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collectivecloseness · 1 year

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Not Used To Visitors

Kurt Kunkle x reader

(Summary: When Kurt asks you to meet his dogs after a little while of dating he’s so happy to be able to share them with you! But he forgets that he’s not really brought a friend home for a long time, and how his dogs react to most strangers on their property. Notes: Reuploaded from my ao3 - this was my first fic in a while, and ever for Kurt, when originally posted)

“Hey y/n so- yeah! I h-heard you like dogs!”

You turned around to your doe eyed friend, well, you guessed he was closer to a boyfriend now, in all honesty you hadn’t had that talk because you thought it was still a little early to ask him about labels, and he was too awkward to ask. Dating was what you told people. And Kurt beamed every time you did, just like the way he was looking at you now.

You looked up at him from the passenger seat you’d just climbed in, smile upturning your cheeks in intrigue. “Yeah, I did say that. When you asked me yesterday Kurt.”

Kurt hopped in his seat at your response. “Well you’re in luck then mister-m-my love, because I’ve got some puppers who’re really excited to meetcha!”

“Really?” Your eyes lit up at this, and it seemed to give Kurt that little push of confidence he needed every time he’d started a new conversation with you once you’d asked him out. Especially when you didn’t react negatively at all to his last minute pet name. “Yeah-huh! Back at my home. They’re my grandpa’s pets but they live with me and my mom now.” He explained happily, seeming content to just sit in his car and talk with you, putting off the actual drive before he had to drop you off at your location. Luckily for him this proposal really caught your attention.

“Oh my god Kurt yeah you’ve mentioned your dogs before.” You grabbed his arm in both your hands as you spoke to shake it lightly, asking him why he hadn’t shown you them earlier. Truth is you mostly spent time in his car, out, or at yours. He’d taken you to the junkyard before, but not his home yet. To be fair, you hadn’t exactly known each other too long, you just couldn’t help but find this greasy gamer boy attractive.

Kurt dragged his eyes down to his arm, his throat bulging a little as he swallowed, feeling the warmth of your hands on him. “Yeah well... they’re good doggos.”

“What’re they called?”

“Luna and Dozier.” He smiled, relaxing into his headrest a little before you removed your hand. “They’re pits, but everyone’s always so mean about that.”

You nodded in agreement. “Yeah you hear those stories, from bad owners especially.”

“But they’re good dogs! They’re so sweet and like, like little old pals. You’ll see. You- well- you’ll see them tomorrow! In fact!” He shimmied up in his seat, a confident but hazy smile crawling upon him yet again.

You raised your eyebrows challengingly. “And what if, I’m not available tomorrow? Huh?”

Kurt momentarily froze, eyes sinking back down to his console, fingers playing on his turn signal. “Oh. Yeah. Sorry...” his lips quickly twitched into a dispirited frown. “Well- I guess-“

You smirkingly cut him off with a playful shove noticing the way his little dejected puppy expression still didn’t leave as he looked up at you confused. You tried to make it a bit easier for him, happily leaning your cheek against his upper arm, snaking your own through his before going to hold his seemingly always clammy hand. “Kurt I’m kidding. I’d love to go and see your dogs with you tomorrow.”

Whenever his cheeks blushed pink his eyes seemed to get more brown you thought. You adored that about him. “Really? Oh yeah w-okay, well, great!” His hand now slowly merged into your own, his fingertips grazing your palm as he shuddered whenever you did that to him. His hand was always so gentle when it held yours. Even though you had to admit how insatiably cute it was, you wish he’d grow a little more confident and secure when holding you. One time you thought during a chilling moment, he was so soft because he was scared of hurting you. But you knew the world had done it’s share of hurt to him, and that touch like this, until you, was rare. It was your job to make all those light simple touches near boring. Nearly. Giving a quick squeeze to his hand, you felt him lean more needily into your arm, even if it crushed it just a little between the seats. You gave him a hushed encouraging “Yeah?”

“Yeah!” He said it so happily that everything was going according to plan, he even leaned forward to give a chaste, although somehow still wet, kiss to the left of your forehead. “Sounds cool!!”

By the time you’d driven up to Kurts house you’d already listened to the top rotation of your favourite songs at the moment, some of which Kurt promised he’d add into a new song for you, even though you’d never asked him to, and he’d been ranting on about his dog’s favourite games, and what you guys could play, before just deciding to hang out with them when they inevitably got tired.

Kurt had already told you what his house looked like, so you weren’t surprised at all to see it so secluded. And although you’d seen it in videos of his you watched, you’d never seen Kurt’s bedroom in person, so you were definitely going to ask for a bit of a tour later on. That’s if you could find a way to ask to see his bedroom that you didn’t think would make Kurt spontaneously combust upon saying. You hadn’t had any luck yet. God he was an adorable mess of a man.

Even though Kurt liked to open his doors for you when he could, he knew you could get out of his Prius just as quickly. So he walked around to the side as you got your bag from the car floor, and walked outdoors, standing by Kurts side as he smiled back down at you, trickles of hair covering his eyes, before he shook it out the way and to the side. “Well- here’s- home sweet home! Welcome.” He threw his arms up in the air, slapping them back down at his sides, before walking up to the front door.

That’s where you were expecting to meet his dogs. Inside the house dozily waiting for Kurt to come home. You neared just a few feet away from the side fence, in the middle of a sentence to do with if Kurt’s mom would be home, when all of a sudden a loud mass of barking accompanied a heavy weight bashing the fence right at you. Shadows clipped through the gaps of the wood and the whole frame shook, snarls and growls bellowed louder as the lock to the gate was clawed at, scratch marks accompanying the wood around it as the noises grew louder and more violent.

You jumped at the sudden assault of noises, scared and shocked into stillness as the wood seemed to bulge out almost cartoonishly, like something was about to break free and head straight for you.

“Hey hey hey!”

You hadn’t even realised you’d backed into Kurt, neither had he realised he’d come to wrap around you from behind, both acting instinctually, even though it was his beloved pets.

It was only when his arms wrapped over your shoulders that you felt yourself breathe again. And that’s when you realised his words were too harsh to have been trying to comfort you. He was talking to his dogs.

You looked up at him from where he was softly tucking you into his chest, even he looked shocked at their behaviour, although there was a distinct trace of sternness you didn’t think you’d ever seen on Kurt Kunkle’s face before. You sank further into Kurt’s hold as you looked back at the gate, backing up into him as much as your subconscious state would allow.

Kurt swaddled his arms around your upper torso further, protectively. “Hey stop it you two! You’re scaring them!” Kurt gently clasped onto you quickly again with a soft squeeze. “Stop that right now!”

The banging on the wood stopped, thankfully, but even as the lock stopped flipping up and down, you held all of your body as flush to Kurt as any parts could; the barking didn’t cease, and they’d begun howling now.

Kurt seemed to be instinctively and not at all falsely confident about something for the first time in his life now. At least since you’d known him. He rubbed his warm hands up and down your shoulders, rejuvenating some spark in you you realised had been simmering a little, thankful for his touch of reassurance. After a couple of seconds of that he looked down at you, frowning, disappointed, and apologetic and upset on your behalf, letting you go with another brush, but marching straight towards the fence now.

“Hey you two. You’re being very bad!!” Kurt pointed his finger at them, through the rather crooked gaps, and it made your breath catch in your throat. But these dogs who’d been growling and snarling incessantly since the moment you stepped even close to their home, only licked and whined at Kurt’s finger as he lectured them, the darker one, Luna, even going in for a friendly nibble, as if she was just saying hello after he’d come back from the store.

Kurt still wagged his finger, even though he didn’t stop either of the dogs as they paced close to the fence, or went up to sniff and lick at him, wagging their tails. Dozier sat a little further away in the background as they saw their mad owner’s gaze upon them. “You’re both being really bad dogs! Y/n is a friend! See? Gooooood. A good friend. They’re nice. And you can’t bark at them! No barking! No biting!!!”

As in control as Kurt was, your heart was still to stop hammering.

“You don’t attack y/n, okay! Don’t be naughty. Y/n is a friend. You be nice to y/n, okay?”

Kurt walked back up to you with a sigh, head hung but with no growling behind him. You swear you could hear a tail repeatedly hitting the fence panelling.

Kurt raised his head once he got near you, and that was your cue to raise your arms. He enveloped you in the hug first, which wasn’t too unusual, but the small, yet heavy, open mouthed kiss to your cheek was a bit of a rarer deal for him. Although you didn’t doubt he thought about it a lot. His movements almost seemed natural to him at this point, and you just melted into his chest, resting your cheek on his soft shirt that smelt of mango vape and a bit of sweat, but you liked that last smell. When he stayed over and your pillows smelt of it, or that time he didn’t have a shirt at yours and gave you back your tee that you fiddled with the rest of the evening, or when he hugged you, just like this. “I’m sorrry...” he drawled out.

You shook your head. You weren’t sure what at, but you did nuzzle your nose and one of your eyes into him more efficiently. You closed the other one as well, just letting him hold you as you breathed.

“Sorry... they’re not used to new people.” He explained sadly, rubbing a hand comfortingly up and down your back, in such a way it raised your shirt a little at the bottom each time. It felt nice, to have him knowingly hold you like this. You were sure he was getting a little comfort out of petting you this way as well, but of course you were happy to give him that. You clasped your hands around his middle, rubbing your face against his chest for a couple of seconds before just relaxing into him. You felt enveloped for a moment as his neck craned and his long hair hung over you, head tucked against yours, but you welcomed the enveloping, how he sheilded you in the darkness. Kurt started to sway you then, and you hooked your arms around his shoulders, leaning into the back and forth movements with you and he kept up his soft rubbing. All the while breathing him in, finally having your lungs return to normal.

It only lasted a couple of seconds though, before Kurt was pulling back, pouting down at you with those big brown puppy dog eyes. You could tell he was upset by how his plans had gone. “Oh K-Kurt.” You lowered your hands now, holding one to his hip but using the other to rub smaller circles than his one into his lower back. Kurt tucked his chin at you, looking down between your feet. So you raised the hand on his hip to his chest, having him look at that instead. “It’s okay. I know you didn’t plan it to go this way. It’s alright. We can do something else instead.” You tried to reassure him sensitively. “They only spooked me for a second.”

He looked back up at you now, biting on his bottom lip with his upper one. You pat his chest twice. “I’m sure they really are good pets, just-“

“Come here. I wanna show you.” Kurt’s tongue dashed down to his lower lip, wetting it in thought, as he grabbed your hand in his, and absentmindedly following, you quickly realised he was leading you straight to the dogs. “Wait Kurt. I don’t think-“

“Hey!” Kurt whistled, and you could immediately hear the dogs at the gate again, your heart beating inside your chest. Although this time they weren’t trying to open the gate, they weren’t even being loud. The only noises were the patter of excited footsteps on the pavement.

Kurt let go of your hand once you were both by the gate and squatted down, putting the back of his hand to the gaps. “H-hey, hey guys.” This time his stutter wasn’t from second guessing his sentence, but from laughter, at the tickle of his dogs licking his fingers with friendly anticipation.

“Now you need to be good dogs. Luna? Dozier? You need to be good dogs okay? Y/n’s good, they’re my- they’re my friend.” He seemed to flounder for just a moment, unsure whether he was allowed to call you his partner or not, or whether his dogs would even understand that. “You’ll get more used to them. They’re your friend now too.” At this point, Kurt looked up at you, bouncing on the balls of his feet and grinning in childish excitement. He held his hand out to you, as you twisted your lips down at him. You were thinking about it.

“C’mon. I swear they won’t hurt you. I promise.” He said, tilting his head almost like a sad dog. When you didn’t move he took your hand himself, but softly, guiding you down, calculating his movements to make you sure he wasn’t bringing you any further to the gate, only to him. “I promise I won’t let them hurt you.” He brought your hand back into his chest this time, moving it about in between his own, with it gently brushing over the fabric of his shirt. And then, with all his gaze focused on it, he leant down and kissed the back of your hand, with all the tenderness as if it was a physical wound, rather than you just being emotionally scared. His lips continued to hold their affection in them, just as his eyes did as he batted them up at you. It was when he dropped your hand, fingers still itching to trace on yours till the very last second, that you imagined this is the feeling Kurt had once explained to you late agaisnt your pillow. How your hand felt like it had pins and needles where he’d once been touching, except these were warm, and exciting to the touch, and not in the least bit uncomfortable. Only the sensation could be soothed, by being touched by the other once again.

Finally, with his words of encouragement, you started to move a bit closer. Kurt shuffled, still crouching, until he was behind you, knees swaying against your back every so often, as his hand held encouragingly on your shoulder, there and alert for you in his promise, as you slowly reached the back of your hand towards the gap in the fence.

The immediate sniffing against your skin brought in light giggles. Memories of dogs you’ve loved and childhood meetings flew into your mind as you felt the two dogs fighting over eagerly sniffing your hand through the medium sized hole, only there was no hurting or snarling, just tripping over each other and excited nudges of each others noses.

You wondered if Kurt had thought the mix of his scent on your hand would help the dogs accept you more, or maybe he just wanted to kiss your hand. Looking at him right now, even though he was looking at the dogs, full of light and smiling so genuinely, you really thought it was the second one. You laid a hand on his knee. You could always have used the excuse you needed it for balance, the way you two were framed right now, but you didn’t want to. You smiled at him, not even noticing one of the dogs had gotten their nose through until they eagerly started to lick at your palm. You giggled into Kurt’s eyes at how gross the feeling was, before moving your hand closer so they could both sniff and touch it more. You didn’t notice that Kurt’s eyes had been glued to yours since the moment your hand touched his knee. His face only got redder when you went to stretch an ankle, and your hand slipped further up, to his mid thigh.

“Right! C’mon guys! Be good dogs to y/n okay! Friendly!”

“Wait!” Panic started to set in a little as you realised Kurt may still not understand so much how different his childhood pets may react to a stranger, especially if he hasn’t had many friends over before. “Kurt hold on a-“

Before you could react, Kurt had unlocked the gate, and you were still in a squatted position. You shut your eyes with a brief squeak, before you felt something barrelling into you. You fell on your ass, still managing to keep sitting up, with your hands raised in surrender in front of your face. You didn’t know what you expected, but the tongue between your hands trying to dig into your face, the slapping of a tail against your calf and a paw on your crotch took you a second to digest. As soon as you heard the friendly whining, you peeked through your hands to see Luna, the darker grey one, with her dropped ears and her paws pattering desperately as she finally got up to your face, immediately licking where she’d been denied before, and sniffing everywhere you could. Your hands lowered down, expecting her face to follow, but a gush of wind right in your eardrum as she sniffed made you burst into laughter. You couldn’t even be mad at the fact Kurt had just opened the gate with too much trust in them, they were too cute to be mad at their owner.

Looking up, hands finally finding a gentle purchase on Luna’s paw, you saw Kurt stood directly in front of you, momentarily blocking Dozier from his attack of snuggles so you wouldn’t be bombarded, but Luna having snuck past. You couldn’t help but gaze into his open mouthed smile, as he watched you and his previous best pal become buddies.

You were slightly afraid if you opened your mouth, Luna would find her way in there, but you managed a very pleased grin at him as Luna snorted against your chin, desperately trying to lick your face.

Kurt was so happy, watching you, a person he actually really liked, who liked him back, out loud, playing with his dogs, outside his house, smiling at him like that.

He was so distracted he forgot about the pit with more patches of white on them, but it didn’t matter too much as Dozier was just as friendly when they finally got to greet you, sniffing the back of your head and accidentally head butting your shoulder in the process, trying to climb under their sister as they tried to smell you even more. You just laughed more and more at that, and Kurt fell to the ground, bringing his knees up to his chin but making sure his feet just touched yours, as he laughed more genuinely than he felt like he had in years. Well, discounting the times you’d made him laugh recently of course.

The dogs went to go play with Kurt now as well, Dozier happily accepting a few head scratches in trade for leaving Luna to slobber over more of his face, trotting back over to you with a wizzing tail to get less of an interrupted inspection.

You gently tried to lead Dozier down from your face, not exactly wanting any kisses from the mouth, well, not from the dogs, distracting them with ear scratches until their butt was basically landed in your lap to get an equal amount of scritches, laughing each time their tail whipped your leg out of excitement, and how their head bounced back and forth to get a good idea of which ear would be scratched next.

When you finally got a chance to open your eyes without a fear of slobber getting on them- and you’d done a pretty good job of protecting your face, just not your head, or anywhere else- you saw Kurt, who had clearly been trying to speak to you, in a much similar position that you must’ve just been in. With his eyes and face scrunched up so cutely, but still clearly in a big smile, as Luna licked all over his face, wherever she could get. Kurt seemed to resign to his slobbery fate just a little more than you though, it made you giggle. Which of course got Dozier to bound up and go for your chin again. You gently set them down, looking at Kurt again and finally gaining some eye contact, and with both your twisted up smiles, Kurt finally started to stand up, reaching his hand over and, after Luna so graciously accepted first, you took his hand and let him help you up, both pups circling around your feet now, sniffing excitedly at your pants and looking up at their new friend with playful anticipation.

Kurt seemed to get them, letting go of your hand but stepping closer to you in the process, cheeks coloured with pink yet again. “Yeah yeah. You dog-guys go play. We’ll play with you in a minute, okay?” He swept his hair slick with either grease or slobber, likely both, back to the side. Both dogs came up to his legs now, and both demanded attention before they ran off together in Kurt’s land. “Yeah. Good dogs.” He drawled out, grinning.

And that grin stayed on his face as he turned to you, happy and proud, of his dogs and from making you laugh so hard, beaming down on you as he finally had you, y/n, in his yard.

And fuck was Kurt the most adorable boy you’d ever dated.

You practically skipped that last step towards Kurt, before you were close enough to take his hand again. He happily took it without much of a pause this time, still letting you take the lead though on where they went, although your eyes crinkled with your smile as you watched Kurt play with your hands, his eyes just watching as he gently toyed with your fingers. It wasn’t until your legs moved till they crossed with his, and your free hand trailed gently to his chin, making him look right into your eyes, that he did so. His demeanour immediately changed, whilst he still held your hand, he clasped it more for comfort, and except for his eyes that slowly drew down to your mouth, his body began to still. His lips parted, into a small round shape, perfect and plump, hot shallow breaths starting to be audible as he realised what was happening.

His eyes remained warm and lips wet until you didn’t exactly pull away, but you broke eye contact, fake groaning with a pout that still couldn’t wipe away your smile. “Mmmmh! I don’t wanna kiss you nowww.” You drawled, emphasising the now, and moaning like a brat. But Kurt, like usual, didn’t seem to catch on.

