’m supposed to be the goddess of spring but all I seem to do these days is destroy.”

“And who said you were only the goddess of spring?” Hades' voice held a hint of playfulness. “You can be more than one thing.”

“Could I?” You smiled, embarrassed, moving away from him. Perhaps, he was trying to make you feel better. “I’m not even good at one thing.”

“You think we’re good at what we do?” Hades went to sit by the tree in front of you. “I can barely handle the Underworld these days.”

You sat near him, gazing at him out of curiosity. “What is the Underworld like?”

“Would you like to see?” Hades leaned in and for a moment, just for the shortest moment, your heart was gripped by the fear of your mother finding out who you’ve been hanging out with lately.

“I don’t think I should leave the mortal realm,” you pouted. “Mother would instantly know I’m gone.”

“You don’t have to leave to see it,” Hades was smirking. “I can show you- close your eyes.”

You did and you felt his fingers on your forehead- and then you were suddenly shivering with cold, couldn’t see anything except darkness- until you realised you could actually see and it was just incredibly dark.

“This is the Underworld,” Hades said. “Where I live. A city down there. We have rivers too, but I’m not sure you’d like them.”

“How can I see this?”

“This is just my memory,” Hades said, drawing his fingers away and you opened your eyes, blinking a couple of times.

“It’s so cold there,” you tilted your head, grabbing his hand without a second thought. “You’re always cold.”

Hades frowned- could you actually feel the place from his memory alone? “I’ve clearly underestimated your powers, it seems.”

“I know just what that place needs,” you smiled, ignoring his remark- you tended to ignore anyone who talked about your powers. You watched Hades’ brow rise in confusion.

“It needs a touch of spring.”

Wooyoung all but attacked Seonghwa with a hug that had him grimacing, going on about how he made it just on time but it was a pity that he had to miss dinner. When Wooyoung was about to introduce you two, you looked at Siyeon who muttered, “What a big fucking coincidence.”

You giggled at that, and Wooyoung looked between you and Siyeon. “Why does it look like you already know him?”

“That’s because she does, you idiot,” Siyeon slapped Wooyoung’s arm. “You should have told me he was coming. You know I have beef with him.”

“And that’s exactly why I didn’t,” Wooyoung looked proud and Seonghwa rolled his eyes. “I’m aware Siyeon and Seonghwa know each other from work, but how do you know him?”

“Uh… it’s a long story,” you shrugged, looking at Seonghwa for help.

“She was a witness in a case I’m working,” was Seonghwa’s short explanation and you nodded eagerly, hoping he wouldn’t ask more. Wooyoung didn’t, just dragged Seonghwa to the front and he greeted the rest.

“They’re old friends, huh?” You let out a short laugh, looking at Siyeon who looked both annoyed and curious. “Sure is a small world we live in.”

You reached the cafe and Wooyoung called you to the front, putting an arm around you. “This is us.”

“You sound like a married couple who just bought a house,” Mingi laughed.

“Might as well be,” Wooyoung scoffed. “Come in, let’s show you around.”

Wooyoung did most of the talking while you added in the details, showing them the main sitting area and a few private corners for people who would want to work in peace while having a break. The kitchen was huge and well-equipped as well, and upstairs, there was a terrace that you would be utilising for the customers as well, with two separate rooms that would be your offices.

“We really won in the luck department with this one,” you finished showing them around, taking a seat with the rest on the terrace where Wooyoung opened the bottle of wine Seonghwa had brought as a gift. “I never thought I’d have a room here as well. I could practically live here.”

“That wouldn’t be very safe,” Seonghwa said.

“I know, but on the days when I’m too tired to go home, I could take a little nap here,” you shrugged.

“Now that we’re all present and I’m pouring you all wine to commence the beginning,” Wooyoung finally began the speech you were expecting and you stifled your laugh. “I better see each one of your ass working with us.”

Hongjoong stopped in the middle of drinking. “Working how exactly?”

“Help us move!” Wooyoung slumped down. “Help us bring this place to life! With only the two of us, it’s going to take forever, especially with y/n’s clumsy ass-”

“I’m not the one who fell on her face because I was too busy looking upwards when I walked,” you muttered, referring to moments ago when Wooyoung tripped on empty boxes while he was walking, making everyone laugh out loud.

“Not the point!” Wooyoung glared at you and you glared back. “Anyways, all of you better be present here.”

“You’re only going to order us around and do absolutely nothing!” Mingi pointed his finger at him. “I still remember when I thought it was a good idea to move in with you.”

“I could help, but I expect something in return,” Yunho said and Siyeon clapped at that.

“My point exactly.”

“You owe me one in case you forgot, Yunho,” Wooyoung pointed his finger at him and Yunho grinned. “As for Siyeon… she could get a special discount.”

That fueled an argument on why he didn’t offer the ‘special’ discount to anyone else and Siyeon announced she didn’t need anything from Wooyoung, which made you elbow her.

“We’re all busy and have a life, Wooyoung,” Seonghwa finally said and the boys clapped enthusiastically at that. “But… I’ll come around if I have some free time. And the rest of you should as well- otherwise don’t expect them to treat you any differently from the rest of their customers.”

You both were satisfied to hear that while the rest groaned, making promises to come and help, teasing each other. You opened a bag of chips and offered some to Seonghwa who was sitting near you.

“Funny seeing you here tonight,” he said as he took a few. “I didn’t recognise you for a moment. You look different.”

“That’s all Siyeon,” you touched your hair consciously, tucking behind your ears. “I thought you were just passing by. Seems like we have quite a few people in common.”

“Seems so,” he smiled. “Wooyoung always talks about you, I just never made the connection.”

“Really?” you laughed, looking at him who was still accusing his friends of being lazy. “He does talk a lot in general. He may have mentioned having a busy old friend- two of them. I met Hongjoong for the first time today.”

“He’s my oldest friend,” Seonghwa looked at Hongjoong and you watched his gaze turn soft. “He’s also the busiest, so don’t expect to see him helping around more than once. He uses any free time for a nap.”

“I see,” you turned towards Seonghwa, resting your face on your hand, elbow propped on your leg. “And will I be seeing you more than once?”

Seonghwa’s breath caught at the way you looked, with hair shining brightly under the moonlight, eyes tired but full of life. He mirrored your position, a faint smirk on his face. “Maybe you will.”

That night, Seonghwa woke up feeling like a bucket of cold water had been splashed over him though sweat laced his forehead. He checked the time- it was 03.47 am. He went to the kitchen to drink some water and recalled the dream he had seen-

It was you. He had dreamt about you, but… it wasn’t exactly the person he knew. And he had called you Persephone. You had been sitting by a lake, eyes wide and helpless, and he had touched your face and said-

“If I could… I would make you the Queen of the Underworld.”

Seonghwa sighed deeply- was he thinking too much about you? He had been busy with his work, and recently, he’d seen a lot of you, which was perhaps why he was having recurring dreams about you where he called you Persephone, which made him Hades-

King of the Underworld.

Or maybe he took his nickname way too seriously. Seonghwa shook his head- the dreams were causing him to be restless in his sleep. Maybe he just needed to relax a bit but… his recent case had him spiralling into darker territories, and he wondered if he could even get to sleep anymore.

—--------------------------

The last few days were the busiest. You spent most of your time in the cafe and the boys occasionally dropped by to help you out, though you noticed having company meant you also slacked off as you got distracted elsewhere, but things were looking good so far. You and Wooyoung were done setting up your office rooms so you could focus on the rest.

Today, you were back to the last bit of scraping. You arrived late, having slept in since it was Sunday and you found Wooyoung taking a nap on the couch in his office. You didn’t wake him up, deciding to put on some light instrumental music while you scraped and got lost in your thoughts.

These days, your thoughts mostly drifted to the recurring dreams you were having- they were almost like flashbacks of a memory, of a… past life. But you didn’t believe in past lives.

Maybe you should, you wondered to yourself as you shifted to one leg, lazily scraping. But even if you did believe in past lives, did you believe in Hades and Persephone? Even if you did, why would they look exactly like you, Seonghwa and the other people in your life? Why would they be speaking your language?

Maybe they speak your language for you, you found yourself thinking. You recalled having a dream in Japanese a while ago when you barely knew two phrases. Dreams were supposed to be weird, you told yourself. But were they supposed to be playing out like a story of someone’s life?

Your train of thought was broken when you heard someone clear their throat behind you and you realised you hadn’t been scraping at all for a while now. You put on a smile in an attempt to seem normal before turning to greet-

Seonghwa. He had a way of appearing exactly when you were thinking of him.

“Hi,” he waved awkwardly, dressed in something other than black for once. The denim quite suited him.

“H-hi, I wasn’t expecting you- or anyone, for that matter,” you managed to say, recovering from the initial shock. “Uh, please have a seat?”

Seonghwa looked around in amusement at the absence of any seats. “Where’s Wooyoung?”

“He’s taking a nap,” you told him, fumbling to empty the nearest stool. “I just came and decided to let him sleep.”

“Good idea, it would be way too loud with him,” he laughed, asking you to stop. “I’m not here to relax. I’m here to help you out, so tell me what to do.”

“Really?” You smiled, suddenly conscious of the dirty apron you were wearing- it had everything from dust to paint on there. “Well… you could scrape this part and I could start on the next?”

“Sounds good,” he scanned you. “Do I get an apron too?”

“Oh, yes,” you said, laughing. “We have a spare for this purpose.”

You went to the box near you, digging out the apron and handing it to him. He wore it and got to work immediately and you watched him for a moment before resuming your own. “You didn’t actually need to help out- I’ve heard how busy you are with your recent case, and from what I’ve seen… it’s hectic.”

“Come on, even Hongjoong stopped by,” he laughed a bit, looking at you. “Or is it that you didn’t want to see me?”

“Now why would you think that,” you pouted, surprised at how playful he sounded despite the serious expression on his face. “I just thought you’d be tired- your job is demanding.”

“It wasn’t always like this,” Seonghwa glanced at you as he said, “I got myself into this mess, and now I can’t get out until I win or admit defeat.”

You put a hand on your hip as you scraped. “Admitting defeat sounds dangerous.”

“It is,” he sighed. “I’m not ready to give up yet.”

You turned to him but then paused, resuming your work- it seemed to be easier to talk when you were both busy and not looking at each other. “Just what have you involved yourself in, Seonghwa? I don’t think we’ve addressed the fact that you’re in constant danger.”

Seonghwa sighed deeply and it looked like he was actually considering telling you. “I can’t really talk about it- the less you know, the safer you are.”

“Well, maybe I don’t love being so safe,” you said, surprised at how you voiced that so boldly, making even Seonghwa stop and turn to look at you. You matched his gaze.

“Sometimes I wonder who you are,” he said, and you felt like he meant more by it. “Why were you so calm that day? And why are you willing to involve yourself in something dangerous?”

You shrugged, going back to scraping, ignoring the loud thump of your heart between your ears. You could still feel his gaze on your back. Thankfully, Wooyoung interrupted and you got a call right at that moment, going into another room to talk to your mother who told you she would be paying a visit-

Right now.

You got out of the room, waving your hand wildly at Wooyoung who moved closer to hear your conversation while Seonghwa watched awkwardly.

“But mom… I’m literally scraping- it’s an ugly sight. You should just go to my apartment and I’ll arrive right after you-”

“I’m near the cafe, Kore,” she said and Wooyoung sagged down to the ground. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Okay,” you hung up and kicked Wooyoung’s thigh lightly. “Get up. We’ve got to make this look presentable.”

“Your mother’s coming, what’s the big deal?” Seonghwa finally dared to ask and then regretted it when you two glared at him.

“She’s a monster, for starters-”

“She’s my mother, asshole,” you slapped Wooyoung’s arm. “And what’s your problem? She loves you!”

“She only pretends to!” Wooyoung shouted. “She threatened to hang me upside down on the ceiling if I tried anything funny with you!”

“Let’s just get to work,” you clapped, sliding all the stuff lying in the middle of the room to the corners. Just two minutes later, you heard the sound of the door opening.

“Seonghwa’s still here,” Wooyoung pointed out. “Should I say he is my friend?”

“He is your friend, Wooyoung, please wake up,” you almost cried and Seonghwa snorted. “If you’re going to say something stupid, you better just shut up- hi, mom!” You went to hug her, Wooyoung following with a smile.

“You look well,” she commented. “But there are dark circles under your eyes.”

“Those are proof that I’ve been working hard,” you smiled and she laughed at that, handing you the bouquet of fresh flowers that she brought from home- your favourites. You sniffed them deeply, sighing happily before setting them on the table.

“And this is?”

“My old friend, Park Seonghwa,” Wooyoung introduced and Seonghwa bowed. “He came to help us out.”

Your mother gave you a look before she sat down. “I won’t be here for long- I came to visit a friend and thought I’d drop by and see what’s up. Would you excuse us, boys? It’s good to see you, Wooyoung.”

Wooyoung saluted, dragging Seonghwa to another room- or at least, pretending to. You just knew he would be loitering right outside the room, and chances were that Seonghwa would be too. You turned your attention to your mother. “You could have told me earlier. I would have arranged for dinner or something-”

“There’s no need,” she shook her head, looking around. “The cafe looks nice. Are you sure you need to stay and work with Wooyoung? You’ll only be dealing with flowers- you could do that from home-”

“Wooyoung is only going to be cooking, I’ll be handling everything else,” you reminded her. “We cannot work without each other.”

“It’s pretty late though- when do you even go back?” She checked her watch. “Here, all alone-”

“I’m going to be alone most days,” you straightened up- somehow, you found it easier to challenge your mother when you met her after some time apart. “Besides, there’s always company.”

She frowned at that. “Do you know that boy?”

“Wooyoung introduced us not long ago. He’s one of his old friends, like Yunho and Mingi.”

“I don’t like this, Kore,” she sighed and you groaned.

“You never like anything I do,” you said. “I’m not little anymore. I’m making my own decisions. Please give me space to breathe.”

“Do I suffocate you?” She raised a brow.

“Honestly? Sometimes, yes. I love you but you do that.”

Your mother didn’t look too hurt to hear that, which didn’t give you much satisfaction either. She got up, taking her purse. “I’ll be back when you finally open the cafe.”

“Sure, you have to make it to the opening. And please arrange for the flowers- I’ll send you a list soon, okay?”

She patted your cheek and left, and you finally felt yourself relax. You heard the sound of footsteps. “Damn. That was intense.”

“Shut up,” you groaned, looking at Seonghwa who told you that you looked pale and before you could protest, he poured you water and slid the glass.

“Can I ask you something?” He asked and you nodded, glancing at Wooyoung who was peeking out of the window to make sure your mother was actually gone. “Why did she call you Kore?”

“It’s a nickname- she started calling me that when I was little. It’s something to do with Greek mythology-”

“I’ve heard,” Seonghwa nodded, accidentally brushing your hand as he took the glass from you and said, “Persephone.”

A stabbing pain in your head made you wince. “Sorry, what?”

“That’s what Demeter called her daughter, right?” he said and you nodded absently.

“Have you always known that?”

“What?”

“That Demeter called Persephone Kore?” You asked, your voice small.

“Does it matter?” He asked and you thought that was a weird answer. Before you could probe, he went to Wooyoung, leaving you wondering why he didn’t simply answer that.

—--------------------

A few days later, Seonghwa found himself standing outside your cafe in the middle of the night.

There were a number of things that brought him here. The illegal drugs case he was investigating had taken a dangerous turn since the past few months, which meant he was being assaulted and blackmailed. His place had been ransacked, evidence stolen, and he found himself growing anxious with every passing day. But then, it involved the top class of Sector 1 notoriously known as the Underworld, and if he exposed the individuals involved, he was positive the citizens of Wonderland would lose trust in their government and officials.

He had told no one yet, and he wasn’t planning to, but now he was wondering if he could go on like this. He was being backed up by Mr. Ahn, the director of a leading pharmaceutical company, but he wasn’t sure he could trust him with the details- at least not fully. But he was powerful, and he had connections, which was how he had gotten so far and earned his nickname- Underworld’s Grim Reaper.

He didn’t know how long he had been staring at the terrace until you appeared and noticed him, waving at him and motioning him to come inside. He sighed deeply- there was another reason he was here.

He now knew why you seemed so familiar, why your voice shook him to the core the first time he heard you.

He had seen you in his dreams before he ever saw you.

He was positive about that- it sounded insane even to himself, but he was so sure, and it made absolutely no sense. But then he saw your mother the other day- he recognised her instantly from his dreams since she had a memorable face. And then, to top it off, she called you Kore.

There was no way, he had thought at that time, but then… he wondered if somehow, you knew as well.

But he couldn’t ask you that, he thought as he went upstairs after looking around for Wooyoung. He couldn’t ask you like this. Not when it made no sense to him. Not when he wasn’t ready for the answer.

“Is Wooyoung not here?”

“He went home a while ago,” you said, sipping from your coffee cup. “What brings you here at this hour- not for helping around, right?”

Seonghwa pursed his lips, taking a seat. “It’s a long story.”

You smiled, “I have some extra brewed coffee anyway. I think it was meant for you.”

When he had finally gotten a bit of coffee in his system, Seonghwa sighed for what had to be the tenth time. You were fidgeting with nervousness and anticipation now- it looked like he was going to tell you something big. “Come on- you look like you’re about to announce your divorce or something.”

“I don’t know,” he sighed, slumping back. “There’s a lot weighing on my mind, and I can’t really tell anyone.”

“I’m a good listener, and an even good secret keeper,” you told him.

“I don’t doubt that,” he laughed. “It’s just… it might be dangerous to share it with someone.”

“Is it about your case?” You asked and he gave you a look.

“You’re quick. Yes, it’s about my case- the same one that got me here with you right now.”

“Well, then I have a question for you,” you leaned forward, loving the challenge he was giving you. “Do you believe in coincidences?”

“I didn’t,” he thought about it, wondering if every meeting with you was just a plain big series of coincidences. “But now I’m wondering if I was wrong.”

“I don’t believe in coincidences. I believe everything happens for a reason. We encountered each other that day, perhaps, because you were meant to sit here right now-”

“Perhaps because we were meant to be-” Seonghwa glanced at you and you raised a brow. “Meant to meet,” he corrected. “That’s what you mean, right?”

“It’s up to you,” you relaxed back. “I don’t want to force you.”

Seonghwa wondered if he could tell you that he found you easy to talk to- in the past few days, he had visited a good few times. He got to learn little things about you and found himself drawn to you. “I’m only hesitating because it’s dangerous to know more than you should. Otherwise, I really like you. I really like talking to you.”

You nodded. “You know that I’ve lived a sheltered life with an overbearing mother, but Seonghwa… I’ve seen my fair share of horrors. I’m not easily rattled, not anymore.”

Seonghwa let that sink in- he always wondered where you got that edge from. He wasn’t sure he could ask. “The case I’m investigating is actually a case involving the top class of Sector 1- politicians, high ranking officials, influencers, you name it. They’re illegally trading drugs among themselves. They buy anyone with power and money.”

“Go on,” you urged.

Seonghwa shifted in his seat. “I’m being backed by Mr. Ahn of KQ Pharmaceuticals. He’s providing me with manpower and connections, but… I’m afraid I’ll have to investigate him at one point too. I’m not sure who’s constantly threatening me- the people I’m investigating or the one who hired me, telling me to stay in my place.”

You whistled. “A double-edged sword?”

“Yeah,” he let out a nervous laugh. “So I’m wondering how I can keep track of my progress, where I can store evidence and important documents. My apartment’s been ransacked twice now. They also stole from me in broad daylight.”

“Hmm… No one would suspect you coming to the cafe to drink some coffee and meet your old friend, right?” You asked and Seonghwa shrugged. “You could use my office.”

“I… When I said that, I didn’t mean that you should give me a space-”

“No, think about it,” you ignored his protests. “Me and Wooyoung are already practically living here. I can give you the spare key to my office- you can come and go as you please and store whatever you need to. I won’t mind.”

“Are you sure?” He asked and you nodded. “Well, I guess that could work.”

“And I know it’s too late to say this, but you should have backed out of this case when you first had the thought,” you said and he laughed in defeat. “It’s dangerous to back out now, isn’t it?”

“Very,” he confirmed. “But I don’t want to back out now either.”

You smirked at that. “Too late. Anyways, I won’t tell anyone. You can trust me.”

“I know I can,” he found himself saying.

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “It’s something about your eyes.”

“It’s something about your eyes,” Hades tucked your hair behind. “I feel like I could trust you with my life.”

“But what if someone finds out because of me?” You looked down at your fingers, green with all the flower plucking Demeter had made you do as a punishment for being seen in public with Hades.

“Then I would know that it’s not your fault but mine,” Hades smiled sadly. “Because I got you involved.”

“What if someone finds out because of me?” You found yourself saying, feeling intense deja vu and you tried to gulp the feelings down.

However, Seonghwa had sucked his breath sharply as he heard that too. He watched you for a few moments before he said, “Then I would know that it’s not your fault but mine. Because I’m the one who got you involved.”

You accidentally dropped the pencil you had been fiddling with, leaning down to pick it up and gathering yourself in that moment. You cleared your throat. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“Yeah…” Seonghwa shook his head, breaking the trance he was in. “I should go now- I’ll come by tomorrow with some stuff. Should I drop you off too?”

“There’s no need, I’ll get a taxi-”

“At this hour? I think not,” he poked your arm, urging you to move and you pouted as you picked your stuff. You told him the location- it was 10 minutes from the cafe. The ride was mostly silent as you both sorted your thoughts out. When you reached your apartment, you unbuckled the belt, halting when Seonghwa cleared his throat. “I don’t know how to thank you for everything. We just met recently, but… I’m glad I can trust you.”

You smiled. “Well then, we can work on that until you’re able to call me a friend.”

“You are,” Seonghwa laughed. “You know what I mean. Thank you, y/n. For everything.”

“It’s okay,” you nodded. “Just… stay safe, Seonghwa. It sounds dangerous and I really don’t like that you’re being chased around. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

It was a simple enough thing to say but it pulled at his heartstrings in the most unexpected way and he found himself tucking your hair behind your ear- he couldn’t help it- he had done that so many times in his dreams. However, he hadn’t expected you to basically stop breathing, and he realised his breath caught at the way you were looking at him too.

How were you so familiar yet so distant?

He patted your shoulder, nodding awkwardly. “I’ll try. Being safe, I mean.”

“Yeah,” you finally breathed. “Goodnight… Seonghwa.”

With that, you went upstairs to your apartment, glad Siyeon was sleeping because all you wanted to do was sink down in your bed and think of the way he had just tucked your hair-

Like he had done so a million times before.

Perhaps he had.

—--------------------

Seonghwa found himself coming to the cafe every other day, but he felt a bit guilty that he had to text you and ask the whereabouts of Wooyoung. He told himself that he was protecting his friend and that made him feel guilty because he might be putting you in danger, but you always assured him that it was okay.

It was an easy routine now- Wooyoung usually went home around 10 at night, which was when Seonghwa would drop by and sit in your office and do his work in silence. On the days when you were present, you would quietly come in and place some coffee and snacks on the desk. He didn’t hide anything from you but you didn’t want to intrude so you’d just leave and do something productive, finding it easier to get busy.

Tonight was one of those nights too. You had asked Wooyoung to take care of the other things while you did the painting, which was why he was out and about during the day, buying whatever you needed- you’d join him when it concerned you but since he was taking care of the kitchen, he was busier. You just needed to get the painting done so you could finally decorate and get the flower business started.

You began to think of the flowers back at home, of home, of your mother, of the house that almost felt like a prison and in several ways was, of the feelings of suffocation that still lingered-

You heard someone clear their throat and you looked up to see Seonghwa lingering in the doorway, passing you a tight-lipped smile and you looked down- you had been picking at your fingers- had he seen that? You got up and brushed your clothes.

“What’s up?”

“I was wondering if you had an extra marker,” Seonghwa said after a moment. “I couldn’t find it where you usually keep your stationery.”

“Ah, we must have run out- there might be one in the kitchen though, let me look for it.”

“It’s okay, I’ll look for it-”

“You’ll never be able to navigate through Wooyoung’s mess there,” you laughed and he grinned, finally relaxing. “I’ll be back.”

You went to the kitchen and after a few minutes, you were able to find a marker in one of the drawers. You went to your office and knocked at the already open door and Seonghwa urged you to come in. You noticed how he had pasted a few pictures and notes on your board, making a mind-map.

“Wow, that’s a lot,” you commented. “I hope it’s not so hard… what’s going on here?”

Seonghwa chuckled, pointing at the picture of a middle-aged man. “That’s Dr. Kwon of Wonderland Hospital Sector 1. That’s where the investigation began- apparently, Mr. Ahn got suspicious when Dr. Kwon stopped his business with KQ Pharmaceuticals, and Mr. Ahn wondered if he’s not buying from the best pharmaceutical company in Wonderland, who’s sponsoring him?”

“Ah, business rivalry at first, huh?” You said and he nodded. “So he started doing some digging?”

“Yeah, and he noticed that there was one specific drug that’s used for anaesthetic purposes that he wasn’t buying from any of the well-known companies. He has his ears everywhere, and he was quick to make a connection- that drug that the top class of Wonderland smokes, they call it ‘Mist’- it’s the same they’re using as anaesthesia in the hospital.”

“Oh,” you wowed, taking a moment to let that sink in. “That’s… intense.”

Seonghwa stifled his smile. “Now he just wants me to take down as many people involved as possible.”

“Why you?” You were curious.

“I’m called the Underworld’s Grim Reaper for a reason,” he smirked. “I won a big case a year ago too- probably caught Mr. Ahn’s attention.”

“It’s suspicious, though,” you went through his notes, looking at the pictures and frowning at a familiar face. “That he isn’t putting himself in the spotlight. Also, how is he involved?”

“You know him?” Seonghwa glanced at the picture you were holding. “That’s Mr. Jang, right?”

“From the Wonderland Art Museum, yes,” you confirmed. “He’s an acquaintance of my mother- we deliver flowers to him regularly. Is he involved in…”

“It seems so, but it’s only a suspicion right now,” Seonghwa sighed. “There’s no evidence of transactions- after all, the drug must cost something. I’m wondering if it’s not in the form of cash- which is why I’ll have to look into Mr. Jang’s paintings and who the real owners of those paintings are.”

You were still going through the pictures as you listened when you found a picture of a flower. “And what has this rare flower got to do with it?”

Seonghwa looked surprised. “You recognise this flower?”

“Of course I do. I’m a florist, Seonghwa,” you rolled your eyes.

“What do you know about this flower?”

“It’s one of the rarest flowers. It’s called the Middlemist Blue- wait,” you looked at the flower and then back at him. “This is the source of the drug?”

“Yes,” Seonghwa took the picture from you. “Where have you seen it?”

In my mother’s greenhouse.

“It’s very rare,” you attempted to sound normal but you were sure Seonghwa caught on. You sighed, taking a seat. “My mother found one a few years ago and since then, she’s been taking care of it and trying to reproduce it.”

“And was she successful?” Seonghwa dared to ask.

“Not that I’m aware of,” you shook your head, looking at him- for once, you felt scared. “Do you think she might be involved?”

“I can’t say- she isn’t the only one with that flower, though. There’s someone in Sector 8 who grows them too,” he said and you found yourself sighing in relief. “But… you understand that I’ll have to investigate her, right?”

You thought for a few moments- was this a big coincidence? Your mother did deliver flowers to Mr. Jang for display in his museum. What if she provided him with the Middlemist Blue as well? What if Mr. Jang really was involved in the Underworld’s drug dealing?

