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floralseokjin · 3 years

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⤑ made-up love song iii.

Your first encounter with Kim Seokjin doesn’t go so well, nor your second, or your third… and maybe that’s because it shouldn’t work on paper. You’re an elementary school teacher, never left the country despite hitting the third decade of your life not so long ago, and you’re unable to remember the last time you dated. He’s the dad of one of your students, nearly a decade older than you and divorced. Oh yes, and just another minor detail – he’s a multimillionaire.

Your lives are lightyears apart, yet somehow, your paths having now crossed, things just seem to fall into place…

pairing; kim seokjin x reader au/genre/warnings; strangers to lovers, romance, eventual smut, eventual angst, single dad! seokjin, ceo! seokjin, elementary school teacher! oc, age gap (oc is 30, seokjin is 37), seokjin is a dilf, lots of lasagne talk, flirting, kissing, fluff 🥰 words; 9,340

↪︎ chapter index

chapters; i • ii • iii • iv • v • vi • vii • viii • ix • x • epilogue (+ drabbles)

After you had time to calm down, of course you ended up telling Soojung about what happened on the date. You kept some things to yourself, mainly about how giddy you had felt throughout the whole thing, but you were sure she could see that for herself – she kept looking at you knowingly, and for once she kept the teasing down to a minimum. You ended up staying awake quite late, Soojung opening a bottle of wine. You were still excited from the date and the thought of what was to come next, but somewhere along the line, you and your best friend started getting into your feelings. (Was it really a Saturday night until you and Soojung ended it with slightly drunk sappy heart to hearts and hugs? Obviously not…)

For the first time in a while you felt comfortable enough to open up about your love life (or lack of one) and felt it easy to talk about the past and to even bring up Donghae. He was a forbidden topic for the most part, no matter how much you were over him, but tonight had changed something. You didn’t know how to explain it, and no, it wasn’t because Seokjin was somehow the man of your dreams who had magically made things better with just one date. That was dumb and only happened in cliché Hallmark movies.

No, it was because tonight had shown you that life goes on. No matter what rock bottom you hit, or how long it took you to get over it, no hurt was forever. You’d been single for a long time, and happy at that – after you’d gotten over the heartbreak of Donghae cheating on you – but tonight you’d had fun. You’d enjoyed yourself, enjoyed Seokjin’s company. You didn’t know what would come of your second date, or if there would be a third, but you were okay with that. You were just living in the moment, and right now you really liked that infuriating-not-so-infuriating bastard.

You were taking a chance, just like he was, and it was actually pretty exciting…

You woke up late the next morning, something you didn’t reprimand yourself for because it was summer break after all, but also, you had a raging wine headache that had needed all the shut eye it could get. Your head was still throbbing slightly as you reached for your phone on the bedside table but seeing a text from Seokjin waiting for you made it miraculously disappear.

Seokjin (10:28am) Hi Y/N, Thank you for such a great time last night. I can’t wait until Saturday. Would it be alright with you if I kept in touch throughout the week? Seokjin

You giggled to yourself at his insane formalities. Why was that so adorable? But most importantly how could he be both cute and sexy at the same time? He was hellbent on making you lose your mind. You thought about teasing him, asking him when he’d grown comfortable enough to drop the Regards from yesterday, but despite how well last night had gone, and despite how much you loved joking around with him in person, over the phone seemed different. You were still a little nervous – giddy nervous, but nervous, nevertheless. Your conversation from last night with Soojung came back to you, reminding you that this was all too real. You were potentially catching feelings for this man, and it was new, and exciting, but equal parts terrifying now that you’d woken up with a hangover.

Everything you typed out in reply seemed way too stiff, so growing frustrated, you settled on an emoji to cut through the formalities.

You (10:49am) I had such a lovely time too, Seokjin. Of course it’s fine to keep in touch. I’m looking forward to Saturday night! 😊

What did he mean exactly about keeping in touch?, you wondered as you got out of bed, padding your way down the stairs and into the kitchen for a much needed glass of ice cold water. A good morning text? A how are you? You knew he was busy with work all week, so you weren’t expecting too much, but just knowing he wanted to stay in contact until next Saturday made you smile to yourself as you waited for his response.

You didn’t have to wait long.

Seokjin (10:55am) Great! I’m so excited to try your World famous Italian lasagne 😁

Cute. He’d followed your lead, ditching the last of the formalities and even signing off with an emoji instead. You instantly felt more at ease, but –

Oh no.

Why did he have to bring that up and remind you of your humiliating blunder? You knew what would be taking up all of your time for the few days – you needed to perfect this goddamn dish.

Soojung on the other hand was unbothered by your predicament. Mind in the gutter as always. “Do you think that’s a euphemism for something else?” She asked straight away once you’d shown her your messages a few hours later.

“Soojung!” You exclaimed, feeling yourself get a little hot in the face. You wish she’d stop bringing up sex, it was stressing you out. You told her as much.

“You’re the one who’s invited him to your house for a second date.”

You stared at her, greatly unimpressed. “You know why I invited him here.”

You’d told her last night. You’d been hit with a surge of confidence when you’d suggested it was your turn to decide on something. In truth though, you didn’t know the first thing about restaurants, you hardly ever ate out, and when you did it was either fast food or at the food court in the department store Soojung worked at. You knew he wouldn’t have minded any choice you’d made, but that didn’t stop the slight apprehension you felt.

It was normal, given your difference in lifestyles, and whilst that seemed to be no issue thankfully, that difference was still there. However really, that’s why you’d chosen to cook for him. Seokjin had shown you something close to him last night – the restaurant he owned with his brother, and now you were to show him something close to your heart. Something that was you. You loved cooking and baking in your spare time and you wanted to share that with him however small. Granted it was things you were confident with, but lasagne couldn’t be that hard, right? A true perfectionist, you’d master it quickly enough…

Soojung rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you could suggest McDonald’s and Dilf would be insanely happy.” She nudged you, squealing like a kid. “He’s just so into you!”

You wouldn’t bite. She was making you nervous again. “Stop calling him Dilf, he has a name.”

“Geez, sorry.” She held up her hands in apology. “Didn’t mean to offend your man.”

You pushed her shoulder, silently telling her to quit it.

For the next few days it became your life’s goal to master the art of lasagne. Sunday night was spent googling recipes, trying to find the most authentic one. There seemed to be a lot of fuss on the right type of pasta. Flat edged would be fine, but the wavy edge was best. You made note of that. Next was the sauce. Two types. The tomato based one and then the white one – which you learned was called Bechamel. That seemed pretty easy to cook up, but the former seemed a little daunting. Every time you’d had pasta sauce in the past it had been premade, starting from scratch was giving you anxiety. Seokjin thought this was your expertise so you had to make it believable. What if you made it too salty? Too bland?

…Possibly you were thinking way too hard about this. Soojung thought the same.

“Just buy it in a jar, Y/N, for Christ’s sake. You’re taking this way too seriously. You don’t need to learn fluent Italian to make your little white lie believable. It’s a goddamn lasagne.”

She had a point.

“He’d be happy with a sandwich. He’s coming over for you, not the shitty lasagne.”

“Don’t call my non-existent lasagne shitty, you’re setting me up for failure.” You grumbled, looking at the ten tabs you had up on your laptop screen, all claiming to be the best most authentic recipe around.

On Monday you went shopping for ingredients. You knew a small world foods store that was just outside of town, you’d been there a couple of times when you’d been baking with the children for class. With help from signposted aisles, you found what you were looking for in no time at all, so that night, you and Soojung both tucked into your first (sort of) homemade lasagne. Only the Bechamel sauces was harder to master than you’d first thought.

“I think you added too much flour.” Soojung’s nose wrinkled as she spoke. “It’s nice, don’t get me wrong, but the white stuff… I don’t know, maybe it’s supposed to taste like that?”

Nope, she was definitely correct, too much flour, which was odd because you were pretty positive you’d followed the right measurements…

Tuesday you had a day off from the sight, and even the word lasagne. You met for coffee with your mom but kept the date with Seokjin a secret. Not that she pressed about your love life anymore, she’d long given up on that topic. It was nice to catch up and you made plans for a trip soon. It was hard to find time to visit her when you were in work so you were always thankful for the summer and Christmas breaks. You were her only child, so it made your time together even more precious. She’d only remarried ten years ago, and while Jonathon had kids from his first marriage, they lived abroad. They were older than you and had families of their own. You weren’t particularly close for no other reason than the distance. You’d only met them a few times but they were lovely people. Your father had remarried while you were still in high school, having two more children (a son and daughter) with his wife. You were very close to them despite the age gap and saw them as regularly as you could. Your extended family had long been the norm and you wouldn’t change it for the world.

Wednesday you were back on the lasagne. You purchased more pasta sauce and decided on the pre-made Bechamel sauce too, just to be safe. This time around everything went smoothly, Soojung had no complaints and neither did you, but you still invited Taehyung around on Thursday for a third go. He was way more enthusiastic than your best friend, singing your praises all night.

“Y/N, that was amazing!” He exclaimed, leaning back in his chair to pat his belly. “Dilf dick – Uh, I mean, Seokjin, is going to love it.”

“Guys, is that what you really call him when you’re alone together?” You whined.

“Blame Soo,” Taehyung shrugged. “She’s rubbed off on me. But, I’m right,” he smirked. “He’s going to want to give you his DD once he tastes this, if you know what I mean.”

Wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, you looked on unimpressed. Maybe if you gave them no reaction they’d stop?

“Oooo. I wonder what his dick even looks like. I bet it’s as handsome as his face.” Soojung squealed, sat beside her boyfriend.

“SOOJUNG!” He cried, mouth open in disbelief.

“Can we just stop talking about his… y’know…” You sighed, unable to say the word aloud. “Imagine if it was the other way around and he was wondering about what I looked like naked.” Soojung wouldn’t be impressed, that was for sure.

“Fine, you’re right,” your best friend sighed. “I’m just way too excited because you finally like someone!!” She was getting loud now, she always did when she was excited. “And I want it to work out because you deserve it!”

You chuckled. “Soo, calm down.” But you had to admit her words were sweet. You reached for her hand across the tiny table, giving it a gentle squeeze of thanks.

“What about Barman dick?” Taehyung asked randomly, totally oblivious that you and she were having a moment. “Huh? Soo? You want my Barman dick tonight?” He wiggled his eyebrows again, a playfulness to his voice as he nudged her.

She giggled but wasn’t having any of it. “It doesn’t really have the same ring to it, babe.”

Highly offended he pulled away, pursing his lips. “Whatever.”

“Okay guys, let’s not have a domestic at the dining table.” You laughed. Which was a mistake because now Taehyung’s attention was back on you.

“So, Y/N, when are you going to invite Mr. Dilf to my bar?”

You sniggered. “How about never?”

“Hey, you ladies are being very mean tonight. I complimented your lasagne.” Hm. That was true, you guessed. “What’s wrong with my bar? I think he’d love it. What does he drink? I see him as a dark rum type of guy.”

You shrugged. “He was drinking red wine on our date last week.” It still made you feel funny to say the word date. You’d gone on a date. You were dating. A flurry of excitement found its way to your stomach, your excitement for Saturday growing.

“Interesting,” Taehyung mused.

Soojung stood up, starting to collect your plates. “Okay, I’m washing, who’s drying?”

“Not me,” you sang. “I’ve cooked nearly every night this week.”

Soojung eyes were wide when you met them, as if she was silently begging you. For what? “Just please promise me there won’t be any lasagne waiting for me after work tomorrow night? I’m going to turn into one at this rate.”

Saturday arrived soon enough. You woke up the same time your phone went Bing and you knew exactly who it was. Seokjin had been texting you Good morning every day since Monday. He was no longer signing them off with his name, which was progress, and he was even adding more emojis, so you guessed you had rubbed off on him.

Sometimes he’d drop a meme with the greeting. They were mostly to do with early mornings and workloads to which you’d tease him about because it was your summer vacation after all, you didn’t need to worry about work. But you always sent a Hope today runs smoothly his way too. You didn’t want to rub it in too much.

Yesterday’s meme had been about dating, something about the guy trying to flirt but being garbage at it and asking if she liked cheese. You didn’t agree that was like Seokjin though – you were gradually learning that he was incredibly modest – but it had made you laugh. Only Seokjin could send you lame memes and you’d find it adorable… You were possibly whipped.

Seokjin (8:01am) Good morning. [Image sent]

Today the meme was about lasagne, which made you question whether he was googling these every morning because no way had a lasagne meme popped up on his social media – if he used any at all. The realisation that he was searching for memes every day was even more endearing and your heart got a little gooey. You read the text on top of the image of lasagne. Dude, is that your new white shirt? Lemme just hop off this fork for a closer look. You genuinely laughed at that one, still wrapped up in your bed sheets. So incredibly lame, but equal levels funny.

Seokjin (8:01am) I will not be wearing white… I can’t wait to see you later. Just a reminder that I hope you omitted the garlic for tonight’s meal. I don’t want to embarrass myself by itching all night 😅😂

Immediately the smile dropped from your face and you shot forward, horror washing over you. Oh no. He was allergic to garlic. With the stress of perfecting the world’s best lasagne you’d totally forgotten. What were you going to do? Find a plain tomato sauce? Where the hell were you going to find one? Was that even a thing? You needed to leave now. Jumping out of bed you almost forgot to message Seokjin back. Looking at your phone again the image of the lasagne mocked you…

Two hours later you were back at home, in need of a sit down after you’d rushed around town looking for a pasta sauce that didn’t contain garlic (very hard, by the way.) The stress had aged you about ten years. Soojung of course found it highly hilarious.

“You’d have been in ER before 9pm,” she chortled, still in her pyjamas on the couch. She’d been still asleep when you’d dashed off, a woman on a lasagne mission.

You ignored her. It wouldn’t have been that bad, right? He said himself he’d only be itching… Clawing off his own skin was probably better than his throat closing up… maybe…

“How did you manage to forget?” She was still laughing. “AND you said you’d make a lasagne. Italian food always uses garlic. He must think you’re trying to kill him.” At this point you could hardly understand her, words blurring into one as she lost her shit.

“We went over this. I wasn’t in my right mind when I said I’d cook lasagne.”

She stopped her laugher immediately. “No way, you’re not blaming me again.”

“Ugh.” You sighed, suddenly remembering something. “I was going to make my homemade garlic bread.” Now that was a speciality of yours. This night was going to be a disaster.

“Skip the garlic,” Soojung suggested.

“So, just bread then.”

She tried her best not to laugh again, not wanting to make it worse. “Yum.”

It didn’t help.

What did help though, was making her clean the entirety of the downstairs of the house. As the day went on you started to get more and more nervous, which was silly, but you couldn’t help it. You realised that your place was a shoe box in comparison to his, what the hell were you thinking when you’d invited him here?! It needed to be spotless, to distract him from the fact you would be eating dinner in the same place you would be cooking it…

You knew there was no need to worry, it was just like last week when you’d grown self-conscious only to be fine once you’d set eyes on Seokjin. No doubt tonight would be just the same, he didn’t give a crap about stuff like that, so why would you even think he would? He’d probably be hurt if he knew… You just couldn’t help those little bubbles of insecurities from floating around inside your brain. You were a law unto yourself, and the garlic-less lasagne wasn’t helping. You’d had no time to prep for it. What if it tasted like cardboard?

“Lasagne is lasagne,” Soojung reassured you, in the kitchen as you got all the ingredients together. “It’s not going to taste gross just because there’s no garlic in it. Put it this way, at least you can kiss without needing to pop a mint.”

You whined, shaking your head, you couldn’t even dare thinking about kissing him right now. You’d spontaneously combust from anxiety.

“Should we clean your room too?” She asked, picking up the jar of pasta sauce absentmindedly. You’d already read the label approximately fifteen times, double checking it was indeed garlic-less.

“What? No,” you told her, voice all high-pitched. There would be no going upstairs besides from bathroom usage. “But hey,” you exclaimed, rounding on her with the spoon you were holding in your hand. “My room is always clean, bitch.”

She was the messy one.

Soojung left for Taehyung’s place at half 6, ready for Seokjin’s arrival at 7pm, a hug for good luck before you waved her off. You’d calmed greatly now, nothing like some table laying to ease some nerves. The lasagne was prepped and ready to oven cook, you had a fresh key lime pie in the fridge and you were dressed and presentable with ten minutes to spare. Wonderful.

The doorbell rung not long after you’d made your way downstairs and you were quickly finding out that Seokjin was a very punctual man. Opening the door to reveal him stood at the porch your heart instantly warmed, skipping a beat when he gave you a dazzling smile and a soft Hey. You felt a little weak at the knees. Nope, you were not ready for tonight.

In your tiny entryway he offered you a silver gift bag. “I didn’t know what to bring, so.” He said with a shrug as you pulled out a bottle of red wine.

“Oh, thank you, Seokjin.” You hadn’t been expecting him to bring anything at all. It was a lovely surprise.

“You probably have some waiting already. I’m sorry.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” you reassured him. “We’ll use this one.” You were going to use a bottle of white wine you had laying around, nothing special at all. Red wine seemed better, fancier, maybe it would go better with the lasagne?

“Are you sure?” He asked. “I was gonna get you flowers but I didn’t want to freak you out or anything.”

You laughed. What was he going on about? “Why would that freak me out?”

His smile was crooked as he chuckled quietly. “I don’t know. I’m new to this, I thought they would’ve been too forward.”

You gave a small shrug, voice barely there when you replied. “I like flowers.”

He gazed at you, warm eyes softening as he stepped forward. “Next time.” He smiled. “Next time I’ll get you flowers.”

You swallowed fairly loudly, averting your gaze as you outstretched your arms. “Let me take you coat.” Was it hot in here? You felt a little stuffy.

He shrugged off the beige wool blend, revealing the tight fitting black shirt he had on underneath. It stretched over his shoulders, accentuating how broad they were, how hard his chest was and how much his waist curved inwards. The pants he was wearing didn’t help matters too. He looked effortlessly gorgeous, hair parted to the side, a piece curled above his left eye, softening the blow of his exposed forehead. You moved to hook his coat on the rack, realising you could’ve been gawping. Not that you could help it, the man was trying to kill you.

As you turned to face him again, he smiled. “You look really nice.” His voice was soft which just made it even more dangerous. “I think this may be the first time I’ve seen you in pants.”

“Really?” You wondered. You were partial to a dress in the summer, so he was probably right. You’d chosen a pair of black skinny jeans and a patterned chiffon blouse. Nothing too fancy, but he looked at you with awe-filled eyes. Unless you were imagining it. You cleared your throat. “You look good too.”

He stepped back, arms outstretched as he looked down at himself. “Thanks. No white.” He chuckled.

You forced yourself to laugh too, nerves creeping back just because of your stupid damn lasagne. “No white.”

Moving forward again he took your hand. It was warm and soft, just as you remembered from last week. Who cared about the lasagne when you were this close to him? When he was looking down at you with those brown, twinkly eyes? Not you anymore.

“I’ve been looking forward to this all week, Y/N.”

Oh.

You invited him inside the living room first, pouring him a small (and his only because he the car) glass of wine as you chit chatted for a few minutes. Sat next to him was RJ, who you’d taken from your bedroom to join you both for the night. He wanted to say Hi, had been your opening line and Seokjin had found it hilarious, cracking up instantly. Although his “I missed you buddy, how have you been?” went rudely ignored. Maybe the alpaca was nervous…

Ever the gentleman, he complimented you on the house, noting the décor with a fond eye. That surprised you, maybe he had played a part with the interior of his home. Well, you’d only seen the cosy family room – but it suited him very well. You knew there had been no need to be nervous when it came to inviting him into your home. There wasn’t a judging bone in Seokjin’s body.

You talked about your weeks, yours had been fine, but of course you left out all the stress over the lasagne. Seokjin’s week on the other hand had been quite demanding, but that was nothing new he told you with an accepting shake of his hand. He was used to it by now, but he had to admit tonight’s date had made it easier this time around. He was full of the charm, not that you were complaining…

Misook was babysitting Arin tonight, he told you when you asked how she was. It was his weekend this week, he and Nana took it in turns – when she didn’t cancel, he added as an afterthought – but he seemed a lot more relaxed talking about his ex-wife this time around seeing as last weekend she hadn’t broken any promises. He was happy if his daughter was happy, and that made you smile. You remembered Arin’s sorrowful face that day her mom had cancelled on her, so you were glad they’d found time to spend time together. You also remembered how irritated Seokjin had sounded when he was opening up to you on the bench at the school fate… You wondered just how often Nana cancelled plans, and couldn’t imagine how frustrating that was for both Arin and Seokjin… You hoped this marked the start of things being easier for them now.

Soon after that, you served him your starter (“garlic – wait, no I mean, no-garlic bread.”), and you chatted some more over that and while the lasagne baked. It was surprising how little you’d touched the sides on your first date, so tonight you covered even more bases. Family mainly. You told him about your half and step siblings, your parents’ remarriages of course coming up too. He seemed interested in that, wondering about your views on it and if it had affected you as you grew up. As a divorcee you understood the relevance to him and because he was so easy to talk to you found yourself opening up freely.

His parents were still married and Seokjin was the youngest out of their two sons, so it was quite unheard of for the second born to take over a family company. In fact, it was the first of its kind for his, which made it even harder for him. His older brother had been the rightful heir to LG Electronics but his passion had always been in culinary arts. His parents had been kind enough to let him follow his dreams, and thankfully, for Seokjin, that meant he could follow in his father’s footsteps. He’d been eager to prove himself but it had been hard in the beginning. His status as the youngest son meant that a lot of people set him up for failure, but with his family’s love and belief he’d managed to succeed and confirm himself as the rightful CEO. You didn’t doubt it. It seemed he’d worked hard to get where he was now. That was admirable.

The influx of information was so interesting to you and it didn’t feel real. While you could imagine Seokjin taking charge, visualising him in that tailored houndstooth suit he’d worn when you’d first met him, it was strange to think the smiley and soft-spoken man sat in front of you was from a long line of power and wealth. He should be untouchable, yet here you were able to reach for his hand across the table. Able to feel his forefinger stroking delicate patterns into your palm as you opened up and got to know one another more and more…

“So, if your family’s a big deal, what about things like arranged marriages? Are they still a thing?” You asked, maybe confusing fiction for fact.

Seokjin laughed at your wording. “They used to be, not so much anymore. I met my ex-wife through a friend. They concentrate less on things like that these days.” He shrugged, adding as an afterthought, “As a divorced CEO I think I’m a great example of that.”

That was true, you thought to yourself, wondering how the breakdown of his marriage had also played a part in the stress of his early years as CEO.

“I know it all sounds pretty crazy, but I like to think my family is just like anyone else’s.” He continued, smiling bashfully when you met his gaze. “That I’m just like anyone else.”

You wondered how many people had immediately judged him because of his status… You’d been one of them, right? Even if you hadn’t known any of the details, you’d written him off as some obnoxious, rich guy who flaunted his wealth… You felt guilty thinking back. He was the complete opposite.

You nodded in agreement before grinning. “I’d have liked to see what college Seokjin was like.”

“A complete nerd, to tell you the truth.”

He answered so seriously, you didn’t know how to react, and then he was laughing loudly, cracking up at himself. You couldn’t help but join in. That’s when your stove alarm went off, shrill and incessant, signalling the arrival of the dreaded lasagne…

It turned out he loved it though.

“This is amazing,” Seokjin praised, mouth still half full as he chewed. You did have to admit it was good. It tasted just like the original, despite the lack of garlic. Seokjin quirked an eyebrow, smirking your way. “So, how lucky am I to be able to try this World famous Italian lasagne?”

“Very lucky.” You kept your answer short. Hoping he’d just drop it.

He didn’t.

“How lucky?” He tried to pry from you. “How many people have tried it?”

You gave him a small smile, hovering your fork over the plate. Technically he was the third, but you couldn’t tell him that, could you? “I can’t disclose that.”

He emitted a short laugh. “What about the recipe? Care to share?”

You brushed him off with a soft chuckle. “A chef never tells her secrets.”

“Not even me?” His bottom lip jutted out as he looked across at you.

Your heart did a little dance. He was being unfair. “Don’t pout like that, it’s making me feel guilty.”

Thankfully the lasagne topic fizzled out after a couple more minutes, your cold sweat having time to dissipate while you chatted and ate together comfortably. However a few minutes later you noticed Seokjin fidgeting slightly in his seat. You politely ignored it to begin with, unsure if you were just imagining it, but then he started itching the back of his neck. You put your fork down, a sick feeling washing over you. “Is anything wrong?” You asked, now watching him itch up his forearm. “Seokjin?”

He looked at you in mild confusion, eyebrows creasing together as he opened his mouth. “Are you sure there wasn’t any garlic in this?”

You swallowed away the panic racing up your throat. “I’m sure.” You’d read the back of that jar and then read it some more. “I’m positive.”

… Weren’t you? You watched him scoot his chair back, leaning down to start scratching the back of his calves. He made noises of discomfort as he did so.

“Oh, no…” You were up before you could stop yourself, racing around him to start hunting in the recycling for the glass jar.

“Wait, where are you going?”

You could hear Seokjin’s voice behind you, sounding alarmed, but you were too panicked to really take it in. You needed to be sure. This was just your second date, you couldn’t ruin things already. Turning him into one giant itchy red blob had not been your intention.

“I was only teasing you.” Still, his words didn’t sink in. That was until you felt a hand on your elbow, tugging gently for your attention.

You spun around, worried eyes wide – even wider when you found him so close. He was on his feet too, bent a little to level with you, pretty much within kissing distance. His voice was soft when he spoke, you found yourself distracted by his mouth. “Y/N, I was just messing around.”

You blinked, not truly understanding with all those annoying distractions zooming around your mind, but slowly you pieced his words together. Oh. Despite the relief you felt, now you just felt silly. Plus, he was still so close to you…

You took a step back, the small of your back pressing up against the counter. You needed a clear head. “Don’t freak me out like that.” You told him, but you still sighed in relief, hand against your chest. “I thought I’d poisoned you.”

He looked a little concerned, but you could tell by his eyes he found your reaction amusing. “I’m sorry,” he apologised. “I just wanted to make you laugh.”

“Make me laugh? You nearly gave me heart failure.” However, you gave him what he wanted, a laugh that sounded weak and shaky, but it was something – you did see the funny side.

He joined you, shoulders relaxing now that he knew you were okay. He looked behind you, eyes on the trashcan, a bemused smile on his face. “What were you looking for anyway?”

“The jar.” You answered, as if it wasn’t obvious. You turned, deciding to fish it out anyway. Holding it up to him, you were adamant. “See, no garlic. Check.”

He chuckled. “I already said I was joking.” He took one look at your desperate expression and gave in, taking the jar from your hand. “But if it makes you feel better…” You watched him as he read the label, silently soaking in his handsome features. He looked softer tonight, the curve of his jaw rounding as he smiled. It took you a moment to realise he was done. He handed the jar back to you, and you prayed to God he hadn’t caught you staring at him all gooey-eyed. “It’s fine.” He confirmed. “I’ll be itch free tonight.”

You smiled and plopped the glass back inside the can. “I looked around town for hour trying to find lasagne sauce sans garlic.”

He looked guilty. “I’m sorry for being awkward.” Then he paused, eyes narrowing, the hint of a smirk itching at the corners of his mouth. “But… Y/N, are you a fraud?” Huh? What did he mean? You didn’t need to wait long for an explanation. “I thought a certified chef would cook up a batch of her own tomato sauce.”

Oh. You’d gone and put your foot in it, hadn’t you? It was probably time to explain yourself… “I have a confession,” you began, sounding wary. Seokjin looked interested albeit it mildly confused. “I… may have told a little white lie.”

He shook his head, a puff of laughter leaving him. “You’ve lost me.”

You took a deep breath, knowing you were going to have to spell it out for him. “I’ve never made lasagne before. Ever. In my entire life.”

He looked confused as silence spread out between you. He sounded it too when he spoke again. “Then why did you say it was your speciality?”

You groaned, dropping your face into your hands for one dramatic moment. “I panicked.” Peeking at him, you babbled on. “I know it sounds stupid but Soojung was curtain twitching and it was stressing me out and then you were asking me what I cooked and lasagne just popped into my head!”

Seokjin blinked, his mouth twitched and then he was laughing – loudly.

“You find it funny?” You asked, relaxing a tad.

“Very.” He laughed harder but seeing the look of bafflement on your face he tried is best to still it.

“I’ve been practicing it like crazy,” you whined, happy you could finally tell him all about your lasagne struggles. “This is my fourth time eating it this week. Soojung nearly killed me.” You snorted at the memory. This started up Seokjin again. “And then I forgot you were allergic to garlic. Your text reminded me this morning and I had to rush out to the grocery store.”

He was weak at the knees at that, and you were laughing just because he was. It was contagious. “Stop,” you wailed, attempting to get a hold of yourself. This week had actually been quite traumatic. “I’m glad you find it funny, I’ve been in constant stress ever since you drove off last week.”