He did draw back slightly, but out of confusion. Not enough so your hand would leave his face, but his hair wasn’t dangling above you two anymore. His eyes squinted sadly, before they seemed to get innocently wider. “But, why?”

You laughed. So much of a laugh that Kurt had to get you’d been joking earlier, especially with the way you lightly slapped his chest, but kept your hand on there soothingly afterwards; also, much to his eager and unexpected knowledge, he could tell you liked the way his chest felt under your hands by the way you touched it. His heart beat quicker at the knowledge, and he had to suck in his lips to stop himself from whining like a dog, as he realised you could probably feel it too.

The whine only became audible, once your hand slithered up his chest, past his very sensitive neck, to pat teasingly at his cheek. “Go wash your face pretty boy.”

#if this feels dif again this was my first time writing kurt and writing in general for a while haha so hope it’s still ok!#just reuploding everything rn so it’s weird reading some stuff back haha #Kurt Kunkle/reader #Kurt Kunkle fluff #Kurt Kunkle x reader #Kurt Kunkle fic #kurt kunkle #fic #spree 2020

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mc-lukanette · 3 years

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42 More Lukanette Thoughts

Marinette making a lucky charm bracelet for Luka, but being afraid to give it to him since Adrien also has one and she doesn’t want Luka thinking that he’s just a replacement for Adrien. Luka finds the gift eventually and naturally does not think that at all.

Luka being a morning person (or at least more of one than Marinette) so he helps Marinette’s sleep schedule by calling her to wake her up in the morning. This also leads to late-night calls between them where they both check if the other is sleeping at the right time (which can lead to either good or bad things; good because they’re checking on each other, bad because they clearly don’t have self-control and might just keep each other up).

Luka ends up hurting one of his hands and proceeds to avoid Marinette, knowing that his lack of ability to play music might affect him emotionally. He doesn’t want her to see him vulnerable. Marinette inevitably figures it out and frets over him while also thinking up ways to help him out.

Marinette being miserable every time she hears the ballroom music that she used to associate with her (former) love for Adrien. She was with Luka once and he got to witness her shouting angrily at the speakers playing the music that she has a boyfriend who is NOT Adrien and she doesn’t appreciate this reminder of Adrien’s existence.

Marinette struggling to confess to Luka, but then having no problem rambling off praises for him to other people.

Marinette tries on Luka’s highlights once and surprises Luka with it. He’s so caught off-guard that he reaches up and touches/feels her hair himself, earning a blush out of Marinette. Now she has to try his looks more so he’ll initiate physical contact more.

Luka getting his own version of “Copycat” (not him being jealous, but just an akuma who’s out to make him look bad). The name? Lukalike.

AU where Marinette isn’t technically into Adrien, but has been brought up/grew up to plan and schedule for the future to an obsessive degree (in line with all her scheduling in canon). She actually wasn’t romantically in love with Adrien but saw him as a viable option and he was “already in her plans” by the time Luka showed up. Marinette cut Luka off in a panic after realizing she was in love with him, but realizes her mistake later on and absolutely drops an emotional bomb on him when she reveals that she returned his feelings this whole time and had to get over her obsession for planning/organization first..

Luka still being the calm, collected individual he is, but he’s actually really excitable and “loud” over text. Marinette learns that after they exchange numbers and it’s adorable.

Vagabond (Homeless) Luka who travels all around, playing music for people. Marinette loves his music and will happily walk around to find him playing, even if she’s crunched for time. He provides lots of inspiration for her though it sure is weird how long he’s been around??? what could he possibly be sticking around for? (bonus if he sticks around so long that it leads into winter and obviously she’s not letting him stay outside)

Luka and Marinette meeting as Viperion and Ladybug, falling for each other, and they want to date but they also don’t want people to know so cue superhero dating.

AU where Juleka either wasn’t born or she and Luka simply didn’t grow up together, so Luka didn’t have to grow into the “big brother” type. He’s also bad with physical contact, as his mother isn’t a very physically-affectionate person, so he seeks out a way to be better with being touched. In comes Marinette and she happily offers to get him used to physical contact. Bonus if she starts feeling jealous at the idea of him eventually being able to touch other people and Double Bonus if she just ends up being the exception more than anything else and they’re both okay with that.

Pre-dating, Luka and Marinette knowing full well what they do to each other and going out of their way to make the other blush.

“Felix” divergence where it turns out that Marinette was still pursuing Adrien because she was convinced that Luka wasn’t actually crushing on her (thought it was her overthinking/hoping for too much because she “is used to being disappointed” by now, plus the fact that he confessed and then walked away without saying a word), but she realizes that he is when he makes the comment about “being there for her.” She explains it to him in relief and Luka’s heart is sent on a ride because he was convinced that she didn’t feel that way about him. Bonus if now Marinette is panicking about the video and will later be glad that it didn’t go through.

Sass “challenging” Marinette and teasingly saying that he’ll take Luka if she doesn’t want him. Cue Marinette being very jealous of Sass hanging around Luka all the time and she eventually gets fed up to the point of confessing to Luka outright, then being all smug to Sass who had planned this from the beginning so he’s not complaining.

Rose gets a cold, so Luka temporarily takes over as Kitty Section’s singer for practice. Marinette isn’t ready.

Childhood Friends AU where Marinette grows up believing that Luka and Juleka must have the same romantic orientation because they’re twins and she doesn’t know how orientations works. Thus, clearly Luka is gay which means that he doesn’t return her feelings obviously (she’s very wrong).

Marinette wanting a song to replace the ballroom music she remembers when she was still crushing on Adrien, so she non-subtly tries to find a song that Luka would like that they could slow dance to (either pre or post dating).

Post-battle, Viperion asking Ladybug if it’s okay for him to hang onto the snake miraculous for a little longer, then going on to explain that Marinette, a friend of his, seemed really sad that day and he figured it’d help to be visited by a hero. (Ladybug is screaming internally because she knows that she’s not supposed to let them keep them any longer than the battle but his request is so pure and sweet and he’s doing it for her--)

Viperion setting up for Second Chance. During the battle, he and Ladybug end up bonding and/or kissing, but Viperion ends up needing to go back, thus erasing it from the timeline. However, while Ladybug doesn’t seem to remember the specifics or what happened, she seems to have vague feelings that he used Second Chance and even touches her lips at one point with a thoughtful look.

Marinette learning how to do her own make-up to try and look closer to the age that Luka looks. She very much doesn’t need it to impress him/make him think that she’s pretty..

Marinette getting into bouts of being extremely lame and romantic, like texting Luka things like, “I was just thinking about you,” and then regretting it when he responds with something equally lame with no hesitation.

Fu being okay with Luka knowing Ladybug’s identity, as Luka is someone who keeps to himself, is able to keep a secret, and actively supports Marinette.

One day, Marinette accidentally catches Luka working on a love song that’s clearly written for her. He’s embarrassed for once, partly because he’d never intended for her to hear it, but she assures him that it’s okay and she’d like to hear the full thing. She shows up occasionally to listen to his progress, Luka suspecting nothing, then cut to when the full song is done and she ends up singing it alongside him without warning, essentially confessing back to him.

Event where Marinette is put in charge of selling custom-made “Ladybug Fan” and “Chat Noir Fan” T-shirts. And then in comes Luka with a white shirt and a shoddily-but-lovingly-written “Marinette Fan” on it (bonus if he tried to draw her pink flowers).

Marinette drawing something for Adrien in her sketchbook and keeps abandoning it to spend time with/visit Luka (a metaphor for her slowly getting over Adrien and falling for Luka instead). She’ll end up making something for Luka instead in the end.

At some point in adulthood, Marinette admitting to Luka that she’s been crushing on him for a long time, but was afraid of saying anything. Luka assures her that there’s still a place in his heart, but Marinette needs time to accept that (out of guilt and being convinced for so long that he’d never forgive her) and/or Luka needs time to really confirm to himself that she means it (not that he doesn’t believe her but he’s thought for so long that she didn’t like him that way). Cue awkward dorks slowly working their way into a relationship with hand touches, cheek kisses, and finally the full acceptance that they’re willing to forget about what they thought before and just love each other.

Luka and Marinette being married with kids. Whenever Marinette has to let Luka sleep, he’ll wake up later but with their kids telling him that she told them to tell him that she loves him (she also might’ve skipped breakfast because she doesn’t like having it without him and Luka will definitely be going to meet with her for lunch, complete with kisses for giving him so many feels in the morning).

someone: Marinette, don’t hide your face in your hands. [Marinette proceeds to use Luka’s hands to hide her face instead]

Marinette and Luka, having never met, being in a pet store and buying a pet mouse and snake respectively. Unexpectedly, the two pets escape from them at some point before they leave the store, and after frantically searching, they find the mouse and snake next to each other and actually seeming to get along as if they’re friends. The store owner confirms that the two animals frequently escape to see each other and they have no idea why, but Luka and Marinette acknowledge it and decide to exchange addresses so their pets can still see each other. Meeting up “just for the sake of their pets” quickly becomes an excuse.

Luka is definitely the type who wouldn’t wash off Marinette’s lipstick kisses for the longest time. Marinette ends up having to clean them off herself (which really just encourages him not to do it himself more).

Likewise, Marinette forgot her gloves once while it was cold and Luka warmed her hands for her, so she continued “forgetting them” after that.

Luka and Marinette end up getting a pet and Marinette struggling between finding Luka playing with their pet adorable and being extremely jealous because now the pet is stealing her Luka time.

Post-dating, Marinette having self-esteem issues over being as short as she is (maybe having gotten rude comments from models before). She keeps trying to kiss Luka from above and insisting on being the big spoon.

Kitty Section getting a singing game and Luka getting to hear Marinette singing for the first time. Now he has to hear it so much more. Bonus if their voices blend well together when they sing together.

Marinette wanting to give Luka promise ring but being convinced that he’d hate it because he “already has so many accessories” (as if Luka wouldn’t enthusiastically wear anything she gives him).

Luka being an exhausted rock star who flees from paparazzi and his fans. Marinette ends up seeing him and letting him hide in her house, being a huge fan of him but not getting to star-struck levels since she grew up with a famous model friend and knowing celebrities. She allows Luka to hide at her place whenever he wants and eventually worries about him seeing her as “just like his fans” when she realizes that she’s crushing on him.

Marinette breaking up with Adrien in adulthood, which starts a lot of rumors from people about how Marinette will just turn down any guy she sees because who in the right mind would break up with the sunshine model??? Then, cue Luka (who may or may not have met Marinette yet) coming in and seeing all the distance people make from Marinette (and not getting it), so he happily approaches her and strikes up a conversation because he doesn’t care about rumors or anything like that.

Marinette getting a two-seater bike for Luka and trying to be subtle about it like

Alya doing a scheme by inventing some sort of game where someone gets chosen and has to shout out the person they love because, “Girl, you blurt things out all the time! You’ll totally say Adrien’s name,” and then Marinette blurts out Luka’s name because she loves him and not Adrien, shocking everyone.

If Marinette and Luka (i.e: the “thinkers” of the hero group) were akumatized together, Paris - no, the world - would be officially screwed.

Fashion Designer Marinette and Rock Star Luka. Marinette has been trying to confess to Luka for a while, but things usually go wrong or the timing is always off. She finally says “screw it” to subtlety, and waits for them to have an interview together (as Luka wears Marinette’s clothes constantly and they’re best friends), then unzips her jacket to “get comfortable” while they’re sitting next to each other, revealing an, “I Love Luka Couffaine (yes, romantically),” shirt. The interviewer and audience notice immediately (especially due to the large screen in the background that shows an enlarged view of the interviewer, Luka, and Marinette) and then it’s just a matter of waiting for Luka to notice (probably after he stops gushing about Marinette’s amazing clothing choices).

#type: thoughts #Flower Arrangement Shipping #type: prompt set #((Was going to wait to post this but clearly you guys need it.))#Pro LukaMari #Lukanette

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germanicseidr · 4 years

Photo

Wodan

It has been more than a year since I published my post on Wodan. Just like with my post on the Batavi, I wanted to rewrite this post as well to include more information about this fascinating God and also add a bit of my own personal experiences with this deity. This group has gained thousands of members since last year so there are also quite a lot who have perhaps missed my previous post on Wodan. I also want to discuss the similarities and differences between Wodan/Odin and the moment when humans started to worship him.

Wodan is the chief God of the Germanic pantheon. He has countless of names in many languages, it would be truly fascinating to try and collect all of his names into one big list. He is the God of wisdom, knowledge, battle, magic, death, primal rage, healing, tricking humans and the runes. Most of our knowledge on Wodan is based on the eddas. Unfortunately the ancient Germanic people did not write anything down about him but we do have archeological evidence for his worship.

His name comes from the proto-Germanic word Wodanaz which means rage. This already provides us with a clue on how the early Germanic people viewed this deity. Interestingly, the Dutch word for rage is woede, derived from the old Dutch name for Wodan, Uuoden>Woen, Weda in old Frisian. The meaning of the word Wodanaz has not changed for the Dutch people in over 2000 years. This God personally holds a very special place in my heart. Through my work with seidr I have come into contact with him several times.

When did the Germanic people start to worship Wodan?

The first written mention of Wodan comes from Tacitus in 98AD. Tacitus describes several Germanic Gods but unfortunately he uses Latin names to describe them. The Romans compared Wodan with their own God Mercury. Why the Romans compared Wodan with Mercury also isn’t fully clear. Both Gods escort the dead and carry a staff but that is where their likeness ends. Curiously, the Romans compared their chief God, Jupiter, with Donar. This is perhaps a clue into the changing roles that Wodan played.

Just because this is the first written mention of him, doesn't mean that the worship of Wodan comes from this time period. The Germanic people didn't write anything down, their religion was passed down to the next generation by telling stories, it's an oral tradition so we still do not know how old Wodan exactly is.

We can look at archeological evidence as well. When do we first see images appearing that look similar to Wodan? I think most of you are familiar with the classic Odin/Wodan images found all over the Germanic world, from Norway to Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands from the Vendel period and early medieval era. But looking at these images provides us with another problem. How can we be absolutely sure that these images represent the same God? Maybe Wodan was portrayed completely different from how we know him now? Maybe a face of Wodan was carved on wood, similar to the wooden statues found in bogs dating back tot he bronze age? Maybe all the early depictions of Wodan have simply been lost in time.

There is however another theory that suggests that Wodan was introduced to the Germanic people by the Saami. One of Wodan's most defining traits is that he is able to wander across all the realms, speak to spirits and gain knowledge this way. Technically this makes Wodan a very experienced shaman. The Saami people were/are practitioners of shamanism. The Goddess Freyja taught Wodan how to practice seidr. Seidr is a mix of shamanism and witchcraft similiar to the shamanic practices of the Saami people.

Another theory suggests that a Saami shaman, called Wotan, simply became deified by the Germanic people. Perhaps he led a tribe to victory after leading them into battle. Another even wilder theory suggests that Wotan was a Celtic druid who was deified by the Germanic people. The only historic truth that can be verified is that the Germanic culture borrowed elements from both the Celtic and Saami people.

Wodan could also have been introduced to the North-western European people during the bronze age by the proto-indo Europeans. The proto-indo European language spread all across Europe and evolved into different languages, perhaps the same happened to their chief God, Dyeus, as well. Almost all Indo-European cultures have a (chief) God who is quite similiar per example, Zeus, Wodan, Perun, Tiwaz, Jupiter, Dagda, Dievas, Papaios, Brahma.

Even if you research all these possible topics deeply, it is still impossible to say when exactly Wodan was a known deity amongst the Germanic people. The Germanic culture developed during the late Bronze age and if you combine all these theories together, his possible origin could lie near the end of the Bronze age and the start of the Iron age. That would mean that the worship of Wodan began around between 1800BC-1300BC in modern day Denmark, northern Germany and North-eastern Netherlands, more than 2000 years before the viking age even began.

However most of the physical and written evidence for the worship of Wodan came from the early medieval ages until the middle medieval ages, the era between 400-1000AD. One example is a fibula found in Heiloo, the Netherlands. This fibula from 7th century Frisia depicts Wodan flanked by two wolves. There are also coins found in Frisia that depict Wodan. More of such fibula, amulets and coins have been found throughout Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, England and Germany.

Written sources outside of the eddas that mention Wodan have also been discovered. This is the nine herbs charm which was written somewhere during the 10th century AD in England. Christianity was the official religion of the English people at that time but it seems that the common people would still fall back on the old Gods in times of need. Here is the charm:

“A snake came crawling, it bit a man. Then Woden took nine glory-twigs, Smote the serpent so that it flew into nine parts. There apple brought this pass against poison, That she nevermore would enter her house.”

There is also an Old English rune poem that basically explains the futhark. This is the stanza for the ansuz rune:

"god is the origin of all language wisdom's foundation and wise man’s comfort and to every hero blessing and hope" The word Ansuz/Os is used for God. Christians did not use this word to speak of their God so this rune is directly related to Wodan.

He is also mentioned in the Old English poem Maxims I:

"Woden worhte weos" Woden made idols.

The last written record that I want to mention is the German Merseburg charm which I have written about before:

"Phol and Woden travelled to the forest. Then was for Baldur's foal its foot wrenched. Then encharmed it Sindgund (and) Sunna her sister, then encharmed it Frija (and) Volla her sister, then encharmed it Woden, as he the best could,"

Wodan later became known as Odin in the early medieval Scandinavian world. Wodan and Odin are essentially the same deity but there are some differences between the two. These differences formed over time since Wodan is an older depiction of Odin. Here I tried to list the attributes of both Wodan and Odin in an attempt to show how the early Germanic people viewed Wodan compared to how the vikings viewed him.

Wodan: Skilled sorcerer, God of death, trickster of humans, God of knowledge, bringer of the runes, still has two eyes according to some sources, shaman, primal force of rage, leader of the wild hunt, God of war, God of healing, carries a staff and spear, two ravens, is a deceiver and was a feared God because of his ability to trick humans into death or madness.

Odin: Skilled in battle and magic, God of Knowledge, bringer of the runes, one-eyed, shaman, shapeshifter, dead fighters go to Walhalla to fight for him, God of war, owner of Sleipnir, carries a staff and spear, two ravens and two wolves guide him, more closely related to the Saami culture.

