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surrealsunday · 3 years

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A NYE Mood Tattoo Not-So-Snippet...

NOTES: This is Explicit. Hear that? EXPLICIT. You’ve been warned.

Sorry this is a little late, friends (or a little late for Canadians, VERY late for Europeans). It was supposed to be a snippet. But I think I blacked out and now it’s over 11k. So... er... Happy New Year 😂!!! Hope you enjoy.

* * * *

Eliott turns the corner in the hospital to a not unfamiliar sight, but a welcome one all the same. Idriss and Daphne stand facing one another. Daphne has her hands on her hips, the look on her face so fierce she might look intimidating if not for what she had called her ‘New Years Eve scrubs’, pink decorated with splashes of colour like fireworks. Even in profile, Eliott can read the amusement mixed with what is likely genuine irritation, written across Idriss’s face.

And then there’s Lucas.

He stands to the side and between then, with an expression of such exasperation, Eliott can’t help the way his own face immediately breaks into a smile at the sight.

He stops before reaching the trio, leaning his shoulder against the wall as he watches. None of them have noticed him, too caught in their current squabble.

“I wasn’t the one who administered it, goldilocks,” Idriss says through gritted teeth. “I wasn’t even on shift.”

“But you followed up, muscles,” she argues. “You should have seen the error.”

“Oh right,” Idriss scoffs. “With all our free time.”

“It doesn’t require free time! It’s our job!”

“Jesus Christ, shut up!” Lucas interrupts, a hand moving to press against his forehead, before he rakes it back through his hair, his frustration clear. He seems to think better of his tone, however, when both Daphne and Idriss direct their ire his direction. “I’m just saying, I don’t care.” His voice has softened infinitesimally but it has maintained its hardened authority. “Fix it. I’ll talk to Dr. Faure. And you two better back me up after I do.”

Idriss and Daphne both cross their arms against their chests as they nod in perfect synchronicity, looking a lot like children on the received end of a scolding, who desperately want to talk back, but realize the consequences of doing so are not worth the impulse. Eliott very nearly laughs, biting his lip around his smile as he watches the scene unfold.

It still amazes him the way Lucas can look like he’s towering over others, even when – in Idriss’s case at least – they should be the one’s doing the towering. But there’s something so powerful about the way Lucas stands, the way he speaks, and the no-nonsense way he demands everyone else keep up because he won’t be waiting on him. There’s no question Idriss and Daphne feel the same, though Eliott doubts their reactions involve a sudden and desperate desire to pull Lucas into the nearest on-call room.

“What?” Lucas asks with eyebrows raised when Idriss and Daphne continue to stand staring at him. “You waiting to be dismissed? Go.”

Daphne huffs, and with an impressive flip of her ponytail, stomps off. Idriss pauses before he takes his own leave.

“You’re a prick,” he says. Despite his words there’s a small smile on his face when he looks at Lucas. Eliott knows that feeling – loving Lucas for his prick-ish ways as much as they piss you off. “But for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for the screw-up.”

Lucas nods. “It’s not your fault anymore than it’s mine. But we’re the one’s picking up the pieces so… just sort it, alright?” Lucas doesn’t look particularly forgiving, but his words are measured and more agreeable than Eliott would have expected, if a little exhausted. But then… it’s been a very long week.

Working straight through Christmas to the eve of the New Year has taken its toll and Eliott knows just how much of himself Lucas gives every shift. Eliott is no different, of course, but Lucas’s approach to work takes an emotional level of control Eliott will never quite understand, nor master. Something Eliott has come to realize since being with Lucas, is that the restraint Lucas uses while at work – adopting a professional veil that allows for little emotional expression outside of when he’s with the kids in the cancer ward – emotionally and physically exhausts him in a way Eliott hasn’t experienced – not like that. But despite Eliott’s protests that Lucas let himself go – relax on occasion – his boyfriend is nothing if not stubborn.

It’s alright though. It just means Eliott gets the most excellent pleasure of helping him relax, within hospital walls and outside of them. Of course, Eliott takes this honour quite seriously, and is happy to do so at every possible opportunity.

Though… Eliott considers the past week with a frown… there hasn’t been a lot of relaxing as of late. Exhaustion has won out even over everything else, including Eliott and Lucas’s fairly insatiable appetites for one another. The most they’ve managed over the past week is to wrap arms around one another as they’ve collapsed into bed together. It’s been nice. Certainly nothing Eliott would complain about. But the prospect of having the next two days off has his blood singing with the possibility of more.

Eliott lets his gaze glide across Lucas’s profile as his boyfriend turns with Idriss, saying a few more words and watching their friend disappear down the hall. His eyes catch on the side of Lucas’s neck where it meets his shoulder and a tendon strains against skin. Eliott wants to press his lips there, sink his teeth in and suck until the skin blooms with a bruise. Lucas will complain, tell Eliott he’s an asshole and leaving marks is ‘so highschool’. But then Eliott will catch him in the bathroom, staring at his own reflection as he presses two fingers down on the bruise and shivers.

Fuck.

Eliott wants him.

Lucas turns back towards the nurse’s station, depositing the paperwork he holds onto the surface and leaning over to leave a note. The line of his jaw is sharp. He’s clearly still irritated, his authoritative mask still in place. It slips the moment he turns, and his eyes finally catch Eliott’s. His formally hardened expression softens instantly, and he smiles. Eliott’s smile mirrors Lucas’s own and he presses off of the wall and approaches as Lucas does the same.

“So, you just stood there and watched as I dealt with those two?” Lucas says the moment they stop in front of one another. He’s cocked an eyebrow, but paired with the sweet smile on his face, the effect only makes him look like the sort of adorable troublemaker you want to smother in kisses… or, maybe that’s just Eliott.

Eliott raises an eyebrow to match Lucas’s in challenge. “You’d rather I’d have stepped in to rescue you?” Lucas snorts but doesn’t answer, both of them knowing Eliott’s idea of a rescue would be anything but. “Besides,” he adds, letting his eyes drag down Lucas’s body before they travel back up again to meet his eyes. “I like watching you.” Eliott knows he’s not imagining the way Lucas’s cheeks have taken on a sudden, rosy tinge.

Lucas’s eyes skitter away as he scoffs. “Perv.”

Eliott laughs. “Hey, I meant that in a purely innocent way. Just appreciating how hot and in-charge you are. In a strictly professional sense of course.”

“Mmhmm,” Lucas hums as he looks back to him, clearly not believing a word Eliott says. “What are you still doing here, anyways? Thought you were gonna go home to check on Daisy before dinner.”

Eliott nods, glancing towards the clock hanging above the nurse’s station. Shift should have ended almost an hour ago.

“Got caught up,” he admits, looking back to Lucas. “You too?”

Lucas nods. “Bit of a screw-up. Gotta go find Faure. You go home and check on Daisy. We can meet at dinner.”

Eliott eyes him suspiciously. “What about your clothes?” On a normal day, Lucas could get away with casual wear for a dinner with friends, but a New Years Eve celebration demands a different level of formality.

“Brought ‘em with me,” Lucas says with a shrug. “I’ll get ready here.”

Eliott takes in Lucas’s overly casual disposition. “This isn’t some elaborate plan to be late to dinner, is it?”

Lucas rolls his eyes and Eliott can hear the sarcasm in his voice before he even speaks. “Why would I ever want to be late to dinner with your ex?”

Eliott sighs, smiling despite himself as he reaches to pull Lucas closer by the front of his scrubs – a move Lucas allows likely only because the surrounding hallways appear to be deserted. “Anna was never my girlfriend,” he says unnecessarily. Lucas knows this so course. “And it’s not like it’s just dinner with her. Yann will be there,” he reminds Lucas, though it once again feels a bit unnecessary – not like they haven’t already discussed this dinner at painful length. “Idriss and Manon too.”

Lucas doesn’t look comforted by this at all, though Eliott didn’t expect him to. “Idriss won’t even get there until later.” A result of Idriss working a longer and less convenient shift than them. “It’s a double date and you know it.” His lower lip juts out just enough to hint at the pout he would have committed to if not for their current work setting.

“Yeah,” Eliott agrees with a shameless shrug. That had been the point of course. But he and Yann had agreed to somewhat soften the potential Lucas-shaped reaction to such a suggestion, by expanding the guest list to include the other couple. “And it’s going to be fun.”

Lucas dips his head and steps closer, curling fingers into the front of Eliott’s scrubs and looking up through his lashes. Eliott’s mouth drops open, surprised by the sudden change in mood from his boyfriend, but far too enraptured to question it. “More fun than staying home?” Lucas bites his lower lip, letting it pop from his mouth shiny and wet. “Could stay in bed,” Lucas continues, his voice soft and suggestive. “Just me and you. Naked.” He blinks slowly, his eyes wide and deep blue. “I could ride you. Ring in the new year with you inside me.”

Eliott shudders, squeezing his eyes. It does nothing to stop the flood of images filling his brain. He slips his hands down to Lucas’s waist, squeezing as he opens his eyes and calls on every measure of self-control he’d normally allow to desert him when faced with such a suggestion. “You are…” He stares at Lucas’s guileless face – a façade he’s perfected, “an unbelievable brat. And we’re going to dinner.”

Lucas huffs, shoving Eliott away from him and crossing his arms across his chest with his face turned away. “You used to be easier for me.”

Eliott laughs and it comes out as a low rumble, the air between them so heady with want, he’s beginning to question his own decisions now too. “You have no idea how easy I am for you, baby.”

Lucas’s eyes track back to him and rest for a moment. “You better make good on that later.” It should be a threat. Instead, it sounds only like an invitation.

Eliott nods. “I will.” It’s a guarantee and they both know it.

“Fine.” Lucas’s arms fall back to his sides. “I need to get going. I’ll see you at the restaurant then.”

Eliott nods. “See you there.” He doesn’t make a move to leave.

Lucas stares at him for a moment before he turns and begins making his way down the hall.

“Dr. Lallemant,” Eliott calls after him, smile already growing on his face.

Lucas stops and glances back curiously. “What?”

“It’s red. Definitely red.”

Lucas’s eyebrows scrunch together in confusion before his eyes clear with understanding and he glances down at his arm, his tattoo half exposed by the way he’s pulled up the sleeves of his lab coat. When he looks back up it’s with his middle finger raised. Eliott laughs, watching as Lucas spins back around and rushes down the hall.

In all honesty, Eliott isn’t sure how they’re supposed to make it through a dinner with friends, and the party at Alex, Emma, and Lucille’s that is to follow, without jumping one another. The anticipation feels tangible in the air, licking at his skin, both hot and cold. He can practically see the flames form, blue at their core, red as they lick at his skin. One thing is for certain, if history has taught Eliott anything… Lucas is worth the wait.

* * * *

“And how’s my baby?” Eliott asks before rethinking his choice of words. “Don’t tell Lucas I call you that when he’s not around. He’s the jealous type.”

Eliott smiles down at the furry face of Daphne’s pet bunny. Eliott and Lucas had agreed to care for her over the next four days as Daphne and Basile were going away following Daphne’s shift at the hospital. Eliott and Lucas had been pondering getting a pet for a while but being as busy as they were at the hospital had decided to put it off until they knew they could devote themselves a little better to the undertaking. Knowing how much they both missed having pets around, however, Daphne had given them a chance to take care of Daisy while she was away. ‘A pet-parent test run’ she’d called it and they’d been more than eager to accept. And so, Daisy was theirs – at least for the next four days.

Eliott pulls her from her cage, giving her the requisite snuggle and kisses before he lets her down on the floor to explore and goes about cleaning her cage, providing some fresh water and food, before cutting up a couple radishes and strips of bell pepper to leave her as a treat for later. Maybe they spoil her a little. Eliott feels confident Daphne won’t mind, and Lucas and Eliott had both agreed that as Daisy’s uncles it was their job to overly indulge her.

Eliott spends a little too much time playing with Daisy and is forced to rush through his shower, changing quickly into a simple maroon button up shirt, and black slacks. He’s just pulled his coat on and is scrutinizing his artfully tousled hair in the mirror by the door when his phone buzzes in his pocket. Eliott smiles when he sees Lucas’s name on the screen.

He picks up. “Hey baby, I was –”

“Where are you?!!”

Eliott’s eyebrows rise, surprised by the ferocity of Lucas’s tone. He quickly glances towards the clock on the stove in the kitchen. There’s a good five minutes until their dinner reservation and the restaurant is right between their apartment and Eliott’s old one. They’d specifically planned it that way. At this pace, he’d likely have ended up being five or so minutes late but… the point is, he’s not late yet.

“I’m… on my way.” It suddenly seems in the best interest of his desire to have sex with Lucas again at some point in the future that he not tell Lucas he hasn’t left yet. He rushes to collect his keys as he speaks. “Why?”

“Why?! Because I’m here you asshole, and so is SHE.”

Never in his wildest dreams did Eliott expect Lucas would be early to dinner. “Oh.”

“Oh? Oh?! That’s what you have to say? I swear to –”

“Wait,” Eliott interrupts as he locks their door, hurrying down the building’s hallway, “you’re calling me with Anna right there?”

“She went to the bathroom,” Lucas huffs. “Probably ‘cause she knows this is fucking awkward too and that our boyfriends suck.”

“Yann isn’t there?” Eliott asks, knowing immediately this was a stupid question to ask.

“If he was here, would I be calling you?! He’s late too, the dickhead.”

Eliott decides against pointing out he’s not actually late – not for another two minutes. “Well, I’m on my way. I’ll be there soon.”

“And what am I supposed to do ‘til then?!”

Eliott holds his breath for a moment so as not to laugh. “Talk to her maybe? Make conversation.”

Lucas is quiet for a moment. “God, I hate you.”

Eliott grins, pushing out of the front door of their building and making his way to the street. “You don’t.”

“She’s coming back. I have to go.”

“Love you, baby,” Eliott rushes to say before Lucas hangs up. “Please don’t kill one another before Yann and I get there.” Lucas hangs up.

Eliott tucks his phone back into his pocket, picking up his pace to a gentle jog.

It’s not Anna he has to worry about – not Lucas either really. That’s the ridiculous part of Lucas’s protests when it comes to spending any time with Anna. Eliott is almost positive Lucas actually likes her. It makes sense really. They’re both funny, smart, witty people, able to trade barbs and jokes with the sort of seamless back and forth that’s more familiar in a scripted movie than real life. And Eliott is positive Lucas harbors a grudging amount of respect for the way Anna refuses to back down when faced with any misplaced animosity directed her way in the form of one blue-eyed boyfriend. But while Lucas and Anna’s tentative foray into friendly acquaintance has been in process for months, they’ve never been forced to test their precarious comradery while alone. This was admittedly not a contingency he and Yann had considered. Eliott slows his pace enough to pull out his phone and text Yann.

You almost at the restaurant?

Yann responds immediately. Had to drop something by my mom’s. Running a bit late

Eliott sighs unhappily, texting back. Same. He adds a few alarm bell emojis for good measure.

Yann texts back a series of question marks.

Lucas and Anna are there. ALONE. Eliott stares at his phone as he watches the typing bubble appear on Yann’s end.

Oh fuck

Eliott snorts. Please hurry. And pray he doesn’t murder me too

On my way

* * * *

When Eliott rushes into the restaurant, harried, perhaps a little sweaty, and eight minutes late, it’s to a sight he didn’t foresee. While he hadn’t actually expected Lucas and Anna to be in the midst of an all-out brawl, the picture before him seems just as impossible.

Anna and Lucas are sat across from one another at a table for six – not just sat across from one another but leaning towards one another. They’ve both got their forearms pressed to the table as they speak, heads bent forward and together in body language that would suggest… well, a date, if Eliott didn’t know better. Anna is smiling as she speaks, waving a hand in gesture through the air as Lucas listens. And even more shockingly, there’s a slight smile on Lucas’s face, begrudging maybe, but present all the same. He’s nodding as Eliott approaches.

Anna cuts herself off as she sees Eliott. “Oh, well, look who decided to show.”

Eliott smiles with a bashful shrug. “I’m not the only one who’s late.” He nods towards the empty chair beside Anna.

“Yeah,” Anna agrees. “But my boyfriend warned me he’d be late. What about you?” She raises her eyebrow like she knows the answer. She likely does.

“I didn’t think I’d be late,” Eliott says, adding a bit of a pout in fruitless hope of garnering some sympathy. He slips off his coat and folds it across the back of his chair. Taking the seat next to Lucas, he directs pitiful eyes his boyfriend’s way. “I planned to be on time.”

Lucas snorts, looking back to Anna. “Probably convinced himself Daisy didn’t want him to leave and spent an extra ten minutes cuddling her. That or he lost track of time doing his hair.” Eliott cannot admit that Lucas is right.

Anna laughs. “That sounds likely. Always was too nice and pretty for his own good.” Eliott winces, looking to Lucas in preparation for his boyfriend’s irritation with Anna for acknowledging any positive attributes in Eliott. But Lucas is… laughing? Eliott stares agape as his boyfriend speaks, his voice relaxed and amused.

“It’s a deadly combo really, but I guess you know. Yann’s so nice sometimes it actually pisses me off.”

“Oh lord, tell me about it,” Anna expels in a dramatic breath. “We’re walking the other day,” she leans forward as she begins her story and Lucas mirrors her position, “and he sees this old lady struggling with her grocery bags –”

“Oh god,” Lucas groans as though he’s already guessed where this story is going.

Anna nods in agreement with the unspoken assumption. “He insists on helping her. Not just organize her bags – oh no, no – we have to walk her home. The lady lived, like, three blocks in the opposite direction we were going.”

Lucas laughs. “Shit. That sounds just like him.”

Eliott doesn’t understand why they’re sharing this anecdote as though it were a bad thing. “But that’s nice,” he protests with a frown. “What if she couldn’t have made it on her own?”

Lucas looks to him with a dramatic roll of his eyes, glancing back at Anna. “So now you know I literally feel your pain.”

Anna giggles. “For real. And it’s not like I wanted the lady to struggle or something. I would have helped her get organized and sent her on her merry way.”

“Totally practical,” Lucas agrees with a resolute nod.

“And we’re not at the beginning of dating,” Anna continues. “Like the kid doesn’t need to impress me, anymore. Believe me, I’m impressed.” She adds a suggestive raise of her eyebrows and Lucas laughs. “Nah, he just does this stuff out of the goodness of his heart.” She says it as though this is a miraculous – and perhaps ridiculous – quality for a man to possess.

“A freak of nature,” Lucas agrees with a shake of his head. “Should’a seen teen-me trying to get over his ass when he insisted on being such a nice guy.”

“The nerve,” Anna laughs. “He could have at least been gay if he was going to insist on being nice to you.”

“All I’m saying,” Lucas agrees with a laugh of his own.

Eliott’s gaze swings between them both, incredulous. “You told Anna you crushed on Yann?” He and Lucas have barely even discussed that. Though perhaps that’s due to Eliott’s desire to forget entirely that Lucas has ever been attracted to other men – celebrities they are unlikely to ever meet being the only exception.

Lucas glances at him quickly with a shrug, before directing his attention back to Anna. “I ever tell you about the time we were in the locker room and he changed extra slow so I could have a look?” Eliott frowns.

“Shut up!” Anna laughs. “He would.”

Eliott watches as Lucas goes about retelling the story to Anna’s delight. He should be glad they’re getting along. And he is – don’t get him wrong, he is. It’s all he and Yann have wanted. But there’s a niggling feeling like disappointment sitting in his gut too, and Eliott can’t totally explain it. Or perhaps he can. He knows what it is. It just feels too ridiculous to acknowledge out loud – even if ‘out loud’ means ‘inside the privacy of his own mind’.

It’s only that… he likes the way Lucas gets all huffy and possessive when Anna’s name comes up. And no, Eliott doesn’t want a relationship of mistrust and jealousy. But he and Lucas aren’t like that. Not normally. They love one another. They trust in their relationship and one another. But… well… sometimes it’s fun to want one another so badly, they can’t help but behave like the occasional jealous moron when it comes to others. And sometimes it’s even more fun to work out that pent up frustration in other – less public-restaurant appropriate – ways.

And yes, Eliott will agree, he’s definitely an idiot. He needs no convincing where that is concerned.

He sighs and tunes back in just as Lucas is saying, “Fuck. A whole four minutes. Consider yourself lucky.”

Eliott narrows his eyes suspiciously. “What are you talking about?”

Lucas looks over to him, his eyes reflecting challenge. “You’re sitting right here. Shouldn’t you know?”

“He was ignoring us,” Anna jumps in to comment. “We should probably be insulted.”

“Yeah,” Lucas agrees with a smile as he continues to look at Eliott. “But he probably just got lost in imagining me naked. It happens.”

Eliott is torn between being insulted and, well… actually picturing Lucas naked. It’s not his fault! Lucas put the thought right there. “You don’t need to speak of me in third person when I’m literally right here.”