Seonghwa took a seat next to you, taking your hand in his and caressing it. “You don’t have to think of the worst, y/n. I don’t think a mother who loves her daughter so much would do something that could harm her. The world doesn’t know that the Middlemist Blue can be used as a drug- that could mean that your mother is unaware. After all, she’s a florist, not a pharmacist, right?”

“Yeah, that’s true,” you took a deep breath. “But… Can you do me a favour and let me find out? With you?”

“It’s too dangerous-”

“Please,” you put a hand on his. “If it involves my mother… you understand why I have to, right? I could also help you with Mr. Jang’s involvement. We could do this together.”

Seonghwa thought about it. “You’re not doing anything on your own, okay? Don’t pull a move and make everyone around you suspicious.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I also don’t want you to confront your mother until I’m sure she’s the one supplying whoever’s involved. She could simply be keeping a rare flower safe.”

“Yes, sir.”

Seonghwa chuckled, tucking your hair behind your ear, making your smile change into surprise. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

You understood what he meant. “I know you’ll keep me safe.”

There it was again- another conversation he was sure he’d had with you. He patted your cheek. “Let’s talk about this later, okay?”

You nodded, finding yourself unable to draw away from him, and perhaps the spirit of Persephone possessed you for a moment as you leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, making his eyes go wide in surprise. “Thank you for believing in me, Seonghwa.”

Seonghwa scanned your face, wanting to kiss you back but it took everything in him to simply smile and stand up to leave. He needed to clear his head, but most of all-

He needed to figure out just why he had been dreaming about you, and why the events of his dreams were playing out in the present.

—----------------------

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Seonghwa muttered as he pulled his cap further down and you groaned inwardly, taking it off and ruffling his hair, making him stop in his tracks. “What are you doing?”

“You’re looking too suspicious, Seonghwa,” you shook your head. “The mask and glasses are enough. You’re not a celebrity.”

“Might as well be,” he countered, pulling your hand and bringing you to the side when a bike passed by. “You should have disguised yourself too. My plan was better.”

“Mine is better, you’ll see,” you smiled at him and he thought you glowed in the sun. “Just a couple interested in art. What’s suspicious about that?”

It was a very basic plan- you wanted to go and check out the Wonderland Art Museum and see just how much your mother was involved- you were going to introduce yourself to Mr. Jang and you were bringing your ‘boyfriend’ with you. Seonghwa agreed to it because you insisted that you needed to learn just what your mother’s role was before he began investigating her, and for another reason-

Because you wanted to go out with Seonghwa, though you’ll never admit it out loud.

Interestingly, Seonghwa didn’t suggest someone else take his place or you go alone- it wasn’t uncommon to go alone. He had a few things he wanted to learn about you too, and he planned to find out today.

You both paused at the entrance, spotting yourselves in the reflecting glass- your lavender outfit was quite a contrast with his all black. The guards checked your ids, scanned you and allowed you to go inside and when Seonghwa exhaled loudly, you smacked his arm.

“Not subtle at all, Mr. Park.”

“I’m only teasing you,” he rolled his eyes as he laughed. “You think I haven’t done this? Sneaked in and gotten into trouble? More times than I can count.”

You made an impressed face and made your way to the display section, blown by the magnificent art pieces and the florals surrounding them. “Mother really put her heart and soul into this. No wonder she thought I couldn’t take over this job when I suggested that. My initial plan did fail for a reason.”

“You can go ahead and look at the flowers or whatever,” Seonghwa looked down at your still linked hands. “I’ll hang around and… observe. I need to check who the owners of these paintings are.”

“I think it’s better if we stick together- and you can lead the way. I don’t think I need to take a closer look at the flowers,” you shifted your hands so you were holding his arm now. “Better?”

Seonghwa glanced at you, gulping before he nodded. He wondered why he was so damn nervous around you. This wasn’t his first date-

Was he thinking of this as a date?

He led the way and you went from one art piece to another, observing for a few minutes. One of the guides answered whatever questions Seonghwa had. When you were at the heart of the display, Seonghwa finally asked what he wanted to. “What was your life like back at home?”

He noticed you tense for the smallest moment and he may have dismissed it had he not noticed you do that whenever someone talked about home. “Nothing much. Boring, if I have to say, but I have to credit my mother for all I am today.”

“Even the dark parts?” Seonghwa teased.

“Especially those,” you grinned at him, glad he was keeping it light. “She’s the only family I have- my father was never in the picture. She did what she had to.” He didn’t probe further, nodding slowly and guiding you to the next part, wondering just why your relationship with your mother was rocky. You asked him about his family.

“We’re a small family, but we’re close,” you could see his eyes curve and you bet he was smiling under the mask. “But when I look at you… I think you found a family here. The way you are with Siyeon and Wooyoung… it’s endearing.”

“Old friends are like family,” you smiled, agreeing. Seonghwa motioned towards the guards stationed near the far end- it had to be the office. “Should we take a closer look?”

“No, the guards might recognise me if Mr. Jang is involved,” he said, leading you to the other corner and you continued admiring the art while he looked at the office. “Can I ask why you wanted to open a cafe as a florist?”

“Well,” you thought about it. “I’ve practically lived with flowers. It’s what I’m best at and what I’m most confident about, though I started hating it a little when I felt like I hadn’t explored my options much. But when Wooyoung suggested opening up a cafe because he loved cooking for others… I think that’s when I looked at it differently.”

“What do you mean?”

“How do you think people look when they receive food or flowers? There’s not only happy occasions, but they’re both meaningful. To be a part of someone’s life or routine… I liked the idea of that. So we decided to partner up- Wooyoung gives the food and I give the flowers. It may sound stupid but-”

“No, it doesn’t,” Seonghwa insisted. “I heard somewhere, that even the darkest of places can be brightened by flowers, and even the darkest of humans can be moved.”

You narrowed your eyes at Seonghwa. You had, of course, heard that in your dream. “Where did you hear that- oh, look at that.”

Seonghwa followed your eyes to Mr. Jang going to his office room, followed by who had to be his secretary. He was about to turn away reflexively but you tightened your grip on his arm instead. “We’re going to his office.”

“We are not-”

“My mom sent a wine bottle for him, and I am simply delivering it on her behalf,” you motioned to the bag you were wearing which contained the gift and he rolled his eyes. “You can stay back if you want to-”

“No, I’ll come with you,” he said, looking like he was in pain.

You considered that. “Won’t he recognise you?”

“I think if he’s involved, it might shake him a little, seeing me with you,” Seonghwa was almost smirking. “That is, if your mother is involved too.”

“Ah… so you’re going to use me as bait? Noted,” you said and began to move forward and he laughed, grabbing your hand and stopping you but you pretended to be sour about it and made it to the office, letting him grab your hand when you knocked.

The secretary opened the door. “What business do you have?”

“I’m here from Eden Florals,” you said, “on behalf of the owner. She’s an acquaintance of Mr. Jang- she sent a gift for him.”

The secretary asked you to wait a moment and then let you in. You took out the gift first and then handed it to Mr. Jang with a bow. “I’m y/n from Eden Florals.”

“Of course,” Mr. Jang got up and shook hands with you. “I remember seeing a picture of you at your greenhouse when I went for a visit. You’re all grown up now!”

You smiled shyly. “My mother sends her regards. I’ve actually been wanting to visit your museum for quite a while ever since I moved to the city, but couldn’t get the chance.”

“And it seems like you did,” Mr. Jang glanced at Seonghwa.

“Yep,” you squeezed his hand, urging him to take his mask off. “This is my boyfriend, Seonghwa. He’s a fan of your work.”

“Nice to meet you,” Seonghwa said and you watched as Mr. Jang paused for a moment before shaking his hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“I’m sure you have,” he commented before sitting down. “You’re quite busy these days, I’ve heard.”

You pretended to be surprised. “Do you know each other?”

“Oh, didn’t he tell you?” Mr. Jang laughed. “He’s a very famous prosecutor around here. We’re all a little wary around him even when we’re clean as a slate.”

“That must mean he’s good at his job,” you passed a warm smile to Seonghwa and took a moment to look around. You found nothing suspicious at the first glance. “Well, I must get going now- sorry for taking so much of your time.”

“Oh, it’s alright. I hope you visit again. Send my regards to your mother too,” he said and you bowed before leaving the office, deciding to just exit the museum as well.

“So?” Seonghwa asked when you finally got out. “What do you think?”

“I’m pretty sure he’s involved- he looked more surprised to see you,” you thought. “I’m not sure about my mother though- what do you think?”

“I’m not so sure either,” Seonghwa inhaled deeply. “But I know for sure that he’s aware of what’s going on in the Underworld, at least.”

“Well then,” you paused, spotting a barbeque restaurant and feeling your stomach growl at the thought of food. “Shall we think about it over some food? My treat for dragging you along.”

“Shouldn’t we just go back?”

“Come on,” you elbowed him. “You said you wanted to live a little, right?”

Seonghwa gave you a look but urged you to lead the way and you stifled your grin as you entered the restaurant and gave your orders.

“You remembered that I said that,” he said after you both relaxed.

“Of course I did,” you shrugged, “We have that in common.”

“Is there something you want to do then?” Seonghwa rested his face on his hands, elbow propped on the table, looking casually at you. “I can’t figure you out. Sometimes you’re trying to dissolve in the background and then sometimes… you pull a bold move like you just did in Mr. Jang’s office.”

Before you could answer, the food arrived and you took that moment to think. “I could say a few things about you too, Prosecutor Park Seonghwa,” you teased and he groaned in amusement. “You seem miles away sometimes but then… you’re right here.”

Seonghwa raised a brow. “Are you talking about how I space out sometimes? Because I’ve been doing a lot of that ever since I met you. You make me confused.”

“Oh? How?” You asked, taking a bite of the meat.

“I don’t know how to explain it without sounding like a madman so I’ll let you know some other time,” he promised and you made a face at that. “It’s also probably because you’re quite weird too-”

“I could say the same for you!” You laughed. “You talk to yourself when you’re working! I thought I was hearing things and then I thought you were on a call or something, but you were just arguing with yourself.”

Seonghwa hid his face. “I have to do that when I’m lost while I’m connecting the dots. And you! You stare into the space like you can actually see something! I passed by one time and thought you were possessed!”

You both had a good laugh over that. “We’re all strange in some ways,” you acknowledged. “Speaking of, did you find anything strange about the paintings?”

“Yeah, I’ve got someone on it,” he checked his phone. “I just need to check if Mr. Jang’s really the owner of those paintings that he claims are his, or if most of the owners are involved in this drug business. What are you going to do, though?”

“I think I should visit back home- when my mom is away. Ugh, I don’t know how I’ll work that part out, but I need her to be away if I want to confirm my suspicions.”

“You might be offended to hear this, but…” Seonghwa began and you urged him to continue. “Normally, someone would have refused to believe their mother was involved in something like this. Why are you entertaining the possibility, I’m wondering.”

You took a deep breath. “We’re not on the best terms, as you must have seen when she visited the cafe,” you looked at him and he nodded. “She’s… overprotective. Overbearing. And she wasn’t the best mother- she could have done a lot of things differently about parenting,” you let out a short laugh, sighing. “And anyways, the Middlemist Blue is very rare. I can pull out of this but I shouldn’t stop you from investigating.”

“I understand,” he looked a bit apologetic and you shook your hand in dismissal, pouring him a drink and changing the topic,asking him how he became friends with everyone you knew and how he got to where he was. After you were done eating, he took the bus with you which stopped near your cafe and decided to drop you off.

“You don’t need to, I can find my way,” you teased, the few drinks you had back there making you both more comfortable with each other, especially when you both had talked so much the whole day.

“You know my car is parked there, right?” He laughed and you pouted. “It was your idea of a ‘date’.”

“You liked it though,” you elbowed him and he grinned. “When should we plan our next date? Do you want to go somewhere else before we go to my town?”

“I didn’t realise I was coming with you there,” Seonghwa casually grabbed your arm and pulled you closer.

“Of course you are coming with me,” you glanced at him. “We have a nice view there. I’d really like to show you.”

“If you insist,” he scoffed, though he was pleased. “Is there anywhere you want to go then?”

“I asked you,” you poked his arm. “Come on. Spill.”

“Well… I think I’d really like to go to the beach. It’s been forever since I went.”

“That’s great. I haven’t gone in forever. We should all go together- I could ask Siyeon and Wooyoung-”

“We could all go together, but…” Seonghwa paused, turning to you. “I’d like it more if it was just the two of us.”

“Oh, really?” You were about to tease him but then it sank in. “Oh.”

Seonghwa smiled, taking your hand and walking the rest of the way to the cafe in silence while your heart thumped wildly. When you arrived, he turned to you once again.

“Thank you for today. It was fun and productive. I never thought it could be both.”

You shook your head. “Always thinking about work first. I still haven’t forgotten how you used me as bait-”

Seonghwa shut you up with a chaste kiss to your cheek, laughing when he noticed how surprised you were. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s- it’s okay, just took me by surprise,” you unconsciously touched where he had kissed you.

“Do you like it then? Should I do it again now that you’re-”

“Ah, you’re drunk,” you laughed, pushing him away when he tried to do it again. “Kiss me when your head is not in the clouds.”

Seonghwa pursed his lips, his gaze changing and you realised what you had said. “I think I might be drunk too. I should go back inside…”

“I’ll remember that for next time,” Seonghwa promised and you waved goodbye, heading inside and unable to stop smiling for a good few moments.

—----------------------

“It’s not how I imagined us to be,” you said, caressing his hair, his head resting on your lap. It looked like he had stars in his hair. “Everyone thinks you’re the villain- that you’ve brought me here by force. It wasn’t my intention to make you misunderstood-”

“It doesn’t matter, Persephone,” Hades sighed in pleasure. “As long as you’re with me and happy… it doesn’t matter what the world thinks of us.”

“But Hades,” you couldn’t shake off the feeling of impending doom. “Mother will do anything to get me back. She won’t settle for 6 months on Earth and 6 months in the Underworld deal. She might get your brothers on her side, and then-”

Hades pulled away, sitting in front of you. “Did you know what would happen if you ate those pomegranate seeds?” You nodded and he continued. “You chose to do this. Will you choose to be by my side when everyone thinks I manipulated you into doing so?”

“Of course I will. I’m doing it now,” you pointed out and Hades smiled. “You’re the first person who saw me for who I truly was, and accepted me. You made me the Queen of Underworld and offered me whatever I wanted. I want to be with you, Hades. I don’t want to go back to Earth.”

Hades tucked his finger under your chin to make you look at him as he said, “You’re also the Goddess of Spring. You brought life to the Underworld- look around,” he glanced at the once dead forest that now bloomed with flowers of all sorts, bloomed with life. “I never thought it could be warm here- warm here too,” he touched his heart. “And you’re also the first one to look past the monster everyone has made me to be.”

With that, he leaned forward and kissed you in such a gentle manner that you wondered how he still managed to stay alive all alone in the cold Underworld. You kissed him back with the promise that he would never have to feel cold again. Hades was surprised when you kissed him back, because for a moment he wondered if he had made a mistake, if he had been too hasty- but when you climbed in his lap to kiss him deeper and his arms wound around your waist, he knew that he had fallen for you ages ago.

You woke up with a groan, your muscles aching and you found that you had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room. You rubbed your eyes, hearing water run- Siyeon must be showering. With a sigh, you got up and decided to make breakfast, cracking eggs and frying them, turning the coffee machine on-

And pausing in the middle of flipping eggs when the memory of the dream came back. You poked your tongue in your cheek, resuming the frying and scoffing at the memory- Hades kissing Persephone.

Seonghwa kissing you.

You cursed under your breath- it felt too real. You could feel butterflies in your stomach- or maybe it was because you already had a thing for Seonghwa. You had to admit that you did, especially with the conversation a few nights ago when he had kissed you on the cheek and you had asked him to kiss you again when he was sober.

You had met Seonghwa after that, but he had been a bit busy so he only said hi or made small talk when he stopped by at your cafe, both of you waiting for the day your mom would leave town which would be the weekend, you found out thanks to Siyeon. You both were pretending that conversation didn’t happen and things were pretty normal, if you had to say-

“Gosh, you scared me. Why are you smiling like a fool?”

You snorted, setting the table and sitting across Siyeon. “Just had a silly dream.”

“I had one too,” Siyeon laughed. “I was running away from a giant chicken. I think I should stop eating too much chicken…”

“Do you believe in coincidences, though?” You wondered out loud. “Like… do you think we can foresee things in our dreams?”

Siyeon raised a brow at the sudden change of tone. “I think I read something about that once. That sometimes we can actually foresee things. It’s pretty rare though, and most of the time it’s our mind making up scenarios.”

“But like, what if you’ve been foreseeing things for a while?” You leaned forward.

“I don’t know,” Siyeon shrugged. “Are you?”

“Not really,” you shrugged back. “Just wondering.”

You wanted to tell her that you saw Seonghwa in your dreams so many times before you met him, but… would she believe it? Even if she did, she’d think you were crazy. You couldn’t blame her for that- anyone would think you were crazy.

“You look like you have been having trouble sleeping, though,” Siyeon commented.

“Yeah, I haven’t had good sleep in a while,” you rubbed your face. “I’m going to go change.”

Before Siyeon could ask more, you were off to your room. After getting ready, she dropped you at the furniture store where Wooyoung was already waiting for you. He had picked a few options and you both went through the designs, choosing round wooden tables and comfortable cushion chairs in light pink colour for the cafe- you were pleased by how it looked in your mind so far.

“I think Hongjoong’s idea of a vintage theme really stuck to me. This is going to look perfect,” you pointed at some old frames.

“Get anything you want- I’m ready to spoil you,” Wooyoung nodded. “Just remember the budget. We spared a lot since you’re painting yourself.”

“Yeah, I just need to get some paints now,” you put your hands in your coat pocket as Wooyoung filled the receipt. “Brown and white should be okay, huh?”

“Yeah,” he was done. “Let’s look at the curtains next?”

You spent the good part of the afternoon shopping as much as you both could, getting lunch in between and making a timeline of when you needed to get things done and started. Wooyoung was busy with his cooking classes but you were mostly free so you were going to paint. He said he would ask the boys to give you a hand but you declined, saying it was something you’d prefer to do by yourself and you would be calling them anyway when you would need to decorate and set the furniture.

You got a text from Seonghwa when Wooyoung was about to drop you back at the cafe.

Hi. Can you meet me at the intersection near the cafe? I’m passing by and need to hand you some documents- I’m meeting someone and I can’t risk taking them along.

If you’re not busy, that is.

If you’re busy, I’ll just hide them in my office.

You smiled at the texts and Wooyoung glanced at you. “Already have a boyfriend?”

“No, it’s not that,” you groaned. “Can you drop me off at the intersection instead?”

“Meeting someone?” Wooyoung teased after agreeing. “I gotta see who it is.”

“Gosh,” you knew Wooyoung wasn’t going to back out so you gave in. “It’s only Seonghwa. He needs to give me something.”

“Seonghwa?” Wooyoung scoffed. “When did you two become so close?”

You suddenly felt guilty for not telling Wooyoung and Siyeon anything about Seonghwa yet. “We’re not that close. He’s just using my office to hide a few important documents because his house got ransacked twice- the case he’s working on. Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

Wooyoung made an impressed face. “He’s trusting you with that?”

“You know I’m good at hiding things,” you teased and he laughed, recalling that one time you were fourteen and bought a phone and hid it from your mother for about a year until she found out and gave you hell for it.

He dropped you off with a promise that you’d give him more details and you waved goodbye, spotting Seonghwa at the far end near a shop. You went to him and he apologised for making you come out when you were busy.

“I was just heading back to the cafe- I was out running errands with Wooyoung,” you told him, taking the USB and putting it in the inside pocket of your coat. “I’m interested to hear why you think this could be stolen.”

“It’s crucial information… and I don’t want to be careless,” he looked around, running a hand through his hair and your stomach swooped when your mind decided to flash back that one scene from your dream where you were running a hand through his hair instead- “And I think I have a tail, which is why I didn’t stop by the cafe too much. I need to find out who it is this time.”

“Oh,” you pursed your lips. “I’ll hide it well then.”

“I’m sure you will,” he smiled, checking the time. “I’ve got to go. See you later?”

“See you,” you saluted, going backwards where you came from. You took two turns down the street when you felt eyes on you and you turned around, catching a shadow hide behind a pole- since it was getting dark, you couldn’t see well, but-

If Seonghwa had a tail, it was possible they were following you now.

Which meant there was no way in hell you could go back to the cafe.

You decided to go to the convenience store instead, taking another turn. You took out your phone and used the screen and the lights to see if anyone was actually following you or you were just being anxious-

There was someone. And he was close.

You unlocked your phone and texted Seonghwa: I have a tail and he’s following me rn. You called him next.

“Wooyoung! Did you see my text? I sent you the receipt of the furniture.”

“Uh, it’s Seonghwa-”

“Yeah, I know,” you sighed. “Can you just take a look and see if it’s the right one?”

“Is anyone following you right now?”

“Yep,” you attempted to sound cheerful because you were pretty sure whoever was behind you could hear you. You decided to stay where it was crowded, though. At least he wouldn’t attempt something in the middle of a crowd, right?

“Oh goodness. Where are you?”

“Dinner? I think I’ll just have ramen at the convenience store.”

“Got it. Stay safe- don’t run. Stay around people, okay? I’m coming.”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” you said. “Aren’t you busy?”

“Stay on call, okay?” Seonghwa said and you could hear his breath sound like he was running. He had to be on foot now- you glanced around casually, noticing the man behind you properly now- he was wearing a face mask and a cap.

Someone was starting to suspect you, it seemed. They couldn’t see you with Seonghwa.

“I don’t want to be seen with you, Wooyoung,” you almost scolded. “People will have the wrong idea.”

“Now is not the time to play games, y/n,” Seonghwa sighed. “I can see you- cross the street and when it gets busy, go to the backside of the convenience store. He’s a good distance behind you so if we run, we could lose him.”

“Got it. Bye,” you said and put your phone in your pocket, taking a deep breath and waiting for the signal to turn green, an old couple near you. You casually looked around- the man was indeed hanging around a few feet away.

You crossed the road with the couple, and after taking a sharp turn you started running when you spotted Seonghwa. He grabbed your hand and led you to an old building, exiting from the front and then going to another building, following him in the darkness and swallowing your panic until you made a stop at a parking lot.

“I think we’ve lost him,” he looked around. “You definitely had a tail-”

You sighed loudly in relief, your knees going weak and Seonghwa was quick to hold you against him, making you rest your head on his chest- you could hear his wildly thumping heart as well. Seonghwa chuckled in disbelief, patting your back. “I got you.”

“I was so scared for a moment back there,” you said as you finally looked up at him and he scanned your face, looking apologetic.

“I was more scared,” Seonghwa found himself tucking your hair behind. “I could see who's following you. I had to do something- I couldn’t simply wait and watch.”

You leaned into his touch, surprising him but then he brought you into a hug and you didn’t hesitate, wrapping your arms around his waist. He sighed deeply. “I’m sorry. I never should have asked that from you- I shouldn’t have let you do this alone. I don’t even know how they figured out-”

“It’s okay- I would have done it anyway,” you only hugged him tighter. “Besides, I was smooth. I’ve got it,” you broke the hug and patted your pocket that held the USB. “You should hire me. I think I might be a natural at this.”

Seonghwa laughed at that. “I think that’s tempting,” he licked his lips as he looked at you. “Let’s get out of here.”

He drove you home and insisted that you stay there for the rest of the day, just to be on the safe side. He made a call to cancel his meeting as well. When you arrived at the apartment, you offered him to come inside for dinner.

“I’m feeling chicken and beer now,” you said, getting out of the taxi and waiting for him. “A little company would be nice.”

Seonghwa pondered for a moment before following you out. “Isn’t this where Siyeon lives as well?”

“She won’t be home until 11 tonight,” you said, leading the way inside. He took off his shoes, looking around.

“Neat,” he commented. “I thought Siyeon’s place would look more like a dungeon.”

“It did,” you laughed. “Before I moved in. She’s better now.”

Seonghwa laughed at that and you took out the USB. “Should I just hide it here? It’s better to keep important things scattered, right?”

“Maybe, yes,” he thought for a moment. “I’ll just make a few copies of it.”

You sat down with Seonghwa on the couch, putting on whatever drama was airing and watching Seonghwa make copies on his laptop, handing you the original one to hide, which you did in a random jar in the kitchen that you were sure no one else would touch. Seonghwa was impressed. “I should have hid things in the kitchen too.”

“Doesn’t work everytime,” you told him and he shut his laptop and put it aside. The chicken arrived and you found yourselves absorbed in casual discussion, from the case to how he became a prosecutor to your family.

“We’re going this weekend, by the way,” you reminded him, having finished eating about half an hour ago and just relaxing with beer now. “You’re free for the day, right?”

“I am,” he confirmed and you scanned him- head resting on his hand, arm propped on the couch, sitting very comfortably on the floor. You could imagine him as Hades. Was it really a past life you were seeing or were you possessed? There was no way you were the goddess of spring and he the king of the underworld, but…

With your present occupations, you were beginning to doubt if it really made no sense.

“You’re staring, y/n,” he commented, his voice deeper. “What are you thinking?”

You gulped unconsciously. “Sorry. Just got lost for a moment.”

“I want to know what you’re thinking,” he pouted uncharacteristically and you laughed, taking the beer can away from him.

“Don’t tell me you’re drunk again!” You teased.

“I’m pretty sober right now,” he insisted and you narrowed your eyes at him, but he didn’t budge. “I also remember a promise I made for when I was sober-”

“Oh, please,” you looked away, feeling heat creep up your cheeks and he smiled at that.

“Do I make you nervous, y/n?” he asked, taking your hands away when you hid your cheeks and pulling them in his lap. “I’m sorry for today. I really wish you would stop involving yourself anymore.”

“Not this again,” you squeezed his hand. “We’re fine. We’re here. That’s all that matters- you know I can’t back out now anyway.”

He looked at you. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. It could get worse now.”

“Well, I want you to pull out too. I want to keep you safe, but it seems like we can’t get everything that we want…” you shrugged and he felt warmth inside after hearing that. “Now can you stop looking at me like this?”

“Like what?” He teased and pulled you closer, taking you by surprise, your face inches away. “Like this?”

His gaze dropped to your lips and you felt butterflies, unable to look away, your own gaze dropping at his plump lips now parted. He ran his thumb over your lower lip, patting your cheek before drawing away but you took his hand and pulled him back, taking him by surprise.

“You haven’t kept your promise,” you said.

“I don’t think I’m fully sober,” he replied.

“Does it look like I care about that?”

There it was- your gaze changing, your persona changing. He absolutely loved it when you got playful like this, and he wasn’t going to miss this chance. He smiled, leaning forward and hesitating before he kissed your cheek, lingering there for a moment. However, when he saw you with your eyes still shut, he couldn’t help but take it a step further, brushing his lips across yours as if asking for permission and you took the next step, pecking his lips and then drawing back as if you had been caught doing something.

“Y/n,” he groaned before he cupped your face and kissed you properly, moving his lips along yours, your hands holding his wrists tightening with every second and then he drew back for a breath. You moved closer, propping yourself in his lap and he felt deja vu, his arms going around your waist as you cupped his face and kissed him deeper.

