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shemarmooresfedora · 3 years

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Rebuilding Family

Summary: Y/N and Spencer were college sweethearts at Cal-Tech but once Spencer got accepted to the FBI Academy, he ended things deciding it was not fair to make Y/N wait for him. When they meet again years later, he discovers something unexpected.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Warnings: vomiting, light angst due to body image issues (pregnant!reader)

A/N: i have been working on a WIP all day! it’s going to be my longest one-shot by far. if you would like a hint, click here (another hint: it’s not a retelling of the episode)

Masterlist

Chapter 28

Gradually over the summer, your bump started to peek out just a little bit. The bottom of your belly would poke out of your tank tops slightly.

Spencer loved it because it gave him better skin-to-skin contact. He would constantly be rubbing and kissing your tummy while whispering softly to the baby.

He would often visit you in your office for lunch so he could bring whatever you were currently craving. You learned this the hard way once when you packed a chicken caesar wrap for lunch one morning and by the time it got to noon, it made you nauseous just looking at it. Spencer brought you watermelon that day because it was the only thing that sounded good.

You were just finishing up an email when there was a knock at the door.

“It’s open,” you announced.

“Hi, love. How are we doing today?” Spencer inquired.

“Better now that you’re here,” you looked up from your computer to give him a kiss.

“I brought you your fruit salad with extra watermelon and your prenatal vitamins. Also, I don’t know how your stomach is feeling but I would like you to try to have some protein because fruit does not have much sustenance for you and little one. I brought tofu, peanut butter crackers, or a protein bar, whatever you think you can get down,” Spencer unloaded his bag.

“I finished the whole 64 ounce water bottle before noon. Aren’t you proud of me, babe?” you beamed, proudly displaying your empty bottle.

“So proud, I’ll go refill it right now so you can take your vitamins,” Spencer lifted your blouse up and placed a gentle kiss right on your belly button, “Daddy will be right back, little one.”

You awoke to the sickly twisting feeling in your stomach and you carefully rose from the bed in an attempt to not upset your stomach any more.

Spencer was up and out of the bed as soon as he heard the first retch. He grabbed a hair elastic and tied your hair back, rubbing soothing circles on your back.

“Spence, I can’t be sick today,” you cried.

“Jo will understand, love. I’ll tell her you are taking care of little one.”

“I don’t want to miss her first day of first grade,” you sobbed into his chest.

“I will facetime you and take so many videos and pictures, you won’t miss a thing,” he promised you.

“I’m going to call you out of work. Then, I’m going to get you some tea, plain crackers, and iced water,” he kissed the top of your head.

“Will you be okay in here by yourself for a little?” he asked quietly.

You sniffled and nodded.

“Okay, shout if you need me. I’m going to go get that stuff for you and wake Jo up.”

“I want to at least say bye to her. I want to see her in her first day outfit,” you insisted.

“Of course, we’ll be back up in a little,” he assured you.

About 15 minutes later, Spencer returned with a tray of just about every drink and food you had been craving for the past week.

“I love you,” you smiled.

“I love you more,” he replied, setting the tray down on your nightstand.

“Mommy, brother or sister is being bad?” Jo asked.

“No, baby,” you motioned for her to climb up on the bed with you, “They are just growing and it is making Mommy a little sick but it’s okay. I’m sorry I can’t drop you off with Daddy today. But luckily, I heard your new teacher is super nice and you have Henry in your class again this year.”

“Bye, Mommy. I’ll miss you,” she hugged you, “Bye, brother or sister,” she waved to your belly.

“Bye, Baby J. I am expecting a full report on everything that happened as soon as you get home,” you smiled.

“I’ll be back in 30,” Spencer helped Jo off the bed, looking at you worriedly.

“Spence, I’ll be fine, don’t worry,” you assured him.

“Call me if anything happens like even if you just think you’re about to throw up, call me,” he insisted.

You nodded, “Have fun!”

“There’s my big first grader!” you smiled with open arms.

You were waiting on the couch for Jo and Spencer to come home from pick up time.

“Mommy!” she ran into your arms, “Ms. Moore is so nice. She let us color whatever we wanted for an hour during craft time today and she had a whole bin of dinosaur books in the library. And, me and Henry played on the big kid swings at recess today and I jumped off into the air!” she exclaimed.

“Oh my gosh! What a fun day you had!” you smiled.

“And you didn’t even hear the best news yet, Daddy signed up to be a classroom helper,” she beamed.

“Did he now?” you grinned, turning your attention to Spencer.

“Ms. Moore had the sign-up sheet out at pick-up time. How can I resist spending more time with Jo? I’m going to get lonely when both my girls are at work and school,” he plopped down on the couch and squeezed you both.

You couldn’t find a single cute blouse that still fit you that morning. You had to wear an ugly wrinkly gray one from the back of your closet that you bought a while back and hated but never got around to returning. You brushed through your hair quickly and forwent any makeup because you already felt like utter crap.

You would have called out sick but you had an important department meeting today that you had to sit through. Luckily, that meant little to no talking but you just had to pray that your stomach would settle.

At the end of the long day, you went home and changed into sweats. In an attempt to cheer yourself up, you drove to Jo’s school to see Spencer in action. It was his first day as class assistant.

You approached the classroom to see Spencer surrounded by a group of moms. They were all over him, practically swarming him like bees to honey. These were the exact moms that were horrible to you last year. They were all dressed in high heels and skinny jeans, stuff you couldn’t wear anymore.

You turned around and headed back out to the car.

Spencer immediately noticed your car wasn’t in the driveway when they got home.

“Love?” Spencer called out, setting his keys on the table when they entered the front door.

No response.

Spencer tried your cell but it rang out.

He immediately had Garcia on the phone next, “Penelope, I need you to track Y/N. She’s not home yet and not answering her cell and I’m worried.”

“Oh, McDonald’s? Okay, yeah thanks. That’s been one of her cravings recently,” Spencer hung up the phone.

“Why did Mommy leave school and now she’s not here?” Jo questioned.

“Mommy wasn’t at school today, Princess. I think you are confused,” Spencer furrowed his brow.

“Daddy, I saw her,” Jo stated.

“Okay, I believe you,” he picked the little girl up and exited the house once again.

You didn’t want to be the crazy pregnant lady in a McDonald’s crying with a chocolate milkshake and a large fry but that is who you had become.

You heard the bell chime but you didn’t look up, dipping your next fry into your milkshake.

“Love, what’s wrong?”

Spencer was standing over you, looking very concerned and carrying Jo on his hip.

He set her down and whispered, “How about you go play in the play place for a little, Princess. Daddy will order you a happy meal.”

Jo looked at you with the same amount of concern in her eyes before deciding it was best to just follow what Spencer said. She ran off and Spencer took the seat across from you.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he spoke softly.

“Not particularly,” you took a long sip of your milkshake.

“Jo said she saw you at the school today,” Spencer stated.

It didn’t take a profiler to see the way your face sank even more and you stopped sipping your shake.

“What upset you so much, love? I need to know if I’m going to fix it,” he grabbed your hand and kissed it.

“Nothing fits,” you stated.

“We’ll buy you more maternity clothes,” he replied quickly.

“I look ugly,” you protested.

“Completely and unequivocally false,” he answered sincerely.

“Those moms are going to steal you away from me,” another tear slid down your face.

Spencer’s face softened, he moved from the seat across from you to right next to you.

“You are probably feeling some residual feelings of abandonment because you had to do this alone last time,” Spencer stated softly.

You buried your face into his shoulder as confirmation.

“Love, I am never leaving you or Jo or little one ever again. There’s nowhere else I want to be. This is what makes me happy,” Spencer looked around, “I’d gladly stay in this crusty McDonald’s forever if you and Jo are here.”

Your giggle was muffled by his cardigan.

“That’s what I like to hear,” Spencer smiled, wrapping his arms around you.

A/N: i named Jo’s teacher ‘Ms. Moore’ as a little shoutout to @homoose !!! moore...moose, close enough. she was one of the writers who inspired me to start writing my own fics

taglist: (just ask to be added or removed!): @samuel-de-champagne-problems @g0lden-cth @spencerreid9 @averyhotchner @coldlilheart @k-k0129 @ickleronniekinsemotionalrange

#spencer reid fluff #dad!spencer #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x fem!reader #spencer reid x reader #spencer x reader #reid x reader #spencer reid fanfiction #cm fanfic

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theladyofdeath · 4 years

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Swipe Right {Rowaelin Fluff Modern AU}

Part TWO to Swipe Left {Rowaelin Fluff}

Written alongside the beautiful and talented @throne-of-ashes-and-beauty

Aelin looked in the mirror one final time. She had to look absolutely perfect, of course, even though she was just visiting Rowan at work. It had been a little over a year since she had met the love of her life in the airport, and life was pretty perfect.

She had no complaints.

And from what she could tell, the perfection would only continue to grow.

After brushing through her long, golden hair, Aelin slipped on a pair of brown sandals to go with her turquoise t-shirt dress and called it good.

It had been an eventful morning, to say the least, starting with a quick workout and brunch with Lysandra. After that, she’d showered and gotten ready, checking her email for an offer letter from one of the many companies she’d applied to. The paid internship she’d taken had ended a couple weeks back and while Rowan had been more than generous, not asking her to pay rent when she’d moved in, she needed to start pulling her weight.

Rowan said she could pay him in other ways and she snorted and shoved him.

Aelin liked to contribute. She liked to help out.

Nonetheless, she was hurrying down the steps, as quickly as she could, and to her car. Once inside, she was starting the engine and pulling out of the parking space before the radio could even catch up and begin playing music.

She was giddy, could hardly control herself.

She couldn’t wait to show Rowan.

In her defense, though, she was also bringing him lunch just before his lunch period, so it wasn’t all about her surprise. It was about the kind, loving gesture that could only be shown through bringing your significant other food.

She had to make one stop before she stopped at the school, though, and that was the most important of the day.

Rowan turned around and crossed his arms as he looked at his class. “Can anybody tell me who Abigail Williams is?”

He was met with silence.

“You learned about her last year, with Ms. Lochan.”

Not even a blink of recognition.

He sighed and rubbed between his brows with his thumb and forefinger. “First person who can tell me anything about her gets to leave for lunch ten minutes early.”

A male voice spoke up. “She was accused of being a witch, right?”

“Good, Quinton, she was.” He pointed at the student, who was a basketball player. He’d never put any effort into his studies until recently, when he realized colleges care about your grades, too, not just how many three pointers you can hit. “Where?”

Quinton hesitated.

“Starts with a S,” Rowan slowly.

“Salem,” Quinton said, without any hesitation.

Rowan leaned back against the whiteboard, arms crossed. “Very goo-.”

His words dropped off as he noticed a flutter of movement in the doorway out of the corner of his eye. His class had noticed, too, because he instantly lost their attention as Aelin gave him an amused look.

Rowan couldn’t be mad. His eyes softened as he said, “You all remember my-.”

She was met with a series of loud hellos and hollers, which only made her grin widen - and her ego grow to an uncontrollable level, no doubt.

She held up a bag. “I brought lunch. I didn’t mean to be early. I’ll just…” She pointed to Rowan’s desk in the back corner of the room, indicating her destination.

He chuckled and nodded. He turned his attention back to his class, trying to reclaim their attention. “Alright, next week, we’re going to start on the Salem Witch Trials.” There was a flutter of excitement, which was atypical for sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds in school. “I don’t want to get your hopes up, because yes, it’s extremely interesting, but there’s also a lot of dates or boring stuff.” There was a collective groan, knowing Rowan would give one of his date only quizzes for extra credit. “But...we’re also going to be watching a movie next week. Which leads me to our homework…” Cue the groans again.

“Witches are a commonly adapted piece of folklore in modern media. Monday, I want you to bring in an example of your favorite adaptation of witches from movies, tv shows, music videos, whatever it may be. Wednesday, I want an example of other times there were witch hunts in history, aside from Salem. Not too hard, but we’re going to be taking a lot of notes. Be ready.” He glanced at his watch and saw it was ten til. He nodded his head at Quinton. “Q, you ready for lunch?”

He nodded yes and started packing up his backpack.

Rowan shrugged and said, “I’m feeling generous today. Pick a buddy to go with you.”

Quinton smirked and turned around, pointing to Aelin. “You hungry, Miss G?”

The class erupted into good natured heckling.

Aelin laughed, quietly. “I’m afraid I’ve already eaten.”

“Too bad,” Quinton murmured, earning another round of laughter. “Evangeline, then.”

Evangeline rolled her eyes but began packing up, anyway.

Rowan gestured for them both to go then told the others to get started on their homework, which meant they’d be talking quietly among themselves or on their phones, until the bell rang.

Rowan made his round around the room and ended by his desk, sitting on the edge. His smile had faded, and he wore a concerned frown. “Why’d you come in such a hurry? Don’t get me wrong, I love that you’re here, but...I mean, is everything okay? Did something happen?”

He hated that he had to miss the appointment, but he was saving his vacation days for the months when Aelin would need him home.

“No, nothing, just…” She shrugged her shoulders trying to appear cool and casual, but inside she was about to explode. “Wanted to see you.”

She couldn’t tell if he believed her, he smiled softly, but the wariness was still in his eyes. “Well?” He asked.

She laughed, quietly. “You don’t think I should maybe wait until you don’t have a class of eavesdropping teenagers around?”

She gave a pointed glance behind him and he caught two of his students quickly turning around.

“Maybe you’re right,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. He glanced over at the clock, they still had a few minutes. “What did you bring me for lunch?”

Aelin chuckled before she said, “Ham and cheese sandwich, a bag of chips, and cut up apples with some caramel to dip them in.”

Rowan’s smile was genuine when he said, “You spoil me.”

He reached for the bag, but she snatched it back. “It’s not fair of you to eat in front of your students,” she replied, smirking.

He rolled his eyes, but got back up, making another quick circle around the room.

“Mr. Whitethorn?” A girl’s hand raised. “We have a question about what we can use for our media. Movies are okay, right?”

He figured the question would be coming and he was glad someone asked it, rather than half the class having to scramble like the grade before them did last year. “Movies are permitted, but PG-13 or lower. Can’t be rated R.” There was a chorus of groans. “I don’t make the rules, sorry, but if I did, you still wouldn’t be allowed to.”

The bell rang and as everyone rushed for the door, he called, “Alright, don't forget your homework and have a great weekend!”

They were out the door before he’d finished his sentence. Aelin was chuckling from where she sat on his desk.

In a flash, Rowan was at the door, locking it, pulling the privacy blind and then at his desk. He pressed his lips to Aelin’s and said, “Okay, well?”

She laughed and handed him the brown sack that his lunch was in. Rowan looked at the bag and said, “I appreciate you bringing me lunch, baby, but that’s not what I’m asking.”

The urge to roll her eyes was almost too strong to resist, but she said, “Open the bag, you frantic buzzard.”

With narrowed eyes in her direction, he did as he was asked, and froze. His eyes widened as his hand reached in and pulled out the little black and white ultrasound pictures.

He said absolutely nothing as he shuffled through them, his green eyes growing bright and misty.

Aelin watched him with complete adoration.

“Shit,” he breathed, shaking his head as he met Aelin’s loving gaze. “This is our kid.”

She nodded, a smile breaking on her lips. She didn’t try to stop the tears that slid down her cheek.

Aelin and Rowan had gotten married on the beach, almost six months to the day after they’d met. Neither of them had any immediate family and they both knew the wanted no one but the other for the rest of their days.

They’d suspected Aelin was pregnant a few weeks earlier. Her cycle hadn’t come and Rowan was actually the one who noticed it was late.

Now, their baby was growing and would be there in a matter of months. These were the first ultrasound pictures where the baby actually looked like a baby, not just a blob. They could see the head, the hands, the feet, everything.

“Yeah,” she smiled, and he took her face into his hands and kissed her, softly. “It’s our baby.”

“I’m so sad I missed it,” he whispered. “Instead, I was here talking about shit that none of these kids will remember tomorrow.”

“There will be others,” she promised. “Much more important appointments that you’ll be able to come to.”

His eyes lit up. “When do we find out if it’s a boy or girl?”

She rolled her eyes, kissing him once more. It had been a constant debate for them both the past month. Rowan was adamant it was a girl, but Aelin said she could feel that it was a boy. “She wants to schedule that for eighteen weeks, but says we may not be able to tell until twenty.”

Rowan waited and he asked, “And how pregnant are you right now?”

“Ro!” She laughed but shoved him. “This morning was eleven weeks.” She placed her hand over her stomach, the bump just barely starting to show.

He laid his hand over hers. “Six weeks until I get to see my beautiful baby girl.”

“Or your perfect, handsome son,” she laughed.

Rowan just said, “We’ll see.”

Aelin rolled her eyes and took a bite of his sandwich, which earned her a scowl from him. When she claimed it was because she was eating for two, Rowan couldn’t argue with that.

He sat in his desk chair, pulling her onto his lap as he started to eat. He only had thirty minutes before his next class came in, and he hated to say he was dreading it. As much as he loved his job, he was ready to be at home with his wife, rubbing her belly on the couch in his sweatpants.

Life was never as good to him as it was now before he met Aelin. Things weren’t bad, not at all, but he was never this happy.

Before, he used to love teaching. It was his passion and he was always one of the first into the school in the mornings and one of the very last to leave in the evening. He poured over his lesson plans at home, spent all of his spare time grading papers or homework. But now, he wanted that spare time to go to Aelin. Rather than get up at five-fifteen, and make it to school by six-thirty, he stayed in bed with Aelin as long as he could, sometimes not making it until right before the bell. Those were usually the mornings that Aelin awoke with his first alarm and scooted back into his warm embrace. And then continued to scoot until he had to get up.

She had completely consumed him, but he definitely wasn’t complaining about it.

And soon, there would be another little person to captivate him, too.

It was a Saturday, and the second Rowan opened his eyes, he realized Aelin was gone. He sat up, slowly, and blinked a few times to clear his surroundings.

She was nowhere.

“Ace?” He called.

“Kitchen!” She called back.

He picked up his phone to catch the time. 9:06. Just when he was about to ask why she was already out of bed on a lazy Saturday morning, the thought hit him.

Their gender reveal party was at noon.

He was up and rushing around the corner, grabbing it for traction as he rushed into the kitchen. His wife had an eyebrow raised, her hair piled into a messy bun on her head. She wore an old shirt from his college baseball days and a pair of his sweat pants she’d claimed as her own once her belly began to get too big for her own comfy clothes to fit. She held a cup of tea in her hands, carefully blowing on it. “Good morning,” she said with a smirk.

He stood upright and leaned on the wall. “Morning, babies.”

Aelin laughed as she rubbed a loving hand over her belly. He’d begun to refer to them as one, and she thought was the cutest thing she’d ever experienced.

“Is that breakfast?” He asked, with a yawn, throwing open the fridge for the entire carton of orange juice.

“No,” she said, with a pointed finger in his direction. “This is for the party, and if you touch any of it, I will kick you in the balls.”

Rowan froze as he turned, the carton halfway to his mouth. He was just now realizing how much there was on the counter. Multiple crockpots, bags and bags of junk, and something in the oven, seeing as how it was turned on and cooking.

“Exactly how many people are coming?” He asked, surprised.

Aelin shrugged. “Enough.”

At least they had just bought a new house and could fit a herd of people. Either way, Rowan was not a fan of large groups of people. His socially awkward nature prevented it.

Standing up in front of a class of kids? Sure. Easy.

Entertaining guests? Nope. Not his thing.

“I see that look on your face, calm down,” she said, chuckling as she meandered toward him and grabbed him by the hips. “I’ll entertain, you just make sure all the bowls I set out are constantly filled to the brim.”

Rowan grinned, leaning down to press a soft kiss against her mouth. “Alright, I can do that.”

She turned back to the counter, picking her tea back up. Rowan began pulling things out to make himself a protein shake. After blending it up, he hopped up on the counter and looked at Aelin. “What can I do to help?”

“I need you to go pick up the cake,” Aelin said, washing her mug and placing it back in the cabinet.

Rowan blinked at her. “Like the cake? Like the cake our baby is in?”

She rolled her eyes. “First of all, you’re an idiot, you know that the baby isn’t in the cake. And secondly, we’re not doing a cake reveal, remember? But we are having a cake for the party.”

Rowan frowned. “Since when are we not doing a cake reveal?”

Aelin came up between his legs and looked up at him. “Since everyone else in the world did one.”

“Then why do we need a cake?” Rowan asked.

Aelin blinked. “Are you serious?”

Rowan just cleared his throat. “Okay, I’ll get the cake. What else?”

“Hang the decorations I got because I’m short.”

Rowan chuckled as he hopped off the counter. “Fair enough.”

A loud knock came to the front door but before anyone could walk toward it, it flew open and Lysandra came flying in, plastic bags full of decor in each hand.

“Hello, mommy and daddy-to-be!” She sang, setting the bags on the counter and immediately getting to work.

“Or I guess Lysandra is going to take care of that,” Aelin chuckled.

Rowan pressed a kiss to her forehead and went to go get ready for the day while Aelin sat and talked to Lysandra. Just like Rowan, her best friend hadn’t allowed her to lift a finger throughout her pregnancy. He was just entering the bathroom when he heard Aedion enter the house and say, “Good morning, Aelin. You’re looking plump this morning.”

Thirty minutes later, Aedion was riding to the bakery with a freshly showered and shaved Rowan, having been kicked out of the house by Lysandra.

“How was I supposed to know she was going to cry?” He asked, shrugging his shoulders.

“She’s five months pregnant, man,” Rowan laughed. “Her emotions are all over the place, pretty much assume everything might make her cry right now.”

“Huh,” Aedion said, staring out the window. “The pregnant mind is one I don’t wish to understand.”

“Me either,” Rowan muttered. “Just wait until you knock up Lysandra.”

Aedion groaned. “Yeah, that can wait.”

Rowan laughed as he drove into the parking lot of the bakery and hopped out. He ran in to pick up the biggest, most elaborate gender reveal cake. It was for a small gathering, of course, but for a handful of people, the five tier cake was a bit much.

Which was why Rowan walked ridiculously slowly, cautiously, to the back of the car. He opened the trunk and slowly slid it in.

Aedion was just staring. “No wonder Aelin didn’t want to come pick it up. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for ruining that.”

“Thanks, man,” Rowan mumbled, climbing back in the front seat.

Aedion picked up the receipt and looked at it. “Gods, that’s way too many zeros at the end for a cake.”

Rowan sighed and said, “If it makes her happy, I do whatever she asks.” Aedion smirked. He asked, “What?”

The smirk softened. “Nothing, just… I always hoped Aelin could find someone who loved her the way I love Lysandra. I just didn’t think it would be on Tinder.”

Rowan groaned. The fact that they’d met on a glorified fuck-buddy app brought Aedion a lot more joy than it should have.

“Technically,” Rowan began, “We met in the airport.”

“Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that,” Aedion said, as Rowan slowly pulled onto the road. The drive back to the house was ten minutes longer than it should have been, due to the ridiculously slow speed Rowan was driving at to keep the cake safe.

When they arrived, it was just after eleven and Lysandra was already wrapping up her intense decorating agenda. The house was draped in pink and blue streamers, banners, and little frilly things that Rowan thought were ridiculous and pointless, but he kept that thought to himself.

“Where’s Aelin?” He asked, once he and Aedion set the cake, successfully, on the island.

“Bedroom, dressing,” Lysandra said, still scowling at an exasperated Aedion.

“I’ll be back,” Rowan sighed.

He walked down the hall to their bedroom, knocking softly on the door. “Ace?” There was a quiet answer and slipped in.

She was in her closet, and when he entered the bathroom, she said, “Baby, can you help me put on my shoes? I can’t reach my feet anymore.”

He found her sitting on a small chair, her foot halfway in a sandal.

He laughed and knelt down, latching the shoe around her - honestly, very swollen - ankle and then did the same with the other. He kissed her knee then her pronounced bump, and looked up her face. “Aelin, I love you…but that cake is fucking excessive.”

She smiled. “Yes, it is.”

He rolled his eyes and stood, helping her to her feet as he went.

She was wearing a white dress, that hugged her body, highlighting the pronounced bump that grew more and more every day, and a loose, comfy cardigan. Her hair was piled on the top of her head.

He softly kissed her. “You look so beautiful.”

She smiled and wrapped her arms around him. It was becoming difficult. She sighed and said, “Are you sure I’m not looking plump?”

“Baby, he was just joking,” he chuckled, rubbing her back.

She sniffled.

“Aelin, baby, don’t cry,” he cooed.

“I don’t know why I’m crying,” she said, throwing her hands in the air, “and I don’t know why it makes me so mad that Aedion called me plump, which I am, and why I hate that my house is covered in pink and blue. I mean, pink and blue? That’s so normal, Ro, and I hate normal. Why didn’t we do purple and red? Or, shit, green and gold? I love green and gold. Pink and blue sucks, Ro.”

Rowan just stared at her as she babbled on before taking a long, deep breath. “How about this? Next week, when we start decorating the nursery, we’ll do it in green and gold. Okay? After today, you never have to look at blue or pink again.”

She wiped angrily at her nose. “Fine.”

“Fine,” he repeated, trying his hardest not to laugh. “I love you.”

She leaned up on her toes and he met halfway, pressing his lips to hers. “I love you, too.” She stepped out into the bathroom and made sure that her makeup was still intact and then said, “Let’s go see my fucking excessive cake.”

One by one, their friends showed up. Lysandra made everyone give their official guess as they came in and after everyone had arrived, it seemed the majority agreed that Aelin was correct and there would be a little heartbreaker running around soon.

Even with the pink and blue decorations, Aelin had to admit that everything was beautiful. Lysandra had done an amazing job, which she told her time and time again.

When the time came, everyone filed out into the backyard, Lysandra carrying a bat and a white box. She handed Rowan the bat and Aelin took the box, explaining that the ball inside would explode into a colorful cloud when hit. All she had to do was get it to Rowan. All he had to do was hit it.

