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takeshitakyuuto · 11 months

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Trigun Book Club update volume 2/3/who knows

One more week until Trigun Maximum! Then my volume numbers won’t be off :’)

I feel like every time I sat down to read this time around, I got interrupted. Anyways, this is a long one, so buckle up

Ch 13. get his ass cobbler-san

Yaaaaaay ice cream on Vash! Me too me too!

Quite the introduction for Mr. Collarbones

I’m sorry that it’s just kinda funny to me whenever characters call Vash by his full name. That’s Mr. ヴァッシュ・ザ・スタンピード to you

Knives! Your reputation precedes you

I love when Vash puts on his shooting glasses and immediately my spotify switches to FFXIV battle music

Okay so maybe I kinda spoiled myself probably not really, since the beginning I’ve had the question (that the reader is obviously supposed to have) of why does Vash have such a big bounty on his head, but I saw someone say that he’s the Jesus character of Trigun and like. okay question answered I know enough about Christianity to fill in the blanks here, anyways with that it mind it’s really interesting to see how Vash mentions that his goal is to send Knives to hell

This guy kinda reminds me of that guy from Yu Gi Oh. Kaiba? Yeah Kaiba

12 pieces of coin, twelve assassins, twelve disciples. im making big brain connections here (joking)

There’s a ...head in that bag? [insert “so no head” gif]

Ch 13.5 [I think this is an extra chapter] i like the little background we’re getting on Vash and the visuals with him standing over the mass amounts of crosses like a graveyard is really cool

Alright cut it out Nightow we don’t need to get weird here

Even though I rarely read manga digitally anymore, I feel so spoiled with how much manga is published online nowadays. These very obvious scans of paper volumes is so much harder to read, I’m sounding out like half the words I read

You know that chapter of Kino’s Journey (okay I know you don’t bear with me here) where Kino goes to that country where everyone is obsessed with this one guy’s painting of tanks and they’re all like “it says so much about war and society” and then Kino meets the painter and he’s all like “nah I just think tanks are really cool”. Yeah that painter is Nightow

Which is more elegant, this girl’s dress of Vash’s coat tails?

Has Vash always worn an earring? Have I just never noticed? I see but don’t look? How coquette

The interspersed English that Nightow uses always adds a bit of humor. I’m not even a translator but sometimes I think about what I would do with those bits. Would I keep it to make extra work? Would I translate it into a different language that’s more commonly understood than Japanese but not English (such as Spanish)? Translations are weird man....

Vash has the best pouting face of all time

Okay sorry I said a lot in that chapter but I don’t think any of it was serious. Not that that was a very important chapter anyways, other than the bits of world building we got at the very beginning

Volume three! Ch 14. Omg I see that big cross in the cover. Do we get to meet Nicholas Wolfwood himself? God I hope I’m right and he’s the one with the cross because I’m blasting this post for the Trigun Scholars to see. Blease be kind I know so little

Seems like this volume or at least this chapter is going to be a lot of Vash vs Kaiba

So we’re seeing Rem’s death scene and how it displays her love for humanity, sacrificing herself to save some, even if she can’t save everyone. And seeing that Knives has been a bit fucked from the beginning huh. And why Vash hates him so much (cue Losing My Religion by REM playing in the back)

Vash is typically painted as an angelic type of character (thinking back to chapter nine[?] with the angel/plant they met on the sand steam) so having him depicted more as a devil character is really interesting. They even called this his true nature, although that could just be this villain character giving him shit. I’m excited to see how Vash’s character is fleshed out in future volumes and how these seemingly two sides of him create a whole

Ch 15. I don’t know (yet?) if Knives’ plan was to kill Rem along with a bunch of humans but damn. backfiredddd

So this spirit/angel urging Vash not to kill must be Rem right? Since he said that if he kills here, she’ll be gone for real? I’m taking this to be more of Vash’s memory of her and not a literal angel or spirit

Ch 16. I was totally about to rag on them for having all this insane technology and Meryl still having to use a typewriter but then I remembered that this series is from what. the 80s? Earlier? Honestly who could’ve imagined the technology we’d have in just twenty years from then, it’s insane.

Oh that’s cool! Vash is called “Humanoid Typhoon” right? It’s usually written as 「人間台風」which literally translates to human typhoon but at the beginning of this chapter, Meryl calls him 「人間災害」with furigana instructing the reader to read it as “humanoid typhoon” (same as with the other times), however this translates to “human disaster” rather than typhoon

One coin part down, eleven to go...

We’ve finally officially established that Vash has a prosthetic arm, I was wondering when that was gonna happen

First of all what is Vash carrying with him second of all holy shit that panel of the person(?) nailed on the cross

That thing was set up specifically for him? Is this another one of the twelve assassins? I feel like I’m gonna get bored of this set up real quick if it continues on like this

oh man I’m struggling with the blurriness of this volume, I keep messing up さ and き in the furigana and if anything’s got a dakuten I’m a gonner

Ch 17. I bet these poor citizens see someone in an over the top ridiculous outfit and just think to themselves, aw man this bitch is about to blow up the city again. Good thing I renewed my insurance last month

Yaoi proportions are back!

Having the guy who’s pissing you off rip out his own still-beating heart with his own bare hands is pretty badass ngl

Is Kaiba (okay I know his name is Legato but this is funnier) trying to bring about the apocalypse or something? Or rather eradicate enough humans to be able to live peacefully, whether that means all humans or just the ones he considers “evil”? Right now he’s giving me a lot of Light Yagami vibes

Ch 18. Cross guyyyyyy hell yeah. You know, maybe you wouldn’t collapse in the street if you didn’t carry a big ass cross with you everywhere. Just food for thought

Wolfwood speaks in Kansaiben???? Help I’m falling in love it’s my one weakness in this world

I’ve decided that I never want to see Wolfwood written in katakana ever again.

Wolfwood just needs to say あかん and ホンマ and I’m already head over heels

I really like Wolfwood and I promise it’s more than just the Kansaiben! I love how nice he is and he seems to be able to read people pretty well and also he’s kind of a dork. But the Kansaiben helps too

Ch 19. Omg the one guy who I was immediately like 🫵 yaoi proportions ended up being Hornfreak. Yep that’s just how it is

Isn’t it so fun when words you learned from anime pop up elsewhere? There’s “human trafficking,” which I learned from Yona of the Dawn

Oh? It’s Dominique not Dominic? That explains the かしら. Honestly I do like Nightow’s style of “I can’t tell what gender this person is”

Nightow also really likes drawing Vash ass up this is not the time for a dirty joke

Oh my god hes going super sayan also oh my god im so stupid i just closed out of my trigun tab trying to switch jfc

Ch 20. The cat stepped on my laptop and flipped all the images omfg I am having such a time trying to read today oh my god I can’t get it back I guess I’ll just restart my laptop for now? holy shit

Yeah okay closing out of the site didn’t help, restarting my laptop didn’t help, all files were flipped, but luckily someone suggested clearing the cookies for that site and it actually worked. I am so bad with technology. What a ridiculous day.

I’m gonna be honest I don’t know how you all can read this in English, I could only figure out who was speaking based on the fact that Legato used だ where Wolfwood would’ve used や

Lol jump for your coin bitch (Vash I love you but it’s funny I’m sorry)

Wolfwood’s 「ちう」is causing me so much stress. What the hell does that mean, boy. Luckily I have friends in high places (Japan)

I’m so obsessed with the fucked up angel imagery here in Knives’ rebirth

Please no romance between Meryl and Vash please no romance between Meryl and Vash please no r

Guy who only reads shoujo manga: I’m getting a lot of shoujo manga vibes from this (no but really, there’s a bunch of artistic choices in Trigun that I mostly associate with shoujo manga, but I think it has more to do with the age of the manga. Probably Ikeda Riyoko’s influence)

Knives is such an overdramatic bitch, I love that

Angel Vash! The inherent danger of the divine! Although a god can be kind it can also be cruel! Power can be used in many ways and thus is its danger!

We’ve finally established that Vash and this power that Knives brings out of him is the reason why July Town was destroyed. This is probably also the reason why he’s got such a high price on his head

Also really enjoying the implications that these human forms aren’t Vash’s and Knives’ “true” bodies

Extra chapter. Thank god he didn’t shoot the egg oh my god. The irony of consistently taking the lord’s name in vain so much here (term used ironically but also because what else can I say) while reading Nightow’s bible fanfiction just now hit me

I admit it, I totally skimmed that. In my defense, it’s past midnight.

Final thoughts: Having officially finished up the original trilogy, that was pretty damn good! The ending was great (yes, I know there’s much more to go) and quite bittersweet. The pace really picked up for me in this last volume. My only main issue was just friction between me and the genre, which is no one’s fault but my own. I could definitely do for less action scenes, but again, my favorite genre is the “nothing happens” genre. I’m really excited to see where Trigun Maximum takes the series, especially in the ways that these angels/plants are developed. I’m also excited to see more of Knives and Wolfwood and especially how they both interact with Vash, since they obviously have extremely different perceptions of him. I’m not quite sure where the plot is going to go from here, since it seems like Vash took Knives along with him in his disappearance, but I’ll follow Nightow wherever he leads us in this series. What I’m not looking forward to is having to read more of Nightow’s handwriting. God. Even so, somehow it’s still not the worst I’ve seen from mangaka. Oh, also, there was significantly less of that black cat than I expected. I’ll just assume it comes back in Maximum. And (sorry these thoughts are so unordered) wow the art was so stunning, especially there at the end, that I definitely have half a mind to pick up the physicals for my personal collection. Especially with a fanbase revival due to Trigun Stampede, I’d be more shocked if it’s out of print than if it isn’t. Oh and one more thing, we went through three of the twelve coin assassins. Does that mean that we’re going to go through the other nine in Maximum? Also, I’m not quite clear on why Vash has to collect the coin fragments like this is Dragon Ball (disclaimer: never seen or read any of the dragon ball franchise). Was mystical object collection just a trend back then? What’s going to happen, or supposed to, when Vash gets them all? Hopefully this will become clear as the series continues.

#trigun #trigunbookclub #i wanted to make today #as in the day i finished this #a day for finishing all the manga volumes im currently reading #but yeah that didnt happen #後でね～

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consumeconstantly · 4 years

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Small Buff Girl Sightings Ch. 5

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ao3

3:00AM | CoffeeVamp: bb bat update us TheOG: ^^ more info on the situation in paris

3:28AM | Demonspawn: It is difficult to obtain information on Hawkmoth. The butterflies disperse after they are cleansed, and before they land their target, they don’t show up electronically. Coffee Vamp: o how the mighty have fallen i thought u said u could best me bb boi

3:42AM | Demonspawn: I’d like to see you do better. Coffee Vamp: IS THAT A CHALLENGE Coffee Vamp: ill take u up on that gimme 24 hours and ur going down TheOG: he has had a whole month so dont be too sure of that LadyLady: would you guys SHUT UP its two and some of us have jobs to do Coffee Vamp: cmon babs u luv us dont deny it LadyLady: Don’t make me hunt you down, Tim. Coffee Vamp: oOooO proper punctuation im shaking TheOG: just shut off notifications Babs TheOG: Bruce does Jesus: i don’t think the man has checked this chat in years Coffee Vamp: wdym brucie checks the chat all the time hes just a silent lurker Coffee Vamp: he doesnt even set himself to invisible

3:57AM | Daddy is away. Coffee Vamp: im so glad i have admin privileges imagine if i didnt bruce would have a boring normal nickname like his actual name LadyLady: good lord, why am I even in this chat?? Daddy: You’re supposed to keep them under control. Coffee Vamp: SEE I TOLD U BRUCE IS A SILENT LURKER> THIS. IS. SOLID. PROOF. IN YOUR FACE TheOG: nobody said otherwise Coffee Vamp: also how are the people have you made friends Jesus: Demon spawn? Making friends? Id be less surprised if he told us he has a new fling Coffee Vamp: is j right? Got a winter fling?

4:12AM | Coffee Vamp: ur lack of a response tells us nothing TheOG: im sure he’s just adopted his usual icy persona Coffee Vamp: haha hes the bb of so many things Coffee Vamp: bb vamp bb demon spawn ice ice bb Coffee Vamp: getitt im so funny

4:36AM | Coffee Vamp: guys?

“I told you I could get her to write her number on your cup,” Marinette grins with pride.

“And I told you I didn’t want her to.” Damian scowls and kicks a pebble in his path.

“You’re still wearing the clothes I picked out for you,” she points out.

“You told me to wear it. I wore it. I’m not interested in her.”

Marinette squints at Damian, evaluates whether he’s telling the truth or not. “Huh, you really aren’t interested. I guess it’s a good thing you didn’t wear the other outfit I picked out for you-- that one would have gotten her to ask you out on the spot.”

Damian groans. “We’re going to have to find a new coffee place.”

“Or we could just come when she’s not on shift and run away like mice when we do see her?”

Damian gives her The Look.

“But they have good coffee here,” Marinette whines.

“Maybe you should have thought about that before dressing me up and sending me to my death.”

“It’s not my fault! You only have your parents to blame for your looks.”

It’s true; both of Damian’s parents are good-looking. His whole family is, actually, adopted or not. All of the good looking people he meets are talented and have a tragic life story. Which is the cause and which is the effect, Damian isn’t sure. But it holds true even in Paris. All he has to do is look at Marinette or Adrien, though he’s not a hundred percent sure where the tragedy kicks in for Marinette. Probably the time when she was at odds with Lila, but he hasn’t looked much into the situation. He can even use Lila Rossi as an example. She has even worse color coordination than Damian is, but her features are model worthy. Lila Rossi is also definitely fucked up in ways that Damian doesn’t care to explore.

The effects of Marinette’s well-placed compliments has Damian thinking about himself in a positive manner that he never has before. Bruce is always stingy with praise, and the other senior members of the Justice League of America see him as another Robin that doesn’t need praise because competency comes with the mantle. Dick and Barbara compliment him occasionally, but that’s rarer now that his place is more firmly cemented in the family. Damian doesn’t think he’s ever had someone so willing to genuinely compliment him. Marinette’s compliments extend to more than just his looks, as well. She praises his technological skills as he sets up her website and has complimented him as he helps her out with whatever altercations she inevitably comes across on the streets. If he reveals his skills as Robin, reveals himself as Damian Wayne, will he receive even more praise?

“But since we did buy you that absolute knockout of an outfit, you’re going to have to wear it eventually. So whose heart do you want to steal?”

“I don’t want a relationship,” Damian repeats. They seem like more effort than they’re worth, and he always sees couples fighting and complaining about each other. Plus, they have to make time for each other and his alter ego doesn’t allow for that, though he supposes that he isn't Robin. At least, not right now.

“You don’t need to want a relationship just to flirt with somebody. Who’s it going to be? The intern at the Louvre? My parent’s newest hire? Oooh, how about Nicolette?” Marinette’s voice takes on a more mischievous tone.

Damian will give Marinette this much: her taste in the aesthetics of people is far from bad. The intern from the Louvre is two hundred pounds of lean muscle with a devil-may-care smile and a deep, belly laugh that makes people laugh with him, but Damian and he don’t have anything in common. Her parent’s new hire is knockout gorgeous, with warm brown eyes, and definitely the kind of girl Damian would have gone for as a one night stand back in Gotham. However, he’s also 98% sure that she has a very possessive boyfriend who stops by the bakery every time she has a shift. Nicolette is considered her college’s belle, and her intense gaze paired with her surprisingly friendly demeanor might have been appealing to Damian if she weren’t ten years older than him.

“I’m not into any of them,” he says, simply.

“Then who are you into? Surely someone has caught your eye in the past month?” Marinette looks genuinely curious, but her expression shifts into horror. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry. I never asked your preferences, if I was being insensitive, I’m sorry, I mean I’m pan, but you absolutely don’t have to tell me, it’s your right if you’re not comfortable.”

Damian does look slightly uncomfortable now that she’s looking at him more closely. His arms are crossed over each other, across his chest, and his hair is tousled. Then, he lets out a small laugh, and Marinette melts. “It’s fine, Pigtails. All of the people you listed are attractive, but I’m not attracted to them. I’m more of a personality guy, though I can’t say that personality has stopped me from things more than dates before.”

He’s had his fair share of hook-ups and makeout sessions in the past when feeling particularly frustrated with something that wasn’t going his way, though his primary method of relief is through sparring. Short missions and one night stands go fairly well together; he doesn’t ever have to deal with people wanting long term relationships, and even if they do, he’s gone before they know it. So far, he hasn’t hooked up with anyone in Paris, but then again, he’s only been here for a month and this is a long term mission. Whatever time he’s not with Marinette or at school is dedicated to piecing together the mystery that is the Miraculous and trying to figure out Hawkmoth’s identity.

“Oh,” Marinette continues to blush.

She’s clearly too embarrassed to bring up any other topic, so Damian decides that he’ll shoot the same conversation topic back at her. Marinette is attractive, and people she meets ask for her numbers and dates often enough. She’ll accept the former if they aren’t a total creep, but she always turns down requests for dates.

“And you? Why aren’t you out there questing for love? No crushes or significant others that I need to beat off with a stick?”