There are still some traditions left in Europe that are linked to Wodan/Odin. Since I am Dutch, I will explain some Dutch traditions: Sinterklaas, the old wanderer on his white horse who rides in the sky and gives presents to children. Midwinterhoorn blazen, the blowing of the midwinterhorn to announce the arrival of the wild hunt, the traditional start of winter. Hanging the placenta of a horse in an oak tree. Sint Maarten, the old wanderer on a horse who shared a piece of his cloak to a freezing stranger. And lastly possibly the game of paalzitten. If you know about other traditions from other countries that are linked to Wodan/Odin, feel free to share them in the comments.

Here are some of Wodan/Odin’s names in different (Germanic) languges:

Proto-Germanic: Wodanaz Old English: Woden Old Saxon: Wodan Old High German: Wuotan Old Frisian: Weda Old Norse: Óðinn Dutch: Wodan/Woen Old Dutch: Uuoden English: Odin Norwegian: Odin

Feel free to expand on this list in the comments.

The reason why I decided to rewrite and post this article today is because Sinterklaas has arrived again in the Netherlands. This was traditionally viewed as the start of the wild hunt led by Wodan. He would ride in the cold dark winter nights through the sky, trying to collect as many of the dead as possible. If you were unfortunate enough to see him in the sky, it meant that your life is soon ending and you would join Wodan’s hunt back to the underworld. In order to please the wild hunt, people left behind small offerings of food near the hearths of their homes. Carrots were left behind to feed Sleipnir. Until this very day, Dutch and Belgian children gift carrots to his horse in the tradition of Sinterklaas.

At last I want to share one of my own personal experiences with Wodan. As a child and teenager I was always searching for a spiritual home. My mother is a practitioner of witchcraft, a tradition which goes back for many generations in my family. I was raised with this practice of witchcraft but still I felt spiritually lost. That was until one day, on my birthday several years ago, I started to explore the older variant of witchcraft, shamanism.

During that first trance I met Wodan by surprise. His appearance was so unsettling that it caused me to experience a full blown panic attack and I was thrown out of my trance. I felt physically ill for two days until I returned into trance and stumbled upon Wodan once again. I was finally able to communicate with him and it turned out that he caused my panic attack because he likes pulling such tricks on humans, especially when he senses fear. We talked for a few minutes about knowledge until it was time for me to return to the mundane world. Before I left, he gave me a name in Proto-Germanic which I now use as my spiritual name.

Of course I was extremely skeptical about this whole experience afterwards. Was this just something I imagined? I was thinking about this for days at an end while at the same time I had the thought of placing a tattoo on my left arm with the word Wodan spelled out in the elder futhark. Eventually I decided to visit the local tattoo shop to make an appointment for this tattoo. Until my great surprise, the tattoo artist was not only a skilled artist, she is a professionally trained shaman of the native Canadian culture. She knew instantly that I was also dabbling in the art of shamanism and that I was in doubt whether it was actually real.

She then told me everything that Wodan had told me. Wodan , knowing that I am quite a skeptical person by nature, decided to inform another shaman in order to finally convince me that this was after all a real experience. She had to pass this information to me in order for me to finally believe in the old Germanic Gods. It’s interesting that Wodan decided to use a shaman from a completely different culture, showing that the practice of shamanism is at its core exactly the same all over the world. I got the tattoo as well. This first experience with Wodan led me to finally find my spiritual home and it started the quest for knowledge on the ancient Germanic culture. I eventually decided that it would be best to share as much knowledge as possible, the reason why I started this facebook group.

I am so sorry for this incredibly long post and I congratulate the ones who actually fully read it. In the future I also want to write more about Wodan/Odin’s role in the Germanic mythological lore, his work with the runes and his archetype.

Here are images of: A depiction of Wodan as a wanderer by Georg von Rosen, 1886, A depiction of Odin by Mary H Foster, 1901, A depiction of Wodan riding Sleipnir from a 18th century manuscript, Frisian Wodan fibula and coins, Sacrifices made to Wodan in the Netherlands around 300AD (human and horse remains, arrow heads and jewelry), The Merseburger charm, Wodan VS Sinterklaas,

#Wodan #Odin #Germanic #Nordic #God #Pagan #Deity

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airashisakura · 3 years

Text

Late submission for @fantasysasusaku SasuSaku Fantasy Week Day 6 - Soulmate/ Prophecy/ Reincarnation

Title: Embodiment of his Fate

Pairing: Haruno Sakura & Uchiha Sasuke

A/N: A mythology from my country had inspired me to write this piece. This was supposed to be posted during the event, but it got unusually long and took a lot of time than I expected. Also this first AU written by me.

FFN AO3

****

Part I

Sasuke — the lone wanderer — didn’t expect again to see the embodiment of his fate in green and pink. Even the gods were sometimes astonished, and Sasuke, the god of catastrophe, felt his world shaking when a pair of tired yet cheerful eyes smiled at him.

“Sakura?” he asked, every syllable carrying disbelief. He bit his tongue as the forbidden name left his mouth, because the Sakura he knew and loved had died long ago.

The owner of shining jade eyes and rosy coloured hair nodded at him. “I’ve been waiting for you, Sasuke.”

Her words echoed more than the thunderstorms he created. He had heard those words before rolling out from a certain pinkette's mouth. He recognised the ‌same words and her loving tone, but only in memories of a time long ago.

Was she the Sakura he knew? Was it an illusion borne out of his longing? Or was she a reincarnation?

****

Sasuke had always been alone — without any roots and attachments. He didn’t know his family or when and where he was born. He grew up in the darkness of the Ryuchi caves, his only companions being snakes. They were neither his friends nor his enemies, but he polished his basic instincts by observing and mimicking them.

Over time, Sasuke became an invincible warrior — one who rivaled Naruto. Over time, he earned the dignity of a God alongside Naruto.

Sasuke’s sole purpose was to destroy the imperfections and illusions, paving the way for beneficial change. His kind of destruction wasn’t arbitrary but constructive. He was thus seen both as good and evil and regarded as one who combines contradictory elements.

Naruto, unlike Sasuke, had a peaceful demeanor — being praised as God of Preservation — and nourished the world and its being. They worked in sync and ran the cycle of life — destroying the life which was futile and restoring a better life from the ashes.

Their ideologies were different, but they created a perfect balance. Naruto thrived on building bonds and made judgments with compassion, always forgiving and guiding misled souls. Sasuke, on the other hand, was more extreme — he always took an eye for an eye and a hand for a hand, but he wasn’t cruel. He wasn’t forgiving like Naruto either, and he claimed that his sense of judgement was always clearer. Sasuke despised Naruto’s philosophy. In his perspective, being enslaved to mere emotions would bring no good to the world.

Sasuke was pure consciousness, completely without pretension, never repetitive, always spontaneous, forever inventive, ceaselessly creative, and passionate about his actions.

One day, when Naruto and Sasuke were settling their arguments with a battle, Kakashi, a wise and mischievous messenger between Gods of Heaven and Kings of Earth, noticed how passionately Sasuke wielded his sword. The more Kakashi saw of Sasuke, the more he was in awe of him. His cunning mind bore a wish. He wanted to see how passionately this man could build bonds.

Kakashi knew Sasuke would be enraged if he approached him. Instead, he plotted a conspiracy. He went to The Creator himself — the one who created the world and appointed the protector and the destroyer. Hagoromo himself was amused by Kakashi’s proposal, but he watched Sasuke and saw the stillness surrounding him — the pain that Sasuke was unable to see himself. Hagoromo took pity and advised Kakashi to go to The Land of Fire.

Konohagakure, the capital of the Land of Fire, was prosperous and mighty, ruled by Queen Tsunade. The queen was strong willed and stubborn and feared no catastrophe. She had always been the one who harshly criticized Sasuke’s way of living and his actions.

Kakashi was a shrewd diplomat and knew he could never succeed in convincing the Queen to do what Hagoromo suggested, so he tricked her. He told her that The Creator himself wanted her beautiful kingdom to prosper more and had decided to present a gift to her. Tsunade was thrilled to know that, and the wise lady was unable to see behind Kakashi’s conspiracy.

A holy fire always burned at the heart of The Land of Fire. This fire was regarded pious because it had been burning since the beginning of civilization. The strongest of rains and harshest of winds were never able to extinguish the holy fire. The high raging flames were Tsunade’s pride and she believed no one, even The Gods themselves could demolish her Kingdom.

As promised, a beautiful adolescent girl emerged from that fire. As the girl descended from the altar, the mere touch of her soles made the earth more fertile, and her smile brought serenity.

People called her The New Goddess, and she was named Sakura. Her beauty was ethereal and her voice sweeter than honey. The shade of her eyes rivaled emerald and her hair was as graceful as cherry blossoms. Her laugh jingled with air as melodious as an angel's song. She possessed a heart brimming with compassion and love that melted even the coldest of hearts.

Tsunade, a fierce and strong tempered woman, developed a motherly instinct towards her. Sakura churned out love from the depths of the heart of the warrior queen. Tsunade found peace in Sakura’s presence and loved doing mundane things with her. Tsunade treated Sakura like her own daughter and doted on her.

As years passed by, Sakura bloomed, and she mastered everything Tsunade had taught her. Tsunade was elated and boasted that she would make her a warrior and queen like herself.

Tsunade didn’t trust many people around Sakura. She considered Sakura a precious entity and kept her hidden from the eyes of the unknown and evil. However, Kakashi was neither unknown nor evil, and thus he met Sakura routinely and helped her with her growing loneliness.

“What does freedom feel like?” she had asked Kakashi one day while her eyes drifted out from her windows, trying to see the boundaries of the Konoha.

Kakashi knew what she was talking about, but he remained silent, finding the best possible way to introduce her to the character for whom he had conspired everything.

“I want to see what’s outside those big gates.”

Sakura looked towards Kakashi, expecting an answer, and added, her voice fading, “And know more people.”

Tsunade had told her that she was destined to be the queen of this land, and so she couldn’t befriend anybody she wanted.

Kakashi silently mocked the situation. A goddess boon for a kingdom, bane for herself.

“Do you want to meet someone who can show you the real essence of freedom?”

Sakura nodded, her green eyes sparkling with eagerness.

Kakashi’s eyes crinkled at her innocence — how prophecy was working in the background, without her knowledge.

“There’s one problem though.” Kakashi rubbed his chin, squinting his eyes.

Sakura gave him a questioning look, and Kakashi said in a hushed, secretive voice, “He doesn’t like meeting anybody.”

“Huh? But why?” Sakura demanded, her voice two octaves higher than Kakashi’s.

Kakashi laughed at her innocence again.

“Oh! Tell me, where can I meet him? And would mother allow me?” she asked hopefully, fidgeting with the laces of her gown.

Kakashi’s relaxed face became serious. However, he knew how to outsmart the legendary Queen herself.

“Well, you have to go to Shikkotsu Forest.”

Sakura looked bewildered, as she had never heard of the place before.

“You don’t know where it is, do you?” Kakashi asked, and Sakura shook her head with a frown.

“Don’t worry. I’ll escort you there.” Kakashi smiled softly to her, but before Sakura could run down to tell Tsunade about her adventure, Kakashi interrupted. “However, don’t tell The Queen that you are going to meet someone. You know right? The Queen doesn’t like that.”

Sakura nodded again, saddened by the fact that she had to lie, but the thrill of the impending adventure washed away her guilt.

Kakashi then convinced Tsunade to follow his plan by pointing out that Katsuyu, the slug from Shikkotsu forest, had always served the Queen and for Sakura to succeed her throne in the future, she must know Katsuyu and Shikkotsu woods. Tsunade was convinced and, although unwillingly, gave her permission.

Dressed in the attire of a warrior and saddled upon a horse, she waved goodbye to her mother and the kingdom. The horse kicked the ground and started running at full speed, and Sakura wondered why she hadn’t thought of exploring outside the high walls of the palace before. She had always thought Konoha was a paradise, but as she crossed mile after mile, she realised the world outside Konoha was much more chaotic and beautiful.

Sometimes they slowed down, and the horses lazily strolled while she and Kakashi chatted. Kakashi would tell her about the magical slug Katsuyu and how she would be going to live in the wilderness. She also learned a little more about the man she was going to meet.

He is the embodiment of stillness and energy both, she had remembered Kakashi saying. His face carried a calm and stoic expression while inside he was chaotic and frightful. He remained still and unmoving when he reflected on his purpose, and yet he moved with a lightning speed when he executed his actions.

His stillness and energy both intrigued Sakura more. She had never felt so lively before, and as she reached closer to Shikkotsu forest, she couldn’t wait more to taste how it felt — how freedom looked like.

Almost a year passed, and Sakura had accepted Shikkotsu woods as her new home. Her silky hair grew longer and unruly, and she tied it up in a messy knot. The dresses she had brought with herself were old and torn, and she learned how to sew them. She spent hours after hours collecting food and grew more petite. What didn’t change was her radiant beauty and the mesmerizing smile that never left her lips.

She remembered her mother’s command clearly:

Learn healing magic from Katsuyu. When you become The Queen, it will benefit the people of the Kingdom.

Sakura never strayed from her routine with Katsuyu, gaining knowledge about the secrets of magical power that the slug possessed.

After that, she spent most of her time sitting on the wooden branches of a tree, looking towards the entrance of the forest. Sometimes she swung her legs in impatience, sometimes disappointment took over, and sometimes she mulled over her decision to leave the kingdom. She had waited for almost two years now and sadness took over her face when she realised the day wasn’t far when her mother would send an army to escort her back.

Although a goddess who could do wonders waited for a man and her destiny.

When Kakashi had informed him that a certain intruder had invaded Shikkostu woods, Sasuke had scoffed when he found a frail lady roaming through the forest.

“What possible harm could she cause?” he’d said.

Kakashi chuckled under his breath.

Unless cold-blooded God knew, she had the capability to destroy his ultimate defense of indifference.

Sasuke became curious and went to Shikkotsu forest to know what a princess was doing there. When he arrived, he found no trace of her and thought she had left. He was about to leave, when he heard a rustling sound behind him. He turned, sighing that the intruder hadn’t left. Before he could say anything, the same fragile lady had already released an arrow from the bow.

He hadn’t expected much, but even less had he expected to meet her in the middle of Shikkotsu forest with blood dripping out from his chest where her arrow had pierced him. A pair of perplexed green eyes pierced his onyx while he struggled to stand straight but failed and stumbled to the ground.

Sakura didn’t realise she had shot the man she had been waiting for instead of some intruder until she took a minute to tally the features that Kakashi had supplied her with. Chiseled jawline, one visible onyx eye and another hidden under his raven locks, a face that was sharp as blade, and an expression hard as rock. The visible anger in his eye and the scowl that marred his face was undeniably attractive.

Sakura rushed towards him, bracing him in her arms. She could feel his ragged breathing tickling on her shoulders as he mumbled, “Sakura?”

Her eyes widened, but before she could brace herself for the next blow, she spoke out, “I’ve been waiting for you, Sasuke.”

She was bewildered, and he was unconscious. She stayed still, contemplating the situation. They were meeting for the first time. They’d never known each other, and they didn't know each other’s name, yet how smoothly their names rolled out of each other tongues.

When Sasuke gained consciousness, he saw a mop of messy pink hair. Although he felt his blood boiling because never in his whole life had he been knocked unconscious, but the presence of the woman whose back he could see pacified him. He didn’t know how, but it did. His throat was dry and his lips felt chapped, and he coughed, notifying his intruder that he was awake.

Sakura turned towards her intruder, getting off from her place where she was crushing and mixing some herbs with a mortar and pestle. She offered him water and apologised for earlier. Sasuke’s sour expression told her that her apology wasn’t accepted. She sighed, berating herself for the mistake. She had shot the man she had been waiting for.

How was she supposed to fix this?

Her fingers trembled as she layered herbs on his wound. She could feel his heart beating, and it felt oddly familiar — like she was well versed with the rhythm.

“How do you know my name?” She broke the silence.

Sasuke gave her a confused look, and then it dawned upon him that he had never met her before. He was speechless, somewhat unable to explain and somewhat lost in her eyes. What was happening to him? Whenever he looked into those deep green abysses, he felt he was losing, and for the first time ever, it felt good.

One day while Sakura was nursing him, she shared with him the prophecy she’d been told, ignoring his gruff and uninterested look. Sasuke walked away from her, stating he had been alone since birth and intended to be that way. He tried to sneak out, but Sakura demanded that he should stay until he was healed. He didn’t want to comply because he never had to anyone, but somehow the concern in her face made him. It felt good — someone worried for him — someone taking care of him.

He later regretted his decision when Sakura became too comfortable with him.

He was on his side trying to get some sleep when Sakura asked him out of nowhere, “What does freedom feel like?”

He glared at her, irritated she had interrupted his sweet sleep.

Next when she was coaxing him to eat something, and Sasuke sat there looking outside at the falling rain without responding to her tantrums, Sakura huffed in anger, “Why don’t you at least talk?”

He couldn’t explain what he had felt when he saw her sleeping face under the moonlight. It felt like anesthesia — lulling his senses — sending him to a deeper state of peacefulness. All the years of fighting, slaying and punishing wrong-doers started to feel futile. He snuck out of the forest that night because he knew he would be destroyed if he stayed with her any longer.

Prophecy was working in the background, and something unexpected happened. He found himself again at Shikkotsu forest with, finding way back to Sakura.

“Welcome back.”

When he found Sakura smiling back at him — smiling for him — he felt he had made the right decision to return

He was fishing for lunch while Sakura sat beside him, gazing at the floating clouds. She asked, breaking the silence, “Does freedom feel like this? Being you and doing all you want.”

He turned towards her, and noticed a wistful smile playing on her lips and offered, “I will show you, if you come with me.”

Every god and demigod was astonished. They have never seen Sasuke, the lone wanderer, indulging in life, bonds, or attachments. Kakashi sipped wine while watching Sasuke fall passionately in love.

The news spread like fire, and it didn’t take much time to reach Tsunade’s ears. She was infuriated and commanded her army to drag Sakura back. Before Sakura could explain the unexplainable bond that had developed between them, Tsunade lashed out at her. She criticized both Sakura’s decision and the man who she had given her heart. Sakura was put under watch, locked up in a room as punishment for her actions.

Perhaps punishing her for the fate that she carried from the day when she was born.

The decision was hers — to be caged and become The Queen or to flee and embrace freedom.

She chose the latter. Chose the path that the prophecy had led her to. Chose the stranger who had tugged the strings of her heart.

In the darkness of night as the horse galloped, Sakura looked back for the last time, and the kingdom disappeared on the horizon with a new life waiting for her.

