#this will always be the best Clara I will ever draw like ever

[darklydeliciousdesires]

Immortal Beloved - A John Shelby/Vampire OFC Story.

Well, guys. It's happening. Kinda happening. Testing the waters, yep. We'll go with that. I'm not convinced it's any good despite my best efforts, so I thought I'd see what you thought by sharing the prologue. Who knows? You might love it and then I could feel a little much-needed cheer when I'm going through a bit of a black spot at present, but if not then I know I have to go away and work harder on it. Either way, your feedback matters to me, and I thank in advance those kind enough to leave it.

The story will differ slightly from canon here and there, as you will notice, but not so much that's unrecognisable. Slightly AU, shall we say!

Here we go!

Tag list - In the comments

Words - 1,956

Warnings - Adult themes + vampire content throughout. Minors DNI!

Prologue

He stumbled, muttering cusses that fluttered off to permeate the silence of the night, rooting his feet as he straightened, pulling his overcoat around himself more. The cobbles underfoot already twinkled with a smattering of frost, the air thick with winter mist and pungent coal smoke, John feeling his pale skin tremble. The bitter December cold greeted him with her usual sting upon that night.  

“Don’t get so pie-eyed that you don’t know what’s what, John. That goes for all of us.” 

John Shelby wasn’t always the most proficient at following orders, especially when a bad business day had led to his arrival at The Garrison, a decision to sink nine whiskies one after the other and six pints, thus leading to him sitting there sloshed and grinning.  

His troubles had been far behind him as he’d revelled in merriment, loudly championing to his cohorts exactly what he would like to do to Clara Bow, for instance, should he have the screen siren within his lustful clutches for long enough. He’d heeded Tommy’s advice to begin with, but on that day, the loss of over a grand thanks to a horse who should have lost, and a jockey with other ideas, his elder brother’s words of warning had fallen on deaf ears.  

“Fucking Rasmussen’s,” he muttered, sniffing as he at least attempted to walk up Watery Lane in a straight-ish line. “Bastards can fucking try and ‘ave me, but they won’t. Fucking Geordie cunts.”  

The Rasmussen’s, of the family Rasmussen, were a definite thorn in the side of anyone with the surname Shelby at that moment, the Newcastle criminal outfit currently making their presence known, and loudly. Barges that moved through the canal systems anywhere close to their areas within the north had been firebombed, their cargo sunk, Shelby bookmaking stands ransacked at the races, and threats to the family delivered with malicious intent; stay out of the north, or else.  

The Shelby’s were not the type to simply back off, though. They were the type to be on their guard against any reprisal attacks, vengeance against the kind of Shelby retribution the likes of which had - after quite the bloodied brawl - sent the Rasmussen’s scarpering from a race meet in Derby two weekend’s past.  

The family would not simply roll over and take the threat lying down, and neither would the Rasmussen’s. They were great in number, and where hand to hand strength lay, perhaps the most formidable in force that the Shelby’s had ever encountered. That strength did not seem normal, more deity gifted than naturally arising.  

They bred ‘em hard as nails in the north, apparently.  

As he staggered, lying down was exactly what John wished to be doing, once again standing to root his feet upon the slippery cobbles, looking up at a streetlamp which had begun to flicker slightly, the bulb then suddenly popping with an audible bang.  

First assuming a stray bullet had been responsible, it was just the sobering shock he needed to quickly take stock, his sky-blue eyes scanning the darkened street for any kind of movement through the thick fog, drawing himself up taller as his hand automatically hovered over the gun nestled within his ever-present holster. Bang, bang, bang, another three streetlamp bulbs all shattered, plunging the lane into darkness, John feeling the effects of the whiskey diminish as his senses prickled on high alert.  

He stood statuesque, his ears pricked, eyes still darting from left to right while his hand curled around the thick handle of the gun, primed, ready. They wouldn’t get the better of him, oh fuck no. He blinked, and a figure finally came into view a couple of hundred yards ahead, seemingly appearing from nowhere. He blinked again and saw that the woman dressed in white and stained with blood had moved again, John shaking his head in confusion.  

It must have been the drink. People did not move from one side of the street to the other at such a speed, seemingly vanishing and appearing once more within a blink.  

She appeared to be on high alert, John watching as she sniffed the air, a deep, foreboding rumble sounding through the night. He wondered whose dog was out at that hour, until it hit him; the growl was coming from her. It was a noise neither of human nor beast, an eerie, echoless reverberation, his heartbeat amping up a notch as he watched.  

Another blink and she was once again moved, a tearing sound filling the air, followed by a shrill cry, gurgling noises, spluttering. Looking to his right, he witnessed the woman dragging a man who had been concealed within the shadows out into the street, her mouth clamped upon his neck. John stood motionless, his eyes widening as he viewed the scene, a cold snap of horror shocking his bones as he witnessed her yank the man’s head clean from his neck with frighteningly swift finesse.  

His jaw began to tremor, his grip upon the gun in his hand tight as she walked to him, her fingers tangled in the black hair of the severed head she carried, a shock of crimson painting her chin and neck from where she had gorged upon the blood of the now lifeless, headless body slumped upon the cobbles.  

“Who the...” he began as she halted before him, changing track. “What the fuck are you?” 

Her lips curled into a smirk, holding the severed head aloft, blood and sinew dripping onto the ground below. “I am the one who saved you from Samuel Rasmussen. He waited for you.” Her head jerked back a fraction in the direction of the darkened lane. “Same as his three friends.”  

The silken purr of her voice was so alluring, it almost overrode the fact that John stood so terrified, he honestly did not know what on earth to say next. Had he truly seen what he saw? Was this merely a whiskey hazed dream? Surely, he was about to wake with a start, a thumping headache accompanying the morning that followed such peculiar dreams, for this couldn’t be real. 

Could it? 

Dropping the head to the floor, her hand reached for him, John’s shaking grip upon the gun solidifying as he thrust his arm forth, attempting to press the barrel to her skull. He found himself disarmed faster than he could comprehend, the Webley revolver landing with a clatter upon the ground.  

“Shhh,” she soothed, her enchanting eyes flitting over him, her long nails gently trailing his cheeks as she viewed him intently. “I mean you no harm.”  

Studying her up close properly, it was then that he noticed them, the two long, pointed teeth in place of where her canines should have sat, the smooth white smudged with red. His heart pounded like a war drum, his entire body feeling light. The lithe muscles of his form pinched tightly in fear, yet a juxtaposing sense of calm seemed to swirl through him at her softly delivered words. 

“You can trust me. I wish nothing more than to instil that within you.” What on earth was that accent? He couldn’t place it at all. 

How exactly, he could trust a woman who had just decapitated a man with her bare hands after drinking his blood, he didn’t know, but he felt on an instinctual level that he could. Unless it was the whiskey. Whiskey, of course, had the power to lie.  

The woman, though, seemed to be earnest in what she had told him, her nails stroking her cheeks as she studied him, her blue eyes flitting, taking him in. Oh, how she approved of what she gazed upon. He was magnificently handsome. Her nails stroked a hail of goose bumps over his alabaster skin, reaching his neck as she leaned forward, sniffing him. A contented sigh fluttered over her lips. 

“Your blood smells like earth and fire, honey and dark orchids.”  

What?  

He frowned, perplexed, opening his mouth to speak. No words came forth. He was so overcome by her that speech was beyond him. It felt like she was pouring soothing waves of calm into him, and little did he realise, but he was correct. Her kind could transmit energies to humans in order to placate their fears. 

Staring down at her, it struck him sharply, how much she didn’t quite look like she belonged there. Striking she was, with her milky skin that matched his own, her throat and chest covered in tattoos, symbols and swirls he didn’t recognise whatsoever. He knew tattooed ladies existed, but he was yet to witness one up until then, the dark-haired, blue-eyed woman smiling, her nails like sensual daggers upon his neck. 

She was unlike anyone else he’d ever encountered, a woman of distinct enigma.  

There was something about her that didn’t fit, decapitation and blood drinking aside. She looked as if she’d come from another time, a different age. This yanked at his interest almost as much as her allure, her pale skin seeming to glow beneath the light of the moon, now unincumbered by clouds as it shone its rays down upon them.  

“You are perhaps the most beautiful creature I have seen in a long, long time.”  

No, it was not he who uttered those words. It was the woman, her statement one of parting, John blinking and finding her vanished once more into the night. She’d left him breathless, with every hair on his body feeling like it was standing on end.  

Vampires tended to have that effect on the living. 

While the third youngest of the Shelby men made his way into their abode, the vampire moved at speed, perching herself atop the roof of one of the opposing back-to-back houses. The dark slate tingled against her bare feet, but being a creature of zero body heat unless she was sitting close to a source of warmth, it was of no bother to her.  

She sharpened her senses to the night, listening intently to every noise, every rustle. A bottle rolled over and tinkled over the cobbles a few streets away, a gentleman a few further on than that regurgitated the many beers he’d sunk in a nearby pub into the gutter, too, but other than that, all was quiet.  

Well, mostly all.  

Within the homestead she had been watching over, she heard the brand-new object of her desire being berated by the woman named Polly, as she’d gathered. Closing her eyes, she saw the one she knew to be named John there in her mind, a throb reverberating through her. Goodness, how handsome he was close up, perhaps the most divine man she’d encountered in a while.  

He carried himself with such pride and confidence, being a member of a notable criminal outfit, of course he would. A vampire of her age could tell so much more about a person, though, just by studying them, as she had with him and his family from the shadows. For all his acts of violence and authority, of which she had witnessed a couple, she sensed a man a little less ruthless than his elder brothers, with a heart a touch softer.  

It was the softness within him that pulled her in the most.  

She had gone there that night with the view of a single-minded agenda, only to encounter John Shelby up close for the first time and realise that her plight was perhaps not going to be quite as polarised as she’d first envisioned. Confident that the family were safe from any further acts of violent subterfuge, the vampire took one last look at the house.  

“Until next time, beautiful creature.”  

She was gone into the darkness within a blink.  

#john shelby #john shelby fanfiction #john shelby x ofc #john shelby smut #peaky blinders fanfiction #peaky blinders #peaky blinders smut #peaky blinders fanfic #peaky blinders fic #john shelby fanfic #john shelby fic

[house-of-slayterr]

I Need A Vacation Pt. 2

Tag: @vechkinfan @dickspaghettii @yor72 @thelostboyswife @panickinanakin1

It was our third day in Santa Clara. For the most part, everyone was getting along. No one had been staked, not wolfsbane, no neck-snapping. It was nice to be away from Mystic Falls where I didn’t have to worry about my friends getting drugged by Vervain. Especially with my twin being a Hybrid now. The girls were off tanning at the beach, an activity I wasn't keen in joining them in. I wasn't a vampire, or a which, I could still get skin cancer.

Damon had dragged the boys somewhere to cause some mischief. I'm sure Stefan and Matt were being the voice of reason. While my brother was likely lucky to keep his head on his shoulders. Which left me all alone, standing in the middle of our air b and b rental. I drew the shades, blocking out any sunlight. Unlike my brother, My werewolf eyes were sensitive. I could see much better than him at night, but this hindered me during the day. Without my sunglasses, I was basically blind.

I turned the air conditioning up and laid down on the cold marble flooring of the kitchen. It felt nice against my hot skin. Before I knew it, I fell asleep.

David's POV:

The night was drawing close, I could see the last remnants of sunlight setting along the horizon. I was always the first to wake unless Dwayne was particularly antsy that day. It had been three days since we met that girl at the convenience store. Three whole days since we fed on her in the ally. I knew the boys were still thinking about her, I was too. Paul was jumping out of his skin at a chance to sniff her out. But we had to be patient, she said she'd meet us again, and I doubt she'd lie. Not after letting us feed on her so willingly. Nobody had ever done that for us before.

I hear Marko stir from his place on the ceiling, the others were quick to wake up after.

"I have a good feeling about tonight!" He declared, overly cheerful.

"Somebodies happy, wet have one of those dreams again?" Paul teased.

Marko rolled his eyes, and Dwayne chuckled lightly under his breath. He stretched showing the top of his happy trail. My eyes wandered for a moment, before Paul clapped his hand on my shoulder.

"And somebodies hungry this morning. Who did the two of you drink last night, because I want what you're having."?

"Shut it hairspray!" I flinched his hand off of me.

Dwayne chuckled playfully.

"If you're sure tonight is the night Marko, do your thing, sniff her out."

"With Pleasure." Marko cracked his infamous cat like grin.

He was the best tracker out of all of us. We set out into the crowd, patrolling the boardwalk as usual. Despite my best efforts, Paul got distracted by the usual chum. Pretty girls, less pretty boys. He was a horny bastard and he needed to get his priorities straight. He'd be disappointed if he tires himself out before we find her, she would to. And for that I'd have to punish him. But it was his grave he was digging, Paul learned things the hard way.

Dwayne was on high alert as usual, scanning the crowd as if any of these humans were a danger to us. Though I couldn't really blame him, his gut feelings were never wrong. I just wish he'd relax outside of the cave every once and a while.

But Marko, Marko did not disappoint. In under an hour, we had her in our sights again. And by the gods, was she breath taking. Her outfit wasn't particularly stunning the first time we met. But that hardly mattered, right now however, I couldn't take my eyes off of her. I slapped Paul on the back of his head, pulling his attention away from the girl he was toying with.

"Ow, what the hell man?"

Her hair was loosely braided to one side. She wore a short red plaid skirt, black knee-high socks and platform boots. But what had my breath catching in my throat was her top or lack thereof. She wore a thing black lace bralette, and Dwayne's leather jacket hung loosely around it. It was way too oversized, and she honestly looked adorable in it. It was clear Dwayne agreed from the genuine smile on his face.

"She's wearing it."

I was honestly surprised when he gave it to her. Dwayne wasn't nearly as uppity about his jacket as Marko was with his. But it was still one of his favorite things. He wore it every day. Today however he threw on one of Paul's old black flannels he stole. It was a little tight on him, because his muscles were larger. But it still looked nice, weird but nice.

She was sat alone on a bench by Max's video store. None of her pesky friends following her today. Most importantly, her brother was nowhere in sight. He smelt like wet dog and cheap booze. She fidgeted with the necklace around her neck. Her gaze was far off, staring up at the sky.

Before I could finish reading Marko's mind, he was already on his way over. Too eager I suppose. I sighed heavily as I watched the scene unfold.

"Should we intervene?" Dwayne asked.

I shook my head.

"Naw man, Markie's just having some fun." Paul defended.

We watched as he jumped out in front of her, starling her. I could hear the soft squeak that left her mouth. She clutched her necklace tighter and glared up at him. We took that as our que to softly approach.

"You should have seen your face." Paul laughed.

"You should know it well, it's the same face you make when you walk past a reflective surface."

Paul placed a hand over his heart in offence. Marko was double over laughing, leaning on her shoulder.

"How are you?" I asked smoothly.

She smiled up at me, holding out her hand, as if to ask for mine I pulled her up to her feet, watching Marko stumble in the process.

"Thank you. And I'm fine, you?"

I gave her a half-baked answer, I could tell she wasn't fully with us. Her eye looked past me at the sky again. I followed her line of sight, and she quickly shrunk in on herself when she noticed.

"Something wrong?" Dwayne asked for me.

"Sorry. Just, the moons very bright tonight, don't you think?"

"It is, isn't it." I muttered.

"Awesome, isn't it? The blood moons tonight." Paul wiggled his fingers in her face like a kid telling a ghost story.

She frowned, but it was so subtle I almost thought I imagined it.

"Yeah, cool..."

"You with us Doll face?" I mused.

Her attention snapped back to me.

"So, you settled on Doll face? Better than Kitten I guess." she laughed lightly.

It wasn't pity laugh. Just something small, genuine.

"What's wrong with Kitten, Kitten?" Marko purred in her ear.

"Wrong type of pet." She joked.

The type of joke, only she knew the true meaning of. But Marko took this as a challenge.

"Little bird? Bunny? No, no- you're definitely some thinks cool like a snake!" He declared.

She pushed his face away with her hand.

"Keep trying buddy. You boys want to get out of her?" She asked.

I could hear the nerves in her voice, it was the way Dwayne spoke when he felt threatened.

"I thought you'd never ask." Paul grinned.

I held out my hand, mirroring her earlier action. She took it gratefully and we all started walking.

"Where too?" I questioned.

"Somewhere the light doesn't touch." She said defiantly.

On odd request, but who was I to judge. She was making this all too easy. I walked her over to where Our bikes sat and helped her hop on. I handed her the extra helmet I used for Star. The boys and I talked through our mind link.

"Do you think she's on something?" Paul asked.

"Her pupils were fine." Dwayne observed.

"Of course, you were staring at her eye's loser, did you see what she's wearing?" Marko jeered.

That was a stupid question, of course he did. But Dwayne was more gentlemanly than the rest of us, or at least he played the part better.

"She seemed uncomfortable, maybe she got in a fight with one of her friends. Would explain why that blond girl wasn't hanging off of her, and that due with the dumb haircut wasn't glaring at anyone who got to close." Dwayne queried.

"Doesn't explain why she doesn't like the light." I finally chimed in.

Nobody seemed to have an explanation for that one. The rest of the ride to the cave was silent. She got of my biked, taking of the helmet, and removing her braid. She shook her hair out, so it fell sloppily around her neck. The bite marks had healed pretty well.

"So, what do you think?" Marko asked.

"Of what? This hunk of rock?" She laughed, not genuine like it was early.

She was defiantly on edge about something.