Lucas grins, bringing a hand up to brushing fingers along the shell of Eliott’s ear. “Are you though, baby?” Baby. Lucas so rarely uses that term of endearment, it still hits Eliott like a ton of bricks every time he does. He’s thankfully saved in having to respond by Yann’s appearance.

“There’s my man,” Anna squeals when she sees him, standing up as he approaches the table.

Yann’s eyes widen at the sight of her. He looks at her as though they haven’t been seriously committed to one another for over five months now. It’s incredibly sweet. “Damn,” Yann crows, reaching around Anna’s back to pull her closer as he kisses her in greeting. “You sure you’re with the right guy?”

“How’s that?” She asks with a laugh, winding her arms around his neck as she leans back with a vibrant smile.

“No way a woman this beautiful gives me the time of day,” Yann continues, moving a hand to brush against the riot of natural curls framing Anna’s face.

“Must be something pretty special about you then,” Anna banters back.

“Alright,” Lucas interrupts loudly. “That’s enough of you two being disgusting. Take a seat, Cazas.”

Yann laughs and with one more kiss pressed to Anna’s cheek, he moves to do as asked.

“At least someone got a proper hello,” Eliott grumbles beneath his breath, but admittedly, loud enough for Lucas to hear.

Lucas turns to him, one eyebrow raised. “Something to say, average?”

Eliott’s eyes narrow and he sits back in his chair with a huff that maybe wouldn’t be out of place in a primary school classroom. “No.”

“So,” Yann says, looking between Anna and Lucas, “you two are getting along then?”

Anna laughs while Lucas scoffs and answers. “You’re not supposed to just ask like that. Have I taught you nothing about how to avoid situations until they blow up in your face, Yanny boy?” Yann joins Anna in her laughter and Eliott can’t help the way his mouth twitches at the corners into the beginnings of a smile. “Now, we’re gonna have to go back to pretending to hate one another.”

“Is that what we were doing?” Anna asks, her smile bright. “Here I thought there was some authenticity to that hate.”

Lucas shrugs. “Yeah. But look where that gets me.” He directs a thumb in Eliott’s direction.

“You never hated me,” Eliott protests, forgetting he’s supposed to be pouting in the face of such fallacious slander. It’s to no avail, however, as the others are too taken with one another to give him any attention.

“Well, I can at least promise I won’t follow you around trying to dry-hump you like I’m sure he did,” Anna says with a laugh as she settles back in her seat with Yann’s arm resting around her shoulders.

“I didn’t,” Eliott says, sitting up slightly from his chair, feeling a lot like he’s talking into a void.

“We kinda skipped the dry-hump stage,” Lucas says with a smile, not even glancing at Eliott as he speaks. “Went right to getting his dick in my mouth if I’m honest.”

Anna laughs, looking quickly with a smile to Yann before she responds. “Well… same, so, I guess I can’t judge.” Lucas and Yann laugh.

“I’ll drink to that.” Lucas lifts his wine glass.

Anna does the same, clinking glasses with Lucas. “To dicks in our mouths!”

With truly impeccable timing, Manon and Idriss take that moment to appear.

“Uh,” Idriss grimaces at he looks down on them. “Did I miss when that became a toast?”

Manon laughs. “I dunno. Has a certain ring to it I’d say.” It leads to a new round of laughter that even Eliott – determined as he is to sulk – is helpless against.

They all settle at the table and into conversation, and eventually, when their waiter appears looking impressively bored, food too. It’s a truly pleasant evening, as Eliott and Yann knew it would be once Lucas and Anna finally relaxed around one another. Laughter comes easily and it really would be the perfect night out if not for the way Lucas is barely paying attention to Eliott. It’s not that Eliott needs his hand held at all times – not even that he needs Lucas’s focus on him, but he can’t help but feel a little like he’s being intentionally ignored. Lucas is all laughter and smiles for everyone but him. He’s being his most charming self, effusive, witty, and interesting, but it’s missing a dynamic Eliott hadn’t realized he’d gotten so used to. The shared smiles and the quick glances of understanding, that silent acknowledgement of one another in the form of subtle touches or lingering eye contact, the inside jokes and comments directed only at one another… it’s all just… absent. Eliott isn’t about to make a monumental ‘the world and our relationship as we know it are ending’ deal over it, but what he is going to do is mope. And loudly… or as loudly as one can without actually speaking at all.

Idriss’s hits the side of Eliott’s leg just as everyone are finishing up their main courses. He waits until Eliott glances at him before he speaks in a quiet enough voice that it’s almost lost in the riotous conversation happening across the rest of the table.

“What’s up with you pouting all meal, bro?”

Eliott’s frown deepens. “I’m not.”

Idriss’s expels a disbelieving breath. “Right.” He glances past Eliott towards Lucas before asking, “You two fight or something?”

Eliott shakes his head, sighing as he glances towards Lucas who sports a bright smile as he chats with Yann and Anna. He feels like a dick for being upset when Lucas is clearly having a great time – when that is all Eliott wanted. He’s just… a mess.

“No.” He turns back to Idriss, not bothering to school his unhappy expression. “We’re fine actually.”

Idriss’s eyebrows pull together with concern. “You wanna take a breather?” He juts his chin towards the exterior of the restaurant. “I’ll come with.”

“That’s a good idea,” Manon interrupts, having rounded from her side of the table to wrap arms around Idriss’s neck from behind. She presses a kiss to his cheek. “I was going to go freshen up in the bathroom. Maybe you should do the same, Eliott.”

He stares at her in confusion before grabbing for his napkin, horrified, and pressing it about his mouth. “Do I have something on my face?”

“Bro, I would have told you,” Idriss laughs. Eliott doesn’t actually agree with that statement. Once, Idriss had let him approach a hot guy at bar with the tail end of his shirt hanging through his open fly like a very tiny, white dick. But he generously doesn’t mention that memory – not particularly wanting to relive the humiliation himself.

“Nothing like that,” Manon says, brushing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I only meant you might feel a little better if you had a chance to splash some water on your face. That always helps me.”

Her suggestion is still incredibly odd and feels just a little out of place, but Eliott shrugs, figuring its better than continuing to sit and sulk at the table. It also occurs to him that perhaps she wants to speak to him away from the table – maybe there’s an issue with her and Idriss? – and while the last thing he wants to do is take on the worries of another couple, it would be the very least he could do considering the many ways Idriss and Manon have been there for Lucas and Eliott.

“Alright.” He stands from the table, glancing towards Lucas but his boyfriend doesn’t pay him any mind, steadfastly continuing the retelling of a story to Anna. He’s talking about a recent article he read about the removal of an enormous tapeworm from a surgical patient. He’d already excitedly told Eliott about it as they’d laid together in bed one evening reading. It’s the least dinner appropriate story Eliott can imagine. He loves that Lucas isn’t the least bit concerned by that, continuing in his graphic retelling as Anna’s face transforms with more and more disgust. It makes Eliott smile, perhaps a little sadly, as he turns to accompany Manon to the restaurant’s bathrooms.

Manon doesn’t speak as they begin walking, a serene smile on her face.

“Are you and Idriss ok?” Eliott asks, more bluntly than he ever would normally but he doesn’t quite have the energy to be anything but. And it’s not like a very short walk to the bathrooms allows for any subtly.

Manon looks to him in surprise. “Yes. We’re great. Why do you ask?”

Eliott gestures around them as they walk. “Thought you wanted to get me alone to talk shit about him maybe.”

Manon laughs lightly. “No. Nothing like that. I’d say we’re still very much in the honeymoon stage.”

Eliott smiles a little. “I’m glad.”

They pause awkwardly outside the bathrooms and she turns back to him with a mischievous smile. “I suppose it is a bit annoying that I can’t ever save leftovers. He eats them all.”

Eliott laughs. “I know. You can’t even hide them. Once I tried the back of the freezer and –”

“Me too!” She cuts him off with a laugh. “I saved the rest of this amazing chocolate cake I couldn’t finish at the restaurant. I tucked it under the frozen Brussel sprouts, and I was sure he wouldn’t find it but –”

“He did,” Eliott finishes for her. “Yeah. Been there. No delicious food is safe from Idriss.”

“He said anyone who didn’t finish dessert deserved to have their leftovers eaten,” she finishes with a snort, affection dripping from her every word.

“Eh. He might not be wrong there.” Eliott laughs as Manon swats at him.

“Well, you live with Lucas who will absolutely eat you out of house and home, so I won’t feel too sorry for myself,” she says as Eliott snorts in agreement. “Anyways, I’m going to go freshen up. You should do the same. I’m sure you’ll feel better.”

Eliott isn’t so convinced but he does as told. He pees and washes his hands, leaning against the counter as he stares at himself in the mirror. There’s no one else in the communal bathroom, and he takes a moment to feel sorry for himself. It’s silly to work up such a fuss over the loss of attention of one’s boyfriend for the finite duration of a meal, but it’s such a rare occurrence to not have Lucas’s attention, Eliott isn’t quite sure what to do with this needy feeling gnawing at his gut.

He turns the tap on for the cold water and leans down to splash it on his face, listening as the door to the bathroom opens behind him. That’s just great. Now some random person is going to know him as the weirdo who washes his face in the restaurant bathroom. Eliott quickly straightens and reaches for the stack of paper towels on the counter. He pats his face dry before he dares to look up into the mirror’s reflection to see if the newcomer has given him any notice. He stops short when he sees the face staring back.

Lucas.

Eliott turns around, reaching to throw away the paper towels before he looks back to Lucas in question.

“Need to pee?” He asks somewhat stupidly, feeling strangely insecure and maybe a little out of sorts.

“Remember the first night we met?” Lucas asks instead of answering.

Eliott’s eyebrows fly up in surprise. As if he could ever forget. “Yes. Of course.”

Lucas approaches him slowly, stopping when they’re separated by a meter of space. “You followed me into the bathroom then.” He smiles a little, looking away as he gets lots in the memory. “So fucking smooth I didn’t know what the hell to make of you.”

Eliott laughs a little, his smile widening as Lucas looks back to him. “I really wasn’t. I was seriously freaking out actually. But…” He shrugs, “felt important you thought I was smooth.”

Lucas tilts his head as he looks at Eliott, small smile decorating his lips. “Offering up a blowjob was pretty smooth.”

Eliott shrugs, unashamed and unabashed. “You can’t blame me. Look at you.”

Lucas steps closer, stopping when they’re separated only by the width of a stretched hand. “Sure I can.” He says it softly, tilting his head back as he looks at Eliott. It sounds a lot like he means something else – like kiss me should be in place of the words he’s spoken. But despite the very real need Eliott feels to meet this silent demand, he can’t quite let go of his former sulk.

“You’ve been ignoring me all night.”

Lucas doesn’t look particularly surprised by this complaint, his eyes just barely registering acknowledgement. “I have.” It sounds more like a statement than a question.

“Yes,” Eliott confirms unnecessarily. “Laughing with everyone. Talking. Being all… cute and funny. But not to me.”

Lucas’s eyebrows rise and his smile pulls into a bit of a smirk. “And you think I don’t know what you’re doing?”

Eliott frowns. “I wasn’t doing anything.”

Lucas breathes a slight laugh. “Exactly. Sitting there pouting because I wasn’t giving you any attention.”

Eliott can’t exactly argue with that. “Well… so? You’d be the same if I was ignoring you.”

“Yeah,” Lucas agrees easily with a shrug. “Probably.”

“So then why?” Eliott asks, staring at him in confusion.

Lucas licks his lips, and Eliott notices there’s a flush to his cheeks that wasn’t there previously. “I can’t look at you when I’m like this. I can’t talk to you – feel your eyes on me like this.”

Eliott’s mouth parts as he stares down at Lucas. “Like this? Like what?”

Lucas looks around them, glancing to the empty stalls before he takes hold of Eliott’s shirt, spinning them so his back is to the mirror. He reaches for the button on his own pants.

“Lucas,” Eliott warns in a hushed whisper, glancing quickly to the surrounding bathroom though he knows it’s empty, “we can’t. Anyone could come in.”

“I know.” Lucas doesn’t look at all deterred. He unzips his pants and reaches for Eliott’s hand.

Eliott is helpless to stop him, so desperate to get his hands on Lucas, every patron in the restaurant could walk in on them and Eliott would probably only shrug. Lucas doesn’t pull the hand to the front of his pants as Eliott was expecting, however, and Eliott’s eyebrows fly up in surprise as Lucas instead presses Eliott’s hand to the back of his pants, pushing it down against his heated skin.

Eliott steps closer, pressing their bodies together with a shudder as he gropes at Lucas’s ass. “Baby…”

“Lower,” Lucas directs, his breath now coming in quick pants.

Eliott does as told, knowing their time alone in the bathroom is precarious and undetermined, and having no idea what it is Lucas has planned. He slides his hand lower, fingers seeking until they reach the area on Lucas’s body he’s come to know so well – that he’s worshiped with his fingers… his tongue… his cock. Only… he freezes… this is not at all what he expected.

“Lucas…” He sounds awed which is only appropriate. His fingers prod at the hard, circular shape blocking Lucas’s hole from his prying fingers.

“Can’t look at you when I know,” Lucas pants, his words a rush of breath as Eliott’s fingers continue to feel out the butt plug Eliott now realizes Lucas has had inside him the entire evening. “Can’t talk to you, touch you, without thinking about it.”

“What?” Eliott prompts, so turned on he feels dizzy with it. He gets his fingers around the rim of the plug and tugs, watching as Lucas gasps loudly, falling forward to press hands against Eliott’s chest.

“You,” Lucas pants, looking up at Eliott with dark eyes. “You inside me. Knowing –” He chokes on a breath as Eliott’s fingers continue to prod at the plug. “Knowing I’m ready for you – stretched for you – for your cock.”

“Lu, baby –” Eliott doesn’t get a chance to finish his thought when Lucas is grabbing his forearm and pulling his arm away, removing Eliott’s hand from his pants. “But…” Eliott trails off desperately, watching with disbelieving, confused eyes as Lucas goes about refastening his pants. His dark jeans bulge a little at the front, but he looks otherwise just as put together as he had when he’d entered the bathroom.

Lucas looks back up and bites his bottom lip. Eliott needs to kiss him and is only stopped by the firm hand Lucas presses to his chest when he realizes Eliott’s intent. “We’ve got a dinner with our friends to finish,” Lucas points out. Eliott is satisfied to see his breath remains unsteady and affected. Eliott has never been less interested in socializing with the people he loves more than right fucking now. “Was your idea after all.” Lucas smirks and Eliott can’t do anything but stare at him with renewed awe.

“You’re…” He can’t even finish the thought. Lucas has done it to torture him. He’s… diabolical. The most cheeky… clever… teasing brat on the planet. Eliott loves him so goddamn much.

Lucas smiles, as smug as anything. “Now c’mon. We wait any longer they’re gonna think we’re hooking up in here.” With that he spins on his heel and makes his way to the bathroom door.

Eliott stares down at his own pants, more formal than Lucas’s and more clearly showing the shape of his erection stretching the front of the fabric. He sighs, untucking the ends of his shirt and letting them hand down his front. He’ll look a bit like a slob but better that than a horny pervert with a dick so hard it could be registered as a weapon. He buys himself an extra moment to compose himself as he washes his hands once more, but it does nothing to help the way his heart is pounding in his chest.

Lucas is smirking as Eliott turns to him, his eyes skating down to where Eliott’s shirt hangs loose before rising to catch his eyes. He looks… proud. That’s the look reflected in the deep blue of his eyes. And all at once, Eliott feels… settled… calmer and more at peace than he has all evening.

Lucas wants him. Badly. Eliott wants him back. Just as desperately as he ever has.

All is right in their world.

* * * *

They’ve been at the party for a grand total of maybe ten minutes and Eliott is going to lose his goddamn mind. He’s convinced Lucas is being especially hot for the sole purpose of driving Eliott to the brink of total madness.

Lucas stands across the room in conversation with Alex. He’s rolled the sleeves of his shirt up and his tattoo stands out, bright and colourful in the twinkly lights hanging down the wall of the living room. Alex laughs at something Lucas has said, moving a hand to clasp the spot Eliott had admired on Lucas earlier – that space where Lucas’s neck and shoulder meet. Eliott twitches.

“Are you planning on listening at any point in this conversation or should I leave you to your staring contest with Lucas?”

Eliott looks quickly back to where not just Imane, but Mika stare at him with identical expressions of judgement. He adopts an appropriately apologetic expression. “Sorry, sorry. I was just –”

“Ignoring us in favour of staring at your boy,” Mika finishes for him. “We know.” He turns to look at Imane. “Don’t feel bad about it. This is my life at the hospital.”

“I can only imagine,” Imane laughs. “Supervising these two is a challenge I would not trade you for.”

“It’s not,” Eliott interrupts to disagree. “We’re totally professional when we’re at work.” It’s most certainly a lie, and all three of them know it.

“Mmhmm,” Mika hums with an eyebrow raised. “And last week when you both showed up to rounds, sweaty and out of breath? You expect me to believe you hadn’t just been fucking in an on-call room?” They hadn’t actually. On that particular occasional they had been rushed and nearly late because they’d spent the morning fucking at home.

Eliott smiles smugly. “We hadn’t been. Because: professional.” Mika rolls his eyes and Eliott turns his attention back to Imane. “Besides, it’s not a staring contest.”

“Oh no?” She questions, looking amused.

“No. He’d have to be looking back for it to be a staring contest.” Eliott eyes return to Lucas to see that he and Alex have been joined by Emma. She hangs off Alex looking like she’s been happily partaking in the plentiful alcoholic options the apartment has to offer.

“Well, if there’s one thing I know for absolute certain,” Imane says, her hand landing on Eliott’s shoulder as she too turns to look Lucas’s direction. “You’re not going to have to wait long for him to look back.”

* * * *

Eliott mingles among the guests, making pleasant conversation but the buzz beneath his skin doesn’t fade. It’s matched by the buzz of party guests as the clock approaches midnight.

Eliott admires Lucas in the room through his various conversations, but at one point, deep into a conversation with Imane and Sofiane, Eliott looses sight of him among the guests.

“I think the way the show blends philosophical theory with real world problems and does it in this way that’s just really, really funny is what captured my attention most,” Imane is saying. Eliott nods as he listens, subtly scanning the faces behind her for any sign of his disappearing boyfriend.

“And yet it took me forever to convince you to watch,” Sofiane says with a laugh.

“I don’t like sitcoms,” she defends with a smile. “How was I supposed to know it was brilliant?”

“Because I told you?” Sofiane asks incredulously. Eliott laughs along with Imane as his attention returns to the couple. “Admit it,” Sofiane prompts, “you only agreed to watch when Lucas told you to.”

“What can I say?” Imane says, her tone teasing. “I value his taste.”

“Careful in insulting my taste,” Sofiane challenges, pulling Imane closer with an arm wrapped around her waist. “That includes you.”

“Oh, where I’m concerned, your taste is impeccable,” she responds with a grin. “In television, I defer to Lucas.”

Eliott laughs a little. “You really shouldn’t. Lucas’s taste in TV is a strange and confusing thing.” Both Imane and Sofiane laugh as Eliott adds, “And he only watched The Good Place because of me.” Maybe he’s a little proud of that fact.

“Have you gotten to that part when –” Sofiane is immediately cut off by Imane smacking a hand against his chest. And while Sofiane’s sentence didn’t give away a thing, she seems to know where his sentence was headed anyways.

“No! You’ll spoil them like you did me! They’ve only just started the third season.”

Eliott frowns. “We’re just at the end of the second season actually. Besides I’ve seen the whole show. It’s only Lucas you could spoil.”

Imane looks to him with furrowed eyebrows. “Lucas said he’s already watched a couple episodes from season three.”

Eliott gasps, almost choking on his outraged breath. “He what?!”

Imane looks faintly apologetic while Sofiane only looks confused. “What am I missing?” He asks.

“Lucas watched without me,” Eliott answers. “I cannot believe…”

“Didn’t you just say you’ve already seen it?” Imane asks, looking like she’s one breath from a full-body laugh.

“That’s not the point!” Eliott argues. “That little brat knows it too. Oh, I’m going to…” He can’t finish his sentence. The unspeakable things he wants to do to Lucas in punishment not at all appropriate for the ears of his friends. He quickly scans the room once more and this time there are eyes looking back. Lucas. And he’s finally looking back.

He stands just at the edge of the room, leaning against the corner of the wall. He’s with no one else and he’s staring at Eliott with intent. He raises an eyebrow, biting his lower lip and turns, moving into the shadows of the hallway. Eliott just barely remembers to turn back to Imane and Sofiane, offering a pithy excuse they no doubt see right through, both of their faces reflecting barely restrained laughter.

Eliott hurries across the room, thankful that his desperate chase of Lucas is somewhat masked by how crowded the space is, filled with friends, hospital staff, and any number of faces Eliott has never seen before in his life. When he reaches the hall, he finds Lucas standing next to what had once been Eliott’s bedroom door. Eliott approaches cautiously, hyper aware of the other people crowding the hallway as they wait for access to the one bathroom.

