#I mean maybe it’s not fake maybe she’s actually from New Jersey but I don’t think so?
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#junjou romantica#my art#misaki takahashi#fan art#jr#usami akihiko#yaoi#I drew this high and listening to asmr#did you know that Trisha paytas makes asmr???#it was one where she was faking a Jersey accent#I mean maybe it’s not fake maybe she’s actually from New Jersey but I don’t think so?
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it just sort of... happened | part 2.
Summary: After Hogwarts is turned upside down after Harry Potter started attending, a new normal DADA professor seems like a Godsend.
Warnings for the Series: age gap age gap age gap (however reader is of age because anything under deserves jail time no exceptions). student-teacher relationship. slow burn because obviously. smut at some point. honestly nothing else. forbidden love trope BUT ONCE AGAIN of age reader
Pairing: remus lupin x reader eventually, professor!remus x student!reader
Word Count: 5.1k
Previous Part | (Series Masterlist)
Sleeping in was a lot better when you knew that you were going to Hogsmeade in the morning. You left Cedric for a brief moment to return to your room for clothes and to drop your cat off in your room. Your roommates cracked jokes and made suggestive comments as you passed them, still wearing the quidditch jersey. Beatrice flopped on your bed to pet your cat.
“Why don’t you two just date? And preferably before the end of this year so I can win the bet.”
“Do Cedric and I look like a couple? I couldn’t imagine snogging him, so weird, ew.”
“Well, I don’t think snogging you would be all that pleasant either.”
You turned at the voice to see your best friend in your room’s open door looking very hurt. Hufflepuff didn’t have the weird spell that stopped the guys from coming to the girls’ dorms— something you thanked the founder for. You tutted in fake pity, going up to him with outstretched arms. He automatically wrapped his arms around your waist.
“You know I didn’t mean it that way.”
“I’m a great kisser.”
“I’m sure you are, Ced.”
Beatrice gagged, making all of your roommates laugh. “Seriously, get together already. This is nauseating. Now, I think you’re just doing it on purpose to annoy all of us.”
Cedric chuckled and rested his chin on the top of your head. “Just wait a few years, we have a marriage pact.”
The girls’ eyes went wide. “What?! So, you guys are actually dating.”
Even though you couldn’t see him, you could feel your friend scrunch up his nose.
“Ha, no. Just if we’re both thirty-three and single, we’ll get married, have two kids, a cat, a dog, and live in that one village with the tulips that sing good morning. (Y/N) wants babies before thirty-six.”
“Yeah, cause I’m not torturing my body trying to push anything out past that age.”
“Thirty-three versus thirty-six is only three years, who cares?”
“You’re saying that because you have the easy job.”
The other girls simply blinked in bewilderment. It had to be a joke. There was no way that you two weren’t dating. You must have been fucking with the entire school. But at the same time, they had seen your hands up and down a few students’ bodies at parties. And they definitely saw his tongue down someone’s throat once or twice. You guys might have been intense but none of the girls thought you were that type of couple to have an open relationship.
You looked up at your friend as best as you could. “You ready to go?”
“Breakfast special here we come!”
“But, Professor!” A voice sounded as you guys approached the entrance of the school.
“No, Mr. Potter. I’m sorry but it’s final.” Professor McGonagall walked off.
You watched the young Gryffindor start to walk back inside, seeming utterly defeated. Harry stopped looking at his feet to see you and Cedric with his arm around your shoulder.
“Oh, hi, (Y/N).”
“Hi, Harr—”
“Wait, you two know each other?” Cedric interrupted.
“Yeah, I tutor Hermione like every other Wednesday. Why the long face, Potter?”
“My aunt and uncle wouldn’t sign my forms.”
“That’s shit. Sorry, Harry. Do you want anything from Hogsmeade?”
He shook his head with a thank you but you made a note to buy the boy something anyway. Maybe it was because you saw Hermione’s friends through her eyes and how she went on about them, but Harry was such a lovable little brother to you. A host of problems followed him all the time that made you want to strangle him sometimes.
But those weren’t exactly his fault and he was still lovable. He did take your advice to go see if any of the professors were still around. You actually enjoyed talking to your teachers— Professor McGonagall even had weekly afternoon tea with you starting your second year. You figured Harry maybe could pass the time by doing the same.
“You have tea with her?” Harry seemed almost shocked that any student would do that.
You nodded. “Professor McGonagall’s great. She lets you curse when it’s just you and her. She’s like a hip grandma, you should have tea with her at least once.”
Harry was willing to consider it and with that you left him. Three Broomsticks was absolutely packed when you reached but you and Cedric waited all the same for a table. He practically inhaled the new breakfast special while you settled on your usual. Hand in hand, it was Cedric’s turn to buy you something. Rarely, did you two go out without buying something for each other. You naturally had to settle on the shop that sold specifically muggle things.
With great excitement, you held up a pack of glitter pens and a new book. Technically it was an old book. The first book in The Chronicles of Narnia series. You only wanted the first one in case you didn’t like it. But Cedric already prepared himself to come back to Hogsmeade nine weeks in a row to purchase the books until the series was over.
“Hogsmeade, once again, was a success,” you said with glee as you guys made it back to the castle.
The weekend went by too fast. Not exactly fresh like a daisy, you got up earlier than needed to stroll to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Lupin had asked you and a few other students in the older years to show his younger students how to execute spells. He felt that sometimes the students learned better from each other than from him.
“Alright, watch how your fellow students duel against me.”
You stopped mid-yawn when Professor Lupin said that. Immediately, your hand was up in the air.
“Yes, (Y/N).”
“I can’t duel.”
A slight chuckle left his mouth. “I’ve seen all of our students’ scores from years past. You consistently score O’s on everything, even the practice OWLs you all took.”
“Those are books, Professor. I just forget everything in a duel.”
Remus tilted his head slightly, trying to figure out if you were serious or not. When he realized that you weren’t joking, the air around him went back into teacher mode. Remus was actually happy to find such an advanced student that struggled. He saw it as an opportunity to teach his third years with a real-life example. Most of them watched with interest as he coached you through a duel and how to think on your feet.
By the time class ended, you were actually somewhat comfortable helping the third years with their practice duels. You and the elder students were buzzing to each other about his teaching style. Aside from the first time Professor Quirrel taught DADA when you were a first year before that one random professor that took over so he could study abroad in your second year, Lupin was arguably the best teacher. Most third years shared you guys’ sentiments.
Malfoy simply scoffed. “Good? Have you seen the state of his clothes? He dresses like our old house elf.”
Your eyes went wide as the blond boy said that. He had clearly done it when Professor Lupin was walking by. The man looked down at his sweater before walking a bit faster. Your teeth gritted a little. You were almost positive you knew what was going on with your professor. But even if you were wrong, who was Malfoy to say that about another person. You moved to stand in front of it.
“And what business is it to you?”
The boy blinked, not prepared for someone to confront him. Maybe it was because you were three years older than him but Malfoy didn’t scare you one bit. He opened his mouth to speak again but you cut him off.
“No. That wasn’t for you to answer. What business do you have talking about any professor here when you’re here to learn from them? Do you want him fired for his clothes the same way you want Hagrid fired because you were too stupid to approach a hippogriff without listening to his instructions? If you’re so offended, go buy Professor Lupin a new robe, otherwise just shut up. You know you could actually learn something from our teachers if you didn’t act like such a pretentious prick. I hope you grow up from this, Draco.”
His face flushed red while you just walked off. Remus, who wasn’t walking fast enough to be very far away, felt a small smile creep on his face. The last time anyone defended him that passionately was years ago. And even longer since he had been defended without the person knowing of his condition.
He was going to thank you when you got closer to him but you walked right past and into the arms of Cedric who was getting out of his Transfiguration class. Remus didn’t gossip but he definitely agreed with his other students that you two must have been hiding something.
You two were about as subtle as Marlene and Dorcas had been in his day. Either that or were as oblivious as… well, as oblivious as he and Sirius had been until it hit them across the face in sixth year.
He quickly realized that the answer was oblivious as he watched you cheer with the other students for Cedric during the latest quidditch game. Not a single questionable look crossed your face when other girls and boys blew the seeker a kiss which he sometimes returned. Minerva imagined that you two would realize it by this year. Remus had to agree with Flitwick and Pomona that said it was going to be graduation before you guys were aware.
Your cheering grew louder as Cedric caught the snitch. Your best friend was having quite the year at school between becoming a Prefect and helping Hufflepuff win almost all of their matches. You told him such when you met him outside the changing rooms.
“You think?”
“I mean it. You’re on fire this year.”
“You think Cho will notice.”
“Don’t ask me again unless you’re actually planning on asking her out.”
“I wi—”
“You’ve been chickening out since last year. I’m pretty sure she likes you, just go for it.”
“But are we positive?” he asked as you guys continued into the castle, ready to meet your study group you had with some Gryffindors.
“Mmmm, like eighty-five percent sure… I can try to find out if you want but I’m not really friends with her or any Ravenclaws that are friends with h…”
You trailed off when all of Gryffindor seemed to be outside their dorm. The Fat Lady was in a different portrait warning everyone about something. You couldn’t quite make out what it was until you got closer. The gasps that ran through the crowd as she uttered the words Sirius Black was chilling.
The minute Dumbledore instructed teachers and prefects to collect all the students and send them to the Great Hall, you didn’t waste time helping Cedric round up Hufflepuff. He was grateful for the help, he and the other prefects feeling overwhelmed. It was no bother to you. Everyone safe was way more important. You knew at some point an escaped convict was going to be a threat to you.
“Get some rest,” Cedric murmured to you as Professor Lupin handed him once of the cups of warm tea that he brewed for all the prefects that now had to stay up and keep watch while the professors searched the whole castle.
You shook your head before placing it on his shoulder. “If you’re up then I’m up too.”
Wordlessly, Cedric handed you his cup of tea to drink as he patted your back in thanks. The Great Hall started to be miserable for the small group of students that had to stay up. Every so often, a professor would return to make sure nothing happened before disappearing again to continue searching for Sirius Black.
The prefects chose to take naps in short rounds. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff kept watch while Slytherin and Ravenclaw napped then vice versa. Each time Hufflepuff was up, you instructed Cedric to wake you up with him so he wasn’t on duty alone. Eventually, you all took turns with only one House staying up at a time. Your eyes couldn’t help but wander over to Harry who looked to be sleeping somewhat soundly in his sleeping bag.
It wasn’t lost on you, or anyone you imagined, that Sirius was looking for him. Everyone knew the story. It always confused you. How could a man betray his best friends to such an evil wizard? And you weren’t sure how much your parents actually knew about the situation but they traveled the same pureblood circles. If what they heard was correct then not only did Sirius betray his friends but now he wants to finish the job and kill his godson?
The thought of any of that being true shook you. Even if you were being tortured, you didn’t think you could ever betray your roommates or Cedric in such a horrible way.
Percy got up from sitting next to you and Cedric when Dumbledore and Snape came over. Cedric was asleep but you found that you couldn’t even when you were cuddled up with him. You decided to listen intently since you had nothing better to do in the dead of night. Somehow, you weren’t surprised that Sirius Black wasn’t in the castle anymore. If he managed to escape from Azkaban then of course a night at Hogwarts wasn’t going to be difficult at all. Percy went to make the rounds again with the other prefects.
Snape lowered his voice as if he wanted only Dumbledore to hear. If you weren’t trying to eavesdrop you could have laughed. Of course he would stand by Hufflepuff. Snape somehow believed that on the off chance a student was up, no one in your house would say anything.
“Do you remember our talk before the term?” he asked. “You don’t find it impossible for Black to have entered the castle without help. I expressed my concern about you appointing Lu—”
“I don’t believe he had any help, Severus,” Dumbledore sharply cut him off.
While no one could forget sleeping in the Great Hall the next morning, you couldn’t forget Snape and Dumbledore’s conversation. He must have been talking about Professor Lupin. Only one person’s name on staff started with a ‘Lu’. But you didn’t know why.
What did Professor Lupin possibly have to do with Sirius Black? They seemed to be around the same age but so was Professor Snape and you knew he had nothing to do with the escaped convict. Maybe you should have dropped it but curiosity got the better of you.
“Professor, do you have any old yearbooks?” you asked McGonagall at your weekly tea. “I want to find pictures of my parents.”
“That wall over there has all of them. Have fun trying to find their year.”
You nodded as you strolled over. You weren’t looking for your dad’s school years or your mom’s school years. You just needed a single yearbook at the time that Sirius Black went to school. Your search wasn’t even hard. The moment you found a book with him in it was the moment you found your answer. There was a picture of him and three other boys. They signed the page with the picture of them sitting on the pier at the lake on campus.
Your favorite students. You’re stuck with us for three more years. Have a nice summer! ~ The Marauders (James, Remus, Peter, and Sirius)
Even if they didn’t sign their names, the scar that ran across his nose and the two smaller ones by his jaw were easily recognizable. Professor Lupin had been friends with Sirius Black. And from the looks of it, they had been as close as you and Cedric. You finished tea with McGonagall, not sure of what to do with your new found information. You sat on it for more than a month and had no answer.
You still didn’t know when it was time for his class. It was impossible to just outright say that you knew the truth but you felt that it was important to do something and preferably before you all left for winter break in the upcoming week. You managed to push the thought aside long enough to focus in class. For the past three weeks, you guys had been learning about patronuses. Professor Lupin asked you all to write down your happiest memories in an essay. He asked you guys to study the history and practice of patronuses as much as possible. And he had warned you all about how difficult the subject can be. Now, it was time to put it into practice and try casting the spell.
“Of course, only a few of you will produce corporeal patronuses this year and even fewer today or tomorrow or the next week. If that happens, I want you to know that you have the makings of being a powerful witch or wizard. If not, that is okay. We will congratulate our fellow students and work harder. As long as you can cast the charm, corporeal or not, it will be an O in my book. Wands at the ready.”
Remus moved all the desks to the sides of the room so you all could stand in the middle. He was tired. He was already asking Snape to cover for all his classes but he couldn’t skip on his fifth years. Not when they were about to learn patronuses.
So, despite being on edge for tonight’s full moon, Remus tried to be enthusiastic for his fifth years. He needed practice pulling it together anyway. After Harry got attacked by dementors during a quidditch match, he had chosen to teach the young boy what he was teaching you guys. He couldn’t skip that lesson just because of his condition. Not when it literally involved the boy’s life.
“Now, remember. If you are unfortunate enough to ever face a dementor, they are stronger than the boggarts you all faced in third year. Your focus on happy thoughts will need to be even stronger.”
You all moved to comfortable spots in the room, not having to worry about being in each other’s way since the spell was harmless to other people. Lots of wands didn’t produce even a bit of light. Professor Lupin praised students anyway. You were sure that between his praises and all of you shouting the spell, anyone walking by the class could probably hear you. You grinned when a bit of light came from your wand, spurring you on and making you want to try again.
“Alright, let’s take a short break. Everyone go get some water, use the restroom. Feel free to grab chocolate or something from the desk. We’ll try again in about five minutes or so.”
Some students left the room, others simply flopped onto the floor not needing water or the restroom. You strolled over to Professor Lupin’s desk to look at what snacks he had in the basket that he kept on his desk for students. A pleasant surprise of apples greeted you. You grabbed two of them and went back to Cedric who sliced them up with magic and popped a slice in his mouth. You also ate a few slices before finding yourself in a fake duel with your friend. The two of you were never calm during breaks. Practical magic always had you pumped up until class was over.
“We might as well practice,” Cedric suggested.
Break still wasn’t over yet but neither of you minded.
“Together?”
“Together. But don’t laugh if I can’t do it.”
“Promise I won’t. Okay, on three… Expecto Patronum!”
Remus almost dropped the square of chocolate that he had unwrapped. It wasn’t even the fact that both you and Cedric casted corporeal patronuses. He did say that few students would be able to, some even that day. And he didn’t doubt that you two who were arguably his best students would be the ones to do it. But he didn’t expect two matching dapple grey horses to come sprouting out of your wands— yours a mare and Cedric’s a stallion.
The entire class watched two matching horses trot around the room with each other while you and Cedric simply cheered. Remus walked over to the two of you, still in a bit of shock.
“Well done, can I ask which of your happy memories you thought of?”
“Singing in the Rain,” you both said at the same time, immediately turning your heads to look at each other with some of the largest grins that Remus had ever seen.
The answer was satisfactory enough but he needed to know the entire context. It was during the spring break of second year. One of Cedric’s aunts married a muggle and his job had placed them temporarily in America. They said he could bring a friend and you were the first person he thought of.
“Professor, have you ever spent a month and half in New York?” Cedric asked.
“I can’t say I have.”
“Well, I couldn’t even tell you what all we did. This one,” Cedric pointed at you. “Signed us up for a Broadway class that was three days a week for the entire trip. I didn’t know that many musicals existed.”
“And Singing in the Rain is your favorite?”
“Oh, no. But the day we got back to London, we stopped at a cafe that was playing it and it actually started raining. (Y/N) dragged me outside an— Did you actually just make it rain?”
You shrugged. “You remember it right?”
“I can’t forget it if I wanted to.”
The happiness on both of your faces as you sang and danced to the song with quills transfigured into umbrellas made it evident to Remus about how it was easy to conjure a proper corporeal patronus. Even with the rain all cleaned up and the classroom returned to normal, the smiles had yet to fade away. It was remarkable. But still, he had never seen matching patronuses with people that weren’t in love. Even unrequited love was still love. You and Cedric were actually a rarity to him.
It could have been a coincidence. Many people had the same patronus. There were only so many animals in the world. He voiced such when you asked him after class how common it was for friends to have the same patronus,
“However, it is still pretty rare. You two must be very very close.”
“Oh, totally. I mean we have dual custody over Bennett, legally binding.”
“Bennett?”
“My cat.”
Remus just nodded. Dual custody over a cat wasn’t the strangest thing he had heard but it was definitely on the list of oddball ideas. You reached back into the snack basket to take a square of chocolate. If you didn’t say anything now then you were never going to say anything to Professor Lupin.
“Professor, do you have time to talk?”
“Of course, I was only going to brew myself some tea so I’m all yours.”
“Do you make it like Professor McGonagall?”
“Do you know how she makes it?” He asked with a raised brow.
“Same way ever since we’ve been having tea after sc—”
“You have tea with her? Minnie still won’t take tea with me, you think she’d be over that one prank by now.” Remus’ eyes widened. “Don’t you dare repeat that nickname.”
“Too late. It’s ingrained in my memory. Minnie, she actually let you call her anything other than Professor?”
“We were her favorites,” he said with a shrug.
“Do you think she’d let me call her Minnie?”
“Probably not. Would you like some tea?”
You nodded and followed him to his office. Professor Lupin’s office definitely looked like it belonged to him. It was rather sparse. Aside from two armchairs and a loveseat he had on one side for hosting meetings and bookshelves, there was nothing else there but the door that led to his chambers. Professor McGonagall’s office had all sorts of personal touches to it including a rather nice rug that you liked to sit on sometimes. Maybe it was because she’s been at Hogwarts so long?
You accepted the tea from Lupin who thought it would be better to let you fix your own tea the way you like it. You took a few sips to calm your nerves, realizing that you were stupid but it was too late to leave. If he was helping Sirius and you confronted him, what was going to happen to you? He could probably kill you right now and cover it up. Shakily, you set the cup back on the saucer.
“Professor, I overheard Professor Snape and Professor Dumbledore when we were trying to sleep.”
“Whatever they said about Sirius Black shouldn’t worry you. The school is safe, we wouldn’t let anything happen to students. We would send you home if it was too dangerous.”
“That wasn’t exactly what I was worried about.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“Professor Snape… he’s concerned you’re helping Sirius into the castle to try and kill Harry because you were friends.”
The words ran together that Remus almost didn’t understand you. He could scoff at Severus’ insinuation. He knew the man hated him because of his condition. But to lie about helping a murderer was ridiculous. Did he forget that Remus was friends with James and Lily too? With three of the four Marauders either dead or in prison, Remus had put that part of his past behind him. He never acknowledged out loud because sometimes the memories were painful enough on a sad day. But now he owed an explanation. His hearing picked up on the racing in your heartbeat.
“I’m not going to hurt you, (Y/N). Yes, I was friends with Sirius but that was a long time ago.”
You let Professor Lupin explain his complicated relationship with both James and Sirius feeling a bit better. Maybe he was lying but you suspected he wasn’t. The way he talked about both of them felt like there was a lot of sadness behind it. You decided that he was telling the truth and you were going to disregard Professor Snape’s statement. Something caught your eye as you set your half-empty cup of tea on the small table. If it didn’t state the Marauders’ Map right on it, you would have just thought it was another random piece of parchment. The name was familiar.
It hit you at once. That was the signature in McGonagall’s yearbook. But instead of seeing James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter on the map, you saw some strange nicknames. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. Maybe because your nickname for Cedric was simply Ced but you thought the nicknames were weird. However, one did confirm your suspicions that you had been having for a while.
“Do you have any other questions?” Professor Lupin asked.
You noticed him look out the window of his office as he waited for you to answer. He must have been checking how much longer the sun would be out. It was winter, the moon came out earlier than usual.
“You miss class because you’re a werewolf, don’t you?”
Remus choked on his tea. He already knew by the time he spluttered out a no that it wasn’t a convincing lie. After moments of staring at each other, he gave in and asked how you knew.
“It wasn’t terribly hard to figure out if you know what to look for. I’m not going to tell anyone, Professor. I just wanted to know if it was true.”
Remus hesitantly nodded. You pulled a notebook out of your bag.
“My aunt got bit by a werewolf. I could give you her contact or write an owl if you want, it might be nice to talk about it with someone.”
Remus looked down at the notebook to see a bunch of scribbles that looked like various recipes. The words modified wolfsbane stuck out to him.
“It’s why I’m thinking of being a healer,” you admitted. “I think I’d like teaching more but I want to help my aunt. I’ve been trying to figure out how to make the wolfsbane more efficient… and also not taste like complete shit.”
Your professor chuckled at that. “It does taste awful. When you say make it more efficient?”
“So it doesn’t take more than one potion to work. Taking several vials leading up to the full moon seems like a burden. My aunt’s forgotten a couple of times. If we didn’t go through the proper precautions, people could’ve gotten hurt. It’d also be nice if it could help with the fatigue afterwards but I don’t know if I have the skill to do that.”
“That is admirable. They stopped trying to improve wolfsbane after they made it work. It just wasn’t worth it.”
“I’d be happy to give you some if I ever figure it out.”
“Thank you (Y/N), that is very kind of you.”
You pointed to the map, specifically Remus’ nickname. He laughed as you questioned how no one but Lily ever figured out growing up with a nickname as obvious as that. She had said the same thing to the Marauders when she found out the truth.
“But you are wrong,” Remus started. “Minnie knew. Only Dumbledore had to know but she figured it out immediately.”
“So… if you used to call Professor McGonagall Minnie… Can I call you Moony then?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Not even at tea?” You held up your now empty cup.
“No.”
“What if I put Professor in front of it? Professor Moony. Please, please.”
“Fine I guess.”
“Hmm. Remus Lupin… Lupi, Lupes, nah. Rem, Remmy. Ooh I like that one. What about Professor Remmy?”
“Now you’re pushing it, (Y/N). And why I would love to continue this conversation, I do have to prepare.”
You immediately jumped up. “Thank you for the tea. Have a good time, Professor Moony!”
Remus shook his head as you walked out. Something told him he was going to regret letting you call him that. He was already anticipating that Cedric would be calling him that by next week and soon probably everyone else. Oh, well. The damage had already been done. He would have to get used to Moony instead of Lupin. You suddenly popped back into his office.
“Oh and have a happy Christ— do you celebrate Christmas? Okay, then have a happy Christmas!”
(Part 3)
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Into The Unknown, Part 2
First
Interdimensional travel? Awful. Don’t try it at home. It’s a lot like how one would imagine getting sucked up a straw: you get squished and pulled until you come out the other side a goopy mess.
Speaking of goopy messes: Tim keeled over and threw up.
He ignored the yelling right next to him because, honestly, he couldn’t even bring himself to look up at the moment. The bright light of this world -- apparently it was daytime here, ew -- hurt his eyes even through his sunglasses and he really didn’t want to move from where he had curled up in what seemed to be grass.
But, eventually, he did. He pushed himself up onto his knees and squinted over at her.
Ladybug had detransformed at some point and was now wearing an old t-shirt and some sweats… and she was apparently fighting off a baby. Damian kicked, screamed, and wiggled in her hold as she tried her hardest to trap him in the blanket again.
“... how are you losing to a baby?”
She sent a glare at him and then mumbled a curse as a tiny fist connected with her face and Damian wriggled away from her.
“Let me think about that, Red. What could go wrong if I, a meta used to fighting other metas, tried to use force against a human child?”
Okay, yeah. It was probably for the best that she hadn’t tried anything.
Oddly enough, when Tim walked over and replaced Marinette, Damian started behaving immediately.
He frowned, tipping his head to the side confusedly. He picked up his younger brother and stood up. “Why’d he start freaking out?”
She did the exact opposite of standing up, opting to spread out in the grass and glare at the sky. “I don’t know. He just started freaking out when I tried to put the watch around his neck.”
“Weird,” he mumbled.
“Yeah.”
He took the time to look around properly for once. They were in a park but it must have been a weekday because there was hardly anyone around. The only people that had paid them any mind were a group of teenagers -- probably ditching, he thought -- that were staring at them with wide eyes.
Tim glanced at a street sign to make sure the common language was English before sending them a glare. “It’s rude to stare, y’know.”
The teenagers quickly looked down at their phones. Tim knew better than to believe that they were actually paying attention, they had the same posture that a lot of lookouts did, but whatever. No one would believe them, anyways.
He gave her a few more minutes before he adjusted his hold on Damian and offered a hand up.
Ladybug took it with a faint smile and he pulled her to her feet. She grabbed their discarded suitcase and they started walking aimlessly.
“Okay, we’re here… but we still need a cover.”
“Um… you’re the one that’s good at hacking, right?”
He nodded. Damian reached a hand out of the blanket and began touching his hair. He was too busy wondering what to do to really mind.
“Great. How about… we’re the kid’s siblings?”
“We can pass as his parents. I mean, it’d be a teen pregnancy but it wouldn’t be bad,” said Tim. “We still had him at eighteen-ish.”
She shook her head. “He’s darker than both of us, it wouldn’t make sense. Maybe I had him with some… darker guy and now you’re my boyfriend? No, that feels racist for some reason. I’m his half-sister, our parents died, and you’re my boyfriend.”
Tim frowned. “Why am I always the boyfriend? He’s my brother.”