"Well, this hunk of rock is ours, Sweetcheeks" Paul slung his arm over our shoulders.

"We live deep within the cave, used to be an old hotel or something like that. Sink hole got to it."

"No shit, that's kinda cool actually. Show me around?" She asked, looking right into his eyes.

Dwayne playfully scooped her up in his arms.

"Hey, put me down!" "No can do, the way in's slippery, can't have you falling and breaking that pretty little neck of yours."

I knew he was cracking. Vampires were territorial creatures by nature. Being this close to our home and seeing her in his clothes. His mind was numbing by the second.

He flew her down to our spot in the cave, Her giggled echoed of the walls. It made my undead heart swell in a way I didn't think it could. He plated his feet on the edge of the fountain, threatening to drop her in it. A move I'm sure he learned from one of the terror twins.

"No don't!"

"Why not?" "Because you'll ruin your jacket silly!" She said it like there was nothing more obvious in the whole world.

Paul had already made himself comfortable on the couch. Marko read my mind and left to go get some food. We wouldn't need to find dinner ourselves, if she let us feed on her again. I stood watching the whole ordeal and lit a cigarette.

"And what if I were to just take it back?"

Her eyes widened like saucers.

"You musty ass bitch! you'll have to pry it from my could dead hands!" she shouted.

She somehow managed to twist out of his hold, flipping backwards and landing expertly on the tip of the center of the fountain.

Paul starred at her like she just grew a second head. I honestly was surprised, and mildly impressed. Dwayne took a moment to contemplate what just happened but lunged for her playfully. She jumped back gain, dogging him with ease. A chase ensued for a few minutes, Paul deciding to join in and help.

"Oh, come on, it's my jacket!" Dwayne tried to reason.

"Finder keepers, losers' weepers!" She stuck her tongue out at him.

It was like she sensed Paul's presence behind her, cause she ducked when he tried to reach for her, slipping under his legs. She grabbed his hair and pulled him close, using him as a human shield between her and Dwayne. Paul bit his lip hard, I could tell he was trying to hold back a moan. It was honestly hilarious, and what that idiot deserved. They circled each other for a moment, stargazing.

"Hey when did I become a pawn in this?"

"When you picked his side you traitor."

Marko came back with the food, but none of them moved an inch.

"I got the chow- what the hell is going on here?" He asked amused.

"Care to explain Doll face?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Dwayne want's his jacket back. I like being warm."

Marko chuckled, placing the food down on the makeshift coffee table.

"Oh yeah? I could always warm you up babe." He tried.

She rolled her eyes.

"Pick a side blondie, there no cuddling in the heat of war!"

He jumped over the couch and stood by Dwayne's side.

"What? Wouldn't give up my jacket for just any girl." He smiled at her.

"Boo, you whore!"

I laughed under my breath, it was true, Marko as a whore.

"What are you laughing at Ken, get over here and help me."

I raised a brow at her. Not only did she just give me an order, she called me ken. It's almost like she raid my mind, because in a smaller voice, with a blush on her face, she explained.

"Well, if I'm your doll..."

"When you say it like that, sure, I'll help you."

I stood Infront of her and Dwayne glared at me. She finally let go of Paul, knowing he wouldn't dare switch back teams.

"So that's how were gonna play this?" Dwayne asked her.

"All is fair in war." She shrugged.

She definitely shouldn't have said that. He and Marko shared a look, before he launched the smaller boy at me. I shifted the impact so we wouldn't back up into her. Dwayne went for her but got cut off by Paul. She took this as an opportunity to run and hide. Another mistake. We were vampires, she knew this. It was amusing she thought we couldn't find her.

I quickly shook Marko off of me and went to go find her. She'd never suspect someone on her own team to turn on her. She said it herself, anything goes. I pulled back the makeshift curtain, separating Paul's part of the cave. I found her hiding behind the mini fringe he kept in there. I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder.

"NO fair!" She let out between laughs.

"This has been fun Doll, but I'm hungry and you're delaying dinner."

She must have understood my double entendre, because I felt a shiver run through her spine. I chuckled menacingly. I threw her down on the couch and she glared up at me. Dwayne came up behind her and removed his jacket.

"I win." he said, leaning down to her height and grinning.

She said nothing, glaring. She was giving him the silent treatment. To emphasized this, she turned away from him, focusing her attention on Paul. She called him over, and he obliged. She pecked him on the cheek.

"Thats for not betraying me."

He smiled the brightest smile I've ever seen. He plopped down next to her on the couch and handed her some food.

"Thanks."

We all ate, the boys making meaningless conversation. Dwayne looked over at her every once in a while, trying to gauge if she was actually upset. I was just glad she was eating. We wouldn't want her passing out later. I'm sure she'd have to get back to her friends sooner or later. She spaced out again, staring lifelessly at a spot on the floor. Paul nudgedx her shoudler, but she didnt budge. I grew a tad concenred.

"Y/N?" I asked.

The other boys drew their full attention to her now.

"Y/N?" I asked a little louder.

Marko waved his hand in front of her face. A few minutes past and we still could snap her out of it. So, I made a decision.

"What are you doing?" Paul asked, suddenly protective.

"We have to snap he out of whatever this is, she's not consciously breathing, and her heart is slowing. You can hear it can't you?"

They all nodded.

"Being gentle isn't working so-"

I extended my claws. I grabbed her wrist, turning it over in my grasp. I made eye contact with Dwayne for a second, he was the smartest of us, basically asking if he thought this was the right play. He gave me a nod. I dug y nail into her skin, hard enough to draw blood. She snaped out of it quickly, grabbing my hand in a tight grip. Her eyes met mine and they were darker than before. She had a scowl on her face.

"What was that?" She growled.

"We lost you for a second there, you were out for a few minutes." I said defensively.

Her grip is much tighter than it should of been. The boy's and I suspected she wasn't human, but she wasn't one of us either. That was obvious. What the hell was she?

"Yeah, you totally went all zombie on us, not like literally-"

She cut off Paul with a glare. She took a deep breath, before finally letting go of my arm. There was a red mark for a moment, before it healed.

"Sorry." She apologized.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Dwayne, always the worry wort.

"What does it feel like when you feed?" She asked suddenly, changing the subject.

I starred at her with curiosity.

"When you drink from a human, I mean. How does it make you feel?" Her question was directed at me specifically this time.

"IS that what you're worried about. We weren't gonna feed on you without permission." I laughed.

She shook her head.

"No." She looked past me at Dwayne now. "What do you think when you're doing it?"

Dwayne let out a heavy sigh.

"I don't think we have the answer you want."

"I'm not testing you; I just want a genuine answer. Please." Her voice got small in the end.

Paul was an idiot, but he was good at comforting. He pulled her close once he felt no resistance, and pet her hair down, smoothing it.

"Well, for me it feels really exciting. More the hunting them down, hearing their please. Sometimes they taste good, and the ones that don't, the weed helps." He explained.

I excepted her to pull away from him, disgusted, but she just nodded, leaning into his touch more.

"Well, if were being honest, it kidna turns me on. I usually pick the hottest people to feed off of. You were the first one who liked it though." Marko added.

She gave him a weak smile, eyes drifting to Dwayne.

"I didn't like it at first, being a vampire. But it doesn't bother me anymore. I like it because they like it. As long as they're having fun, then so am I." Dwayne confessed.

"So not only are you a literally leech, but you're a social leech to." She joked softly. Laughing into Paul's chest.

Dwayne rolled his eyes. Her attention finally shifted back to me. We held eye contact for a long time, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

"Why do you want to know?" I sighed. "Aren't their answers good enough?"

She sat up, pulling away from Paul. I heard a small whine escape him. But he let her go anyway.

"I'm not asking you to pour your heart out to me David. I'll-" She stopped herself, running an unsteady had through her hair. "I'll answer a question for you, if you answer mine. Any question, I can't say no." She offered.

It was tempting, truly. I wanted to know if me and the boys could trust her. Why we felt these things towards her, that we never felt before. Why she had this effect on us.

"Any question?"

"You can each ask me something, yes." Her heart didn't falter, she wasn't lying.

"It's a power exchange for me. To know me and my boys can strike fear, that people wouldn't mess with us. I feed on douchbags, idiots who deserve what they get. To watch them feel small, it feels good. If you're talking more literally, it does power us. Were stronger right after we've just fed. We feel faster, lighter, our mood improves."

She looked lost in thought for a moment.

"Thank you for being honest."

"You're not scared of us?" Paul asked, sounding hopful.

"Is that your question?"

He thought for a moment, before nodding. Out of all of us, he was the worst with rejection. She reached out to stroke his cheek with her thumb.

"No. I'm not scared of you. If you guys wanted to kill me, I'd most likely already be dead. Now, trust is a different story. But I trust you as much I trust any man. But at least you guys seem to want to be honest with me."

"Why did you let us feed from you?" Dwayne asked next. "You'd already been fed on that night, so why risk it?"

"Because I can tell when a vampire is in need. You boys are just more forthcoming with your thirst then others I've interacted with. Besides, you piqued my interest, and my night was rather boring."

He didn't seem fully satisfied with the answer none of us were, but he let her continue.

"Do you like me? I mean us?" Marko blurted out.

She let out a soft chortle.

"Would I be here right now if I didn't?"

He frowned.

"The answer is yes, Marko, I do find all of you rater attractive. I'm just a bit more subtle than you are."

He gave a small cheer.

"The floor is yours David." She spoke.

"Who bit you that night? Did you know the vampire?"

"Thats two questions." She stalled.

"Y/N" I warned.

She sighed dropping her head. She fidgeted with her hands.

"Yes. I knew him."

"Him?" Marko and Paul asked in sync.

I could tell their territorial nature was kicking in as well.

"He's a friend, he doesn't like me like that. Probably never will." She sounded sad. "He's not very good at controlling his thirst-"

"So, he bit you?" I asked, angry.

"It's not like that, David. He would never hurt me... on purpose. He doesn't like hurting people, He didn't bring enough blood packs on this trip, so I gave him a top off. It was my choice, just let letting you guys' feed on me was my choice."

"He's using your feeling for him to get stuff from you." I said.

"And you aren't?!" She suddenly yelled. "I know what your intentions were bringing me here, to your home. It's secluded, no body for miles, I'm not stupid David. Don't you dare suggest that I am not in control of my own feelings, and my body!"

She got up in my face.

"He didnt-" Dwayne started to defed me.

"NO! Let him speak for himself, this is his grave he's digging, not yours."

"It was not my place to speak."

"Yeah, no shit.

She suddenly slumped over, clutching her side. She groaned in pain. I reached down to try to ask what was wrong.

"What, time is it?" She asked, her voice strained.

"Almost midnight, why?" Dwayne asked, getting up from his spot and coming over to her.

"I have to go." She shrugged Dwayne's hand off her and tried to stand, faltering in her steps.

"You don't look so good." Paul said.

If Paul was concerned, something was definitely wrong.

"I'm fine!" she growled out.

Her town was low, deep. She doubled over in pain again, this time falling to her knees.

"I shouldn't have come here; this was a mistake." She said. She sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"What's happening?" I asked, my tone more bitter than I intended.

"The blood moon." She stuttered out. "You all should leave, it's not- it's not safe." She pleaded.

I heard a deafening crack echo throughout the cave. She cradled her arm with her other hand.

"This was reckless, I'm so stupid." It seemed like she was talking more to herself now.

Paul tried to help her up but hissed and pulled his hand away.

"She's burning up." He explained. "Like really hot."

She suddenly let out a scream as another loud crack was heard. She laid on her back now, staring up at the ceiling with tears in her eyes. Her eyes flashed yellow. I was by her side in an instant, holding her in my arms.

"I know you're trying to help David, but you cant. It's not safe. I'm- I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have put you guys int his position."

Before I could ask for clarification, she screamed again. This tie I could feel her bones cracking. She was a sweating mess, writhing in pain. Even after all the horrible things I've done, I couldn't stand to watch this. The boys remained quiet, trying not to disturb her. But their thoughts were rapid. But one thoughts of Dwayne's stood out.

"What's effected by the moonlight, has fangs, and a high body temperature?" He asked himself.

"It can't be." Marko said.

"Max said they were real, just not native to this part of the country, that's why he made a home in California." Paul reasoned.

It could be possible; we'd never seen one of their kind in person. Only heard the stories.

"You're a werewolf." I concluded.

She nodded, a few tears slipping from her eyes as they screwed shut.

"How can we help?" Dwayne asked, kneeling down besides us.

"You can't. My brother, he's the only one who-"

The most violent scream I'd ever heard tore through her throat. It grated in my ears, it held so much anguish, even Marko flinched. And he relished in his victim's scream, but she wasn't his victim.

"I'll go find him." Marko was quick to leave.

We'd caught his scent that first day, it was obvious now he smelled like a wolf. But why didn't she smell that way? Paul paced back and forth, biting his nails. He didn't know what to do. Paul was never good in a crisis, especially not ow that he was currently sober. She calmed for a moment, gripping my hand and breathing heavily.

"I- I'm ok. This isn't my first turning. But you can't stay. Whatever you do, don't let me bite you. My venom is poisonous to your kind."

Max had conveniently left that out, telling us we'd never have to worry about werewolves. She bit down on her tongue, her body contorting wildly.

"David, promise me you'll leave. It's not fair for me to kick you out of the house, you aren't day walkers. But you'll find somewhere safe to hide." She took in a couple stuttered breaths.

"My friends, bring them my necklace." She ripped it off, handing it to me. "They'll know It's an emergency if you have this, I never take it off unless I trust someone. They'll make sure you're away from the sun and away from me. Now go!" She begged.

She threw herself off of me, backing up into the wall.

"Now!" she yelled.

I hesitated, we all did, but she promised she'd be alright. Marko would alert her brother and we'd fixed this. She had to be ok, she had to. The boys and I left, in search of her friends.

AN: I know this isn't how it works in the vampire diaries universe. But since Tyler and her are twins, and only he's a hybrid, I'm making this choice for dramatic effect. She can tell when he's fed, because he gets stronger. Twin bond or some shit. But since he can turn whenever, and she still has to turn on the full moon, she feels the pain he would have if he chose to turn with her. Usually, he does to lessen her pain, but this vacation her forgot.

#the lost boys movie #the lost boys 1987 #the lost boys x reader #the lost boys x you #david the lost boys #dwayne the lost boys #paul the lost boys #marko the lost boys #mark tlb #Paul tlb #David tlb #Dwayne tlb #the lost boys x werewolf #werewolf reader #vampires #we’re wolves #the vampire diaries x reader #the vampire diaries #tyler lockwood #hybrids

[actorsmask]

Relationships & how they met who

Felt the need to do this so it’s a bit easier to rp with other blogs!

Sorry if it seems a bit too much like mc syndrome or rlly cringe

Sampo: Very very close sibling relationship, will tell each other other people’s darkest secrets even if told not to. —Met at the Tavern World’s End, Sampo was the one who ultimately recruited Blythe and helped them settle into the Fools and even helped them settle into a more comfortable identity.

Gepard: Very close sibling relationship, second choice of company when Sampo is busy. —Met in the streets of Belobog when they were questioned about Sampo since they were seen with him during chases, but since he had no concrete evidence about them all he could do was question them. They met so many times, both from Gepard questioning them which turned into Blythe teasing and following him around, they just… warmed up. Don’t ask Blythe how, even they don’t know.

Serval: Sibling relationship, goes to her to learn the guitar and how to fix machines. —Met her through Gepard of course, the two of them hit it off immediately after exchanging pleasantries since both knew their way around machines. Blythe visits very often to learn guitar. Oh, and Serval taught them how to use makeup.

Lynx: Sibling relationship, since Lynx is always out they don’t get to talk much, but they appreciate each other. —Met her through Serval and Gepard, they both liked the stars and the northern lights. Since Blythe knew a lot about the stars, it gave the two a topic to bond over, which helped them warm up to each other.

Natasha: Mother figure, always the first choice for advice regarding life. —Met her through Sampo since he recommended they join Wildfire. It didn’t take them long to warm up to her since she reminded them of their adoptive mother.

Oleg: Father figure, looks up to him a lot and learned some of their moves from him —Met him through Natasha, they liked that even though they messed up in training a lot, he never scolded them or judged them and simply helped them up and helped them try again.

Luka: The SMALLEST crush, likes to hang out with him by fighting monsters in Rivet Town and spending some time anywhere else —Met him through Oleg, Blythe was a bit unnerved by his sheer kindness until it finally sunk in that he was a good person. They also attend as many matches of Luka’s as they can to cheer him on.

Seele: Sibling relationship, an “only I can bully them” relationship —Met through Oleg, did not get along at first due to how sassy and snarky they were and Seele being easily irritable. Wasn’t until Seele walked in on them performing for the children of Boulder Town after a particularly harsh argument between the miners and vagrants did they start to warm up.

Hook: Sibling relationship, loves taking her on small adventures they had set up —Met in the streets of Boulder Town when looking for Sampo, played hide&seek with her and kept coming back since she really liked them. And so, Blythe kept making these adventures for Hook and her friends to go through together.

Clara: Sibling relationship, they fix robots and roam around together —Met in the Great Mines when they were distributing medical supplies. Got to know Clara since she would always ask them for machine parts or to help find them, and since they helped fix them. Svarog was less hostile towards them after seeing how much Clara liked them.

Bronya: Friends, a caretaker-gremlin type of friendship —Met through Pela, not very close but they started meeting more ever since Blythe started following Gepard around and started meeting even more when her and Seele got together.