“I can’t help it.” He chuckled, although he did sound apologetic. “You’re just so adorable.” The air that settled around his effortless admission made your skin prickle. When he carried on, his tone was gentle. “You know I wouldn’t have minded if you changed the menu to something else, right?”

You pouted ever so slightly. “But you were looking forward to it.”

He gave a small shrug. “True, but… that was more so code for ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you again.’ The food was just a bonus. I’d be happy with a Big Mac.”

You felt your cheeks burn and you tried to shake yourself out of it. “So embarrassing,” you murmured. You didn’t know what for… The lasagne mess or the fact he could have this much of an effect of you? You were inclined to go with the latter.

“What about the no-garlic bread?” Seokjin asked, changing the subject a little. Maybe he’d sensed your embarrassment and didn’t want to make it worse. He was sweet. “Did you make that?”

“Yeah,” you nodded. “Well, I didn’t bake the bread. I just toasted it.” It was still a speciality of yours though. “It would’ve been much tastier with the garlic.”

He gave you an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. This body wants to turn me into a miserable old man.”

Pfft. Old? Miserable? He was anything but.

“Sit,” he prompted you, smiling as he motioned with his head to the table. “Finish your World famous Italian lasagne before it grows cold.”

As you moved he delicately cupped his hand around the curve your waist, giving it a soft squeeze before he got to his chair first. Your stomach flipped, head dizzy as you sat and tucked your chair in. Last Saturday popped into your head, the way you’d loosely held hands outside and how you were sure he’d been leaning in to kiss you – properly.

You knew one thing. You really wanted to kiss him tonight.

Trying to get a hold of yourself, you glanced at him, catching his eyes. He was already tucking in again, and he grinned bashfully, as if embarrassed. “This really is great. All that practice paid off.” A pause. “You should show me how you cooked it sometime.”

Your face lit up in surprise. “You cook?” In the back of your mind you were aware that he’d probably been hinting for a third date, but you were so shocked by the possibly of Seokjin cooking you couldn’t stop yourself from asking.

He chuckled quietly. “I mean, when I have time and can be bothered. I like cooking but it’s just easier to go to a restaurant or get it delivered.” He looked sheepish before adding, “Or Misook does it for me.”

There was no shame when it came to that. Seokjin probably worked all hours of the day, no one could expect him to tie on an apron when he got home and start pulling out pots and pans.

“Do you cook a lot?” He asked.

You nodded. “Soojung and I take it in turns.”

“So what is your speciality?” He smiled.

This time around you were in your right mind and able to answer properly. “Veggie tacos.”

He raised his eyebrows, impressed. Then he tried again. “Can you make them for me sometime?”

He was persistent, you’d give him that. You shrugged, trying your best to sound impassive but the little smirk gave it away. “Maybe if you say please…”

He laughed, leaning forward, a hand clasping yours as he tilted his head. The piece of curled hair falling into his left eye. “Please?”

Your heart did another little dance inside your chest.

After dessert you both made your way back to the living room, settling on your couch with two pomegranate mocktails Taehyung had prepared for you yesterday. All you had to do was add the pomegranate juice and lemonade to the ice cubes and crushed lime segments and mint before serving, easy-peasy. Seokjin was highly impressed, but of course you couldn’t take the credit. It was all down to your best friend’s very helpful barman boyfriend.

You were glad Seokjin wanted to stay as you didn’t want the night to be over yet. It had flown by so fast and you’d had so much fun. You already felt like you knew him better, even after only two dates. It was strange to you, how you could feel so relaxed in a stranger’s company, but then again, you guessed he wasn’t a stranger anymore… Plus, he was so easy to talk to, so interesting to get to know…. Everything between you two came easy.

Like opening up to him, being a bit more vulnerable…

“I’ve been slightly nervous all week,” you admitted, clutching your drink to you before chuckling softly. “– and not just about the lasagne faux pas…”

“There was no need to be nervous. I thought we left all that behind on the first date,” Seokjin reassured, smiling warmly your way.

You were sat together, turned to face one another. It was intimate and cosy. He had one leg lifted, the ankle resting on the knee of the other leg, and where his pants had ridden up, you could see an inch or so of his calf before it met the black cotton of his sock. For some reason, you found that very, very sexy. Maybe you had been single for far too long.

“We did,” you agreed, hesitating slightly. “It’s just… I haven’t done anything like this in so long.”

You didn’t even think you’d ever invited someone around for dinner before. You were still quite young when you found yourself in a relationship with Donghae so your dates before him had been very basic. Your dates with him hadn’t really classed as such just because you became official fairly quickly, and your dates after him, well, it was already known that they had been few and far between.

“You already know we’re in the same boat,” he smiled before chuckling bashfully. “No, but really, when I asked you for dinner that day at the fate I was expecting you to turn me down.”

“How come?”

He looked down at his drink, lifting a shoulder. “I thought you’d think that I was crossing a line… or maybe the spark I was feeling was all in my head and in reality you just found me really annoying.”

That was cute. He’d been doubting himself. Human after all. Not that you’d ever thought he wasn’t. You still didn’t miss the opportunity to joke around though. “I mean, both can exist simultaneously.” He taking a sip of his mocktail when you replied so he ended up snorting into his glass, amused by your wit.

A moment or so passed and Seokjin gazed at you, smiling softly. If he kept this up, you’d be a puddle on your parquet flooring. “So, tell me,” he hummed. “How did I luck out so good?” You raised an eyebrow, wondering what he meant. “How come an amazing person like you isn’t married or in a relationship?”

He must’ve seen the slight shock on your face and panicked instantly. “Is that a weird thing to ask? I feel like it is. I apologise.”

“No,” you insisted, sitting up a little straighter. He followed. “No, it’s not.” You wanted to open up to him. You really did. You just didn’t know where to start. Although, it was pretty simple. “I’ve been single for a while.”

“How long?” Seokjin was instantly focused, attentive, noticing the change in your body language.

“Three years. My last relationship didn’t end very well.” You paused, wondering if you should continue. But then… It had been a massive part of your life. No matter how much time had passed and no matter how okay you were now, it had still happened. And Seokjin, he had trusted you enough to open up about his divorce – even before you’d gone on your first date. You wanted to talk about it. You really did.

“I found out my fiancé was cheating on me.”

Seokjin’s eyes widened, unable to cloak his surprise. He hadn’t been expecting that. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said sincerely.

“It’s fine,” you smiled. “It was rough getting over it. Took me a while, but it is what it is. It’s in the past now.”

“Did it put you off dating?”

You were pleasantly surprised to find it was actually easy to talk to Seokjin about this. Your mouth was opening before you had to think about it. “I mean, at first. I was still very much in love with him, even after he broke my heart. But I got over him and I started dating again – briefly – It just didn’t feel right.” You stopped to smile. “It’s been over a year and I can’t say I missed it… but you…” Nerves growing, you pushed them away. “You’ve changed that. I’m having fun.”

Seokjin’s face lit up and he chuckled. “I did hit second date status after all.”

“You did…”

“So,” he leaned closer, a small smirk on his face. “You could say, hitting your car that day wasn’t actually my fault because it was supposed to happen.”

You snorted as you laughed, head falling against the back of the couch. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

He made a sound. “But we wouldn’t have met otherwise.”

“We would!” You exclaimed. “The parent-teacher meeting.”

He blinked, feeling dumb. “Oh, yeah.”

It wouldn’t have had the same effect, granted, but you would have become acquainted with one another regardless. “Would you have still liked me?” You asked without thinking, surprising yourself.

“Yes,” he replied immediately. “I was instantly attracted to you after all, it’s just…” Instantly attracted? Definitely a charmer... “There would’ve been no way for me to get to know you like I did.”

You narrowed your eyes. “You’re really adamant that you had to reverse into my car to make this work, huh.”

He shrugged casually. “It was the only way.”

You laughed quietly, finishing the last of your drink. Time was getting on, it was pretty late, Seokjin had already finished his, you watched him sit up to lean forward and place the glass on your coffee table. His shirt tightened across his shoulder blades and you could see his back muscles as he stretched. Oh.

Settling back into the same position, he looked over at you and grinned. His teeth were perfect. Did this man have zero flaws? Why were you so whipped? It was embarrassing.

“I had fun tonight,” you told him, trying to keep a lid on whatever was going on with you right now.

He seemed pleased with that, nodding his head. “I’m happy to hear that you think I’m a fun person.”

You scoffed, body falling closer to his. Your shoulders brushed together. Seokjin didn’t take his eyes off you. “Hm. I don’t think I said that.”

“Hey, don’t be so mean.” He murmured, one side of his mouth quirking up.

Like you couldn’t stop yourself, your hand reached for the collar of shirt. He had the top two buttons loose and your pinkie finger brushed against his collarbone. Sparks flew, but you tried to ignore them. “I thought you liked it when I was mean.” You teased, voice low.

Seokjin hummed, his eyes still twinkled like they always did but there was something else to them, a depth that made you feel funny. He sunk closer to you. So close you could study the thick curve of his eyelashes, notice that both his eyelids were different. He really did have beautiful eyes. You could stare at them forever.

Preoccupied, you slowly realised that he was watching you too, studying your features in the golden glow of the floor lamp that hovered over the couch. His lips parted, you heard them rather than saw it, but then your attention was on them again. Just like it had been earlier on in the night. He was staring at yours too as he spoke. “I wanted to kiss you last week.”

You heartbeat quickened but you tried to keep cool. “You did kiss me.” You laughed.

He sighed. “On the cheek.”

You lightly tugged his collar, fingertips now brushing the skin of his chest. “Isn’t that what you said you wanted to do?”

You could feel his own heartbeat against your forearm that was pressed into him. It was definitely running a little faster than it was supposed to – stronger. “Yes, but…” He glanced up to your eyes. “I was just being polite. I wanted to kiss your lips.”

It felt like you were holding your breath. Maybe you were, you just couldn’t think straight. Time seemed to stretch out, but you knew what you wanted. So you went after it. Giving him a small smile, you replied. “Maybe I wanted that too.”

He swallowed, voice so low now it was barely a murmur. “Is that an invitation?” His eyes bounced to your lips again, then back to your eyes as he asked permission. “Can I kiss you?”

You ever so slightly dragged your bottom lip beneath your teeth as you nodded, breath catching in your throat as Seokjin leaned forward and closed the distance between you. The hand in between your bodies moved to delicately hold the wrist of your arm against his chest, holding you there as his other hand reached for your jaw, angling your face to press a kiss to your mouth. His eyes were already closed so you followed.

He hummed at the contact, his lips soft and warm and you let yourself sink. His actions were light at first, faint as he kept constant pressure, as if he was familiarising himself with the sensation. You couldn’t even let yourself think about how this was the first kiss you’d shared with someone for a very long time. All that was going through your mind was how good it felt to be touched like this by him.

He readjusted the hand on your face, tucking some hair behind your ear to cup your cheek. You liked that. You liked it when he touched you, and he eased from your mouth completely before coming back with a firmer pressure. It was your turn to make a sound; a tiny gasp as your lips began to move together ever so slowly. He liked that, a hum of satisfaction vibrating against the soft skin of your lips. You clutched at his shirt, gathering the crisp cotton in your fist, that would surely turn it creased, but he didn’t seem to mind. He was too preoccupied with reaching for the glass you’d forgotten was hugged to your body by your free hand.

He unclasped it from your fingers and had no choice but to break away from your mouth to put it next to his on the coffee table. You whined, attempting to tug him back to you, and he chuckled, taking a hold of one of your hands. “I’ll be back,” he whispered, leaning forward to place the cocktail glass down.

And he was.

This time he used both of his hands to grasp your face and dive back in. He was more confident this time, moving in such a way his lips pried yours open. You reached for his shoulders, grasping them to hold him closer and this time you both made noises – sweet, quiet ones that worked beautiful together as your lips moulded with gradual urgency.

When your hands found the nape of his neck, fingers through his hair, he had to drag the tip of his tongue across your bottom lip, seeking entry. You met it with yours, tasting hints of pomegranate and lime with each wash of tongue. A hand of his slipped down to your side, stroking up and down the curve as if he couldn’t help but to touch you. He settled at your hip after a moment, the other splayed against the side of your neck, his thumb rolling small circles under your cheekbone.

This was getting addictive. You could tell by the way you moaned softly against each warm, wet curl of his tongue. This was everything you’d imagined and more – because you had imagined it. Late and secretly at night when you were trying to drift off to sleep and thoughts of lasagne were banished… You were glad your first kiss was here, inside, on your couch, because this wasn’t something for the open, your knees wouldn’t have been able to hold you up.

You could have kissed him forever, you mean, you definitely didn’t want it to stop but you pretty much had to. Breathing was a necessity, right? If you couldn’t breathe you wouldn’t be able to ever kiss Seokjin again and that would be absolutely awful…

You did it the right way though – gradually. Seokjin slowed it right down, only hints of his tongue left as he hummed indulgently, like he was savouring your taste before he had to inevitably pull away. It made your insides jump around like crazy, hearing him enjoying himself, and you tried your best to come to when he started easing the pressure of his lips, pressing small, chaste kisses to them instead as you ultimately (but slowly) broke apart.

You opened your eyes, blinking up at him, hands falling from his hair, aware you had become one with your cushions. You struggled to free yourself as he sat back and you watched him smile fondly at you. His breath was shaky – so was yours, and you were sure his hands trembled slightly as one reached up to scratch the back of his neck. His neck that was blotched with red, flushed, travelling to his cheeks. They were rosier than you’d ever seen them before. Your gut stirred.

“I’ve been dreaming of that,” he told you, before making a face at himself. “Too cringey?”

You giggled – it sounded foreign. “Just a bit.” But didn’t deter the fact you loved it.

You warmed when you felt him squeeze your hip, realising his hand was still there and you reached for it, tangling your fingers with his. He pulled them to his mouth, kissing your knuckles softly. His expression was thoughtful when he lowered your hands. “In all seriousness, thank you for giving me a chance, after well, you know, everything.”

You smiled, touched by his earnestness, but it was hard to keep a sane mind when his lips were as kiss bitten as they were – deep pink and glistening. You wanted to kiss his face off.

“It’s no problem,” you quipped, as if you were doing him a favour.

He chuckled tenderly, and luckily for you he was unable to stop himself from kissing you again. He reached forward, hooking a finger under your chin to press his mouth to yours softly. “I’d really love if we could keep on doing… this.” He murmured.

“The dating or the kissing,” you grinned, stealing another kiss in the process.

“Hm,” he contemplated. “Both preferably.”

And then you were on one another again, eager once more.

Although, you did manage to pull away briefly to tell him something, his mouth moving to the side of your face to kiss there instead as your hands dragged down his back. You were somehow able to get the words out – ones that made him laugh against your wet jaw.

“I’m so glad you hit my car.”

Written 2020 - 2021. Please refrain from posting my work elsewhere. No translations allowed. © floralseokjin 2021

#seokjn fanfic #bts fanfic #jin fanfic #floralseokjin:writings #fic:mls

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wistfulrat · 3 years

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a 4-part rec list of my fave drarry fics - the thrillers, dramas, soft bois, and wankbanks getting me through 2020′s shitstorm

[the soft boi list is here and truly i’m not surprised this rec is going to be the longest bc if there’s one thing a bitch is going to do, it’s yearn.

as always! if you love a fic, follow the authors, leave kudos & comments, send them nice msgs bc free art is still labor xoxo]

part 3: soft bois

mood: for when I need respite, a balm to the all-consuming shittiness of life

includes: fluff, comfort, low-stakes, slow-burn fics. a wistful look, a rainy morning, an unexpected grace, a stupidly disarming joke. i could live inside these fics. the smallness of human lives removed from the site of that which hurts & irreparably changes. the story-equivalent of a deep breath after a long day. pregnant silences & pensive mundanity & shy smiles. banter with bite but without the cruelty. the color lavender. weirdly whimsical. soft fics are not necessarily conflict-averse (no drarry fic rly can be, considering the context) but, they offer the reader a generous distance from the initial harm. they’re the quiet cleaning up after a storm. sometimes healing is an exacting surgical knife and other times it’s a slow scabbing. you read these fics to be reassured that the way forward is not always ruthless. and honestly?? they deserve a semblance of peace godDAMmit.

The Way Down by @letteredlettered - 65k - T “and I thought that if someone talked to you as though you were a human being you might—maybe you could act like one” --the way i think about this line daily. the characterization of draco in this fic is one my favorites bc he’s earnest and neurotic and tired of harry’s shit. which is to say, he cares so so much. and harry doesn’t know what to do with that bc he’s got a monster in his chest and lives as a recluse. but they both humanize each other in ways no one else can. “you’re just a person” has to be some kind of drarry ethics of belonging and it makes me CRY. -

Little Deaths and How to Avoid Them by @greaseonmymouth and dustmouth - 96k - T “Maybe it’s not about deserving it? Maybe you just get to have it anyway. . .I’m allowing myself to want something and to let myself have it and to fight for it.” --harry runs a daycare and also works at a library. draco spends a lot of time in said library. they bond over sci-fi books and therapy anecdotes and quiet philosophical conversations held over cafeteria soup. and harry’s struggling to understand his asexuality. draco’s learning how to live with anxiety and depression. they both want to be deserving of love. incredible fic with beautiful art by dustmouth. -

Open for Repairs by @drarrytrash - 35k - T “A few leaves rustle in the gutter and the muggle world pays no mind to them, to two lost boys holding on for dear life.” --all of their fics feel exactly like this. like you’ve been allowed to look at something private, tender, unexpected. draco, known abba fan, is a repairman in the muggle world & harry can’t stop breaking thrifted things in order to see him? say less, i'm thERE. also “I think I have a crush on you” goddddd - other faves by them: Counting Down By Ten - 2k - T: draco’s stepped outside of the party for a smoke. harry follows him bc of course he does. i could read this 100 times and not get tired of it. - Clouds That Veil the Midnight Moon - 36k - E: FUCKING HILARIOUS I CACKLED THROUGH THE WHOLE THING. draco’s wolfy problem and harry helping him and harry being flustered by how much he likes draco and draco’s hot heroic moment. shutup it’s perfect. “He almost asks if Draco ever gets tired of being a miserable complaining shit all the time, but he knows that he, personally, never ever gets tired of being a miserable complaining shit.” and “It’s the traumas,” Harry says gravely” --lines that live rent free in my head -

Harry Potter and the Future He Doesn't Really Want, Thanks by seefin - 70k - E “That was the only logical thing to do here, wasn’t it? It was the next step, it was the end of hurting each other and the beginning of the exact opposite.” --harry lives with luna and neville and also he dreams about the future sometimes? and he keeps running into draco. draco thinks this is sus as hell, until he doesn’t. feat. taxi rides, museums, cinemas, rooftop conversations beneath a lunar eclipse, mid-sex innocuous banter, draco and harry discussing nicki minaj. this fic charmed my ass off. seefin writes the most effortlessly hilarious dialogues. i smiled at my phone like an idiot at least 7 times. - other faves by them: Wild - 93k - E: “he liked feeling needed, for the things that he was needed for back at the house in Ireland. For cooking and gardening and driving. Easy things.” --this shit makes me cry it’s so good. harry lives in Ireland with these three brilliant, hilarious, wandless witches and draco’s a potions student who's come to study under one of the housemates and the boys have so much shit to work through but their love becomes so tender and honest. draco yells at harry a lot and harry lets him and they both keep each other grounded in something real and fuCK. - Divination for Dickheads - 7k - G: “I’m terrible at having crushes. I’ve never played anything cool a day in my life.” -- oh harry, we knOW. a bus ride, a fortune teller, an aquarium birthday party. god i love this fic. -

Modern Love by @tackytigerfic - 61k - E “But we’ve worked so hard at this, haven’t we? Yeah, I know it’s a horror to have to talk about it, but fuck it. We’re friends now, but it took so long to get here. Have you ever had to work so hard at something before?" --the steady blossoming of their friendship in this fic is so goddamn beautiful i want to yell. it’s draco and harry learning to trust each other and the whole thing unfolds so slowly, in this whimsical mix of london streets, wizarding politics, church halls feat. a Hot vicar, and a magical antique shop owner who’s married to literal poseidon?? goD the environment of this fic. immaculate. [also there’s a tender shower scene that makes me cry every single fucking time so if you read this fic pls dm me so we can be embarrassing about it together tbh] -

Nice Things by aideomai - 22k - M “He kept waiting for the weird shock of touch to not knock him clean out of his head, leave him quiet and warm and happy.” --8th year. harry forms an unlikely friendship with draco that begins with smoking weed on a windowsill. harry is touch-starved and draco touches him like he touches all his close friends - like it’s easy. the quiet affection in this fic, the way harry burrows himself into touch bc he’s been without it for his entire life. reading this is like being held. -

Running On Air by @tinyhistory - 74k - T “do you remember when we were eleven?” --alexa play coldplay’s the scientist it’s sad girl hours and we’re about to fucking yearn. you’ve seen this fic rec on every drarry list under the sun and i'm here to be redundant. the hype is so goddamn real. this story is a lyrical masterpiece held together by lines that act as refrains that will rattle around your brain until you die, probably. draco’s been missing for 3yrs. harry goes to find him. it’s their odyssey of homecoming. -

Title of Their Sex Tape by @cibeewastaken - 12k - T “But Draco, Draco was everything but boring. Draco made sitting in the rain watching an empty house fun.” --auror partners pining and draco being eccentric and harry being very earnestly gay about draco’s eccentricities!! god this fic is so genuinely fun skskd feat. undercover missions, murderous faeries, a book heist, a stunning navy dress, harry’s eyelashes. -

How We Throw Our Shadows Down by @thistle-verse - 14k - T “Draco is about to say something else— to thank Potter for what he’d done, however poorly— but Harry is smiling at him again, and it’s so soft and perfect that Draco holds in any inadequate words, lest he spoil it.” --draco collects tea cozies and of course harry has the one he wants. the sad and tender gays are at it again feat. conversations in the rain at a train station, melancholy Blaise, muggle photos, wizarding e-bay, the Dursleys. -

Helix by Saras_Girl - 92k - E “Draco sighs in his sleep and Harry clings on to consciousness, needing to hold on, to give this tiny, insignificant moment the attention it deserves” --I think maybe you can describe every soft Saras_Girl story as giving tiny, insignificant moments the attention they deserve. like, this is an 8th year fic about snails and it’s full of whimsy, grief, compassion, and easy humor. an absolute must-read author in this genre if you want languorous, episodic fics full of distinct OCs and affectionate creatures. - other faves by them: Light up the Night Sky - 98k - M “Draco, sometimes you make my head feel like soup” --the one where harry is a fireworks artist and has a pet chameleon named ken. draco is on the wizarding arts council. they both pine like hell. - Headlights in the Snow - 71k - M “they stare at each other in silence, Harry’s heart beating so loud in his chest that he thinks the biddies must be able to hear it over the sound of their card game.” --the one where draco drives the knight bus and carts around the biddy club, a group of rambunctious old ladies who knit and drink tea and gossip. harry can’t help but fall in love with the everything about this. -

Follow the Water by @xanthippe74 - 38k - T “Harry’s heavy thoughts lift at the sight, like dark clouds blown away from the sun by the wind. The tent doesn’t feel so cramped and stifling now. It feels cozy. And safe. It’s the same feeling that Harry gets when he’s at the Burrow for Sunday roasts, when a group of people who care for each other deeply are crammed into too-small a space.” --harry wanders to the lovegood house on a sunday afternoon. he’s baffled to see that luna’s taken pansy, greg, and draco under her wing. what follows is a summer of forest walks, scavenger hunts, gardening, water fights, odd cakes, faerie rings, and picnics. so many picnics. i love the pace of this fic, the innocent return to childhood things, the way luna brings out the best in all her friends. reluctantly soft slytherins are just *chefs kiss*!! -

Going Postal (A 125pg comic) by dustmouth - T what. a. beautiful. ass. comic. the wizarding fashion, the textures, the character design!! harry travels a lot for his job as a resourcer. draco works in the regulations dept. they pine like a bunch of lovesick idiots via field report notes. god i love dustmouth’s art. -

All the Earnest Young Men by @tepre - 29k - E “Draco is twenty-seven layers of personality wrapped up in drama and humour, and a wit so sharp it still stings when he doesn’t see it coming. But there is something below that, too. Something that makes Harry ache just looking at him.” --the way i would lay down my little life for tepre’s characterization of draco, whom invented the word earnest. he’s a magical art theory expert and portraits are disappearing all over London and harry’s the auror assigned to this case. and well. they’re both so very avoidant about how gay they are for each other and it’s like!! shutup and kiss!! which they do in fact, shutup and kiss. -

Trenches by sara_holmes - 3k - M “Somewhere in the distant part of his mind that hasn't frozen solid, he thinks that maybe he and Draco are about to become more than auror partners, smoking buddies, wine-mates and co-inhabitants of a snow filled trench somewhere in western Scotland.” --the plot line here is literally “it’s cold and i need a fucking cigarette” but let me tell you how I never tire of the shared loaded-silences of two emotionally repressed gays. -

The Years Before Love by lomonaaeren - 13k - M “That’s one of the meanings of peace, he thinks, as Hermione hugs him...That he can do things slowly, softly, without worrying that they won’t be there tomorrow.” --andromeda taking harry under her wing and harry finding solace in teddy. narcissa and draco showing up and the tentative relationships that slowly develop in the quiet calm of andromeda’s house. found families and kisses in the snow and special xmas gifts ugh what’s not to love -

The Moon Looks Lovely Tonight by Omi_Ohmy - 35k - M “I want this to be a house where people are welcome, where they don’t have to be any one way or another” --in which harry collects lost things--owls, best friends, inept bakers, potions experimenters--and turns the mausoleum that is grimmauld place into a home. feat. your fave drarry tropes like shared-beds and reluctant waltzing partners. -

[part 1: thrillers | part 2: dramas | part 3: soft bois | part 4: wankbanks]

#drarry fic rec #drarry fic #soft drarry #OK FINE I RAMBLED BUT WHAT DID WE EXPECT #alexa play futile devices

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x-infernhoes-x · 3 years

Text

Merry-Go Round of Life- Amie and Hannah x Fem! Reader

Title: Merry- Go Round of Life

Genre: Fluff, Romance, WLW, Happy Ending

Warning(s): Not much

Description: Inspired by my love for ballet since forever and that one time in 2019 where I finally got to see a show with a friend. (Psst, if you’re said friend and are reading this, thank you. I will treasure that moment forever.) Also inspired by @maria-akira’s random hc’s for both Hannah and Amie which you could find here! I also took the liberty to watch a ballet show on Youtube as I was writing this to get into the feeling of it! Either way, I hope you guys enjoy this one!

PS. There’s going to be a reference from my Dominic imagine that shows that Dom and his girl get a happy ending, and a couple few references from maria-akira’s headcanons about them both so keep an eye out! OH and I’d like to give @thera-daydreams a huge shout-out for blessing the fandom with names for Dominic’s bodyguards! Just wanna say I love your work and that I can’t wait for the next update of Inday! Also, this is the first time I will be introducing my Trese OC in the fanfic! Her bio’s going to be up soon while I work on my fics such as the Tapia x Reader fic and Evermore part 2!

7-5-2021 Note: Ngl to you besties but this was the longest fanfic I have ever worked on hdsjhjsgh like I started this on the 29th of June. Like….slow burn much??

7-6-2021 Note: I’ll be honest with you guys, this was my first time writing a poly-fic and one that shows how life is between all of them and sharing the same space. I tried my best on this one since I make sure it sounded relatable for those who are in a polyamorous relationship! Also I wasn’t exactly clear on Amie and Hannah’s relation towards each other like are they related or anything so I went for the two of them being close best friends instead. Also I highly recommend listening to Merry Go Round of Life from Howl’s Moving Castle!

Hannah and Amie may look like Manila’s Resident It Girls, possessing a sort of ethereal beauty who loved to party, attend drag races, and everything in between, you would expect them to be the type of girls who would have a great disregard for the arts and the type of girls who would complain about housework but behind those fair facades and lipstick smiles, they were completely and entirely different from what the world has perceived them as. Behind the scenes, the two of them were more than what the outside thinks them to be.

They were both beauty and brains combined. They were brave, strong, and selfless women who can hold up their fights and would not hesitate to fight for their rights. They were strong advocates of the term ‘girls support girls’ hell, even their friends say that they were the embodiment of the very term itself. Occasionally, the two of them would even go out of their way to help out in charities and various organizations that would benefit either the people in need, nature, animals and the like. Both of them are also good at sports, huge bookworms, and are very talented in music, dance and the arts, hell they were even good at traditional Filipino games such as Piko and Chinese Garter. Between the two of them, Amie was the more active one who would engage in sports such as Volleyball, Soccer, and Boxing while Hannah focused on Badminton, Sepak Takraw, and Arnis.