“Well, frankly, you look nothing like him. He and I, at least, have similar noses.”
He scowled. It made sense but it still annoyed him. “Fine. I’m your husband, though. I want to have at least some rights.”
She rolled her eyes. “Sure. Guess that’s good for tax benefits, too. Better get me a cute ring.”
“Okay, but the diamond is going to be fake.”
“Cheapskate.”
“Cheskae,” Damian said, yanking Tim’s hair like the little shit he was.
“See, he agrees,” Ladybug said with a victorious grin.
~
They went up to a hotel (Red Robin had tried to talk her into a five-star one but she managed to bring it down to a two-star when showing him the cost) and tried to reserve a room.
“May I have a name for the reservation?” The nice lady at the front counter said, smiling at them.
Red Robin glanced up from where he was awkwardly bouncing with the baby in his arms to shoot her A Look. It was unfortunate that she had no clue what the look meant. She considered the question for a moment before eventually saying:
“Dupain-Cheng.”
Red Robin relaxed a little so she was pretty sure she had gotten it right.
She hesitantly took the baby from him -- the kid had apparently forgotten about his earlier freakout because he was just as weirdly still as he had been back in Gotham -- so he could pay.
The moment they got into the hotel room she fell back in the bed. The baby squirmed a little on her stomach to get comfortable before joining her in her laziness.
Red Robin sighed and sat next to them, resting his head in his hands. “Okay. We’re going to need supplies for him. Do you want to do a supply run or should I?”
She shrugged a little, much to the baby’s dismay. Have you ever had a baby babble angrily at you? It’s very cute.
“You’re so helpful. Thanks, Ladybug.”
“No problem,” she said as if she couldn’t hear the blatant sarcasm in his tone. Then she pushed herself up to squint at him, the baby sliding down to her lap smoothly. “Wait, are we still going to be using codenames?”
He frowned. “Obviously.”
“... for fifteen years?”
“Obviously.”
She rolled her eyes. “Great, so when we take the kid back we’re going to explain to him that, on top of all the adjustment of moving to a different dimension, he needs to now use a different name for you, and messing up isn’t an option. Also, I feel like people are going to question two random people called ‘Red Robin’ and ‘Ladybug’ at some point.”
Red Robin frowned, clearly thinking hard, and then nodded slightly. He removed his glasses and looked at her with an awkward smile. “This is Damian, I’m Tim.”
She raised her eyebrows because he was looking at her expectantly and she really didn’t know what he wanted from her. “Uh… am I supposed to know you?”
“I mean… kinda?”
She squinted at him for a while before shrugging. “That one guy? Timothy --.”
“Yep!”
“-- Chalamet?”
He looked oddly hurt now. “You think I look like Timothy Chalamet?”
“I mean you both have the same sickly Victorian boy look about you.”
“... for the sake of our fake marriage I’m going to pretend that you didn’t say that. I’m Tim Drake.” She still didn’t show any hint of recognition (probably because she didn’t recognize him) so he groaned and motioned to Damian. “This is Damian Wayne.”
“Wayne? Like Waynetech?”
“There you go,” he said.
She grinned at him. “It’s not my fault you made me guess.”
He huffed a little. “Alright, fine, then who are you, then?”
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”
“... who’s that?”
“A nobody. Like secret identities should be,” she said, giving him a smug look.
He rolled his eyes. “I feel like this is going to be a long fifteen years.”
“Shouldn’t have dragged me into your mess, now you gotta deal with the consequences.”
He stuck his tongue out at her. She returned it. So did the baby.
~
It was decided that Marinette should be the one to go on a supply run since Tim needed to start making identities for them.
… it would be a lot easier if there wasn’t a baby crawling all over him. She’d better get a crib while she was out because he didn’t know if he could deal with a baby smashing the keys for much longer.
“Dami -- no, stop, I -- I swear to god -- you’re a baby okay I can literally just drop you and you would -- please stop --,” Tim cut off his irritated rambling when Damian nearly got them on a good few government watchlists by smashing the keys at the wrong time.
Fed up, he grabbed the kid and set him on the ground. It’ll probably be fine. He only needed to do a few quick things, anyways.
He was shocked to find that there was a version of him in this world. The idea of a Tim who didn’t do vigilante-work was foreign to him. He had apparently stayed with his parents and was now working towards a business degree. This dimension’s Tim wasn’t nearly as famous as he was and the three of them had landed in Texas so it was unlikely that he would be recognized but he would prefer not using the name if he didn’t have to. Just to be safe.
Damian didn’t exist, as far as he could tell, but Bruce Wayne did and he was still famous so it wouldn’t be a good idea to use his last name either.
There was a version of Marinette, too, but she was currently in France helping her parents run their bakery. Very little chance of her getting recognized.
So, he decided to use her last name for all of them. Quick and easy. He’d have to tell her that he changed her birthplace to New Jersey when she got back to the hotel but he doubted she’d have much of a problem with that.
… oh. His phone was ringing. Apparently he could tell her now.
He picked up and wedged it between his ear and his shoulder as he worked at finding them a few social security numbers to… ‘borrow’.
“Yeah?”
“How big is the baby?”
Tim blinked a few times. “... baby sized?”
“No. Like… what size diaper do you think he would use?”
He scoffed. “Do I look like I would know the diaper sizes?”
“Do I look like I do? Just… how old do you think he is?”
Tim looked over the edge of the bed to where Damian was currently shaking Kaalki like she was a maraca. Kaalki, for her part, only looked vaguely annoyed as she bounced around in his tiny baby fists.
“I dunno. Like… a year-ish? Just buy one of everything we can see what fits.”
“Fucking hell I forgot you were rich. You said a year? I’m using that.”
He rolled his eyes. “Okay -- OH SHIT DAMIAN NO!”
He tumbled out of bed and raced over to Damian before he could stick his finger in a socket. He didn’t really know if that was enough to get shocked but this was not the way to find out.
Damian was apparently very annoyed about him foiling his attempt at dying because he squirmed around in his grip and yelled incomprehensibly. Tim ignored the baby fists trying to knock his teeth out -- his teeth had faced far worse before -- and scooted across the ground to his phone.
“-- to god, Tim, what happened if you don’t answer I will run over there --.”
“It’s fine. Just get… you know the things that cover electrical sockets? Make sure to get some of those,” he said, tipping his head back to rest against the bed so he could kind of relax despite the ball of anger in his arms.
Marinette groaned. “Fuck, you can’t just scare me like that.”
“Yeah, you were the one that suffered the most during that.”
She scoffed but he swore he could hear a tiny laugh hidden under her mumbled ‘shut up’.
He smiled a little.
She didn’t hang up, probably expecting to ask him something else soon, so he listened in idly as he tried to calm Damian down enough to start working again.
She mumbled to herself while she looked for things. Some of the speech was normal but most of it was pretty much as incomprehensible as Damian’s babbling (admittedly, it probably didn’t help that he was only half paying attention).
“... tty trai… now?... oh... alright… oh, great, does she work here?” She murmured to herself. Then, louder: “Hey, lady --!”
“We’re in Texas,” he reminded her. “People are expected to be more polite down here.”
He was too late. Someone started yelling on Marinette’s end and, if the tiny sigh of annoyance was anything to go off of, it wasn’t her.
The yelling lasted approximately five minutes before someone intervened.
He heard her speak in rapid Spanish to the employee and, to his surprise, he could actually understand every word of them talking shit about the lady who had screamed at her. He didn’t know what to think of this outside of pulling the phone away from his mouth so he could try and roll an r. He was delighted to find that he had gained that ability as well. He continued rolling his tongue.
Damian stopped his squirming and gave Tim a confused look… and then he started to giggle. He twisted around in Tim’s lap and started trying to mimic the sound.
He tried to hide his smile as the two of them kept making r sounds at each other. He didn’t think he’d succeeded at keeping his face relatively neutral, but he didn’t really mind.
~~~~~
Next
@nathleigh @peachmuses @unoriginalmess
#made a complex story with distinct arcs and heist vibes#and then released a story about two idiots raising a kid#and somehow i was surprised that people liked the second one better#i know im good at fluff its just really draining to do it all the time#but i rely so much on feedback at this point for serotonin that now I'm doing both#idk what ill do when school starts up tbh#into the unknown#maribat#timari#timmari#timinette#shutterbug#ladybug#tim drake#red robin#marinette dupain cheng
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It’s You (Nico Hischier Imagine)
Y’all, I’ve been so busy lately! I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted, but hopefully this and the Matty imagine coming soon will make up for it :)
Rating: G
Pairing: Nico Hischier/fem!reader
Words: 3047
Warnings: minor language
Requested: yes/no
Prompt: “It’s you. It’s always been you.”
Summary: “ Nico Hischier, fluff prompt 2, and the couple trope where they’re both dense af and don’t realize how cute they are together. The third wheelers that wanna smack their foreheads? Nico’s entire team. “
Knowing that you’re in love with someone is different than accepting that you’re in love with someone.
You’ve known that you love Nico for years. It wasn’t anything special that made you realize, really. It was during one of your semi-regular movie nights, when he was tossing popcorn into the air, trying to catch it in his mouth. He hit himself in the eye with a piece, and you’d laughed at him so hard that he shoved his cold feet under your leg in retaliation, and as you yelped in shock, it had hit you. You never wanted to hear anything but his laugh ever again, and you’d suffer worse than some cold feet for that.
It wasn’t until last year that you truly understood how far gone you are for him, and actually accepted what being in love with him meant. Despite being annoyingly sure that you and Nico were meant to be together, your friends had tried to set you up with someone. Their reasoning was that you hadn’t made a move, and probably never would, so they decided you needed to meet someone else to get over him. It was the second blind date when you realized that as well as you meshed with the guy, all you wanted was to be at Nico’s place watching some stupid show cuddled up on the couch. You didn’t want anyone else, and you never would.
That was the part that scared you at first. You’re never going to love anyone like you love Nico, and you didn’t have any desire to try. He’s everything you want, and the only thing you want. And he would never want you back. The prospect of a life without romantic love was terrifying, but after a month of near-constant panic, you were able to accept it. You have friends, and so much in your life that makes you happy, and that will be enough. You’re not excited to see him fall in love with someone else and get married and start a family, but having him in your life is enough. It’s enough. It’s enough.
You wonder sometimes, though. When he turns down invitations from the guys to spend time with you, when he holds you close on the couch, when he curls up next to you in bed after a bad game. The wondering is the worst part. You know he doesn’t feel the same as you, that they’re just best friend things, but sometimes you can’t help but to let yourself believe in the possibility.
The guys used to tease the two of you about “being in love”, but in the past year or so, it’s started seeming less teasing and more genuine. Frustrated, even. Between the guys and your friends, it seems like everyone thinks you should be together. That’s the second worst part.
Today, Nico has saved you a ticket for the game, since you can actually make it after work. When he’d gotten the captaincy, he’d gotten you a new jersey with the C on it, so you wear it to the game over your favorite sweater. A few of the WAGs came as well, and you’re excited to catch up with them. They’d adopted you as an honorary WAG a couple years back, considering how close you are with Nico.
The first period goes well, Nico scoring a beautiful wrister six minutes in. He looks up to where he knows you’re sitting after collecting his fist-bumps, though you’re sure he can’t really see you.
The second period is a little rougher, the Rangers scoring two goals, separated by a tip-in from Nico. He looks to your section again, and it makes you smile every time. Having him on hatty watch is exciting, and the game is dynamic enough that you’re cheering maybe a little too hard to be respectable. Luckily, the girls think it’s endearing, and know to expect it from you.
During second intermission, you chat with Nicole. She’s still beaming with pride from Travis’s thousandth game the other day, and you love to see it. She asks you about work and family and Nico, the conversation casual and comfortable. The only thing that bothers you is the way she looks at you as you talk about Nico, smile small and gentle, eyes almost pitying. The other girls still occasionally urged you to make a move on Nico, but Nicole had stopped around the time that you accepted your love for him. Now she just looks a little bittersweet when you bring him up. It’s kind of annoying, honestly. But she’s your friend, and she means well, so you don’t mind too much.
The third period is dynamic, the puck flying between zones, both teams feeling the pressure of the impending end of the game. The atmosphere in the arena is electric, everyone shouting and leaning forward in their seats, enraptured by the action. Because of the way the team has been struggling in the past few years, most of the Devils fans that are left are the die-hards, and it shows in the passion filling the Pru.
It’s looking like they’re going to go into overtime, the score still tied with only two minutes left in the game. Neither team pulls their goalie, probably trying for overtime so that they get at least one point. At 1:47, Nico gets a breakaway, and you jump out of your seat along with the rest of the crowd, throwing a fist into the air and cheering at the top of your lungs. Nico reaches Georgeiv, fakes a five-hole shot, and when Georgeiv hits the ground to block it, Nico flicks the puck up toward the top shelf. Georgeiv flings his glove up to catch it, but he’s just a moment too late. The puck hits the top left twine, coming to rest in the back corner of the goal.
The arena explodes.
Your hands are in the air as you jump around, screaming in unfettered joy. Even the WAGs are shouting, the shot beautiful and coming just in time. Nico collects his fist-bumps, then looks toward your seat yet again. But this time, he points toward your section, and you’re sure he’s pointing to you. You place a hand over your heart, the other clenched in a fist in the air. The pride is overwhelming.
The last minute and a half are a desperate rush of the Rangers trying to even the score back out, and the Devils doing all they can to keep their lead. Kreider, Zibanejad, and Buchnevich make a fantastic first line, and they’re doing a great job of bringing the puck into the Devils’ zone over and over, but Ty and Damon are on fire, clearing the puck every time it’s brought in. When the buzzer sounds, you and Nicole hug, excited to see your boys succeeding.
Nico will have to talk to the media for sure, considering his hat trick, in addition to the cool down, game debrief, and getting changed. It adds to the time you’ll have to wait before you see him, but you’re so happy for him that it doesn’t even faze you. He was amazing, and you’re looking forward to having a late dinner and cuddle session with him.
After a moment of consideration, you resolve to make him his favorite post-game meal. That means you’ll have to stop at the store, so you decide to forego meeting him outside the locker room in favor of grabbing the ingredients and getting the food started. You have a key to his apartment anyway, and the doorman knows you, so you don’t have to wait for him to let you in.
You stop at Shoprite on your way to his place, grabbing everything you need, along with some snacks to stock his pantry. He forgets to keep them in the house sometimes, so you like to make sure he has something to nosh on when he doesn’t feel like cooking. When you get to his complex, the doorman greets you happily.
“Roger!” you greet in return, giving him a quick hug, “It’s great to see you. How’s the family?” The two of you chat for a few minutes, catching up since you have a bit of time. He lets you into the building, and you take the elevator up to Nico’s floor. You unlock the door and drop your keys and bag on the table in the entryway. After dumping the grocery bags on the counter, you put on some music and start unpacking.
You stash the snacks in the upper cabinets, setting aside the things you need now. You set to work, singing along to the music as you cook. There’s a lull while you let the chicken cook, so you check your phone. You’d sent Nico a text before you left, letting him know you’d meet him at home, so you wanted to make sure he saw it. He’d sent back a thumbs-up, so you don’t have to call him. You have a couple notifications, and a text from Nicole. After checking the notifications and replying to a snapchat from your friend, you open Nicole’s message. It’s just a link, so you tap into it, and a video pops up. It’s Nico’s post-game interview. You don’t usually watch them, because he tells you about the game afterward anyway, but if Nicole sent it, there must be something special about it.
The pride on his face brings a smile to yours. You listen to him give some pretty standard answers to some pretty standard questions, waiting for whatever made Nicole see fit to send it to you. The reporter asks about his hat trick, and the flush on Nico’s face grows. He’s so damn cute.
“Well,” he begins, huffs half of a laugh, continues, “There was a special girl in the audience, so I wanted to do something special for her.”
“Oh, trying to impress somebody?” the reporter asks, the smile evident in her voice.
“Yeah,” Nico replies, clearly embarrassed, “She’s the most important person in my life, so…” He trails off at the end, but the intent is clear.
Your heart stops.
It’s unbelievable, what you’ve just heard, and it’s inconceivable that it could be about you. You try your best to think of everyone who was in the family and friends section, anyone in Nico’s life that he could be talking about. You were the only one there for him tonight, unless someone else was in a different section. You try as hard as you can, but you can’t think of anyone that Nico’s talked about lately that he could be interested in. You try to convince yourself that there’s someone he hasn’t told you about, but you tell each other everything. If there was someone, he would have told you.
Shit.
You want to call him, ask him what the hell that was, hear him tell you that it was for someone else. You’d already accepted that you’d never be together, that you’d never have love, and the possibility of your greatest desire being obtainable throws you off so hard that you have to take a moment to lean on the counter and breathe.
You manage to resist the urge to call him, knowing that he’ll be home soon anyway. If you keep focusing on the interview, you’ll have a panic attack, so you force all of your attention to finishing the food. The chicken is still cooking, and usually you’d just let it sit, but this time you’re spooning the sauce over it with very intentional focus. Anything to keep yourself stable.
Once you’re sure it’s cooked through, you turn the heat off. The broccoli is already done, but the rice takes another minute to finish. You plate the sides next to each other on the dishes, placing the chicken on the bed of rice and dousing it in the rest of the sauce. The sauce is Nico’s favorite part, so you make sure to give him extra.
Once the plates are set on the coffee table in the living room, you hear the doorknob turn. Your heart skips another beat, and you take a deep breath to settle yourself. He calls your name as he comes in, and you swallow hard so that you can tell him you’re there without your voice cracking. He rounds the corner and walks straight to you, wrapping you up in his arms. You hug him back, face buried in his neck. You know that you’re tense, and that he’ll probably notice, but you hope that he doesn’t ask about it.
Luckily, he only gives you a worried look. You smile back instead, and you can feel how fake it looks. To avoid the question, you start asking him about the game, leading him over to the couch to sit and eat. Nico stops when he sees the meal, a soft look overtaking his face. He always got soft and sentimental when you did thoughtful things for him, and his appreciation brings a real smile to your face. Your heart settles in your chest, and you remind yourself that this is Nico. At the end of the day, this is Nico, and he’s your best friend, for better or worse. There’s no reason to be afraid; there’s never a reason to be afraid around him.
You turn on the TV, navigating through until you can start the episode of The Good Place that you’d left off on. Even as you eat, you take pauses to make small comments about the show. Nico laughs at all of them, even if they’re not that funny. Once you’re both finished eating, you pause the show and take the dishes into the kitchen. Nico trails behind you, slipping between you and the sink at the last moment, close enough that you bump into him.
“You cooked, I wash,” he says on the tail end of a laugh.
“Then at least let me dry,” you reply, smile shining through your voice. He gives an over-dramatic sigh and an “I guess” before his smile returns. You bump your shoulders together and grab the towel off of the drying rack. Nico has a dishwasher, but you always wash the dishes by hand when you eat dinner together. It’s just a little tradition at this point, a way to spend a quiet moment together, to extend the time you stay. To increase the chance of you just staying over. Well, it’s not really a necessary motivation any more, but it is a handy excuse.
As Nico starts the water and soaps the sponge, you turn on the bluetooth speaker at home on the island and choose some chill music. There’s just something about this time together that always gives you a special feeling, something that you don’t get anywhere else. Something that relaxes your shoulders, softens your jaw, turns the edges of your lips up just enough that you realize your face has been resting in a frown all day. Your life is perfectly fine, but being with Nico makes you realize that it could be better. That you deserve better. That as long as he’s by your side, you have better.
Washing the dishes is calming, silent save for the clink of the silverware and the soft melody floating from the speaker. Once all the dishes are dried and back in the cabinets, Nico steps into your space, resting his hands on your waist. It takes the breath from your lungs, until he starts swaying you and you realize you’re dancing.
Your hands had landed on the curve of his shoulders without your conscious decision, thumbs gently propped along the tendons on either side of his throat. It feels too intimate that way, so you move them to join behind his neck instead. The more traditional position is less uncomfortable, both physically and emotionally.
You have no idea what song is playing now, too caught up in the weight of his hands, the baby hairs at the base of his skull running between your fingers, the unbearably fond look in his eyes. He’s looking at you like he’s just as happy to have this as you are, like there’s nowhere he’d rather be. Like he loves you.
“I saw the interview,” you say, not meaning for the words to slip out. You knew that it would ruin the mood, but you had to know. You had to know.
“Oh, um,” Nico stutters to a stop, though he doesn’t remove his hands from your hips. He tightens them, actually. No matter how much you want to cup your hand around the curve of his jaw, you leave them where they are. You don’t want to assume, just to embarrass yourself later.
Waiting patiently, you keep an eye on Nico’s face. He’s cycling through so many emotions that it’s difficult to catch them all. His face has gone pink, cheeks nearly glowing as they continue to redden while he thinks. You give him as much time as you can bear.
“Who were you talking about, Nico?” you ask, needing him to say it. You need to hear him say it. His breathing has gone a bit ragged, and he takes a gulp of air to steady himself. His cheeks are still bright red, and it somehow makes him even more beautiful.
“You,” he says simply, eyes locked on your own.
Your heart stops.
“Yeah?” you ask, the barest hint of a smile starting. Nico ducks his head for just a moment, huffing a laugh before angling back up to look at you again, eyes soft instead of determined.
“It’s you,” he replies, “It’s always been you.” Your breath catches in your throat as he says the words you’ve been dying both to hear and to say. It’s you. It’s all for you.
“Well, that’s convenient,” your smile is blooming wide, “Because it’s always been you, too.” Nico’s face springs into a bright grin, and you let your hands come to his face. Your fingertips wrap below his jaw, your thumbs resting on his cheekbones.
“You should kiss me now,” you say, pulling a dazzling laugh from him. He leans down, pressing your lips together in what you hope will be the first kiss of many.
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The Report Card – Fantasy High: The Seven Ep 6
Bitches Be Shopping
What is up y’all. A little late but let’s jump in with episode six of The Seven where our girls have just received a LOT of information, Sam most of all who got put into a little vision coma that she’s just now waking up from.
She explains the vision to her friends (as she interprets it, the other Eidolons didn’t die, just became part of the natural forces of the world) and then the bear that Penny made on a whim last episode (who is Russian, named Koda, and somehow a trained circus bear) gets into a fight with Katja with their friends buffing the two to make things more interesting because these are still idiot teens, life or death situation or no. Yelle decides to be the adult and tells them to knock it off and get back on mission.
That means Katja needs to call her dad since he’s knows the guy who’s the best lead to getting to TK ( Talcidimir Tallbreeze who I’ll call Tal). She actually manages to get her dad this time who is inside a giant snake on his hell mission. Katja asks what he knows about TK and he says she’s a sorcerer but also has a spell book so maybe she’s multiclassed. Sam and Ant desperately want to know if they boned and Katja absolutely is not interested in that knowledge. Yelle decides to just ask which makes her dad a little annoyed since he’s kind of in the middle of something (literally) and that annoys Ant, Ost, and Sam who--respectively, accuse him of gaslighting Kat, cast Command on him, and cast Bane on him to aid the Command spell.
Mr. Cleaver fails the save and Ost commands him to tell Katja the truth. He admits that he did hook up with TK and he regrets it (note: it wasn’t like he cheated. It was just a casual hookup that wasn’t fulfilling it seems). Ost demands he apologize for not being there for Kat and Sam berates him for being at the top of the world and not lifting up his daughter too. For his part, Kat’s dad seems genuinely apologetic and promises to do better.
“You don’t need to be the best father, you just need to be there,” Katja says, making her dad break down crying.
Yelle, who has no daddy issues, is a bit less aggro and says that everyone makes mistakes and he can start making it up right now by helping with the Tal situation. She also gives them the tip that a cold spell will probably get them out of the snake lickety split. She is on the money with the snake tip and Mr. Cleaver gets them all invites to a masquerade ball Tal is hosting. It’s being held on the Rumbosa which is this city-sized leisure ship. Mr. Cleaver says he’ll be back as soon as he can and, in the meantime, she should take care of her friends, “even the first 2 that were terrifying to me.”
The girls give Katja the axe they took as a birthday present (it was apparently her birthday the day before which Rekha just decided and Ost/Izzy refuses to accept without a fight because she *knows* Kat’s bday) which is identified as the Axe of Sundering (it can shatter objects, people, and sometimes concepts like halving movement). The two unnamed potions Yelle found are also ID’d as a Potion of Fly and a Potion of Gaseous Form. She distributes the Heath Potions to people without heals. Ant’s new arrows bypass some resistances and let her treat whatever she hits with the first one like it’s her favored enemy.
According to their invites, the ship they need is docking in the city of Gravalvia soon (a very old city in the Baronies) so they need to figure out a plan. They have some downtime, during which:
Zelda tries to hype up the team.
Zelda tries to see if Ost is OK wrt dad stuff and Ost has a Full Breakdown after badly pretending she’s fine.
While Zelda, Ost, and Penny are being Emotional and Sam is trying to literally cool them down with her powers, Ant and Yelle keep watch and experience emotional stability as the Adults Of The Party
Anyway, after a night of rest, they head to the golden city of Gravalvia which is this very cool, very pretty city with mosaics and fountains and I assume columns. They get there and there’s a dramatic fight happening in the square which is halted when one of the fighters realizes that the country he’s fighting for doesn’t exist anymore. And now, it’s time for what we’ve all been waiting for. Shopping Montage! Let’s go girl by girl.
Katja and Ost
Kat asks for help from Ost with getting fancy for this gala since she’s never really done anything dressy before (and she had no mom to help--Kaaaat) and Ost is happy to oblige, dressing them both like “Jersey trash”. Kat, of course, still wears her Khakis underneath.
Antiope
Ant decides to get a vibe for what people here wear and picks something that will blend in but be forgettable so she can be stealthy. Classy blue dress and mask.
Penny
Penny...OK, I absolutely cannot describe what happens here in any way that will do justice to the scene. I am going to tell you what matters to the plot. You have to watch this yourself if you want to see the entire table have a collective breakdown.
While looking for a costume, Penny runs into a halfling who is a member of the Society of Shadows--Laertes. He wants to know why she hasn’t responded to their invitation yet. She says she’s really eager to join, she just wasn’t sure how to respond (and also, she’s kind of in the middle of something). He says she can join by just messaging back and then her loved ones just have to sign waivers to have their memories wiped of her and she’s good to go. Say what now? asks Penny. She didn’t realize this was like a full Men in Black situation.
He says it’s ultimately her decision and leaves.
Of course, I left out the parts where he ate a handful of Candy Heart’s remains, became violently ill, almost projectile vomited into Penny’s mouth, and she tried to kiss him despite him being a full adult. It’s A Lot, ok?