“No pressure,” he mumbled, setting the bat down. He rolled up his sleeves, to which his friends whistled and howled, and got a few practice swings in. When he felt he could confidently hit a moving target, he got into position and nodded to Aelin.

Her grin was glorious as she threw the ball.

It was a terrible throw, but Rowan swung at it, nonetheless, and pink dust filled the air.

Everyone erupted into cheers as Aelin yelled WHAT THE FUCK, but when the cloud cleared, and Rowan caught her gaze, she was smiling at him with tears in her eyes.

Rowan whistled, looking around at their living room, which was full of opened gifts. Their baby shower had been that morning - Rowan had spent it playing basketball in the park with Lorcan - and they had been spoiled.

Earlier that week, Rowan had painted the nursery gold, and it seemed that everyone who went to the shower got the hint that gold and green was the theme.

Aelin sat in the chair, her feet up on the table in front of her. She nodded. Her voice wavered as she said, “I love our people.”

He smiled softly and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He knew this wasn’t a crazy pregnancy crying. No, this was the love she felt for their friends, how blessed and overwhelmed by their own love and generosity she was.

He took her hands and helped her to her feet. “Let’s go get comfy and put together our sweet girl’s nursery.”

She groaned as she moved towards their bedroom. “I’m eight months pregnant. I don’t even remember what comfortable is anymore.”

“Just take off your pants,” he suggested, as they entered their room. “No pants equals comfort.”

She snorted. “You just like me pants-less.”

He shrugged. “It’s a perk.”

As much as she thought he was joking, she did just that, putting on a gigantic t-shirt and some fuzzy socks. In his sweatpants, Rowan followed her down to the end of the hall, to where the nursery was.

She sat in the plush rocking chair they’d bought, knowing they’d be spending quite a bit of time in nursery. Aelin quietly watched Rowan as he worked, humming a lullaby and slowly rocking in the chair. One by one, Rowan built, put together or set up everything they received from the day.

He dragged a big box towards him, puzzled. “What is this thing?”

Aelin smiled. “A cooler with a built into bluetooth speaker and charging station.”

He blinked. “And why does the baby need that?”

“The baby doesn’t, but you do.” She laughed at his shocked expression. “It’s from Aedion and Lysandra. He said it was your bro shower gift.”

Rowan opened the box and peeked inside. “Have I mentioned how much I love your cousin?”

She snorted. “He’s aware of your bromance, yes.”

Rowan grinned as he put the box in the hallway and looked around. “Anything left that has to be put together?”

Aelin shook her head, slowly. “Just stuff that has to be put away.

Rowan opened up a little gift bag and pulled out a little red, polka dotted sundress. “Are you fucking kidding me? This is tiny.”

Aelin’s grin widened. “That’s from Elide. Along with a hundred other little outfits.”

But Rowan was staring at the newborn sundress. “Aelin, this is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

She laughed. “Come with me, I’m about to blow your mind.” He raised an eyebrow and she rolled her eyes. “Not like that.”

With Rowan’s assistance getting out of the chair, she led him back down to their room. “I can’t bend over so… There’s a storage box under the bed. Put it up here.” She patted the mattress.

He did as he was told, grabbing a hold of a long, thin plastic tub, it’s lid was snapped securely in place, but it was full to bursting.

Rowan murmured, “She has more clothes than me. How does she already have more clothes than me?”

Aelin chuckled but skimmed through the small outfits, pulling a few of her favorites out. “Because Lysandra is her auntie.”

Rowan took the small blue onesie from Aelin. He held it in his hands, gazing down at it.

Aelin noticed his silence then and her smile faltered. “Baby?”

Aelin was floored when he looked up and there were tears shimmering on his face.

She hesitated, and when she spoke it was a whisper, “Gods, Are you crying?”

“No,” he said, but a tear had, in fact, fallen down his cheek. “It’s just so...small.”

She watched him, smiling softly, as he took in the little outfit.

“The baby is going to be tiny,” he breathed. “What if I break her?”

He chuckled, brushing it off, but she could see the genuine fear in his eyes.

“You won’t, Ro, you couldn’t.” She reached up and brushed the tear from his cheek, cupping his face in her hands. “She isn’t even here yet and you’re so in love with her. You wouldn’t ever do anything to hurt her.”

He nodded, but Aelin could see the trepidation still on his face. The whole pregnancy, he’d been her rock, the one constant motivator. She knew he was so ready for this baby, that she was already so loved, but it was normal to be scared.

“I love you,” she breathed, rising up on her tiptoes to kiss him. Her belly got in the way and she groaned as she was just barely too short of his lips.

He laughed and leaned down, letting her stand back on her feet and wrapping his arms around her. “I love you, too.”

They went back to the nursery, Rowan carrying the massive tub so Aelin could begin folding them and putting them in her dresser. As he was unwrapping diapers and putting them in their designated drawer, Rowan said, “So I had an idea for a name.’

Aelin paused and turned. “Okay?’

She was having this baby in less thirty days and they had yet to find a name they agreed on. The closest they’d come was with Nora, which Aelin had decided after a day of overthinking, was that Nora was an old person's name. Rowan had said that it was classy and timeless. Nonetheless, it went into the no pile, and they continued looking.

He leaned his back on the gold wall, crossing his arms over his chest, almost like he was bracing himself for her response. “Sloan.”

Aelin tilted her head to the left slightly. “Sloan?”

He nodded. “Sloan.”

“Hmm.” She closed her eyes and repeated the name a few more times, slowly, then with their last name, just to see. At last, she opened her eyes back up to meet her husband’s gaze and said, “I like Sloan.”

Rowan hesitated. “Wait, seriously?”

She laughed, leaning back on her hands from where she sat on the floor. “Yeah, seriously. I love it.”

Rowan still was in shock that she was in favor of a name suggested by him. He was still frozen in his place along the golden wall. “You’re worrying me. Are you feeling okay? I’m calling your doctor.”

“Shut up, you prick,” she said, smiling. They’d finally decided on a name, a name they both loved, a name they both agreed upon.

He chuckled and laid down in front of where she sat, his face inches from her round stomach. “Did you hear that, Sloan? Mama just told daddy to shut up. You should kick her in the ribs for that.” Their daughter did no such thing and Aelin quietly laughed, running a hand through Rowan’s newly cropped silver hair, as he scowled at her. He pressed a kiss just above her belly button. “What about this? Can you tell her how much I love her?” Aelin took a sharp breath in through her teeth as she felt a sharp pain in her side. Rowan’s deep rumble of a laugh traveled across her skin. “That’s my girl.” He pressed another kiss to her stomach, and gazed up at Aelin through his lashes, smirking. “Won’t take orders from a man. Just like her mama.”

Aelin sighed and shook her head. “Already turning her against me.”

“She’s a daddy’s girl,” Rowan muttered, yawning as he closed his eyes. It had been a long day, and he wasn’t even the one growing a human being inside of him. When he looked up at his wife, he could see her exhaustion. “I think we’ve done enough today, mama. Let’s go to bed.”

“Mama,” she repeated, quietly, eyes shining.

Rowan nodded, slowly, and took her hand. “One more month.”

Aelin brought Rowan’s hand to her lips as she smiled. “Yeah, one more month.”

___

“Ro.”

Rowan was having a beautiful dream, sleeping soundly, when his wife suddenly began shaking his shoulder with the wrath of a cranky, nearly full-term pregnant woman.

He groaned, opening his eyes, just barely, to look up at the alarm clock that sat on his side table. It was just after two.

“Go to bed, babe,” he mumbled.

“No, Ro,” she said, jabbing him in the back with her knee.

“Ow, Damn,” he hissed, pushing himself up on his elbows with a sigh. “What? Are you okay?”

“No,” she breathed.

His body tensed as he reached over to turn on the lamp, and when he did, he saw Aelin sitting up, eyes wide, a dark circle spotted on their light gray bed sheet.

Rowan blinked. “What? You woke me up cause you pissed your-“

“My water broke, you asshole,” Aelin snapped.

“Oh, shit,” he muttered, eyes wide. He jumped out of bed, grabbing for the jeans he’d discarded on top of the hamper the night before. “Oh, shit!”

Aelin was breathing heavily, and clutching at her stomach. “She’s coming,” she whispered, “she’s coming, she’s coming, she’s coming.”

Rowan was there immediately, sitting on the bed in front of her, taking her hand in his and letting her squeeze as hard as she could. “What do you need me to do, baby?

“Are the bags packed?” She asked, voice tight.

He nodded. “Yes, ours are in the dining room on the way out the door and Sloan’s in the truck, with her carseat, already buckled in and ready for her.”

“You’re such a good daddy,” she breathed, face showing relief as the pain in her abdomen subsided.

Rowan pressed a kiss to her forehead and said, “Come on, let’s get you changed and go meet our precious girl.”

A slight look of panic crossed her face, but it quickly turned to excitement and adoration. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Rowan breathed, and helped her to her feet. She kept on the oversized tee she had and Rowan helped her slip on some cozy pants and her flip flops before they were hurrying out the door.

The car ride was miserable. They got stuck at every red light along the way and the contractions quickly became stronger and closer together.

When they got to the hospital, Rowan parked as close as he could to the entrance. It helped that it was the middle of the night. After helping her to the door and into a wheelchair, Aelin was met with a nurse and then she was being wheeled away. Rowan, and their bags, just behind.

“I feel like we forgot something,” Aelin said, as Rowan tied the back of her hospital gown and helped her into the bed.

“We talked about this,” Rowan began, pulling a chair up close to the side, “Fleetfoot isn’t allowed in the hospital, Ace.”

She chuckled, but the gesture was quickly replaced with a contorted look of pain.

“Breathe,” the nurse whispered, calmly, as she finished hooking Aelin up to a series of machines. One took blood pressure, one kept track of the contractions, one monitored her heartbeat, another monitored the baby’s.

Looking at all of the machines gave Rowan a headache.

“How far apart are your contractions, dear?” The nurse asked, taking notes on her chart.

“About eleven minutes apart, but my water broke,” Aelin said, resting back in the bed, trying to get comfortable while she still could.

She smiled and said, “Not uncommon for a first time mom. We’ll keep an eye on it, but for now, why don’t you try and get some more sleep.”

“Sleep?” Aelin asked, her eyebrows raising. “I can’t sleep right now, I’m having a baby. I want my epidural and to push her out.”

The nurse, a sweet-looking older woman named Alis, laughed softly. “Sorry, hon. You can’t get an epidural until your contractions are about five minutes apart. Just relax and we’ll come check on you in a little bit.”

Alis left and Aelin stared after her. “I can’t sleep,” she mumbled, looking at Rowan. “How does she expect me to sleep? I’m about to shove our daughter out of my vag.”

“Great visual, babe,” he sighed, sitting next to her and taking her hand with his free one. His phone was in his other. “Here it is,” he began reading. “In the early stages of labor, mothers-to-be are encouraged to rest and relax. If labor begins at night, it's best to try and go back to sleep until contractions have increased to require all of your focus.”

“Fabulous,” Aelin mumbled. “Can I have my phone?”

“Sure, baby, where is it?” He asked, reaching for her purse.

She looked at him. “I thought you had it.”

Rowan’s brows furrowed. “Why would I have had your phone?”

Aelin’s eyes narrowed. “Because I asked you to grab it on the way out the door when you went back for your tablet.”

Rowan didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. His eyes said enough: Ohhh shit.

She let her head fall back against the pillows and closed her eyes, settling back and trying to get comfy. “I knew we forgot something.”

“I’ll ask Aedion and Lysandra to get it on the way.” He yawned and leaned back in the chair, pulling the ball cap covering his messy, silver hair lower over his eyes.

It was quiet for a minute and then Rowan said, already dozing off, “If you don’t have your phone, I assume that means you haven’t told anyone she’s on the way?”

Aelin replied, “Nope.”

He re-situated his hat and pulled out his phone. Since things didn’t seem to be progressing too quickly, he sent a quick text to their friends, not wanting to call and wake everyone. Save for one person: Lysandra.

Thirty seconds later, Rowan’s phone was ringing. With a sigh, he answered. “Hell-.”

“You didn’t call me on the way to the hospital?!” Lysandra’s loud voice came through to his ear.

“Sorry, I was a little busy trying to get my wife to the hospital,” Rowan said, yawning. “Nothing’s happened yet, don’t worry, I’ll call when things pick up. Her water broke and now she’s being told to go back to sleep.”

“Which I can’t do and my husband forgot my phone!” Aelin said, loudly, obviously frustrated.

There was a second of silence on the other end before Lysandra said, “Seriously? You didn’t grab her phone?”

“Don’t worry, she’s giving me a look that is equivalent to being stabbed, I’m being punished,” Rowan muttered.

“Let me talk to her.”

Rowan held out his phone without any hesitation. He heard Lysandra rattle off a series of questions and Aelin silently nodded along to each, softly biting the side of her finger. It was a nervous ‘twitch’ she’d picked up in the past few months and couldn’t seem to break it when she was thinking. “Okay, I got it. You know where the spare key is and I’ll send you the rest.” He heard Lysandra saying something else and Aelin’s eyes flicked over to him. “I haven't decided yet. I’ll let you know. Love you.” Lysandra replied and then Aelin ended the call, handing the phone back to Rowan.

He had an eyebrow raised, and though every instinct in his body instinct told him not to, he asked, “Decided what?”

She pouted her lips slightly and was about to reply when another contraction began. “Oh fuck, fuck, fuck, holy shit.”

He was up, his phone forgotten on the side table, and he took her hand. “Breathe, baby. Just breathe through it.”

“I’m deciding,” she said, through her teeth, “if I’m having Lysandra pick something up from Starbucks for you on the way here, or just me.”

He raised his eyebrows, rubbing soothing circles in her back with his free hand, but he said, “That’s cold, baby.”

“Well you forgot your pregnant wife’s phone on the way to give birth to your daughter,” she said, finally remembering to do the breathing exercises they’d learned.

Rowan sighed and said, “That’s fair.”

Aelin ended up having Lys get Rowan his coffee, too. They were even able to get a couple more hours sleep between the contractions, but when Lysandra blew threw the door at five-thirty, a bleary-eyed Aedion behind her, they were both up and Rowan was eating a sad, cold, hospital cafeteria breakfast.

“Oh, bless your hearts, thank the gods I brought real food.” She held up a bag from Aelin’s favorite bakery.

“Chocolate croissants?” Aelin asked, her eyes going wide.

“And they’re still warm, haven’t even been out of the oven for ten minutes,” Lysandra said, handing her the bag. With the other hand she extended her phone.

Aelin snatched both. Rowan knew better than to ask for a croissant. Lysandra held up a cup of coffee to him, her emerald eyes narrowed. “In your defense, she had left it in under the blankets in the bed.”

Aelin was sniffing the croissant as the door swung open, once again, and Alis came in, cheerily asking, “Good morning!”

“Good morning,” Aelin groaned. “When can we get this thing out of me?”

It had quickly turned from my daughter to this thing as the morning went on.

“I’m going to check where you’re at, and we’ll see,” she smiled.

Alis eyed the coffee and bag of goodies as she approached, but before she could say anything, Aelin said, “Don’t worry, they’re just for smell. I’m waiting to eat them after baby gets here...which will be soon, right?”

Aedion had made himself scarce the moment Alis ordered Aelin to put her feet up, but Lysandra was sitting on the edge of the bed. Rowan was still eating his shitty cafeteria waffle as Alis checked where Aelin was at. Five minutes later, the nurse was tossing her gloves into the trash and washing her hands.

“I believe your baby girl will be here sometime this afternoon,” she smiled, hands on her hips. “I’ll be in to give you the epidural in a few hours. Until then, continue to relax as much as possible. I’ll bring in more ice chips for you to munch on while you sniff your baked goods.”

She left and Aelin groaned as she let her head fall back into the pillows. “After noon,” she said, making sure the words were separated. “As in after twelve pm, which is still seven hours away.”

Lys patted her hand. “It could be sooner. She might decide she’s ready to be here now.”

Aelin turned and looked at her best friend, a look in her eyes that she hadn’t seen since they were in middle school and beating the shit out of each other in the girl’s locker room. They’d been inseparable ever since. “That would be horrible, too. Because then I wouldn’t get my epidural and I’d be in even more pain.”

Aedion said from the couch, mouth full, “She’ll get here in the perfect amount of time that you get your drugs and you aren’t in labor for two days.”

Aelin looked at him. “What are you eating.”

Aedion crumpled up the wax paper bag it had been in, trying to obscure the chocolate within. “Nothing.”

Aelin’s voice was like ice. “If I wasn’t due for a contraction any minute now, I’d punch you right in the dick.”

The room got silent and then Rowan’s phone rang. He glanced at it. “It’s Lorcan, babe, I need to get it.”

“Go,” she said, smiling wickedly. “Aedion can help me.” She held out her hand, waiting for his to squeeze.

Rowan patted his back as he walked by. “Hope that croissant was worth it.”

He answered as he stepped out into the hall. “Hey, man.”

Lorcan asked, “Your wife push out your demon spawn yet?”

Rowan rolled his eyes. “No, she’s still a few hours away from her epidural and a while from pushing.”

Lorcan’s response was simple. “Gross. Hey, is your substitute giving your finals?”

He sighed, “I would assume, Lor, since they start on Wednesday, and my wife is giving birth to our daughter right now.”

“Fair enough,” Lorcan said. “Elide will be coming by at some point to see Aelin, and I’ll come by after classes end.”

“That’s probably about when she’ll be here, so make sure you call Lysandra first. I might be a little busy,” Rowan laughed.

Lorcan snorted, “Why? It’s not like you’ll be doing any of the hard work. You did your part nine months ago, when you nutted inside of-.”

Probably louder than he should have, in a hospital wing just after sunrise, Rowan said, “Goodbye, Lorcan,” and hung up the phone.

Considering how his best friend usually spoke, Rowan had to admit that the conversation had actually been pretty tame. I’m fact, he was pretty sure that was Lorcan being sweet and caring. Which is why, once he opened the door to Aelin’s room, Rowan said, “Lorcan said good luck.”

Aelin, next to Aedion who was rubbing his now-sore hand, blinked. “Are you sure? That’s uncharacteristic of him.”

“He also says that Elide will come by soon.”

“That sounds more accurate,” Aelin said, then yawned. “Can you at least go get me some magazines or something? I’m bored as hell and hurting like shit.”

His stomach grumbled and he said, “I’m absolutely starving, so what if I go grab some food that doesn’t look like it could come to life and eat me instead, and I’ll pick up that new book you’ve been wanting?”

“You mean you’re going to leave?” Her eyes went wide, filling with tears.

He was instantly by her side, her face in his hands. “I won’t, I don’t have to. I can eat the radioactive cafeteria food and run down to the gift shop for the magazines. I was just going to run to the Walmart that has a McDonalds in it down the road. Two birds, one stone.”

Her eyes were still panicked and Lysandra, hearing Rowan’s stomach growl ferociously again, said, “Ro, why don’t you run down to grab some magazines, and Aedion will go get you food and the book for Aelin?”

It was less of a question and more of a “Get your asses in gear, this is what we’re doing” statement, and with Aelin’s sniffling nod of confirmation. The men were off, Rowan coming back with a few magazines and the sweetest stuffed animal that Aelin had ever seen.

“What is that?” she laughed, eating another bite of ice chips.

Rowan sheepishly held the white ball of fluff in his hands. “I realized that when we were packing her bag, we didn’t bring her anything but clothes and diapers and the essential stuff. And I know she has tons at home, but... I wanted to give her her first stuffed animal, as her daddy, so…”

Aelin’s eyes were rimmed with tears as she said, “Can I see?”

His cheeks burned. “I didn’t have many great options, they’re doing a remodel down there, so… The White-Tailed Hawk was the highlighted animal of the month.” He held the soft bird out to her.

Aelin huffed a laugh as she took the bird into her hands and ran her fingers over the soft fur. “It’s perfect.”

She clung to that stuffed animal for the next few hours as Rowan ate his McDonalds. The book, however, had to wait, because by the time Aedion got back with everything, the contractions were brutal.

At least Rowan had finished his egg McMuffin before they pulled out the longest needle he had ever seen, making him lightheaded.

He nearly fainted when they stuck that needle into Aelin’s back.

It wasn’t much longer that she grew numb from the waist down, and not too much longer after that she felt the slightest bit of pressure, letting Alis know that the baby was wanting to make her grand appearance into the world.

Lysandra, much to her disappointment, was told she had to leave while Rowan remained, holding her hand as she began to push.

“You’re doing so good,” Rowan whispered, five minutes in. “I’m so fucking proud of you.”

Aelin closed her eyes and pressed her sweaty forehead against his, just as she started to push again.

They had both heard horror stories of women who had to push for hours and hours and hours. Thankfully, Aelin was not one of them, because half an hour after the first push, a soft cry filled the silent room.

“She’s here, baby, she’s here.” There were tears streaming down Rowan Whitethorn’s face as the doctors placed the small, wailing infant on Aelin’s chest. The cries quieted almost immediately and he kissed her head. “I love you so much. You did so amazing, Ace.”

Aelin was crying, looking down into the perfect face of her daughter. “Hello, beautiful girl. We’ve been waiting for you.”

Rowan laughed quietly, though even Aelin admitted that it sounded closer to a sob.

————

About an hour later, a quiet knock came from the door. Rowan opened the door to find Lysandra and Aedion waiting.

All it took was one smile from Rowan and Lysandra began to cry, throwing her arms around him. “Congratulations.”

He hugged her back, trying his best not to tear up again himself. “Thank you. Come meet her.”

After a quick hug from Aedion, Rowan led them into the room, where Aelin, fresh faced and hair in a messy bun on the top of her head, sat in the bed, gazing adoringly at the small bundle in her arms.

“Do you want to meet Auntie Lys and Uncle Aedion?” She cooed down at her daughter.

Sloan was sleeping, but it didn’t stop Lysandra from pressing her lips against the newborn's head, where a striped knit hat was pulled over her tufts of golden hair.

“Meet Sloan Elia Whitethorn,” Aelin said, quietly, brushing her finger over Sloan's soft cheek.

“She’s beautiful,” Lysandra whispered, and the moment Aelin asked if she wanted to hold her, Lysandra was crying again.

Rowan watched the entire scene play out from just inside of the door, leaning up against the wall. His wife, holding his baby girl. His friends, family, admiring their little creation. There was nothing like it. He had never imagined life could be so perfect, so joyful. He had never imagined he could love someone, two someones, so much.

And to think, he owed it all to a fucking dating app and an absurdly long layover at the airport.

He was so damn happy he swiped right.

#part 2 #rowaelin #tog #throne of glass #rowan #aelin #fanfic #fanfition #oneshot #sjm #collab

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babyspiderling · 3 years

Text

Tiny Dancer p.2

"Just stare into space, picture my face in your hands. Live for each second without hesitation"

"Janet, you can't tell anyone about this." Michael tells her, focused on damage control. Janet fires back without hesitation. "The hell you mean I can't tell anyone? Marlon owes me ten bucks now." I roll my eyes, patting Michael on the back. "Mike,I'm sure your brothers are looking for you. I don't think we want anyone else listening in on this conversation anyways. I'll talk to Jan, ok?" He glances back and forth between his younger sister and I, a concerned look deep in his face. He sighs out an "Ok, fine." and heads back to his dressing room. I turn back to the youngest Jackson. "Listen Jan, I only want what's best for Mike. If it were up to him, and if the circumstances were different, you'd be the first to know on purpose. The world may be changing fast, but we've got a long way to go. The media would flip if word got out that The Michael Jackson was with not only his seamstress, but a white chick at that. Not to mention your father. God, he would kill us if he found out. He'd fire me and i'd never see Michael or any of you again." I deflate in front of her eyes, letting myself show vulnerability to the fifteen year old. "I really do love him Janet. I can't lose him, but I can't just let him risk losing his career over me. I'm the reason we're a secret. Michael is a glass half full person, always trusting and seeking out the positive, but I see what is going to happen if we enter the world of the limelight." When I look into her eyes, her head is cocked to the side, studying me. "Alright, I see where you're coming from. I know Joseph, and you're probably right. Just don't hurt Mike. He's my favorite after all." I nod, relieved that she understood where we are coming from. "I promise to tell you everything you want to know later ok? Maybe at the hotel or while I'm patching up something that the boys unsurprisingly ripped up." Janet giggles, and we make our way back to the rest of the group.

I lay down in the linen sheets of the hotel bed, needing to sleep to be able to get up in the morning to fix a couple of loose buttons and worn knees. I hold a pillow close to myself and let myself float away to dreamland.

The creaking of my door opening stirs me from my slumber. I prop myself up on my elbow, turning on the lamp. "Mike? What's going on?" He's in pajamas, and his hair is mussed. He scratches the back of his neck sheepishly, and murmurs out a "Couldn't sleep." I huff and fall back onto the bed. "Fine, get in here. You said so yourself that you sleep better with someone than alone. We've both got an early morning and it's already... 2 AM." His bare feet shuffle across the hotel carpet and the bed slightly creaks as he climbs in next to me. Once he's gotten comfortable, I lay my head on his chest and wrap an arm around him, succumbing to the exhaustion filling my bones.

I wake up to my alarm, letting myself give in to Michaels grip and the temptation to hit the snooze button and spend an extra few minutes in the warmth and security his arms provide. I snuggle close to him and doze off. Once again the door opens up, but I shrug it off, thinking it to be Janet. Instead of her girlish squeal of embarrassment, I hear a masculine shout of surprise. The sharp cry from Randy shocks us both awake. The second youngest Jackson wears an expression of both surprise and smugness. "I knew it! I knew something was going on between you two! Mike, my man, congrats. I knew you'd get her eventually. Now tell me, when did this all start out?" As Michael and I rubbed the sleep from our eyes, Randy had made himself comfortable on the small couch nearby, his chin in his hands, elbows resting on his knees. Groaning, I pull myself out of the bed, tugging my shirt down so I don't flash Randy. I pat Michaels shoulder and groan out: "You're taking this one. I talked to Janet last night and I have to get ready. Jackie tore his shirt last night and I've got to make him a new one. Who tears their shirt in the middle of their chest like that?" I sit on my heels to grab my things and head to the bathroom to get dressed.