You weren’t sure if you were supposed to feel this, but you felt like you were doing something absolutely right- you somehow knew where to touch him, where to hold him, how to kiss him- you already knew the planes and curves and edges of his face as you traced it while you kissed him, and you felt like you belonged there. Somehow, that thought made you feel overwhelmed and you broke the kiss, caressing his face as you looked him in his eyes.

“Don’t you feel like we’ve been here before, Seonghwa?”

Seonghwa thought he was hearing things, but he nodded. “I feel like I’ve known you all my life.”

You smiled at that, pecking his lips again. “Then I’m glad I’m not the only one.”

Seonghwa caressed your arms and you buried your face in his neck, wanting to feel closer, hugging him tightly. He hugged you back and held you for a long time before his phone vibrated and he came back to reality.

“I should get going before Siyeon comes. She’ll raise hell,” he laughed and you grinned.

“See you on the weekend then?” You asked. It was only two days away.

“Maybe you’ll see me before that too,” he smiled, taking his stuff and you walked him out. Before you could leave, he kissed you on your forehead.

“Let’s talk about this later, okay?” He said and you nodded, watching him leave, lovestruck.

—-----------------------------

You barely had the strength to move right now, but even if you did, there wasn’t any other place you would rather be, for you were home in the arms of your husband, the King of the Underworld.

Your king.

“I’m sorry it had to come to this…” he sighed. His voice sounded weary and you glanced up to meet his eyes- he looked beyond tired. “I wish I could take your pain.”

“We saw it coming, my love,” you buried your face in his neck. “One day or another, the mortals are going to forget us- we knew that. We knew we would dissipate into moths or flowers when that time came. And we are so brave to face it together- unlike the others who ended themselves.”

“I don’t like seeing you in pain though,” he insisted. “You could go to Styx. You could end this too-”

“Are you that miserable to be with me?” You teased and he laughed. You marvelled at how young his laugh sounded.

“Of course not. All I’ve ever wanted was to die in your arms.”

Your heart tugged at that- you had spent an indefinite time with Hades but when he said things like that, you felt like you were experiencing something new.

“Do you want to make a wish, then?” You asked. “Don’t tell me you’ve used the wish we got from Hestia.”

“I don’t think it’s any use now. She’s as weak as us, if not more.”

“But we could try- if we have the same wish.”

Hades tugged your chin up. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking… that this is the end, but I’d like to meet you in another life.”

“I’d like that too,” he nodded.

“Shall we wish to be reincarnated as mortal lovers then?”

“Why mortal lovers? Their lives are short and meaningless.”

“But,” you sighed dreamily. “But they know that, and still love with all their might. I’d like to have that with you once again.”

Hades smiled at that- he couldn’t have thought of something better. “Well then… let’s make that wish.”

“Well…” you got off the bus that stopped at the town where your home was. “This is it.”

Seonghwa put his hands in his pockets as he looked at the cloudy sky over the hills, the air feeling cleaner than usual. “It’s beautiful here.”

“It is,” you smiled and Seonghwa thought there was something sad about your smile. You walked side by side, following the track that led to your house. Seonghwa made small talk but he felt like there was something weighing on you- something else other than the fact that your mother could be involved in the biggest drug scandal in the history of Wonderland, so he let the silence take over until you reached the cottage house.

“Do you want to have some tea before we investigate?” You asked and he nodded, eager to see this part of your life. You unlocked the door and let him in and he looked around.

“It looks cosy but why is it so cold?” He shivered.

You smiled faintly. “It’s always been like this.”

You asked him to get comfortable and went to the kitchen, smiling at the pictures of your childhood hanging by the fireplace. When you came back, he asked you about the backstory of those pictures and you told him- first day of school, first broken tooth, first day at college and more. You showed him your room and he boasted how he would guess your room anywhere if he saw it- he was very familiar with your vibe now.

“And that’s my mom’s room, if you’re up for snooping,” you said and went inside.

“Very minimalistic,” he observed. “I don’t know what to look for, actually. You can do the snooping. I’m kind of scared of her.”

You chuckled at that, going through her drawers and the bookshelf, asking Seonghwa to check if there were hidden compartments in the room. However, you found nothing.

“She’s not that simple, my mother,” you said as you made sure everything was in place before exiting the room. “We should check her private greenhouse. She may have something there.”

“Do you have all her keys?” Seonghwa asked and you nodded. “I don’t think she’ll keep something like that where you could access it.”

“I think otherwise,” you glanced at him. “We’ve been playing cat and mouse for years now,” you told him as you unlocked her greenhouse, shivering a little as a few bad memories flashed in your mind. “I think this is where she’ll keep it, and then she’ll test me.”

Seonghwa didn’t say anything, just watched you as you went around and zoned out, staring at the far end corner. He decided to give you some space but after a few minutes, he found you still staring at the same spot.

He walked to you and gently put his arms around your waist in a back hug and felt you finally relax. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah,” you cleared your throat. “Just some bad memories here.”

“You wanna talk about it?” He pressed a kiss to your temple and you smiled faintly- you had missed this. You caressed his hands as you looked ahead.

“She used to lock me up here when I misbehaved, and I wasn’t the most well-behaved kid as a child,” you let out a short laugh. “I learned to love the dark. It worked until she found out I wasn’t scared anymore.”

“Oh, y/n,” he hugged you tighter. “You don’t have to pretend to be okay anymore.”

You pursed your lips, not wanting to cry so you turned around and let him sway you in a hug until you felt better. He sighed. “I wouldn’t have asked you to come here if I knew.”

“I needed to come here one day or another,” you shrugged. “And I’m glad you’re the one with me.”

Seonghwa caressed your cheek, kissing you deeply and hugging you again. “You’re really strong, you know that?”

You smiled, breaking the hug. “Thank you. I’m just pretending to be.”

Seonghwa smiled back, tucking your hair. “We all are, aren’t we?”

You nodded, spotting the familiar flower behind him. “That’s the Middlemist Blue. They’re more than I expected.”

Seonghwa turned around and found a few pots of the very rare flower. “It feels unreal to see it here. Do you think she’s only trying to keep this flower from going extinct, or…”

“I’ll look around- I really can’t say,” you bit your lip, going through the cupboards until you found a locked drawer. “What do you think she keeps here?”

“I don’t want to guess,” he admitted. “No key?”

“Let’s break it?”

“No, we don’t want to leave traces,” he said, glancing at your head. “Bobby pins?”

“Oooh,” you grinned, taking the pins out of your hair. “Don’t tell me you know how to do that.”

“I’ve learned a few tricks in my field- though one would question if I’m really doing something morally right,” he began unlocking the drawer. “I say as long as it’s serving a good purpose, you’re allowed to do something like this.”

“Wow,” you said as it unlocked and he flicked his hair proudly, making you stick out your tongue before you opened the drawer to examine the contents. You found her old pictures, a few of your father, and some receipts that you handed to Seonghwa.

“So she is providing the Middlemist Blue to Mr. Jang,” he went through the receipts. “Question is- is she keeping these because she’s involved directly in the drug dealing, or because she suspects something and is keeping proof?”

“Yeah, because she wouldn’t keep the receipts in this drawer unless they meant something important,” you nodded.

“But these date only a year ago,” Seonghwa observed. “Did Mr. Jang change his provider or did she only start suspecting foul play?”

“I guess only she could answer that,” you took pictures of all the receipts. “You’ll have to call her as a witness now, right?”

“I suppose, yes. I’ve found some other things too, but it’s better to call her privately and discuss it,” he looked sorry and you told him it was okay. You locked the drawer back and exited the greenhouse, taking a deep breath and turning to Seonghwa. “Do you want to go to my comfort place to get some food? I wanna show you the lake too before we go back.”

Seonghwa agreed- the day had been tense and he wanted to make the atmosphere between you two light again. You took him to the restaurant by the lake where you had some seafood. You walked around, now comfortably joking about stuff and making small talk until you reached the quietest spot around the lake next to the stream.

“I used to come here when I needed to be alone,” you settled down on the grass. “Never thought I’d bring someone here, much less a prosecutor who’s investigating my mother.”

“Please, can you stop joking about that already,” he laughed painfully, settling down next to you. “Tell me what you like about this place.”

“Well,” you looked up at the stars in the sky. “That. The sound of water. The dirt,” you patted the ground. “The peace this place provided. I felt disconnected here, as if I belonged to another world and was simply a visitor here.”

“Interesting,” he looked up as well. “I like the night sky too. Especially the moon. I feel at home here.”

You glanced at him- you’d heard that before, in a dream. You realised you had said the same thing as Persephone too. Seonghwa looked at you cautiously as well, swallowing the questions down but still daring to ask, “Do you dream when you sleep?”

“Don’t we all?” You frowned at how cryptic he sounded.

“I dream of another life sometimes,” Seonghwa decided to play it safe. “I dream that I’m all alone and cold in another world, until someone comes and puts life in me, around me.”

You felt your heart sink- could it be?

“I dream too,” your voice was quiet. “That I’m misunderstood and confined until someone frees me and takes me to another world where I can make my own choices. Where I can be free and not have to pretend to be someone else.”

Seonghwa and you both stared at each other, each lost as they tried to fit the pieces together. “Have you heard the story of Hades and Persephone, y/n?”

As soon as he said that, you almost lost your balance in disbelief. It couldn’t be a coincidence this time, could it?

You had one shot. You had to play it right.

“I’ve heard many versions,” you said cautiously and found his puzzled gaze confusing. “But… I believe in the one that I dream of.”

“No way,” Seonghwa breathed, turning to you. “What does the Underworld need?’”

It was impossible, but you found yourself leaning forward and caressing his cheekbone, tangling your fingers in his hair.

“‘It needs a touch of spring’.”

Seonghwa couldn’t believe his ears. He watched you laugh in disbelief as well. “Don’t tell me you’ve been dreaming about Persephone too, Seonghwa.”

Seonghwa scoffed, looking up helplessly. “You’ve been dreaming about Hades?”

“I saw you before I ever met you, can you believe that?” You said and he held your hands, squeezing them. “I thought I was crazy.”

“I thought I was crazy- especially when I knew what your mother looked like before I saw her, and then I heard her call you Kore- I couldn’t believe my ears, I- this is unbelievable,” he sighed, resting his forehead against yours. “Am I dreaming right now?”

“I don’t think so,” you breathed. “If you’re Hades and I’m Persephone… what are we supposed to do, Seonghwa?”

Seonghwa shut his eyes, letting himself relax fully for the first time now that he knew he wasn’t alone. He heard you sniff and opened his eyes, finding your face wet with tears. “What’s wrong, love?”

“I don’t know what to do, Seonghwa,” you let him wipe your tears away. “I missed you. I’ve yearned for you my whole life, and when I saw you that day? I thought I was insane. I don’t know how I managed to hold myself back, but oh, goodness, I feel like I’ve waited an eternity to be with you-”

Seonghwa kissed your lips, taking you by surprise but you kissed back as eagerly as he was, clinging on to each other as if that could wipe the distance of aeons away. He found himself kissing your temple, your forehead, the places he used to kiss the most as Hades, and he let you run your hands through his hair like you always did. You let him get on top of you, not caring if anyone could see- it didn’t matter now. Nothing mattered now, except that you had finally found him.

He broke apart, resting his head at the crook of your neck, kissing your exposed skin lazily and you thought you could dissolve right in the ground. “You need to tell me everything.”

“Well…” you laughed, still finding the whole situation unbelievable. “Shall we find a place to stay the night then? I don’t think we can go back to my house…”

“Let’s go back to Sector 1- you can stay at my place… if you want to.”

“Of course, I don’t mind,” you smiled and decided to waste no more time.

Throughout the bus ride, you shared your stories- the first dream you had, when you had it, how it changed when you met each other. When you got to his place and had a few drinks (and a few kisses), you managed to sketch a timeline.

“So Persephone- or Kore, Demeter’s daughter,” you began, “didn’t know she was a goddess. She thought she was an ordinary flower nymph, but she had something else in her- she could make the flowers… die?”

“Sort of,” Seonghwa agreed. “I think she had anger issues.”

You gave him a look and he grinned. You sighed. “So she might have caused some destruction but Demeter always hid her from the world. That’s an awful lot like my mother. Anyways, one day she was panicking by the lake when Hades found her.”

“He said she called for him,” Seonghwa recalled. “Fitting how we found each other by the lake again, huh?”

You considered that, nodding. “So he offers her his company. Why?”

“He liked that she wasn’t afraid of him,” Seonghwa rubbed his chin. “And he found her powers interesting too.”

“So Persephone calls for him again- or he comes by- did he stalk her? Anyways, they talk a lot and get to know each other. Persephone realises Hades is not the cold monster everyone has made him to be. Hades realises she’s not the good girl she pretends to be.”

“I don’t think he stalked her,” Seonghwa pouted and you laughed. “Even if he did… I didn’t.”

“Whatever,” you rolled your eyes. “The events are somewhat similar to what’s happening in our lives now, right? You’re still the King slash Grim Reaper of the Underworld. I’m still a floral goddess. So the question is… why are we having these dreams? Are we a part of an experiment? Or is it simply fate playing games with us? Were we really Hades and Persephone in our past lives?”

“Do you remember that dream?” Seonghwa looked at you. “We were powerless and old. When people started forgetting us, we started fading.”

You raised a brow at how he was now referring to the entities as yourselves. “And then we made a promise to stay by each other’s side, and-”

“And made a wish. What was the wish, y/n?”

You felt as if you’d been dumped with cold water. “To be reincarnated as mortal lovers.”

Seonghwa smiled, “I don’t think we have to think too much then. We got what we wished for, it seems.”

You caressed his hand. “Do you think we only met each other because we’re Hades and Persephone?”

“I don’t care about that, but one thing I know for sure,” he looked into your eyes, eager to erase any doubts you had. “I fell for you in this life because of who you are today. I don’t care if we’re Hades and Persephone, if we’re meant to be or whatever. I know for sure that I would have liked you even if we were not.”

“Gosh, you say that but you’re still as cringy as Hades,” you laughed, making him groan. You scooted closer to him on the couch, letting your hand travel to the nape of his neck. “Well … I like you for just you too. I like Prosecutor Park Seonghwa. I wanted to be sure that the old feelings weren’t messing with me, but you’re right. We’re really meant to be if we like each other for who we are today.”

“But you know what I like better?” Seonghwa’s gaze was hot as he traced your lips. “I know you- not the basics, but I know in my heart what you like,” he let his hands travel down the curve of your neck, satisfied when you shivered involuntarily. “And I’ve wanted to do this for a long, long time.”

He took your lips in a kiss, swiping his tongue along them and you immediately opened up for him, letting his tongue explore your mouth, the memories of it tugging at the back of your mind. You positioned yourself on top of him, arms around his neck, his hands on your waist as he kissed you passionately and you let your hips roll once, making him groan into the kiss and break apart.

“You’re not the only one,” you said and Seonghwa sucked in his breath at how dark your gaze was. “I remember it all too well. You were the King of the Underworld, and I was your Queen. This-” you looked down at your bodies. “This was my throne. You were cold and mysterious to the world, but for me, you were vulnerable and warm,” you smiled, curling your hands in his hair and leaning in to whisper in his ear-

“And I liked your hair longer.”

Seonghwa laughed deeply at that, shaking his head and letting you pepper kisses where he liked- along his jaw, on his nose, and then on his lips, which quickly turned heated, extra layers of clothes off and bodies as close as possible. Every brush of the skin and every kiss felt heightened, now that you both remembered what you had found and what you had lost. And there was no hesitation in your actions now. You had never been more sure about anything.

He was the one for you.

—----------------------

“I can’t believe you could suspect me of something like this,” your mother glared at you and you felt heat creep up your cheeks but Seonghwa’s hand on your thigh made you feel better.

“She’s not suspecting you, ma’am. She’s just trying to keep you safe,” Seonghwa’s tone was hard and you felt a bit proud of how he was standing up for you despite panicking earlier because he was very scared of your mother- he had the memories of Demeter to blame.

Seonghwa had allowed you to call your mother to your cafe for a private discussion first, now that he had conclusive evidence- but he wasn’t telling you right now, insisting he needed to hear your mother’s statement as well. You were thankful for that and he told you it was the least he could do for you.

“I’m doing this for your sake, whether you believe it or not,” you sighed. “You just need to tell me if you really know what Mr. Jang and the others are doing with the Middlemist Blue.”

“He’s always been interested in flowers,” your mother replied, tucking her hair back in her bun. “So when he showed interest in that rare flower and offered a high price for me to reproduce it, I didn’t suspect anything. I would have done that sooner or later anyway.”

“But did you know that the Middlemist Blue can be used as a hallucinogen?”

“Not at all,” she shook her head firmly. “I didn’t, until… until a year ago when I heard something suspicious- Mr. Jang was talking to his friend, saying something about a flower that makes him see another world. I overheard him talk about how he needed to find another source for the flower too. That’s when I started to keep the receipts- he found out that I suspected him and threatened me, but I was smarter. I told him if something happened to me… my daughter would expose the details to the world.”

You frowned. “Your plan was good but I had no idea- you never told me anything.”

“I didn’t know how to, and I didn’t want to involve you in something dangerous,” she pursed her lips. “They could have hurt you.”

You bit your lips as you thought. “So that’s it? You’ve been keeping track of his receipts?”

“I was trying to find a way to get out of this mess, but then I saw you,” she looked at Seonghwa and he straightened. “Prosecutor Park Seonghwa. I wondered why he sounded familiar.”

You and Seonghwa looked at each other. Seonghwa asked, “Why?”

“You were investigating the case,” she scoffed in amusement. “And you were by my daughter’s side. I thought you approached her because you were suspecting me. Is that true?”

“Of course not,” Seonghwa said before you could. “We have mutual friends. We met each other by chance.”

“Whatever you say,” she shrugged. “Are you done interrogating me?”

Seonghwa took a deep breath. “I’ll provide witness protection to you- you can stop providing Mr. Jang with the flowers now. I know you weren’t directly involved, I just needed to hear it from you. I do have to ask you, though… how do you know Mr. Ahn?”

Your mother tensed at that. “What’s that got to do with any of this?”

You frowned at the sudden change of her tone and Seonghwa looked at you before saying, “Mr. Ahn of KQ Pharmaceutical frequents your place a lot, doesn’t he?”

“What has my private life got to do with this case?” She practically seethed and you raised a brow in realisation.

“Don’t tell me you’re dating him?” You scoffed. “I knew you were seeing someone, I just didn’t realise who… wait-” you looked at Seonghwa. “Mr. Ahn of KQ Pharmaceuticals?”

“Thank you for cooperating, ma’am,” Seonghwa got up and bowed. “I think you should also stop seeing Mr. Ahn for a while. I’ll be issuing an arrest warrant for him tonight.”

Your mother gasped in realisation and you stood confused, wondering just what was going on. However, she stood up and straightened after a moment. “I should have known. No one’s interested in a mere florist- not a man of his standing.”

“Don’t be too disappointed- not everyone is like that,” Seonghwa had a faint smile as he took your hand and caressed it, making you jump- you hadn’t told your mother anything about Seonghwa yet, and she was quick to notice. She only smiled knowingly.

“I’ll catch up with her later, but you-” she pointed a finger at Seonghwa, sighing. “You better do a good job at catching those assholes, and my daughter better not get hurt.”

“I’ll make sure of that,” Seonghwa nodded.

“Can I have a moment with you, Kore?” She asked and you nodded, going outside with her. She sighed deeply, looking at you with fondness, which was rare, but perhaps this time, you had earned it.

“I would have scolded you but… I’m glad he’s smart,” she grinned and you laughed nervously as well. She patted your cheek. “Come visit me soon. I’ll have no company now.”

“I’m sorry about Mr. Ahn…” you hesitated but she rolled her eyes.

“I should have known better-”

“No. You couldn’t have guessed,” you assured her, patting her arm awkwardly. “It’s okay. You should come by more often too. Wooyoung’s mother misses you. You and Siyeon’s mother should all hang out or something.”

“Open this place soon then,” she said. “We’ll gather here.”

You watched her leave until Seonghwa came by your side. “I’m sorry for not telling you earlier, but… I had to respect her privacy too.”

“You did the right thing,” you nodded. “I’m not sure how Mr. Ahn is involved.”

“I don’t know whether he really likes your mother or he used her, but… the company that’s been creating the drug is his too. He set it up to put his rivals behind bars- he purposely disturbed the peace. He pretended to be fazed by the loss when Dr. Kwon of Wonderland Hospital Sector 1 stopped using his products, and he used that to create a drug scandal, tempt the people of power with the drug and then put them behind bars. He must have felt like a god, using everyone like that in his game.”

“Wow… that’s a lot,” you whistled. “How did you find that out?”

“Mr. Jang and I struck a deal,” he smirked and you gasped in realisation. “We decided to help each other out a little. When I told him there was a possibility that Dr. Ahn was behind all of this, he was all ears. I’ll have to cut him some slack though, where I can.”

“Wicked,” you grinned. “So what’s next?”

“I’ll be prosecuting Mr. Ahn… and he better have the best lawyer in Wonderland to defend him,” Seonghwa smiled. “He can’t get out of this now.”

“It’s going to be over soon, huh?” You wrapped your arms around his waist. “I’m glad it’s over, Seonghwa.”

“Me too,” he sighed. “It’ll take a few weeks and I’ll be busy but… when I’m free from all of this, do you want to go to the beach?”

“You have to make it to the cafe opening first,” you laughed. “It’s next Saturday, you haven’t forgotten, right?”

“Of course not,” he kissed your lips. “I’ll be there.”

He was there, as promised, when you opened the cafe officially. You and Wooyoung felt proud when all your friends and family arrived, admiring the floral exterior with flowers for sale as well, Hongjoong’s soundtrack running in the background, the vintage theme going along with the whole vibe. The first day was as busy as it could have gotten, especially when your friends brought their coworkers and colleagues and a famous blogger came as well. Wooyoung was excellent in the kitchen, working well with the team he’d hired, and you stood as a cashier for the day shift, greeting everyone and giving away flowers, making sure everything was okay.

Siyeon came at night again with the mothers, and when your mother gave you an approving wink, you felt like you had finally done something good to please her. Wooyoung noted that, joining the mothers at the table himself and Siyeon pouted because even her mother loved him. You called Siyeon to where you were standing at the counter.

“If you don’t tell him that he looks hot in the apron or whatever, then I will, because I know that’s what you’re thinking,” you poked her stomach and she glared at you. “Come on. Even I’m dating now. I didn’t realise you were such a coward.”

“He doesn’t like me like that-”

“Trust me, he does. He can’t stop glancing at you whenever you’re around. And he even took you to his apartment to make you taste his dishes! He never does that!”

“That’s only because I have superior taste buds-”

“Shut up, and I better see you both together tonight,” you announced and she muttered curses under her breath which you ignored. At that moment, Wooyoung passed by you two, casually patting Siyeon’s back and you wiggled your brows at her. Wooyoung went into the kitchen and while you two were teasing each other, he came out and told you he was almost out of ingredients, so you should close the cafe for the day- it was almost 10 anyway.

“The first day was a success, right?” You asked and he squeezed your hand.

“Huge success. We did it,” he grinned and you grinned back, going to change the sign on the door and watching Siyeon compliment something. You went outside for air.

You inhaled deeply, feeling a sense of achievement having announced the cafe closed, however… Seonghwa was very late. You wondered where he was-

“Are you not going to let me in?” He came in front of you out of nowhere and you blinked.

“You’re late!” You pouted.

“I know, just got held back at the court, but… I bought you something to make up for it.” He took out a box and you narrowed your eyes before you opened it.

“Oh goodness, you really are worse than Hades,” you laughed, making him grin. “Couple rings?”

“Aren’t people into this these days?” He took out your ring, taking your hand and looking at you for permission before sliding it in. You admired the silver band.

“Maybe. I love it, Seonghwa. I really do.”

“Come here,” he hugged you, swaying you back and forth and you got lost in it until Seonghwa paused. “We might have… an audience.”

“Oh, fuck,” you muttered and he snorted as you broke the hug and looked back at not only Siyeon and Wooyoung but also their mothers and your mother watching you both with silly grins plastered on their faces. You waved at them awkwardly.

“Let’s get inside,” he laughed. “I need some coffee.”

“I’ll be right in after a minute,” you said and he kissed your temple, nodding and going inside. You watched him bark orders to Wooyoung who put him in a chokehold, making everyone laugh. You smiled to yourself- with your loved ones enjoying together, it really couldn’t get any better.

—--------------------

Being with Seonghwa now that you both realised that this was not your first life together was a whole different experience.

You had never envisioned yourself to be with someone who cared so much about you, for starters. You never thought you could meet someone who would understand you even when you didn’t explain, or know what you wanted even when you were not vocal about it. You sometimes found yourself wondering if he was real and you weren’t dreaming, but he was very real, and he was nothing like you had imagined- in the best way possible.

You had to come to terms with the fact that you were indeed living a second life. You spent a lot of days wondering what that meant. You wondered why you remembered it. You would have thought it was insane had you not correlated everything with Seonghwa- who also thought he was going crazy before he talked to you about it that day in your hometown. It was absurd, how you both found each other again, but it was starting to make sense.

Most of all, you thought about the past. You thought about your life as Persephone- you didn’t have all the memories, of course. Only bits and fragments, and sometimes you’d see a dream that would play out similarly in your present life too. You thought about your mother who still had a similar nature as Demeter, though you were now working out on your differences more. You thought about Hestia and wondered who she was- was she a part of your present life too? She had fulfilled your last wish, after all. You would like to see who she was today, if she was still alive in some sense.

You thought about yourself- the flower goddess who was also the Queen of the Underworld, who could bring the dead to life but also suck the life out of anything alive. You read more about the story on Persephone but found a lot of contradictions and decided to not search anymore, instead letting the truth unfold in your dreams.

You also thought a lot about Hades. Of the cold and mysterious King of the Dead, ruler of the Underworld, who somehow turned out to be the warmest person you knew. He was strong and powerful but he needed you. And that made you feel proud, in a sense. He believed in you and he proved to be right when he thought you could bring life to the Underworld. He loved you like no one else and devoted himself to you.

Perhaps, Seonghwa thought about those things too. He probably did- and you two had made a promise to share whatever dream you’d have of that life, though you found out after a few days that whenever you dreamed, it was together. You couldn’t believe the coincidence and thought you really were meant to be. So you promised instead to not let the events of that life interfere in your present life- after all, that was another time, another world, perhaps.

That didn’t mean Seonghwa and you didn’t use it to your advantage. You knew what his favourite flowers were, what he liked, how he approached things. He knew that about you too- when to give you space, when to hold you, when to tease you-

“You’re smiling like a fool,” Seonghwa’s lips brushed your ears as he whispered, and you leaned into his touch, digging your feet in the sand as the waves brushed them.

“Just thinking,” you muttered, caressing his arms that were slung around you and shifting in his lap.

“About?”

“Do you wonder where we would be if we didn’t meet each other that day?” You asked, squinting your eyes when the cloud passed by and a ray of sunshine hit the ground.

“Hmm… I do wonder but I get scared at the thought that you could have seriously gotten hurt that day.”

“But I didn’t,” you grinned and he kissed your cheek.

“We would have met later- it was inevitable if you think about it,” Seonghwa nodded slowly. “We also could have met way before if that fool Wooyoung would have introduced us earlier-”

You laughed. “It’s not his fault. Who would have guessed we could be a thing?”

Seonghwa smiled at that. “Yeah, we have to give him some credit. If we didn’t have a mutual friend, we might not have met after the police station when you came for the witness statement.”

“Well, we might have encountered each other again,” you thought about it. “And we would have texted each other casually or something.”