This does manage to lessen her flush. She frowns, turns something over in her mind.

“No crushes right now, no. I used to have a huge crush on Adrien just a year ago. He’s such a sweet person, but we don’t see eye to eye on important matters.” And also not into sex, either. Even physical affection hits him the wrong way sometimes, which makes Marinette worry even further for his well being with Lila’s constant touches. Still, he hasn’t said anything, and Lila hasn’t done anything more than grasp his arm or shoulders every now and then, to reassure the class that yes, they are the golden couple. Marinette also suspects that he is very unwilling to talk about the whole situation in general, and it’s not as though they’re super close.

Of course she had a crush on Adrien. Damian can see it now, Marinette looking at Adrien with her big blue eyes, her lashes fluttering when she gets close to him. Stuttering when she gets embarrassed or when she gets close to him. It makes his lungs constrict, but he’s not sure why.

“As for past relationships, there’s only really Luka. We had a pretty good run, but he’s out of the country, touring. He wanted to try long distance, but I didn’t really want that. But he’s respectful-- there’s no need to beat him off with a stick or anything.”

“I’m surprised a pretty girl like you doesn’t have more suitors,” Damian says, stepping over a crack in the sidewalk as they walk towards the park.

Marinette gags. “There are some other people who have been interested, but I wouldn’t exactly consider them relationship material. If you’re going after a girl just because she looks exotic, that’s sort of nasty. I guess I’m just unlucky in love.”

“At least you’re not as bad off as Ladybug is,” Damian jokes.

She looks at him strangely. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, first there was that creepy sculptor who must have been twice her age, then there’s Chat Noir who keeps flirting with her despite her requests not to, plus all of the random love akumas. I’m not even going to talk about the hordes of guys who chase after her, trying to get a date just because she’s a superhero. It’s not even like she can kick them between the legs because she has an image to uphold and all that.” He smirks, nudges her with his arm. “I’m surprised you haven’t done that with some of your stalkers.”

“Oh. You’re right, huh. Though, I don’t think Chat Noir has actually flirted for a while now.” Chat Noir has been very subdued as of late, and it makes Ladybug worry.

Marinette feels uncomfortable with the way the conversation has shifted. How does Damian know about all of these past akuma attacks? As far as Marinette is aware, most information about anything Miraculous related is difficult to get a hold of abroad, largely because the Miraculous try to hide their existence as best they can, and partially because Mayor Bourgeois doesn’t want word to get out that he hasn’t flushed a supervillain terrorist out even though he’s had three years to do it.

“Copycat happened three years ago.” It’s a question, almost.

“I figure I might as well keep up with the heroes of Paris. I’m here and they’re interesting.” Damian figures this is as good a time as any to bring up his interest in Hawkmoth. Marinette has been nothing but helpful and she’s definitely the kind of person whose heart is in the right place. Not to mention that she’s definitely smart and seems impartial; the one time he asked her about her thoughts on the heroes, he found out that she didn’t see them as perfect. She was able to critique Ladybug in full, which seemed pretty odd considering the rest of Paris seemed to have nothing but glowing praise for the heroine. “You’ve had some awful luck with akumas yourself. Weird how Ladybug didn’t show up when you got kidnapped by Evillustrator. One of the only times she didn’t show up for an akuma.”

“And what happened to the other heroes? It’s mostly Ladybug now. She must be in an awful state with her civilian life.” He looks off to the park, occasionally flicking his attention back Marinette’s face, evaluating her expression.

She catches his eyes and he swiftly looks away, looking almost nervous. Marinette stiffens. He knows, he knows, he knows, he can’t know. But how? How does he know that she’s Ladybug? She hasn’t let anything slip around him. She's been careful not to. Everything she’s ever said about Ladybug has been brief and curt, taking on an almost angry tone.

“If you’re so interested in Parisian heroes, I’m sure you saw the press conference Ladybug and Chat Noir gave last year about why the other heroes would be showing up less often.” Marinette keeps her voice carefully neutral. She needs to play this safe. She’s probably over reacting-- she’s been on edge with Hawkmoth sending out an akuma attack nearly every single day for the past few months.

Damian shakes his head. “It didn’t seem like good reasoning. Ladybug and Chat Noir are too untrained. They haven’t beat two villains in three years. They should let someone else take over.”

Marinette has come across a good number of Ladybug and Chat Noir haters throughout her time. Those who dislike the Parisian heroes often make the exact same arguments Damian is now. That they’re not fast enough. That they should have taken down Hawkmoth and Mayura already. This is nothing new to her, though it does hurt hearing it from Damian, for some reason. She can’t even argue with most of the points he’s brought up. Going mostly solo was because of her own, selfish reasons. She really should have beaten Hawkmoth and Mayura by now.

“The only thing they have going for them right now is that they’re keeping their Miraculous out of Hawkmoth’s hands.” She pretends that the reason why Chat Noir doesn’t show up to battle is to ensure that Hawkmoth can’t get both of the Miraculous in one fell swoop. It feels hopeless to fight villain after villain without any movement forwards. Her mind wanders to the increasing frequency of akumas and smiles, sardonically. “Some people think it’s only a matter of time until Ladybug and Chat Noir lose.”

“Hawkmoth almost seems to be the better strategist.” The two of them pass store front after store front. “Do you ever wonder what they look like, under the mask? Who they are?”

Marinette stares at the concrete underneath her feet. Hawkmoth, the better strategist? Laughable, and entirely incorrect. Even the people who hate Ladybug admit that her plans almost always work out, and that her plans are second to none. Really the only person who can possibly think that Hawkmoth is a better strategist is--

She can’t think like that. Damian is her friend. He’s just curious about Paris. Her lack of sleep and increase in paranoia re making her imagine things that are impossible. Besides, Damian isn’t on her list of suspects-- he told her he’s only been here for a short time, and Hawkmoth’s Miraculous definitely has a limited range. It’s a real pity that the world of Miraculous makes concrete evidence hard to come by, otherwise, Marinette likes to think Hawkmoth would have been behind bars already.

“No,” she lies. Hawkmoth haunts her dreams and every waking hour. She spends hours and hours on theories and scouring out information and people who fit the clues she’s painstakingly pieced together. “Not really.”

Damian’s eyes are a piercing green, and for a moment, Marinette thinks she stops breathing. “Is that so? I’m really interested in who Ladybug is under the mask. I’d love the opportunity to talk to her in person, especially about her Miraculous. The powers she has are… very interesting.”

No. There’s no way that Damian can be Hawkmoth, right? This is all just her paranoia speaking. Damian is just a foreigner who is interested in super heroes. It’s no biggie. Still, she can’t shake off the idea that there’s more to Damian than meets the eye. The way he walks-- no, prowls-- commands respect. Marinette can tell that he knows how to fight, and knows how to fight well. He’s very good at finding information on people-- she sent a whole case file to her on Renee and his situation with his mother within twenty four hours of going into the precinct, complete with video evidence Marinette knows should have been impossible to procure without hacking-- and keeps up with her critiques on Ladybug and Chat Noir’s techniques like he’s watched their battles over and over again. He remembers akuma battles Marinette has half forgotten, because they happened so long ago.

She stares up at him, hands shoved in the pockets of the jacket she chose for him when they went on their wardrobe makeover. Damian is surprisingly wealthy; he purchased anything she even glanced at with passing approval. He looks straight forward, apparently waiting for some response from her. Just because Damian is her friend, doesn’t mean she can immediately expunge him from her list of suspects. So far, she has taken all of Damian’s words at face value. It didn’t matter to her that he rarely talks about his family or his life before Paris. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t brought her to his home during all of the weeks that they’ve been hanging out together. Really, Marinette just figured that he had a rocky relationship with his family, and that he may have been on the poorer side and was embarrassed to show her where he lived. But clearly. Damian is well off enough to afford brand name clothes without batting an eye. Things aren’t adding up. All of the red flags that she’s blatantly ignored start to crop up in her head.

The book on the species of butterflies that akumas are made of, tucked under his arm. The way he showed up after every single akuma attack when she rarely saw him in the area before or during it. His knowledge of the three languages that form the basis of the Miraculous Tome-- Mandarin, Arabic, and English.

If he is Hawkmoth, what sort of emotions would he be feeling right now? Some sort of euphoria, maybe, realizing that he could get infinitely closer to Ladybug when she is Marinette. Anticipation, too. Has Marinette been hanging out with a super villain for the past month? Has she really come to the point where she can call a supervillain her best friend?

Marinette takes another look at Damian’s outfit. Master Fu said that the Miraculous Hawkmoth owns is in the shape of a brooch. Marinette sees no such object on Damian, which could either mean that he’s not Hawkmoth or that he’s just been taking it off whenever he’s with her. She’s really hoping it’s not the second option.

She needs to gather her thoughts, make a plan on how to proceed. When she’s sure that Damian isn’t looking, Marinette sets off the ringtone that is saved for her Maman’s texts and calls. This catches Damian’s attention, and she waves looks up from her phone as though she’s responding.

“Maman wants me to do a delivery. If you’re looking for more information on the whole superhero situation in Paris, I can get you Alya’s number. She runs the Ladyblog-- I’m sure she’d be glad to talk with you.” Alya also has some of the worst conspiracy theories that Marinette has ever seen. She doesn’t often keep abreast of what the Ladyblog’s portrayal of Ladybug is, but back when Marinette and Alya were friends, she was subjected to wild theories that made her stomach nauseous with how little logic there was. Which means that if-- if-- Damian is actually Hawkmoth, he might be thrown off by what she says.

“I’ll see you on Monday? Jagged texted me last night and wants me to change the embroidery on his commission.” This isn’t exactly a lie; Jagged wants one of the smaller details to be changed, but it certainly won’t take as long as she’s suggesting. Marinette hopes that it’s enough of an excuse to get Damian off her back for the rest of today and tomorrow while she reevaluates her game plans and life choices.

Damian waves her off. “I don’t think that Ladyblogger girl knows anymore than I do. She’s of no help to me. I’ll see you on Monday.”

Marinette’s reaction to Damian’s questions are weird. There’s an underlying tension that she exuded before they parted ways, and he’s still thinking about it a day later.

Marinette, who he always finds near an akuma attack right after it occurs. Marinette, who is emotionally and physically superior to most other Parisians. Marinette, who hasn’t been akumatized in a class full of idiots and other victims. Marinette, who doesn’t like Ladybug even though she seems like a fairly competent and kind hero, despite the fact that she hasn’t caught Hawkmoth yet. Marinette, who rarely talks about akumas despite all of the time he spends with her, which is highly unusual because even people he only briefly meets manage to slip in something about akumas into the conversation. Damian feels like there must be some sort of connection between Marintte and the akuma situation that he’s not getting, but it’s eluding him.

He sits down with his laptop in his apartment and looks up information about Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She’s definitely just as talented as he suspected; in her ninth year of schooling, she won a Gabriel competition, participated in a music video of Clara Nightingale’s, and collaborated with Jagged Stone on an album cover. So that was how she met him-- he wondered, but never asked. There are also a few instagram posts that have tagged her as a good samaritan and a few articles that detail a small, asian girl who’s going around Paris helping random people that are in need.

The weird things that Damian finds are contained in her school records. She’s apparently in very good company with her IQ, but what’s more interesting is all the dates that she is tardy or absent from school. They line up perfectly with all of the dates that akumas appear. He feels dread gather in his stomach.

A few more searches seem to cement his growing suspicions. Around the same time that Marinette obtained a truce with Lila matched up with when theorists believed that the Italian girl started working with Hawkmoth. He reads the instagrams and tweets of her classmates from the first year that Hawkmoth arrived, which talk about how excellent Marinette is at calming them down and guiding them to a better place. He also reads the posts of Chloe Bourgeois and Alya Cesaire and the articles about Marinette and Evillustrator that tell a slightly different story-- that Marinette is capable of manipulating others into more unpleasant situations.

Damian jolts. There is an incoming call from his father.

“Are updates on Paris, Damian?”

Should he give them a clue to his growing suspicions that Marinette is Hawkmoth? No, he can’t tell them until he gathers more information.

“No,” he says. “Information about Hawkmoth and the Miraculous are hard to come by.”

There’s a sigh and what sounds like the rustling of papers from the other side. “I figured. Tim and Barbara can’t find anything over here, either, but the Justice League is worried. They want results.”

“The Justice League and I agreed that having Robin make an appearance would be beneficial. Gain Ladybug and Chat Noir’s trust, or find Hawkmoth. Information might come easier with your alter ego.”

“All right.”

Another pause. He and his father have always had an awkward relationship. Bruce didn’t know of his existence until he was ten, and by that time, the most formative years of Damian’s life had already passed. Bruce Wayne may be many things, but good at dealing with children, he is not. Even after adopting so many children, he doesn’t know how to raise a child. Damian and his brothers have all raised themselves, with Bruce only stepping in when one of them is really going off the rails.

“Is everything else going well in Paris? School is good?”

“School is fine.” Damian wonders whether he should tell his father about Marinette. About the girl who is kind and capable and scarily efficient at dispatching criminals for a citizen and-- he can’t think about her like that. He decides against telling his father about her. She might be Hawkmoth, after all, and confirming her existence to his father means that he’s denying that possibility. “Gotham?”

“Nothing out of the usual. A few run-ins with the Joker.”

Another silence. The lapses in conversation aren’t awkward, but Damian thinks of the playful banter Marinette has with her parents and frowns.

“Goodbye, Father.”

“Goodnight, Damian.”

Damian looks around at his empty apartment. There is nothing in it, except for his suitcase and a few pieces of furniture. It’s nothing like the manor, where he knows that Tim is up at all hours slaving away on another project that Damian rarely gets to see, or that Jason is in the training room with Dick joining him occasionally. He can’t pick a fight with Tim or have Dick try to mediate the conflicts between himself and Jason. No nightly patrols with three or four people talking over the comms, or near instantaneous backup when he gets into a tight spot. There is no Alfred or Barbara or Cassandra or Bruce here. Only Damian.

He looks down at his laptop, at the various information and images of Marinette that he has up on his screen. In good conscience, he can’t continue being friends with her. Not with the possibility that she is the person he’s trying to hunt down.

He remembers her saying that being lonely is different than being alone.

Damian is lonely.

Patrol is a necessary evil.

Ladybug doesn’t hate patrol. She’s not very fond of it, though. It cuts into time that she could be spending sleeping or designing or anything else, really. In the beginning, it started as a way to figure out how everything worked under the guise of the dark and without the constant threat of an akuma hanging over head. Then, it progressed into disproving the theory about Ladybug’s age, because civilians aren’t inclined to believe that a teenage girl who has school the next day would patrol every day in the early morning. Now, it shows the Parisians how devoted Ladybug is-- that’s something that she’s struggled with ever since withdrawing the Miraculous from all of the part time heroes-- and lets Marinette blow off any steam that she has.

Right now, Marinette needs to blow off a lot of steam. Still, even as Ladybug, as much as Marinette wants to scream to high hell and back about how she’s been friends-- very close friends, she’d dare to say-- with the same person who has been terrorizing Paris for years, she can’t. If she screams, there will be media coverage on it, and she doesn’t want to deal with what the press would write up some article about how Ladybug was overworked and needed to bring back the other heroes, or that Ladybug wasn’t mentally sound enough to take care of Paris, she should just give up the Miraculous, or that Ladybug’s scream was [insert some poetic nonsense that English teachers wax about for hours even though the author never intended the audience to read that deeply into it].

Marinette doesn’t want to admit it, but she’s gotten close to Damian. She’s as close to him as she is with Kagami, Luka, Jagged and Penny. Damian knows that she’s MDC. He knows her hopes and aspirations. He knows her family, knows the majority of her friends, and knows what’s important to her. It will be so easy for him to tear her apart now. Marinette isn’t sure what Hawkmoth is waiting for, but she almost hopes that he’ll get it over with sooner rather than later.

What will Hawkmoth do first? Go after the website that he helped her make, probably. Cut off the financial support that she could use to run away and create another identity. Then, he’ll go after her friends, few and far as they may be. Renee next. Her family, last. She wonders who Mayura is, if he is Hawkmoth. She hasn’t seen anyone that’s close to him. Then again, Damian reveals next to nothing about himself. She’s never even seen where he lives.

There’s a shadow on the rooftops.

God, of course Hawkmoth would send out an akuma today. He knows how horrible her mental state must be. There’s no way he wouldn’t take advantage of that.

She yoyos over to the shadow, not close enough to strike or apprehend, but close enough to easily give chase without the akuma being able to give her the slip.

“Ladybug,” the akuma says.

“Cut the crap. We all know you want the Miraculous, Hawkmoth. Let’s get to it.” The shadow steps forward where a street lamp illuminates its costume, and once again, she is assaulted by the barrage of colors on her eyes. After seeing how awful Damian’s color coordination was, it’s easy to come to terms with the awful designs of all of his costumes. Still, she’s surprised that the boy who dresses in the same outfit every day creates such outlandish costumes for all of his minions.

The akuma frowns, tenses.

“I’m not Hawkmoth,” it insists. “I’m Robin, a vigilante from Gotham. I’ve come to learn more about the current situation and aid you in taking Hawkmoth down.”