Finished with make-up, I tie my hair back in a high ponytail. Combing through my hair, Michael enters to get ready himself. "So, how'd it go?" He shrugs a little and reaches for the extra toothbrushes the hotel offers. "Randy promised to keep it a secret until we tell everybody else. He was a little surprised that we've been together since Destiny. He thought it was a recent development, not a three year old relationship." Securing my hair one last time, I turn and smile at my lover. "Well, at this rate, Randy only has to keep it a secret for another 5 days. Go ahead and schedule out a lunch or something for your mother. I want her to know that I love her son more than anything else, and I don't want to keep him a secret anymore. But you have to promise me that if this whole thing goes wrong, your career comes first. You have worked your entire life for this, you are living your dream life, don't throw away your dream for me." He chuckles a bit, and rests his forehead against mine. "If this whole thing goes wrong, I'll hire you again myself. You'll be my personal costumer/seamstress. And no one will be able to get rid of you." I giggle and give a peck to his mouth. "Alright toothpaste lips, finish up and get back to your room. I'm sure you can't go to sound check in your pajamas. And send Janet and Randy back to me. I need her input on somethings and I'm sure Randy has more questions." He finishes up and goes back to his room, the two youngest Jacksons coming in not too much later.

"Alright guys, I'm gonna work some because that is what I'm here to do, but I can answer your questions at the same time." I lay out the fabric on the round table in the room as the two sat down on the couch. They both started talking at the same time, but stopped soon enough. Janet spoke first. "When did this start? How did this start?" I smile at the fabric and respond. "Even when I was growing up, I thought that Michael was the most handsome boy on the planet. But when I started working with you guys 4 years ago I decided to remain professional. This was my dream career and I would not jeopardize it over a celebrity crush. Michael and I became friends not long after, and I actually pushed him away in the beginning. I was so scared that either of us would get attached and it would risk our professional lives. During the music video for Shake Your Body, I was joking around with Marlon and Michael got all huffy. He ranted a little bit and ended up kissing me. It didn't take long until we started actually dating." I flip the fabrics so that the shirt is inside out and pin it together. I move to my machine, and Randy asks: "Why keep it a secret? It's not like anyone here doesn't like you?" I adjust the needle to where I need it and lower the presser foot. "Well, we as a society may have come a long way, but not everyone is going to agree with the fact that Michael Jackson, global superstar, chose to date his seamstress, and then the fact that it's a biracial relationship will send a whole other group into a frenzy. He worked so hard to be where he is, to live his dream, and I felt that if we released our relationship to the public, it could cause a lot of backlash his way. Plus I'm pretty sure that if Joseph found out about us, he'd see me as a distraction, turning his son against him. He'd fire me in an instant. I'd probably never be able to see any of you again. Now that it's suddenly impossible to keep us a secret anymore, we're going to tell Ms. Kathrine soon. Michael is going to schedule it today, and we'll tell her then." Once the two are done with their questions, Janet turns on the radio and we just have a good time until Randy needs to head to the venue. Janet and I finish up, double checking over everything before we accidentally forget anything at the hotel.

We make it to the venue early enough that we make it backstage, and I watch the boys rehearse and just do their thing. Randy meets my eyes from his place behind the bongos, and he sends me a wink. I make my way to the dressing rooms to replace what I fixed for the second night in New York. As I replace the red floral print shirt in Michael's dressing room, my lover walks in. His hair is a little wet from sweat and he has a thin sheen of sweat covering his skin. I giggle as he does his best to freshen up. "I'm glad you don't do sound check in costume. I'd have to make an outfit for every night of the tour, since you guys sweat so much." He sticks his tongue out at me, and then has a mischievous look in his eyes. He turns and creeps towards me, his arms wide to catch me if I tried to escape him. I back away slowly, "Michael, don't do this! I'm a nice person! I just took a shower!" I go to make a break for the door but he catches me and pulls me close, squeezing me tight and rubbing his sweaty face and body all over me. "Michael Joseph Jackson! I'm going to kill you! I'll put you in an outfit from '68!" He just giggles in my ear, enjoying my shrieks and squirms. "No you won't, you love me too much." I push at his arms, trying to get out of his grip. "Not anymore! Randy's my new favorite member!" He bites at my earlobe teasingly, his breath fanning over the shell of my ear, his voice dropping from the usual airy high pitch he speaks in. "Are you sure about that, girl?" I shiver and stutter at the distraction, "Fine, you called my bluff. Now can you please let me go? I need to know when we're telling your mother." Reluctantly, Michael loosens his grip enough for me to grab the towel he used, wiping my own skin down, and I rummage through my purse for my bottle of vanilla. Michael takes a seat and smiles at me. "Girl, you know I get hungry when you wear that stuff. Smelling all sweet and stuff." I chuckle and apply the vanilla to key points. "Tell you what. When we go out to tell your mother I will buy you any dessert you want after." I watch from the mirror as he lifts himself from his seat and slots himself behind me, his mouth close to my neck, and even closer to my ear. He gives a teasing squeeze to my backside and murmurs in my ear: "What if I want you to be my dessert?" I turn in his arms, and deliver a light slap to his shoulder. "Michael! What is with you? You've never been so... forward." He just chuckles and steps away. "Maybe I'm just excited I can finally show you off to everyone. Oh, and we're meeting Mother at lunch tomorrow. I've gotten a reservation for the three of us at Mortimer's. I heard they're really good." I nod and glance down at my wrist watch. "Oh, wow! I've got to make sure Jackie's shirt fits for tonight. Break a leg if I don't see you. And I'm excited to have lunch with your mother. I love you!" I give him a peck on his perfect lips and head out the door. Michael catches my wrist before I can leave and pulls me back to him, giving me a real kiss to make up for my quick peck. I giggle as we break away for oxygen. "Alright love machine, I seriously have to go." I hurry out of his dressing room and down to Jackie.

I've never been so nervous in my life. I have no reason to be nervous. Kathrine doesn't dislike me, in fact she and I have had amazing talks between fittings and shows. But maybe after she finds out that I've stolen her son's heart, her opinion of me will change? If she doesn't approve, will Michael leave me? He is an absolute mommas boy. "Babe, relax. Mother absolutely adores you, and I do too. Everything is going to be absolutely fine. I promise." Michael squeezes my thigh in reassurance, and I take a deep breath to calm myself down.

All three of us are seated at the table and our drinks are ordered. Michael holds my hand under the table, unsure himself how to start. "Mother, I have something to tell you, I am in love with the kindest, most beautiful woman in the world." Kathrine smiles a bit at this and urges her son to continue. "That's amazing honey. Who is it?" Michael and I glance at each other before Michael tells the Jackson Matriarch. "Well, Mother, it's Y/N. She and I have been together for almost 3 years now." There's a mix of emotions on her face, and she opens her mouth, trying to figure out what to say. "Well, Michael, honey, I am so happy you found someone. You deserve to be happy. I just can't understand why you wouldn't tell anyone for all that time." I sigh, opening my mouth. "Ms. Katherine, that's my fault. I wanted to keep our relationship under wraps because Michael has worked so hard to be where he is and I didn't want to be a reason for him to receive backlash. I also knew that Mr. Jackson eliminates any distractions for the boys. I know it sounds selfish, but I would have rather kept him my little secret and not have to give him up than show him off and risk losing not only my job, but the love of my life. I know now that telling you about our relationship is going to make Michael happy, and if his happiness means I am seen as a distraction and the consequences that go with it, so be it. I regret not telling you sooner, and for that I am truly sorry." Katherine listens the entire time with soft eyes, listening to every word I say. Michael grabs my hand on the table and gives it a proud squeeze. Once again Katherine opens her mouth and what she says next almost brings me to tears. "Oh, Y/N. understand. I see you truly care about my son, putting his career before your happiness, and then his happiness over your career. I know that that is not an easy decision, and it really shows just how much you care about him. Now, I won't sugar coat anything, but not everyone will approve of your relationship. A white woman and a black man together won't be the easiest thing for people to accept but you have to remember that it is your happiness, no one else's." I felt like all the weight had been lifted off my shoulders after that. We ate lunch and enjoyed the streets of New York. After Katherine had gotten into her car, I turned to Michael. "Alright, what do you want for dessert?" Pulling me into the back of the car, he placed me in his lap. "Hmm, something sweet, a little spicy... I'll have... you."

Taglist: @accio-boys

#michael jackson #michael jackson imagine #michael jackson x reader #80s imagines #80's imagine #80's x reader #80's fanfiction

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myladyprincessbugaboo · 4 years

Text

Thank You

Summary: Lila’s threat had finally come true: She had taken away all her friends, including Adrien. Exactly a month from the day Lila cornered her in the bathroom, Marinette and Lila meet in there once more.

Read on AO3

-x-

It had been a month since Lila had come to their school.

A month since everything Marinette thought she knew was proven false in the blink of an eye.

A month since Marinette had learned the truth.

She sighed to herself as she walked into the classroom. She barely even noticed the glares her classmates sent her as she headed to her seat in the back. She was used to ignoring their quiet chatter and not-so-subtle comments that they said just loud enough for her to overhear. As there was still plenty of time before class started and the teacher came in, she pulled out her phone and plugged in her earbuds, before pulling out her sketchbook.

Clara Nightingale had requested a new outfit for her new music video coming out soon, and was coming by today to see what Marinette had designed and give her input. She was so busy with her design, she didn't even realize when two of her classmates approached her.

Alya and Lila.

She pulled out an earbud, and turned to face them. "Can I help you?" She said, rolling her eyes.

"No, I just wanted to give you something." Marinette didn't have time to react before her sketchbook was drenched in coffee. "There. That's better." The two girls shared a laugh, before heading back to the front of the classrooms and taking their seats.

Marinette sighed, before taking out some paper towels from her bag to wipe up the mess.

After the past month, she'd learned to come prepared. That was why this sketchbook wasn't her main one. She'd stopped bringing that one to school a long time ago.

Ms. Mendeleiev walked in then. "I will be teaching this class today, as Ms. Bustier has taken a personal day. Now, everyone to your seats, so we can start the lesson."

-x-

Marinette packed up her stuff slowly, not leaving her seat until everyone, excluding the teacher of course, was out of the classroom.

After being tripped countless times, she'd learned to leave last to avoid it. Though it didn't stop them from tripping her as she left the classroom. And like always, Ms. Bustier didn't nothing about it.

Class had been interesting, to say the least. Unlike Ms. Bustier, Ms. Mendeleiev didn't let Lila make up excuses for why she didn't hand in her work. Even when the rest of the class protested, and demanded she give Lila extra time to finish her work, she still didn't give in.

Marinette wondered what it would be like to have her as her permanent teacher. Maybe there would be actually learning in class, instead of the needless gossip this class was always filled with. No wonder they were so behind in the school curriculum.

It was lunch now, so she took her time heading towards the bathroom.

"I don't know how much longer I can do this, Tikki." She whispered, once she was in a stall. That way, if anyone overheard them she could play it off as talking on the phone.

"You'll get through this, Marinette. I know you will. You always find the solutions to your problems." Tikki gave her an encouraging smile.

Marinette smiled back. "Ms. Mendeleiev got me thinking. What if I switched into her class? Maybe people in her class haven't fell for Lila's lies? It's not like anyone in my current class would miss me anyway."

"That's a great idea, Marinette!" Tikki said. "But you better hurry home now, if you want some lunch." After a certain incident, Marinette decided eating at home would be much safer. "Thanks, Tikki."

Marinette left the stall just a someone walked in.

"Lila."

Lila saw her and smirked. "Marinette." She walked towards her. "Still think going against me was a good idea? I told you, didn't I? You'd lose them all, even Adrien. As soon as someone better came along, they dropped you like dirt."

"Actually, I wanted to thank you." Marinette said with a shrug of her shoulders, expression indifferent. At that, Lila looked confused, so she elaborated. "If you hadn't done what you did, I never would've realized how little I mattered to them, for them to, as you said, 'drop me like dirt'. So thank you. Thank you for showing me their true colors. Thank you for showing me how much they were using me, and how much they depended on me for. Thank you."

"I-" Marinette didn't even give her the chance to respond as she left the bathroom and headed home, feeling like a huge weight was lifted off of her shoulders.

-x-

"I'm very proud of you, Marinette." Tikki said as Marinette walked home.

Marinette smiled down at her. "Thanks, Tikki. I didn't realize how much I needed to get that off my chest. Lila really helped me in a way. She showed me that they only kept me around because I was useful for them. But the second someone newer and shinier came along, they threw me out to make room for her."

"You didn't deserve that. You deserve better than them, Marinette."

"I know that now, Tikki. And I think I am going to transfer classes. And if they continue to pick on me in-between classes and in the halls after that, well, I might even have to switch schools. But I'm done being treated like this. I don't deserve this after all I've done for them."

Marinette walked into the bakery then.

"Hey, Sweetie." Sabine said, as she finished up with a customer. "We made you lunch. It's in the back." Sabine smiled and waved as the customer left.

"Thanks, Maman." Marinette said as she walked behind the counter to give her mother a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Of course, dear." She said. "And here," She said, "why don't you take some sweets as well?" Marinette grabbed two macarons; A strawberry one for her, and a blueberry one for Tikki. Inconspicuously, she put it into her purse, as she headed into the back.

She gave her father a hug and a kiss as well, as she joined him for lunch.

One thing she knew for sure though, as she listened to him describe what had happened at the bakery while she was at school, was that she knew her parents would always have her back, and support her in whatever she chose to do.

#my writing #miraculous ladybug #miraculous #marinette dupain cheng #tikki #lila rossi #sabine cheng #tom dupain #marinette deserves better #moving on #ml salt

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quicksilversquared · 4 years

Text

A Christmas Liar

After Ms. Bustier mentioned the annual school charity fundraiser in class, Lila seems determined to raise funds for her own "charity", aka herself. There's no way that Marinette is going to let that fly, but how successful will she be in taking Lila down in time for the holidays?

links in the reblog

It started with a normal morning in Ms. Bustier's homeroom class.

"As you all know, it's fast approaching the holiday season, and our collège always does a fundraiser for a charity before Christmas," Ms. Bustier told the class, smiling widely. The first few cut-out paper snowflakes had appeared in the classroom window that morning, and they all knew that the collection would only grow as December went on. "So remember to remind your parents to check their emails for details soon! Our student representatives have been hard at work brainstorming what to do this year."

Marinette smiled, even as she kept drawing in her sketchbook. Jagged Stone had commissioned an outfit for his Christmas present to Penny from her, and wanted the design ready to be sent to his seamstress as soon as possible so that he could have it ready in plenty of time. He had told her not to rush, of course- "you have so much going on, and I don't want to put you behind in your studies!"- but Marinette wanted to try to get things done early.

After all, akumas could appear and eat up her free time without any notice, and so she was going to take advantage of any extra time when she could.

"Oh, a charity fundraiser?" Lila asked from the back of the room, and Marinette mentally sighed before setting her pencil down. Clearly she wasn't going to get anything done now, if she had to deal with Lila's nonsense, and her nonsense-o-meter was going wild. "That's so wonderful! Do you think that- oh, no, I suppose it would come off a little self-appreciating, never mind..."

"No, go ahead!" Ms. Bustier reassured her quickly. "What is it that you wanted to ask, Lila?"

"Well, I was wondering if maybe I could put forth one of my charities to be considered for the fundraiser's proceeds," Lila told the class, and even without turning around, Marinette could picture the way that Lila would press a hand to her chest delicately, doing her best to look bashful. Adrien's eye roll from in front of her told Marinette that her mental picture probably wasn't very far off. "But I suppose that could come off as, well..."

Ms. Bustier perked up. "Oh, how could I have forgotten that we had someone in our class who had done so much charity work before? I don't think it would come off as self-serving at all! In fact, it could add an extra connection and an element of interest to the whole thing if the school picked one of your charities. Marinette, could-"

"Student council has already settled on a charity for this year's fundraiser," Marinette said at once, not even bothering to look up. She could see exactly where this was heading, and she was going to put a stop to it. Now.

In front of her, she could see Adrien's hastily-hidden grin out of the corner of her eye.

"But this is special, Marinette," Ms. Bustier implored. "Surely they'll understand and want to support a fellow student's charity efforts! This is a pretty unique opportunity!"

"We've had multiple meetings about it, thinned our selections down, did all of the background checks and verification on our final pick, filled out all of the paperwork to submit to Mr. Damocles, and let the charity know so that we could get more information to post around," Marinette informed her, because seriously? Ms. Bustier was going to fall for it, just like that? Also, she was super glad that she had pushed for the council to make the decision early this year, because at this time the previous year, they had been working on finalizing everything still, which would have made a last-minute change like this possible. It wouldn't have been fun, or easy, but it could have been possible. "We can't change it now."

Lila let out a small sigh from the back, and Marinette turned around just in time to see her shoulders slumping. "Oh, that's really a shame, then. For a minute there, I was picturing how much good I- we could do for the children in Africa with a bit of extra funding, but I suppose if they've already picked a charity..."

Ms. Bustier glanced from Marinette to Lila. "Marinette, do you think that we could do two charities instead of one, perhaps? It would just be so nice to be able to support Lila's charity!"

Marinette was honestly going to scream.

"I'm afraid that that would make things too complicated," she said instead, politely as she could and with as little teeth-gritting as possible. "We had a couple fundraiser activities in mind- which we agreed was important, in case an akuma attack keeps people away from an in-person event- plus a couple volunteering opportunities that we wanted to offer. Plus, there would be all of the paperwork and the background checks that would have to be done to add in another charity, and that's not exactly a short process. It's a lot of work."

There was also the fact that Lila didn't have any charities, and any money they earned would- if she managed to sneak her way through their careful screening process- no doubt go straight into her own pockets.

"Oh, I could fill out paperwork so that you guys don't have to!" Lila offered eagerly. "I don't mind, it's for the kids-"

"And the email letting parents know about our fundraiser and our selected charity is already scheduled to go out today," Marinette continued, raising her voice just ever-so-slightly to drown Lila out and making a mental note to talk to Aurore to actually get that email sent over lunch. It had originally been planned for tomorrow, actually, but Marinette wasn't going to give Lila any ins. "So the deadline for any changes has passed." She pasted on her best fake smile, trying not to let any signs of a smirk through as she looked back at Lila. "It's just not possible for this year, I'm afraid. Maybe you can bring it up for consideration earlier next year."

"I suppose that's fair," Ms. Bustier agreed. She smiled over at Lila. "It's my own fault for not bringing it up earlier, it just slipped my mind. Hopefully your charities will still get plenty of support! But right now, we're going to move on to today's lesson. If everyone could please get out your notebooks, we're going to start with a quick video..."

Marinette smiled to herself as she put her sketchbook away and opened up her notebook to a fresh page. This probably wasn't the last that she would hear about Lila's so-called "charities", but at least Ms. Bustier had dropped the subject and she wouldn't be getting pressure from that angle.

Now she just had to be ready for Lila's other attempts to get her hands on charity money.

"I am so glad that you already had stuff all finalized," Adrien said in Marinette's ear as they headed for their next class. Lila was ahead of them, surrounded by several of their classmates. "I got worried for a minute there when Ms. Bustier hopped on the Lila's charity thing."

"I'm just glad that it's a school-wide thing, not just a class-wide fundraiser," Marinette admitted, glancing around to make sure that no one was going to overhear them. She had managed to get out of being blamed for deliberately denying Lila's "charity" a chance to get more money because she wasn't the only person in charge of the fundraiser, and she didn't want anyone in their class mishearing and blowing things out of proportion. Again. "I mean, it's obvious that Lila jumped on that because I'm class representative and she wanted to put me in a bad spot, but she couldn't when I'm just one of the people involved in that process."

Adrien nodded. "Yeah. I was so sure that she was going to drop it after you mentioned the background check and verification thing, though, and then she didn't. Which is...weird, honestly."

"Not really. If we tried going forward and I was the one doing the check, she would probably just say that I was making stuff up about her charity out of jealousy or spite and that was why it failed or something." Marinette had thought the same, honestly, but it became apparent pretty quickly what Lila was up to. Lila wasn't nearly as sly as she thought she was. "I'm surprised that she didn't jump on that and complain that I was just making the background check thing up because I was doubting her. Ignoring, of course, that we want to have statistics in our flyers and posters and emails about how the money is used, and how much work they get done, and their rating by a charity watchdog. That's standard."

"Which is why she wanted to do her own paperwork," Adrien added. He made a face. "I bet that she's still going to try to piggyback off of the fundraiser somehow, or at least rope people into donating some of their own money. I already heard Rose bringing it up, and Alya mentioned something to Nino about posting something on the Ladyblog."

Marinette winced. That wasn't good. She would have to forward the link to their charity watchdog site to Alya later on, maybe under the guise of providing a resource to get all sorts of charity statistics at once to put in her posting. That didn't guarantee that Alya would look at it, of course, but it was worth a try.

(Also, she could use her throwaway account to point out the charity's questionable status, and then- well, hope that other people would see her post and upvote it.)

"She's really going too far now," Adrien said after a moment, pulling Marinette out of her brainstorming of how she could keep Lila from pocketing a bunch of charity money. "I mean, she has been for a while, especially when she tried to get you expelled, but this is just the cherry on top of a heap of awful. I just don't know... I mean, she's sunk her claws in really deep now, I don't know how to fix it. I guess I should have recognized it earlier, but..."

"Well, there's no point in worrying about what we should have done earlier now," Marinette said as they went through the door for their next class, though she couldn't help but feel a bit validated, since she had wanted to stop Lila's lies ages ago. "We can brainstorm later, if you can get away for lunch. I was going to talk to Aurore then anyway."

Adrien looked puzzled for a moment, then caught on with a grin. "Aha, right, since she's on student council too. Is she the one in charge of submitting paperwork?"

"No, that was me. She's in charge of sending out the emails to families." Marinette grinned up at him. "And I bet that we can do a bit of damage control with that."

-0-0-0-0-

Aurore was all too willing to bring her lunch over to the Dupain-Cheng bakery instead of eating in the school cafeteria. After all, she told them as they headed upstairs, her lunch was leftovers and best served warm, and the cafeteria microwave was gross.

Marinette could believe that. Aurore had already floated the idea of setting up either a roll of paper towels near the microwave so that people could cover their dishes to keep the contents from exploding all over, or going the more environmentally-friendly route of having microwave plate covers instead, which could then be washed daily in the industrial dish washers that the cafeteria kitchen had. Clearly it was a Big Deal for her.

"You said you wanted to talk about the email right?" Aurore asked finally, finishing her grumbling about someone who had apparently microwaved fish and ugh, the smell was awful. "I thought it was meant to be going out tomorrow? I have a draft that's almost complete, I was just going to review it tonight to make sure that it was perfect, but do you need something changed?"

"We had a situation come up in our class this morning," Marinette told her, leading the way into their kitchen. Her mom had left out food for her and Adrien, it just had to be warmed up and assembled. "I don't know how much you've heard about the new girl in our class..."

Aurore frowned. "Lila? The one with the questionable stories?"

Adrien laughed. "Okay, so we aren't the only ones with working brains in the school, that's good to know. Yeah, her."

It didn't take long to get Aurore caught up, and predictably, she was furious at the idea of Lila trying to hijack their fundraiser funds.

"This is going to go one of two ways, I know it," she told them, pulling out her laptop and getting it set up next to her on the table. "Either this girl is going to make up a charity- name, mission, and all- or she's going to find a charity that already exists, and then she'll claim credit for it. The first one is easy enough to disprove, because no one will be able to find anything about the charity. We could just put a reminder in the email about checking charities out before donating to them, and then enter that link we've been using. But the second one...well, she could use their rating and reputation to collect money, and then- if I'm reading her character right- keep it all for herself."

They all thought about that.

"Well, if Alya posts anything on the Ladyblog, in theory any donations would have to be electronically, though a website," Marinette pointed out after a minute. "As for in-person donations, I would say that people should use checks instead of cash, but I don't know how many people use checks anymore, and besides, that's not going to stop her from cashing them if she wants."

Adrien made a choked, horrified noise in the back of his throat. "It- it won't? How do you even know that?"

"But it might deter her, since that's a traceable crime," Aurore pointed out, her eyes gleaming. She snapped her fingers. "And as for the Ladyblog- if she's capable of creating a website that looks decent, she might give Alya a link for that. So that's still a problem-"

"-unless we notice that and bring it to the attention of the police!" Adrien exclaimed, sitting up straight. He winced. "I'd hate to get Alya in trouble, but otherwise people will be thinking that they're doing something good and helping people in need when actually, they're just giving Lila spending money. And if she told them that Lila gave her the link, then she'd get off pretty fast."

Marinette nodded. Alya would probably be a thundercloud that they had gone to the police first instead of her, but she couldn't say that they hadn't warned her. She just never listened when it came to Lila.

"So we can put in a line reminding people to check charities before they donate and to make sure that any links they follow for charities go to the actual website," Aurore finished. Her fingers tapped away at her keyboard. "My older brother is a computer whiz, so I can text him and ask about things people should look for to make sure that a site is the real deal. Then I can get that typed up and sent during study hall, so it'll go out today."

Marinette could only grin. Maybe Aurore could be hotheaded at times, but there was no denying that she could really pull through. "That would be great."

Unsurprisingly, Lila sold a sob story to Alya about her charity's website being down at the moment, so she couldn't provide a link right away.

"We're working on it, of course, because this is the best time of the year to get donations and we're going to fall so far behind with every day we miss, but the entire system is down and our tech guy is having trouble," Lila told Alya, looking positively wilted. "It's so upsetting! The longer it's down, the fewer people find out about our work, and the less budget we have to work with next year."

"That's terrible!" Alya exclaimed, frowning, and Marinette exchanged an exasperated look with Adrien. "I just wish there was a way to help..."

"Maybe you could post about our school charity instead, for the time being," Marinette suggested dryly. "Since Lila's charity is on the table for next year anyway."