But out of all of those things, the two of them had a love for Ballet. Tonight was a different night for the both of them where they would take breaks from the Drag Race scene and settle into something they haven’t done in a very long time. The two of them decided to watch CCP’s Ballet Philippines’ show of Swan Lake. Although it wasn’t a last-minute decision, it was more or less a friend of theirs who had accidentally ordered tickets for tonight’s show instead of the afternoon one. Although Amie was more of a Cinderella than Swan Lake, Hannah seemed to be excited about it, eager for the time the two of them would finally get the chance to watch the show. Tonight, they’ve traded their fabulous runaway model looks for something much simpler, casual, laid-back, and fit for a ballet show. Though they did make sure that their outfits for tonight were still fashionable and color-coordinated, the two of them set off sometime around 5:30 pm to make it on time for their scheduled show which was at 7:00 pm.

The two wind spirits then arrived at their destination as the duo then bid Alex and the twins goodbye, thanking the trio for letting them ride with them since Maliksi was currently unavailable. Once they’ve gone on their separate ways, both Hannah and Amie entered the premises, buzzing with energy and bright smiles as they walked inside, hand in hand. Inside the theatre’s lobby, it was buzzing with patrons of all ages, genders, and races, the lobby was as glamorous as ever with glittering lights shining above their heads, distracted by the glamour the building holds, around the lower floor were several art exhibits holding all sorts of creations from whimsical and merry to majestic and almost life-like. Amie and Hannah both enjoyed the exhibit itself before the two of them went up to the second floor where the Main Theater was. Once it was time for everyone to head inside for the show, the duo then made their way over to their seats while they were accompanied by one of the staff after their tickets were scanned. The two of them took their seats, holding their copies of Ballet Philippines’ magazines that were given to them when the staff was handing some of them out to the guests. One by one the theater began to fill up slowly with people and Amie managed to point out some of the familiar faces they know out in the crowd discretely. In one of the upper boxes by their left was the newly-crowned King of Aswangs, Dominic sat along with his entourage that consisted of his two bodyguards named Viatrix and Ursule, his emissary and younger sister of Viatrix and Ursule, Kasimira who sat beside Dominic’s human wife and the now crowned Duchess of the Aswang tribes, holding her husband’s hand lovingly as they spoke in hushed tones. Soon the lights dimmed around them, encasing the whole theater in temporal darkness before the velveteen curtains parted to show a projection of a swan, the orchestra playing their first notes as the show began.

Time flew by them like a gentle breeze and soon Act 1 of Swan Lake was finished as the people applauded the dancer’s for their superb performance. It was a surprise when Amie had whispered to Hannah that she was starting to like Swan Lake. Act 2 soon followed and everything seemed to change from there on the moment they set their eyes on the ballerina who was playing the role of Odette, (Y/N) (L/N). She moved with such grace and style that seemed to stand out of the crowd, almost as if she was a wind spirit herself, dancing among the clouds. Hannah and Amie couldn’t place their fingers on it but it almost felt like they knew each other from a distant past almost like a dream. Whenever she came out on stage they would only focus on her and her only, almost in a trance, completely unable to tear their gaze away from the ballet dancer, and somehow they could catch her staring back discretely as she danced and this continued for an hour like shy lovers exchanging longing glances from across the room. Soon the show ended and both Hannah and Amie knew this was their time to finally meet her up close and personal.

It was difficult to reach (Y/N) at this point because everyone was busy either interviewing some of the dancers, photo ops here and there, and a couple few relatives and patrons chatting among themselves as the cast made their rounds around the place. “Umuwi nalang kaya tayo, Hannah.” Amie would tell Hannah who was actively looking around for (Y/N) through the throng of people that seemed to grow even further and that they were pretty convinced that she had already gone backstage. Sighing, Hannah was then about to agree and walk away with Amie before they heard it. A voice softer than any song and sweeter than any honey, it sounded light and inquisitive that made both girls stop in their tracks. “Excuse me, are you Hannah and Amie?” The two silver-haired females had never spun so quickly in their whole lives, their hearts jumping slightly at the action, and there before them was the very person that they were looking for in the first place—(Y/N) who was still wearing her costume from the show, a warm smile plastered upon her lips as she stood before them. “Ay yes, kami nga yun.” Hannah was the first to speak, feeling blood rush to her cheeks due to the fluttery feeling she felt burst upon her chest. This was the first time Hannah had felt like this towards anybody really, it was almost as if her confidence had diminished right before her eyes and she could tell Amie was the same too. The two of them were always confident and flirty towards the people they’ve been with but this was the first time they had felt like this in a long while almost as if they were meeting again for the first time in their lives and the same feeling of knowing them somewhere seemed to return even stronger than it was earlier. “Mabuti naman! I honestly thought the two of you already left! Kasimira and Maliksi told me about you guys before! I’m glad na makikila ko kayo ng personal! Ako nga pala si (Y/N). It’s a pleasure to meet you both!” (Y/N) said rather enthusiastically, a beautiful grin plastered on her face that seemed to reach her eyes. At the mention of both Maliksi and Kasimira the two girls temporarily exchanged glances before Hannah caught Kasimira looking at their way with a wink and a playful smile, pressing a finger against her light pink lips before she left with her sisters. Both of them made a mental note to thank the Prince of Tikbalangs and the Emissary of the Aswang King later.

Amie then stepped forward finally gaining the courage to speak after Hannah had gone quiet, flashing (Y/N) a smile of her own. “Pleased to meet you too, (Y/N). Ako nga pala si Amie.” Nodding over to Hannah, the other smiled at the ballerina before she spoke, “At ako si Hannah. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, (Y/N).”

Looking back at that memory, it felt as if it had just happened yesterday despite a couple of years that had gone by the three of them. Yes, three. The moment Hannah and Amie had met (Y/N) the three of them knew they would be the greatest of friends and perhaps maybe something more than just that. It was hard at first for both Hannah and Amie because of how they had the same feelings towards the talented ballerina but somehow they’ve managed to work through it, constantly pushing down their feelings for her. Throughout the countless days and nights they would spend with her, the feelings seemed to grow stronger alongside the bond they all share, there were days where Hannah would accompany (Y/N) to one of the studios she would practice at, sometimes Hannah would bring her violin with her just to play for (Y/N) as she danced.

On other days, it was Amie who would be with her for the whole day. Instead of ballet, (Y/N) insisted on going to the gym with her or would play sports. There was a time where Amie was genuinely surprised at the mere fact that (Y/N) also did sports like Muay Thai, Parkour, and Kickboxing aside from ballet, and both of them would occasionally spar or teach each other what they knew about their respective sports. Over the weekends, the three of them would always have a girl’s night out either watching Maliksi on his matches, clubbing with Kasimira and her sisters, and basically everything in between. There was never a dull moment between all of them. They would do almost everything together and one of their favorite past-times contained both Hannah and Amie playing their instruments while (Y/N) danced around her apartment, sometimes the three of them would even go out shopping together while occasionally defending each other against creeps who would try and hit on them. Amie’s favorite memory was that one time (Y/N) along with the help of Hannah stop this one creep from harassing one of the salesladies and watch his face turn white the moment both Hannah and (Y/N) landed a punch on the guy’s face. Throughout the years they’ve spent together, both of them had decided to confess to (Y/N) the moment her show had ended and mostly away from prying eyes and ears. Luckily, she had reciprocated their feelings and confessed that she had also felt the same towards the both of them and never wanted to pick between the two of them and break the other’s heart, which resulted in Amie hugging her and Hannah placing a loving kiss upon her forehead as a way to tell her that they were both glad that she had felt the same as well. Despite being polyamorous, this seemed to spark a lot of controversies, several rumors, and backlash from people that never understood how it was. The three of them faced a lot of difficulties together and (Y/N), Amie and Hannah fought for each other.

They were deeply in love with one another and cared for each other more than anything in this world and at this point, the three of them thought they were unstoppable. Date nights never seemed to be dull and all members of the relationship were content with each other, there wasn’t a single fight ever, and if there was, someone was bound to apologize quickly and forget the fight ever happened at all. Sundays were spent playing music together and the rest of the days flew by them like a breeze and soon Hannah and Amie moved in with their girlfriend, (Y/N) since driving back and forth seemed to be taxing for everyone (Amie and Hannah never needed to drive however since they were Wind Spirits but (Y/N) wasn’t so the best course of action was to live with her instead). Throughout living together in the same space, all three of the girls seemed to pick up on the small things, habits, and quirks they’ve never heard of such as (Y/N) talking in her sleep, Amie being a notorious night-owl and a secret shitposter and Hannah who was, surprisingly, a messy sleeper between the two.

Pets were another thing as well, at first, it was only (Y/N) and her pet cat but ever since Hannah and Amie moved in with her, birds of all various kinds seemed to flock towards their apartment to the point the neighbors thought of it as bizarre and since there was a feline in the mix, it was hard to keep the cat away from the wild birds Amie and Hannah took care of. Living together with (Y/N) made Hannah and Amie forget about the fact that they were wind spirits, destined to live on forever, and being with their beloved girlfriend made them think they’d grow old together. The thought had hit them during a certain time of vulnerability but (Y/N) made sure that her two girlfriends lived the life the three of them always wanted.

It was bittersweet really but the three went on to marry each other they’ve decided it was the right time. The ceremony itself was a simple one, attended by close friends and certain family members, and was led by Hank who happened to be an ordained minister and the trio had never looked so in love than they were before. The years they’ve spent together were in pure bliss and color and all three went on to have very fulfilling lives until the end of (Y/N)’s mortal life. Though the pain was unbearable of losing someone so dear to them, Hannah and Amie had never expected something to happen two years after they lost (Y/N).

As Hannah and Amie were looking through their Wedding Album while cleaning, they heard a knock upon their door. At this time of day, their friends were usually busy with their own lives and all, glancing at each other, Hannah could only close the album shut as she spoke, “May binili ka ba online this week, Amie??” Amie could only shake her head at this as she replied, “Wala naman, Han. I mean, sinigurado ko rin na bayad na yung upa natin for this month e. Do you think we should check?” Before Hannah could answer, the person standing outside their door finally spoke, the voice shaking them both to the core, “Han, Amie, pakibukas naman yung pinto please!” Both wide-eyed and surprised, the two girls made their way to the door, opening it quickly as they could, silently praying and hoping to the gods that they weren’t dreaming or hearing things.

The door swung open and before them was (Y/N) in all of her glory. No longer was she old and wrinkly but rather she looked just the way they had met her all those years ago. Young, healthy, and blooming and now dressed in a white dress that looked like it was made out of clouds but what striked both Hannah and Amie was her eyes and hair---instead of their real colors, were nearly the same as theirs but completely different, almost reminding them of Cirrus clouds and it took both Hannah and Amie to realize that (Y/N) was a different type of air elemental but regardless of their realization, the two of them could only tackle her into a tight hug, crying and sobbing out of joy that she had come back to them and that the promise of forever was no longer a promise. Their love for each other seemed to reach the hearts of the gods above them and decided to never part the three lovers ever again. They will forever remain together for all eternity, dancing across the clouds and the skies.

#trese #trese netflix #trese on netflix #amie trese #hannah trese #amihan #crispin trese #basilio trese #maliksi trese #trese fanfic #trese x reader #lieutenant tapia #tapia trese #hank sparrow #hank trese

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zosonils-art · 3 years

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Do you have a robot master OC (of the eight plus Drum) that you’d say is your favorite? If you haven’t done an infodump for them yet then you should do that one next

i couldn't choose a favourite if i tried, i love them all, but since you mentioned drum i thought i'd give her some new art and a proper dedicated post too! infodrump [ayyy] under the cut

drum, serial number SWN-002, is my take on the popular [????? i'm still a bit of a mega man fandom newbie i don't know hjdfn] 'wily equivalent to roll' oc template! she keeps things running at the various castles and fortresses and hideouts and whatever else her dad holes up in, whether that's by doing housework, planning schemes, or dodging taxes. whenever wily is trying to take over the world, drum acts as his second-in-command, ensuring that everything goes according to plan and ordering around the latest group of robot masters

she's every bit the edgy mid-00s teenager she looks: sarcastic, apathetic, and always talking back to her dad. she's more obedient than bass is, but she doesn't care for her job at all and will resort to any flimsy excuse or act of malicious compliance she can come up with to slack off. due to her purpose as an organiser and commander, she's a bossy control freak who's quick to anger when things don't go exactly her way, although when she's off work the worst of these traits recede in favour of more conventional teenage apathy. she sees herself as above the time and effort it takes to go out of her way to be mean to people like wily and bass tend to do, but she's equally uninterested in being nice on purpose and her default attitude is squarely on the nastier side

when she doesn't have work to focus on - and sometimes when she does anyway - drum is the lead vocalist and guitarist in a garage band, of which she is [currently - a friend's ocs get involved later, but that's a whole different post] the only member. i'm not good with music terms but she's into whatever genre stuff like wake me up inside and crawling in my skin is [i know those aren't the names hdfjf it's just the words i know people will recognise]. the sort with the crunchy guitar and the very loud lyrics about being sad and/or angry. playing or blasting music helps her to calm down when she's in a bad mood, which is pretty much all the time. the first warning sign of a new wily plot is a spike in search popularity for my chemical romance

i haven't gotten around to designing it, but drum has a non-armoured form like most of the other more explicitly kid-like robots, which she mostly uses for loitering around malls when she has an excuse to not be at home. she rarely buys anything, just hangs out and radiates an aura that makes suburban white women hurry their three kids into the next shop. drum often ends up hanging out with like-minded teens in the same vague area of the goth/punk/emo venn diagram she occupies, and makes a bit of a game out of seeing how honest she can be about her life without revealing that she's one of the world's most wanted robots. she tells herself that it's just something she does out of boredom and curiosity towards humans, but it mostly stems from loneliness and the desire to have literally any friends that aren't her brother's dog

as a sort of contrast to the healthy and positive relationship between their lightbot counterparts, drum and bass absolutely DESPISE each other and make no secret of it. each of them thinks of the other as an insufferable prick and they'll get into petty arguments over just about anything, from whose turn it is on the xbox to who treble loves more. [for the record, it's drum. she lets him hang out in the kitchen while she's cooking and sneaks him food scraps when bass isn't looking. he's the only family member she has an even remotely positive relationship with.] pretty much the only thing that can get them to stop fighting is mutual hatred of a bigger prick, and so far the only person to consistently get them to put their differences aside like this is wily himself - as much as the wily kids hate each other, they hate their dad just a little more, and have a history of teaming up just to mess with him. sometimes mega man can spark that spiteful cooperation, but drum's total apathy towards the light-wily family rivalry means she usually sees him as not worth her time and just finds bass' obsession with beating him even more annoying

drum wasn't made for combat, and as such she doesn't have a signature weapon or any fancy tricks like the copy chip. usually she just orders other robots to do the fighting for her. however, she is equipped with a standard arm-mounted buster, and can hold her own in battle with a 'fight smarter, not harder' approach if she has to. she's also outfitted with the same treble adapter that bass has, so if she's backed into a corner she can call on him for a power boost. treble is capable of supporting both adapters simultaneously, so as an absolute last resort they can all combine into treble-boosted drum & bass, who theoretically has all the combat power of bass plus the strategic thinking from drum and the boost in power from treble. in practice, though, drum and bass are so at odds with each other that they can barely hold together in the same body without either fighting for control or outright splitting apart to argue harder. again, it takes a lot of spite to get them to work together, but if something draws their combined ire and convinces them to cooperate they're an utterly terrifying force to be reckoned with

the game idea i vaguely have in my mind would feature drum as the final-not-final boss before wily reveals he was the mastermind behind it all and surprises absolutely nobody. she was put in charge of the latest world domination attempt, probably as the result of a 'why don't YOU take over the world if you're so smart' conversation, and in true drum fashion she follows a standard wily plot outline to the letter - including the blatant flaws, like all eight of her chosen robot masters forming a rock-paper-scissors wheel just begging to be exploited by the copy chip, and making a clear path from just outside the death fortress to her base of operations. after she's defeated in combat, she sarcasically wonders aloud how mega man could have possibly bested her plan and then helpfully points rock directly to wily's castle. she didn't wanna do the stupid scheme in the first place

again, i love all my ocs too much to possibly choose a favourite, but i'd say drum was the most fun to come up with if only because i had the help of some mates in a discord server. someone was like 'hey if there's bass is there a roll equivalent called drum or something lol' and i SPRINTED to microsoft paint to rough out a character design and the next entire day was just a constant stream of all of us bouncing ideas off each other and creating the meanest girl in the universe. her design changed a little bit from the initial sketch, most notably she used to have the half-shaved hairstyle that every gay person tries at some point before that changed to a midpoint between phoenix wright and sonic the hedgehog, but overall everything about her as a character flowed really well from the start. while she's fallen mostly into my hands since the initial brainstorm, she absolutely wouldn't exist without those friends' input and i feel that that's important to mention!

i'm very tired and i've been working on this on and off for the past day so i'm gonna call the infodrump finished here - thanks for giving me the excuse to talk about her! unfiltered and transparent versions of the art below as always

#i already talked about drum in my first post about her long long ago but i think she deserves a new infodump #zos draws #mega man #mega man oc #robot master oc #drum wily #zos talks #zos answers #aprofessionallurker #man there's so much art i gotta do of her. gotta draw her civilian form and her treble boost AND treble-boosted d&b eventually

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official-weasley · 3 years

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Neither - (The Irreplaceable Charlie Weasley AU)

Warnings: pure family fluff

Word count: 3,693

Characters: Charlie Weasley and my OC Nova from TICW which you can find here

A/N: I just want to say a few words about the baby talk. I have done some research about how to properly write it and the letter R is usually pronounced as W but with some words, it looked weird and when I was reading it I got confused. So all of Aoede's Rs are replaced with Ls instead because I find it more readable, no offense to any babies out there! 💙

Nova

“You know sometimes I am really happy we are wizards so we can use spells like the Silencing Charm,” Charlie said, panting and giggling, laying next to me.

“Are you calling me loud?” I smirked.

“You weren't exactly quiet, love.” He winked at me and bit my lip. “Not that I mind.” He added seductively.

“It's your fault I was screaming from pleasure.” I wiggled my eyebrows at him making him laugh.

“Oh, unlock the door in case Aoede wakes up. We don't want her questioning why we lock ourselves in the bedroom.” I unglued our lips after we started making out again as if we were 17.

“Alohamora.” Charlie waved his wand at the door before returning to my lips.

“You know, speaking of spells...” I raised my eyebrows at Charlie's grin and scarlet cheeks.

I knew that look – he had an idea for which he wasn't sure how I would react or what I would have to say about it.

“Yes?” I asked slowly.

“Aoede is going to be 3 in a few weeks and we have been doing great with her and our life is back to normal...” He was avoiding my gaze, making a heart shape with his index finger on my shoulder.

“Mhm.” I hummed.

“How about we stop using the Protection spell?” He mumbled so fast as if I would scold him for his words.

“You mean start trying for another baby?” I lifted his chin for him to finally lock eyes with mine.

“May...be.” Charlie made puppy eyes and scratched the back of his head.

“Are you going to carry this one for 9 months?” I laughed wholeheartedly.

“You know I would if I could, love.” Charlie's cheeks turned a deeper red.

“You know what...” I said slowly, pretending to think about it, tapping my chin with my finger.

I loved messing with him and stalling every time he asked me about something he was nervous to see how I would react.

“I quite like that idea.” I bestowed him with the biggest grin and kissed him tenderly.

“Really?” Charlie sighed in relief. “I thought you would say it's too soon or that you don't want any more children with the amount of morning sickness you had with Aoede.”

“If we would have another child like Aoede is, I would endure the morning sickness for the whole 9 months if need be. She is adorable and such an angel.” I pressed my lips against his again. “And, truth be told, I have been thinking the same. I think we're ready.”

“You do?” Charlie's eyes sparkled as they usually do when Andrei tells him he has the baby dragon shift.

“I do and I think Aoede will be a great big sister.” I smiled.

“She's going to be the best.” Charlie nodded in agreement.

“Can I ask you why you were so nervous asking me this?” I made him lay down and rested my head on his chest.

“I feel like myself again. We are both working again. Aoede is such a sweetheart and every time we play with her and have so much fun and I watch you two giggle it just fills my heart with so much joy and warmth and I guess that the wish to make our family bigger came back.” He smiled sheepishly.

“And you thought I don't feel the same?”

“I guess so.” Charlie shrugged. “I know you wanted more kids before everything that went down last year but we haven't talked about it since Aoede was born and I didn't know if you still felt the same with you already having to take care and be part of Teddy's life.”

“Just because Teddy is here once or twice per week and just because we lost friends and family, doesn't mean I don't want to have more children with you.” I tilted my head to look up at Charlie and pressed a soft kiss on his cheek.

“So can we say we are trying to get pregnant again?” Charlie was shaking from excitement.

“Again?” I teased.

“Okay, Aoede wasn't exactly planned but we were pregnant before, that's what I meant.” He playfully rolled his eyes at me.

“I know what you meant, Charles. I just love messing with you when you are nervous around me for no reason.” I chuckled.

“Hey, you can be intimidating!” Charlie tried defending himself.

“Intimidating?” I gasped dramatically. “Should I remind you how long we have been best friends and how long I am your wife for?”

“I know.” He brushed his nose against mine. “I just really want this so I got silly for a second.”

“I know, Char. It's cute how much you blushed.” I caressed his cheek with the back of my fingers.

“Oh, shut it. I'm manly.” Charlie frowned and flexed his muscles.

“Sure you are.” I patted him on the head. “Especially since Aoede was born. You definitely didn't go all soft and mushy.”

“Never.” Charlie lifted his chin proudly. “I'm a real tough guy!”

“Of course.” I cocked an eyebrow at him. “It's very tough-guy of you when you let Aoede paint your nails.” I giggled.

“Okay,” Charlie rolled his eyes, “maybe I'm a bit soft with her. I just can't say no to her big blue puppy eyes.”

“You mean these eyes?” I made the exact same expression Aoede always makes when she wants something from Charlie.

The more she grows the more she looks like me and apparently she got her expressions after me as well. She learned how to persuade Charlie to let her paint his nails and makes 5 ponytails on his head and makes him go to work like that. And I don't want to point any fingers but I think she saw how I make puppy eyes at Charlie when I want something sweet and he has to go to the store so I think...I think she got it from me.

“Stop it, love! Unfair!” Charlie pouted. “What do you want?”

“Well I was just playing around but since you gave in to it, how about you make the sandwiches for our trip?” I giggled.

“Okay,” Charlie sighed, “but you pack our things.”

“Already did that yesterday when you were giving Aoede a bath.”

Ever since the war has ended and it's safe to travel around again and Aoede started to show interest to go outside more, we have been going on a trip every weekend. Charlie managed to convince Andrei to only work during the week so he can spend the weekend with us and now we go on adventures, as Aoede likes to call them, every week.

She is not old enough that we could apparate somewhere so we have been mostly going for hikes around our village and the Sanctuary.

Last month we visited the Sanctuary with Aoede for the first time. Charlie was beyond excited to show our daughter all the dragons he is working with. After all of our friends and co-workers stopped cooing at her and telling us how adorable and cute she is, Charlie picked her up and we started to walk around.

He showed her all the habitats and took her to the Nursery to see the baby dragons and we were even lucky enough to observe a dragon being hatched but it was soon evident that Aoede didn't inherit Charlie's obsession and love for dragons.

The trees and the boulders in the Sanctuary were more interesting to her and even though Charlie tried hard to hide that he was a bit hurt, I knew that this meant a lot to him. So that night when we came home and we put Aoede to sleep, I tried cheering him up by telling him that Aoede is still too young to appreciate how amazing dragons are and that she'll come around, even though I wasn't so sure she would because she didn't play with the dragon plushie Charlie bought her once but she loves going through my art supplies.

“Of course, you did.” Charlie ran a hand across his face, pretending to be annoyed that he has to make sandwiches even though I know he doesn't mind at all and he makes such good ones.

After a few minutes of us just giggling like two idiots, he leaned over me a bit, supporting his head with his arm, and started gently caressing my thigh, with a smug expression on his face.

“You want to go again?” I sent him a wink.

“You said you want to have another baby.” He smirked.

“Oh, you want to start working on that straight away, do you?” I chuckled.

“Why waste any time?” He whispered in my ear seductively.

“What if Aoede wakes up?” I tried staying focused as he started biting my neck.

“I checked the time. It's not even seven. She won't be up for at least half an hour if not more.” Charlie extended his arm to reach for his wand on the nightstand.

“Colloportus.” He mumbled and went back to my neck.

“Charles,” I blushed, “you are on fire today.”

“Always for you, love.”

—

“Uh, Charlie?” I scratched my cheek, looking at the calendar.

“Yes, love?” He lifted his head, careful not to move as Aoede was drawing all over his right arm.

“I think we have to make a trip to the drug store.” I was thinking of ways to talk to him not to make Aoede suspicious or say anything we shouldn't in front of her.

“The drug store? Why for?” Charlie asked confused.

“Well, uhm, how to say this...” I narrowed my eyes and bit my lip. “Do you remember that conversation we had in our bedroom a few weeks before Aoede's birthday?”

“Mum, my bilthday was a month ago,” Aoede said absentmindedly without knowing what we were talking about.

“I know, sweetheart.” I couldn't help but playfully shake my head looking at her.

Her tongue was sticking out and her brows were furrowed in concentration as she was deciding which color to use for the unicorn's mane.

“We have a lot of conversations, love.” Charlie was still puzzled about what I was trying to say.

“Yes, but one morning we had a very specific,” I tried putting as much emphasis on the word as I possibly could, “conversation about something to do with our future and then we...ugh...hugged a lot.”

“Hugged a lot?” Charlie blinked at me twice before his eyes widened. “Oh, yeah. I remember that conversation. What about it?”

“Think about it, Charles. Connect the conversation with the drug store.” I found the whole situation too amusing not to chuckle.

“Oh,” the skin behind Charlie's freckles turned red at once, “you're late?”

“Mum's late? To whele? She's still in hel pajamas.” Aoede looked in my direction for the first time since we started this conversation.

I just nodded at Charlie who was staring at me – excitedly waiting for my answer – trying to forget what Aoede asked us because I didn't know how to explain it to her.

“Okay, time to go to the drug store!” Charlie exclaimed, ignoring Aoede's question too.

“Dad, you moved!” Aoede frowned. “Now look what you made me do!” Aoede pointed at the drawing on Charlie's arm.

From what I could see, she colored outside the line, due to Charlie moving his arm.

“I'm so sorry, Pumpkin. I will be still I promise. Can we fix it somehow?” Charlie pressed his lips together, looking down at what Aoede was doing.

“I don't know,” Aoede sighed, “mum, what do you think?”

I made my way to the living room and sat on the floor next to her and Charlie.

“How about we do this?” I picked up the color Aoede used to outline the mane and made it bigger.

“Yeah, let's just pretend that I'm a canvas,” Charlie said sarcastically as we both started drawing on his arm.

“Shh, dad. We have to focus.” Aoede lifted her right hand – her drawing with her left – and tried putting it over Charlie's mouth to make him stop talking.

“You two are too adorable.” I looked up at Charlie as he said that after a few minutes of silence.

“What?” I felt my cheeks burning when I saw the love and admiration with which he was looking at me and our daughter.

“You both had your tongue out when you were drawing.” Charlie giggled, nodding to Aoede who wasn't finished yet, her tongue still outside.

“Oh, yes. This looks so much bettel! Thank you, mum!” Aoede hugged me, warming up my soul as every time she did that.

“Okay, can we go to the drug store now?” Charlie asked impatiently.

“Do we all have to go?” Aoede didn't look nearly as excited as Charlie.

“Okay, you stay here with mum and I'll go.” Charlie gently pulled his arm away, not knowing if Aoede was done.

“Can I dlaw on youl alm then, mum?” Aoede turned to me, the biggest pleading grin on her face.

“I don't have a choice, do I?” I chuckled.

“No, you do not.” Charlie and Aoede said together.

“Okay, so what are we drawing?” I asked my daughter when Charlie closed the door behind him.

“A unicoln, of coulse.” Aoede said as if I was supposed to know that already.

“But wasn't the unicorn on dad's arm enough?” I giggled.

“Mum,” Aoede looked from her pencils at me, “thele is nevel enough unicolns.”

“That's true. I simply don't know what I was thinking.”

“Okay, I got it!” Charlie said the second he came back.

“Got what?” Aoede asked without lifting her head, focused on her masterpiece on my arm.

“A muffin for you.” Charlie lifted one of the bags he brought back.

“You went out to get me a muffin?” Aoede gasped and jumped up, completely forgetting about her drawing.

If there was anything she loved more than doodling was muffins and cookies.

“Well, I had to make up for the fact that I almost ruined your unicorn.” Charlie motioned for me to stand up too and get the other bag.

“Okay, apology accepted, dad.” Aoede snatched the bag from Charlie and hurried to the kitchen.

“What do we say?” Charlie lifted his eyebrows at her, as she bit into the muffin.

“Phank you.” She said with her mouth full, which was my queue to go to the bathroom.

“Can I come in?” Charlie knocked on the bathroom door.

“Yes.”

“So? Did you get the result yet?” Charlie couldn't hide his excitement.

“I did.” I tried keeping a straight face.

“And?” He wanted to peek at the pregnancy test but I quickly hid it behind my back.