She had everything, yet she had felt empty. When she abandoned everything, she felt complete.

When Sakura stepped into their new abode, she found piles of snow and chilly winds blowing around. She had spent part of her life under warm sunshine and the royal ceiling. For a princess, it was difficult to adjust, but alongside all adversities, there was unadulterated love — love that had lifted the weight of expectations of royal duties from her shoulders. She felt like home, the feeling Konoha couldn’t give her.

Now she spent her days carelessly. Some days she would rest her head on his shoulder and look at the horizon as far as her eyes would allow. Some days they would travel, disguising themselves as commoners. And at those moments, she took liberty of her newfound freedom — forgetting she was a goddess — and mingled with people of unknown places.

And Sasuke let her be random and spontaneous — like him.

Perhaps this was the freedom she yearned for and had searched all over these years. Sasuke didn’t teach her how to live. Instead, his presence influenced her. She would sit silently and watch with awe when he stayed still and meditated or practiced with his sword.

The one who never knew the meaning of home had made a home at the top of The Three Wolves Mountain. Sasuke, who hadn’t known feelings, started feeling multitudes of emotions. Love and companionship were the words he had despised, but now he could understand why his counterpart, Naruto, bragged about them. Sakura made his existence meaningful, showing him beauty in the things he had often dismissed.

Her presence never became a chain for him, and she never overstepped her boundaries or meddled with Sasuke’s work. He still had a clear view of judgement, with a pinch of compassion that he had learned from her. He hadn’t shed his furious demeanor, but he reconsidered his motives before acting.

Sasuke as the world knew him had untamed passion, which led him to be extreme in behaviour. Sometimes he was an ascetic — abstaining from worldly pleasure. At others he was a hedonist — indulging every bit in marital bliss.

Living with Sakura brought him balance.

****

Part II

“Don’t you understand? You’re the future Queen. You can’t fall in love with someone who has nothing and is a lunatic murderer.”

Tsunade’s blood had been boiling with anger when she learned about the prophecy that had been crafted right under her nose. She had believed that her daughter was innocent, and it was just a filthy trick that Kakashi was playing on her until she had heard Sakura pleading.

“Please let me go.”

Honey-colored eyes filled with anger and hurt glanced towards Sakura.

Sakura spoke again, albeit afraid of Tsunade. After that, Tsunade didn't lock Sakura away. She wanted to test Sakura’s resolve — test her loyalty and love towards her and Konoha.

The next morning she was greeted with the news that the princess had eloped.

If she wanted to, she could have hunted her down, but Tsunade clearly remembered Sakura’s final words from their last conversation.

“I want to live with Sasuke… I don’t want to live here anymore.”

Although she allowed Sakura to become part of Sasuke’s life, she never accepted them, and she could never forget the sting of Sakura’s words. She hated Sasuke more for taking Sakura away from her.

After some years had passed, Tsunade decided to hold a festival in the honor of the good harvest that had sprouted from the Land of Fire. She invited every god and demigod, every lord across the nation, even the commoners and beggars. She wanted to share the happiness that she had lost after she had last seen her daughter. She couldn’t lie to herself that she still loved Sakura dearly, although she had disowned her from her heart and cared less about her whereabouts.

That’s the price Sakura would pay, she thought, because everyone was welcomed, except Sasuke and Sakura.

While Sakura and Sasuke were enjoying their routine of sitting together in silence, Sakura noticed a lot of traffic — the finest of chariots, all the lords, gods and goddesses going somewhere dressed immaculately.

Sasuke noticed she was distracted by the commotion. He knew exactly what was happening and where all of them were going, but he said nothing.

Sakura couldn’t hold back her curiosity and she asked, “What is this? Where is everyone going?”

“It doesn’t matter. We don’t need to go where they are going,” Sasuke replied, ignoring her.

Sakura knew the roads the others traveled led towards her old home. She became more restless, and she asked Sasuke again, “It seems like everyone is going to Konoha. Is something happening there?”

“Don’t bother yourself. We are fine here,” Sasuke replied curtly.

Seeing Sakura disappointed, he finally let out his biggest insecurity, “Are you unhappy here?”

“No, I’m happy here,” Sakura smiled, giving up on her curiosity.

The next day when she saw the same, she didn’t pester Sasuke again. Instead she stopped one of the chariots and asked them, “Where are you all going?”

They replied, “Don’t you know? There’s a big festival in Konoha, and your mother has invited all of us. Are you not coming?”

She felt totally lost when she came to know that she and her husband had not been invited. She felt disgraced and humiliated. She thought it wasn’t fair to her and Sasuke.

She was deeply bothered by this and decided, “I am going to my mother. Why did she do this?”

Sasuke said, “It doesn’t matter to me. Why are you getting worked up? We are fine here. Why should we go to the festival?”

Sakura was so insulted that she wasn’t invited that she didn’t want to listen to anything. Although she knew she had fled from the Kingdom without her mother's permission, she was sure Tsunade still loved her like she loved Tsunade.

She argued, “No, I have to go. There must be some kind of mistake. Maybe the invitation was lost. How can she not invite you and me? I am her daughter.”

Sasuke reasoned, “You left her for me. I don’t see anything unusual in not inviting you.”

Sakura stomped out of their abode infuriated, “My mother isn’t like that. I am sure she wouldn’t do this.”

Sasuke knew there was no point in arguing so he sent his most faithful snake Aoda as escort and pleaded with her not to provoke any incident.

When Sakura reached the huge gates of Konoha, she didn’t find any resistance, but the old familiar people were cold and inhospitable. She ordered Aoda to stay outside, and she walked towards the palace. She was trying to respond to the odd vibes that people were giving her by smiling at everyone while she made her way to her mother. The place and the people seemed to be changed, or was she changed? Perhaps Sasuke was right, but she was too stubborn to accept that. She ignored all the cold glares and mocking tones and went into the palace, still believing that there was some kind of a mistake.

“Mother,” Sakura greeted and bowed when she found Tsunade.

“Mother?” Tsunade spat back. Tsunade was furious. She never thought Sakura would have the audacity to show her face again and to call her mother.

“My daughter died the day when she turned her back on the Kingdom.”

Sakura was on the verge of crying out, because Tsunade made it clear that Sasuke’s words were the truth. She wanted to leave, but she didn’t. She wanted to know why Tsunade had always despised Sasuke. Why he himself, being a God, was not acknowledged by The Queen.

She asked Tsunade, holding back her tears, “How can you not invite Sasuke?”

Tsunade abused Sasuke in every possible way, and she added, “I will never have him step into my Kingdom.”

She could swallow her own pride and could take more insults, but she couldn’t stand more to her mother dishonoring Sasuke. Soon they were in the midst of a heated argument, and every passing moment made it clearer to Sakura that her mother was entirely incapable of appreciating the many excellent qualities that her husband possessed. She was consumed by rage against her mother and loathed her mentality.

The realization then came to her that this abuse was being heaped on Sasuke more only because he had wed her. She was the cause of dishonor to her husband. She was so crestfallen that her love had brought more hatred for Sasuke. Sasuke gave her love, yet she had brought him disgrace.

She was shaking with raw anger, tears welling out of her green eyes. She wanted others to acknowledge Sasuke like she did — pure and gentle behind his facade. She thought with her life she could show that to the world.

She didn’t want to be there, but neither did she want to go back to The Three Wolves Mountain. She walked towards the fire from where she was born. She didn’t want to live a life where her love bore hatred to Sasuke. Calling up a prayer, that in future birth, to be born in a house where Sasuke was respected, Sakura invoked divine powers and burned herself.

If she had to die and take birth again to restore his honor, she would die million times.

When Aoda came back and told him about what had happened in Konoha, Sasuke sat still for a certain period. He felt all the happiness, all the colors that Sakura brought with her fading — he felt his sanity leaving. How could he let Sakura go? How dare she do such a thing?

Sakura had given him love and a home — things that were unknown to him. How dare she leave for such an insignificant reason? She was his pride and honor, and he didn’t need any appreciation from others. How could she have misunderstood that? He didn’t need the pride which took her away from him. Thus he shed his sanity that was straining him to wreak havoc — he became fire. For the first time, he became disillusioned and decided to take revenge on the innocents.

Burning with incomparable rage, he used the mighty powers of his eyes and burned the whole kingdom using Amaterasu. They had provoked her to burn herself, hence he watched everyone and everything that had snatched his wife from him burn.

When the flames inside him and of Amaterasu had subsided, he realised how ungodly he had acted. He let his emotions rule over his actions, but hadn’t he given in to his emotions since he had met Sakura? Maybe he had always despised emotions, because he was afraid he would get drowned in them and could never manage to reach the shore again.

His work was to destroy the elements that couldn't be fixed. He was broken and his emotions were far from repairable. After the throes of romance, death and grief, he decided to destroy the emotions that had been born in him because of Sakura.

He had loved Sakura more than any and would never love after her.

He had allowed himself the luxury once and when it was over, he came out of it and went into an indifferent state again. He went into meditation for many years, deeply upset over the death of his wife, ignoring all his duties.

****

Every destruction acted as a progenitor. Within the barren and burned hectares of the Land of Fire, a small village was born after many years. The village was always covered in spring blossoms, and the people were merry, carefree, and had a profound belief in Gods and their power. They revered Sasuke most, considering him the progenitor of beginning that had given a chance to sow over barren land and produce bountifully. They were hard workers, but humble enough to believe in the grace of Gods.

Sasuke, unaware of the fact, still meditated, grieving for his wife. Still unaware that his beloved had already taken birth again...

Sakura was reborn as a human — the daughter of Kizashi, the leader of Haruno tribe and his wife, Mebuki. This time, Sakura, as she had wished, was born to a family where Sasuke was worshiped ardently.

Sakura, unaware of her past, the prophecy, and the tragedy grew into a beautiful woman. Many lords asked her for marriage, but she always denied them. She always had an innate feeling that someone already had taken her heart, but she didn’t know who.

When Kakashi came to know that the goddess had lost the memories of her previous birth, he appeared in front of her parents. Regretting the path he had taken last time, he confronted her parents about her previous birth, the prophecy, and the fate that linked Sasuke and their daughter.

Kizashi and Mebuki were overwhelmed with joy after knowing this. However, Sakura was skeptical about it and questioned Kakashi.

“Go to Shikkotsu Forest. The answers to all your questions lie there,” Kakashi advised.

Sakura, with her parents’ permission, went to Shikkotsu forest, and as she spent days under the canopy where she had found her freedom once, she learned from Katsuyu to whom her heart belonged.

The moment when she remembered all about her past, she grew restless. At once she left for The Three Wolves Mountain — Sasuke’s home — their home. When she reached there, she found Sasuke lost in meditation.

Years passed, but she waited for Sasuke to open his eyes and to look at her and realize that she was there — as promised.

But Sasuke was deeply lost.

Although a human this time, Sakura was still stubborn.

She sat there in spite of the bitter chilly winds that rattled her bones. She didn’t move an inch to gather food even though her stomach hurt from hunger. She didn’t blink her eyes in spite of how much they threatened to close because of exhaustion.

Perhaps love was invincible — the strongest force that again moved the coldest heart.

Sasuke opened his eyes after many uncountable years. Something that he couldn’t pinpoint had stirred him out of his deep state. He rose in fury. How could anyone dare do that? Wasn’t tricking him once enough?

He swore he would see the death of the person who had disturbed him. He walked outside to see a lady whose head and shoulders were covered with snow, shivering.

His brows knitted in irritation because no one had stepped in The Three Wolves Mountain except Sakura.

The lady straightened herself, feeling his presence. Sasuke wasn’t ready to listen to any of her justifications.

Because no had stepped in their abode except Sakura, and no one would.

****

Although he was elated to see her again, what Sakura has done was unforgivable. Sasuke was bewildered. All these years of abandoning his emotions fell away when he felt a surge of love and hatred, fear and longing, hurt and comfort coursed through him.

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t want to live with regrets and guilt earlier,” Sakura confessed to him, filling up the details of the past.

He realised the diamond mark on her forehead was gone. She was still beautiful and the smile he had longed to see was still graceful. Undoubtedly, she was Sakura, his wife. She was no longer a goddess though. She had sacrificed her divine powers for him.

He was scared to lose her again. He didn’t want to believe in the prophecy that had once taken Sakura away from her, but he listened peacefully to everything.

“This time will be different. Trust me, I'm not leaving you anywhere,” Sakura smiled, and assured Sasuke.

Who was Sasuke to defy her plea? Their love was weaved in the form of prophecy which defied cycles of lifes and deaths. No matter how far they go, they are bound to be together at the end.

#fantasysasusaku #SasuSaku #sasusaku fic #sakura haruno #naruto shippuden #day 6 #soulmate #prophecy #reincarnation #SasuSaku Fantasy AU

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boop-le-snoot · 4 years

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PARTY FAVOURS | CHAPTER 3

Rating: Explicit.

‼️TW: Reader is EIGHTEEN! Recreational drug use, smoking and alcohol consumption, deeply internalised self-loathing, very questionable moral standards. Daddy kink taken half-seriously. BDSM themes in later chapters - explicit content will come with it’s own TWs. FIRST PERSON POV.

Summary: You’re Peter’s classmate, a child of rich and famous but uncaring parents. Getting paired up for a lengthy project with the boy was an interesting turn of events and you don’t know whether to feel blessed or cursed when you develop, seemingly, a perfectly normal, harmless crush on Tony Stark. Fueled by feelings of inadequacy and boredom, your life spirals out of control - and you’re lucky your newfound friends are there to pick up the pieces even if you cannot find it in yourself to believe these amazing human (and not so human) beings voluntarily give you more than a fleeting glance and an offhanded thought. And they brought cake!

A/N: Peter always unapologetically stealing all the uwus. It’s the MCU law, sorry, didn’t make it. Tony Stark can ✨rail me✨. Enjoy, deviants.

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @another-stark-sub @mostly-marvel-musings @vozit @littlegasps @pilloclock @shereadsinquiet

Beta read by the lovely and patient @miscmarvelwritings ! She deserves THE WORLD! I’m not kidding. Please visit her and show her some love, my homegirl is stressed 💖✨

I didn’t see Bruce nor Tony for a week. The doctor was away on some science conference (he sent me one dorky selfie next to a whiteboard full of barely intelligible equations as proof), Tony was in California, having some sort of a board meeting. How do I know? Peter, out of lack of better things to do, constantly texted me updates on his science patron’s whereabouts and what-abouts.

In times like these, it took me for a loop - I was on a first name basis with Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. In the beginning, I was intimidated - I avoided them both like the plague and tinkered in the lab with headphones on whenever I could, until Tony made a comment so snarky I couldn’t resist joking back. That’s not to say Bruce was a social butterfly, but even he gave into my tomfoolery after seeing me stand calmly throughout several of Tony’s hissy fits.

What amazed me even more so was that despite Tony being literally an insufferable little brat, I still longed after him. Sure, the man was hot as hell - but his physical traits were much less significant when it came to my feelings towards him than the amount of sheer drive and willpower he possessed. He was stubborn - that’s another trait we shared - and unapologetically himself in every damn situation.

I could write poetry about the million expressions in his face, about the shine in his eyes.

But I won’t. He’s a technical guru. Ever since I started hanging around the tower, I became much more conscious about what I posted online. Not to say I had a Stark fan blog or anything, but I’d stopped scrolling through the tag, even if I didn’t actually click on any articles. I dutifully reblogged pictures of Tom Ellis instead - while he was a very fine, distinguished man, he wasn’t Tony Stark. I enjoyed looking at the first and enjoyed being around the other. And even though my feed still had the occasional “I love arm” shitpost, I focused on aesthetic pictures and quotes instead - things I had an active internet presence for.

My personal life wasn’t very interesting. I didn’t have any close friends and any and all sex I’ve had was just a bunch of one night stands, fueled by alcohol, selfish lust and the occasional joint. Despite having a fair share of kind, generous lovers, the morning after left me feeling a little bit emptier every time. I thought about getting a boyfriend or something… But quickly became totally clueless as to where I could find one. Men under twenty-five could barely hold my interest long enough to have a casual chat and I wasn’t naive enough to think there were a lot of honest, well-intentioned thirty-somethings that wanted to date my high school ass.

Peter had a crush on me, I knew that. The boy developed one or another kind of feelings for anybody who showed him the tiniest bit of kindness and it alarmed me. In any other case I would have bailed on him, gently, of course, to spare him the disappointment but my selfishness got in the way. I regretted it every day. A wave of desperation rose in me every time I thought about moving on without seeing Tony or Bruce, without Peter shyly smiling at me as he explained how the things he created worked. A faint hope that one day, his schoolboy puppy love will grow into a brotherly kind of regard was the only thing that kept me afloat in my sea of guilt.

As the Fall rolled around, so did my gloomy mood. It was hard to be sad when the sun was shining and the birds were chirping outside, but with clouds hanging over the city like a lead curtain, the bottled up negativity rose to the surface uninvited. Mother had returned from her business trip, adding an uncomfortable, hollow sort of chill to the house wherever she stood. I don’t know what was worse - the hours we spent in one room ignoring each other or the immaculately structured questions she asked me about my studies and extra-curriculars. Mother didn’t ask me about my friends, or my feelings or any of the other things a mother was supposed to give a damn about.

I was an asset to her company and that was that. If you would have asked her, she would tell you I’m old enough for her to mind her own business - which was technically true. Yet according to her, I’ve been old enough since seventh grade. My dad answered his messages sporadically, sometimes with a two-word answer and sometimes with a cocaine and booze fueled rant eleven texts long. I felt sorry for him. I really did.

My phone was blowing up. Party invitations, likes from people I saw once or twice (“oh my god, you’re, like, so hot, what’s your Insta”), DMs from guys looking to score an easy piece of ass. I never answered. If I wanted to party, I just sort of showed up and everybody went along with it. I took care of my appearance and it showed - never once was I turned away from a party. Everyone wanted to dance, to share their drinks, to light up and get faded together and fade into the city, into the cold air and grey sky.

Skirt swaying and top clinging to my chest, I danced. The sweaty, heated bodies around me did the same. Not one of us cared, it was a Tuesday night and the place packed way too many people. An arm snaked around my waist, startling me. I had to begrudgingly crack open an eye to see the bastard in the dimly lit room.

“I saw you at the bar, you looked bored. Maybe you need something to cheer you up?”