“True,” Seonghwa nodded.

“We could have met later, and you could have been dating someone else,” you sighed deeply, making him snicker. “Have you dated before though?”

“It never worked past a few weeks,” he admitted. “I always thought something was missing with the others.”

“But,” you shifted in his lap to face him. “We might have been interested in someone else if it wasn’t for our dreams and coincidences-”

“But that’s not why I was attracted to you now,” he pointed out. “I ignored the dreams- but you look like you’re interested in me because of them,” he narrowed his eyes. “Perhaps you should try dating someone else.”

“Please,” you scoffed. “I thought you were hot the minute I saw you. I would have tried to find you one way or another.”

Seonghwa raised a brow. “Is that what you think?”

You nodded eagerly and he laughed at that, shaking his head in amusement. “You’re too much.”

“Come on,” you poked his chest. “Be candid about this.”

“You want me to be candid about this?” He asked, his gaze changing as he shifted his position, making you lie down on the sand and getting on top of you. He licked his lips as he traced the outline of your face. “I think I would have used any excuse to meet you again- in fact, I knew what I was doing when I got your number the day we met… at least I like to think that I did.”

You laughed at that. “You had no idea back then, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll admit I only got your number because I needed you to come to the station later,” he said. “But… I would have definitely texted you again.”

“So you liked me first, huh?” You teased.

“Well…” he kissed your jaw, letting his lips trail down. “Does it matter?” He kissed your collarbone and you squirmed a bit but he pinned your wrists down and you giggled when the waves crashed and got you wet. “I like where we are now. Do you?”

“Hmm.. kind of, except the sand is getting in my hair,” you sighed loudly and he laughed, kissing your lips.

“That’s what I like about you,” he shook his head, pecking your lips again. “You’re the most ridiculous and unexpected person in my life.”

“Wow, I’m so flattered,” you pushed him away successfully, kicking his leg before rolling away from him while he grinned. “You’re also the most annoying person in my life. I thought Wooyoung would hold that title forever, but he has some serious competition now.”

“Please,” he scoffed. “You love me.”

You stifled your smile. “I do. What about it?”

He matched your gaze for a few seconds before he hid his face in his hands and you laughed, crawling to him. “What’s the matter?”

You knew what was- he was feeling overwhelmed, just like you did whenever he told you that he loved you. You hugged him tight, kissing his temple and making him look at you.

“I love you, Park Seonghwa. Look me in the eyes when I say it.”

He did and then he captured your lips in a heated kiss, making you arch back, continuing to kiss you and tease you as you lay back down and you thought you couldn’t be anywhere else right now.

He was there, with you, and it felt like you had another eternity to be with him.

#i read lore olympus and saw the vision #this had more slow burn and fluff than i intended buttt here we are #seonghwa x reader #seonghwa angst #seonghwa fluff #seonghwa smut #seonghwa imagines #seonghwa scenarios #ateez x reader #park seonghwa x reader #ateez headcanons #ateez scenarios #ateez imagines #ateez fluff #ateez angst #park seonghwa angst #park seonghwa fluff #park seonghwa scenarios

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a-christmas-carol-from-hr · 5 months

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fun fact i have discovered about the 1951 Scrooge movie

in the scene where scrooge meets jorkins for the first time he says he's starting a new company. scrooge later joins this company after jorkins offers him a job. marley is working there.

later, in the scene where jorkins is embezzling (the scene) they say the company has been in business for 17 years. this would be the company jorkins was starting. the year is 1836, it's seen on a book right before this, so scrooge + marley have been coworkers here for 17 years. in this scene they take over the company.

in the next scene, Past says "Jacob Marley worked at your side for eighteen years." A source I found implies that they're meant to be 21 in the scene where they meet. 21 + 18 = 39.

Marley was only 39 when he died, the same age as Michael Holdern when he played him.

Marley was only 39, and they were only in business independently for one year. one year at most, depending on how long marley was dying.

whatever these two were to each other, they only had a year in business together.

and that's fucking sad

#jacob marley #ebenezer scrooge #a christmas carol #scrooge 1951 #me and vincent were losing our shit when we mathed the math #scrooge x marley #such a fucking waste of life and love #pathetic old gays

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rom-e-o · 1 month

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"New Beginnings and Second Chances" (Ebenezer/Constance)

It's proposal time, all.

I've been tweaking and writing this as an epilogue to "Begin Again", and I think we're ready to share.

Thank you to everyone who has come along on this amazing journey! (Oh, it's not over. We're STILL trucking along strong, but man ... you can't deny that we've come far.)

Enjoy!

Ebenezer Scrooge, on most days, was an exponentially composed man.

He had tackled business negotiations, fortified good clients (while tastefully dismantling the smarmy ones) and cemented deals with estimated costs comprised of more numbers than most phone numbers, plus extensions.

However, on this very morning, the man was practically carving a path into the walnut floors of his home as a result of his pacing. He was in his study, and had been for the better half of the morning, waking and readying himself even before the arrival of his maid, Magda.

The day had come. He was going to do it. It was the second time he’d taken on the upcoming task, and yet this time, he felt more nervous than he had the first time.

He was going to propose to Constance DoGoode – the woman he’d been privileged enough to meet, fall in love with, and even receive her love in return.

He was going to ask her to marry him. To be his … wife.

Gods, the words gave him chills.

“Be steadfast, man,” he mouthed aloud, hand flying to his chest as his heart threatened to burst from his ribcage. It was soaring beneath his fingertips. “Don’t kick the bloody bucket before you even ask her!”

His treacherous heart continued to race, and he resigned himself to stepping close to the window for some fresh air. That actually helped, and he filled his lungs with the green-tinted, early morning haze of the early spring morning.

He’d acquired the ring a few days ago after sneaking one of her other bands to a jeweler to get the correct sizing. Now, every time he glimpsed the glittering stone, it took everything in him to not sod all his proposal plans and fall on one knee at the next sight of her. The ring had been burning a hole in both his pocket and mind since he’d purchased it; the stone seemingly just as excited to sparkle upon her finger as he was to place it upon it.

The ring had been an easy choice. A solitaire, square-cut diamond on a polished gold band. Simple. Elegant. Classy.

He’d known it was the ring from the moment he’d spotted it glittering in the case at the jeweler’s shop. One resize later (using one of her everyday rings that he’d silently apologized for taking from her jewelry box) and it was ready. He fitted it into a blue velvet ring box, and kept it in the very back of the only drawer in his work desk that required a lock to open. Just in case.

The ring, all things considered, had been a straightforward acquisition.

The proposal itself? That was a slightly more complicated matter.

Ebenezer had spent the better part of the last month seriously envisioning different scenarios for how he could pop the question. While the gesture itself had dominated his thoughts for the better half of a year, he’d seriously started noodling around ideas and putting pieces together in recent weeks.

It had to be as perfect as possible, he reasoned. Not so perfect that he put it off forever, of course, but it had to be worthy of her.

It had to be completely different than the experience that rat bastard of an ex-husband had given for her. That meant not proposing in a public place (quite fine with him) and not proposing while stumbling over himself drunk (exceptionally fine with him).

So …

Suddenly, like the first call of a meadowlark ending the silence of night, a knock sounded at the door.

“Mr. Scrooge, sir?”

Without waiting for an answer, another giddy knock came from the other side of his study’s door, the sound practically dancing across the lacquered. He bid the guest entry, knowing it was Magda just from her voice.

When the Hungarian woman slipped inside, an excited grin decorated her face. She practically glided through the door’s crevice, careful to latch the door noiselessly behind her before she spoke. “My stars, sir! Today is the day, is it not?”

He nodded, taking a deep breath as Magda bounced on her heels. After an energetic clap, she reached out to take the man’s hands and give them a reassuring squeeze. “Oh, don’t fret! She’ll say yes!”

He hoped. Gods, he hoped so. He hoped she said yes, and he hoped she said yes out of desire and not obligation, like she had with Orin. Although she loved him, it had been too soon, she’d said.

…Gods, was it too soon for them, too?

No, his mind raced to think, there was no going back. He didn’t want to wait, like he had with Isabel.

No, he had to ask. To make his love known and open. The rest was in her hands.

“I sent for the carriage this morning,” he said, breathy with nervousness, “By the time she awakens and dresses, they should arrive.”

Reaching into his pocket, he procured his silver pocket watch and glimpsed the time. The hands sat at 6:48 a.m. It wouldn’t be long before his love began to stir.

“Shall I prepare any breakfast? Or are you lovebirds going to eat in the coach?”

“Much obliged, Magda, but I went ahead and prepared something.”

She waggled her brow in intrigue. “You.”

He waggled his brow somewhat defensively. “Yes, me, as a matter of fact. Thank you for that sign of confidence.”

“I didn’t know you could cook, sir!”

“Magda, may I remind you that I survived many, many years – decades, actually – without a maid helping me cook? While I am infinitely grateful for all the help you’ve provided me, I assure you I am quite capable of…”

“…”

“…Ethel assisted me. Happy?”

Magda let out an amicable laugh. “Happy, and less worried for the poor lady’s stomach, as well.”

Scrooge hmph!-ed at her playful teasing. He knew her jabs were all in good faith, and presented a welcome distraction from his nervous pacing and racing thoughts. Whether it was intentional or not, he appreciated her company in that moment, just like had every single day he’d had the pleasure of employing her.

“Magda, I—”

Then, the faint sound of creaking stairs from outside the study door caught their attention. Both ceased talking just in time to hear a gentle knock on the study door.

“Come in, love,” Ebenezer called, knowing exactly who was on the other side.

Sure enough, Constance peered in, blue eyes wide and her smile bright, but still a touch sleepy. “Ah, there you both are,” she said, chuckling as she slipped inside, shutting it behind her just as Magda had.

Even fresh from bed, Costance was a sight to behold. Her red hair was pulled back in a loose chignon and fastened with large, satin ribbon. She herself was donned in a blue velvet peignoir with golden trim and matching sash that highlighted the hourglass curve of her waist.

“I must confess, I was a little worried,” she said in an adorable, sleep-bitten rasp. She was still waking up, bless her. The woman had awoken to see that her partner was missing from his side of the bed, and had taken little time to wait before investigating fully. “The house is never so quiet in the morning.”

She’s made the comment as a light joke, but upon seeing the main master and maid of the house gathered together so close in the study, she suddenly lowered her voice in concern. “Is everything alright?”

Before Scrooge could think of an excuse, Magda was quick to the rescue.

“I was just asking Mr. Scrooge if he wouldn’t mind if a took a bit of a last minute day off,” she said, “I have some personal errands and appointments, and thought it might be easier to take a full day than mince apart various other working days.”

She glanced at Ebenezer, giving him a coy smirk that matched the mischievous slant of her eyes. She looked like a tabby that had just filled its cheeks at the nearest birdcage, and gotten away with it, too.

“Why, I believe that sounds like a capital idea,” Scrooge agreed, clapping an agreeable hand over her puff-sleeved shoulder. “After all, the house will be vacant all day today.”

“It will?” Constance asked, her surprise palpable but pleasant.

“Indeed so,” he said, turning to her, hands reaching out to take one of hers. “I’ve arranged a bit of a … surprise for us today. A surprise outing.”

“Oh, really?” A flush of joy made her freckles pop across her sun-kissed cheeks.

He laughed softly, pleased by her excitement. “I’ve prepared breakfast, and a coach should be here on the hour for us. I-If you’d be so kind as to join me, I would be most honored.”

Magda tried hard to not roll her eyes as Constance enthusiastically agreed, both leaning into a embrace and chaste kiss that Magda had the decency to avert her eyes from.

Of course Constance had agreed to the outing, the maid thought secretly. She had no work that day, and when the happy couple wasn’t at work, they were spending time together in some capacity. Reading in the sitting room together, taking a stroll together, sometimes even rowing out on the Serpentine in Hype Park to bask in the sun and watch the swans skate across the waters.

Today was no different, but he had still kindly asked her if she was free to spend time with him.

Silly man, she thought kindly, though the maternal side of her longed to pull them both into a hug and wish them luck. Especially him.

“I’ll get dressed this instant,” Constance said with a nod. “I won’t be long, promise.”

“I’ll help.”

“Oh, Magda, I thought…”

“I’ve got a moment to spare,” she said lovingly, fluttering to the young woman’s side and giving her a nudge. “Come now, let’s make you look like an absolute vision! I have the perfect dress in mind, as well.”

“But…”

“Please, love. It would be my honor.”

As the carriage pulled up to the house and Scrooge loaded the basket and blanket they needed, he called up the stairs for Magda and Constance to come down.

While they waited, he made small talk with the driver, paid him in advance, and offered him a vague outline of the day’s itinerary. As for the directions, he’d scribed those carefully as well, and even provided a map, though the driver gave him a reassuring look.

“Been doin’ this ‘ob for many a year, Mr. Scrooge,” he said, taking a long drag of his pipe at the end. “I’ve got many maps, compasses, and back-ups of all me back-ups. You and yer lady are safe wit’ me.”

Well, he had hired the best, he reasoned. It seemed the sterling reputation of the driver and business was true, even if the man himself was a little rough around the edges. “Good man. Thank you again. Oh, um…here’s some breakfast for the road.”

Scrooge handed him a slab of cheese and an entire loaf of bread wrapped in a cloth. This excited the driver more than the directions. “Cheers, mate! I’ll take th’ smoothest paths for you and yer lady!”

“Much obliged.”

“Oh, and betw’n you and me, feel free to close those curtains if you lot would pr’fer some alone time, yeah? I can’t hear a peep fro’ where I’m sittin’.”

“…I’ll remember that.”

He would not act on that, but he supposed the gesture was … kind? Thoughtful? It was something, he ultimately decided.

While the conversation with the driver had been interesting in and of itself, all memory of the conversation seemed to fly out of his head as Magda rushed out with Constance on her arm.

As always, Magda met and exceeded expectations by leaps and bounds.

Dressed in a gown of chocolate brown satin with golden-white petticoats shimmering beneath the skirts, Constance stepped carefully down the stone steps of the house, her heels a matching shade of deep coffee. A matching shawl, trimmed with pearly fringe, concealed her shoulders from the morning chill. Her hair was adorned with a white ribbon nestled in a perfect bow in the back, the curls falling in loose spirals around her shoulders.

He noted that she also wore the freshwater pearl earrings and choker that he’d gotten her for her birthday a few months ago. Also, on her right ring finger, a fire opal ring she had inherited from her father blazed brilliantly. She rarely wore the piece, treasuring the item too much to risk losing it.

Magda really had worked her magic.

“Are you sure this isn’t too much?” Constance asked as she plucked at the skirt of her dress. Magda distracted her tentative movements by helping her into a pair of satin gloves, occupying her fingers for a moment. “This dress is beautiful, but is it too much for…um …”

She laughed and glanced at him somewhat bashfully. “Oh … I just realized I never even asked you where we were going.”

Gods, she was lovely, he thought.

“A picnic,” he supplied vaguely, almost breathless as he took in the sight of her. “And no. P-Please don’t change. You look absolutely beautiful…and you’re comfortable, yes?”

“Oh, very comfortable.”

“Then that’s what matters.”

Prudence bounded down the stairs, barking excitedly at the sight of the sleek, cherrywood carriage.

Of course, she would be invited along for the proposal. Why, it was largely because of Prudence that he and Constance had bumped into each other in the first place on that fateful December day, as he’d been in the butcher buying bones for her. As sch, it seemed only right for her to be present on the day that he asked Constance to be a part of his life for the remainder of his days.

Seeming to sense the importance of the occasion, she trotted up to her master and pawed at his leg.

Scrooge chuckled, then opened the door so she could hop in. “Go on, Prudence.”

After an excited spin, she leapt up and instantly made herself comfortable on one of the long, leather-clad benches, just beside the picnic basket and rolled up blanket. The mastiff flopped down and let out a satisfied huff.

Thank goodness he’d sprang for the larger cab, he thought as he surveyed the remaining space.

“We may need to cozy up just a tad for the trip,” Ebenezer warned Constance playfully. She returned an amused look, her smile only broadening when she peeked into the carriage and saw Prudence curled up on the opposite bench.

After bringing Constance her purse (which contained only her pillbox, a book of poetry she’d been reading, a money clip, and some rouge), Magda then turned her attention to him. She helped Ebenezer slip into his black overcoat, smoothing the fabric as she did so. She also produced his top hat and cane, which she’d pulled from the entryway closet ahead of time.

As she skimmed the lapels of his coat with her fingers to make sure they laid flat and symmetrically, she gave him one last, reassuring stare, the burning resolve in her eyes all the more magnified by the thick lenses on her spectacles.

He took one last deep breath …and nodded.

“Right. T-Time to go.”

Assuming his post at the carriage’s open door, he extended a hand to Constance. Slowly, he helped her mount the step to the cab.

Once she was seated, he slotted himself into the space beside her.

“We’ll be back before sunset!” he called before shutting the door. He gave her one last wave.

“Have fun, you two!” Magda called innocently, stealing a handkerchief from her apron pocket to wave as the driver snapped the reins and the carriage rolled forth across the cobbled roadway. “Be good! I won’t wait up!”

Prudence let out another bark, and Constance leaned out the carriage window to wave excitedly. The maid also saw the woman lose her balance, and Ebenezer’s arms frantically circle her to pull her back to safety.

As soon as the cart was out of sight, Magda was off like a shot back inside. She raced to grab her coat and hat, practically flinging them on her body. The maid didn’t even bother to check her reflection as she shimmied down the strop steps of the house and made her way down Lime Street and into the churning streets of Cornhill. The woman had a few key destinations in mind.

First, she’d traverse Lime Street to a residential neighborhood a few blocks over, where Harry and Hela lived.

Then, she’d wind her way through the alleyways and cobbled roadways until she reached Camden Town.

The carriage ride out of town lasted all but two hours, but inside the cab, the minutes all but flew by.

The couple shared bites of breakfast (orange peel-flecked scones that he’d practiced in secret for days) and read passages from the small book of poetry Constance had tucked into her purse.

« Mon bras pressait ta taille frêle Et souple comme le roseau; Ton sein palpitait comme l’aile D’un jeune oiseau. »

« Longtemps muets, nous contemplâmes Le ciel où s’éteignait le jour. Que se passait-il dans nos âmes ? Amour! Amour! »

« Comme un ange qui se dévoile, Tu me regardais, dans ma nuit, Avec ton beau regard d’étoile, Qui m’éblouit. »

Ebenezer pronounced the words graciously are carefully, Constance using her French lessons from long past to speak alongside him.

“It has been quite a while since I’ve spoken French,” he admitted, “Not since I was a boy, reading some of the classics for my studies. I fear I’m rusty in the romance languages.”

“You are doing well,” Constance enthused.

Ebenezer knew Constance was fluent In English and Dutch, but Frensh was a … more recreational language for her. A nifty party trick, although it was a vast help in situations just as this, where they crowded over a small book and took great care to read the delicate writing accurately.

“My arm clasped your fragile waist that’s supple as a reed; Your breast beat like the wing Of a young bird.

“In a long silence we contemplated The sky where the day was fading away. What was happening in our souls? Love! Love!

“Like an angel who reveals herself, You looked at me, in my night, With your beautiful star’s gaze, Blinding me with … light.”

A comfortable silence settled over them as the words lingered a beat.

“I do so love that one,” she said with a dreamy, wavering sigh. “Especially the ending.”

“Very beautiful indeed,” Ebenezer husked, deepening his voice to a burr to attract her attention. When she glanced up and saw the smirk upon his visage, seeing only her own reflection in his icy eyes, her cheeks bloomed with pleasant color.

All the while, the sun continued to climb in the sky outside. By the time they near the spot that Ebenezer had directed the driver to, it was nearly midday.

Another turn of the page, and Ebenezer spotted a familiar piece of literature. “Venus and Adonis, by Shakespeare.”

“Oh, that one is wonderful, but quite long,” Constance chuckled.

“Certainly longer than his most famous sonnets,” he said, “Sonnet 29 comes to mind. Shorter … and easier for a man to memorize and recite to his lovely lady.”

His last remark harbored just enough cheekiness for her to wonder how many men he’d witnessed recite the same sonnet over and over across the city during romantic, spring days. Probably dozens, she thought in intrigue and amusement.

“I saw it performed a few summers ago in New York. By a theater troupe in Central Park. They memorized the entire thing – amazingly impressive for such green performers! A duo, in fact.”

It was a tragic poem, of course. It was also an erotic epic. Not necessarily appropriate for the occasion. Still, right as she was about to close the book, he reached out and paused her. With the tap of his finger, he urged her eyes to fall upon a specific passage.

She read:

“Ten kisses short as one, one long as twenty:

“A summer’s day will seem an hour but short…”

As the words finished leaving her painted lips, he leaned down and placed the gentlest of kisses upon her mouth. In that moment, the sentiment on the parchment manifested into warm, breathing reality.

“Now that,” he said, reaching up and thumbing the curls about her cheeks, “Reminds me of today.”

She blinked slowly. Again, dreamily. “Does it, my Adonis?”

An airy chuckle left him, but his fingers tightened their grip just slightly. He did grip her tight, he held her tight. “With you, the hours blend into beautiful, fleeting moments. Evey second with you feels…healing.”

He thought of yet another line from the poem: “Love comforteth like sunshine after rain.”

A perfect summary, he thought as he leaned in again, kissing the tip of her nose. “My Venus.”

A few precious moments later, the couple heard the driver gently urge his horses to a gentle stop. They obeyed with a few clicks of the man’s tongue, and once they were fully stopped on a well-trodden side path, the driver alerted them of their arrival.

“Splendid,” Ebenezer said, praying his voice didn’t convey the nervousness he felt. “Shall we?”

He opened the door to allow Prudence to jump out (which she eagerly did). As the mastiff busied herself biting at butterflies and rolling in the dust like a chipmunk, Ebenezer stepped out and instantly felt the heat of the sun above them. It was considerably warmer than it had been the morning before.

He shed his hat and coat, leaving them in the carriage with his cane.

Constance followed suit by shedding her shawl, then tilted her head back in bliss as she stepped into the sun. “Mm. Warm.”

Sun was a rarity in England, he noted. It was rare to see the sun or moon in their true glory.

In that moment, she appeared to be drinking in the light, her tanned skin and vibrant hair giving the blazing a star a run for its money in radiance.

“Here we are, lovebirds,” the driver said, giving his horses a pat as they dipped their heads to graze. “Spot to ya likin’, Mr. Scrooge?”

“Very much so. Much obliged.”

Just like before, he reached into the basket and produced some food and drink to help bide the time while they made merry, so to speak.

Surprised and pleased by the next round of gifts, the man took a large bite of a mincemeat pastry from his share before waving the couple off and telling them to “have a bit o’ nanty narking, ya hear! I won’t ‘ell, haha!”

Constance gave Ebenezer a playful grin while he blushed red as a beet.

“T-Thank you, sir,” he mumbled, ushering Constance away with one arm while carrying their picnic basket with the other.

The air was scented with the sweet fragrance of wildflowers, and the distant melody of birdsong accompanied their amicable conversation as Ebenezer led her up an ambling stone path to the spot he’d picked. Their destination was atop an overlook with a perfect view of the swaying fields for miles around, different patches dotted with clouds of fresh blossoms.

The couple set up their spot, then sat on a blanket spread across the lush grass, surrounded by the serenity of nature. The smog and incessant chatter of the city was long forgotten as they basked in the aroma of sun-warmed wildflowers and relaxed to the melody of the babbling brook nearby.

As they enjoyed a picnic of sandwiches, fruits, and a bottle of sparkling cider, Ebenezer couldn't shake the anticipation bubbling within him. For the entire duration of their outing, he stole glances at Constance. In fact, he would have been hard pressed to remove his gaze from her on any occasion, and especially in this moment and setting. It was a scene he knew he didn’t want to forget for the rest of his days alive, and as he drank in the details of her, he knew he never would.

By the time they’d finished eating, they lounged for a while against the shade of the oak, even making a trip to a nearby stream to dance in the ankle-deep water and splash around a bit. Prudence even followed, running circles in the riverbank under her entire belly and paws were dripping with river water and mud.

When they returned from that, lazily strolling up the hill hand-in-hand, it was the golden hour of sunset.

In the halo of warm light that radiated from the horizon’s dark edge, it was a treat marveling at the way the sunlight played in her hair, making it glow like strands of molten bronze. The way her cornflower eyes glittered like the sea captivated him further.

A moment of silene stretched between them … and with the sun slowly vanishing, he knew the seconds of his opportunity were literally ticking away.

Constance, catching the anxious way Ebenezer fumbled for his coat, glanced over. “Are you alright, love? Are you cold?"

Love. The endearment bolstered his resolve.

“Quite alright,” he said. “In fact, I’ve never been happier.”

Ebenezer took a deep breath, steadying his nerves.

Something touched her expression as she realized when was happening. She didn’t say a word, but her eyes widened almost knowingly, the blue color shining like the isles of Neptune.

Now or never, he thought.

“Constance. The Christmas of my 50th birthday, I…became a changed man. I realized the error of my ways, and became transformed. I realized that I’d wasted much of my life in misery, content to be alone and deprive others, and myself, of happiness. I remember thinking that I would never go back.

“Then, the moment we met, you did the impossible … you transformed my life again. Since then, you've brought … warmth to the coldest corners of my heart, and every day with you feels like a gift. A gift that was almost stolen away by circumstance …”

Stolen away by a past of abuse, falsified medical records, a razor blade, and a man with eyes like the coldest fog.

“As turbulent as the start of our time together was, facing those trials, it made me realize that parting ways from you was never even a consideration. Even if we only remained friends or coworkers, you were always in my future in some capacity. As we continued to court, I stopped imagining you as just a coworker or friend, or even as just a lover. I-I know some might roll their eyes at the ide of a man of my age wanting such pomp and circumstance, but…I do.

“I’ve thought of little else in the past few weeks … hell, honestly, the past few months. What would life without you be like? I … can’t fathom it. Or if I could, I can’t bear the thought of it.”

Sensing the weight of his words, she nodded with a nervous swallow. “A-And I can't imagine mine without you, Ebenezer.”

With a tender smile, Ebenezer reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. The sight of it made Constance's breath catch.

He opened the box to reveal a delicate ring, the sunlight catching on the glimmering diamond in the middle.

“Constance, my angel,” Ebenezer began, his voice filled with emotion, “I-I never thought I’d ask this question of another, but I have to know. I must. W-Would you do me the honor of remaining by my side, in spirit and name? Will you marry me?”

The question hung in the air, and for a moment, the world seemed to pause. His emotions were suspended in stasis as well.

Then, a wave of joy swept over her face, and she nodded, tears of happiness glistening in her eyes.

“I-I will.”

He blinked, huffing out a laugh. “You will.”

“Yes! Ebenezer, a thousand times yes!”

A delighted smile broke across Ebenezer's face as he took the ring from the box. Laughing in equal parts disbelief and bliss, he leaned forward to meet her as she rushed to kiss him.

Prudence, who had been watching from the edge of the blanket, barked in excitement as the two kissed, arms wrapping around each other and holding on tight.

“Oh, thank you,” he praised, lips moving against hers. “I’ll be good to you, my angel. I promise with all my heart.”

“I know you will.” Her tears, warm and fresh, fell upon their laps. “I-I know. Oh, I’ve dreamed of this.”

“You have?”

In tandem, sharing a desire, their raised their hand in tandem to entwine their fingers.