Ladybug scoffs. She’s not sure what this akuma’s tactic is, but none of the others have tried to lie to her so blatantly about their identity. And ripping off an identity? That is a new low, even for Hawkmoth. She’s sure that the real Robin didn’t agree to this, and if she were close with the vigilante, maybe she could get him to throw a lawsuit or two at Hawkmoth once he was in custody, just for kicks.

Robin the akuma scrambles, apparently looking for something that can verify his identity.

Ladybug strikes. There’s no pride in striking an opponent when they are distracted, but it’s a means to an end. If Damian is dumb enough to send out an akuma confused about its identity tonight of all nights-- a night where Ladybug is distressed and it would be all too easy to take advantage of her-- then she’s going to take advantage of it.

It’s easy to bind the akuma. Startlingly easy. The akuma is different tonight, then. His powers have something to do with close contact, maybe? Ladybug looks on his person for things that could be the point of akumatization, eyes flitting from Robin’s waistband to his mask.

She comes to an unpleasant conclusion. The measurements and the coloring are a perfect match. Hawkmoth has come to meet her in person.

“Damian,” Ladybug hisses.

Damian’s eyes widen, like he doesn’t know how she’s pieced together his identity. How stupid does he think she is? He’s been dropping hints constantly. Information a transfer to Paris shouldn’t know. Never telling Marinette anything personal. Always being near an akuma attack when it happens. It’s almost like he wanted her to figure out his identity.

“How did you know?”

“Please, Hawkmoth, did you really think that Marinette couldn’t connect the dots? You must have thought awfully little of her if you thought that your constant appearances near all of the akuma and questions about the Miraculous didn’t lead me to your identity.”

“Hawkmoth? Ladybug, I’m not Hawkmoth, I’m Robin.”

“And I’m the queen of England. Renounce your Miraculous now, Hawkmoth. Or I’ll beat you until you detransform and take it from you.”

Damian looks confused before his face contorts to an expression of resignation. He recognizes a cold fury in her eyes that is distinct to people who won’t give up until they get their way, and there’s really no other way around this right now. He should have brought his comm with him, but he wasn’t expecting to meet Ladybug tonight; he just wanted to assess the situation as Robin, to get out from his apartment for a second. Rookie mistake.

True to her word, Ladybug beats Damian unconscious and also until he’s black and blue. She’ll be lying if she didn’t say she took out some of her fury from the past years on him.

But here’s the thing; Damian doesn’t detransform. He stays in his god-awful costume that has the same disgusting shade of mustard yellow as that one top Damian owns. That’s not what’s supposed to happen. When Miraculous users faint, they detransform because it takes a sort of mental awareness to handle the powers bestowed upon them. Is it different because Damian is an akuma? Is there some sort of Miraculous bylaw that if a Miraculous user gets akumatized, they get to stay in their alternate form? Oh wait, that’s right, he’s an akuma, not Hawkmoth right now.

Ladybug stumbles forward, breaking all of the weapons that are on his belt, taking off his mask and breaking that as well. No akuma comes out. She tries his gloves, then his boots. She pats him down, seeing if there’s anything she missed. She rips his suit, too. Nothing. There’s no brooch in his personal effects either.

What is she supposed to do now?

Seeing no alternative, Ladybug picks Damian up and yoyos back to Tom and Sabine’s Boulangerie to safely detransform and figure out what the fuck is going on.

He’s not Hawkmoth, is the conclusion Marinette comes to after a side by side comparison of pictures of the vigilante and Damian. The horrifying conclusion: the person lying on the floor of her bedroom is actually Robin, the vigilante from Gotham.

Marinette knows it’s better to err on the side of caution, but she still buries her head in her hands in embarrassment. How can she have gotten him so wrong? She really needs to get better at reading people, because deciding that random civilians are Hawkmoth clearly has not paid off.

She also cannot believe that the Justice League has decided to step in now, and with a sidekick from America, of all things--Marinette is pretty sure that she sent the videos to the European branch. It must have been three years since her first notification to them. She contacted them immediately after Stoneheart, and again, after Syren when she was distraught at the death that surrounded her. With no response, there was nothing she could do. She has to start relying on herself and her own skills.

Ladybug only contacted them once more, after Heroes’ Day. At that point, Ladybug had been thinking for a while that someone who was naturally superpowered or someone with a high grade of intelligence-- like the heroes affiliated with the Justice League-- would do more harm than good if they were allowed in the city. After the devastation of her teammates being akumatized, and the nearly week long battle that ensued, she was certain that she could barely fight her teammates, let alone trained professionals. So with shaky hands and red rimmed eyes, she said to please disregard her earlier messages; the situation in Paris wasn’t that bad, and Ladybug could handle it.

Damian groans. Marinette jumps; he is waking up far earlier than she anticipated. She wants to transform back into Ladybug. Being in her spots gives her a pseudo sense of security. First, though, she has to restrain him. Even though he isn’t Hawkmoth, she’s not sure whether he’s a threat or not. She makes quick work of it, using the thickest zip ties that she has on hand and restraining his arms and legs.

She doesn’t get the chance to transform back into Ladybug, but that’s just as well, because at the end of the day, Marinette is the foundation of anything that makes Ladybug a hero to the public. Damian opens his eyes almost immediately after she has finished restraining him, taking in his surroundings and the person in front of him.

“Marinette? Where’s Ladybug?” No questions of how he got there; Ladybug can clearly carry her own weight and more. No questions as to why there are zip ties cutting into his wrists and ankles; he has seen too many of Marinette’s victims on the streets.

“What do you mean, where’s Ladybug?” Marinette is right in front of him. She might not have the suit on, but at the end of the day, she does have the Ladybug Miraculous, which means she’s Ladybug through and through, and Damian must know that. Otherwise, there’s no real reason for Robin to be spending so much time with Marinette. The fact that she feels more real and true to herself as Marinette than as Ladybug probably means nothing to him.

“She knocked me out on a rooftop. Didn’t know that you two knew each other personally. I’m not Hawkmoth, by the way.” He twitches, then realizes that he’s been tied up. “Why’d she leave me with you?”

So he doesn’t know that she’s also Ladybug? This whole thing keeps getting more confusing. Still, the less people that know about her alter ego, the better. Marinette will keep him in the dark. She attributes his blatant misunderstanding to the identity concealment magic of the Miraculous. It’s powerful stuff. If it didn’t exist, she’s sure she would have found concrete evidence as to who Hawkmoth is by now.

“She asked me to assess whether you were a threat or not. Whether or not she casts the Miraculous Cure is contingent on my response.”

“Ladybug wants you to assess whether I’m a threat or not? Why’d she leave a possible super villain with a civilian?”

“I help Ladybug out with many things.” Her voice turns to clinical detachment. She uses this method to dissociate as Ladybug when things get overwhelming. Assess the situation. Get in, deakumatize, get out. Marinette needs to distance herself. It’s bad enough that the situation is this convoluted, but she doesn’t need Damian to doubt Ladybug’s capabilities as well. “Ladybug knows that you’re not Hawkmoth now, and she knows that I can handle myself with any run of the mill bad guy, even if they are a supposed vigilante.”

“Tell me, Robin,” Marinette spits the name like a curse, “Why should I tell Ladybug that you’re not a threat? That you are who you say you are?”

In all honesty, all Marinette wants to do is knock Damian out again so she can collect her thoughts. She’s not sure how she should address his presence as Robin in Paris and is still reeling from the whiplash of thinking he was Hawkmoth only for him to turn into a foreign vigilante. Next thing she knows, he’ll tell her that his name isn’t even Damian Grayson. Well, now that she thinks about it, he’s definitely not. After this encounter finishes, she’ll look up Damian and Gotham and see what she gets.

He looks flustered, like he never expected anybody to question his identity or presence. It’s laughable, really. Marinette doubts that the Justice League actually sent him; he’s probably here to explore on his own. That means he’ll only be a pain in the ass to deal with. Maybe she needs to get into contact with the Justice League again, if only just so she can deport Robin with more ease.

“I can call Batman,” he says.

Marinette doesn’t think this is a very good solution. There’s no way for her to prove that the person on the other side actually is Batman and not some actor. But after racking her brain, she can’t come up with a much better solution. It’s not like Robin has any superpowers that she can request to see, and she doesn’t have a direct line to anybody from the Justice League.

“Fine. Call Batman.”

“It’s in the pocket near on my right side.” Marinette doesn’t bother going closer to him. She destroyed everything on him earlier, in case it was the akuma’s vessel. Ladybug thought she came across a phone, but now she’s glad she smashed it and left it on that random rooftop. He probably has some sort of tracker on his phone. In any case, Marinette thinks it’s weird for a vigilante to have a phone on them while on the rooftops. Shouldn’t he have an earpiece or something?

“Your phone was destroyed by Ladybug. Tell me the number to call. I’ll put it on speaker.” Marinette isn’t sure if the number he’ll have her call will be some sort of secure connection or direct line that is only accessible through Damian’s phone, but she doesn’t particularly care because the Miraculous Communicators are exactly that. Miraculous. Master Fu assured her that all communications were private and impossible to crack unless they also had a Miraculous. Which is why she’s using the Miraculous Communicator to call Batman.

Damian winces, then speaks into the offered phone.

“Batman, it’s Robin. I need to verify my identity in order to proceed.”

“Are you with Ladybug?”

So he is on a mission, then, and not just playing hooky. If Batman is involved, Marinette has no doubt the rest of the Justice League will follow soon. This will be a dreadfully unpleasant call.

“I’m making it a video call,” Marinette says. “And no, he’s not with Ladybug. I’m Ladybug’s point of contact, and she doesn’t take kindly to people encroaching on her territory without permission.”

“Robin, what happened?” Batman isn’t accepting her video request.

Marinette cuts off whatever Damian is about to say. “Damian was suspicious; I reported his activities to Ladybug and she believed that he could be Hawkmoth. Then, she caught him on the roofs and took him back to my place after verifying that he wasn’t Hawkmoth. Video call, Batman. I’d like to see that you are who you say you are, before I send Robin back to the states.”

“She knows your civilian identity? Two people know that you’re Robin?”

“Turn your video on. If you can’t prove that you are who Damian says you are, Ladybug and I will do everything in our powers to deport him and make sure that the Justice League is not allowed in Paris again. Ladybug said that she doesn’t need any unknowns in her city, and I’ve been hoping Robin came here of his own volition. It sounds like that isn’t the case.”

Marinette thinks that Batman curses in English, but she’s not sure. Fluent though Marinette may be, she is not well versed in curses, colloquialisms, or American memes. The camera turns on. It’s Batman, or at the very least, an actor wearing a very good knock off costume.

It’s annoying that Marinette can’t see his eyes. There’s some white film where his eyes should be, and the fact that his cowl covers more than half of his face isn’t doing her any favors in letting her read his facial expression. She moves herself so that Batman can see both her and Robin.

“Why is Robin restrained?”

“Like I said: he was suspicious. I’m not taking any chances.”

A moment of silence.

“How do you want me to prove my identity?”

That’s good. He’s not asking who she is, though she’s sure that there are cameras pointing at the screen on Batman’s end, running facial analysis and background checks on her. The Miraculous magic will ensure that any connections between her and Ladybug will not come to light. Other than her identity as Ladybug, Marinette has nothing to hide.

“If you’re Batman, then you should have access to the League’s calls, European and otherwise. Play me the last video that Ladybug sent you. I know what she said.” She spares a glance at Damian. His jaw is tight, but when he looks at her, she finds what looks like regret. It’s not entirely Damian’s fault. A mission is a responsibility, and Marinette understands that in order to be a hero or vigilante, one must be willing to do anything to accomplish the mission. Really, she’s only Ladybug because she feels that heavy weight of the words duty and responsibility on her shoulders. Fu’s fault.

“Behave. If you try something, I’ll knock you out.” Marinette sets the communicator on her desk and eyes him. The zipties are so tight around his arms and legs that he is bleeding. Marinette feels a flash of sympathy, then pushes it away. It was his fault for-- why was he at fault, again?

“I have the video.” Batman sounds even peakier than when they started the call. He plays the video.

“Justice League. This is Ladybug. I rescind my requests for help; I can take care of Paris with my own team. Any help from you at this point would be a detriment and could potentially harm the citizens of Paris. Hawkmoth manipulates strong emotions, and I don’t need to handle a metahuman or tactical genius to gain more power to wreak havoc on my city. I will not contact you with any further requests for assistance.”

It’s an awful video. Marinette had to wait a day after the Heroes’ week fiasco just so her eyes wouldn’t be red. At least her voice doesn’t waver in it. There’s a conviction in the whole video that was unique to that moment.

Marinette looks at Batman, then at Robin.

“Clearly the Justice League refused to listen. Ladybug doesn’t want or need your help at this point in time. Why are you here?”

“The Justice League is at fault for not paying attention to Ladybug’s other videos. But Mayor Bourgeois and President Macron can only cover such alarming incidents for so long. Ladybug and her… team clearly need help in order to find and take down Hawkmoth, so once the American branch of the Justice League found out half a year ago, we started to investigate.” Batman speaks in lieu of Damian. Marinette briefly wonders if Damian knows who Batman is under the mask. She bets he does. They’re probably close, what with how worried Batman sounds.

“What makes you think that the Justice League is any better equipped to handle this situation? Ladybug and her team have been fighting for the past three years and resolved every akuma with no help from you. She needed your help in earlier years. Now she doesn’t.”

“Exactly; it’s been three years and she still hasn’t caught Hawkmoth.”

“You say that like the Justice League doesn’t have a team with more wealth and manpower than Ladybug does that’s been looking into Hawkmoth and the Miraculous for the past half year and clearly has not found any reasonable leads. Ladybug has only been actively looking for Hawkmoth for the past two years, not three. The police handled the first year, not that you’ve done any homework on the situation. Thought that a field agent would help your chances?”

There is fire in Marinette’s stomach. Batman sounds so dismissive of all of the work that she’s been doing. It’s been hard on her; she doesn’t have the support that she needs and doesn’t have the experience or expertise to hunt down Hawkmoth on her own. She trained briefly under Master Fu to learn spells and ways to expand her powers as Ladybug, but that was an equivalent exchange: she no longer trusts that other holders won’t be akumatized. Her growing cynicism and physical training from Maman came at the expense of Chat Noir; after the whole Lila incident in her first year as Ladybug, she found out that Chat Noir and Adrien were one and the same. And Gabriel Agreste is not afraid to use his son until Adrien is stretched far too thin, which forced Marinette to nearly bench her partner.

“Three years,” Batman says again.

“If the Justice League can’t figure it out nearly unlimited resources and funding in half a year-- both ordinary and super human-- then clearly it isn’t a question of time. It’s a question of capability. Get off your high horse, Batman. You haven’t given me any reasons why Ladybug and I shouldn’t deport Robin here, and you’re definitely not making a good case as to why she shouldn’t go to Mayor Bourgeois and France’s president to ensure that the Justice League and its affiliates and ban hero travel into Paris. Bourgeois already doesn’t want information on it’s supervillain situation to get out.”

“Marinette,” Damian pleads.

As Robin and as Damian, he doesn’t pose a threat. He hasn’t been helpful, but he certainly hasn’t messed with the status quo for the month that he’s been here. Still, he is a liability. If he stays in Paris, he is the gateway for the other members of the Justice League to fly in and try to commandeer the fragile balance that she has found. She can’t afford for something like that to happen.

“You’re not any better, Robin. Why did you even hang around me? Thought I was a threat?” Her eyes narrow in realization. It makes sense why he decided to hang out with her, despite his initial cold front. He was playing a role.“You thought I was Hawkmoth.”

His silence is an agreement.

“We just want to help,” Damian says, and against her better judgement, Marinette believes him.

Her shoulders round, and Marinette sighs. She can’t truly begrudge Damian for that train of thought, not when she believed the same about him. She’s been a little harsh on them so far, in part due to old resentment that they never responded to her in that first, awful year when she needed the help.

There’s a dull tiredness that comes with knowing someone who she considered one of her closest friends suspected her of being a supervillain, though she did believe the same of him, so maybe they’re even. It still hurts, though. It hurts like when Alya decided that Marinette was mean-hearted enough to stop the members of their class from reaching their full potential. It hurts like when Marinette finally realized that she couldn’t repair their friendship, not to what it used to be. It hurts like when she looked around the classroom and realized that she couldn’t talk to anyone there. It hurts like when Marinette decided that she couldn’t risk helping her friends the way she wanted to.

“What kind of help can you offer us? We don’t need any more of you to come out here.” Resources are nice. More money to fund therapy programs around town won’t hurt. Master Fu doesn’t help on that part. Really, he doesn’t help at all. Even though she has Chat Noir and had a team, she often feels like it’s herself against the world. Some days, she reaches up to her earrings and feels an aching emptiness, like there’s something more to the Miraculous that’s been sealed away.

“We can give you resources. Money, connections, experience. Robin is good with technology. He can help you track down where Hawkmoth is.”

Marinette’s laugh is bitter. “Sure, he can try, but the butterflies Hawkmoth sends out aren’t visible by the normal human eye or electronically until they’ve found their mark. Once they’re purified, they’re just normal butterflies, and they go off in random directions.”