“Took you long enough,” Lucas says and reaches for the door handle.

Eliott grabs his hand before he opens it. “Lucas,” he warns, “it’s not my room anymore.” He doesn’t know why he bothers to object. He’d follow Lucas anywhere.

Lucas smirks. “That gonna stop you?”

Eliott stares at him, eyes dropping to the smug curl of Lucas’s lips. “Fuck no.” He reaches for the doorknob himself, twisting it and pushing Lucas into the space as someone in line behind them says something about the room being off limits. Eliott ignores them, following Lucas in and locking the door behind them. He reaches for the light switch, flicking it on to illuminate the space in a dim glow.

Lucille and Alex made good on their desire to turn the room into a home gym of sorts. The equipment is lacking but it’s been clearly split between Lucille’s space, filled with a yoga mat, a number of foam blocks, exercise bands and weights, and Alex’s space, which consists of a weight bench and a selection of heavier weights.

Eliott couldn’t care less. The only thing that matters is Lucas, standing at the center of the space, his chest rising and falling with his unsteady breaths, beautiful, and looking at Eliott like this is all he’s wanted too – the both of them – only them – together. Finally.

Eliott would swear the force of their impact as they reach for one another shakes the room. He wraps Lucas in his arms as they kiss, squeezing him tightly as he presses his tongue into Lucas’s mouth, matching the frenzy of his hands moving across Lucas’s body with that of his tongue. He slides a hand down until it reaches Lucas’s ass, squeezing one round cheek before drifting further, sliding down the seam of his pants until he can press fingers against the spot he knows the plug is buried deep inside Lucas’s body.

Lucas rips his mouth away with an animalistic sound when Eliott does so, throwing his head back as he grinds his body forward and into Eliott.

“God,” Eliott groans as he watches him. “You drive me crazy.”

“Eliott, Eliott,” Lucas gasps, pushing Eliott’s hands away from him until he’s able to reach for his own clothing. “Now, now,” he chants nonsensically. “Off. Get them off.” What he means is clear enough in the way he’s ridding himself of his own clothes, almost ripping the buttons of his shirt as frantically goes about removing it.

Eliott doesn’t needs to be directed further, quickly stripping himself of every item of clothing and watching as Lucas wobbles unsteadily as he kicks off his pants. Lucas’s erection stands proud, jutting hard and red from his body. It makes Eliott feel a bit better about the state of his own dick, throbbing so badly he knows they’re in no danger of being in the room long enough to be discovered. He feels ready to burst at the simple feel of Lucas’s eyes on him.

“On the bench.”

Lucas’s eyebrows rise in question before he looks beside him to where Alex’s weight bench rests. There’s a slight slant to Lucas’s smile as he glances back to Eliott. “You think you can tell me what to do?”

Oh god. If Lucas really thinks tonight is the night to continue being a sassy, teasing, little shit, he’s got another thing coming.

“Yes.” Eliott’s voice has dropped a couple octaves without conscious intent and he sees Lucas shiver at the sound. “Now. On your back.”

Lucas swallows heavily but does as told, sitting down on the bench first and releasing a surprised gasp. He’d done that at the dinner table too when they’d arrived back after using the bathroom. He’d gasped, just a little, as he’d sat down, squirming slightly until he’d apparently found a position – an angle – that had satisfied him, and he’d rejoined conversation. No one had noticed but Eliott, and the knowledge had filled his body with a growing heat that had settled into a smolder in his balls. That they had made it through the rest of the dinner without Eliott mounting him in the middle of the restaurant, directly on the table, had felt like an accomplishment in itself.

Lucas rolls down onto his back, blinking up at Eliott with wide and expectant eyes. Eliott approaches slowly, eyes tracking down Lucas’s body until he reaches his feet, pressed to the bench.

“Bend your knees. Back to your chest.”

He sees the way Lucas inhales – the way he pauses before obeying, no doubt torn between his constant need to challenge Eliott, and his more overwhelming desire to listen… to let Eliott give him what he wants. His eyes war until in the end, he does as told, bending his knees back to his chest and revealing the end of the plug tucked up inside him. Eliott inhales sharply at the sight, pressing a hand against the back of Lucas’s thigh to spread him further. Eliott rests a knee against the bench and moves a hand to the plug, pressing his thumb down onto the circular end. It’s blue – sparkly and blue.

“Eliott. Fuck.”

Eliott looks up to see Lucas’s eyes squeezed shut. He’s raised his arms above his head and holds tight to the other end of the bench.

“Feel good?” Eliott asks, pressing against the plug once more.

“God,” Lucas groans, hazy eyes blinking open to stare down at Eliott. “Yes.” He sucks in a breath before speaking once more, his voice demanding. “Now get it out of me and fuck me already.” It’s the sort of demand Eliott is happy to obey.

Eliott grips the edges of the plug and tugs gently, watching the way the flared end stretches Lucas’s hole. His muscles clench as though attempting to hold onto the silicone shape as it leaves his body, tightening again when he’s left empty. Eliott moves a thumb to his rim, slick with the remnants of lube.

“Eliott.” Lucas’s leg lashes out, catching Eliott in the shoulder.

Eliott stumbles back slightly on his heels, raising an unimpressed eyebrow as he looks up at Lucas. “Impatient?”

“This is supposed to be a quicky,” Lucas pants, doing his best to look annoyed though the sweaty flush to his face robs him of the composure he seeks. “Put it in me.”

“It?” Eliott grins, holding up the butt plug, shiny and gleaming in the bedroom light. “This? Or me?”

The colour in Lucas’s cheeks deepens to an even more impressive red, just as Eliott expected it to. “God. Just… you. Put that down. Get inside me.” Lucas bends his knees back towards his chest, spreading his legs while he does so and Eliott feels a measure of his self control slip. He swallows.

“Yeah. Yeah, I – lube?”

Lucas shakes his head. “I’m fine. I lubed up before. Just fuck me already.”

And Eliott would like to – and he plans to but… this is the first time they’ve done it like this and he’s not taking any chances. “Lucas. Tell me you brought lube.”

Lucas huffs, looking irritated but resigned. “Fine,” he groans. “Pants pocket.”

Eliott grins and rushes to find it, pulling out the small tube but pausing before slicking himself up. He looks back to Lucas in question. “Bare?”

Lucas nods. “Yeah. C’mon. Hurry.”

“But…” Eliott moves towards him, unsure. “It’ll be messy after. Not like we’re at home.”

Lucas shakes his head, looking suddenly just a little shy. “No, it won’t.” He directs his eyes to where Eliott had placed the plug, propped beside their clothing. The meaning behind his words sinks into Eliott’s slowly, and with heady awareness he looks back to his boyfriend spread before him on the bench. “Yeah,” Lucas whispers as though Eliott had spoken a question out loud. “Yeah. Now.”

Eliott’s hands shake as he coats his erection with lube. He wipes the remnants on his own thighs as he reaches for Lucas, sliding him until his ass reaches the end of the bench. Lucas allows the manhandling, holding the back of his own thighs to spread himself further.

“Baby,” Eliott whispers overwhelmed as he takes hold of his erection and leans down with his other hand steadying himself above Lucas’s head on the bench.

“Yeah,” Lucas groans as the blunt head of Eliott’s cock presses into him. “Fuck. Yeah.”

Eliott removes his hand from his erection as he sinks deeper, clasping it to the side of Lucas’s ribcage instead as he breathes through the incredible feeling of sinking into the tight heat of Lucas’s body. He’ll never get used to this feeling – the physical sensation of being inside Lucas without a barrier matched with the extraordinary knowledge of what it means to get to do so, the incredible trust Lucas shows in allowing him this privilege.

Lucas’s hands move to Eliott’s chest, scratching lightly as he moans. “Move. Fucking move.”

Eliott chuckles lightly. “I will. But baby?” He struggles to speak, his voice strained and words clipped.

“What?” Lucas gasps, squirming beneath him as though he could force Eliott deeper. “Fucking – what?!”

“Need you to co – come for me ok?”

Lucas releases a breath like a laugh. “Yeah. Was planning to.”

“No.” Eliott waits until Lucas’s eyes focus on him. “Fast. Need you to come fast because I’m gonna –”

Lucas nods, jerky and a little frantic now. “Yeah, I – I will. Please, Eli. Please.”

Eliott inhales a deep breath, searching for control as he pulls his cock from Lucas’s body. It shouldn’t be this good already – when they’ve barely even begun. Somehow, it always is. Somehow, every time Eliott is inside Lucas it feels as overwhelming – as fucking good – as it did the first time. He slams back in. They both grunt with the impact and Lucas throws his head back, his nails biting into Eliott’s shoulders.

Eliott doesn’t bother with a building rhythm, making it hard and fast from the very first stroke. It’s what they both need and there’s sense in pretending otherwise. Eliott presses his body down against Lucas and barely pulls out, pounding up into him with a force that would have Lucas’s body pushed up and off the bench if not for the way Eliott’s weight holds him down.

Lucas can barely squeeze a hand between them, but he manages, reaching to wrap it around the head of his own erection as he shudders with each thrust of Eliott’s cock inside him. When his eyes open and fix on Eliott, there’s a need in them Eliott knows just how to meet. He leans down, pressing lips against Lucas’s ear as he continues his relentless pace driving into Lucas’s body. His own orgasm is licking at his balls, just on the precipice of exploding, but he holds it back, determined to give Lucas this first. His voice.

“That’s it, baby,” Eliott encourages. “My boy. Beautiful boy. Come for me. Lu.” He presses a kiss to Lucas’s temple as he feels his control begin to slip. “Love you. Fuck. Love you.” Lucas makes a low sound, and his body seizes with his orgasm, coming apart as he shakes in Eliott’s arms.

Eliott’s body reads it as a signal, and he groans loudly, falling down onto Lucas as his orgasm washes through him. He drives his cock up into Lucas’s body in a series of rapid bursts as he rides out the wave, gasping for air as the pleasure releases its strangle hold on his lungs.

He lays against Lucas, face tilted down against Lucas’s chest as he feels the rise and fall of the chest beneath him. When he finds the strength to press himself up it’s the sight of Lucas, sweaty and red, and looking so incredibly well fucked and content, one would think they’d been at it all night versus the… well, Eliott doesn’t want to admit exactly how pathetic both of their stamina was in this case. Though there is a certain level of pride that comes with knowing Lucas was just as hopeless.

Lucas licks his lips as he stares up at Eliott. “You should put it back in.” His voice is low and husky with satisfaction. Eliott looks at him in confusion, glancing down to where he hasn’t yet parted their bodies and his cock remains, buried inside Lucas’s body. “The plug,” Lucas says, reading Eliott’s confusion. “You should put it back in.”

Eliott’s eyes snap shut and he groans as his cock jerks inside Lucas, making one last valiant effort to fill Lucas even further with evidence of him. “Oh god.”

Lucas squirms beneath him. “Eliott. Do it.”

Eliott nods. “Ok.” He inhales sharply as he pulls his spent cock from Lucas’s body. He reaches for the plug, pressing the tip against the dribble of come that’s already begun leaking from Lucas’s body, moving it until the tip becomes shiny with come. He stares mesmerized by the sight.

“Eliott. Fuck!” Lucas reaches to grab the plug from his hands and shoves it into his body without ceremony, inhaling around a gasp as he does so.

Eliott’s lower lip juts out in a pout. “I would have done it.”

Lucas snorts as he sits up on the bench. “Sure.” He grimaces as he stands, squirming slightly as he gets used to the feeling of it back inside him.

“Is it ok?” Eliott asks. “If it’s uncomfortable – if it hurts – we can take it out.”

“No,” Lucas answers immediately with a shake of his head as he goes about collecting his clothes. He reaches for a roll of paper towels at the side of the room, quickly cleaning the evidence of his own orgasm from his stomach, before he tosses the roll to Eliott. “Just feels a little strange.” He begins to put on his underwear and pants and Eliott moves to do the same, after a cursory cleaning of the bench and himself.

“It feels… wetter.”

Eliott freezes in the midst of buttoning back up his shirt. He looks back at Lucas to see he’s struggling to do the same. And it’s just… the reality of what they’ve done slams into Eliott a little like a second orgasm, the wave of euphoria so instant, he’s a bit lightheaded with it. “I came inside you.”

Lucas glances up, having just finished buttoning his shirt. “Yeah?”

Eliott swallows heavily, removing his hands from the buttons of his own shirt when Lucas steps forward to finish the job. “It’s – it’s like I still am. Inside you.”

Lucas doesn’t look up, studiously fastening the last of the buttons of Eliott’s shirt but he nods. “Feels that way too. It’s like – I can feel you.”

“Lucas,” Eliott breathes and reaching for Lucas’s face, tilting it up until he can press their lips together. They both sink into a soft kiss, enjoying the taste of one another’s mouths without the frenzy of their former need driving every movement. Lucas pushes him back after a moment with a soft smile.

“Come on. Probably near midnight by now.”

If Eliott’s honest, he’d forgotten about the celebration of the New Year entirely. He’s almost a little sad they didn’t time it so he was inside Lucas as the clock struck twelve – just as Lucas had originally suggested.

They attract a few curious glances as they leave the room, and at least a few giggles, but thankfully the hallway is filled with no one Eliott immediately recognizes.

“Where you two been?” Arthur asks as they re-enter the living room. Despite the question, his expression suggests he already knows. “You almost missed it,” he continues, voice raised to be heard over the din of rising noise in the room. “Minute to go!” He adds. Eliott smiles. He supposes, in the end, he and Lucas did time that quite well.

Lucas is suddenly tugging at his hand, pulling him towards the front door of the apartment.

“Lucas?” Eliott questions but follows. “What are you doing?”

Lucas looks back at him with a wide grin, his eyes lit up with a familiar blend of excitement and mischief. “Let’s go!”

Eliott doesn’t question him, rushing to find their jackets as they hurry from the apartment. Lucas breaks out into a run the moment they reach the hallway.

“Lucas!” Eliott calls out laughing, immediately giving chase. “What are you doing?!”

“There’s no time!” Lucas yells, bolting down the stairway and not stopping until they both burst into the cold night air.

It’s begun raining Eliott realizes with surprise. It’s a light drizzle but cold. It’s the sort of rain that hints at snow, though they’re unlikely to get it, and he suddenly desperately wants to see Lucas in the snow. Eliott can perfectly picture the snowflakes catching on his eyelashes.

“We should go north.”

Lucas spins around in the rain, his smile as bright as the moonlight casting a glow around them. “What?”

“Next Christmas. We should go north. I want snow.”

“Ok,” Lucas agrees with a laugh.

The distant sound of people chanting the countdown sounds from the building. Their friends or someone else celebrating, Eliott doesn’t know. It doesn’t matter. He reaches for Lucas just as Lucas does the same, and they pull one another close.

Eight! Seven!

A raindrop drips down Lucas’s face. The rain is growing heavier.

“We should get out of the rain,” Eliott suggests. “It’s cold.”

Five! Four!

“No,” Lucas disagrees, tilting his head back to catch more drops on his face. “I love it.”

The sound of the countdown drifts into background noise, irrelevant and unimportant when faced with the beauty of the boy in his arms.

“I knew I loved you then.”

Lucas looks back to him. “What?”

“That day in the rain,” Eliott continues. “When we drove back from my parents place. I knew I loved you then.”

Lucas’s mouth parts with his surprise, before a smile begins pulling at the corners of his mouth. “I loved you then too.”

Eliott stares at him in wonder. “You did?”

“Yeah,” Lucas admits with a slight laugh. “Was pretty annoyed about how goddamn much I did but, yeah – I loved you then.”

A wide smile stretches across Eliott’s face. “I love you now too.”

Lucas smiles, sweet and pleased. “Good. Now kiss me. You missed the countdown, you dork.”

The noise of New Year’s revelers suddenly filters back into Eliott’s consciousness, cheers and laughter mixed with the pop of fireworks being set off in all corners. He smiles.

“Maybe,” he admits. “We’ve always been better at making our own rules.”

Lucas makes a sound of amusement, looking charmed. “Gonna make our own countdown then?”

“Five, four –”

Lucas cuts him off, pressing their lips together in a hard, lingering kiss before he pulls back.

“So fucking cheesy I don’t know what I see in you.”

Eliott laughs into the next kiss, smiling too hard - far too fucking happy - to do more than press their lips together in an uncoordinated attempt at sharing his bliss with Lucas.

Lucas’s eyes are shining when Eliott separates them to look at him once more.

“Why’d you pull me out here?”

Lucas’s eyes move to a drop of rain trailing down Eliott’s cheek and he cups his hand there, his thumb brushing across the skin to capture the moisture. When his eyes look back to Eliott’s they’re filled with such warmth, it spreads through Eliott like a living flame, fierce and powerful, but comforting too. And he feels safe. Safe and so very loved.

“I only ever want to be with you.”

* * * *

END NOTES: I’ll add this and the Xmas snippet to ao3 shortly. Hope you liked it!!! Smooches to you all and here’s to saying good fucking riddance to 2020!!!

#skam france #elu #skamfr #mood tattoo fic #skam france fanfic #elu fanfic

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immaturityofthomasastruc · 3 years

Text

(Accidental 150 Follower Special) IOTA’s Top 10 Best (and By That, I Mean Personal Favorite) Episodes of Miraculous Ladybug

Alright, I already covered what I considered to be the worst Miraculous Ladybug episodes in two parts, and now it’s time to talk about the what I consider to be the best Miraculous Ladybug episodes before I talk about... him...

I’m only putting one rule in place for this list. I'm going to try and list episodes with good qualities other than “cool-looking Akuma and awesome fight scenes”, and focus on other details like character moments and story.

Other than that, let’s get started.

These are the Top 10 Best Episodes of Miraculous Ladybug (in my personal opinion because your opinion is also valid)

#10: Mr. Pigeon

While Marinette works on sketching a design for a hat for a fashion contest where the winning design will be worn by Adrien (a rare example where the “Marinette does a thing to impress Adrien” plot actually works), a birdwatcher who loves feeding pigeons in the park is told off by the only police officer in Paris, causing him to get akumatized into the titular Mr. Pigeon, who has control over all of the pigeons in the city.

And by God, does this episode have fun with the concept.

In addition to constantly mimicking pigeon cries, Mr. Pigeon's movements are just so entertaining to watch, only aided by the creative ways he controls the flocks of pigeons.

I'm not kidding when at one point, Mr. Pigeon traps Ladybug and Cat Noir in a cage, and threatens to have his pigeons crap on them unless they hand over their Miraculous. Yeah.

This is one of the episodes that really set the standards for how outlandish the Akumas in Miraculous Ladybug could get. It kind of reminds me of an episode of the original Ultraman, where the SSSP has to find a way to move an incredibly heavy monster using increasingly abnormal strategies, like inflating it with air so it'll float like a balloon. It's clear it isn't taking itself too seriously, so the audience shouldn't either.

Admittedly, Cat Noir's feather allergy feels shoehorned in, and is only included to increase conflict, and you would think it would come up when Mayura, a bird-themed supervillain appears in the third season. But then again, that's just a minor nitpick.

It's just a really fun episode, and I wish we could see Ladybug and Cat Noir fight Mr. Pigeon again that isn't used for a cheap gag.

#9: The Puppeteer

After being told by her mom that she can't have a Ladybug doll made by Marinette, young Manon is Akumatized into the Puppeteer. But obviously, you can't have our heroes beating up a five-year-old, so instead, the Puppeteer has the power to exact control over past Akuma victims as long as she has the doll made by Marinette. So Ladybug and Cat Noir have to face off against Lady Wifi, the Evillustrator, and Rogercop, before the Puppeteer gets her hands on the dolls Marinette made of the two heroes and take control of them as well.

It's still kind of funny to think about the fact that of all the Akumas to become a huge threat to Ladybug and Cat Noir, it's a little girl throwing a temper tantrum. And like with “Mr. Pigeon”, the episode has a lot of fun with the concept, best reflected in the voice acting. You can tell that Carrie Keranen is having so much fun this episode with the stuff she says as Lady Wifi.

The fact that someone who was actually a major threat to the heroes with how she was able to easily outsmart them and also came really close to getting their Miraculous is now acting like a little kid using phrases like “super duper sorry” is even more hilarious.

I'm still a little confused as why of all the past villains, it's Evillustrator and Rogercop that get to come back, and I wish they had gotten more to say, but it's still a treat to see Ladybug and Cat Noir fighting four villains at once, especially since this was before “Heroes Day”.

#8: Sapotis

Hawkmoth akumatizes Alya's little sisters into Sapotis (supposedly based off a folktale, but I can't find anything about it online), who have the power to multiply and easily overwhelm Ladybug and Cat Noir, forcing Ladybug to recruit Alya to become a third hero, Rena Rouge.