"But we need budget for this year!" Lila repeated, and- yep, she was gritting her teeth. The glare that she flashed Marinette left no question that she had been trying to set up some sort of fake website and the email the night before had thrown her off. Either she was trying to make a more convincing website or- more likely- she was just hoping to wait until the reminder to be careful had faded from people's minds. Or she had had to abandon the online idea entirely in favor of throwing a pity party for herself in hopes of getting cash donations with the help of their classmates, if that hadn't already been the plan all along. "If we wait for a maybe next year, we could go into debt and collapse!"

Alya was looking worried now. "Marinette, are you sure that the student council can't switch charit-"

"It's all set up. We can't change anything, Alya, we established that yesterday." Marinette spared a glance at Lila, who was clearly working to keep a poker face. "Maybe Max can help you with your website issues, he's quite good at stuff like that. We wouldn't want you missing out on donations, after all."

"Oh, I couldn't," Lila simpered, glancing towards Max as well. "We, uh- well, my tech guy is back in Italy, so they wouldn't be able to work together, and he's quite protective of the system. Plus we were in the middle of upgrades when everything crashed, so that makes everything more complicated."

"We'll figure something out, Lila," Alya promised, patting the other girl's arm. Marinette took that as her cue to leave, but she wasn't going to go far. She needed to be able to overhear, after all. "We don't want those kids in Africa to suffer, after all! We can brainstorm before class."

Adrien caught Marinette's eye as she came back to her seat. "It sounds like she's just going to go another way, but isn't about to give up."

"No, she's got the idea of getting money into her head, and she's not about to give it up." Marinette kept her voice low, so that no one would overhear. "Which means that we need to come at the problem at a different angle. Any suggestions?"

Adrien looked unexpectedly delighted at being consulted, but then he paused, clearly not coming up with any ideas. "Uh."

"My first instinct would be to try to warn Alya and Rose and whoever else is going to get sucked in, but we all know how well that would go over," Marinette said, just to fill in the space. "They would clamp down and refuse to listen."

Adrien nodded. "Yeah. But I like what you did yesterday, where you made it sound like you would have gone along if you could and suggested trying next year. Then everyone thought that you weren't fighting against her-"

"-and was actually willing to listen!" Marinette finished, smiling. It was an approach that Tikki had suggested, and she was glad that it had worked. Well, sort of. It had worked in the moment, but just- apparently- pushed the problem off for later. "Yeah, that was nice."

"Maybe we could do something similar now," Adrien suggested. "And offer to be helpful by providing that link still. Like, it doesn't need the website, right? Just the charity name."

Marinette grinned. "Right. And there's no way that she can get around not telling anyone her charity's name. And if she does...well, either it's made up, or she's going to pick a real charity and we can find the real website."

"And congratulate Lila on her site getting back up so quickly," Adrien added with a small laugh. "It's a pain to deal with her, but I'm actually curious about what she's planning on doing going forward. Like, how long can she play this game? She's going to run out of escapes soon enough."

"Yeah, I don't know..." Marinette trailed off as Alya slid into her seat, and she and Adrien exchanged one last look before he turned back to the front, greeting Nino as his best friend entered the classroom.

"Man, I can't believe what bad luck Lila has, to have her charity's website crash at a time like this," Alya said glumly, sliding into her seat. "Lila is stressed about it, of course, but she has so many other obligations for her other charity work that she can't go out and do a collection, not that it would be easy with her throat still recovering from her laryngitis surgery. She can't be out in the cold for more than ten minutes without it causing a ton of pain, which can't be fun at all."

...Naturally.

"I want to help, but if we don't have a working link to put on the Ladyblog, I just don't know..." Alya trailed off. "I mean, we could do a door-to-door, I guess, but that only ever gets fairly minimal donations. And there's so many people who set up near the Eiffel Tower, we wouldn't have a chance. But- oh!" Alya perked up as another thought hit her. "We could put posters up at school, so more people know about it and maybe help us!"

Yeah, how about no.

"That's actually against school rules," Marinette said idly, flipping through her notebook as she waited for Ms. Bustier to call for a start to class. "All posters posted in the building have to be approved by Student Council normally, so that the walls don't get too cluttered, but there's an amendment to that that say that if the school is doing a charity fundraiser, posters promoting other charities can't go up during that time. I think it's to keep the effort from getting too splintered and distracted."

Alya slumped. "Oh."

That was not actually a lie, though clearly Adrien thought it was, if the slight frown on his face was anything to go by. Marinette had picked through the guidelines to make sure that she knew every rule that she could use to turn Lila's attempts aside, and apparently the Student Council had come up with and voted to implement that particular rule at some point in the past.

"Maybe you could do a surprise collection," Marinette suggested. "As a Christmas gift to Lila." She was improvising, admittedly, but this would be a good way to keep Alya and Rose and whoever else was getting sucked in from asking Lila too much and giving her chances to control the narrative. "If you ask her what the name of her charity is, and then you can use the website that we were using on Student Council to look at charities- it has all sorts of stats that you could use, information about charities and their work. That way, you don't need to bother Lila for all that when she's so busy."

"Oh, good idea!" Alya exclaimed. She grabbed Marinette's arm. "You know, none of the rest of us has ever organized any sort of charity fundraiser before- if we put you in charge of that-"

"I'm already busy, Alya," Marinette pointed out. She wasn't about to go make a fool of herself collecting money for a charity that didn't exist, not when she had a million other things to do. "The fundraiser for the school is already going to take up all of my time. I can send you the link that we used, but that's it."

"Oh, but-"

"She already said no, Alya," Adrien cut in, so Marinette didn't have to. "Marinette was telling me about that entire process yesterday, and it sounds like a lot of work and planning to pull something off at the level the school is planning. Asking her to plan another thing on top of that for you, instead of doing it yourself- that's not fair to her."

"I just thought that it might be a good way to repair the bad blood between the two of them!" Alya objected, frowning. "Since Marinette wasn't very welcoming when Lila first arrived."

Marinette narrowly withheld a snort. Gee, I wonder why?

"But if you're busy, I guess you can wait to try to mend that bridge later," Alya added. She sighed. "We probably won't be able to raise as much money, though, since we don't have your experience."

"Mmm," Marinette managed noncommittally, ignoring the clear attempt at a guilt-trip in favor of checking her email on her phone. Alya really had been spending too much time with Lila if she was starting to act just the same. Hopefully she would cut that out after Lila's lies had been exposed and everyone realized what a manipulator she was.

Marinette's phone lit up with a text, and she didn't hesitate to open it at once.

Adrien: Remember, if you commit homicide, you won't be around to gloat when people discover the lies.

Marinette snorted in amusement.

Marinette: I'm going to gloat for a solid MONTH after she gets found out. I wasn't very welcoming? Try SHE was a bully from the start and I wasn't about to tolerate that.

In front of her, Adrien's head gave a tiny nod as he put his phone away, just in time to start class. Marinette locked her phone and put it away, resigning herself to what was probably going to be a week of poorly-concealed efforts to get her into the extra fundraising before Alya either dropped it or realized that something was up with Lila's "charity".

At least now she had Adrien on her side.

The school fundraiser was going well as they marched steadily closer towards the holidays, their online portal showing just how much money had already been raised by people going through the link that they had both sent out and posted on the school site. There was going to be a bake sale before the break too, with each family asked to donate two dozen cookies for them to sell at their booths near City Hall and (courtesy of Chloe) in the Grand Paris.

Marinette was really happy. People were being generous, and it really was a very deserving charity to receive the funds. On top of that, Adrien had asked for her help in baking his family's two dozen cookies, so they would get to hang out together.

(She was going to ignore the fact that Alya had tried to convince her to make another extra two dozen cookies because Lila "wasn't going to have time" because "all of her charity work"; that attempt had fallen flat when Marinette had just point-blank asked Alya why, exactly, Alya didn't just do that herself. At least with Adrien, he was just a novice baker and was going to be actively participating in the baking, but he just wanted help to be sure that his attempt turned out edible and it was a good excuse to hang out with one of his friends.)

And possibly best of all...well, Aurore's tech-savvy older brother had pulled through for them again.

"I was looking at the email that we had on file for Lila, and something about it just didn't seem right," Aurore told them as they sat together in a private study room in back of the library over lunch. "The domain on it, to be exact, because it was '.net' instead of, oh, I don't know, something actually related to the government. And my brother agreed, so we did a little searching."

Marinette was pretty sure that her jaw was on the ground. Next to her, Adrien wasn't doing much better. "You mean she was keeping her mom from finding out about everything school-related? I wondered how she got away with skipping so much school! And she was probably emailing as her mom, too, to confirm whatever stories she was telling."

Aurore grinned. "Exactly. So we did some digging, and found Mrs. Rossi's actual email. It's almost the same, just with a different domain. So I'm trying to think of what to send that wouldn't sound weird, because obviously we need confirmation that this is the right address so we can get Mr. Damocles to change it for the school system, but I don't want to come off as accusing or anything and have her tip Lila off accidentally."

Marinette exchanged a look with Adrien as she thought about it. "Well, we could just send the fundraiser email again with a comment about how we think that maybe her email was mis-entered before and is this one the correct one that we should be using. That's pretty straightforward and it asks for a response, and she might not even think to say anything about it to Lila."

"Ooh, I like that." Aurore typed that in at once, giving it a quick once-over to make sure that there weren't any errors and that the email had been entered correctly before sending it. "So, what else is going on in Ms. Bustier's homeroom? Anything new with the not-a-charity?"

"Alya's been confused about why our watchdog site doesn't list anything about Lila's 'charity'- she decided to go for the make-one-up route, apparently- and she's still been trying to find stuff on it just on Google, but apparently no connection has been made," Marinette told them, trying not to roll her eyes. "I know she and Rose were talking about trying to just go ahead with a collection of sorts anyway, so I forwarded an email talking about the importance of keeping track of how much money they raised, down to the last cent, in a ledger sort of thing." She couldn't hold back the grin. "Which Rose is really into. So even though they're trying to collect money for Lila still, at the end she won't be able to keep any of it because there'll be record of how much money they collected."

"Which, if we get in contact with Mrs. Rossi, we can make sure that that gets paid back in full!" Adrien exclaimed, scooping Marinette up in a hug for a long few seconds. Marinette prayed that she wouldn't turn red and make things weird. "Genius!"

"As long as Rose doesn't give that to Lila," Aurore pointed out. She raised an eyebrow at Marinette's head-shake. "No? You've already taken care of that?"

"She'll give Lila an electronic copy, but not the hard copy. I suggested that she might want to hold onto that to show what she did for future charity work. Which I still think is a good idea, even if Lila's charity is a sham. It doesn't change the fact that she was doing all of the bookkeeping."

Aurore made a face. "I am so glad that Samuel is doing our bookkeeping for the non-online donations, because that stuff is not fun. It's really fiddly, and if anything gets off..."

Marinette nodded. Things had gotten off fairly early on, and she had head Samuel- another member of Student Council- complaining about having to go through everything to figure out where his mistake was. Since then, he did regular, frequent checks so that he wouldn't have to go through absolutely everything again, just the most frequent donations. Admittedly, Rose was working with much smaller amounts of money- most people wanted more information on what they were donating to than just the name and "helping kids in Africa" if they were going to toss more than an euro or two into the collections basket- but it was still good practice.

Aurore's computer let out a ding, and she pulled up the student council email at once. "We already got a response! Mrs. Rossi says that yes, this one is correct, please keep using it and thank you for catching the error and were there any other recent emails that she might have missed. I'm going to forward this to Mr. Damocles with a message to note the change in email address, just a second- and done."

"Nice job," Marinette told her, leaning across the table to bump fists with Aurore. After a second's thought, she fist-bumped Adrien, too, so that he wouldn't feel left out. "That's one more thing off of our plates."

Their fundraiser finished right before holiday break with a silent auction, with all of the items up for purchase having been donated by parents, teachers, extended family members, community business owners, and- in the case of an array of signed CD cases and posters- Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, and several of their musician buddies, after Marinette had approached Jagged Stone with the request.

And of course, everyone was invited. Posters had been put up outside of the school and emails had been sent out, reminding everyone about the time and date and their charity, plus attaching a list of the items up for auction to get people's interest.

"My mom so wanted to make it, but work came up," Lila told several of their classmates when she arrived at the auction, looking sad. "And there were several things that she was really interested in, like the-"

"Ooh, barf, I can see what you mean," Aurore said, materializing at Marinette's side and wrinkling her nose at Lila. "That's a pretty obvious ploy to get people to buy things for her, isn't it? Or at least to pitch in some of their own money to help her, so that she won't have to pay them back."

Marinette nodded. It really was disgusting, but at least now Lila was moving off with the group towards one of the items so that they didn't have to hear her. She was steering clear of the signed Jagged Stone things, oddly enough, but maybe that would be a dead giveaway that she didn't actually know him. After all, Jagged Stone would sign anything put in front of him, so her going out of her way to buy a signed item when she was supposedly on great terms with him would be pretty strange.

"Do you think her mom actually can't make it, or Lila just assumed that she wouldn't know about the auction and didn't tell her?" Adrien asked. His arm was tucked through Marinette's, though she was pretty sure that it was just so that he wouldn't lose her in the crowd. "Is the fake email still on the list?"

Aurore nodded. "Yeah, up until this morning. I cleared it off so that there wouldn't be any confusion going forward."

"And I would place bets on Lila assuming that her mom doesn't know anything," Marinette added. "She wouldn't want to risk anyone asking her mom about her charity." She grinned and pointed as she noticed someone new stepping into the school. "And look, over there."

The other two looked. There, standing in the entryway and looking around, was Mrs. Rossi. She really didn't look much like Lila, but it was easy enough to recognize her from her official embassy photo.

(Her official embassy photo, where she wasn't listed as the actual ambassador, but just one of the embassy staff, but that- well, that was an interesting little tidbit that Marinette was going to sit on for a little bit longer.)

"Oh, she's spotted Lila," Aurore said gleefully, craning her neck to follow Mrs. Rossi as she wove through the crowds. "And- whoops, Lila sees her!"

Marinette hastily smothered a laugh. If Lila's expression was anything to go by, she definitely hadn't realized that her mom was getting emails from the school and was going to be coming. She had never seen the other girl look so pale before.

"I'd ask if I should go get some of that amazing-smelling popcorn that they're selling so that we can watch, but honestly, I kind of just want to let things take their course and find out later," Adrien said, glancing down at Marinette. "There's some pretty cool items up for auction that I want to check out."

Marinette considered that. On one hand, she wanted to watch Lila's downfall. On the other... well, she had been keeping an eye on the whole Lila fiasco for a while now, and she was kind of tired of it. It would probably be a bit awkward to watch, too, and there was no guarantee that it would happen right away, and they were too far away to hear anything besides.

...yeah, her decision was pretty well made.

"That sounds like fun," Marinette told him, before glancing over at Aurore. "What about you?"

"I might go point Mr. Damocles in her direction," Aurore commented, glancing around the crowd. "Or maybe that can wait until later, since I don't want to throw everything at Mrs. Rossi at once and disrupt the auction with an akumatization." She sent them a slightly sheepish grin. "But you know I like my gossip, so..."

Marinette had to laugh. That was so very Aurore. "All right. We'll bump into you later, then."

Aurore grinned in return, and then was off. Marinette watched her go for a moment, then let Adrien lead the way off into the crowds surrounding the tables. It was amazing to be able to sit back and relax after the past weeks of planning and making sure that everything, from the online link to the cookie sale to this, was going to go off without a hitch. They were well on track raise more money this year than they had any other year, and that was amazing.

And to think that she had had a hand in setting all of this up...well, Marinette just couldn't be prouder.

It was fun investigating all of the donations with Adrien, even though- as part of Student Council and also part of the team that had photographed and logged all of the donated items- she had seen them all before. Marinette couldn't help but peek at the bids despite herself, grinning when she saw some of the higher ones.

"This is amazing," Adrien commented once they had made the rounds and had gone to browse through the assorted refreshments available for purchase. "There were a lot of nice things donated. And people are definitely bidding plenty of money."

"Yeah, some people will spend more to win the prize than it's worth," Marinette told him. "Like with the voucher for stuff from our bakery- the top bid right now is for more than the value of the voucher. It's interesting, but I think that people see it as buying the item, and then making a donation on top. Or something, I don't know."

"That's really cool," Adrien commented, then pointed. "Oh, look, Nathalie and the Gorilla are here! They said that they might show up and do some shopping. I honestly thought that Nathalie was just saying that to be nice, because she's been sick and hasn't wanted to go out, but I guess she's been feeling better lately."

"Oh, that's good," Marinette said, before a memory made her frown. "Wait, I thought you commented on her being sick, like, three months ago. Is she still having problems?"

Adrien shrugged, but he was frowning, too. "I don't know. She had been having these weak, dizzy spells like Mom used to before she disappeared for a bit before I commented on it at school, I think. Maybe whatever treatment she was getting finally kicked in, I don't know."

Marinette frowned even deeper. Nathalie had been showing the same symptoms as Adrien's mom before she vanished? That was a really weird coincidence. And for both of them- presumably both, at least- to have those same symptoms for an extended period of time?

If Mrs. Agreste and Nathalie had been related, Marinette might have guessed that it was a genetic thing. But since they weren't- again, that was an assumption- then the chances of them both separately having the same condition...

"I cannot believe that I fell for such a manipulative, thieving, disgusting liar!"

Alya materialized at Marinette's side, clearly steaming. Rose, Mylène, and Juleka weren't far behind her. Rose looked like she was close to tears, and the other two just looked lost.

"Pardon?" Adrien asked politely, but Marinette could see the amusement glimmering in his eyes.

"Lila's been leading us all around by the nose, making up stories about her life and about her nonexistent charity- and I've missed a dozen akuma attacks because I was wandering around in the cold, trying to raise money for her! I offered to make a posting on the Ladyblog so that I could put up a link to her site to raise more money! She was probably just planning on pocketing it all!" Alya scowled deeper. "I can't believe we fell for it! And aren't you even surprised?" she demanded when neither Adrien nor Marinette reacted. "At all?"

"Are we meant to be?" Adrien asked dryly. "After Marinette's spent so long calling Lila a liar?"

Alya faltered for a moment, then scowled deeper. "You- you knew, but you didn't warn us?"

"Yes, because pointing out the obvious lies worked so well the first several dozen times I did it," Marinette said, adopting the same dry tone that Adrien had used. "And I gave you the watchdog charity link to use. I rather thought that its complete lack of anything about Lila's charity might tip you off."

Alya faltered. "Oh."

"But we still gave Lila money that was meant for charity," Rose said tearfully. Juleka pulled her to her side, trying to comfort her. "And it was a decent amount, too."

"You have your log, right?" Marinette reminded her. "If you tell Lila's mom how much Lila got for her 'charity', then I bet that she can get that money back to you and you can donate it to another charity."

Rose perked up at once, tears drying up magically. "Oh, that's right! We can still put that money to good use! I'm glad you suggested that we keep track of everything, Marinette."

"Yeah," Juleka agreed. "Lila sucks, but at least we can get the money back."

"We should go talk to Lila's mom before she leaves," Rose decided. She dug in her bag, pulling out the ledger notebook that she had been using for their charity collections. "Aha! Yes, I have the amount we gave Lila yesterday written here. C'mon, let's go make sure that Mrs. Rossi knows!"

"Well, all's well that ends well," Adrien said cheerfully as the other girls headed off. "I bet this isn't how Mrs. Rossi saw her evening going, and Lila definitely wasn't expecting any of this, but at least now the adults can figure everything out and Lila can actually see some consequences. And hopefully next semester, there'll be less drama now that she'll be restrained- or gone, if Mrs. Rossi or Mr. Damocles decides that Lila staying here wouldn't be a good idea."

"Hopefully," Marinette agreed. She grinned over at Adrien. "But that's enough worrying about Lila and her nonsense for tonight. I think we should just sit back and enjoy the evening, don't you?"

Adrien beamed back. "I couldn't agree more."

#Miraculous Ladybug #my writing #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste

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half-bakedboy · 3 years

Text

quarantine is a lot sweeter with you on my screen (read on ao3)

Pairing: Alec Lightwood/Magnus Bane Rated: Gen Summary: “Daddy, look! Mr. Bane is at Timmy’s house and he already went to Becca’s and Christy’s and he said he’s dropping off treats for all of us!” If Alec wasn’t already in love with Magnus, he would have been at that. The kids had all missed seeing their teacher’s face in person and even through a terrible storm, Magnus was making a visit to each of their doorsteps with gifts.

Magnus was making a visit to each of their doorsteps.

Magnus was going to be at Alec’s home.

For @malecdiscordserver Prompt Advent Event

There were about a million other things Alec could picture himself doing on one of the snowiest days of the season. It might have only been the middle of December, but Alec worked from the safety of his living room and didn’t think he would have to go out in a storm this year. The snow dampened his hair and his fingers were tingling from the sudden onslaught of heat as his daughter, Lil, opened the door to the bakery just down the street.

“The Lightwoods!” The person behind the counter shouted, “I haven’t seen the pair of you in here since before the plague! How is my favorite girl doing?” Lil ran to the counter and jumped excitedly, but Alec rested his hands on her shoulders before she could touch everything in sight.

“Lil, remember what I’ve been teaching you. Hands to yourself and keep a safe distance,” Alec corrected as Lil pouted up at him.

“I know, daddy. I don’t wanna spread germs to Ms. Loss,” Lil resigned, still grinning widely at the baker. Catarina had always been kind to Lil and in the current state of the world, Alec was grateful for the few friendly people he was able to interact with.

“Have you guys been staying safe?” Catarina asked as Lil took a close look through the glass, eyeing every treat she had to choose from.

Alec nodded and said, “I’m working from home so this one can get her remote learning done. She’s pretty self-sufficient for her age so I feel pretty lucky.” He patted Lil’s hair who swatted his hand at the interruption. The adults both laughed as Lil stopped, her eyes widening over what must have been her favorite dessert.

“Daddy, this one! I want this one and Mr. Bane is going to die because it’s his favorite color,” Lil practically shrieked as she bounced on her tiptoes to point it out, careful to keep her finger away from the glass. Alec praised her for it as Catarina took the cupcake out of the display.

“Are you preparing for one of Magnus Bane’s infamous zoom parties?” Catarina asked. The second the name left her lips, Alec felt himself blush. He was grateful for the mask covering his cheeks so that it wasn’t too obvious, but Catarina seemed to take his pause into consideration.

“You know Mr. Bane?” Lil asked with wide eyes. Alec thought it was adorable how much she looked up to her second grade teacher. Couple that with the kind woman who made her delicious treats and Lil probably felt like she was the luckiest girl in the world.

Catarina nodded as she put the cupcake in a special box and said, “I do. He’s been my best friend for about as long as you’ve been alive!” Lil squealed at that, her eyes darting from Alec to Catarina in sheer excitement.

“That is so cool! Is Mr. Bane gonna throw an awesome party today? I was sad when we couldn’t have it in the classroom, but Mr. Bane said it’s gonna be just as fun on the computer and he had a surprise for us!” Alec laughed as he pulled out his wallet to pay Catarina for the cupcake. She winked at him and she threw in a few of his favorite cookies. Alec made sure to tip her extra well.

“Mr. Bane’s virtual parties are the best and you both are gonna have so much fun!” Catarina said, clapping her hands together as Lil did.

“I’ll probably just hang back and let Lil do her thing, you know?” Alec said bashfully as he took the bag from the counter. Catarina stared at him like she had known something he didn’t and the look frightened him only a little.

“I’m sure Magnus would love to see you, Alexander,” she said and Alec noticed it was the first time she had ever used his full name, the name that Magnus called him the few times they had spoken. He briefly wondered - and hoped - if Magnus had mentioned him before but brushed the thought away as quickly as it had come. That would be ridiculous and Alec was nothing if not completely sane and not in love with his kid’s teacher.

“Well,” Alec said as he cleared his throat, “we better head back before the snow gets too bad. Stay safe, okay?” Catarina nodded and saluted to them as they walked away, Lil waving an energetic hand behind her.

“Thank you, Ms. Loss! Stay healthy!” Lil yelled as Alec tugged her out the door. Catarina’s laughter chimed through the air until the door shut behind them, silencing the speck of brightness she gave them.

Unfortunately, that meant that all Alec could think about was seeing Mr. Bane - Magnus - once they arrived back home. He had planned to sneak into the room a few times, out of sight of the camera, to make sure that Lil was behaving appropriately during her party in order to avoid making himself look like a fool in front of Magnus as was inevitable. Social interaction was not Alec’s specialty pre-quarantine and his skills were bound to have dimmed when the only constant contact he had was with an 8-year-old.

Before he had much time to panic, Lil’s voice broke him from his thoughts as she sprinted forward to their door, shouting, “Daddy, hurry up!” He laughed softly as he reached the steps and unlocked the door.

“You’re getting too quick for your old man, kiddo,” Alec teased, running a hand through his hair to melt the snow that had gathered on it. He should have worn a hat but he didn’t think two blocks would accumulate this much of a headache. Lil giggled as she toed off her boots and hung her jacket, hat, and gloves up on the drying rack as if the simple task was a race.

“I’ve always been quicker than you,” she said simply, squealing and dodging Alec’s hands as he reached for her with a growl. She ran toward the dining room where Alec had set up her work station and started booting up her laptop. Alec leaned against the doorframe and watched her consideringly. When he was 8 years old, he could barely make a sandwich, let alone work a laptop. He was pretty impressed with how well she had transitioned into their new way of learning and was once again grateful for having such a bright and competent child.

“Can you tell me how much more time until your party?” Alec asked as Lil started the log in process. She glanced down at the corner of the screen and wrote down the time before consulting with her clock cheat sheet.

“10 minutes!” She squealed, running to Alec to grab the treat from his hand. He pulled it up quickly and raised his eyebrows and Lil knew exactly what that meant. “Can I please have my cupcake, daddy?” She asked sweetly with the puppy dog eyes Izzy had taught her to do at too young an age. Alec rolled his eyes playfully and took the cupcake box out of the bag, handing it to Lil slowly.