Pela: Friends, play their respective instruments together and gush over novels together —Met through Serval, got along since they both played their respective instruments together a few times(Blythe weren’t the best but they managed)but started to really bond over novels. Blythe helps draw sometimes.

Sparkle: Fear and annoyance. That’s it. That’s the relationship.. —Met in the Masked Fools, always felt off around her due to how casually she regarded murder and violence. Started avoiding her even more when she faked a scenario that made them kill a person for the first time. Always hid behind Sampo whenever she was nearby and still does.

Aventurine: One sided hatred+fear on Blythe’s side —Met when Blythe got off of his ship after being found inside one of the cargo boxes they hid in when they were a child and were nearly beat by the IPC Guards until he showed up and berated the guards. But since they were a kid, they were scared by how angry he was and ran the second he let them go. They never saw him again, so he didn’t get a chance to give a better impression.

#actor’s mask tries to write! #actor’s mask does actor’s mask shit! #ooc #Blythe lore and tidbits!

[bonesandthebees]

OH MY GOD THE ENDING OF CHAPTER 17 I AM FREAKING OUT SO MUCH. i have always been so interested in the pythia’s possible connection to kristin ever since phil pointed out his curse, so this chapter was genuinely so exciting for me to read. i’m very interested to see how he tries to reason the hand he felt from kristin versus the silence he’s getting from clara.

the tension building within the country was also a very interesting thing to touch on. it’s cool reading from a pov that has no idea what either side’s plans are, although i’m not sure if that will be for much longer depending on what phil is planning

i am normally not the best at visualising settings in my head, but your writing makes them so vivid for me. if i had any artistic ability i’d try draw out a map (but alas i cant draw to save my life)

amazing chapter as always, i am loving glass divine so so much

- 🦔

I'm definitely excited that i'm at a point in the story where i can focus more on kristin. because until now wilbur hadn't earned the deathlings trust so of course they weren't going to show him private moments like what he witnessed with phil, but now they know he's staying there of his own free will, so he's going to get to see more things that are usually kept behind closed doors :)

oh yeah I knew i had to touch on what was going on with the wider political sphere. it's a challenge to find ways to integrate that stuff when wilbur's pov rn is so limited, but I want the readers to know there is Stuff Happening outside wilbur's sphere

I'm so glad my writing makes it easy to visualize things. that's one of the main things I try to focus on because I know I definitely appreciate that kind of writing when I'm reading a story

ty for the kind words!! so glad you enjoyed!

#ask #hedgehog anon #through a glass divine

[misschimotosuwa-blog]

Hello sweetheart 😘 Please tell me everything you love about Iruma-Kun or Yun (I know you love them both 😏)

*looks at inbox and screams* AHHHHHHHHHH

AHHH

*deep breath*

Ok.

Ok.

Lesse here...

What I Love About Iruma

This bean grew up with one of the worst lives -- his parents took advantage of his kindness and willingness, and made him do EVERY chore like a slave.. not only that... But they chose not to have jobs and have him work to provide for the family?!?!? A little boy?!?!?! And then. To top it off. After ALL HE FLIPPING DID FOR THEM THEY SOLD HIS LIFE AWAY TO A FRICKIN' DEMON?!?!?! WHO ARE THESE FART NUGGET PARENTS?!?!?! But anywayyyssss, despite all of this trash that's been thrown his way, he's still the most good hearted, genuine, innocent boy that ever did exist 🥰🥰🥰

When Azz picked a fight with Iru and almost injured himself AND Eiko, Iru saved him. HIS BULLY. HE SAVED THE GUY WHO PICKED A FIGHT WITH HIM.

Azz then committed allegiance as a bodyguard/servant type deal, and treats him like a king -- but Iru hasn't once used that to his advantage (only for moments when he wants to save other demons). He's never let it go to his head, and has never even thought of Azz as his "help" only his "friend"

When he met Clara -- the "weird" girl who was only ever taken advantage of -- he still chose to play with her, even though it tuckered him out

When Clara offered snacks and anything else Iruma could ever imagine, he felt guilty, and refused them, and told Clara he only wanted to play with her 🥺

Sullivan spoils Iru beyond compare, and yet he's still such a good, humble, and grateful boy

His smile is the cutest most genuine ray of light, and I never want it taken from him

He has a giant appetite, and for some reason, I find it super comedic, and SUPER PRECIOUS NGHGGGGGGGGHHH 🥺🥺🥺

He's also oblivious to the fact that Azz, Clara, Keroli, Ameri, and Eiko are all in love with him 😆

He sees the best in everyone -- even Kiriwo -- the demon who tried to explode everyone in the school 🫠

He has the most adorable gestures like... When he was so happy he had a new friend he was smiling from ear to ear twiddling his feet in his bed 😩

He always looks adorable, but when he ties his hair back I can't 😩 so handsome so handsome. His ponytail "slays me" as Azz would say 😆

He has a good attitude about everything

He finds a way to befriend everyone so preciously 🥺🥺🥺

He used to draw shoujo manga 👌🏻

I could keep going on with scenarios that made me love the boy even more, but you can see that they're all along the same lines: ahem, so, in summary, Iruma is a selfless, innocent, benevolent, hard-working, fun-loving, adorable cinnamon roll who deserves EVERYTHING he's receiving in the Netherworld -- even the Demon King's throne -- which we all know, is gonna happen 🙃

What I Love About Yun

Yun grew up in an even worse situation than Iru 🥺☹️😔 no idea what happened to his parents... Maybe they died from starvation? (I have a feeling y'all are gonna tell me what happened to them in the comments lol). Anyways, this poor baby had to fend for himself in a starving town with anyone ready to shank anyone. This baby had to toughen up and try to be able to shank people himself just so he could find any means in helping him survive ☹️😔 but when that moment came and Ik-su showed and he knocked him out, and he had nothing, he could have left him to die, but baby Yun treated all his wounds AND didn't want him to find out?!?! Guys. We see Yun's TRUE nature right there. He loves and cares for all, but tries to play tough and act like he doesn't gahhhhhhhh. That's what I love and admire most about him

He's just a precious bean even though he puts on a bold front

His cockiness cracks me up. CRACKS ME UP. idk why 🤷🏼‍♀️

I just find it absolutely adorable that Yun had this fascination and love for books from a young age, and was determined to find all the books, and gain all the knowledge to be able to do anything he set his mind to. And when Ik-su found him a bunch of books -- he did just that 🥰

Yun is just absolutely amazing -- yes the dragons have their powers, and for some reason Hak is inhumanly strong and fast 🤣🤣🤣 but Yun can do LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE the others can't. THAT'S A LOT.

I find it insanely attractive that a boy is confident in his "pretty" side, and that he can cook and clean, you know? Stereotypical girl stuff. But he OWNS IT. YUS.

The feather in his hair 👌🏻 yes please. Yes.

His blushes 👌🏻

I LOVED WHEN YONA CAME BACK FROM THE SENJOU HERB TEST AND HE WAS THE FIRST TO RUN AND HUG HER HE WAS SO FLIPPING WORRIED. YUN WORRIES AND LOVES HARD.

I love that even though he's always said he wanted to travel, he chose to stay in the middle of nowhere to take care of Ik-su -- his best friend and parental figure

Yun sees his own faults, and tries to better himself

I love that he's constantly trying to figure out life's mysteries and how things work. He's constantly trying to gain new knowledge. Asking others to teach him how to do things.

I love how he can do something once someone has taught him -- perfectly ☺️

I love how he's the youngest in the group, but the most sensible and mature mhmm

Whenever he gets excited about something he is so soooo cuuuuute

I love everything about Yun ❤️ mhmm

Welp, there you have it, you asked for both, you asked for everything, that probably wasn't everything, but you probably got more than you expected... Maybe.🤣😆👍

TYSM for asking @angrypaperearthquake ☺️❤️ dis made me very happy

#welcome to demon school iruma kun #iruma suzuki #suzuki iruma #mairimashita irumakun #mairimashita iruma kun #mairimashita! iruma kun #akatsuki no yona #yona of the dawn #yun #mama yun #yoon #mama yoon #akayona #kazumasamaanime

[ciaossu-imagines]

Day 14: You're hired to conduct a paranormal investigation - who's your dream team? (Characters from all fandoms) :)

Ahhhh!!! I love this so friggin’ much, you have no idea! This was such a fun thing to sit down and consider and plot out so thank you so much for sending it in!

So, building up a paranormal investigation team, and a sizeable one because we’re taking on the tough jobs, I’m going to recruit from each fandom, especially since you’re allowing me to.

From KHR, I’d definitely pull in Gokudera. He loves all the paranormal stuff, along with cryptids and urban legends and anything vaguely supernatural in the least, even canonically, and he excels at research. He’s my team’s main researcher and I feel he’d be able to give us the most information on each case, along with guesses on what type of paranormal creatures we might deal with, their weaknesses and so on and so forth. He’d be the voice in our ears as he stays in the van, watching the footage and shifting through the research he’s compiled.

From K, I’m recruiting Bandou. He’s very technologically competent and there’s a lot of gadgetry that goes into paranormal investigations. He’d be in charge of all the audiovisual equipment, as well as maintaining and teaching everyone how to use the gadgets, like EMF sensors, infrared thermometers, digital voice recorders, etc.

Nanbaka’s character recruitment is a no-brainer! It’s established in canon that Rock can see ghosts, so he plays such a huge role in any and all investigations the team conducts.

From Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun!, I’m recruiting Clara Valac. The girl is always prepared, and her high energy and good spirits keep the team’s motivation up. That, and she has very little fear, so I would never have to worry about her chickening out of an investigation if things started going down!

From Bungou Stray Dogs, I’m choosing Ranpo! He’s the team’s resident skeptic and with his keen observational skills, he’s able to weed out all possible hoaxes or normal causes for things that everyone else might be too quick to assume are paranormal.

From Servamp, I’m recruiting Mikuni. He might not be the most trustworthy at all times, and we all know he’s definitely in this whole thing for himself, but the man is a genius, with a lot of paranormal knowledge and an interest and knack for learning more. He’s part of the research team with Gokudera.

From Saiyuki, I’m definitely getting Sanzo on board the team, just because I need a smoking buddy who can shoot the shit and commiserate with me when everyone else is being idiots. That, and he’d come in incredibly useful if we ever had to exorcise a bitch.

From Mystic Messenger, I’m recruiting Jumin Han. He rarely comes out into the field with us, but he funds our entire organization and gives us valuable resources and we all love him.

From Ikemen Revolution, I’m recruiting Fenrir against his will, just because the idea of him having to go through even just a very basic ghost-hunt amuses the fuck out of me.

From Eyeshield 21, I’m recruiting Hiruma. He comes and goes as he pleases, participating only in the cases that interest him, but he’s an invaluable member of the team, nonetheless. He seems to  always know ‘a guy’ who gets us what we need or help us get to where we want to be, not to mention that he always seems to get the best jobs sent to us.

From The Outsiders, I’m recruiting Ponyboy. I don’t know why, but I do think Pony would be the most open to the idea of the paranormal and he’d work really well no matter where we stuck him, doing his best and just kind of keeping to himself and not causing many issues.

Okay, hear me out here. From Ronin Warriors, I’m recruiting Rowen. I can’t even fully explain it out, but I just strongly headcanon him as just being very sensitive to ghosts and spirits and the paranormal in general. He’s not bombarded by them, he doesn’t speak to them, but he does seem to draw them towards him and, with his high intelligence and ability to think logically, he’s both able to help the research team and  to keep his head while out conducting surveillance or working in the field.

From Kekkaishi, I’m recruiting Yoshimori. He really is a very empathetic boy, and he’s going to try to find ways to empathize and lay any spirits to rest during all investigations. He keeps all of us grounded and helps us remember the human element of paranormal investigation and that the end goal is always to lead whatever paranormal creature we’re investigating to peace.

From GetBackers, I’m recruiting Paul! He feeds us and makes the coffee, while working with the audiovisual and research teams. Honestly, he mostly sticks around because we all amuse him.

From Blush Blush, I’m recruiting Cole. While Stirling would be the more logical choice, given that he’s paranormal himself, I just feel that, with Cole being the obsessive stalker he is, I’d never truly be in danger with him around.

From Class of the Titans, I’m recruiting Odie, who rounds out the tech team. The boy’s a genius and he even helps create some new equipment for our investigations, though he does have a slightly skeptical side that does help keep the rest of us (save Ranpo, who Odie becomes fast friends with) from jumping to hasty conclusions.

While not technically part of our team, I feel my paranormal research team works closely with the entirety of The Howling Commandos from Disney’s Ultimate Spider-Man. Being paranormal creatures themselves, they give our research team lots of information and sometimes give us a hand with the tougher cases.

#event asks #i loved this #so much fun!!

[b00ks-and-cl3v3rn3ss]

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister | "The Imp-Riddled House" Chapters 9-15:

Book Reflection/Spoilers

The book is divided into 5 main parts with the addition of it's prologue and epilogue.

This second part is called THE IMP-RIDDLED HOUSE. It has 7 chapters:

9. The Small Room of Outside

10. Small Oils

11. The Masterpiece

12. Rue, Sage, Thyme, and Temper

13. Reception

14. Virginal

15. Simples

This part starts with Iris, Ruth, and their mother in Van den Meer's house. Iris was called by him to help Clara with English and to be friends with her. I really love how Iris tries to interact with Clara by talking about fairytale things. This leads to Clara and Iris being close "friends". I say "friends" because Clara seems to be fond of Iris; however, she has certain manners that seem quote "socially awkward" and also with a bit of judgy-ness. She tends to kind of "judge" Iris and Ruth but is still friends with them. Clara seems to not be like the nice and gentle Cinderella we see in our Disney animated (and live-action) film.

Something that caught my attention while reading this part is from chapter 11, The Masterpiece.

It seems that the more wonderful this painting becomes, the less chance there is of the Master's ever surpassing it.

^Here, the Master is making a painting of Clara and tulips. The entire paragraph, especially the highlighted sentence, reminds me of Olivia Rodrigo's song Teenage Dream (one of my top favorites from her GUTS album). Especially the line in her song that goes, "...but I fear that they've already got all the best parts of me..."

^So the Master is definitely giving Teenage Dream vibes here👀 and can I say I sooo relate to this even in my 20s. I was a straight A student and had everyone talk about my grades, smarts and other performing and visual arts talents. I felt like I was best also at painting and drawing but after graduating high school I felt like I NEEDED to be better than I was and couldn't fail once. I'm mentally in a much better place now though! Always improving!

*

Something I forgot to mention in the reflection from Part 1 was that this book is more based on real life than the magical side of Cinderella. It talks about witches, imps, fairies, gypsies, and changelings; however, they seem to be rumors and make believe in this book's universe. There are elements of history and some religion; however, the children seem to still question and/or imagine a magical world.

#confessions of an ugly stepsister #book reflection #book notes #books and reading #olivia rodrigo #guts olivia rodrigo #guts album #teenage dream #teenage dream olivia rodrigo

[humansun]

early june updates + LBTP quotes!

Written June 9, 2022 at 10:04PM

How is it already June 9th? BYE.

Written June 11th, 2022 at 11:21PM

Hey there! Biggest realization about creative writing. The more specific it is, the better, in my opinion. As a reader, I also appreciate specificity and I think the more prevalent it is in my own writing, the better it will be.

Today, I took myself on a date after brunch with Clara. The beach! I finished Loveboat Taipei, what an accomplishment to finish a book in less than two weeks! I am grateful for all the amazing folks in my life - Julie, Zino, Lamchops, and my parents. At the ocean shore, I spent my time thinking about how I want my next awakening to be like. And it’s not even an awakening, but it’s more of what I want to be in the next stage of my life.

At 24, I’d like to process the experiences in my life with a different perspective. The natural parts of my feelings like frustration, happiness, sadness, will not immediately go away, but I can always do my best to understand them and respond to the best way I can. With that, I can better take care of those around me.

I want to take advantage of the time I have in this sacred space, my apartment. I want to prioritize healing myself and taking care of my health in order to prepare for the tumultuous transition that is to come in the coming months.

November will come faster than I think, and I want to best plan for it to ensure a safe and healthy transition for myself physically and mentally. I am currently experiencing wrist pain and have a bill of $250 for my ear doctor which sucks. I can’t even afford another MRI for my wrist at this point, which also sucks, but I am grateful because I can do the best I can to pay for it. 

I can’t put too much pressure on myself though, because I am only human and all the experiences I have will be what they will be regardless of how much I want to plan it and how much I want it to be great. The boat rocking is part of the journey. Anyways, I am happy I took myself to the beach, got to draw and write, and eat a really fat burger at Shake Shack.

Favorite quotes from Loveboat Taipei below:

“I saw them, and I thought, maybe when you get that old, that’s when you find peace. Maybe the secret’s just living a fucking long time with the right people.” 

Xavier about the Three Old Men

“Maybe part of fighting the unhappiness in this world is to seize happiness when we can.” 

Ever at the Springs with Rick after the typhoons

“And I understand now that rejecting their wishes is not the same as rejecting them.”

Ever about her parents and their need to control her

There’s one more quote that I can’t find! It’s midnight and I’m tired, thank you! 

[shoosack]

I’m going nuts

#pathologic #daniil dankovsky #clara #doodles #this will always be the best Clara I will ever draw like ever

[outoftheblue-if]

What would be Ros responses if MC felt bothered by their differences in attractiveness levels, and did not feel attractive enough to date them?