I've been a little negative about Alya in the past, but this episode gives her some major character growth. One of the biggest problems I had with her character in Season 1 is how often she tried to figure out Ladybug's identity... despite claiming to be a huge superhero fan, who should know why superheroes keep their identities a secret. Thankfully, this episode mostly puts an end to this idea.

The episode opens with Marinette giving Alya some reasons why Ladybug would keep her identity a secret, and it actually plays into the episode.

Putting aside the stupid Rent-A-Miraculous system introduced in this episode, the idea of keeping secrets and how necessary they can be sometimes is reflected after the battle where Alya is hesitant at first to give up her Miraculous, but eventually concedes and keeps her identity a secret from Marinette (who ironically knows, but that's not important).

Even without that, this episode still has a lot of action with the three heroes fighting their way through an army of Sapotis, with plenty of banter during said action. Hell, at one point, Cat Noir says “gotta catch 'em all”. I don't have a joke here, that's just brilliant.

Out of all the introductory hero episodes, this one easily sticks out among most of them.

(Don’t worry, I’m going to talk about Rena Rouge’s character design in a later post.)

#7: Guitar Villain

I said before in an earlier post that Jagged Stone is one of my favorite characters in Miraculous Ladybug, so it's obvious that the episode where he gets akumatized would be on this list.

After a disagreement with his manager about trying to mimic the popular singer XY (who ironically lacks a Y chromosome), Jagged is akumatized into Guitar Villain, a rock star with a pet dragon who forces everyone to listen to his Awesome Solo (yes, he names his attacks too) to dance uncontrollably.

Honestly, there's not much I can really say about this episode. It's Ladybug and Cat Noir fighting a rock star who flies around on a goddamn dragon. That's one of the coolest things I've ever seen! Even the way they defeat him (which I won’t give away) is a fun jab at rock stars.

Admittedly, the episode does border on grouchy old man territory sometimes by complaining about how bad today's music is with the way they portray XY as a whiny and egotistical coward, but after watching “Silencer”, you'll be glad everyone hates him.

Overall, it's a rockingly awesome episode.

#6: The Dark Owl

Mr. Damocles, the principal of Marinette and Adrien's school, is akumatized into the Dark Owl, a corrupted version of his favorite comic book superhero (who would later turn out to be real in the New York special, but I don't want to acknowledge that), who uses his high-tech gadgets to trap Ladybug and Cat Noir, putting them in one of their toughest binds yet.

I'm a huge fan of the Adam West Batman show, so you could probably guess why it's on this list. This episode really feels like an episode of that show with how goofy and over the top everything is. Obviously, this episode has a few Batman references thrown in (even an Incredibles reference at one point), and they're all hilarious.

I just love how complex Dark Owl's traps for Ladybug and Cat Noir are, and the fact that he actually manages to outsmart them at one point. Like seriously, have you ever heard of a death trap that involves drowning someone in whipped cream? That’s totally something you’d see the Joker setting up.

I don't really want to give away the ending (which is why this part is so short), because I think it's a really clever resolution that you should check out for yourself.

#5: Gorizilla

Hawkmoth akumatizes Adrien's bodyguard into Gorizilla, whose sole purpose is to protect Adrien. His motivation? To see if Adrien is actually Cat Noir or not. So Adrien has to avoid this gigantic gorilla's wrath with Marinette, all while trying to catch a movie his late mother was in.

See this? This is Adrienette done right. This is the kind of interaction I like when it comes to romance. Marinette and Adrien spend a few scenes with each other avoiding Adrien's crazy fanbase, and Marinette doesn't stammer half of her words. Even when she interacts with Adrien as Ladybug, she still remains confident, and Adrien trusts her judgment when it looks like he might fall. I don't just want Marinette and Adrien to cuddle with each other or declare their love for each other when they get their memories wiped. I want them to interact like human beings before they actually start a relationship, and this episode is a good example of it.

Adrien also gets some good focus with the way he views his relationship with his parents, as does Gabriel with his relationship with his son. Granted, he's taking a pretty huge gamble trying to kill Adrien to see if he's Cat Noir or not as opposed to just... taking off his ring while he sleeps. Can we at least admit he's trying?

I feel they could have done more with the King Kong homage (guess who I'm talking about?), but I can understand there wasn't enough time to focus on that. It's still an important episode to watch for plot and character growth that will barely be acknowledged in later episodes.

#4: Sandboy

tHe SaNdBoY hAs ChEcKeD iN. nOw NiGhTmArEs CaN bEgIn.

Now that we got that obvious joke out of the way, let's talk about one of the most creative episodes of the show.

Tikki and Plagg, Marinette and Adrien's Kwamis (the magical beings that power their Miraculous) take part in a ritual with the other Kwamis inside Master Fu's Miracle Box to contact Nooroo, Hawkmoth's Kwami, on his birthday and get an idea of where he is. Unfortunately, Hawkmoth chooses to akumatize someone during the ritual, leaving Marinette and Adrien helpless to fight back against Sandboy, an Akuma with the power to make their worst fears come true.

I said before in my worst list when talking about “Ladybug” that there was too much going on for one episode, what with Marinette's expulsion, the attempted Scarletmoth attack, and the fake Ladybug plotlines generally being rushed through. This episode is basically the opposite of that (ironically, they're both the penultimate episodes of their respective seasons).

The Kwami ritual and the Akuma attack are perfectly staged together so one affects the other. Not only do the Kwamis have to risk aborting their ritual to reach Nooroo in order to fight the Akuma, but Marinette and Adrien have to deal without fighting off Sandboy's nightmares on their own. Both plots balance each other out into a well-crafted story.

This is also one of the only episodes in the show where the Akuma of the week isn't the man focus. Here, we don't even see what happens to get the kid akumatized into Sandboy, and instead, Gabriel senses someone with negative emotions and akumatizes the kid offscreen. This works, because it doesn't distract from the main plot too much.

Even Marinette and Adrien's worst fears beautifully contrast each other, with both managing to be unsettling in different ways, even if they both have different tones. While Adrien's worst fear is being imprisoned in his own room (the fear only made worse with Plagg's absence), Marinette's worst fear is... the real star of the episode. Ladies and Gentlemen, I think you all know who I'm talking about.

You can tell the animators had a field day with animating Nightmare Adrien. Just look at the way he moves around and the faces he makes. It manages to be terrifying and hilarious at the same time. Bryce Papenbrook's performance only makes it better, cementing this as the highlight of the episode.

This episode also does a good job at foreshadowing the main plot for Season 3 with Hawkmoth finding out about the other Kwamis and by extension, more Miraculous.

It's got plot, comedy, good action, and Nightmare Adrien, so how can you turn this episode down?

And no, I'm not talking about Nightmare Ladybug, mainly because I'm tired of all the evil doppelgangers from the worst list.

#3: Startrain

Yes, believe it or not, I managed to find a Season 3 episode that wasn't complete garbage, and spoiler alert, this isn't the only one.

Marinette and Adrien's class goes on a field trip to London by taking the train, until the driver is akumatized into Startrain, who wants to escape to the one place that hasn't been corrupted by capitalism... SPACE! So Ladybug and Cat Noir have to defeat Startrain while also finding a way to bring everyone on the train back home.

I like how this episode plays with the usual Akuma of the week formula. Unlike every other Akuma they've fought, Cat Noir points out that if they beat Startrain, everyone will die, so they have to be more strategic in their approach. They don't even fight Startrain for most of the episode, as they have to make their way to the front of the train to confront the Akuma. The action in this episode is very creative and really takes advantage of zero gravity, only aided by the design of the futuristic train the episode takes place in.

The new hero introduced, Pegasus (AKA Max, another student in Marinette and Adrien's class), is also really cool, being very intelligent and helping out the heroes progress through the train even before he gets the Horse Miraculous. It makes sense that his intelligence would be used rather than just his powers in this situation.

There are even some good character moments too. For once, Master Fu does something smart and loans the Horse Miraculous (which has the power of teleportation) to Marinette so she can still go on the class trip, trusting her and actually letting her have a life. It was also nice to see Alya stick up for Marinette by keeping Lila from interrupting her nap with Adrien.

This episode is basically like a refreshing glass of water to enjoy during the garbage fire that was Season 3.

(I’m going to talk about Pegasus’ character design later on too, don’t worry)

#2: Silencer

Lukanette shippers, ASSEMBLE!

Music producer Bob Roth and his son XY hold a contest for young artists to show off their skills, and Kitty Section, a band composed of several recurring characters, decides to enter, with Marinette helping to design their costumes. But as soon as they submit their video, they find out that XY copied their style, naturally pissing the band off.

Marinette and the lead guitarist of Kitty Section, Luka, confront Bob Roth and XY, who threaten to ruin their careers by claiming that they ripped off XY. Seeing Marinette getting threatened is more than enough for Hawkmoth to akumatize Luka into Silencer, who naturally has the power to silence and mimic the voices of others.

I talked about Luka and his relationship with Marinette in an earlier post (specifically the one where Astruc claimed that the fandom growing to like Luka counted as character development), and I said that this was one of the few good episodes this season because of their interactions. This episode basically made me realize how much Luka cares for Marinette, and the episode gives plenty of time to show the two spending time together and growing closer. It's basically everything “Oni-Chan” should have been about, giving some depth to Luka and not portraying him as a crazy person like they did with Kagami in that episode.

Silencer is also one of the more creatively designed villains this season, and has a really creative approach to achieving his goals. While the ability to steal and imitate someone's voice seems mundane compared to control over the weather, or making nightmares come to life, it's used very effectively. Silencer basically tricks the police into arresting Bob Roth while imitating the mayor's voice, and he threatens to make his life a living hell by using the connections to the voices he's stolen. Even with the hand puppet gesture, it's still unsettling to have Silencer speak in all these voices, and it would make for a really interesting horror movie.

Even Ladybug and Cat Noir's interactions are back to their Season 1 levels of enjoyment. Even though Silencer took her voice, Ladybug just makes so many expressions that do a great job at describing her feelings, which naturally plays off Cat Noir's motormouth tendencies. Whenever Cat Noir jokes about Ladybug's condition, he is rightfully called out on it and is reprimanded in some way, my favorite being when Ladybug uses her yo-yo to hit Cat Noir on the head to shut him up. Even putting aside that, they still work well together this episode and really feel like equals. I also love their silent fist bump when Bob Roth is exposed.

Again, the episode still takes the time to go on about how unoriginal today's musicians are, and how they lack artistic creativity and all that crap. Look, given how ham-fisted the writing in this show can get, are you surprised the commentary isn't subtle?

Even putting aside how much this episode made me appreciate Lukanette, it still has a lot of great moments that aren't even related to the ship itself, which is a real testament to how this show can perfectly balance romance and story when it's done right. Now if only the show could try this much with Adrienette, then people wouldn't hate the main pairing of the show this much.

#1: The Collector

Taking place immediately after the Season 1 finale, Marinette meets Master Fu and discusses the book she found depicting past Miraculous users. Marinette theorizes that since the book was in the Agreste mansion, Gabriel could be Hawkmoth. And to the surprise of absolutely no one, she's right, and in order to draw off suspicion, Gabriel akumatizes himself into the Collector.

This episode has several good writing decisions for both sides, and the choices the characters make feel natural. Gabriel akumatizing himself is such a smart move, and so is what Marinette and Master Fu do with the book at the end. This episode does a great job setting up future plot threads and establishes Master Fu's character and the mystery associated with him.

The Collector is a visually stunning villain, and his powers are really creative, leading to a great fight with Ladybug and Cat Noir, who use a great strategy to outsmart him. I also love how over the top he is in order to make the heroes believe that he's working for Hawkmoth, all with a devious smile on his face.

This was also the episode that really got me into Miraculous Ladybug as a whole. I checked out the first season on a whim after it was mentioned in a Pan Pizza video, but it was during the hiatus between seasons, and I hadn't really started using Tumblr yet, so it mostly stayed off my radar. When Season 2 started however, I really got invested in the story, and the way this episode turned out was a big reason why. I wondered what it would be like when Adrien finds out his own father is Hawkmoth, and how the story would play out after the reveal.

Despite what it led up to, I still consider “The Collector” to be my favorite episode of Miraculous Ladybug.

Well, now that I talked about that, not it's time to talk about what I consider to be the worst episode of Miraculous Ladybug, “Felix”. God help me...

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miraculouslycool · 3 years

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Stormy Weather 2, Puppeteer, and Puppeteer 2?

I really really like what Stormy Weather 2 represented actually. To show how much the characters have grown since Season 1 and how much they've changed. From Ladybug acting super soft around Chat, to Adrien almost considering the thought of Marinette loving him to Nathalie's thoughts on the Agreste situation and Chloe really never actually realizing just how badly she had screwed things up as Queen Bee, Thing is, they had a freaking volcano as a part of the akuma battle, and had so much plot to work around, but we got a clip show instead. But that's okay, really, I'm not upset about that, I just personally would have chosen a different option. This episode is actually a LOT better than what the fandom makes it out to be

6/10

Puppeteer was a sweet episode, Manon made for the best of the four akumas we got for the younger kids in the show (Puppeteer, Sapotis, Chrismaster, Gigantitan) and it was pretty damning to hear Gabriel say that kids should be allowed to do what they want. And at the time, Manon was the closest to getting the miraculous than any other akuma lol. What Ladybug pulled at the end with her yo-yo and a power cord against 4 villains and a brain washed Chat was seriously impressive.

7/10

PUPPETEER 2 DESERVED BETTER TREATMENT FROM THIS FANDOM.

This is totally a me thing but I just personally don't mind how stupid the statue scene is jskksla. And the entire show's genre is cringe comedy so...

This episode had such good development from both Marinette and Adrien, we got to see how much Adrien values his friendship with Marinette, and just how hard it can be for Marinette and the people around her because of her fear of rejection. And that scene was never meant to humiliate Marinette, if it was, then why is Adrien still looking at her with no less affection and fondness AFTER it happened?

Also??? The beautiful irony of how Marinette can be totally embarrassing around her crush, but it is him in his superhero form she got good advice from on the courage it takes to be vulnerable? That's some good shit??? It's showing how much in tune they can be, even when miscommunication arises.

And, they both talked to each other about this. They confronted the situation instead of ignoring it, Adrien apologized for pulling the prank and putting her in that situation, Marinette apologized for taking it too far and making him feel like she was mad at him - they COMMUNICATED!

She was about to tell him the truth after being scared about confessing all along, AND he trusted HER with his crush on Ladybug, (even if he didn't say her name) something which he hadn't even done with Nino!! That's crazy huge steps!

And uh, the next episode after this is CHAT BLANC so I have no idea what people saying "Adrien broke Marinette's heart so cruelly!!" are on about.

I totally and completely understand that second hand embarrassment and cringe comedy isn't everyone's thing, but if 1 out of a 20 minute episode bothers you to the extent of salting on both these kids for something taken completely out of context on purpose, then maybe that is a YOU problem.

10/10

#ml episode ratings #stormy weather 2 #puppeteer #puppeteer 2

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writtenonreceipts · 4 years

Text

four thousand words later and another random fic is done.

A companion to this fic. Can be read separately but some stuff might make more sense if you read the other first. Based on characters from the “Throne of Glass” World.

The Boys are Back in Town

Modern AU In which Rowan and Lorcan are up to their hijinks and where Lorcan ponders murder, his feelings, and food allergies. Warnings: None, just slight language.

“I made a mistake.” Elide leaned against the kitchen counter--nose scrunched and fingers knit together beneath her chin.

Lorcan narrowed his eyes confused. Elide Lochan rarely, if ever, made mistakes. Lowering his cup of coffee from his lips he shook his head.

“I find that hard to believe,” he said. He sat across the counter from her on one of the absurdly uncomfortable stools. Lorcan suspected the only reason Elide and Aelin had bought it was because it was on sale.

Elide’s lips puckered into a pout. “It’s true and you are going to hate me.”

That was impossible, but Lorcan didn’t say that. He’d only just barely managed to tell Elide that he really, really liked her. In reality, he was head over heels in love with her, but telling her that meant actually saying the words and admitting the feelings. Not to mention the storm Aelin Galathynius would rain down on him after Elide was sure to tell her.

“Lorcan,” Elide said again. She slipped around the counter until she came to his side. She leaned into him until her chin rested on his shoulder and her lips nearly grazed his cheek.

It would be so easy to take her mouth with his. So easy to let his hands trail over her body, through her hair. Aelin wasn’t home so they had the apartment to themselves for a long while.

“Elide,” he said, his voice low. He turned his face and their noses grazed. He found her dark eyes bright with humor boring into his.

“Aelin and I are having girls night,” Elide said. Her mouth quirked to one side. “She went to pick up Lysandra and Manon.”

And just like that, Lorcan’s mood went to hell. Sighing, he looked away from his girlfriend and stood.

It had been a while since the two of them had had time alone together. Between her going to school and his job--he felt like they were ships in the night that kept passing by with little more than dim lights acknowledging the other’s existence.

“Hey,” Elide said, she snatched a hand out and cupped his cheek bringing his attention back to her. Her expression softened. “I know. I know what you’re thinking. But if you want someone to blame, blame Rowan.”

“Rowan?” Lorcan scowled. “Why?”

“He said you all needed a boys night.” Now Elide was full out grinning. She chuckled as Lorcan’s confusion and small bit of anger. Slipping onto her toes she brushed her lips against his and sighed. “He sounded desperate. Aelin’s been giving Fleetfoot more attention than him. I think he’s jealous.”

As if summoned, the demon puppy flopped into the kitchen whining softly. Elide laughed and stepped away from Lorcan to dote on the dog. He frowned at the creature. While Aelin was the one who ended up getting the dog and not Elide, Lorcan knew it was only a matter of time before Elide made goot on her promise and got an animal of some sort.

Just then the front door burst open.

“Y’all better be fully clothed,” Aelin announced as she marched into the apartment. Behind her came Lysandra and Manon. None of the women looked ready for a girls night. In fact, everyone was in their pajamas.

“That was one time,” Elide said. She glared at her roommate, hands on her hips. “And we weren’t even doing anything.”

Aelin shook a single finger in Lorcan’s direction. “Mm-hmm.”

Lorcan held his hands up in a silent surrender, not wanting to say anything that would make him the topic of discussion for girls night.

Rowan waited outside the apartment, leaning against the door jam. “Let’s go Salvaterre. Dorian and Aedion are meeting us at the bar.”

“Have fun!” Elide said. She reached up to give Lorcan another sift kiss before she exclaimed the need to find her pajamas.

Lorcan shook his head and grabbed his jacket hanging over the side of the couch. He, for once, offered a small wave to Manon and Lysandra. The latter was the only one to acknowledge him.

One outside and away from the door, Lorcan punched Rowan. “This was my first Friday off in weeks and I was planning on spending it with my girlfriend.”

Rowan ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I made a mistake.”

Unlike Elide, Lorcan was fully convinced Rowan was quite capable of making mistakes.

It had only been a month ago when he and Rowan were running for their lives through an impound lot. Giant dobermans had been very close to eating them and Lorcan had decided then and there that he would never get into another one of Rowan’s antics. Granted, that night he’d also been helping Elide by reducing a pair of Manon’s shoes from an impounded car...but still. It was Rowan’s fault because it had been Aelin who first insisted on needed help.

It was a convoluted mess.

Now, Lorcan had been hoping that night was long gone and would only be a distant memory that Rowan and Lorcan would never, ever, bring up to anyone.

Oh what a fool he had been.

“No,” Lorcan said.

“Lorcan,” Rowan began.

“No.”

“But.”

“Hell Rowan, after last time?”

“This will be nothing like last time.”

“I don’t believe you. Nor do I trust you.” Loran ran a hand through his hair, loosely contained in a low bun. He’d been meaning to cut his hair for a while now, but Elide had insisted he keep it long. So he had.

“It won’t be that bad,” Rowan insisted.

They stood in the alleyway behind Rowan’s apartment staring at the sickly green dumpster where tenants put anything, and everything. It stank like ten different somethings had died back here and had ten different somethings growing on them. Not to mention it was the prime of summer and the nights stayed unbearably hot more often than not.

“I’m not dumpster diving,” Lorcan said.

“The bag shouldn’t be down that far,” Rowan said. “I had to hide something from Aelin, so I put it in the trash. How was I supposed to know she’d take the bag out while I was in the shower?”

“What kind of boyfriend hides stuff from his girlfriend?” Lorcan shot back.

“A stupid one.”

“Obviously.”

Lorcan ran a hand down his face. “Where are Aedion and Dorian? We can just chuck them in the dumpster for us.”

“Ah, well, they are maintaining our cover at the bar,” Rowan said.

Yes. It was official. Lorcan hated Rowan. And Aelin. Of course she was behind this.

Cursing, Lorcan sighed. “You could have at least warned me.” He gestured down to his clothes, nice jeans and an expensive button up Elide had gifted him for their two-month anniversary.