“We're going to have another baby!” I tried whispering as much as I possibly could, not knowing where Aoede was.

“You're not joking? You're pregnant?” Charlie teared up at once.

“I'm pregnant.” I nodded and took a step closer to him so I could hug him.

“You have no idea how happy you are making me.” Charlie sniffed, mumbling into my hair.

“I think I have some idea.” I giggled and tightened our embrace.

“I have just realized that we have to tell Aoede.” Charlie gently pushed away after we stood embraced in the middle of the bathroom for 5 minutes.

“Do you think she would want a brother or a sister more?” I giggled. “Let's find out.” Charlie grabbed my hand and guided me out of the bathroom.

“Pumpkin, can we disturb you for a second?” Charlie said gently, sitting with me on the sofa and gesturing to Aoede to join us.

Aoede walked to us and let Charlie pick her up and place her in his lap.

“So,” Charlie cleared his throat, “mum and I have a question for you.”

“Am I in tlouble?”

“No, sweetheart. You didn't do anything wrong.” I brushed my fingers through her dark red hair.

“We were just wondering what would you like more a brother or a sister?” Charlie asked.

“What does that mean?” Aoede questioned. “Well, you know aunt Ginny?” I started to explain.

“I love aunt Ginny!” Aoede clapped her hands.

“Yes, so aunt Ginny is your dad's sister.” I continued.

“And all your uncles...”

“Uncle Bill and uncle Pelcy and uncle LonLon and uncle Geogie and uncle Fled...”

Charlie flinched when Aoede said Fred's name. George came to visit us often ever since Charlie first invited him to stay with us last Summer. Aoede always questioned why he came alone and why her uncle Fred was never with him so George knowing Aoede is too young to understand said that uncle Fred is on a special adventure.

“Yes, all those wonderful uncles of yours are your dad's brothers.” I finished.

“Oh.” Aoede narrowed her eyes. “So if dad has so many blothels and a sistel, why would you ask me what do I want?”

“Well, if we ought to have another baby would you like a sister or a brother more?” Charlie started to sound nervous.

“Neithel,” Aoede replied with confidence and certainty.

“What do you mean neither?” Charlie failed to understand.

“Dad, you have such a big family why would I need a blothel ol a sistel?”

“Umm,” Charlie scratched the back of his head, turning to me as Aoede obviously left him speechless.

“Well, umm, mummy and daddy want to have another baby,” I mumbled.

“Why?” Aoede tilted her head to the side. “Alen't I enough?”

“Oh, sweetheart, of course, you are. That's not why we want another baby.” I said as quickly as I could, not expecting her to think that she wasn't enough.

“Why then? Did I do something wlong? Ale you going to leplace me?” Aoede was on the verge of tears.

“Dear Merlin, no! Aoede, you are perfect to us.” Charlie found his voice again. “We just want to have a bigger family, for you to have someone to play with.”

“But I don't want that.” Aoede shook her head. “I like to play with you.” She pointed at both of us.

Charlie and I exchanged a look. We did not expect this conversation to turn out as it did. We were both left speechless and our joyful moment in the bathroom was forgotten.

“So, if mummy would have another baby, what would you say to that?” Charlie pressed his lips together, waiting for Aoede to answer.

“Mummy won't have anothel baby so I don't have to say anything.”

Charlie stiffened in his seat and I was sure all color left my face. This didn't go as we hoped at all. I thought Aoede would have a preference – either a brother or a sister – and our biggest worry would have to be to hope that she guessed the gender right, but we didn't know how to deal with this at all.

“It might be a little too late for that,” Charlie said, his voice barely a whisper.

“What do you mean?” Aoede questioned, looking up at her dad.

“Mummy already has a baby in her belly.”

I don't think we were this nervous when we were caught by Snape snogging on the Seventh floor and we had to have a talk with McGonagall and Flitwick about losing 100 points for our Houses.

“But why?” Aoede frowned. “I don't want to shale you with anyone!”

“But you don't mind when Teddy comes to visit.” Charlie tried reasoning with her.

“Yes, but Teddy leaves. The baby would be alound all the time and I don't want that.” Aoede shook her head.

“Sweetheart, we still love you the same. We love you every day more and no matter if we will have another baby, we won't leave you, you are enough and we won't stop loving you or stop paying attention to you.” I tried calming her down as it seemed she was about to throw her first-ever tantrum.

“I don't cale. I don't want one!” She jumped from Charlie's lap to the floor and went back to her drawings.

Charlie and I looked at each other, our mouths open in shock.

“She'll warm up to the fact that you're pregnant, right?” Charlie whispered to me.

“I hope so.” I gulped.

“Hey, don't worry. Once she sees that nothing will change she'll warm up to the baby.” Charlie put his arm around me and embraced me.

“Yeah.” I nodded.

“Since when is she so stubborn, though?” Charlie giggled.

“She agreed with everything we did so far.” I bit the inner side of my cheek.

“She might be a miniature you but she didn't get that stubbornness from you.” Charlie placed a kiss on my forehead.

“Must be you then.” I chuckled.

“Hey, I lived in my little dragon world when I was her age.” Charlie nudged me playfully.

“She did awfully remind me of someone.” I narrowed my eyes, thinking. “The determination and her thinking she is right and has the final word.”

The second that came out of my mouth, Charlie's eyes widened and I gasped.

“Grandma Molly,” we said in unison, half horrified.

#harry potter hogwarts mystery #harry potter fanfiction #hphm charlie #charlie weasley #charlie weasley fanfiction #hogwarts mystery mc #the weasleys #hphm fanfiction #hp imagine #charlie weasley x oc #hphm imagine #charlie weasley imagine #harry potter imagine #weasley fanfiction #the burrow

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imaginationintowords · 3 years

Text

Folklore [song series]

mirrorball

Modern Day AU! Steve Rogers x OC!Reader

Plot: Inspired by Taylor Swift’s new album folklore. The story follows the timeline of Bucky and Elizabeth’s life throughout the years.

Word count: 2110

[a/n: thanks for being patient with me! hope you guys enjoy this new chapter! if i forgot to tag you please inbox me]

previous part

Series Masterlist

Age: 20

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Year: Summer 2014

Steve flopped down onto his bed, tired after today's events. Elizabeth softly laid down next to him, Steve wrapped his arm around her bringing her closer to his chest.

"Today was a day," he tiredly says.

"You okay?" She asked him.

After Bucky had left there was a sadness aura that followed Steve for the rest of the party. He had no clue what he had expected Bucky's reaction to be, but definitely not the one he got. He had even prepared himself fo a fight, he was grateful that didn't happen. He just wasn't expecting for Bucky to shut down and leave. Not even accepting his offer of having a conversation later.

He knew that Bucky just needed his space, time to think it all over. But the look on Bucky's face had Steve questioning whether or not he would ever come around.

It threw Steve off when Bucky requested that he breakup with Elizabeth. He couldn't believe his best friend would want his own happiness to suffer.

His whole life he had done everything possible to keep Bucky happy. After what Bucky and his family had to go through with his father, Steve made it his mission to never let his friend feel that way again. Granted he was only 7 when he made that promise to himself, he still kept it.

Steve had never put himself first, at least not until he had made the decision to go to school in California. He had even thought about changing his plans after his breakup with Elizabeth but he knew his parents would've been disappointed with that decision.

He had put Bucky first his entire life, what he's doing isn't selfish. Yet he can't help but feel like the most selfish person ever.

What if he was keeping Elizabeth from truly being happy? What if she just didn't want to break his heart? What if she just didn't want to break his heart during a family event? What if come tomorrow she would tell him the truth, that she was really still in love with Bucky.

He's not sure he could handle that heartbreak.

"Want to tell me what's going on in that head of yours?" Elizabeth asked, breaking Steve from his self destructive thoughts.

"I won't be mad if you still love him," Steve says, "I'd understand."

Elizabeth quickly sat up to get a look of Steve's face to make sure he was being serious. It nearly broke her to see how defeated he looked. She's never seen him so down, not even after his breakup with Peggy.

"You don't have to pretend to save my feelings," he continues, "If it meant you were happy, that's all I care about. If being with Bucky makes you happy, then please don't let me stand in the way."

"Oh Steve," she gently caresses his face, staring down at him, "I wasn't lying earlier when I told Bucky that I didn't love him anymore. And i most definitely wasn't lying when I said that I love you, because I do love you, with my whole heart. You make me happy. The happiest I've ever been. Bucky was my past. You are my now, and hopefully my future.

"If you can't see how truly great you are, then I must not be doing my job as not only your girlfriend, but you're friend," she says, "Because you make me feel special every single day. And I just want you to feel the way you've made me feel."

"It's not your fault," Steve softly says, grasping her hand to place a kiss on her knuckles.

"Growing up I've always been second to Bucky," he explains, "Everyone seemed to prefer him over me. Whether it was girls or just our friends. It was always Bucky then Steve."

Elizabeth takes a moment to think back on their time growing up. She couldn't help but feel guilty when she realized that everything Steve is saying is true.

After she and Bucky got together, Steve sort of became an after thought, not because they purposefully excluded him, it never crossed their mind simply because Steve also had Peggy at the time. But after Peggy left, Elizabeth never really got to talk to Steve about how he felt, because she got caught up in her own drama.

"Steve, I'm so sorry," she apologizes, "I should've known then about how you felt. I was so caught up in my own shit, I never realized that you could've been going through your own stuff."

"Liz, it was never your fault," he says, "You were going through your own stuff. And I had learned to suppress it. Plus Bucky was your boyfriend at the time, of course i wasn't really on your mind. Plus it's kind of my fault for allowing it to happen. I never spoke up about it. I just always went along, figuring it was better than nothing."

"Once I got to Berkeley that's when everything changed," his mood shifts a bit to a much lighter feel, "I no longer felt like the shadow of a person. I felt like my own person for the first time ever. I was able to become someone I never thought possible. I am no longer 'scrawny Steve, Bucky's best friend'. I just became 'Steve' or 'Rogers'."

Elizabeth smiled at the way Steve's eyes lit up when talking.

"I had never imagined myself leaving New York, let alone making the permanent move to California," he confesses, "As much as I love it here, California is where I feel I belong. I know you feel it too."

Elizabeth nods her head agreeing with him. She felt the same way, as much as New York was her childhood home, California was where she felt her heart aching for. Where she felt like she belonged, where she could thrive. The more she spent time there, the more it felt like home, that's why moving there wasn't a tough decision for her.

"Coming back here," Steve says, causing Elizabeth to shift back her focus on him, "It just makes me feel like that scrawny kid all over again. I feel like no matter how hard I try to shed that image, Brooklyn will never see me for who I am now, but for who I was then. Like no matter what I do I will always be 'little' Steve Rogers."

"I know you feel it too," he says looking up at her.

She did. She did feel stuck in the past whenever she came back home. It seemed like life stood still here, while outside of Brooklyn everything is moving ahead. She knows it's only because she grew up there, and had nothing to do with Brooklyn itself. Once she was in California, she got a taste of life outside of Brooklyn, and she's not sure if she would want to go back. So moving there was an easier choice for her to make.

"I do," she agrees, "It's why moving to California was an easy decision for me to make."

"I wasn't even sure I was even going to make it to California," he says.

"Why is that?"

"Felt like I was disappointing my parents," he confesses, "We had always discussed me going to Columbia as a pre-med major. That had been the original plan. It wasn't like they were forcing it on me. More like I was forcing it onto myself.

"It was the 'safer' choice, granted the longer one, but in the end it all would've been worth it. For some reason as a child I believed that was the only way my parents would've been proud of me. Regardless of the fact that they were already proud and would tell me constantly. I just put that pressure on myself."

"It wasn't until junior year that Mr. Lawson, my high school art teacher said I should apply to some art schools," he continues, "Then after I had a long discussion with the guidance counselor she agreed as well, saying I would get in no problem with whatever art field I applied in.

"I never really gave my drawing much thought. It was just something I would do. Also a career in art is not exactly financially stable, or at all stable. But I figured it wouldn't hurt to apply to a couple of schools as an architecture major. Never really gave it a second thought."

Steve pauses, "I did get into Columbia."

"Steve, no fucking way," Elizabeth gasp sitting up straighter, "I never even heard."

"That's because I only told my parents," he says, "I got the acceptance email the same day I got NYU's and Berkeley's, where I hadn't applied as pre-med, which my parents didn't know of at the time."

"Wow," Elizabeth responds feeling herself become speechless. She had only known about NYU and Berkeley. She knew about NYU because that was the plan, they, including Bucky had discussed Freshman year. Back when she was still with Bucky, and Steve with Peggy and they all had planned to stay in New York. Before life got complicated.

"When I did get the Berkeley acceptance I had to come clean to my parents about what major I applied under. I was nervous, because a part of me never told them because I was worried I wouldn't get in. So seeing that acceptance it was the assurance I needed. One that really let me know that I could actually do it. And of course my parents were proud."

"Of course," Elizabeth smiles, "They would've been proud if you had decided to not even go to school and just worked in a restaurant."

"That's true," Steve lets out a small laugh, "And I think I more so didn't want to regret the decision. Leaving home to move across the country for a career that could be unstable. It's scary."

"Do you?" Elizabeth asks.

"Do I what?"

"Do you regret it?"

"Not one bit," he smiles, pulling her back down onto his chest.

They laid there in a comfortable silence. Steve ranking his fingers on Elizabeth's arm, feeling himself grow tired.

"I hope you know you're amazing," Elizabeth quietly says looking up at him with pure admiration in her eyes, "That I think you're amazing. I think you're one of the greatest people I have ever known. And if I have to spend my entire life showing you just how amazing I think you are, I will."

Age: 29

Year: 2023

Location: Santa Barbara, CA

Elizabeth giggled as Steve carried her over the threshold into their hotel room for the weekend. He kicked the door closed as he silenced her giggles with a kiss, before placing her on her feet.

"Why thank-you Mr. Rogers."

"You're very welcome Mrs. Rogers," he smiled brightly at his new wife.

Her makeup was slowly fading, hair no longer perfectly done after a night of dancing with their close loved ones. Steve just stares at her lovingly. He ahs never seen her more beautiful and the fact that he gets to be her husband for the rest of his life, he's never felt luckier.

Elizabeth feels his eyes just on her, "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"No, just admiring my beautiful wife," he compliments, causing Elizabeth to blush.

"How about one more dance?" she asks.

"There's no music."

"When I'm with you there's always music," she says holding her hand out for him.

Steve pulled her to him, one hand grasped in her's, while the other lay on her lower back. Elizabeth's head rested on his chest, with Steve's chin softly resting on the top of it.

"You know I think you're amazing," Elizabeth says as they sway softly in each other's arms.

"You might've told me once or twice," he responds.

"Get used to it because I'm going to be telling you that for the rest of our lives."

"Nothing I want more than that," he kisses the top of her head.

"If you'd asked me to runaway with you to join a circus, I would in a heartbeat," she says.

"Oh really? If I lose my job, and having nothing to show for, you'd still be there?"

"Right next to you baby, every step of the way," she says looking up at him, "Plus you won't have nothing to show. You'll have me. You'll have us. With me by your side I'll make sure you never not know how much you mean to me."

"You've made me believe in love again when I thought it wasn't possible. You've made me love myself in a way that I didn't think were possible. You make me a better human being by just being you. I love you Steve, more than anything.

"So if everything were to go to shit, as long as I have you that's all I need. I'll be there reminding you every single day just how special you are to me."

"I love you," Steve smiles as tears fall from his eyes.

#folklore #folklore song series #folklore mirrorball #mirrorball #mirrorball taylor swift #mirrorball song seires #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x original female character #steve rogers x original character #Steve rogers x OC!female #steve rogers angst #steve rogers fluff #angst #fluff #original character series #Steve rogers modern au #steve rogers modern day

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fanfiction-funtime · 3 years

Text

Self insert oc: Alexander Vodka

AKA: Eis Cay'zar

Author of fate

A writer from Schneznaya who was driven from his home for his anti-Tsaritsa paper.

_____________________

Physical description:

A chubby fellow in a 1950's style noir trenchcoat and hat, some would even say he looks like he jumped right out of a noir comic book and into reality. He has brown hair and green eyes, a cowboy mustache, and a pointed beard like some kind of comic book supervillain genius.

He often acts confidently and even a bit egotistical when in places he's recognized and famous in, however in newer places he often seems distant and shys away from almost all contact.

Noone knows where his vision is, but they know he has one because of the cold aura that surrounds him.

At night he'll often trade his outfit for one more reminiscent of demons or vampires.

_____________________

Abilities:

Weapon type: Catalyst

Basic attack-truth: uses his catalyst to shoot a short burst of up to 3 ice shards, can attack in fast succession.

"Truth hurts, especially in bursts"

Charged attack-Bifrost: Alexander quickly makes an ice clone behind the enemy and fires 6 shots, this can increase to 3 clones if charged enough(times: 1 for 1 second, 2 for 2 seconds, and 3 for 2.5 seconds)

"I hate crowds, best company has always been myself"

Elemental ability-ice wall: creates an aura of sheer cold around himself that will damage enemies the more they stay in it, and apply the normal sheer cold to them. Does not affect party.

"My therapist said I put up walls because of trauma, but I couldn't hear them through the wall I had just built"

Elemental burst-a story to be told: Alexander takes out his book and opens to a random page, then randomly summons ice sculptures of one of 8 beings:

"Aster": this summon looks like the flatwoods monster, it surrounds the party in a swirl of ice blades that deal 2X damage as the character for 10 seconds.

"Who needs brawn, when you got brain"

"Ultimate foe": a demonic, pointy being of shadow. Will independently deal 25000 damage to three random foes.

"Meet my penultimate friend"

"Beethoven": a sculpture reminiscent of a ww1 zombie general, calls down a barrage of ice bombs that deal 5000 damage to enemies hit for 7 seconds.

"Good scifi doesn't predict, it prevents"

"Sorrows Joy": an angelic, faceless, robot like humanoid that spawns 25 angel shaped traps that freeze enemies around the character.

"With any luck, you're the only real one I've made"

"Death rider and the magic prince": two statues, one of a mummy like Schneznayan mystic of ancient barbarian times and the other an elven cavalry knight from the myths of mondstadt. The knight gives the party a 45% boost to speed and attack while moving, and the Schneznayan gives +10% damage bonus to elemental skills and +55% damage bonus to Catalyst.

"Feel the wrath of honor long passed"

"Zero point and Lion queen": a knightly man of spiked armor and a golden ottoman warrior woman whose golden chain completely obscures her head. Your enemies become inflicted with pyro and you are surrounded by thorn bushes that deal continuous damage of 1000 for 10 seconds.

"Walk down the way on a moonlit day"

The traveler: a child in a red straight jacket, his binds become undone after 4 seconds at which point all enemies take 10,000 X Alexander's level of damage.

"I uh,wont have to pay any copyrights will I?"

"Giota": a child in pyjamas who looks ready to sleep, this summon is very rare. It fully restores all party members and gives a 200% boost to both defense and damage of your characters.

"This fella's been with me since I was a kid"

"If it is a soldier's duty to escape the confines of a prison, is it not every person's duty to escape reality if even for a moment? A wise man said that, pray that I may one day be like him."

Passive-part the wasteland: Alexander is immune to sheer elements, and Grant's 50% resistance when in the party to all members.

_____________________

Story

Abandoning a dream

As a kid, Alexander was always put down when he said he wanted to write fiction, "there's no money in it" they all said.

He couldn't get into any art schools without support so he focused his mind elsewhere, a place he could hopefully use his writing to do just as much good: the first newspaper in Schneznaya.

Horrible truth

He didn't start as a trouble maker, but the more he sought out the truth the more he couldn't stand back and watch. He published numerous papers about the Tsarista's wrongdoings and the crimes of the fatui, how they would harass merchants in other nations, the unfair taxes many shipping businesses had to keep quiet about, all the way up to the war crimes the Tsarista had done in direct contradiction to her own laws.

Sadly, not many believed him even with evidence, but some got his message.

Those who fight

One day Alexander was approached by a man who claimed to have formed a resistance against the fatui. Alexander had inspired many people to disrupt the organization, and have even begun working with those outside Schneznaya.

With their help he didn't just publish some crimes, he published them all, he even got information that turned the general public against the fatui even if just a little.

In a way h had achieved his dream of helping others with his writing, even if it wasn't how he wanted.

Stop the presses

When the Tsarista started her big move of taking gnosis, she brought the hammer down on dissent like a boulder on a ten year old's wrist. One day a squad of thirty fatui stormed Alexander's home and business to silence him, and while they shut down his business they couldn't catch him.

Alexander fled into the wastelands of ice and snow and wasn't seen for several weeks.

Deus ex Vodka

One day Alexander showed up in Inazuma, a nation that had been oppressed for some time now and had recently reached it's height, yet no resistance had formed.

That was until Alexander came along.

Alexander published numerous books, spreading them throughout Inazuma. All of them spoke of freedom, of bravery, of rising up to achieve your ambitions.

And with those stories he inspired countless to take up arms, and in turn inspired countless to join the resistance.

And with mere fiction he had brought about hope,

And with mere fiction he shall do it again, in every form, and in every nation.

Vision: cold hearted

While wondering the waste Alexander fell down and looked to the skies.

He did not ask celestia why, he did not grieve or blame that he did not do more, instead Alexander did something he hadn't done in a long time:

He imagined.

And after he imagined he took out his notebook and wrote. In the freezing cold for seventeen days he wrote stories of hope and freedom.

For seventeen days the cold did not so much as cause him to flinch as he wrote tales of bravery.

For seventeen days Alexander Vodka lived how he wanted to live.

And at the end, he lied down to die.

Then a light shown, and when he opened his eyes to look he saw that the storm parted around him, and in his hand was an ice blue gem.

But Alexander was too paranoid from years of abuse from his peers as a child to wear it loosely, and far to extra to just get a lock. So instead Alexander shouted to celestia "if I shall have this Vision for my art, then it shall not kill me no matter what I do!"

He then shoved the vision into his heart and fell down.

Before he could bleed out however, a woman appeared.

"Hey Tsari, how ya doin." Alexander said as blood poured out his mouth.

"You dramatic fool," the Tsarista sighed as she put a hand on his chest, "you have my element, do you know how bad it'll look for me if you die by shoving your vision into your heart?"

"Why do you care? We hate eachother, in case you forgot."

The archon sighed, "you're just rebelling against what you see as unjust, just as I am. To be honest I feel a sort of rivalry with you, so it'd be a shame if you just died. Also," she painfully shoved the vision all the way in, painfully, "if your going to die it better be because of me, got it?"

Then Alexander sat up, and the god was gone. Along with the hole in his chest.

"Rival of a god eh?" He sat up, putting his gat back on his head, "I like the sound of that."

_____________________

How is this an insert?

Well his story can't be the exact same as mine, so I took my life and goals and made predictions, then fictionalized those predictions and expanded.

His appearance is pretty close to how I'll likely look based on my current appearance, and his dramatic attitude is exactly how I wanna act.

Him being shy in new places with strangers is me exactly as I am now really, however I do believe I'd act confidently if I were famous so he does as well.

Him being Catalyst is because I'm not athletic at all, and I figured a dps Catalyst would be cool. His main ability and resistance/immunity to sheer cold is based on how I wrap up in warm blankets when it's cold, and his ultimate is made up of characters I've made.

_____________________

Tagging: @genshin-obsessed, @golden-wingseos, @storytravelled, and @love-psxlm

#genshin #genshin impact #genshin oc

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theheavenlymoon · 3 years

Text

A flower’s growth 🌸

I just realized that Hanako is technically a self-insert oc because I use her for more than just twst i-

Also, this is my number one resource https://camp-halfblood-fanon.fandom.com/wiki/Hestia_Cabin

Its mentions one important thing that is critical in Hanako's back story. I'll show you the important thing but I recommend reading it all because its really interesting!

"i.e. Hestia takes some essence of a mortal man she takes a liking to and create her child by fire from the hearth with her essence fused to that mortal's. Hestia then proceeds to notify the father as she cannot raise the child." (13 in 'powers and traits')

Also to give you some visuals (I’ll explain the two boys later on)

So with that being said..let's👏talk👏trauma! More specifically Hanako's trauma.

(The writing style might change so just ignore it-)

WARNING: Suicidal thoughts

Virginal Goddesses like Hestia don't really have kids. Athena children are born from their mother's head. So how would a Hestia child be born? Let me explain.

A man caught Hestia's attention. He was compassionate and energetic and always tried to help when he could. Even though he had very little money, even though he had some hard times, he was still compassionate and that intrigued Hestia.

When he was more financial stable, Hestia decided to gift him a child. A perfect gift for a family man like him. Hestia took some of his essence and mixed it with her’s and with the help of some fire from the hearth, Hanako was born.

A small knock could be heard through the small house. Fumihito goes to open the door only for a baby to staring up at him while making cooing noises. Rapped in a purple blanket with flowers on it, the baby had a small name tag that said ‘Hanako’

“Welcome home Hanako.” The man said with a small smile

When Hanako was about 4, Fumihito married his best friend and moved to America. A few months later triplets were born. All of them being male. First is Kaji, Hinote, and Yakeru. Most people would think Hana would hate to have siblings, but it’s quite the opposite. Hanako was ecstatic to have siblings she could play with.

When she was told she was going to be a big sister and had to take her role seriously, that’s exactly what she did. She read the boys to sleep and keeped them entertained as best as she could. When they were a little older Hana liked to make them wear dress and have tea parties. In return she took part in everything the boys did. Sports, video games, music, art you name it she would try it at least once.

Hana grew in grace and compassion. She truly was a great balance between her parents. It was funny hearing advice that sounds like something a sage would give only for it to be a child talking. She was a bright, energetic girl and never could stay in one place for very long. She was very social and was friends with almost everyone in her school.

But some stories can’t always be fairytales and rainbows...

Hanako’s step-mother fell ill and passed away when she was about 10. Everyone was devastated but life doesn’t stop when people fall. So they didn’t either. Obviously they still mourned but they tried to have a positive outlook even though a family member is gone.

(Fast forward to where Hana is 11)

In the dead of night, when everyone was in a deep slumber, there’s a small crash. At the sound, Hana jerks up in a sweat. Call it intuition, but she had a horrible feeling something was going to go wrong.

She snuck into her brother’s rooms and hid them in a small closet in one of their rooms. As Hana was about to go wake her father she heard a noise. Hana turned around only to see a woman holding what look to be like a sword.

Without warning the woman grabbed Hana’s hair and threw her into a bookshelf. Hana let out a small shriek. The bookshelf itself was unstable and the added force made it fall. Luckily Hana was fast enough to move most of her body. Let’s just say her left leg wasn’t as lucky as her other limbs.

The woman had a feeling the father could come out any minute so she ran around the corner and waited for the perfect opportunity to strike

At the sudden noises that we’re going outside his room, Hana’s father slams the door open only to see Hana stuck under the unstable bookshelf.

In at state of panics he rushed over to her. “Hana are you alright?!?!” But Hana didn’t answer. She was to focused on the woman who was still behind the corner.

“I’m calling the police! Just hang on!” Fumihito yelled. After Fumihito called 911 he tried to move the bookshelf. While he was doing so the woman kept stalking closer. “DADDY LOOK OUT-“ but it was to late. In one swipe Fumihito’s head was cut clean off, his body falling limp right beside Hanako. No one in that neighborhood could ever forget the Bloodcurdling scream that came from Hanako’s house. Eyes wide with horror and despair Hana couldn’t keep her tears in.

Before the woman could do any more damage they heard police sirens. “We will meet again someday demigod.” And with that the woman disappeared.

After a full check of the house they concluded that only the children were left. Once they found Hana, nothing was left of the lively girl. After helping her get out from under the bookshelf the police immediately sent her to the hospital. The police told the triplets to pack stuff that was most important to them and follow the police. (The triplets also packed stuff for Hana as well. One of the things being a photo album of the family.)

The police concluded that the children didn’t have any other adults to care for them so they would have to be put in an orphanage. However there wasn’t an orphanage where they lived so they would have to be put in a new town.

It was hard adjusting to this new life. There was barely enough food for everyone, you had to share rooms with other kids. Hanako had to use crutches for a while until her leg healed. Her new school wasn’t that great either. Hana, not being as social as she once was, was bullied for being too quiet. Not to mention, no one had ever seen a kid with natural yellow eyes and violet hair.

From beating her almost to death, to threatening to cut her hair and gouge her eyes out because she was ‘too pretty’

On terms of Hana in general, she wasn’t acting like her normal self. She had gotten more reserved and became a cry baby. You could easily tell she had eye bags and her anxiety was always threatening to go through the roof. You can only assume those eye bags were because of nightmares from that night. She talked much quieter and always wore a frown with her eye brows scrunched in a worried way.

The other three were to young to understand what happened. The police had to lie to them saying “your dad is on a special trip right now.”

About 6 months later the triplets were adopted by a man who looked like he was the head of some company. Hana tried her best to run after them but the staff had to hold her back. All the while the three were screaming for her to come and save them.