Not sure if this is in relationship or crushing stage? 🤔 I’m gonna say relationship stage

Isobel: Isobel frowns, not understanding why MC would feel that way. “I’m not with you for your looks.” Upon seeing that this doesn’t make them feel any better though, she steps towards them, grabbing their chin to tilt their head so she can look them straight in the eye as her face softens. “There is no one more attractive to me than you.” She lets her thumb trace over MC’s lips. “I see no one but you, want no one but you.” If MC still doesn’t seem convinced, she would pull them into her embrace to have a serious conversation about it, but if MC smiles or lightens up, she would pull them forward by their chin with a smirk and whisper in their ear: “Want me to show you just how attractive you are to me?”

Max: Would be appalled. Would probably pull them into a tight embrace, while teasingly saying «I am very happy you find me that attractive, love» with a wink, before they would sober up. «But it saddens me to hear you think so little of yourself.” He traces their face with adoration in his eyes. “To me you are the most beautiful person in the world, inside and out.» They lean in to plant a soft kiss on MC’s lips. “Please, never think that. If anything, it is me who doesn’t deserve to be with you.” They would go out of their way to shower MC with compliments and affection over the next days to make sure they feel the truth of it. 

Clara: Would be simultaneously baffled and crestfallen. “Oh, MC! How can you think that?” Would cup MC’s cheeks as she stares down at them with sad eyes. “You are by far the most beautiful person I’ve ever met, I love everything about you.” Would proceed to list everything she loves about them, both physical and personality-wise, and finish off by pulling MC into a tender kiss. “I’m so very sorry if I haven’t made you feel that enough.” Would also go out of their way to spend a lot more time with MC over the next days, and shower them with affection, vowing to make MC see how much she loves them.

Richard: Would blink, baffled. MC feels he is more attractive than them?? Him?? In his eyes they are the most enthralling and beguiling person he’s every laid eyes on. Feels terrible, as he knows he’s not the best at showing emotion/showing how much he cares, but he thought MC knew how much he revered them. Would cup their cheek with one hand, tracing their cheek lovingly with his thumb as his eyes flickers over their face. “You truly have no idea the affect you have on me?” Swallows hard as he feels the familiar clench in his chest that he gets every time MC is near. “You have me utterly spellbound, MC. Whenever you’re near I’m like a moth to a flame. I find you irresistible.” 

William: Would be stunned. Surely MC doesn’t really think that? He’s a little awed that MC thinks he’s that attractive, but mostly just distraught that they don’t know how attractive they are. “Come here,” he says, putting his arms around them and pulling them close. “I think you must be confused.” His lips would quirk up into a warm smile as he pretends to check their forehead for a fever. “You have it the wrong way around. It is you that is far more attractive than me.” Then he would turn more serious. “MC, you are devastatingly handsome/stunning. Every inch of me craves you, always.” He draws in an unsteady breath as he takes in their beautiful features. “You drive me utterly crazy.” 

Thank you so much for your ask! ✨

#ask #ootb #ootb:ros #fluff #i swear one of these days i will be able to produce a short answer #feel free to slap me when you see me gushing #😂😂 #isobelclaymoore #maxwinthrope #clarahamilton #richardwinfield #williamtaylor

[serendipityjxmn]

Mr. President

Chapter 8

TW: None

Words Count: 1.9k

Link to Masterlist

Link to Chapter 9

You’re deeply immersed in your own thought that morning at your desk. There’s a whole two weeks before Jimin’s birthday, but since you currently have no idea at all on what to do, you can’t help feeling restless.

“-and since it’s our seventh year anniversary, I was thinking of doing something special, you know? I even thought of buying a new dress just to celebrate it!” You snap out of your reverie, finally tuning back to Irene who had been telling about her boyfriend who she had been dating since college.

“That’s so cute.” You say sincerely to her, briefly wondering if you can have the same kind of happiness too.

She giggles. “Thank you, Y/N.” She draws her breath. “What about you? You don’t have a boyfriend yet?”

You blink several times hearing her question. “Uh- uhh, yeah no.” You’re probably the worst liar ever. You look back down at the file of Jimin’s schedule that you’ve been studying in order for you to make a summary. Something had been bothering you that you’ve been meaning to ask Irene for a while now.

“Eyy~ I’m pretty sure you have one-“

“Hey, Irene can I ask you something?” You cut her off.

“Yeah?” She looks down at the file you’re looking at, reads it for a few seconds before continuing. “Ah~ You must’ve noticed that.”

Clara Kim. The name that would pop on Jimin’s schedule every week without fail. Yet you’ve no idea who she is, what she does and why does he sees her every week. “Who is she?”

Irene looks around as if there would be anyone in close proximity that can hear you before leaning in and whispers to you. “She’s.. Mr. Park’s girlfriend.”

Girl-what? Your eyes feel like it’s going to bulge out of its socket.

Irene laughs a little seeing your expression. “Don’t look at me like that! What, are you sad now thinking our handsome president’s taken?” She chuckles.

“But-“ you rack your brain. Wasn’t his marriage a public affair? Although his wife isn’t disclosed, his employees should’ve known the boss’s status, shouldn’t they? “Isn’t he married?”

She scoffs. “You think he can’t have both at the same time?” She shrugs. “He’s young, rich and definitely good looking. You think he’s gonna just stick to his wife when so many girls are after his ass?”

You lose words to say. His girlfriend? Why would he marry you then? “You don’t think that’s his wife?” Although she obviously isn’t.

She chuckles. “Girl, would meeting his wife be part of his schedule?” You suddenly feel stupid. “I only see her once or twice so far now although I’ve been working here for a long time, and she really doesn’t look like someone’s wife for the record, and he sees her every week without fail. All tall and skinny like a model, big tits big ass long black hair like a vixen ugh. But,” she shrugs, “I don’t know. Mr. Park never says anything about her so it must be really private. If you see here, she usually comes every Friday at night, after we’ve gone back.”

There’s a twist in your heart that you do not wish to know the reason why. You remain silent after that and Irene leaves you to your own devices as well as your thoughts.

You were just organising your table before you go out to lunch when Minhyuk calls you to his office. You glance at Jimin’s office, he’s still locked up in it and you know he haven’t had his lunch yet so you planned to order take outs for the both of you. You sigh a little as you make your way to Minhyuk’s office.

There’s no one else in the office since everyone has gone out for lunch. A tinge of anxiety runs through your body. You have a bad feeling about this.

“Hey, Y/N. You going out for lunch? Mind if you grab take outs for me too?”

Oh. You smile politely. “Sure. What would you like?”

“I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

You nod then quickly heads downstairs and walks about a block away to find Subway. Packing lunch for three, you head straight back to the office. Slightly nervous, you head towards Jimin’s room first and knocks. He doesn’t answer. Perhaps he doesn’t hear you the first time?

So you knock again. Still no. Was he out? You didn’t see him come out though. Perhaps he’s walked out while you’re out ordering take outs. So you slowly let yourself in silently.

A huge mistake.

You stand at the threshold.

There he is, your husband. He’s sitting behind his desk and there’s a woman bent over him in a very seductive stance. She leans close to him, her fingers playing with his tie.

And you know immediately who she is. Fits perfectly by Irene’s descriptions. Clara Kim.

You don’t love him. But why do you feel your heart shattering into pieces?

Turn away, now.

Turn away before he notices you.

Yet you still stand there, frozen and unable to tear your eyes away.

And when his gaze suddenly flickers to you and your eyes widens that you find yourself turning on your heels instantly, food dropping to the floor.

He doesn’t owe you anything. He doesn’t owe you anything. He doesn’t owe you anything.

You chant those in your head as you run out, unsure of your own direction until a firm set of hands catch you.

You look up and gasps. Minhyuk is holding you by the arms. “Hey-hey. What’s wrong? Who dares to make you cry, little princess?”

You cringe at his nickname for you. Your hands quickly come up to wipe the tears you didn’t realise had fallen.

“I’m fine.” You give him a quick smile. “Just a moment, I’ll fetch you your lunch. I only got you Subway though. Are you okay with that?” You ask but you don’t wait for him to answer, quickly returning to your desk and fetching his lunch, unaware of him following you from behind.

When you turn, you find him right in front of you, leaning so close that you have to back away a little, making your behind bumps against the edge of the desk.

He smirks at your reaction and you feel your blood runs cold. He turns suddenly and you see him holding both yours and his lunch.

“You haven’t had your lunch yet right? Let’s eat together.”

And that’s how you find yourself sitting uncomfortably across Minhyuk’s table, your Subway laid cold in front of you.

“So, what’s up, princess? You wanna tell me what happened back there?”

You draw a breath. “Nothing happened.”

He lifts one eyebrow. “Really? Cause I know what I saw.” He says but earning no response from you, he continues, “Oh, come on.. just tell me. Too much workload? Or boyfriend problems..? You have.. a boyfriend, Miss Y/N?”

You hesitate before shaking your head slowly. “No, no I don’t.” But I do have a husband.

“So.. not a boyfriend problem then. You’re really tight lipped, huh?” He chuckles. “I just wanna be a good boss. You know, getting to know his employee, listening to their concerns.. all that. So you can find me. Anytime you want.”

You smile politely at him though it doesn’t reach your eyes.

There’s a knock on the door and you both turn to look at the same time. Your husband stands at the threshold and you immediately stiffen, freezing like a deer caught in headlights although you’ve done nothing wrong.

“Ah, Jimin! Come on in! We’re just having lunch together.” Minhyuk greets him.

Jimin doesn’t look at you when he answers Minhyuk. “I was gonna ask you out to lunch but it seems like you already have a date.” Deep down, you know that’s not true.

You stand almost instantly. “No, not at all Mr. Park. I’m actually done and Mr. Kim is all yours.” You pick up your lunch quickly and exits before Minhyuk could say anything and avoids any sort of eye contact with Jimin.

You don’t realise it was almost five in the evening as you’ve been so caught up in your own thoughts. For the first time in so long, you feel helpless. You sit down on your desk, feeling numb and empty.

Where are you supposed to go now? You sigh. When you reach home almost an hour later, you find yourself standing outside the door, just staring at it.

In the end, you’d still go back to his place.

In the end, he still owns you and you owe him everything.

With a heavy heart, you unlock the door and push it open. You take a long hot shower after that and you almost want to just climb in and curl on the bed once you’re dressed but you know you still have to prepare dinner for your husband so you come down and prepares his meal, trying your best not to break down while doing it.

Your heart thumps when you hear the front door opens. He doesn’t come straight to the kitchen so he must’ve went upstairs to shower. You swallow a huge lump in your throat. How much longer do you have to do this?

You knew you yourself signed up for this. A marriage without love. You dug your own grave out of desperation. So why does it feel so damn hurt seeing him with another woman?

You couldn’t contain the tears anymore and your vision goes blurry at once. For a few minutes, you just let the tears fall silently, without sobbing without weeping. Then you shut your eyes, take a deep breath then wipe the tears dry with the back of your hand.

Your assumption was right when he enters dining area half an hour later while you were setting up the table. You make a mistake of looking up at him because he looks so ridiculously gorgeous, always, even in his casual clothes that you find it so unfair. You look down immediately yet every nerve of yours is aware that Jimin’s staring at your face.

“What’s wrong with you?” He asks, slight annoyance lacing his tone.

You swallow, not daring to meet his eyes then just shakes your head. “Nothing. I already ate and I’m a bit tired so I’ll head upstairs first. Just leave the dishes in the sink, I’ll wash it in the morning.”

“Are you feeling sick somewhere?” You hate that your heart flutters at the slight concern in his tone.

Not trusting yourself to speak, you shake your head and walks quickly upstairs. Try hard as you may, you ended up crying yourself to sleep. You don’t wish to because you don’t want Jimin catching you like this, but you did.

Jimin comes up about an hour later and crosses the room to stand in front of you where you appear already fast asleep. If he comes up even 5 minutes later, he might not be aware of it. Yet here he is, standing before your sleeping figure, aware that you cried yourself to sleep. What gave it away is your lashes that are still slightly wet and the tears that are almost dried on your cheeks.

Jimin’s a man of secret, private matters and nothing that exposes himself of the sort.

Yet with you, he feels exposed, barren and naked.

He sighs and bend down. “What do I do with you?” He whispers, his face close to yours, watching you for a few moments before he gets up and climbs on the bed next to you.

The next morning, when you wake up and heads down to the kitchen, you see dishes from last night were already washed clean by Jimin.

Link to Chapter 9

Posted on 210414 9:00PM

#serendipityjxmn #serendipityjxmnmrpresident #mrpresident #bts fic #jimin fic #jimin au #park jimin #parkjimin #jimin smut #smut #kpop #mafia #jimin mafia #ceo jimin #bts smut #bts au #bts mafia

[ilovefinncole]

If Michael had a friendship group at school

Michael: The Smart One

Meet Michael. Oh wait we’ve already met him! We all Michael by now, in this mini story Michael is the smartest one in his friendship group. At school he got the highest grades in each subject.

Michael is super friendly and approachable if you’ve got a problem Michael is the one to fix it.

Michael cares and supports all of his friends, especially Ruth. He cares so much for her well-being. He’s seen her at her worst there very close to each other.

Michael sometimes acts like the dad of the group where Clara acts like the mum of the group. He doesn’t take no shit, he gets on with life and doesn’t let anyone bring him down ever.

Jack: The Charmer

Meet Jack, he’s the charmer of the group! He is always showing off around his friends. All the girls fall for him at school except for the three girls in the friendship group, Ruth, Clara and Alice.

Jack is super sweet, he’d do anything for anyone. He always completes his school work and is never late not like Eddie.

Jack knows how to treat a girl, he isn’t nervous around them only his sister who always makes his nervous! He has very high grades like Michael but Michael has the highest grades in the friendship group.

He is quick on his feet, and makes easy descions. He doesn’t do excuses but he does charms. Michael and Jack are very smart, Michael describes Jack as a sort of Prince, the Prince of charms.

Eddie: The Joker

Meet Eddie,yeah he’s a joker alright he’s always up to something and he’s always messing around.

He always Jokes around with others. He steals other children’s pens and pencils in class when there not looking, he is always late to everything especially school.

He is never neat with his school work and never does homework he is always in detention and talks back to the teachers. But he is quite nice and supportive to his friends and family.

He is best friends with Michael, they are really close and help each-other out.

Clara: The Mum of the Group

Meet Clara, she is probably the most sweetest kindest and most beautiful girl in the world. That’s why she’s the mum of the group. She’s kind and supports each of her friends in different ways.

She is very focused at school and always is there for everyone.

She is very pretty, Michael wants to ask her on a date but he is too nervous too. He thinks they could be more than friends but Clara feels the same way.

She has some good grades and Michael and Ruth are offering to help her get the grades she needs in school. Clara is a kindhearted soul she never 👎 does anything wrong she’s a good girl

Alice: The Drama Queen

Meet Alice, who is a teenage Drama Queen, she rules the school with her friends. Anything that she does or happens she tends to make such a big thing of it.

Like when something doesn’t go her way, she has to keep talking about it, she always makes a scene but she’s kind and helpful towards others.

She is good at maths and at art she sometimes draws Michael at break and lunch times.

She is fashionable she always wears a new outfit everyday even at school.!

Ruth: The Wise One

Meet Ruth, this girl is all about wise and history. She loves history especially all of the history in Michael’s family, she loves hearing the gossip. Ruth is really fun and kind.

Ruth knows a lot of knowledge which helps her in her school work, she isn’t that good at maths but she is crazy good at history and English. She’s the creative type.

In the friendship group, Ruth is besties with Clara and Michael, there probably two of the genuine people in the group. She loves each of them so much there like her family and Clara is her mum at times.

Ruth like Isiah Jesus has experience racism in her life, Michael supports Ruth and stands up to the bullies at school and he shows them who’s boss with always make Ruth feel so much better.

If anyone is reading this please let me know if I should write stories about Michael’s friendship group at school. I’d love to hear all of your thoughts.

#finn cole #michael gray #imagine #michael gray imagine #school friends

[the-darklings]

“ you’re my person. you’ll always be the one i go to. ” Jean + Clara/V 🥺

prompt: “you’re my person. you’ll always be the one i go to.”

pairing: jean x v (coa verse)

wc: 2.3k+ (aka I don't have an off button when it's them regardless of setting/verse)

notes: so while I'm obsessed with jeara in npfh verse, something about exploring them in coa where jean is almost a rogue figure in v's life and is near entirely removed from the overall dramas of her life is just so... (makes a vague, distressed sound). guess i'm just a sucker for "no matter what, life keeps drawing us back together" energy, also I just love their antagonistic, sexually charged banter : )

It’s the soft cocking of a gun behind you that alerts you to someone’s presence at your back.

It’s a split second, a whirlwind of gripping your own weapon, but it’s all too slow. Far too slow, John and Cassian and the Elder would have reprimanded you. Disappointing after years of work and training you’ve done. Sloppy at best, life-threatening at worst.

For priding yourself on speed as your greatest physical weapon, you simply react too slow. It’s not because your instincts are dull anymore — no, if anything, after the dessert you’re an even sharper version of yourself.

But there’s is a singular hole in your instinctive wall. One person who — unfailingly, and irritatingly — seems to slip behind every single one of your guards. More of a snake than you are. More deadly, more deceptively charming and coy.

"Well, well — look who the cat dragged in."

Jean’s voice is still silk. With the gentle roll of his accent, the ice in his eyes shifts and morphs — cracking at the sight of you; always, a match and a fuse — when you level your pistol on his face. Unflinching. A slight, indulgent twitch of his mouth greets your clinical action. He appears so infuriatingly unconcerned to have a fully loaded weapon trailed on him you have to bite back a snarl. Arrogant bastard.