Rowan brightened. “Oh, I actually came prepared.”

Not five minutes later Rowan was throwing a thick blue jumpsuit at him, complete with rubber gloves.

“Fenrys might have committed a felony to help me out,” Rowan explained.

Lorcan zipped up his jumpsuit over his clothes and sighed. He really didn’t want to do this. He glanced to the dumpster then at Rowan.

“You know I’m allergic to peanuts, right? What happens if someone just left a giant tub of peanut butter in there? My throat closes up and everything.”

Rowan rolled his eyes and muttered a few curses under his breath, completely ignoring Lorcan.

“Do you want to give me mouth to mouth in that sort of situation?” Lorcan added. “Hell no.”

“Lorcan,” Rowan said.

“Hell no,” Lorcan repeated.

“Get in the dumpster or I tell Elide how you really feel about her.”

Several vicious curses flew out of Lorcan’s mouth. “Mother-loving blackmail. Dammit Whitethorn.”

“Get in the dumpster lover boy.”

“It had better be one impressive ring,” Lorcan muttered and he approached the dumpster. Sending prayers up to whatever gods were listening, he launched himself into the trash pile.

It was worse than he’d imagined.

At least Rowan had also had the foresight to bring back up shoes. But Lorcan could have lived without feeling his socks getting soaked by some mystery liquid.

“Oh I hate you,” Lorcan muttered. He tossed another garbage sack out of the way. They all looked the same and Rowan had no idea what brand of garbage sacks he used.

The cheap ones, he’d said.

Sure, because having a 401k and benefits meant you had to skimp on things like decent garbage bags.

“It’s not like you can get the plastic embroidered with your name,” Rowan added as they still had no luck finding the right bag.

“What kind of stuff are we looking for?” Lorcan asked.

“Mail,” Rowan shrugged. He tore open a black bag and gagged. “This was not my smartest idea.”

“No? Really?” Lorcan snorted in derision.

Of all the things he’d done, Lorcan was sure this was the most disgusting. Even worse than trudging through a pig farm with his foster brother while trying to run away from home when they were ten.

“What were you even hiding from Aelin anyways?” Lorcan finally asked.

Rowan tucked his nose in the collar of his shirt a moment and looked way. If Lorcan wasn’t mistaken he was sure he saw a flush rise on his friends cheeks.

“Rowan?”

“It..I...you wouldn’t understand,” Rowan finally said.

Lorcan’s brows shot up. “I wouldn’t understand? Then why am I out here digging through trash with you? Why not bring Aedion or Dorian and leave me at the bar?”

“That’s not,” Rowan began. He paused. It was the first time in a very long time that Lorcan had seen the silver haired man flustered. “I got a ring.”

A banana peel smooshed in Lorcan’s grasp. He shook it off with a curse and stared at Rowan. “You got a what?”

“A ring,” Rowan repeated. “I got Aelin an engagement ring.”

“You don’t even live together,” Lorcan said.

“We practically do,” Rowan said. “Seriously. My closet is full of more of her close than mine. Not to mention how often I find her underwear lying around.”

“Stop,” Lorcan demanded. He was tempted to find the moldy cup-noodle he’d just passed over and toss it at Rowan’s face.

The two stilled. Distant sounds of the city passed around them. Occasionally a siren shrilled or voices shouted back and forth. A car backfired.

Lorcan finally found what he wanted to say. “You’re serious? You guys have only been dating a year.”

“I love her.” Rowan’s words were so genuine and sincere that Lorcan found himself sneering.

Love. What did any of them know about it?

Rowan could tease him about being in love with Elide all he wanted, but was he? Really? Lorcan had no idea. Every time he thought he was he found himself doubting everything.

His only experience with love had been an elusive relationship spanning four hundred miles and eight months with Essar. They’d met every other weekend spending barely a day together with phone calls few and far between. And Lorcan had thought...well he had thought that had been pretty damn great until Essar had called it off saying she found someone in her neighborhood. Two months later she was engaged.

Not that Lorcan was mad or hung up about it. Not really. Because, he supposed, he’d only had surface feelings about Essar. But with Elide...there was nothing surface or superficial about the way he felt about her.

But was it love? Lorcan had no idea.

“Come on,” Rowan said after Lorcan had remained quiet for too long. “You can’t tell me you don’t feel the same way about Elide.”

Lorcan shrugged. “We’ve been together five months.”

“And?”

“And what, Whitethorn?” Lorcan held a bag of trash in either hand. “How am I supposed to feel? It’s Elide. You know her. You know what she’s been through. And you know me. I’m the worst possible person for her. Hell, for anyone.”

Rowan nodded silently along, pursing his lips. “You’re an idiot.”

“A bigger idiot than the man who threw out an engagement ring?”

“I wanted it to be romantic,” Rowan said defensively. He opened his mouth to speak again when he stilled. “Oh hell.”

Lorcan glared. “If I hear a single dog start barking, I am going to murder you.”

“It’s Aelin,” Rowan hissed. He flapped a hand trying to get Lorcan to shut up.

“How could you possibly know that?” Lorcan asked, but then he heard the very definite sound of Aelin’s laughter.

The two men looked at each other for a split second before dropping down into the piles of trash.

“Rowan, I swear,” Lorcan snarled.

“Shut up.”

The two stilled and listened as Aelin’s voice came closer.

“I can’t believe you left your laptop here.” Lysandra, by the sounds of it, was not pleased. “Do you really need it?”

“Yes,” Aelin replied. “And I can’t have Rowan bring it, after what happened with my car at the impound lot.”

“Did you ever get the full story about that?” Lysandra asked. “It sounds like some weird stuff happened.”

“Apparently Rowan and Lorcan have a secret society,” Aelin said.

Their voices disappeared. Neither man moved for several moments.

“What do we do?” Lorcan asked. His face was pressed entirely too close to some old chinese food.

“I’m not leaving without that ring,” Rowan said.

“I’m telling Aelin you threw her ring in the dumpster, just so you know,” Lorcan said.

Rowan grunted. He was probably just grateful Lorcan had stopped calling Aeling “fire-breathing bitch queen.”

They hurriedly began sifting through more trash.

“I think I found it,” Rowan practically yelled. He hauled up a white trash bag and grinned at it.

“Well find the damned ring and--” Lorcan began, but he cut himself off when Lysandra’s voice rang out.

Cursing, the men dropped back into the trash.

“I’m telling you, you’re reading too much into it,” Lysandra said.

“He’s been acting so weird,” Aelin replied. “It’s the second weekend in a row he’s been busy or made plans or whatever that haven’t been date night.”

“Aelin,” Lysandra groaned. They came to a stop just beside the dumpster. “You literally sound just like Elide, I’m going to slap you.”

“I’m serious,” Aelin said. “He only got like this when he gave me a key to his place. And then when he got that new job. He’s going to break-up with me.”

“No he’s not,” Lysandra nearly shouted. “Just breath. Every couple has their off weeks.”

Aelin let out a sigh.

“Come on,” Lysandra said, “or else Elide and Manon will have drunk all the margaritas without us.”

Silence again.

“You’re an idiot Rowan,” Lorcan said.

“Shut up.”

They found the ring.

Which was a good thing because Lorcan had also found an abandoned wrench at the bottom of the dumpster that would make a very good weapon of mass destruction to use against Rowan, if necessary.

After hauling themself out of the trash, they sat next to the dumpster for a long while. They’d long become accustomed to the stench that would likely be a perpetual stain on their skin.

“Why would Aelin think I’m going to break-up with her?” Rowan asked suddenly.

“What?” Lorcan glanced over at his friend. “What are you talking about?”

“You heard her and Lys talking, she thinks I’m breaking up with her,” Rowan said. “Why would she think that unless it’s something already in her head.”

Lorcan groaned. He did not want to deal with this. This was Aedion territory. Dorian territory. Hell even Chaol had gotten good at this sort of advice giving crap.

“Lorcan I’m serious.”

“Man,” Lorcan said. He banged his head against the dumpster once. “How the hell should I know? You both love each other right? You spend every waking hour around each other.”

“We don’t live together,” Rowan said. “What if this is moving too fast. She’s been through a lot in the boyfriend arena.”

“Rowan,” Lorcan said, reaching out to punch his friend roughly in the shoulder. “You’ve been happier in the last year with Aelin than I have ever seen you been before. You said it yourself, she makes you want to do better and be better. Or whatever Hallmark crap it was you spat out.”

Rowan snorted, shaking his head. “I see why Elide keeps you around.”

The night continued around them. Cars on the street passed by in a flurry despite the late hour. Lorcan barely paid it any attention, grateful they were tucked back in the alley.

“I think Aelin is just scared of losing you,” Lorcan said quietly. Rowan shifted giving Lorcan an incredulous look. “I'm serious. They way she looks at you, man. The both of you are happier around each other and losing that happiness would terrify anyone.”

“And here I was thinking you were hoping she and I would break up.”

Lorcan rolled his eyes. Maybe a part of him had wanted that, in the early days. Bit that was back when life had been screwing him over time and time again. Back when he'd known Aelin as the competitive piano player, the girl who never took no for an answer, who seemingly had no soul when it came to dealing with problems.

Lorcan was convinced all of those things we're still true and forever would be, but he'd also seen how Aelin used those personality traits to help others. Elide in particular.

“Yeah well,” Lorcan finally said, “Aelin owes me fifty bucks from poker last week so until she pays me back she can stick around.”

Rowan’s phone gave a buzz and he reached over to look at it. He swore lightly. “Aedion and Dorian are wasted.”

After Rowan lent Lorcan a change of clothes, they went to pick up Dorian and Aedion from the bar. The two were indeed wasted.

“Just so you know,” Rowan said as they drove back to Elide and Aelin’s, “you should tell Elide how you feel.”

“Why do you guys smell like you spent the night in a dumpster?” Dorian complained. He rolled down the window of Rowan’s car and stuck his head out.

Aedion muttered something incomprehensible as he flopped over into Dorians lap.

The two sober men ignored them.

“I’ve decided to never take advice from you,” Lorcan told Rowan. “And this is the last time I help you with anything.”

“I’m going to need help setting up how I’m going to ask Aelin,” Rowan said. He glanced in the back to see that Dorian and Aedion were completely passed out.

“No dogs and no dumpsters,” Lorcan said. “You’ll be fine.”

Rowan barked out a laugh and shook his head. Grinning, Lorcan shot Elide a text telling her they were on their way, two drunk men in tow.

As they passed through the city, Lorcan pondered what would happen if he did admit how deep his feelings for Elide ran. Maybe he would turn out like Rowan--giddy and happy to the point he was literally walking on water. Lorcan wouldn’t mind feeling like that all the time.

So as he glanced at the ring box Rowan tucked in the drink holder between the front seats he decided that both he and Elide deserved to be disgustingly in love. Even if it meant Elide would insist on getting a dog.

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venmomejoy · 4 years

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Convince Me- pt. 1

Summary: When Aelin Ashryver-Galathynius, lead singer of Bitch Queen, gets in a twitter fight with Rowan Whitethorn, drummer of The Cadre, everyone is buzzing about their hatred for each other. When their PR teams decide they need to fake a friendship to keep up a good public image, the two are vehemently against it. But slowly, a fake friendship turns into a real connection, maybe something more.

read it on AO3 here :) and here’s the link to part two / part three / part four / part five / part six / part seven / part eight / part nine / part ten / part eleven / part twelve / part thirteen

Most celebrities rattled on about how they hated fame, hated all the attention, but Aelin knew that was a load. Sure, there were aspects of fame that could be frustrating, but not one of them would trade their careers for a chance to go to the grocery store unnoticed.

She wouldn't, that's for sure. Aelin had worked her ass off for her career, and she wasn't ashamed to admit that she was proud of her success. Bitch Queen had started from nothing, and now they had a top-charting album with two number one singles. She reveled every time a fan stopped her in the street, every time someone asked to take a photo with her, because she had worked for every ounce of fame she had, and they had finally made it.

Aelin hadn't even planned on being in a band. She'd always been a good singer, a raw talent her parents had fostered from her childhood, but she'd never intended on doing anything with it. But when her best friend started learning the guitar she begged Aelin to do some duets with her, and Lysandra was a tough person to deny. So they would mess around with different arrangements, would butcher their favorite songs, until one day, it sounded good. Really good.

They started practicing more seriously then, and by their senior year of high school, they had really honed their skills. Lysandra's fingers danced along the strings with ease, rarely making a mistake, and Aelin had enrolled in singing lessons to refine her ability. She even tried her hand at songwriting, and after a year of failed attempts, finally produced something passable.

They roomed together in college, Aelin majoring in Business, as she planned on following in her mother's footsteps and running Ashryver Inc., while Lysandra chose psychology, since she intended on going into social work. They spent any free moment composing and playing and videoing their songs, but they still hadn't decided to do anything with their newfound skills. But somehow, everything fell into place.

Aelin found their keyboard player when she bumped into a childhood friend on campus. She hadn't seen Elide since elementary school, when she had moved to New York to live with her uncle after her mother's death, but college had brought her back to California, and Aelin was eager to rekindle their friendship. The girls became close quickly, old bonds quickly reinstated, and when she told Elide about her and Lysandra's little duo, Elide told her that she was currently enrolled in the school's music program, and had been training on the keys for years. Aelin insisted she play with them, just for fun, but Elide was hesitant- she had grown very shy in their years apart. Elide eventually agreed, but only if she could invite her roommate, Manon, who played the drums.

Aelin easily agreed. She was happy to find one new person to play with, not to mention two.

The next afternoon, Elide let them into the music hall, taking them to one of the many rehearsal rooms in the building. Inside, a silver-haired girl was adjusting the height of her drummer's throne, flashing them an assessing glare as they entered. Lysandra immediately darted towards the rack of guitars on the wall, running her hands over the glossy wood in wonder. But Aelin didn't have any fancy instruments to fawn over- mics were mics- so she scanned the area, taking in the sheer amount of instruments in that one room. She didn't know what kind of funding this school had, if every rehearsal room was stocked like this.

Manon stalked over to them, using her height to her advantage as she stared down at Aelin. She could see why people thought Manon was intimidating, with her blood-red lips that curled into a smirk and her metallic painted nails, so long they were basically claws. Aelin just looked up at Manon, a slow smile spreading across her face as she extended her hand. "Aelin Ashryver-Galathynius." Aelin respected the effort at intimidation, but hoped Manon didn't think she would be able to cow her. Aelin actually really wanted to be her friend- she loved a girl who would get shit done- but she had too much self-respect, and maybe too much pride, to let herself get steamrolled by this girl.

Manon raised an eyebrow at Aelin's gall, her smirk turning into a proper smile. She probably wasn't used to meeting her match, but she didn't seem unhappy about it. "Manon Blackbeak," she said, grasping Aelin's hand firmly. "Elide said you sing?"

"Yeah, and my roommate Lysandra," she pointed at Lys, "plays guitar."

Flipping her silver hair over her shoulder with a curt nod, Manon said, "Well, let's get started. No point wasting more time than we need too."

Aelin frowned at her pessimism, but they all got into position, Lysandra widening her eyes dramatically at her roommate when the other's backs were turned. They all toyed with their instruments, tuning them while Aelin warmed up her voice, before deciding on a song they all knew. The first couple tries were rough, but eventually they got a feel for each other's style and techniques and the song really came together. It was far from perfect, but it had potential.

Surprisingly enough, it was Manon who suggested they start practicing seriously, as a band. The girls had been shocked at the suggestion, but quickly agreed. What did they have to lose? Maybe something would come of it, but even if nothing did, they all loved music, so there was no time and energy wasted. They compared schedules and found a time they could meet every day.

They started with covers, getting the hang of playing together and making their sounds blend seamlessly, before moving on to original tracks. Lysandra and Aelin started looking into gigs, and when it came time for them to pick a name, Aelin had the perfect one. Bitch Queen, the nickname given to her courtesy of her entire high school student body; she had loved it then and she loved it now. The girls loved it too.

They played gigs all throughout college, becoming regulars at small venues, even scoring Friday night spots at a couple bars and clubs. When someone posted a video of their set on YouTube, everything went nuts, and suddenly they had offers from twenty different labels. Everything after that was a blur: signing the contract with Terrasen Records, dropping their first singles, writing their first album, recording their music videos. In just over a year, they had become one of the biggest names in indie rock.

It was while they were recording at the studio that they met the men of The Cadre. Their lead singer, Fenrys, had popped his golden head into their recording room in the middle of a set, scaring the living shit out of Lysandra and ruining the take, but he just laughed and said, "The boss told us the label was getting a new group, but didn't expect them all to be so pretty," with an exaggerated wink. They all just rolled their eyes and laughed at his come-on, except for Manon, who snarled at him. Fenrys had the good sense to look nervous at that, but he quickly recovered, sticking his hand out to all of them. "I'm Fenrys, lead singer in The Cadre. These are the guys," he said, gesturing behind him to where three other men had slipped into the room, looking much more uncomfortable than their friend. Aelin's eyes scanned the guys, thoroughly impressed by the sheer size of them. They had to be the most muscular men she had ever seen, and all unfairly attractive.

"This is Gavriel, our guitarist," Fenrys said, gesturing to the other blond in the group, who flashed them all a small smile.

"Next to him is our bassist, Lorcan." Lorcan's long black hair shone as he pulled it up into a ponytail, barely sparing them a glance before turning away. Aelin smiled to herself when his eyes shot back up and went straight to Elide, but the moment only lasted a few seconds before Lorcan schooled his features and dropped his gaze.

Chuckling to herself, her eyes caught on the white-haired man towards the back, his toned arms crossed over his chest. "Lastly, we have Rowan Whitethorn, our drummer." He had a wicked tattoo stretching down the side of his face and onto his torso, judging by the way it disappeared into his turtleneck. When she dragged her eyes back up to his face, she found his eyes already on her, though he didn't seem to be appreciating the view the way she was. No, he was sneering at her, looking at her like she was the dirt on the bottom of his shoes. Aelin blinked at him, as much surprise as she would show, before drawing her eyebrows in and fixing him with a glare of her own. She had just met the man. How could he already hate her? Aelin snapped her gaze away from him, briefly introducing her friends to the men.

The two bands ended up spending a lot of time together, since both groups happened to be in the recording process at the same time. Aelin and Fenrys became fast friends- their personalities were too similar for them not to get along. But they weren't the only one's getting close. Anytime the bands met up or had lunch together, Elide and Lorcan always wound up next to each other, practically ignoring everyone else as they listened to each other in rapt attention. No one was surprised when the two announced they were dating later that month; everyone had seen that one coming from a mile away. The girls were thrilled for their friend- even though Lorcan was a raging bastard to all of them, he seemed really good to Elide. And both Manon and Aelin didn't refrain from detailing exactly what they would do to him if he hurt her. He only gave them an unimpressed look.

Aelin managed to become decent friends with Gavriel, his soft-spoken demeanor giving into wicked humor once he got comfortable. She tried, several times, to speak to Rowan, but every single time he met her friendliness with hostility, barking insults at her that hurt more than she was willing to admit. She hurled insults of her own in response, but after a while, she gave up trying to get Rowan to warm up to her. Whatever she had done to make him hate her, there was obviously no way for her to undo it, so she decided to just leave it be.

They all kept in touch after they finished recording, attending the same events and even going out to dinner together. Bitch Queen's album was a smash hit, and The Cadre's third album was pretty popular as well. They met up for congratulatory drinks after both albums had dropped, toasting to new music and new friends.

Now, Bitch Queen was prepping to go on tour in two months, and Aelin was lying if she said she wasn't freaking out. Playing their little shows when they were unknown was one thing, but an entire tour of sold out venues? She knew they were good, was confident in the songs she had written and in her own vocal ability, but she just didn't want to let anyone down.

Aelin couldn't help that she channeled her nervousness into aggression. And it was Rowan's fault for tweeting that shit, anyway.

She had tweeted a picture of their tour dates with the caption: "20 shows!! I'm crazy nervous but crazy excited to see you all!!"

To which Rowan replied: "we've got 35 shows, and I'm not nervous at all."

It wasn't really that big of a deal, but it made Aelin's blood boil. Was he insinuating that she was less professional than him because she was nervous? For her first tour ever? And of course The Cadre had more shows than them, this was their third studio album, they already have a fanbase. What was Bitch Queen supposed to do, become The Strokes after their first single?

Aelin couldn't help herself: "Maybe if you played anything difficult, you would be. Manon could play your parts in her sleep."

The response came in minutes: "No, experience just makes you more composed. Maybe you'd know if you had some."

She was seething. Was he calling her an amateur?: "I think nerves make me a better performer; it means I care about the quality of the show I give my fans. I won't disappoint them because of my own arrogance."

Rowan replied: "Fans? What fans? Your 8,000 streams on Spotify?"

Aelin was going to murder him: "Try 800,000. If I recall correctly, your band's debut album didn't do near as good as ours. Watch yourself."