What no one knew is that the triplets would be forced to become assassins. It’s not like they wanted to! The man said if they didn’t he would kill their sister! The night after the adoption they all made a promise to keep Hana safe no matter what.

So there Hana sat all alone on the swings of a play ground, with no one around to comfort her. Surrounded by people who have families and are happy. It’s like the universe was taunting her.

The only thing that didn’t change is her older sibling nature. Giving her food to the little ones. Playing dress up or soccer. Her smiles were always fake. Maybe to the blind eye she seems happy but some could easily tell she was anything but happy.

6 months later Hana finally gets her cast takin off. At this time Hanako is 12 and is at her breaking point. After another day of school, and another day of almost getting beat to death, something snaps inside of her.

(TRIGGER WARNING⚠️)

You have to understand, Hanako didn’t have anybody to talk to. Everyone was either to busy or didn’t bother to care. Which left her all by herself. It felt like she was trapped almost. No one there to listen or laugh with.

The scissors on her dresser looked quite tempting. The relief of not having to go through any more of this pain and loneliness was very appealing, but before she could touch them a huge gust of wind blew into her room. Taking the scissors away from her while she was distracted.

If that couldn’t work then running away would be the next best option. That night Hana packed her things (including the photo album) and drew out her plan. It was quite simple really.

She would skip school and go behind it, where a cliff is, to get a good view of where she could go from there.

After running around the school and into a forest, Hana reached a stream. Cupping some water to drink, Hana got caught up in how refreshing the water was. A snap of a branch snapped her out of her state and made her look around. That’s when she saw the manticore out of the corner of her eye.

Hana quickly got up and started backing away only to forget that there’s a cliff and slips. Plummeting to her presumed death tears start to seep out once again. Out of no where a boy that looks to be about 15, swoops in to save her, but the weirdest thing is that his shoes have wings on them, But she was to tired to care. So acting like she didn’t have a care in the world, she rapped her arms around him and snuggled into his neck.

The last thing she could make out was something like “ Let’s get out of here before that manticore decides it wants a 3 course Demi-god meal!” Or something like that.

When Hana woke up, she looked around and realized she was in an infirmary room. The same boy she saw was sleeping on the bed next to her. A knock on the door was heard, and in came girl who looked about the same age as the boy. “You two have been out for a while.” She said “I would’ve never suspected that a tiny demigod like you could cause so much trouble.” Hana looked confused “Do I know you? And what do you mean by demigod?” She asked.

The older girl let out a small chuckle before walking up an sitting next to Hana. “I’m Jane, daughter of Aphrodite! The reason why I called you a demigod is because, well... you’re half god half mortal.” The younger girl couldn’t believe her ears. “B-but how do we know I’m a demigod?” “Have you seen your other parent before? Can you never be in one place for to long? Those are all signs my dear, of course if you don’t believe me we can wait till your godly parent claims you as their kid.”

After that small encounter Jane took Hanako on a tour of where she’d be staying the whole summer. “W-why are we at a camp? And who was that boy w-who saved me?” The younger girl asked in a quiet voice. “This camp houses demigods, there a two from what everyone knows. One for Greek gods and one for Roman gods. The boy who saved you is my best friend Chase, he’s a child of Hermes! Speaking of Hermes, you’ll be staying in that cabin until your godly parent claims you.” The elder girl pointed at the Hermes cabin. “The gods have specific cabins for them and their children, and depending on your mom or dad you could end up housing with me or Chase.”

After the tour, there was dinner, after dinner it was time for everyone to sit around the big campfire. Everyone was laughing, talking, and telling stories. One kid asked Hana if she knew her godly parent yet, but before she could answer something flashed above her head.

The warm glow of a fireplace hung over her head. Everyone stopped talking, looking shocked. Hana was the first ever child of Hestia! From the back of all the campers you can hear someone yell “All hail Hanako! Daughter of Hestia!” And just like that everyone bowed.

After all that craziness, Hanako was escorted to her own cabin. She let out a small thank you before going inside. To her surprise there was a woman waiting inside, but this woman felt oddly familiar. Almost as if Hana saw her before! The woman turned around and said “We have quite a lot to catch up on, Hanako.” With a welcoming smile. Just like that Hana dropped her bag and ran to the woman. It didn’t take long to figure out that she was her godly parent.

That night the two girls talked and talked till midnight. That’s when Hestia tucked Hana into bed. For the first time in a year she finally felt happy, and that night she went to sleep wearing a smile. The next day Hana sat by a tree relaxing when suddenly two boy came out of nowhere! One had black hair, blue eyes, and he had some freckles on his nose. The other had light brown hair and cyan blue eyes and wore a black baseball hat.

“We h-heard you were the daughter of Hestia and w-we were w-wondering i-if you would like to-“ “What he’s trying to say, is that we wondering if you to be friends!” The brunette interrupted. “A-are you sure you want a crybaby like me to be your friend??” The boys looked at each other and smiled (the brunette smiling more brighter and the blackette smile more small)

They nodded and reached out their hands to her’s. At first she hesitated but quickly grabbed their hands, afraid they might disappear. When she grabbed their hand it was like weights were lifted off her chest. She never realized until now, how important friends and family are until recently . “I’m Xavier and the dork with the freckles is Kai!” “I AM NOT A DORK!! I’m just not that great when it comes to ladies!” “Right, Right.” The brunette said sarcastically. “Anyway my godly parent is Hermes and Kai’s Mother is Athena!”

Maybe thing we’re starting to take a turn for the better.

Once she met those two Hanako started coming out of her shell more. She was still quiet and anxious but it isn’t as bad as before. Not to mention she gets more loud and energetic with Xavier and Kai around!

Hanako HATES libraries and bookshelf. She’ll go in a library if she has to, but she avoids them as best she can. If she’s ever in a vicinity of a bookshelf she’ll distance herself as much as possible. Let’s just say she gets very anxious and nervous when she around them.

If you ever asked about Hana’s past she would never be ashamed to tell you what happened. She isn’t happy about the events that took place but there’s nothing she can do about it know. So know matter what Hanako always tries to keep her head up high when it comes to her past.

(More visuals)

🌸Some side notes here🌸

(Don’t mind the last one’s eyes being blue. I was trying to decide if I wanted to stick with yellow or try something new-)

(I can go more into depth on Hanako’s two besties if anyone would be interested)

(I’m also thinking of reintroducing her because the first one is her in twst but she’s like that in every fandom basically. Obviously I won’t delete the first one I just wanna talk about everything she’s in and what her relations are to everyone!)

#ocs #twst oc #jjk oc #twisted wonderland #obey me oc #demon slayer oc #twst #genshin impact oc #twst x reader

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ikemenshakespeare · 3 years

Text

Thank you @fittsythesnail for giving me the inspiration to create this OC for Ikemen vampire! She made this piece for me in loving memory of my dog Bowser who passed away a few months ago, and now he gets to live on as part of the Ikemen Vamp fandom as a girls best friend. 🐶🥺💖

Name: Alba Estelle Rossi

Vampiric Type: N/A (Human)

Height: 5’4

Birthday: April 15th (Same day as Leonardo!)

Age: 22

Occupation: Hairdresser

Pet: 9 year old male dog named Bo. Alba took her three sisters out to the park one sunny spring afternoon. They’d been out playing when they found a box near the street with a little mutt inside. After denying the puppy for hours, it turned out she’d be the one most in love with him after one short week! (Bowser’s IkemenVamp persona. 🥺🐶)

Appearance: Although one of the hairdressers in town, Alba keeps her hair it’s bored straight look. The length can range from medium/long depending when she can get around to trimming it herself, hair color is a chestnut brown. Light olive colored skin and green/hazel eyes. Thick dark colored eyebrows. Large breasts.

Childhood: Alba’s the oldest of her mothers four daughters, The sister closest to her in age (Olivia) still seven years younger. Alba was the bastard child of an Italian man, her mother a French woman was still only a teenager when she ran off to be with him. Later in life when Alba was 5 years old her father left to start a family with another woman of legitimate status, leaving her mother to move back to Paris with her and eventually start a new family of her own with a simple fisherman. By the time Alba’s last sister (Therese) was born her mother and stepfather had fallen into deep depression and became alcoholics, unable to take care of their newborn or other two kids, fourteen year old Alba took up the responsibilities as a parent and moved out with her sisters. Always doing the young girls hair paid off, eventually she found a passion for hair dressing. Surprisingly after moving out at age fourteen she continued to live a very happy “childhood” taking care of her sisters. Alba values their peace/happiness over everything and is extremely lucky her oldest sister (Olivia) is nurturing and can take care of the young two (Valerie/Therese) and the house while she worked.

Dislikes: cold weather, humidity, animal cruelty, people who take advantage of others, sleeping in the dark, and laziness.

Likes: meeting others who are just as passionate about something as she is, the idea of traveling the world although she hasn’t been able to yet, sleeping in on days off, animals, a good book, bear hugs, the beach, belly laughs, and a nice hot cup of coffee is the cure to almost anything.

Personality: Basically the definition of extrovert, with Alba the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Is true indeed! Looking simple on the outside and being a box of bubbly cheer on the inside! Very opinionated which is arguably one of her worst traits for some, her mouth has gotten her in some trouble but she wouldn’t change that about herself. Alba’s a rollercoaster of emotions and feels all things deeply. If sad, angry, happy, or anything else for that matter you’ll know! Growing up self reliant it’s hard for her to accept help from others, but when finally convinced to take help she’s always appreciative. A very loyal person and would do anything for those who’ve helped her or are good friends.

Relationships

Leonardo (platonic): Met him when she first became a hairdresser. Leonardo would see her in town, just a young girl offering hair services to make money. Going into town to help others was a hobby of his, there was nothing he could do for Alba other then become a regular customer of hers. And so he did. Every few weeks he came to her for a trim. As time went by Leonardo met her younger sisters and came to know the source of her hard work. As years went by Alba began to realize something about Leonardo aswell. Things were ever changing, she’d quickly went from a young teenager to young woman. Leonardo on the other hand hadn’t changed at all, his appearance hadn’t even so much as dulled. “Leonardo…” she’d asked. “Hmm?” He was getting up from his chair, giving her that same smile he always had. “How old are you?” He grinned further, “a man never tells his secrets” she frowned, “you’ve told me that before.” He chuckled. “doesn’t surprise me. Till next time Alba.” He went to walk out the doors of her home, but what she’d said next shocked him. His back stiffening, forcing him to turn back around to face her. “I don’t know what you are, but I know you’re not like regular people. You gave me that same answer when I first met you. Just know, whatever it is I’ll never be scared of you.” He knew she’d never be scared of him, even if she did know what exactly he was, but boy was he afraid of her. Ever changing, getting older while he stayed the same. He feared to be close to another human and loose them, such fleeting creatures although he couldn’t help but be there for them, be there for her. Eventually since she practically found out for herself the secrets of his vampire life, he coaxed Comte into allowing her to come to the mansion to do his hair. In turn she got an entire mansion full of new clients.

Vincent (close friend): After being invited to the mansion by Leonardo to do hair, Alba immediately began making new relationships with the others. Vincent’s kind demeanor made him the easiest person for her to get on with from the very beginning, he also took a lot of interest in her in general. Always looking for new inspiration for his art he would simply watch as she did hair, painting the scene of her. Unlike some of the others he was very open and was easy to trust. After months of her coming in and out there came a time when the three girls had to come with her to the mansion. They’d play outside giving Vincent even more inspiration for painting. “Alba, would it be alright to paint the girls in the field?” They were always doing something interesting leaving him with tons of happy nature scenes to paint.

Theo (possible romance? 😏): At first he was one of the only residents who paid no mind to Alba. Not even bothering to be serviced by her when she came over. It happened more then once where he’d be looking for Vincent and see him in thralled in a painting of her. “Broer, This woman again? What do you find so fascinating about her?” Vincent just claimed to want to paint and it was something different from a regular scene. “Theo, could we show this peice at our next event?” He hesitated. “You should paint another of her for the event, we should hold on to this one.” He’d admire his work of her in the art room from time to time, wondering why he felt an attraction to the piece of a woman he hadn’t even really met. Months began to pass and Vincent would begin to spend lots of time with Alba outside of mansion. They’d go to brunch, little outings at the park, ect. Of course Theo being Theo, he just absolutely needed to know what his little brother was up to. If he knew where they’d be going that day,he’d sneak a peak on his way to the next job. One of the occasions they were out walking Bo, he noticed Theo watching/lingering in the distance and took off his way. Her dog barked and growled like mad and sent Theo falling on his butt, Alba and Vincent came down the road running. “Broer! Are you alright??” A worried vincent helped his brother up. “Im so sorry about that, I’ve never seen him act this way towards anyone before!” Alba grabbed Bo, struggling with him to calm down. Theo spit out, “Tch! Control your little friend hondjie!” A knot appeared between your brow, “excuse me? What did you just call me?” That’s how you two met officially, not to mention the first of many many bickering matches. Although the last the two spoke, Theo showed a new side of himself. “Alba, We’re having a show later this week. Vincent wanted to display one of the paintings he made of you that day.” You simply nodded, “yeah, I’ve heard from Vincent already and gave him permission.” He sighed, “that’s not what I’m asking. I wanted to invite you to go see the display for yourself.” She hesitated a moment. “Well… I was supposed to cook the kids an early dinner that night. I’m not sure-” cutting her off he rushed the words out, “That’s fine, dinners on me and the girls can come. I’m sure Vincent will join us afterwards aswell.” This really caught her by surprise. She’s be lying if she said Theo wasn’t dangerously attractive. His attitude on the other hand… wasn’t something you thought you were fond of. Seeing the pink blush on his cheeks now as he asked to see you on the other hand… now that was something she couldn’t shake. She wanted more of this and couldn’t tell you why.

#Ikemen Vampire #OC #Leonardo Da Vinci #Vincent Van Gogh #Theo Van Gogh #gifted art #thank you #💖

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crystalstar8 · 3 years

Text

Knights of the Night (Epilogue 2)

Epilogue 2

Ch 1, ch 2, ch 3, ch 4, ch 5, ch 6, ch 7, ch 8, ch 9, ch 10, ch 11, ch 12, ch 13, ch 14, ch 15, ch 16, ch 17, ch 18, ch 19, ch 20, ch 21, ch 22, ch 23, epilogue, epilogue 2

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29139240/chapters/71536491

pairing: Jungkook x oc

genre: vampire au, college au, twilight, romance

word count: 1,053

warnings: blood (obviously), kidnapping, child kidnapping, needles, France, human trafficking

notes: vampires, vampire au, college, college au, so many twilight references, blood, needles, kidnapping, children, homelessness, dance, ballet, flashbacks, romance, slow burn, probably no smut, idk yet tho, France, French things, attempted genocide, inaccurate French history, bisexual main character, @strawberriewithchocolate-blog @mozy-j @daechwitad-2 @zobadak @fallenstar-7

summary: Catalina starts college in a small town all the way across the country. She doesn’t know anyone and isn’t exactly looking for friends. She just wants to focus on dance. But when she meets fellow dance major, Jimin, and adventurous, fellow freshman, Jungkook, Catalina ends up discovering a whole new side to the small college town; one that is dangerous but oh so enticing...

Jungkook was waiting for her outside the building, a rose in his hand. Catalina’s nose scrunched into a smile as she skipped down the stone steps.

France was overwhelming; the architecture everywhere was ancient and beautiful, and the history was fascinating and rich. The people were a bit rude, especially once they realized they were Americans. They were only a bit more forgiving when Namjoon, Taehyung, and Yoongi showed off their fluent French.

The theater Catalina had her audition in was stunning. The outside was all white columns and friezes, the inside was mosaic tiled floors and painted ceilings.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she dropped her dance bag and threw herself into Jungkook’s arms.

“You got me a rose?” she asked, leaning back just enough to look at the rose in his hand.

“Of course I got you a rose,” he said. “You think I’d let you step out of an audition without a rose?”

Catalina giggled and took the flower from him.

“How did it go? Did you get in?” he asked.

“I don’t know yet,” said Catalina. “They’re going to do callbacks in a few days.”

“Good thing we’re staying for a while,” said Jungkook.

“But honestly, it doesn’t matter if I get in or not,” said Catalina. “There’s always next year. And There’s always plenty of shows.”

“Yeah, you have all the time in the world,” said Jungkook. He stared at her for a moment, then whispered, “I want you to turn me.”

“Oh yeah?” Catalina asked. She had been waiting for this. She knew that he was worried about aging without her, she could see it his eyes sometimes when they went to bed together, knowing she wouldn’t fall asleep. She especially saw it on his birthday. “You’re still young.”

“I know, but I’m already the same age as you now,” he said.

“Oh no! You’re the same age as me! You basically have one foot in the grave already!” Catalina giggled. “You should take your time. You get hotter every year. Let yourself ripen a bit before doing this.”

He laughed loudly and tugged her closer.

“That’s true,” he said.

“Wait until we both graduate,” said Catalina. “We can talk then.”

“You’re pulling an Edward on me?” he said. “Next thing I know, it’ll be, ‘wait until we’re married’.”

Catalina giggled and swatted his arm. “You’re being a baby.”

“I know. I’m kidding,” he said. “I can wait.”

“Besides, we need time to explore the wonders of blood drinking during sex,” she said. “Did you know there’s aphrodisiacs in the venom when you drink from someone? It’s supposed to make them pliant, but it doesn’t turn them into a vampire.”

“That sounds hot,” said Jungkook. “Also, I am a fan of being manhandled. I’m not ready for that to end just yet.”

“I know. We might need a chaperone though,” she said, tapping her chin. “I don’t know if I’d be able to stop once I got started. You smell way too good.”

“We have plenty of time to work out the specifics,” said Jungkook. “I need time to get hotter each year, so we’ll figure it out.”

They both laughed as they went to the car waiting for them.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Taehyung loved the Louvre. It was like a dream come true, wandering the unending corridors, seeing all the classics he’s idolized for hundreds of years.

“Taehyungie, what’s this one called?” Jimin asked. His hand was covering the informational plaque under a series of paintings depicting a man looking at a celestial globe. Jimin had been doing this for hours, but Taehyung didn’t mind. He loved sharing what he knew about all his favorite pieces.

“That’s ‘The Astronomer’, by Vermeer,” said Taehyung. Jimin smiled and strolled ahead down the corridor, in search of his next quiz. It was a weekday, so the museum wasn’t very busy. There was a tour group of young students, which Taehyung and Jimin ran into a few times, but otherwise there were only a few stray artists wandering around doing sketches of the statues.

In the back of his mind, Taehyung knew that the rest of their group was supposed to meet them here at some point, but Taehyung and Jimin were so far into the maze of art that he wouldn’t even know how to direct them once they arrived. He wasn’t worried about it either. He was having too much fun with Jimin to care about the others right now.

Every moment spent with Jimin was special to him. He still couldn’t believe sometimes how quickly Jimin had reassured and forgiven Taehyung; he was so sure Jimin would hate him for making that decision for him. And while Jimin was struggling getting used to his new life, he made it clear that he was thankful to be alive, that he was excited to spend forever with Taehyung.

“What about this one?” Jimin asked. Taehyung strolled over to look at what painting Jimin was at.

“‘St. Michael Vanquishing Satan’,” said Taehyung. “Raphael.”

Jimin continued down the hall, eyes flitting across each painting. Taehyung was most excited to see David; he heard that the statue was way bigger in person than one would expect.

Taehyung stopped. The painting he was looking at made his eyes widen and his mouth fall open. The plaque said that the artist was unknown. Jimin must have noticed that Taehyung had stopped moving, because he wandered over, letting out a gasp when he saw the painting.

They didn’t say anything for a while. The school group wandered past behind them, the children’s voices bouncing off the stone walls.

“Hey, that guy looks just like you!” a voice shouted from behind them. Jimin turned around to talk with the girl, who was pointing at Taehyung. Taehyung didn’t take his eyes off the picture though. He felt a tear roll down his face.

“Can I take a picture of you with that painting?” the little girl asked. Taehyung wiped the tear from his cheek and nodded, turning around to face the girl. She lifted her phone and snapped a picture. She gave them a toothy smile before running to catch up with her classmates.

“Is this Adrianna’s work?” Jimin asked. Taehyung nodded. He turned back around to stare at the painting of himself with his dog.

A/N:

And that’s a wrap! Thank you to everyone reading this and sticking with me during this story. Reading the comments was my favorite part of this journey.

This story is officially novel length! I’ve never accomplished that before with a complete work! I’ll be posting this story on Wattpad, and I’m also thinking of changing names and adding scenes to make this a publishable work, so keep your eyes out for updates on that!

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emersonfreepress · 3 years

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okay so is there content that you had planned for the ROs and story in general but then scrapped cause there wasn’t a good place in the story to stick it in? and if so, can you share what it was? 👀 👀 👀

yes, definitely. *rubs hands together* oh man, you done asked THE question today xD I can't wait to get into this 😁

Academics. I almost decided to have classes and grades be a minor part of gameplay, but the more time I spent designing it the more I realized I wanted nothing to do with it 😂 I haven’t really enjoyed academic gameplay in other interactive fiction because I 1) hate having to choose between studying and interacting with awesome characters, 2) have terrible short term memory, and 3) hate school in general!! So instead I just opted to have the MC be really good at school, point blank period so I could focus on social drama and relationships instead! 😆

Physical skills. I spent literal months crafting the catering scene around setting up stats for stamina/endurance, dexterity, and strength instead of just magnetism, confidence, and persuasion. They had their own backstories with the MC’s parents being overly invested sports parents instead and I think the background choices were like... martial arts, gymnastics, and track? But yeah, I ended up scrapping it all because I was spending hours on research about those individual sports so I could integrate them into the MC’s narrative organically but like... when I tried to think of what use they would be in the actual story, I came up blank. Best decision yet, esp since it means a lot less coding!

Skin tone customization. For one, I noticed that a lot of my favorite IFs don’t offer that customization and it hasn’t impacted my experience at all. For two, I originally realized I might as well not implement it since I am striving real hard not to introduce any customization that won’t actually be mentioned in interesting or meaningful ways in-story. I don’t think it’s really all that common for real life friends (esp in high school?) to comment or compliment each other’s skin and like... when it comes from someone who doesn’t share a similar complexion or ethnic background, that type of commentary gets... d i c e y. So then I wanted to be sensitive to that but what’s the pay-off? An RO mentioning how they love your skin tone once? Awkward sentences with the MC referring to their own skin color? Idk, just wasn’t vibing with it. I’m open to revisiting it in beta or something but for now it’s scrapped.

Singing, Rapping, and Gaming as Hobbies/Talents. I feel bad about scrapping these, honestly 😂 They’re great and I really wanted to incorporate them but it just came down to already having a lot of stuff to code. Plus, I know I can write the Hobbies/Talents I stuck with far better. And for Book 2 purposes, as well!

Leo. as @sourandflightypeaches asked me about a long while ago, I had to scrap an entire RO 😢 His name is Leo, he was the nephew of wealthy west African diplomats residing in Emerson, and I love him dearly! His backstory was largely based on my mother’s childhood and the circumstances she lived through after immigrating to America. and... ok, i’m about to go on one hell of a tangent so buckle up and bear with me if you can 😅

my intention with this story, aside from writing things that I personally enjoy (graphic violence, spooky woods, social drama, romance, conspiracies 😚), is to explore greed, wealth, and how the ways people and families interact with those two things influence young people and who they grow up to be. here i go sounding pretentious af 😝 and here’s where I apply a cut for those who want to preserve a little mystery to the main characters!

With Gabe, we’ve got someone who grew up with very little stability or financial security but who has found unscrupulous methods to gain status and money, with both noble and selfish motivations.

Kile has some of that childhood experience in common with Gabe, having been in the foster care system since infancy, but they lucked out when they were adopted into massive wealth by a caring, loving couple—a couple that uses their wealth and privilege to be far more lenient and protective of Kile than is actually reasonable or responsible.

Jack comes from a prestigious wealthy family on his dad’s side who he loves dearly but there’s no getting around the fact that they love him back as much as they despise his working class mom.

Jessie is a spoiled sweet heiress (being the baby of her family and the only girl) and while she lives blissfully ignorant of the harmful source and impact of her father's income and career, she bears the weight of the expectation to fulfill very traditional gender roles, including her behavior and appearance, but also extending to her career and life plans.

Rain's wealth led to them growing up sheltered and isolated but also extremely accommodated, giving them maximum freedom and opportunity to discover and develop their personal talents and interests. However, they have almost no positive relationship with their parents who have essentially decided to give up on a kid that couldn't be exactly the accessory they tried to mold them to be—both in terms of their identity and personality.

Rupan/Rohan, at their very core, rejects everything about conformity, self-importance, and excessive luxury—which means they have never, ever truly fit in with their peers. Going full non-conformist, however, has resulted in them becoming alienated from much of their family, as well, despite them all loving each other very much. Their history with false friends and betrayals has led them to over-indulge in their vices and reckless behavior to compensate for that isolation. Sometimes, they just get in over their head and many times, they know better. Every time, it's just that the feeling of finally belonging is utterly intoxicating.

Vivian/Vincent has two extremely successful parents who didn't inherit but instead built up their wealth and they aspire to be just like them, to a degree that is well and truly unhealthy. Their mother specifically is an over-achiever and applies mountainous pressure for them to follow in her footsteps, especially academically. Vi is completely capable of achieving what their mom expects of them, but they were already an extremely sensitive perfectionist so this has made them intensely critical of themself. This is a large part of why they are such a rigid, no-nonsense person and that in turn has made them one of the most disliked people among their peers—which is a huge personal failure to them since their father is a very well-liked and socially successful person in town.

And the Emersons are peak privilege: inherent high social status, brains, looks, charisma, athleticism, and massive wealth. They could never have been anything less than extremely popular, just by virtue of their last name and the nature of the town's social dynamics and politics. And they do enjoy that privilege (esp Curt lol). However, it should go without saying that being so high profile, even (or maybe especially) just in the isolated scope of your hometown, isn't always a boon. Their family's and their own perceived failings are widely discussed and privately mocked and/or celebrated. Real friends are scarce while fake ones and snakes are plentiful. Plus their dad is a gigantic dickhead who sees his kids as extensions of his own status and reputation and not much else. Public shortcomings make for an unbearable time at home and the world outside the estate is at once overly accommodating, full of assumptions, and even subtly hostile at times—all unrelated to their own actions or character.

And with the MC, I think the narrative will make it clear there are several ways that story can go. You start off with irresponsible parents that have lost their wealth due to their own mismanagement and material ambitions—how that affects any individual MC should differ based on choices and consequences!

So why bring any of that up when I was supposed to be talking about my cut OC? 😂😂

Leo was going to be the unwelcome recent addition to his uncle’s household, the son of a brother his aunt hates for (petty af) Reasons, and she took that resentment out on him directly by restricting his access to nearly every aspect of the family's wealth. Especially material goods and living conditions. He was basically treated like the help, tasked with playing nanny for his many younger cousins and burdened with doing the homework and providing academic cover for his dumb as rocks cousin in the same grade as you all. To sum it up, he was basically a victim of trafficking at the hands of his own family with his uncle out of town enough to feign ignorance to how bad his wife was treating his nephew and his aunt going out of her way to keep him busy, at home, and isolated. This is sadly a super common form of trafficking in Francophone African cultures (although I don't think most people view it as trafficking. and I’m sure the same is true of other cultures but I don’t want to speak outside of my purview). And like I mentioned above, it’s how my own mom's (and idek how many cousins') child/teenhood went.

It’s a perspective on modern wealth, privilege and greed that I really, really wanted to tell. I am confident in saying it hasn't been explored in interactive fiction yet (though correct me—and direct me 👀—if I'm wrong) and out of all the wealth/greed explorations I came up with, it's the one I have the closest personal ties to and the strongest feelings about. The characters and plans I had for it were detailed and I'm proud of them but at the end of the day... I just couldn't find a place for Leo in the story at large.

Leo was, in fact, the last main character I came up with, when I had already designed and fleshed out the larger story and started crafting the timeline of major events. I think the worst thing I could have done for a story and perspective that I care about this much is shove it into a plot that didn't have room for it at the very base level, regardless of how well the character or his story is written. Shoe-horned characters always stick out. I didn’t want to disservice Leo by having him be the character that did nothing or could be removed from the main plot without affecting it at all, y’know? That’s so much worse than just forgoing the indulgence, imo :((

ugh.... Leooooo 😭 I'm so sorry bb, I failed youuu 😥

#lovely anon #answered #hotmess #ok I am truly so sorry for going on and on like this #writing #ch design #ty for this question it was really nice to revisit this stuff 😃#and a nice reminder to not look back lol #scrapped

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ninja-librarian · 3 years

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The Gearloose Family

I would like to apologize to everyone who has been concerned about the state of Gyro’s physical health in my “The Many Adventures of Duckburg’s Heroes!” series. I am still amazed that so many people have latched on to a single line of foreshadowing and have expressed their worries about Gyro and what wringer I’m going to put him through. I’m here to reassure you that all will be well. Eventually.

But, to make up for worrying so many of my lovely readers, I am going to give you all a preview of several new characters that will soon be introduced: Gyro’s two sisters, and his niece and nephew!