So not a creepy rapist. Just your friendly neighborhood drug dealer. At house parties like these, there was always The Guy. He never danced, he sipped on the same drink all night yet always looked like he was having the time of his life. I was no stranger to the occasional joint, or even something more stimulating…

“I got the good stuff, sweetums, you’ll be fine and dandy in no time.”

Eh, what the hell. I inconspicuously danced with the guy to the middle of the crowd, exchanging a few crumpled dollar notes for a baggie of two pills. In no time, I chased one down with a hastily poured Jack.

The world did become better, as the drug dealer promised. People were nicer, friendlier and I almost didn’t believe mother was a useless, stone cold bitch. I almost didn’t care that I was deeply, madly in love with a man as unreachable as Olympus. If I squinted, the guy sitting at the bar looked kind of like Tony, tan, dark hair, worn jeans and a band tee.

So I danced. I danced and I stared right at him and then we danced some more. I closed my eyes, letting his arms grab me and pull me, I let his beard scratch my neck where he sucked a mark on me, I let his rough palms choke me against a wall in one of the bedrooms on the second floor of the house. It felt good to be wanted. It felt great to be needed as he rutted inside of me, hitting that sweet spot with every twitch of his hips.

It felt lonely when he left, pressing a kiss to my forehead and saying something dumb like “Be good, kid.”. I don’t remember what exactly it was, only that I had to turn my face away from his breath that reeked like weed and vodka.

To shake off the void that made home inside of my chest, I went to the roof to get some fresh air. The house had a nice patio on it - I actually knew the owner - that hosted more plants than I’d care to count. There was an ashtray and an abandoned pack of cigarettes. I greeted the faintly blooming sunrise surrounded by a cloud of smoke, shivering in the autumn mist.

Sounds of the party became less prominent with every passing minute as people geared up to go home and get a few winks of sleep before going to work. New Yorkers weren’t really thoughtful partying on a Tuesday, but then again, neither was I. The city always was busy - even then, at the crack of dawn, the dull throb of a bassline was rudely interrupted by a blaring car alarm followed by dogs barking in aggravation.

The more I sat there, the bleaker everything became. I had enough common sense to know I was just coming off the drug but for once, I had been happy and content for several hours without a care in the world. It had been too long since I felt that way and what’s a little low after a good high?

Mother left for her early conference at five AM sharp, I entered my house at five-thirty, making a beeline in the shower and immediately dumping my alcohol and cigarette soaked clothes into the wash with the smelliest detergent I could find. I gave similar treatment to my body and my hair, using the chemically-smelling products on my body and on my hair, brushing my teeth multiple times.

By the time I was leaving for school, only a faint smell lingered in the air where I’d previously entered, so I set the air freshener to automatically spray the obnoxious mist every ten minutes. Mother gets home at twelve for lunch, that should be more than enough time for any remnants of my partying to disappear into the lilac and lavender fumes.

The Valium I’d popped to deal with the aftermath of Molly made my brain sluggish. One look in the mirror and I hastily put my sunglasses on - the ashen colour of my face and the slightly crazed look wasn’t very complimentary to my complexion. The teacher didn’t give a damn. I stared blankly ahead of me for most part of first period.

“What happened to you? You look like hell!” Peter’s exclamation, while usually would’ve alarmed me, barely made a dent in my stupor.

“I feel like shit, too,” Admit what you can’t deny. Deny what you can’t admit. “I didn’t get any sleep. Like, at all.”

Peter frowned, the crease between his eyebrows growing deeper with every passing second. I flinched when his hand tentatively touched my forehead - the pounding in my temples slowed to a dull throbbing but it was still unpleasant when someone was all up in my space.

“Jesus, you’re as cold as a corpse. Maybe you should go see the nurse,” His worry bled into me too. Like hell I was going to the school nurse! They were specifically trained to recognize the signs of substance abuse.

“I’ll head home straight after school, I think we’ll have to skip our sciencing,” No way also I’d be letting Tony and Bruce see me like this. Oh my God, I was a mess. “Mother’s home.” I added. Even the emotional frostbite I’d get from being around her was more tolerable than being a downer for Peter and Tony.

Peter’s face immediately softened in sympathy. He knew almost everything about my relationship with my family, including him actually seeing my mother that one time. He told me she gave him the creeps and I don’t blame him at all. The stoicism that was required for her work made my mother an unbearable person to exist around outside of her fancy office on the top floor of a glass high-rise building.

“Okay, but promise to text me if it gets worse. You might have caught the autumn bug that’s been going around,” He obviously said the last part to calm himself down. Sweet little Peter, naïve child. I solemnly nodded nonetheless.

When I got home, I went straight to bed. Tony was being Tony, as usual, but in a strangely kind way. I suppose it should’ve made me feel better and it kind of did, but then it went downhill from there. I couldn’t explain why I started crying. I bawled my eyes out at how unfair this god-damned world was and when the doorbell rang… Let’s say, the delivery boy hightailed it out of there once the bag of takeout was deposited into my arms. I looked and felt ghastly.

I ate as much as I could and dropped into a restless nap, drifting in and out of sleep with exhausted exasperation. There had not been a time where I felt so low after popping a pill and I was equal parts alarmed and satisfied. For one, the drug dealer didn’t lie like they usually do - the stuff was good and I still had the other pill hidden away in a bottle of painkillers, inconspicuously mixed with other white pills but shape distinctive enough for me to recognize should I have need in taking it again.

The thought of well, taking it again, was fleeting. I had school tomorrow and a missed science bender to make up for. A few buzzes of my phone later, I felt happier. Better. Not so down anymore. I meant every word that I said - Bruce was very precious, kind and gentle. And so, warm and soft. And totally kissable.

Well, fuck. What do I do now?

#bun writes #party favours #tony stark x reader #tony stark x y/n #bruce banner x y/n #bruce banner x reader #stephen strange x reader #Stephen Strange x y/n #I've already got a room in Hell y'all welcome to book one nearby

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badly-drawn-ironstrange · 3 years

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lets talk

hi! it’s me! the owner, creator, mod whatever u wanna call me of this account. ive gone through so many different names and even now i have a permanent name that i won’t reveal since it doesn’t matter but nevertheless.. lets talk about this account and my old content.

i am a minor. ive always been a minor. when i started this account i was a minor. i had incredibly naive and childish humor, and i was also growing and going through a lot in life. i was at a low. this account brought me so much joy and i felt comfortable here. my old content, regarding my old art style is pretty gross in comparison to what it is now. and id like to apologize for my past mistakes.

i made an awful joke once about a deaf person and i was young and impressionable, i didn’t know what the joke was i thought that everyone was saying it because it was “edgy” and “cool”. i know i apologized for it already but i want to apologize again. id also like to apologize again for the time i made an awful joke about k*lling steve rogers in an incorrect quote. it’s deleted now but at the time i thought that again, it was edgy and cool and i wanted to see how far i could take my jokes. i apologize.

regarding my old jokes and humor, yeah it was a bit lame ngl. not to mention i made a bunch of weird aus of marvel??? honestly looking back at them i cringe and feel nauseous because they’re just...so bad.... i’ve grown up from that. ive grown up from the whole “uwu edgy au snake and vamp XD” phase. it’s gross, it’s bad, i don’t wanna talk about it.

for the future of this account? there is no future, as much as i want to make a come back and be all “haha funny marvel” i can’t bring myself to do so. i don’t feel “funny”. and ive been trying to keep this account separated from everything. i’m afraid of being connected to this account and people finding my stuff outside of this account because yes, i don’t use tumblr anymore ive moved to instagram and started a new thing with a new fandom and new art style to forget about the cringe fest that was...✨this✨ however if you liked my content and stuff i posted, i don’t blame u and i’m not gonna get mad at you..it’s more of me being mad at myself? but i digress. back to the main point;

i don’t feel like coming back to this account and making more content. i don’t feel like i belong anymore, i don’t feel like i know marvel anymore considering i haven’t even touched marvel’s new content. tbh my love for the fandom ended after endgame :/ so, sorry to those who wanted more of me or actually liked my content, sorry to those i hurt in the past, and sorry to those who had hopes of getting art from me. i just don’t feel it.

as much as i’d love to link my new stuff, i’m not going to. just think of me vibing somewhere else happily. my journey ends here. thanks for the ride and memories along the way and thank you for making me feel wanted! to those who are new followers and those who have been here from the start! excelsior!

#thank you #and goodbye #i wouldn’t say forever since i’m not dying #but goodbye for now #❤️#badly-drawn-ironstrange

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popculturebuffet · 3 years

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Amphibia Reviews: The First Temple or Bessie and Joe: The New OTP

Hello all you happy people! Amphibia season 2 moves right a long and it’s time for some video game shenanigans as we enter The First Temple! Family drama, snail on bird action, and outhouses await you under the cut with a recap/review with full spoilers.

So we open with the Plantars having chocopillbug pancakes. Ironically my mom offered me chocolate chip pancakes after this and thank god for that. This is a rare treat to the point Anne didn’t even know they had choclate, and is suprisingly not strangling Hop Pop over this. Unsuprisingly he broke out the good stuff to try and make up for hiding the box and things are still VERY awkward between the two, with Hop Pop walking on Egghshells around Anne and Anne doing the same when he brings it up with both desperatley trying to avoid the subject and Sprig not helping by bringing it up a bunch.

I like this a lot and didn’t really think about the series continuting any tension over his decision.. but should have. Partly because this is a modern animated show and most of this wonderful new wave of shows have a LOT of emotional nuance. ANd partly because this show dosen’t forget things even most nuanced shows forget: the fact the characters cause chaos and learn life lesons is outright RECOGNZIED by the show as a pattern and brought up quite often, as are the patterns that lead to it, like mostly being sprig and anne, anne’s impulsivness that sort of thing. It’s the kind of thing you just gloss over in most shows but this one lampshades to hell and back for funsies so when something THIS important happens, you’d better belivie it’s not just going to disappear.

The tensions thankfully broken by a new arrival, as a massive sparrow shows up in the yard. “It’s a giant bird with.. books on it’s back.. what. “ Great delivery from bill there. Naturally it’s Marcy!

I missed this little goober. Such a joy to be around, and she of course marvels over the Plantar’s house before getting back on track: She’s found the first temple.. even though she sent a letter saying that and it’s not commented on that she did. It set off the whole previous episode Marcy... you okay Mar-Mar?

That aside though it’s time for the first temple and Marcy asks for the Box, with Sprig trying to make a joke about how good thing she didn’t ask for it a week ago.

Polly rightly punches him in the ribs... do frogs have ribs? Hold on.. okay here we go

Huh.. so they do not You learn something new every day. Well lack of ribs or no our heroes are ready.. while Marcy’s sparrow Joe is also ready TO GET IT ON. Yes really, he does a mating dance for Bessie, complete with an intersumental version of “Sylvia” from last season. God damn that bird’s got game. The only time i’ve seen more game is THIS.

Marcy tells him to knock it off. Look marcy your a pet owner now and as a pet owner, it’s your responsiblity.. to let your giant bird do horrifying things with a slightly smaller but still giant snail. it’s what nature intended. Nature was doing a lot of cocaine that day but we still honor her wishes.

But anyways Marcy’s figure out something intresting about the box.. by winding it just right the gems pop out, which allows her to take one, we later find out it’s the green one, to use in the temple. So off we go with Marcy and the rest of the kids up top and Hop Pop.. screaming in Joe Sparrows claws. He’s fine.

So while they get ready, Anne worries about the amount of puzzles and hazzards Marcy’s hyping for this but Marcy shurgs it off and gives her own big boast about how may RTS she’s beaten.. suspciously like Yuaan as one post on here pointed out. Not a huge suprise though, to Marcy she’d just be the grand hero out of one of her rpg’s and not think of how many people she probably killed or who she’s working for.. though you’d THNK given all the RPG’s both tapetop and on her switch she’s played, that Marcy would see that “the benevolent king turns out to be the big bad” trope coming.

But Anne’s worry is not on the big bad of the show but on Marcy who has a tendency to get so in the zone she ignores the world around her, which goes from focusing on her game while helping anne get softserve leading to a mess, not letting Anne down in a play and.. Anne catching Marcy on tv as all the snakes escape from the zoo.

Regardless our heroes arrive and while the awkwardness between anne and hop pop continues, they find a majestic temple.. and what appears to be an outhouse. Hey we all gotta poop sometimes, even people making a majestic temple. If you don’t it comes out like this.

So they head in and we get our first puzzle, a mysterious cube that lifts you into the air and allows you to tilt the thing around.

Those of you wondering why I have such a strong reaction have ever never played breath of the wild or played it with a pro controller, i.e. NOT having to tilt the very thing your screen is on because Nintendo has failed to grasp that MAYBE people don’t like that, that it takes you out of the experince and that it’s really hard to focus on your screen while having to move the fucking system about. And the plantar’s getting horribly jostled around as she moves it is EXACTLY how it feels to play a puzzle requring that shit.

Next is a color based tile dungeon leftover from Link’s Awakening DX. As marcy figures out the reds do fire and the blues do crushing... but she reads the language (And as she put earlier “Guess who learned an entire dead language?” God she’s precious. ) and finds a green with envy pun (Which Hop Pop takes offense to.. several of his friends are green.). Which is curious as given several citzens of amphibia are green.. why would they make a green pun? So she gets on one tile and Hop Pop plans to take the risk of getting on the other green tile, but Anne does it instead.. and things get heated between the two as Anne reveals she no longe feels like family since he did what he did for polly and sprig and hop pop takes offense as she IS. Even if he screwed up with her. But Anne’s near death experince activates the tile.

The final challnge switches us from Zelda.. to Harry Freaking Potter.

Now I used to love Harry Potter, with all of my heart. Then JK Rowling turned out to be a transphobic piece of shit who thinks she’s an ally, but is really a bigot who wants to “accept” trans people without giving them any rights. So yeah while I still love the starkid musicals, ore more accuratley the music from them, and own a copy of lego harry potter I got as a gift recently as both parties had no idea she was a monster when this stuff was made. Still a sore subject though, but if I didn’t bring up the similiarties I wouldn’t be doing my job as a critic and this was likely thought up long before JK outed herself as well...

No no the great mighty poo respects all peoples.. and wants to take their heads and ram it up his butt. He’s an equal opportunity butt rammer.

Anyways this is the frog equivlent of chess flipfrog, and just like with Wizard chess, our heroes end up as the pieces minus marcy.. and in a nice twist on that scene, Anne ends up on the other side. Marcy is a grandmaster at it though so after an hour or so of play she almost wins.. only for the king equilvent to refuse to be taken and the automatic board she’s up against to send Anne against hop pop, and with our heroes magically restrained and given stone weapons, this can’t end well. Eventually though Anne’s forced to hit HOp Pop multiple times and while he says “well isn’t this what you wanted”, she says no.. she didn’t want to phsyically hurt him it’s just complicated. So we get one heck of an emotioinal scene as Hop Pop just wants to help and wants this to stop and dosen’t knoow how to fix this which as someone who desperatlyt ries to fix most emotional situations right away this hit very hard.. and her response of needing time hit harder. The two while not reconciled, ar ecloser to it and Marcy realizes what she’s done getting so obessed with winning and forfits for thier benifit. Our heroes leave, seemingly having lost.. only to find glowing arrows to the crap hole, which turns out to be the pedistal. The temple wasn’t just an intellegence test but empathy.. and the temples are clearly built to specifically test each of the chosen three, our heroines, specifically. Marcy’s tested her intellegence.. but also her willingness to let go of cold clyincal thought to do the right thing. That earns her her gem recharged and a flash in her eyes and her gem starts pointing to the next. She needs time to triangulate and hop pop and anne are back on workable footing... though our heroes offer to take a break instead of going to the next temple.

Back in Newtopia, Yuaan reports on the toads gathering.. but dosen’t get to mentioning sasha before Marcy’s letter interrupts and Andridas oddly and aburbly dimisses her.. and goes to talk to a watcher with a thousand eyes, his “master” who has plans to undo the prophcey and get their revenge.

Final Thoughts: This was a damn fine episode that gave Marcy some much needed character development, and gave the reveals of last episode some more emotiional fallout. It also had some really great jokes as always. Top notch stuf.

Next Time: Marcy tries to win everyone over through science and we FINALLY get an episode with the Frog Robot apparently. Horay

Next on this Blog: We go into final space yo! It’s unexpected births, ho yay, and horrifying zombie gary’s galore!

Until then if you liked this review, follow me for more, join my patreon, comission a review if you please and i’ll see you at the next rainbow. Play us out jeff... and I haven’t done THAT bit in a while but eh. This song was too perfect.

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#amphibia #anne boonchuy #marcy wu #the first temple #hopidah plantar #sprig plantar #polly planntar #king andrias #the watcher with a thousand eyes

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spyrkle4 · 3 years

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My Valentine’s Shy and That’s Fine (Meganiper one-shot)

AN: Happy Valentine’s. Of course I also had to post a fic for the gfs have you met me?! Anyways this was self-indulgent fun, enjoy!

Valentine’s Day in San Fransokyo was like Valentine’s Day anywhere else, the typical pink hearts, candy, and roses being shoved in a partner’s face.

Big Hero 6 probably didn’t do that with their partners, they probably defeated a discount cupid bad guy for Valentine’s! Least that’s what Juniper suspected when she looked out of her apartment window and she saw the pink and yellow superheroes patrolling down the streets after a sparkly vehicle.

I hope it isn’t that guy who went evil because of a cat… She grumbled, shaking her head at the thought. Nope. Don’t think about that guy Juni. She brought her pillow to her face and grumbled into it.

“Juniper?” Her mother’s voice made her perk up. “It’s breakfast and you’re not up, are you okay?” “M’ fine, Mama.” Juniper rubbed her eyes, she had gotten up a while ago but was staying still in her bed when realizing what day it was. “Uh, what’s for breakfast?” Barb flashed her a warm smile. “Well, there was enough milk in the fridge for me to make that pancake recipe of mine you enjoy…” Juniper didn’t have to be told twice as she hopped out of bed.

The anxiety in her chest was quelled as she drank ice cold milk to chase down the warm buttery pancakes that had sticky syrup sunk into it. But she still felt anxious as the calendar’s current date was circled with a bunch of hearts. So she had just dragged her chunks of pancake around the syrup before eventually sticking it into her mouth and chewing it down.

Barb noticed her absentminded behavior. “Did you not get enough sleep last night?” Her cocoa brown eyes flashed with concern. Juniper didn’t respond, too focused on the piece of pancake she was toying with. “Juniper!” “Hm?” She shook her head. “Oh, what’d you say Mama?” “You’re acting strange.”