“Y-Yes, and today…it’s been even more perfect than I ever imagined,” she confessed, bumping their noses together as another joyful sob threatened to clench her.

A pause. Then, her fingers gripped his arm firmly, giving his shoulder a squeeze. “It’s just … m-me? Are you certain?”

A redheaded New Yorker of questionable pedigree, former socialite and divorcee, married to a wealthy Englishman and philanthropist. It was certainly an eye-catching combination, he supposed, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Absolutely yes,” he replied, voice breaking at the sight of her tears. He brandished a handkerchief and dabbed them away, pepping her forehead with more kisses all the while. “I’m beyond certain. You have my heart, Connie.”

Gently, he slid the ring onto Constance's finger, sealing their promise beneath the setting sun.

“And you have mine.”

With another kiss, their commitment was sealed.

From afar, the Scrooge manor looked quite vacant. No lights shined from inside, no smoke plumed from the chimney, and no shadows busied themselves beyond the windows. It was almost an uncanny sight.

“Goodness, it looks so ominous from here,” Constance joked, arm-in-arm with her fiancé as the carriage approached the estate. As the sun had dipped below the horizon, and they reentered the scrutinizing eyes of the city limits, they donned all their proper layers.

“It used to always look this dour, I’m shamed to admit,” he said, giving her hand an affectionate pat “We’ll fix that straightaway once we’re indoors. Get a good fire going – well, maybe just some candles. It’s a little warm.”

“Too warm for celebratory glass of wine?”

“Oh, never too warm for that! Especially on such an occasion.”

“I think you’re quite right,” she agreed, eyeing a very muddy Prudence from across the car. She lifted her heeled shoe and gave the mastiff a light tap. “And you need a bath, miss. I don’t think it would be very comfortable to sleep in muddy fur, yes?”

Averting her eyes (as if that made her invisible), she pretended to not hear the woman’s theory. In turn, the couple chuckled at the sight.

The carriage pulled up to the house, right under the light of a gas lamp to provide better visibility. Ebenezer, having redonned his coat and top hat, stepped out with his cane in hand. Then, he helped Constance out. In the process, he glimpsed the sight of the dazzling ring upon her still ungloved hand, and his heart started up again.

The ring also caught the attention of the driver, who let out a whistle. “Oi, hearty congratulations ar’ in or’da to ye both!”

After a few last goodbyes, the driver tipped his hat one last time and wheeled himself away into the foggy night.

There, they stood before his home, arm-in-arm again. He carried the dirty, rolled-up blanket and while carried their now empty basket.

After a glimpse to make sure they were truly alone on the quiet street, they shared a lingering, public kiss. It was the kind that always sent Beryl and her boys reeling when they did it outside the privacy of their bedroom.

As they parted, he offered her a grin and squeeze of the arm.

“Welcome home, Mrs. DoGoode-Scrooge.”

She returned his affection with a gleaming smile of her own. She noted that he’d included her maiden name, her father’s name, in the title. If possible, that sentiment was the final, stone-enforced in the proud, tall tower of certainty.

“It is my honor to bear the name, and have the heart of the man who gave it to me,” she replied.

Giggling like excited teenagers, they shimmied up the stone stairs leading to the massive front door. He fished out the substantial key from his coat pocket and slipped it in, the tumblers of the lock giving way with the same, comforting melody they always had.

They opened the door, expecting the same darkness within that they’d glimpsed from the outside.

Yet, once the door opened, the room lit up as the gas-burning chandelier roared to life. The rest of the wide foyer was decorated with glittering, gold crepe paper and vases bursting with fresh lilies, daisies and sunny daffodils from the flower market.

Friends and family stood shoulder to shoulder around the circumference of the room, clapping and cheering as they came through the door.

The Cratchit children jumped up in greeting from behind one of the chamber’s marble-top tables, and Beryl’s gang of boys cheers from the railed hallway overhead, clapping and cheering as if they’d just watched an amazing stuntman at one of the London fairs.

“Surprise!”

Magda, looking pleased as punch, uncorked a bottle of icy prosecco from the cellar with a swift yank of the corkscrew. “There you are, the two turtledoves!”

Tim, who saw Scrooge as a second father, ran to the man and hugged him. “Congratulations, Mr. Scrooge! You’re gonna be a good husband, I know it!”

He was too overjoyed to be stunned for long, the man’s heart melted as he returned the boy’s hug with a tight embrace of his own. “Thank you, my boy.”

“Congrats, Miss Connie,” the blond boy turned and said sweetly. “You’re going to be a mighty pretty bride.”

She dabbed at the corner of her eyes with her fingertips. “Thank you, Tim.”

“C-Can we see your ring?” Kathy asked timidly, fiddling with the end of one of her braid as she approached.

“Yes, the ring!” Martha echoed excitedly, her chignon bouncing as she danced closer.

Constance nodded and held her hand aloft. Immediately, an audience gathered around her.

“Blimey, girl, that’s a stunner,” Tom Jenkins noted, appraising the gem with a keen eye. “Good job, mate.”

“Oh, it’s positively beautiful, uncle!” Harry agreed, before breaking away to pull the former curmudgeon of a man into a teary bear hug. “I-I never thought I’d see the day! My uncle getting married to a woman he loves! Oh, the way my mother must be smiling now!”

“H-Harry, ow.”

Meanwhile, Bob and Ethel embraced Constance tightly, Ethel pecking her cheek joyfully. “Oh, a wedding! I hope you know that Hela and I would be absolutely enthralled to help, my pet.”

“Indeed,” said woman agreed, her earrings jingling in agreement as she nodded her head. “I know you’ve done this before in New York – getting married I mean, but it’s intimidating to do in a new country! I would be honored to provide the names of those Harry and I worked with and found pleasant. I’m also happy to share a list of those I did not enjoy working with, haha.”

“Oh, that would be very helpful! Thank you both, truly.”

Constance then turned her attention to Magda, smirking and giving out crystal flutes of prosecco to guests.

She paused at Constance, their eyes meeting in a moment of understanding. The redhead flew to embrace her tightly, skirts swinging around her ankles. “This morning. You knew.”

Magda patted the redhead’s back affectionately. “I did, love. I’ve known for a while, in fact.”

“Have you?”

“I knew it the day you came to live with us,” she said, “The day your former husband’s boat left that dock, I knew you’d never leave. I know I’m always right, but I’m extra pleased about it this time.”

She laughed airily, but the way her grip tightened was sincere in the deepness of her gratitude. “Thank you.”

Nodding between happy tears, Ebenezer came behind Constance to lay a delicate hand upon her shoulder. She stepped away at that moment, now wanting to detain Magda for uncomfortably long, and accepted a flute of celebratory bubbly eagerly. She also passed one to Ebenezer, who kissed the top of her hand in thanks.

Errol, Magda’s ballet dancer husband, passed out cider to the young children in small, purple-tinted glasses. He’d also had the good sense to wrap Prudence in a thick pestemal to protect the guests. It would take only one shake for the guests, and wallpaper, to become polka-dotted in pattern.

Once all the glasses were passed out, Ebenezer hoisted his high. Everyone followed, anxious for the former miser’s toast.

“Everyone, to each other,” he said, wrapping an arm around Constance’s waist and glancing down to meet her gaze. “To second chances and new beginnings.”

She then glanced around the room, taking care to make eye contact with each smiling face. Each person who had helped her. Each soul that had believed in her, and her redemption.

“To second chances and new beginnings,” Constance agreed proudly, tapping her glass against his. “And all those who help us find them.”

Thank you to everyone for your support, likes, comments and more: @quill-pen, @crimson-phantom-designs, @thedivinelights, @alolaamii, @bluestarliight, @vixx-ari, @ray-painter, @shipshroom, @akitauma, @blueapplesiren,

I see you and appreciate you! <3

#scrooge 2022 #scrooge x oc #oc constance dogoode #scrooge netflix #scroogeverse #begin again

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noteveryoneis · 9 months

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(This got away from me and I ended up with 3k words but hey at least we've got something to keep us busy during the agonising wait for the announcement)

Miss Young is gathering her things as Ava prepares to leave, stuffing some notebooks and binder into her satchel, apparently unaware that Ava is lingering in the doorway.

“Hey uh… Are you leaving?” She asks.

“Contrary to what my students believe, I do not live in the school,” Miss Young says, without interrupting her task, but there is a tiny smile tugging at the corner of her lips that makes Ava’s own mouth stretch to the side.

“I thought you all had a big sleepover every night in the gymnasium. Isn’t that what happens? With Duretti in his Ebenezer Scrooge pajamas?”

Miss Young smiles even wider, eyes creasing at the corner as she stands up, passing the handle of her satchel over her head and onto her shoulder.

“No, but, seriously, are you going home right now? It’s…” She checks her watch, “wow, 7: 48, jeez.”

She hadn’t noticed how dark it has gotten outside, the sky is that deep shade of blue that tells that this is going to be a very cloudy night. Days truly are getting shorter, they’re advancing more into fall every day.

A couple of texts sit in Ava’s phone, Camila telling her that they’re all preparing dinner, all four of them, that she has managed to get Nova out of her room for it and that Nina is complaining about having to eat zucchini.

“Yes, I am,” Miss Young says. “This meeting was the last thing on my list for the day. All the others are gone too. Superion told me to lock up behind me.”

And there is something tugging at the back of Ava’s mind, something important that is trying to warn her, to tell her that something might happen and she has to talk, to say something, anything.

There isn’t any car in Miss Young’s driveway. That’s what’s bugging her. There isn’t a car, and it doesn’t matter, because she has seen Lilith stop in front of the house and honk until Miss Young comes out a few times as she helped Neves tie her shoes or Yasmine try to drink her coffee without spilling it on her blouse as she waited for Miss Young to run to the car.

And Lilith is gone, and so is Yasmine and Superion and…

“Are you going on foot?” Ava asks, a little more stupefied than she meant.

Miss Young, God bless her, only pauses for a second as she picks up her coat.

“Yes, I am. I might catch a bus if I walk past one.”

Yeah, good luck with that, the bus drivers get off at 6pm and even before that there is only one line that isn’t for school. It becomes clearer as Ava thinks that Beatrice did not exactly grow up here, that she doesn’t know what she’s doing.

“I’ll drop you off,” Ava says, not even thinking about it.

Miss Young blanches suddenly, looking completely terrified as if Ava had just proposed to bury a dead body — that would make a good first date, wait what?

“Oh,” she says, voice choked out. “Thank you, but I’m alright.”

“You sure about that?” Ava asks, one eyebrow raised.

“Yes, I am, thank you, I’m— I like walking,” she says, fiddling with her coat and dropping it nervously, bending down to pick it back up — And Ava is frowning confusedly at her. “I’ll be alright.”

It dawns on her then, that perhaps she understands Nova on a deeper level than Ava thought. Because she looks that same level of awkward and embarrassed and a bit scared as when Ava offers to drop Nova off at school or when one of her friends invited her for a sleepover back in the city.

“Hey, it’s alright,” she says, raising her hands in the air. “Breathe. Look, I get it. I’m not offended if you say no. My kid, Nova — you already know her —, she hates it too. She likes walking too, and I don’t get the hype, but whatever goats your boat. Trust me,” she insists, Miss Young taking a slightly shuddering breath. “Had it been an hour earlier, I would have just let you walk away, no questions asked. But it’s dark, night is falling, and I can tell you from growing up here that douchebags do not only live in the city.”

“Oh.”

She looks down then, shuffles on her feet, bites into her lower lip like she has something to say but is trying to keep the words inside.

“I don’t want to be a bother,” she whispers then.

You’re a burden to everyone around you, Ava Silva, Frances would say. Nobody will ever care for you. I’m the only thing you have in this world today.

Well, fuck you Frances, she might not have anyone that cares for her, but she cares for others, and it’s fucking awesome. And she has three kids to come home to and to love and to care for and they love her back and it feels great.

“You’re not,” Ava smiles, as warm as she can, as Miss Young looks up with some adorable hope in her eyes. “Trust me, you’re not a bother, nor a burden. I’m doing this because I want to, and because we both know you’d do the same if the roles were reversed.”

Miss Young refuses to meet her gaze, but she nods, sharply, once.

“Alright,” she says, and Ava grins.

“Great. Let’s go, then, I gotta go home and pretend I like zucchini so that my kids eat it.”

Miss Young smiles at that, walking out with her and locking the door behind them. Ava stays beside her, hands in the pocket of her jeans, wiggling mindlessly as they walk. Miss Young opens the door for her and every time Ava nods with one hand on her cap, Miss Young smiling slightly as she looks down, like looking at her for more than a second is too hard and she needs to take breaks in between.

“I’m gonna be honest,” Ava says as they walk outside, past Superion’s empty office. “I never thought I would be in school at this time of the day for anything other than detention.”

“Detention cannot be given past 6pm or before 6am,” Miss Young says, locking the double doors and giving the handle a good shake as if trying to test the lock — it’s good.

“Oh my God, you’re one of those kids that have read the rules of the school.”

“I teach here, Miss Silva,” Miss Young says, with a strange light in her eyes that makes it look like she’s trying really hard not to roll her eyes.

“It’s Ava.”

“I’m sorry?”

“My name, it’s Ava,” she says, as they exit the playground onto the street, Miss Young locking the gate behind them and checking the lock once again. “We’re not on school grounds anymore, you can call me Ava.”

“Oh. I’m Beatrice, then, but you probably already knew that,” she says, letting go of the gate with a bit of reluctance, like she’s afraid Ava is going to take her in the middle of the woods, tell her to think about Hobbits and put a bullet in the back of her head.

“You’re all Nina talks about, of course I do know that,” she says as they start walking, Ava leading her towards the parking lot where her car is waiting. “And you teach third grade, not middle school. You don’t give detention.”

Beatrice sighs, this time really rolling her eyes, but there is a tug at the corner of her lips and Ava gives herself a mental high-five.

“Alright, I did read school rules back when I was a student. Does that make me such a bad person?” She asks, with humor.

“Nova has read school rules,” Ava states as an answer. “Because she’s one of those ‘By the way, did you know that you have rights? The Constitution says you do’,” she says, mimicking Nova’s little voice and her careful choice of words.

She laughs to herself, Beatrice smiling down again, like she can’t make fun of Nova in good conscience, which is admirable, but Ava says it with pride, because no matter how annoying her kids can be, they’re her kids, and she loves them.

She stops in front of her car, turning around and watching as Beatrice takes it in, doing her best to keep her face cool and doing a bad job at it. She knows it looks busted, the red paint is scratched on one side, there are little handprints and stickers on the windows, one of them can’t even roll down anymore.

“It’s weird, I know, you can say it.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” Beatrice smiles.

“Neves calls it ‘Mater Poopy Car’, if it makes you feel any better.”

Beatrice frowns at that, confusion in her eyes.

“From the movie, ya know, ‘Cars’.”

“Oh. Is it the dusty truck? I’ve seen it on a backpack of one of the children,” she says, and Ava nods.

“The fact that you deduced it from the state of my car tells me all I need to know about what you think of it,” Ava says. “Hop on, milady, your ride is here!” She announces, juggling her keys. “The passenger door needs a really good pull, don’t be afraid to swing it and make sure not to fall, I would hate to be the reason my kid’s teacher ends up with a broken ass at the hospital.”

“That’s very thoughtful,” Beatrice mutters, more for herself than for Ava.

She does manage to open the door herself, stumbling a little backwards but managing to stay on her feet — Nova has mastered the art of never falling, she can do it with her eyes closed. Ava has already climbed in as Beatrice slides into the passenger seat, tucking her satchel and coat onto her lap and reaching back to pull the door. Ava has to extend an arm over her lap to help her close it firmly, adjusting her cap on her head as she turns on the ignition.

Just as she pulls out of the parking lot, Beatrice starts fumbling on her seat, moving around and reaching back like she’s trying to find something.

“What’s up?” Ava asks.

“Something is poking my back.”

She reaches back and pulls out something, to find herself holding a candy stick in her fist, frowning confusedly at it. Her gaze wanders towards Ava, who looks insistently at the road.

“That’s not mine.”

“Well, that surely isn’t mine either. In between the two of us, I do hope it’s yours because the alternative would be concerning.”

Ava giggles as she reaches out a hand towards her, the both of them fumbling awkwardly together before Beatrice lets go of it, and Ava bites happily into it.

“Aren’t you supposed to eat courgette at home?” Beatrice asks, frowning with delightful confusion and a bit of amusement in her eyes.

“’Courgette’,” Ava repeats in her best British accent. “Where did Duretti find you, Buckingham Palace?”

“Are you calling me royalty?”

“You said it, not me.”

Beatrice rolls her eyes again, but she does it strangely, like it’s her first time doing it and she’s growing used to it, smiling into the shadow provided by the roof of the car as Ava keeps on driving, one hand still holding tightly onto her candy stick.

“I’m not royalty,” she says.

“Sure you ain’t, Miss Mary Poppins. ‘Fancy a cuppa, darling?’,” she imitates, and Beatrice lets out something that sounds a little bit too close to a chuckle, Ava giving herself a thousand mental fist bumps to congratulate herself.

“That was awful.”

“It was awesome. Bet I’m making you feel homesick or something.”

“You certainly aren’t,” Beatrice says, shaking her head. “I grew up around here.”

Ava stays silent at that, not knowing what to say.

“You already knew,” Beatrice comments, immediately guessing what her silence means.

“It’s a small town. Whatever secret you think you have, it’s not yours anymore. I’m sure you already know about the whole fiasco with…”

She waves her candy stick in the air, unable to say his name as it leaves a sour taste in her mouth and she hates it. Beatrice’s eyes follow the movement of the candy stick in silence, like it is some sort of light floating in front of her or like a baby in front of their birthday candles — Ava has seen it with her own eyes, she can tell.

“I don’t participate in gossip.”

“Good for you, Mary Poppins,” Ava nods. “And for your information, I only know that you came back a few years ago to teach here, and that you know aikido, but that’s because Nina keeps bugging me about it.”

They fall into comfortable silence as Ava drives under the deep blue sky, the street lights throwing their orange shades onto their faces and giving them some strange air, some ethereal and unearthly atmosphere that clings to Ava’s brain the few times she glances at Beatrice.

“Sorry, did you want to share?” She asks, waving her candy stick once again.

“No, thank you,” Beatrice says with a smile. “I don’t think you should eat candy before dinner.”

“I won’t tell my kids if you don’t.”

She can literally hear as Beatrice’s smile stretches and stretches across her face, mirroring Ava’s own smile as she turns at the angle of a street, past Emeline’s grocery store.

“Anyways, I’m sure I can make Camila eat my share of zucchini with enough persuasion,” she comments.

“Camila… The friend that isn’t used to little ears?”

“The one and only,” Ava grimaces.

“Was she also the woman flirting with Lilith at Mary and Shannon’s house?”

“You saw it too?!” Ava asks excitedly, smile so big it’s splitting her face in half at this point. “God, Lilith used to be unattainable, I don’t know what’s gotten into Camila.”

“She still is,” Beatrice says. “Most of the children are scared to death of her, one of Yasmin's student once said her name when they were talking about the things that scared them the most.”

Ava bursts out laughing, thinking about all the times she saw Lilith brooding in the front row of the classroom or been yelled at to shut up the few times she acknowledged Ava’s existence.

“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” she giggles, Beatrice looking at her with a smile. “I said ‘Superion’, when I was a kid.”

And it was a lie, because Ava wasn’t allowed to say Frances’ name, as she knew the woman would have probably pushed her through a window if she had heard of it.

Still, Beatrice keeps smiling to herself, looking out at the window with something akin to fondness in her expression.

“Did you?”

“Yeah, she gave me the creeps. I was convinced she hated my guts, I would run away as soon as I heard her cane hitting the ground in the hallways.”

That belief lingered all of Ava’s life, until Superion found her crying in the school bathroom after realizing that JC’s hoodie that she had been wearing constantly for a few weeks could not hide her baby bump anymore. She had sat her down in her office, had given her hot chocolate and cookies, and had asked her if she needed to call Shannon — which Ava had declined, she could do this on her own, JC was going to find her any minute now and make her laugh again.

From that moment, Superion’s mask had started to become transparent to Ava, like she could see through it. Nobody would even dare mention Ava in her presence, even after she dropped out, according to Camila. She held Nova that day when Ava rushed into her office, announcing that JC and her were leaving this town and that she couldn’t go without saying goodbye.

‘You’re the reason I feel so old today,’ she had said, making Ava smile. ‘I don’t think I’ve met anyone as energetic and unserious as you. But that is a beautiful baby,’ she had commented, Nova babbling as she tried to reach for her hair. ‘I’m proud of you.’

Yeah, Superion was a softie confirmed. But Ava would let her keep that mask on, if it meant that her kids were kept in check.

“What did you say, when they asked you what your biggest fear was?”

A shadow passes over Beatrice’s eyes, her shoulder tensing slightly, almost instinctively.

“The monster under my bed,” she says, and it’s a lie, but Ava lets her have it.

“Creative,” Ava nods. “Neves thinks her toothbrush is haunted.”

“Haunted?” Beatrice asks, relaxing a little, like her confusion has pulled her out of whatever bad memory she was stuck into.

“Yeah.”

“How… How can a toothbrush be haunted?”

“You tell me, you’re the one giving my kids books about dragons and elves and shit. Beats me,” she says, shrugging, and Beatrice hides her smile in the shadow of the car.

Ava stops in front of the little house right across from hers. Beatrice’s house is smaller and it’s only one story high, almost like an apartment, but her front yard is way better than Ava, who still hasn’t found a way to resuscitate her rosebush.

“There we are,” she announces. “Right on time for you to eat your own courgettes.”

“Still awful,” Beatrice smiles as she gathers her things. “Thank you,” she says, then, looking Ava in the eyes with gratitude. “I’m glad we had that talk.”

“Yeah, same,” Ava says awkwardly, hoping that the shadows hide the flush in her cheeks, and needing to find a joke so that she doesn’t invite her for dinner — which would be really weird and awkward and bad. “I might tell my kids that their teacher’s grandma will come down from the skies to make them eat their dinner, who knows.”

“I am not royalty,” Beatrice says, harsher, and weirdly Ava feels a little proud, like Good job, Miss Poppins, you’re affirming yourself.

“You said it, not me.”

“I’ll tell them that you thought Superion was terrifying. And that you eat candy before dinner,” Beatrice threatens.

“You wouldn’t.”

“I would.”

She wouldn’t. Neither would Ava, after all.

She raises her hands in the air, surrendering for this time, and Beatrice smiles as she exits the car, managing to open it without too much struggle.

“Thank you, Ava,” she says again, leaning forward with the door open. “You’re very kind.”

“I’m glad you’re my kids’ teacher,” Ava says, because her name sounds a little too good into Beatrice’s mouth and now is really not the time to develop her useless crush on her kids’ goddamn teacher.

Beatrice smiles.

“So am I. Goodnight, Ava,” she says, softly, too softly.

“‘Night.”

And she slams the door, exactly like Ava taught her, and Ava’s laugh bursts free as she sits in her dark car, watching from the rearview mirror as she pulls into her driveway as Beatrice walks up her own house, searching for her keys in her coat’s pocket. A cat jumps from the dark and rubs itself against her legs and Beatrice lets it, opening her door and walking inside, the cat following after her.

Ava rests her head on the wheel and jumps when the horn echoes around her, muttering a curse under her breath. Jesus Christ, what the fuck? Now is really not the time to start having a hopeless sapphic crush on her kids’ teacher, who tells them about stupid worm gardens and stupid Maupassant right as she fumbles with her stupid new divorce and her stupid bills and her stupid stupid hometown.

(Thankfully, Ava is stupid too, so it doesn’t really matter anyway.)

She looks up in the rearview mirror again, preparing herself to go inside her house and convince her kids to finish their plates and realizes that Beatrice never gave her her address. She knew Ava knew.

Fuck. Beatrice already knew where she lives.

Beatrice fucking Young has been watching her from her own kitchen window too as Ava comes back every night with a car full of loud little kids and candy sticks.

Well. Good thing they’re both stupid then.

#fic: strangers in this town #warrior nun #avatrice #ava silva #sister beatrice #I don't have WiFi for the announcement and I've used all my data :/

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themculibrary · 4 months

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Christmas Eve Masterlist

A Very Barton Christmas (ao3) - angelshotgun T, 5k

Summary: It’s nearly Christmas when Kate breaks her leg and Clint totes her back to the Barton Family Farm to heal. Hijinks ensue.

Christmas Eve Will Find Me (ao3) - kahn steve/tony T, 11k

Summary: Steve walked into his apartment to find Tony sitting on his kitchen counter, cross-legged, facing the door and flicking his thumbs against the screen of his futuristic phone in a way that meant he was either playing a game or hacking the security of some undoubtedly highly dangerous and deeply hostile organization.

“Hi, Honey!” Tony trilled without looking up. “Welcome back!”

Steve comes home.

Clint Barton and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Christmas Eve (ao3) - coulsons-hawk (allyoop) clint/phil, steve/bucky T, 6k

Summary: A holiday adventure with the Avengers in which nothing goes right on Christmas Eve; a dragon destroys an island, two boys from Brooklyn go missing, and all Clint Barton wants for Christmas is thirty minutes of peace on earth.

evergreen (ao3) - OnlyForward G, 24k

Summary: the story of how Tony Stark is Scrooge reincarnated and how Peter Parker is determined to change that

ft. civil war angst, tony being lonely as fuck, fun christmas activities and a nice happy ending perfect for the holiday season

Feelings at Christmastime (ao3) - nadir_zenith matt/foggy G, 1k

Summary: Foggy invites Matt to come to Christmas (Eve) Dinner with the Nelsons.

Fell For You (ao3) - sadsongssaysomuch steve/bucky E, 4k

Summary: Bucky and Steve have always been best friends, but on Christmas Eve, Bucky wakes up to realize that the way he feels about Steve is more than just friendly.

Find Ourselves in the Winter Snow (ao3) - rainpaint leo/jemma T, 6k

Summary: After a whirlwind of packing and rushing to the airport and literally running to board the plane, two small children who think the entire thing is great fun in tow, here they are. An hour from Jemma’s parents’ house, which is still too far for her mum, who doesn’t drive in a centimeter of snow, much less the several that likely cover every road between here and Sheffield.

So in all likelihood they're stuck at the airport. With two small children. The night before Christmas Eve.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like a Hallmark Christmas Movie (ao3) - cakeisnotpie clint/phil G, 13k

Summary: Phil Coulson is determined to get the big promotion; all he needs to do is spend a few days in a small town to close the deal then he'll be back in the Big Apple. Doesn't matter that it's two days before Christmas or that his best friend, Nick Fury, believes schmaltzy Hallmark movies are real life, he is not going to meet a handsome guy, fall madly in love, and move to the middle of nowhere.

Enter Clint Barton, dog trainer who runs a senior dog sanctuary and has biceps to die for.

Add a business mystery to solve.

Phil just might discover his happily ever after after all.

Memories that last forever (ao3) - ArabellaAM steve/tony G, 2k

Summary: Tony sighed, turning around all the way and asking with a tired, raspy voice, “Why am I hugging a pillow on Christmas Eve, Rogers?”

Or, Steve can't sleep and Tony asks him to tell him a story about his mom.

Mission - Steve and Bucky’s Best Christmas Ever (ao3) - LightningStriking steve/bucky G, 10k

Summary: Bucky has a plan. A carefully constructed, and meticulously plotted plan. Of how to give his best friend Steve the most wonderful, festive, and happy Christmas season ever. Culminating in a declaration of love, which hopefully will be returned. Can Bucky pull it off, and receive the best Christmas present of all - Steve as his boyfriend??