But you’ve seen what his mouth is capable of. He would no doubt make an innuendo if you brought up the said mouth but he’s stopped entire gunfights with his wit and tongue alone in the past. Has stood beside you plenty of times, trying to weasel you both out of serious trouble.

You have a habit of running into each other every time the other needs backup the most. Neither of you would ever admit to needing one another but you’ve served each other’s self-interests plenty of times.

"What are you doing here?" you demand.

The Frenchman doesn’t move, dragging his stare over your body with curious, probing intensity. It’s near lazy, bordering on sexual perusal and instinctively your skin warms under the examination. Prick.

"Lovely to see you too, chérie,” he greets, his voice honey yet always just tantalisingly teasing the idea of more. He’s learned to present himself as the devil’s biggest temptation long ago; a temptation very few resist. His arm finally lowers with those words, followed by a click of safety coming back on but you’re not so quick to follow his lead. “You look positively alive," he adds, a touch sardonic.

Your lips twitch. "Sorry to disappoint."

Last time he saw a mess, not an assassin.

His broad frame is clad in a stitch-to-stitch perfect tailored suit. Dark and sleek. Not dark enough to be outright black but an odd, shimmering material that indeed reminds you of a devil in disguise. Prowling around and passing around favours and information but at a price — always a price, and never one you want to pay in the long run.

"Hm, yes,” he hums thoughtfully, a melody of rumbling deepness that is his voice settling in your gut as he draws closer. Strolling forward without a care in the world, as if you don’t have your pistol still raised. Still aimed at him. Your finger on the trigger. As if there isn’t a pinch to your features; a warning, venomous gleam in your eyes. “While you disappearing is no novelty. You disappearing for seven months to a point even I can't locate you certainly is."

With the sheer vastness of his web of information, you can only imagine how profoundly irritating he found it. Jean doesn’t like losing. Doesn’t like not being in control, in the know. Never has. Others dance to his tune. Losing is a language he doesn’t speak. If there is no way to get his way, he makes one. He cares little for the collateral damage left behind. His ruthlessness alone has always put you at odds though he’s always been quick to point out how hypocritical you are for your wry comments. How every enemy of yours has oftentimes been left spluttering on their own blood, robbed of life or a future.

You burn everything, chérie, he told you once, years ago now, to destroy so thoroughly is a curious talent for one so invested in life and greenery to have.

"I'm touched by the concern," you say eventually, your expression still sour and your mouth curved downwards.

Jean’s face creases at that, an eyebrow quirking, and lips stretching further back. That stupid little dimple in his left cheek appears again, and it’s a rare sight — one to always makes you wonder if this is genuine amusement or just another mask he wears.

"Actually I needed you to kill someone for me, vipère,” he rebukes, dismissive of your notations of sentimentality. A small sound whistles past his teeth, his eyes narrowing down on you when he halts in front of you, his chest bumping into the muzzle of the gun. The pearly white of his dress shirt cuts for a bleak contrast to your sleek, black pistol. “Your sneaky ways have proven to be... most useful."

His voice lowers, dripping towards a lulling, beguiling thing. He slants his head lower, near blending into the shadows of the room where you were searching for more information about your current mark just moments prior.

"Yeah, right," you huff, unimpressed.

"Does it surprise you?” he wonders curiously, his cologne tickling your nose when he slants even closer, still towering over you. And you know his cologne — so damn well, you know it in your marrow — know how it smells when it’s faded and muted. When you nudge your nose against the juncture of his throat, burying yourself in him. Greedy or not, you always stole his warmth. And for some reason he always permitted it. Perhaps he found some begrudging amusement in moments of lingering contact and intimacy between you. For a man who might as well be carved from ice, he knows exactly how to make you burn. “The idea that I think you're my person? A trustworthy contact? You'll always be the one I go to."

Your arm lowers at long last, making you peer up at him from under your lashes. Consider him. Jean’s mouth rests slightly agape, his breaths slowing, slowing, slowing — matching yours, you realise suddenly, ignoring the pinprick of desire at the base of your neck. His proximity chips at your guard and you lean closer too. Alone in this dark room, alone in this world, two solitary figures occasionally passing by each other. In these rare instances of proximity, it’s easy to forget your loneliness. Easy to pretend you’re one and the same.

Your fingers slither up his chest and towards his neck. To kiss him you would have to stretch your limbs and muscles. This you know intimately. If only because you know exactly how his body fits against yours. And what an odd thought it is — to know that where there is fear and unease with others, there’s only need to be closer with him. Every cell in your body seems to hum at the mental image; eager to agree, eager to indulge. The idea of sampling more of him, tangling yourself further in the spider’s web is too tempting. Too enticing. Jean inclines into you. Your escape, hideaway, so dissimilar to how the dessert felt. Like a gilded cage. A makebelieve. With him though it feels…

Your breaths mingle, intertwining, neither of you breaking the eye contact first. He doesn’t allow you a single inhale without devouring every micro quiver of your lips.

"Nice try,” you exhale knowingly before your mouths can touch, leaning back with a saccharine grin. Your fingertips tease over the heated skin of his neck despite the broken spell. It thrills you, the tension of strong tendons you feel there, pulled tauter by your prodding. “Now why are you really here?"

For a single instance, you think Jean will continue his pretence, his unending fictitious act. Mock you further with yet another agreeable mask he shows everyone else. But a flicker, and then his charm melts into something more cunning, crueller, yet somehow — impossibly — even hungrier and darker than before. He’s still too close, too physically there; next to you, in you, like a splinter you can’t get out. Or want to.

Unravelling of a facade packaged in a span of a second, a heartbeat.

"I need him alive, V."

His voice drips from honey to dark velvet. Teasing, seductive promise. Jean’s fingers drag against the curve of your jaw as he speaks, his touch inveigling but you’ve danced this dance before. He should know better than to expect easy prey by now.

"And I need him dead,” you snip back, cupping his cheek in return, scraping your fingers against the dark stubble against his jaw with an innocent tilt of your head. Sometimes you hate it — the way he’s able to rip out something darker in you, more chillingly untamed. Jean is a paradox, a tempest blowing against the ruleset. So often being beside him makes you recklessly want to do the same. “So if you're after something, I suggest you work quicker, Jean."

There’s a split second in which you think he might flip on you the way he’s done on so many others. A warm, inviting smile — all charisma and magnetism, toothy and wide — seconds before he plants a bullet in your body. You’ve seen him do it so many times in the past your head spins. In part from wondering if he will give you one last kiss before he pulls the trigger, or if he really believes you will not take him down with you if he attempts it.

"If I get the information I need by sunrise, have dinner with me tomorrow."

His thumb nudges against the curve of your bottom lip. Rough yet gentle, sensuous yet treacherous. He’s so used to getting his way you want to refuse him out of principle alone if nothing else. It’s rather enjoyable — in a dark, cruel way — to deny him, to see how many masks he can flip through until only his own face remains. You've yet to see such a day.

"There's a distinct lack of a question mark in that statement," you note coolly.

The tension between you sits like a physical weight. Overbearing and thick; you glimpse all the things he’s doing to you inside his mind already. His fingers digging into your hips, hoisting you into his strong arms. A hiss of searing breath against your ear, teeth against your neck, animalistic, skin against skin. Sweat and filth and passion. You’ve healed during your stay at the dessert. He can see it in you. A part of you has transformed, shed your old, torn skin — he’s certainly coaxed and encouraged this change in you prior. It had become a particular interest of his once John departed.

Bury your past, vipère, it doesn’t serve you anymore.

Glaciers of his gaze thaw and spark into a sapphire flame the longer you gaze at one another, hungry and wanting. Jean’s angular, virile features tighten with restraint but he doesn’t crack, a faint grin still lingering in place.

"I'm not going to grovel at your feet, vipère,” he says, his words ringing deeper and sultry, near gravelly. A knife’s edge, really, razor-sharp against your fragile pulse. His fingers trace the contours of your parted mouth, and you sense his breath when he nudges close. The scent of tobacco and red wine still lingers on his own lips muddying your honed senses. “It's not in my nature to do so. If I want something, I go for it."

And for some reason it’s him — him you lean into, him you don’t shun or snarl at when he touches you. So intimately. Painting you with his hands anew — bloody hands of a murderous man, a liar and a cheat.

Your lashes flutter. "And here I thought you liked games."

"Only the ones I win,” he breathes hotly, his teeth gleaming, a wolf’s jaws open for devouring. His large palm slips to cup your face, bracing against your cheek, steadying you. Your mouths are almost touching, almost kissing, almost biting. “And you... are... most certainly a game I'm happy to play every time, ma vipère.”

The last part — wanton and just a touch possessive, throaty with a heavier accent — scrapes against the shell of your ear. Hot, wet exhales of oxygen skitter against the curve of your neck and it leaves you shuddering against him. Jean grins into your skin at the small victory, his mouth flitting over your beating pulse in reward. Once, twice. He’s not touching you further, and you grind your jaw to prevent yourself from touching him in return.

Always the game of who will give in first.

When he realises you’re not about to hand him his victory as he no doubt hoped you would, he pulls back, a flash of teeth visible in the darkness. Lights from the street outside illuminate his handsome features when he moves back. His eyes drink in your form, from head to toe, his thumb swiping over his own mouth slowly. It coils your stomach when you realise it’s the same hand he touched your mouth with.

An indirect kiss to taste you. Despite your controlled expression, you feel that distant kiss as if he were smearing your mouth with his until your edges blurred with his.

“Dinner will be at 8 pm sharp. Don't be late,” he instructs, low and smooth, his voice still scratchy with hunger. He pivots to go but pauses midturn, glancing at you over his shoulder while his hand slips into his slacks. “Oh, and do wear red. You always look so fetching in that colour. And it looks ever-so pretty on my bedroom floor."

#original writing #spilled prose #original prose #oc x reader #oc writing #writing #s: almost love #c: jean #head empty - only they!!! #ngl kinda proud of how this one turned out so hope you enjoy anon!!!

[purrincess-chat]

Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s Spite Playlist: Remix CH12

It’s ya boooooy! Malin is here!! Super huge shout out to @salty-french-fry for bringing him to life. I commissioned her to draw all of my OC hero babies, so you can see Malin in all of his anime boy glory here! We stan a trans bicon. And for those who are unaware, Malin is another name for fox in French, but like with the connotation of calling someone sly or tricky. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I tweaked it quite a bit from the original. ;)

Previous     First      Next     AO3

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Chapter 12: WTF Do I Know

“I know our duty is to the city, but I can’t help these feelings stirring my heart. Every time I see her brilliant blue eyes shining in the moonlight, I am overcome with passion and admiration. She truly is Miraculous.” Eliott looked to Marinette sitting cross-legged on the floor for approval. “How was that?”

“Incredible! You really have Chat Noir down,” she said.

Eliott rubbed the back of his neck. “Thanks, but I still feel like I could do better. Opening night is only a week away, and I’m playing one of the leads. Everything has to be perfect.” He paced the length of the stage, adjusting his black mask.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine. You make a wonderfully convincing Chat Noir.” She assured him—and she should know.

“Wonderfully convincing isn’t perfect. This play is a tribute to Ladybug and Chat Noir’s triumph on Heroes’ Day. If I screw up then I’ll be dishonoring them.” He turned and gestured to the impressive backdrop of the Eiffel Tower.

“No, you won’t.” Marinette stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’re an amazing actor, and I know you’re gonna kill it.”

“Places in five everyone!” The director swept through the stage.

Stagehands rushed around the set. Costume designers made last-minute alterations, and each prop was meticulously tested and placed for ease of access during scene changes. Marinette never realized how chaotic theater was behind the scenes.

Eliott let a deep breath past his lips, and Marinette offered him a smile. “I’ll be watching in the audience. You’re gonna do great.”

“Thanks, Marinette,” he said. “And thanks for coming to watch our dress rehearsal.”

“Thanks for inviting me.”

“Sorry I’m so crazy about everything, I just want to be the best.” He fiddled with his gloves. “I’ve been studying English since I was little because my dream is to perform on Broadway. I know it’s a long shot, but it’s what I’ve wanted ever since my grandma and I watched a play together when I was a kid.”

“You’ll get there, and I’ll be sitting in the front row with Macy, Martin, and Adrien.”

Eliott smiled at that, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles. “I actually owe you, Marinette. You’ve helped me a lot as an actor since we met.”

“Me? How?”

“You taught me to take risks. Before I met you, I was just coasting through life, staying out of the way, playing it safe, but now I can stand up for other people and speak out,” he explained. “You helped me find the courage to step outside my comfort zone.”

Her cheeks burned, but she smiled at the sentiment. All of her new friends gave praise so easily—something Marinette wasn’t used to. Helping others wasn’t about getting rewarded, and in most cases, the attention just made her squirm. She helped her friends because she cared. Although, even if their compliments embarrassed her, it was nice to know she was appreciated.

“Watch where you’re going!” A nasally voice grabbed their attention.

“Sorry!” A tiny stagehand shrank under the icy glare of her aggressor.

Eliott sprang into action to diffuse the situation. “Margot, is there a problem?”

“She bumped into me! Can you imagine if I had fallen and broken my wrist a week before opening night? How can I play Ladybug with a broken wrist?” Margot shouted.

Eliott stepped between her and the stagehand, holding up defensive hands. “I’m sure it was just an accident. No one got hurt, so why don’t you go cool off? We’re almost ready to start.”

“Ugh, whatever. Just stay out of my way!”

As she stalked off, Eliott turned to the small girl. “Are you okay, Lisette?”

“You know my name?” Her eyes widened.

“Of course. You hand me my props before I go on stage,” he said. “Don’t let Margot get to you. She’s just nervous because the show is in a week, and it’s her first time playing a lead.”

“It was my fault. I wasn’t watching where I was going,” Lisette said.

Eliott tucked a strand of her blonde hair back into place, brushing her cheek with his thumb. “Hey, don’t worry about it. We’re all a little high strung right now.”

“You’re not.”

Eliott flashed her a playful grin. “I’m a good actor.”

“I know,” she said, and when Eliott quirked a brow she fumbled to add, “I-I’ve kind of had to watch you for the past several months. You’re really good.”

“Wow, thanks, Lisette. I’m flattered that a pretty girl like you is a fan of mine,” Eliott said.

Her cheeks flushed, and she gave a small nod before scurrying off to her position at the director’s order.

Marinette couldn’t help the smile on her lips as Eliott found his mark and took a few deep breaths to center himself. He’d grown a lot since they met, and if someone had to play Chat Noir, she was glad it was him. She’d been uncertain at first, but Eliott really was worthy of being a hero, even if his costar was the worst. How could they cast such a brat to play Ladybug?

Taking her seat in the audience, Marinette thought back to her encounter with Gabrielle several nights prior. True to her word, Gabrielle hadn’t bothered them since, but what she was doing out on her own like that? And what was up with the apron in her bag? Something fishy was going on with her, but at least she was keeping her word. It was about time Marinette got some peace and quiet.

♪♫♪ I’m Not Calling You a Liar ♪♫♪

When the school bell rang, Alya remained seated, lips pursed. Her other classmates gathered their backpacks, eager to enjoy their weekend plans. Adrien paid her no mind as he slung his bag over his shoulder and followed everyone else out. They hadn’t spoken since their last encounter, and Alya still wasn’t sure what to think. He sounded so sure of himself. After being friends with Marinette, she knew far more about Adrien Agreste than she ever cared to, and truthfully, Alya didn’t think he was capable of being malicious.

Don’t believe everything Lila tells you. Be a journalist. Investigate.

But how? It’s not like Alya could just call up a bunch of celebrities and foreign princes to ask them to corroborate all of Lila’s stories, and even if she could, what would Lila think if they proved Adrien wrong? Or worse, what would Alya think if they proved him right? If they proved Marinette right…

It had been two weeks since she left. Two weeks since they… Alya had been hurt at first, and her heart still ached thinking about it now. In the grand scheme of things, she hadn’t known Marinette that long—only a few months—so it was possible that there were things Alya didn’t know about her. Dark secrets she kept hidden. But if that were possible for Marinette, couldn’t the same be true for Lila? And why was Alya so afraid to go looking?

“Alya? Did you hear me?”

She blinked out of her trance. “Sorry, what?”

“You’ve been awfully spacey lately,” Lila remarked. “I was just saying that I have an important meeting today with my youth ambassadors committee. Clara Nightingale has promised to sponsor our clean water initiative, and today’s the only day we can meet with her. Is there any way you can take care of that thing Mlle. Bustier needed for me?”

Don’t believe her.

“Actually, Lila, I have to go pick up my little sisters because Nora has practice this afternoon, and Mlle. Bustier did ask you to do it,” Alya said.

Lila’s eyebrows raised, but just as quickly, she puckered her lips into a pout. “Is there any way you could have Nino pick up your sisters? This meeting is really important.”

“Nino promised Juleka he’d help Kitty Section with their sound system today so they can practice before their gig this weekend.” Her heart pounded as Lila’s lip twitched.

“I mean, I guess I can put off my meeting. Those kids in India will just have to go a little while longer without clean drinking water…” Lila eyed her.

“Ya know, if you’re too busy to keep up with your class rep stuff, you can always tell Mlle. Bustier to let us elect someone else. I’m sure everyone would understand,” Alya said pointedly.

“And let Chloe become the class rep again? I couldn’t do that to you guys.” Lila shook her head.

“True, but I can’t cover for you all the time. I have my own stuff going on. Maybe I’m not saving third world countries, but sometimes I have a life to live too,” Alya said. “You were elected to do all of this, you know.”