“Normal human eye? It sounds like there are exceptions.” Damian readjusts himself. He has fidgeted his way into an uncomfortable looking seiza position, where his ankles are bleeding.

“A true holder can see the butterflies at all times.”

Marinette also decides to throw them a bone so there’s no questions as to why a mere civilian is working with Ladybug. “That’s why Ladybug recruited me. I was Multimouse.”

Multimouse was in the file that Damian sent his father, but he asks, just to make sure. “The one that can split itself?”

“That’s correct. I guess now is as good a time as any for the two of you to get your questions answered.”

“Why are you the point of civilian contact instead of any of the other more frequently used heroes? Didn’t you appear only once?” Damian avoids looking Marinette in the eyes, and that makes her feel slightly better. He’s ashamed of his actions. Good.

“Ladybug said that the other hero’s civilian forms were either compromised or not in a good position.”

“Ladybug knows who all the holders are.” Batman speculates. He looks less tense now that Damian is no longer tied up, but his voice remains gravelly and distrubed. Maybe that’s what he sounds like all the time. “Who else knows? Do you?”

“Only Ladybug knows.” Marinette lives in half truths. She’s not sure that they’re much better than lies, but they’re all she has. Secrecy is the only thing Master Fu has sincerely taught her.

“Why have all the other heroes disappeared?”

“Ladybug said that it was too dangerous for someone who could be akumatized to hold a Miraculous. Rena Rage, Shell Shock, Queen Wasp-- they were all frighteningly powerful akumas. It’s also why Chat Noir has been showing up less and less; his home life is not the best, and she’s trying her best to ensure that he doesn’t get akumatized.”

“She’s not worried for herself or,” Damian’s eyes flick to Marinette, away from Batman. “For you?”

“She knows that both of us are good at dealing with stress. We have our own methods of coping.” She looks at Damian, her mouth tightening into a frown. “If you want to stay in Paris, I’ll cut you a deal. We can work together for two weeks, and if we don’t get any results, you have to leave and the Justice League must promise that they won’t interfere again.”

“Two weeks isn’t enough time,” Damian objects.

“If you don’t think it’s enough time, just leave now. I’ll say now that I’m only willing to work with you during the night. That’s the time I work on Miraculous related stuff now, anyways. And stay out of the akuma battles.” She doesn’t actually think that working together will help anyways, and she wants Damian gone sooner rather than later. He’s been making her feel too much and emotions that are far more explosive and easy to take advantage of than Marinette has in a long time. She doesn’t want to be targeted by an akuma because of her inner conflict.

“Two weeks, then,” Batman agrees. “Robin can contact me if you need any extra resources.”

Marinette hangs up and assesses Damian. He looks almost pitiful, with bruising around his eyes, tousled hair, a ripped suit, and cuts where his skin is exposed. She opens her trap door in a clear gesture for him to depart. Downstairs is dark; her Maman and Papa have long since gone to sleep, and it’s only a few more hours until they wake up to start baking. “We start tomorrow. If you need Ladybug for anything, tell me.”

He’s half way down the ladder when he looks back up at Marinette, into her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

Marinette can’t breath. She feels like vomiting. His eyes are so green in comparison to the purple bruising on his face. She did that to him. She made him look that way. All she’s ever wanted to do as Ladybug is protect the people she cared for. But Damian-- Marinette doesn’t know. She doesn't know whether what Damian has done can actually be described as bad. He was just trying to do what Batman told him to do. Keeping an eye on a threat. Marinette wonders how long he thought she was Hawkmoth. She wonders if he ever thought they were friends.

“I’m sorry too,” Marinette says, and shuts the trap door.

They’re both sorry for very different things.

#miraculous ladybug #dcu #mlb x dc #maribat #daminette #batfam #jason todd #bruce wayne #dick grayso #barbara gordon #sbgs #original content #adrien agreste #lila rossi #marinette dupain cheng #damian wayne

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richietoaster · 5 years

Text

Review/Reaction of IT Chapter Two

Let’s just start right off the bat and let me just say that Bill Hader better get a fucking award for his performance.

Alright. Here we go y’all. im trying to stay in order with what happened but so much happened in the movie that my brain is just all over the place so excuse me while i try to form words

UNDER THE CUT CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS

• first opening scene is a fucking LOT okay like i sobbed my eyes out and it was just not cool. adrian and his boyfriend? CUTE AF. Him getting brutally beat up and then killed by Pennywise while Don just watches? NOT CUTE AF

• Mike is a precious boy and I love him so. He cares about his friends so much holy shit. they all get mad at him for lying to them tho.But he only did it to protect them. Mike knew some SHIT(tm) our boy is so smart?? I’m glad they kept to his original storyline

• Older Bill gave himself so much shit this film and i just felt so bad. like we know it isnt ur fault okay?? We know you loved your brother, stop putting yourself down. also?? him becoming protective over dean? please stop my aching heart.

• Jessica Chastain owns my whole heart and she can kick my ass anyday. She plays Bev so well and captures young bev’s personality so well. her scene with mrs kersh was very weird. i knew the second she ran naked in the hall i’d be seeing some weird fucking shit okay

• Jay Ryan could kick me and I would personally thank him like?? wow what a man. He immediately recognizes bev when he first sees her and im just?? im happy. so many hidden new kids on the block reference and it had me fucking rolling in my grave

• JAMES FUCKING RANSONE MY DUDE OH LORD okay listen. he gives off young eddie’s panic and chaotic energy so perfectly i felt like i was watching him as an adult, who just never grew up. I think thats what he was going for honestly. He played eddie SO FUCKING WELL

• I’m so sad about stan. THats all you need to know okay. I’ll talk about his letter later on in this. Stan deserved better. that’s all.

• if you are not a fan of vomit you’re not gonna enjoy richie tozier. literally any time something bad happens hes just like ah shit here we go again *vomits* and honestly? that made me laugh. like hes just like oh shit something is happening let.. let me just.. no no its fine guys ill catch up.. EHBWFIJHDFSIJ no okay but bill hader stole the fucking show. his acting was phenomenal and,, again,, i’ll add more onto that later.

• richie scares the shit out of dean. because he thinks hes pennywise. but can you blame him? the kid just. stared at him all creepy and shit. but its so funny. the losers make fun of him bc he doesnt know his own lines from his acts and richies just like “I dont write my own material” and eddies just like “I KNEW IT! I FUCKING KNEW IT” dead. goodbye.

• Young losers were still my favorite part honestly. Eddie kept bouncing that stupid ball in stan’s face in the clubhouse and i was waiting for him to get punched in the face tbh. That didn’t even seem like eddie, that was Jack’s energy bursting through the seams lmfao

• young eddie runs into a fucking box and shrieks and if that isn’t me idk ewhdfiajksjdoi

• THE FUCKING. HAMMOCK. SCENE. okay listen to me. thats gay. hammocks are now gay. gays only. gay interacts only. the bickering between reddie had me in TEARS. eddie kept kicking at his face and just?? casually??? lays on him when richie wont move??

• stan’s fucking shower cap ehfdiujasdiosa and then richie being like “nobodys afraid of spiders stanley okay” and eddie slowly removes his because he cares what richie thinks more than spiders ok

• a flashback from after they defeated IT in the first move with reddie “eddie youve been gone for 24 hours your face is most likely on a milk carton by now” “shut up richie”

• yong Richie has me weak af this whole movie, like always. just getting on Eddie’s case. HE PINES SO HARD OH Y GOD Like wow my sweet boy is so fucking in love ouch. which?? BRINGS ME TO MY NEXT POINT??

• THE ARCADE SCENE?? he checks out the kid standing next to him and tries to get him to hang out more and then the other kid tells him to stop being weird because he’s not gay, too, and then uses the F slur. richie was just so hurt. paul bunyun scene happens after that and hes just like “I just shit my pants” and i cried.

• pennywise screaming “lets play truth or dare, you wouldnt pick truth! you dont want them to know your secret” gave off the same energy as eddie’s leper blowjob scene from the book. same energy. do with that as you will.

• they had some flashbacks that included pennywise and im not sure if this was before or after they had defeated IT in the first movie but i interpreted it as after and if thats the case... hes supposed to be dead. but now thinking back on it, it was probably just more scenes before they put pennywise to rest for 27 years.

• young richie went to the kissing bridge after that and we ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENED THERE. fucking.. r + e :((( although we don’t see him carving the E. but reddie is canon so suck toes antis

• stephen king pretty much being like “I know u and ur endings really do suck” to bill when he comes to buy his bike was so fucking funny. it almost felt like a self insert lmfao. ALSO HIM MAKING BILL PAY 300 BUCKS FOR THE BIKE BC HE KNEW HE COULD AFFORD IT? iconic.

• richie and eddie opening the door to the dog had me laughing. pennywise was just mocking them at that point. they’d be such good dog dads and now im sad

• i was really confused because they added part of stan’s bar mitzvah?? like it wasn’t even the same from the first movie. like they should’ve just put the deleted scene in from ch. 1 and then added that part. thats one of my very few complaints. im slowly hiding them in here.

• henry bowers was kinda irrelevant in this honestly but thank you eddie for stabbing him and richie for killing him for trying to kill mike yall heroes

• BEVS BLOOD SCENE ?? CORRESPONDING WITH BENS BURIED ALIVE SCENE? poetic cinema. 10/10

• the big fight really disappointed me in all honesty. but i think thats because andy said he cut so much from there. i expect it to be better with the director’s cut

• eddie saving richie and then immediately being stabbed by pennywise’s claw? IM DEPRESSED.

• “Rich! rich, i did it! i think i killed him!” Our boy was so happy with himself :(

• eddie’s last words WERE NOT “i fucked your mom”. he was talking to richie and you can hear them talking while the rest are preparing to end pennywise. so im hoping we get that as a deleted scene.

• richie goes back to help finish pennywise but when he goes to check on eddie.. he’s dead. ://// and bev is like “richie, come on, honey.. im sorry” and richie does not want to believe him. he grabs and hugs eddie so tight i swear i could feel that hug from the audience.

• another thing im disappointed in and am sliding in is some of the animations? Like. fucking weird. but okay. luckily i didn’t care too much.

• THE SOB that richie lets out when he holds eddie really hurt my fucking soul jesus christ just kill me

• the losers try cheering him up after and like. thats their friend too but you can just totally tell he’s crying in a different type of grief. THAT WAS HIS FIRST FUCKING LOVE.

• they all remember after and thats really important to me okay

• stan writes letters and its spoken outloud while the other losers get little montages of what theyre doing with their life after the battle. Richie goes back to the kissing bridge and recarves- YES RECARVES AND YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE THE E BEFORE HE DOES- he recarves the E and while doing it, stan’s voice says “be proud of who you are” and im fucking cry ibg okay

• in the end, i give this movie a 7/10 rating. although some of the animations were weird and some of the flashbacks had pennywise in it (like hes supposed to be currently dead but ok... maybe nightmares??) the actors were PHENOMENAL and the chemistry between older richie and older eddie made me so happy. my ship is canon. but im still sad about stan and eddies death.

• ignoring canon in 3.. 2.. 1.. now

#it chapter 2 #it chapter two spoilers #IT CHAPTER TWO #it chapter 2 spoilers #IT SPOILERS #reddie #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #bill denbrough #mike hanlon #beverly marsh #ben hanscom #stanley uris

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becuzpurple · 5 years

Text

Chapter 25, pt. 3 - My Everything

Turns out that even though Tumblr ate my queued draft, it still posted at the right time - yay!

Also...trigger warning for brief mention of multiple pregnancy losses.

I hope you all enjoy!

(previously... ch. 25, pt. 2 - Bailey’s & Ice Cream)

It was nearly 11pm when I heard his soft knock at the front door. I took a breath to steady my nerves, then hurried over to let him in. Once the door was open and I saw him nothing else mattered, and we were at once in each other’s arms.

“I’m so sorry, Ed, I- .”

“ -shhhh. It’s ok.”

“No, I was awful...the things I said, and then I just left...?”

“It’s OK, you were upset and needed some time.”

I shook my head. How could he be so kind after what I did?

We stepped apart but I didn’t let his hand go, needing his touch as reassurance. He somehow knew and gave a squeeze as we moved into the living room.

“The kids are at my parents’ for the night.”

“Ok.”

We sat on the sofa, turned toward each other. He had a leg tucked under the other, as he often does. I kept a toss pillow on my lap, on which our hands were still clasped.

“I’ve made a mess of everything. Ed, I’m so sorry.”

“No, no, I should’ve...I told you I’d be there for you when things get rough, but I didn’t do that, and I’m sorry.”

“I blindsided you,” I shook my head. “You have every right to be upset.”

“I didn’t come through for you, love. I won’t let that happen again, I promise.”

How do I even deserve him?

“You’re really too good to me.”

“Nooo,” he murmured, squeezing my hand. We shared a look before coming even closer together. I needed to touch him, to feel him - a physical sign of reassurance, I suppose, and it appeared that he did, too. I laid my head on his shoulder while he rested his free hand on my knee. We sat together like that, tentative and hopeful, until Ed finally broke the ice.

“Hey,” he murmured, his voice soft and soothingly low. “I…can I ask you something?” We both were hesitant to disturb our fragile peace, but things needed to be said.

I lifted my head and met his eyes, nodding.

“Do I...does being with me bring more stress to your life? Because that’s the last thing I wan -”

“ - no! You...you’ve brought happiness back to me. I feel loved, and I’m in love, and it’s...it’s so good. Ed, I’m really, really happy with you.”

He was quiet for a few seconds, studying me, so many questions evident in his eyes.

“That’s good...I feel that way, too. But, you’re so unhappy tonight, and I don’t understand why.”

“It’s...it’s all me. I think, well, remember when I told you about...my anxiety?”

“Yeah. I was wondering if that was it.”

I nodded. “It was...pretty bad today. When it gets like this I tend to hyper-focus on...something until it’s huge in my mind - like, way out of proportion. I don’t even realize it’s happening until it’s seriously out of control - like tonight. And then I panic and just...want to disappear, or want everything else to disappear, so that feeling will go away. I think that’s why I was like that, like telling you you’d be better off with someone else, and when I just...left. I was trying to make everything just go away. God, I’m so sorry, Ed.”

I covered my face with my hands, completely appalled at myself.

“I’m trying to understand...? You wanted me to go away? Like, how? Like breaking up? Is that why you said I should be with someone else?”

“I - I don’t really want that, I swear. I was panicking and saying anything to try and make that feeling - that fear - go away. It was my stupid brain being a bitch and I didn’t mean any of it. Please believe me.”

“I do, I believe you. I know you, and I...whatever that was, I knew it couldn’t be right. I promise I believe you.”

“OK,” I nodded. I felt like such a piece of shit.

But, love, what has you so upset?”

I took a breath while trying to sort out my thoughts. Ed remained the picture of patience with me.

“You...you’ve become very important to me. You’re my everything.”

He gave a hint of a smile, then, and very slightly nodded and squeezed my hand, still in his, showing me he knew exactly what I was feeling.

“I never thought I’d feel like this again.”

“But, you’re worrying about something.”

“I’m probably being irrational or paranoid or something, I don’t know. But, since Jason died...I’m really, really freaked out about losing anyone else who’s important to me...including you, now.”

“You’re not going to lose me, Kate.”

“But how do you know? Anything can happen, right? We could break up, or what if something...bad happens to one of us?”

He held my face in his hands, fingers splayed out and thumbs tenderly brushing my cheeks. “Sweetheart, you’ve been through something really horrible, and I can’t imagine how hard that must have been...and still is. I get why you have this fear, now. You’ve seen first-hand how tragedy is so...random.”

I nodded, glad he seemed to get it, but also pretty sure I was about to hear a counterargument.

He affectionately combed his fingers back though my hair a few times, and then rested his forearms over my shoulders so that we were face-to-face, quite close. “I don’t mean for this to come across as insensitive at all, but...we’re all gonna go someday. And knowing that, wouldn’t you rather live your best life than hold back?”

“What do you mean?”

“OK. Umm, do you ever regret marrying Jason?”

What? “No.”

“Of course not. The fact that he’s gone now doesn’t make you wish you’d never married him, right? You had a good life together...a beautiful family. And in the same vein, worrying about losing...me, or anyone you have a relationship with shouldn’t stop you from keeping that relationship. That would lead to a lot of hurt and regret, I think.”

He was right, and I knew that, logically. But a part of me was trying to protect myself from reliving the pain of the worst loss I’d ever experienced. I didn’t think I could endure something like that again, and I was really scared that once he was aware of my pregnancy issues, then it was only a matter of time before I’d be headed that way again.

Still, he needed to know.

“You’re right, and I do know that, but part of me is...pretty terrified.”

He shook his head, obviously trying and failing to understand. “Why?”

Taking his hands again, I mustered up the nerve to tell him. “Earlier tonight you said that you want it all...with me - a family, and children, and - ”

“ - Yeah, I...I shouldn’t have dropped that on you like that, both of us being so upset. I guess I was kinda panicking, too, though, and it just - ”

“ - it’s...no, I know - I know, it’s ok, I - I get it. But you...did you mean it?”