Juniper winced. “Was it that obvious?” She looked down at her empty cup of milk. “Can I have a refill?” She nudged the cup to her mother, and Barb filled it back up before nudging it back. “Is there something on your mind?” “Yeah, you know how it’s Valentine’s Day?” Juniper sighed. “I uh… and you know how I’m dating Megan?” “Mhmm.” Barb nodded. “You wanna do something nice for her today, don’t you?” “Yeah… I have to.”

Her mother raised an eyebrow. “You don’t have to do something nice just because it’s Valentine’s Day, most people don’t. Unless you’re planning on buying her one of those candy hearts? Then I suggest waiting tomorrow when it’s cheap.” “I’m not getting one of those!” Juniper blushed. “I mean… Well what did you do for Valentine’s?”

Barb glanced away. “Well, when I was a kid I wasn’t into Valentine’s either and…” She looked hesitant to tell her.

“I didn’t mean t-to refer to anyone!”

“I know Juni, you’re fine.” She sighed. “It’s really sweet you wanna do something for Megan. Do you have anything planned?” She placed a hand to her chin. “Not really? I mean besides inviting her over, but I don’t really have any ideas. Please help.”

Barb flashed a grin. “Well, your mama knows a thing or two about helping along a date…”

Later in the afternoon was when Megan herself finally visited the mother-daughter duo’s apartment. She knocked once, she knocked twice, and the door opened. “Hi Ms. Reynolds.” She waved to her girlfriend’s mother, who was at the door.

Barb chuckled and rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to call me ‘Ms. Reynolds’ dear, that stuff makes me feel old.” “You are old!” Megan snickered as she heard Juniper exclaim.

“Juni!” Barb crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “Is that how you speak to your mother?” Giggling was heard. “I’m just teasing you, Mama. Calm down.”

The older woman just shook her head. “Teenagers…” She mumbled under her breath. As Megan walked in, Barb closed the door behind her. “Well, I’ll leave you two alone. Don’t break anything.” “Hey, that was an accident!” Juniper pouted. One time when the two were hanging out, Megan accidentally bumped into her girlfriend during dance practice and they broke a few plates. Barb had freaked out since the broken shards cut into their skin a little, so she knew the older woman was just concerned.

“Okay, have fun.” Then Barb exited the apartment herself, leaving the two girlfriends alone.

First thing Megan did was greet Juniper with a kiss. “I missed you.” “You saw me yesterday.” Juniper giggled. “Yeah, but that was at the cafe. And we didn’t get to hang there.”

“True. That sucked.” She had wanted to spend time with Megan at the Lucky Cat, but unfortunately Diego was with her with his bad flirting at the cafe owner. Neither of them told the chief of police that they were dating due to his distaste of anything superhero or supervillain related, and feared he’d try to keep them apart if he found out. “You didn’t look happy then. Are you still arguing with your friend?” The reporter shook her head. “No. Hiro and I are cool now, I was just not happy because I wanted to spend time with my beautiful girlfriend and I couldn’t.” A deep blush flashed across Juniper’s face. “Y-You’re beautiful too.” She took a step back. “Oh, I have something for you.” “For me?” Megan raised an eyebrow. Juniper nodded, she felt her hand being tugged as her girlfriend walked into the living room, dragging Megan along.

When they entered, the reporter realized that the couch had been set up with pillows, blankets, and several of her favorite snacks and drinks on the table. “So since it’s Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d do something nice for you.” Juniper explained. “Mama helped me set it up, I didn’t wanna go overboard, but you deserve something nice and--mmph!” She was cut off as Megan yanked her into another kiss, this one a little more passionate. “Uhh… wow.” The blonde was stunned as the kiss ended.

“Thank you so much.” Megan smiled at her. “You didn’t have to.” “But it’s Valentine’s…” “That doesn’t mean you have to get me something.” She reassured Juniper. “I find spending time with you a gift enough.” Juniper blushed, her eyes watery. “I’m uh… I--” Then pulled Megan into a hug. “I love you.”

Megan smiled as she hugged back. “Knew you’d be the first person to say the l word.” “Hush, let me have this!”

“Aw it’s okay, I love you too.”

And so the two of them were cuddling on the couch as cheesy talking animal movies played on the television. “Why do you like this buddy series so much?” Juniper questioned as they were watching the third movie about the buddy dog siblings. She thought the space plot was cute but also how did dogs get into space?

“Because they’re adorable.” Megan smirked.

“Oh, I see how it is.” Juniper playfully rolled her eyes, her arm snaked around her girlfriend’s shoulder. “Am I not adorable to you?” “Juniiii.” “I’m being serious.”

The reporter hummed, placing her hand on her chin as she pretended to think about it. But her character broke when seeing Juniper’s puppy eyes. “Aw, you’re definitely more adorable than some movie dogs!”

“Good to know.” Megan then squeaked as Juniper’s arm pulled her closer and suddenly she was lying on top of her chest. Her face flushed red from how close they were to each other, when before they were merely cuddling at arms length. Juniper seemed to pick up her flusteredness and stayed still as she adjusted herself.

“You okay now?” Juniper raised an eyebrow. “Yeah.” She nodded, laying her head comfortably on her girlfriend’s chest. “Is this okay?” Her girlfriend hummed. “Yeah.” Juniper then placed her hand to her head, Megan gasped as she felt her hand play with her locks of hair. “Is this okay?”

“Yeah.” Megan giggled, enjoying the feeling of her own hair being fiddled with.

“This is me getting payback for all the times you played with my hair.” Juniper dramatically stated in a high-pitched voice. “Feel the feels.” “Oh, I feel them.”

Juniper smiled at her dopey grin, continuing to play with her hair as they lied on the couch, the movie ignored.

And as they cuddled until their eyes feel asleep, both of them warm in the arms of their partner…

It had been a good Valentine's day for both Megan and Juniper.

#bh6 month #big hero 6 the series #bh6 the series #megan cruz #bh6 juniper #meganiper #sparky writes #bh6 fics #fics #fanfics

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van-goghs-smoking-skull · 3 years

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I really feel the need to say something about this. Emotional support animals are NOT service animals. I'm not saying mental health isn't as important or ND persons like myself aren't really disabled - that's not what I'm saying at all. What I'm saying is that there is a difference and that the difference is very important in a legal ADA sense.

Service animals, like seeing eye dogs, go through extensive behavioral training. They are trained to not attack people, not panic, to send signals to their owner to keep the owner safe, to not jump on people or furniture, and a great number of other things. Service animals are trained to be well behaved.

Emotional support animals, while just as important, do not recieve special training. All that is required is that the owner speak to a therapist and maybe pay a fee for the paperwork.

I have seen far too many people buying pet vests embroidered with 'service animal' off Etsy or Amazon, no credentials needed, bringing in regular pets, claiming that they are an emotional necessary and calling them service animals. We've had pet mice get loose in the grocery store, dogs do their their business on the store's floor, people who left their dog on produce tables to play with the produce, a snake hiss at other customers while wrapped tight around it's owner's neck, and a large dog jump on the store manager after scratching up the produce tables.

Until you can get your emotion support animal training on par with service animals, do not bring them in stores. The ADA specifies 'service animals' and your emotional support animal is not covered under that. At the very least, if your emotional support animal is trained properly, it's unlikely that anyone will bother you about it, but a disruptive animal causing property and product damage will be far more likely to get law enforcement involved. And ordinary pets should never be brought into a store, unless that store is SPECIFICALLY Petsmart or some other pet store that advertises that pets are allowed.

Remember, grocery stores and other places that deal with food being sold for human consumption can and might very well be shut down for having pets in the store. In rural areas especially this is a huge problem as the store there may be the only way some residents have of getting food. Those residents should not be put at risk of not having food simply because some Karen felt like they had every right to do whatever they want because they are white, rich, or otherwise 'special' in their own eyes. Also consider employees and other customers may have allergies. They may be willing to suffer through it for a blind person just trying to live, but they will not be as sympathetic for an animal acting like it's playtime. And consider why the no pets regulations are in place in the first place. No one wants to cook up a box of pasta just to realize it all tastes like your dog's pee or eat veggies covered in pet saliva or get bitten in the face by a snake.

At least try to be respectful of other people's needs, too.

And I get it, emotional support animals can be an absolute need for you. I'm not saying you aren't allowed to be comforted by them or that you should not be allowed in stores, restaurants, and the like. I'm asking that you get your emotional support animal trained so the rest of us do not have to suffer loss of services or unsanitary conditions or personal injury if your animal attacks. If you can't afford training, then by all means, post and I'll signal boost your request for help paying for training myself. I'd donate, but I simply don't have the money for it. I AM more than happy to do what I can to get you in touch with people who can help with that, though.

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self-loving-vampire · 4 years

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@melancholygirlfrien said:

I have a Child Development Associate so I am literally professionally certified to tell you that yes, taking children and babies to places so they can learn how to function and see that they're a part of a world bigger than they are, is important to their social, emotional, and language development. It helps everything from motor skills to social skills and cognition Just because you find babies' cries annoying doesn't mean parents are selfish just for wanting to take their children outside. Children shouldn't be raised indoors all day in a fucking bubble because that's how developmental issue happen. If a child is isolated they can develop serious issues.

Note that there are more appropriate places you could be taking them to, for starters. Places where people can avoid the noise more easily and where it might be less disruptive.

Like, you have options beyond “indoors 100% of the time” and the kinds of locations I mentioned in my first reply to you. Like, you can still take them to places like parks, malls, and other locations where it would be less of an issue.

No it's not fucking self centered for a parent to take their baby outside because they're just doing what they gotta do , not everyone can afford child care especially people of lower socioeconomic status. There are many single mothers who have no other option but to take their baby everywhere because that's what their situation calls for. The only fucking person being self-centered and not considering the struggles of other people is you.

Again, notice the kinds of places I mentioned in my post before going off on straw arguments. My complaints about others involve places like restaurants, the movies, and airplanes.

These are not only places where a child crying can ruin other people’s experience and be inescapable, they’re also places where many of the people there are not poor and had other options for what to do about their situation.

Like, I would think differently about someone who brought their baby to a clinic’s waiting room (for example) as opposed to a flight to Miami.

Black and white thinking is not going to help you understand what other people’s issues are.

No I wouldn't tell someone whos scared of my snake to go suck it, even though I would have every right to. Like I said I understand when people have phobias of certain animals. There might be people out there who have a phobia of dogs but does that mean people who take out their dogs are being selfish and don't care about people who have trauma/phobia associated with dogs?? Fuck no, those people are just being responsible dog owners and doing what every dog owner should which is take their dog out for a walk. Just bc some people might be annoyed by their dog doesn't mean they're being self-centered and bad people.

And yet there are places where they probably should not take their dog because it would be either inconsiderate or outright banned, and if they insisted on doing so then they probably are self-centered.

Like, if you want to take your babies out for a walk or something around the house that’s not nearly as bad as what I was actually complaining about.

your life isn't gonna be fucking ruined from hearing a baby cry in public. The most you'll be is annoyed and anxious for a few moments and then it will go away. Suck it up.

Did I ever say anyone’s life was going to be ruined? Why do you make everything some kind of exaggerated strawman?

Here are some exact quotes you already forgot about:

“It’s not the worst thing but it’s still kind of inconsiderate“

“No one said anything about stopping them or suspending their rights in any way, only that noise is annoying (and especially painful to autistic people with sensory issues).“

“Um… what do you think I do? Activate Karen Mode and go bother the parents about it? Nah, I just judge them silently. I am free to complain as much as I want on the internet though.“

So:

1- I am not treating it as a huge, life-ruining thing, just a sort of dick move. Like people who cut in line or something.

2- I do “suck it up” when it happens but am 100% allowed to complain about it online anyway.

Tbh I can't keep talking to you, I think people like you should be ushered into a dark warehouse and humanely put down.

Empathy-havers are so humane they advocate genocide against autistic people apparently, over a post about baby noises being kind of annoying. I’m not even surprised because you all keep doing this every single time without even thinking about how it sounds.

Maybe you should think about how the things that make children annoying (they're egotistical, they have a hard time empathizing with others because of their self-centered world view) are traits that you have yourself. The difference is that most children develop and grow out of that self-centered world view

If you actually read my post, the primary annoyance I pointed out was that they were Portable Sensory Hell. I made no comment about their ability to feel empathy and actually find low empathy people significantly less annoying than others so that’s clearly not it.

You're a child in my eyes tbh. Your mentality is childish. Say what you will but I would like to remind you again, at one point in your life, you were a baby, and you shit your pants, and someone had to clean up all that shit after. Or else you wouldn't be here.

You know, if you’re going to go around advocating genocide over a post about people not liking baby noises then I am 100% sure my literal child self was morally and intellectually superior to your current self already.

You know what would make me respect you more? If you owned up to the fact that you judging parents when their babies cry is a result of your low empathy and self-centered world view. I would respect you SO much more if you just said "Yo, straight up. I'm just a selfish person. I know babies can't help that they cry and it's not the parents fault but I straight up do not like that shit. I have low empathy as a person and therefore I can't really bring myself to care about babies, children, or the parents and their situation so I just judge parents because I want to. Because their kid is annoying the shit out of me. I don't care about the reasoning tbh I'm just kind of an asshole."

> Implying I care about whether or not you respect me.

Also, this isn’t even correct. At my current point in life I pretty much never have to interact with babies in any way, if I was completely selfish then it would not matter to me now whether or not people bring their crying babies into airplanes and the like. The issue just isn’t a very significant part of my life.

But the thing is that while I am low empathy that does not change the fact that I value other people’s well-being and know that crying babies make their lives worse even if just in a small, temporary way.

The kinds of parents I am complaining about don’t even think about that.

You know you're just incompassionate. So be a self-respecting sociopath and own up to that shit, please, I would respect a stone cold evill mf SO much better than a little weasel who tries to give excuses as to their own egocentric way of thinking.

I am a narcissist, not a sociopath. Of course, if cluster B disorders are just standard insults to you then you might think all low empathy conditions are the same.

Furthermore, you haven’t shown that you understand anything at all about what low empathy conditions are actually like.

Also I find it really telling that you would prefer unrepentant evil selfishness over someone who merely understands and sides with others who are negative about loud babies. Like, actual morality is not something you seem to be valuing here.

"iF I wErE iN tHaT sItUaTiOn I wOuLd jUsT sTaY hOme!" No you wouldn't you stupid bitch because parents have to go out to buy groceries, and run errands like every other adult.

Again, you seem to be treating all of “outside the house” as an interchangeable space with the exact same norms.

Like, do you realize how it might be different to bring your child out for necessary grocery shopping than to bring them to a restaurant or the movies? Do you really think I would treat those things as exactly the same?

MOST parents, especially working-class, poor, or single parents, DON'T have that option, as I already stated. And you are showing a clear lack of regard for people who are in a tougher situation than you for judging parents when their babies annoy YOU. You are literally not putting yourself in their shoes at all bc you have no idea of even half the shit parents have to do in order to make ends meet and look after their babies.

Oh, I am well aware of how having babies will multiply your suffering, especially if you’re poor. It’s precisely why I’m never having any!

I understand it’s a huge pain and people with children are always going on and on about how their lives became significantly more miserable as a result of it.

I think you should honestly love that screaming toddler on the plane because in a few decades she might grow up to become the nurse who will take care of you when you're old and ill.

This argument just doesn’t work one way or another. If the baby is going to help me then I will be grateful once that actually happens, not based on a hypothetical so unlikely I might as well live my life not considering it.

#long post #babygate

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glitterbootsharry · 4 years

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Three- Lullaby Woe

Word Count: 2K

Disclaimer: I do not know much about witchcraft or anything associated with it besides the few tv shows and movies I have seen. If I have gotten anything wrong or mixed up, please feel free to let me know. I want to get as much right as I can as I have done some research, but I know I do not know a lot.

Warning: Talk of divorce, childhood trauma, and a car crash.

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“Sorry ‘bout that,” Rowan enters the room, her face and body much more relaxed from when we first arrived at her cottage, which in turn relaxes me. “Gran, she, erm…” Rowan sits down next to me on the couch before picking up her tea cup, trying carefully to choose her words, but they never come to her rescue. She shakes her head, dismissing her entire argument altogether.

“She seems nice,” I say, trying to ease into the motion of conversation. I smile as I sip my tea, the orange aftertaste lingering in my mouth. There were millions of questions running rampant through my mind, enough for me not to be able to process anything that had happened between Alice and I. Was her intuition that great? Did I linger too long when looking at Rowan?

“She can be a little much,” she smiles, laying back into the faded blue cushion. Her head falls back against the wooden frame, her eyes closing- a moment of peace for her, a thousand memories for me. Her neck, tanned and delicate, is long and vulnerable, though my wanting of tracing her skin hasn’t ceased, I clear my throat, trying to adjust my jeans hoping the evidence of my wandering thoughts isn’t noticeable. “Sorry if she freaked you out or anything.”

“It’s fine, really,” I say, half-believing my own words. The words that formed in my mind, unspoken, had been the center of attention in our conversation. I just want to know what gave it away. “Erm, who is Astarte?” I clearly butchered pronouncing the name when Rowan’s eyes click open instantly as if the owner’s name was some sort of curse word. She sits up and faces me, her leg crossed under the other. Her dark wide eyes blink at me slowly, carefully as if she wants me to believe what is coming out of her mouth.

“It’s my mum,” she said, a hint of sorrow in her voice. Bringing up the woman must have brought in memories that Rowan wished to forget, and I’m the asshole for asking. “Most of these books,” she looks at the black leather book I had been holding only moments ago, “were hers. She was really into herbs and such. And it’s As-Tar-tee, not A-start-e.”

I knew from the vagueness of her answer that the subject’s waters I’m dancing around was best left alone, but the arrogance and stubbornness in me was dying to know everything I could about Rowan.

“Was?” I ask, half knowing the answer already. I keep digging my early grave with every word I say. Curiosity killed the cat, I reminded myself.

“She died when I was young, along with my dad,” she clears her throat before setting the tea cup on the dark wooden table. She smoothed her ponytail before standing up only to look down at me. “Do you want to see the garden?”

There wasn’t a spoken answer, only me nervously nodding my head as I hastily set my teacup on the table before following Rowan out the back glass door. I feel like a puppy, following my new owner around, high on her heels so when she turns around to show me a flower she had just planted only a few days ago, she bumps into my chest, her hands both on the two birds that are permanently there.