“No, I understand,” Lila sighed. “I’ve been putting too much pressure on you to do my job. It’s just so hard to juggle going to school and saving the world. I’ll figure out a way to do it for all of you because you’re my friends, and my friends are just as important to me as any starving, third-world country.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear that you’ll be putting in more effort.” Alya stood up. “Have a good weekend.”

“Oh, I’m sure my weekend will be better than those thirsty children in Iran.”

Alya stopped in the doorway. “Don’t you mean in India?”

“What?”

“Earlier you said the meeting was for children in India. Now you just said Iran,” Alya said.

“Oh, yeah, that’s what I meant,” Lila said. “I have a different thing for Iran next week. It’s hard to keep everything straight when you’re so busy.”

“Right.” Alya’s eyes narrowed. “Well, good luck.”

“Give your sisters a hug for me!”

Alya’s hands shook as she headed up the hall. It was probably nothing, just a simple mix up like she said, but… Given the circumstances, it was a little suspicious. One thing was certain: Alya would be keeping an eye on her.

♪♫♪ Thnks fr th Mmrs ♪♫♪

“Your rehearsal was amazing,” Marinette said afterward over tea. “Well, except for Margot’s prop mishap. I thought she was going to have a meltdown.”

Eliott stirred his drink with a smirk. “She’s a great actress until something goes wrong,” he chuckled. “I just feel bad for Lisette. She looked like she wanted to kill her.”

“Speaking of Lisette…” Marinette gave him a knowing look. “I think she might have a crush on you.”

“Lisette? Nah.” Eliott averted his gaze, taking a sip of his tea. “I’m not anyone important. There’s no way she’d be into me.”

“That’s not true. You’re an amazing actor,” Marinette said. “I mean that, you don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Thanks, I guess the thought of someone liking me just makes me nervous.” He bit his lip.

“Come on. You flirt with everyone all the time,” Marinette said. “You flirted with me on my first day of school.”

“Flirting is different. Just because I flirt with people doesn’t mean they have to like me back,” he said, then biting his lip, added, “Do you really think she likes me?”

“As someone who struggles to get two coherent sentences out around the boy she likes, I think she likes you more than you know,” Marinette said.

“Speaking of… You and Adrien sure seem to get along.” He sipped his tea with a satisfied smirk as Marinette’s cheeks burned. He didn’t waste any time flipping the script, but it was her fault for opening that door.

“Oh, do we? I mean, of course we do. We’re just friends, I don’t have feelings for him at all,” she said with a nervous titter.

“I never said you did,” Eliott said.

“Oh, um, yeah, well then I- don’t tell Macy.” She hung her head in defeat.

“Your secret’s safe with me.” He shrugged. “But you don’t have to worry about Macy’s crush. It’s superficial. She fixates on some famous guy for a while, then moves on when something new catches her eye.”

Marinette relaxed. “Good. I’ve just liked Adrien for a long time, and ever since I left my old school, he’s been paying more attention to me, so…I don’t want it to come between us.”

“Nah, I’m sure if she knew she’d back off,” Eliott assured her. “She’s extremely loyal to her friends and would never try to take away something you wanted even if she wants it too. One time she and I argued for twenty minutes because she convinced herself I wanted the last cookie on the plate. We ended up breaking it in half.”

“That’s a relief.” Marinette let out a breath.

“Though I do have to wonder which sounds better, Marinette Agreste or Adrien Dupain-Cheng?”

Marinette nearly choked on her tea. “Eliott!”

“I’m kinda partial to Adrien Dupain-Cheng myself.”

“Stop!” She covered her face, cheeks burning, and Eliott threw his head back with a laugh.

A herd of people stampeded up the sidewalk right before a loud crash sounded a few blocks over. Debris fell from the ceiling, and Eliott tackled Marinette to the ground, cradling her head.

“That sounded close, we should run.” He pulled her to her feet. “My yacht isn’t far from here, we can hide there.”

As much as she hated to do it, Marinette needed to get away. Gradually, she let herself slip from his grasp in the crowd. Eliott turned over his shoulder in an attempt to reach her again, but too many people stood between them.

“Marinette!”

“Go! I’ll catch up,” she called.

His eyebrows furrowed worriedly, but he pressed on without question.

Marinette ducked into a nearby alley and opened her purse. “Ready, Tikki? Transform me!”

Ladybug tossed her yoyo across the street, tugging the slack and launching herself into the rooftops. Racing down the row of buildings, she followed the civilian trail to the scene of the attack. Overturned cars and broken windows signaled that she was on the right track, and she arrived at the same time as Chat Noir.

“Well, well we meet again, m’lady.” His flirtatious lilt echoed between the buildings as he staff-coptered down to join her.

“I would hope so since saving the city is our job.” She flicked his bell. “I think it’s about time we clocked in, don’t you?”

“Ladies first.” Chat Noir bowed as Ladybug tossed her yoyo and shot into action. “Don’t mean to interrupt your tirade, but I’m gonna need to see some license and registration for that car,” he said as they landed. “What’s the matter? Rough break up?”

The akuma turned to them with a growl, tossing the car aside, and Ladybug spotted a small blonde girl cowering underneath.

“Civilian alert!”

“On it.” Chat Noir charged forward, brandishing his staff.

“Ladybug! Chat Noir! I am Showstopper, and I’m about to give Paris the performance of a lifetime after I get rid of her.”

The small girl on the ground cowered under Showstopper’s glare, her blonde buns oddly familiar…

Ladybug gasped. “That’s Lisette which means Showstopper must be Margot! She really was upset by that mistake.”

Lisette attempted to run, but Showstopper served a ball of light at her with the tennis racket—the lucky charm prop from the play and likely where the akuma was hiding. The attack froze Lisette in place, but before Showstopper could make her next move, she blocked a blow from Chat Noir’s staff. A few seconds passed, and the magic faded, sending Lisette toppling forward.

“So that’s it,” Ladybug said, then to Chat Noir called, “Don’t let her hit you, or she’ll freeze you for a few seconds!”

“Got it!” He dodged an orb.

Once Showstopper drove him back several paces, she dashed after Lisette, launching a bus to the end of the street to block the exit.

“Going somewhere?”

“No, but you are.” Ladybug hooked her yoyo around Showstopper’s ankle. Showstopper lobbed several orbs at her before she could pull the slack, and Ladybug backflipped out of the way, diving for cover with Chat Noir behind two flipped cars.

“We need a plan to get that girl out of here.” He peeked over the side.  

Ladybug palmed her yoyo. “Lucky Charm!” Her eyebrows raised as a paper lantern landed in her hands.

“Oh great, you can light the way for her to wreck that girl,” Chat Noir said.

Ladybug pursed her lips contemplatively. “I need to go to Master Fu,” she said. “Can you handle things until I get back?”

“Just don’t keep me waiting too long.” Chat Noir nodded before they broke off.

Leaving in the middle of a battle was always risky, but this wasn’t a fight they could win alone. She just hoped that she could find an ally in time.

“Master Fu?” Marinette knocked, peeking her head inside.

“What is it, Marinette?” He glanced up from his book.

“I need to borrow a Miraculous to win this battle.”

Master Fu retrieved the Miracle Box from the phonograph and placed it on the mat in front of her. “Have you found someone you trust to wield it?”

Marinette contemplated her choices carefully, running strategies in her head. After she and Alya split up, she wasn’t sure she’d ever trust someone enough to replace Rena Rouge, but her new friends proved her wrong. Taking a deep breath, she nodded and reached for the fox. “I know exactly who to pick, and I won’t let you down this time.”

Master Fu offered her one of his proud, grandfatherly smiles. “You never have. I have always had faith in you, Marinette.”

Her chest swirled with pride as she stood up. “Transform me.”

Eliott’s yacht was empty when Ladybug touched down on the deck. He told Marinette to hide there, so she’d been certain it was where he’d be. Then again, Eliott wasn’t the same cowardly boy he’d been when they met, and he didn’t turn his back on a friend. She knew where to find him.

“Marinette?” His voice echoed between the buildings of the abandoned street, and he flinched when Ladybug landed behind him. “Ladybug! Thank goodness, have you seen my friend Marinette? We got separated, and I told her to meet at my yacht, but-”

“Don’t worry. She’s safe,” Ladybug said. “Actually, I need your help.”

“My help?” He arched a brow. “I mean, sure, I'll do anything.”

“Eliott Chasse, this is the Miraculous of the fox which grants the power of illusion. You will use it to fight for the greater good.” She extended the box to him.

“Whoa, you're giving me a Miraculous?” he gasped. “But wait, why me? What happened to Rena Rouge?”

“She's...not around.” Ladybug averted her gaze. “Will you help me?”

“I-I dunno. I think my friend Marinette would be way better at this than me.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Eliott…” Ladybug smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You are the right person for this job. Have courage and believe in yourself. That's all you need to be a superhero.”

Eliott pressed his lips together, then accepted the box with a nod. Shielding his eyes from the bright light, he gaped in disbelief as Trixx materialized. “Whoa!”

“My name’s Trixx. I’m a kwami, and if you want to transform all you have to say is ‘Trixx, transform me!’” she explained as Eliott fastened the clasp of the necklace.

“Alright then. Trixx, transform me!” When the orange light faded, Eliott examined his orange and white suit with wide eyes. “Wait, is this really happening?”

“Do you know how your powers work?” Ladybug asked. There was no time to waste.

“Of course. I studied news footage in preparation for my role as Chat Noir in an upcoming play. I wanted to accurately portray the team's dynamic,” he said.

“Good, then follow me.”

Ladybug tossed her yoyo and shot off. Eliott hesitated only briefly, taking a few steps before leaping over the building after her. He touched down lightly beside her before they shot off again.

“I know it's a lot to take in, but we don't have a lot of time,” Ladybug said. She pulled up the news coverage of the akuma. Showstopper had taken the battle all the way to the Eiffel Tower. She skidded to a stop behind a chimney and closed her yoyo. “Hmm…Lucky Charm!”

“A bottle of soap? At least the villain will be squeaky clean?” Eliott shrugged.

Ladybug turned it over in her hands, a plan forming in her mind. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do.”

- - -

Showstopper held a frozen Lisette over the edge, and Chat Noir held up defensive hands as he attempted to negotiate.

“Hand over your Miraculous, or I'll drop her!”

“Maybe we can come to a compromise,” he reasoned, but Showstopper was in no mood.

“You have five seconds. One!”

“There has to be something else you want.”

“Two.”

“After all this is murder we're talking about.”

“Three!”

“I'm sure she didn't mean any harm.”

“Four!”

“Ladybug, hurry up!”

“Five!”

Before Chat could react, Showstopper released her grip, sending Lisette plunging toward her doom. Chat Noir attempted to dive after her, but Showstopper pitched another orb at him. To his relief, Ladybug swung in to deflect it just in time, but there was no time for gratitude.

“Ladybug! The girl!”

“Already taken care of,” she assured him.

- - -

Lisette unfroze midway down, eyes widening in fear as the ground grew closer. Just as a scream reached her throat, Eliott caught her, carrying her safely back to the Eiffel Tower. Her screams echoed across the bars as she clung to him for dear life, but they quieted the moment she looked into his eyes.

“Falling from heaven, angel?” He set her down gently. “Stay hidden. Showstopper can't see you if we want our plan to work.”

She blinked in shock, cheeks flushing. “Wait!” She caught his wrist as he turned to leave. “W-Who are you?”

“Uh… Call me Malin.” He winked, giving a two-finger salute before leaping up to the rafters.

Malin summoned his Mirage on the way up, cheeks still hot. Now wasn’t the time to worry about what Lisette thought of him. First, he needed to save her.

“You're too late!” Showstopper proclaimed, and Malin cleared his throat.

“Are we?” He clocked a brow.

Showstopper spun around where Malin held his fake damsel. “No!” she growled.

“New friend?” Chat Noir sized him up.

“I'll tell you later,” Ladybug said.

Malin set his illusion free with instructions to run, and as expected, Showstopper gave chase. Ladybug really was a wizard at coming up with plans. When Chat Noir moved to follow, Malin stepped in front of him with a wink.

“Who are you?” he asked, eyes narrowing.

“Name's Malin, and you are one foxy feline in person, Chat Noir.” He looked him up and down.

“Less flirting, more running. Phase two,” Ladybug ordered. “Kitty, follow me and get ready to use your Cataclysm. Malin, you know what to do.”

“On it.” Malin nodded, leaping back over the edge with a whoop.

Showstopper pursued the fake Lisette to the second-floor restaurants, falling right into their trap. She skidded against the soapy floor as Malin's illusion faded before her eyes. A broom perched between two chairs clotheslined her, sending her tennis racket flying from her grasp right into Chat Noir's waiting Cataclysm.

Malin helped Margot up as Ladybug captured the akuma and returned everything to normal. “Seriously, losing your cool over a prop malfunction is so lame.” He chided. “You're playing Ladybug, so my suggestion is: take a lesson from the real thing and let go of that bad energy.”

Lisette peeked up from the stairs timidly, pacing over to join them. “I'm sorry your yoyo string was tangled. I should have checked it,” she said.

“Yeah, whatever.” Margot rolled her eyes. “Sorry I tried to throw you off the Eiffel Tower.”

“Technically, you did throw her off the Eiffel Tower,” Chat Noir said pointedly.

“You were awesome, Malin.” Ladybug nudged him with her elbow.

“It was your plan, all I did was help.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

Ladybug shook her head. “You saved this girl, and we couldn't have done it without you. Be proud. You're a true superhero.”

Malin bit back a smile, surveying his suit and squaring his shoulders with a new sense of purpose. Ladybug was right. He had his doubts when she asked him because he still had a long way to go before he would consider himself an actual hero. If anyone deserved the title without a Miraculous, it was Marinette, and he owed this opportunity to her. He never would have had the courage to accept Ladybug’s offer without her. It was a shame she’d never know how much she truly changed his life. Maybe one day he could tell her this secret, but for now, he’d wear his secret identity like an invisible badge of honor.

“Pound it!” The three heroes said in unison.

Malin turned to Lisette and bowed formally. “Perhaps I will save you again someday,” he said.

Lisette bit her lip before stretching up to kiss his cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Ladybug took his wrist and toted him off as a dopey grin spread across his lips. They retreated to a private corner at the base of the tower, and Malin returned the necklace to Ladybug. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Eliott shifted his gaze to his shoes with a sigh.

“What's wrong?” Ladybug asked.

“Nothing, just… Lisette kissed Malin, not Eliott.” He kicked at the ground.

“You really like her, don't you?” Ladybug asked.

Eliott flinched, rubbing the back of his neck. That morning the thought of falling in love with someone terrified him, but now… Maybe he hadn’t come down from his heroic high, but with Lisette’s kiss still burning on his cheek, he smiled.

“Yeah, I do,” he said.

“Well, Malin is very charming, but I think she might need someone to walk her home. Think Eliott can handle that?” Ladybug pointed to where Lisette was stepping off the elevator.

Have courage and believe in yourself.

On any other day, the fear of rejection would have convinced him to walk away, and maybe tomorrow it would. But today, today he wasn’t afraid.

“Lisette! Wait up.”

#marinette dupain-cheng's spite playlist #marinette dupain-cheng's spite playlist remix #mdcsp #mdcspr #my writing #cats ocs

[unmaskedagain]

Raise yourselves up (We’re done)

Two prompts in one; let’s do this. I tweaked the ideas a bit though.

 It was Bustier who broke the news to Marinette and Chloe, and she did it once again the most inappropriate fashion, “-And so the class feels it would be best if both of you were excluded from the class trip at the end of the year.” She finished. The class was just about to let out and she told the two girls in front of them all.

There were mean snickers and smug looks from the other students. The ones who just avoid the girls’ gazes; Adrien, Juleka, and Rose. The three had decided to stay out of it and just side with the majority. Marinette and Chloe had become best friends after Lila had gotten her hooks into class the year before. She turned all of Marinette’s dearest friends to ex-friends and turned them into bullies. That was fine with Marinette. She was done with two-faced people; done with turn-coats, and cowards. Marinette didn’t need them. Or want them. Chloe at least had the guts to stand on her own two feet and for what she believed in. It was a new year and a new Marinette.

Neither blond nor bluenette blinked.

“That’s fine,” Marinette shrugged. “It will be a relief not to have to fundraise for the trip.”

Chloe smirked, “Ditto. A trip to New York City, completely unfunded by the school, is going to be a lot to pay for.”

“They’ll have plenty of time though,” Marinette hummed. “A little less than a year.” The two girls cast them cool looks, “Good luck!” They chimed as the bell rang.

No one understood why they didn’t react the way they thought. Alya had expected tears from Marinette. Rage from Chloe. Then apologies and promises to do better. In fact, they all did. But they didn’t get it. Instead, they were left wondering why the two girls laughed their way out of the classroom.

It would take them months to realize.

Both girls knew though. Chloe always managed to convince her parents to fund thirty percent of whatever grand trip the class took every year. Marinette managed to put together enough amazing fundraisers to raise sixty percent of the funds needed. Everyone else in class only ever managed to pull together the last ten percent. Barely.

The next day the brand new World Travelers’ Club announced their formation and invited anyone to join. A few members of the class perked up until they heard Marinette and Chloe were the presidents. Instead, the class bashed the club and joked it was the girls’ lame attempt at making friends.

That was the last they heard of the club.