So here’s some facts about the Gearloose Family!

Gyro and his sisters were known throughout their childhood as the Gearloose Three. It’s what the media dubbed them when they made the news for setting a world record because they all have the same very high IQ, and they claimed the title as their own.

Birth order is Maria, Gyro, and Natasha. Four years separate Gyro from each of his sisters. They were incredibly close while growing up, and still are... when they’re not keeping secrets from each other.

Each of the Gearloose Three has a cutesy little nickname that only the other two can use and live to tell the tale. (With one exception, see below.)

Maria’s name is pronounced the same way as “Mariah”.

Maria’s specialty is math and her hobby is baking. Natasha’s specialty is chemistry, but her passion is art.

While the Gearloose Three didn’t go on adventures outside of Duckburg with Scrooge, Donald, and Della, they most definitely were usually found with the Duck twins when shenanigans happened in Duckburg. Natasha was usually the one to run headfirst into danger, Gyro was usually behind her (more often than not while being dragged by Della), while Maria and Donald took up the rear yelling "Get back here, dummy!” at their siblings.

Natasha often jokes that she and Gyro were Maria’s practice kids, but she’s not exactly wrong. Maria was more Gyro and Natasha’s mother than their actual mother. Four year old Maria basically took one look at baby Gyro and said “This is mine now”, and then four years later she saw baby Natasha and said “This is also mine now”. She’s incredibly nurturing, and was the one her siblings went to for comfort if they were sad, hurt, or scared.

Maria is the other Doctor Gearloose of the family (Yes, she kept her maiden name; it’s the name on her degrees, and she worked hard for those). She’s a highly respected math professor.

Natasha... well. If she had showed up for her dissertation defense, she would also be a Doctor. But she didn’t show up for her dissertation defense, so...

Maria has two kids: Clara and Newton. Clara is an OC, while Newton is OC-ish. Basis for him in canon Duckverse stories, but the only things I’m keeping about him are that he’s Gyro’s nephew, his name, and a love for science.

You know how DT87 Gyro has red hair? Maria and Clara are the red-heads of the family.

Newton is Deaf. He has hearing aids but prefers to use ASL and lip-reading. He’s a cinnamon roll too pure for this world, but has a lot of Gearloose sassy moments. Particularly, he has looked someone in the eye while turning off his hearing aids, a silent “What you have to say isn’t worth wasting the batteries in my hearing aids.” The sign names Newton created for his uncle and aunt relate to his mother’s nicknames for her siblings. Plans to be an inventor like Gyro.

Clara loves ballet and books. Math and science... not so much.

Clara’s going through an angsty teenage phase. Not quite sure what she wants to do with her life and where her strengths lie and where she fits into her strange family. Some bullying that she is most definitely not telling her mom about isn’t helping.

When they were little kids, Gyro was basically Maria’s shadow. Then, when they grew up, Clara became Gyro’s shadow. When she was little and Gyro was fixing or inventing something while visiting, she was his “Little Helper”.

Gyro has another nickname for Clara, which is different than the one Maria, Natasha, and Newton use for her.

Clara and Newton don’t play favorites with their mom’s siblings... but if they did, Clara would pick Gyro and Newton would pick Natasha.

And Gyro and Natasha also wouldn’t pick favorites... but Gyro has a special bond with Clara, and Natasha is very close with Newton.

Maria’s an old soul, and very sensitive and sweet. But, unfortunately, she is afflicted with Resting Gearloose Face and shy, so she often comes across as cold.

Maria’s husband... isn’t much to write about or dwell too much on. Kind of an entitled jerk. And not her first nor her last choice of who to marry.

Natasha is the family wild child, and the most sociable of the Gearloose Three. She’s a little like Launchpad, with a friend or an ex she’s on friendly terms with in pretty much every corner of the globe. She’s also bi.

Natasha travels the country in a van and does odd jobs, to include: waitressing; making replicas of famous paintings; selling her own art; working as a performer at renaissance fairs, comic cons, and parties; and more. She did take some time off from traveling to live with Maria, her husband, and the kids when Newton was a baby to help out her sister.

Yes, her van is basically the Mystery Machine but purple.

Natasha: “Have you tried lavender? What do you mean it didn’t work? It’s freaking lavender! Clearly you’re doing it--. Oh, never mind, I see what the problem is, you need something stronger, here’s some sage.”

Natasha hasn’t been back to Duckburg for ten years, because of a secret she has kept from her siblings for even longer.

#The Many Adventures of Duckburg's Heroes!#Gyro Gearloose #Ducktales #The Gearloose Three

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saiilorstars · 3 years

Text

Chapter 1: Welcome Back

Current Story Masterlist // Previous story // Maleny’s Masterlist

Pairings: Klaus Mikaelson x OFC

Pronunciation of OC’s name: Ma-leh-nee

Requested tag: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog @transformerfan97 @stareyedplanet @perfectlystiles

Story Summary: As they wait for the arrival of their long lost son, Klaus & his family face the prophecy spelling death for them all. Meanwhile, Maleny comes face to face with a past left buried within her thousand lives. She's faced with the one truth that she never thought would happen. Has her heart always belonged to the same man? The truth may sting and the enemies will take the advantage. Against their enemies and losses, Maleny and Klaus come up with a new promise: they will come back to each other in the end. First, they must save each other.

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

The Quarter was having a relatively calm night, as had been the custom for several months now. No one could have ever guessed there had almost been yet another battle among the supernatural. Thankfully, everything had calmed and although there there were still unresolved issues, there was no more threats coming to the Mikaelsons.

Well, perhaps Klaus could think of one but it was no threat to others besides him. He had forgotten how chatty Maleny could be when she learned new things, or when she was simply excited.

"And did you know they made chocolate red!? That is so weird!" Maleny laughed, while flipping through a magazine. "And then I heard about what humans really think vampires are!" she laughed again, "Do you know you're supposed to glitter outside?"

Klaus seemingly paid more attention to the bed covers' edges than her. Maleny was straddled over him, holding a magazine in her hands, and rapidly telling him all she was discovering of the new world. Frankly, that was not what he pictured when he'd suggested they move back to his room earlier in the day.

After a while, Klaus snatched the magazine from her hands, tossing it over the bed. Maleny pouted and gave him a glare, "I was reading that! And you weren't listening!"

"I was, selectively," Klaus said calmly, languidly turning his head to her. He moved up halfway to meet her 'pout' and proved that he was, indeed, listening. "You want to try the red chocolate, you can't believe they put pineapple on pizzas, the fact there's reversible sweaters bewilders you and yes, I did know of that ridiculous glittering rule."

Maleny stared at him a full two minutes before teasingly smiling, "Hmm…" she put her hands over his bare chest, "...all I heard was you watched that Twilight movie."

"I would rather dagger myself than ever watch that," Klaus rolled his eyes, "Humans are idiots."

"So broody," Maleny continued to tease, "How do I make that go away?"

"I have some...suggestions..." Klaus passed a hand down her hair and to her arm.

Maleny chuckled. They had somewhere to be yet they had fooled around for quite some time, and now he was less than half-dressed and she was still in sleeping garments. "While that is mighty tempting, I want to read a little more. Every accomplishment these humans have made is amazing. Is it true there's an actual place in Europe where the streets are full of water? And people have to literally sail on boats to get through?"

Klaus nodded, "Venice is quite beautiful. I suppose you'll have to see for yourself when we visit."

Maleny's eyes lighted up at the insinuation, "We're...we're gonna go? Are you serious?"

"Of course," Klaus reached to run a hand down her loose hair, "I was thinking of a family trip for when Nicolas came home."

"Ooh, I like the idea," Maleny gasped at the idea.

"I thought you would…"

"I do," Maleny grinned, giving him a kiss. One kiss soon turned into a second, which then turned into a third, and suddenly Maleny found herself being flipped over. She now gazed at a smirking hybrid above her, "Don't we have an art exhibit to go to? Your art exhibit?" she innocently questioned.

"It can wait a little while more," Klaus pressed another kiss to her lips, soon turning into dozens more.

~ 0 ~

Amarrah Collins grimly walked alongside Vincent Griffith down a street where police lights were flashing and brightening up the 'do not cross' tape that covered nearly half the street.

The French witch sighed as they grew closer to the crime scene, "Tell me again why it is you decided to call me in?"

"Well," Vincent coughed awkwardly, "to be honest, my first choice was Cami but she's not answering-"

"She wouldn't," Amarrah agreed with a small smile, "She's a bit busy dealing with the matters of this Quarter. Seeing as she's now controlling it, she's got a lot to deal with."

Vincent threw her a playful glare, "Oh, and she's a bigshot now?"

"Hey," Amarrah elbowed him on his side, "she's doing good and you have to acknowledge that."

"True, true," Vincent nodded, "I thought because of her psychology experience she would have some insight on this crime. But you're not so bad, seeing as you were an officer in your days?"

"Detective," Amarrah corrected with a smirk.

"Ooh, maybe you're better than Cami," Vincent shared a chuckle with her. "Now listen, me and all the P.D. have a relationship that goes back to that nastiness with my ex-wife. I'm their expert in anything that even seems occult. And every so often, they come across the aftermath of some black magic and they call me in."

"Hmm, and I'm to assume they've ran into something even you haven't seen yet?"

Amarrah's question was never answered as they turned for an alley where they were greeted by a blonde man, presumably a detective. "Is this your friend the shrink?" he nodded to Amarrah who frowned at such a distasteful greeting.

"Hey, I'm a Detective and you need to learn some manners," she gave him a pointed finger.

Amused, the man smiled, "Detective? From overseas? Well, you should have said so."

"You didn't exactly give me a chance," Amarrah slightly lightened up. "I'm Amarrah Collins."

The man took her hand to shake and introduced himself as well, "Detective Will Kinney. Now, I'm not trying to be rude but I was really hoping the shrink would be here."

"Technically not a shrink," Amarrah clarified, "And she's a bit busy. But I'm pretty good myself with strange cases. What am I doing here?"

"It's an impressionable sight," Will warned as he led Amarrah and Vincent further down the alley.

"Oh believe me when I say I have seen impressionable sights all my life," Amarrah shared a look with Vincent, almost laughing at the irony. However, once they passed a dumpster and saw the corpse, the smile vanished from her face. "Although this would be a first…"

"Maybe now you would consider having your almost-shrink friend looking into this," Will patted her arm before leaving the two.

"Clearly a vampire," Amarrah announced several minutes after the Detective had left.

The victim was a middle-aged man, dressed in a fancy black suit. He had his wrists and elbows held up by ropes, making him seem like a puppet. What had horrified Amarrah was the gruesome, wide slash the man had from ear to ear, still dripping fresh blood.

"Which one, precisely?" Vincent raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well, we'll have to figure that out ourselves," Amarrah gulped but could not, for the life of her, take her eyes off the corpse.

While unpleasant, Amarrah found traits she could easily identify from a vampire. She didn't know whether to thank the Mikaelsons for her newfound knowledge of the vampire world or be ashamed of herself for being unfazed with the work before her.

"Well, I'm no forensic psychologist, but whoever did this took their time," she started making conclusions to Vincent, "He bled- a lot- which means he was alive... but it was like he just stood here. These ropes are just for display," she gestured, "He wasn't bound- there are no marks on his wrists, no signs of struggling or clawing…"

"He was compelled," Vincent said what she had been trying to get at, "Maybe Rich-Boy pissed off the wrong vampire."

Detective Kinney came back to join them at the moment and cut off any vampire talk immediately. "How are you guys doing over here? Tell me you got something."

Amarrah quickly came up with a less supernatural conclusion. "It seems methodical. Precise. The wounds might have a special meaning to the killer. Not a formal ritual, but intentional. And, the things we do on purpose, we tend to repeat."

"Well," Kinney looked mildly impressed with her work, "that's not going to bode well for us."

"I'm afraid not," Amarrah agreed with a resigned sigh. She knew the next person they would have to talk to.

~ 0 ~

Now dressed in a white blouse and leather black pants, Maleny strode into the lounge room where Freya was sat on the ground with Hope, attending to her. "You forgot this, Freya," Maleny said, holding a small golden necklace as she joined the two.

"Sorry, I forgot to put it back on her when I took her out of the bath," Freya apologized and moved to handle the matter herself when Maleny waved with a hand she would do it herself.

Maleny pushed her recently curled hair behind her shoulders and got on her knees. "It's fine," she sat back on her legs and gently put the necklace around Hope's neck, "There we go, sweetheart," she kissed the toddler's head. "Now you be sure to show that to your Mummy again, alright?" she raised the necklace's locket and opened it up, revealing a picture of Hayley inside, "Who's that, Hope? Mummy. It's your Mummy."

Freya watched the toddler intently stare at the picture inside the locket. Since breaking Hayley's curse had turned out to be much more difficult than was assumed, Maleny had taken all measures so that Hope never forget who her mother was. The necklace had been a gift from her, and every chance she got she made sure to show the picture of Hayley to Hope.

After a while, Hope looked up from the locket and squealed as she reached for Maleny's golden necklace. Maleny laughed and picked her up, "Excuse you, young lady, I had this one," she pointed to Hope's locket, "bought for you so you could leave mine alone."

Hope paid no more attention as she gripped Maleny's necklace. She babbled to herself instead.

Maleny sighed and looked up at Freya, "Kids…"

Freya knew the word meant millions for the blonde, and especially now considering that Nicolas had made no such appearance nor contact. While Maleny tried to keep strong and simply wait, it was getting more difficult. To say, even Klaus often found himself impatient and broody over the subject. Their patience was slimming and Freya wondered when the couple would reach their breaking point and go in search for Nicolas themselves.

"So, where exactly are you headed?" Freya then asked as an attempt to disway any bad feelings. "If I'm correct Klaus' artwork doesn't open to the public until tomorrow night."

"He says he wants to give me a private tour," Maleny smiled deviously, instantly making Freya raise a hand and stop her.

"Spare me the details or I jump out," she warned. Maleny laughed at the antics but didn't continue.

Elijah walked in at that moment and smiled at the sight of his niece, probably the only thing that managed to make him smile nowadays.

Maleny smiled at him, "You wanted to hold her?"

"No, no, um…" Elijah seemed restless, unable to decide what it was he wanted. In another time, it would have surprised Maleny, but knowing what had happened between him and Cami, it had become a rather usual thing for him.

Freya exchanged a look with Maleny, and partly to help her brother, she offered a distraction, "Were you coming in to make plans for tomorrow? It's the full moon and I assume you want me to go with you?"

"I'd offer myself but…" Maleny made a face, "...I don't think Hayley's quite ready to see me yet. I bet she's still pissed - and with great motives."

Elijah didn't exactly want to agree with her and make her feel worse, so he simply waved a hand and said back, "I thought tomorrow I could just take Hope myself. Give you a night off," he looked at Freya.

"Are you sure you don't deserve a night off?" Freya challenged, "Perhaps several days off...or a week…?"

Elijah looked to the side, aggravated the same thing was being offered to him - take a break from the Quarter. "No, I'm fine, thank you," and with that, he left the room.

Freya shook her head and walked to the couch, plopping down, "Poor brother, he's suffering a lot."

"Yeah, well, he's not the only one," Maleny reminded.

"But it's her fault, you know," Freya shrugged.

"No, it's not. Cami's angry too, and she's hurt. It's gonna be some time before either can move on from what happened."

"If you ask me, I think Cami's doing a lot better than Elijah," Freya gave the blonde a hard look, more inclined to defend her brother. "She's taken the reigns of the city and hasn't remotely directed a word to Elijah, me, or even Klaus. It's like she's trying to forget we exist and frankly I find that rude."

Maleny playfully rolled her eyes, "Oh, Freya, if you knew the Cami I knew, you would see she's barely keeping herself from falling apart."

~ 0 ~

The following morning, the newest leader of the Quarter had gotten up early to train with Marcel at St. Ann's church. The place had been remodeled into a training gym for anyone interested no matter vampire, wolf, witch, human, etc. At the center of the place stood a large cage made of chain-link fence (and reinforced with steel for those tougher visitors). This was where Cami and Marcel currently were, sparring with each other. Marcel was having quite a surprise as Cami nearly managed to get him from one angle. She ultimately pinned him to the fence.

"How's that?" she grinned ecstatically.

Marcel arched an eyebrow, using Cami's momentary distraction to turn the tables over and pin her to the wall. "Now I told you, don't get cocky," he laughed and released the blonde from his neck hold.

Cami rolled her eyes but smiled anyways, "My bad."

"But you are getting far better," Marcel praised sincerely after a minute, "You've improved over these months and I'm proud of you. You'd be quite the challenge in a real fight."

Cami light heartedly nodded her thanks. Although she hadn't explicitly told Marcel the reason for her endeavoring to train harder, he had already made the assumption it was to make sure no one would ever so easily snap her neck anymore - no one would ever break her again.

"Although," Marcel's voice pulled Cami from her thoughts, "if you do get into a fight, you'd have a hell of a backup with the guys," he nodded over to the other vampires working out in the room.

Cami rolled her eyes, "They're not an army. And I wish you'd stop calling them that," she laughed, "One of these days they'll take it seriously."

"C'mon, just a little joke between a previous city holder to the new one," Marcel nudged her, both sharing another laugh.

"You could have been with me, both of us looking after the Quarter," Cami sobered up and warmly looked at her friend, "And the offer still stands, you know. I don't know much about politics and you definitely know how to keep things in order."

Marcel shook his head, patting Cami on the arm. "It's better this way. If I were to take back the Quarter, sooner or later Klaus would endeavor to take the crown again. There's just too much tension boiling. At least with you, we know Klaus wouldn't, and couldn't, hurt you even if he wanted to."

Cami chuckled lightly, shaking her head disappointingly. She had kept her words to Amarrah and done what she could to help more people out. After officially quitting school, she kept the long-ago promise she made Elijah and took her place at the factions meetings. Although it was tough to convince the other faction leaders, which now also included Davina (being Regent of the witch covens), agreed to let her lead the city in a peaceful manner, both for humans and vampires. Because of her, the Quarter had had many months of peace.

That wasn't to say she had much peace, however.

"Cami?" Amarrah called as soon as she and Vincent came into the place. Cami nodded and walked out of the fighting ring, along with Marcel, and headed to the two mortals. "We have a problem," Amarrah announced while Vincent pulled out his cellphone. "Last night there was a murder and we're pretty sure it was a vampire."

"Or vampires," Vincent made sure to add in. He handed the phone now showing the pictures of victim, which Cami took and began to swipe through as she and Marcel studied the injuries.

"Gnarly stuff," Marcel sighed, already beginning to assume who could have done the murder.

"Yeah, the guy was torn apart," Amarrah shook her head, "I mean, there are no obvious puncture wounds, but whoever did that had to be a vampire. And nobody heard any screams, so he had to have been compelled to just stand there and suffer."

"Since when are you into this stuff?" Cami raised an eyebrow, curiously looking between the two.

"I'm a Detective, remember?" Amarrah laughed, "They were looking for you but got me instead."

Marcel stuck to the subject more seriously and handed back the phone to Vincent, " You think this was us? The guys know better than to leave a body in the streets."

Vincent didn't seem to buy it as he gestured to the other vampires in the room, "How well do you know your guys?"

"It doesn't make sense for us to leave dead bodies on the streets," Cami cut in, "That would eventually get into the headlines which would make tourism drop. We don't mess with our food supply, Vincent."

"Maybe someone new lost control?" Amarrah offered an alternative that could very well be plausible.

"Maybe you guys should consider that our guys aren't the only vampires in town."

Amarrah then frowned, even Cami understanding the implication, "You don't think this was work from the Mikaelsons?"

"They're a hot mess whether they want to admit it or not," Marcel put his hands in a neutral manner, "Klaus has 'patiently' been waiting for the arrival of his long lost son who still hasn't even made contacts. And Elijah…" Marcel cast a sideways glance to the blonde vampire beside him, who was already shifting awkwardly, "...kinda had trouble of his own," he left it at that out of consideration for Cami. "Pick one."

"They wouldn't," Amarrah declared, far more sure than the other three with them. Frankly, she was surprised Cami could believe that.

"Listen, I know you all like to think Maleny can control Klaus but the truth is sooner or later he'll cut loose because that's just who he is," Marcel shrugged, not sorry to say the utter truth - at least his view on it anyways. "This is some wicked fairy tale you all like to think, but if you want a real suspect go to the compound."

As Marcel turned to leave, Amarrah mumbled a couple words to Vincent and he walked out as well. Afterwards, Amarrah sharply looked at Cami, seriously asking, "You don't actually think Elijah could do this right?"

Shifting to her side, Cami quietly answered, "I don't know."

The answer didn't seem to please Amarrah, in fact it almost made her angry. "You're not gonna let these feelings cloud your mind are you? It wouldn't be fair."

"Oh none of this is fair," Cami waved a hand at the witch, "I'm only saying that maybe, for a moment, one of them lost control. I'm not accusing them, it's just an idea."

"You're such a liar," Amarrah rolled her eyes, "I'll let you know what else I come up with Vincent. And don't worry, I won't tell Mal any of this nonsense you and Marcel just uttered."

Cami playfully rolled her eyes and waved goodbye to the French witch, choosing to forget the moment they had just passed through. That was what she tended to do nowadays anyways when it came to the Mikaelsons - forget and move on.

~ 0 ~

"Oooh, I like your dress, Miss Mikaelson," Maleny laughed as Freya quickly looked down to her going-out dress as if she'd forgotten what she'd put on.

The two blondes were in the courtyard, Maleny coming down from the stairs, while Freya looked into her bag for her last things before going out.

"You clean up nice yourself, Miss Rowan," Freya winked.

"I don't know, is this what you wear to an art exhibit?" Maleny chuckled sheepishly as she looked down at herself, truthfully unsure. She had opted for a tight dark blue dress that reached above her knees with an open black jacket over it.

"Don't know, but it goes great at a party," Freya nudged her with a smirk, "You said you'd come with me the next time I went to one."

"Ooh, I did say that, huh?" Maleny made a face, clearly remembering the promise she made to Freya after having to decline the same type of offer in favor of a dinner with Cami and Amarrah.

"Get away from my date, Freya," Klaus warned as he approached the two blondes from the downstairs corridors. "She's already said 'yes' to me a long while ago."

"Also true," Maleny pointed to him in thought, "Oh dear…"

"Lighten up," Freya momentarily frowned, "She can come to my party first and then go to your exhibit."

"Or," Klaus gave her a smirk, as they probably assumed what he would say next, "she could go to the exhibit...and stay there."

"She said yes to me before she said 'yes' to you!"

"Okay then," Maleny cut in between the two siblings, holding her arms out to keep the two from continuing arguing, "How about I go to Freya first, party a little, and then I meet you at your exhibit and stay there for as long as you like?"

"Maleny," Klaus tilted his head, his tone implying he wasn't quite agreeing with her.

Maleny turned to Klaus, languidly draping her arms over his shoulders, "Oh c'mon, your sister doesn't know the city as much as I do. I'm there, one hour, two hours and then I switch venues...where I will be all yours."

"Oh, brother," Freya muttered under her breath, almost gagging at the sight.

"Using your charms will one day fail you," Klaus warned her while pushing back a strand of her hair.

"I doubt it," Maleny cheekily grinned, "I learned it from the Mikaelsons - among other things."

"You're almost one of us," Freya spoke up behind them, over her gagging moment and now smiling at the two. "You know...except for that big 'Rowan' at the end of your name."

Maleny blushed and removed one hand from Klaus to stand sideways and glance at Freya, "Well, it is my name," she said quietly, twiddling with one of her blonde curls, blushing fiercer as she felt Freya smirking wider at her.

"You could always change it," Klaus casually said, misunderstanding the implication his sister was trying to give him.

Maleny let her curl drop and lightly sighed, "I guess…" her tone went slightly sour, and disappointed. It's not that she expected something grand for her to truly become a Mikaelson, but she did want a little something more than just 'you could always change it'. Feeling a little more disappointed suddenly, she looked at the two siblings, "I forgot my purse upstairs."

Freya watched the blonde take her sudden leave with almost a sense of amusement. She waited until Maleny was completely gone before teasing her younger brother. "For a man that's lived a thousand years, you sure are clueless."

Klaus arched an eyebrow at the woman, displeased at the insult, "Come again? What, pray tell, have I apparently done this time?"

Freya laughed and stepped towards him, "You really didn't see how disillusioned Mal was after you so poorly suggested she just 'change her name' like it was a piece of paper."

"But...it is," Klaus said slowly, still not understanding the problem, "In fact, with us, it's only a matter of changing how you introduce yourself. There's no need for legal matters."

Freya rolled her eyes, wondering if this was what it was to have brothers. Were they supposed to be clueless? Well, she already had to tend to a clueless Elijah who would simply not admit his true feelings for, and directly to, Cami. And now she had to deal with Klaus, who so stupidly did not see what it was Maleny actually wanted. She supposed with Klaus, it was a little easier considering the two were actually together and in full knowledge of what they felt for each other. It was just pointing out the delicate details that needed to be resolved.

"Let me ask you some simple questions, alright?" she began calmly, "Have you ever pictured anything else for you and Maleny?"

Although Klaus couldn't see what she was trying to get at, he went along with her questions. "'Anything else'," he mimicked her tone, "was simply a child," he smirked triumphantly, "And as we all know, that's been resolved."

Freya upheld her calm look despite it looking like she was losing. "And...beyond that?"

"What else is there, Freya?"

"How about the 'forever' part? The part where Maleny is turned so the 'always and forever' can actually be 'always and forever'?"

The question immediately put Klaus in a mood, "That is none of your business," he declared and made to leave...but Freya wasn't having it.

"So that's your plan, then? Ignore the inevitable truth until Maleny has aged and is no longer that youthful blonde you're so used to?" Klaus stopped walking, but kept his back to her. "Maleny is mortal again, brother, and by nature's law she will age," Freya continued, "Do you intend to leave her like that? Bury her down at the graveya—"

"ENOUGH!" Klaus boomed and turned back for his sister, stalking up to her, "You will desist in any of that sort of talk...especially when Maleny is around."

Freya sighed, completely unalarmed despite having provoked a great rage in her brother. "Don't be upset because I'm calling in the truth. And that was all just to make a point."

"I'm not interested in your point," Klaus scoffed.

"My point was trying to get you to see how disappointed Mal was when you so poorly told her to just change names because she expected more."

"Like?"

"Oh my God," Freya had a small laugh to herself, "Do I have to go buy the ring myself and ask her to marry me instead?" The realization struck Klaus, and hard, and for a minute he was left frozen in his place. Freya laughed again, patting his shoulder, "There we go, brother. Ponder on that, will you?" she looked past him to the stairs, where Maleny was quietly making her way down. "Looks like my date's here—Mal!"

"I'm ready," Maleny assured as Freya walked towards her. "Klaus, I'll be there in about an hour and a half," she called to the hybrid, but he simply waved a hand at her while still overthinking on Freya's "point". Maleny gave him an odd look as Freya led her out, "What's gotten into him?"

Freya snickered, "Some words."

~ 0 ~

Cami walked into her place and flicked the lights on, sighing at the large mess of boxes she still had lying around, but soon got over it upon seeing Amarrah inside. "Uh...hello!?" Cami blinked, shutting the door behind her.

"Hello," Amarrah was sitting on the couch looking through a police file of the same victim she had come to Cami for information on. She looked up with a cheery smile, "I sent Vincent home, thought you could help me better instead. You want a drink?" she got up and walked for the kitchen.

Cami continued to cluelessly blink, remaining in place, "Um...what exactly are you doing here?"

"Looking for more information on the murder case, clearly," Amarrah returned with two glasses of bourbon.

"Why, exactly, are you here?" Cami raised an eyebrow, blankly taking the drink from her once it was handed. "Not to be rude, but...why?"

"Because I thought we could work on it together," Amarrah shrugged and returned to her seat on the couch. She opened up another file and slid to the edge of the table, where Cami was. "I thought you could help me out on the vampire details."

Cami sighed and finally walked over, picking up a paper and skimming it, "I don't know what I can do, Ams. You're the Detective, here."

"Yes, and you're the vampire here. Do you see how we can make the perfect team?" Amarrah tilted her head, giving the blonde a look.

"Alright, fine," Cami put her glass down on the table, "but I still think it's worth asking Maleny about this."

"Absolutely not," Amarrah shook her head as she returned to her work, "I just don't think Klaus or Elijah did this. They've got no reason to do so."

"I still think you should at least talk to them," Cami persisted, leaning back on the couch, "At least give them a chance to tell you if they did it so you quit doing unnecessary work."

Amarrah sighed, finally relenting, "Alright, fine. We can go—"

"Oh n-n-n-n-n-n-no," Cami shook her head and began getting up from the couch, completely refusing the idea, "I am not going anywhere near that compound-"

Amarrah rolled her eyes, "We can ask Maleny and Klaus, they're probably at the art exhibit going on tonight. Plus, I know for a fact Elijah's in the bayou."

Cami narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms in suspicion, "How?"