He took a breath through his nose, not breaking eye contact with me, and gave my hands a squeeze. “Yeah.”

I was so afraid he’d change his mind after hearing me out, yet my heart still swelled, because god knows, I wanted that, too. He smiled at me then, albeit a bit nervously, and how could I not smile back?

“I...I know I did it completely the wrong fucking way, and it’s probably too soon, too, but I - ”

“ - Ed. I’ve been thinking about those things, too.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. And I worried that it’s too soon, too, so I didn’t say anything. But, I probably should have, because it might have saved me from my damn anxiety-brain. But, no, instead, I just worried more, and then assumed things, and everything built up, and got worse, and...god, I feel so so stupid.”

“Kate.” He murmured, shaking his head. “Nothing about you is stupid - please stop saying that.”

“OK,” I nodded.

“Good. And this is good, though, yeah? We both want the same thing?”

“Yeah, but…”

“No, no ‘buts’...”

I took a steadying breath. “I’m sure my perspective is completely...fucked up, so I need you to tell me if it’s a real ‘but’ or not.”

He kind of half-heartedly huffed out a small, uncertain laugh. “Alright.”

I didn’t know how to start, and shook my head in frustration. “Sorry. OK, umm, yeah. So, you mentioned that one of the things you saw in our future was children...babies. Our babies.”

“Umm, yea…?” His eyebrows shot up then. I saw surprise, and then the question in his eyes.

“Ohhh, no. No honey, I’m...I’m not pregnant.”

“Ahhh, ok.” He made a small, self-conscious laugh. “When you said ‘babies’, and seemed kinda...nervous, I thought maybe…”

“I know, but...no. I’m sorry, no.” Damn. Am I sorry for inadvertently misleading him or for not being pregnant? Both? Jesus...

“What I’m trying to say - and doing a terrible job of it - is that...well, that’s something that might not be very easy for me - having more babies.”

He was quiet, his face etched with uncertainty.

“I haven’t told you any of this yet, but, I have a history of fertility...problems. We - Jason and I, we - you know, we wanted more kids. It’s weird, because I didn’t really have any trouble getting pregnant with the twins, so we assumed it would be just as easy as it was then.” I frowned, feeling that familiar heartache and frustration all over again.

“But, it wasn’t.”

“No. We tried on-and-off for...like, god, almost 6 years? I...well, I actually did get pregnant a few times, but I miscarried them pretty early on.”

“How...how many times?”

“Three.”

“Oh, god, love. I had no idea...I’m sorry.”

“Thanks...yeah. I needed a lot of help getting pregnant, but then, even when I did…” I shook my head. “We saw specialists, did all the testing…and they couldn’t find a reason for any of it. ‘Unexplained infertility’, ‘unexplained pregnancy loss’. I...well, so...I think you should know all of this before you make any big...life decisions.”

He brought his fingers to his mouth and started slowly shaking his head. “No, wait,” he murmured. “Are you...do you think I wouldn’t want to be with you because of this? Is this what...oh god, is this why you said I’d be better off with someone else?”

“I know how you feel about having a family, Ed, and now we’re...starting to see this as being a very permanent kind of relationship. What if I can’t have any more kids? I’d hate to do that to you.”

“Whoa, wait, hold on.” He shook his head adamantly. “How...that’s not doing anything to - fuck, love, you think...like I’d blame you?”

“I don’t know...I guess I’d blame me. I just know how important family is to you, and I wouldn’t ever want you to...miss out on that because of me? Or...change your mind about us down the road because of it?”

“No...how could...I’d never do that!”

“But you want kids.”

“Yeah...but I...Jesus...” He rubbed a hand through his beard, visibly disturbed. “I’m not with you for the purpose of having children. I - I love you and want us to spend our lives together, and that is not dependent upon whether we have babies or not.”

I started to reply - about to question him on how he’d feel if he never had any children, but he cut me off before I could begin.

“- wait.” He fervently waved his hands in order to stop me. “You’re only focusing on what you think I want. But, this isn’t just up to me, right? You - you get a pretty big say, considering that you’re half of us and it’s your uterus.”

Good points...

“For all I know, maybe you don’t want more kids. Maybe you feel like you’ve already been there, done that.”

“No,” I shook my head. “I don’t feel like that at all, I just don’t know if I ca-”

“- stop. Let’s not focus on the ‘maybes’ right now, OK? I want you - you’re the one. But what do you want, Kate?”

I closed my mouth then, realizing that I’d started to fall right back into listening to that unhealthy anxiety-monologue, focusing on the negative, and not on what was actually right in front of me.

“I’m sorry, I - ”

He shook his head slightly, watching me with a small smile. “Stop apologizing, you’re amazing. But tell me what you want.”

What I want. I knew, but I was still hesitant to say it without a qualifier - an excuse or a way out for him, just-in-case. Which I knew was ridiculous, since he’d already basically said he wanted the same thing. Finally, with a very nervous smile, I just said it.

“I want...you - I want us. And, if possible, I’d love to add...to us”.

There were a few beats of silence as we stared at each other, and then he let out a barely-audible breath - he’d been holding it. I’d been holding mine, too.

“Then we both want the same things.” He practically whispered it, and then we shared an OMFG-grin for a few seconds.

“This is...wow?”

“Kinda crazy, yeah?”

“Do you think it’s...is it too soon for all of this?”

“It’s kinda how we do things though, innit? Seems to work for us.”

“Yeah.”

Without warning I found myself wiping tears from my eyes.

“No, don’t cry, sweet girl.” He cupped my face in both hands again, gently brushing his thumbs across my wet cheeks. “I love you.” He pulled us together and kissed me so gently, almost reverently, on the mouth. When it ended I could see that he was pretty emotional, too.

“I love you,” I whispered back, and returned his soft kiss with one of my own.

He exhaled again, much more loudly this time, looking elated, relieved, overwhelmed, and exhausted all at the same time.

“It’s late. You probably have a lot to do before your flight tomorrow...er, today, I guess.”

“Oh! No, I forgot to tell you - I canceled it.”

“Your flight?”

“Yeah. After you left earlier I...well, I didn’t want to leave without fixing this.”

“Ohhh, hon, thank you. And I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing - this is where I belong right now.”

“OK.” I started fiddling with his hand in mine, sliding my fingers between his, lightly tracing each one with the tips of my own. “When do you go back?”

“Dunno, I didn’t reschedule it, yet. I figure we’ll work that out later.”

“But you have a lot going on at home, though…?”

“It’s fine, nothing was set in stone.” He captured my roaming fingers in both of his hands, brought them to his lips and peppered them with the sweetest, softest kisses.

With my other hand I tenderly combed through the copper curls at the back of his neck, eventually guiding those beautiful lips back to mine and whispered, “Stay tonight.”

-------

likes, reblogs & feedback are LOVE!

There will be a pt 4. :-)

#becausepurple #becuzpurple #ed sheeran #ed sheeran fic #ed sheeran fan fic #ed sheeran fanfic #ed sheeran mature fanfic #Ed & Kate #Ed & Kate love story #ch 25 pt 3 #My Everything #they finally have the talk #pls leave feedback!

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chokefriends · 5 years

Text

Pit-town Strays, Ch.5

Kidlaw softness and redneck shenanigans in a northern mining town. Everything’s fucked but whatever.

Rated T, no warnings. Ch 5: Law explores his escape routes but knows he isn’t going anywhere.

Ch. 1 - Ch. 2 - Ch. 3 - Ch. 4 - [Ch. 5]

Read on Ao3 too, I’m Ossicle

Law was still staring at the same channel when Bellamy and Dellinger returned an hour later. Law heard them rumble up, and muted the sound to signal the all-clear.

“Fish tacos for Bellamy, gross curry for Law,” Dellinger unpacked their takeout onto the coffee table and dug into his own.

“Thanks,” Law muttered, but didn't get up from the armchair.

“Uh,” Bellamy pointed furtively to Law's arm. The wrist was purpling.

“Shit…” Law pulled his sleeve down over it and hooked his thumb through a hole in the hem. “Whatever. Whacked it on a thing.”

Bellamy stayed standing for a minute, scuffing a toe into the carpet. “Dad’s been worried a lot, is all,” he tried eventually.

“Yeah I know,” Law answered in the same tone.

“Y’know, cuz of this one,” Bellamy jabbed his thumb at the smallest of the three and shook his head.

“...”

The blunt face creased irritably at Law's silence, and Bellamy gave up. He sat down with a grunt to tear into his own takeout box.

“Dellinger,” he grouched at the only other target in the room, “Stop tryna reconstruct the squid, just eat it. God, can you not be such a psychopath? You're making everyone upset—”

“Bellamy.” Law cut him off with a warning look. “He's right here, don't say that.”

Dellinger seemed unperturbed, but very little ever seemed to bother him. “Actually, ‘psychopath’ is not even a thing anymore? And I don't fit the criteria according to this online test I took.”

“Psycho,” Bellamy accused.

“Not!”

Law rose with a sigh and went to sit between them on the couch. “What’d you get, Del.”

“Tentacles,” Dellinger showed him his seafood, with all the squid pieces collected in a little squidlike arrangement.

“Huh. Looks better than the frog leg thing, I guess.”

“That was just an experiment. I wasn't gonna eat it,” Dellinger rolled his eyes. “I saw online that the legs move by themselves if you put em in a saltwater solution. I just wanted to try.”

“That's pretty cool,” Law reassured him.

Bellamy scoffed. “That he's killing off all the pondlife around here? Yeah it's great.”

“I’m not even killing em, just snipping off their extra legs! Most of the frogs here have like three legs and four eyes anyway. Or more, closer you get to the Pit. It's the runoff.”

“Huh… Wonder if it'll start morphing humans too,” Law mused.

“Prolly just gives humans cancer.” Dellinger gave it some thought. “You think human legs could move by themselves?”

“Only one way to find out,” Law joked.

Bellamy gave a sudden snort of disgust, picked up his dinner, and disappeared off to his room. The door thunked shut and Nickelback started blaring through it.

Law ignored all this, but Dellinger looked at the closed door in confusion, then went back to stirring his food and fidgeting. They ate in silence for a while.

“I don't wanna make people upset,” the skinny kid spoke up eventually.

Law nodded, still chewing, but didn't respond right away.

Dellinger speared a tentacle and frowned at it. “I don't think it hurts them for real. And it's not like Dad or anyone even cares about frogs. Bellamy thinks it's funny to run them over…”

“I think they're worried about how it'll look to other people,” Law explained.

“Other people are stupid.”

“Yeah,” Law agreed. “Anyway, just stick to animals with extraneous appendages. And don't take any more experiments to school.”

“It’s not like I'm gonna take the legs off people's pets or whatever. Geez. It's just frogs…” Dellinger sighed and got up to go to bed as well. His room was way upstairs on the second floor, where Bellamy and Law used to sleep when they were younger.

“Take your plate,” Law reminded him automatically.

“Why does everybody always tell me what do do… I hate it.” He started to go upstairs.

“Dellinger, take your fucking plate.”

“You take it.”

“You wanna get in trouble with Dad?” Law warned him, “You're not a baby anymore, just clean up your shit.”

“You're supposed to do all that.” Dellinger shot back, hanging off the bannister and pouting.

“I'm supposed to fucking what now?”

“Well, I'm not the one who gets in trouble when stuff's not clean. You're here to take care of us, or you have to go back to the reservation, right?”

Law's eyebrows flew up in disbelief, and then creased in anger. “I'm not fucking ‘on loan’ from wherever; I'm your fucking brother!”

Bellamy shouted from behind his closed door, “Dellinger! Take your plate upstairs or I swear to god your psycho ass is getting shipped to foster care!!”

Dellinger stomped his way upstairs instead, leaving his dinner behind.

Law snorted and sat back with arms crossed. He was going to storm off to his own room too, but he kept looking back at the leftover tentacles sticking up obscenely from the styrofoam container. He made a noise of muffled rage and threw the entire thing in the trash. There. Jesus... Now at least he wouldn't get any bruises that he hadn't fucking earned himself.

His phone buzzed.

Kidd: Where the fuk r the bandaids, u let nami use em all?

Law stared at the screen for a moment, head starting to pound, then fired back:

You: I don't fyckig know where the band-aids are im not your fucking housekeeper and I don't got any control over your shitass kid for CHRIDT SAKE

The phone buzzed again but Law flicked the notification away.

He brought up Baby's number instead and escaped outside into the darkness and silence. She didn't pick up at first and he had to call back a few times, as usual. By the time she picked up, he'd gotten himself hidden away in the passenger side of the Volvo with the seat leaned all the way back.

Baby sounded cogent but irritable. “Geez, you got Buff thinking I got another man,” she complained.

“‘Buff’ is a stupid name.” Law massaged the bridge of his nose.

“Not as stupid as ‘Buffalo,’” she sighed.

“Jesus, his parents actually named him that?”

“Yeah, they hippies.”

Law snorted. “Native hippies?”

“It's a thing.”

Law licked his lips and tried to think of what to say next, but his throat felt tight.

Baby prompted him, “Well, what up, big brother. You want a ride somewhere?”

“That's not the only reason I ever call you.”

“Haha… little bit.”

Law swallowed a surge of guilt. “Sorry. I’ve been kinda stretched thin these days—”

“Yeah I know. Big man, you. Important stuff to do.”

“I wanna see you more, though. You ever think about that thing we were talking about before? Getting mom and dad's old place back? Where we all lived before they got sick…”

Baby took a moment to answer. “Heh… I see it sometimes, when I'm driving around here.”

Law smiled. “Yeah? So how's rez life treating ya.”

“It's chill. I dunno, small. It's weird sometimes, even jus trying to like, hang with people. You know? They think I'm after something, I guess…”

“Probably just takes time.” Law reassured her. “Probably once we're both living there again and people get used to us—”

She interrupted, “Law, you don't actually think you'll end up here, right?”

“Why not?”

Baby always did that little huff thing when she had something to say. She did it twice and then put on her stern voice. “Like, what would you even do on the rez. There's no sushi, no fancy little coffee shops, and the first time you get too smart you'll get your perfect teeth all knocked down.”

“‘Knocked out,’” he corrected under his breath. “And what, you think I can't handle myself?”

“You don't wanna be here, is what I'm saying. You're too used to that whole life.”

“What whole life.”

“You know what I mean,” Baby sniffed. “Suburbia. Sunday brunch. Sunscreen…”

“That stuff’s not…! I’m not… You think I wanted to get adopted white??” Law challenged.

“Least you got adopted.”

Law had had enough. “Well, it's been a super load off my chest talking to ya, baby sister.”

“Don't get sarcastic with me,” she snapped.

“Give Buffy my bestest,” he continued.

“It’s ‘Buffalo.’”

He scoffed. “Sure. Also, he's our first cousin on mom's side.”

“He's wh—?!!”

Law hung up with a petty little burst of triumph. The feeling didn't last long, though.

“Shit…”

He sat there kicking at the glove box and letting his anger ebb away into shame. There was a black marker in the center console, and he took up his little dot-decorations again, this time on the sleeve of his hoodie. He circled and filled in wandering patches until his foggy head had cleared and he could look at his phone again.

I do wanna see you more, he texted to Baby, who didn't reply.

Law sighed and moved on to the results of the outburst just before that one. He clicked back into the convo with Kidd, expecting harsh words.

That bad eh, Kidd had replied simply to Law's rant.

Law snorted. He tapped the phone icon and waited.

“G’day,” came the wry answer.

“The fuck you need band-aids for now?” Law questioned him.

Kidd put on a tragic tone. “I got a boo-boo, man. I need that animal sticker magic.”

“Oh? What'd you do.”

“Punched a goose.”

Law laughed out loud, unexpectedly. “You fucking did not,” he put his feet up on the dash and tried not to sound like he was smiling.

“Yeah… well, it was beating up on this one poor dog chained up in a yard. Only dog on a leash in the whole place, seriously.”

“Your yard has a dog post in it too, right? Where'd that one go?” Law remembered the lonely post with the deep path tread around it.

“Oh… yeah, dad took her with him when he left last year—this German shepherd he got us as a present because he was always gone. She was supposed to keep us out of trouble, I guess, but she kept taking off and like, trying to herd coyotes or whatever, haha… He eventually chained her up in the yard and she just wore that circle into the ground every day.”

“That's so shitty,” Law shook his head.

“Yeah. I hope he took her somewhere she can run… anyway, whatever.” Kidd coughed, seeming to not wanna talk about it further.

“Yeah. Uh… So you defeated the goose, eh.”

“Hah! Not even—I had to get back on the bike and run for it! At least I drew it away from the dog.”

Law let himself laugh. “Yeah, aw, you saved it!”

Kidd laughed too. “I should've just let it off the leash. It probably would've fucked that goose up itself.”

“Well, I'll bring you animal band-aids next time I come.”

“Thanks. Uh.” Kidd paused. “So you're gonna come back?”

Law's lightened mood abruptly darkened again. He examined the purple patterns trailing from sleeve to skin—vivid and unbearably obvious. “Yeah, uh. Maybe not tomorrow, though...”

“No?”

“I got school stuff.”