Rowan: "Ooh, you've really scared me now."

Aelin's phone rang before she could finish her response, her PR manager interrupting her tirade. She tried to cool her anger before she answered the phone, but she still snapped, "What?" into the receiver.

"Aelin! What the hell are you doing?"

"Hey, don't look at me, Rowan started this. I'm just defending myself."

"Well, stop. Christ, Aelin, Twitter's having a field day with this. You and Rowan are going to be the main story in every tabloid by tomorrow morning. Everyone's talking about your hatred for one another."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter."

"It does matter, Aelin. This not only makes you look trashy, which is especially bad for an up-and-coming band like yours, it also reflects poorly on the label to have two of its artists fighting on a public domain."

Aelin deflated. She didn't even think of it like that. "Okay, what do we do?"

"You don't do anything. I'm emailing with The Cadre's PR manager right now. We're going to have to meet in person to work out the logistics, but you and Rowan are going to have to make everyone think you're friends."

"What?" She and Rowan have not had one pleasant interaction. She doubts anyone would buy that they were friends.

"You can't take back what you've already said, so we're going to have to twist it like you two were joking around. But we can't stop there, people will think its just a ploy."

"Which it is."

"Yes, but they don't need to know that. So we're going to have to sell that you two have been really close friends ever since you started working at Terrasen Labels. That means hanging out one-on-one in public, posting photos together on social media, doing whatever you have to do to make this believable." She sighed. "Look, I'll update you tomorrow on what the plan is, but for now, just stay quiet, okay? No more social media posts."

Alien could practically hear her rubbing her temples through the phone. "Got it. For what it’s worth, I'm sorry?"

"Yeah, yeah. Get some sleep," she said before hanging up the phone.

Aelin tried to sleep, but she couldn't stop thinking about how they were going to pull this off. Rowan was a prick; there was no way she convincingly act like she enjoys spending time with him. She wouldn't be surprised if he outright refused the plan their PR teams had created, what with his egotism. Stardom really went to his head.

Aelin imagined going out to get coffee with Rowan Whitethorn for all of one second before she smashed her pillow on top of her face and turned her brain off for the night. She would deal with all of this in the morning.

notes: ahhh I'm actually really excited for this fic, so I hope you guys have some interest in it!! let me know what you think or if you would like to be tagged!

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sassyduckqueen · 3 years

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Miraculous: Rise of Anatis 43

Ok. That's Puppeteer done. I hope you guys like this :D It came out pretty good but man I hate that episode. I re-watched it to work out how to adapt it to my AU but it such a cringe fest. Anyway, I'm glad it's over now. As you probably guessed, Alya is gonna be on the receiving end of an Anatis lecture soon. Honestly, that's going to be so fun to write. Anyway, Duck out :D

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Chapter Forty-Three: The Puppeteer Strikes Again

"Thanks for coming by so quickly, Lu," Marinette sighed as they headed up to her room. She looked pretty tired and she had asked him to help babysit Manon. She had a piece to finish but Manon was a full time job so she called him. "I really have to get this piece done,"

"No worries, Melody," He smiled as they walked into her room. Manon was sat playing with the handmade dolls of Anatis and Lady Noir as well as a number of their villains. Luka couldn't help the soft smile that came onto his face as he glanced at them. Marinette walked over to her and gently knelt down.

"Manon, this is Luka. He's gonna sit in and help look after you today as I have to do some sewing," She explained, making Manon look up at Luka with big eyes. "You've met him before at the zoo. He helped us find Elle and Ella but once I'm done with the sewing, we can play together and get some ice cream. Sound good?"

"Yay! Ice cream!" Manon grinned before grabbing Luka's hand, making him sit down as Marinette smiled. She got her sewing machine set up and began work as Luka and Manon played with the dolls and began to work on the commission she had. It was a time sensitive one and she only had two days to complete it so she was planning to power through it today. Of course, she had forgotten that she had to babysit Manon that day but that's why she called in Luka. She knew he would help keep Manon happy while she worked. She laughed a little as she heard Luka do an over dramatic impression of Hawkmoth, complete with a typical evil laugh. She glanced over and noticed they were reenacting Heroes day. Luka had held of the Hawkmoth doll she had made.

"Give me your miraculous," He stated, moving the doll's arms as Manon played with the Anatis doll. "or feel my rage!!"

"Never!" Manon stated, making the Anatis doll stand up to the Hawkmoth doll. "You will give me your miraculous instead! Take that!"

"Ahhh noooo!!" Luka gasped as she hit the Hawkmoth doll with the Anatis doll. "Curse you, Anatis! You have stole my cane!!!"

"Ha ha! I win!!" Manon laughed as Luka made the Hawkmoth doll shake his little fist. She giggled at his action before jumping up. "I wanna be a superhero!! I would totally fly!! Hey, Marinette!!! I want to be a superhero!"

"Really?" Marinette asked before accidentally pricking her finger. "Ouch,"

"Hey, Manon, why don't we play superheroes?" Luka suggested, getting her attention. He shot Marinette an apologetic look but she gave him a sweet smile. She told him that she had some spare fabric in the cupboard before focusing on the task at hand. He took it out and made a makeshift cape from Manon, who proceed to climb onto her chaise lounge.

"Lulu! I wanna fly!!" She shouted, making him chuckle at the nickname. He moved over and let her climb on his back before carefully moving around the room as she giggled and held out her arms. "Look! Mari!! I'm flying!!"

Marinette looked up and smiled as Luka spun around a little, making Manon giggle. He continued to play games with Manon as she worked on her project, teaching her songs and pretending to be a pirate, calling himself One eyed Lu. Manon got the nickname Mad Manny and was his second mate, which she loved. The 'treasure' they were looking for turned out to be a number of cookies, which he gave some to Marinette before putting on a movie. Sometime after their treasure hunt, she was nearly done but before she could join them, her phone vibrated. She picked it up and saw Alya was ringing. She pressed answer.

"Hey girl," She smiled. Though happy to hear from Alya, she was sure she was spending the day with Nino so she was wondering why she was calling. "Everything ok?"

"You're coming with me and Nino to the Grévin Wax Museum!" She gasped, making Marinette frown a little. She didn't want to be a third wheel. "Adrien invited us!"

"Uh?! What?!" She gasped, surprised before glancing at Luka and Manon. "But I hav-"

"There's no saying no," Alya declared, waggling her finger. "We're coming to get you now! You don't have a choice, girl,"

"But I'm finishing my commission and I have Manon here," She gasped, glancing over at her. She was giving Luka a new hairstyle, not that he minded the pigtails. "And Luka's here too. He's helping me with babysitting duties so I can finish this piece,"

"Hang on," Alya stated before asking Nino something. She waited a few minutes before facing the phone again. "Adrien says it's ok for Manon and Luka to come by as well,"

"I don't know..." Marinette muttered, knowing why they were doing this. They were still trying to set her up with Adrien and she really didn't want to be set up with him. Not after her revelation. She had been trying to move on with her crush and sure, she wanted to get to know him as a person but on her terms, not them. "I shouldn't,"

"It will be fine," Alya grinned, making her frown a little. "Manon will love the museum and Luka can keep an eye on her. Anyway, we're here!!"

"What?!" She gasped, calling both Luka and Manon to look up at her as Alya hung up. Literally, a few seconds later, they came up into her room, grinning. "No, no... seriously?! I can't-"

"Can't what?" Manon asked, confused as Alya turned off the machine and dragged Marinette up.

"We're going to the Grévin Wax Museum and Adrien invited us," Alya explained, making Luka look confused. He was on friendly terms with Adrien but not enough to get an invite to hang out with them. However, Manon cheered and jumped up, abandoning the hair styling. Luka took out the bands and stood up as Alya literally dragged Marinette out of the house. He followed and waved to Sabine, who waved back before getting in the car with the rest. It was a bit of a squeeze but they managed to fit in. Though it meant he was pressed against Marinette, who was trying her best not to freak out. The car started and soon they were off to the museum. Adrien was staring up ahead and Alya was whispering to Nino.

"Then I'll leave Marinette alone-" She whispered but Manon heard her.

"Hey! Why are you gonna leave Marinette all alone!?" She gasped, upset at the idea. "Don't you like her?!"

"What you guys talking about?" Marinette asked, jumping a little. She accidentally elbowed Luka. "Sorry, Lu,"

"It's fine," He smiled softly as Manon leaned over and tugged his jacket.

"Don't let them leave Mari alone, Lulu!"

"I won't," He smiled reassuringly. "But what are you guys talking about?"

"Oh nothing!!" Nino gasped, holding up his hands. "It's got nothing to do with Marinette and Adrien together... uh... to look at the statues as just friends! Yeah, totally just friends! Nothing more!"

Marinette gasped, clearly looking embarrassed. Sure, it was one thing for Luka to know about her kind of crush on Adrien but she could knew Luka wouldn't judge her for it or try to make her look like an idiot in front of him. There's also the fact that Adrien isn't available but he still hasn't told anyone about it. She got why but that meant Alya would be pulling stunts like this.

"Don't worry, Manon," Adrien stated, making her look at him. "It's Nino and Alya are boyfriend and girlfriend. They probably just want to spend sometime together without us. Though Luka, you should hang out with me, Marinette and Manon too. There's a whole music section that you would love,"

"Thanks, Adrien," He smiled before gently leaning closer to Marinette. "You ok?"

"She told Nino," She muttered, looking at Alya before she looked back at Luka. "I told her not to tell him but she did anyway,"

He frowned as he looked over at Alya and Nino who had gone back to whispering. It was pretty obvious what they were planning and why. They were intending to force Adrien and Marinette alone together. Probably so Marinette can confess her feelings for him but he could sense that the idea was trouble. One Adrien had a relationship with Kagami and two it would be embarrassing for both parties involved. He sighed and glanced over at Adrien, who seemed completely unaware of the whole thing. He frowned a little. It must be nice not been aware like the way he was. It wasn't that he thought Adrien was ignorant but Luka wished he had a similar mind set. He knew his own faults and one of them was that he was over thinker and saw far too much. His mother always told him that the way he saw the world was different to other people. It was one of the things that made him a good match with Tikki. Even Master Fu had said so but sometimes he wished he could just be normal like Adrien.

"You ok?" Marinette asked, making him look at her and nod before the car pulled up and they got out. Adrien greeted a woman waiting for them. She mentioned something about how a piece of his statue as they walked inside. Manon was holding Marinette's hand as they walked.

"Look, Marinette! We get to go in when it's closed!" She grinned, clearly excited. "It's like we're princesses! Hey, Lulu, are you a prince?!"

"I'm the prince of pirates," He grinned, making her gasp in surprise and excitement before she ran off. Marinette smiled as she glanced over at him.

"Prince of pirates?" She asked, making him grin. "You're really good with kids, you know?"

"Kind of had to be," He muttered as they walked an entrance. "Ma was always busy with work and well... you know what my stepfather was like..."

"So you had to look after Juleka," Marinette mumbled with Luka nodding as they came over to Manon, who was stood near a Jagged Stone Statue. The woman, Veronique, was explaining to Manon that it wasn't the real Jagged Stone. Manon proceed to pull funny faces at him, making Luka laugh before she ran over to him and gently pulled his hoodie. He looked at her as she grinned up at him.

"Can I ride on your shoulders, Lulu?" She asked.

"Sure," He replied, kneeling down and helping her onto his shoulders before standing up. The group walked through the museum as Veronique told them it's history. However, Nino was talking to Adrien and Alya was talking to Marinette. Adrien looked really puzzled by Nino but Marinette looked annoyed at Alya as she crossed her arms.

"Why did you tell Nino everything?" She asked, looking betrayed. "You promised you wouldn't,"

"I didn't I swear," Alya replied as they walked through the museum. "Besides even if I had to him everything, he would still be clueless. Urg! Who cares anyway!"

"I care," Marinette gasped but Alya choose to ignore that.

"I've set everything up with Nino, who doesn't know a thing, so you can finally pour your heart out to Adrien, girl!" She grinned, clearly excited.

"Wait... what?!" She gasped, looking at her.

"We'll take off and leave you alone with him!" Alya grinned, placing her hand on Marinette' shoulder. "Then you can still your beans to him! It will be perfect!"

"No! I can't!" She gasped, turning red but she couldn't exactly say why to Alya. No one had any idea that he was with Kagami and revealing she knew could in fact reveal her identity as Lady Noir. However, Alya was giving her a questioning look. "Uh... what about Luka?"

"What about him?" Alya asked, confused.

"Well... I like him too..." She gasped, hoping he didn't hear her but he seemed more busy playing with Manon. She couldn't help the soft expression she shot towards him. "I can't tell Adrien I like him when I like Luka too. It's not fair on either of them,"

"Girl, this is your one chance!" She gasped before sighing. "Look, I can't make you do it but I'm telling you today is the day!"

She gasped and rushed over to Luka and Manon when Adrien looked over at her, causing him to frown. Manon was showing Luka a statue of her mother before rushing over to Marinette.

"Look, my mummy is famous!" She grinned, making her smile before the three of them returned to the lift and got in with the others. The silence in the lift was awkward but they soon forgot about it when they went inside the art studio.

"Welcome to the workshop," Veronique stated, gesturing to it. There were spare parts and tools around. They looked around in amazement. "This is where all of our artists create and repair our statues,"

"Cool," Nino gasped as they walked through the work shop. Veronique pushed open some double doors and walked through them, revealing the wax vat. There were pipes everywhere and stairs that lead to a walk way in the room. It was also hotter and darker then the work shop as the wax had to be kept in liquid form.

"And this is where we store our wax," She explained, gesturing towards the large vat. "It comes straight from our very own beehives, up on the roofs of the museum,"

"Wow," Marinette muttered as she glanced around. Luka grinned as he stood next to her before they followed Adrien back into the workshop. Veronique's assistant, whom Marinette and Luka recognized as Theo Barbot aka Actis, was setting up the wax which they would be using to make a cast of Adrien's arm. He gestured to the seat, which Adrien sat on as the others examined the different parts. Nino was looking at a head and complimented the detail of the beard. Theo explained that they used real yak hair as he prepped Adrien's arm. He secured it in the box and poured in warmed wax, that was warm enough to take form but not to burn Adrien. He secured it and set a timer before leaving with Veronique, explaining they needed to check on something and that they would be back as soon as they could. Manon wondered over to the heads of some of the unmade statues and examined them. Nino decided to pretend to be one and jumped out of her, making her laugh.

"My turn! My turn!" She called out, grinning. "I want to play statues!"

She ran over to Marinette and grabbed her hand.

"Marinette! Come on!" She gasped, pointing towards the door. "Let's go play hide and seek and statues!"

"Su-"

"Marinette can't, Manon," Alya stated, cutting off Marinette and winking at Nino, who grinned back. Manon frowned a little. "But we'll play with you. Marinette, you take good care of Adrien! He must not get bored for a single second,"

"What?!" She gasped as Nino pushed Luka out of the door as well, causing him to give her a confused look before he was ushered outside of the door. She gasped and rushed over. "Wait!"

However, the door closed, making her groan in annoyance.

"Um... are you ok?" Adrien asked, making her look at him in surprise.

"Oh yeah! I'm fine and dandy!" She grinned, moving her arm to the side. "Are you ok?"

"I guess but I'm confused about something," He admitted, causing her to frown. "Do you hate me?"

"What? No!" She gasped, holding up her hands. "Why would you think that?"

"Because Nino said you didn't want to be here," He replied, making her sigh and pull a seat next to him. He glanced at her with an insure look before looking aside. "And you've seemed quite distance recently... it's like you're trying to avoid me..."

"Adrien, it's not that I don't want to be here and I'm trying to avoid you..." She stated, making him frown. She would admit to herself that she had kind of been avoiding him since the anniversary of his mother's disappearance but it wasn't exactly intentional. She had been busy with her new project and her hero work as dealing with Lila and her crap... plus she was still dealing with her realization of her behavior towards him. It wasn't easy though. Her crush on Adrien was deeply intertwined with who she is that she was finding it hard removing it from her but it was something that had to be done. The talk with Luka had really helped though so she wanted to start anew and actually get to know the real Adrien, even if it doesn't go into a romantic thing. For one, he's in a relationship with Kagami and she wants to get to know him. "It's just... I'm meant to be babysitting today but I also have a project to finish. I asked Luka to help keep Manon entertained so I could finish it. I was close to been done when Alya called. I tried to explain to her that I didn't have time but she just wouldn't listen and wouldn't take no for an answer. She also knows I can't say no to helping a friend so here I am,"

"I see," He muttered, frowning. "But I'm glad you don't hate me,"

"Of course, I don't," She muttered in return. "But now Luka will probably hate me,"

"Why would he hate you?" He asked, confused.

"Because Alya and Nino just dragged him off and I've basically been ignoring him and Manon since they turned up," She gasped, covering her face. "I don't want him to hate me,"

"Hey, I don't think he will," He gasped, making her look up at him. "Luka's super cool like that and he's your friend,"

She nodded, making him smile.

"You like him, don't you?" He asked, making her look at him in surprise before panicking.

"What?! No!!" She gasped, jumping. "I mean we're friends but just friends! Great friends, ha ha.... besides..."

She looks down at her hands.

"He probably only likes me as a friend," She sighed, holding her face in her hands before she realized what she said. "I mean... uh... Toilet! I need to use the rest room... excuse me,"

She jumped up and rushed out of there before Adrien could say anything. He shook his head and waited for the timer to go off before going after her. He should make sure she's ok.

~Meanwhile~

Manon giggled as she ran off into the heroes area of the hotel. The four of them had split into two teams to play hide and seek. Luka and Manon were the first team to hide while Alya and Nino were trying to find them. Luka had hidden nearby in the music area while Manon headed to the heroes area to hide. She giggled again as she heard Alya and Nino coming to look at her. She climbed up on the stage next to the Anatis and Lady Noir statues. She giggled again and pulled a pose, just as Nino and Alya entered, looking around as they did. Alya walked over to the statue of Lady Wifi and stopped, frowning as she looked up at her. Nino noticed and walked over as she sighed and looked sad. He cleared his throat and lifted his hat.

"Excuse me, Lady, but what exactly is your super power?" He asked, glancing at her. "Make me fall super in love?"

"I don't need a super power for that," Alya smiled, placing her hand on her heart as she looked at him before she looked back at that statue with a sad expression. She still felt guilty about all of the times she had become her, especially the most recent time. That was part of the reason why she demanded to bring Marinette to the museum. Not only could she get the Adrienette ship sailing but in her own way, she wanted to make up for been Lady Wifi and trying to target Adrien. Since her bestie is in love with him and he needs a better love interest then Kagami, it was perfect. However, she frowned as she looked up at her akuma self again and she felt bad again. "I know it's not really ourselves when we're akumatized but it's weird to ourselves like that, as super villains,"

"It's because you don't look at them properly," Nino expected, placing his arm around her shoulder before gesturing towards the statues. "These aren't super villains. These are all the people who Anatis and Lady Noir have saved,"

"You're right," Alya smiled, leaning against him before he began to tickle her, making her laugh and push him back a little. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Ooh, I've been akumatized and now I'm Tickleman!" He declared, wiggling his fingers and making her laugh.

"Noo! Not the tickles!" She gasped, pushing him away a little as she got into the game before she ran off with him chasing her. "Help! Anatis! Lady Noir!"

They ran out of the room, completely ignoring Manon. She frowned to herself and climbed down from her hiding place as her lip trembled. Since coming to the museum, hardly anyone was paying her attention. Back at Marinette's home, she had explained that she had to finish a project and she understood that she needed to finish it that but Marinette had promised to play with her when she was done. Plus she had brought around Luka to play with her until she was done but since coming to the museum, only Luka had paid her attention. Everyone else had ignored her. Tears began to roll down her face as she didn't understand why they had been ignoring her. What did she do wrong?

"Why doesn't anyone want to play with me?" She frowned, walking away from the statues as she tried to wipe her eyes but it didn't help. She was still crying. She stopped in front of some of the villains before looking up and coming face to face with the Puppeteer. She didn't remember been her but her mum had explained to her what happened and how she was freed from Hawkmoth's grips. Anatis had ended up playing a game with her and putting on a puppet show. She grabbed the wand from the statue and grinned as she imagined what it would be like to be the Puppeteer again. She could make everyone play with her forever that way and she would be able to play with Anatis and Lady Noir again. No one would ignore her then and she would get to play with superheroes. She looked down as she thought about been ignored, causing more tears to spill. It just wasn't fair. Why did they get to run off and play while she was treated like she was invisible? She failed to notice a little black butterfly fluttering towards her.

"Puppeteer," Hawkmoth's voice echoed in her mind as the akuma entered the wand. "Glad to see you again... so no one wants to play with you, huh? I'm given you the power to play with them,"

"We'll have lots of fun," Manon replied, holding up the wand before moving her hand to the side, allowing herself to be engulfed in purple smog as she turned into the Puppeteer. She flew up and laughed happily before frowning as she heard Alya's laughter. She pouted before eyeing up Bubbler and Lady Wifi. She flew over to them and tapped them, bringing them both to life. "Capture Alya and Nino,"

"Ready or not!" Nino called out, getting closer. The two statues stood still while Puppeteer hid. "Here I come!"