“Sorry,” I whisper, feeling the fire where her hands were touching. For a moment, I wished her hands were hot pokers because I would wear my branding marks with pride. She smiles toothily before pulling out a beige rose from behind me.

“Do you know what the colors mean?” She asks, her teeth grazing her bottom lip as she looks up to me. I shake my head, only knowing red means love. Rowan continues to smile as she pulls the flower to her nose to smell. “Beige means fascination. Red, love and respect and courage,” she walks away and I try to keep up, falling under whatever spell she’s casting. Her hand hovers over the flowers as she walks, her skin glowing in the sunlight. “Orange stands for passion,” her voice sultry as she points to the mass of orange roses. “Yellow is for friendship,” she pulls the yellow rose out from the ground and hands me the flower. I look over to the light purple flowers that are planted at the end of the row that sits along the falling fence.

“What about the lavender ones?” We walk to the flowers I asked about, gently squeezing the stem before plucking it from the dirt. I extend the flower to Rowan who smiles with her lip caught between her teeth as she blinks wildly. “Careful with the thorns.”

“Enchantment and love at first sight with mystery mixed in,” she whispers, taking the rose from me, her hand gingerly grazing over mine. Perfection at its finest. Her lips part, in anticipation of speaking or something else, but I want so badly to kiss Rowan here in the garden of lost time and emotion. I step closer to her, my head slightly bent as my head hovers over hers. I feel her breathing become hitched and her eyes close as our embrace closes in ranks, but she pulls away, smelling the rose I had given her. “The white flowers represent innocence and remembrance. I planted those for my parents which is why there’s only two.”

“What happened to them, if I may ask?” I stand where Rowan left me, completely still until I feel something rubbing between my legs. A small shriek comes out of mouth, embarrassment flooding my face afterwards. I step back and see a small black cat slinking over to Rowan.

“Fernsby, you can’t scare our new friend,” Rowan picks up the black cat, holding the animal in her arms before I step over to pet the creature that startled me.

“Sorry mate, thought you were a snake,” I say, the cat purring almost instantly when my hand rubs his head.

“He’s friendly, don’t mind him. He likes to spook new people,” Rowan sets Fernsby down on the ground so that he could chase the Monarch butterfly that was fluttering about the garden.

Rowan clears her throat before she begins to speak, her eyes still on the white roses, “My parents died in a car crash when I was young so I don’t really remember much about them. We only had one car so after my parents dropped me off at school one day, my dad was on his way to drop my mum off to work. She was a nurse at the hospital and worked the dayshift. It was raining that day and my dad had a hard time seeing the road when I was in it. He kept swerving and getting into the standing waters. I was in the backseat hoping that it would stop raining just for one minute,” Rowan looked up at me, tears forming in her eyes. She sniffles before continuing.

“There was this curve on the way to mum’s work that was dangerous even when it’s not raining. It was on the side of a hill. I’m sure my dad was careful, not speeding and all, but there was this big truck, the kind that you use to move, and it, erm, was on the curve with them. It started hydroplaning and it crashed into my parents. They rolled down the mountain and…” Rowan’s voice fades as she tries to steady herself. It was tough hearing the story, letting alone telling it. I grab Rowan by the elbow and pull her into my embrace, my arms squeezing her as she sobs into my chest. My chin rests on her head and we sway in the garden as I let her cry.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked,” I say as I feel her stir. She wipes away the smears of makeup and tears, her eyes red. She looks up at me and smiles gently.

“It’s fine, Harry. You wanted to know,” her words cut me down. My curiosity hurt Rowan, made her relive the trauma she was so desperately trying to forget each morning after waking from dreams of her family together. “After the accident, I came to live my gran and it’s been like this ever since.”

“What was that that she called you?” I ask, my arms still holding Rowan in her rose garden. A few birds twirped in the air as the sun shine down upon us.

“What? Erm, Ya Amar? It’s my pet name for her. It’s Arabic for my moon- something she’s always called me,” Rowan points to the tattoo of the crescent moon and stars behind her ear.

“Arabic? I didn’t know you were from the Middle East,” I say, smiling down at her. I swallow hard as her dark eyes look over me. She smiles sweetly before stifling a small laugh.

“We’re from Egypt, Harry,” she says with kindness in her voice. “It’s a language used throughout a lot of countries.”

“Oh,” is all I could say as she pulls away from me. “Was your mum Egyptian or your dad?”

“My mum,” she says as she bends down to pick a weed out of the ground. “Gran came to London years ago to start a new life. My grandfather refused to leave Alexandria, Gran took my mum and came up here. Said that people are more accepting up here, but we know now that was a lie. My mum met my dad at Uni and had me.” Rowan swallowed hard, her eyes diverted to the ground. Clearly there was something else, something she wasn’t telling me, but I’d rather not pry now.

“There’s so much sadness in your family, I can’t imagine. All I have is divorced parents and an absent father,” I say, half-smiling. “He left when I was young and told me that I was the man of the house. At no age should the son be that,” The memory of my dad closing the front door for the last time echoes in my mind. I cried, pleading with him to stay, but it was no use. He had left my mum, Gemma and I to our own devices.

“Why did he leave?” Rowan asks as she walks around the section of green shrubbery. “Herbs.”

“I dunno. Never asked. Don’t want to know, honestly. Things are better off with the only communication I have with him being the birthday and christmas presents that I get in the post every year,” I feel the soft leaves of the plant closest to me, still holding on to the beige rose in my hand.

“That’s so sad,” Rowan looks up at me, biting the inside of her cheek. “What about your mum?”

“She remarried, but my stepdad passed away a few years from cancer. He was the light of her life. I’m really happy she got the happiness she deserved. They were really in love. Hope I get that one day,” I shuffle my brown boots into the ground all too aware of a pair of eyes on Rowan and me. I looked over to the white lace curtained window to see Alice watching us, her fingers curled around the fabric.

Rowan smiles as she sees her grandmother watching us. “She likes you. Thinks you’re the bee’s knees because you drove me out here. She says you remind her of her husband.” She steps closer to me, the smile on her face growing. “She’s got a bit of dementia and her memory isn’t as good as it used to be, but you remind her of Clifford when they were younger supposedly.”

“What happened to him?” I ask, scared of the answer.

“He died when I was a teen. Drank too much. Said our family’s history was too much for someone like him to bear.”

“What history?” The words fall out of my mouth before I could think, my heart racing as Rowan steps closer to me, her fingertips holding onto my inner elbow. She stands on her toes as she pulls leaves from my hair.

“As if you haven’t heard, Harry. You’re standing in an accused witch’s garden, after all,” She smiles, her white teeth showing, and I know that whatever enchantment, spell, or curse Rowan was putting me under I would never forget our time in the garden. A devilish grin is plastered in her face before she dusts off the small bit of grass from her pants. She takes my flower to her nose before smelling it once again and then blow cold air in my face. “Be careful or they’ll say I cast a spell on you and made you mine.”

####

@sunflwr-styles @awomanindeniall

#rosarium #harry styles #harry styles fic #1dff #harry styles au #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles imagine #harry 1d #harry styles ofc #harry styles poc #harry styles woc

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holycatsandrabbits · 4 years

Text

“There is something in there with you!”

The white-haired man who’d come to the door of Mr. Fell’s Bookshop looked at Lela curiously. “I’m sorry?”

It was dark outside, but there were lights on in the bookshop and Lela could see a few other people inside, all of whom were looking at Lela like she’d lost her mind.

“I know you’ll think I’m crazy, but I saw something in your shop. Some—monster. Back in the shadows.”

The man at the door got an understanding look on his face. “Ah. Well. He’s actually—”

And then Lela saw it again. Well, saw him. Because now a man with red hair walked into the lighted area, and despite the fact that he no longer had huge black wings sprouting from his shoulders, despite the fact that his yellow eyes were now hidden behind dark glasses, Lela recognized him. She shrieked and backed away a few steps.

And then the red-haired man was at the door, looking at her, speaking to her. “You need to come in.”

That was the last thing Lela was going to do.

The white-haired man gave the man-monster an irritated look. “Really, Crowley—”

“What, you don’t feel that?” He made an exasperated noise. “No, right, of course you don’t. Angel, convince her to come in. Now.”

What happened next was a little odd. The red-haired man—thing—Crowley—stepped away from the door and then the white-haired man extended his hand to Lela. And Lela took it, not knowing why it suddenly felt safe to do so, not entirely sure why she also now knew that this man was the owner of the bookshop, Mr. Fell. Then she was inside the shop, surrounded by the other people who’d been there, all of whom looked sympathetic.

The lamps in the shop turned off, making the street beyond visible. Crowley said quietly, “Angel, your lights,” and that was when Lela realized that Mr. Fell, who was still holding her hand, was glowing slightly. The glow faded as she looked at him. He just smiled at her, as if that wasn’t just one more extremely weird thing.

Everything went quiet until a man in black walked past the shop, lingering, looking into the window.

“You know him?” Crowley asked.

“I passed him a few blocks back,” Lela answered.

“All right, don’t worry. Let a professional handle it,” Crowley said, as he stepped out onto the street in the direction that the man had gone.

And Lela couldn’t help but ask, “Professional what?”

There were five other people in the shop: two men, a woman, and two teenaged kids. Lela got five answers, all spoken at once:

“Police officer.”

“Bouncer.”

“Bodyguard.”

“Private Eye.”

“Bookshop security.”

After this performance, all eyes trained themselves on Mr. Fell, who had raised his eyebrows in a bit of surprise. To everyone’s clear disappointment, the bookshop owner corrected no one.

The woman, who was a rather attractive brunette, put a hand on Lela’s shoulder, leading her back to a seating area. “Hey, my name’s Rylee. This is Eli, Sam, Audrey, and Lloyd. That was Mr. Fell’s husband, Mr. Crowley. It’s all right. He really is a nice guy.”

Noticing then that Mr. Fell was still standing at the window, the other people gathered close. “What did you see?” one of the teenagers asked Lela quietly.

Lela wondered if they’d all gone crazy. “I saw that Mr. Crowley’s got black wings and yellow eyes!”

The regulars fell into whispering with each other.

Anybody else seen wings? I thought I did once. No, not me, I just saw the snake version. Like the snake-eyes version? No, the full-on twelve-foot snake version. Oh, man, I haven’t seen that yet. Well, I still say he’s a vampire. Vampires don’t have wings! Sure, they do, they turn into bats. They don’t turn into snakes, though, do they?

Finally Lela asked, “So what’s Mr. Fell?”

The answers on this were clear.

“Angel.”

“Literal angel.”

“Ah,” Lela said.

The whispers died off as Mr. Fell came into the seating area. Lela tried to ask the kind of question that one would normally ask a person, if that person weren’t an angel whose husband was a 12-foot snake. “So how long have you...been married?”

Mr. Fell sat down on the couch. “Six years. We’ve been together far longer than that, though.”

Lela noted how the regulars were trained on Mr. Fell, clearly hungry for information.

“How did you meet?” Lela asked.

This apparently was pay dirt. Mr. Fell smiled and started talking. “We met in a garden, actually. You know, I loved Crowley almost from the beginning. I wasn’t supposed to, of course. We’re star-crossed, you could say. Oh, but he was just so handsome and brave and clever and—well, you know, he took care of me. When things were bad, I could always count on him to cheer me up and talk me through my own worries.”

Mr. Fell’s gaze sharpened slightly, and Lela was suddenly sure that the bookshop owner was well aware of the regulars’ gossiping. “You have to understand,” Mr. Fell said, “that I love Crowley not in spite of what he is, but because of it. He’s been through so much, and that has really shaped him. The reason he’s so kind and loving is because he’s been denied that so often and he knows what it’s like to have to try to live without it. But of course, my side—ah, my family—can’t see any of that, they can only see that he’s a—”

“Angel, write a book, why don’t you?”

Everyone jumped as Mr. Crowley walked back into the seating area, and some of the regulars groaned at the ill-timed interruption.

Mr. Fell smiled. “Sorry, my dear. How did it go?”

“Nice and easy. Didn't even get blood on my claws.”

One of the teenagers—Lloyd—asked breathlessly, “You have claws?” and then immediately clapped his hand over his mouth.

A very amused and rather impressed look spread over Mr. Crowley’s face. He brought his hands up and wiggled his fingers, which were clearly not clawed or bloodstained. “It’s funny, though,” Mr. Crowley said, “the poor man did suddenly develop a terrible aversion to following women around.”

“Thank you,” Lela spoke up, and her voice sounded oddly loud. “And I’m sorry.”

Mr. Crowley smiled, crossing his arms over his chest. “Nonsense. You tried to protect my husband and our friends. We’re good.”

Lela stayed for tea, which was excellent. When the bookshop finally closed, Rylee stood with her on the sidewalk. “That was very brave of you,” she said.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t really stop to think it through,” Lela admitted.

“Well, that’s even more impressive, honestly. Just rushing in to save us.”

Lela gave a little nervous laugh. “Okay, so while I’m being brave—would you like to go get coffee sometime?”

“Oh!” Rylee said. “I’d love to. I’ve gotten into the habit, though, of making sure people know I’m ace before I go on dates. That means—”

“Oh, I know what it means. That’s cool with me. I kind of had a feeling.”

“Ah.” Rylee’s face colored a bit and it was lovely. “Your radar’s better than mine, then. I guess you have a radar for lots of things.”

“Yeah, you know, vampires, angels, pretty ace women.” Lela cleared her throat. “My other hobbies include saying embarrassing things.”

But Rylee was laughing. “Oh, so this is coffee and entertainment, then. Sounds perfect.”

*******

Thank you to Need_To_Comment_Rising on Ao3 for encouraging me to add some series-canon ace characters to this fic, and for being my sensitivity reader. I so appreciate it!! My hope for this series is that Aziraphale and Crowley's own relationship can be read in a lot of different ways, just like in canon.

Stay tuned for the last 3 works in this series, one each Friday. #12 is actually not going to be a ficlet, it's about 8k because I needed room for shenanigans. But it's mostly centered around the fact that none of the regulars actually know what Mr. Crowley is, which was foreshadowed in this ficlet. It becomes a problem when Mr. Fell is absent and unreachable for a little while and Mr. Crowley gets injured, leaving the regulars to come to the rescue, if anybody can figure out how!

New ficlet every Friday! There will be 12 in the series. This is #9.

Mr. Fell’s Bookshop Ficlets Master Post

Subscribe to the series on Ao3

#Mr. Fell's bookshop ficlets #Dannye writes #outsider POV #established relationship #Good Omens #protective Crowley #unconditional love

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hpdabbles · 4 years

Text

Found Nest

Tom was cleaning the stairs on the east side wing when the first excited whispers reached his ears. Children were pouring out of their rooms, pressing their faces to the windows, gasping in wonder and making so much noise one would think the queen had arrived. Though he desperately wanted to know what had them so worked up, Tom did not get up from the floor, nor did he raise his gaze from the brush.

There would be no point.

He rarely interacted with the other children, not after the numerous times they witnessed the strangeness around him.

Once upon a time, their distance and sneers hurt him. He tried everything to get the children and caregivers to like or at least tolerate him but no matter how hard he works,Tom always found himself separated.

It’s been like that since he took his first breath, and seven years have passed with no change in sight since. He often dreamed of escaping the cold halls, tiny rooms, and heavy stares but he didn’t know where he would go if he ever attempts to run away.

Wool’s Orphanage was all he’s ever known, having been born from a circus worker mother and an unknown man. According to Mrs. Cole, this was the reason he was so odd. So unwanted. Just another burden on both the state and her.

Tom had learned to ignore what she said and turn his back on the other orphans. There was no point to fight an uphill battle. Instead, Tom kept to his tiny room, did the chores demanded of him, ate, and spent a few hours with the snakes in the garden. Some of the older children mocked him for his lack of friends, asking if he cried himself to sleep after repulsing everyone he came in contact with.

Is little Riddle lonely?

He was not lonely.

For Tom had a secret, he knew he was strange because he could do wondrous things. In the comfort of his room, he made things float. He could get the few animals he came in contact obey him without the need to train them and most of all he could speak to snakes.

He had three friends, though not human and two had moved on for better hunting ground, he was still quite happy to have meet them. Though the spoke with an undertone of hisses, the scale-covered animals were far kinder to he then most people.

He finishes the scrubbing the step before turning to the bucket on his right. Throwing the brush into the murky water Tom grabs the handle with both his hands and forces his numb legs to stand. His arms shake with the effort it takes to move the thing across the hall in the direction of the second stairway.

His knees, which have already suffered hours of being pressed against the edge of the steps for two hours, protested at the idea of the labor but he pushed through the pain. The faster he got it done the faster he could retire to his room.

“Is that a real Chrysler Imperial?!” Billy Stubbs gushes causing Tom’s head snaps to the left where the orphans were lined against a big window. He may not be obsessed with autos like most boys but even he could not help but be awe of one of the most expensive ones out there.

The redhead boy was holding his precious rabbit against his chest, patting the creature’s head as he babbles. “It’s the new model! I saw it in the post, that's a real Chrysler CL Imperial Dual-Windshield Phaeton! They just released it this very year!”

His announcement only sent the other children into a bigger frenzy all wondering why someone with such obvious wealth would be doing here, at the orphanage. Tom desperately wanted to abandon his bucket so he too could gaze upon the newest model but he better than to do so.

He stumbles towards his task hoping the auto will linger long enough for everyone to get bored and he could see a glance of it. Dropping before the first step Tom gets down to work trying to push away the longing as the rest of the children speak to each other with obvious ease a few feet away from him.

It’s around the fifth step that Mrs. Cole calls for him having sent one of the teenagers. The girl in charge of the babes, stomp her way to him sneering with obvious displeasure. “Riddle, Mrs. Cole wants you in the blue room. Now.”

Tom did not know what he had done to cause her such ire but he was quick to do as he is told. Without a word, he rises from his task and goes in the right direction the children making mocking noises behind him.

It seems they finally noticed he was there.

He forced himself not to run, pressing his heels into the ground and forcefully delaying their arrival. It not only makes the teenager angrier but it gives him the added bonus of seeming elegant than the common child found in these halls. Or at least that’s what Lisa used to claim.

When they arrived, Mrs. Cole is not alone as he suspected. A man in an expensive suit is sitting across from her, a smile on his face that has the woman blushing. He’s quite handsome for a man. Dark hair sleeked to the side in the latest fashion, green eyes sparkling and the only imperfection of his skin is the strange lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

He’s face does something odd when it lands on the seven-year-old boy, something that he’s never seen on anyone before.

It brightens up.