To the rest of the students of Bustier’s class’s credit, they attempted right away to start fundraising plans. However, no one in the class knew just when they should start and no one had any unique ideas; they only had a car cash fundraiser, the usual bake sale, maybe a raffle. Standard stuff they were sure would work. After Marinette, the former class president, and resident bully as far as they were concerned, always started off with those. Never realizing that she only started out with them at the very beginning of the year, and never stopped there. Nor did they realize just how much planning went into each event.

 The class's first event was a car wash in November. It was a poor idea, as the weather had begun to take a turn for the worst and barely any cars showed up. They hosted it at the school figuring people would want to help out school children. Nino played music. And all the friends had a blast. But the kids made a total of 143 dollars a days’ worth of work. They vowed their next fundraiser would be better.

During the two months, Marinette and Chloe and the rest of the World Travelers’ club; Kagami, Claude, Aurore, Marc, Luka, Ondine, and a bunch of other students who always wanted to see the world fundraised like crazy. They decided that their class trip would be to six different places; Los Angeles, Star City, Central City, Metropolis, Gotham, and finally New York City. It would be a tour.  They would spend two weeks in each city, touring and visiting, before moving on to the next. Each city had its own highlights and hotels that need to be arranged and paid for. Marinette did the math; they would need to raise a little less than $35,000 to pay for everything. She made it an even $40,000 to be safe.

Marinette set up a go fund me page an hour later. It wouldn’t be easy but Marinette knew they could do it if they worked hard and fast. (She only half-heartedly glared at Chloe when two grand mysteriously was donated to the club’s go-fund-me five minutes after she announced it the class. She did glare when Jagged and Clara both gave five grand each to their favorite designer and faux-niece. But stopped when Kagami said her mother was also donating $3,000 to the club.)

A week after the club’s formation, they had their first fundraiser. A car wash. Marinette knew it was best to get that one done as soon as possible while the summer heat was still around. It went great. They had it at a local park. Chloe played music off her phone. During the event, they sold ice cream and other cold sweets. Ondine had the great idea of selling full water balloons to children so they could run around. Marc sold quick funny Caricatures of customers. They raised a total of $2752, minus the two hundred for expenses that Chloe and Mariette fronted themselves.

The second fundraiser Bustier’s class held was a bake sale. It was in the middle of December and more or less a last-minute idea. Alya spearheaded the event, remembering how much money they pulled in from the last bake sale. She had the smart idea of doing it during a pep rally. Only to remember at the last minute that Marinette usually supplied all the best goods freely given from the bakery. Or made them herself. It didn’t take a genius to know that Alya nor any of the class would be welcome in the bakery based on the cold looks Tom and Sabine had given Alya last time she went in with her mother. So Alya declared all the kids would make their own goods.

…Four people got food poisoning; one of them was Kim. Most of the baked goods were dry and hard and virtually unappealing. Rose’s sugar cookies sold well but mostly because they were one of the few things that tasted and looked good. The class made a total of 128 bucks. They were lucky they weren’t sued.

The World Travelers’ club’s second fundraiser was actually a pool party at Chloe’s. She had led the entire event. The weather was still hot. They got Luka and his new band My Shadow’s Wonderland to play; Kitty section had sadly broken up due to Lila’s schemes months before. The club members sold tickets to get in. They also sold food: hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers, ice cream, and funnel cakes. Kagami sold Balloon which caused her friends to do double-takes. Because Kagami knew how to make balloon animals, what in the world? Marinette and Marc did face paint and temp tattoos. Nearly everyone from school showed up. Even Bustier’s class, though they hadn’t seemed to realize The World travelers’ club was hosting. They earned a total of $3101. Marinette had long since learned the greatest trick of the fundraiser; don’t let make it obvious it’s a fundraiser. Make it fun and people would come.

Their third fundraiser happened two weeks later just at the beginning of October. It was Claude’s idea and he called it; “Can you Arcade it?” No laughed but he thought it was hilarious. They had got permission to use the gym to set up a video Gamers’ paradise. He got this idea when he heard the old arcade had finally shut down after Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone had opted to retire. He got the couple to donate the old game machine for a day to help them out. Claude only had to babysit their pet Parakeet for two weeks while they were out of town. Old arcade games line the walls. New games with TV borrowed from the club members were set up with the new game systems. They sold food and anything they thought a gamer would want. Aurore somehow got the local Taco Bell to sponsor the event so ever twenty minutes or so they had a deal with commercial playing in the background. This fundraiser attracted most parents with younger children; though a good percent was just nostalgic dads who ended up playing the games as much as the kids. $1700 was earned; most of it in quarters.

 Their next fundraiser happened at the end of October and it was a haunted house; or rather a haunted school. They teamed up with a few other clubs to put the event together. They didn’t earn that much money; $300 after it was split between the clubs. However, all the kids had a ton of fun.

When November hit, and the weather turned cold, and everyone wanted everything pumpkin spice. (And Bustier’s class first fundraiser was about to happen) Marinette held did her bake sale. She with the help of the other members of the club made all the sweets; for once she didn’t have to get her parents to donate the baked goods. In additional, Marinette and the gang sold handmade little dolls of Ladybug and Chat Noir and the new miraculous heroes that had replaced the last team. The dolls were a big hit. Such a hit that Chloe got the idea of marketing them online for a much better price. The fundraiser earned about $600 bucks which weren’t bad.

Chloe and Marinette started selling the dolls for $10 bucks each plus shipping and handling. Chloe and Marinette made the dolls. The others took care of the shipping part. The

dolls only cost 2 bucks to make, as they were mostly yarn, so they profited 8. Chloe said that was how the business made money.

By the time December hit, they were had raised more half of their overall target goal.

During the fundraisers, each kid used their own influence via social media to get people to go their Go-Fund-me page. Luka and his band, all of who members of the club anyway, used Youtube and Instagram to promote their bands also asked fans to make a donation. Aurore used her Ladybug site Bugout to ask her fans. Ondine did swim training videos did the same. Marc who did drawing tutorial asked too. They didn’t get a lot from; a dollar here, three there, maybe a five if they were lucky but every bit count.

Their next fundraiser was a raffle in one of the empty unsure ballrooms of Chloe’s hotel, and it happened not long before Christmas break. This was spearheaded by Aurore. The strategy was sound; most people were still rushing to get presents. All they have to do was bid on the item they want. She got local businesses to donate. A fancy dinner from one restaurant, a bouquet of roses, expensive perfumes, a massage chair; a bunch of gift cards of various stores. Chloe got her dad to donate two items a spa day and a luxury Spa weekend. Marc offered art lessons. He also auctioned off some of his portraits. Ondine offered swim lessons. Aurore got offered a meet-and-greet with Ladybug, who even showed up to make an appearance. Kagami offered sword fighting lessons. Luka offers guitar lessons. His bandmate, Naomi, offered drum lessons. Another girl, Bridgette offered piano lessons. Marinette offered her usually big-ticket item; a custom design by MDC. The night was a hit. Once again, Marinette’s item was one of the highest bid items of the night. All in all, the kids brought in a total of $4728.

January came and Bustier’s class decided it was time for another fundraiser. Just as the World’s traveler’s club decided it was time for a break. Though they still sold the dolls; which had brought in $1800 since they had started selling them; Ladybug and her crew apparent had fans all over the world. This meant by the time February hit, they had just over $10,000 left to raise and five months to do it. They would leave at the beginning of June. They already paid for all of their plane tickets and paid for their hotel rooms. All their tours booked and paid for. All reservations made. And then reconfirmed by a rather stern Chloe. Passports were bought.

Bustier’s fundraiser idea was once again headed by Alya, the new class president after Lila decline the role as she would be far too busy. Alya decided a raffle would be perfect. The one they did the year before had been amazing. Again, Alya forgot that Marinette and Chloe handled nearly everything which was why it was such a big hit. Alya had to use the school gym.

“It’s not like I’d ask Chloe,” Alya huffed to her boyfriend. “I’m just glad I won’t have to deal with her or Marinette on our trip.”

“You said it, babe,” Nino leaned back in his desk. “No need for that kind of drama.”

The raffle was their most successful fundraiser so far much to Alya smug face when Marinette and Chloe walked into class on Monday.  All the kids in the class participated and offered their own talents for use; offering lessons or gift cards from their parents' businesses. Their biggest hit was a picture and an autograph from Adrien Agreste.

“We raised over a thousand dollars,” Alya crossed her arms. A satisfied look on her face. She had worked hard. They had all worked hard. “Beat that!”

Marinette and Chloe shared a look before they literally fell to the ground laughing. “I can’t!” Chloe gasped for air. “I can’t breathe!”

Marinette struggled to contain herself, “This! I!” She couldn’t even get out the words. She was laughing so hard.

They didn’t even bother to pay the glares they received any attention. It was just too funny.

For the rest of the week, it was the running joke between them. Every now and then, the other students in the class would “Beat that!” And laughter from the back of the room.

February came and the kids decided in anticipation for Valentine ’s Day. They would do a Date Auction. It was Ondine’s idea and it was a huge success. Surprising considering it, it was supposed to be simple and easy and something to get them back into the fundraiser's mood after a month's breath. Most of the kids now had a strong online following and become popular among the youth of Paris for their awesome parties. So when word spread that the World Travelers’ Club was doing a date auction; a lot of students from school showed up. A lot of students from other schools showed up. One girl traveled from England specifically for Luka.

Marinette, followed by Chloe, Then Luka, then Kagami, then Aurore was the highest auctioned date of the night. Claude and Felix were both a little put out. Marc didn’t mind. Mostly because of the best looking guy at the auction bid on him.

All in all, they raised $2100.

The next fundraiser was in March. The spring warm weather had hit in full. Flowers were blooming. The fundraiser was a carnival Luka planned. Everyone set up carnival booths and games and fun prizes. Live music. They had it in on the school soccer field. A lot of parents with their kids showed up, looking for a family-friendly event to enjoy. Total they raised $2421.

Marinette’s dolls brought in an additional $900. Then it was official they only needed 5,000 more.

Bustier’s class tried another fundraiser; a dance party in the school gymnasium; hosted by Nino. They sold tickets to get in, snacks and drinks. They put off filers everywhere and did everything they could to promote the event. They made $750 dollars. And were proud.

 In April, the World travelers’ club did another bake sale and another car wash and a ping pong tournament was a really big hit for some reason. By the end of April, they had met their goals. All loose ends tied up. All the tickets bought. Permissions slip signed.  Four teachers, who were more than excited to volunteer to spend near all-expense-paid vacation in the most popular cities in the world, would be chaperoning. They were done.

By the first Monday of May, Chloe and Marinette breathed a sigh a relief as the stress had finally left their shoulders. The only thing they had to worry about was packing, and they had a month to do it.

The two girls once again arrived to see the smug grins of the classmates' faces. Bustier’s class had been fundraisers like crazy so much so that even the teacher was looking over her students proudly.

“We’ve raised $5,829,” Lila announced. The Italian girl looked smug as she had done al the work. “Fundraising was hard but we did what we had to.”

“Way better then we did under the last class president,” Alya hissed.

Marinette and Chloe looked at each other again. It was Chloe who spoke, “So you’re not going to New York?”

The question caught everyone off guard.

“What?” Alya hissed. “Of course we’re going to New York!”

Marinette sighed, “No, WE” She pointed between her and Chloe, “And the World Traveler’s club is going to New York and a bunch of other places. We raised over $40,000.” Most of the students turned green.

“$40- $40,000,” Nino stuttered. “What? how?”

“We worked hard, like we always,” Chloe flipped her hair. “That was our goal since September. Its how much it would cost to pay for the entire trip. For every member and required chaperones to go. Why? What was your goal?”

It went quiet. Alya spoke next, “Goal?”

           Again, Chloe and Marinette

“Goal,” Marinette nodded. “The amount you needed to fund the entire trip to New York?”

“We didn’t have a goal,” Rose answered.

The two girls stared at them.

“What airline are you using?” Chloe asked. “How much do the tickets cost?”

No answer.

“What hotel are you staying at?”

No answer.

“Did you get your passports yet?”

Nothing.

“Have you made any reservations?” Marinette asked. “Any down payments?” No answered. Just pale faces.

           Chloe just shook her head, “Did you at least get approval from the school board to clear the trip?”

“We need them to approve it?” Kim asked. “Why it’s our trip?”

“Safety and legal concerns,” Marinette said slowly. “It takes weeks to get approved. Permissions slips have to be signed and turned in. Chaperones found.”

“Miss Bustier’s our chaperone,” Mylene said brightly, and the teacher nodded eagerly.

           Marinette fought the urge to scoff. Bustier couldn’t chaperone a ping pong tournament. “Fine but with a class this size, you need at least two more. Maybe three.”

           Chloe crossed her arms, “How were you getting to New York? What were your plans? Did you book any tours? What were you going to do in New York?”

           No one said a word.

           Marinette smirked, “Good on you, I guess. You must have some killer fundraising ideas with only a month and a half until summer break.” She sighed. “I couldn’t do it myself. Way too much stress. The World Traveler’s club was killing ourselves since September to get everything done.”

“September,” Rose gasped. “Really.” She deflated. “We didn’t start till November, and the car wash was pretty bad.” There were nods.

“Yep,” Chloe said. “I think we did about fifteen or more fundraisers. Little ones and big ones. How many did you guys do?”

           Nino frowned, “Five.”

“We worked really hard, though!” Alix slammed her fist on the desk. “Nothing worked.”

           Marinette and Chloe shared another look.

“Shame,” Marinette said as they glided to their seats.

“Last year, the class did so well,” Chloe smirked. “Wonder what changed?”

“Nothing!” Alya shouted. “We did the same thing we do every year. Bake Sale, car wash, Raffle, Dance Party; everything!

           There were nods.

“It’s not fair!”

“We didn’t do anything wrong.”

           There more shouts and complaints.

           Bustier calmed everyone down, “Now class, let’s not give up hope. Our trip last year was a success. And I know we can pull it off again. What did we do then that we aren’t doing now?”

           The class went silent as they thought up what they were doing wrong. Surprisingly, it was Juleka who answered, “Marinette did most of the organizing,” She whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear; one of the few brave things she did all year. “Her and Chloe come up with all the fundraiser ideas and they plan them out too. They always did; every year.”

“This year they didn’t,” Rose frowned.

           And just like that, it was like that, it was like a balloon burst inside the students.

“They always plan the best fundraisers,” Kim frowned. “And we always met our goals.”

           Lila glared. She didn’t think that when she convinced the class to kick the girls off the trip that they’d be getting rid of anyone who did any real work. However, the glare quickly turned into a frown with a few crocodile tears, “Then we didn’t they help us? We needed them obviously.”

           Before any of the other students could direct their anger to the girls at their betrayal, Nino shrugged, “Because we told them they couldn’t come with us, remember? So they didn’t help out. They told us they wouldn’t. Why should they? It wasn’t their trip.”

           Frustration and rage built inside Alya. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. The class should’ve been headed to a glamorous trip to New York, with Marinette and Chloe left to suffer alone in Paris wishing they had been invited. Where was justice?

“I bet you're happy!” Alya growled at her ex-friend. “Our trip is ruined thanks to you.”

           Marinette smirked, “No. I didn’t do anything. I was and am in no way involved with your class trip. Just like you wanted.”

“You could’ve helped us!” Alix yelled.

“Why?” Chloe asked.

           Silence.

“You made it clear we couldn’t go to New York with you,” Chloe said. “Why would we help you? It’s not like we’re friends with you.”

           Angry eyes and red faces filled the classroom. No one wanted to admit that they got themselves into trouble.

           Alya had to be held back in her chair by Nino, “You could’ve warned me how hard being class president was. Or what we needed to do to go on the trip. But you didn’t care about us. You don’t think about us at all.”

           Marinette leaned back in her seat, an easy smile on her face, with frost in her eyes, “Sweetie, I haven’t thought any of you for months.”

           Before anyone could say anything else. Bustier decided to try to take control again, “Marinette, Chloe; there must be something you can do. Maybe the class can tag along on your trip.”

           Hopeful expressions overtook the students' faces.

           Both girls looked at the teacher like she was stupid.

“Even if that was possible,” Chloe narrowed her eyes. “And it’s not. We had everything booked for months, reservations made. How will they pay for it? We only raised enough for the World Travelers’ Club.”

           It was Adrien who answered, “Can’t you do something?” He said with hopeful eyes. “Our friends are really looking forward to it.”

“No.” Marinette snapped. “They are not my friends. And even if they were, it would take another 40 grand to get everyone in class on the trip. There’s no time to get that type of cash. Even if there was, it would still be weeks to get School board approval. The World Travelers’ leave on the first. There’s nothing to do.”

“We’re not risking our trip for yours,” Chloe and Marinette chimed together, looking very much like the Ice Queens the students had called them behind their backs.

           That was that. Alya and the other students would shoot glares at the two girls, and make mean comments for the next month; mostly about them being selfish. The girls didn’t pay them any mind. Lila tried to join the World Travelers’ club at the last minute, only to be unanimously told to come back in September. Damocles, at the urgency of Lila and Alya, tried to intervene and stop the trip the ground, it wouldn’t be safe. Boy, was he surprised when the school board called him into a meet to speak about his future employment and the rampant bullying and oversight that had been going on in the school.

           Bustier’s class ended up going to Disney World Paris for the weekend, before the end of May. And posted tons of videos, most of which had comments about getting away from bullies and the drama of the class.

           The World Travelers’ Club left on schedule on June 1st. They would return for two months.

           The pictures they posted was the talk of the school. Which was saying something since the school wasn’t even in session. The first pictures were of the grand hotels they stayed at, the amazing strange American food they ate. Carne Asada fries, yum!