Also, we don’t find out until later but Penny picks a sexy duck costume for reasons that make more sense if you watch the scene but not *much* more sense. She also burns one of the healing potions on this dude as he is bar
Danielle
Danielle tries to get some info on the guests at the party and gets the names Lawrence LaDuc, Princess Autumn, and Duston who is the playboy cousin of Tal. She also hears some dude saying some colonize and plunder the earth BS and casts Heat Metal on him, fully mercing the dude. Ice cold.
She tries to play it off like it’s the Curse of the Forest and when that doesn’t work and people start coming for her, she wildshapes into a dragon wyrmling and starts roasting people, killing 1 and dropping 2 to zero.
Unfortunately, one of her party members is a known dragon hater and uses her new arrows to snipe her right out of the sky. Ant is horrified once she realizes what she’s done but Yelle says it’s all good. It’s NOT all good, says Ant, I STABBED YOU. You’re allowed to be mad! Yelle says she’s just really good at compartmentalizing but what Ant’s getting here is that Yelle doesn’t really believe that her feelings matter which echo the fears of her moms.
Sam
Sam uses a combination of Mantle of Inspiration, glamour magic, performance, and good old flirting to get herself some killer clothes and also start a spontaneous musical number Giselle style.
Brennan says she looks resplendent and, honestly, when does she not?
They reconvene, Zelda in a classic hoop skirt. Yelle realizes she never got a costume and just whips out a Met Gala level, autumn themed, Queen Mab-esque costume with Druidcraft which she could have done this whole time so I guess that’s why she was cool spending her shopping time getting gossip and playing Poison Ivy.
They get to the ship and the way this works, everyone has to make an entrance and the really rich people (including Tal) are on a dais up top watching everyone come in. They all have to give fake names for the night since it’s a masquerade and they have to do Performance or Persuasion checks to see how impressive they look going in.
Before they go in, they plan a little. Penny wants to look for TK. Sam wants to find Dunston. Ost wants to talk to the bouncers. Yelle wants to see if there are plants she can manipulate (there are btw) and for any exits.
A quick rundown of how these all go:
Katja aka Mere (which means both mom and horse): 16
Ant aka Midnight Huntress: 18
Penny aka Penny Duckstone: 13
Zelda aka Madame Goodparty: 2 (Poor Zelda)
Sam aka Songbird: 22 (but she takes a hit to entrance save Zelda from totally flaming out)
Ost aka Stanley Gucci: 13
And Danielle, who never hogs the spotlight and is embarrassed to admit that maybe she does want to be the center of attention for once in her life with a Natural 20, gets a 29, absolutely bringing down the house as Empress Anima. As she walks forward she feels a voice say to her, “You got this. I love the name. You wear it well.”
Tal seems very impressed by her and a lady in a rabbit mask (Coeliabranca who I’ll call Coel if she comes up more) comes down to bring her up to the top with the high rollers. As she leaves, Sam casts Fly on her, just in case and holds the Concentration.
Ost and Kat go talk to the bouncers and Kat decides to pretend to be her mom to get access to the area Yelle is. She rolls low and is told, “Hey, aren’t you already up there?” Kat is like, fuck and Ost saves her by using her charm earrings to get an entourage of guards who will let them through and do what she says. Once up there, Kat doesn’t see her mom which I can imagine she has mixed feelings about.
Sam finds Dunston who is talking about Fantasy Bitcoin and seems like a real “Step on me mommy” type you know? Like, I feel like he’s into findom. Anyway, Sam charms him and his hangers on and learns about a procedure called a Phlebectomy that involves something going into their nose and then they feel better. Sam is rightfully horrified because, as I said, she is Most Likely To Survive A Horror Movie and can sense BS when she sees is. It’s apparently all the rage with the rich people here which is, como de dice, concerning seeing as they’re surrounded by them but we’ll get to that. Sam takes advantage of Dunston’s proclivities and gets him alone, knocks him out, steals him clothes, and pretends to be him (a *very* good scene by Sephie).
Penny sees a gnome gnome boy (Lysander Higgins) shining shoes and finds out from him that there is a copper earth genasi woman here. In a very Cinderella move, she asks what shoes she was wearing. Then, she makes out with him which like, sure. At least it’s not a grown adult man this time. Before she gets her kisses in, she does tell the group what she learned.
Up with the rich people, Yelle is introduced to Tal’s friend who is into Eidolons because of the name she chose. Between the shoes and her knowledge, they confirm that it’s TK! Yelle asks what she knows about Eidolons and she says that 7 is a very powerful number.
We cut to Ant who is patrolling the room as the sun sets and she suddenly hears a little beeping. It’s coming from a small crystal that was in Preston’s shirt (which she still has on her because???). Guests start dripping goo from their noses and transforming into monsters. Ant realizes that some kind of spell is happening triggered by midnight and this beeping. Hope these costumes are battle ready cause it’s fight time baybee!
Superlatives
Danielle: Most Likely to Be on The News for Murdering Fantasy Jeff Bezos
I cannot imagine what was running through Yelle’s head when she decided that, having just rolled into a foreign country, her next move was to start using lethal force on anti-environmentalist colonizing capitalists. Like, she’s not *wrong* per se but she is wild--in all senses of the word.
Random Thoughts
Kat keeps saying yesterday was her birthday which Ost/Izzy (and the rest of the group to a less vocal degree) are simply not having because maybe her dad would forget her birthday but her girls absolutely would not.
“You’re great because you stayed,” is the other killshot Kat line to her dad.
At a certain point Sam says, “This is so unhealthy,” to I think Yelle and like, if SAM is telling you your coping mechanisms are unhealthy, get thee to therapy.
OK, so someone, presumably Anima’s spirit, talks to Yelle as she makes her grand entrance which seems like info they should get to Talura ASAP, right? Cause that’s evidence they’re not dead-dead, just changed in form. But also Anima, girl. Don’t talk to Yelle. Talk to your rampaging sister!
"That's my secret, I stay in initiative."
Just a process note, notes are taken for the next ep and I am working on getting that recap up ASAP. As a battle ep, it will be in the abbreviated style that I did for last battle ep.
In this episode, Penny rolls a Nat 1 (which she rerolls) and one of Brennan’s NPCs rolls a Nat 1. Ant rolls 2 Nat 20s, Yelle rolls 1, and Brennan says that one of his NPCs gets a 20 which sweeps him entirely into Sam’s dance number.
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Keeping Up With Seijoh Ep. 3
a/n: uwuwuwuwu this is an au since yanno,,,, they didnt really make it to nationals :(
for more seijoh content, check this masterlist out!
GUESS WHOS BACK! BACK AGAIN!
anon:
may i request a scenario where seijoh made it to nationals and atsumu flirts with reader🥺
CAN WE BLS STOP THIS SANGWOO/ATSUMU TYPA BEAT BC I HONESTLY DONT VIBE W IT AND IT LOWKEY SCARES ME A LITTLE :o
OMLOMLOML YALL MADE IT TO NATIONALS
to be honest, it was,,, unexpected
you were sitting there, on the bench and gripping it in anticipation as seijoh and shiratorizawa were once again at a match point thanks to kyotani’s angry spike
going past 31, they were now 31-30 with seijoh in the lead
you could tell ushijima was getting antsy despite him covering it up and encouraging his team with a one-liner
your own team was buzzing with both nervousness and hope and iwaizumi was clenching and unclenching his fists in anticipation for the last toss
when the ball went up, oikawa’s eyes flashed, arms moving to set and the red-haired spiky guy was now watching which spiker he was going to give it to
however
he tossed it to no one
instead, oikawa’s hand flicked and he dumped the ball
it was like in slow motion and as shiratorizawa’s players scrambled to the floor,
it was too late
the ball bounced on yellow polished floor before rolling away, completely unaware of what just happened and the lives it just changed
your mouth hung open, eyes trailing after the rubber ball like every single people in the gym
then it finally hit you
‘YOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’
a scream from iwaizumi lit the candle of happiness and you didnt even care, running out to the court to jump on your captain, tears flowing down his face and his arms squeezing you tightly against his chest
‘AKLDFJJSHKFEOIOWIHFSKESIFOEWIHE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’
it was all a jumbled noise from everyone, your team, your coaches, the fans in the stand, and even from that orange boy and his team
the boys were hugging each other and crying and sobbing but oikawa’s hold remained on you, your own tears mixing with his sweat and coating his neck
‘you did it, oikawa-san. you did it’
you whimpered and he laughed and you felt him nodding
‘we’re going to tokyo. nationals!’
he choked out
‘OIKAWA!’
the entire gym rumbled and you basked in the joy that the entire team radiated before having to stand with the coaches so they could shake hands with shiratorizawa for a good game
the locker room was loud, even much louder than the gym, with kindaichi’s loud sobbing and mattsuhana’s loud celebratory singing and iwaizumi’s joking shouts and eventually joining in
iwaizumi held his arms out for you and you giggled, crashing straight into him
you wiped his sweat filled face and he sat down on the bench, with you standing between his legs and his large hands gripping your waist
‘it’s not a dream, right?’
he whispered, eyes closed at the gentle feeling of you caressing his face
‘no, iwa-san. nationals is ours’
you soothed and he let out another loud laugh before pulling you close and burying his face in your stomach, probably crying again but this time, out of joy
for years theyve tried
and now, they succeeded
well,,, nationals should be a good thing, right?
hmm,,, maybe the honor of going
but the other players??
oh god
it was obvious when miyagi’s representative entered through those doors and eyes immediately went to their manager
it wasnt like you were the only female manager but you were an unfamiliar team so you have never been seen before
uwu youre so pretty like bow down to the goddess
oikawa’s hold on your hand was tight and his eyes flitted to everyone who looked at them, as if signalling them to back off and you were his
‘wahh, oikawa-san! kageyama told me that the best of the best are in here! he told me to look for fukurodani and nekoma!’
seijoh’s eye twitched at the mention of your new-found friend who you’ve been texting back and forth and him secretly teaching you everything about volleyball since your own team has been too busy preparing for nationals
they watched you try and stand in your tippy toes to find the apparent red and black jerseys and the black, white and gold jerseys
hmm,,,, it seems everyone had the same colors
‘ne, y/n-chan, you trust our team, don’t you? if anything, we’re part of the best of the best! you got the best setter right here!’
oikawa grinned but you nodded distractedly
‘come on, we got to go unpack and train’
iwaizumi nudged so you had to stop looking and you followed your captain, who still held your hand
but this is a typical fanfiction ladies and gents
as you were walking towards the locker room, there was a team that wore maroon colored jackets and were walking towards you
again, this is seijoh’s very first nationals so nobody really knew of them
they were more familiar of the white and purple jackets of shiratorizawa rather than the mint green and white of seijoh
however, oikawa seemed to know them
‘ah’
he whispered out, making you look up at him but his sights were straight towards them, a hard and cold look
‘ara? fresh blood?’
you cringed at the weird analogy and the guy with the black tips, who you infered to be the captain, elbowed him
‘excuse us’
he nodded in greeting and you noticed the guy with the bleach hair and you did a double-take, blinking rapidly
‘oh sangwoo?’
KSLDFJKDLFJSLDK KILL ME ALREADY
watari coughed, knowing exactly what you meant and it seems nobody else did except for the sangwoo look-a-like
and he raised an eyebrow in interest
‘hm? you called?’
another guy with gray hair, who looked exactly like him, rolled his eyes and he pulled him forward to walk after their captain
but he didnt let off yet
as he passed you by, he leaned close, breath fanning your ear
‘but its miya atsumu, baby girl’
ON GOD I WANT TO COMMIT WITH HOW GROSS HE IS LIKE BLS
kyo, who was behind you, growled at him and pulled you behind himself
‘she has name, fcker’
atsumu faked a surprise and backed away with his hands up
‘alrighty, then. didnt know you had a bodyguard, girlie. but maybe,, later on, we could get to know each other. alone’
YALL THIS IS GOING TO GET BETTER LATER I PROMISE HES NOT A WEIRDO PERVERT AS HE SOUNDS
osamu was annoyed and dragged him away, leaving you with your team, who were also extremely pissed off, especially oikawa
‘heh, the best setter in the country and yet he acts like a horny dog’
oikawa seethed, a pointy smile etched on his face
‘eh? best setter?’
you wondered but not given an answer because your captain would be damned if that atsumu decided to show up again
the locker room was actually the same back home
but kindaichi was sobbing again
‘t-this room! the best of the best! i cant-too much-’
you were busy hugging him and wiping his tears to notice the third years huddling over by the corner
oikawa was sitting on the bench while iwaizumi was changing into his practice jersey and the other two were flanked beside the captain
‘of course theyve got their eye on her now’
oikawa mumbled, fingers laced together and touching his lips
‘what can you expect? y/n-chan is an extremely pretty girl’
mattsun shrugged
‘but ugh, if i see that cheese face again,, i will fight’
iwa threatened, angrily slipping his arms through the holes
‘he reeked nasty! gross!’
makki agreed
‘so we’re agreeing to keep her in our sights right?’
they agreed to oikawa’s question and were going to stick by that word
but,,,,
what can you expect from star-struck players?
maybe its because theyve worked for so long to reach this point that the fact that they’re even standing in the tokyo stadium felt like a dream
‘guys, i need to go and fill the bottles really quick’
they mumbled distracted agreements so you sighed and lugged the crate of bottles
thank god there was a fountain nearby and as you were capping the last one, a familiar voice rang from behind you
‘oh? baby girl?’
you flinched at the weird nickname and thought that if you stayed quiet, hed leave
‘chibi? hey?’
he asked and made his way to your side, you closing your eyes and looking off to the side
atsumu thought you were interesting, not like every girl who would spread their legs at him and press up to him
the fact that you even AVOIDED looking at him was so foreign to him and your dismissive attitude made him so drawn to you
‘look, im sorry if i made ya uncomfortable earlier’
he,,, apologized?
but you didnt know who he was so you didnt know how out of character it was for him to even say ‘sorry’
'miya-san, hello’
you mumbled, eyes now opened but still focused on the bottle you gripped
he cracked a smile and was he,,,, nervous?
usually, hed say something dumb or sarcastic to cut the tension, but it was like he was even,,, careful,,, with what he wanted to say next
‘how-um-you like it ‘ere?’
if osamu was to see him now, he’d think his brother was kidnapped by those aliens oikawa swore up and down were real and was replaced by some opposite dimension version of atsumu
you gulped, mustering up a small smile before turning to look at him
‘miya-san, dont take offense to this, but just know i have a very loud voice and i can lift 80 pounds. and im the first one to ever beat iwa-san in an arm-wrestling match’
you puffed your cheeks in intimidation with your eyebrows furrowed but accidentally looking more cute rather than scary
were you,,, threatening him?
atsumu paused for a second to assess the situation and really understand the underlying meaning of your words
then he laughed
a real hearty laugh that made him go for a whole minute
‘-ahahaha!! whew, chibi-chan, ya’r a rare one’
wait i dont know how to type you’re with an accent !!!!!
he let out a few more chuckles then wiped a tear that fell
you just stood there 🧍♀️
‘you think its funny, miya-san? yahaba-kun and i also have a supernatural telepathy phenomenon-’
‘chibi-chan, i swear i wont hurt ya’
he promised but you backed your face away, an eyebrow raised
‘thats what they all say. if anything, youre scaring me more so i’ll-’
‘wait’
he held out a hand out but he quickly curled it, pulling it back to his chest
‘i,,,, listen i know how basic this may sound but,,,, youre the first to ever be like this to me’
you rolled your eyes
‘you think i havent heard that before? i have oikawa-san in my team, for god’s sake! ‘youre one of a kind’ ‘youre not like other girls’ yadda yadda’ try harder, miya-san’
you tilted your head with a crooked smile
were you,,, playing hard to get?!
atsumu’s eyes shined, wanting to finally do the chasing rather than being chased
‘well, first off, chibi-chan, i need to know your name’
he leaned forward with his hands buried deep inside his maroon jacket pocket
‘my name? what good will that do? you already call me something else dont you? a name is meant to help people call each other and youve been calling me ‘chibi’ so what’s the point of giving you my birth name?’
even with a straight face, atsumu right away knew of your teasing as your eyes were shining brightly and had a hint of amusement in them
oh my god hes in love with you
he was in disbelief of your attitude towards him so he nodded slowly and laughed again
‘what can i do to earn that name then, chibi-chan?’
ehehehe kuroo,,,,, im in danger
you crossed your arms and pouted, leaning forward
‘ehh? why do you want it so bad? do you call others ‘chibi’ too?’
your expression of suspicion was so adorable that he couldnt stop himself from lunging forward and squeezing your cheeks between his fingers
‘so cute. youre my only chibi, chibi-chan’
you hummed, swiftly wiping his touch away from you
‘doubt it. ive only met you today and you’re already acting like this. what makes you think i think youre genuinely interested in me, miya-san?’
‘fate?’
this time, you chuckled, head leaning down
and as you looked back up, your heart stopped
by the distance, there was a familiar-looking haired boy with golden eyes and an also familiar black hair and steel blue eyes
oh dear
your emotions went sour but you saw the black and white-haired male laugh and the steel eyed male shake his head in disapproval but had the hint of the smallest smile
they,, were now happy
‘fate, you say’
you mumbled distractedly
‘fate instilled magnets in us so i just cant help but be drawn to ya’
atsumu grinned but you averted your eyes to look at him, a soft and genuinely happy look
‘would those magnets be strong enough to draw us together, even if we were in another life? if we were fated, would we meet again?’
you looked up at him, your eyes still glistening but this time, with the slightest bit of hope
atsumu sent you a confused glance but he still shrugged
‘i guess so, if i’m so drawn to you right now. maybe in our past life we were,,, together?’
he tested out, expecting you to roll your eyes and walk away but you laughed
‘well, i just witnessed it happening so maybe its possible?’
you wondered out loud
atsumu blinked again, getting more and more interested in you
‘chibi-chan?’
he asked you and you jumped slightly to look at him with a smile
‘say, miya-san, what if i told you that i remember my past life? and what would you say if i told you that you were in it?’
you grinned but atsumu scrunched his face together before smiling
‘hmm, i dont know what youre sayin but it proves my point!’
he exclaimed but you cocked an eyebrow, a sad smile resting on your lips
‘now what would you say if i told you that you were my nurse?’
a/n: omg i actually hate how this turned out like bls blast me on this
a/n pt 2: during my break, i actually re-read ‘in another life’ and i wrote this up after i finished it again and can i just say? I WILL NEVER SHUT UP ABOUT THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CREDITS TO LITTLELUXRAY ON AO3
a/n pt 3: hewwo im back again and since no one replied with a link, i can,,, guess??,,, that the book is gone??? or taken down?? but anyways, i just really wanted to post something and tbh, stuff like this cant be helped but i really do hope that it’s gone and if its not, dkasjdfkslf again send me the link
#haikyuu!!#haikyuu#haikyuu imagines#haikyuu!! imagines#haikyuu x reader#haikyuu!! x reader#haikyuu headcanons#haikyuu!! headcanons#aoba johsai#aoba johsai x reader#aoba josai x reader#aoba josai#seijoh#aoba johsai imagines#aoba josai imagines#seijoh imagines#seijoh manager#haikyuu manager#haikyuu!! manager#aoba johsai manager#aoba josai manager#seijoh x reader#aoba johsai headcanons#aoba josai headcanons#seijoh headcanons#haikyuu fluff#haikyuu!! fluff#aoba johsai fluff#aoba josai fluff#seijoh fluff
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AU where Douxie attended Arcadia Oaks High instead of the Academy?
Okay, so first off, I’m using my revised backstory for Douxie for this AU. Therefore, no time travel, and Douxie is literally only 17 years old. (However, he was born 1491 years ago.) Also, I’m only putting the first five fun facts above the cut because this is getting long.
1. Douxie got cast as Paris in the school play. He recognizes that Jim is using the Daylight sword, and Douxie knows that the Daylight sword is extremely dangerous. (Douxie also spies on Jim to be sure that yes, this is the real Amulet of Daylight.) One day, when Douxie and Jim are alone, Douxie reveals that he is a wizard and he helped make Jim’s amulet, and Jim needs to make a fake version of the sword or else Jim will kill Douxie and whomever is playing Tybalt. From there on, Douxie becomes an ally to the trollhunters. Archie does as well, though he’s far more cautious because he does not want to become lunch. The Hex Tech wizards might get involved as well?
2. A running gag is that Douxie keeps on flirting with girls/women... except according to him, he is not flirting. He is being chivalrous and it’s not his fault that in modern times American society believes that being chivalrous to someone of the opposite sex is flirting.
3. Douxie has a very warm perception to Claire joining the team right up until Claire claims the Shadow Staff. Not because it’s dark magic and it was Morgana’s staff once, but because it’s a staff.
Douxie: no you can’t use a staff yet you aren’t trained enough
Archie: Wow you sound just like another wizard we know
Douxie: Who?
Archie: Merlin.
Douxie: 😣 I hate to say it but maybe the old man had a point... but I was trained and she isn’t! 😣
Eventually Douxie comes around and starts training Claire in magic. Due to this, she has powers beyond shadowmancy.
4. Douxie’s worst fear in the pixie episode is of abandonment.
5. Ash Dispersal Pattern only has members from Arcadia Oaks Academy, so Douxie would either be teaming up with Claire or he’d be a solo guitarist for the Battle of the Bands
6. After Toby tries to give Jim flirting tips, Jim tries to go to Douxie for advice. After all, Douxie knows how to be flirtatious and charming. In a frustrated tone of voice he tells Jim that not only does he not intend to flirt with girls he also never learned how to speak to a potential romantic interest because wizards weren’t allowed to ever marry back in Camelot.
7. Douxie is not the waiter for the double date, specifically because Jlaire+Darby do not go to Benoit’s. They know that depending on how the conversation goes, there’s a chance that either Douxie will be awkwardly fifth-wheeling the date or Darci will be unknowingly fifth-wheeling trollhunting conversations.
8. The exorcism is tense. Douxie uses the shadow staff, plugging in his earbuds/headphones and listening to loud emo/rock music in order to block out Morgana. However, she tries to convince Strickler that he could have Barbara if he took the staff from Douxie, and Douxie ends up pulling out an earbud as he yells at Strickler about how Morgana is an illusionist. Afterwards, Morgana focuses on tormenting Douxie, calling him out on every single thing that he has feared since his childhood, as well as offering to give him power if he betrayed Merlin. Eventually, he tells her that he hates her. Morgana tries to claim that his loyalty to a master who never cared for him is blinding Douxie (untrue, Morgana was the one person other than Merlin who knew just how much Merlin loved Douxie.) Douxie then yells that he loved Morgana like family, and she threw that away. And by throwing that away, she ruined his life because her war with Merlin made Merlin decide to send Douxie and Archie away. Realizing that there was nothing she could do to make Douxie join her side, Morgana creates an illusion of Douxie’s hands being covered in black cracks, like those of a corrupted shadowmancer. She sneers about how he’s corrupted himself, and Douxie drops the Shadow Staff in shock. Douxie is on the side of “no let’s not stab Claire”.
9. Douxie isn’t around when Barbara, Ophelia, Javier, and Nancy first interrogate the kids. After all, he’s a year older than them, and thus he has different finals to study for.
10. When Douxie comes to the house, Barbara asks where his parents are. Before Douxie can make a snide comment about how he’s been asking himself that since he was an abandoned two year old, Archie tactfully reveals that he raised Douxie.
11. Douxie is very quiet when he learns that Claire found Merlin’s tomb. He never thought that Merlin could have died. He pulls his hood up and wraps his arms around himself.
“He promised he’d come back for me,” Douxie says.
“It’s been a millenium and a half,” someone else says, tone gentle but with a face of “dude people don’t live that long”
“I know of wizards who’ve lived twice that long” Archie says, glaring at everyone while wrapping himself protectively around his wizard.
12. Douxie fixes the amulet while everyone else is exploring the tomb. Jim is able to use the amulet to fight Gunmar. Draal lives.
13. Merlin has enough sense not to make the “Jim I’m your father” joke, not when his actual son is standing right next to Jim, overjoyed by how Merlin wasn’t actually dead.
14. In a total reverse of the “Douxie stop flirting”/“I’m not flirting” gag, Douxie starts acting weird and awkward around Krel. Jim, Toby, and Claire ask him what he’s doing, and Douxie tells them that he’s flirting with Krel. Or at least, trying to. When Krel sets up a rave in the Janus Order, Douxie ends up putting a hand over his chest and saying, “Be still my beating heart.”
15. Merlin gives the kids their armor, including Douxie. However, he accidentally made Douxie think he was going to finally get that staff. Douxie, trying to prove that he’s useful, enchants the armor so the three of them can put it on/take it off quickly. (Merlin is a little mean about how no, Douxie has not yet proven that he can have a staff, but also Merlin can’t make a staff for Douxie until he has his magic back.)
16. I’m not sure how Douxie would react to the whole troll!Jim thing aside from complaining that now Jim’s taller than him. But, I don’t know if this would make his relationship with Merlin more tense or not.
17. I feel like it makes a lot more sense for Douxie to go with Merlin and the trolls to New Jersey, plus it would be mean for Merlin to make him stay in Arcadia Oaks. In character, but mean. On the other hand, if Douxie were to stick around for 3Below, he would call Eli out on the “wizards and aliens hide among us” thing because hiding is a safety thing, possibly also joking that “oh no, what next, are the gays going to invade our humble town”. Also, Douxie slowly gets better at talking to Krel. Krel doesn’t seem to show any romantic interest in Douxie, but he also doesn’t do anything to indicate that he doesn’t like the idea of Douxie being romantically interested in him. At least, not until Krel gets concussed/knocked out (again) and put on pain killers. While high on pain killers, Krel tells Douxie, “Don’t tell Douxie but I might be in love with him.”
#hisirdoux casperan#jim lake jr#toa archie#claire nuñez#tales of arcadia#toby domzalski#walter strickler#toa morgana#toa merlin#trollhunters#krexie#3below#eli pepperjack#krel tarron#my au's#answered ask#anonymous
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Possibly another adopted by tokomaru hcs but if they were all adopted together?
I gotchu~
~ Mod Noire
"We'll Save You"
(TokoMaru x Platonic!Warriors Of Hope)
They heard that they were going to be adopted by Komaru and Toko, and were all instantly ":O" faced.
Masaru and Nagisa immediately take on the protective roles of the rest, stepping in front of them at all times, as if ready to accept a beating in order to protect the others.
This deeply saddens Toko, who reassures all five kids that they have nothing to worry about.