“Oh, yeah. Day after?”

“Maybe the day after that…” Law evaded. He tried coloring in the dark blotches with marker, casting around for a topic to get away from this one. But Kidd seemed to read his silence anyway.

“Hey uh. You know you can just stay here? Whenever? However long,” Kidd offered.

“Uh.”

“And I don't mean as like, a live-in nanny thing either. You don't have to do anything. I don't think of you as a housekeeper.”

Law wanted to cringe away under the seat. “Nono, I don't actually think you think that! I was just lashing out about other stuff.”

“All the cleaning is kinda weird, tee-bee-aych.”

“I know. It's compulsive.”

“But you could just… stay,” Kidd emphasized again, like all this was simple.

Law stared off into the darkness beyond the windshield. He could imagine what it'd be like, sleeping with his head on a strong shoulder, breathing warmth, in a tiny house like a shoebox-nest full of other scuffed-up odds and ends. It sounded worlds better than fucking sunday brunch and sportscars…

“I don't think I can right now.”

“No, eh.”

“Anyway, I gotta get to sleep,” Law mumbled apologetically. “School tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” Kidd switched back to whatever-mode.

“I'll text you, eh? When I'm thinking of coming over.”

“Yeah, sounds good, you got my number.”

“Yeah.”

Law hung up and sat there, chewing his lip and breathing the stuffy air of the Volvo. He could just drive to Kidd's right now. Just go. But then what, wear gloves? Invent some goose story of his own? No… he couldn't leave like this, at least not yet.

But he couldn't make himself go out of the car and back to the house either.

He let his mind wander through its worries and his hands perform their restless tasks, until his phone died and the marker ran out. Then he curled up in the passenger seat to sleep.

#KidLaw #kidlaw fic #one piece modern au #trafalgar law #eustass kid #pit-town strays #okay thats it for now im gonna go write a real actual thing

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alippy711 · 6 years

Text

Falling Away With You-Ch.29

Here it is. I finished, tell me how wonderful I am, please and thank you.

Anyway, my eyes are too tired for a final read through so I apologize for any mistakes! Oh and I'm 99% sure there are only two chapters left 😬😳😳

######

Chapter Twenty- Nine: The Wedding- Part 3

I knew I shouldn’t have left her alone. The second I walked off to talk to Jace he swooped in for the second time tonight. Granted the first time he came up to her we were dancing, clearly my proximity to her meant nothing. I also shouldn’t have let her dance with him, it was too much for her, unfortunately im in no position to tell her what to do when it comes to David, which is why she’s walking off with him right now.

“You alright, man?” Jace’s words pulled my attention from Ash and back to our conversation.

“Huh? Oh yeah im good” I turned back and watched Ashley and David disappear further down the dark beach.

“I take it you’re not a big Pasta fan?” I scoffed taking a sip from my beer while he chuckled.

“You could say that”

“Did you two ever meet?”

“Yeah only once though. He was a complete asshole, though they started dating soon after so im not sure what that says about me, especially given our current situation.” I stared off into the fire thinking back to that night. If only I knew then what I know now.

“It says you fell under her spell and you aren’t the first guy to be in that position, trust me.” He patted me on the back with a laugh and I pushed out a frustrated breath.

“Got any advice for me?” He gave me a half smile and I knew I wasn’t about to like what he had to say.

“Make the most of the time you have with her now.” My heart sank at his words.

“You think they’ll get back together, huh?”

“Yeahh” He dragged out the word and I sighed.

“I really like you Evan, but I see the way she looks at him, she is in love with him, even now. He may have broken her heart but he loves her and despite all the shit he’s done she will take him back in a second and I think you know that.” I ran a hand through my hair letting out a low groan.

“Of course I do. I’ve pretty much known that since the day I asked her out, but I still chose to subject myself to the pain.” He let out a short laugh and I returned it with a smile.

“Totally worth it though, right?”

“Totally”

Jace and I talked a little longer before I caught David from the corner of my eye. He was walking back, alone, which probably wasn’t a good sign. I excused myself from Jace making my way around the fire while David walked around the other side. We made eye contact and we both knew exactly where I was heading, and I fucking loved it. Here I was picking up what he broke once again and he knew that too.

She had yet to notice me coming so I slowed my pace to take her in. She was laid out on a blanket, hands behind her heard with her eyes closed. The light from the moon reflected off her tear stained face and it made me hate him even more. Yet despite her tears she still had a soft smile on her lips. She was lost in her head and I knew no matter what I did I was about to scare the shit out of her.

“Hey” My voice was soft, but loud enough to get her attention causing her body to jerk up from her position. She looked over at me wide eyed with a hand across her chest.

“Jesus Christ Evan, you scared the shit out of me” I could see her hands shaking as she took a few breaths to calm her racing heart. I shot her a sympathetic smile as I dropped down next to her.

“Sorry, there was really no good way to get your attention” She smiled and laughed a little.

“True, im way too jumpy” She looked out at the ocean and I bumped my shoulder against hers.

“How you doin? I saw David walk back and figured I would check on you.” She smiled sweetly and hooked her arm with mine.

“Thanks Evan, im ok. I hit my emotional limit for the day, too much excitement mixed with heartbreak and way too many tears.” She let out a small laugh and looked out at the ocean.

“I hope he didn’t ruin your day. You should have just ignored him there was no reason to speak to him” There was an edge behind my voice that I knew she wouldn’t appreciate. She gave me an incredulous look and pulled her arm from mine twisting her body so her legs were tucked underneath her.

“Please don’t tell me how to handle David. It’s my relationship and I will do as I see fit.” I hung my head feeling bad for pushing.

“I...I didn’t mean to tell you what to do. I just hate that this had to happen on the day of Matt’s wedding.”

“I appreciate your concern. I knew today wouldn’t be easy with him here but that’s over now and I just want to end the day on a good note.” She had an incredible ability to push down her feelings, it was both amazing yet worry some.

“Then enjoy the night we shall. How about we head back?” She shook her head and I gave her a questioning look.

“No, I want to stay here with you for a few more minutes.”

Her smile made my heart skip a beat and I leaned back on the blanket holding myself up with my elbow. I nodded for her to come closer and she scooted towards me laying her head on my chest with a content sigh and I felt a burst of nerves shoot through my body. We stayed like this for a few more minutes until I felt a shiver go through her.

“You cold?” I rubbed my hand up and down her arm as she nodded.

“Let’s head back then.” We stood up and I helped her shake the sand off her blanket before wrapping it around her shoulders while she smiled up at me causing my head to swirl. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth pulling my gaze from her eyes down to her mouth. I placed my hands on her shoulders pulling her flush against me while I leaned down to meet her lips and when they did everything around me faded away except the feel of her lips moving against mine. We were breathless by the time we pulled away and I ran my hand over the blush that formed on her cheeks only to perpetuate it.

“What are you thinking in that pretty head of yours?”She broke our eye contact and looked out at the ocean before answering.

“Im thinking we should head back to my room” A slow smirk played its way across her lips and I wanted nothing more than to kiss it right off.

“Then off we go” I slung my arm around her shoulders leading her in the direction of the fire with a little more pep in my step.

There was still a group of people huddled around as we approached and I made sure to seek David out in the crowd, spotting him easily as he was already watching us. I would be lying if I said it didn’t feel fucking great to be walking back with Ash while he watched with a pissed off look on his face.

I noticed a small group of people still out by the fire as we made our way back, but I didn’t dare look, there wasn’t enough room in my brain to handle seeing David watch me and Evan walk off together.

“Ash get in here!” My head whipped towards the bar the second we walked through the doors as Kim, Rose and Jace frantically waved us over.

“Come have a night cap with us” I tried to ignore the raised brow look Kim was sporting as she took in Evan and I.

“Whatchya think?” I asked looking up at him.

“Why not” I smiled and separated from his grip skipping over to my group of friends.

“What are we drinking?”

“Start with this” Kim smirked handing me a glass filled with brown liquid.

“Jack and Coke I assume?”

“But of course!” I laughed as Rose shook her head from beside her. They were definitely drunk.

“Where did you sneak off too?” Jace leaned in close, speaking softly but I could still pick up on the hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“You fucking know where I was” He let out a deep laugh as I fought off the smirk I felt pulling at the corners of my lips.

“I talked to him” His words had me choking on the sip I just took, nearly spitting it in his face.

“You what?” I managed to get out the words in between coughs while he hit lightly at my back trying to help me.

“You ok” I nodded and forced out a “yes” and looked over my shoulder to where Evan was fully engaged in a conversation with Rose and Kim before urging Jace to keep talking.

“It was a private conversation between us guys but I will say I like him” The smirk he wore had me rolling my eyes.

“Oh really? Because I distinctly remember you telling me he was the second biggest douche behind you when I gave you the run down.” He shrugged his shoulders and took a sip from his drink.

“Well that was before I met him. I mean he’s an idiot for fucking up.”

“So what exactly did you say to him?” I narrowed my eyes at him hoping a serious approach would help.

“My lips are sealed, missy” He made the zipping his lips motion with his fingers and I groaned loudly pulling a chuckle from him.

“All I will say is I gave him some words of advice and I think he listened, despite is very obvious hatred towards me.” He gave me a slight glare and I shrugged.

“I told him all about you. But I did say we’ve come a long way since then and we’re friends now” I teased.

“Hey nothing I don’t deserve, right? Besides its good he doesn’t like me, means he can learn from my mistakes and he seemed to want to, so I like him.”

“Like who?” Evan’s voice broke through our conversation as he settled in next to me.

“No one” I spoke quickly.

“Dav-, ouch, fuck” I not so subtly kicked Jace before he could finish saying David’s name, though Evan clearly put it together considering the hard set his jaw was currently in.

“Well now that I have a broken shin I think I’ll head up to bed” Jace said looking between Evan and I.

“Suck it up buttercup. Go get your beauty rest and I’ll see you tomorrow.” Jace said goodbye to Evan before pulling me into a hug.

“I may like the Czech but im still all in on you living it up during this break-up” I smiled up at him with a wink as we pulled away.

“Oh I plan on it.” I turned back to Evan who was watching me with one brow raised.

“Don’t worry about it. Finish that beer and then it’s time for the real night cap” I patted him on the chest looking around him at Rose and Kim.

“Ok ladies one more shot before we all head our separate ways?”

“Im down, 4 raspberry kamikazes coming up!” Kim sang out turning towards the bartender to order. I sucked down the rest of my drink just in time for Rose to hand the shots out.

“Cheers to Matt and Sam and to all of us enjoying the rest of tonight” I could hear the innuendo behind Rose’s words and let out a small laugh before downing the shot.

“Alright that shit was strong im calling it a night” Kim pronounced while rose mouthed a thank god from behind her.

“I do believe we had some plans that involved you and me and a hotel room” His voice was low against my ear sending a shiver down my spine.

“I do believe you are correct, let’s get going hot stuff.” I smiled up at him taking his hand in mine and began pulling him towards the elevator. I tapped impatiently at the button willing the elevator to come quicker.

Once the doors opened I pulled Evan inside, punched the button for my floor and pulled him down for a kiss. His lips tasted sweet from the shot we just took and I bit down lightly on his bottom lip, smiling against his mouth when I was rewarded with a moan. I pulled away wearing a mischievous grin while he mumbled his grievances at the loss of my lips. I rolled my eyes turning away from him just in time to catch David staring at us, pale as a ghost, while the elevator doors shut.

#david pastrnak #david pastrnak imagine #david pastrnak fic #boston bruins #nhl imagine #nhl rpf #nhl fic #hockey imagine #hockey fic #hockey rpf #falling away with you fic #i miss noodle boy

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well--i-dont-know · 6 years

Text

I wrote a radio drama for class

The Script is in the a read more Its called Excuses, and isnt in the right format but its there, this was actually really fun to do.

Excuses

By:Meghan Murphy

SCENE 1.

Opens with dramatic music, mimicking a hero's monologue

CHARACTER 1: My name is Mari Nara. Im short and out of shape, more often than not it looks like I just rolled out of bed. My mother says that I’m the smartest in my family, and I guess my grades from school reflect that in a way, but if i’m truly as smart as my mother says I am, then why am I sitting across from one of the most wanted men in the world.

Scene 2

Music shift to more homely noises and a radio in the background

CHARACTER 2: What are you writing a young adults novel as an excuse to get out of class? 1) that’s not your name and 2) Your teacher will see through your bullshit in a second.

CHARACTER 1: Maybe so but at least they would get a strong female character and a dramatic parallel to a dystopia compared our nation's current state in the process.

CHARACTER 3: And you still get marked as late.

CHARACTER 1: (sigh) Fine what would you say.

CHARACTER 2: Oo Say you fought a bear but add more pizazz . Like, Its was a dark and dreary night when you found yourself alone in the woods.

CH 1: Why would I-

Forest noises, with footsteps and rain as the radio music almost fades out completely

CH 2: No interrupting. Alone in the woods when the heavens opened up above. As the rain poured down above you crashing upon every leaf on its way to the ground you looked around for a shelter. Having watched enough youtube tutorials you were of course prepared.

CH 1: More credit than I deserve but thank you.

CH 2: Knowing how to build a shelter with your bare hands you go to work looking for the proper sticks.

CH 1: What are we getting a play by play?

CH 2: You’re subtly teaching your teacher during the story how to build a proper wilderness shelter so your excuse is more practical and educational than the class would have been.

CH 3: Ok but can we get back to the forest Im dying to know how Megivver here makes a shelter.

CH 2: That's the thing as she was on her search for the perfect branch she stumbles upon a cave. Knowing that her chances are greater with less energy spent she decides to venture farther into the cavern for optimal living area.

CH 3: Naturally.

CH 2: So, as she ventures farther it gets darker and darker.

CH 3: Ah yes totally out of the ordinary for a natural cave, where is the room service and indoor lighting .

CH 2: Smartass, But our valiant Meg she didn't bring a light source with her, forced to feel around for the wall of the cavern. Dark and damp, or well that's what she expected the wall to be. What she didn’t expect was a soft and warm mass to touch her hand.

CH1: Im guessing thats the bear.

CH3: No spoilers

CH2: It was (pause) a bear.

A roar and music gets intense

CH3: (Gasp)

CH2: As the bear acknowledges the new touch it arises from its slumber, turns around, and swings.

Music picks up with a suspense song

CH2: Blows are being traded and both you and the bear are in what seems to resemble a bar fight.

Fighting sounds and bear roars continually

CH1: Yeah cuz both I and the bear know how to bar brawl

CH2: The secret life of bears man who knows. As you and the bear fight it seems as though our hero is coming out on top, and with one final blow the bear is down. Sleeping once more.

CH3: No bears were harmed in the making of this excuse.

CH2: I mean the bears pride maybe. Any way you have done it it seems as though the cave is yours.

Bear fight effects stop and music dies down

CH1: That seems too easy.

CH2: That is. . .

CH1: There it is.

CH2: Until another bear appears out of the darkness of the cave. Its mamma bear and this time she’s pissed. You just beat up her kid and she’s ready to fight.

Bear fight effects come back

CH3: OOOO I don't think Meg can take the momma bear.

CH2: Neither does she. That coward clearly being able to forsee the outcome of the match turns and begins to run out of the cave. That’s when. . .

Footsteps added

CH1: Oh god what now?

CH2: That’s when the momma bear pulls out a flare gun

CH3: That’s one hardcore bear.

CH1: And impossible but go on

CH2: The takes the flare gun and aims it in the direction of \

CH2(cont): her cubs assailant, and she fires. She fires as many shots as she can and Meg the hero that she is does her best to dodge every-single-one. She manages to dodge most but one catches her. And that's why she has a scar on her thumb. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

Fade back to radio

CH1: There are so many things wrong with this story,

CH3: Name one thing

CH1: The fact of a bear had a flare gun or what about the fact of this wasn't about explaining the scar on my thumb, I got from cooking I’ll just add, but how will this get me out of class.

CH2: I don't know about you but I wouldn't mess with anyone who I know fought a bear

CH3: Yeah your not thinking about it the right way, but I still see your point. What if you tell the teacher that the dog ate your ability to get out of bed early in the morning.

CH1: that would probably work better than the bear story

CH2: It was gold and you’re just too much of a coward too see it.

CH3: Ok ok ok I have the perfect excuse for you. How about you tell her that you got kidnapped.

Scene 3

CH2: On a dark and dreary night

Action music begins

CH3: Oh god no no no, So this is what you tell her. That you

CH3(cont): Were walking down the street after class yesterday, when some random person comes up to you wanting you to buy drugs off them. But you told them no cuz your a good christian girl.

CH1: ah yes as the jesus told me say i'm too broke to have fun habits so why would I want those kinds of habits, to drugs. And more importantly why is a drug dealer kidnapping me because I didn't buy from them?

CH3: I wasn't finished. So you say no cuz your boring, and then next thing you know there is a bag over your head and you’re being pulled into a van.

CH2: hope you only tipped your uber a dollar.

CH1: Hope they didnt drop my purse, that where I keep my pokemon cards.