He rushed in and looked around for Alya, grinning to himself but he threw a glance at the Bubbler and moved over, looking at it. Only it blinked, causing him to almost scream but the Lady Wifi statue threw a pause on him, trapping him there. A few minutes later, Alya came through to look for him. She thought she could catch him off guard and tried to tickle him but realized with horror, that he was paused. She saw Lady Wifi and tried to run off, causing Bubbler to jump in front of her and take out his sword. Lady Wifi paused her and he trapped her in a bubble as Puppeteer flew out laughing.

"This is so much fun!" She declared as Hawkmoth opened a connection with her.

"Puppeteer, don't forget to bring me back my little toys," He ordered, making her nod. "Anatis' and Lady Noir's miraculous,"

He dropped the connection and she flew over to the other villains, bringing them to life with a tap.

"I'm gonna play with you and you," She stated, bringing Gamer and Evillustrator to life before flying over to the statues of Anatis and Lady Noir. She tapped them and brought them to life as well. "And you and you!"

She laughed as she flew up and continued to bring them to life. Meanwhile, Luka had decided to come out of his hiding spot as Alya and Nino hadn't come to find him. He figured that they didn't really care about finding him since the game was for Manon but he was also concerned that they decided to run off to have time with each other. He got it because they were a couple but they had also agreed to play with Manon so if they had decided to run off, he was concerned that she might get upset. He walked past the wax statues and headed into the heroes section before gasping as he saw Nino and Alya paused and trapped in bubbles. A bubble and pause icon were thrown towards him but he managed to jump out of the way and dodge them, looking up at Lady Wifi and Bubbler but Alya and Nino weren't akumatized.

"What the?" He asked as they got prepared to attack him again. However before they could, Puppeteer flew into the room, making his eyes widen in surprise. She must have been akumatized.

"Manon?" He asked, making her look at him. "What happened?"

"No! I'm Puppeteer now!" She corrected before he was suddenly grabbed by a mummy and the mime as she flew in front of him. "And no one wanted to play with me so now I'm making them play with me!"

"I was playing with you..." He pointed out, making her look at him. "We were playing Pirates... I'm One eyed Lu and you're Mad Manny.. and we played Hide and Seek... we were playing Superheroes while Marinette finished up her project then the three of us were gonna get ice cream after remember?"

She made a thoughtful face as he mentally cursed Alya for interrupting their day. Marinette was more then happy to go and play with Manon while Adrien before turning to her wax minions.

"Take him to the workshop!" She ordered, causing them to march him out before she made Hawkmoth come to life. Luka struggled as best as he could but the wax models had a strong grip on him and dragged him off. "Find Marinette and Adrien! I want to play with them too!"

~Meanwhile~

"Uh! Plagg!! How did he work out I like Luka?!" Marinette gasped, holding face in shame as Plagg floated near by.

"Because it's obvious," Plagg cackled, making Marinette groan. "Cheer up, Dollface, Blondie doesn't seem to care and it's not like you confessed to the blueberry. Besides, it's so obvious that Blueberry likes you back. He probably dropped whatever he was doing to help you with Manon,"

That didn't seem to help as it caused Marinette to groan.

"Besides, who cares about friendship?" Plagg asked, making Marinette look at him. "What? I'm just saying,"

"I care about friendships, Plagg," She declared, standing up. "Luka and Adrien are very important to me and I want to get to know both of them better but I wanted to do it on my terms. That's part of the reason I asked Luka to help me today. I know I can always rely on him and I wanted to ask him to go out for ice cream with me... but I was scared he would say no... so I used the fact that I had to look after Manon today... I mean I did need help and I didn't lie but I figured that it would be nice to see him as well... uh! I'm a terrible human being and baby sitter!"

"Dollface, you're not terrible,"

"But I let Alya and Nino steal Luka and Manon away..." She groaned, holding her face in her hand before looking up. "Why didn't Alya notice that I was uncomfortable around Adrien? It's hard to remove the crush I have on him when I'm pushed into a situation to 'confess' to him. I don't want to confess to him anymore. My crush on him is unhealthy ad so is Alya's actions with it. I need to talk to her about it..."

She got up and made her way out of the bathroom as Plagg flew into her purse. She walked outside and gasped as she saw Adrien sat down, looking at his phone. She frowned a little before walking over to him, causing him to glance up.

"Hey," She muttered, playing with her hands. "Mind if I join you?"

"Be my guest," He smiled, gesturing to the seat next to him. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah... I'm fine..." She muttered, nodding. "Sorry for running off like that..."

"It's fine," He smiled before glancing at his phone again and sighing.

"Are you ok?" She asked, making him look at her before he sighed and looked down. He looked almost guilty. "Adrien?"

"I guess I'm not really ok," He muttered, sighing. "It's sound stupid and selfish but I just wanted it to be me and Nino today. It's been so long since we've actually hung out on our own since he got with Alya. I mean don't get me wrong I'm happy that the two of them are together but I really just wanted to hang out with my best friend and Alya ended up inviting herself and you guys along. Not that I don't want to hang out with you either..."

"Alya told me you had invited us and she didn't give me much of a choice," Marinette stated, feeling bad. Adrien looked at her in surprise. "I'm so sorry, Adrien if I had know I would have made it clearer that I was busy."

"It's not your fault, Marinette," He sighed, frowning. "I'm the one been selfish,"

"What? No!" She gasped, making him look at her. "Adrien, wanting to spend time with your friend isn't selfish. Inviting yourself along is and I'm so sorry because it's my fault she decided to do that,"

"How is it your fault?" He asked, confused. "You didn't make her..."

"No... but she did it on my behalf..." She sighed, making him frown. "I didn't ask her but she was trying to set it up so I could confess to you,"

"Confess?" He asked, making her nod. "I don't understand,"

"I..." She took a deep breathe. "I had a crush on you for a while and Alya has taken it upon herself to help me confess. This is just the latest of her schemes and it's ended up getting you hurt,"

"You have a crush on me?"

"Kind of... but the thing is it wasn't healthy at all," She admitted, looking down. "So I've been trying to let it go. I guess that's why I've kind of been avoiding you but I want to be your friend so I'm sorry,"

"No... it's fine," He smiled, nodding. "I'm glad you told me but I-"

The sound of someone running towards them interrupted him as they looked over and saw Hawkmoth standing.

"Hawkmoth?!" The two of them gasped, causing Hawkmoth to spin his cane and rush over to them. He dived at them but Adrien grabbed the umbrella off the Aurora statue and used it to block the attack.

"Marinette!" He gasped, pushing him back. "Go and get some help!"

"Oh no!" Manon's voice echoed, making them both gasp. "You're gonna stay and play with me this time!"

"Manon?!" Marinette gasped, shocked.

"Nope! I am the Puppeteer!" She declared as Hawkmoth pulled away and began to fight Adrien. Marinette moved out of the way. "I want to play with you and my statues!"

"Be careful!" She yelled out as he held off Hawkmoth and ran off. She escaped into the lift, causing Plagg to fly out. "Looks the Puppeteer is back, Plagg,"

"Aren't your friends somewhere in the museum too?" Plagg asked, a little worried. Hopefully, Luka and Tikki got somewhere to transform. Marinette gasped as she realized.

"Alya, Nino and Luka are all somewhere in the museum and if Puppeteer wants to play, she might go after them!" She gasped before holding out her hand. "We have no time to waste... Plagg! Claws out!"

She transformed and exited the lift, running back to Adrien. Hawkmoth had just knocked him down and was able to stab him but she jumped and kicked him, sending him flying. Adrien blinked as she held him up. Hawkmoth got back up as well and charged at her. She blocked Hawkmoth's cane with her baton before knocking him back and slicing him up with her claws. He fell to pieces, causing Adrien to look back at them in surprise.

"Ooh! A wax statue!" Adrien gasped before turning to Lady Noir. "Is Marinette safe?"

"Yeah, she is," She nodded, placing her baton on her belt. "But I need to find your other friends. You need-"

"I'm coming with you," He declared, making her frown. "Look, I won't get in your way but I know how to fight and I think sticking with you in the safest thing for me to do,"

"Fine," She sighed, shaking her head. "We should check the Heroes room first. That's where she found Hawkmoth's statues,"

"To the heroes room then," He grinned, causing the two of them to run off. They ran down into the room but Lady Noir grabbed him around the waist and jumped, causing Lady Wifi and Bubbler to trap each other. "How did-"

"Cat senses," She grinned before noticing the statue of Puppeteer. She threw her baton at her but she didn't react. Lady Noir walked over and picked up her baton as Adrien moved over to her. She stopped in front of the statue and frowned as she looked at it. "The real Puppeteer had a wand but this one doesn't..."

"Maybe because the real one has it?" Adrien asked, glancing around. "By the way, where is Anatis?"

"I'm not sure," She frowned, glancing around. "But I'm sure he'll get here soon. Anyway, let's go check the work shop? It seems like no one is in this area,"

"Right," He nodded, backing away from the wax dolls. He couldn't help but find them creepy. He turned and saw Lady Noir had disappeared upstairs. He rushed out and followed her as they ran upstairs. They opened the door to the workshop and rushed inside, finding their three friends. Nino and Alya were trapped in pauses but Luka wasn't. He was sat on a chair but wax hands were keeping him pinned to it while one covered his mouth. His eyes widen in relief when he saw Lady Noir and Adrien. She moved over to him and torn off the hands, destroying them in the process.

"Is Marinette safe?" He asked, as soon as she freed him. His voice and expression was laced with worry.

"She's safe," Lady Noir nodded. "She's hi-"

"Don't tell me where she's hiding," He gasped, getting up. "Manon is looking for her and Adrien. We should get out of here before she realizes he's here,"

"Uh ok," Lady Noir nodded, moving out of the room with the two boys as quickly as they could. Lady Noir's ears twitched and she pulled both boys behind a wall. Seconds later, Puppeteer flew by with a number of Wax models following her. It appeared she was heading back to the hero area. They waited a few minutes before Lady Noir let out a sigh. "We need to get you two hidden,"

The two boys nodded and followed her as they ran away from the area they were in.

"Why did she have you, Alya and Nino in the workshop?" Lady Noir asked as they came into an area without wax statues.

"She wants to play with us," Luka muttered, frowning. "We were playing Hide and Seek before she was akumatized but something must have gone wrong,"

"What do you play with you? Like a game?" She asked but he shook his head, making her frown a bit. "Then what was her plan?"

"To turn us all into wax statues," He admitted, frowning. "That's why she wants to capture Adrien and Marinette. She intended to drop us all in the wax vat and make us into statues so she could 'play' with us forever. She intends to do the same to Anatis and you as well,"

"That's mildly disturbing," Lady Noir admitted, looking a little pale. "I'm glad we got you out of there but isn't she going to do the same to Nino and Alya,"

"She's a child. While she is smart, she lacks the same attention span or logic that an adult has," Luka muttered, making Lady Noir raise an eyebrow. "Instead of 'turning' us one by one, she wants to find all her 'toys' and change them at the same time. That's why she was holding me, Nino and Alya there. She didn't need to worry about those two escape but that's why I was held down by those wax hands,"

"Hmm... makes sense," She muttered, frowning but Adrien seemed really quiet. "Adrien, are you ok?"

"I just.... do you think it's because me and Marinette weren't paying her enough attention?" Adrien gasped, making Luka and Lady Noir frown a little. "I feel like it's my fault... I should have just come here alone..."

"Adrien, we don't know that," Lady Noir argued, glancing around the corner. "We don't even know how she was akumatized. Luka, you said you were playing Hide and Seek with her?"

"Alya and Nino were with us too but I don't know how she got akumatized... but this place has CCTV right?" He suggested, making both of them look at him. "Maybe we can see what happened from there?"

"That's a good suggestion, Luka," She nodded. However, she couldn't afford to disappear, especially when Anatis wasn't here yet. "You two should go and look at it. Maybe even lock yourselves in the office while I keep Manon and her statues busy,"

"Alright, Lady Noir," Luka replied, getting a nod of Adrien. "Hopefully, Anatis will be here soon. If I see him before you do, I'll pass on the information we get,"

"Ok," She nodded before giving them a salute and running off. Luka turned to Adrien.

"Do you know where the security office is?" He asked, getting a nod of him. The two boys ran off and made their way to the security office but there was no one in the office. Luka tried the door and frowned when he discovered it was locked. Adrien, however, was looking away from him with a worried expression. With Adrien distracted, he got Tikki to open the door. "Adrien, come on,"

"Huh?" He mumbled as Luka pulled him inside. "Sorry,"

"It's fine," Luka replied, grabbing a seat and going over the footage as Adrien watched.

"How do you know what to do?" Adrien asked as Luka re-winded the footage and typed, getting it to play.

"My ma taught me," He replied, making Adrien raise an eyebrow. "Trust me when I say you don't want to know how she knows. Ah... here we go..."

Adrien moved over and frowned as he watched the footage. It showed Manon running into the heroes room and pretend to be a statue next to the Anatis and Lady Noir statues. A few seconds later, Nino and Alya came in but instead of looking for the little girl like they expected, Alya walked over to the statue of Lady Noir with a look of sadness. Luka could understand. It must be hard to see yourself like that but then she and Nino talked before the two of them began their own game, running out of there and completely ignoring Manon. The little girl then moved and walked away as she cried. She wiped away her tears as she came face to face with herself but her tears kept coming as she took the wand. A few minutes later, an akuma flew into her wand. Luka paused the video and looked at Adrien.

"Alya and Nino... just abandoned her?" He asked, frowning before looking at Luka. "How do we get this information to Lady Noir?"

"One of us should go..." Luka muttered before clicking his fingers. "You go. If Puppeteer comes across you, you can just-"

"Pretend to be a statue," He grinned, making Luka nod. "Alright, I'll go but close the door behind me,"

"Right," Luka nodded, shutting the door as Adrien rushed out. Once Adrien was gone, Luka transformed into Anatis and rushed out. He ran as fast as he could to the Heroes room, clearing a pathway as he did. He ran in as Lady Noir and Adrien were trying to fight off a bunch of wax akumas. Adrien had taken the sword off Captain Hardrock and was slicing through them as Lady Noir was kicking some of them but one of them was about to grab her from behind. Anatis threw his yoyo and destroyed it before kicking one of that was about to take out Adrien. The three of them proceed to take them out as best as they could before the two of them turned to Anatis. "Adrien, thank you for your help but go find somewhere safe to hide. Me and Lady Noir will take it from here,"

"But the statues..."

"I've cleared a path for now but I suggest you get going before more come back," He ordered, getting a nod of Adrien who ran off. Once he was gone, Anatis turned to Lady Noir. "Sorry, I'm late. I had a bit of trouble getting in. Most points of entry were barricaded by wax models,"

"No worries, you're here now," She grinned, spinning her baton. "Adrien informed me of where the akuma is and what caused her to become an akuma. She was abandoned by Nino and Alya when they were playing a game,"

"I see," Anatis frowned even though he already knew this. "And the akuma?"

"It's in her wand so we just need to get that," Lady Noir explained, causing him to nod. "But she flew off while we were fighting her minions. I think she's returned to the work shop,"

"Alright, let's head there and save her," He nodded as a head and several eyeballs bounced down the stairs. Lady Noir nodded and ran with him. The head charged at him but he jumped and stepped on it before running upstairs. However, Mime came to life and threw an invisible lasso around Lady Noir, capturing her before she could follow him. The dismembered head attempted to take her ring off with it's mouth as she was pinned down by other statues but she extended her baton and freed herself before destroying the statues. Once that was done, she turned to run upstairs but found herself face to face with Anatis. She frowned as she was sure he went upstairs.

"Uh... Annie... should't we go save Manon?" She asked as he walked over. She frowned deeply when Anatis didn't react but instead stepped forward again. She instinctively took a step back until she was leaning against the wall as Anatis stood in front of her and took her hands in his. A blush covered her face as she looked up at him However, his eyes were as alive as normal and his skin was a little bit too shiny. Realizing he wasn't the real one, she gasped as he leaned in as if to kiss her. She could feel him trying to slide the ring off her finger. "Anatis... I have one word for you..."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Cataclysm," She declared, causing him to turn to dust before she rushed off to find the real one. She burst into the workshop and stopped the hand that was about to steal his earrings before knocking the statues that were pinning him down off him. "Get off Annie, you pale imitation!"

She knocked the head of her wax self before helping him up.

"Thanks for the rescue, kitty," He grinned before looking over at the door to the wax area. "She went in there and it looks like she might have Nino and Alya there,"

"She must be enacting her plan then," She frowned before noticing his lucky charm. "Any idea what to do with the lucky charm?"

"Uh... not yet," He replied as the wax models got back up. Lady Noir gave him a wink before she tackled them so he could look around. He frowned as he glanced around before several craft items lit up, along with a star. Smiling to himself, he got to work and transformed his lucky charm into a replica of Puppeteer's wand as Lady Noir defeated the last wax model. "Lady Noir, I've got a plan,"

He held up the wand to her, making her grin before explaining the plan. The two of them pushed their way into the wax room as Anatis pretended to struggle against Lady Noir. She was holding his arms as if she had captured him. He even called her a fake to add to the act. Puppeteer laughed as they came to a stop, allowing Anatis to glance around. Nino and Alya were still paused and placed in the corner next to a table. Adrien wasn't in the room, meaning he had found a safe place but there was a sheet with string hanging above the wax vat, making him frown. She had hostages but the plan would still work. Maybe even better then he originally intended.

"I've almost beaten you, Anatis!" She declared, laughing before she pointed her wand at them. "Lady Noir, give me his earrings then we can make him and the others into our toys forever!"

He struggled and tried to move away from her as she reached for them but she paused, making him look at her with surprise. Puppeteer and Hawkmoth fell for it as she talked to him, confused as to why her wand wasn't working. Anatis smirked and took out the replica, making her gasp.

"It's not working because I swapped them earlier," He stated, grinning. "You lost, Puppeteer,"

"I don't care!" She declared, pulling down the sheet. Theo and Veronique were tied above the wax vat, making him gasp. "If you snap my wand, I'll just turn them into real statues!"

"No!" He gasped before frowning. "Don't do that... I'll give your wand back, Puppeteer... you win..."

He held out the wand, causing her to fly over to him and take it but Lady Noir's ring beeped, confusing her. Anatis took the chance to jump at her and grab the real wand, snapping it in half and releasing the akuma. He took out his yoyo and captured it before taking the other wand and throwing it up into the air, declaring the magic words. The swarm appeared and fixed everything before Puppeteer turned back into Manon. She gasped as she saw Anatis and ran over to him.

"Annie!!" She gasped, hugging his leg as he knelt down.

"Hey, kiddo, you alright?" He asked, making her nod as he ruffed her hair, causing her to giggle. "Why don't we go find your babysitter?"

"Annie, I better scramble before I transform back," Lady Noir declared before rushing out. Anatis smiled and stood up, offering Manon his hand. She grinned and took it as they walked out of the wax room, just as the group ran in. Marinette rushed over to Manon and hugged her. "I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to-"

"I don't think you should be the one to apology, Marinette," Adrien stated, glaring at Nino and Alya as Anatis frowned. Alya glared back as Nino rubbed the back of his neck. "Not only did you invite yourself along but you also lied to Marinette and then completely abandoned Manon which directly lead to her akumatization,"

"I didn-" Alya tried to argue but Adrien held up his hand.

"I saw the footage on the CCTV, Alya, along with Luka," He stated, causing Marinette to look around for him. Adrien turned to Anatis and smiled. "Thank you for saving us, Anatis,"

"No problem, Adrien," He replied, shaking his hand as his earrings beeped. Alya was crossing her arms while Nino was looking down. "I have to go but Alya, I think you should listen to Adrien. It's not cool to invite yourself to anything or leave a little kid. I suspect that Manon felt like she was been ignored and was hurt by that,"

"You should also not force people into uncomfortable situations," Marinette added, crossing her arms. Anatis was about to leave but decided to stay. He had a few minutes before he transformed back. "I told you I was babysitting. I tried to tell you we couldn't go but you didn't even listen to me or give me a chance to explain. You just turned up at mine, despite that I had already told you I was busy,"

"Why is everyone ganging up on me?!" Alya gasped, storming out. "Come on, Nino!"

"Actually... I'm gonna stay with my bro," Nino stated, causing Alya to stare at him like he's grown two heads. "Look, I love you and all but Adrien wanted to hang out with me and it's been ages since we've gotten to. I'm with you all the time and you know how his dad is,"

"I... um.... urg!" She gasped before storming out. Nino turned to Adrien and apologized to him before doing the same to Manon. Marinette turned to Anatis and smiled a little.