Monaca gets shunned for a while by the other four, despite deeply regretting all she had done to them prior.
This is intervened by Komaru, who stages a mini "intervention", so to speak. She basically allows Monaca to express her regret, and the other Warriors to hear her out.
"Deal with it." - Komaru, in the middle of a peaceful argument with Toko.
Masaru, surprisingly, broke down crying, and the other Warriors were not happy.
Kotoko WAS READY TO THROW HANDS-
Honestly, if it weren't for Monaca and Nagisa, both Komaru and Toko would have probably gotten killed by Kotoko's wrathful self-
Jataro was the comfort to Masaru, and Monaca joined in on that after mediating the fight.
If anyone says the word "gentle", I kid you not, Nagisa socks them in the jaw so fast-
NOBODY gets to hurt HIS little sister. His words, not mine.
Kotoko helps Monaca bedazzle her wheelchair with cute jewels, stickers, and googly eyes!
The first time a Warrior called one of them "mom", it was completely an accident.
And it was, surprisingly enough, Jataro who said it.
Toko was helping Jataro sew up his mask after it had come apart, when he blurted it out.
"Thank you, M-M-Mom."
Toko's heart felt like it could burst right then and there.
But it shattered when he began apologizing for it.
"I-I'm sorry, I don't know what g-g-got into me... I didn't mean t-to... I'll never s-say it again, I p-p-promise..."
Toko hugged him so tight, she almost squeezed the oxygen out of him.
"N-No! No! I like that you see me as your mom, because that's what I a-am now!"
Jataro was confused. All his life, his mother hadn't wanted him. The idea that someone did, especially someone so kind and sweet, baffled him. It just seemed so foreign to him, and the warm affection almost seemed to burn.
"N-N-Naegi-San, too?"
"Yes! Naegi-San is happy to be your mom, too! We love you! We both love all of you!"
The first secret came from Monaca, where she revealed that she had faked her disability. She was willing to give up the faking, but wanted to keep her wheelchair for comfort. Komaru agreed to this, and allowed her to keep her wheelchair as a comfort item.
Kotoko and Nagisa were a bit upset about that, but they eventually forgave Monaca, understanding that she only used it to obtain sympathy enough to escape from the abuse of her brother and father. Masaru and Jataro forgave her right away.
Nagisa revealed once that he was getting picked on in school, and that he wanted to be homeschooled because of it.
Genocide Jack was NOT HAVING IT.
He showed up at the school, and threatened the kids' lives with scissors had a talk with them.
That was when Nagisa realized that he really could depend on the two women. He did begin to show affection, albeit in his own kuudere way, much more often.
For example, he was a lot less snarky when correcting their grammar, math, etc., and he genuinely smiles and compliments them all the time.
Kotoko gave the first hug. She was so overwhelmed with emotion, that she shamelessly, unapologetically hugged both Komaru and Toko!
Uncle. Makoto. Is. Their. Favorite. Person. In. The. History. Of. Everything.
NOW, LET'S GET INTO HOLIDAYS WITH THIS FAMILY-
Komaru and Toko totally put all five of the kids in therapy for their trauma.
None of them are upset with it, though. They actually appreciate it.
New Year's is a surprisingly fun holiday with this family!
Kotoko, Masaru, and Monaca stay up to watch the ball drop with Komaru!
Nagisa, Jataro, and Toko are all out before eleven o'clock.
The four that are awake do fun things while waiting for the ball to drop!
For example, Monaca reads them her favorite books! She takes requests, though, and if one of them requests a specific story, she will try her best to read it. Komaru makes sure not to request anything too difficult for someone her age.
Masaru gets them all to play ping-pong with spoons and mini cupcakes.
The rounds are as follows: Masaru vs. Monaca, Masaru vs. Kotoko, Masaru vs. Komaru, Komaru vs. Monaca, Komaru vs. Kotoko, and Kotoko vs. Monaca.
Kotoko paints all their nails. Yes, even Masaru's. Masaru genuinely doesn't care, and he wants his the brightest, boldest red color she has. Komaru goes for a paler green. Monaca goes for bright green. Kotoko gets her nails painted by Masaru and Monaca; one hand for each of them.
Kotoko ends up with a half pink, half black handset, courtesy of Monaca and Masaru, respectively.
Toko and the others are disappointed that they missed all the festivities, but Komaru reassures them that there's always next year.
Valentine's Day is another fun holiday for them!
Jataro saves up all his allowance for almost four months in order to buy everyone presents!
Precious babey-
Jataro ends up giving Komaru a Ouija board, tuna eyeballs, and a new electric fan to talk to.
Yes, Jataro has witnessed her strange habits, and is curious of them.
He gets Toko a little clip-on nightlight to help her through her fear of the dark. She clips it to her shirt twenty-four-seven, and always makes sure that it has batteries.
Masaru is given a cool red basketball with his name written in white letters. He never plays with it, though, preferring to keep it in a safe place, where it won't get dirty or broken.
Nagisa is gifted a large encyclopedia. It's a simple gift, but he appreciates it, and gives Jataro a long, genuine hug.
He gifts Kotoko with a cute book with kawaii, adorbs stickers. Surprise, surprise, everybody wakes up with their faces stickered, and there are stickers all along the walls, floors, and appliances. Anybody who comes over thinks it's cute, and that only encourages Kotoko to "spread [her] adorbs-ness everywhere"!
He gives Monaca a sewing machine, because Monaca had brought up her love of fashion. He thought that maybe she would want to design her own. Monaca burst into tears, exclaiming that she felt so selfish for accepting a gift from someone she used to treat so cruelly. Of course, Jataro reassures her that that's in the past, and they're siblings now. Monaca ends up with a soft smile, and hugging the life out of a very blushy, flustered Jataro.
When St. Patrick's Day rolls around, Monaca puts her Valentine’s Day present to use! She makes cute green outfits for everyone, and takes their senses of style into account. Masaru's is designed like a jersey, Kotoko's has lots of glitter and frills, Komaru's and Toko's are designed like schoolgirl uniforms, Nagisa's is formally styled, Jataro's is leathery, and her own looks steampunk.
Kotoko convinces everyone to go look for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, or at least some leprechauns.
They didn't find any. :(
April Fool's Day is a D A N G E R O U S day to exist, as long as they live with Masaru.
Masaru is basically a miniature Kokichi Ouma when it comes to pranks.
He switched the sugar for salt once, and Kotoko ended up sick for two weeks, considering she eats too much of it, and probably eats it in spoonfuls.
Mother's Day is a fun one! They split Mother's Day up into five days, that way each kid got to spend time with each mother.
On the first day, Toko took Masaru to a basketball game that she had scored third-row tickets to prior to Mother's Day. He cheered so loud, and it warmed her heart to see his joy at her surprise. Masaru ended up giving her a pack of colored chalk for her to write on her chalkboard with. Komaru ended up taking Nagisa to watch Harry Potter in a theater with her, after realizing they had both read the book. In return, he gave her a meal of tuna eyeballs that he cooked, himself. They weren't perfect, but... he tried. :'3
On day two, Toko took Nagisa to go write short stories together. They googled writing prompts, and each used the same one to comprise a story of under five thousand words in ten minutes. Then, they judged and gave constructive criticism to one another. He gave her high-quality pens to write down her ideas with. Meanwhile, Komaru took Jataro to plant a garden of vegetables in the backyard, and tend to it everyday. Sometimes, Jataro talks to their plants when he feels lonely. He gave her a pretty rock. Again, he tried. :'3
On day three, Toko took Jataro on a food tour, where she drove around and they got a small snack from every food place they drove past, eventually ending up with a whole big meal! He gave her a pretty flower. All the while, Komaru took Kotoko to a fashion show where they showcased pretty glittery idol clothes and lolita clothes. She gave Komaru a song she had written in her honor. Yes, Kotoko actually spent weeks writing a song for Komaru, and even got the other Warriors to play the instruments for the music. Masaru played guitar, Nagisa played the piano, Jataro played the drums, and Monaca played the bass. Of course, Kotoko was the vocalist. (Band AU?)
On day four, Toko took Kotoko to a Morning Musume concert. I swear, everyone must have had bleeding ears from how loud Kotoko screamed for it. She ended up getting an autograph and a picture with Tanaka Reina, so she was a very, very happy girl. She gave Toko a pink card that had a painted sweet message on it and was practically swimming in pink glitter. Meanwhile, Komaru took Monaca to play video games and order Monaca's favorite food. It was something simple, but something Monaca really appreciated. They played Pac-Man, Super Smash Bros., Sonic The Hedgehog, and Crash Bandicoot. And they had tons of fun. Monaca gave her a cute new outfit, made in steampunk design, that she made, herself.
On day five, Toko took Monaca to a planetarium, where they looked at all the beautiful constellations. Monaca, being the smart cookie she is, told her all their names, what they represented, etc.! And at night, they went stargazing for real, Monaca pointing out her favorite constellations again. Monaca gave Toko an invention of hers: a program she designed that filters out spelling errors, grammar errors, etc., and suggests new ideas when writer's block comes around. Meanwhile, Komaru took Masaru to play laser tag! Komaru got "shot" sixteen times, while Masaru got "shot" three times. The two made jokes about it the entire way home, and it was just an overall fun day. He gave her the baseball that he had batted to hit the final, winning home run in his last game. It was the only winning baseball he had ever hit, so Komaru felt quite special receiving the gift.
Now, onto Father's Day~!
Genocide Jack takes an hour to spend with each kid!
He plays soccer, basketball, and baseball with Masaru for the first hour!
He reads stuffy, boring novels with Nagisa for the second hour.
He cooks the best, most fanciest meal with Jataro for the third hour!
He acts out movie and show scenes with Kotoko for the fourth hour.
He helps Monaca make inventions and sew for the fifth hour!
He refuses all of their gifts in return, however, as he doesn't believe that children who have been hurt in the past, just as Toko herself was, should be allowed to pay homage to adults.
Despite them not technically being his kids, he cares enough to step into that role for them, Toko and Komaru allowing him to do so.
The fourth of July is great!
Genocide Jack brings up the idea of taking the kids to a carnival for it, to which Toko and Komaru agree.
They all get facepaints, funnel cakes, and they ride all the rides!
They play most of the games as well, and win eight or nine stuffed animals!
It becomes an annual tradition to take the kids to the carnival for the Fourth Of July!
For Halloween, of course they're all the cutest things!
Masaru is Yasutaka Okayama. Nagisa is Albert Einstein. Jataro is Frankenstein's Monster. Kotoko is a Fairy Princess. Monaca is female Izuku Midoriya.
Kotoko has no issue using her cuteness to get extra candy.
When Thanksgiving rolls around, it's always fun!
Toko and Komaru prepare dinner the night before, while the Warriors aren't allowed downstairs. They have to call if they want something, like water, and there is a bathroom in the attic.
In the morning, when the actual cooking happens, Kotoko and Masaru beg to help, but only Nagisa is allowed to, because Nagisa is the responsible one.
Even so, they invite their family members that they are still in touch with, such as Uncle Makoto, Aunt Kyoko, Aunt Aoi, Uncle Byakuya, Uncle Yasuhiro, and even Genocide Jack makes his "grand appearance".
Honestly, it shouldn't even be surprising at this point.
Christmas is another fun time!
They do Secret Santa, but Komaru and Toko make sure that they get each other.
Masaru gets Jataro; he ends up getting Jataro a whole new array of spices and flavorings for his cooking hobby! Jataro appreciates this greatly, and uses it whenever he cooks.
Nagisa gets Kotoko; he gets her a toy microphone that works like a real one, just on a smaller scale. Nagisa can now consider himself the reason "One Room Sugar Life" is belted through the house at two in the morning every day.
Jataro gets Monaca; he buys her a whole stack of fashion magazines with her beloved Big Sis Junko in them, along with new fabric to sew with. She appreciates the gifts, and assures Jataro that he can revel in despair with her when she obtains it.
Monaca gets Masaru; she gifts him with a ping-pong set, a table tennis set, and an air hockey set. Masaru is surprised that she cared enough, to which Monaca replies, "Monaca is a changed person now. Monaca cares about you now."
Birthdays are the same as Christmas, but all their efforts focus on that one person.
They grow to all love each other very much, and all of them would happily die in defense of the others.
Monaca even eventually gives up on her obsession with Junko, hope, and despair, with their help.
All the Warriors will forever appreciate everything that Toko and Komaru have done for them.
Overall, just a completely wholesome family.
#tokomaru#lesbian tokomaru#danganronpa ultra despair girls#ultra despair girls#daimon masaru#masaru daimon#shingetsu nagisa#nagisa shingetsu#kemuri jataro#jataro kemuri#utsugi kotoko#kotoko utsugi#towa monaca#monaca towa#warriors of hope#ship tokomaru#found family#requested#request#send me requests#requests open
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"Doppelganger" *Part 23*
WHOO, y'all. I don't know what it is about this story but I am just...rolling it all out with the tragic backstory. No angst, I promise-- It ends happy chill out. But damn. Maybe I'm working out my own issues in here...lulz.
This gif will make so much sense you have no idea.
PART 22
Part 24
Tag List
@madamsnape921
@lolliepopsicle
@chasingeverybreakingwave
@milkshqke
@wanniiieeee
@word-scribbless
@gibbs274
@sassyada
@aprildecker-blog
@bookishfanfic
@stars-in-the-skies-world
@stars-trash-18
@omgsuperstarg
@objection-argumentative
------
“....And how did that make you feel?”
You tried not to laugh out loud as the question left Dr. Crestview’s mouth. Did she really just ask you that?
“...I mean it makes me ‘feel’ bad,” You rolled your eyes with a laugh while looking out the window. When you turned back to the doctor she was not laughing, and she was writing something down.
“...That was a joke,” You clarified.
“Oh yes, I get it,” She nodded as she continued writing.
“Do you?” You asked her frankly. The question caused her to stop writing and look at you.
“Mrs. Barba--”
“Ms. YLN,” You corrected. “I’m not married yet,”
“...Hmm, interesting,” She wrote something down. Seriously? She even had an insight on what-- technicalities?
“I’m sorry, was that some sort of test?” You asked sarcastically.
“Actually, it was,” She said to your surprise.
“Excuse me?” You looked at her, baffled.
“You know when most women get engaged, they start imagining their last names as their husbands. You know such as changing their signature, gathering documents, and the like,”
“...Are you serious?” You laughed again. “This is 2021 lady, half the women I know didn’t even take their husband’s last name at all,”
“And is that what you’re going to do?” She asked. “Keep your last name?”
“...If I say yes are you going to psychoanalyze that too?” You crossed your arms.
“In my experience Ms. Y/L/N, women who don’t want to change their last names tend to do so because they want to keep their independence, their…’identity’. They think taking a man’s last name is ‘giving up’ something. Giving up their identity,” She explained.
“...And?” You gestured with your hand as if waiting for her to continue.
“And in my educated opinion, it also signifies a woman going into a marriage with one foot out of the door already,” She simply stated.
“Wow,” You shook your head with a sarcastic laugh. “Did I come here to resolve my trauma, or for marriage advice?”
“I think they’re one and the same, Ms. Y/L/N,” She stayed completely calm and emotionless.
“Are they?” You raised an eyebrow.
“Given what you’ve told me in our last few sessions, you’ve given off a tone that you don’t think you deserve good things. Maybe you’re keeping on foot out of your relationship so that when it falls apart, you’ll be ready,”
“Wow....wow,” You started to stand up and storm out of the office, but she stopped you with a question.
“I’m sorry if I offended you with my observation Y/N, but be honest. Am I wrong?”
You thought about all the talks you had with Rafael about ‘not being good enough’ for him, or ‘stealing his love’. And on the one hand you felt that you were ‘connected’, you felt safe and secure. After everything you’d been through, it was almost impossible not to be, right? Right?
“....And what is your magic solution to this feeling, doctor?” You crossed your arms.
“You need to forgive yourself,”
“...Jesus Christ,” You rolled your eyes with another laugh as you paced the room. “Really? That’s your solution? Telling me something I already know?”
“No, my solution is this: You need to apologize to your parents,”
“EXCUSE ME?” You practically screamed.
“You blame yourself for their death, correct? You think that because of their desire to make you happy they risked their lives driving into the city and therefore got into their accident,” She looked over her notes from past sessions with you.
“...Right,” You looked down at the floor.
“And I don’t think that you have ever forgiven yourself for that. And in not doing so, you haven’t forgiven yourself for anything you’ve done since then. All these things you say you’ve ‘done’ to Mr. Barba that you should be ‘punished’ for-- he doesn’t see it that way. Other people don’t see it that way. Your parents' accident wasn’t your own doing, getting kidnapped wasn’t your fault. I think that you need to find closure with your parent’s death before you can even begin to ‘forgive’ yourself for whatever transpired between you and Nevada Ramirez,”
“....So you want me to apologize to my parents? How are they going to ‘forgive’ me?” You asked her.
“I think you’ll find Ms. Y/L/N that just the act of apologizing will bring about its own form of forgiveness,” She smiled.
“.....Right…” You tried not to sound condescending, but for a shrink she sure sounded crazy.
“Or don’t listen to me, I can’t force you to do anything. But that is my advice,” She shrugged.
“Noted. Thank you, doctor,” You nodded and walked out the door.
----
You walked out into the streets of the city from your doctor’s office and thinking about just how or when you’d have a chance to go to your hometown where your parents were, when you were stopped by a young girl on the street.
“Oh my god...you’re Y/N!” She gasped.
“...Yes?” You stared at her blankly.
“You’re that girl who killed Nevada Ramirez!” She squealed, causing a few people to stare and take pictures of you as they walked past.
“Oh good lord…” You muttered nervously. “Yeah well um--”
“Can I get a selfie with you?”
“Um--” You looked around, not sure of what to do. You wanted to run down the street screaming, but you thought better of it. You turned back to her with the fakest smile you could form.
“Sure!” You threw an arm around her and smiled as big as you could as she snapped a selfie with her phone.
“Thanks!” She beamed at you. “ And by the way, your fiancé is REALLY sexy,”
“Oh girl I know,” You faked a laugh and a toss of your hair as she walked away with a laugh.
It really creeped you out that girls were ‘fangirling’ over your fiancé. As if you weren’t worried about keeping a hold of him all on your own. Also how did she even know what he looked like?
The article.
You grabbed your phone and did something you told yourself you’d never do: You googled yourself.
The first thing that popped up was an article on the NYTimes.com front page:
“Fairy Tale Romance Or Horror Movie?”
...What the fuck?
The article contained your video as the main focus. Then under it the article basically dictated the video, with Tasha’s opinions thrown in here and there. Then most of the photos from the photoshoot of you and Rafael were at the bottom of the page. They were gorgeous, you had to admit. Granted you were both airbrushed to hell, but Rafael in a suit drove you nuts. Even if it was just on a screen. You dialed his number as you continued walking down the street.
“....Hola, mi amor. How is my pinguino feeling?”
“Well she’s currently feeling like she’s got the sexiest man in New York City,” You grinned.
“Oh really? And why’s that?” He asked you curiously.
“Check out the picture I’m texting you,” You grinned as you texted him one of the photos from the spread.
“Oh Christ…” You heard him mutter through the phone, causing you to giggle.
“Oh yes, you even have your own fangirls now,” You rolled your eyes with a smile.
“No I do NOT,” He argued in disbelief.
“Yeah I’d be careful leaving your office there counselor, a group of tweens might be waiting outside,”
“Oh my god...they’re breaching the doors!” He acted terrified, making you laugh harder.
“Oh I think I see one,” You whispered as if you were sneaking up on someone. “She’s holding a ‘Barba 4Eva’ poster board,”
“You better be kidding,” He warned.
“No, in fact I think she’s right outside your door,” You bit your tongue with a smile.
“Oh well I’d better call security then,” He chuckled as he sauntered over to his office door and swung it open.
“Oh my Gooodddddddd it’s Rafael Barba!!! The sexiest ADA in New York City!!” You giggled wildly, jumping into his arms like a crazed fan.
“I should definitely look into some armed guards at my door,” He laughed as he pulled you into his arms and kissed you.
“Oh most definitely, wouldn’t want to let the crazies in,” You nodded as you kissed him again.
“Well I think it’s too late for that…” He teased you while tousling your hair.
“Shut up,” You playfully hit his hands away.
“Speaking of crazy, how was therapy today mi amor?” He asked cheekily.
Wowwwww, sexy AND sensitive, how did I get so lucky?” You rolled your eyes. “Actually, she gave me homework,”
“Did she?” He inquired.
“Yes,” You suddenly got very serious. “She um, she told me I need to go see my parents,”
“...Your parents?” His eyebrows furrowed.
“Yeah, something about needing to ‘apologize’ to them or some weird shrink thing like that,”
“....Do you think it will help?”
“I mean...” You sighed and looked out the window. “I don’t know. But I’d like to try,”
“Bueno,” He nodded walking closer to you and kissing the top of your head. “So are you going to go now or--?”
“Well I was kind of hoping you’d come with me,” You bit your lip. You didn’t know if asking him to come along on your shrink homework assignment was allowed, but you knew you couldn’t do this alone. Maybe that was the point.
“Really?”
“I mean, I met your family,” You half laughed, trying to make light.
“Right,” He nodded his head with a chuckle. “Well then, let’s go,”
“...Now?”
“Why not?” He started to walk towards the door.
“Don’t you have a job?” You pointed to his desk.
“Oh they just like to pay me to sit in here so nobody robs the place,” He joked as he grabbed his coat. “I have nothing going on today baby, they won’t miss me.”
“Okay then,” You shrugged uneasily. “Guess we’re going to Jersey,”
----------------
After a train ride and a taxi later, you arrived in your small town of Shallow Meadow.
“Christ Almighty, I knew Jersey was in the dark ages, but not even having Uber??” Rafael grumbled. He hadn’t been in the back of a dirty cab in such a long time, and now he remembered why.
“Alright Daddy Warbucks, chill,” You laughed as you started walking with him through town.
It was a quaint little town; one stop light, one grocery store, two bars, something out of an old movie really You know the movies where the car breaks down in the tiny shitty town and all the townspeople are flesh eating zombies or something. The people of Shallow Meadow were pretty much like that. Well, to you anyway.
“So why didn’t we just have the Mayberry Express drop us at the cemetery?”
“...Because we don’t have roads you can drive on up there,” You answered with a nervous smile.
“...Right,” He shook his head as he noticed people coming out of shops to stare at the two of you. “...Do I have some kind of weird sign on my back that says NEW YORKER or what?”
“No, but that thousand dollar suit screams “moneybags” out here,” You smirked. “Besides, they’re not staring at you they’re staring at me,”
“...What? How do you know that?”
As if it was answering his question, a girl with bright red hair dressed in farm clothing and holding a baby on her hip came sauntering up to the two of you.
“Well lookie here,” She smirked. “Miss Prissy Pants brought back herself a Prissy Papa,”
“Excuse you?” Rafael was taken aback by such rudeness by such a poorly dressed person.
“Marla back off,” You scowled at her. “Just because you’re upset I found treasure and you’re stuck with trash--”
“OH, is that what we are now? Trash?” Marla spat. “You have a lot of nerve coming back here and saying that, murderer,”
“WHOA,” Rafael stepped in front of you. “I’m sorry, what-- what did you just call her?”
“Did she not tell you the story? Oh no wait I bet she did, her version. The version where she’s the victim and we’re all just the villains. Isn’t that right, Prissy?” She glared at you.
“...I never said you were--” You tried defending yourself.
“Really?” She scoffed. “Then why did you not even bother to show up to your folks’ funeral? Their ONLY daughter, the ones they DIED for. Couldn’t even be bothered to leave her high rise in the city to pay respects to the parents she KILLED,”
“It wasn’t like that and you KNOW it, Marla! And why was I going to come back? The only two people left in this town that tolerated me were gone--” You got up in her face.
“AND WHY IS THAT, Y/N?” She got back in yours, her baby almost falling out of her arms.
“Alright lady I don’t know who you are, but you’re going to back the hell off my fiancée--”
“Oh good God, your fiancé?” Marla laughed. “You would find yourself a sugar daddy, since you killed yours,”
“Alright you know what we’re leaving--” You grabbed Rafael’s hand and stomped away towards a huge hill that had a sign reading “CEMETERY” at the top.
“I hope you’re heading up there to beg their forgiveness Y/N, ‘cuz you sure as hell ain’t getting any down here!” Marla yelled angrily after you.
--------------
“...Well I think we just figured out where your forgiveness issues came from,” Rafael tried making light of the situation.
“Ya think?” You nodded.
“This whole time,” Rafael shook his head. “This whole time I thought you just had it in your mind that you were responsible for their death. But-- but you had an entire town telling you that,”
“...Yeah,” You shrugged.
“Why didn’t you ever say anything, baby?” Rafael took your hand as the hill got steeper.
“Because I thought they were right, Rafael!” You said in a ‘duh’ tone. “Why would I tell you that an entire town thought that I was a murderer? That’s not really a selling point on a partner,”
“...You thought they were right?”
“...Well, yeah,” You nodded softly with a small smile.
“And now…?”
Before you could answer, you reached the entrance of the cemetery. Luckily it wasn’t that big; you were ashamed to admit you didn’t even know where they were buried. But you found them in a small corner under a shade tree. You walked up to their mutual headstone:
“Y/M/N AND Y/D/N: Beloved Husband And Wife, Mayor and First Lady.”
“...Mayor?” Rafael looked at you in surprise.
“Yeah, well--” You shrugged. “You see why they were so beloved, and I was the hellish daughter that killed them?”
“Y/N…” Rafael put a hand on your shoulder.
“I was supposed to want to ‘take over the city’, like I would ever want to be in charge of anything in this stupid backwards hick ass town,” You scoffed angrily, tears stinging your eyes.
“...But didn’t you say that your parents wanted you to go to Juliard? Pursue your dreams?” Rafael asked in confusion.
“They did! My grandparents-- they had a different view,” You shook your head. “The...the hierarchy here it’s-- well it’s not really a democracy,”
“...How so…?” Rafael raised an eyebrow.
“Because everyone just loved and accepted my family as, I don’t know, the ‘royal’ family?” You felt so stupid comparing your family to the Royal Family, but you didn’t know how else to explain it.
“The Mayor and First Lady titles were just...passed down, in my family. And not because they were dictators or something,” You quickly added the last part, you didn’t want Rafael to think any less of your family than he probably already did.
“People here are just...simple,” You sighed. “They accept things the way they are, they hate change. So it was just assumed that my family would always be... "the family’,”
“But you didn’t want that,” Rafael said again.