CH3: You’re getting theoretically kidnapped and your worried about your Charizard

CH1: Limited edition one yeah

CH3: Anyway , your kidnappers take special care as to not bend your mint edition Charizard holo card

CH1: Now this story is realistic

CH3: And they put a bag over your head and knock you out.

Thud

Ch2: What was it like to have the best sleep of your life be because you were being kidnapped.

CH1: Yeah I’m jealous of this “me” in your story. Can I get that kind of sleep.

CH3: So your in the back of their van. Totally knocked out when a bump in the road wakes you up.

Ch2: is that even possible?

CH3: In this story it is so shush. When you awaken you start to struggle hoping to get out of the bondage the they have trapped you in. As you struggle the driver seemed to be obvious to the fact that you woke up.

CH1: If i'm not becoming an action hero in this one I feel lied too.

CH3: Hero is a relative term, lets just say that the van ended up at the bottom of the ocean.

CH2: The nearest one is over one hundred miles away. How.

Car effects

CH3: And you and you Charizard card rode off into the sunset to live happily ever after.

CH1: And that's why I didn't go to class???

CH3: Fine ok how about you try to come up with an excuse if your gonna be so picky about it.

CH1: Maybe I will.

CH2: This is going to be the worst story ever.

Scene 4

Presidential music and an eagle in the background

CH1: It all started when the president of the United States

CH2: (disgust) ew

CH1: When he make the first good decision in his life and decided to name me President.

CH3: How Democratic of him, so your our president why does that mean you get out of class??

Ch1: Normally it wouldn’t, If I haven't used my new found power of being the President Of the United States to say the The President doesn't have to go to school.

Ch3: Smart

Ch2: Tactical I like it

Ch3: But can you make it so the president friends don't have to go to class either?

Ch1: (hisses through teeth) OOoo sorry now that I’m President I have to start taking things seriously, and making a law just for my friends would be selfish and not very presidential like. So sorry but I can’t.

CH2: Wow not even a full hour and she’s already forgotten where she came from

Ch3: I will say that she seems to have a stronger moral compass then the current Prez.

Ch1: So I can count on you for reelection right?

CH3: You got my Vote

CH2: I’m gonna need a little more lobbying for you to sway me.

Music fades back out to radio

CH3: Ok I have it the ultimate end all. Crazy idea here so don't just shoot me down immediately

CH1: (sigh) Your gonna tell me tpo just got to class aren't ya.

CH3: absolutely.

CH2: buzzkill, but she’s right

CH1: I know, I just don't wanna say it.

CH3: Go learn things ya nerd.

End

#Radio Drama #Writing #student work #excuses #My Work #If you guys want more plz liike and reblog so i know

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perlukafarinn · 6 years

Text

what’s there to talk about, ch 3

part 1 / part 2 / part 3 (ao3)

After Tyler, the topic of Dean’s sexuality doesn’t come up again between him and Sam for a good decade.

Before Stanford, Sam does his best to ignore it. It’s not until he’s enrolled and making friends there that he comes into contact with openly gay and bi people for the first time in his life. He sometimes considers bringing it up when Dean calls, but it’s just easier not to. If Dean is bi – which seems to be the case – then he’s clearly a lot more into women and Sam wouldn’t be doing him any favors by trying to make him talk about it.

He gets a phone call once from a guy who seems to think he’s Dean, wanting to meet up again (the phrasing he uses is a lot more graphic, but Sam would rather not think about it). It’s only a few days after Sam saw Dean for the first time in two years, so he doubts it’s a coincidence. He’s not sure what Dean means by it, though, so he elects to ignore that, too.

He doesn’t see or speak to Dean again until Dad disappears. Then Jess is dead, and Sam’s life is falling apart.

They meet Cassie, and Sam takes the opportunity.

“So she’s your ex-girlfriend,” he says, and from the way Dean is already glaring at him he knows he’s being extremely transparent. He soldiers on anyway. “Any ex-boyfriends?”

Dean looks away, turning his glare to the wall, and Sam is honestly a little surprised the paint doesn’t start peeling from the force of it. “Don’t be stupid.”

“But-”

“Sam,” Dean warns, and that’s that. End of discussion. Sam’s not sure if he’s frustrated or relieved.

He tries again after Dean makes the deal.

Dean’s attitude is different but he doesn’t seem any more willing to discuss it.

“The way I see it, I’ve got one year left,” Dean tells Sam. “I can spend it crying and talking about my feelings, or I can have some goddamn fun.”

“You’re not gonna go to hell,” Sam says, and the conversation turns away from Dean’s sexuality into yet another fight about his unwillingness to fight for his life.

Sam gives up after that. If Dean doesn’t want to talk about it, then he’s not gonna force him.

It doesn’t come up again for several years.

Cas has been dead for two months. Dean is drinking more and sleeping worse than ever, and Sam can’t even help him because he’s barely keeping it together himself. The best he can do is haul him off to bed when Dean drinks himself into a stupor.

One such night, Dean wakes up while Sam is pulling off his shoes.

“I miss ‘im.”

Sam startles, dropping Dean’s foot. He looks up, at Dean propped against the headboard, blinking slowly as his eyes fill with tears.

“Hey,” Sam says softly, sitting down on the mattress next to him. “It’s okay.”

Dean shakes his head. “‘S not. He’s gone, Sammy.”

He looks so broken, so defeated, and Sam can barely look at him. Dean has always been the stronger of the two of them, and no matter how often it’s happened in these miserable past six years Sam can’t handle seeing him cry.

“Never even told him…” Dean’s voice breaks, and he rubs his eyes with the back of his hand. “I think he knew, but I should’ve told him.”

Sam knows he shouldn’t. Dean would never tell him this while he was sober, and if he remembers this tomorrow he’s gonna be pissed at the both of them for this conversation. “Told him what?”

“Y’know.” Dean laughs, the sound of it hollow and pained. “Bout being in love with him. But he knew.” He nods to himself, lips set in a determined line for a moment before crumbling again. “He knew, didn’t he?”

“Of course he did,” Sam tells him instinctively, even as his head swims with this revelation.

It feels like he just caught his big brother and his supposed friend making out on the couch in their apartment all over again. It shouldn’t be as big a shock, but Sam never saw this coming. Cas was Dean’s best friend, not his… whatever they actually were to each other.

Sam glances over at Dean, who’s fallen back asleep, head lolling to the side and mouth hanging open as he snores softly. Sam gets up, adjusting Dean so he’s lying on his side, covers him with a blanket and then stumbles to his own bed.

He knew Dean wasn’t straight, of course. It’s just that for all he knows, Dean’s only been with the two men, and both of those were years ago. There’s certainly never been any hint of more while he’s been around Sam.

Except, apparently, there was, and Sam was just too dense to notice.

God. How many more secrets has Dean been keeping from him?

Come morning, Sam decides to wait and see if Dean brings Cas up again. It becomes evident pretty soon that Dean doesn’t remember anything from the night before, and Sam considers the matter dropped. Bringing it up now would only hurt Dean more.

They’re on a case in Wichita, and the name Tyler Brooks comes up on a list of witnesses.

Sam reads it a couple of times, making sure he’s got it right, before handing the file off to Dean. He can tell the moment Dean spots Tyler’s name, because his eyes suddenly still and he draws in a sharp breath.

“It’s not necessarily him,” Sam says.

Two years on, he’s not sure if Dean and Cas are actually together or not – neither one of them has mentioned anything to him – but if they are, Dean might feel awkward about interrogating his ex.

Dean lets out a forced laugh. “You’d be relieved, wouldn’t you Sammy?”

Sam frowns, stung by the hostility in Dean’s voice. “What do you mean?”

“I’m just saying.” Dean shrugs, closing the file. “You didn’t exactly get along.”

“I was a dumb, homophobic kid,” Sam says defensively. “You know I don’t have any problem with gay people now.”

Dean doesn’t say anything, and Sam feels like the wind’s been knocked out of him.

“I don’t,” he reiterates. “Hell, I’ve been trying to get you to open up about your sexuality for years now.”

“What?” Dean says incredulously. “You brought it up like twice since you got back from Stanford, and once you were just making fun of me.”

“What the hell, Dean? I never did that!”

“Oh, so what was that you pulled at Cassie’s?”

Sam gapes at his brother. All these years, Dean thought he was mocking him? That he looked down on him for not being straight? How could Dean think that?

Dean’s expression softens. “Look, I’m sorry. I know you don’t hate gay people or anything. You’ve always been cool to Charlie. But just admit that in my case, it makes you uncomfortable and that’s why you haven’t tried harder to talk to me about it.”

“It doesn’t- I don’t-” Sam tries, but he can’t muster up the right words.

Dean hands him the file back, and leaves without another word. Sam can only stare after him. He’s wrong.

Isn’t he?

It’s a different Tyler Brooks. This one is at least a decade too young. Sam decides to put the whole thing aside until the case is over, and Dean doesn’t bring it up either so he must have reached a similar conclusion.

A couple of days later, they’ve wrapped everything up and are heading back to the bunker, and Sam figures it’s now or never.

“You were right,” he tells Dean.

Dean actually turns off the music. “I’m sorry, what?”

Sam rolls his eyes but Dean deserves to hear it, so he repeats himself, “You were right. About me being uncomfortable with it.”

“Told you,” Dean says, but he doesn’t sound particularly triumphant. Not that Sam can blame him.

“It’s not because you’re not straight,” Sam continues. “It’s just… it’s a part of you that you never wanted me to find out about. And I acted like an asshole when I did.”

Dean shifts in his seat. “You were just a dumb kid.”

“But I should have said something later,” Sam says. “I mean, I did try, but I should have tried harder. I was afraid of saying something stupid and hurting you again. It was easier to just… not say anything.”

Dean doesn’t say anything. They drive in silence for a little while, until Dean remembers to turn the music back on.

They’re approaching the bunker when Dean finally speaks again.

“While we’re on the topic,” he says. “Cas and I are sorta…”

“Yeah, I figured.”

Dean looks sharply at Sam, swerving the car slightly as he does. “What.”

“You told me you loved him,” Sam admits. “Back when Cas died. The third time,” he then has to clarify, because their lives are just that ridiculous. “But you were drunk off your ass.”

“Jesus, Sam, how long have you been sitting on that one?”

“Look, I didn’t know for sure if you were together. I was waiting for you to tell me.”

“Didn’t we just have this conversation?”

Sam snorts. “I guess so. But, uh,” he fidgets, feeling a little awkward despite himself. Dean really was spot on when he said this topic made him uncomfortable, wasn’t he? But Sam doesn’t want to be. He wants to do better. “You can tell me if there’s anything else. I won’t judge or make fun, promise.”

“I hooked up with Benny in Purgatory,” Dean says flatly.

“What the fuck.”

“Hey, you said no judgment!”

“You slept with a vampire,” Sam sputters. “I’m sorry, but vampire trumps guy.”

“Look who’s talking! Remind me which one of us was shacking it up with a demon for a whole year?”

Sam shuts his mouth after that. Some things you just can’t argue with.

Cas drops by the bunker a couple of days later. He looks surprised but pleased when Dean greets him with a kiss, right in front of Sam.

It’s still a little surreal to watch Dean kissing another man, but it’s also good to see him so obviously happy.

Cas stays the night, and they make no secret of him spending it in Dean’s bedroom. The next morning he’s in the kitchen, pouring himself coffee when Sam gets back from his run.

“Dean is still asleep,” he tells Sam. “It always tires him out when we…”

He trails off, looking a little unsure, and as happy as Sam is for the two of them he’s relieved Cas isn’t gonna start talking about their sex life with him.

“You love him, right?”

Sam doesn’t mean to ask, but the words are out before he can stop them.

“Of course,” Cas says, simply, like he’s never been surer of anything. Sam realizes then that he probably hasn’t been.

“Good.” Sam nods to himself. And since he’s already pursuing this line of questioning, “You’re not leaving again, are you?”

“Not if Dean wants me to stay. Would you like a cup of coffee?”

Sam blinks, taken aback by the abrupt change in topic. “Uh, sure.”

They’re both sitting by the kitchen counter, sipping their coffee when Dean stumbles into the room, wearing his dead guy robes and a pair of slippers. He accepts a cup from Cas and leans into it when Cas presses a kiss against his cheek. Sam’s never seen him this relaxed before.

It’s strange, alright, but given enough time Sam knows he’ll get used to it. This version of Dean is the happiest Sam’s seen him since he can remember.

Some part of Sam – the self-loathing part – can’t help but wonder if Dean wouldn’t have been this happy much sooner if he’d been more accepting. Maybe what he had with Tyler really could have gone somewhere.

Except, no, it couldn’t have. Even if Sam had been cool, Dad sure as hell never would have been. And in the end, the road they took still lead them to this kitchen. To Cas making them coffee and asking Sam about his morning run and kissing Dean’s cheek when he drags himself out of bed, finally learning at age thirty-six how to sleep in.

It’s not what Sam expected, but it’s good. They’re good.

#avyssoseleison #deancas #bi!dean #spn fanfic #perlukafarinn writes #sam & dean #outsider pov #homophobia cw #canon divergent fic

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summerrrluvvv · 4 years

Text

Chapter 6:

Don’t forget to stream Summer Luv soundtrack on Spotify!

https://summerrrluvvv.tumblr.com/post/620701629119922177/music-featured-in-this-chapters-summer-luv

Day 5 in Miami

Tye:

I woke up bright and early to cook breakfast for me and Samar. Last night was not at all what I had expected but I am happy it happened cause now Samar would know how I really feel and how I don’t regret shit. I had Sleepy Brown’s “I can’t wait” blasting softly throughout the kitchen. I was making us breakfast sandwiches with tater tots. I danced around the kitchen drinking a hard mimosa i made with vodka and orange juice, let’s just say my life was about to change. I made our plates and before I could go get Samar he was already slowly walking into the kitchen. “Can we talk?” He asked. I turned down the music and sat on the bar stool. He looked at the food and awkwardly smiled. “Thank you, for making breakfast this morning, Um I want to apologize for last night I was drunk as fuck, I didn’t mean to take advantage of you Tye” He said. I shook my head. “No Samar, its fine. I wanted it” I told him. He rubbed his hand through his face to the back of his head. “It shouldn’t have happened Tye, you like my sister. I feel like I fucked my family, and no matter how many times I try to think of it being okay, it not. We can’t go there Tye. It would fuck up our dynamic. Shit fucked my head up” My heart started racing. I felt embarrassed as fuck. “I um, yeah your right. I just cooked this breakfast for my brother who I fucked” I said angry. He sighed. “This is why it was a mistake, Tye you got feelings now” He said. I faked a laugh, “Sure Samar the sex was so phenomenal that I fell so deep in love overnight, like nah I get it shit can’t happen again that’s cool just eat this breakfast nigga” I said. He grabbed my arm. “We cool Tye Tye?” He asked. I forced a smile. “Nigga of course, you my bro for life”. I started rolling me a blunt or two because I was embarrassed that things did not go as planned. We were just chilling and vibe in when Samar doorbell rang. He went to the door to get it and in walked two thick bitches. I rolled my eyes. “Hey Sammie, did you forget our afternoon swim?” This bitch said. I started laughing to myself you got to be kidding me. “No, I didn’t Tiff baby, I’m just chilling with my homie” He said. The bitch “Tiff” looked me up and down she smirked at me. “Oh homie, I thought this was one of your girls, whew thank goodness” She said. Samar looked at me, knowing what the fuck was going to happen next if he ain’t move this bitch out my face. “What you say?” I asked her as I stepped up to her. She playfully shrugged. “It was a jokey joke honey” She said. I grabbed a fist of her hair, and her lace was peeling up. “Whoaaa” Samar said. “Sammie get this bitch off of me!” She screamed. Her friend tried to grab my hair, but Samar was in the way. I let go of her “wig”. “I know you wasn’t swimming with this box braid head ass wig sis” I said before leaving to go the room to grab my shit and go. “Sammie make her leave” Tiff said. “Yo just chill, you did come up in here on that ra-ra shit”. I heard as I walked back in the kitchen to grab my liquor and my weed. “You ain’t leaving shit for me?” He asked. I shook my head. “Oh no sir you not sharing my weed and my liq with these hoes” I told him. I grabbed the keys to the jeep and slammed the door.

Samar:

“Tyeeee!” I yelled as I ran outside. She was putting her stuff in the jeep. “Yes?” She asked with her hands on her hip. She was putting her wavy hair into a bun on top of her head. For some odd reason, the facial expression she was making was doing something to me. Got me having feelings in my heart and my dick. “I’m sorry about shorty” I said. She shrugged. “I mean she almost got killed so you probably should” She said with an attitude. I smiled at her. “You going to come to my party on Friday?” I asked her. She shrugged her shoulders again. “Depends is “Tiff” coming?” She asked. I shrugged. “Maybe” I said. She laughed. “Well then My girls and I will be wearing our mugshot best” She said putting on her shades cause the sun was blazing in her face. “Samar its hot as a witches coochie and I’m irky as hell” She stated. I nodded. “Aight fam, just hit my line, or Ima come by and see your spot” I said to her. “Cool beans go fuck your bitch” She said before hoping into the jeep, and literally backed up on high speed through my driveway. I walked back into the house and I see that Tiffany and her friend Amika, had got butt ass naked. Tiff had fixed her lace front. “So, you ready to have some fun” She asked. I hesitated because I was not expecting to smash these thots right away. I still had Tye on me from last night. “Ladies let me shower first and I will meet yall for some fun in the pool” I said. Tiff pulled out some whip cream. “Okay Sammie” I shook my head cause they not about to fuck up my Airbnb pool with some whip cream. “We can use it just not in the pool” I said. She frowned at me. “Okay baby”. She came over to me and kissed me, then Amika came over and kissed me. I honestly was not even interested in whatever they were trying to do but I was going to do just to say I did it. I went upstairs to my room turned on my music on the room speaker. “Nova cane” by Frank Ocean played again sending me flash backs of last night as I showered. If the girls kissing me aint make my dick happy, thoughts of last night did. “Fuck, no that’s like family” I told myself. I got out the shower, dried off and just walked downstairs naked cause why not. “Yall ready?” I asked. The girl’s eyes got big looking at me, and they both nodded. This was going to be a long afternoon.