More Than Gravity (ao3) - JenTheSweetie steve/tony T, 20k

Summary: “Aw, time travel, no.”

On Christmas Eve, Tony came unstuck in time.

no sound, it’s all around (ao3) - winterkillz sam/bucky G, 9k

Summary: “They’re my relatives.” Bucky corrects bitterly and quietly. “I don’t… I haven’t had a family in a while.”

Sam pauses from his food and stares at Bucky. He would say that Bucky has always been an honorary Wilson, but he knows what he meant. Sam sips on his drink, making sure that he doesn’t drip orange soda on his newly dry-cleaned suit.

“You want me to go with you?” Sam offers instead.

(Or, Bucky gets invited to spend Christmas with Rebecca’s side of the family with Sam tagging along. Feelings ensue.)

On This Winter’s Night (ao3) - athena4lynn G, 6k

Summary: Five Times Clint Barton Found Something He Needed In A Church On Christmas Eve

Princess Perfect Pony Palace (ao3) -74days steve/bucky T, 3k

Summary: It’s Christmas Eve and Natasha’s daughter has just admitted to her parents that she asked Santa for a Princess Perfect Pony Palace. Which is currently out of stock in every store within 50 miles. It’s time for Uncle Bucky to step up and deliver the most wanted gift of the season - he just didn’t think he’d have to fight a hot blond for it.

Saved My Heart For You (ao3) - pensversusswords steve/tony T, 8k

Summary: Tony had been trying to propose for months, but it turned out that post-battle on Christmas Eve was the best time to pop the question.

Sorry About All The Sex Toys (ao3) - lola381pce clint/phil T, 2k

Summary: Clint draws Coulson’s name for the Avengers Secret Santa which in itself isn’t a bad thing. It’s just unfortunate he uses the same wrapping paper for Coulson’s gift as he does for Natasha’s. Regrettably, he doesn’t realise his mistake until the Secret Santa gift reveals on Christmas Eve with all the Avengers.

The Best Day of the Year (ao3) - orphan_account pepper/tony G, 2k

Summary: Tony finally mans up and proposes to Pepper on Christmas Eve.

Tony’s Christmas Carol (ao3) - kickcows pepper/tony G, 11k

Summary: Tony Stark was a mean, crotchety miser. He never felt he was doing wrong, until three spirits came to visit him on Christmas Eve, showing him otherwise. Or, a retelling of ‘A Christmas Carol’ set in the Marvel universe.

When the Snow Melts (ao3) - emptydistractions steve/bucky E, 4k

Summary: It’s the first time Bucky’s been off suppressants in nearly a century and all Steve wants is for his mate to be okay. Luckily, Christmas Eve has a little surprise in store for them.

You Are My Gift (ao3) - coeurlregina peggy/steve G, 757

Summary: 24th December, 1944

Captain America and The Howling Commandos were blessed with a moment's reprieve after their victory in the Battle of Metz (which came to an end on 13th December). They were sent back to Camp Lehigh to recoup and wait for further instructions, lucky for them, they were able to celebrate Christmas eve before being shipped off in the early morning.

#themculibrary #masterlists #marvel #mcu #christmas #christmas masterlist #christmaseve #christmaseve masterlist

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wildhosh · 1 year

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christmas! woozi thoughts

thinking about businessman! lee jihoon who moved away from home to a job in the big city getting stranded in an airport a few days before christmas due to a snowstorm. he can’t make it home for christmas. but he waits. as much as his heart hurts, he stays in the airport holding out as much hope as he can muster and grasping at each thread of holiday joy he can reach. one of those threads is a warm cup of hot chocolate from the airport’s small coffee shop. the same person works there each day, and each day they ask him for updates on his plane with the sweetest smile and rosiest cheeks. each day he has no update to give. but he finds his heart warmed before he even takes a sip of the hot drink.

thinking about lonely, single reader in a new city meeting jihoon in a christmas tree farm. reader struggles to cut down the tree of their choice; it’s a small one, meant to fit in the small studio apartment they call home. local celebrity and worker! jihoon watches from afar with an amused smirk on his face as reader throws around some choice words. he helps the exasperated reader cut the tree in a few swift hits. reader thanks him. he offers to help them take it to their apartment. reader declines, trying to showcase independence, but jihoon sees through the facade as he watches them struggle to strap the fir to the top of their tiny car. he takes interest and looks forward to seeing reader around town.

thinking about busy businessman! lee jihoon who finds himself stuck in a line at the mall on christmas eve to buy a present for his mom or grandma or something. he’s a major scrooge, only investing in the holidays because of his weak spot for his family, the people he loves. but he finds himself next to christmas lover! reader who is entirely enveloped in the christmas spirit and loves waiting in the lines of the mall. he’s annoyed with them. but maybe their sprinkles of holiday magic will cause a change of heart…

#❄️#i may turn these into longer imagines #i see woozi as a hustle and bustle type guy #i think if he were in a cheesy christmas romcom he would be the scroogy guy #seventeen #svt #seventeen thoughts #svt thoughts #svt fluff #seventeen fluff #woozi fluff #woozi imagines #woozi x reader #woozi headcanons #jihoon imagines #jihoon fluff #jihoon x reader #jihoon headcanons #anna writes !!

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jmagnabo92 · 4 months

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Hi, rwrbnygiftexchange here! Your match is: ssmtskw. They would like fic or art or gifs and these are their prompts: New Year’s eve but make it Groundhog Day mixed with a little bit of Scrooge ~ one of them keeps living through New Year’s eve but it’s from various different years and this guy they haven’t met yet keeps popping up in all of them

Alex gets roped into going to a historical reenactment event with June and damn if the guy out there isn’t turning him on… maybe there is something to that Mr. Darcy billowing shirt stuff

One of them accidentally gets the other's winter hat on the subway and it follows them on their ridiculous journey to get it back to the original owner (bonus points if things end up on the news / they are somehow live blogging or sharing about their day) and the return of the hat isn’t the only sweet treat that evening

They don't want anything nsfw. Remember, don't publish this ask and keep your match a secret until New Year's Day. If you have any questions or problems, send us an ask. If you have to drop out at any point, please let us know ASAP so we can ask one of our pinch hitters to step in. For questions about the prompts, you can contact your match, but remember to keep your identity a secret until January 1st! If you want to let us know you received this message, you can create a new post and tag us. Happy creating! - Team rwrbnygiftexchange

@ssmtskw Happy New Year! & Thanks to @rwrbnygiftexchange for setting this up :)

I wrote the Hat Prompt - hope you enjoy it :)

IF HATS COULD TALK

When Alex finds a hat on the subway, he goes to any length to find the owner despite his friends teasing him about it. Luckily for him, the owner finds him.

AO3

***

Alex always hated winter, especially since moving to New York City. Although it was pretty terrible in D.C., it was even more terrible in NYC, and it made him terribly miss Texas, but his life had changed drastically when his mother had won the Presidency, and he’d chosen Georgetown for undergrad.�� It meant living in a cold winter area for nearly four years before choosing law school in NYC following his Georgetown graduation.

That… might not have been his greatest idea. He could’ve gone to a warm climate for Law School like June did for her graduate studies (once Alex left the White House, she figured it was time for her to as well), but he didn’t have a boyfriend in California that he was eager to be with like she did. Although, to be fair, he hasn’t really had the opportunity for much dating as the First Son, too much paperwork. June was lucky in that regard – meeting Evan before they were First Son and First Daughter.

Not that it matters, anyway, because he chose NYC and now, he has to deal with that.

He rushes through the crowd with Cash, his secret service protector, following close behind him as he barely makes the subway. He knows that Cash prefers that he uses secure cars, but he had enough of not being the normal college student at Georgetown and had insisted on doing it with law school, which meant riding the subway and being a real new yorker.

He collapses in a seat, taking his hat off and laying it next to him, he’s relieved that something was open and closes his eyes for a minute or two. His stop is only three stops away, so he doesn’t have long but he was running late and needs a few minutes to himself. He doesn’t bother to notice the people around him, even as he feels a presence join him seconds after he sits and the presence leaves at the second stop.

When he opens his eyes to get ready for the third stop, he reaches over and grabs his hat without thinking, and makes his way out of the subway station. It’s not until he gets outside that he realizes he grabbed two hats instead of one.

One is his – slightly holey because he should’ve replaced it by now (and no, it’s not the reason that he was so cold and not into winter, no matter what Cash says), and one that isn’t his. It’s a soft grey hat with an H emblem on it. The H looks vaguely particular. Like some monogram he’d seen before, but he can’t place it.

“Cash, you didn’t see who this belongs to, did you?” Alex questions.

Cash shakes his head. “There were so many people that it could’ve fallen off of anyone.”

Alex hums and puts it on. “I’ll figure it out later, I’m already late enough.”

“Then, stop yammering and let’s go.”

Alex rolls his eyes but leads the way to the school. He couldn’t miss any more classes than necessary (he already misses enough due to stuff for his mom), he’ll worry about the hat leaver later.

***

Despite his earlier determination to worry about the hat leaver until after classes, as he sits beside his best friend and one-time lover Liam for lunch, he finds himself staring at the hat wondering about the hat leaver.

“You know that it can’t talk to you, right?” Liam teases. “It’s not going to explain who it belongs to any more than I would have explained to you that us fooling around meant something.”

“Maybe if you had, I would’ve figured myself out sooner and we wouldn’t have lost a year and a half of friendship,” Alex states.

He’d been quite oblivious and determined that fooling around with Liam hadn’t meant anything – it was totally a normal thing to do as best friends, except, you know, it wasn’t – and even though it didn’t work out with one of the staffers when he was working for his mom (however briefly) on her campaign, one kiss with another guy had certainly thrown things in perspective (especially when he insisted on talking about it) and reaching out to Liam had been one of his better ideas that resolved their issues and put them back as best friends just in time for Liam to take up graduate studies at NYU, too.

“Some things you just have to figure out for yourself, surely you’ve realized this by now.”

Alex huffs. “I just feel like I know the person.”

“Based off a hat?”

“Well, I mean, it’s embossed – that’s gotta mean something.”

“Are you sure that it’s for a person and not like a brand name?”

“It’s not a brand name, I’m sure of it.”

“Well, then, what’s your plan? How are you going to find one person in a sea of a million people?”

“I’ve got a few ideas…”

***

His ideas started with getting on and off at the three stations between his home and the school and visiting the lost and found. Unfortunately, no one had come looking for a hat and as Cash pointed out, they don’t know when the hat leaver got on or off the train. Thus, he had to go to plan B, which was to go through all of the different available brand name symbols and make sure the Liam was wrong about the damn thing and it wasn’t just a random name brand.

He asked Nora to help – who found his randomly obsessing over a hat as hilarious and tease worthy.

“What makes you think the hat leaver even cares?” Nora questions. “Not everyone gets so easily obsessed with things that they come across on a random subway.”

“Or maybe they’re missing their very precious hat and would appreciate my efforts to reunite them.”

“Not everyone cares a ridiculous amount about their hats – by the way, have you replaced that old ratty one you’ve been wearing yet?”

He hadn’t bothered to answer, and by the end of that endeavor, he had two thoughts: man, he has a thing for people who are assholes to him and that he really needs to control his obsessive behavior sometimes.

Now, is not one of those times.

He wasn’t giving up. He decides that maybe he could try and get on that exact train and that exact car, hoping to run into the hat leaver – even had a note attached to the hat that said, ‘Am I your hat, if so please tell me’.

Unfortunately, wearing a hat that said that did not help whatsoever and the he did not run into the hat leaver.

All that did was get Alex (and Cash) more annoyed as various people decided to interrupt throughout the day, but definitely were not the hat leaver.

It was not one of his better ideas.

After that, June suggested that he make a post a twitter – probably because she knew he’d get inundated with tweets back claiming that they were the hat leaver, when NONE of them could even tell him where they left the hat.

It was a truly terrible idea, but June, Nora, Liam, and Cash all ended up laughing at him for thinking that it was all a good idea. He knew better than to trust them.

At the point where he was with June at some event that he’s actually supposed to speak at, he can’t help saying, “I need to figure this out.”

“You know, I doubt the hat leaver as you call them even cares about the hat. If they’re fancy enough to have it monogrammed, they probably would’ve bought or made another one by now,” June offers.

“No, I don’t think they would’ve, but even if they did, I have to figure out who owns this hat.”

“Technically, it’s owned by you –”

“It’s borrowed by me.”

“– it’s been a week, baby bro, you’re not going to find a random person searching for their hat. It’s yours now.”

Alex huffs but doesn’t have to time to argue because he and his hat are on for their speech. Maybe the hat leaver would see him on the news and find a way to contact him?

He could only hope.

***

Alex can’t help groaning as he stands in the entrance way of the White House (he was annoyed to be here when it was halting his pursuit of the hat leaver since the odds of finding them aren’t high in D.C. when they lost the hat in NYC). Standing outside in the freezing cold to greet the Prime Minister, Prince Henry, and Princess Beatrice just a few days before the state dinner. It had been decided that he and June would show the Prince and Princess around D.C. as an attempt to foster a good relationship with Britain.

Considering that he and Prince Henry hadn’t exactly gotten along previously (despite the thawed ice after their near-miss with Prince Phillip’s wedding cake – they had nearly caused an international incident and been told quite frankly that they needed to find some way to be neutral to each other). The hour spent glaring at each other in silence in one of the many rooms at the palace had only been broken by June and Princess Beatrice insisting they talk out every one of their few encounters and figure out what the problem was.

It only took one – the first.

Henry had been apologetic when he figured out what the problem was, and Alex had apologized for not realizing that Henry was a prick to everyone in his grief (even though that wasn’t really his fault – how was he to know?). They had agreed to be neutral, but that didn’t mean they were friends.

In the few times since they’ve managed polite conversation, but they still didn’t interact much, and he didn’t know what he was going to do for three days while he supposedly showed him around the city.

When he voices this thought, June, who’s standing beside him, teases, “Maybe he’ll help you search for the hat leaver? You could go on an adventure searching for hat leaver with you.”

Alex groans. “I need better friends.”

June just laughs as they pull up.

***

Alex waits and accepts a handshake from Henry, who pauses, hand still in his, and says, “Is that my hat?”

“Your hat?” Alex questions. “What – how? This is a hat I’ve been trying to find the owner for – for a week now, who lost it in New York City…”

“I – er – I live in New York City now. I lost my hat a week ago. I think that’s it.” Henry lets out a laugh. “I saw your tweet, and you wearing it during your speech, but I didn’t realize until now…”

Alex takes it off as Henry lets go of his hand. He runs his thumb over the emblem. Now, it made sense – it’s H over the royal insignia for the British royal family. “I can’t believe – I’ve been trying to find the hat leaver since I found it – it’s yours…”

Before Henry could respond, his mother and the Prime Minister interrupt to usher them inside and suggest that Alex and June show the Prince and Princess to their quarters.

“Henry says it’s his hat,” Alex states. “I told you I would find them.”

“Technically, he found you,” June states. “Are you sure that it’s your hat? Because it would be far funnier to continue watching Alex attempt to find one person in a sea of millions just to give them back a hat.”

Alex glares at her as Beatrice laughs.

“I like you – older sister privileges, teasing their younger brothers.” She winks back at Henry before asking, “Did you make him dress up in dresses when you were little, too?”

June doesn’t hesitate to confirm as Alex and Henry both yell, “Hey!” “OI!”, but it doesn’t matter because they’re both running off leaving their brothers alone and embarrassed.

“So… you’ve been searching to return the hat?” Henry asks. “Why?”

Alex looks down at the hat. “Oh, uh, I don’t know, really. It was just… I’ve had the same hat for a long time… if my hat could talk … it would basically be able to tell my life story… well, it’s winter story anyway. And I – it just looks cared for despite its slightly weathered age, and I just thought… the person who wore it might have a connection to their hat as I do to mine.”

Henry smiles, softly at him. “I do. Actually.”

Alex looks up, half expecting him to be mocking Alex’s thought about hats, but he isn’t. He seems genuine.

“I’ll tell you my hat’s story, if you tell me yours?” he offers.

“Sounds brilliant.”

***

He does show Henry his quarters before they go back to Alex’s room, and share stories about their hats. Alex’s hat is from 2010, the year his father left, and his parents divorced. It was his last hat given to him at Christmas from his parents – jointly. It’s dumb to hold onto it, he thinks, but somehow, Henry assures him it isn’t.

“Sometimes, we like to hold onto the past … and this is a piece of a past that you don’t want to let go of…”

Then Henry explained the origin of his hat. It was a gift from his father. He had felt terrible about being away to film his Bond movies, and he taken up knitting so that he could knit each of his children something special to bring home from his filming. It, too, came from 2010.

So that hat did have a story behind it.

They while away the night telling their hat stories (which are really just stories about themselves). It was as if telling the stories from the hat’s point of view allowed them to not feel like they were bearing their souls to one another despite not really being friends.

Well, except…

“I suppose we can call ourselves friends, now, after this, yeah?” Alex asks, as the night comes to a close. They have places to visit tomorrow, and it’ll at least be nice to feel like it’s less of a duty and more of something fun he can do with a new friend who’s not an asshole.

Henry pauses in his doorway. “Perhaps we could be more?”

“More?” Alex asks, admittedly confused.

Henry leans forward and kisses him lightly, like a Prince fucking Charming, and damn, it was good. So damn good.

They break apart, and Alex is quite stunned, but smiling. He’d completely forgotten that Henry had come out in the last year despite the stories about his foundation and the youth center for LGBT+ in NYC (which is why he was on the subway in the first place when he lost his hat).

“I know it would probably be a lot to date me, but if you’d like to …”

“… go out sometime?” Alex finishes. “Yeah, I – I, uh, would. Law school kicks my ass a lot, but uh, we have our couple of days now and uh, I would – would very much like to date you.”

“Good.”

Henry gives him another kiss, this one a bit deeper, but it’s interrupted by clapping, which jars them apart.

“Finally!” their sisters cheer, which suggests that they knew something that at least Alex didn’t, but he doesn’t find that he minds.

“Do you mind?” Alex asks. “We’re trying to have a private moment here.”

“In the middle of an open doorway where anyone can walk passed?” June teases. “Yeah, real private.”

Alex rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever, you already interrupted –”

“And now, I’m dragging my brother off for details,” Beatrice says, not waiting for a response from any of them drags Henry away by the hand.

Henry follows after her glancing back and blowing Alex a kiss with his free hand. “Tomorrow, then.”

“Tomorrow,” Alex calls after him.

He turns back to June, who pushes him back into his room and demands, “Details, dish.”

With a stupid grin on his face, he says, “If my hat could talk…”

***

A year later, Alex grins as he puts his hat in the pocket of his coat as he hangs it up. It’d only been a week since their anniversary and Henry asking him to move in together, but he couldn’t help feeling at home already.

It’d been a world wind of a year since he’d found Henry’s hat on the subway, but every day, he’s grateful it happened. It opened up their worlds to a different side of each other, a side that brought them together as more than acquaintances and potential friends, but to boyfriends… and it’s been perfect.

All thanks to a lost hat mishap.

Best mishap ever – totally worth it.

#RWRB #red white and royal blue #alex claremont diaz #henry fox #henry fox mountchristen windsor #Alex/Henry #First Prince #Happy New Year!

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shewhowantsmouseears · 1 year

Text

Wizard Of Oz Disney AU plotpoints

Unexpected Free Time strikes, and so I decided to do this early.

So before we get started, this isn’t going to be a case of someone flying in from a new world, this is all staying in Oz, so no “it was all a dream” stuff. And there are gunna be skips and gap points because I haven’t gotten this fully fleshed out yet, and not heavily detailed so… ah well. Here we go.

Minnie Mouse is a Munchkin, and Munchkinland kinda sucks

Every day, everyone hands their job to someone else – being Special and Unique and Very Good at something is frowned upon, seen as very rude, why would you WANT to be different???

Minnie wants to learn magic – more specifically, she wants to be a Grand Witch, the ones who govern all of Oz and are the strongest magic-users. She wants to use this power to help people, and to see more of the world than her oppressive and boring Munchkinland

In order to do so, she has to enroll in a special academy all the way in Emerald City, but also needs the Mayor’s permission to do so – which isn’t easy when the Mayor changes every goddamn day

TBF the Mayor, Munchkinland and all of Oz is kinda going through it – The Grand Witch Of The West, Magica De Spell has begun an uprising/invasion/rebellion, attacking other lands, and trying to usurp the Grand Warlock Of The North, Scrooge McDuck. So even people who like Minnie are like “why would you wanna get involved in that?!”

But luckily in a few days they’re expecting a visit from the Grand Witch Of The South, Daisy Duck. Minnie hopes she can leave a good impression on her and maybe get a one-way ticket to Emerald City!

Also she has a dog, Pluto, our Toto

On the day of Daisy’s visit, Minnie keeps trying to meet her but Circumstances prevent it, though she does notice Daisy is Very Tired and kinda moody

That night Minnie sneaks out of her house to try and see Daisy one more time BUT DRAMA

A three-way-witch fight! The Grand Witch Of The East, Magica’s own mother, Evelina, and Daisy are fighting off Magica, lots of hateful accusations being thrown, lots of property damage

Minnie wants to help, and maybe this can prove she’s ready for Emerald City? So she tries some of the magic she’s been practicing in secret, Wind Magic!

It starts small at first but when the other three take notice, suddenly it winds up into a tornado

It picks up an empty house and down goes Evelina

Minnie, of course, is horrified as fuck and begins hysterically sobbing and apologizing, running to the house to see if she can maybe save the squished witch – who is wearing silver slippers

Daisy and Magica seem awfully OK with Evelina being dead

But once she’s close enough, MAGIC HAPPENS and now all of a sudden she’s wearing the slippers, and can’t get them off

Now Magica LOSES HER SHIT and demands the shoes, saying they are meant to be hers, threatening screaming almost crying, but those things ain’t coming off, and Magica finally leaves but not after making some vague warnings

Daisy does her best to comfort Minnie who has been through Some Shit in the last ten minutes, but she can’t get them off either. She suggests the one who can is Scrooge, since his magic is the strongest, and even offers to escort her there

But the shoes ain’t having it, they have a mind of their own, and insist on walking their own path – a golden yellow brick road which forms as Minnie walks

Minnie and Pluto head off, and Minnie swears she can hear a voice in her head thanks to the shoes, but can’t tell who it is

Meanwhile, Magica’s at her Castle, and her Three Familiars offer to snatch Minnie and the slippers, she gives some vague responses

Eventually they come across a scarecrow, but wait, that’s not a scarecrow! It’s a boy tied up to a wooden post with a cloth bad filled with straw stuffed over his head

His name is Mickey and he comes from a local village, he too wants to be a Knight, someone who guards witches and warlocks, but he’s failed the test so many times his schoolyard bullies tied him up like this

He has a short-term memory issue and sucks at testing, and laments he will probably never be able to take the test again since he’s failed it so many times (Brain)

Minnie suggests he come with her, surely if they talk to Scrooge he can give Mickey an exception and he can take the test again

During this entire conversation he’s been stuck with the bag on his head btw, and Minnie’s about to untie him when one of the Three Familiars attacks! The Crow Lady, who commands a small army of crows

Minnie doesn’t want Mickey to get hurt so she intends to shield him with her body, and that’s when the shoes “activate” – whole magical girl transformation sequence – brand new silver look, and she manages to use her wind magic in a more precise way with the “voice” guiding her

As they fight, Mickey frees himself, and he and Minnie get a good first look at each other

Instant dokidokis

But they combine their efforts and send Crow Lady flying, ha ha

They’re off to see the wizard

They arrive at a very technologically advanced city, Mortimer’s there and he hits on Minnie, boo

They meet Ludwig who is fascinated by the silver slippers and invites the two to stay at his place for the night

He shows them his latest project, an android that’s supposed to be as close to a person as possible… but it can also fly and shoot lasers because why not, Ludwig’s a nutter

Then the Next Familiar attacks, Wasp Lady, whose wasp army attacks the city demanding Minnie come out and fight

She does, but during one hit she lands on the button that activates the android, it’s Donald!

Donald and Minnie team up to defeat Wasp Lady, but Donald reveals Minnie “woke him up” before all of his assets could be downloaded. He doesn’t have/understand emotions (Heart), and Ludwig’s out of funding to repair all the stuff that was destroyed during the fight

Minnie suggests maybe Scrooge will give Ludwig funding if they talk to him?

Ludwig is reluctant – once upon a time, Scrooge was Very Cheap and hated to spend even pennies. But he admits ever since Magica’s rebellion he’s been acting super strange and splurging money like there’s no tomorrow

Donald joins the group, we’re off to see the wizard

Check in with Daisy who has been telling Scrooge everything, he’s very cold to her and berates her and even hurts her a little, and Daisy physically cannot make any of this stop for Some Reason

Now they have to pass through a forest/jungle where they get captured by Forest Folk who accuse them of trespassing, but will leave the final judgement for their King

King Goofy isn’t really a king, really, since this isn’t a kingdom, and all the titles are made up, it’s a very silly and lawless land, but since his dad was leader Goofy is expected to be the leader now and make all the big decisions

Everyone’s gunna nutters there too, like Wonderland but with knives

Goofy is too cowardly to make any big decisions, and Minnie suggests maybe if they get Scrooge’s “permission”, he doesn’t have to be King anymore

Attack number three from Flying Monkey Lady, but during this attack it’s revealed Magica used to be adored and revered by the forest folk after she once stopped a deadly forest fire, and they don’t know why everyone hates her now, Flying Monkey calls them all traitors

With Goofy in tow, off to see the wizard

Yay Emerald City! They stop by the Academy, maybe Minnie can enroll after she gets the shoes off? She learns from an instructor that Scrooge and Magica were in the same classes and everything, some people thought of them as friends. Evelina was always interfering in Magica’s school life and was kind of a bitch

Daisy is there to escort them to Scrooge, Donald suddenly grabs her face and goes “Hey did you know you are symmetrically perfect?” because he Does Not Know Social Cues and everyone has to tackle him down to make him stop

Daisy thinks he was hitting on her and she is Very Okay With That

Off they go to see the Wizard. And it turns out he’s kind of a dick? Very condescending and rude and expecting everyone to follow his orders without question.

Can’t get the shoes off, and explains that Minnie has been cursed – it was likely Magica that made Minnie’s wind pick up the Killer House and then cursed the slippers to never come off.

Minnie like “… but she wanted them???” “Yes well Magica’s always been kind of stupid.”

Minnie realizes the voice she’s been hearing in her head/shoes is Scrooge’s! So Something Is Not Adding up

Scrooge says the only way to undo the curse is to kill Magica, so do that and I’ll grant all your wishes

Minnie and the gang DON’T WANT TO COMMIT ACTUAL MURDER WHAT THE FUCK MAN

Well too bad now it’s an imperial order, do it or else

Minnie tries to remain positive, maybe they can just capture Magica or something??? The shoes are leading her on as always

Daisy wants to go with them with Scrooge won’t let her

Off the gang go, and Daisy decides she’ll try to help anyway from the shadows

They encounter the poppy fields, and everyone but Donald falls asleep since, yeah, he’s an android, but he’s frantically trying to wake everyone up

The Three Familiars arrive and scoop up Minnie (and mickey too by accident)

The poppy fields come really alive and try to kill the remaining gang, but Daisy arrives to help them out

She explains she literally can’t tell them everything, but seems very Sure that Minnie and Mickey aren’t in danger

They’ll still go after them anyway obvi

Meanwhile, the mice wake up in Magica’s castle, in a cage, the Three Familiars all gloating and partying woo yeah we did it!!!