“Careful!” He shouted as she sprinted back to her desk. Lil waved him off, sitting on her hands as she waited for the video screen to load.

Alec left her to it, keeping a close ear on the screaming kids and smooth voice he instantly recognized as Magnus’. He sounded almost out of breath and Alec was instantly intrigued as to what could have caused it, so he peeked his head into the dining room to see Lil’s wide grin spreading further on her lips.

When she noticed her dad, she screamed, “Daddy, look! Mr. Bane is at Timmy’s house and he already went to Becca’s and Christy’s and he said he’s dropping off treats for all of us!” If Alec wasn’t already in love with Magnus, he would have been at that. The kids had all missed seeing their teacher’s face in person and even through a terrible storm, Magnus was making a visit to each of their doorsteps with gifts.

Magnus was making a visit to each of their doorsteps.

Magnus was going to be at Alec’s home.

Alec dashed toward the bathroom to make sure his hair wasn’t too messed up from the snowy trek he had taken earlier and sighed when he saw that it was somehow still damp. He ran his hands through it a few times and pretended that it made a lick of difference before patting his rosy cheeks with some warm water.

“He’s coming here next, daddy!” Lil yelled joyfully and when Alec exited the bathroom, she had already started her sprint to the door.

“Put on your mask, sweetie!” Alec said quickly as he grabbed his own from the table in the entryway. Lil threw open the front door and the cold blast of air was enough to have Alec glancing up, but his eyes stayed glued to the beautiful bundled up form that was Magnus.

He had never met the teacher in person but he looked exactly as Alec would have expected him to. His coat was knee length and looked more expensive than Alec’s entire wardrobe. The dark maroon color matched perfectly with black boots and the necessary winter accessories. Magnus didn’t have a hat on and Alec felt weirdly comforted that Magnus had made the same decision as he had earlier, except Magnus’ hair somehow still looked perfect. Alec thought it wasn’t fair how perfect Magnus looked even with half of his face covered by a black mask with a large smile painted on it. The parts of his face that could be seen had his usual makeup that was unsmudged through the inclement weather. If Alec hadn’t known any better, he would think Magnus was made of magic.

“Mr. Bane!” Lil shrieked, jumping up and down, using her small hand on the door handle as leverage. She was giggling and squealing and Alec couldn’t remember the last time he had seen her that happy. He placed his mask over his face and met her at the door as Magnus made his way up the stairs.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite smiling face,” Magnus said as he approached, careful to stay a step down as to not break social distancing rules. Alec was simultaneously impressed and disappointed by it. “I do hope you weren’t too busy enjoying your cupcake, Ms. Lightwood,” Magnus teased as he brought the small gift bag he was holding behind his back in front of him. Lil’s eyes seemed to shine as she reached out for it. When she realized her arms were just a bit too short, she glanced hopelessly back at her father.

Alec chuckled and said, “I got it, Lil,” as he stepped up and reached for the bag on his own. His eyes connected with Magnus’ and he had to tear them away from the golden ones that gleamed back at him.

“I put an extra something special in there for you, Alexander,” Magnus said with a wink, and once again, Alec thanked the current pandemic for his easily hideable blush that spread across his masked cheeks. He leaned down to look at Lil and said, “Thank you for being such a wonderful student during this crazy time, Lil. I’ve been so lucky to have you in my class and I hope you enjoy some time away from your boring old teacher during winter break.”

Lil gasped and said, “You’re not boring, Mr. Bane, you’re the best!” Alec could see Magnus’ grin widen in the way his eyes creased at the corners. Alec loved that Magnus smiled with his entire face and it warmed something inside of him even through the cold breeze of the storm.

“I think that title belongs to you, my dear,” Magnus said as he straightened. “Why don’t you go look through your treats while I talk to your father, yeah?” Lil nodded excitedly and went to turn, but stopped abruptly to look seriously back at Magnus.

“I know I can’t give you a hug, but I am giving you a mental hug and my daddy says that those still make a person feel warm and cozy. Do you feel warm and cozy?” Lil asked, widening her eyes at her teacher. Magnus’s visible features softened as he nodded back.

“I feel the warmest and coziest I’ve felt in weeks, Lil.”

As his daughter pranced back to her chair, Alec laughed and said, “You really made her day by coming here. I’m sure all the kids have been excited to see you.” He rocked back and forth on his feet, suddenly nervous to be left alone and in person with Magnus for the first time.

“They have been. I know this time has been difficult for the little ones so I wanted to give them as much joy as I could,” Magnus said as if it was simple. Alec had known that Magnus had always gone above and beyond for his students but walking the streets of New York in a blizzard was more than anyone had probably expected.

“I wish you would have let me know!” Alec said quickly, playing with his fingers anxiously. “I would’ve made you a cup of coffee to take with you or given you a gift of your own,” he added when Magnus looked at him in confusion.

Magnus chuckled and said, “Well, I got the gift of seeing my favorite student and I have to admit,” he paused as if considering his next words, “getting to finally lay my eyes on her handsome father in person was my own little treat for the day.” Alec’s blush darkened and he ran a hand through his hair before scratching at his scalp.

“What do you think about getting a socially distanced cup of coffee after you’re done for the day?” Alec asked quickly before he could change his mind. He was sure then that Magnus was at least interested in him and he wasn’t about to let the opportunity of a date with the teacher pass him by.

“I’ll meet you here at 3?” Magnus answered as he backed down the steps toward the car that awaited him. Alec nodded and waved, fully aware that the wide smile on his face couldn’t be hidden by his mask.

“It’s a date!” He shouted, just to make sure they were on the same page. When Magnus waved back, Alec closed the door and leaned against it, sighing happily.

“Daddy, look what Magnus got you!” Lil yelled as she ran into the entryway, a cookie in hand. Alec recognized it immediately; it was the same kind Catarina had snuck into their order a few hours prior and happened to be his favorite flavor.

There was a note stuck on the bag and as Alec read it, he smiled brightly and couldn’t help but laugh.

“What does it say?” Lil asked, standing on her tiptoes to try and read it. Alec decided to keep it to himself.

Alexander, Quarantine is a lot sweeter with you on my screen.

#malec #malec fic #shadowhunters #magnus bane #alec lightwood #magnus x alec #alec x magnus #my writing #mdsevent #this is so CHEESY #but i wanted to write quarantine fluff #and this is what you get #as;ldkfjals;df #I hope you like it #<3 <3 <3 <3

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alexiessan · 4 years

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Never alone - Chapter Two - Soulmate AU

AO3

Previous - Here - Next

Master List

Hello! Faster than ever before, I present you the second chapter of Never Alone!

I chose to not describe Marinette with her clothes or hairstyle so that you can imagine her as you want! In my mind, since she's a fashion designer, I imagine her always changing her clothes and very fashionable. I don't see her with her pigtails either. But it's up to you as to how you see her!

Also, I'm French, so if there are any grammatical mistakes, do not hesitate to tell me so I can come back and correct them!

Two months in the new school year, and Marinette was already exhausted. While she had a very calm summer filled with outings with her friends, she was now drowning in work. Jagged wanted her to design his newest album cover, and Clara Nightingale has asked for a new outfit for a music video.

At school, Alya and Marinette were doing their best to find a good trip for the end of the year. The school had a decent amount of money that was set aside specifically for their class trip, but they would need to organize an event or two if they wanted to go somewhere outside of Europe. They were lucky enough that their class’ trip was set for their first year of high school: Mrs. Mendelieiv’s class’ trip was set for the next year, right before the first set of exams for the baccalaureat.

Along with all that, there was also her duty as Ladybug. Hawkmoth has been relatively calm during the summer, but as soon as school started again in September, he released his akumas again.

Except, now, they were more brutal than ever before.

Ladybug cursed as the Akuma managed to deeply cut her on her left side. She watched as Chat jumped in as she collapsed on the roof they were battling. True to his promise, Chat took his job more seriously and only joked during patrols now. He also stopped to jump mindlessly in front of her to save her from a hit and actually tried to get both of them out of the way.

The Akuma they were fighting was a dangerous one. His arm has been transformed into two big shears, and they hurt like hell.

Ladybug watched with fascination as her hand was tainted with her own blood. She couldn’t remember if an Akuma had hurt her that much before… She knew for sure that she was bleeding too heavily and she was getting a bit dizzy. They would need to end the fight very soon.

Standing up, she took advantage of the distraction Chat provided to trip the Akuma with her yoyo, succeeding in tripping him. Quickly, Chat snatched the man’s bow and used cataclysm on it.

As she cleansed the Akuma and watched the light heal Paris and herself as she cast the cure, the red-clothed superhero couldn’t help but think it was time to contact the Justice League again.

Back when they got their miraculous, she and Chat had contacted the Justice League of Europe to ask for help. They were just teenagers without any training entrusted to protect a whole city as big as Paris, and it was clear to them they couldn’t possibly do that alone.

The person they had talked to at the moment had listened to them, took note and told them they would come back to them after informing the heroes of the issue in Paris. It was a month later that one of the heroes contacted them, informing them they would not intervene in Paris, as they have been doing a good job up until now and the miraculous cure healed everyone and repaired everything. They then give them words of encouragement before they cut the connection.

Ladybug had then wanted to contact the Justice League of America before remembering they wouldn’t be able to do anything as France was certainly not under their jurisdiction.

And thus, there they were, still two untrained teenagers, acting on instinct against people with magic powers.

Great.

She let Chat take care of the victim, still feeling the pain on her left side, even though it was healed and there was not a trace of blood left on her person.

“Are you ok?”

Ladybug watched as the victim was taken care of by some policemen and turned her attention to her partner.

“I’m fine Chat. Sorry I had to let you handle everything.”

“Hey, you were hurt and losing a lot of blood. It’s a wonder you could even stand up afterward.”

The girl smiled. “Should we try to contact the JLE again?”

Chat Noir sighed. “Even though they won’t intervene, they are watching closely what’s happening here. If they haven’t decided to step in yet, contacting them won’t change anything LB.”

Ladybug sighed. “You’re right. Of course. I should go Chat, I’m about to transform back.”

“Sure thing. I’ll see you later, then.”

Back in her room, Marinette winced as she sat down on her bed.

“Are you really ok Marinette?”

Tikki was looking at her with her big, wide blue eyes. She was obviously worried.

“I’m fine, just a bit sore. I’m lucky that the cure healed me, but I think I’ll still feel the pain for a few days.”

While the cure healed her, the pain stayed for some time after, varying on the severity of the injury. Since her latest injure was pretty severe, it would hurt for a little while.

“Alright, I still have some homework to do for tomorrow. You should eat something and go to sleep Tikki, you must be tired after today. There should be a cookie or two on my desk.”

The kwami looked at her for a moment before flying over her desk, knowing it was useless to insist and there wasn’t anything she could do anyway. Even if she wished she could take Marinette’s pain away.

“Alright girl, you said you found something for the trip?”

It was early December now, and Marinette had asked Alya to join her in the school library to discuss the trip. The fashion designer took the laptop out of her bag and opened it to show her what she found.

“So, you know how the trip also has to be educational? This is the Wayne Career Program. It’s designed for high school students. Each one of us would shadow someone in the firm as a sort of internship to learn about different professions.”

“Putain, girl! That’s amazing. Wayne Enterprises have a lot of different sectors. I could totally work with the PR team if we can manage to secure a trip there. Plus it’s in Gotham, in America!”

Alya literally squealed at the idea of traveling overseas.

“Yeah, I’m a bit worried about that actually. You know it’s not really the safest place on Earth.”

And what an understatement that was. Gotham was probably the city with the most crimes in the world. It would be a miracle if the school allowed them to go. But then again, the school board would do anything to up their reputation and a class winning an internship at WE… The principal would boast about it years after they had all graduated.

“There is an essay we have to write to apply. I suggest we write it before we present the idea to Ms. Bustier. We also need to prepare arguments for her and the school board.”

“No problem girl, I already have tons of arguments there.” The reporter showed her her notebook where there were two pages filled with arguments. The class president nodded, those were really good. She could really rely on her friend.

“Well, that was quick. Those should be enough to convince them. On to the essay, then. ‘How do you think you can change the world?’”

They spent hours after that, taking notes and making several drafts of the essay. It took them a week to have the actual final product and when they handed it to Ms. Bustier, she was delighted. It was decided they wouldn’t announce the destination of the trip to the class until they were sure it could be a possibility.

Alya and Marinette had dropped hints about the destination though, to see if the class would actually like to go to Gotham.

After a week or so, they knew they had chosen well.

On Marinette’s birthday, on the 16th of December, after lunch where the whole class sang Happy birthday to her, the class president and the class deputy had a meeting with the principal and the board of the school.

It was tough to convince them, and the meeting actually lasted the whole afternoon, but at the end of the day, they had all signed the papers that confirmed that the trip would happen in Gotham, should the two girls won the contest. They even agreed to unfreeze some more funds for it. This program would really look good on the school’s record.

It was with a bright smile that they returned to class ten minutes before the end of the day bell and announced to everyone that the trip to Gotham has been confirmed. Using the classroom’s computer, the whole class witness as the two girls applied to the Wayne Career Program.

Now, all they had to do was wait for an answer.

Life after that was a bit calmer for Marinette, if you didn’t count the Akumas. She worried that they were more and more violent, and more often than not, she had lingering pain from injuries she got at Ladybug.

But life was good. Lila had even stopped lying and was herself. Even if it means that she wasn’t very kind to anyone, even mocking all of them at times, the class would just scoff and roll their eyes at her antics. The designer still wouldn’t talk to her, but the atmosphere in the class was lighter than the previous year, and for that Marinette was grateful.

They were all at an outdoor ice rink at the end of January when Marinette’s phone beeped with a notification.

“Oh fucking shit, guys!”

It caught everyone’s attention as the tiny Dupain-Cheng was not one to curse like that.

“I just got an email for Mr. Wayne’s secretary! Our class is among the nine others to have won the contest! We are going to Gotham in May!”

Everyone cheered at that, hugging each other and even going as far as carrying Marinette and Alya around, as it was their doing.

“America, here we come!” shouted Kim.

“You do realize that you will have to work extra hard on your English, right?” teased Max.

“Oh, shit.”

Everyone laughed at that, but it was agreed among themselves and their English teacher that they would all stay for an hour and a half after school to learn the language, up until their trip.

“I can’t wait to see Gotham’s heroes in action!” squealed Alya.

“Aren’t they vigilantes?” asked Mylène.

“Same thing!”

“Not quite, babe.” grinned Nino.

Even Lila was smiling with them, and it was huge progress in their book.

Marinette smiled, “We’ll be there for two weeks. The first week, we’ll be visiting around, and the second week will be dedicated to our internships. I will have to send a list of all our careers of interest to Mr. Wayne’s secretary, so they can organize who we will be shadowing. So, I’ll need you to send me those pieces of information this weekend, so I can send it on Monday, okay?”

“Roger that, boss.”

As Alya took her hand to skate with her around the rink, the baker’s daughter couldn’t help the huge smile on her lips. A year ago, there was a lot of tension in the class, and here they were, all laughing together and talking excitedly about the upcoming trip that their class president and deputy won them.

She could hear Rose talking excitedly about the things she wanted to see in Gotham. She watched as Kim challenged Alix on God knows what and laughed as Max stated that he had a two-percent chance of winning that bet. She smiled as Adrien, with them at an outing for once, fell on his butt and Nino laughed as he helped him up. She even grinned as she watched Lila having a conversation with Nathaniel without being mean or mocking him once.

She had thought a year before that Lila would never change, but she was wrong. And she was happy that she had been, because even though Lila wasn’t very nice, well, all her classmates were kind enough to make up for it.

Yeah, Marinette thought with a smile, life was good. And she had a feeling that it would be even better.

Tag list:

@bigpicklebananatree @animegirlweeb @crazylittlemunchkin @northernbluetongue @cutechip @justafanwarrior @iloontjeboontje @resignedcatservant

#ml x dc #miraculous x dc #maribat #daminette #maridami #damian x marinette

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marveloussupernerd · 4 years

Text

No Candy is Sweeter Than You - Saeran Choi

Happy Halloween! I hope you’ve enjoyed my randomly generated Halloween fics (I’ll prob do something similar for Christmas maybe). I just watched a YouTube video and it lowkey scared me ? So here’s some soft Saeran to primarily comfort me

Prompts: passing out candy, Saeran’s pretty excited, his favorite candy is m&ms 😉

Summary: Saeran wants to spend his first time ever celebrating Halloween by passing out candy with you at your house. Just some short fluff !

You were... surprised to say the least when you found out Saeran had never taken part in any Halloween festivities before. There was an RFA party planned, but he really didn’t feel like going, so you wanted to stay with him. Luckily, you lived in a neighborhood with a lot of children, so you invited him to come over and help you pass out candy.

He was all nervous at first. He googled how to pass out candy for Halloween. For some reason there’s a Wikihow article on that. It was practically his Bible.

“Are we wearing costumes?” He asked over the phone, calling you the day of to make sure he has everything planned out.

“We can. Why? Did WikiHow tell you to?” You teased. He laughed awkwardly. It did. “Okay. You have any idea what you want to wear?”

“Well they said to do something like a ghost that everyone will recognize,” he explained.

“But that’s so boring.”

He chuckled. “Okay. That’s fair. I wouldn’t know.”

“Halloween is a night you can be whatever you want!” You exclaimed. “Don’t you have anything in particular you’d like to be?”

“Could we... maybe do a couples’ costume?” He asked awkwardly. He sounded nervous over the line, his voice soft and somewhat hesitant.

“Of course! That’s a great idea.” You tried to make sure he could hear your smile even over the phone, hoping it would comfort him. It really was a good idea.

“Well... I was thinking... you know Hades and Persephone right?”

“Like the Greek mythology people?”

“Yeah... I thought it’d be kinda cool to dress like them. Uh, we don’t have to if you don’t want to though!” His words rushed together. “I just wanted to throw out a suggestion and-“

“Saeran that would be perfect. Greek God costumes are always popular too,” you reassured him. “Do you have what you need for it or do you wanna go shopping?”

“I have to run out and get a few things anyway! No problem. I can go get the candy too if you want.”

This sweet boy. “I can go with you,” you offered. You always liked spending time with him, even if it was just running errands together.

“Nope!” He denied you immediately, his voice surprisingly lighthearted for such a shut-down. “You stay home and get dressed up and relax. I’ll be over as soon as I have everything.”

“You sure you’ve got this? I’m more than happy to help.”

“I’m positive! I’m really excited and want to make it perfect.” You heard him laugh over the line, his laughter music to your ears. “See you soon. Love you.”

“Love you. Can’t wait to see you all dressed up.”

He hung up the call first, obviously in a rush to get everything together for the evening. You went to your closet and began tearing it apart for that Greek goddess dress you had worn how many years ago? Hopefully it still fit. (AN: if you never had a Greek goddess costume I’m sorry but ur in the minority)

You got to work doing your hair and makeup. You wanted to look absolutely perfect for Saeran, to make this day so special for him.

It was almost time for trick-or-treating to start. Luckily, you heard a knock on the door. Saeran was right on time. You opened the door. He was wearing all-black, spare a burgundy cape attached to his costume. He had an extravagant looking cane. His intimidating outfit, however, was offset by the bright smile on his face and the dozens of flowers peeking out from the top of a bag. “Saeran! You look so handsome Baby,” you complimented.

He blushed. “I got these for you.” He held out the flowers and you took them happily. “Can’t be the Goddess of Spring without a billion flowers. I picked them all myself,” he added proudly. You loved when he had his little ‘Ray’ moments, dabbling in his passion of gardening.

You took the flowers from him and got to work finding something to put them in. You didn’t have vases or anything in the house. You settled with a tall water bottle for now. He entered the house, setting the bag down on the counter. “I’ve got all kinds of good candy.”

You pulled out the bags, pouring the candy into a large bowl and took note of what he had decided to buy. “Reese’s, Kit Kat’s, M&Ms, Skittles... you even got fun sized bags of sour patch kids!? I’m impressed.”

“See, that WikiHow article isn’t all that bad,” he defended, a small smile playing on his lips as he realized how ridiculous he sounded.

“Do you not have a favorite?”

“Favorite candy?” He questioned, eyes glancing over the types in front of him. “Not really. I was never allowed to have it.” He shrugged it off, as though it wasn’t a big deal, but you were shocked.

“Okay! Well throughout the night we’ll try all the different candies and pick your favorite.” You decided, nodding your head. He nodded his head in agreement.

“Oh! I almost forgot.” He rummaged in the seemingly endless bag. “I made this for you too.” He pulled out a flower crown. It was really pretty. You bowed your head slightly and he put it on for you.

“It’s perfect. Completes the costume. You did this all today?”

“All today. I hope you like it.”

“Oh Saeran, I love it.” You cupped his cheek with your hand and pulled him close for a kiss. Just before your lips could touch, you heard the doorbell ring.

Saeran broke away, far too excited to be disappointed in the interruption. “Our first trick-or-treater!”

You giggled, grabbing the bowl and following after him. It was a little boy dressed as Mickey Mouse. “What do you say?” His mother asked him.

“Trick or treat!” He squealed. You giggled. Saeran took a handful of candy from the bowl and dropped it into his bag.

“I love your costume, Mickey. You look great!” He exclaimed. He was SO CUTE. After he left, it was time for Saeran to try his first candy of the night. He shut his eyes and pulled out a pack of sour patch kids. He popped an orange one into his mouth.

“They’re fine. I like how they’re really sour at first. The sweet part’s just okay though,” he commented. It was like a food critic giving his review. It made you laugh again. The doorbell rang. He set the candy aside and opened it up.

“Oh my! Snow White! Aren’t you so beautiful!” You exclaimed, fawning over the girl dressed as a princes. You gave her her candy.

“I’ve got something special for you too Princess!” Saeran exclaimed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a flower. “For you, Princess. Thank you for visiting us tonight.”

The mom was fawning over how sweet the act was. The girl was just excited to get candy AND a flower. She left very happy.

Next was a Reese’s cup. The second he bit into it his face formed an O. “I really don’t like it that much,” he confessed, mouth still stuffed with the candy. “It tastes like a peanut butter cracker mostly. If I wanted that I’d just eat a peanut butter cracker.”

“I’m surprised to hear it. Most people love Reese’s,” you exclaimed. He shrugged it off.

“Have you ever thought about having kids one day?” You blurted out, the words leaving your mouth before you could process what you were going to say.

He paused. “I mean... I’m not sure. After everything... I don’t feel like I’d be a good parent.”

You frowned at hearing his thoughts. “I think you were amazing with that little girl. I bet a kid would be lucky to have you as a dad.”

“Maybe with you I’d want kids one day,” he spoke, thinking aloud. When he realized what he said, he smacked a hand over his mouth, cheeks and ears turning bright red.

You giggled. “Me too Sae. Me too.”

He opened the next candy, M&Ms. “Which color should I try?” He asked, cheeks still dusted pink from the previous conversation.

“They all taste the same, so any.”

He nodded, then grabbed a blue one. You could hear him crunch through the shell. “Wait. I really like this.” He reached in to grab a green one, trying it as well. “Babe you need to try these. They’re SO good!” He poured a few into your hand.

You couldn’t hold back your laugh. “I’ve had them before, but thank you for sharing.” You tossed a few into your mouth. “New favorite?”

“I don’t even need to try the others. This is the one.”

The rest of the night flew by with plenty of trick-or-treaters. Saeran’s favorite of the night was the girl in the Snow White costume. Yours was the blow-up t-rex. The trick-or-treaters did NOT get many M&Ms. About halfway through the night Saeran had already consumed all of them.

Finally, it was time to turn off the porch light and settle in for the night. “Did you have fun?” You asked, pouring the extra candy into a ziplock bag so that you could have some later.

“I see why you like this holiday so much. I think it’s actually my new favorite.”

You grinned at him, proud that you were able to make the night go so smoothly. “Are you staying the night or are you heading home?” You asked, moving the chairs by the door back to the dining room table. Saeran helped carry his.

“Can I stay? I’ve still got one more sweet I wanna try.” He had a glint in his eye but his smile was so innocent. Maybe you were reading him wrong.

“Kit-kats? They’re pretty basic but honestly I-“

He let out an exaggerated sigh. “Nooooo! I mean you.” He walked towards you, one hand resting around your waist, the other taking off your flower crown and setting it on the table. “I never got that kiss form earlier.” He pouted.

“I’m not a sweet,” you giggled, hand moving to rest on top of his own. “I’m just me.”

He leaned his forehead to rest against yours, noses brushing against each other. “My Love, you know that no candy is sweeter than you. At least not to me.”

You couldn’t wait any longer and pulled him in for that long-awaited kiss.

#mystic messenger #mysme #Saeran Choi #Halloween

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7-wonders · 4 years

Text

Terms and Conditions May Apply

Summary: As if being presented as the wife of the Antichrist to the most influential people in the world at an exclusive event wasn't enough for you to handle, Satan may have a special surprise in store for you as well.

Word Count: 3548

A/N: I have no excuse for not having updated for a month other than the fact that my senior thesis has taken up basically ALL of my time. Special thanks to @trelaney for all of your help on this (and every) chapter of Mad Love! Comments, likes, and reblogs are always appreciated. Enjoy!

The night after your first day of classes, Michael utters the words that you were hoping never to hear. It had been such a nice evening, too. You had finally worn Michael down enough about cooking that he agreed to let you cook dinner for an evening. It was just a simple meal, pasta and marinara that your dad used to always make, but it was familiar, and made you feel at home in a way you hadn’t yet while living at “Langdon Manor,” as you call it. Ending up on the couch with Michael, your head in his lap as he reads some business papers and strokes your hair, smiling every time you laugh at the videos on your phone (you’re saving Michael’s introduction to Vine and TikTok for another day), was the perfect way to end the night. Of course, he had to ruin it by opening his mouth.