           In Los Angelus, the club toured Warner Brothers studios and ran into the cast of the new Star Trek movies. They attended the world premiere of the Joss Weadon Superhero movie. They got all the classic tourist pictures of Los Angeles. Though Marinette and Chloe, when they had explored by themselves, ended up running into the Rock and had a picture of themselves hanging from his biceps as he posed.

           Their next stop was Star City. They toured the local museum, toured Queen Industries, met Oliver Queen himself. Then they even got to meet the Green Arrow.

           Alya nearly broke her phone when she saw Aurore and the superhero.

           After that, the Club went to Central city where they visited Star Labs.  It was Aurore’s idea. It was the most meta-filled city in the world; known for the most outrageous heroes and rogues in the world.

           It didn’t take long for the club to run into the flash, in this case, he was fighting against Captain Cold, Heatwave, and the rest of the rogues.

           The fight wasn’t favoring either side. But the class watched eagerly from where they stood on the sidewalk.

           They had to duck quickly when Captain cold was blasted into the wall next to them.

           Leonard Snart was surprised when a young girl helped him up. He looked and saw a bunch of kids standing there, torn between watching him and watching the fight.

“Are you okay, Mr. Cold?” She asked, with a heavy French accent, her blue eyes big with worry.

“…Fine, kid,” He answered. “Shouldn’t you lot being running off.”

           The bluenette and the blond girl next to her shared a look.

“Can we get a picture?” The Bluenette asked.

           Leonard Snart paused, “…Sure.” There was, in fact, a first time for everything.

           The kids cheered. And each one started scrambled with their phones to get their picture. It wasn’t long before Heatwave showed up to see what was wrong, only to be pulled in by a push blond to take pictures as well.

           That was when the flash Showed up but Aurore quickly pulled him into an interview. Slowly but surely, the rogues and the team flash found themselves entertaining and signing autographs for a bunch of French kids; answering all their questions and telling stories.

           Later when Aurore and the rest posted their pictures, and the interview with the Flash and his rogues, Alya did break her phone. As far as she was concerned life was fair.

           In metropolis, They met Superman, Supergirl, Krypton (the former superboy), and the new Superboy. Superman had heard from the other league members of the French class touring different cities and how great they were.

           They toured the Daily Planet and Aurore got one on one time with Lois Lane. They got to see LexCorp and had a tour given by Lex Luthor himself. Lex had heard about the class from Queen and Wells, the CEOs of Star Labs and Queen industries, and decided one-up his competition in any way he could

           Then the kids' wen to Gotham. The pictures from that trip made half the kids in Bustiers’ class cry. The best pictures were of Marinette sitting in the Batmobile; Batman looking stern next to her. The ones of the club with Bruce Wayne and his kids were pretty epic too.

           Finally, their lasts destination was New York City. And the kids saw everything. They did the entire tourist thing; The statue of liberty, times Square, New York Times. Everything. However, the highlight was the tour of Stark Tower/Industries; led by Tony Stark, with Pepper to manage him.  Because Tony Stark didn’t get one-upped by Lex Luthor or Bruce Wayne. Then the kids took a surprise trip to the Avengers compound.

           Marinette and Chloe decided walking into the training room only to see Captain America, Thor, and Bucky Barnes working out with their shirts off was the best part of the entire trip.

           Pictures and videos were taken of each member of the club holding various Avenger weapons. Chloe refused to admit her hand trembled when she was given over Captain America’s shield.

           The funniest video was supposed to be each member of the World Travels’ club struggling to pick up Thor’s hammer. It was pretty funny. Until Marinette lift it like it weighed nothing. Mouths dropped. The Avengers were stunned. Who was this small bluenette worthy of Thor’s hammer?

Then Thor shouted that Marinette would come to Asgard with him.

           Then Tony had to tell Thor that he couldn’t kidnap kids.

           To which Thor said, “What about Peter? Where did he come from?”

“I’m his mentor,” Tony groaned.

           Thor nodded, “Then I shall be the girl’s mentor. The Captain shall train young Chloe. Natasha will have Kagami as they are suited for each other; mostly because they strike fear in hearts everyone. Pepper will get Aurore; as they were meant to rule. Hawkeye will get Claude. The Soldier of Winter will get young Luka. You shall have Peter. The rest will be divided among the rest of the avengers. There. All done.”

           A moment of silence, and then Tony yelled, “That’s not how this works.”

           It was all on video.

           It went viral in an hour.

           Marinette had to portal back to Paris to deal with several different Akumas several different times; most were just about jealousy.

           When the kids returned to Paris. They wasted no time relaying the stories of their adventures.

           When September came and school started. Marinette and Chloe once again walked into class together, with smiles on their faces, only to meet glum looks on the students' faces. They paid no mind as they headed back to their seats in the back.

           Before class could begin, Rose approached them, a hopeful smile on her face, “Marinette, Chloe; we were hoping you’d come with us on your next trip.” Her smile widened “And Marinette, maybe you’d like to be class president again.”

           None of the other students looked happy at the idea but all of them could admit that the World Travelers’ club had been amazing. And if they ever wanted another great trip, they had no choice but to deal with the Ice Queens.

           Marinette and Chloe shared a look and then shot the class cold smirks, “No!”

“We’ll be far too busy,” Chloe smiled, coolness in her tone. “We decided we can no longer want to go on any more class trips. With you.”

“The World Travelers’ club takes a lot of work,” Marinette added.

“Good Luck though,” The two girls chimed together. “You have plenty of time to fundraise though.”

“A little less than a year,” Chloe said. “Our club starts planning in about two weeks. We’ll start fundraising right after. We’re thinking about Japan. Luckily this trip won’t be as expensive as our last.”

“Good luck with your trip though,” Marinette leaned back in her seat. “Who knows? If your lucky, it’ll be as fun as your last one. We know you worked so hard. Earned over $5,000 right?”

“Beat that!” Chloe added.

Then both girls burst into laughter.

Marinette wiped her eyes, “Besides you don’t want us there on your trip.”

“Too much Drama, right?” Chloe offered.

           The bell rang. And the class’ resident ice queens sat in back with smiles on their faces and ice in their eyes.

#ml salt #ml salt fic #Marinette deserves better #marinette dupen chang #chloe bourgeois #chloe deserves better #class salt #adrien salt

[hb-writes]

A Little Raven

Written in response to Hauntober prompt #15: Raven.

Summary: From the Little Lady Blinder universe! A chat between sisters-in-law followed by a chat between Lizzie and Tommy. This is a bit long and self-indulgent and might not be particularly consistent with canon but oh well. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Characters Featured: Lizzie Shelby, Clara Shelby (Shelby!Sister), Tommy Shelby

—–

“Frances said you wanted me first?” 

Lizzie turned from the window, allowing the passage of a brief smile as she glanced at her sister-in-law. Like her husband, Lizzie still saw a couple of kids when she looked at Clara and Finn, still saw the little girl who passed her time with books and papers while sitting on the stoop at Watery Lane, still saw the boy with a keen eye for mischief and a disposition towards unsanctioned sweets. She supposed those visions still held true. None of them were so different to be unrecognizable through the years. Some traits endured the transition to adulthood, no matter what transpired in the interim. 

Clara stripped out of her coat, placing it over the back of the chair before following Lizzie’s gaze out to the yard where Ruby and Charles played with the nanny, their squeals and laughter sharp and clear through the pane of the closed window. 

Clara sat in one of the armchairs, pulling her feet up and working on untying her boot laces while she waited. She was used to the reticent moments, used to people taking their time in revealing why she’d been summoned somewhere in the first place. She found it a pleasant change for Lizzie to be inviting her to the drawing-room for a visit rather than Tommy summoning her to his office for one of his chats, even if her sister-in-law was very clearly preoccupied.  

The thud of Clara’s shoes hitting the floor as she slipped them off her feet pulled Lizzie’s eyes towards her for a moment before she settled them on the girl’s discarded boots, understated but still expensive, something Tommy had probably paid for. 

Lizzie wasn’t ignoring her on purpose, Clara knew that. She was just distracted, caught up in her own thoughts, turning something over in her mind. Clara just wasn’t certain how she fit into those thoughts.

“Lizzie?” Clara said.

“Mmm?” Lizzie hummed, finally fixing her eyes on Clara.

“You did ask for me, right?” Clara said. 

“I suppose you’d prefer to go be with the children,” Lizzie mused. “Or to go say hello to your brother?” 

“Is he home already?” Clara asked, glancing down at the small watch on her wrist as she adjusted the clock face. It was barely past five.

Lizzie scoffed, gave a single shake of her head. Tommy was eternally late in coming home, and habitually premature in leaving it.

“Well, that leaves more time for us to catch up, then,” Clara offered, absently kneading the arch of her foot. “I came home to be with all of you, Lizzie.”

“Right, all of us,” Lizzie answered, sitting down in an adjacent armchair. “When’s the last time you saw all of us here, Clara? When’s the last time he graced us with his presence at a decent hour?”

It was the previous Sunday, Clara remembered, and he’d come out of his office just before dinner, played with Charles and Ruby a bit before eating with Clara, Lizzie, and the kids, but Clara had the feeling Lizzie didn’t want to be reminded of that.

“Did you talk to him?” Clara asked.

Lizzie took a deep breath and nearly gagged, feeling as though she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from conjuring up the contents of her latest meal, the sick feeling in her stomach beyond the typical bout of morning sickness, more of a nauseating dread which had settled in the pit of her stomach.

The last time she’d been here, in this condition, Lizzie had been optimistic. Nearly five years later, she felt anything but. And despite all the strength she’d decided on summoning, despite deciding to stay, to accept Tommy and his faults, to balance her head against her heart, she hadn’t planned on this as a part of the deal.

‘A little you and me,’ she’d offered Tommy when she’d told him of the first baby growing inside of her, a smile on her face, a bit of hope in her heart. 

She had little hope this time, little positivity about the life prospects for yet another child of Thomas Shelby, a little boy nonetheless, a little raven-haired boy who would have his parents’ blue eyes, his father’s strong jaw, the unmistakable markings of a Shelby.

If Tommy had kept all of his promises, if he’d done right and put a proper stop to the sport for anyone named Shelby. If he’d kept Finn and Clara away from the life, Lizzie might have thought differently. She might have felt nothing but happiness at the prospect of another child with a little tuft of raven hair and bright blue eyes, but in half a decade, Tommy had dealt her plenty of empty assurances.

She feared enough for the children already. Her Ruby was a different child around her father, a bit nervous, a bit quiet. The girl didn’t know the same Tommy that Clara and Finn knew, nor the father Charlie had had for a time, at least while he was young.

This baby would never know that version of Tommy either, not really. Her children would spend their lives distant from the man they called dad, and there was part of Lizzie that didn’t think it to be a terrible thing.

Clara reached out to clasp Lizzie’s hand. “Lizz--”

“Polly says it’s a boy.”

“Oh,” Clara answered, pulling her hand back. “That’s--”

Lizzie cleared her throat and continued. “A little raven-haired boy named James.” She opened her cigarette case, placed the fag between her lips. “Jamie,” she added. “And no, I haven’t told your brother.” 

Clara frowned. She was tired of holding the secret she’d accidentally overheard when Lizzie confided in Polly. She was tired of pretending with her brother, tired of avoiding him. It wasn’t easy work, withholding information from him because, despite the best of Clara’s efforts, Tommy possessed an uncanny ability to know when his sister was keeping something from him. 

“He loves being a father, Lizzie. He’ll be--”

“Happy?” she suggested. “I’m less worried about your brother being happy than I am worried for all of you kids.” 

“All of us?”

Lizzie lit the cigarette, puffing before she pointed it at Clara.

“Yes, you and Finn are included.”

“There’s nothing to worry about, Lizzie.” 

“Right, with Finn running around getting himself shot and you--”

“What about me?”

“Neither one of you kids has a healthy sense of self-preservation, always pushing when you haven’t a need, and you’ve passed it right on to those two. Maybe it’s in the blood, an inherited recklessness that--” 

“Is that really what you’re worried about? That I’ve taught the kids to stand up for themselves and I’ll teach the baby the same?” Clara asked.

Lizzie glanced out the window again, the things she was truly scared about swirling in her mind while she watched Ruby and Charles holding hands as they went round in circles.

“It’s a bad omen, a raven,” she said.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Clara answered. “A baby can’t be a bad omen.”

Lizzie was beginning to believe that the Shelby name was a curse and that despite her husband’s promises, not one of the kids would live a life unmarred by it, not Finn, not Clara, not Charles nor Ruby, and not the unborn son growing in her womb. And despite knowing Thomas Shelby loved the children, she feared what she already knew to be true, that loving a person wasn’t always enough.

These days, Tommy’s moments of softness were harder to come by. The types of moments Clara held on to when her brother was difficult, the moments that reminded her through the tough spots that he did much of what he did out of love, for protection or survival. Lizzie didn’t know her children would have that, didn’t know that a raven-haired boy looking just like his father could ever garner as much care as he’d deserve from the man, enough of the affection that he would need to someday to get through the tough spots. 

“He’s not how he once was with you,” Lizzie said.

“He’s not been like that for a long while, Lizzie, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love them.” 

“I know he loves them, loves all of you, but I worry someday they won’t have memories enough to forgive him as you do.” 

“I don’t forgive him because of the memories, Lizzie,” Clara answered. “I forgive him because he’s nearly my father and because I know he cares for me as much as I care for him. Ruby and Charles know that. Jamie will, too.”

Clara joined Lizzie on the couch. “And regardless, you care for us all well enough whether that fool joins us for dinner or not.”

Lizzie set her cigarette down in the tray and accepted Clara’s offered hug, allowing herself to release a breath of relief with the girl in her arms. 

“Well, that may be, but it doesn’t settle my nerves about you and Finn,” Lizzie said as she pulled away.

Clara rolled her eyes. “You’ve not--”

“Glad I’m not the only one concerned.” 

Clara glanced at her watch again before looking at Tommy where he stood by the door. “You’ve actually come early?”

He nodded. “Someone had Adam make it very clear in my diary that I was meant to be home at a respectable hour today.” 

Clara hummed, feigning an impressed surprise, as though she hadn’t begged Tommy’s personal secretary at the commons to adjust his schedule to accommodate him being back in Warwickshire so early on a Friday evening. 

“Right. I think I’ll leave you two and go say hello to Charlie and Ruby while we wait on Finn,” Clara offered, slipping past Tommy on her way to the door. 

“Forgetting something, Clara?”

Clara turned back to him, snatching the forgotten boots from his outstretched hand.

“When our brother gets in, we can have a talk about your excursion in London on Tuesday evening, eh?”

Clara sighed. “I think we’re a bit old for a lecture, Tommy. It was nothing.”

“Seems like you two idiots’ll never be too old for a lecture,” he answered. “But go on. Go see the kids. I’m sure they’ve been asking after you all day.” 

Tommy watched his sister leave before taking the seat beside his wife. “Now, while we wait for Finn, you and I can have a talk about that baby you’ve got growing inside you, eh Lizzie?”

Lizzie scoffed. "Polly told you then? Or was it Clara?”

Tommy shook his head. Of course, his sister knew. He cleared his throat. 

“It was actually you, Lizzie,” he said, taking her hand in his. “Been eating honey on everything. Last time you did that was when you were pregnant with our Ruby.” 

Lizzie nodded, looked out at the kids again, saw Clara had joined Ruby and Charles, and the three of them were laughing like a set of maniacs as they ran about the lawn.

“You’re worried,” Tommy offered, guiding his wife’s face to his. “Let me into that head of yours, Lizzie.” 

She leaned into his touch as he cupped her cheek, allowed herself that comfort.  

“To clear it out?” she mumbled.

Tommy nodded. “To clear it out. Just like we agreed.” 

Lizzie placed her hand on top of his.

“Ruby’ll be asking after another sister.”

“Well, she’ll be disappointed then,” Lizzie answered. “It’s a boy.”

Tommy nodded. There was a time when he thought it mattered, back when boys became blinders and girls were considered liabilities but Tommy had stopped thinking that way, started thinking that Lizzie was right. And Grace had been right. There was only one way to keep them all safe.

“Either way,” he answered. “Another little you and me, eh?”

Lizzie nodded and Tommy pulled his eyes away at the approaching footsteps and laughter as Ruby and Charlie piled into the room.

“Daddy! Daddy!”

“And what have you lot been up to, eh?” Tommy asked, pulling Ruby into his lap as Charlie came to sit beside them.

“We’ve been playing, daddy!” Ruby said.

“Dad, Aunt Clara said she and Uncle Finn are ready for a shouting at whenever you are,” Charlie said. “They went to your office.”

Tommy shook his head, glanced quickly at Lizzie before he looked back to his boy. 

“What are you going to shout at them for, daddy?” Ruby asked, turning her head to look up at him.

“Don’t you worry about that, sweetheart,” Tommy answered.

“He’s gonna shout because they’ve been naughty,” Charles said to his sister. 

“Don’t shout very much, daddy,” Ruby answered. “It’ll ruin our supper.” 

“I’m not going to shout. We’re just going to have a talk about them setting a better example for you kids.”

“And then we’ll have supper?” Ruby asked.

“Then supper, Ruby,” he said. “I had Frances ask chef to make a special honey cake for dessert.”

“For mummy?” Ruby asked. “Mummy loves honey cake.” 

“And for your baby brother,” Lizzie answered, pulling Ruby’s hand to rest on her stomach. “The one growing in my belly.”

-----

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