Magica arrives and is super pissed off, the fuck did you idiots do, I never said to capture the girl

She sounds all menacing and dangerous, determined to punish the frightened familiars, summoning a huge ton of magic to…

Lock up the fridge “NO DESSERT FOR A WEEK”

The three familiars begin throwing tantrums like small children as Magica goes on AND I KNOW YOU GUYS HAVEN’T BEEN BRUSHING YOUR TEETH, YOUR TOOTHBRUSHES ARE BONE DRY

Minnie and Mickey are...Very confused

Magica explains that while the Three Familiars have the bodies of adults they have the minds of children, cause magic, they very clearly see her as a mother figure

Magica doesn’t let them out now because figures they’ll just go tell Scrooge and he’ll twist it as something evil, and she’s Exhausted

That night the mice sneak out but Minnie’s shoes lead her to a locked-up room that contains an old diary

The shoes Activate again and suddenly she’s walking through memories of Magica’s life!

Evelina was a real bitch indeed, always trying to control Magica’s life like she was some kind of puppet, not letting her have friends or anyone to rely on. She forced Magica to enroll as a Grand Witch just like mom

It wasn’t until the academy days that she met Scrooge and hey Real Friend! Scrooge encouraged her to stand up for herself, and yes Magica did stop that deadly fire and even used her magic to save three badly burnt babes (the familiars)

Years pass and Daisy enrolls, and becomes biffles with Magica, and senses the UST between her and Scrooge even though they definitely deny it

Evelina wants Magica to steal Scrooge’s staff (Every Grand Witch/Warlock has a Grand Conduit for which their greatest magic is stored) but Magica finally has the stones to say no fuck you

Scrooge is the one who made the silver slippers, to be Magica’s Grand Conduit, to encourage Magica to “walk her own path” and there was definitely some crying and cuddling. But they’re not done yet, after they all become Grand he’ll give them to her, promise

But not too long after they become Grand, Evelina has a meeting with Scrooge and suddenly he’s an asshole, giving the slippers to Evelina, and calling Magica all kinds of terrible things

Magica decides fuck this noise and just leaves, but Scrooge and the others framed her for terrible crimes

The memories end and Minnie is just. Sobbing so hard for Magica, she can feel Scrooge’s genuine love for Magica through the shoes

She finds Magica and begs her to come with them to Emerald City, surely they talk they can all sort this out!

Ugh fine, but Magica and the Familiars have to pretend to be prisoners, off they go

They meet up with Donald/Goofy/Pluto/Daisy and explain things but Daisy goes NO FUCK YOU CAN’T COME BACK TO EMERALD CITY!! DO NOT!! And even fights them, but they win and Daisy flees

They go back to Emerald City anyway, and Scrooge wants to know why is Magica alive, Magica wants to know why he’s being an ass, Minnie approaches and just says “look can we just talk”

All the doors shut, Daisy’s there, and that’s when All The Big Reveals Happen

Evelina’s own special magic is Puppet Magic, all she has to do is slip a string into someone and she has total control over them… and she’s been controlling Scrooge and Daisy all this time

She faked her death (she used Minnie’s wind magic as a cover) because she thought Magica was close to figuring something out

But now she can’t let any of them live, not when world domination is so close at hand! So she sends her strings out to try and control all of them, all out brawl, and only Magica and Minnie are left to fight

Magica gets hit with a string, now it’s everyone versus Minnie, and she’s surrounded by strings

Minnie fights them all off as best she can, and realizes her True Magic wasn’t wind at all, but Gravity

She can make things float and crash back down, and make things heavy or light

Kicks ass, takes names

Frees everyone from the strings and ties Evelina up, making the strings so impossibly heavy she can’t get free

With Scrooge back to normal, the slippers can come off easily, emotional reunion, and Magica gets a fancy new silver outfit when she puts on the slippers

Mickey realizes he doesn’t need some test to be a knight, he can protect people all on his own and vows to never let anything like this happen again

Donald realizes he actually does understand emotions, and will spread the word making sure the truth of what happened is known by all

Goofy realizes it’s okay to make mistakes, and it’s better to work as a community than by one person making choices, and wants to have the forest folk work with other lands

Minnie gets to enlist in the academy, and one day take up the mantle that Evelina used to hold

Until then, Scrooge Magica and Daisy will work in unity for that missing piece, and all have great expectations for Minnie

Listen everyone loves Minnie, absolutely everyone, just as it should be

The end

#wizard of oz #fanfic #mickey mouse #minnie mouse #donald duck #daisy duck #goofy #magica de spell #scrooge mcduck #dimeshipping

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greensword101 · 1 year

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So, I just read a ficlet about the traditional Hallmark "villain" being dumped in the end and they're actually pretty rational. What I saw involved two "villains" meeting after their "girlfriends" have dumped them after being unfaithful and then starting to fall for each other.

What I really want is for CONSEQUENCES to occur from Designated Heroine's actions. So, here we go.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Sasha lives in Boston and she is stuck in what she deems to be a bland relationship with a guy who is working a lot and doesn't spend as much time with her as he ought to be. Things seem to look up when he proposes and she accepts, but Sasha is still feeling restless and decides to head back to her hometown for Christmas. Her now fiance, John, is unable to make it because of his schedule, and so she goes by herself, frustrated and alone.

She sees John as a boring workaholic, who doesn't give her a passing glance nowadays and doesn't even notice whenever she does her hair. What she DOESN'T recognize is that John HATES his job. He is working many hours because she is a shopaholic and now has dragged them both into debt with her spending habits. He even had to take a second part time job just to make ends meet.

The new scarf she bought for Christmas? That was NOT in their budget plan! The fashion designer clothing she bought in the spur of the moment? She used the credit card meant for emergencies only and now he has to scramble to put out that fire. The new hair style he "didn't notice"? He's been working so many hours on a big project, it was so late when he came back to their apartment, how was he supposed to notice when he was so focused on not collapsing onto the floor?!

And she treats HIM like the bad guy when he complains about her spending habits! Even called him a Scrooge under her breath when she thought he didn't hear her. He mentioned this to his friends and coworkers and family and wonders AITA for being concerned about money and not being kicked out of their nice apartment and onto the streets? And their credit score will be affected too, if she doesn't stop with using their credit cards so frivolously.

There are a few naysayers, but the majority of his audience had told him he's NTA and needs to talk to Sasha about his concerns. Not that she's listened and only seems to dig in her heels even further, no matter how patient John has been.

So, the trip to her hometown that he couldn't make? Fine, let her cool down for a few weeks. Let her catch up with her family. Maybe she's just been as stressed about bills as he has been and is trying to break out of her bad spending habits. They can both cool off and when he can meet up with her on Christmas, things will look up. Or so he hopes against hope.

The most he was expecting was just a short term peace before their problems start up again. After all, she did get a FIRST CLASS TICKET back for some reason - why did she need a plane ride home, the bus would have been cheaper and she could have looked at the scenery. But he refrains from texting her about it. He is going to give her space, he is not going to be nitpicking every little thing she does because if he can succeed with this project at work, it will mean a big promotion and pay raise.

As stated before, he hates his job. It's draining him emotionally. If he were in a better financial state, he would consider reaching out to a therapist, but Sasha would start nagging him about how "overdramatic" he's acting and to "get over it".

So, aside from the plane ticket, there are no further issues for the next two weeks. He texts her once in a while, just seeing how she's doing and also called her when he got out of work early one day. She never responds to his texts or his one phonecall. Okay, he chalks it up to bad wifi at Cape Cod, maybe she isn't able to get a reception there.

Project is done and he is even promoted! He calls Sasha again to inform her of this, but she doesn't seem to share his enthusiasm. John is confused. He is going to get paid more and one of his supervisors has noticed that he's been working a lot of hours and promised to work out a more reasonable schedule. He thought she'd be happy about that. And there's the Christmas bonus, too, it was a good chunk of change. She seems happy until he admits that he had to use it all for the bills and that's when she gets snappy with him and hangs up. She gives a flimsy excuse - "my mom's calling me" - and he knows it's about the money.

John thought she'd be relieved about their financial woes being lessened by a nice little windfall. 'Probably thinks I'm being a Scrooge', he thinks with a little more bitterness than he anticipated. The day comes when he can get to her hometown and because they are still not out of the woods with the debt - there is still a few bills they are still going to have to pay off - John decides to take a bus. It's long and cold, but he's fine with that. Snow won't start falling until the evening, right around the time he gets there. It will be a white Christmas.

Sasha is at the stop and seems to be completely surprised that he was on the bus altogether. John starts to get a headache already. She KNEW he was coming when the project was done, why is she acting like he was stalking her? Was she thinking he was going to decide to stay in Boston and spend Christmas by himself while she was with her family here?

Things remain tense as they head to a party her family was hosting. It looked like a nice house. Why didn't she ever bring it up with him in the past five years they were together? And then things just become awful John meets this new friend of Sasha's. Some weird guy named Jack who seemed to have aspirations to become the next Joker with all of the smiling he was doing. And acting so intimate with Sasha too, like they had known each other for years. And Sasha didn't seem to mind, either, when she would NEVER let John give her so much as a brief hug once in a while.

'Who the fuck is this creep?!' John thinks, dread filling him more by the minute. When he introduces himself to Sasha's family, none of them seem that enthusiastic about him. Did Sasha ever tell them about him at all? He had introduced her to his parents and brought her over for family gatherings and Thanksgiving this year too.

He needs some fresh air, it was so noisy and he needed to clear his head. Maybe something bad had happened? Maybe Jack was just an old friend. And gay too! Not that there was anything wrong with that. Because there was no way Sasha had been CHEATING on him and had suddenly fallen in love with someone she had known for two weeks at best, right? Right?!

But this somehow seems to send a different message to Sasha, as she saw him leaving the noisy party filled with complete strangers and assumed he was being bitter at Christmas.

Sasha catches him right as he is decompressing outside in the cold. She acts awkward with him, and evasive when he tries asking her about how she's been enjoying herself. And hoping that she will act like the supportive fiance and future wife he is hoping to spend the rest of his life with. The one thing she doesn't bring up at all is Jack. And all he did was ask her about him. Were they childhood friends?

She gets aggressive with him all of a sudden. Telling him to stop "ruining" her life and to "grow up", whatever the hell that was supposed to mean. John is feeling his blood boil. He had been in a bus for hours, cold and hungry. And he had just about had enough of her behavior and started to verbally push back at her and calling her out on HER selfish behavior. If he wasn't about to end the engagement right then and there because he realizes that she never loved him, then seeing Jack come out and physically assault him while Sasha stands there doing nothing certainly did.

She looks triumphant, begins to tell him that the engagement is over and that she loves Jack.

Only she didn't realize that the commotion from their yelling and Jack assaulting John had people coming out of the house and crowding them. John is absolutely humiliated that a crowd of strangers is seeing him bruised and sobbing uncontrollably. He was in a town with no friendly faces, his fiance had been cheating on him and had her two week lover attack him. He's expecting cheers from the crowd. What he wasn't expecting was for Sasha's mother to ask her in a chilly tone.

"You're engaged to this man?"

And he realizes as someone comes to his aid and starts checking on his bruises while someone else starts to call the police, Sasha's mother wasn't upset about him or his supposed failings. As it turned out, Sasha hadn't told her family that she was seeing anyone at all and that her sister had unwittingly introduced her to Jack because she thought they would get along.

And said sister was the one checking him over and looking white in the face, apologizing over and over again. That she had no idea, she wouldn't have done that if she had known about John in the first place.

Sasha acts defiant towards her mother, but finds herself without allies now. She thought she had been bonding with the townspeople and reconnecting with old friends and making peace with some quirky enemies, like some grouchy old man who as it turned out, was annoyed with her antics because he was Jewish and didn't celebrate Christmas. He had only started relaxing when he thought she was getting the message, but it turned out she thought he had suffered some tragedy on Christmas and that it was her duty to help him regain that "love" for the holiday.

Sasha's antics with the town were actually quite grating and the people only held their tongues for the sake of her family. But this last stunt was the last straw now that they realize that she had been hiding quite a few things from her. Her protests are ignored when the police arrive to arrest Jack and take statements and John doesn't even let the officer finish asking if he wants to press charges or not with a loud "YES!"

Sasha attempting to appeal to the police officers to let Jack go and let Christmas back into their hearts only leads to herself getting arrested for obstruction of justice when she tries to make it out that John had somehow been harassing her and stalking her. Only for her engagement ring matches the one John was still wearing and her phone showed their pictures together.

As she is forced into the police car, John throws his ring at her head and stalks off. Her family feels horrible about the whole situation and apologize profusely, the sister particularly so. They had no idea what Sasha had been up to for the past several years, nor were they pleased when they learn about her spending habits putting so much strain on John.

The sister is a big help with helping box Sasha's things from the apartment, and turns out to be a pleasant women, if a little shy. The family help with the bills, promising that Sasha was going to pay him back every cent and return the things she had so carelessly purchased this month. Only good thing to come from her shopaholic tendencies was that she always kept the receipts.

John and Sasha's sister - Anya - do become friends in spite of what happened. But considering the stress he had endured from Sasha and the therapy he was now free to undertake, he needed a long break from romance for a while.

He had to move out of the apartment and quit the part time job. His promotion might have paid more, but it wouldn't cover the cost now that Sasha wasn't living there anymore.

It took three years before Sasha finally paid him back for everything she purchased under their credit cards, especially with her family browbeating her into doing so. She and Jack did marry for a time in the end, but his charm had only been an act and they were unhappily married for about another year after the debt with John had been cleared before they filed for a divorce for irreconcilable differences.

As for John, he did find love again after much space and healing. And with another guy, too, with a similar tale with a court case that was still going on. But his lawyers were confident that they would win it, considering the amount of evidence proving the crazy ex girlfriend had wrecked his car, assaulted his person and even stole his stuff when he confronted her for cheating behind his back.

What was it about going to small hometowns for the holidays that brought out the worst in people?!

#hallmark christmas movies #how it should have ended #fix fic #perspective flip #christmas #romance #hallmark channel

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fantasticenthusiasttale · 1 year

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With no better ideas, I'm naming this as "Asylum AU".

☆Part 1:

☆Part 2:

《》《》《》

The morning was calming for Donald. In his morning routine, he's used to wake up, ged dressed and wait the nurse to check his health. If everything is right, he's able to have a breakfast with the others patients from the asylum, talk with them and go to wherever he wants inside there.

He's there some time ago that he doesn't knows exactely how much, but he thinks that's more than a month. But this doesn't matter. He likes to stay here, he have friends and people who cares about his health here.

One of them is James, a nurse dognose who's meant to be the one who have to check his health every morning since the last nurse left the place to have a baby. The asylum's board and the patients made to her a party before she had to go, they knows that she'll be an excellent mother as she was an excellent nurse. After this, James was hired to took her place, then they became friends.

James is a good friend, he's always so careful and lovely with the patients needing physical help, always trying to put a smile in their faces with his jokes, always encouraging the sad people, he's so like someone---

Don't let these dumb thoughts live in your mind, the past is the past even if you doesn't know what happened. No. He have everything he needs here, he have friends and stay with them here, he doesn't care for the past. He doesn't need it.

《》《》《》

"So, we are making this business meeting to talk about..." Bradford started his boring explanation at the McDuck Enterprises, his slow voice making Scrooge doesn't pay attention.

In this morning, Scrooge is anxious. He thought that was better think to do something about his nephew after the work (when his head would cools down), but this aren't working. His mind is trying to get out of him with an headache because of worryness and the fault. At now, he just want to punch everyone who keep his nephew in that bad place and take Donald in his arms and put him in the mansion again, so him will be safe forever as his sister---

Stupid thoughts, trying to make him to feel worst than he already is, just forget them for a while. Della must have died a long time ago (as she's disappeared), now it's about her brother who he can't lose too.

#donald duck #scrooge mcduck #ducktales #dt17 #headcannons #fic #asylum au

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popculturebuffet · 1 year

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Hatchetfield Retrospective Part 2: Black Friday

Ahoy there boys and girls (and others). All aboard the SS Wiggle and set sail for giggles as my Hatchetfield retrospective rolls on just after the crimbule on your Turkey Day that requires a bottle of Pepper Spray, it's time for Black Friday!

For those friendywends just joining us, I covered The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals. If your new to starkid, I covered the troupes extensive history there along with most of the actors involved, which thankfully means with the ground work laid out I can jump right into this one.

And that was kind of the feeling here. As I covered last time the Guy Who Didn't LIke Musicals was the third idea the Lang Brothers had for this, and was chosen because it was more accesible. With Hatchetfield set up and just enough in place, Black Friday does what most horror sequels (or in this case spirtual sequels), do and kicking it up a notch: there's a much larger cast of characters, a global scope that comes about at the end of act 1, the introduction of one of the settings big bads, everything is bigger, badder and brutaler. So the question is did it pay off? Well come with me under the cut and find out. But hurry, suplies are limited.

Crawl and Brawl for A Doll

As with last time a bit of a refesher before we dive into the analysis: Black Friday follows the citzens of Hatchefield on the titular friday as a good chunk of them gather at Lakeside Mall to get their hands on the hottest toy of the season: Tickle Me Wiggly. Like Chucky you can tell just by looking at this guy…

That something is VERY wrong. The fact he usually appears surronded by an eerie green glow of stage lights dosen't help. But rather than running away from the thing as any sane person would, the adults of hatchefield are running toward it. And the Musical does expertly handwave the obvious problem of online retailers: Their already sold out so if anyone in our tiny town wants one, they gotta get in line.

IT's here we get to one of the things that sets this musical apart from TGWDLM: The previous show was pretty much Lazer focused on Paul with emma coming second, with every main cast member barring hidgens having some connection to paul. Even Emma, the plays deutratgonist, was still partly defined by being pauls love intrest.

In contrast, Black Friday is more of an ensemble, focusing on the various people at Lakeside Mall, and switching between groups with characters intersecting as the plot demands before most of them come back together for the finale, and that' snot even getting into the largely disconnected PEIP subplot. We meet our first Tom Houston via our previous protaganists Paul and Emma, a nice way to both set up the multiverse nature of things and connect back to the prevoius musical. Tom is played by Starkid Legend Dylan Saunders, who started as Dumbledoore and was a stalwart of Starkid up until twisted. Getting his SAG card meant he couldn't work with them for a while, and thus left the troupe. Thankfully this marked his grand return and he's been back ever since, even playing Ebeneezer Scrooge in A VHS Christmas Carol.

Tom is the husband of Emma's sister Jane, a nice bit of setup from last time, and naturally isn't doing well, being pantsless mid day, having left his job due to his PTSD both from his time as a vet and the car crash, and slowly drifting from his son Tim, not helped by him faking needing a drill press when he's really getting a wiggly. Emma is pissed but once she finds out why he needs her, she forgives him.

Tom has his work cut out for him though as the line is massive and if that weren't enough also features his Ex, Becky Barnes, played by Kim Whalen. Kim's a fresh addition to StarKid, but has been acting for some time and is the wife of Curt Mega, a close friend of star kid and part of their sister troop TinCan Bros, most famously headlniing spies are forever, a show I both need to see and cannot stop listenting to the soundtrack to. We'll be seeing him too as both joined up and both are invaluable additons to the team.

Becky is a kind, patient nurse who just wants to get a doll for the kids… and who is gossiped about by the town both because her and Tom were the big couple on campus.. and because she ended up in an abusive marriage that no one bothered to try helping her out of until stan just disappeared one day. Rubbing this in is Linda Monroe, every karen in the world baked into one insufferable but gloriously hammy person, the bitch of bitches who wants a wiggly for her kids and is constantly on the phone with her husband Gerald, who apparently can't be within 10 feet of a cinabon, which turned what was suppposed to be a cruel dig at his weight.. into everyone in the fandom to this day just asuming, probably correctingly, that Gerald once fucked a cinnamon roll. I mean they haven't proved he didn't.

Off to the side we have Lex Foster, a high school dropout with an abusive mother whose hoping to escape to california. Lex is played by yet another new face, Angela Giratnia, a great addition who plays Lex excelently. Mariah Rose Faith was supposed to play the roll.. but instead went to do Mean Girls. Ironically though the two have become very close friends, shooting the video for Yellow Jacket from Nightmare Time together and even more ironically, will be starring in the next full on musical, Nerdy Prudes Must Die, together as the leads.

Lex plans to sell a doll on the black market thanks to her Boyfriend Ethan, a nice dude in a leather jacket who despite being a punk is not low down nor cheap. Hannah however is less than receptive having stephen king style doom prophicies of death today and while Ethan calms her down with the power of grey skull, it's clear given we're in a horror property she's right and our heroes are in for some shit.

And shit does indeed hit the fan thanks to two people once their doors are open to you: The first is Frank Pricely. Frank is easily one of the best parts of the musical, with Corrrey Dorris absolutely devouring the scenery and having some truly great comedic moments..

Frank makes Flintheart Glomgold look both reserved and morally upstanding, and his greed ends up being a problem when our second domino tips him over: Sherman Young, a creepy toy collector who outright admits he's going to fuck at least two of the dolls and wants to buy them all. Linda has to sue to get frank to back off with her attonrey gary goldstien.. only for that to fall apart since he's also sherman's attorney> A man in a hurry plunges the final nail into the coffin by offering money, a bidding war starts and CHAOS REIGNS as everyone but Frank and Lex plunge into a full on retail riot, in song of course, and it quickly becomes apparent that while part of this is just human greed and bloodlust, the doll does something to people as it quickly escalates from simple riot to full blown cult.

Helping this escalation is Uncle WIley, the creator of Tickle Me Wiggly.. who naturally given this is a child's play and stephen king style horror show, turns out to ALSO be a delviery man played by the same actor, as well as a Randall Flag style corrupter, seducing Linda into leading a cult for Wiggly and finding the last dolls in the store.. one of which Lex smuggled into Hannah's backpack.

Things quickly go to shit for our heroes: Ian , after a really touching moment showing what a good guy he is.. gets curbstomped to death by the raving shoppers, wtih Hannah barely escaping, and Tom and Becky find his corpse… and Tom gets stabbed right after. And if that wasn't enough main character murder for you Frank goes soon after while Lex is held prisoner.

So naturally while all this drama nd tension is going on we cut to Washington DC

Yeah this is the subplot I mentoined; turns out riots like this are happening nation wide and the President, played by Curt Mega, is trying to solve it… only for him to succumb to wiggly too. Thankfully John Macnamara returns, shooting the doll and coming in to fetch President Goodman while belting out a badass underated song.

So our party splits into a few diffrent groups for a bit: Tom and Becky reunite while watching Santa Claus Goes to High School, and trust me we will unpack that one in a moment, and reveal their baggage, tom talking about how hard thigns have been … and Becky revealing she KILLED Stanley, as he refused to let her go to Jane's funeral, she tried going anyway, and the resulting confrontation lead to his death.

Hannah meanwhile is in a bad place as Wiggly himself harasses her, first posing as Ethan in a truly unerving scene with some excellent and horrifying acting form Robert Manion.. before speaking to Hannah herself and despite the doll not being able to move like Chucky, I applaud Jon Mattenson for being every bit as terrifying in his own way. Excellent job dude.

So we go back to the Washington Cul De Sac and get a bunch of exposition: Wiggly is an outer god from the place known as the black and white. Their plan amounts to tellign Wiggly

I wish I was kidding: They whnat goodman to come ot bargin with him. The thing is unlike say one Stephen Strange.. their just assumign the authority of ONE head of a country is enough to make an Elder God who clearly intricatley planned out his apocalypse go away.

SHOCKINGLY this goes bad immeditely: Wiggly instead mocks goodman, refuses to help and we get a truly haunting and AMAZING shot: naturally given when this play takes place, the set was decked with garland and two stage lights… which turn INTO wiggly, revealing he was there the whole time. The fact they pulled off the phsyical form of an elder god in a fucking stage show and did so in a way that had it there the whole time without making it obvious is fucking incredible.

Wiley lays out that it was mankinds own need to fill the voids in their soul with stuff that made their plan so easy and Goodman almost dies only for Macnamary to sacrife himself to the black and white to save him and urges the president to nuke him. NATURALLY this also goes bad and the nuke gets instead sent to BOMB THE RUSSIANS

World War III were declared. John does help one last time though: As sherman tries to murder lex, he appears to her awakening her own psychic powers and allowing her to get a gun

And just in time too as tom and becky found hannah and went on full posseison mode, tom running off with the doll while the other two were taken by the cult. So it's up to Lex to wake Tom from the possesion and go save her sister before it's too late.

How she does it reveals an EXTREMLEY clever twist: as Lex points out… none of the kids actually want the doll. The fact it's out of date and dosen't seem like something a kid would want.. is the point. It was all marketing and elder god brainwashing. Tim never ACTUALLY asked for it and it simply prayed on Tom and other's need to fill the void inside. Tom breaks free.

The two confront Linda, and almost loose as she gets the doll.. only for Becky to get the gun and Linda to be too busy mocking Becky and assuming she wouldn't get shot… to try and duck. Linda dies..

The rest of the cultists burn as Lex burns the mall, and our heroes meet up with Paul and Emma and sing one last song and the day, and possibly the world.. ends with an ominous noise and a smash to black. What happened?

Big Fat Buts

As I said before the summary, Black Friday feels like a lot of horror sequels or followups, a clear escalation that tries to be bigger than what came before: With the All-New All Diffrent team starkid having proven themselves by defeating an island that walks like a man.. er putting on a musical about a guy who dosen't quite care for them, it's clear Nick Lang had a lot of confidence both in his team and in hatchetfield. He knew he had fans and thus he could go as big as he wanted and even if it didn't quite land, there would still likely be fans left.

As such the cast is an ensemble, our heroes troubles are even darker with our abuse victimt his go round having to KILL her husband just to escape, a ptsd laden war vet in the darkest remake of jingle all the way ever and a teenager who genuinely thinks she's worth nothing and sings a song as she's choked out. TGDLM went dark but Black Friday goes pitch black

IT's not to say we don't have our usual starkid hilarity: from the whole drillpress argument ("How would it fit in the sedan?" killed me JUST as much the second time around) to the glorious ham of Gary Goldstien, to Lauren just.. devouring the scneery as linda, who alternates between horrifyingly awful to hilariously awful with expert timing. The show dosen't lack humor.. but it's less frequent and thus there's less refuge from the pretty bleak subject matter. While both musicals go darker in their second half, after the santa claus goes to high school bit, act 2 of Black Friday just has a bleak tone, with our heroes barely winning.. and even then it being implied nothing good came of it. The ending is not a rousing if dark number decnsturctoing final acts.. but a very chilling song asking if tommorow will come and hoping it'll be better.

And I.. like it. I'm fine with The Lang Bros having the tones be whatever fits the worth with the Hatchetfield Series. It set in a bit more with Nightmare Time, but it's fine for horror to have a range, to shake things up. It's why John Carpenter is so immortal in the genre and why Jordan Peele is his clear succesor: both have a knack for cranking out masterpieces.. while also not being afraid to experiment or throw something new in wether it works or not and i'm glad the Langs are willing to take risks. It paid off in this regard, as the darker tone fits the story better: TGWDLM had such a silly premise that while ti got far darker than expected, you had to camp it up. While this likewise has a rediculous premise it's grounded enough in our own flaws, that it needs a bit more grounded characters and tone to really sell the horror and cosmic dread, really making our heroes feel outmatched by the elder god their basically playing a game of keep away with.