Ariana:

“So, this what you look when you wake up?” Anthony said. I woke up looking around crazy. “Did we?” I asked. He shook his head laughing. “Nah, aint my steelo mami, you not that type of girl” He said. I sighed thankfully, only cause if we did have sex and it was bomb I wouldn’t remember. Sex with Marlon was okay, so I hoped the next time I would have sex I would be checking into the E.R happily. I grabbed my phone to see it was 2:17 p.m. in the afternoon. “Shit, I got to go home” I said stressed. I instantly thought about Melody. “Oh my gosh!” I panicked. Anthony got up looking at me crazy. “What’s up baby girl?” He asked confused. I rubbed my hands through my hair calling Mel but she aint answer. “What happened to Melody last night?” I asked. He shrugged. “She said she was leaving and that’s it” He said. I still had on my outfit from the barbeque and so all I needed to do was slip on my sneakers. “Anthony, I need to get home to find Mel” I said. “Ri-Ri chill did you check her location?” He asked. I quickly looked at her location and I sighed in relief that she was home, and Tye was on the way to the house, and Zion was on some Island. “Whew child I almost thought I was going to be interviewed by Crime Watch Daily being the last person to see my best friend, oh Thank you Lord Jesus” I praised. Anthony started laughing. “Im glad to be witnessing this cute little meltdown” He said. I playfully pushed him. “I love my friends okay” I said. He nodded. “I see, how about we go grab some food and I take you home aight?” He asked. I nodded.

Anthony:

“Where are we going? I don’t eat shit I aint never had Anthony!” Ariana stressed. She was a picky little something I could tell already. She wanted I hop but I knew a little spot by the beach she would love called Patsys. “Patsys?” She read as we pulled up. I laughed. “This better be bomb “she said. We could sit anywhere so we chose to sit outside. I ain’t going to lie I finesse alot of women. I get all the draws in Miami, but Ariana was a challenge. I never had much of a challenge. I was vulnerable with her so that I enjoyed. She be gone soon we go our separate ways, but we had something for a moment, and I wanted that. I wanted her if even it was only an hour of her just making me laugh. “What?” She asked looking at me. I shrugged. “I like you a lot Ariana” I said saying her name with a little accent. She blushed. “I like you to Antonio” She said smiling. “My partner told me about this pajama party popping off his weekend, I want you there” I told her. She acted like she was thinking. “Pajama parties lead to butt naked nasty nastiness” She said doing a dance. I smirked. “Yeah but we just going for the vibes” I told her. She nodded. “Aight Ima be there looking real Ariana Secretish” She said. I loved how silly she was. We ordered our food and I waited to see if she would like it. “Sooo?” I asked her. She closed her eyes. “Okay this better than Ihop and waffle house on a drunk night” She told me. I smiled. “Seeeee mami, be open” I told her. “Mmmhm you were just lucky this time” She said. “I had a goodtime last night. I enjoyed seeing your family and your abuletia, it was really nice” She said. It felt good to know she enjoyed her time. Not many girls me my Familia. “Now abuletia breakfast beats anyplace” I told her cheesing. “So, nigga why are we at Patty’s?” She asked. I laughed. “Patsy’s girl” I said. She rolled her eyes. “That’s what I said” She said smirking. After we ate, I drove her back home, and we sat in the car making out a little bit. I wanted to do soo much more, but I couldn’t do that unless she was ready, and if she wasn’t, I still be fine with that.

Isaac:

“Mel, I left this morning because I didn’t want you to wake up with regret, of last night. I do not regret any of it though. I would be lying if I aint say I do again. It has been so long since I held you, and I forgot how good you feel and smell, so do not think I just dipped on you. I love you”

I pressed send on my phone to the message I sent Melody. I sat in my car, after I left her house. Thinking about last night. She tasted and felt so good. I even thought about waking her up to it this morning but knew her liquor guilt would probably kick in or would it. I know she want me as bad I want her. If not, then I had a challenge to win her heart. “We going to hit that margarita shop on the way to the beach?” Freddie asked. “Nah nigga lets go catch some hoes then go to beach, Yo Izzy you good?” Trey said. Trey and Freddie were my A1s since day 1. We were out here for Trey birthday. “Yeah, just in my head” I said. “Nah nigga where were you last night, who the hoe that got you in your head?” Freddie asked. “Yall chill man, shawty aint no hoe. You remember I told you I ran into Mel?” I asked. They nodded. “Ahh shit, you hit Melody?” Trey asked. I just looked at him. “Yoooo Izz, for real?” He asked again. I nodded. “I mean it’s been 6 months man, I seen her out here looking good as hell man all these feelings hit me like bullets. Shawty looking right and she still tight and I still love her man. I want her back” I said. Freddie shook his head. “This was supposed to be our weekend to fuck all the bad hoes man, you out here trying to be like a Morris Chestnut romance movie” He stressed. I shrugged. I met a couple bad hoes out here, but Melody been on my mind more than any other female. I fucked up in letting her go. “Man Fred, let him get his shorty back. Long as you slide me that Blasian girl number Izz” He told me. I smirked and sent him the number. “Maybe she going to be at the pajama party” Freddie said. I shrugged. “Maybe but we can still get lit and shit, for now Ima fall back and let her come to me” I said. We went to Margarita spot and was choppin it up with some females. Freddie and Trey wanted to take them back to our spot, but I was not with that shit. I kept thinking about Melody. Fuck it, I thought. I grabbed my keys and I dipped.

Melody:

I woke up with a pounding headache, and dehydration. I stood up in my bed, realizing that what happened was not a dream. Isaac did come over and we had sex, and it was not bad flashbacks, I kept getting butterflies at the thought of it. Last time I had sex was with him right before our breakup. I got up to get in the shower and get myself together, when I got out, I seen I had messages from Isaac.

I stood by the counter reading the message repeatedly, biting my lip. I thought about texting him back, but I did not know what to say. I was embarrassed kind of. As soon as I was about to text Isaac back. I got a text from Malachi letting me know he wanted to come gets me and take me on a date. At first, I was thinking I am just blowing this off cause last night I had sex with another man, and then i am going out with another. I heard the front door shut clearing my thoughts. I got up and left my room and I see Tye come up the stairs mad as fuck. “You good?” I asked her. She rolled her eyes. “Girl no, Samar and I had sex last night” She said. My eyes got big as hell because I was shook. She then palmed her face. I followed her into her room and sat on the bed. I was lowkey happy and confused because Samar and Tye had been best friends since Highschool and she been crushing on him for a minute, so why would she be mad. “Umm okay, wow okay so how was it, I mean I see your mad so what happened?” I asked concerned. I had a lot to share to, but my tea could wait. “We got drunk and fucked in his Airbnb kitchen and then this morning he woke up acting brand new saying it was a mistake he would never have sex with me cause I’m like his sister and it just made me disgusted, I was mad at myself I let him fuck me then tell me it was a mistake and he was disgusted by it” She stressed. I shook my head. “Then this motherfucker had two ugly big bitches come over and this bitch named Tiff tried me, girl I bought beat this bitch ass, and then I left but he came outside talking about he having a pajama party, and the bitch might be there” She snapped. “Why Samar do you like that out of all people, see all Niggas aint shit, how he fuck you then act like it was mistake clearly the attraction was there it’s just the liquor heightened it” I told her. She nodded her head. “I said the same thing and this nigga going to say I might catch feelings, like boy I been in love with you stop playing” She rolled her eyes. “Tye fuck him, test that nigga and see if he got feelings, if he jealous then he has feelings. Shit should feel different now” I told her. She nodded agreeing with what I was saying. “You right, Ima do it at the pajama party, so we gone see then” She told me.

I sighed and took the opportunity to just say what happened to me. “Well I had drunk sex last night too” I told her. She looked at me. “Boat Owner Nigga?” She asked. I shook my head. “Girl now you know” I told her. I was different then my friends, they could sleep with someone with no strings, but I had attachment issues. Tye looked at me searching for an answer. “Who else?!” She asked. “Isaac” I told her. She almost fell off the bed. “What?!” She yelled. I nodded. “After the party with Ari and Anthony I got lit and left and Isaac hit me up so I hit him back and then he drove me home, we talked and then I got drunk again and called him back and shit went down” I said having flashbacks. She looked at my face and smirked. “You loved every bit of it” She said. I nodded. “Yeah, it was passionate, intimate you know like he missed me, he wanted me” I told her. “Sooo now what?” She asked. I shrugged. “I’m confused I don’t know Tye. I can’t just take him back off words and good dick” I stressed. She sucked her teeth at me. “He aint letting you go, he bout to be on you heavy this whole trip and when we get back” She said. I showed her the text he sent me. “Oooooh bitch, he wants that old thang back, he is coming back for good so let them niggas know it’s his” She sang. She gave my phone back and I showed her Malachi text. “Drama alert! So, what you going to go on a date after your pussy still recovering from getting your guts rearranged?” Tye asked. I slowly nodded. “I mean why should I limit myself? Plus, I do not know if Isaac is serious” I said. She nodded. “Do what you want Mel, but Isaac seems serious and we both know Isaac don’t play about you and he can get really jealous” She said. I rolled my eyes. “Isaac aint my man, I can do as I please” I told her. “Well okay Ms. Thang” She said. Maybe this would go smoothly, hopefully they do not hang around the same circles. I had Tye help me pick out some fits to wear on my date with Malachi. I honestly was not looking forward to this, but I am down to see where this goes.

I heard the doorbell ring. I calmly walked downstairs although I was nervous as fuck, cause we agreed to meet at the beach. I opened the door revealing Isaac instead of Malachi. “Ummm?” I asked. He gave me a rose. “You were heading somewhere?” He asked. “Kind of” I said. My heart was beating. “Well cancel” He said. I was hesitant. “Yeah she’s free” Tye said behind me. I turned to her. She smirked at me. “We can just cancel, no problem. We can just Reschedule” She said, implying for me to reschedule with Malachi. “Yeah sure”. Isaac smirked and looked his lips looking fine as fuck. “Cool” He simply said. “Hold on” Tye said she grabbed me into the kitchen. She snatched my phone from my hand and started texting someone she then handed me the phone. She sent a message to Malachi. “Hi, I’m so sorry to do this but my best friend just got super drunk, I need to help her. Can we reschedule?” He replied saying. “No Problem, I understand. Gives me more time to plan the perfect night 🤪” He said. “Now go see what Isaac has planned” She simply said. I went back into foyer. He was fiddling with his hands, he pulled out some roses for me. “You always talked about wanting flowers” He said smiling. I blushed at the thought. “Thank you” I said. He held his hand out for mine, he led me to his car, and opened the door for me. “Thank you” I smiled. I was nervous especially after last night. “What made you want to do this?” I asked him when he got in. “Woke up still thinking about you, I needed to see you. Freddie and Trey wanted to kick it with these hoes, but I wasn’t with that shit” He said. “Wow I’m second option?” I joked. He sighed. “Nah, I just wanted you” He simply said. He turned on the music, “Calm Down” by A boogie started playing. He turned it up singing the chorus, and I sang along.

“Can we calm down and make love?

Get it Poppin' in the back of your Bentley truck

That vroom-vroom, that ooh-ooh, let's make up

Don't know why I can't let you go wit' no one

Nah, no one

'Cause I don't wanna fuss and fight

Oh baby, I wanna go ride it all night”

“Who put you on A boogie?” He asked smirking. “You nigga duh” I said laughing.

The weather was cooling down and the breeze was feeling nice. “Where are you taking me Isaac?” I asked. He smiled. “You going to see” He said. We pulled up at this place that was lit called “El Tucan Miami”. We parked the car and went inside the restaurant where we were seated. They had a live band playing Hispanic music, people were dancing. We ordered us a Texas Margarita pitcher. “So, tell me how you been girl?” Isaac asked. I smiled. “Well I got my own cute little apartment by camp creek, and of course my new job and still taking college classes. I recently got me a dog names Yoda; I just been living” I told him. He kept smiling. “I knew you boss up on me” He said. “I’m proud of you, I seen Tamia tag you in post and I aint seen you post nothing in a minute, I see you got your body together and your shinning. Melly I’m soo happy for you” He said. It felt good to know he seen my growth, it was one of the reasons we broke up because he felt I wasn’t growing, and he had a problem with females. You miss me?” He asked. I rolled my eyed. “Isaac, I did at first but then I got on my shit” I said. He nodded. “I miss you like crazy. Thinking about if somebody got you. Who are you sharing that big ass heart with? I cannot say I regret it cause we both had to grow. I finally got that cheating shit out my system, I stopped smoking everything” He told me. “I just feel all this is a sign” He said looking at me. “For what?” I asked knowing what he was going to say. “Us, like damn Mel. Why you so hard on a nigga?” He said to me. I looked down and smiled. “I’m not, like you left me. I begged you to stay Isaac like I don’t know what you want from me, to be the old Melody and be all over you?” I asked. He shook his head. “No, but do you still feel the same?” He asked looking me dead in my eyes. I wanted to tell him no, get up and walk out but If I told him yes what good would that do, I give up my power right? The power I finally had where the ball was in my court. “I don’t know Isaac?” I said looking down. I looked up at him smirking at me. “Then Ima just win your heart again” He shrugged. “No problem” He simply said. I looked at him smiling. “Yeah no problem” I said mimicking him. Oh, nigga this was going to be a challenge.

Zion:

After the daycation with Kyrel, I felt kind of out of my element. “You good?” He asked as he drove me back to my Airbnb. “You been quiet” He said. I was looking outside the window. I slightly smiled. “Just tired, we had a longggg night” I told him. I was tired as fuck, Ky and I had sex all night long. This morning he brought me breakfast in bed, and he told me he might be falling for me. Instantly my get the fuck ASAP mode kicked in. Anytime a nigga caught feelings for me, it was time to Ghost, but I was scared causs for the first time in a long time I had felt the feeling I didn’t want to feel the most, and that I might be falling too fast, and I’m a boss, I don’t fall for these niggas, I give them to the streets but for Ky. I would just give him to girl that deserved him. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I feel I have no choice. This was just a fling; I have to remind myself no to get attached. We arrived back at my place, and before I got out the car quickly to get my emotions together, Kyrel grabbed my hand and pulled me in for a kiss and just stared at me. “Zion you really pulling at my heart man. A nigga is crazy about you. I don’t want this shit to end” He said. I wanted to grab my bag and run. I sighed a little. I leaned in to kiss him again. “Just appreciate the now” I told him before getting out. “I’m call you later” He said. I grabbed my stuff as he waited for me to go into the house. Tye was on the couch watching tv and drinking wine when I walked in. “How was the night?” She asked from the living room. I dropped my bag and threw myself on the couch. “Girl my kitty hurt, I’m exhausted, and I need to get rid of Kyrel fast” I said. She looked at me crazy. “Why? He’s so sweet and charming and he is fine and infatuated with you” She said. I nodded. “That’s the problem Tye, I hit and quit, this man wants to be married by this weekend” I stressed. She smirked. “You like that boy quit playing you just scared that’s it” She said. I groaned. “Yeah, I like him a lot too but I can’t get hurt, when I leave Tye I’m going to be hurt and heartbroken cause I know it ended and I don’t know if I will find this again and I have to prepare myself before I allow that to happen ever again” I wanted to puke. “Well do what you got to do Z” She told me. “How was movie night?” I asked. Tye palmed her face. “Girl I-“She cut herself off laughing to herself a little. “What Tye?” I asked interested, I got closer to her. She looked at me. “Girl I fucked Samar” She said. I almost fell off the couch. “You said you did what?” I asked making sure I heard right. She nodded. “I keep repeating it to myself too, uhhh it was the best and worst sex of my life, it was drunkingly spontaneous, but now he feels shit awkward, he called me his sis” She chugged her wine. “Girl, he gone want to hit again with no relations soon watch, cause it pussy he aint ever had to finesse to hit” I told her. She smirked. “I’ll take that L, but when Mel gets home let her tell u the Tea she got” She said. I looked at her suspiciously. “I aint spilling tea that aint mine” She said smirking. I laughed playfully pushing her. “Okayy sis” That night I took a good long shower, Kyrel texted me but I didnt reply. I would just text him in the morning.

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