“Of course I didn’t want that!” You scoffed. “I didn’t want to just get a high school degree and then marry some ‘Cletus’ redneck man from here and have ‘heirs’ just to keep the family going!”
“But your parents understood that,” Rafael reiterated.
“It didn’t matter what my parents did or didn’t understand. My grandfather had more clout with the townspeople here,” You rolled your eyes. “My dad was the ‘mayor’, but his dad controlled everything. His father had been the mayor for over thirty years before he passed it onto my dad, who didn’t really want it either” You walked up to the headstone and ran your fingers over your father’s name.
“....So when he tried to ‘save’ me from that life, my grandpa wouldn’t hear it. He blamed me for...for manipulating them into giving me anything I wanted, like I was a spoiled little child. He blamed me for them giving me their life savings to go to Julliard instead of putting it back into the town treasury. Then he blamed me when they got killed, and he just reinstated himself as mayor! Which, I haven’t checked but I’ll be damned if he isn’t still rattling around his old ass bones in our house! He’ll just haunt this place forever!” You threw your hands up and looked down angrily at the town down below.
“Carino…” Rafael came up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist from behind. You took his hands in yours and kissed them before turning to face him. You looked into his sparkling green understanding eyes for a moment, before directing your attention back at the headstone.
“....This is Rafael Barba, mama and daddy,” You pulled him gently forward. “We’re getting married soon,”
“...Nice to meet you folks,” Rafael said awkwardly.
“...Raffi they’re dead,” You smiled jokingly.
“Right, right,” He shook his head with a small laugh.
“...He’s a very good man, daddy. I know you always wanted that. And he’s very handsome, so you’ll have beautiful grandchildren mama, just like you wanted,” You smiled while Rafael softly chuckled.
“...I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to come,” You finally said with tears rolling down your cheeks. “I should have been here sooner,”
“But you’re here now,” Rafael softly rubbed your back.
“Yeah…” You nodded softly. This was the hard part.
“...I’m---I’m sorry, that I made you feel like horrible parents that night,” You tried not to cry, but the memories of that night flooded your memory the more you spoke.
“I’m sorry that you thought you needed to come see me, that you weren’t good parents if you didn’t,” Your lip trembled, you fell to your knees.
“...I’m sorry the last words you heard from me were ‘I hate you’,” You finally broke down sobbing.
“Y/N…” Rafael knelt down next to you and held you in his arms as you cried.
“Do you get now why...why I don’t think I deserve you? Why don't I think I deserve anything? Why I think I have to take everything? Fake everything? Because I am such a terrible person my own parents died thinking I hated them because I was that horrible to them!”
“They didn’t think you hated them, carino,” Rafael rocked you back and forth. “They knew you loved them, I know they did,”
“You know you’re probably right, Rafael. But it--I needed them to hear it,” You nodded at the gravestone.
“And?”
“...And I feel a lot better,” You smiled as Rafael wiped tears from your face.
“Really?”
“Yeah…Really,” You chuckled. “I guess that therapist really knows what she’s doing,”
“She should for the amount of money I pay her,” Rafael shook his head with a laugh as he helped you stand up.
“...Thank you for doing this with me, amor,” You sniffled, pressing your forehead against his.
“Of course, penguino,” He kissed you softly. “And, for what it’s worth--” He added as you two walked back down the hill towards town.
“I think that if your parents were alive, they would be proud of you,”
“Oh, I know my mother would take one look at you and be DAMN proud,” You both laughed at that.
“And I also think they would be appalled to see how their townspeople treat their daughter,” He glared at the town.
“Yeah well,” You shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Not anymore,”
“I’m glad to hear it,” He took your hands as the sun started to go down in your sleepy little town. “Now can we please get back to the city before I catch something out here?”
“Yes,” You giggled, staring at him lovingly.
“Let’s go home,”
#rafael barba imagine#rafael barba x you#rafael barba x reader#rafael barba#rafael barba fanfiction#law and order svu#law and order svu fanfiction smut#doppelganger
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The Clark Kent Effect
Part Three
AN: Imma be honest, I’m not happy with this part. I feel like my brain isn’t entirely ready for writing yet, it’s still wired to argue cases so please bear with me as I get my shit together. I still wanted to give the people who follow this story something though (you have no idea how happy I am about every single one of you) and I sincerely hope that this is good enough, apologies if not :)
Song: Catching Feelings - Drax Project (this will be a thing from now on)
Word Count: 4,6k
Warnings: explicit language I’m pretty sure but thats it
Masterlist / Part One / Part Two
You felt foolish really. It was as if your entire life had turned into a soap opera overnight. You wouldn’t call yourself cynical by all means, you loved love and everything that came along with it far too much for that, but you would’ve at least described yourself as rational.
Up until now.
Up until now you’d been convinced that if people really wanted to, they would be together. Up until now you’d been a believer of where there’s a will, there will be a way - relationships that would classify as statutory rape excluded of course, age was a bit more than just a number in those cases - but you, you, you had been stopped by the Bro-Code, which was just absolutely ridiculous.
Imagine telling that to your parents: Hey mom, so I met this great guy but I can’t do anything about it because he’s friends with my ex. Your grandma would straight up laugh in your face if you told her, the badass bitch had married her former lover’s rich best friend after she’d gotten the news that her fiancé hadn’t survived the war. Without needing to call her you knew that she’d tell you to go for Mat in a second, no matter how much she’d adored Tito back then.
But you weren’t your grandma and Tito hadn’t died in a war so here you were, pining over a guy you couldn’t have and practically living out a tragic romance novel. Technically you didn’t even know if Tito would have anything negative to say about the entire situation, it may all be water under the bridge by now, but you also couldn’t just casually ask him without giving anything away.
The only good thing about this situation was that Tito had brought a great group of people along with him into your life. He’d always been good at making friends, that certainly hadn’t changed from when he was younger and since the two of you had hit it up again your friend groups had seemingly merged without issue. It sure made for an interesting dynamic. You’d had some explaining to do whenever you initiated someone new into a group that also included your ex, but the result was definitely worth it.
Spending time with Tito was just as easy as it used to be, back before feelings complicated everything. Somehow you’d managed to fall back into a completely platonic relationship, one that worked just as well when the two of you were alone as it did with others around.
You’d missed having him around the years before, his view on things and the way he’d always managed to make decisions easy by providing simple solutions.
Should you get a puppy right now? - No, your apartment is too small for a big dog right now and no, you also shouldn’t settle for a purse-sized dog because you’ve always wanted a big one since you were little.
Maybe a cat instead? - No, you are allergic to cats, don’t be stupid.
What about one of those naked ones? - Also no, you need to bathe those frequently because of the built up oils on their skin and you don’t even have a bathtub in your apartment.
(You really had to bathe those from time to time, you’d looked it up. Apparently they could still trigger allergies as well, which straight up sucked.)
Should we grab Thai or Chinese? – Chinese, you told me about this new place you wanted to try out like three days ago.
What can I do to stop this one coworker from belittling and making fun of me? - I’ll help you make her jealous, how about some courtside seats to watch the Nets since she likes basketball?
The last idea had actually come from Mat (since Tito didn’t know shit about basketball), who had also pulled some strings to get four tickets so you could attend the game with Dana, Tito and him. Mat had even taken some pictures of Dana and you in your jerseys and at the game so you could post about your night excessively on your social media, making sure that said co-worker would see it. They’d also given you a tour of the building and you were surprised to say that their locker didn’t smell as bad as you’d expected.
Said coworker hadn’t said anything ever since by the way, but you could still see her lurking on your Instagram.
For all the advice Tito provided you with, you still hadn’t asked him the one thing you needed an answer to:
Is Mat off limits?
But you couldn’t do that and therefore it somehow became a normal thing for Mat and you to walk on eggshells around each other after the “incident” at the bar.
From time to time there were moments that made it blatantly obvious how good things could be – the time he’d excitedly side hugged-you after the Nets turned the game that one night before realizing what he’d just done and quickly letting go, how he’d found you in the crowd and looked straight at you after scoring a goal at one of his games before being swept away by his teammates or simply how you could see him looking around until he found you whenever your group met up – but they never lasted more than a few seconds.
The two of you were stuck, neither of you wanting to hurt Tito’s feelings. At least with your big group moments with Mat alone were rare. They still happened from time to time though, especially since the majority of your friends wasn’t even aware of your dilemma, which was why you found yourself in the passenger seat of his car on a Friday night.
Emily’s boyfriend Rafael had finally returned from a two-month-long work trip to Spain and was dead set on making an authentic recipe he’d been taught over there for everyone. Unfortunately he’d made the mistake of putting Emily in charge of getting the needed groceries and in true Emily fashion she’d forgotten to buy tomatoes. Something neither of them had noticed until Rafael had wanted to start cooking as soon as everyone arrived at their place. Maybe Emily had done it on purpose or maybe she hadn’t been thinking properly in that moment, too caught up in the fact that her lover was with her again, but she’d tasked Mat and you with a last-minute errand run to the store.
You couödn’t stop yourself from checking out the wine aisle though, leaving him waiting behind, dutifully holding a bag of fresh tomatoes and checking his phone while you inspected the options. Rafael had asked you to bring some wine as well but the one he’d requested was apparently out of stock.
“Barzal”, you called for his attention, inspecting a label to try and figure out if it was a suitable replacement, “you think Rafael would like this one?”
As you turned around with the bottle in your hand you were taken by surprise by Mat’s proximity. You hadn’t even noticed how close he’d moved until now and for a couple of seconds you were caught up in your daydreams again. He seemed to struggle with the same thing, his pupils blown and his breathing growing uneven while the two of you just stared at each other. His lips were so close and so incredibly inviting, his mouth slightly agape.
If I leaned up on my tippy toes right now I could-
You quickly stopped yourself from finishing that thought, looking down so you had a couple of seconds to gather your thoughts, thoughts Mat seemed to infiltrate constantly. By the time you dared to look up again he was running his hand across his face in frustration before slowly breathing out and returning to his cool and collected regular self.
“I’m the wrong person to ask this, he was drinking some red wine earlier and the one you picked out is obviously red but that’s about it. Wine culture is definitely lost on me, sorry. I prefer beer.”
“Stereotypical hockey player through and through, I see.” Later on you’d tell yourself that the smirk that followed made your brain short-circuit, because there was no other way to explain why you’d keep on flirting otherwise.
“Maybe one day I’ll teach you, only if you’re nice to me though”, you teased, maybe in an effort to take control over the situation, maybe because you simply couldn’t stop yourself but his laugh made your heart soar for one second, until you remembered why this shouldn’t be happening.
Maybe you simply were an undiscovered masochist because even though you knew you should stay away from him you kept finding yourself in situations like this one way too many times. Deciding that you’d simply drink the wine by yourself if anyone had an issue with it - drowning your sorrows seemed like a great idea either way right now - you handed him a second bottle before moving to leave the aisle and in turn his personal space.
Making eye contact with Colin standing a couple of meters away from you got you to do a full 180 though, almost smacking into Mat in the process, who had obviously followed you towards the cashiers.
What was it with Mat and you?!
While a collision was thankfully avoided, Colin’s presence could cause other problems, since he hadn’t exactly appreciated you breaking off things over a month ago. Because you hadn’t known him for long it had taken you longer than you liked to admit to realize that he was a manipulative bastard, you weren’t proud of that, and you had no idea how he’d act right now.
“What’s wrong?”
“My ex is over there and I don’t want to talk to him. Is he walking in our direction?”
Mat lifted his concerned glance from you to look over your shoulder so he could be on the lookout.
“If he’s the one wearing a Gucci hoodie that is so obviously fake then yes, he is walking in our direction.”
You let out a snort at the casual burn but you weren’t too happy about having to face Colin right now. He hadn’t even crossed your mind in these past few weeks but for him to cross paths with you while you were with Mat of all people seemed to be yet another one of these odd twists of fate your life seemed to attract lately. Maybe your guardian angel had decided to start a meth lab instead sometime recently, there was no other way to explain what was going on instead.
“Uh.. you look good, don’t worry, he’s definitely the one that missed out. Do- do you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend or something?”, Mat stuttered out nervously, probably noticing your anxious shifting and you couldn’t help but smile at his words, despite him being wrong about the reason behind your nervousness.
“Thanks for the offer”, you gave him a gentle smile of reassurance before continuing, “but no, it’s not about the way I look or anything like that, I don’t give a fuck what he thinks of me because he’s an idiot. I just don’t want him to cause any problems and if I could I’d just run away from him forever so he doesn’t have the chance to ever ruin my night again.”
“Well I’m no expert on forever, but I’m here right now and I say fuck that guy”, he responded and with that he grabbed your hand and started running towards the cashiers, leaving you with no other choice but to run along with him so he wouldn’t rip your arm out of its socket.
Oh how you wished you had a picture of the expression on Colin’s face as Mat and you ran past him, hand in hand and cackling like maniacs.
He was apparently too stunned to follow you as you fought over who would pay for the stuff - Mat ultimately winning - but you didn’t let that stop you from running all the way to this car as well. Of course hand in hand.
Masochist.
Somehow the weird tension between the two of you seemed to lift sometime during your little sprint but you weren’t sure if this would be permanent or if it was a spur of the moment thing. You’d be damned if you didn’t enjoy it while it lasted though.
The entire ride back you couldn’t stop thinking about the way his hand had felt in yours and what a perfect fit it had been, desperately wanting to feel it again as the two of you sang along to the songs playing over the speakers, perfectly happy in your little bubble.
-
As Christmas approached Emily roped everyone in to accompany her on her mission to make Rafael appreciate the cold that taken over New York. According to her he dearly missed sunny Spain but all you could see was a man who was happy to be home again. You weren’t about to tell her that though, you’d long figured out that whenever she’d set her mind to something it was best to simply follow along. Everyone else had apparently come to the same realization because no one objected to her plans.
Emily wanted to take Rafael ice skating and since the Rockefeller Center apparently wasn’t good enough and too crowded, she told everyone to meet at Pier 17. Dana and Mariah were on board of course and you’d managed to convince Tito to come along, who had in turn invited Mat.
In a ridiculous attempt to not get spotted, both Mat and Tito had donned a pair of glasses and while you were used to seeing them on Tito by now, seeing Mat with them again knocked the breath out of your lungs for a second.
It had been almost two months since you’d last seen him like this and the fact that you hadn’t recognized him that night seemed impossible to you now. Maybe it was because you’d gotten to know him since, seeing him in real life instead of only on pictures and memorizing his handsome features in the process but as you tried to get a good glance at him without anyone noticing you realized that he’d never be Clark Kent to you again.
Whether that was a good or a bad thing was still left to decide though.
“Need help with those?”, Mat’s voice ripped you out of your thoughts. You’d been so lost in them that you hadn’t even noticed that everyone else had already laced up their skates and walked out onto the ice while you’d been staring at your hands for who knows how long, laces wrapped around your fingers but not doing anything. Tito and him had brought their own skates while everyone else had to rely on rentals and his were already laced up perfectly of course.
You nodded, despite full well knowing how to do it yourself but you weren’t about to stop Mat from pulling your leg into his lap so he had better access. Besides, you’d stupidly forgotten to bring gloves and you’d gladly take any chance to leave your hands stuffed inside the pockets of your jacket as you rapidly got colder.
His fingers worked quickly, tightening the laces with expertise and you watched his hand moving in awe.
If hockey ever wasn’t an option for him anymore, hand modeling definitely was. He had such nice hands, strong and big and perfect. For a quick second your thoughts drifted to what else they could be capable of, before you reeled them back in, mentally scolding yourself. It really wasn’t your fault, not thinking of him seemed impossible these days.
His eyes were mostly focused on his work but from time to time he’d lift his gaze and give you a small smile, one you happily returned despite the mess inside your head. He had just finished tying the second one when someone banged on the glass, making the both of you jump a little.
“Ayo Barzy get your filthy paws off Y/N!”, Tito yelled before zooming away again laughing loudly, leaving an awkward silence behind.
Was this just Tito being his usual little-shit-self or was he actually serious?
For a couple of seconds you couldn’t do anything but stare at Mat as he looked down onto his hands, one of them still loosely wrapped around your ankle. Carefully you pulled your leg off his lap, set both feet on the ground and got up.
It was apparently time to face reality again.
You waited until there was a break in the throngs of people circling around the rink before stepping onto the ice, muscle memory from your childhood kicking in immediately. Once you were convinced that you weren’t going to fall on your ass you did a couple of little spins until you were facing Mat again, who had followed you. He looked at you with a slack jaw and you laughed at his expression.
“You can skate?!”, he asked bewildered and you laughed again, moving so the both of you could skate beside each other at a relaxed pace.
“Obviously. Sorry to ruin your late night fantasies of teaching me how to skate but I’m a good Canadian girl and I did some figure skating when I was younger. I actually used to be pretty fast.”
That caught his attention and you smiled at the way he looked down at you with a conspiring grin.
“Oh yeah? Show me what you got then”, after a couple of seconds of contemplation he continued, “last one to reach the others owes the winner coffee.”
You looked around to find the rest of your group, spotting them on the other side messing around. Of course.
“You’re on, Barzy. I hope you’re ready to lose though”, you winked at him before racing towards your friends, leaving him and his exclamations about you being a cheater behind, now definitely not cold anymore.
-
Something in your relationship seemed to shift after that, at least whenever you were alone with him. Things were still difficult around others, especially with the way Emily kept prodding you for updates and Tito constantly disturbing the few moments you had alone with him. You weren’t sure yet if he did it on purpose or if he simply had awful timing but it wasn’t like it made a difference.
Christmas came and passed just as fast, the team leaving for a roadtrip shortly after. You’d celebrated New Year’s Eve with your friends in a club, unable to kiss the person you wanted to either way so your lips had stayed untouched as the fireworks went off at midnight and the days following.
Tito had announced that the guys would return later in the day though, already making plans in the groupchat to meet up tomorrow. While you wondered where he got all this energy from you suspected it was a way to distract himself as the trip hadn’t been successful - to put it mildly. In reality they’d ate shit, losing all of their games, some to teams that should have been an easy win.
It was hard to watch on TV but even harder to talk to the guys afterwards.
A couple of hours later you sat on the couch, a book in hand that you’d meant to read for weeks and enjoying staying in on a Friday for once. You were so lost in the story that it took you a couple of seconds to realize that someone had knocked on your door.
Who could that be?
Tito or Emily were most likely to show up unannounced at your day but you knew that Tito would be on his way to his home so he could sulk by himself and Emily was away on a ski trip with Rafael. Unwrapping yourself from your fuzzy blanket you padded towards the door, taken aback by who was waiting on the other side.
“What..”, you trailed of questionably, not even sure what you were going to say in the first place.
Mat looked so out of place in the dimly lit hallway, dressed in a suit that fit him so nicely, bag set on the ground next to him.
“Can I come in?”, was all he said and you nodded, unable to bring yourself to say anything else.
How could you even refuse him?
You didn’t move from your spot beside the door and after taking off his shoes he took a couple of steps inside your apartment, hanging up his coat before turning back around to face you.
“You’re probably wondering why I’m here but if I’m honest I can’t even tell you. I just didn’t want to be alone tonight and since you seem to constantly be on my mind either way..”, he trailed off, seemingly gathering his thoughts before continuing, “I don’t know if you watched the games or-“
“I did and you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to”, you said softly as you interrupted him, sensing his apprehension. You decided that you weren’t about to touch his admission of thinking of you all the time with a ten-foot-pole, instead focusing on the rest of his sentence. He looked so broken and lost standing there so you couldn’t help but take the few steps it took to reach him, wrapping your arms around him in a tight hug.
You knew from personal experience with Tito that athletes tended to take losses personal and if you had to take a guess you were pretty sure that Mat was one of those guys that blamed himself for them as well.
At first he seemed surprised about your bold move – it was the most the two of you had ever touched so far – but he quickly caught himself, hugging you even tighter to his body. For a couple of seconds you stood just like that, simply basking in each other’s proximity.
It was as if your bodies were made for each other, your head resting perfectly in the crook of his neck. Despite probably just getting off a plane he smelled so good and you were trying to figure out if you could take a deep breath without raising any suspicions. Before you’d managed to make a decision however, he pulled away and you unfortunately had to untangle yourself from him.
“Feel free to stay as long as you want to”, you said to fill the silence, leaving out the part where you hoped he’d stay for the night as well. He simply nodded before asking where he could change into more comfortable clothes. While you were sad to see the suit go you directed him to your bedroom, glad to have taken those thirty minutes earlier to tidy up.
He returned in a pair of grey sweatpants and a hoodie and it took every last remaining bit of your willpower not to drool at the sight of him. Somehow he managed to look even better in sweats than he did in his custom suit, which really wasn’t fair at all.
You had to admit it was a little weird to see him in your apartment though. He’d been over a couple of times to pregame etc. but he’d never been here alone. Somehow it felt strangely intimate to have him over by himself on this Friday night. To prevent your thoughts from going to a direction they definitely shouldn’t, you asked:
“Do you want some tea? I know technically you still owe me that coffee but I’ll be generous and let you off easy this time.”
For good measure you even threw in a wink at the end and your words had the desired effect, breaking the loaded tension completely.
“You cheated! I would’ve won if you hadn’t started early”, he exclaimed but the way he was laughing showed that he was anything but butthurt about the situation.
“Mmm keep telling yourself that, it’s okay”, you kept on teasing as he followed you into your small kitchen that was definitely at maximum capacity with two people in it. You’d be lying if you said that you didn’t enjoy the closeness the tight space prompted though.
With a steaming mug of tea the both of you settled onto your couch shortly after, also small enough to keep you close together. You’d been wanting to buy a bigger one for weeks, but right now you certainly didn’t mind its size.
Masochist.
“Oh I love that one, the chimpanzees are so cute”, Mat said to your surprise as he finally realized what was playing on your tv and you looked at him in utter disbelief. You certainly hadn’t pegged him for a guy that liked to watch nature documentaries but yet here he was, constantly surprising you.
“What? Documentaries are very soothing”, he defended himself and you had to laugh at the way he looked like a little kid with his floppy hair and the cute way his eyebrows had scrunched up.
“I know. That’s why I love watching them as well.”
You hadn’t exactly pictured yourself watching documentaries with him on a Friday night, something that felt way too domestic if you were being honest, but yet here you were.
As the hour grew later both Mat and you sunk further in the cushions and while you had no recollection of how exactly it had happened, your head apparently ended up on his shoulder somehow. Your only regret was that now it wasn’t as easy to sneak glances at him from time to time without him noticing. At one point he’d even wrapped his arm around you, moving both of you into a more comfortable position before covering your bodies with the fuzzy blanket and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat lulled you to sleep before you even knew it.
The soft sound of your name woke you up sometime later, you weren’t exactly sure how much time had passed but the credits of the second documentary you’d started were already rolling and you were pretty sure you’d only caught the first half of it. In your sleep you’d cuddled up even closer, your arm wrapped around Mat’s midriff and you quickly sat up, embarrassed about turning into a koala in your sleep. Maybe you could blame it on the documentary?
“Sorry for waking you but I should probably head home. Otherwise my back is going to kill me tomorrow.” His voice was a little hoarse and it was obvious that he’d fallen asleep as well, his hair now sticking up in multiple directions. You suppressed a giggle at the disheveled sight of him, instead appreciating that he let down his guard enough for you to see him that way.
“Yeah of course. I’ll show you out.”
“Thank you for tonight. It means a lot to me”, he said quietly as he stood by the door, ready to leave.
“Anytime Mat. Get home safe.” It was the first time you’d called him by his first name, after months of first calling him Barzal then Barzy and he must have noticed as well because his smile could probably make glaciers melt at this point. You weren’t even sure why you’d given up your pathetic way of distancing yourself from him – despite the fact that it was very much obvious that it wasn’t working – but to not call him Mat would feel wrong after this evening.
“Have a good night, Y/N”, he simply said, still smiling as he leaned down to kiss you on the forehead before walking out the door, leaving you speechless.
-
Tagging: @jamiedrysdales @nazdaddy @itrocksmysocks @yeeehaw-hockey @whitesummerx @teenagekook
#mat barzal#mat barzal x reader#mat barzal imagine#nhl fanfiction#hockey imagine#hockey writing#nhl players#nhl#my writing#new york islanders
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If I know what love is, it’s because of you. Chapter 1.
Dedicated to @sadgirlshitforever <3 ilysm
Gina Porter had recently joined EJ Caswell as a news anchor on Good morning America. It was originally only suppose to be for a few months. One of the anchors had to take a few months off due to injury.
She from the start had a bad feeling about EJ Caswell. He was very full of himself and always talked down to her. The first day he was convinced he was his new run errands for me girl. She couldn’t believe she got moved from her old news station to this. Yes the pay was better but could she put up with EJ? She honestly didn’t know.
“ Hey um Georgia right?, listen so you know Peggy is out for only a few months so there is no point in getting to know you. But just know you stay in your lane and we should have no issues” He said in a ice cold tone. He was glaring at her which didn’t intimidate her in the least.
“ Okay well first I am GINA. G-I-N-A. Also I don’t take orders from someone I just met, “ She said back as she walked over to her seat. It was 5 minutes before their first show together. She needed to breathe and to relax, she got this.
“ Okay we are live in 5, 4, 3, 2 , 1!” The camera man said. His name was Larry and Gina liked him a lot, she hoped they could be friends.
“ Hello and Good Morning America!!, I’m EJ Caswell and boy do we have a bunch of news to catch you up on! But first I have a new co anchor filling in for Peggy, her name is Georgia Porter” He said with a smile on his face.
“Um it’s actually Gina, hello America! my name is Gina Porter not Georgia. To start us off, let's have a check in with Greg for the weather!” She said as she passed it over to Greg.
“ Sweetie, you aren’t suppose to talk, you just sit there and look well decent” He said to her before looking away and rolling his eyes.
“ I am doing my job, and don’t call me that, it’s gross. Look we don’t have to be friends, we can stay strangers. I’d much prefer that anyway.” She said.
“ But we have to do our jobs. So lets pretend we are friends. “ He said hoping she would comply.
This time she rolled her eyes at him. In no universe would she be his friend, acting or not. He gave her a bad vibe, like bad fish she had one time in Phoenix .
“ No. We just do our jobs. I’m not pretending we are friends. I’d rather do anything else.We don’t like each others presence lets just leave it at that” She said before The camera was back on them.
“ Welcome back, so our first story involves a massive protest for changes in our country against climate change. Many Americans in multiple cities across the country, marched yesterday saying the government isn’t doing enough. The temperatures are becoming more intense each year”
“ Okay but really, no one cares about that, now onto a more important story, we are in the middle of a meat shortage! A meat plant has shut down due to contamination and it provided most meat in this country. Prices are anticipated to go up as it will be harder to find meat in the coming months. “ Ej finishes before they go into another break.