“I think it’s time for you to attend an official Cooperative function with me,” Michael says. You look up at him in horror, of which he can’t quite tell is real or fake.

“Michael!” you groan, sitting up so you’re level with him.

“(Y/N)!” he mocks, refusing to back down. “We’ve been married for, what, seven months now?”

“Nearly eight,” you remark dryly.

“Over half of a year. And in the time of our marriage, you’ve never once met with the Cooperative. You haven’t engaged with my father’s congregation since our wedding.” Michael sees the look on your face as you prepare to make a snarky comment about the congregation, so he hurries to make his next point. “These are necessary duties that you, as the wife of the Antichrist, must undertake. Need I remind you of our ‘contract?’ You had agreed to attend Cooperative functions and meetings with me. That time, my love, has come.”

You bristle at the pet name (no matter how long you’ll be married to Michael, you’ll never come to be a fan of them), but ignore it for now. “I don’t want to do it.”

“I understand that. I don’t want to either, but it’s something that we both must do.”

“What do you mean, you ‘don’t want to do it?’ Being worshipped by these people and commanding a room aren’t things you enjoy?”

“It’s a part of the title my father bestowed upon me. There is...a certain beauty to being the one prophesied in ancient times, but the blind devotion that a lot of these influential members of society who have sold their souls in order to gain power is disgusting, in a way. I don’t quite enjoy having them fawn over me in the hopes that I’ll grant them favors of some kind.”

“So then why do you go to these events if you don’t like them?”

“It gives my father’s followers something tangible to worship. In a way, my existence lets them know that selling their souls was not in vain. I am proof that my father’s plans are coming to fruition.” Michael tentatively reaches his hand out, slowly grabbing yours when you don’t pull away. “So? Will you come?”

You roll your eyes. “I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“I’m afraid not, but I figured I should at least ask you.” “Fine, but I don’t want to wear black to this thing. Or red. I want to be me, not the wife of the Antichrist.”

“You’re both, but I think we can work something out. The color scheme isn’t a requirement, merely...a suggestion.”

“A suggestion you make sure to enforce.” Standing up from the couch, your face softens slightly at the hurt look on Michael’s face. “I’m not mad, I’ve just gotta get some syllabus tests out of the way before I forget about them.”

“Don’t make plans for Friday, okay?” You nod, Michael kissing your hand before letting you leave for your room, where you proceed to sulk about having to go to a Satanist party while watching Netflix.

Friday arrives, much to your displeasure, bringing with it an army of stylists that the Cooperative has at its disposal. You somehow manage to stop them when they attempt to do your makeup heavily, conceding only to a semi-prominent eyeshadow look and lipstick. The dark pink, almost red shade goes with the one dress you didn’t automatically veto, a silky, emerald A-line dress with spaghetti straps that cinched at your waist before falling down to your ankles. The hairstylist, a man with platinum hair and the attitude to pull it off, had decided to leave your hair down after you had nearly yelled at him for trying some fancy updo. Looking in the mirror after they’ve forced you into a pair of heels, you have to admit that you do look pretty nice. It’s not a look that you would ever come up with yourself, but it suits you well.

Although Michael would never rush you, you’re sure he’s been waiting for a few minutes now. While his hair is always better than yours, his Antichrist powers probably provide him some extra minutes when it comes to getting ready. The stylists give you one last check before deeming you good to go, placing a clutch in your hands and ushering you out of your bedroom.

Michael’s waiting patiently in the foyer, idly checking his phone until he hears movement from the floor above. Pocketing the device, he glances up the stairs only for his eyes to widen as he fights to keep his jaw from dropping. You descend the stairs looking every bit the goddess he’s known you to be since the moment he laid eyes on you, and you smile shyly at his awed expression.

“Did they screw up that bad?” you joke, desperate to break him out of his stupor.

“No, you’re...stunning, (Y/N). Words could not possibly express just how beautiful you are.”

Your cheeks burn in embarrassment, and you gaze up at the ceiling to avoid looking him in the eyes. “Didn’t know you could be a sweet talker, Michael. Thanks. You clean up well yourself.”

He looks down at his outfit as if just now realizing he’s dressed. “I pale in comparison next to you.”

Considering he’s wearing a designer cloak and suit, you doubt that. Michael holds his arm out for you and you gratefully take it, ankles feeling weak from the heels that you’re in. Of course the Antichrist wouldn’t be rolling up to an event dedicated to him and his father in a car he’s driving, so the chauffeured vehicle is not a surprise.

Michael does an excellent job at distracting you on the drive to the classified location where the gala/event/rich people benefit will be held. Between playing you at 8 Ball on your phones--a game that he’s getting surprisingly good at--and debating you on the nuances of selling a person’s soul, you don’t realize you’ve arrived until the car comes to a stop.

“Just a moment,” Michael says to the driver, who puts the car in park and exits the vehicle, presumably so you and Michael can be alone. “Before we go in, there’s a few things you need to be aware of.”

“Please tell me there’s not going to be a human sacrifice in there,” you mutter.

“No sacrifices, I promise. I’ll handle most of the talking, but you might get a few questions from some curious members. Feel free to answer them if you would like, and if I deem their questions to be appropriate.”

“And if I don’t want to talk to them?”

“Just squeeze my hand and I’ll get rid of them.” Your eyes widen, and Michael chuckles before shaking his head. “Not like that, I’ll just tell them that they should enjoy the evening.”

“Anything else?”

“Cooperative members like to be very secretive about everything. Many who will be attending tonight are fine with fellow members knowing their identities, but some may be wearing masks. Don’t be alarmed at that, but definitely don’t ask them who they are.”

“Alright,” you smile. “I think I can handle that.”

“Oh, and don’t smile.”

“Don’t...smile?”

“While I love your smile, everyone here is beneath you. They’re not our friends, or people who deserve our kindness. Unless I smile, please try not to act friendly.”

“O--okay.” You’re less sure of yourself now, and it obviously shows as Michael takes your hand.

“Hey, you’re going to do great.”

“And if I don’t?”

Michael shakes his head. “Impossible. Are you ready?”

“No, but let’s go.” The door of the car swings open, the chauffeur innately knowing when Michael’s ready. He climbs out ahead of you and helps you out, making sure you’re not going to trip over your own feet before he lets go of your waist.

You grab his arm tightly as he leads you inside of what looks like some lavish country club. Two stoic guards stand on either side of the main entrance, staring straight ahead like you’re walking into Buckingham Palace. It’s difficult to hide your shock when you see the petite figure of Ms. Mead standing in the entryway, dark lips turned up in a smile.

“Ms. Mead,” Michael greets, kissing the woman who’s like his mother on the cheek.

She smiles, patting his face lovingly. “My sweet boy,” she says before turning to you, “and you look lovely as well, (Y/N).”

“Um, thank you?” You’re a little apprehensive, considering the last time you saw her, she stuck a needle in your neck.

“They’re ready to begin, Michael.” He nods, giving Ms. Mead one last smile before moving away with you.

“She didn’t seem to be nearly as angry as she usually is,” you note.

“She probably needs a new upgrade.” At your bewildered look, Michael elaborates. “The real Ms. Mead was taken from me by some enemies who believed that killing her would give them the chance to ‘convert’ me to good. The Ms. Mead you see today, and that you saw the night of our wedding, is an AI copy.”

“Holy shit, she’s a robot?”

Michael cringes at the term, but nods. “Yes, basically.”

A flurry of activity signifies that the Cooperative is ready for the son of their Lord to make his grand entrance. Michael looks you over once more, waiting until he’s absolutely sure that you’re ready to face his followers before he nods once to signal that you’re both ready. The voices that fill the room spill out once the doors are opened, Michael giving you hardly a moment to get nervous before walking in with you.

The voices fall silent when the doors open, eyes cast eagerly to Michael and, by extension, you. There’s two long tables that stretch the length of the room, chairs on either side of each one. A smaller table sits raised on a platform at the other end of the room, just big enough for two ornate chairs. Michael squeezes your hand, providing a much-needed grounding tool as you try not to look like your eyes are darting around the room.

Michael was right about some of the Cooperative members; their silver masks reflect the light of the room off of the surface, their entire faces obscured from view. Some of the members who decide not to mask their identity are not surprising to see here (you’re pretty sure you would have been more surprised if Donald Trump wasn’t a member of the Cooperative), but others make you internally squeal from excitement. Although Jared Leto’s always seemed like an intense guy, you didn’t think he was the type of person to have sold his soul to the Devil.

The room remains standing until you and Michael have taken your places at the table in front of everyone. Even after they sit, Michael’s firm hand keeps you from taking a seat. If he’s standing, you guess you’re standing as well.

To anybody watching from afar, Michael’s face is unreadable. Having spent so much time with him, however, you watch as something akin to a mask descends across his features. The Michael that you know--awkward, easily excited, and passionate to a fault--is gone, replaced by someone distant, perpetually angry, who knows for a fact that everyone here is beneath him.

“Welcome, esteemed members of the Cooperative. We are gathered here tonight at the request of my father, who wishes for me to convey to you his plans as we move ever closer to our end goal. As many of you are aware, plans are being drawn up for the Outposts and the Sanctuary, which is where everyone here, along with others who we deem valuable to the continuation of life on Earth, will ride out the end of the world.”

At this, you feel the blood run from your face. Although you’ve known that Michael, as the Antichrist, had plans to end the world on behalf of Satan, it’s jarring to hear him talk about it so plainly. If you’re being honest, you had almost forgotten that the apocalypse was a thing. After getting over being kidnapped to be his bride, you and Michael have become friends. Plus, it’s not as if he talks about Armageddon in front of you. This is the first you’re hearing, in detail, of his plans.

Next to you, Michael is still talking. “--I encourage you all to not worry too much, as we still have a couple of years, at least, until the world can be remade in Satan’s image with the cleansing fire of nuclear bombs. I imagine you may have a few questions. If they are not ignorant, answers you can learn from your colleagues, or flat-out stupid, then please feel free to ask.”

There’s a small murmur from the crowd as Cooperative members converse about the timeline, Michael narrowing his eyes at those in front of him. A couple of people raise their hands, asking questions about fortifications and possible side effects of fallout, which Michael answers effortlessly. It seems as though he’s been prepped on these possible questions, but you wouldn’t be too surprised if this was stuff he just inherently knew.

“Last, before you return to your cocktails and various material pleasures,” Michael squeezes your hand, and you look at him before realizing he wants you to be a part of whatever he’s saying, “my father had revealed to me a woman, who was meant to serve as my consort and stand by my side. Eight months ago, his wish was fulfilled when I married (Y/N), who stands here with me today. Everything else regarding our coupling is none of your goddamn business. Anything else?”

The room is dead silent, everyone being too petrified of their savior to even think of saying anything.

“Wonderful. Please, enjoy the rest of your evening with the bounties that Satan has provided us.” It takes a moment for the room to go back to normal, but you let out a sigh of relief when all of the pairs of eyes are off of you.

“Can we sit down now?” you whisper to Michael, who immediately nods and pulls your chair out for you.

“What did you think?” Michael’s eyes are wide and eager for your approval.

“If I didn’t know you, I would have been terrified of you.”

Michael smiles. “Good, that’s what I was going for.”

“Whoa, is that--” you’re ready to point out two very prominent celebrities doing coke off of each other when Michael shakes his head.

“Remember, these people are beneath you. You can be excited but don’t show it.”

“Fine,” you huff, “but why are people just doing drugs and kissing each other? That seems a little too crazy, even for a room full of Satanist celebrities.”

“Satan preaches giving into any of your desires. Even if it’s material things that only provide fleeting moments of what they believe to be pleasure, my father encourages it. I don’t enjoy watching these activities take place at every single Cooperative meeting, but as long as it doesn’t get out of hand, I don’t put a stop to it.”

There’s so many more questions that you want to ask him about the members of the Cooperative, but a couple of those said members approaching the table to pay their respects to the Antichrist cuts the conversation short. You play the part of the dutiful wife for Michael, greeting his followers and listening to the dull conversations of people starstruck to be in front of their messiah. It’s extremely easy to get overwhelmed in a situation like this, and you seize your chance during a slight lull after nearly an hour of talking to people.

“Michael,” you say gently, “I’m going to go and get some air.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just wanna go outside for a minute and check my phone.” Michael nods, kissing the back of your hand before letting go so that you can stand up.

The lobby’s much less crowded than the room you just came out of; a few stray Cooperative members linger and wait staff are in and out, but other than that you’re basically alone. You already feel like you can breathe again, a weight being lifted off of your chest now that you’re away from so many curious, intimidating people. Feeling how cold it is outside, you adapt your original plan and choose to sit on one of the benches inside instead.

There’s not much going on this Friday night, you notice as you check your phone. Everybody’s still getting back into the swing of school, and most of your friends opted to stay in and treat themselves instead of going out. You wish you were at home right now, snuggled up in a large blanket with your cat curled up next to you.

(You ignore the thought of Michael being there too, sitting on the other end of the couch and trying to get the cat to sit by him instead of you).

“Drink, ma’am?” Looking up from your phone, you see a waitress smiling and holding a tray with a single drink on it out towards you.

“Oh, I don’t know.” You’re unsure of what to do, Michael not having instructed you on whether you could or couldn’t drink at this event.

“It’s our house special tonight! And as you can see, it’s the last one I have.”

The drink, a red cocktail in a tall glass, does look pretty appealing, and one drink would surely help you to get through the rest of the night. “Mm, might as well! It’s only one drink, and I’m not a lightweight.”

Laughing lightly, the waitress hands you the cocktail. “Enjoy!”

“Thank you!”

She turns the corner, which means you’re not able to see as her eyes turn pitch black and her body starts convulsing. The waitress collapses to the ground as black smoke pours out of her mouth, ears, and nose, dissipating into the air just as quickly as it left her body. After a moment, the waitress stands back up, looking extremely disoriented as she grabs her tray and unsteadily walks towards the kitchen.

Sniffing the cocktail to make sure you’re not downing something especially disgusting, you’re instead greeted by the pleasant scent of cinnamon and apples. You shrug before taking a hesitant sip, happily finding that the drink tastes just as good as it smells. It’s almost better than any other cocktail you’ve previously tried, and you find yourself thinking that you’ll have to find the waitress and ask her for the name of this cocktail as you continue to consume the addictive drink. You’re enjoying your moment of solitude, sitting on your phone and enjoying a drink, so much that you don’t realize something’s wrong until it’s too late.

It starts with a slight ache in your head, followed by a ringing in your ears that begins to drown out any background noise. You feel dizzy, and drop your phone so you can place a hand on the bench to steady yourself. Your eyes can’t focus on anything, the walls seeming to morph in front of you as you close your eyes to assuage the nausea.

“Was I drugged?” you mutter to yourself, attempting to stand up but barely straightening your legs before you fall back down to your seat. “Maybe I should find Michael.”

The moment you think of Michael, it’s as if explosions start to rock your brain. You can’t think, and the ringing in your ears reverberates until it’s the only thing you can hear. All of your senses are gone, replaced by the pain of a thousand jackhammers in your head.

The explosions disappear just as quickly as they appeared, leaving you confused and disoriented. Everything feels off, like the world’s tilted before righting itself once more, but overcorrecting in the process. Trying to remember what you were doing before your sudden headache, the only thing you can come up with is Michael.

The name brings a smile to your face as your heart starts to beat quickly. Michael, the love of your life and your other half. What are you doing out here, when he’s in there by himself? You stand to return to him, the entire time not being able to shake the feeling that something’s extremely wrong.

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#michael langdon #michael langdon imagine #michael langdon x reader #michael langdon x you #american horror story #american horror story imagine #american horror story apocalypse #american horror story imagines #AHS #ahs imagine #ahs imagines #ahs apocalypse

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gentlemanoftimetravel · 5 years

Text

Mos miraculous prompt #3.5 (?)

Lila kept her promise. It took nearly a year till everyone in her class was against her. Every little lie piled up. Everyone hangs on her lips. No matter how hard Marinette tried to warn her friends, nobody listens to her. And on top of everything she gets accused of bullying. She! Who was herself a victim of bully and despised liars and bully’s.

Marinette couldn’t take it much longer. She asked her parents and Monsier Damocles for permission to switch classes. She got it. Starting Tomorrow she will attend Ms Mendeleiev’s class.

On Monday morning she stepped anxiously in her school building. Making her way down to her new class. As she rounded the corner she bumped into someone.

“Sorry. I’m so sorry. Is everything alright? Did I hurt you?” Marinette apologises. Looking up in solemn ice blue eyes. Stunned she stepped back.

“No. Everything’s fine. Next time look where you’re going.” With that the teen turned and entered her new classroom.

What just happened? Marinette shook her head. Maybe not her dream start, but better than anticipated. She also entered the room. A quick look revealed that she was the last one. The room vibrates with laugher and joy. The only free spot was in the last row next to that boy from before. She inhaled and then exhaled. Everything will be alright. Just be your usual self. Marinette stepped up and stopped at the desk.

“Hello. We met before. I didn’t introduce myself properly, I’m Marinette. I switched classes, I was in Ms Bustiers class before. Is that seat next to you still free?”

The boy glanced up from his book. He looks at her quizzically. “We ... met?” His head tilted. “Oh yes. That incident in front of the door. I remember. And yes that seat is still available, feel free to sit there but don’t expect to much from me. I’m Felix by the way.” With that he faced his book again. Marinette simply shrugged. She placed her Backpack at the side and slipped into the seat. Her gaze wanders across the room. There at the front were Aurore and Mireille. Two rows behind them Wayhem was seated. Except these three she didn’t know anyone. Maybe they didn’t know about her either. That would be great.

Ms Mendeleiev came in and started her class. Her gaze wanders across the classroom till she spotted Marinette. “Folks, from today on we have a new companion. Please welcome Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Questions later, now we start our lessons. Get your books up and turn to page 146. We ...”

As Ms Mendeleiev started her classes Marinette’s thoughts trailed of. As her teacher introduced her, some of her classmates looked curios at her but most of them seemed composed. Aurore looked like she wanted to talk to her the very instant, but that’s not surprising given that they knew each other already. Maybe now her days will be better.

At lunch time Aurore took Marinette out to eat something. “You’re now in my class! I can’t believe it! We haven’t been in the same class since 5th grade! Oh that will be really awesome. But why did you change classes in the first place? Only if you don’t mind telling me.”

Marinette smiled shyly. “I don’t mind telling you. But I don’t know if you will believe me. But let’s begin from the start. My school year started like every year. Trouble with Chloé and bullying from her part, nothing new there, but this year two new students attended our class. Adrien is friends with Chloé and at thirst there were a big misunderstanding but that has cleared up. Then there were Alya. She quickly became my best friend. Everything seemed to be better. Our class started to grow bigger together, friendships build and Chloé stands back more often. But two months ago there were once again a new student. A girl from Italy. A girl with story’s as false as her Akzent. She said, for example, she saved Jagged Stones Cat, which I know can’t be true. I know Jagged personally and I can verify that he never had cats because he’s allergic to them! But as I tried to warn my classmates they didn’t believe me. One lie lead to another lie and soon everyone hangs on her lips and believing her. Now Adrien has his appearance once again. He also knows about Lila’s lies and assured me that he’s on my side. I thought now’s the time that we out Lila, that we release our friends from her grip. But I was wrong. He just wanted to take the high road, he was worried that she will get akumatized if we out her. So I was all alone again. I tried again to warn Alya about the lies, about Lila holding their hopes up, but Alya simply said I was jealous of Lila being so close to Adrien. And then Lila cornered me in the bathroom and threatened me. She said if I don’t back up she will turn the whole class against me. Up to this time I still believed Adrien is on my side. I was never as wrong as to this time. It didn’t take long for Lila to accuse me bullying her. Evidently I threatened her, I pushed her down stairs, I tore her things apart, I stole her ideas, should I continue? The whole class accused me of bullying her and turned their back on me. Even if at least half the class knew how I stand to bully’s and liars. I fighted of two almost akumatizations. And when I could not stand it anymore I begged for changing classes. Here am I now.”

Aurore gapped at her, her jaw dropped to her chest. Her mouth closing and opening repeatedly. Marinette looked worriedly. “Aurore? Everything’s alright? Can I do something for you? Do you have any questions?”

“I have one!” A voice said behind them. Marinette jumped up in surprise. Her heartbeat growing rapidly. A hand over her heart she turned around. “What the ... Felix?” She stared at him in surprise. “Did you eavesdrop?” He raises an eyebrow. “No. I simply overheard. I was heading to that bench over there to eat my lunch. But back to my question, why didn’t you bring Jagged to your class and let him verify that story. Wouldn’t that be the best solution?”

“I am not Chloé. I didn’t take advantage of my connections. Furthermore a couple of classmates knew me since Kindergarten and they should know me well enough. But maybe I guessed wrong.” She shrugged.

“ Hmmmm. Very interesting. Count me in.”

“For what?” A curios look appeared on Marinette’s face.

“For exposing that liar of course. Technically I didn’t want to be involved in my classmates stuff but that sounds intriguing. So count me in!”

Now it’s Marinette’s turn to gap at Felix. Meanwhile Aurore awakens from her rigidity.

“Yes! Hell Yes! I’m in too. The more the better! After school we met at Marinette’s, I will drag the Quantics with me! Their genies at tricks and planning!”

Marinette tilted her head. “Why not Mireille or Wayhem? And who are the Quantics?”

Aurore waves off. “Mireille is to nice and not really reliable. And Wayhem’s a fan of Adrien. He will go to Adrien and asks him on his opinion and if he’s like you say, Adrien will try to sabotage us. Nope that will not happen under my watch. The Quantics are Allegra, Allen and Claude. They sit next to you on the other side. Allegra and Allen together and Claude before them with Wayhem.”

“If their willing to help and belief me, i guess it’s a deal then.” She shrugged. “But do you really think that will work out?”

Both Felix and Aurore nod. “Definitely!” They said in unison.

After school Marinette and her five classmates makes themselves comfortable at Marinette’s Bedroom. They brainstormed over Cookies and Tee. Marinette narrates her story again from the beginning to the end. A lot of ideas came up, many were discarded again. They agreed on a few terms. They will spy on Lila and they will list all her lies that they witnessed. Nobody talks about their agreements to other people. They will meet twice a week at Marinette’s to compare their lie lists. Additional friendship inclusive.

After two months they have enough evidence to let the lie bubble plop. Now they only need a stage. Lucky for them Jaggeds next concert will be on Tuesday in a week. And luckily Marinette knew him personally.

They talked to Jagged and Penny about everything and they both agreed to help Marinette. Now they need to get their plan rolling. At first the school get tickets for that concert. They make sure that Ms Bustier’s class gets VIP-Tickets, after all Lila had saved Jaggeds Cat and she could easily make that happen. Their little interview film was already finished and ready to be published as a little extra for the concert.

Tuesday started with a surprise. The school decided to give their students the day off as to prepare for the concert that evening. More time to make everything perfect. Marinette and her Friends were already backstage and awaits the events. Jagged starts his concert, he sings a few songs and then he request a special guest. Lila of course. And to honour her again he have a little surprise for her. A video.

Lila’s smile looked forced, she didn’t exactly know why she is now on stage and technically she don’t want that but her classmates forced her to go on stage.

The lights dimmed and the video starts to play. At first Jagged, then Nadja, Prince Ali, Clara and so on. Everyone on that video was questioned about Lila. About her claims and lies. And everything what Lila build herself up was shattered to the ground. She looked outright horrified. Jagged holds her so she can not run away. The video finished and the lights go back on.

Marinette stepped to her side and with a smug grin she whispered the same sentence in Lila’s ears that she got to hear back in the bathroom.

“I came here to laugh at you.”

————

Hey @miraculous-of-salt I got finally another prompt ready. :)

I hope everyone enjoyed that little journey.

Till the next prompt!

#mos prompts #miraculous prompts #miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #felix culpa

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skybound2 · 4 years

Text

Bad things that have happened in the last several days:

The snake that we took in 2 weeks ago escaped its enclosure sometime between Tuesday at midnight and Wednesday at 8 am. We still haven't found him. There is now an adorable and incredibly docile ball python loose in our house with our 2 cats, the younger of which plays rough with ANYTHING even remotely ribbon like 😬😬.

Our 15 year old greyhound who has extreme breathing problems tripped on a stick in the backyard yesterday and managed to damage BOTH her front right dewclaw and one of her rear left nails. The rear one we had to actually have pulled yesterday because it was so bad. This required a trip to the Vet, who then performed the procedure for us while our dog remained in the backseat of our car because she was too stressed out and they were afraid to move her into the clinic because of her breathing issues. She's doing okay now and is on antibiotics, thankfully. But she's also having a VERY hard time walking, which just makes her breathing issues worse.

Our older cat is notoriously fickle about his litter. Meaning that if you don't clean it fast enough after every use, he pees outside the box in protest. (Never mind that we have 3 boxes. If the one he goes to is dirty, you lose.) We have several rewashable litter mats to address this issue, because NORMALLY he pees DIRECTLY outside the box. But yesterday, because of everything else going on, I didn't respond fast enough I guess, so he peed on the Death Star rug near my desk, which is in the same room as a litter box. I only discovered this when I leaned down on the rug to look under the desk for the missing snake...

The same cat is also notorious for peeing on dirty towels if you stupidly drop one on the floor and leave the door to the bathroom open. For this reason the doors to the bathrooms are always kept closed. We've avoided him peeing on any towels in YEARS this way. Now guess what I didn't do yesterday after getting washed up from leaning on cat urine unexpectedly? Ya know, because of the forgetfulness that comes from extra stress and anxiety? *sigh*

Last week, I started using a cane for the first time ever because of some nerve issues in my left leg due to my MS. Luckily, this week I've noticed an improvement in that leg. Unfortunately, the reliance I've been putting on my right leg to compensate has caused a long term issue in my right ankle to flare up pretty bad. So today I started using the cane to help me walk because of THAT. I'm hobbling on both legs now. Joy.

I just stepped in cat vomit.