Another big change.. is that this works message is far less subtle. TGWDLM had a subtle message about the dangers of escapism, using the hive as a metaphor for people ignoring the world's shittyness by whatever coping mechanism they have. It's a fairly well done metaphor ,even if I forgot to tackle it last time. We all turn to something. And it gave no easy answers.

Black Friday.. is about as subtle as a bunch of kicks to a pooor innocent teens head. It's VERY upfront about how people use consuramism as a way to escape their issues, how the goverment has failed us so badly that people turn to stuff to fill the void, that we buy more and more things to help escape how awful the world is. Uncle Wiley spells it out in his speech and the ensuing song after said speech just in case anyone missed it. I can't deny it's just a tad overbearing, even having the President repeadtely go "i'm a status quo democrat" which is funny.. but kinda wears out over time. The musical could only be less subtle about those parts of it's message if the lyrics to made in america were just "THE GOVERMENT TOTALLY SUCKS YOU MOTHERFUCKER'.

That said, while this musical lacks subtley the message.. isn't a bad one and is one worth exploring. While it's not the first horror work to explore consumrisim by a long mile (Child's Play, They Live and the Stuff were all way ahead of it), it does so in a way that really does hit me, by tackling shopping and getting more things to try and cope. I've done that quite a bit. It's easy to fall into the trap of buying shit just to get that small rush you get from getting a thing. I've grappled with shopping addictiona dn I still haven't fully tamed it

The fact of the matter is the system is broken. You can se eit for yoruself most sundays are on "British Man Explains why the System is broken on a slowly collapsing platform with John Oliver". Most people lack the power to change it and ther'es only so much protest and speech can do. It's easy to drown yourself in whatever you can to make the constant pain of how fucked we are stop. To just say "hey this thing will help me not feel bad and tha'ts not bad". And while ti's fine in small doses it's a powerful drug and one that can be abused easy. It's why fuckers like Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk have power and why despite hating a lot of disneys practices I struggle to break away: as Uncle Wiley says "your thirst for stuff.. is never slaked". The message isn't subtle.. but in a time when women have had their rights yanked from them, the threat of facisim via trumpisim still looms and coprations keep getting away with shit while we impotently yell for them to stop and we just keep buying more and more crap to help cope… it's one we needed. And the end message as shown by Lex saving Tom with memoreis of his son, that it's people not things that can help us get through is a powerful one.. and that even if tommorow may not come… it might and break the dawn. The message is fine… it just didn't need to be delievered with a kick to the head is all.

Another mixed bag is the scope. The incrreased number of main characters isn't terrible: Lex and Hannah are great and Becky and Tom are passable, we'll get to that more in the character breakdown, and we get a lot of great side characters like the rise of Man in a Hurry, Gary Goldstien and Sherman Young. So it ballances out a tad. The increased cast size helps sell the packedness of the mall as much as you can with a moderate sized troupe and the size of Linda's cult.

The issue isn't at the mall.. but beyond it. I'm probably not breaking any hearts saying the PEIP subplot feels tacked on. A large part of this is part of what makes this new franchise special… is Hatchetfield itself. Each new work expands on another part of the island and adds more locations to revisit. It's very clear, especially from Nightmare Time, that the Langs put a LOT of work into making Hatchefield feel like a real town with clear locations like Pizza Petes and the Lakeside Mall and landmarks like the Witchwood. So leaving that for Washington DC feels a bit jarring.

And look i'm glad to have McNamara back, i'm always for more jeff and he's great as always and the SONGS in this subplot are amazing and we'll get to them shortly. But the actually plot of it is…

Yeah the plan makes NO sense and make MacNamara, a trained vetran of dealing with weird shit who clearly knows the lords in black decently well and can take down their servitors with his knife of truth thinking one world leader whose not all that imposing, charasmatic or intresting coudl talk down wiggly seems a stretch. "He's never had a phsyical form so maybe he'll know fear" makes no sense.. especiallys ince while it's not a body the dolls GIVE HIM A PRESENCE ON THIS PLAIN. The fact your not going yourself to use the knife of truth on his physical form and you don't even try John shows you know Wiggly's mostly invicible. Don't get me wrong the idea of simply barganing with a god instead of fighting them is cool, it's why the climax of Dr. Strange is one of it's best parts. But Stephen had an infinite time loop of his own deaths to pull that shit off. All John has is a status quo democrat. It would've worked better if John himself went or went with the president. Again the subplot has some good stuff, the whole meltdown with the presidents cabinet is great, but it takes away from the core of things and pads out the runtime for something that ultimately dosen't really pay off. It's like the Canto Blight bit of Last Jedi: it's neat to look at and I can't say it has no merit whatsover, but I also can't say you coudln't of rewritten it to feel more integral to the story.

It just contributes to the musical being strentched a bit thin: with no real main focus character to zero in on the musical just kind of ambles on. It doesn't do so badly, but without zeroing in on lex or tom or hannah or anyone, it feels the most aimless of the hatchefield works i've seen thus far. Black Friday isn't bad but it coudl've been far better and it seems from Nightmare Time and Nerdy Prudes smaller focuses and clearer main character selections, sticking to one or two a story, that the Langs learned this lesson well. Wiggly Jingles

The songs for Black Friday are their greatest strength. While the performances are mildly strained as the performers aren't in their best shape, the songs still slap both on stage and soundtrack and i'll stand by that. Jeff took his already great satrical work from his previous two musicals and, now able ot use a regular musical format again, let loose. This musical may be a mixed bag but it's soundtrack.. really isn't and Nightmare Time and the Nerdy Prudes Demos show he's only getting better with each show. Jeff is the heart and soul of hatchefield and this soundtrack cemented that

First up we have the Nibbly Ditty, a fun catchy jingle with some nice belting and some nice foreshadowing for the nature of the dolls "he's all that you wanted, he's all that you needed" indeed. Having seen my share of children's stage shows, Jeff and co nailed the sound of one beautifully while melding it perfectly with a commerical. Angela trying to just.. straight up eat Wiggly after just adds to it.

Then we get What Tim Wants which is one of the weaker tracks.. yet it also shows just how good the soundtrack is that it's still an utterly soulcrushing heartfelt ballad from Dylan. He came back guns a blazing with this one, with the flash bang parts especially killing me. It's only real weakness is whle the soundtrack has a nice variety and style its own elsewhere this feels like a very stock musical theater number, which works for what it is, it just dosen't stand out nearly as much. It does sum up Tom VERY well thougH: a man desperatley trying to fix things with his kids but his trauma and desperation to get back what he head instead of fixing what he has are holding him back.

Case in point to What Tim Wants not standing back, we next get an Avril Lavengin style rock anthem, California MIA. Angela comes in hot with her first number, and I feel her rougher vocals fit lex like a glove, with this fun pop punk number that perfectly sums up both Lex's edge, and desperation to escape in a cool rebellion number.

What Do You Say is one of my faviorites, and really helps show off new member James Tolbert, the longtime coreographer for the group turned actor this time around, who gets some fun bits as scarf guy. It's a hlariously catty and well done song as everyone gossips, everyone in the troupe gets a fun bit, and the line coreogrpahey is fucking amazing. That must've been a bitch to pull off but my god they did it well. And I don't mean in delivery I mean the entire dance is coregraphed while still having the people wait in line mostly. It's incredible. It also has the immortal bit of MIAH holding up his camera, creepily smerking and saying "Just skip to the fucking". God bless you Jeff

We then get what is easily my faviorte number: Our Doors Are Open. This made me fall in love with Corey because holy shit does he own this one. I still hear this one in my head on occasoin, to the point I even ordered Creme Brule on my turkey day. I did not require a bottle of pepper spray thankfully. EVERY. SINGLE. LINE. is quotable and perfectly satiresing the comercialsim of Black Friday gloriously. As also proven by "Pays to Be an Animal" before this and "Axeman" after, Correy really makes a meal out of it any time he gets a number, and this is his greatest feast.

It's hilarious, biting and has a grew du wop sound

That said Jeff didn't rest because we get another bit that really sums up the holiday well right after… and it's far less glossy side, the side where people fight or trample: Feast or Famine, a great number showing off the greed, madness and violence of the "holiday", perfectly summed up with the chorus of "Take what you want, return what you get". Highlights include Corey's drunk sounding response to the riot and Jeff's glorious CHAOS REIGGGNNNNSSSS.

We end act 1 with Monsters and Men. And having watched a few videos ranking either this musicals songs or Starkid soundtracks in general, I gotta say this one is HIGHLY underated. A lot of people seem to hate this one because it's in that stupid PEIP subplot, but it's a really good rousing song about standing up against great evil. Jeff really sells the hell out of it, and it really gives one hope before Act 2 cruelly yanks it all away. It likely only ranks so low because there's so much else good, but it's still one of my faviorites.

We open act 2 with a hilaroiusly jarring break from everything. See this was supposed to just be dialouge on the screen.. but the whole insane concept of Santa Claus Goes to High School was too fun and it's clear after all this time the Langs STILL love High School Musical, so doing a Disney Channel style number as well as a parody of those sort of movies for tweens was too tempting. And i'm glad we did as we got the holiday classic deck the halls of northville high. It's an energetic number that deserves it's own mini musical, hilarious, over the top, and greatly belted by Robert. The escalting insanity from the elves to "mr humbuger" just adds to it. It's so perfectly Disney Channel. Seriously make this a movie and have Calum Worthy in it despite being about 30 at this point. Do it. Do it now. if you've seen reboot you'l know why.

For those of you wondering what Santa Claus Goes to High School is it's exactly that: Santa becomes a teenager to get down with the kids, makes out with a teen.. it's pretty nuts.

Spekaing of santnta making out with a teen we get the excellent Take Me Back next, as Kim Whalen really gets to show off her pipes, and Dylan gets to show back. A nice sorrowful number about what could've been and what still might be as two old loves firmly reconnect. The interlude from Santa Claus Goes to High School and Jamies delivery of santa before she jumps robert.. fucking amazing.

We then get our first in a string of awesome villian songs and it's Lauren's turn to shine as she gets what seems to be her first full on Villian Song in the Starkid Catalogue and it was about damn time as holy shit does she nail it. Linda gets to show off her incredible ego as she demands your love and worship too… or she will end you. An all timer of a villian song, helped of course by "unless I get what I shit".

Next is "Do You Want To Play?". I admit it's not the most musically ambitious or clever of these.. but that's the point. It's simply a very creepy song sung by a wiggy possed Becky and Tom as they hunt poor Hannah. It's just supposed to be lightly enchanting and DEEPLY unsettling. It's easily one of the creepiest parts of the play.

Capping off this trilogy is Made In America. This is one that's grown on me at times as this is where things are at their most

But over time i've come to figure it's a REALLY good song, with Wiley mocking humanity for making it SO easy for them. Honestly though it wouldn't work half as well without one man. Joey Fucking Richter. While this isn't HIS first villian song and Wagon On Fire is amazing and showed he could pull this off, it shows he shoudl've been given more because hot damn this one is good. It's his vocals that really bring it to life and make me love this one. There's really not a bad one among this soundtrack.

And then.. we get our title track, which is a VERY close second for my faviorite. Honestly it's hard to tell if I like this or doors are open better in part because their so very diffrent; Doors are Open is a goofy, brutal satire of Black Friday itself.. while Black Friday is a very dark rock solo about Lex comtemplating her life and how much she feels it's a waste, her relationship with hannah, and her oncoming death. It's throughly tragic, watching this teenager think so little of herself as she slowly fades away, and pointing out just how much hope Hannah gave her .. and how she'll have to be fine without her because "I'm leaving". It just.. destroys me every time and I let it EVERY TIME. Angela got to show off nicely with CalfiorniaMIA but this made me marvel at how amazing a singer she is. Goddamn.

The Monsters and Men Reprise is decent. Not much else to say, it's just a nice short song of hope after Lex hit her rock bottom.

If I Fail You is.. fine. It's another very typical ballad. And look being standard is fine, there have been some really great broadway numbers and will be. it's just that other ones like "Take Me Back' and "Monsters and Men on this same album are SO much better and so much more resonant. This is just kinda there and to me is the weakest of the tracks. While I feel Monsters and Men gets

Thankfully we cap off Linda before Becky caps her with "Wiggle" right after. Another amazing villian song this one darker and more cultish to show just how CLOSE she is to winning. Is it entirley necessary? Probably not. Would I cut it

This song is another great showcase for Lauren and a banger of a villian song.

Then of course we have our finale, a truly awesome and haunting some from Kendall Nicole, a child actress whose a student of Kurts.. who fucking nails it as Hannah. It's a shame she coudln't come back for BLack friday 2 but she was awesome while we had her as this is a nicely haunting song that fits the darker town and bleakness of the ending: we wont' know if our heroes survivie or not… we just have to have hope. Did tommorow turn the night off? With a song this beautiful and hautning it dosen't matter. Shoppy Shop People

So finishing things we have our group of surviviors trapped in a mall, our cultists and of course our characters stranded ove rin subplot land to break down.

Starting off we have who I consider to be the best of the main cast, Lex Foster. The musical REALLY coudl've been served better focusing on her as the center, with Hannah or Tom serving as a secondary ala Emma, as she's easily the most engaging of the main cast. Lex easily could've been an edgy snarky teen sterotype as many teen dramas tend to have.. but instead is a character who while snarky and prone to doing crimes.. is throughly sympathetic and realistic. She's not jaded because she won't be a part of your system man, she's jaded because everything has failed her: her mother is implied here and confirmed in later works to be abusive, the school barely tried to help her , and the one teacher she DID like left and you can see both sides when she lashes out at Tom: Tom is coming to her for a favor after essnetially abandoning her.. but he had his own trauma to deal with he hasn't. You can't blame Lex for feeling abandoned but you can't blame tom for doing it when he was in no shape to help anyone most of all himself. It's just a tragedy of time, crucmstances and a system that dosen't give a damn about the kids it teaches some of the time. The teachers care and can try, but they can only do so much. It's no wonder Lex's plan is a desperate, shaky gamble, and one that may not even work if Pam bothers to call the police.

Yet despite the lashing out she genuinely loves her sister. Hannah is not just a tool to make lex feel better: Lex does muse "did I need her more than she needed me".. but her plan to run away would have NO risks other than the usual of trying to flee to LA using sketchy doll money if she left Hannah behind. It shows that while Lex may doubt herself.. she's a genuinely great caretaker to her sister and the one major scene they have togehter shows it: she chastises Ethan for calling her crazy, tries to calm hannah's panic attack down gently without snapping at or judging her, and clearly is only trying to calm Hannah's worries about the mall because she sees them as regular anxiety and not that mixed with end of the world doom visions. She loves her sis and wants her to have the best. Usually that wouldnt' include a kidnapping and I wouldn't condone this sort of thing but again, and it's left ambitious here if it's really that bad.. but trust me it is. Sometimes a terrible solution with clear consequences is better than no solution.

Much like Paul her self hatred only becomes apparent via song: It's not until black friday we get a full sense of how much this poor young woman hates herself and feels her death. Black Friday the song is brilliant in just having it stripped away: she feels there was "nothing to subtract" that she did and acomplished nothing and wonders if she even shoudl've wanted. It's a powerful give in to despair that makes MacNamara unlocking her powres and saving her so damn cathartic. Lex finally gets agency in her life nad kicks it's ass and it's beautiful to see, saving Tom form himself and wiggly.

Tom himself.. is a mixed bag. The idea is a good, a down to earth man trying to grapple with ptsd and raising his son and loosing his wife. The problem is in execution, Tom is just whatever the plot needs him to be or focus on, either being stuck in Jingle All The Way 3: Wow This Series Got Dark, or focused on becky. He gets some beauitufl numbers from Dylan but no real shape or form. He's a bit bumbling and tha'ts all we really get. Tom could be more and to the langs credit he's ab it more of a character in his next starring role Jane's A Car.. .and he also got to full on fuck a car so that helped. I just wish he was here. Dylan feels wasted in the roll, only elevating it because he's that good.

Becky also suffers from feeling underwrittne. She's mostly just

For most of the procediings. She does get a few standout moments. Her face when Linda just straight up tells her everyone knew stan abused her and no one cared

Is devistating.. and Kim utterly sells the reveal that she killed stan and the whole monologue is sad and chilling. She's a tragic character, a woman who had her agency ripped from her by a monster, lost her chance with the preson she actually liked and even freedom has just left more people laughing at her and Becky likely terrified Stanely will find out again. There's a lot to her but again the musical just.. dosen't really focus on it outside of two scenes and her arc is just solved with.. shooting her arch enemy in the head

It dosen't help her problems along, it just… is really badass. Which is nice but it'd be nicer if there was some sort of closure beyond bang bitch went down

Hannah again suffers from the same problme as the others: not enough focus, being more of a plot device. Like all these characters Kendalls performance elevates it and the poor child goes through hell, and KNOWS something like it is coming but everyone's convinced it's her possible disablity and not her psychic powers that ecaservate a possible disablity. She does get the great scene dealing with Wiggly and thankfully Hannah gets two nightmare time stories in the center to make up for this btu once again it's a great description for a character.. that gets to do nothing because this musical has like 20 stories to get to.

That said while the musical underwites most of it's characters to it's detriment… there are exceptoins. For all the heroes potetial being squandered our villians are fucking fantastic. And starting off we have Linda Fucking Monroe. She starts out broad, hilariously catty.. then horribly cruel, mocking becky over her ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP and calling her WEAK for it.

What makes Linda work so well is that she's so evocative of the Karens we see all the time: the kind of asshole who asks to see a manager in the rudest way possible, will call the cops on a child with a sword because she dosen't like his skin, and will throw a hissy fit the second things go slightly wrong. We've all seen videos of Linda Monroes.. but at the core Linda shows wha thappens when your average asshole, if well connected and rich, is simply nudged in the wrong direction to being an absolute monster. The potetial was there, again this woman mocked someone for being an abuse victim.. but she dosen't quite seize it right away. It takes Uncle Wiley prodding her, pointing out the need to be loved and admired and her skill at manipulation to blossom her from cruel bitch to full on monster. It dosen't take a far push for someone to go from simply being a very, very cruel asshole to being capable of great evil.

It helps Lauren Lopez really hams it up. She's utterly horrifing when need be, wether it's when calling Becky weak or killing Frank, but she's also just hilariously over the top the rest of the time, but in a way that works: she's every entitled shithead roleld into one and Lauren just owns it. The fact she spends the whole play talking to her hsuband who waits out there for her for hours, and the payoff to that with Gary talking to gerald about the will is gold by the by just adds to it. Linda is both over the top but also compitent and ruthless. She knwos how to play the wigglyites, with the frenzy having helped.. but ont heir own they just woudl've been madened assholes, dangerous as seen with poor Ethan, but under her their an army, their her children.. and they almost win. She's not a super mastermind or anything, it stillt akes the lucky break of Lex coming right ot them for them to actually get the doll and had Lex not talked Tom down, the doll woudl've left the mall, but Linda still manages to turn a disorganized mob into a cult in a manner of hours with only a slight push and a promise of power. It's not a sign anyone can become bad with the right push.. tis' a sign a bad person can become life destroyingly awful with the right push and it is great.

Next is Uncle Wiley, aka MacNamara's friend Wilbur Cross, a former PEIP agent who upon meeting wigly was turned into his right hand, his mouth of sauron his number. one. guy. Since it takes some effort for Wiggly and his brothers to take form on earth, as we'll see as we get into nightmare time, he needed someone and for whatever reason Uncle Wiley took up the roll. Is he brainwashed? did Wiggly simply turn any evil in wilbur up? or was Wilbur Cross always just one push away from the dark side and Wiggly simply pushed him far enough. We still don't know and it's part of what akes WIley awesome: we don't know WHY he's like this, why he's so respected by an elder god that Wiggly fully trusts him with the plan and never talks down to Wiley or orders him around, treating him almost as an equal. It's clear whose in charge.. it's also clear Wiggly has so much faith in his frendy wend that he trust shim to carry out th eplan to the letter without going into his own agenda. To say his words for him before his big reval in the black and white. To trust his servants the sniggles to him as minons. Wiley is just as much a threat as his boss without nearly as much power and his mystery, while one I'd be curoius to se esolve, just adds to it.

It help's he's just charasmatic. At first seen as a goofy host and seemingly just a dleivery guy , the second he reveals himself as Wiley and shows up to Linda the switch flips> He goes from just another guy or a succesful toymaker.. to the devil himself. A manveloent tempter who simply takes what was in a person and gives it purpose and focus toward his dark lords ends. Joey Richter just projects this sense of unease to the audience, simply by being utterly calm. He takes everything easily and only really starts to project at his most when he sings, poitning out how huamntiy's own flaws and america's abandonment of it's own people gave Wiggly the weapon he needed. All they needed was the right package and a slight amplifciation from the magic. After all they needed to actually be AROUND the wiggly to become frenzied like most of the shoppers did. But it's human nature, greed and longing that let Wiggly in and all Wiley did was give them a solution to their problem. A need to fill a hole. And osmetimes that's all it takes. He's one of the most fascneating and haunting characters this franchise has put otu and I'm eager to see him again.

Finally we have Wiggly himself and Jon Mattenson, really tears it up as the friendy wend in chief. And yet he spends a good chunk of the play passive and not really talking, only getting two bits of dialouge, one in a commerical and the other failing to convert lex, and with people's own self destruction guiding thigns. It's not until Wiley shows up again and recurits Linda we get the idea Wiggly is the god he is.

And it works brilliantly: it reminds me of the first child's play: it's fairly obvious the doll is really behind this, especailly now said doll is a horror icon, yet the suspense of what's up with it, why is he not moving, and his true motives keep you hooked.. and thus makes when theyf inally do speak as themselves allt he more impactful

Case in point the bit with Hannah> Wiggly first appears as an illusion of Ethan, which Manion sells horrifingly well: while you know this really isn't ethan from minute one ti's not because well no doy, but because something's.. off about Evil Ethan. He acts like an unsettling evil jim carrey and not the ethan we knew: he's not laid back he's manic and just wants Hannah to split. it's truly unerving.. nad yet somehow and inanmiate (due to budget sadly) doll is even more terrifying. Jon delivering Wiggly's threat that "Your a rotten banana, i'm going to peel you hanana and SPLIT, YOU TO BITS", is so perfect, having that cutesy tone of a childeren's toy.. while being utterly terrifying. Wiggly is like if Chucky didn't drop the good guy voice and got his sweet jersey accent and it's unerveing as hell. A truly masterful new villian…. and the dawn of a whole new bunch of freindy wends to come and play. But we'll get to his brothers soon enough.. just not this time.

Frank Pricely is a fucking masterpiece. He dosen't last long, but Corey eats up every bit of screen time as this throughly unlikeable dick who gets his rightful commupance.. but not before again a giant gala musical number where he comes off as manager frank n furter, gives the fans all the pelvic thrusts they could want, brags about how greedy and horrible he is like mr krabs cloned himself but it came out human, and just utterly devours the scene. One of Corey's greatest parts and i'm Psyched to see him again in Daddy.. and they had to know what they were doing titling a frank centric story that.

So we've come to MacNamara and Goodman

Yeah as I said the Peip stuff is fairly week. Mac himself is fine as always, hammy, a source of hope an da decen tbig good. You still come out thinking

But I give Jeff Credit for being awesome as always. Sadly Curt Mega can't say the same. He tried his best, I don't place any of the blame on him and just from HEARING him from the soundtrack for Spies are Forever I knew he had a ton of talent going into this muiscal. President Goodman is just given nothing to work with. His only jokes are he's terribly qulaified for this crisis and he's a status quo democrat. He's.. nothing.

Thankfully we also get some great side characters. We get Ethan a mildly insetive but ultimately emapthetic and sweet boyfriend. Robert really does a good job making him charming: he and angela had great chemistry and you can see why Lex likes and trusts him, and despite being a tad insentive to hannah at first, helps calm her down and sacrifices himself so she gets away. His death is one of the most horrific and tragic moments in the hatchetfield universe, a teenager cut down in the prime of his life in a bloody and brutal way. Unlike the violence for the previous musical, we see the blood and see the poor guy slowly fade out. Truly chillling.

We aslo get the glory that is Gary Goldstien Attorney at Law. He was cleary created because while jon's main role was mickey he needed something else to do, it dosen't make him any less comedically brillant and it's puzzling that, as far as I can tell, he hasn't returned since so far. He's true comedy gold, from the goofy voice, to him gladly rerespenting two clients with conflicting intrests, to putting his tie aroun dhis head like a neckband to my faviorite thing his response to a groin attack being "ohhh right in the supoenas!" like this happens every day. He's a national treasure. The fact Jon used the SAME VOICE for one of his own characters, his BEST character, and says the two are brothers both makes this better, introduced me to the wonder that is venus please, and makes me hope Elmo gets backported into the hatchetverse. Behold his glory bellow

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True. Art. Finally for new characters we have sherman young. While i'm still sore Jamie Lynn Beatty STILL hasn't gotten a starring role, I mean what the fuck, she does get to fill Lauren and Jeff's usual slot of cast weirdo. I mean she shares it with jeff here but still, she gets to really ham it up as this creep and while he's not a great character, having a creepy manchild toy collector (note collecting toys dose not make you a manchild or a creep, wanting to fuck them and hoard them all for yourself makes you a creek) does make sense and him being the one to nearly kill lex assuming as a worker she's there just to serve him was still perfectly horrifying. Not Jamie's best, but as usual for this one not her fault.

We get a few happy returns. Besides Ted, Charlotte and BIll all showing up in the final number, we get MAN IN A HURRY. Because he didn't get to say i'm in a hurry last time… Nick just decided to make that one big joke so his entire personality is now I'M IN A HURRY, and if you think him being in a hurry at black friday is a bit of a stretch.. you haven't seen anything yet. And they coudl've coasted on this one joke and i'd be fine, but adding other bits for him from being a bit of a creep (again JUST SKIP TO THE FUCKING), and loudly shouting CHAOS REIGNS. It's a great showcase for Jeff.

We also get Paul and Emma back as mentiond and while their scenes are great we see both growth in emma and some peak awkward paul "We ar eintimate". It' snot much but it was fun to see them again. Not so much the NEXT time we see them again.. but. we'll. get. to. that. Our Doors Are Closed

Black Friday is a decent musical but it's a mess. The characters can be underwritten, the tone goes a bit too dark for it's own good, and the PEIP subplot needed vast reworking they didn't get or want to do. It's an ambitious work, but one that's kicked in the head by an overused running gag with it's ambition. I can't fault the Langs for going hard on this one, I just wish it'd came togethe rbetter. The bright side is.. furture projects did. While Nightmare Time keeps narrow character focus again, we still get big stories involving a whole ass theme park, time travel to a dystopian future, and an entire dreamlike finale. Sure it's all done over camera because pandemic and all that, but it still shows how they learned to expand in scope while knowing when to ease back and hopefully that stays now their back on stage. Black Friday is still VERY much worth watching though with great music, set pieces and coreography and the performers do thier best, it's just one of the more uneven works in this fairly new franchise is all. It's not even my least faviorite or anything, we'll get to that in feburary.

SO with that we close up the mall for the season, shutter the doors and prepare for the month ahead. I probably wont' be doing any starkid material in December, it's pretty packed and this works well as a christmas edition. I"ll be back hopefully monthly in january, as the nightmare time is gonna get you as we dive back into the first two episodes. Thanks for reading, consider joining my patreon, and have a good day.

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