It was now time for them to go home. They did the first half of the show and the other two anchors did the second. It felt like it had been hours when it had been but not too long.
It was now 11:30am, and she had gotten up at 5am this morning so she was a tad tired. She didn’t get why this dude didn’t like her as much as he did. They just met, they hadn’t had much interaction at all. He was only 2 years older than her, him 26 and her 24.
As she pushed that thought from her mind, she collected her things and walked towards the exit of the building.
Her apartment was only a half an hour from here. She had decided to live in New Jersey instead of NYC, as the price wasn’t as expensive. She got a nice two bedroom apartment and her apartment allowed animals so she had her calico cat named Toulouse. He was her best friend, he could always cheer her up.
She had a nice basic Honda CRV but it was a beautiful Blue and it was new, her ex had bought it for her and even after they had broke up, she kept it. She changed the name on the car to her and as sad as it sounded, it was the thing he ever bought her..
Oh Brandon…
Just as she was about to open the door to her car, she heard a voice in the background.
“ Hey wait up, look I’m sorry about the way EJ treated you this morning, he probably didn’t get enough sleep like usual” A girl approached her as she reached her car.
“ My name is Sydney and I am the girl who is errand girl. I get all the coffee, lunches etc. it is an okay job I mean the pay is good, but wait i’m rambling i’m sorry” Sydney said as she smiled at Gina.
“No it’s fine, this is the best conversation I’ve had today. Mot have just been hello nice to meet you and that was the end. All these fake people pretending to like me. It’s nice to meet you Sydney, I’m Gina”
As the two shook hands, Gina gained a little more hope that this job wouldn’t suck as much. Maybe EJ would get fired and it could be her show and her’s alone.
A girl could dream.
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Hi! ☺️ Can I request a one shot where the reader is dating Oikawa and he introduces her to the team but she looks like one of those types of mean girls so the team thinks she’s gonna be one of his old gfs that are really clingy or rude to the team but she actually ends up being the most wholesome/sweetest person ever? Thank you 🥺
ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴏɪᴋᴀᴡᴀ ᴄᴀɴ ꜱᴄᴏʀᴇ
ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ: when Oikawa brings his girlfriend to practice one day, the team sees all of his exes in her; but, Seijoh is definitely in for a nice surprise
ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢ: fluff, mild angst if you really squint and think deeper than the story itself – totally unnecessary if you ask me
ᴀ/ɴ: making Oikawa’s life sad and difficult is my spiritual calling, thank you anon <3 it’s no 5k smut or 10k slow-burner, but I hope my 2k fluff will be able to make up for the fact that I literally had nothing prepared for him this morning T^T
Oikawa talking nonsense during practice wasn’t anything unusual; especially during the evening practice after a school day, and while everyone needed some well-deserved rest, Oikawa seemed to fuel himself with his nonstop talking.
“Is there an off button on him or something?” Makki groaned as he listened to Oikawa talk about how he made a new Pinterest board the previous night with new milk bread recipes he found and wanted to try; and when he said he, he meant Iwaizumi because out of the two, he’s the only decent cook.
“I’m not spending my money and time on making you milk bread, Shittykawa.” Iwaizumi made himself clear as he was folding the net. He rolled his eyes when Oikawa started whining, telling them how he really needed a good and decent milk bread made for next week. It was then that Mattsun came along and joined the trio bickering, Oikawa’s comment stuck with him as he smirked at the whining boy.
“Since when do you need a milk bread made for a specific day? You eat them whenever no matter the time and day.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back on one of the net’s poles, smirk widening as he saw the blush on Oikawa’s face growing in intensity. Makki looked between the two, not missing Mattsun’s wink, and seemed to catch on. Iwaizumi looked among the three, interested, but still too tired to actually keep up with the conversation itself.
However, the way his best friend was glowing red, hands manically waving in front of him made Iwaizumi all the more curious. He looked between the smirking pair and his frantic friend, all the puzzle pieces seemingly falling into place. But, that meant...
“You have a girlfriend, Shittykawa?” Oikawa pouted and averted his eyes from Iwaizumi’s stare. Bingo.
“I can’t believe you’re dating someone and didn’t bother telling us,” Makki jokingly sobbed and wiped a fake tear from his eye, watching as Oikawa buried his face in his hands. “How long have you two been together?”
They could hear Oikawa murmur something, but it was inaudible, his words muffled by his hands. “Come again?” Mattsun teased, approaching the shorter male and removing his hands from his red face. Iwaizumi stood by the side, smirking at the thought of his best friend having a girlfriend. It was most likely one of his one-week relationships, he thought as he waited for Oikawa to answer.
“Three months...”
Huh? They looked at each other and back to Oikawa, the male pouting, the gym floor grabbing his attention. His eyes were fixed downwards, not daring to look any of his closest friends in the eye. He knew what they would say, but he didn’t have the will to listen to that same conversation for the millionth time.
“You’re telling me,” Iwaizumi started, slowly approaching the trio and leaving the net behind, “you’ve been dating someone for three months and didn’t tell us?” Oikawa visibly flinched at the way he emphasized the duration of his relationship. If he were in Iwaizumi’s shoes, he would’ve felt bad and left out as well.
“I knew what you were going to say, so I stayed quiet,” Oikawa said to the trio, shrugging his shoulders.
“Wow, what a valid reason.” Makki joked and slightly glared at the brunette, “we have to repeat it all the time because you never learn.”
Oikawa’s eyes widen at his comment, but immediately narrowed. “I never learn? What is that supposed to mean, Makki?” He crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze hard as he looked at him. Both Mattsun and Iwaizumi could see where this was heading, so they decided to intervene.
“What he meant, Oikawa,” Iwaizumi stood a few meters in front of him, “is that...you never know how to pick out a proper partner for yourself.”
Oikawa looked taken aback, again, as the other two nodded and confirmed Iwaizumi’s comment. “That’s true. All your previous relationships included bitchy chicks, how do you even find them?”
“I, how, what...that’s so not true!?” He stumbled on his words, curls bouncing on the top of his head as he rapidly shook his head in denial. “I always choose them right.”
Mattsun quirked an eyebrow at that comment. “So, when your second ex-girlfriend came to practice and poured soda on you because you spent ‘too much time at practice’ and cheated on you the next day, is your vision of choosing the right girl?”
“Or when your third ex-girlfriend started spreading rumors at school that we’re all gay and fuck each other daily in the locker room? And, she also cheated on you that same week.”
Oikawa kept quiet while they started listing all of his failures of relationships. “Okay, fine!” He stopped them, too embarrassed to have them continue rambling on, “I know I’ve made a few mistakes in the past-“
“A few?”
“Oh, shut it Makki,” he glared at him before continuing, “I am aware of my mistakes, but she’s different. This relationship is different.” He looked at them, his eyes pleading them to accept his decision, but they were all too familiar with Oikawa’s state post-breakup to let him go through it again.
“I’m not sure, Oikaw-“
“I’ll bring her to our next practice!” He cut Iwaizumi off, his sudden yell surprising all of them. Oikawa seemed to realize what he blurted out and ran a hand through his hair, cursing at himself for rushing into things. “I didn’t want you guys to meet her, yet,” he started, sighing as he looked back to his friends, “but, I promise you. She’s different from the others.”
The trio exchanged glances, Oikawa’s pleading eyes dancing across every one of his friends.
Iwaizumi sighed. “Fine. We can’t wait to meet her then.”
Oikawa scoffed, looking at his friends one more time before exiting the gym. “I’ll prove you guys wrong.”
Oikawa wanted to barf. He had the urge to turn around and run away from the gym doors and you, he had the need to be alone; even though standing beside him was someone he could finally call his true partner. A girlfriend who didn’t want to spread false rumors, who didn’t want to pour soda on him, who didn’t want to cut his volleyball shoes...
Oikawa finally felt like he hit the jackpot with you, but, what if he stumbles upon a dead-end once again, when the team finally sees you and tell him you’re not right for him?
“Tooru,” your gentle voice pulled him away from his thoughts, “why are you so nervous?” You tightly held one of his hands in yours while the other carried a bag filled with sweets. You looked at your boyfriend’s worried face, providing him with a reassuring smile to calm down his nerves.
“I’m just...I don’t even know.” He let out a groan, throwing his head back. Few weren’t aware of Oikawa’s past relationships, they were that known and the way they were broken off was also something to remember. You were one of the many that knew exactly how Oikawa Tooru got screwed over, time and time again.
“We can do this.” You give his hand a tight squeeze and placed your hand on the gym door, ready to push it open. “Ready?” He looked at you again, a nervous smile on his face as he weakly nodded; he was nowhere near ready, but he had to do this for you and the relationship.
“Ready.”
Pushing the door open, the sound made the team stop their practice to look at the people entering. The rest of the team was aware that they’d have a visitor, but none of them were particularly excited when they found out it was Oikawa’s girlfriend.
“Do I have to bring a new set of shoes for Oikawa or hope that she won’t spread any more false rumors?” It was Kunimi who talked first after finding out about the visitor, making everyone chuckle and laugh at the memory.
“Maybe she’ll do something completely different,” Makki added in on the fun, the laughter ongoing as the team waited for their captain to come with his new girlfriend.
Iwaizumi cracked a smile as well, but he couldn’t overlook the nervous feeling in his stomach. His best friend may be an idiot, but he wasn’t a bad person. It was like everything was against Oikawa finding a decent partner, let alone someone he can consider for the long-run.
He only watched as they joked around, his eyes constantly looking at the gym door, waiting for them to open. He prayed that whoever comes into the gym and beside Oikawa, was someone he could actually call Oikawa’s girlfriend.
And there, at the entrance was someone who had a striking resemblance to Oikawa’s previous girlfriends.
“Doesn’t she remind you of ex-girlfriend number four?” Yahaba whispered to the team, eyeing you curiously. “What did she do again?” Kindaichi whispered back, the number of relationships his senpai has had overflowing his memory. “She’s the one who cut his jersey because he had practice and couldn’t fit in a date,” Makki added, not whispering at all and earning himself a hard slap across the back. He winced and glared at Iwaizumi, rubbing the sore spot as he straightened his back.
“Guys,” by the time the commotion settled, Oikawa and his girlfriend were already in front of them. “This is my girlfriend, Y/N. And Y/N, this is my team.” He introduced you to the team, you smiling at them before formally introducing yourself.
“It’s nice to finally, meet all of you! Oikawa talks highly about his team and I couldn’t wait to meet you,” you smiled at the team, but they only looked at you shocked in return. Makki leaned in to whisper in Watari’s ear. “She smiled...but there was no hint of evil in it?” He yelped at the force of Iwaizumi’s hand slapping the back of his neck.
He was also the first one to approach you. “Nice to meet you Y/N.” He shook your hand and give you a small smile, “I’m Iwaizumi Hajime, your boyfriend’s best friend.”
And, with that, every team member introduced themselves to you.
“Why is she acting so nice?” The team gathered around the bench, looking at you as you laugh and talk to Oikawa; his face burning red as the tips of his ears become hot. Iwaizumi kept looking closely at you, not knowing what to make of this situation. Since when could Oikawa find someone like you on his own?
“What is wrong with all of you!?” Oikawa whispered, appearing out of nowhere and making Makki drop his water bottle. They all look at their captain, his face red, but they couldn’t guarantee that it was the same blush he had from earlier, while he was talking to you.
“You’re acting like she’s the spawn of Satan! Can’t you see she’s normal?” He sighed exasperatedly and ran a hand through his hair. “Well, considering that all your previous girlfriends were the devil itself, you gotta give us a break,” Mattsun added and looked at you talking to Kyoutani and Yahaba.
Both of them looked rather calm and willing to talk to you, to the surprise of many. Kyoutani isn’t someone who you’d describe as people-friendly, but he didn’t look intimidating as usual while talking to you, and he seemed interested in whatever you were talking about.
Oikawa glared at him and turned his direction to Iwaizumi, looking directly at his best friend and making Iwaizumi’s eyes widen in surprise with the intensity of his stare. “Don’t you trust me?”
Iwaizumi was ready to answer, he truly was, but he couldn’t help but thank you for arriving at the given moment – his words wouldn’t be so encouraging and positive.
“Hey, guys!” They turn to look at you rummaging through the bag you brought with you. “I know how hard practice is for all of you, so I bought some protein bars for you guys!” Out of the bag, you took out a dozen and more protein bars, handing them out to each of them. “I didn’t know what kind you guys liked, but Oikawa did tell me the brand you all preferred, so I just bought two of each kind!”
Adding all the sweet and caring acts together, the team stopped to think. Maybe Oikawa really found someone nice and caring. At least, that’s what the team could describe you. There wasn’t anything that made them etiquette you as a rude and clingy person, like all his previous girlfriends, so they relaxed. Maybe this was the time Oikawa actually made the right choice.
“Is there poison in this or?”
“Makki!” It was Oikawa this time that slapped him at the back of his neck at his joke, making you laugh and, soon enough, the rest of the team join in. It was unbelievable, but Oikawa actually hit the jackpot this time with you, and Iwaizumi could finally, sigh in relief.
#oikawa x reader#oikawa tooru#oikawa imagine#oikawa headcanons#hq oikawa#oikawa x y/n#oikawa fluff#haikyuu#haikyū!!#haikyuu x reader#haikyuu scenarios#haikyuu headcanons#haikyuu imagines#haikyuu writing#hq x you#hq x y/n#hq x reader
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Criminal Minds College AU - Chapter 7
Title: “I may just take your breath away”
Relationship: Jemily
Summary:
Hallowe’en chaos.
Slow-burn Jemily college AU where they live across the hall and despite all odds, the universe pushes them together. AKA they’re silly gay babies who pine after each other for months.
Read it on AO3
Tumblr: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, (bonus scene), Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Epilogue
After trivia night, Emily Prentiss found her world had shifted slightly.
For the first time in her life, she had a friend group: a consistent presence of not only just Derek and the occasional Hotch, but also Spencer Reid, Penelope Garcia and most importantly, Jennifer Jareau.
Emily noticed it most in the dining hall. Most mornings this semester, she would grab coffee and maybe an apple on her way to class. Now, she was invited to breakfast in the caf. And everyone was also invited, so the six of them began eating not only breakfasts together when their schedules lined up, but soon that melded to include dinners and the odd lunch between classes. While Penelope initiated at the beginning, soon this became a routine.
While they were all busy, and driven people, all with full course loads, extracurriculars and miscellaneous commitments, they managed to get the whole team together multiple times that week.
A few times, extra faces joined them. Penelope’s friend from class, Kevin… something, joined for a lunch on Wednesday. He sat shyly as Derek stared him down the entire time. On Thursday, somehow Hotch convinced their Criminology TA, David Rossi, who was part time Masters Student and part time weed dealer, to have lunch with the bribe of them using their guest pass so he could get a free meal. He reluctantly acquiesced, but seemed to enjoy himself. On Friday, the day before Halloween, Emily brought Tara Lewis, the MC from the Trivia night that was two years ahead of her in criminology, they ran into each other in the quad, recognizing each other. This open door policy made these dinners fun, with new faces alongside their team.
This was all new for Emily. Not having friends, that is, because Emily could always muddle along with some friends, and when she was younger she shaped herself easily into whatever the popular kids wanted her to be. No, it was new because it was so easy. The team, as they now called themselves as a shorthand, had fallen together so effortlessly.
Today was Halloween and they had plans at Dave’s student house, the shabby place that she had ran into JJ, Penelope and Spencer all that time ago. Had it only been a month? She felt like she had known them all for lifetimes by now.
It happened that way with Derek last year, the whole living together thing sped up that connection. Intimacy comes fast when you brush your teeth next to someone.
Emily was sitting at her desk, finishing up her makeup. She was aiming for a vampire, which wasn’t hard given her previous fashion aesthetic.
Yes, Emily did have a goth phase. She will admit it. Not to her new friends just yet, and Derek had been sworn to secrecy. She was now a much more toned down goth, more alt than goth, wearing mostly black but significantly less chains and make up.
Tonight, she wore her fishnets, a short black dress and a cape that was already tied around her shoulders. She had put a slightly too pale foundation on her face, down her neck, and was currently working on her eye liner. She carefully created elegant swoops over her lashes, coming to sharp points.
Next, she added a deep red lipstick. Blood red. It was all very spooky.
Finally, she struggled to test out the fake teeth insert that she had ordered online, slipping it over her top teeth. It fit surprisingly well.
“Happy Halloween,” she said to herself, testing out whether or not she had a lisp. She did. She didn’t care. It was perfect.
Emily did a couple of spins in the mirror on the back of the door. Turning off the overhead light, she looked at herself in the glowing light of her string lights.
She was satisfied. She looked like a hot vampire.
She grabbed her tote bag, which was filled with six miscellaneous beers and coolers that she had leftover from the last few weeks, knowing that she hated the cheap hoppy beer that Rossi would have at his party.
Emily was picky about her alcohol.
She glanced out the window, considering taking an extra layer. It was dreary outside, with the sky an eerie green and powerful gusts of wind rattling the window. Emily grabbed her leather jacket.
Hoisting her bag onto her shoulder and draping her coat over her arm, Emily peeked out of her door, looking out into the hall. In both directions were students in costume; she spotted a Frankenstein, a couple of cats and even someone dressed up in an inflatable t-Rex suit.
She made sure her door was locked and then walked down the hall to Derek’s room, who was at the very end of the hall, as he had lucked out and got a massive room with lots of windows, across from the showers.
She opened the door, finding just about all of their friends already there, sneakily drinking out of mugs, cups and water bottles.
Reid was a zombie, wearing tattered, bloody clothes and a full face of makeup that Emily assumed that Penelope did for him. Sitting next to his computer, queueing music for their pre, was Derek, dressed in a baseball jersey and hat, apparently as a baseball player. This was expected, he wasn’t big on Halloween. Hotch was… a devil? He wore all black and simply had devil horns on his head. Low commitment but the spirit was there.
Emily hoisted herself onto Derek’s bed and greeted her friends.
Spencer was sneaking up behind Derek, peeking his head over his shoulder. Derek, at that moment, seemed to be texting, squinting down at his phone.
“I’m going to eat you!” Spencer yelled into Derek’s ear, causing the larger man to jump to his feet, swatting at the boy in his fright.
Emily laughed at her friend’s distress. He really didn’t like Halloween that much.
“Are you ready for a spooktacular evening?” Spence asked, making his voice wobbly as he put on a dramatic effect. He shone an orange, pumpkin patterned flashlight under his chin.
“Of course,” Emily lisped, “In fact, I vant to drink your blood!”
She lunged forward, and Spencer hid from her behind Derek. It was silly but she could tell how much he liked Halloween, he had talked about it all week, and she couldn’t help but adopt a lispy vampire voice to go with her costume. Though the boy was only two year younger than them, his thin frame and wide eyed expression made him seem much younger.
“Your teeth are excellent,” Spencer pointed out, “Very realistic.”
“I don’t get the hype about Halloween,” Derek said, “Disguises? Pass. Horror movies? No thank you.”
“Booooooo,” Emily protested, “Don’t be a buzzkill, Morgan. Let us have a little fun.”
The door opened again, and Penelope, followed by JJ, joined them.
“Is my statuesque god of sculpted chocolate thunder being lame again?”
“He barely dressed up,” Emily complained.
“Neither did Hotch!” Derek said, gesturing to Hotch’s devil horns.
“Hey, at least I bought these at the party store,” Hotch said, “I’m sure both of those are items from your own closet.”
Derek did not confirm or deny this. Emily knew he wore the same get up last year.
“So when should we be there?” JJ asked.
She was dressed as a witch, with an oversized pointy hat perched on top of her head, her blonde hair falling around her shoulders in perfect curls. She wore a purple dress and tall boots to go with her witch look. She and Penelope joined Spencer on the floor, sitting with their backs to Derek’s closet and cracking open a beer for JJ and a fruity cooler for Penelope.
With large wings, glittery make up and an adorable skirt, Penelope was clearly dressed up as a fairy, which was entirely apropos to who she was as a person. In fact, it was not entirely dissimilar from her normal outfits.
“Rossi said to come by eight,” Hotch said, “So in party talk he means nine-thirty earliest.”
“It’s, what?” Derek checked the time on his laptop, “Eight fifteen now, so we can pre here for an hour or so then start walking over.”
“Yeah,” Hotch said, “His house is just off campus.”
“The weather is crazy out,” Penelope said, looking out the window. The trees were swaying and the leaves were blowing everywhere.
“We could take a cab?” Emily offered, “I’d rather avoid getting leaves in my hair tonight.”
There were some nods, then they got back to preing, playing a few rounds of King’s Cup to ensure that all of them were sufficiently drunk before they left.
Morgan put on his new playlist, not “For The Boys (and emily)” this time, but one titled “Team Vibez” that Emily had seen him make during their lecture on Thursday. It had a lot of his normal songs, some top hits, but a few fun pop songs that Emily knew he added for Penelope, and even some classic rock for Hotch.
At this point, Emily was feeling buzzed. She had two cans discarded in the bin, both hosting lipstick prints from her dark red vampire lips.
JJ was currently chatting with Hotch about some student government scandal that was happening at the time. While politics gave Emily the heebie jeebies, she had reluctantly joined the Criminology Academic Society. It would give her a leg up on grad school applications, for one, and so far, even as a low-level member, she found she was actually making a difference for her classmates. This meant that Emily, despite her deepest urges to not touch political scandals with a ten foot pole, knew exactly what they were talking about.
As the two discussed the student politicians—there were some minor accusations of nepotism, embezzlement and coverups by the undergraduate executive—Emily looked at JJ. Her brows were furrowed in concentration and she was gesturing wildly with her hands as she talked about how badly they were handling their crisis communications.
Suddenly, interrupting this discussion, their phones blasted out a siren, followed by a chorus of the same robot voice announcing an emergency alert.
“National Weather Service: TORNADO WARNING in this area until 10:15PM EST,” the robot announced, “Take shelter now in a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building.”
They looked at Derek’s three, large windows, and watched as large gusts of wind sent leaves barrelling down the street.
“If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris,” it continued. “Check media.”
Then, their phones went silent and Derek’s music continued unheeded.
“A tornado?!” Penelope said, “Here?”
The window rattled. Derek stood up and hesitantly moved away from it.
Penelope grabbed Derek’s computer, her hands moving in a flurry.
“Ok so,” she began, “from what I can gather from the good old Internet, we’re in a region of extreme winds and the meteorologists are thinking that funnel clouds and tornados are possible this evening.”
“So much for Halloween,” Spencer whined.
“Party is definitely off,” Hotch said. “We should probably take shelter. Is there a basement here?”
“There’s the laundry room?” Emily said.
Adrenaline started pulsing through her veins. She’d been through some severe weather before in her life but never a tornado, nor did she expect one. They were in the north east, nowhere near tornado Alley.
They all stood, making a move for the basement, when the lights flickered once, twice, then shut off entirely. Rain begin to fall down, hard onto the windows, and the boom of thunder filled their ears.
“Shit,” Emily said. “Anyone have a candle?”
---
Ten minutes later, the six of them were seated in a circle, on the strange carpeted floor of the laundry room, with the severe weather making the wind howl outside. Between JJ’s two candles, which were very against the rules, and Derek’s laptop screen, they had enough ambient light to see, but it was all very spooky.
The room smelled damp and earthy, with a strange combination of laundry soaps and dryer sheets. They had to move a spare sock to form a circle around the candle. It looked very much like a séance, so that did fit the Halloween spirit.
“Well,” Hotch said, “At least this is festive.”
Derek was still queuing his music, filling the silence with his DJ skills.
“Aren’t you worried about your battery life?” JJ asked, “What if the power doesn’t come on in the morning.”
“Then I have a great excuse not to finish my essay,” Derek said with a shrug.
“Fair point.”
“Anyways,” Derek continued, “No sense giving up on our party. We have drinks, we have music and thanks to JJ we have illegal candles.”
“They’re not illegal!” She protested, “Simply very against res rules! I like lighting a candle while I study.”
“It’s lucky that there was no one left in res because of Halloween,” Emily said. “Or we would've had a bunch of party crashers.”
“This is better,” Penelope, “Team bonding!”
“What should we play?” Hotch said, “we don’t really have much to work with.”
“This is all very high school,” Penelope said, “A couple of kids, in a basement, sitting in a circle on the floor…”
“With a tornado tearing through our city…” Emily quipped.
“Statistically speaking for this region we are more likely to experience dangerous winds rather than an actual tornado. Worst case is that fallen tree branches hit power lines, or fall onto houses or cars.”
“So you’re saying that we’re in the worst case scenario right now?” Hotch said.
“Yup.”
Hotch frowned.
“How about we play truth or dare?” Penelope changed the subject.
“I’m down,” Emily said, surprising herself. “If everyone else is.”
“I’ve never played!” Spencer said.
“Never?” JJ asked. “Not at any sleepovers.”
“I didn’t get invited to many sleepovers.”
“Neither did I,” Emily admitted, “Some parties I went to played it too.”
JJ looked at her, there was a brief look of sympathy, and then understanding on her face. Emily made note of that.
“I guess we’re playing,” Hotch murmured.
“Derek,” Penelope purred, “Mon cher, truth or dare?”
“Truth,” he said defiantly, bracing himself with a swig of whatever was in his water bottle.
“Who is the prettiest fairy in the basement?”
“You, of course,” he replied with a wink.
“Gross!” Emily exclaimed, “Truth or dare is not for flirting. Hotch: truth or dare?”
“Dare,” he said with a quirk of his eyebrow.
“Show us the… most embarrassing photo of you on your phone.”
He frowned.
“I don’t take many photos.”
“Try,” Emily urged with a laugh.
He fumbled in his pockets, grabbing his phone and scrolling through his photo album for a few minutes.
“It’s from high school,” Hotch said with a sigh. “I was in a play.”
He held up a photo of him in a pirates outfit, he looked smaller, younger than he did now. His hair was shaggy and his face rounder. He was pointing the sword at the camera.
“Who’s the girl?” JJ asked.
“My girlfriend Hayley,” Hotch said, “we’re long distance now. I joined the play to get close to her and it seems to have worked.”
“That’s not embarrassing,” Penelope said, “that’s adorable. Try again.”
“Oh I have one!” Emily said, pulling up her Snapchat memories. She had a photo of him conked out in a lecture last year. His mouth was open and his head conked back, fast asleep in a dimly lit lecture hall. Emily had taken a series of these photos before waking him up.
“Now that’s what i'm talking about,” Derek said.