My husband's one sister, her husband and their daughter all have been confirmed with Covid. They are all symptomatic and obviously sick and in quarantine but stable at present. My sister-in-law, who has asthma, is doing the worst of the lot and has been advised that if she gets any worse then she will need to be admitted to the hospital.

Every year in spring I get contact dermatitis the way most people get seasonal allergies. I am a MESS of itchy hives and rashes right now and regular doses of benedryl are the only thing stopping me from scratching myself to death.

I have a rotten headache and could probably use a good cry, but I don't have the energy for it right now so I'm writing this post instead.

And now for a few good things to take the edge off:

Tonight, we got take out from one of our favorite restaurants because cooking was not a thing that was going to happen. It was delicious.

My husband just made me tea, brought me an ice pack for my ankle, and presented me with a platter of chocolate and strawberries. He's wonderful.

Today is another of our niece's birthdays. She is now 15, and is unbashadly a fangirl. I had a video call with her tonight and she spent most of it squealing happily over a Dragon Prince book she got. It was BY FAR the highlight of my entire week and I adore her a tremendous amount.

#Skybound2 whines a lot #All about me #Please do not reblog this #I'm just a mess right now #Don't mind me #I wanted to put a read more cute in this thing #But I'm on mobile #And can't figure it out

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smileyoongle · 5 years

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Mafia BTS! Not so innocent

This was requested by @marie-sarah and @multi-fandom-lachimolala

Your requests were very similar so I merged it into one. I hope you like it. LET'S GET IT!

Kim Seokjin:

"Mr Kim, I think Ms.Y/N was attacked." As soon as these words left the bodyguard's mouth, Jin dropped the papers he was holding, sending them off across the room due to the wind coming from the open window. He stood up, making the guard drop his gaze to the floor.

"What did you say?" His voice came out really dark, making the other men in the room gulp. Every matter that concerned you, made Jin extra worried. He couldn't bear the thought of you even getting a scratch. Taking in a shaky breath, the bodyguard started explaining, "The supervisor of the Chanel store she went to, informed us that he saw a man following her with a gun too-" Jin didn't even let him finish the sentence and let out a groan of frustration.

"Get the car. We're going there. NOW!" He bellowed, causing everyone to snap into action.

"That will not be needed, Mr Kim." Said a gruff voice from the main entrance of the house. Jin looked at the small group of officers walking towards him, a couple of them were even carrying shopping bags. He was confused until he saw you walking behind them. Your face displayed annoyance until your eyes met with Jin's. Your lips broke into a smile and you rushed to give him a hug, which he gladly returned. Pulling away, he cupped your cheeks as he examined you for any injuries. "Are you okay?" He frowned with concern. You placed your hands on his and nodded. He placed a kiss on your forehead and turned to the officer he knew all too well, Min Yoongi.

"Did you get that man, Officer Min?" He inquired as you wrapped your arms around his waist and rested your head on his chest. "We did. But I'm afraid it'll be a while until he gives us a statement. Ms Y/L/N knocked him out unconscious before we even reached." The black haired man answered, gesturing towards you. Jin raised his eyebrows in surprise as he looked at you.

An auxiliary came forward with a laptop, standing in front of Jin as he played a certain video. Jin narrowed his eyes as he saw your small figure leaving the store, followed by a man in grey clothes. As he saw you grab the man's hand and dig your heel in his foot, his eyes widened. Furthermore, his jaw dropped when you held the attacker's head and hit it on your bent knee, making him fall down unconscious. You pretended to be interested in the ceiling as Jin looked at you with an indescribable expression. "We'll be taking your leave now, Mr Kim." Officer Min bowed as he turned to leave with his subordinates. Just as the group reached the doorway, Jin called them, making them turn back to face him.

"Make sure that bastard answers. If not, then my men can always collect him." Jin smirked as he exchanged a knowing look with Yoongi, making him chuckle. After everyone had left, Jin ordered his men to leave as well, leaving you two alone in the big house. You let out a gasp when Jin pulled you towards him as he sat on the couch, making you straddle him.

"I never knew my princess was a badass." He teased as he held you tightly. You wrapped your arms around him and hummed. "Well, that's because you don't let your princess go alone anywhere. Today was just a miracle." You shrugged and ran your hands through his soft hair. He sighed and buried his head in the crook of your neck. "Today was the first and the last time. I'm not risking it anymore. It's good to know you can protect yourself in my absence but let's try not to get into that situation." He concluded, making you pout. He mimicked your expression and laughed when you gently hit his chest, quickly kissing your lips.

Kim Namjoon:

You were reading a book in Namjoon's study. He wasn't home due to an important business meeting so you had decided to put your free time to productive use. The silent atmosphere of the room was interrupted by the ringing of your phone. You took your phone from the side table, situated beside the couch you were seated on. You closed the book when you saw Namjoon's contact requesting for a video call. Quickly accepting it, you smiled as your boyfriend's face came into view.

"Hey, babe!" He greeted while waving at you through the screen. You giggled and waved back. "Is the meeting over?" You asked, a little hopeful that maybe you could spend time with him. He pursed his lips and shook his head. "Break time. And I wanted to check on you so..." He trailed off as he shrugged. This was one of the many things you loved about Namjoon. Although he was busy most of the time, he never failed to grab the opportunity to talk to you. Just as you were about to say something, a loud crash startled you. Your head turned towards the door of the study as your heartbeat quickened. Namjoon had heard it too. He was already on his way to inform everyone to cancel the rest of the meeting. "Babe, is there someone else at home?" He asked quietly, not wanting to alert any intruder about your presence. You shook your head as you slowly got up from the couch to go and inspect the cause of the noise. You looked at Namjoon and placed a finger on your lips, telling him to be quiet. Namjoon wanted to tell you to go back inside and lock the door but it was too late. He kept the call going to make sure you were okay as he sat in his car, ready to come home to you. His breathing hitched as he saw your face contort into a horrified one and a scream left your mouth. The screen went black, showing that the call had been disconnected. "Shit...." Namjoon cursed as he tried calling you again, driving out of the speed limit (not like he ever followed it). He bit his bottom lip when the call went unanswered, making him think of very unfortunate consequences.

After what felt like an eternity, he reached his house. Quickly pulling into the driveway, he ran out of the car and unlocked the door to the house, all the while shouting your name. His footsteps came to a halt when he saw you sitting on a chair in front of a tied up man, your fingers wrapped around a gun. Your head turned at the sound of your name being called out, only to find Namjoon standing there with a panicked expression. You dropped the gun and ran into his arms.

"Thank god you're here. I didn't know what to do-" Namjoon hushed you as he kissed you all over your face. Just then, the other members of Namjoon's gang entered the house. "Is everything okay? You left in such a hurry- holy shit, who is that?!" Jin cursed as soon as he saw the man with ropes around him and a tape sealing his mouth. Namjoon told them to move the man to the warehouse and start questioning him while he stayed with you for a while. As the members left, you hugged Namjoon again, burying your face in his chest. "I really thought something happened to you, Y/N." He mumbled against your hair. You pulled away to look at him and gave him an assuring smile. He poked your cheek and scoffed. "But who would have thought, that this baby-face could actually be a threat? I guess I need to be careful from now." He joked as you rolled your eyes and turned to leave.

Min Yoongi:

You were on your way home from a dinner date with your boyfriend, Yoongi. You both listened to your favourite songs as he drove, all the while holding your hand. Suddenly, his phone started ringing. He sighed as he saw one of the members' names flashing on the screen. He looked over at you to find you staring outside the window and quickly accepted the call.

After the call had ended, Yoongi called out to you to tell you that he had to go deal with something urgently and that you will have to come with him. But you had already fallen asleep, so he just turned the car around to go handle the mess that his members had created. Once there, Yoongi kissed your forehead as he grabbed his gun from the glove compartment and left. He was sure that he would be back by the time you wake up.

"Where is he?" Yoongi asked his gang, once he found them standing in the middle of the warehouse with a few bodies lying here and there. "We searched everywhere. He must have gotten away." Namjoon informed, clenching his eyes shut. Yoongi cursed under his breath as he ran his hands through his hair. "He couldn't have gone far. Let's search around this area." He suggested, making everyone nod. After about half an hour, they ended their search and walked towards the place where Yoongi had parked his car.

On the way back, he checked his phone to see 14 missed calls from you, making him walk faster. He came to a halt when he saw you leaning on the car with your arms crossed. "Y/N, I'm sorry. You were asleep and- who the hell did that?!" Yoongi's voice turned from calm to angry when he saw your busted lip. He gently lifted your chin to see the small wound. You sighed and walked towards the back of the car, making Yoongi frown.

"Okay so I don't know who this is but he tried to steal the car. With me inside!" You narrated, raising your voice in annoyance. Yoongi and the others followed you to where you stood. You opened the trunk of the car and stepped back for them to see. Their eyes widened in shock at the unconscious man lying in front of them. After a moment of silence, Taehyung cleared his throat. "Isn't that the man we were looking for?" He asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. Yoongi leaned down and grabbed the man's chin, turning his face to take a better look. "It is." He confirmed in a gravelly voice.

"I can't believe Y/N did this!" Jimin exclaimed as he stood beside you. You turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Want me to give you a demo?" You sneered, making him move away from you. Yoongi chuckled as he placed his arm around your shoulder. You instantly leaned into him as he placed a kiss on your head. "I guess my sweet and innocent princess, isn't really that innocent. Oh, I've been deceived." He dramatically placed a hand on his chest. "Hey!" You whined, pushing him away from you as you pouted. He laughed and pulled you into a hug. "Let's get you home so that I can clean that up and you can sleep, yeah?" He mumbled, examining the dried blood on your lips.

He led you to the passenger seat of the car. "Also, I think it would be pretty hot to see you in action." He smiled cheekily and winked at you before closing the door on your side, a blush tainting your cheeks.

Jung Hoseok:

"Did you just rent out this whole place?" You asked as you twirled around, admiring the interiors of the expensive restaurant. Hoseok smiled as he took in your amusement. "I did. Because I wanted it to be just you and me tonight." He answered, holding your hand and pulling you close to him. He cupped your cheek and tilted his head, his eyes running over all your features before pulling you into a hug. You giggled as you returned the hug, feeling your heart flutter.

To the world, Jung Hoseok was a ruthless mafia boss, but to you, he was everything other than that. You both parted when you heard someone clearing their throat, only to find the waiter with an expensive bottle of champagne. You held hoseok's hand and pulled him to the decorated table set for two, making him turn his attention to you rather than glaring at the waiter. You thanked the waiter as he served you your champagne, earning an annoying look from your boyfriend. "Angel, your attention is supposed to be on me." He complained, lips turning into a pout soon after. You laughed and leaned over the table, giving him a quick kiss. You could tell he was trying to hold back a smile as the little dimples appeared by his lips.

"I expect more than that for doing all this." He joked, referring to the expensive dinner. You placed your chin on the back of your hands as you propped your elbow on the table. "Maybe I will give you something more.." You smirked at him, making him raise his eyebrows at your boldness. "Or maybe not." You finished your sentence, taking a sip of your champagne. Hoseok pursed his lips as he glared at you. But in reality, he was happy to see you being so playful. He never really got to spend time with you and now that everything was going well, he couldn't be more pleased.

Smiling innocently at him, you stood up from your seat as you excused yourself to use the bathroom. The sound of your heels echoed through the corridor as you searched for the bathroom. You sighed in relief when you spotted it, wanting to get back to Hoseok quickly. You had been getting an eerie feeling since you stepped foot in the restaurant, but stayed quiet for the sake of your boyfriend's happiness. It had been a while since you saw him so relaxed and you didn't want to ruin that. After you finished doing your thing, you washed your hands and wiped them with a disposable handkerchief. As soon as you opened the bathroom door to leave, you came face to face with a strange man, your eyes widening on seeing a knife in his hands.

Hoseok glanced at his watch as he tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for you to return. You were taking too long which made Hoseok anxious. He couldn't help but think that you were in trouble. So without further delay, he made his way to the bathroom. He heard some sounds of struggle from the corridor ahead and fastened his pace. Just as he turned around a corner, he spotted you holding the back of a man's head and slamming it onto the white marble wall. Your jaw was clenched and blood was running down your arm from a long cut on your forearm. "Y/N!" Hoseok yelled and ran to you. The man groaned as he tried to stand up but you kicked him with all your strength, making you stumble a little. You breathed heavily as Hoseok cupped your face, asking you if you were fine. Suddenly you broke down into tears. You were so terrified when the man attacked you and you had no time to call out for help either. Holding it all in, you tried to fight him and now that it was over, you felt overwhelmed. Hoseok hugged you and kissed your head, whispering sweet things to you, making you feel a little calm.

You currently sat on a chair in the restaurant as Hoseok cleaned your wound. The other members of his gang had arrived soon after Hoseok informed them about what had happened. The staff of the restaurant stood in a line, nervous and scared as Yoongi questioned them. You hissed as the antiseptic made contact with your skin. Hoseok mumbled an apology and continued his task, trying not to cause you too much pain. You leaned your head on the back of the chair and stared at the ceiling. You had never hurt anyone in your entire life and you never thought you'd have to. Of course, when you decided to stand by a mafia leader, you knew you would have to get involved in his work in some way or the other. But you didn't expect it anytime soon since Hoseok worked so hard on trying to keep you safe.

"All done." You snapped out of your thoughts as you heard hoseok's voice. You turned to him and smiled slightly. He quickly caught up to how you were feeling and sighed. "Angel, I know this was terrible for you. But I need you to know that I'm so proud of you for being able to defend yourself. If you wouldn't have been able to protect yourself, then I don't even want to think of what could have happened..." He trailed off, his expression turning into one of sadness. With a shaky breath, you threw your arms around him.

"I love you so much, Hoseok."

"I love you much more, Angel."

Park Jimin:

"Wow! Aren't all these so amazing?" You said, looking around at all the paintings and statues adorning the huge museum. You had been telling Jimin for months about wanting to come here and finally, after a ton of persuasion, he agreed. Looking at your eyes sparkling in amazement, he felt like he should have done this sooner. Slowly walking towards you, he hugged you from behind.

"I'm sorry, baby. You should never have to beg me for anything but that's what I made you do." He stated, burying his face in your neck. You pouted at hearing his apology and turned around. Jimin refused to meet your eyes, only looking at the ground while you held his hand. "Jimin, you were busy. You don't have to apologize. We're here now, aren't we?" You smiled and cupped his cheeks. He lifted his head to look at you, eyes filled with love. You were exactly the one he'd always dreamed of. Sometimes he would hold you close, fearing that you'd disappear.

Before he could say anything his phone rung, making him groan. You chuckled and told him to pick it up. You turned your attention back to the huge painting in front of you, taking in every little detail as he walked away. You smiled when you felt a tap on your shoulder, thinking it was your boyfriend. But that smiled was wiped off when you saw your ex-boyfriend. Your heart quickened its pace and you felt nervous and scared. Your eyes searched around for Jimin but he was nowhere to be seen.

"I must say, I'm quite shocked to see you alone, darling. Did he finally get tired of you?" He mocked, taking a step towards you. You tried your best to not show how bothered you were by his presence but it wasn't easy. You ended up taking a step back, making him smirk when he saw how affected you were. He placed a hand on your shoulder causing you to flinch. You felt disgusted under his touch. "I'll take that as a yes. I told you, didn't I? That no one would ever tolerate you as much as I did. See how that went?" He mumbled, staring deep in your eyes as his grip on your shoulder tightened.

"L-let me go!" You retorted, grabbing his hand to get it off you but it didn't budge. He chuckled seeing you struggle, certainly enjoying how helpless you looked. "Or maybe I should just take you with me." He mocked, holding your wrist with his other hand. Your breath hitched and your movements stopped. You had two choices now, either you keep him here until Jimin comes back or you make sure he never bothers you again. You chose the latter, taking a deep breath.

You lifted your foot and jabbed your pencil heel into his, making him scream and let go of you. Everyone around you whipped their heads to see what was going on. Letting out a grunt, you swung your handbag across his face and he fell to the ground. You heard a few gasps from around you, making you feel proud of yourself. Before you could strike again, you felt two hands grab you from behind.

"That might be enough, baby." You heard Jimin mumble from behind you. Looking at the guards, you sighed in relief and turned to your boyfriend. Instantly you wrapped your arms around him and rested your head on his chest. Jimin was in awe when he saw you fighting someone who had terribly hurt you once. He felt so giddy that for a moment, he forgot that he was supposed to help you. "You know, you being untouchable makes more sense now. That was just so....hot." Jimin remarked, making you blush. "I should leave you alone more now." He continued.

You gasped and hit his chest, pouting slightly. The entire day was spent in you ignoring him and him, oh-so-desperately trying to get your attention.

Kim Taehyung:

You tightened your grip on taehyung's hand as you both entered the club, cursing under your breath on seeing the mass of bodies grinding on each other. This wasn't the first time that you were coming to this club, however, it was the first time you were coming here with Taehyung. This was the club where you had met him. You noticed how the people on the dance floor had started to move to the side, creating a path for you to go your way. You looked at Taehyung to find him smiling at you. "You underestimate me, baby." He stated, smirking at you before kissing your head. He wasn't wrong though. You were aware of how people were scared of him but you had never witnessed it on this scale. A whole lot of people, moving away, all at once on seeing your boyfriend. You let Taehyung lead you towards the VIP lounge, getting excited to meet the rest of the members.

"Finally!" You heard Jungkook yell as you entered the lounge, the loud music dissipating to a mumble. You laughed as he came and hugged you, followed by the others. Soon enough, laughs and chatters filled the huge room along with the beats of the music. "I was thinking we should appoint more guards for Y/N's protection," Namjoon suggested, taking a sip of his drink. You furrowed your eyebrows. "Why? I already have 2 following me everywhere. No more, please!" You whined, covering your face with your hands. You already felt like a child, being watched over all the time and if more people took to this job, then you weren't sure if you would be able to do anything anymore. Before anyone could say anything, loud screams echoed outside the lounge making your eyes widen. Everyone quickly stood up as a guard came stumbling into the lounge with blood seeping down his arm. He was panting heavily, mouth opening and closing, again and again, clearly wanting to say something. But before he could get a word out, he blacked out. You turned to look at everyone with fear evident across your face. They all had different expressions, confused, concerned, murderous.

"Y/N, I need you to stay here. Don't you dare come out. Understood?" Taehyung ordered, looking at you with a serious expression. You slowly nodded as they all hurried out of the room. A couple of minutes passed with no sign of what was going on. As you moved closer to the entrance of the lounge, your heart nearly jumped out when a man came inside, blood dripping down his chin. You whimpered when his eyes landed on you, his lips tugging at one corner. You screamed when he ran behind you and wrapped his arm around your neck. You gripped his arm, trying to get out of his hold, which only made him hold on tighter. You relaxed a little on seeing Taehyung enter the lounge, followed by the others. Taehyung's expression turned dark and threatening, making you shudder. Adding to your misery, you felt a cool metal against the side of your forehead.

"Come any closer and I'll blow her brains out!" You heard the man hiss. The air in the room grew thick as everyone exchanged glances, thinking of possible ways to get you out of the situation. You decided you weren't gonna wait for someone to help you. The blood from the man was falling on your shoulder, making you squirm.

Gathering all your strength, you threw back your elbow and hit the man in the stomach, making him bend over, clutching the spot you hit. You twisted one of his arms, bringing it behind his back with a tight grip. Your free hand quickly grabbed the gun that lay on the ground beside him, placing it against his head. Everyone stared at you in awe. The man started struggling in your grip, you weren't as strong as him anyway.

"Is anyone gonna help me?!" You bellowed, bringing your gaze to Taehyung who held an unfathomable expression. Jungkook rushed to you while the others only stared, taking the gun from you and hitting it against the man's head, knocking him unconscious. You stood against the wall nearby, catching your breath. Jungkook placed a hand on your shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. You gave him a slight smile when Taehyung cleared his throat and made his way to you. Cupping your cheeks, he pressed a kiss to your forehead before asking you if you were hurt. You shook your head and buried your face in his chest, sighing in relief when he gave you his warm hug.

"I was so scared, baby girl." He mumbled against your head. You smiled and leaned back to look at him. "Really? I remember you saying that no one could ever take me away from you. Now you're just making me doubt you." You narrowed your eyes at him, teasing him. He tightened his grip on your waist and chuckled. "Oh no, baby. I'm still sure about that. I was just scared that you'd kill him." He pointed towards the unconscious man. You gasped and hit his chest, making him laugh and pull you back into a hug.

Jeon Jungkook:

"Do you need a ride home, Y/N?" Your best friend inquired. You gently shook your head and informed her that your boyfriend will be picking you up. She hugged you and bid farewell, getting into her car and driving off. You stood at the curb, looking around for jungkook's car but when you couldn't see it, you decided to call him. He picked up just as the phone rung. "We got hung up a little, love. Hold on, we should be there in 10 minutes if Jin Hyung decides to drive faster." You could hear how annoyed he was. You mumbled an okay before hearing Jin curse, making you giggle.

Hanging up the phone, you stood by the lamppost which cast a dim light on you. It was getting quieter on the streets now, even the cafe you went to was closing. You sighed and closed your eyes, letting the cool air fan your face.

This was one of the moments when you felt at ease. No worries. No overthinking. You were absolutely content with how life was and a major part of it was Jungkook. Even though you despised him initially, with time he proved that he was the man you dreamed of.

Suddenly you felt a hand clamp around your mouth, making your entire body jolt into action. Your eyes frantically looked around for any kind of help but all you could see were the empty sidewalks and the quiet roads. "Don't make this harder, missy. No one's saving you tonight." You heard a gruff voice from behind you while you tried to get out of his grip.

Jungkook's eyes widened when he saw you being held by someone. His heart was pounding. The car was still a little far from you but close enough for Jungkook to see you struggling. Jin stepped on the gas, speeding up the pace of the car when he saw what was happening. But you didn't notice anything, too scared to look around anymore. Halting your failed attempts, you opened your mouth and bit harshly into the man's hand. As he screamed and let you out of his grip, you turned around and held the back of his head. Squeezing your eyes shut, you slammed it into the lamppost. You breathed heavily as you felt the man fall to the ground, still not opening your eyes. Jungkook stood still as he saw you defending yourself. He was surprised, you were never the kind of person to hurt anyone, let alone physically. You just didn't have it in you. It was only when he saw your trembling form, that he rushed towards you.

"Y/N!" You heard jungkook's voice call out. Slowly opening your eyes, you saw him running towards you, making you sigh in relief. He pulled you into his arms as you buried your face in his neck. He mumbled calming things to you, kissing your head again and again as if trying to assure himself that you were fine. "He's knocked out for now. I'll take care of this and you take her home. Good job Y/N!" You returned Jin's proud smile, feeling better after hearing his appreciation.

Jungkook took you to the car while Jin called the others to inform them. "Are you hurt, love?" Jungkook asked, putting on your seatbelt for you. Your heart fluttered for some reason, clearly, you still weren't used to being taken care of. Leaning forward, you kissed your boyfriend's cheek making him look at you in confusion, feeling grateful for the lack of light preventing you from seeing him blush. "I love you." You stated, admiring his face. Slowly, he grinned and cupped your cheeks before kissing you sweetly. "I love you more." He whispered, leaning his forehead on yours.

I'm back y'all! No exams anymore and now I can write and update as much as I want. I'm probably updating after like 2 months? I'm sorry. Let's hope there aren't any typos in there. I hope you like it!

-XX

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evien-stark · 4 years

Text

✧I Need You✧ Chapter 150

It was difficult to tell what time it was when you woke up. Sometime well past morning, that was for sure. As awareness seeped back in, you became first vaguely and then very knowingly aware of Tony still dreaming away next to you. Turning on your side, as gently as possible, it became a very tough call whether to stay there and fall back asleep with him or…

Well. You stayed. For a few moments. Admiring the peacefulness just rolling off of him. Moments like these were so rare. Maybe, if you were lucky, you’d be able to just return to it. But in your overt carefulness in not waking him up, sliding off to the side in small increments so as to not shift the weight of the bed, and then… sticking one leg out onto the floor and… then the other…

Almost in the clear. Until very quickly you were reminded you’d had sex (...more extremely passionate love making than anything, for sure) all night in heels, fallen asleep in heels- still were in heels, and your underwear still wrapped around one of those long points caught up your other foot as you tried to move. After that it was all over. You went down in a weak-kneed mess (maybe last night a little to blame, as well) with a very undignified yelp.

From your spot on the floor you saw Tony shoot up, suddenly very awake and very nervous. He looked the other way first, and you had a real chance to make your position a little less terrible. But… as he turned the other way and spotted you in your heap on the floor, his sleepy grin turned sunny and he crawled to the other side closest to you, lying flat with his arm dangling over the edge. “You alright there, honey?” A genuine question while also being somewhat amused.

“Nothing hurt but my pride.” Having to sweep up said feelings as you made extra sure of all your limbs and then stood again, stretching out the new kinks in your muscles.

His sudden stare was felt. “An easy fix.” A warm intimate air hit the room rather quickly, and when you stopped limbering up, you caught his gaze. “You know… that’s a very good look on you. I think you should wear it more often.” No shame as he fully admired the sight in front of him.

Just you in heels. Hm. You could only imagine. Both the thought and the way he was looking at you pooled a slight heat to your cheeks- if there hadn’t already been one after being caught in your fall. A different sort of heat, though. “Knock it off.” Waving a dismissive hand at him and then turning around.

“Do you really want me to?” A great question.

And the obvious answer was no, of course not. But instead of giving in to him, you turned that little wave into more of a hook. “What I’d really like for you to do is follow me into the shower. Please.” Half turning to look at him over your shoulder.

“Gladly.” Eager as ever, as he shifted the covers aside and got out of bed with much more ease than you had. “...are you gonna wear the heels in there?”

“I’m gonna roll up a newspaper and smack you, is what I’m gonna do.”

“Okay, but I’d like you to answer the question, too.”

The two of you were left in a battle of smiles before making haste off to a steamy shower.