"Shouldn't you get going?" She asked, making him look at her. "Not that I... I mean... you don't have time to hang about right?"

"I thought I better stay in case of another akuma," He muttered, making her nod as his earrings beeped. "But I really should go. It was good seeing you again, Marinette. I'm glad everyone is safe,"

"Thanks to you and Lady Noir," She smiled, shyly as he walked over to the table. He climbed on it and opened a window. "Not going to use the door?"

"Doors are for people with no imagination," He joked, making her laugh before he disappeared out of the window. He slipped back into the museum and dropped his transformation, heading back to the gang. However, he ran into Alya before he did. She completely blanked him, causing him to shrug before he ran to the workshop. However, he stopped at the heroes room and smiled at the statues of him and Lady Noir. Shaking his head, he ran upstairs and into the work museum. "Sorry guys. I got locked in the security-"

"Lulu!" Manon declared, running and diving at him. He caught and smiled as Marinette walked over as Nino and Adrien chatted, causing Adrien to take out his phone.

"So... I just saw Alya storm off?" He asked, making Marinette sigh.

"She didn't like that we called her out on her behavior..." Marinette admitted before looking to the side. "I'm sorry for ignoring you all day... I just was trying to get Alya to understand something..."

"It's ok, Melody," He smiled, making her give him a look of relief. "Now why do we all go look at the statues since we came here to do that?"

"That's a great idea, Luka," Adrien grinned as he looked up from his phone. "Nathalie and Father are ok with you coming over for a couple of hours after we're done here, Nino... though it will just me and Nino if you guys are ok with that,"

"Oh that's fine by me," Luka grinned before noticing the looks between Marinette and Adrien. "But I think me and Nino owe Manon here a real game of hide and seek before we go,"

"Yeah, we do," Nino agreed. "Catch up with us... now... shall we go hide and get Luka to find us?"

"Yeah!!!" Manon declared, running off and causing the two boys to follow her as Marinette let out a sigh.

"He's really good at reading emotions, isn't he?" Adrien smiled, causing Marinette to nod before he faced her. "Um... about our talk earlier... I'm glad you were able to open up to me but you should know I'm dating Kagami... um... we've been keeping it secret because of the whole been famous thing but I think it's time we told our friends. Hopefully, this will help Alya not doing something like this again so I'm gonna talk to Kagami tonight,"

"Thank you," Marinette nodded, smiling a little. "I'll talk to Alya to when she calms down. She needs to know that I'm letting go of my crush on you but I want to be your friend... if that's ok? I know I hurt-"

"Marinette, you are my friend but I would love to get to know you better and be a better friend to you," He gasped, making her look at him. "And it wasn't you who hurt me. It was Alya. She hurt both of us by been pushy and she hurt Manon too but we can move on and learn from this..."

"Thank you, Adrien," She smiled, generally touched by his words but her heart didn't flutter in the same way it use to. He grinned before grabbing her hand.

"Let's go find the others,"

~Later that Afternoon~

"Thank you so much for looking after her on such short notice, Marinette," Nadja smiled as she reached into her purse. She took out a number of bills and gave them to both Marinette and Luka. "And you too, young man. Though I don't think I caught your name?"

"Luka, ma'am," He smiled before glancing at Marinette before looking back at her. "And it was no trouble,"

"Did she behave?" She asked, getting a nod of Marinette but she also informed her that she got reakumatized. Nadja frowned but listened as she explained. "I see. I'm glad you told me Marinette. I appreciate your honest but a word of advice. Your friend sounds very pushy so you need to be firmer with her,"

"I will," She nodded before waving to Manon, who had run to her mom's side. "Bye, Manon!"

"Bye, Marinette!" She grinned before turning to Luka with an impish expression. "Bye, Marinette's boyfriend!"

Marinette gasped and blushed madly before trying to say that he wasn't her boyfriend as Manon giggled and ran inside, causing her mother to apologize and run after her. Marinette turned to Luka with her nervous grin.

"K-Kids eh?" She asked before noticing his cheeks were just as red as hers. "Wait... are you blushing?"

"U-Um... No?" He replied, going even more red before grinning nervously as she gasped.

“Oh my god, you are!”

"Please don't tell Juleka or Rose. I'll never heard the end of it,"

---------------------------------------------------------------

Next Chapter: https://sassyduckqueen.tumblr.com/post/640089186164162560/miraculous-rise-of-anatis-44

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dessarious · 4 years

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Misconceptions, Miscommunication, and Misinformation Pt26

Inspired by @ozmav Maribat AU

Beginning Previous Next

Marinette just stood there for a moment, hoping she would wake up and this would all just be a nightmare. When she heard Damian speak she knew it wasn’t. And she knew she needed to get back out there before someone got thrown off the roof.

“I’m fairly certain slavery is illegal in France and I very much doubt Marinette likes being referred to in such a proprietary way.” She listened to Chat sputter in indignation and wondered how a boy she’d known all of two weeks read her so well, while Chat still couldn’t seem to understand very basic things about her and Ladybug.

“Of course she likes it! I gave her the nickname and she adores me.” Marinette could only roll her eyes and let out a sigh of frustration as she trudged back up to the skylight. Seriously, no one’s luck should be this bad. When she popped her head out through the skylight she found both boys about to speak again, no doubt to throw insults at each other.

“Would you two mind taking this somewhere else? I’ve got two school tours tomorrow and I’d really like to get some sleep.” She knew the tone of her voice would be completely lost on Chat, but she really hadn’t expected Damian to catch it either. His furrowed brow said otherwise.

“That’s why I’m here Princess! You shouldn’t have let your mother out Lila like that, you know it will only end with an Akuma.” Marinette just gave Chat a flat look, knowing that nothing she said would help the situation at this point. “But now that you have, what’s the point in changing schools? You’d be much better off staying where you are. And I really think you should talk your mom out of contacting M. Agreste. Really, it’s not like Adrien did anything wrong.”

“So that’s what this is about. Adrien put you up to this.” Chat tried to deny it but Marinette was done. “I have no control over my mother and if I did, I wouldn’t use it to help someone so selfish.” Chat’s face fell and his ears drooped before his face turned into an ugly pout.

“He’s not selfish. Leaving Lila alone was the best decision for everyone.” He actually stomped his foot. Manon wasn’t this much of a pain, well not anymore.

“Obviously it wasn’t best for Marinette. And no one who was actually her friend would suggest she stay in such a toxic situation. Since you don’t seem to be much of a friend perhaps you should leave and go do your job. Or do you make it a habit of using your hero persona to stalk girls?” Chat gaped at Damian, at a loss for words. The only thought that went through Marinette’s mind was, ‘well he isn’t wrong.’

“How dare you imply such a thing. I’m a hero and my heart beats only for Ladybug anyway. As soon as she stops pretending we’re not meant to be everything will be purrfect.” Oh Kwami, not the puns. She was not up to dealing with that nonsense right now.

“So what I’m hearing is that you sexually harass your partner and when she rejects you you decide to visit civilian girls, probably because they’re far more impressed with you than your partner could be since she has to deal with your nonsense all the time.”

“I only ever visit Mari and I’m not harassing Ladybug. If she would just admit her true feelings everything would be fine.” He was pouting again and it was all Marinette could do to keep a straight face.

“So sorry. You only stalk and impose on two women instead of a lot of them. I suppose that makes you a picky dirtbag.” Chat actually growled and Marinette knew she needed to intervene. Finally coming all the way onto the roof she stepped in between the two boys.

“Chat don’t you have patrol?” She knew he loved running over the rooftops even though he never did much useful on his nightly excursions. As Ladybug she would help with standard criminal but Chat seemed to think it was beneath him. Yet another thing that annoyed her to no end. He just scoffed.

“I’m sure M’Lady can handle it on her own. It’ll be good for her and she’ll see just how much she depends on me.” She tried to stop the eyeroll, really she did, but there was only so much a person could take.

“Chat, get off my roof and go do your job. I’m not going to let you just sit here and play hookie.” She was so tired of all of this. Even once she got away from her school she’d still have to deal with this nonsense. There were days she wanted to demand Fu find a new black cat but she was honestly worried he might find someone worse. The current situation was tolerable at the moment.

“Fine but I’m taking him with me.” Chat glared at Damian over her shoulder and she could imagine the smug smirk and challenging look he wore. “You also have to promise to stop your mom from talking to Gabriel Agreste.” That demanding tone made her react.

“No. You’re leaving. I’m not telling my mother to do or not do anything. And Damian is a guest who will leave when I ask him to, unlike some people.” Chat didn’t pick up on the dig, though she wasn’t surprised it did annoy her a bit. Subtly was lost on her partner. Perhaps that was her problem as Ladybug, she just hadn’t been forceful enough in rejecting his advances. Was hitting him over the head with a two by four too much? Perhaps, but she was running out of options to make him believe that she didn’t see him that way. She just wanted something to be simple.

“Fine, but this isn’t over Princess, I’m sure you’ll agree with me in time. In the mean time just don’t burn any bridges. You can’t afford to lose any friends. “ As he bounded off into the night Marinette could only breathe a sigh of relief. Directly behind it came the inevitable worry. She was going to have to deal with him, sooner rather than later.

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Kofi

Tag List

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#maribat #marinette dupen chang #damian wayne #bffmaridami

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signofwolf · 3 years

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Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas – book review

Series: Throne of Glass #7 Genre: YA, Fantasy Theme: Fae, magic users, war Warnings: mentions of torture, imprisonment Star rating: 0,5/10

Why did I pick this up?: I wanted to end this horrible series once and for all.

[Heavy spoilers ahead]

To make myself clear, before this book I quite liked this series. It wouldn’t place in my top 100 books, not even close, but it was a pleasant pageturner to listen to in audiobooks when working.

Language

Let’s start slow. I lack the words to express how much I hate the words ‘male’, ‘female’ and ‘mate’ after this series. Not even gonna try to express my trauma. But these 3 gems aside, Sarah J. Maas needs a dictionary. Or compress her work to a manageable size. Everything sang, Everyone melted, Every man roared, Every woman trembled, Everyone was unleashing themselves at least once a chapter (number of chapters: 122) ). And now I know definitely too much about Yrene’s ‘womb’. I know so much…

Dynamism

I thought that was a book about a war with heavy action content. Oh boy, I was wrong. This 984-pages monstrosity has maybe 5 pages of action. If you squint.

Every sequence, where by design action should take place was followed by one of two scripts:

Few sentences of action and then a few pages long internal monologue. Often repeated with the same character after the next few sentences of action, or with the next character and then the next (sometimes the first character made a second appearance and then everything would go all over again). And the word ‘character’ used in these sentences is not because I’m rambling. This book is written that way!

Few sentences of action and then action stops, and we are graced by a few pages long conversation. In the middle of a battle. Or spying. Or in Erawan’s chambers, when his castle is going down, and he is running up the stairs...

Time

Leaving alone the fact that apparently all series took less than a year (till this book I estimated the plot for about 3 years, Wiki told me it was 2, but Maas knows best), because that is a can of worms in itself. Time in this one? I honestly have no idea. There were many ‘few weeks of travel’ parts with two main groups of POVs. Personally my only time indicator was ‘Orynth won’t fall till Aelin gets here’. But nothing just fit. And I saw Lost Song when in the last episode we as the audience realized that our two POVs parallel storylines are in reality millennia apart. Lost Song made sense.

Emotional loading

… there wasn’t any. Really, it was like reading a milk label. Every time the scene was potentially emotionally impactful, Maas went ahead to overexplaining EVERY. GOD. DAMMED. THING. And it was abso-fucking-lutely everything. ‘Emotional dilemma? Let’s current POV explain it! 2 pages should be enough… Damn maybe it wasn’t enough. I know! I’ll switch POVs and explain it through the other character!’ <= My impression of Maas’ thought process. I’m fairly sure that the record was 7 POVs explaining the same thing in the row, but I was blacking out a little, so I cannot be sure.

And if that wasn’t enough, this book had a second way to defuse tension: random-plastic-repetitive-badly_written-smut. Really badly written and really repetitive. How could you not feel the spicy bits, when Manon (cruel, self assured 100+years old witch-queen) reacts the same in bed as Elide (20years old, virgin, ex-slave). And the rest of them were the same, there weren’t ANY distinctions.Just copy-paste.

The next point in current case: Someone died, it was impactful, I really liked the character, so I got sad. But then 2 of our characters came out of the room with a body, and after a paragraph of grieving they started making out, and then I was regaled with 2-pages-long description of melting cores. That was the place then this book stopped being badly written, and started being distasteful.

Characters

Remember when I was writing about switching POVs (which is 15(!!!) In the whole book. Oh and an omniscient narrator in places when our current POV was grieving too much to overthink something, but Maas still wanted to inform us about something)? They were all savagely murdered in the worst way: character mutilation. Somewhere between books our maybe-not-that-original but colorful and interesting characters became carbon copies of each other. I have no idea how many times I didn’t realise there was a POV switch. The only indicator was a change of pronoun, or when Maas was telling us the name of a current narrator. These were the only ways. And if you can't distinguish if you are in Dorian’s head or in Manon’s, that is the sign of a really BAD writing.

Romance

…there wasn't any. In all this book there wasn't any naturally progressing romantic scene. There were Maas’ endgame pairings which were sexing or pinning. As the author Maas loves to write about soulmates. And it’s not a bad thing itself. When I want some fluffy story I often tag ‘soulmates’ in AO3 and voila, +10 to good mood. But God above, it is not cute when every pair you write about are ‘true mates’ just BECAUSE. It is the only way Maas sees a relationship, as a fated pairing, written in the wake of the universe by the God himself. There is no choice, nor the work to put in it. They are the author's OTP and that means that they are perfect and they should have children right now. Point in case:

Guy was treating a girl like a shit on his sole, including throwing her naked out of tent, on a snow, with their friends present, all the while abusing her verbally in a worst way. But it’s okay, because when she almost died he realised his mistakes and apologised. Two scenes later, he was forgiven, because... fated mates?

The pathos

I know that many people don't like this type of scenes, but it's not my case. I’m reading by picturing images and not repeating words. I like sequences that I can imagine to be grand and glorious, even if they are a little corny. That said, the pathos scenes were the most disappointing ones for me. Maas likes to write parts that are more picturesquely exalted than logically possible [point in case: meeting of 5 armies/forces in the random patch of sand in Empire of Storms, and it being painted as ‘an Aelin’s great plan’. I laughed myself silly at that. But not taking logic and all the plot holes into consideration that was a nicely looking scene. In Kingdom of Ash that wasn’t the case. I would say that the author wanted to paint us a renaissance painting every 20 pages or so. In my opinion, every time she failed miserably. Each and every of those scenes was or to farfetched to be even remotely realistic, and evidently written only for a sake of the picture, or just plainly stupid.

Example, and it’s so priceless a scene, that I just need to share it: Battle of Orynth, 25th day or so (time in this book doesn’t exist), the 13. sacrificed themselves (like thousands before them but hush). And then, time stops: grieving Manon is going through the city, they open the gates for her (yes, the siege is still on), she goes to the place where they died, after her come out all of our main heroes, and half the city itself with ‘flowers, rocks and precious possessions’ and they lay it there in a tribute to these brave (evil till 2 months ago) witches. I honestly can’t remember when was the last time I saw such an abstract scene. It’s a material for an essay in itself. No, I could not take it seriously.

Additionally, it's hard to make an impact as every damn sentence is grand and lofty. In the end it became truly pathetic, Aelin vs Maeve was unreadable.

Character deaths:

Let's make a quick count: main characters in a series at the start of KoA: 12 secondary characters in a series at the start of KoA: 20ish minor and total background: a lot more

Death count: main: 0 secondary: 3 minor: 2 (11 if we try very hard)

Resurrections: 1 (possibly 3, but not gonna analyze it)

Did you feel emotions of this impossible war against this all-encompassing, all-powerful, invincible, immortal, cunning Evil with armies from 3 continents and 2 worlds? No? Me neither.

Oh well, but there were a lot of deaths of ordinary soldiers. I’m quite certain that all of Terrasen’s army was at least twice brought back to life for them to die in these numbers.

Logic or lack thereof

Oh, and let’s not forget about the Deus ex machina army of unbeatable, magical elves on wolves, from legends, living for the past thousands of years in the unreachable lands of the north, because they managed to run from the surprise attack 10 years earlier. Did I mention that they came from portals, which the whole book was telling us were impossible to make in this scenario? After the previous saviour army was already fighting there for a day? And that Aelin didn’t know they would come for sure (how did she contact them again?)? Even though they were waiting in the full armours for these portals? Ah, and also: that army didn’t do anything. They just came and fought for maybe 4 minutes. And there were just so many things like that!

And if we’re on the topic of armies I present you: ‘My favourite absurd-list in the series: allied armies’.

(As a comparison, in A Song of Ice and Fire by J.R.R Martin, in 7 kingdoms of Westeros, at the peak of war there were 7 forces present, but not all were even engaged in a war.)

First the ones that made sense:

Armies of Terrasen’s Lords (counted as one, not gonna nitpick)

The Khaganate army (also counted as one)

Galan Ashryver’s armada

Whitethorn fraction

Rebel Ironteeth witches

…should Dorian be counted as an ‘army’?

And there were some that did not:

Ansel of Briarcliff’s army

The Silent Assassins

Mycenians

Wild Men of the Fangs

Army of magical elves on wolves

And the ‘I don’t even know’ category:

Crochan witches

Overpowering and overreaching

Section title tells it all. The stakes were too high. I was honestly waiting for Aelin to become Super Saiyan and start to throw planets at Maeve and Erawan. I won’t spoil if this happened.

In my opinion it could be a really great series, if our list of villains ended with Arobynn and King of Adarlan, and the list of Aelin titles with an assassin and a princess. We could have had two main fight plots: one emotional with Arobynn, when Aelin would have to face a damage he had done to her, and overcome it. And the second one, with freeing Terrasen from Adarlan’s rule. That’s it. There was an asshole, power hungry king, who feared magic and wanted to rule the East part of a continent. A lot of plot, but not so much that we stopped to care, or didn’t have time to cover everything. We could really get to know what Terrasen and his people were like and not JUST GET TOLD that it was ‘the greatest place in the world’ every damn 20 pages.

Plus…should Dorian be counted as an ‘army’? It's a REALLY valid question.

Climaxes

IIf I have to write a list of things that disappointed me in this book, this review would be thrice its current size, but one of the worst grievances I have is the complete lack of acknowledging the plotlines that had been started. This book series has overall 4 372 pages (not counting novellas) and 12 main characters (still not gonna address this). All of them had their storylines and arcs but if they weren't tied up in the previous instalments they wouldn’t be in this one. I get it, Maeve and Erawan got beaten (in an extremely unsatisfactory way) but they were only a background in this series' plots.

Aelin Well, Aelin was one of 3 people (+2 paragraf-long insertion from Nesryn and Chaol) who got their own POV’s after the battle (second was technically Rowan, who was ‘Aelin’s POV outside of Aelin’.The third Dorian, who got almost a full two pages). And from this we got that: she got crowned, Aedion got his bond and that Maas have no idea how the city looks after weeks of siege. In her case what angered me the most was ‘Terrasen is my home’ subplot. Only in this tome we read at least 3 times that Aelin will be okay with dying, if only she gets to see Terrasen one last time, or if she get to die on Terrassen soil. But you know what? Maas forgot to write the scene where Aelin actually ‘comes in’.

Mannon Didn't get her own POV after the battle, but here’s what we’ve got: She is going to the Wastes with Croachans and Ironteeth. Whait. What? Yes, that was the ending of this 500+ years of feud. They fought together and they decided to unite their two species, completely forgetting more than half a millenia of slaughter. I can only hope that there were at least some talks behind the scenes… NO! F*** NO! This isn’t how it works!

Rowan, Dorian, Chaol, Yrene, Lysandra, Aedion, Lorcan, Elide, Nesryn, Sartaq Lived happily ever after

Secondary minor and total background characters Survived (I acknowledge that they would be ignored in most books’ epilogues, but this abomination is almost 1000 pages of nothing!!).

Good Scenes

That saying, this book actually had 4 good scenes:

Crochan witches go to war - gathering-forces-to-fight trope, which is my *love-always trope* so I’m not even sure if it was relatively good, or if I’m just a slut for this trope. It was still only a paragraph long though.

[recurring] The children’s tale Aelin repeated to herself to remember who she is.

‘Lorcan Lochan’ - the only marginally funny scene in the whole book

I actually found Darrel making Evangeline his heir charming. Even if circumstances were far-fetched at least.

But the words crime of this book? It was agonisingly, mind-numbingly boring. If the overexplaining and repetitions were to be taken out I highly doubt that there would be 300 pages left.

For these 33 hours of audiobook I suffered through I give it half a star. Because Abraxos exist.

Please see my garishly accurate cover on my instagram! You can also like it there :D

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