“How can you fall asleep during lecture?” Spencer asked in horror.
Hotch shrugged.
“I was tired, we had a game the night before,” Hotch said. “Morgan: Truth or dare?”
“Dare.”
“I don’t know any dares,” Hotch looked around for help.
“He could play the tinder game?” Emily said.
“What tinder game?”
“Oh that’s a good one,” JJ said, “Derek opens tinder and we randomly tell him which way to swipe and see who he matches with.”
Derek groaned. Opening the app and placing it down onto the carpet.
“Right!” JJ said to start.
A match.
“Left?” Hotch said, it came out more like a question.
“Right,” Emily said. Another match.
Left, right, left, right. New message from a recent match, left, right, right, right, right. Derek looked on in horror.
“Ok I think he’s had enough,” Emily said with a laugh.
“Derek it’s your turn,” Penelope said.
Derek sighs in relief.
“Uhhh, Pretty Boy,” he turned to Reid. Thinking for a moment. “Have you ever smoked before?”
“Smoked what? Cannabis, tobacco? Something else. Be specific.”
Emily’s jaw dropped.
“I dunno man,” Derek said, “I was talking about weed but go off.”
“I have.”
“How?” JJ said, “You’re like sixteen! I haven’t even smoked weed.”
“Me neither,” Penelope said, sounding outright disappointed.
“I believe it,” Hotch said. “He has a Juul.”
“Seventeen now,” Spencer said. “Kids in my first degree found it funny when I performed actions that they deemed mature for my young age.
“What?” Penelope said. “But you were sixteen last week.”
“It was my birthday on Wednesday,” he said.
“And we missed it?” JJ asked.
Emily decided not to inform them that her birthday had been a few weeks back as well.
“It’s no big deal,” Spencer said, “I don’t really do birthdays.”
“Well I do birthdays!” Penelope said, “and you’re getting one.”
Emily could see the gears turning in Penelope’s head.
“Wait you haven’t smoked weed?” Emily said. She didn’t mean to sound so surprised, but hell, it was college.
“I’ve never been offered,” Penelope said with a shrug.
“You have a Juul, Spence?” JJ said.
He shrugged.
“Anyways,” Derek said with a laugh. “Reid it’s your turn to ask.”
And the game continued roughly the same for a few more rounds, with some truths, some dares, a lot of drinking and a fair amount of laughter.
Emily learned that JJ likes some angry rock music when she’s upset, that Penelope has committed several federal crimes, that Reid used to coach basketball in high school, that Derek has been posing nude for art classes on campus for extra cash, and that Hotch has never successfully completed a word search in his life.
The dares were limited, because frankly they were basically hiding out in a basement during what might actually be a tornado. Emily was dared to do an impression of Hotch, which wasn’t good and involved a lot of eyebrows and frowning. After, JJ was forced to leave her snapchat at Garcia’s mercy for the entire night. Other dares involved dancing, attempting gymnastics, and seeing whether or not Reid fit into the dryer. He did.
The game finally had played out when it was Hotch’s turn again to ask.
“JJ, what’s your greatest fear?” Hotch asked.
“Mr. Serious over here,” Derek said with a whistle.
“Probably the woods,” JJ replied.
“Why?” Spencer asked, tilting his head.
JJ grabbed a candle, holding it under her chin much like Reid did earlier.
“I used to be a camp counselor, when I was a teenager. In the woods up in Vermont.”
She leaned forward. Emily didn’t know she worked at a camp. It made sense. She pictured her in a camp t-shirt making a bracelet. It suited her.
“I had the night shift. I tucked the girls in, turned off the lights. The typical drill. Everything seemed fine; all the kids were asleep. You know, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.”
Another dramatic pause, both Spencer and Derek had leaned in, invested in the story.
“Until I noticed there was some blood, on the hallway floor. So, I followed the blood trail out to the camp director’s cabin, walked up to his bed and he was just lying there, underneath his covers. Dead!”
Penelope gasped. The room was silent.
“Someone stabbed him. I ran out of there so fast, out the door, down the hall. I just remember it… being really dark. Once I got to the door, there was another counselor there. I guess she heard me scream.”
JJ set the candle down, looking at the flame flicker. This couldn’t be real, Emily thought, this had to be a joke.
“They caught the caretaker on his way to town, I guess he still had the knife on him.”
“Anyway, I guess that’s probably when I decided I didn’t like the woods.”
“You’re serious?!” Derek demanded.
“No!” JJ said with a laugh. “You bought that! I’m kidding!”
“So are you afraid of the woods?” Emily asked.
“Yeah,” JJ said, “They’re spooky I don’t know.”
They all laughed at that.
Emily glanced at her phone; they had been down here for almost two hours. According to Penelope’s intermittent checks on the status of the extreme weather, most of the city was experiencing black outs, but there was no sign of an actual tornado. They were still supposed to take shelter for the next hour or so, just in case.
In this time, Emily was close to five drinks in, with only one left in the basement. A growing pile of empties had built up around them, and Hotch had pulled out a small bottle of whiskey in addition to his beer, passing it around the circle. Having recently turned 17, the group had officially decided to give Spencer a beer, which he nursed slowly, wincing at the bitter taste.
“Emily,” JJ turned to her and looked mischievous. “Truth or dare?”
She felt her heart flutter.
“Truth.”
“Hmmm…” JJ said, “Where was the weirdest place you’ve ever had sex?”
Emily found herself blushing at the memory.
“Oh god,” Emily buried her face in her hands. “IHOP parking lot.”
“What?”
Emily nodded, downing the last of her beer.
“No further questions,” she proclaimed as she opened her next drink.
“I think that should conclude Truth or Dare,” Penelope said, “It’s time for another sleepover classic, since some of you are sleepover virgins.”
She grabbed Derek’s water bottle, plopping it down onto the carpet and spun it.
“Spin the bottle!”
Emily went pale. What was Penelope doing? She stared into her drunk, not daring to look at anyone else.
“That doesn’t seem very sanitary,” Spencer said.
“Boo,” Penelope, “You’re no fun. It’s a classic! And we’re all friends, it’ll be fun. Hotch you spin first.”
He looked horrified, but took the bottle. There was no getting in the way of Penelope Garcia’s will.
“The rules are simply: kiss or you have to finish your drink?,” Penelope said, “Got it?
Hotch nodded, he spun the bottle. It went around the circle, once, twice, three times, then landed clearly on himself.
“How do I kiss myself?” he said, deadpan.
“Drink!” Emily told him. He downed his last beer.
Derek spun next, rubbing his hands together nervously as it went around and around. It landed on Penelope.
“Come here, chocolate thunder!”
Derek took his baseball cap off, turning it backwards. Penelope pulled his shirt towards her, tugging on him as their lips met. They both closed their eyes, she could hear JJ giggle at the sight.
“Was that the only reason we’re playing this?” Spencer asked, “So that you could kiss Morgan?”
“Maybe?” Penelope, “What’s it to you, boy-genius!”
He put his hands up in surrender, it was his turn.
He spun the bottle awkwardly, so that it rocked back and forth in addition to spinning. It went around once before landing on JJ.
Emily wasn’t sure what to think about that. On one hand, he was just a kid and the kiss wouldn't be anything, but on the other hand, Emily was jealous that she didn’t get a kiss.
“Come here, Spence!” JJ said, making a grabbing motion at the boy and laughing.
He leaned in with his eyes closed, Emily wouldn’t be surprised if he told them he hadn’t done even this before. JJ put a hand on his face, turned it gently, and gave him a peck on the cheek.
Derek clapped him on the back and made a comment about it being ‘pretty boy’s first kiss,’ and Reid simply sat and blushed as he busied himself with drinking some of his beer.
Emily’s turn. She tried not to cross her fingers and pray for JJ, but it happened anyways. It landed on Derek. Emily sighed dramatically.
“Ewwww,” Emily mock protested.
“Come on, princess,” Derek jeered, “You know you want some of this!”
He lifted his t-shirt up and rubbed his hands down his abs.
“Put that away sir!” she covered her eyes.
“Oh come here,” she said, leaning in. They kissed on the lips with a loud ‘mwah!’ noise.
“That was cute,” Hotch commented.
Emily fake gagged, while Morgan tried to wipe her red lipstick off him.
Last was JJ in the circle. She spun it casually. Emily tried to read her facial expression, wondering if JJ, too, wanted it to land on Emily.
See, Emily was starting to believe that JJ liked her back. She was single, and for all Emily knew, she was straight, but the more Emily got to know her, she got queer vibes. She played soccer! Her nails were short and-
Emily couldn’t think of any other things that moment, as she was currently freaking out about the spin the bottle situation that was presently unfolding.
The moment in the bathroom, Emily thought, that was something! The way she looked at Emily… she was sure that she felt JJ’s eyes on her linger.
The bottle landed on Emily. They had to kiss. It was part of the game.
Holy shit.
Penelope squealed and Emily could feel the entire room's eyes on her, except JJ whose eyes were on the ground.
Emily could hear her heartbeat. She desperately wanted to kiss JJ but did she want to under these circumstances? For a dare?
JJ looked at her. Blue eyes staring into brown. She could hear her blood rushing in her ears. She found herself leaning forward, only slightly. JJ did the same. Her lips parted, her eyes hungry.
Emily shifted forward, she sat with her legs tucked under her, bracing herself with her arms. JJ was cross legged, her arms free to grab at her face. JJ’s hands tugged her forward.
Their lips met.
It was uncertain, chaste, soft. Then, JJ’s hands pulled her closer. They were pressed together, heads tilting so that their noses didn’t bump.
Jennifer Jareau was kissing her. They were kissing!
Emily’s brain short circuited. JJ filled her senses; the blonde’s vanilla perfume and soft lips and the taste of alcohol on her tongue.
Oh god, her tongue.
Emily did not want it to end. Their mouths opened and their tongues slid against each other, feeling so perfect and sending Emily’s blood racing away from her face and noticeably south.
JJ was incredibly hot and Emily desperately wanted to do more than kiss her. Or kiss her like this forever. Her ams were caressing her cheek and tangled in Emily’s hair, pulling her closer.
The lights flickered on; they had power, again. JJ pulled away from her, sharply.
Emily sat back, sitting up straight. The room was luckily too distracted by the lights to notice how out of breath Emily was. Or that they probably shouldn’t have passionately made out on a dare.
JJ wouldn’t meet her eye, but Emily could see her own lipstick on the other girl’s lips. Emily blinked at the bright light, started by the sudden return of the electricity after she had become accustomed to the dim light of the candle.
“What impressive timing,” Spencer murmured.
Taking the lights as a good sign, Penelope checked on the emergency alert. It was over and they were safe to go back upstairs. She found out that a few downed trees were the cause of the outage and there was never an actual tornado. No one was hurt but there was a bit of property damage throughout the city.
Without the atmosphere of the candle light, and the likelihood of a RA doing a check of the building, they decided that that was the end of their party. They gathered up their empties, and blew out the candles.
As they finished up cleaning, all making sure not to leave any trace of their illicit affairs, Emily tried to quell her racing heart and blushing face, completely unable to look anyone in the eye.
The door opened, their RA was there. Erin Strauss. She was a hardass.
“What are you all doing down here?” she demanded.
They all stood, stock still, jaws dropped, smelling of alcohol and clutching clinking tote bags.
“Erin,” Emily said, trying to sound as sober as possible despite the five plus drinks in her system, “We were simply following the directions on the emergency alert.”
“Yes! It said to seek shelter from the storm and the basement seemed the best for that,” Penelope said.
“Uhuh,” Erin said, “What’s in the bag?”
The bag clinked.
“Oh just some garbage,” Emily said, lying through her teeth. “We had some snacks.”
“Sure,” Erin said, not believing them.
Emily tried not to sway, but did not feel steady on her feet. She wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or her recent kiss with JJ.
For a second, Emily was sure that their RA would bust their asses, but the girl simply sighed and told them to go to bed, muttering about how dealing with non-existent tornadoes wasn't part of her job.
The six of them scurried upstairs, all freaked out about their near-miss with a write-up.
Reid disappeared up to his room, then JJ and Penelope walked down the hall to their’s. Emily slipped into Derek’s avoiding Erin Strauss’ watchful eye, helping Derek steady a very drunk Hotch.
Hotch, who had probably had a little too much of that whiskey, stumbled into Derek’s room and decided to sleep on the floor. Emily placed a water bottle next to him, and placed him in recovery position, glad for the distraction from the blush that refused to leave her face or the lingering taste of JJ on her lips.
She walked slowly down the hall back to her own room, the events of that evening playing back in her mind. She threw herself onto her bed, dazed by her situation.
Emily fell asleep with vampire make up still on her face that night.
#criminal minds#cm#criminal minds tv#jemily#emily prentiss#jennifer jareau#gravelyhumerus cm college au#prentiss x jj#jemily cm#fanfiction#fanfic#criminal minds fic#my post#my writing#this is such a chaotic chapter!!!#enjoy!!!!
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Maggie Stiefvater~Rant YA edition pt.2
I know, I know that I had to make a part about world-building but I’m pissed, I failed my exam I am at my friend house and it’s Fourth of July so I must do this.
Joseph Kavinsky.
First of all I don’t condemn his actions and yes, you can like a character but don’t agree with their actions.
My journey with The Dream Thieves was rocky, like really rocky. It was worse than The Raven Boys, I felt psychical pain while reading this one but there was only one good thing that help get through it AND IT WAS KAVINSKY.
From the first scene I liked him, I was intrigued by him and I was curious why Gangsey hates him so much. I mean what M*ggie give us are just rumours, that's when I asked myself “Why such a hate? What did he do to them?”.
And then the yo mama jokes, priceless by the way. Okay, maybe my sense humour sucks but let me tell you in polish translation “twoja stara” is golden I laughed for several minutes.
But the thing went down pretty quickly, like my face went from a happy to grim in a second and stayed that way while reading this, just to cry at the end. After that it was just anger and to this day I’m angry at M*ggie for what she did.
Lets start from beginning.
1. Kavinsky-Description
The first time we see Kavinsky it’s in the chapter 3 where we got rumours about him:
“Of course it was Joseph Kavinsky, fellow Aglionby Academy student and Henrietta’s most notorious recreational forger. Kavinsky’s infamous Mitsubishi Evo was a thing of boyish beauty, moon-white with a voracious black mouth of a grille and an immense splattered graphic of a knife on either side of the body. The Mitsubishi had just been released from a month-long stint in the police impound. The judge had told him that if he was caught racing again, they’d crush the Mitsubishi and make him watch, like they did to the rich punks’ street racers out in California. Rumor had it Kavinsky had laughed and told the judge he’d never get pulled over again. He probably wouldn’t. Rumor had it Kavinsky’s father had bought off Henrietta’s sheriff. To celebrate the Mitsubishi’s release from impound, Kavinsky had just put three coats of anti-laser paint on the headlights and bought himself a new radar detector.“
Right from the bat, characters expressed disdain of him:
“I hate that prick,” Adam said.
Then we get the “description” of him: white sunglasses, golden chain, which already is kinda lacking but then we get the infamous “refugee face”
“He had a refugee’s face, hollow-eyed and innocent.“
Okay okay, so like it wasn't already offensive, we learn later that he’s Bulgarian and as a person also from Slavic group, this description just looks bad and leaves bad taste in my mouth, because I'm fed up with Americans view of Slavs like we are all simple people, still in communist era somewhere in the Europe, who came to America to steal low income jobs.
On the other hand, how does “refugee face” looks like? Yeah, we get the line “hollow-eyed and innocent“ but it still feels offensive to Slavic group.
Luckily, in my translation it was changed to “runaway’s face” which holds the same idea but it isn't offensive and fits Kavinsky’s character better.
“There was nothing about Kavinsky that wasn’t despicable”
Just... ugh why they hate him so much, I asked myself back then but I didn't know that from this point, all went down hill.
“He was unmistakable: the sort of raven boy who was clearly an import from elsewhere.“
Okay first of all, you can import things, not actual people Blue. Second of all, combining this with “refugee face” it made me so angry like M*ggie, why can’t you describe Kavinsky normally without possibly offending half of Europe. He is human, not your new brand German car.
After that we get the rest of description “Like many of the other raven boys, he sported massive sunglasses, spiked hair, a small earring, a chain around his neck, and a white tank top.“ and that’s it. It’s all we get. There might be some things missing, like hair colour but we can forgive that.
2. Backstory
In M*ggie’s now deleted tumblr, she once wrote:
"Kavinsky has a very logical backstory that leads him to this place.”
And what did we know about Kavinsky? Practically, nothing. He’s a son of a Bulgarian mobster from New Jersey, he’s rumoured to kill his father, he’s mother is a drug-addict, he’s rich, Prokopenko is his favourite forgery and he got away with replacing him and possibly his dad. It gives the idea to what shaped him as a person but it doesn’t explained everything, like if he killed his dad, why wasn’t it? How did it ended up with him replacing Prokopenko? Why he is his favourite forgery?
But okay M*ggie say what you want but I and my friend made better backstory for him in ten minutes (like it wasn’t hard really).
3. ”We matter”
“Closing his eyes, Gansey leaned his head back on his seat, chin tilted up, throat green in the dash lights. There was still an unsafe sort of smile about his mouth — what a torment the possibility in that smile was — and he said, “There was never a time when that could’ve been you and me. You know the difference between us and Kavinsky? We matter.“
That said Gansey, the character we are supposed to like, about the kid who is not only his age but also drug addicted and possibly abused. I was furious at him for saying that because who k*rwa he is to say things like that. Is he some frigging higher being to judge someone like that?
And he was smiling while saying that? What an.. and nobody called him out on that?! It only gives the reader the idea that people like Kavinsky don’t matter and to those who relate to him that they don’t matter.
And Blue, who again made me want to throw my phone, later in the book asked literal a hitman, who offered to go to “talk” with him to “make him feel worthless” while doing it.
It’s the next example when I felt the main characters are lacking a basic human empathy, like again he is just a kid not “H*tler” like Ronan compare him to.
4. That scene
That f*king scene, we all know about.”R*pe of Ronan” as stans like to call it.
I heard the reaction of the fans to this scene even before reading this books. Of course, I was anticipating this scene and when it came:
“After a moment, he heard the hood groan as Kavinsky leaned over him. Then he felt the ridged callus of a finger drag slowly over the skin on his back. A slow arc between his shoulder blades, drawing the pattern of his tattoo. Then sliding down his spine, tensing every muscle it moved over.
But when his eyes slitted, battling sleep, Kavinsky was just doing another line of coke off the roof, body stretched over the windshield. He might have imagined it. What was real?“
I was baffled, because its bad but its nothing like fans making to be. All Kavinsky does is drag his finger on Ronan’s back tattoo, while he is falling asleep but afterwards Ronan said he doesn’t know, if it was even real, so the reader can’t tell if it was. Somebody would argue, that is a molestation but once again, we don’t know if it was real. Maybe if we got K’s PoV we could get information about this situation but now we are left in the dark what really happened that night.
And then, there is “Consent is overrated” scene
This is one of the main argument of stans preaching that K is a r*pist. Yes, that sounds horrible, we don’t have to argue about that but people missed the context of situation in which it was said.
“Ronan replied, “Not such a thief tonight.”
“Some nights,” Kavinsky said, all teeth, “you just take it. Consent is overrated.”“
Ronan and Kavinsky are referring to pulling things out of dreams and how Kavinsky is doing it aka not asking permission to take them out, unlike Ronan. But without this context, the world “consent” is mainly associated with one thing. You know what...
The bottom line is that, if we got K’s PoV, it would shine a light on his intentions and motivations to say and possibly do all of this. We can only thanks the author for that.
5. Relationship with Ronan Lynch
Maybe that will sound scandalous but I don’t think Kavinsky loved Ronan. All of their interaction seem more like obsession to me and after the dreaming of Camaro, it seem desperate.
At the beginning, after main characters expressed disdain of K, only Ronan thought something different:
“Ronan knew he ought to hate him, too.“
And I thought “Okay maybe Ronan know more about him than the rest” but as the chapters went, I wanted the end of it all.
It was toxic. I know, I know but I was hoping for a least little glimpses of possible friendship. Instead of that, I got throwing over cars, punching and exploitation between them. With Kavinsky saving Ronan from the night horror (which fans forget about in their rants how bad K is) and helping Ronan dreaming a new Camaro, I expect at least some decency? gratefulness?? at Ronan side, because nobody forced Kavinsky to do this but when Ronan got what he wanted he just peace out?! Like Kavinsky was doing all of this as a favour?
“He rolled down the window. “I’m going.” For a moment, Kavinsky’s face was perfectly blank, and then Kavinsky flickered back onto it. He said, “You’re shitting me.” “I’ll send flowers.” Ronan revved the engine. Exhaust and dust swirled in a wild torment behind the Camaro. It coughed at twenty-eight-hundred rpm. Just like the Pig. Everything was back the way it was. “Running back to your master?” “This was fun,” Ronan said. “Time for big-boy games now, though.”
And
““I never lie,” Ronan said. He frowned disbelievingly. This felt like a more bizarre scenario than anything that had happened to this point. “Wait. You thought — it was never gonna be you and me. Is that what you thought?”“
And what was Kavinsky’s reaction after he was “used” by Ronan without even a thank you?
“Kavinsky made a gun of his thumb and finger and put it to Ronan’s temple. “Bang,” he said softly, withdrawing the fake gun. “See you on the streets.”“
Not anger but disbelief about what just happened and then the “he said softly“ just seems sad to me. He got used by the man he, de facto, wanted to befriend. He for sure felt cheated and used but the next thing what he does seems just OOC for me. He kidnapped Matthew, Ronan’s younger brother, to force him to come to the Fourth of July party. Before it looked like he wanted Ronan just to have a fun but after the Camaro something broke in him. But once again, it only my interpretation, because K is the only TRC antagonist that doesn’t get PoV, so I can wonder, what was going on in his head.
I’m tired of this, because most of the things could be explained, if we got his PoV, because without it his actions seems random.
After the text “bring something fun to fourth of july or we’ll see which pill works the best on your brother“, Ronan called K demanding where is Matthew and K responded:
“Ronan demanded, “Where is he?” “You know, I asked nice the first few times. Are you coming to Fourth? Are you coming? Are you coming? Here, have a motherfucking car. Are you coming? You made it ugly. Bring something impressive tonight.”“
It doesn’t sounds that evil to me more like desperate (repetition of “are you coming”) and hurting (”you made it ugly”). It made me feel more curious about what was going in his head and what lead him to kidnapping more than being angry at him for kidnapping Matthew.
Kavinsky was looking someone like Ronan, to share problems and to destroy themselves together. And Ronan was the closest thing to it, dreamer and all. He was looking for connection but in the end, Ronan didn’t want anything to do with him and that ended in tragedy.
6. Fourth of July
Ah yes, the main reason why I’m writing this post. We know how this goes. Gangsey arrives at party. Ronan demands where is his brother. Ronan follow K into a dream.
"Kavinsky laughed the word. "Reality! Reality's what other people dream for you."
"Reality's where other people are," Ronan replied. He stretched out his arms. "What's here, K? Nothing! No one!"
"Just us."
There was a heavy understanding in that statement, amplified by the dream. I know what you are, Kavinsky had said. "That's not enough," Ronan replied."
One again K got rejected and it was told to him he "wasn't enough" Okay, Ronan doesn't own him anything but what happened next is more fucked up
Kavinsky dreams fire dragon, Ronan night horror. They fight. Gangsey search for Matthew.
Ronan demands K to tell him where is Matthew and K just said “He’s all yours! You missed my point, man. All I wanted was this —”“ while gesturing at their creations and ONCE AGAIN I REPEAT ONCE AGAIN we are not sure what K meant: dreaming together? fighting? One chapter from his PoV couldn’t hurt Maggie you know?
Matthew got rescued, Ronan shielded him from upcoming dragon then this:
"He shouted to Kavinsky, ”Get down!”
But Kavinsky didn’t look away from the creatures. He said,”The world’s a nightmare”.
Ronan once again shouted to him but Kavinsky didn’t answered and let the dragon to kill him.
“A second later, the fire dragon exploded into Kavinsky. It went straight through him, around him, flame around an object. Kavinsky fell. Not as if he was struck, though. Just like when he’d taken the green pill. He crumpled to his knees and then slumped gracelessly off the car.“
And we know K is dead, because both the dragon and Prokopenko fall asleep.
And that’s all and what was all for? Because they thought he was draining the ley lines (but Adam fixing the lines seems to do the trick) and because Ronan didn't want to come to Fourth of July. After that comes nothing. No reaction from the cast and the dream pack who supposedly were his friends (In later book Jiang talks to Ronan like nothing happened) there is no funeral of which we know and the town is silent. Like K never existed.
What kind of message this sends to a reader? That if you are like Kavinsky in any way nobody will mind if you are gone. You are not even worthless to remember. On one podcast M*ggie said she don’t want to be educational in her books and that’s f*cked up because she is writing YA, young people who are easily influenced and after reading how K is treated the majority will close the book with belief that people like K don’t deserve help and they are goners not worthy of redemption.
While in the same book Gray Man, adult hitman who killed people on pages, was hunting down Ronan, relieved to be murderer behind a Niall's death, beat up and threaten Declan with a gun to tell him where the Greywaren was not only forgiven by everyone (including Ronan) but got redemption arc and love interest. Let me repeat adult man, literal a hitman gets redemption arc but not mentally ill kid. Okay Margaret what the f*ck was that. Where is the logic, where is the lamb sauce?! Does she knows how her writing can influence young people? And it seems most of the fans agree with her.
Conclusion
Joseph Kavinsky was handled terribly through the whole book. With main cast hating him from the get-go. Narration that tried to make him the great evil (with some fans of TRC calling him the worst villain) and after the book got published the fans and the author themself further demonised him, 17 year old boy with a drug addiction, mental illness and with possible history of abuse.
I can only shake my head every time, I see someone calling him the devil. What Kavisnky needed was rehab and therapy, not death! If she wanted to find solution to stop him from dreaming, why couldn't she just moved him outside of Henrietta or Virginia, not lead him to commit s*icide and public s*icide mind you. He was a bad person but nobody deserved to die like this.
To end this post (I wrote this post so long that in my country is no longer Fourth of July), I still to this day think about Kavinsky and what would happened, if the author didn't choose the easy way to "get rid of him". And do not tell me, it was impossible to end it differently, because it was possible. Ronan just grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him off the car. Sending him to a rehab or just talking with him, instead of assuming from the start, that he wouldn't listen. His only crimes were, he needed help and he wouldn't listen to Gangsey telling him what to do.