---

On your fourth day in Paris, you and Tony got up early. Walked along the Seine river just as the sun was coming up. Around nine AM, the two of you got back to the hotel. The breeze on the balcony as you sat was warm. At nine-thirty, Tony emerged from the penthouse kitchen with two perfectly brewed and prepared cups of coffee. He sat beside you, watching the passers-by on the streets below.

And then. At nine-forty-three, everything stopped. Or rather, perhaps everything started again.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, which was a huge vacation no-no, but the pattern of the vibration was telling. And when he pretended to ignore it, sorry look on his face, JARVIS spoke anyway. “Sir, ma’am. I am sorry. I know you are both on a do-not-disturb protocol.”

Tony picked his phone up out of his pocket and held it up with a very dissatisfied look on his face. “Then continue do-not-disturbing, JARVIS.”

Ignoring him completely, JARVIS continued. “I have received an Avengers Priority One signal from Ms. Romanoff. Shall I put her through?”

You and Tony looked at each other for perhaps too long a time. But eventually you put your cup of coffee down, and let your gaze drift lower, too. Disappointed. Deeply. He sighed. “You already know the answer to that, seeing as you broke protocol.”

“My hierarchy orders are very clear-”

“JARVIS. Just put her through.”

Tony was annoyed. You were upset. JARVIS had been trying to defend himself, or maybe protest that he wasn’t the one at fault here. He was just a program. It wasn’t his fault. No. It was that your personal life took a backseat to superheroing. And that was just the way it was. Whether you liked it or not. And you very much didn’t.

Though a video screen went up on hologram, only Nat’s voice came through. “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t bother you if it wasn’t important. I already called the others. But the both of you are closer.”

This wasn’t Natasha’s fault, either. Everyone seemed to feel like they were putting you out. But it was just the world you lived in. You shook your head, even though she couldn’t see it. “It’s fine, Nat.” It wasn’t. But that was neither here nor there anymore. “What’s going on?” She must have had something serious happen. Most anything she could take on by herself. So if she was calling you...

“I hijacked some Hydra higher-up’s personal jet. I’m headed into Port Sudan to meet up with one of their top scientists and her three-hundred or so Hydra army. Armed to the teeth with powered Chitauri-Hydra hybrid weaponry. She was supposed to be demoing a new big weapon today. I thought we’d drop in.”

Tony sat back a little, resting one leg up on the other, putting a hand on his knee. “This the base we’ve been looking for?” You felt like you already knew the answer to this. But if it had been a yes, at least that would have made the bothering worth it.

But of course… “No. No gamma outputs in that sector. Bruce has something promising, he said. But we can deal with it after this. I’ll drop you coordinates and we can gather. Have a little fun before the rest of the cavalry finds their way here.”

She wasn’t asking permission. She wasn’t asking if you wanted to do this. This was a mission, and you’d do it whether you liked it or not. You’d only had four days- barely- alone with Tony. And already… You tried not to let the tone of your voice slip in a way that would take it out on her. “We’ll see you soon, Nat.”

“Copy that.”

Reaching up, Tony flicked the screen out of the air, ending the call. The coordinates dropped in another chirp literal seconds later, but neither of you looked at them. You were busy looking at each other. He looked just as unhappy. “We go, clean up, and come back. Don’t even have to check out.” A little too optimistic about this.

This. This right here was the life you knew the two of you were destined to live. Forever. Scraping for teeny-tiny moments in time with each other before duty called the both of you to the battlefield again. There was a pit in your stomach, and a sure knowledge in your heart. “Let’s check out anyway. Just in case.”

She had said Bruce had some information. Since she’d called all Avengers, he and Tony would link up. And that would be it. Much as Tony seemed sad about these developments, and as much as you did believe he wanted to do the superhero thing as quickly as possible and return to pretending the two of you could have a life… it wasn’t what was really going to happen. You knew that.

And making him accept it… that was tougher. Because he really just turned this terrible shade of blue. He’d been trying to make all these promises to you, maybe even to himself. About some grand life where this wouldn’t happen. It hadn’t even been a week before reality had crept back in and made him an unwitting liar.

“Sure, honey. Just in case.”

---

You had LUNA put the suit into auto-pilot once the coordinates were loaded in. The rest of your immediate attention was put into reading the mission briefing that Natasha had sent. The Avengers were a couple hours behind the both of you, and with the suits, you and Tony would make it there relatively quickly- at least a lot quicker than the rest of the team currently over the ocean in the quinjet.

It was the whole reason she’d called. Maybe if you’d vacationed somewhere further away than the team…

A useless, petulant thought. One that annoyed you more than anything. This was your duty. You had to see it through. Not the least of which because Natasha could be in trouble. She was facing what sounded like a literal army all on her own. She needed backup. You were Avengers. This was your job.

Dr. Delora Jensen. An angry looking woman with a tight lipped smile and even tighter drawn back black hair in her profile picture. One of the rats that had escaped the so-called sinking ship. And the more of them you dug up, the more you started to feel like the whole exposing of both teams hadn’t been worth it in the end. There just seemed to be so many of them. Endlessly. When would they all be caught? When would they all die out?

She’d been transported to several hotspots. It may have very well been that the Avengers had been on her tail the whole time. She was one of the brilliant minds capable of salvaging the Chitauri weaponry left over from the war and making it into formidable weapons. ...well, not was anymore, seeing as Nat knew she was doing a weapons demonstration later today. One of your favorite things. There was no telling how dangerous she was. Or her army.

Natasha had apprehended two Hydra higher-ups who were scheduled to see what she’d made a breakthrough on. So that was two less to worry about. Two out of a whole army and one mad scientist… and you could have been ignorant to the whole thing on a sunny balcony in Paris.

“You still going over the notes?” Tony asked this already knowing, for sure, that you’d finished some time ago. Really, what he was asking, was what you were thinking about now. And if you wanted to talk.

“No.” Your clipped response got a wince from you. This was in absolutely no way Tony’s fault. It just was. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay.” You didn’t want to become another Jessica Jones. Weary of the world and its ills. Pushing everyone away. Tony didn’t deserve that. You didn’t want to be that person. “I just… I wanted more time. To pretend we were normal.” It wasn’t like you needed to tell him.

He felt the same way. A soft pang knocked at your heart. Light sadness. Yes. The both of you desperately wanted a life. ...you also desperately didn’t want to have that conversation again so soon. Even if you had more evidence to your cause now. You didn’t want to be right. You wanted him to be right. To prove you wrong.

Yet there the both of you were. In your Iron armors. Flying to take out a Hydra nest while you were supposed to be on vacation. You’d murdered a mind-controlling villain not even a week ago. Tony had been shot in the crossfire maybe a week ago. Yet there the both of you were. Charging into battle again, so soon.

How did it end up like this?

“Yeah. Me, too.” His resignation probably hurt the most.

---

Natasha had commandeered an abandoned watchtower a mile out from the base. From what it looked like, they’d removed whatever operation had been hiding out there and moved in fairly quickly. Their perimeters were tight. Soldiers were patrolling the compound- several large warehouses with about five tanks spaced out between buildings. It was a little after 11AM when you and Tony marked her location and dropped in on a slow descent. JARVIS and LUNA did their jobs watching the blind spots so the both of you could get in undetected.

“LUNA get me a headcount.” “Yes, ma’am.”

Deactivating the helmet, you came over to Nat’s side as she was half leaned on the edge of the open wall frame. “You guys made good time.”

Tony took up her other side. “That’s why you called us, if I remember correctly.”

LUNA got back to you, “There are three-hundred-and-twenty bodies on the property, ma’am.”

Natasha gave a little shrug with half a grin. “I was pretty close.”

You couldn’t help your annoyance. “Where are they all coming from?”

Crossing her arms she gave you one of those coy looks. “Well, you know what they say… chop off one head and… blahblahblah…”

“Blahblahblah is right.” Tony was a little more than miffed. “You figure a plan of attack yet or do you need us to find a soft spot? We need to get moving.”

She moved out of her stance, placing a hand on her hip. “You don’t wanna wait for everyone else?”

You just gave her a look. “If you wanted to wait for them, you wouldn’t have called us.” Though you did manage a light smile. This wasn’t her fault, either. There was no need to get rude with her.

“You’re right. I like this a lot better. No need for a discussion. Just right down to business.” Turning back towards the open wall, she put her hands on it and then perched herself up on the ledge. “Shall we?”

Although you also were extremely keen to start and finish this as soon as possible, it wasn’t really too smart to just charge into battle without a formation plan. “Tony and I will start with the tanks and draw fire.” There was no way the two of you could head in unseen any closer than this. “It’s unlikely they have commanders sitting inside them. While we draw their fire, you charge on the rush-up and we’ll meet somewhere in the middle.”

Tony made a little clucking noise. “Any read on this big Chitauri weapon the doc’s got cooking up?” Oh. Right. That. That probably was a problem to consider.

Natasha grinned. “We came for a show, didn’t we? Let’s see it up close for ourselves. I’m sure you’ll have a few pointers for her.” And with that she backflipped off the edge and then caught herself on the railing and made her way down to the ground.

As the two of you looked after her, Tony turned to you with a raise of his hand. “You know, I’m beginning to think everyone on this team has a diva streak.”

At this you couldn’t help the little snort, the fond roll of your eyes while you reached up to re-engage your helmet. You then put your hand on his shoulder. “Oh, honey. You’re not allowed to make that comment.”

You jumped into action, taking flight on heavy thrusters, with Tony right behind you. Easily the both of you spread fast over Natasha’s location as she was still rushing up to the compound. There was no hiding the sound of two Iron suits heading Hydra’s way, and within moments the warning sirens started blaring and bodies started pouring out of the warehouses.

Your HUD went into full combat display, ticking up body-counts and signatures, listing off all your energy outputs, keeping up with your two allies- and of course, a small window of Tony’s on the lower display. He was quick to pull out in front of you. “I’ve got the two on the right if you wanna take left. We can co-sign the center.” The tanks, he meant, and he quickly rolled off from his straight line to veer.

“I’m on it!” Fully engaged now. Whether or not you wanted to be here (and you didn’t) was no longer a consideration. You were here. Guns were firing. People were trying to kill you. The battle was on. That was all that mattered.

Tony had fired three times on the first tank he’d locked on to, with nothing much to show for it. “Shell’s are pretty tough on these things.”

While you were busy dodging and weaving heavy gunfire, the lightbulb went off. “Let’s make like turtles then.” In a quick drop, you rolled out of the air and came to a landing hard on your feet. With both hands up, you fired a blast underneath one of the tanks, knocking it completely upside down. The explosion drew extra benefit when the radius knocked a few soldiers out of the way. With the underbelly exposed, you fired off a heavier concentrated shot.

On your side, Tony mirrored your movements. “PETA would like to have a word.”

Natasha’s voice perked up just as you flipped your second tank. “I’m closing in- and I really hope you don’t go around flipping turtles in your spare time.” The sound of her taking out a few combatants paired very nicely with your groan.

“Let’s not spread rumors. Or PETA really will call me.” You’d just cleared your second tank. Tony was just starting in on his- and that’s when you noticed the turret on your shared middle turning towards him. “Tony you’ve got incoming!” Not quite enough of a warning, as it fired a weirdly colored energy blast at him.

His grunt cut clear across the channel as his head knocked around while his suit spun out of control for a few seconds before he regained control. He was just starting to speak as you took off in a boosted sprint for the middle tank. “Watch those shots- they sap energy- JARVIS I know- think this is what the doctor had for show and tell?”

“She’ll have to bring something else.” Hands poised you detonated an explosive right underneath the tank as it had just turned to fire on you, but you won out the quicker victor. However once it was knocked on its side, instead of delivering the finishing blow, you decided to let yourself get a little personal. With a vault up and over and then another landing just on the side you banged on the top. Probably glad he wasn’t about to die in a fiery explosion, the soldier inside threw open the lid with his hands up. One of which you promptly grabbed, yanking him clear out and tossing him several yards away into the desert. His screams faded into the distance.

Honestly, how dare he.

“Now, honey, that’s not very nice.” Tony was teasing. But you were a little beyond that.

Holding your arm out to trigger your wrist projectiles you sent a few whistling into the cabin and slammed the lid shut again. Quickly you jumped into flight up and away as the entire thing blew from the inside. “I’ll try to go a little easier on them.” A saccharine lie with a smile to match aimed at his display window.

JARVIS spoke across the network. “The quinjet is approaching. Fifty miles out.”

Natasha sounded only slightly out of breath. “So the cavalry arrives finally.”

“More like backup. We’re pretty much finished here.” Tony’s tone was very dry.

And maybe at this point all of you should have learned not to tempt the universe. Because just as the three of you had laid out half the army and the quinjet finally breached the vicinity, Dr. Jensen herself burst out of the leftmost compound, holding what looked like… well… some sort of backpack with a wide muzzled hose attached to both her arms. She aimed it up at the all too obvious target. And even more obvious than that was her war cry. “HAIL HYDRA!”

The shot went off in a quick focused burst, hitting the bottom of the jet, sending it into a tailspin. This felt vaguely familiar. So much so that you broke formation from your teammates to- well- go get the rest of your teammates. Trying to zip underneath and dig your hands into the machinery to stop its fall, you struggled. “Who’s driving?!”

Clint was the one that answered. “Well if that’s your welcome, we’ll just turn around.”

The landing was rough but a lot less rough than a crash. It might also not have helped that you sort of shoved the jet off of you. Very suddenly it felt like you were choking. The air was thick. And familiar.

And…

Angry.

Steve’s voice came first- “We’re in code green- I repeat- we’re in code-”

About all he had time to say as Hulk ripped open the side door with a roar and jumped out overhead. Natasha sounded only marginally worried. “Guys, is that gonna be a problem?”

Hulk was already dead center of the compound, ripping people apart. Thor stuck his head out of the hole in the jet. “We were called into battle. It seems more a solution than a problem.”

Tony made a circle flyby, probably checking on you and the team without saying as much, and then zipped straight back after his rounds. “Let’s cut the chatter and get to work. Eyes on the doctor dual-wielding the vacuum cleaner.”

Clint scoffed. “You’re one to talk.”

Once the rest of the team had climbed out, you all gave each other a brief nod and rushed back into battle. Putting down the soldiers with the lesser weaponry wasn’t too much of a problem. Jensen became the main issue. The gun was much like the tanks, draining energy as much as it fired it back in quick, dangerous bursts. Which was a problem when she aimed it at both you and Tony- grounding the both of you in heaps while LUNA and JARVIS gave out several warnings.

The team tried to converge on your location as she stood just over, and then fired on them, too. Frustration took up hot residence in your heart. “We have to circle around. You’ll never get her from the front!” The problem was her line of defense backing her. Willing to die just to keep her protected.

She raised her weapons to fire on Steve. “Hydra now wields weapons of the gods! You’re no match for us!”

Tony’s sarcasm projected out. “What is it with everyone thinking aliens are gods? When did this start? Thor? Got any ideas about this one, buddy?”

He raised his hammer. “Just one!” And then brought it down, summoning a lightning strike at her. When she threw up her own hands to fire back, the energy that clashed caused a shockwave that threw everyone back.

As Jensen stood, she aimed the weapon at Natasha next. “Like I said you fools- you’re no match for me.”

The whiz of an arrow caught your audio feed. Almost imperceptible. Clint spoke just in time with her backpack imploding. “You know. I really doubt that.”

She was thrown to the ground face first, shrieking- some parts terror but mostly just terrible pain. The team edged in on her in a tight circle. You were tired, more than anything. Though you did catch Natasha bumping Clint’s hip with hers. “Is that an I-owe-you? Or was that a repaid debt?”

He shrugged. “I’ve lost count.”

Looking up, Jensen started growling, fist beating on the concrete. “How… I had greater power than all of you…!”

Tony held up his hand, repulsor charging. Only in warning, you were sure. Just in case she was thinking of trying anything else. “I think your math’s a little off on that one, doc. I’d be happy to double check your work. If you ask nicely.”

Steve was panting as he laid a hand on his hip. The sound of metal screeching hit the air just as you put the good doctor in a nice pair of handcuffs. He made a vague gesture at Hulk, who was busy ripping up one of the warehouses. Literally. “Is someone gonna deal with that?”

You let your shoulders lower. Really just tired. “He’s a person, you know. Not a that. And if you’re asking me-”

Natasha cut you off. “I’ll go.” The team all turned towards her. A little… puzzled, to say the least. “We’ve been working together. I came up with code green, in case anyone cares to remember.” Said with such sureness yet flippant at the same time. Not waiting around for a chorus of questions or naysayers as she took off in his direction.

...something strange was going on there. She used to be utterly terrified of Hulk. You remembered those feelings, in the helicarrier, a long time ago. And now… she was going to meet him head on. No backup. ...strange indeed.

Tony’s helmet slid back, so you removed your own, next. He laid a hand on your shoulder. “What’s the next move?” Asking you because… well…

A deep sigh escaped you. “Bruce is gonna need to take some time to even out. I’ll get us some lodging. I know you and he have to talk about the next hit. I’ll call DC while I’m at it. Have them start carting this stuff off.” Work. Work came first. It always would.

He nodded. Solemn. “Sounds like a plan.”

It would have been easy to just tell the team to clean up. It would have been easy to run away again.

But that wasn’t how this worked. It never would be. At least you had the solace of winning a battle. It was just unfortunate it was never the war.

#Tony Stark #Tony Stark x Reader #INY Chapter One Hundred Fifty

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minyoongleschimjoongles · 5 years

Text

Preordained: Introductions V

When Zara Met Seokjin

Pairing(s):Poly!BTSxOC, Sub!BTSxOC,

Warnings: Implied sexual situations, Mentions of sexual situations, implications of Dom/sub relationships

Notes: This might have been the Introduction that I had the most trouble with, because it’s the chapter where the AU-ness of Preordained really starts to come in.

Intro: Taehyung, Jungkook, Yoongi, Namjoon

The addition of Namjoon immediately eased most of the tensions between the boys. He was a natural leader, excellent at talking things out, and his instinct to sort out the arguments to spare Zara the stress was strong.

He also expressed the need for the guys to get to know each other better outside of being Zara’s Soulmates, because that would help ease the friction between everyone.

Zara’s grades, which had suffered under the stress, quickly returned to normal, and Namjoon’s intelligence also inspired Zara to actually focus on school again instead of wasting all her time with her menagerie of beautiful boys.

At this moment, she sat in her painting class, wondering why, exactly, the film class that was normally the next room over was crowded in with the rest of them. The easels an stools had been pushed against one wall, leaving as much room as possible for people to stand. Zara, always early for class, had hoisted herself up onto the only fixed counter top in the room, crossing her legs under her.

When the teachers had done a mental headcount of their students and assured that most, if not all of them were there, they called for attention.

“Good morning, everyone,” Mr. Lee, the film professor, clapped his hands twice. “I know you’re all wondering what’s going on here today. Well, I’ll tell you. Ms. Do and I have always combined our classes when it’s time to start thinking of final projects.” He paused for the groans as the students realized what was happening. “Yes, that’s right, you’re going to have partners, but we’ll get into that later. Right now, we want to explain what the projects are. For my students, you’re going to be making a Youtube channel! You can do whatever you want for your channel, any subject at all. My only stipulation is that your partner must be included in some way. Your partner is your Muse, so to speak. This is why Ms. Do and I have lovingly named this The Muse Project. For my students, the final presentation of the Youtube channel is worth 30% of your grade, and the painting students will get extra credit on their own final projects.”

“Now,” Ms. Do took over, “the project for my students is, of course, an art show, though not a normal one. Instead of canvas paintings, the pieces displayed in the end-of-semester art show will be digital photographs of paintings done on your partner’s body. Your partner is your canvas, and your Muse. The art show is worth 30% of your grade, and the film students will get extra credit on their final, as well. We will now tell you who your partner is, so please listen carefully. Afterwards, you’re free to leave and get to know your partner.”

There was nervous chatter as people started looking around, wondering who exactly their partner would be. Zara sat up straighter in her spot, ears straining to hear the names being called over the talking.

“Underhill Zara and Kim Seokjin.”

A ridiculously handsome young man with an obscenely white, straight smile raised his head, scanning the crowd for the student with the obviously American name. When he caught Zara’s green eyes, she waved a hand in greeting and he started to make his way through the other students towards her. He held a Canon Powershot in his hands like it was a lifeline, already recording. Already, Zara’s mind was filled with ideas for the paintings she’d have to do on this Kim Seokjin.

When he stopped in front of her, his blinding smile widened.

“I got an American! That’ll be interesting for a video subject.”

Without missing a beat, Zara said, “Maybe I’m Canadian.”

His smile dropped a fraction, startled.

“Oh..”

Zara snorted and smiled at him. “I’m just kidding, Kim Seokjin.”

He let out a slow breath, the smile returning.

“That was mean, Underwood Zara.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! You were recording and I couldn’t resist.”

Jin nodded, pointing the camera at her.

“Say hello to the world, Zara.”

“Hello to the world, Zara.”

Jin grinned and turned the camera on himself again.

“My partner Zara is apparently a comedy genius. So, Zara, how old are you?”

Zara hopped off the table, taking this question in stride. In America, people found it inappropriate to ask someone’s age, but in Korea, Zara found it was one of the first things people asked.

“I was born October 12, 1995.”

Jin’s face lit up, keeping stride with Zara as she left the classroom. “Ah, I’m your Oppa! I was born December 4, 1992.”

Zara nodded, “Don’t be surprised if I forget to use the Oppa title. Two of my Soulmates so far are older than me and I drop the title all the time.”

Jin almost fumbled the camera as he did his double take. “Did you say two Soulmates?”

Zara let a frustrated little sigh. “Yeah, I have Seven, but I’ve only found four so far. I know, I know, I’m a freak.”

“No, no! I don’t think you’re a freak! But...maybe we should cut this part out of the video, it’s so personal.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

Jin nodded, and as the two of them continued to walk, Jin continued asking Zara questions. His intentions for this first video was a vlog-style, get-to-know-each-other kind of thing.

“So, I’m warning you right now, there might be a lot of boys in here.”

Zara and Jin stood outside her dorm room, Zara preparing to open the door.

“Thanks for the heads up,” Jin nodded, “Go ahead and open it, Zara.”

“Well, you can’t show everyone the passcode to my dorm, Seokjin-oppa,” She grabbed his wrist to turn the camera away from her keypad, and immediately felt the tug on her wrist. The angle she’d managed to get the camera to before realizing Kim Seokjin was one of the Seven showed both of their faces in the shot.

Upon editing that particular bit of footage, Jin would lament the way his handsome face reddened, eyes wide and jaw dropped. Though he’d file Zara’s face away in his memory, knowing her soft smile and twinkling green eyes would lift his spirits for the rest of his days.

“Oh.” Jin said. Zara released his wrist. “Well, this is an interesting plot twist to the video.”

xXx

The boys welcomed Jin in immediately, absorbing him into the group with no complaints. Several of Jin’s videos had already been posted, including the now viral first video, “Finding My Soulmate.”

People just loved watching Soulmates come together.

Zara was always the main focus of Jin’s videos, but the rest of Zara’s Soulmates were inevitably involved as well. Jin’s favorite videos to film were standard vlogs, chronicling his new life with Zara and her Soulmates. He’d even given Zara a camera of her own so that she could film when he was in his own class and Zara, ever the accommodating Soulmate, performed this task dutifully.

Of his classmates’ channels, Jin’s channel was the most popular. Zara had a feeling that it had something to do with the many handsome boys that were featured in it, but she never brought it up. Whatever the reason, Jin’s fan base saw a massive increase in the first month.

Today’s video was the first day that Zara would be painting on his body, so he lay on the floor of her dorm, his arms pillowing his head and his camera recording everything. Zara was already astride his legs, though she didn’t seem to know yet what she wanted to do yet. Her fingers were tracing along his spine, though, and it was starting to put him to sleep.

“Seokjin-oppa,” Zara leaned forward and pressed slow, open-mouthed kisses against his back, and a pleased, tired rumble vibrated through him.

“Zara,” he warned, though there was no actual bite to his voice, “We’re filming a painting video, not an accidental sex tape.”

She was still kissing him, and he felt her smile against his skin. The blatant flirtation between them was certainly on purpose, Jin having noticed subscribers reacted well to it. “Who said anything about accidental?”

Another rumble, and Zara laughed, sitting up and pulling the paints she’d set aside closer. She’d had to go out and buy a supply of body paints for this project, not willing to risk damaging Jin’s beautiful skin with her acrylics.

Without opening his eyes, Jin asked, “What did you decide on?”

“I was thinking we’d go right into the difficult stuff, oppa. A big galaxy, yeah?” She traced an image across the planes of his back with her pointer finger, relishing in the goosebumps that rose up.

“Mm-hmm,” Jin really was falling asleep under her ministrations.

She took the black paint and sketched out a few abstract shapes on his back, feeling him shiver once or twice at the temperature of it. Once that was done, she began to fill in the spaces, first with black, then with the many colors of space. Each stroke of the brush lulled Jin further into dream land. It wasn’t until he felt a hand squeezing his ass that he jolted into alertness.

“That,” he said, “doesn’t feel like paint.”

“You caught me,” Zara laughed, laying next to him and showing him the photo of his back. It looked like she had painlessly ripped his skin open to reveal not muscle and organs beneath, but an explosion of color, pinks and blues and purples stretching across his back.

Zara watched him as he stared at the photograph. His jaw was dropped in awe, his eyes soft.

“Well?”

“It’s beautiful, Zara.” Conscious of the still-wet paint on his back, Jin threw his left arm around Zara’s waist to tuck her into his side. “Anything you draw is beautiful.”

“It’s not hard to create something beautiful when works of art like you are sharing my bed at night.” She gestured to the still-rolling camera, “People worldwide call you handsome.”

“Well, obviously,” Jin gave her a smirk, “It was only a matter of time before people realized how truly beautiful I am.”

“You’re not at all conceited,” Zara teased, kissing his jaw. “Now turn off the camera, before we really do make an accidental sex tape.”

@babyboytae1 @snowythellama @bewitch3dforivar

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