"Because it's a full moon tonight," Amarrah sighed, thus relieving Cami, as well as also reminding them both of their guilt for still being unable to help Hayley and their closer wolf friends, Alton and Yamilet. "So," she pushed herself up to her feet, "Now you want to come with me?"

"Yes," Cami said, still acting like she was being asked far too much.

~ 0 ~

At St. James Infirmary, the setting for the art exhibit, Klaus had been impatiently waiting for Maleny to finally make an appearance. Two hours had passed and yet there was no sign of the blonde. However, he did get a rather surprising visit instead from an old "friend", Lucien Castle, whom he hadn't seen in over a thousand years. His impatience of Maleny subsided mildly after a couple of drinks with Lucien.

In the end, a blonde did make an appearance...along with a French dark-haired woman.

"Give me a moment," Klaus motioned to Lucien as he got up from their table and went to greet the two women, "To what do I owe this visit?" he smirked, "Mal's not here and I doubt Elijah will be making an appearance."

Cami deeply sighed in irritation, "I'm here on business," she snapped, "And I intend on making it short before you make another round of jokes like you commonly do."

Klaus rolled his eyes, "What do you want?"

Amarrah cleared her throat, "Someone tortured and killed a local. Left the body right out in the open. I think it was a vampire."

"Last time I heard vampire business was now your department," Klaus pointed to the blonde, "Don't bother me."

Cami was near losing her temper with him, "We need to know if it was you or Elijah that did it so Amarrah knows what to tell the cops."

The accusation was surprising but caused far more amusement to Klaus than anger, "You think I left a sloppy mess out in the street? You have confused me for a simpleton, clearly. And as for Elijah, don't bother. He rarely goes out nowadays."

"We're being serious, Klaus," Amarrah gave him a scolding look, "The victim was found like like a-"

But Klaus had lost interest in the conversation and turned to walk away from the two. The only reason he stopped midway was because of the familiar scent that had wafted in from the entrance. Maleny straightened herself up and walked further into the room, but was stopped as Amarrah and Cami passed by.

"You need to teach your boyfriend some manners," Cami snapped, making Maleny rapidly blink, barely able to process when Amarrah added something as well.

"Look, Mal, we really need you guys to look into the latest of murder victims," she pleaded, "I'll send you the file later."

"Wh-what?" Maleny uttered after the two women had left. Slowly, she continued walking and met Klaus with a questioning, yet not completely 'there' look, "Do I want to know?"

"No," Klaus shook his head, quickly instigating her to smile. As she wrapped her arms around his neck, he smelt traces of alcohol on her. "Why exactly were you late?"

The grin on Maleny's face widened as she giggled, "I may have...tried some drinks…" she tilted her head to the side, catching view behind him. "Why exactly is that guy looking at me like I'm his next course meal?"

Klaus glanced over his shoulder, following Maleny's gaze to Lucien who was sitting and smirking their way. "Dinner, snack…" he even said to joke, "...appetizer?"

"Klaus," Maleny said, rather shaken up at the man's bluntness.

"He's merely joking, love," Klaus started leading her towards the table, "Although you probably would feel less scared if you hadn't had too much to drink."

"It was a party, what did you think was gonna happen?" Maleny rolled her eyes, "I was being a good friend to Freya who didn't want to drink alone. And don't start with me. Who's your friend?"

"Old acquaintance. Nothing more," Klaus said quietly, a hint of reluctance in his tone that Maleny didn't pick up on.

"Old acquaintance?"" Lucien frowned, feigning offence, "You wound me!"

They came to a stop at the table where Lucien had already gotten up to greet the blonde. She stared him up and down for a minute, "You're kinda cute," she remarked, earning quite a response from both men.

"Ooh, I definitely like your friend, Nik," Lucien laughed while Klaus tried not kill him there and then.

"She's not my 'friend'-" Klaus began when Lucien cut him off.

"Even better," he made one step closer to Maleny but Klaus immediately blocked the way with himself.

"She's not my 'friend', she's mine," Klaus finished with an air of triumph.

Maleny tapped his shoulder, making him look back, "I'm not property you know," she said calmly, the amount of drinks clouding her real emotions. "I do have thoughts and feelings."

"Yes, and at the moment I fear they aren't at their best," Klaus gently motioned her to come forwards.

"They are," Maleny insisted and took a deep breath and started over again. "What was your name again?" she asked Lucien.

"Lucien Castle," the old vampire took her hand and kissed it.

The blonde smiled at him warmly, and as she looked at him she began getting brief flashes of...a hallway?

...My lady, why are you crying?…

…No reason, simple...family issues…

...Absolutely no one should make you shed tears...

Maleny crinkled her nose as a familiar painful jab took over the side of her head. "Oh," she came back with a gasp. She had been sat down at the table, and had both men attending to her as if she were dying. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, still feeling rather hazed, "I don't know what happened…"

"I do, you had too much drink," Klaus frowned, already thinking of berating Freya when he saw her again.

Maleny briefly looked at him for the comment and instead focused on what she had saw and heard in her mind. She knew exactly what they were, or at least what had seemed to happen. She would never forget that type of head pain. It was a memory that had tried to resurface. The scenery was completely new to her, as well as her new persona. Things went by so fast she couldn't understand it. She supposed now that it had tried to come back, it probably would be making another attempt soon. The only thing that concerned her was if it was normal for the pain to still come with them, as this was her original body, her own mind.

"Mal," Klaus' voice brought her back to the present. He was holding her hand, trying to see if she was in yet another trance. "Mal, are you alright?"

Maleny kindly smiled, "I'm always alright. Whatever it was, it passed. However, I do think I should see what had Amarrah and Cami so concerned. It seems like you already found yourself a drinking buddy…" she glanced at Lucien, "...and I definitely wouldn't want to crash a guy's night, so maybe it's best I take my leave."

"By all means, do stay if you'd like," Lucien smirked at her.

"Lucien!" Klaus snapped, making the other vampire raise his hands in a non-threatening way.

"I was being polite!"

Maleny chuckled and got up with ease, "So it's settled. Although," she walked up to Lucien, "You seem like the typical rich vampire guy that knows how to have fun…"

Lucien nodded with great pride, "Well…"

Maleny suddenly turned serious, "Keep your little girlfriends off him," she pointed back to Klaus, "or I will personally drive a stake right through this heart," she tapped Lucien's chest with a wide, sarcastic smile, "Got it?"

"Very feisty for an apparent mortal," Lucien remarked in amusement.

"I look out for what's mine," Maleny calmly declared and stepped back to where Klaus was, now addressing him, "And if you let those hands get on you, I'll kill you. And when you come back, I'll kill you again."

"Understood," Klaus smirked at her, "Ma'am."

Maleny rolled her eyes, "Oh, shut up," she grabbed her purse from the table and walked off.

"Where'd you pick that one up?" Lucien curiously asked as the two watched the blonde leave, "She's certainly no where near like the psychopath you had during our time."

The reminder provoked a tensed silence to break between the two men. In all the centuries, Klaus hadn't once thought about the redhead and he wasn't going to have any details of that time be told near Maleny. However, now that Maleny was gone, his curiosity was able to get the best of him.

"Have you spoken to her?" he quietly asked Lucien.

A grim, distasteful look spread over Lucien's face, "Aurora and I parted ways centuries ago - thankfully. You know I never had desire to see her after what she did to Cecilia."

"Yes," Klaus nodded, recalling the event that had occurred right before his family was forced to run from Mikael again. "The tragedy…"

"It wasn't a tragedy!" Lucien snapped and turned on him, suddenly angry, "It was murder. Aurora killed her out of spite, and ruined—"

"Lucien!" Klaus raised his voice, stopping the vampire midway in his passionate fury, "It's done," Klaus said quietly, not as indifferent as he might have been had he not discovered Maleny had also gone through similar cases.

Still heavily feeling, Lucien snatched his drink from the table and headed for the bar for more, grumbling under his breath.

1002 A.D. France.

Keeping his promise that would save his life, the servant Lucien had introduced the Mikaelson siblings to his master, the Count de Martel, under the name of the real family he had been sent for (but had been killed in a feeding spree by the vampires). He hadn't been sure how the event would go down, for the Count was smart and would be suspicious of the children of the Count de Guise whom had never been mentioned. Thankfully, with his instructions, the Mikaelsons had successfully charmed the Count de Martel and were now taking joy of the party the castle was holding.

Now, as his status only allowed, Lucien stood at the side of the room simply looking at the ongoing celebration when Klaus approached him.

"You've proven to be an immense help," he remarked to the servant, meaning it to be as close to a 'thank you' as it could get.

"Oh. Of course, my lord," Lucien replied, rather bashfully.

"Though, I must say, you don't seem at all disturbed about leading us into your master's home."

Lucien sighed and glanced at Count de Martel, "My master is a cruel drunkard who torments his minions for sport. Beggars who seek supper. Vassals who cannot pay a debt... like my own father."

Klaus nodded with understanding, "Ah," following the glare sent to the Count.

Lucien continued with sudden anger, "All these gentile folk, behind their silks and their jewels, are slavers. Killers. Whatever evil you are, you walk among greater evil still. What do I care if you kill the lot of them?"

But then laughter carried over, grabbing both of the men's attention. It belonged to a dark-haired woman who had taken to a rather odd dance with another young man. And it was as if Lucien had never been angry in the first place.

"Who is that?" Klaus asked, curiously.

"The Count's niece - Lady Cecilia," Lucien replied, never taking his eyes off the dark-haired woman, "Her parents passed away years ago and the Count took her under his protection with his children."

"Children?" Klaus repeated, now more interested in the story.

Lucien nodded and gestured to the incoming young man and woman on the other side of the room. "The Count's children- the Lord Tristan and the Lady Aurora."

Klaus suddenly became more interested in the bright redhead Aurora, "She is exquisite."

"Ah, yes," Lucien agreed carelessly, "Um, as her brother is wicked, might I suggest that you avoid them completely?"

Klaus followed the steps the redhead took, "But would she really be a threat, even to one like me?"

"She is an intelligent one, do not doubt it," Lucien warned, but it went over Klaus' head as he became more entranced by the strange woman.

At a club heavily packed with all sorts of people, Freya was dancing with some new women she had met after Maleny left. She had to stop dancing, however, after her cellphone went off. She covered one ear to listen to Elijah on the other line.

"Hello?"

"Did I misinterpret the kind of exhibition you're attending?" Elijah asked, sounding bemused by the loud music he could hear in the background.

"I switched venues!" Freya chuckled.

"Forgive me for cutting into your free night, Freya, but I am in desperate need of help," Elijah said, sounding equally frantic which made Freya rush to the outsides where she would be able to hear better.

"What's wrong, Elijah?" Freya asked, concerned.

"There are hunters in the bayou and I fear Hayley has fallen into one of their traps…"

Freya's eyes widened, "Oh, dear…"

"I need to search the bayou but I cannot do it on my own. Plus, someone needs to look after Hope."

Freya nodded in understanding, suddenly getting an idea of just who could help him scour the bayou for missing wolves. "Okay, I'll be there - I have an idea."

~ 0 ~

The art show was over, and while the people had left, Klaus and Lucien remained inside, both still drinking yet Lucien still in a foul mood from the earlier reminder. Frankly over it, and partially wanting to get back to Maleny and see how she was doing, Klaus approached Lucien and got straight to the point.

"Lucien- what are you really doing in my city?"

Lucien sighed and turned to him, "News has spread, old friend. Every vampire in the world knows you've been attacked. A number of times, nearly killed."

Klaus rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore the matter, "Oh, well, I can assure you that all those who stood against me ended up either desiccated, dust, or dinner."

Lucien lightly laughed, though still seemed unusually nervous, "Yes, but... what if it had gone the other way, hmm? When Finn was killed, we all learned the truth- the life of every vampire is linked back to the Original who begat the line. Kol's death confirmed it. Two entire lines of vampires wiped out! As you can imagine, the threat level doesn't sit well with those of us who remain."

"Anyone fearing death as a result of my demise should come see me!" Klaus sarcastically smiled, "I'll be happy to reassure them."

"Of course. You and your siblings are mighty, indeed. Though, the attacks on you show that you are not completely invulnerable," Lucien continued, "While you've wallowed in your family affairs, your progeny have grown somewhat... restless. The world is a finite place, territory limited. And even ancient vampires are not above vicious turf-wars. What if I told you there's a growing conflict between the remaining three sirelines? Suppose one of them wanted to annihilate the other? By killing Elijah? Rebekah? You?"

Although the idea was rather unsettling, Klaus easily hid it, "So, you came all this way to deliver a warning?"

"Think about it! Kill an Original, wipe out an entire line of competition! A tempting goal, made more so by the fact that your family isn't so intact with each other."

"My family is hardly weak!" Klaus snapped, coming closer to Lucien so that they were face-to-face. "In fact, we are unkillable- the last of the white oak is gone."

Lucien narrowed his eyes skeptically, "Are you so certain it's all gone? Every last splinter of it? Vanished for good?"

Klaus responded by grabbing him from the back of the neck, harshly squeezing it, "Lucien, if you had even the slightest inkling any fragment of white oak still existed, of course you would tell me."

"Easy, Nik," Lucien cleared his throat as he removed Klaus' hand from his neck. "You are my sire. My fate is linked to yours," he reminded the crucial detail, "If you want to know what I do about the dangers you now face, trust me enough to come with me. There is something that you must see."

"I have other places to be at," Klaus stepped back from him, highly suspicious.

"I assure you want to see this," Lucien insisted, motioning to Klaus for them to leave. "It spells your family's ending, and I think that little blonde of yours wouldn't be so happy."

Klaus sighed, once again caving to something that, one way or another, led back to Maleny.

~ 0 ~

Out in the bayou, Elijah was impatiently sitting at the front porch of the cabin with Hope in her stroller, the setting being meant to have been a Crescent wolf reunion due to the full moon. However now it was going to be a life saving night, or at least trying to find Hayley. Suddenly, Freya appeared a couple feet away from him and Hope...but she was not alone.

"Camille," Elijah breathed in as he rose to his feet, awed to have Cami so close after so many months.

Cami looked to the side, clearly uncomfortable being there. "Freya said there were wolf traps out here and you can't find Hayley?"

"Yes," Elijah nodded.

"I'm here for her, Alton and Yamilet," Cami clarified, watching Freya walk to the stroller. "Otherwise, Freya would have had to poison me to get me here. Shall we get going?" she gestured to the trees behind her.

Elijah nodded silently, and soon the two sped off to begin their hunting tasks. Freya sat down on the steps and turned Hope's stroller so that she could see the baby.

"Hello, sweetie," she smiled softly at the almost asleep toddler. "You'll have to excuse your Auntie Freya, I've had a few big-girl drinks tonight."

Hope stretched her small arms over her head as her eyes slowly closed, falling asleep there and then. Freya sighed and looked out to the dark bayou, hoping that all turned out well for the missing Crescent wolves.

~ 0 ~

Amarrah walked into the lonely Mikaelson compound where after shouting for Maleny a couple of times in the courtyard, she was promptly scolded by the blonde witch.

"There is no need to shout," Maleny appeared from one of the downstairs room, holding a cup of coffee in hand.

"You look plain awful," Amarrah declared after a minute and Maleny came to sit down at the couch.

"And it's not from the special drinks I tried tonight, I promise," Maleny sighed and leaned back on the couch, rubbing her temple. "What's wrong, Ams? And where's Cami?"

"Oh, Freya stopped by and said Elijah needed her help in the bayou," Amarrah decided to cut the explanation short.

Maleny raised an eyebrow, looking surprised, "And Cami just said 'yes'?"

"It was urgent," Amarrah coughed awkwardly, hoping Maleny would leave the subject alone.

"Well, did you need something?" Maleny, thankfully, moved on. "I know Klaus was a bit rude to you guys earlier. What exactly were you talking about with him?"

"There's murder case going on and I'm pretty sure it was from a vampire. The guy was compelled not to scream or call for help. He was left hanging like a puppet on strings with his face cut."

"That's awful," Maleny scowled at the idea, "but why come to Klaus? He's not exactly in charge anymore."

"We just wanted to know if he or Elijah had cut loose or something and..." Amarrah motioned what the others has suspected.

"What!?" Maleny leaned forwards, looking indignant of the accusation. "You think Klaus or Elijah did that? Why the hell would they leave the guy out for everyone to see? Plus," she shook her head, "they wouldn't do that. Elijah's refined, sophisticated, it's not like him to be so messy. He barely leaves the place anymore, anyways. And I know Klaus wouldn't do that either. It's not exactly his forte to leave his victims like a doll. It's not them, Ams."

Amarrah sighed, but before she could say she agreed, her phone rang. She pulled it out from her bag and saw it was from the Detective and answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Kinney. Wanted to let you know you were right."

Amarrah gulped, "Oh...really?"

"It happened again. So, if you're not busy, I could use your brain."

"Yeah, of course," Amarrah nodded and hung up. Maleny was staring at her, expecting an explanation. Amarrah thought for a minute and decided she should see for herself what was happening. "Can you come with me somewhere?"

"Just as long as there's no more alcohol," Maleny sipped one last time from her coffee cup and got up, straightening her blouse. After getting home she had changed into more comfortable lounge clothes, consisting of a simple blue blouse with dark jeans and boots.

"I promise you there will be none of that," Amarrah mumbled and grabbed Maleny by the arm to lead her away.

~ 0 ~

Cami and Elijah came to a stop in a small clearing in the woods after seeing a steel-jawed animal trap meant for the wolves. Heavily annoyed, Elijah walked for it and began to break it apart as loudly as possible to get the responsible hunters out into the open. After a few seconds, he heard the clicking of a gun behind.

"What the hell are you doing?" the hunter demanded.

Cami and Elijah exchanged a look before Elijah stepped forwards,feigning innocence, "Oh my goodness, where are my manners? Permit me to explain-"

But he quickly sped up to the hunter and snatched his gun before throwing him to the ground.

"Elijah!" Cami turned just as a second hunter appeared.

Elijah used the gun from the first hunter and threw it at the second like it were a javelin, causing the barrel of the gun to impale the chest. Afterwards, he took the first hunter, who'd been trying to crawl away, by the back of the shirt and put him down to the ground.

"Lesson one of the hunt: Lay the bait," he slammed the hunter's foot into another of the traps, making it clamp down on the ankle.

Elijah remained unfazed and merely stepped back, adjusting the cuffs of his shirt. Cami, who'd been only standing so far, roughly swallowed down as Elijah met her stare. She felt a chill run down her back as he stepped towards her. She would never admit it to anyone else, and after admitting it to herself she would try and push the thought away, but she felt so attracted to him at that moment.

The only thing that broke her from her embarrassing thoughts were the three laser sights pointing at Elijah.

Cami whirled around to the direction from which they were coming from. "Lesson two," she mumbled and sped off, leaving Elijah to follow.

It didn't take long for them to corner the remaining hunter in another part of the woods. Being closer, Cami grabbed the man by the neck and raised him, angrily glaring.

"You're gonna give me the precise location of every last one of those stupid traps," she warned him, "And we also want the routes used by any of your other men."

"I-I don't know-" the man barely got to say when a different person, a woman, appeared out of nowhere and lunged for him.

Cami stumbled back from such force as the man was tackled out of her grip. The woman clawed and clawed until the man was dead. For a minute, Cami and Elijah could only stare as the man was marred to death. When it was all done, the woman rose to her feet, and with nothing on, she revealed she was a Crescent wolf.

"Yamilet…" Cami breathed in, both relieved and terrified of the woman's conditions.

"Good to see you, blondie," Yamilet greeted with her usual sourness. "I have a question and I expect to be answered with the utmost truth: Where. Is. Alton.?"

"We...we don't know," Elijah replied, currently looking to the side out of embarrassment and courtesy.

Yamilet wad too preoccupied with her missing boyfriend to care who saw her or who didn't. "There's traps set all over this place!" she gritted her teeth, more furious than ever, "If I don't find Alton rest assured this time I will come after all you Mikaelsons with all I have."

Cami cleared her throat and looked down, "We'll find him, we promise."

Yamilet rolled her eyes, no longer so trusting of them all. "Sure," she sneered, "Right after you break this curse, right? Spare me the crap and let me follow the scent of the remaining hunters, no?" she started picking at the hunters shirt, intending on using it as a makeshift dress until she found proper clothes.

Afterwards, she joined the hunting and followed the scent of the remaining hunters - who all died soon after - and came across a truck. Immediately, Yamilet felt her stomach churn as an awful smell penetrated the air.

Elijah went towards it, hesitating a minute to pull the tarp covering the back. But in the end, he chucked it back, and revealed at least half a dozen dead werewolves.

"Oh my God!" Cami exclaimed, horrified at the sight. She and Yamilet rushed towards it, but in the end only Yamilet dared to touch them.

Yamilet began hyperventilating at the idea that one of those wolves could be Alton. Her hands shook as she reached towards her companions, her eyes watering up.

"Alton? Alton!" she whisper-shouted as if someone would respond back.

Behind her, the feeling of overwhelm started washing over Cami and Elijah. Neither of them knew if Hayley was in there as well, and it just terrified them to their core that they were perhaps too late to help them.

Without taking notice, Cami inched closer to Elijah, close to tears herself. Elijah put an arm around her, bringing her to him, but both were too distraught to remember their situation.

~ 0 ~

Maleny was not one to feel comfortable around police crime scenes. She would never understand how Amarrah once decided to willingly do this for a living.

"Detective," Amarrah came up to the blonde man with Maleny coming in a couple seconds behind. "Oh, um, this is my friend," Amarrah gestured to the blonde witch, "She knows a thing or two about these odd cases."

"I do?" Maleny blinked, looking at Amarrah in confusion.

"Detective Will Kinney," the man shook her hand nonetheless.

"Maleny Rowan," she politely said back, feeling awkward in such a different setting. "So, Ams said you found another victim?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Kinney sighed, looking at Amarrah, "And in the same type of position as the first one."

Amarrah nodded and so Kinney began leading the way to where the victim was. "Of the same background as well?" Amarrah questioned curiously.

"Yes, high status," Kinney nodded, turning for another alleyway. This time the victim was just at the corner. It was another man, dressed in a rich suit, and was propped like a puppet.

As soon as Maleny saw it she became horrified. But no less than a second did she began to feel that annoying jab on the side of her head. For a minute, Maleny felt the world around her fade away as two voices in her head became prominent.

...this is sick torture, Tristan…

...as the son of the Count, I do punishments as I see fit….

...it is immoral, inhumane…

...yet you allowed far more immoral things to continue...

After Kinney had left, Amarrah finally took notice of the distant look on Maleny's face. Concerned, she gently shook Maleny by the arm. "Mal? Are you okay?" Maleny snapped out of it quickly but it still took her a moment to remember where she was. "Maleny, what is it?"

Maleny slowly laid eyes on the victim again, her horror and shock replaced by confusion, and...familiarity. "I think...I think I've seen this before," she whispered with nothing but utter dread.

~ 0 ~

Hayley was angrily screaming and pounding against an invisible barrier Davina Claire had trapped her in. It was beyond ridiculous, and infuriating, to be trapped by a witch on the only night she could see Hope.

Davina returned to the room completely at ease, holding clothes in her arms along with other supplies.

"Davina, let me out of here right now, or I swear I will kill you!" Hayley shouted at the teen but it was of no use.

"You can try," she sarcastically motioned, "Or, we can have a polite conversation."

Hayley was in no mood to 'converse', not tonight at least. "You magically kidnapped me on the one night that I can see my daughter. Do not talk to me about "polite!""

Beginning to grow frustrated, Davina rose her voice, "I drew you here to help you!"

"Amarrah and Maleny asked you months ago to help them break the curse, and you said no!"

Davina looked to the side, trying to hide her guilt, "The Regent of witches can't be seen doing favors for the Mikaelsons."

And though Maleny wasn't technically one, she was already branded as one of them. Since she their fallout of bringing Esther Mikaelson back to life, Davina didn't exactly want to do anything for Maleny and her...people. She was still upset with Maleny for having played that foul trick that cost her Kol's resurrection. But now the tables had turned, and she was in need of assistance...just not from Maleny this time.

"But, maybe we can help each other," she looked at Hayley sternly as she tossed a blood bag through the invisible barrier. Hayley threw her a dirty look but feeling the ravenous hunger inside, she dropped to her knees and started drinking from the bag. Look, I have access to the witch ancestors. I can channel the power of the one who created the spell that cursed you. You can be free, Hayley."

Hayley licked the blood that had gotten on her fingers, and slowly rose to her feet. " Under your terms, I'm guessing." Davina sighed, guiltily looking down, but Hayley saw an opportunity she wasn't going to waste. "Spill."

"There's a witch in the 9th Ward who hates that I'm Regent. She tried to kill me. If I retaliate, I'm starting a civil war, and I don't want to do that."

"Fine," Hayley said without a second thought. "Just tell me who you want dead."

~ 0 ~

After finding another wolf turned human - Jackson - who was injured due to a trap, Elijah had them all return to the cabin. It was there that Cami made her choice to leave, as there was the special hour coming up and she needed to be back in the city to oversee 'feeding time'.

"You can't go," Yamilet said, her no voice no longer sour. She was extremely shaken up by the sight of dead wolves, and the fact Alton was still no where in sight wasn't helping her. "You need to help me." She glanced back at Elijah who was tending to the injury on Jackson's leg. "They won't help me," she shook her head, knowing their main priority was going to be Hayley.

Cami could see that happening, since Jackson had no idea where Hayley was. "Okay," she considered, "then come back with me, and...we can get Ams to do a locator spell. If Alton's human and…"

Yamilet's eyes lowered, quietly finishing for Cami, "...alive."

Cami awkwardly cleared her throat, "Um, yeah. If so, then she'll be able to find him. Okay, so come back with me."

Yamilet nodded, glancing back at the other two men, "I'm going with her," she declared to them, "We have five hours until we turn back and I'm not going to waste it on some woman when my boyfriend's out there too."

"Agreed," Jackson got up, "I want Hayley - she's my wife."

"Then we split," Cami looked at Elijah, doing her best to remain rigid. "I have to get back to the other vampires."

"Thank you Camille," Elijah said honestly, "For your assistance."

Cami nodded and gently took Yamilet away with her.

~ 0 ~

"Are we actually doing this?" Maleny paced back and forth in Amarrah's living room while the French witch surfed through the internet and made notes of the murder cases.

"If you meant 'researching the possible murderer' then yes," Amarrah looked up from her laptop with a sly smile. "What's the big deal?"

Maleny stopped pacing to face Amarrah, biting her lip nervously. "You're kidding right? That's the guy that's apparently friends with Klaus. What am I going to tell him? 'Sorry, my friend thinks that your friend is on a killing spree'."

Amarrah rolled her eyes and returned to her work, "To be fair, Klaus doesn't exactly have nice, sane friends."

"Ams," Maleny sighed, plopping down on the couch chair, rubbing a hand over her face.

"Maleny," Amarrah took on a stern voice, "you said this guy, Lucien, just got here tonight - the same night the murders started. That's worth of suspicion. And Klaus doesn't have to know you told me."

Maleny shook her head, resting her arms on the sides as she thought back to those brief memory flashes. She may have been out of it in the beginning, but she was certain they started just when Lucien Castle returned...was that worth of suspicion?

"What do you know of the guy?" Amarrah asked, missing the thoughtful look on her friend's face.

"Hm?" Maleny's eyes flickered to the dark-haired woman, "Um, nothing really. Klaus just said he was a friend - acquaintance, actually."

"Hm," Amarrah mused as she clicked on a link that led to a video that seemed to be about a donation the man had made. "Well, your boyfriend's acquaintance seems to be some rich boy…"

"Yeah, kinda figured that out on my own," Maleny muttered, flushing when she recalled her imprudence during their first greet and meet.

"He's the CEO of some important company - Kingmaker Land Development," Amarrah continued and unplugged her earphones, pulling out the cable so that the rest of the video she was listening to played out loud for Maleny.

"Listen to the advice of your superiors, then do better! Study the weaknesses of those who outrank you and eliminate them from your own experience. Authority is meant to be challenged! Great achievers refuse to stand in shadows."

Amarrah then paused the video, giving Maleny an 'I told you so' look as the blonde grew concerned. "I need to go talk to the Detective," Amarrah got up and stuffed her laptop in her bag, "I won't tell him anything, maybe just...sidetrack them for a while until you get Klaus to do something about this new friend of his."

~ 0 ~

Freya had gone back to her club as soon as Elijah had returned for Hope. Even though she was still partially drunk, she was relatively surprised to find Cami entering the place. Upon seeing the blonde witch, Cami walked towards her.

"Didn't think you'd be back," Freya mused as she grabbed her drink from the counter.

"I went for my friends, I found one, and now I dropped her off in a place she can get the help I can no longer provide," Cami said sternly, and looked to the side.

"Mmm, just like that?" Freya arched an eyebrow before taking a full shot of her drink.

"Yes, just like that," Cami rolled her eyes and returned her gaze to Freya, "Now, I'm back for business here. It's almost midnight, Freya."