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I Dreamt About You Every Night
Tony Stark has been dead for seventeen years due to a mission gone wrong. He's survived getting blown up, palladium poisoning, terrorist attacks, and even Thanos himself, and he gets killed by - what was supposed to be - a simple day-to-day mission. Or, so everyone thought.
|| Chapter One || || Chapter Two || || Chapter Three || || Chapter Four ||
Chapter Five
Truth never damages a cause that is just. - Mahatma Gandhi
"What do you think you're doing?" M.J demands to know as she barges into Peter's lab, Peter looking like a kid that just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar when she began looking at the video he was watching.
"No, Peter, we can't be back to this." M.J says, shaking her head at the same video that she saw the first couple of years Tony was missing. The same video that was playing when she found Peter lifeless. "You have a job, now, and a family that needs you desperately. You cannot become obsessed with this again." M.J scolds.
"I know, Love, I know, and I'm not going to become obsessed again. I just wanted to comb through this one more time, just to make sure we're not missing something now that we know the base is somewhere in New Jersey." Peter explains, making M.J sigh.
"Your kids miss you. You've been down here all day." M.J tells Peter making him the one to sigh this time.
"I'm sorry. I promise I'll make it up to all of you tomorrow. How about when you take Claire to her dentist appointment tomorrow, I'll pick the other two kids up from school and after the appointment you can meet us out for a nice family dinner. Just us, no distractions." Peter offers.
"Just us?"
"Just us." Peter confirms.
"No distractions?"
"Absolutely none at all." Peter says smiling when he saw the grin forming on his wife's face.
"You know what, Tiger, I think you have a deal." M.J says while wrapping her arms around Peter's neck. Peter couldn't resist standing up and planting a kiss on her lips, chuckling a bit at the fact that he was still able to make the "big, bad" Michelle melt.
"How about we call it a night and go to bed?" Peter asks as they slowly pulled away.
"I think you've got yourself another deal."
* * *
"Mr. Parker, you have a visitor." Peter's P.A knocks on the door, her confusion already telling him who said visitor could possibly be.
"It's okay, let him in." Peter permits, quickly double checking his work on his computer before saving it. Something told him he wasn't going to be getting much work done now.
"Hey, Underoos." Tony greets as he walks into the office, Peter only pretending to be annoyed at the nickname; in reality he's been dying to hear Tony tease him again like this.
"Hey, Tony, what are you doing here?" Peter asks not unkindly.
"Oh, just wanted to check out Parker Industries, see what my protégé has accomplished while I was gone. You know, I've heard from Pep that Parker Industries is our top competitor." Tony says, but rather than sounding mad he sounded impressed.
"Yeah, we're usually nipping on your toes because with M.J working at Stark Industries, we don't want to put you guys out of business and have her lose her job." Peter teases right back, smiling at the fake wounded look Tony put on.
"Ouch, Parker, I'm hurt." Tony mock ups, making Peter roll his eyes fondly.
"Would it make you feel better if we went downstairs and looked at some of the R&D labs I got going on here?" Peter offers, Tony pretend to actually think about it.
"Yeah, you know what, I think that would actually do the trick." Tony answers, making Peter laugh as he got up and began leading the way.
He decided to give Tony a full tour of the company, making sure to spend time showing him everything that he managed to create and accomplish over the past decade. After a few hours, when Peter was satisfied Tony saw everything there was to see, both men went down to the company's cafeteria and got a quick bite to eat.
"So, have you figured anything else out about the possible location of the base?" Peter asks once they settled down at one of the cafeteria tables.
"A bit. I've got it narrowed down roughly, but I still don't know where exactly it could be." Tony answers making both of them sigh
Before anyone could say anything else, Peter's phone began to ring. Peter huffed and pulled his phone out, quickly signaling to Tony to give him a minute when he saw that it was M.J calling him.
"Hey, Darling, what's up?" Peter answers.
'Peter, love of my life, please, please, please, tell me you picked Ben and Annie up from school early.' M.J says, sounding like she was out of breath.
"What? No, it's not time for me to pick them up yet. Wait, why does it sound like you're running? Are you running? Why are you running?" Peter questions, not being able to hold in the worry that he was beginning to feel.
'I'm running because I just got a call from the school saying someone just came and picked Ben and Annie up from school.' M.J says, Peter easily picking up on the fear in her voice as the sound of a car door closing is heard in the background.
"Hey, it's going to be okay. Maybe Nat or Morgan just decided to sign them out and play hooky with them." Peter tries to placate, also trying to convince himself that everything was okay.
‘No, Peter, I have a really bad feeling about this. The secretary said it was some man and he said that he worked with the Avengers so she allowed it, but called me because she wasn't sure and-’ M.J nervously rambles, Peter cutting in and stopping her from working herself into a tizzy.
"Okay, okay, listen to me. You and Claire go home. Don't stop anywhere on the way, don't talk to anyone, not until I get to the school and figure out what's going on." Peter instructs, getting up and signaling to Tony that they needed to go. "I will figure out what's going on, Love, I promise."
'Find our children, Peter Parker. You find our children.' M.J shakily says, clearly trying to put up a mask she no longer was used to having to wear.
"I will. I swear to you, I will. You and Claire just focus on getting home safe." Peter says before exchanging his goodbyes and hanging up. "We need to go to the kid's school, now." Peter tells Tony, putting as much urgency as he could in his voice.
"Why, what's going on?" Tony asks, instantly following Peter when he began walking away.
"Someone picked the kids up from school and we don't know who it is so just to be on the safe side we need to go to figure out who signed them out." Peter explains, both of the men being quick to get up to Peter's office.
"So, why aren't we going up to the school?" Tony questions, watching as Peter sat down at his desk and began doing something on his laptop.
"Because the school's not going to have answers for me - they don't even know who picked the kids up - so I'm going to directly to the source and figure it out myself." Peter answers, smiling when he saw the confusion still sitting on Tony's face. "I'm hacking into the security camera footage." Peter explains, pulling a laugh out of Tony.
"You know, almost two decades have passed, but you, Peter Parker, have not changed a bit." Tony lightheartedly says, coming around and looking over Peter's shoulder at the footage on the laptop.
Peter fast-forwarded through most of the footage, gasping and pausing it when two men began walking in.
"Tony, you said you have a rough estimate to where that base was?" Peter asks as he begins to zoom into one of the men's faces.
"Yeah, why? Who is that?"
"I don't know who he is exactly, but I would recognize him from anywhere. He's one of the men in the video we have from the night you disappeared." Peter tells the scientist.
"Why does he look like that?" Tony questions, completely stunning Peter with the odd change of subject.
"Look like what?"
"Like he's trying desperately to be one of those vampires from that book series." Tony says, Peter gaping at him in return.
"Really? That's what you're worried about? Not that fact that he took my kids, but the fact that he looks like a Twilight character?"
"No, you're right, sorry. So are you sure that this is the guy? I mean, I guess it would be difficult not recognizing him, looking like that." Tony questions, wanting to be certain about this before they go in guns blazing.
"Tony, I have watched that video over a thousand times. Trust me when I say this is him." Peter says, brushing past the comment of his looks again.
"Alright, then suit up. Looks like we're going back to New Jersey."
* * *
"Annie. Annie-May, wake up." Ben whispers to his younger sister, who was still laying on the floor passed out. Looking around the - what looked like - a storage room turned cell that they were in, Ben tried to remember exactly what happened.
He remembered getting called out of class and going into the office to leave, but after that it begins to get a little fuzzy. He couldn't remember who it was that picked him up, but clearly they weren't anyone good or else he wouldn't be sitting here tied up with his youngest sister.
The real questions was, how did they manage to get Ben and Annie to actually go with them, and why couldn't Ben remember anything about it?
"Annie, come on, it's time to wake up now." Ben tries again, trying to reach over and nudge Annie as best as he could. It was a bit difficult though, considering his hands were tied behind his back and he had legs that didn't seem to want to work.
Slowly Annie began to stir, Ben sighing in relief when he saw that his sister was waking up.
"Come on, Annie-May. Wake-up!" Ben continues to say, Annie scrunching up her face in return.
"Leave me alone, Benji. 'M sleepin'." Annie mumbles, causing Ben to huff in return.
"Now is not the time to sleep. Now is the time to figure out where we are." Ben says, confusing Annie enough to convince her to open her eyes. It only took a few seconds of looking around before Annie realized that they were in some sort of trouble.
"Benji, where are we?" Annie asks, struggling to sit up as she did so.
"I have no clue. Someone managed to take us somehow." Ben replies, giving Annie a sympathetic look when she let out a low whimper.
"What do they want from us?" Annie hesitantly asks, going to anxiously suck on her fingers until she remembered that her hands were tied behind her back.
"I don't know. It has to do with wanting something from Dad. You know how people will do anything to get at the Avengers for something." Ben replies, rolling his eyes with as much annoyance as he felt. "Can you break free from those?" Ben asks, nodding his head towards the ropes that were holding Annie's hands back.
Clearly whoever took him and Annie didn't take into consideration that they could have possibly inherited powers from their Father because they were both tied in in plain rope. Although, the only person they really underestimated was Annie; Ben was unfortunately - well, unfortunately to him - born normal.
Annie just nodded before using her strength to bust out of the ropes, rubbing her wrists in order to ease the slight burns there.
"Now hurry up and untie me." Ben commands, turning his hands so Annie can get to them.
"What do we do?" Annie asks once she managed to free Ben's hands from their confines.
"We need to find a safe place to hide. We can't just stay in this cell and hope that the people who took us aren't going to hurt us, but I also can't walk well enough for us to completely leave where we are. So, our safest bet is to just find a random room, lock ourselves in, and wait for Dad to get here with the Avengers." Ben simplifies for the eight-year-old, sighing when he saw tears forming in her eyes.
"Don't cry." Ben pleads, only succeeding in making the tears fall.
"I'm scared." Annie admits to her older brother. "What happens if we get caught before Daddy finds us?" Annie cries, Ben being quick to pull her to his chest to muffle her cries so whoever was guarding them would still think they were passed out.
"We're not going to get caught, I swear to you. We just need to be quick; you need to help me get to another room." Ben says, Annie nodding to show that she understood. "Now listen out in the hallway and tell me if you can hear anyone." Ben directs, pushing Annie towards the door of the cell.
"So, did our oh-so-fearless leader contact the two Avengers?" Annie hears a man's voice ask.
"Nah, he didn't need to. I guarantee that as soon as that Spider-Guy realized his kids are gone he's going to be running right over on over here with Iron Man by his side." A second man says.
"It was really stupid of them to come back to that corn field. I mean, did they really think that we weren't going to be searching every inch of that cornfield for Stark?" The first man chuckles.
"Speaking of which, why aren't you watching to make sure they don't escape?" The second man all but shouts making Annie gasp in fear.
"Because the girl is no older than ten and the boy is crippled. You really think they need to have a close eye kept on them? We're of better use out here to help fight these comic book wannabes." The first voice says, the reply from the second voice being left unheard due to Annie pulling away from the door.
"They don't know I have powers." Annie tells Ben, confirming his suspicion.
"Good, it's good that they underestimated you; it'll make it easier for us to escape. Do you think you can break the handle off the door and get us out of here?" Ben asks, smiling encouragingly when Annie nodded her confirmation.
Slowly, and as quietly as she could, Annie broke the handle in half and pulled it out. Gently, she reached down and helped her brother stand as best as he could before steadily pushing the door open.
"Do you hear anything?" Ben whispers once they both peered around the door and didn't see anyone.
"No one close enough to see us." Annie replies.
"Good, good. Okay, so you see that closet over there? I'm going to need you to help us get over there." Ben instructs, slightly feeling bad when he had to lean most of his weight onto his younger sister.
"Wait, wait, before you open the door." Ben stops his sister once they were standing in front of the room, turning himself to face back down the hall. As soon as he steadied himself against the wall, he took the handle that Annie was thankfully still holding, and chucked it down to the other side of the hall.
"What?! Why would you do that? What was-" Annie began to question her voice shrill with fear. Ben was quick to slap his hand over her mouth, though, pushing both of them into the room and shutting the door as the two men Annie heard from before began to shout and run down the hall.
"Listen, listen to me, I know you're scared, I know, but just - shh, for a second. I had to throw that down there because now they think we've ran down the other hall. They have no idea or suspicion that we're down here now so, shh. It's okay." Ben explains, plopping down on the ground and leaning against one of the lab tables there while simultaneously ignoring the reason for there to be lab tables here.
Before either child could get even remotely comfortable, the ground beneath them began to shake.
"What's happening?" Annie whines as she falls to her knees, crawling over to Ben instead of walking.
"I'm not sure." Ben admits, looking around the room to try and find a safer spot for them. Once he saw that the lab table they were against had an empty storage hole, he began pushing Annie towards it. "Here, crawl into there."
"What about you? You can't fit." Annie cries out, stopping herself from going further into the cubby hole when she realized.
"I'm going to keep guard. Make sure no one's getting in here." Ben says making Annie scoff at him.
"Yeah, because out of the two of us, the kid who can't even walk without crutches is more fit to fight soldiers than the kid with powers." Annie snarks, earning a glare in return.
"You're a baby, you don't know what you're talking about." Ben dismisses, sliding the storage door closed and effectively muffling Annie's protest.
Ben crawled as best as he could to the door, pressing his ear to the door to try and see if he could hear anything. He could hear faint shouts an gunshots in the background, but nothing prepared him for the door to the room swinging right open.
Tag List: @spideyspeaches @lost-lunar-wolf @joyful-soul-collector @hatakehikari @thatcrackheadsadbitchtm
#peter parker#tony stark#irondad#spiderson#fanfiction#michelle jones#adult peter parker#presumed dead
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Text
Lay all your love on me | Part 1
(I don't own this gif. Credits to the owner)
Warning: Flashbacks. Language. Mentions of poor mental health, angst.
W/C: 2.8k.
A/N: Hello! This is the first part of Lay all your love on me. You can find the next parts on my pinned masterlist here.
MASTERLIST
Your last day on set has finally arrived. It's amazing how time flies when you're busy doing things you really love, surrounded by magnificient people. It makes you forget about your every day routine and to have some fun from time to time.
Everybody was getting their make-up done for the last day of filming. As you entered the trailer in order to get yours done, a sweet, delicate voice called you.
"(Y/n)! Are you ready for our last day?" Lucy asked with a bright smile on her face while sitting on her personalized black chair, which had her name written at the back.
You smiled. "To be honest, I'm not doing too well, I'm gonna miss you guys so much." You said with a pouty face. Lucy said she would miss all of you too.
“Oh, nice baby bump!”
You furrowed your brows but then you remembered. You were wearing a fake silicone belly, since your character was going to be pregnant in that scene.
“Yeah, he’s kicking so hard.” You joked.
You sat on your chair as your assistant helped you put your wig. You laughed at your reflection in the mirror. "I still can't used to this wig." You found it odd to wear a blonde wig.
“At least they didn’t give you a perm!” Joe appeared holding two cups of coffee on each of his hands. “Here you have, my wonderful wife.” he approached you and gave you one of the cups. You laughed at his comments.
“Thank you, Mr. Deacon.” You thanked him and left a kiss on his cheek.
Joe bringing you coffee on set every morning became a habit, one you were very delighted with. He was so kind with you that you swore your heart could just melt for every little thing he did for you.
And while drinking your coffee, you remembered your very first day on set and how you and Joe started talking.
Filming had already started by your first day on set. Today, you would meet the entire cast of the wonderful movie you were going to take part in. You felt an overwhelming joy for being part of such an incredible project, not only because it was a big step in your career as an actress, but also because you were a Queen fan. And it was your very first time in London.
Your very first scene was Freddie’s birthday party. You greeted all of your new cast mates before paying attention to the director’s indications.
You sat between two of your cast mates. One of them was wearing a long-haired blonde wig and the other a long-haired brown one with a strange fringe. You were wearing a wig as well. It was a black-haired one with a fringe and low pony tails falling over your shoulders. Your eyes had a beautiful emerald eye-shadow which you weren’t very comfortable with but you didn’t care, you were another person now, it was your job.
As they started filming, you kept a conversation with the actor that played John Deacon’s role, your husband, of who you didn't remember his name. You smile at each other and them you both joined the conversation that the others were having about Freddie’s life as his mom stood up and looked for family pictures.
The director decided to take some breaks in between the scenes. It was a good opportunity to introduce yourself and to make some new friends.
“Hey, nice to meet you. I’m Ben.” said the blonde one who was next to you and you told him your name. The other actors joined him and all of you started talking. There was something strange in one of them, the one who was next to you and introduced himself as Joe. Why was he talking so weird?
“Why are you doing a bad American accent?” You asked him laughing. He furrowed his eyebrows and opened his mouth but didn’t say anything, he looked as if he was trying to find the words to say. “B-but, t-that’s my voice.” he said confused.
“Oh shit, I’m so sorry.” You said and covered your face with your hands. That’s why you don’t have friends, stupid, you said to yourself.
Your face was burning and you felt absolutely embarrassed. How long have you been on set? Three hours? And you were already causing trouble.
He laughed. “Nevermind. What an awesome compliment. I mean, I’ve been working on it so hard and you thought that I was actually British but...What’s wrong with my voice? I think it’s a pretty convincing American accent. Anyway, thanks for the compliment.”
“I’m really really sorry, I don’t know why I said that.” Your face was still red. You wished the Earth would swallow you, you wanted to disappear from his sight. He put his hand on your shoulder.
“Hey, you don’t need to apologize. I really meant what I’ve said, it was a nice compliment, I’m prouder of myself now!” He assured you and gave you an expression that indicated everything was okay and there wasn’t anything bad at what you had said, he wasn’t mad at that.
You weren’t very convinced but after getting closer to him the following days, you realized that he was telling you the truth and there wasn’t anything you should worry about. After that, you both talked about each other’s lives. You found out he lived in New York, just as you. He was from there but you were from New Jersey. You told him how you ended up moving to New York to study and work on your acting career. Since that day, you both became very good friends. And the same thing happened with Ben, Gwilym, Rami and Lucy, you became close to them because of your new friendship with Joe.
“Let’s take a picture for Instagram.” Joe suggested. You stood next to him, with your right hand covering half of your mouth showing surprise and Joe put one of his hands on your fake belly and the other did the same as yours.
Lucy took the photo.
@Joe_Mazzello: Say hi to the Deacon family! @(y/n)(y/s/n) #BohemianRhapsody #Queen #DeaconFamily
~
The director was giving the last indications for the scene. We will rock you. You were on a sofa next to Joe, having a conversation as Ben did the same with the actress who played his wife and the one who was Gwilym’s wife sat there looking at him, while he was looking at Rami, completely annoyed. The girls were very good actresses but unfortunately, they weren’t very close to the rest of the cast and won’t be joining the future tour press since they have another projects in the pipeline.
“You look so funny in that blonde wig.” Joe teased you, knowing that you hated it.
Actually, Joe wanted to tell you that you looked beautiful, as always, but he wasn't bold enough to do it.
"Shut up or I'll take your wig off." You threatened him, he mocked you and rested his head on your shoulder.
And after that, Gwilym ordered everybody to join him. He came up with the beat of a new song he had been working on. Suddenly, all of you were clapping your hands at the third beat as Rami appeared and apologized for being late. He asked what was going on and Gwilym explained he wanted to give the audience a song they could perform and be part of it and you all began to sing and clap your hands.
"Cut!" The director shouted.
And everything was done. There were no scenes left, nothing else. After that, Rami suggested to go and have coffee. All of you were sat on the floor and drinking your coffee.
"I can't believe it's our last day." You said.
"I still remember the very first time you were on set." Gwilym said. "And the odd American accent." he moved his gaze from you to Joe and laughed.
"Oh no, please, I'm still ashamed of that." You begged him not no bring that back.
Memories from set were mentioned as you took a sip of coffee. You had a big smile on your face as you remembered probably one of the best days of your life and the best memory on set.
"Who's coming over?" You asked Rami, who was taking his crown off and put in on your head, you laughed.
"I don't know, darling. Maybe some fans." He shrugged. He got used to talking like Freddie.
After Freddie's party scene in Garden Lodge, the director suggedted to take a break and said that they had some guests on set that day.
"I thought we were going to film the I want to break free music video now." Gwilym said thoughtful with his hand on his chin.
"Hey mates, look who are here today!" Ben said as he, Joe and Lucy stood next to you, Rami and Gwilym and pointed at the door.
You couldn't believe your eyes when you saw them.
Brian May and Roger Taylor were a few feet away from you. Brian and Roger, from Queen, your favorite band, your idols.
"Hey folks, How are you doing today?" Asked Brian with a charming smile.
Everybody greeted them but you. You were in shock, your face was as white as a sheet and your jaw was slacked. Lucy seemed to notice you and held your hand.
Joe put his hand in your back and rubbed it softly. “Let’s go outside and catch some fresh air.”
“Hey, who’s this pretty lady?” Roger asked. He took off his black glasses.
“(Y/n) are you okay?” Lucy asked worried and the four men next to you turned to look.
Oh God, you were absolutely nervous. Never in your craziest dreams you thought about having this opportunity. You knew that Brian and Roger sometimes visited the set but you didn’t think they would do it a day you were there.
“I-I-I’m (Y/n)...” you extended your shaky hand. “Oh sorry for this, but I’m a big fan of Queen and...Oh God I can’t believe it!” Roger laughed and took your hand and shook it. You thought you were going to faint. You could feel your knees weaken.
“No! I’m okay” You were shaking.
“Wow, it’s nice to meet you. I’ve seen some pictures of you here on set with these amazing people, you’re doing amazing.” He said and Brian nodded.
“We’re finally meeting!” Brian said and you smiled with watery eyes.
Joe wondered what made you deal with so much pain, you'd never said anything about that. He felt his heart broke at the mere thought of you being in pain.
Brian and Roger were absolutely grateful for your words.
“I feel like I’m dreaming.” You laughed nervously. “You guys don’t have an idea of how much I appreciate you, your music helped me to heal so much pain and I will be forever grateful for that. I wanna show you something.” You said as you uncover your left wrist from your sleeve. You had a beautiful butterfly tattooed and under it, a lyric from one of your favorite songs by Queen, Spread your wings. “I’ve had this for over 12 years now and one of my biggest wishes was to show it to both of you someday and to thank you for everything."
“I’m glad our music help you in any possible way.” Brian said “And your tattoo is amazing. John would be very pleased If he saw it” You smiled.
“I love it.” Roger said. “Hey Bri, why don’t we take a photo with her for Instagram?”
“That would be nice.”
Oh my God.
"Let me be your photographer." Rami asked Brian for his phone and took some photos of your tattoo and others of you with them. A few minutes after that, your phone buzzed. Queen has tagged you on a post.
@OfficialQueenMusic: “So glad to meet a fan today that will be part of our upcoming movie. Thank you for sharing your story with us @(y/n)(y/s/n) #BohemianRhapsody”
That was, by far, the best day of your entire life.
“Hey, come back to Earth, where are you?” Ben asked moving a hand in your face. You shook your head.
“I was thinking about the first time I met Brian and Roger.” You blushed and he laughed.
“Oh, the day you almost pass out” Ben joked and you slapped him on his arm. “Hey, Am I telling a lie?”
“Of course I almost pass out, my eyes were lucky to see Brian and Roger in person.” You and Ben giggled.
“I’m going to miss you, do you know that?” Ben asked.
“So do I!” You hugged him. Smiling. "You know I'm going to visit you."
Those weeks on set made you realize how lucky you were to find such incredible people. After years and years of being alone in your misery. After the countless nights you cried yourself to sleep and feeling like a piece of shit for being so alone in this world, everything was making sense now.
You never told them about what you had been through. Being a teenager wasn’t easy. You wanted people to destroy the concept that your teenage years are supposed to be fun and those are the best years of your life because when you hit your late 20s, responsibilities are hard to manage and everything seems to be falling apart. Why couldn’t you be happy now?
Now, that you were 30, that everything was left behind. You wished you could say that you were a happy teenager and you didn’t have to fake a smile and pretend everything was okay. There were days you barely could get out of your house and see other people, or even worse, some days you couldn’t get out of bed and shower because there wasn’t any motivation at all. And no one understood. No one knew how hard it was being you, having such an stressful life that you worried about every little thing and it seemed you would never be at peace. You never felt safe. How hard it was to interact with others without thinking that they just did it to be nice to you or that they were desperately waiting for you to shut your fucking mouth. Isolation didn’t feel right. Loneliness didn’t feel right. Nothing felt right at all. You couldn’t keep pretending to be happy, you needed a reason to keep holding on, something that made you believe that your life was going to change, you wanted to be back on your feet and to know that all of that pain was gone.
Maybe it wasn’t so hard to be you, and eventually, you would find out where you belonged. You felt it was taking forever and you couldn’t wait for things to get better. You knew that someday things would be better and that your day would come. Sometimes you wished someone would save you, but you knew that you had to save yourself. If only you could find what you've been looking for. "How could this happen to me? "was the only thing that was always on your mind. You were sick of this life, you wanted to scream. You felt out of place, you were sick of feeling so left out.
And at that moment, you knew that your 18-year-old-self would be proud of you. Proud of the woman you had become and that now, all of your worries were left behind. You didn’t have to worry about that again, but it was still hard to open your heart and tell people about it. You weren’t embarrassed, it was part of you, part of your story but you didn’t want people to pity you.
You didn’t realize you were almost crying until Joe spoke.
“What’s going on?” He hugged you. Your vision was blurry, it was difficult for you to see clearly. You wiped your tears with your thumb and you chuckled.
“I’m very emotional today. I’m grateful for everything that this movie brought me, especially the five of you.”
There was a broad smile on Joe’s face. “Well, I’m glad you say that because you won’t get rid of me so easily, huh?” He joked. Joe always knew how to make you smile. But he was right, you lived like 30 minutes away from him, you would see each other everyday. “I have a list of places we’re visiting after coming back to New York.”
“That’s why I love you.” You hugged him again. He smiled.
Joe felt something on his chest. He wished that I love you meant something else than being loved as a friend, but at the same time, he didn’t want to feel like this, he didn’t want to be in love again. Since his last girlfriend cheated on him with his friend, he couldn’t feel anything for someone. All of his dates failed and he decided to take some time for himself.
But there was something Joe couldn’t deny, when you were near, everything seemed so easy, he could look into your eyes and forget the world.
“I love you even more.”
#joe mazzello x reader#joe mazzello#joe mazzello fic#joe mazzello fluff#joe mazzello imagine#joe mazzello fanfic#joe mazzello angst#borhap cast x reader#borhap cast#borhap boys x reader#borhap boys#joe mazzelo x reader#goldenmazzello
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