"Well, I'm not wearing glass slippers…" Freya began, but soon realized what Cami was trying to say and groaned, "Do you have to turn the best club in town into your personal blood bank?"

Cami lightly smiled at that, "I know, I used to hate it when I finally learned what really went on in this city. But this is how Marcel used to run things and I'm going to follow in his footsteps. It's how it works. We feed on tourists, compel them to forget, locals turn a blind eye. That's how NOLA works. So, unless you want to become an appetizer-"

Freya raised a hand, "Pass," she pretended to shiver and started on her way out. However, as she went by, she grabbed the hand of a young man and pulled him with her, "This one's coming with me!" she announced and the man went with her without a problem.

~ 0 ~

At the compound, Klaus had already returned from his...interesting...visit to Lucien's apartment, and after getting a notice from Elijah that Hayley was missing, he went straight to find Freya. Finding her no where, he opted for a phone call...of course there was no response.

"Freya, I'm aware that 21st century technology remains a mystery to you, but when you see my name pop up on your phone, you answer it," he left her the voicemail in grave annoyance, "Come home. Immediately."

As he hung up, he heard footsteps from the entrance and dramatically sighed when Maleny came in. "Well, and here I thought you would be resting and getting over your 'special drinks'."

Maleny rolled her eyes, "I did, and then Amarrah came over with the news of murders happening outside. Do you know, she's pretty sure your new friend, Lucien, is responsible for it."

Klaus scoffed, "Your friend isn't exactly the smartest—"

"Hey," Maleny scolded him and dropped her bag onto the couch, pulling her phone from her pocket, "she has evidence and it kinda fits."

"So this is what you did in the meantime I was out? Play detective?" Klaus mused, slightly amused as Maleny handed her phone for him to see.

"I know a thing or two about vampires if you haven't noticed," Maleny motioned him to take a look at the pictures Amarrah had sent to her phone earlier. "Amarrah thinks Lucien is torturing and killing humans in the Quarter. There have been two victims so far and," she sighed, "if you ask me, it's just creepy."

"Lucien would never be so sloppy," Klaus rolled his eyes before taking a look at the pictures of the victim.

Maleny arched an eyebrow, "Hm, seems like you know him a lot more than you've told me. For acquaintances, I mean…"

Klaus was too stunned of the photos to respond back, "There is a familiar method to this particular madness…" he said quietly, the face cutting making him slightly nervous.

"You need to make sure the latest victim is the last one," Maleny took back her phone, seeing the brief nervousness flash through his eyes.

Klaus replaced his nervousness with amusement. "Are you suggest I kill my oldest friend?"

"Ah, so he's a friend now," Maleny raised her eyebrows, feigning surprise. "Well, listen, the NOLA PD can't take down a thousand-year-old vampire murderer, but you can. You're the smartest, and the strongest, and the scariest."

"Are you trying to persuade me...or flirt?" Klaus chucked her cellphone to the couch, turning to her with a smirk as he pulled her towards him.

"I'm not kidding," Maleny sighed but suddenly took a sniff, "Um...you smell like perfume," she declared, tilting her head, "And it's not mine."

"I visited Lucien's new place and he had a party," Klaus began but Maleny pulled herself away from his embrace.

"Look, I know you let me threaten you because I can't actually do anything, but it is upsetting when you deliberately try to get women's hands on you," Maleny crossed her arms and looked to the side.

Klaus chuckled in amusement at the blonde. "I assure you nothing was deliberate," he took her hands and gently brought her back to him. She huffed and turned around, giving him her back. "Mal…"

"Don't 'Mal' me," the blonde muttered, "Go get your murderous friend to stop. Next thing we know, I could be the next victim."

Klaus slid his arms around her waist, both amused yet still serious enough to assure her, "If anyone would even consider that, they wouldn't live to see the morning."

Maleny turned her head to meet his look, pleased to hear his response. "Nice to know I'm cared for here."

"Always, my love," Klaus pressed a kiss to her lips, relaxing when Maleny returned the kiss. Although he was basically suspecting of Lucien himself now, he didn't want Maleny anywhere near Lucien, nor researching information on the man. The last thing he wanted was for Maleny to learn of the part of his past Klaus didn't think she was ready to hear, nor one he was ready to tell.

~ 0 ~

Amarrah and Yamilet, who was now properly changed into Amarrah's borrowed clothes, walked down the street in a heavy rush. After Cami had brought Yamilet to Amarrah's, the French witch performed the locator spell on Alton and found a peculiar result across the Quarter. They didn't know if Alton was trying to get to them, or perhaps was lost, or thinking that Yamilet herself had been killed in one of the wolf traps, but they had to get there. Unfortunately, they stumbled across a new crime scene.

"What is going on in this place?" Yamilet muttered to the witch beside her, having been told by Cami of the two earlier murders. "Wasn't Cami supposed to be taking care of the Quarter now?"

"This isn't her fault," Amarrah shushed her as she saw Detective Kinney making way for them.

"Who's that?" Yamilet eyed the blonde man with mild appreciation.

"You have a boyfriend," Amarrah hissed. She didn't exactly want to run into Kinney at the moment seeing her laptop with all her notes on the case had mysteriously gone missing after seeing him last time. She didn't understand how it could have gotten away from her, but it had and she felt overly irresponsible because of it.

"Amarrah?" Kinney came up to the two women wearing a polite smile, "Miss," he nodded to Yamilet.

"Look, I know I'm supposed to be helping," Amarrah sighed, glancing at Yamilet, "but my friend really needs me right now."

"Actually, Ams," Yamilet looked between the two, getting the feeling the man was staring at them a little too suspiciously, "I can go get Alton on my own."

"What?" Amarrah blinked, "But we need to go together. I want to help you-"

"And you have," Yamilet assured with a small smile, "But, um, there's only a couple of hours left until, I, um…" she made a clawing motion to remind of the full moon passing, "...so maybe it's best I start heading out on my own."

Amarrah sighed, "Okay, but be careful. And I will find a way to...help...both of you."

Yamilet nodded, "Good," she meant to so sound authoritative and chuckled, giving the French witch a hug before leaving.

Amarrah watched her go feeling mildly guilty before facing Kinney. "So, what exactly do I do this time?"

Kinney glanced over his shoulder in the way Yamilet walked off in, and responded with a different topic. "You know, I've seen you in town before...with the two blondes - Camille O'Connell and Maleny Rowan. Thing is, the O'Connells have an unusual history with strange deaths, unexplained behavior, grave-robberies, be-headings, missing persons, police reports with entire sections blacked out. Now she's acting like she's the boss…"

By the time Kinney finished, Amarrah was stunned that he had all that knowledge about her good friend.

"And then your other friend," Kinney chuckled a little, "-the irony- has no background whatsoever. No history in the Quarter - she just popped out of nowhere. Only detail available, and only because we can see, is the fact she's with the mysterious philanthropist-slash-artist Klaus Mikaelson. And then you, you just...came out of no where, much like Miss Rowan. Highly praised Detective coming in yet doing no such thing to get herself on the force here as well…?"

Amarrah gaped with an open mouth, "Um, so...what is this? Some sort of accusation I make weird friends and don't work on what I studied to be?"

"No, I just think you three women are a lot more than you're giving off to the public. There's something you're hiding, and I'll figure it out."

"O-okay," Amarrah blinked, still quite out of it after all she heard. She watched the man walk away from her and became nervous. She worried that the man could get himself into trouble over a simple curiosity.

~ 0 ~

Much later, Freya returned to the compound with her new friend she had picked up from the club. It didn't take much to get to the making out part in the courtyard. Of course, Freya didn't count on her brother to come in and interrupt.

"Freya!" Klaus appeared a couple feet from them, unusually bright, "It's about time you brought a gentleman home to meet the family." He stepped towards the young man, "I'm Freya's brother. And you are? No, don't tell me. Let me guess- Brad?"

There came a giggle from upstairs, where Maleny was residing, "Try Chad, they're always called Chad in the movies."

Klaus pointed to her in agreement and continued, "What are your intentions for my sister? Shall we discuss a dowry?"

The poor human man was terrified when Klaus let his hybrid-eyes came out. "Bro, what the...?"

"Leave. Now," Klaus ordered, momentarily serious.

Maleny laughed when the man ran out in terror. "And the award for 'most annoying little brother' goes out to…" she gestured towards Klaus, who only laughed more.

Freya, meanwhile, gave them both a playful scolding look.

"He was drunk! No one will believe his story," Klaus gave her a smirk.

"You two can make out at every corner of the house but you make the first guy I bring home run away," Freya sighed, only lightly annoyed.

"You can still catch him outside," Maleny called as she came down the stairs. "He was kinda cute." At the sharp look Klaus gave her, she reminded, "Unknown perfume still on you."

"I thought we went past that…"

"I may have forgotten a lot of things but not that one."

"Was there something you two actually needed?" Freya cut into the looming argument, "Or did you just plan this little skit while I was gone?"

Maleny took a sigh and nodded, "We need you to perform a locator spell. Hayley's missing. I don't trust myself without anyone with me."

Freya smiled, "You are more than capable of performing that on your own."

"But seeing it's Hayley out there, we didn't want to take a risk," Klaus said that time, exchanging a worriedly look with Maleny. Both knew Hayley was still raging of what had been done to the wolves and honestly weren't excited over this disappearance.

"'ll need the best connection to Hayley. You'll have to wake Hope," Freya announced sadly, hoping to God there would be no more fighting tonight.

After bringing Hope downstairs and using her for the spell, Freya got straight to work and searched for Hayley. However, she only practice for about a minute before she gasped and abruptly stopped.

"I can't find her," she said quietly, eyes looking over the map before her. "There's nothing- ... It's like she doesn't exist."

"...Or she's dead," Klaus offered another, very plausible, idea, not too pleased.

"No! No. No!" came the voice of a distressed Jackson who rushed inside, 'You have to find her."

"You're here…" Maleny blinked, slightly alarmed.

"Where is Hayley!?" Jackson plainly ignored her and demanded from Freya, whom had tried to do the spell again.

"She's...she's not coming up," Freya shook her head after coming up with the same results. "I don't know what's happening."

Before Jackson could say anything back, he doubled over in pain. Realizing he was turning back into a wolf, Freya stopped her spell.

"Klaus, the chains!" she exclaimed.

Klaus handed Hope to Maleny and rushed to retrieve the chains. But even as Jackson went through the pain of the changing, he continued to plead for Freya's help.

"Freya, please! Please do the spell again!"

Freya glanced back at the table, knowing there wasn't anything else she could that would work. Hayley would not come up anymore, the reason why still such a dread to them all. Klaus returned with the chains, and dragged Jackson to a threshold to chain him up.

"I can't go a month withou- AHH!" Jackson screamed, doubling over again.

Suddenly, he stopped. There was no more pain, no more bone snapping. The changing...stopped.

"It stopped…" Jackson said after a while, much in awe as the others.

~ 0 ~

Much later, Davina looked away the special candle that was to keep Hayley and her pack from changing back to wolves. With a normal lock and a magical one, no one would be able to get through to it but her.

When she turned around, she came to find Marcel coming in. "There's a problem," he sighed.

He led the young teen towards a café shop, specifically the one belonging to Karen Nguyen, the very woman Hayley was sent after. Davina was petrified to see dozens of smoldering, ashen corpses lying in a pile over the patio. There were already other witches, loved ones of the dead, crying over the corpses.

Cami appeared beside them, startling Davina, as the two hadn't exactly spoken out of the faction meetings. But of course, this was part of business.

"There's eleven bodies," the blonde said, "a lot of pissed off loved ones. They thought it was a vampire thing, but all our guys are accounted for at the Abattoir."

Davina gulped as they watched the son of Karen Nguyen, Van, appeared at the scene and discovered his mother was one of the victims. That wasn't what Davina had wanted, at all, and now she had caused a massacre.

~ 0 ~

As Maleny placed down Hope in a playpen, Klaus took out his phone to dial for Lucien's number as they had agreed. "Put it on speaker," Maleny said calmly, her back to him as she made sure Hope was fine. "I want to hear what he says about it."

Though Klaus wasn't too fond of the idea, he did as she wished.

"I taught you better than to leave your leftovers in the street!" he began as soon as the line had been picked up, "My streets."

It sounded as if Lucien was a little out of it. "You'll have to elaborate, mate."

"Two bodies were found sporting rather memorable lacerations. Are you exorcising your demons by carving up the innocents of New Orleans?"

Lucien laughed weakly, "Oh, your family is full of unfounded accusations today. And if I was the culprit, why would you care? We used to make fantastic messes together."

Maleny turned to Klaus, giving him another suspicious stare, questioning him over Lucien's last words.

Klaus ignored her as best he could, for her eyes - while shiny and entrancing - could be very ominous and raging. "There is a delicate balance in this city. There are rules."

"Ah, and people you care about. You can't afford to have weaknesses like that right now."

Maleny crossed her arms, further displeased of what she was hearing.

Klaus promptly looked away from her, knowing he would be paying for that one tonight. "Speaking of weaknesses, there is a wolf chained to my wall who claims he took a chunk out of your arm. Come see me. I'll give you my blood in exchange for your word that the killings will stop."

"I'm afraid your family dog missed the mark, friend. Barely a scratch. No venom breached the skin."

"You listen carefully, friend - my city has enjoyed months of relative peace. If that peace is in any way disrupted, the next gruesome murder will be yours!"

"Now there's the Klaus I know," came the amused response of Lucien before hanging up.

With a heavy sigh, Klaus put away his phone. As soon as he looked back to Maleny, she was already in front of him, staring at him in mild irritation. "So, I'm just a weakness, then?"

"Lucien has a way with words that—"

"Mhm, nice story," Maleny cut him off, patting his arm, "You know, I'm starting not to like this 'acquaintance' of yours. He's making you lie an awful lot."

"Mal—"

"Find me in my room when you can get your stories straight."

Maleny gave him a smirk as she walked past him out the door. She wasn't actually angry, but she was mildly annoyed Klaus couldn't just tell her what was the deal with this Lucien Castle guy.

~ 0 ~

The night had almost passed and as it did, Jackson remained chained in case he would suddenly revert back to a wolf. But when he saw the changing didn't happen, and the sun had come out, he was angry the chains hadn't been removed and that Hayley hadn't yet appeared.

Freya stood a couple feet from him, awkwardly trying to see if she could help him in any way that didn't involve a locator spell or taking the chains off. "Can I get you some water, or... something?"

"Let me out!" Jackson ordered, yanking on hid chains, "It's dawn, I haven't turned back yet. It doesn't make any sense. I need to find Hayley."

Freya sighed and came towards him, placing her hands on his chest, using her magic to try to decipher what was going on. "I can still feel the curse in your blood. Something's restraining it, but you could transition at any moment."

However, Hayley appeared and shoved the poor blonde witch into a nearby column that temporarily knocked her out. Jackson gaped at the sight of his wife covered in blood from head to toe.

"Where the hell is that bastard?" Hayley panted in rage as she sniffed out the two culpable people that kept her away from Hope. Getting the scent of one of them, she backtracked and saw someone coming down the stairs in a hurry.

"Freya?" Maleny was calling, having heard a funny noise from upstairs she hurried to see if Jackson was still his human self. "Freya-" unfortunately, she got herself entangled into something worse - an angry mother. "Hayley!" she gasped as the brunette hybrid sped up to the stairs.

Hayley grabbed her in a choke-hold, harshly pinning her against the staircase rail. "Do you have any idea what you have taken from me?"

Maleny was well aware Hayley was leaning her farther over the rails and for a minute became alarmed. Someone in anger was bound to do horrible things. "Hayley, you need to calm down—"

Hayley shook the blonde violently, "Don't you dare tell me to calm down after months of being cursed!" she squeezed Maleny's neck, causing the blonde to gasp for air. "You took Hope from me you—"

"Hayley!" Maleny sputtered, her frail hands trying to claw Hayley's off her.

"How could you!?" Hayley kept squeezing, knowing it would only take a quick snap to instantly kill the blonde.

During her distraction, Klaus appeared from upstairs and shoved her down the stairs, and would've done more if he was not more preoccupied with Maleny's condition. Maleny violently coughed as the air filled her lungs again. Klaus grabbed her forth, quickly checking to see if she was alright. She only had the growing red marks from Hayley's hold but she was going to be fine.

"You want to fight, fine, but be a little more decent and come after one that can give one back," Klaus turned to Hayley, missing Maleny's momentary irritated look for his comment. "Do not ever attempt to do that again."

Hayley picked herself back up, glaring at both. "All I see are the two people that took my daughter away from me."

"Klaus, don't—" Maleny barely got to say when Klaus sped downstairs to start the fight she had foolishly prayed wouldn't ensue. "Stop!"

Hayley roundhouse-kicked kicked him in the face and sent him across the courtyard. She sped up to him and continued to throw punches.

Maleny hurried down the stairs and saw Freya waking up, as well as Jackson breaking his chains and setting himself free. "No!" she exclaimed, causing Freya to look over and see what was happening.

She cast a spell that kept Jackson back and away from the fight.

"Let me go! He'll kill her!" Jackson shouted, both angry and fearful for Hayley.

"He'll kill you!" Freya snapped.

"I'll get them to stop," Maleny muttered and turned back for the courtyard, catching sight of Elijah coming in and trying to intervene. "STOP IT!" she screamed so loud it managed to draw attention, but only for a couple seconds. She sighed and looked all around, seeing Elijah helplessly trying to stop his brother and Hayley, while Freya struggled to hold Jackson back with her spell.

Exasperated beyond all doubt, she drew on her magic, and caused everyone in the scene to get aneurysms. She waited until everyone was down on their knees before she stopped.

"You're all terrible people," she said afterwards, looking worse for wear herself. That amount of power cost her some energy but she was not going to let anyone get hurt, or accidentally die.

"You're one to talk," Hayley spat as she stood up, still glaring daggers at her.

Maleny rolled her eyes, passed from the apologetic, guilty phase. "Oh shut up, you're no innocent dove yourself my dear."

Hayley's hybrid eyes came out and she sped up to Maleny, raising her head as if to show her superiority over the blonde. Not a minute later did Klaus cut in-between the two, pushing Hayley away.

"No, Klaus, let her," Maleny went around him, heavily nervous but more than ready to speak what she had to say. "I'm not going to hide behind you." But still, Klaus didn't move and kept his protective stance against Hayley. Maleny sighed, but figured if Hayley didn't move Klaus wouldn't either and therefore she began her rant. "You're a hypocrite," she declared, only provoking Hayley's hybrid side to re-emerge and step towards her.

"Excuse me?" Hayley arched her eyebrows, "You curse me and I'm the hypocrite here?"

"First of all," Maleny stepped towards her as well, "It was Dahlia who sprung the curse out of nowhere. We didn't plan it!"

"Right, on a plan neither of you thought to share?" this time it had been Jackson who made a response.

"There was no time!" Klaus snapped at him, "Or did you forget you were already midway out of the bayou with my daughter? On the run?"

"We had to get her away!" Hayley exclaimed, "Your family was only hurting her!"

"That's a crappy excuse and you know it," Maleny accused and endure the glare sent her way.

"You can make up excuses all you want, Maleny, but I was only trying to do what was best for her," Hayley frowned. "You two," she pointed at Maleny and Klaus, "took her away from me. You are cruel, and murderers of the very wolves that would have laid their lives for Hope. You took my daughter from me!"

"So. Are. You," Maleny calmly said, bitterly laughing at the accusations and angered Hayley more. "In fact, no one here in this bloody place is innocent. You're a hypocrite for trying to make it seem so."

"What the hell—"

"Or have you told anyone of the massacre you caused over in the witches' territory?" Maleny's questioned left Hayley silent for a moment, and confused the others due to their lack of knowledge of the subject. Maleny smirked at the brunette hybrid. "Thought I didn't know about that? That's what happens when your friend is the leader in the Quarter now. I don't know how you did it, but I'm sure Davina was the one that brought you back and in exchange for a curse delayment, you killed those people. And don't even deny it because all the evidence points to you. You claim we're the evil ones but you're no better. You killed people's' parents and that was on purpose. That was your goal." She then turned back and pointed at Jackson. "And taking Hope and Hayley from where they belonged was your idea in the first place. You were going to take a little girl's father from her. And," she sighed and pointed her finger at Freya, startling the blonde witch that she was now next, "you killed your mother and we never even touched on the subject, but when Klaus did the same to Mikael everyone went nuts. And Elijah," she sourly smiled, "you daggered your brother after taking a decision that did not belong to you. Klaus," she turned to him, "you killed your father, brought back your mother only to be killed hours later. And as for myself, I ensured Kol remained on the other side where he's probably being tortured daily by the spirits of New Orleans as well as letting my friends suffer in a curse I couldn't solve. So," she finally returned her gaze back to Hayley, daring Hayley to challenge her again, "is there any other bloody detail you want to discuss concerning loyalty and innocence?"

Hayley swallowed hard, suddenly all the rage and insults she had thought of gone from her mind. She hadn't quite counted on being put on the spotlight like that, a thought everyone else shared with her.

Maleny deeply sighed, "That's what I thought," she said rather irritated herself. "No one is innocent here. Now, I do apologize for what happened, because that was no where near what we had planned. But we would never take away your daughter from you. Or are you forgetting how someone took mine from me centuries ago? Hope is upstairs, and she does know you love her. But mine? My son has made no contact with me, nothing to show that he's coming. Maybe he's not coming back, maybe he's…" she looked down, the realization finally setting over her shoulders, "...he's over the fact he had parents in the first place. Go see Hope, she's up there, napping."

Being uncomfortable was the last thing Hayley pictured when thinking of returning to the compound. But, she was, and she didn't quite know what to do.

"Go!" Maleny exclaimed, her voice abruptly breaking.

Hayley rushed to go see her daughter upstairs, Jackson quickly following her. Everyone else felt the thick sense of guilt, and melancholy for their previous actions.

After a minute, Klaus went for Maleny, "Let's—"

Maleny shook her head, "I think I just want to be alone for a while." He agreed with a small nod, and only because he saw her weariness from lack of sleep finally catching up to her. Rubbing her sore neck, Maleny walked for the stairs, ignoring the looks she received from all three siblings.

Once she was gone, Freya spoke up, and not pleased herself. "That was nothing of what I was expecting," she admitted with a long sigh.

"Yes, Maleny has always had a way of pointing out our faults without being rude about it," Klaus sighed as well, unlike the others not as surprised of what happened.

"I still believe perhaps we can cut the tension by allowing Hayley and Jackson to have their own space," Elijah suggested, immediately receiving a hard look from Klaus. "Hayley has missed many months of Hope's development, and perhaps this can do well for all. There's a new apartment right across the street, so that Hope would never be out of our hearing-shot."

"I think it would be a good idea," Freya agreed, nodding her head. "Intentional or not, the curse did happen and it did break a lot of families. Let Hayley spend time with her daughter for all that she missed out."

"It's only temporal, brother," assured Elijah, able to see the fear of Hope being, once again, taken flash through Klaus' eyes. Only somewhat on board, Klaus gave the nod and allowed Elijah to go set things up.

~ 0 ~

Amarrah loudly slammed her hand on the top of Kinney's car, startling the man into looking away from the radio. She was unamused, irritated, and frankly indignant. "I've been meaning to talk to you about my missing laptop and notes?" Kinney shot her a wide smile, almost amused with her. That only infuriated Amarrah, "You think this is funny? I could report you for that."

Kinney raised a hand and with the other handed her back her laptop. "All the interesting stuff was password-protected, but I knew Vincent wouldn't just pull you in for kicks."

"He wanted Cami, not me," Amarrah clarified blankly, upholding her annoyed face.

"But he brought you in nonetheless and I doubt he did that because 'there was no one else'. He knew you knew your stuff. You're not an amateur."

"I would thank you for the comment but I'm kinda of upset with you if you haven't noticed."

Kinney smiled smugly as he got out of the car. "I finished up the end of that video you were watching. Lucien Castle? Highly motivating. Feeling like my best self already."

Suddenly Amarrah's annoyance vanished from her face and was replaced with due concern for the man. That was exactly what she wanted to avoid. "Nothing's concrete, I was just...looking into the new tourists that came in yesterday," Amarrah swallowed hard.

"And the brief notes on him?"

"Just...brief. It's nothing set on stone."

Kinney stared long and hard at the French woman before warmly smiling. "You could very well report me but you haven't, because you know I was right about your family. You're not a suspect, Amarrah. I'm actually looking out for you. I think you're mixed up in something much bigger than you realize."

Amarrah would've scoffed at such irony if she was conversing with anyone else. "Trust me, I realize." She was going to add more onto that when she heard snippets of the radio from inside the car. "Wait…" she turned to the car, "Turn up the radio…"

Confused, Kinney reached inside and did as she wanted. As soon as he did, they both heard announcements over the murders.

"While police refuse to release information, sources allege that a manhunt is on for a possible serial killer. Two violently mutilated bodies entirely drained of blood have been recovered..."

"How the hell did they know about the blood?" Kinney anxiously, and beyond confused, looked at Amarrah, the witch unable to come up with anything herself.

~ 0 ~

Back at Lucien's apartment, he had the very journalist behind the newest article that consisted of all the murder details. He took a glass of blood from her and headed into his bedroom, leaving the journalist to look over her article for a while.

He meant to return the briefcase that consisted of ingredients he used to cure himself of Jackson's bite, but became distracted by a leather-bound journal in the trunk. He picked up the journal and opened it up to the same page he always did when he came across it. Even though the drawing was over a thousand years old, he firmly believed the drawing of Cecilia de Ark remained as beautiful as she had been in her time. But then came the memories of her tragic ending, and he felt the fury that he had felt on that day...and never ceased to disappear completely. Those who caused her death would have their ending, and very soon.

~ 0 ~

Freya walked into the lounge room with an ice pack in hand, and found Elijah nervously pacing back and forth. "Dare I ask what's wrong now?" she sighed, slightly amused.

Elijah eyed the iced pack for a minute, when Freya gestured to her bruised forehead, and he dismissed it. "I received some unsettling information from Lucien Castle. I don't trust the source, but I... trust you."

Freya nodded, and in the next couple of minutes she had him and Klaus downstairs in the courtyard, preparing a spell that consisted of Klaus' blood and several other herbs.

"If you fed on this prophetic witch, her blood is still in your system. If there's a weapon that can kill you, we need to know," Freya lighted a tall, black candle and placed it on the center of the table where it would be surrounded by other small, lite white candles. She grabbed the bowl with Klaus' blood and put it down in front of three strips of papers with Norse runes on them, meant to have the names of the three remaining Originals.

Nervously, Freya dunk her fingers into the bowl, thus beginning the spell. "No mentre le prophecie que la otra ve. No mentre le prophecie que la otra ve."

As soon as she did, she felt the overwhelming power curse through her body. Her two brothers became concerned when blood began oozing from her right ear. She chanted louder, and more aggressively, but as she did more blood appear came from her other ear, and nose.

"Freya, stop!" Elijah reached out for her but Freya was now in depth with the visions of the -so-called prophecy.

She saw Elijah's painting that hung in one of the rooms being splashed with blood, as well as a beast with large, long and sharp fangs roaring and blaring out bloody teeth.

Out of the nowhere, the three strips of paper burst into flames. Freya came back, gasping deeply and opening her eyes. Although the flames slowly died out on their own, Freya looked worse for wear.

"It's true," she said grimly, "You have a terrible shadow over you. Rebekah, too. If this prophecy is fulfilled, you will all fall. One by friend, one by foe, and one...by family."

~ 0 ~

New York

A young woman with straight, long black hair, finely dressed and wearing black, rounded sunglasses, walked into a diner, momentarily scanning the area until she spotted the person she came in for. She walked towards a booth where a young man was sitting. She glanced over a map settled on the table, and the laptop sitting in front of the man.

Upon seeing her, the young man smiled and motioned her to sit across him, "I'm glad you came."

"You knew very well I was on my way back to England," the woman berated him in a thick English accent, but smiled widely as if unsurprised the man had pulled that type of stunt. She pulled off her sunglasses, revealing bright blue eyes behind, and leaned forwards, "So, what was so important you just had to pull me from my jet, Xavier?"

The man, Xavier, chuckled and turned his laptop around, immediately capturing her attention. Xavier smiled proudly then, "Good, huh? I found that a couple hours ago."

"Lucien Castle," the woman breathed in, "What about him!?"

"It seems like he's donated a large amount of money to clean up a bayou, near…" Xavier drew out the word as he went to the map of the United States, pointed to the spot of New Orleans, "...here."

"Really? And you're telling me because…?"

"Well, over the last year or so, there have been reports of strange disappearances, and fights in the French Quarter. And now suddenly the old vampire Lucien is heading over there? Why?"

The woman's eyes widened, the delight pouring from her eyes, "You think, that...he's there?"

The man smirked and gave a nod, "I am willing to bet my life that if you were to go there, you would find Klaus Mikaelson."

#ocappreciation #fd: the originals #klaus mikaelson #the originals fics #klaus mikaelson fics #klaus mikaelson imagines #the originals imagines #camlijah #oc: Maleny Rowan #fic: under the same stars

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