“This is Tom Riddle” Mrs. Cole presents waving her hand at him as if though presenting a house to a buyer. “Are you sure, about this Mr. Evans? I know you have the documentation and funds but surely....there are much better boys for adoption available. Tom is of the lesser sort, a bit strange and things happen around him. Terrible things.”

Tom freezes completely, his breath caught in his throat. He’s far used to her speaking as if he is not there, used to the warning she gives the very rare couples who seek a child of their own. Seeing as the adoption process was only legalized in ‘26 there weren’t many who sought this service just yet.

It was too much of a hassle.

Yet here, she implied something Tom Riddle never thought would be applied to him.

Did she just say that this man- this Mr. Evans wanted to adopt him? This obviously very rich man, who must be the owner of the auto outside was here for him?

He says nothing, stopping before the two adults and clasping his hands together less it be all a cruel joke. He can’t help but stare at the male, wondering what on earth is going on.

“Mr. Coles all children are equal,” Mr. Evans says still with a winning smile but his tone and eyes say that he is displeased and Tom thinks he can grow to like a man who can show their displeasure with just the hint of a threat like this. As it were Mrs. Cole turns bright red in either shame or outrage he can’t tell but he enjoys her discomfort all the same. “To answer your question, yes I am sure I wish to adopt Mr. Riddle. That is, if he would like to.”

The last part is directed at him. “I would be honored to have him as part of my family. After all, Lisa Sunshine speaks so highly of him.”

Tom’s eyes widen, having recognized the name he gave to a friend what seemed like a lifetime ago, even as Mrs. Cole jumps in. “Lisa Sunshine? There must have been a mistake, there has never been a person with that name here and certainly not someone who interacted with Riddle.”

“No mistake was committed.” Mr. Evans counters. “There, indeed, is a Lisa. She came across me but a few months ago, and she said Mr. Riddle was one of the kindest young men she’s ever met. She adores the rocks he brought her especially the one he painted her on.”

That does it.

Tom now knows for sure this man is speaking of the garden snake that had moved on for better grounds and he can’t look away from the green eyes that appear to understand.

Since he’s watching, he notices the man points to a small teacup out of the female’s line of sight seconds before it starts to float. It hangs in the air for only a few seconds but it’s enough for Tom to realize he did not do that.

No. It was the action of the visitor.

Mr. Evans is like him.

There is someone like him.

“Mr. Riddle?” Mr. Evans stands offering him a hand “My name is Harry Evans and I heard you are a very special boy. Would you be willing to be part of my special family?”

Tom couldn’t shake the hand fast enough. “I’m Tom Riddle! And I love to!”

Mr. Evans offers him a warm smile, one he would have called fatherly from anyone else, but Tom knows it can’t be since it’s directed at him and that doesn’t happen. Still, it leaves him feeling warm throughout the signing of the paperwork that proclaim him Tom’s father and the packing of his few belongings.

The other children watch with open envy but they can do nothing as he climbs into the auto, wondering if he’s dreaming. Just as the pair are going to leave Tom remembers his other friend, gasping loudly before he can think better of it.

Mr. Evans sadly notices. “Is something the matter Tom?”

The man had asked if it was alright to call him by his first name while the two had been folding his old hand-me-downs clothes. Tom had allowed but not due to trust. He did not want the man to regret his decision and leave him there by displeasing him.

Tom doesn’t think he’ll be able to call him anything other Mr. Evans though.

“My friend.” He whispers heart beating in terror, he doesn’t want to risk this dream come true but if he leaves Mars Moonlight without a fair warning then the other children will kill him. “He’s like Lisa and if Mrs. Cole finds him she’ll- can I please move him? We don’t need to bring him but-”

“Nonsense. We’ll bring Mars with us. Go ahead and get him.” Mr.s Evans says smoothly. Tom jumps out of the auto before he can change he’s mind racing to the yard. He shouts a loud “Thank you Sir!” over his shoulder and winces at his manners.

Mr. Evans comes from money. Polish men have higher standards mannerisms, don’t they? He’ll have to watch himself.

He can feel the eyes of the orphanage on him, tracking him from the front all the way to the back yard. They will now know where he hide most of his secrets, near the back shed but he doesn’t falter in picking up Mars.

The snake lets out a hissed yep “Tom! What are you doing!? I was resting!”

“I’m sorry Mars. I don’t have much time to explain but we are leaving.” Tom huffs placing the snake around his shoulders and running back to the front, nearly tripping twice.

“Running away?” Mars asks getting comfortable sounding more curious than worried. He coils tightly around Tom’s neck. The boy doesn’t mind, he knows the snake will never hurt him.

“No. I-Well I was adopted. By a man.”

They make it back to the auto in record time. The boy wasted no time in climbing right back in panting for air. He hopes he was quick enough. He hopes he didn’t

“Adopted? Wonderful! Finally, a human who knows true value when he sees it.” The snake eyes the human in the driving seat, flickering his tongue at the adult.

“Thank you for your approval Mr. Moonlight” The amuse voice of Mr. Evans makes both the snake and young boy jump. Yes, Tom knew on some level that the older man could speak to his friends too but seeing it was a whole other experience. “You have lovely scales.”

The snake makes a noise that sounds like approval. “I’m not ready for mating but almost ready.”

“Your quite young. Only a few months since hatching yes?” Mr. Evans directs this question to Tom who can’t for the life form words. The pause in conversation last longer then he wants it to.

Mr. Evans doesn’t seem to mind, concentrating on the road. Tom twists around, looking at the orphanage as they drive away, and he feels like he’s flying. His soul is flouting somewhere above in confusion and happiness.

He’s free.

Tom will never have to go back.

He’s free.

He thinks he’s going to cry but he’s not sad. He doesn’t understand why his eyes are watering up.

“Do you like Mars candy bars?” Mr. Evans ask Tom. He reaches down to pick up a bag shaking it. “I bought some and other sweets. If you like. I wanted to celebrate having a son but if you rather not, we can go somewhere. Lisa says you like books, would you like to go to a book store?”

Tom thinks he can grow to love Mr.Evans, he really does.

#hpdabbles #Harry potter #Found Nest #Time travel #Harry raises Tom #Tom is seven and he's despreate for love #So Harry is rich #And he's spent years building his wealth and name #Now he's ready to take Tom in #Orphans #IDk

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inkshifter21 · 3 years

Text

This is my first part for book 1. I still have many scenes written, but I don’t want to give too much away, but it gives you somewhat of an idea of the series I’m writing (look at first post that explains more of the series):

(Chapter 1, with a drawing of a sparrow on a lamppost and the sign Platform 9 ¾ hanging on it)

A little sparrow was perched on a lamppost inside the train station. She saw students entering platform 9 ¾ with glee on their faces, ready to start another year. She watched below as her friends Elijah Perkins, Chloe Perkins, and Jasper Scrivens were getting ready to run through the platform.

"No fair!" laughed Chloe to her brother. "You can’t go first! You went first last summer!"

"That’s because I’m the oldest," replied Elijah.

"By a few minutes." She punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow!"

Jasper was not really paying much attention. He looked around.

"I thought we’d all be meeting here."

"Alisa said that she would meet us on the Hogwarts Express." she answered. "Let’s go, or we’ll miss it."

(Note: Alisa pronounced as a-lee-sa)

She raced ahead, going through the platform first. Elijah pointed out.

"Did you see what she just did?" he asked.

"Well, you were too slow." chuckled Jasper.

Elijah groaned and jogged through the platform. Jasper was about to follow when he looked up, seeing the sparrow, almost as if he thought it could have been Alisa Berman. Alisa turned her tiny feathered head away, forgetting that he did not know that the sparrow was really her. Jasper had no idea about her shape-shifting abilities. He shrugged and went through the platform. Now it was Alisa’s turn. She took off from her perch and flew through. She entered platform 9 ¾, flying above the students’ heads. No one seemed to notice. She flew through an opening in the train window and shape-shifted back to herself, sitting down in the carriage with her suitcase on her lap. People began to board the Hogwarts Express. Then the carriage door opened, and Jasper, Chloe, and Elijah entered.

"Hi, Alisa!" Chloe grinned, hugging her.

"Hey," she smiled. "Are you excited for your fourth year at Hogwarts?"

"Yes!" she said excitedly. They sat back down as the train lurched forwards.

She, Chloe, Elijah, and Jasper have been friends since their first year. Chloe and Elijah were in Gryffindor with Alisa, while Jasper was in Ravenclaw. During their first year at Hogwarts, they didn't become friends right away. Alisa only noticed them from time to time in the corridors or in the dorms. Besides Alisa, the three of them came from Wizarding families.

Elijah and Chloe, both siblings, do have their differences and similarities. They both love to play Wizarding chess, which Elijah had learned in his first year from a seventh year student who learned it from Hugo Weasly, the son of Ron Weasly and Hermione Granger. Elijah taught what he learned to his sister, and both of them enjoyed playing the game to pass the time. Elijah also played Seeker for Gryffindor, while Jasper was a Chaser for Ravenclaw.

While Chloe enjoyed competing with her brother in chess, she also did very well in her subjects. Though she was never really serious about studying, she had a knack for learning things quickly. She preferred to spend time with her friends and had seen Alisa a few times in the library, usually with a stack of books next to her and a quill and notebook in hand. She had thought about coming over and introducing herself, but usually, before she could, as if Alisa sensed what she was about to do, would stand up and walk off to the shelves. Chloe noticed that she wasn't doing it just to her, but to anyone else as well who dared approach her. Chloe figured that maybe she was just shy, after all, they're both first years. It wasn't until halfway through the year that she introduced herself. Alisa was struggling in potions, so she asked Chloe for some help with the subject, and she helped her along with Jasper. After getting to know each other while studying, they soon became friends.

Jasper had first met Elijah through Flying class, and soon became friends with Chloe and then Alisa as well. Despite his shy nature, Jasper taught Elijah what he knew of flying, having flown on his first broom at ten. He was taught by his grandfather, who was a professional quidditch player back in his day. Like Chloe and Elijah, he also lived in London as well with a Wizarding family, but he had never met them before until they entered Hogwarts.

Although Alisa was glad to have them as friends, she sometimes wondered how she even made friends in the first place, having spent much of her time either in the Owlery or the library, not talking to others in fear that her secret of her being a shape-shifter could slip out. She even questioned why she was placed in Gryffindor. Before being sorted, she expected to be sorted into Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, but the Sorting Hat sensed something else. During the sorting, the Hat pondered, speaking to himself.

"Hmmm...very smart I see," he muttered. "quite intelligent, suitable for a Ravenclaw. Though also very brave, and you are compassionate, but to a different kind. You do have a sense of justice as well, and patience, qualities of a Hufflepuff. The only quality I see for a Slytherin is resourcefulness. You seem to be a better candidate for either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, but I've sensed you have had some encounters to prove your bravery. So it must be...Gryffindor!"

"Did you have a fun summer?" asked Jasper, petting his Eurasian eagle-owl, Soren.

Alisa turned back, no longer gazing out the window.

"Nothing much," she shrugged. "I stayed over with some relatives in the highlands for a while, taught me some spells and stuff."

That wasn’t exactly true. She didn’t have a family, something that she never told her friends. All she knew was that her real parents left her at Wizards and Witches Orphanage in Barnton at two. They did not like that she was a witch, much less a shape-shifter. Even in the orphanage, it probably would have been similar to living with her parents. No one, not even the staff, would ever talk to her. The other children were terrified of her, so she often would spend time by herself in a large willow tree just next to the orphanage and be accompanied by birds and other small magical critters. Alisa never told her friends that she was a shape-shifter, who she feared would have a similar reaction, though she figured that they would likely be alright if they knew she was Muggle-born, but she never told them that either.

What she told them about what she did over the summer was partially true. By "relatives," she meant griffins. During the summer after her first year, she was accepted into a small family up in the highlands in Scotland where they stayed in the Wizarding world, though it was not easy at first. She had to prove her loyalty to them, which took three months of her helping care for her now "siblings'' under the watchful eye of the mother. Alisa did not live in the cave with them but was more of a neighbor, living in a small hut carved in a hill that was close to the cave, almost like a Hobbit hole. This hut became her new home, after hours of cleaning and fixing it, as it was very old and was on the verge of collapsing. Because she was in a territory where Griffins and other creatures were abundant, she suspected that another wizard possibly made this home long ago.

Having spent much time with the griffins during the past three summers, they did not mind when she transformed into other creatures, finding it helpful for the family when gathering food. After having gained their loyalty, much of the time, she was in her human form. While staying with them, she also created a small carving of a head of a griffin on the bottom of her wand. This summer, she had gained enough trust to allow her to ride, a feat which few witches and wizards have achieved. She always had an interest in creatures, ever since she was a child. A while after befriending the griffins, she dreamed of becoming a Magizoologist and used her hut not as a home, but also where she could study and work to become one.

As Alisa drifted away from her thoughts, she looked in between Elijah and Chloe, noticing the carry-on that they had brought with them had now been changed into a kennel, using a special switch. The kennel moved a little and hissing could be heard inside.

"I thought you got rid of him." she groaned.

"We wish we could, too," replied Chloe, lifting the blanket off the kennel, revealing their Kneazle, glaring at them and hissing. He started to scurry around the inside of his cage, making it shake. Elijah and Chloe quickly put their elbows on top of the cage to keep it from jolting.

"We tried," Elijah grunted. "but you know our mum and dad gave him to us as a gift in our first year."

"Some gift that was," said Chloe.

When this Kneazle was first given to Chloe and Elijah, at first they were excited. Pets were no longer limited to owls, cats, and frogs. Now you could also bring Puffskeins, lizards, snakes (nonvenomous, but a popular pet among Slytherins) and of course, Kneazles. Chloe and Elijah’s parents thought that this pet would be perfect for them, and did not seem to mind even when he ripped the couch or chewed on the table leg. They thought Fonzie just needed to get used to his new environment and always doted on him, even if he was being naughty, which was always. This turned him into somewhat of a spoiled brat.

Shortly after Elijah and Chloe received Fonzie, their excitement soon diminished when Fonzie also showed aggression to them, always wanting to create messes and destruction. So Chloe and Elijah named him Dastro, because he was a disaster to deal with. Although Kneazles are aggressive and highly intelligent by nature, they become loyal to their owners. This one, however, lived to make trouble. Elijah and Chloe had tried countless times to convince their parents to take Dastro back, but they keep saying that eventually he will warm up to them and be an excellent pet as Kneazles have been to wizards in the past. Elijah looked down angrily at Dastro, who continued to gnaw on the cage bars.

"Dastro, stop that! I have half a mind to throw you out of this carriage!"

"If you throw him out, I bet he’ll just hang onto the side of the train and claw his way back to us to scratch our eyes out." Chloe said.

"Yeah," replied Elijah, eyeing Chloe, thinking back on what happened last year. "let’s not forget when you suggested that we let him out into the Gryffindor common room to play with a toy. ‘Take him out of his cage and let him play with his new interactive rat toy,’ you said. Dastro ended up knocking down the furniture and climbing up the chandelier. We had to stuff him back into his cage before he could pull out one of the burning logs in the fireplace, and he chewed his toy to smithereens!"

"Well, I thought he would have liked to have something else to interact with that wouldn’t get him into trouble." Chloe frowned, crossing her arms, slumping into her seat.

"Trouble?" cried Elijah. "We were the ones in trouble, not him! We had to convince our prefect not to report this to Professor Longbottom."

"Well, I don’t think we would have been in much trouble if we were reported to the Head," replied Alisa.

"What if he then told the Headmistress?" asked Jasper. "Professor Granger would have given us detention, I’d imagine."

Jasper has a slight worry in his voice, but this all happened last year. There was no way that they were going to be in trouble for something like that. As they talked, the train continued to lurch its way to Hogwarts. Jasper rummaged in his bag for something.

"I've been having some difficulty with this spell, but we haven't learned it in Transfigurations yet."

He took out from his bag, a teapot, placing it on his lap.

"What did you turn into a teapot?" Chloe joked. "A mouse?"

"Worse," he answered.

"Oh no, you didn't," Alisa replied in realization, chuckling a little.

"Well, I didn't mean to," he said. "I was staying with my aunt over the summer, practicing on snails in the garden. I was trying to turn one into a teapot, and eventually, I did."

"And?" asked Elijah.

"Well," His face became flustered. "I brought it with me into the house to my room to try to turn it back into a snail. But when I left to get some things, I came back to find that it was gone and saw that my aunt was preparing tea for us in the kitchen. I couldn't tell her what she was really drinking from, I would have gotten into trouble. And she wonders why I don't drink her tea anymore."

The others couldn't hold in their laughter.

"It's not funny!" he snapped. "Look, I just need to turn this back into a snail and let it out somewhere. I managed to snatch this pot after swapping it with a similar-looking one. I've been trying all summer to turn it back."

"Alright, alright."

They each took out their wands to give it a go. Like any wizard, they received their wands from Ollivander's, now owned by Ollivander's grandson, Lorcan Scamander. Jasper's wand was made of willow and contained unicorn hair. Elijah's was made of rowan wood and phoenix feather. Chloe's wand was made of alder wood and dragon heartstring, while Alisa's was made of ebony and thunderbird tail feather.

"Now the counter spell is nonverbal, but from what I've read, you have to wave your wand in a circular motion three times. That's how I transformed it in the first place."

They each tried the spell a few times, but the teapot did not change. Then on Alisa's second attempt, in Jasper's hand was a slimy snail.

"No wonder you've received top marks in transfigurations," Jasper chuckled. "considering what your wand is made of."

"Yeah," Alisa sighed a little, looking down at her wand. "but I kind of wished I had something else, like dragon heartstring. Would make some of my other classes easier."

"Well, the wand chose you, so there's nothing else you can really do about it," replied Chloe.

Jasper placed the snail in a jar with some lettuce, planning to let it out once they were off the train. Soon it was twelve, and a woman slid back their door.

"Anything from the cart, dears?"

They fumbled in their pockets for their money. Alisa managed to save up enough to last the school year, using her shape-shifting to do some part-time work as an apprentice with a breeder who was taking care of creatures like giant dung beetles and owls for Wizarding farmers to use. They bought some chocolate frogs, pumpkin pasty, jelly slugs, and of course, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavored Beans. They played the Muggle game of Jelly Belly Bean Boozled with the beans, each team member taking out two similar-looking beans, and receiving a point each time they got one that wasn’t an awful flavor. When they decided to no longer test their luck halfway through the box, they took out their chocolate frogs.

"I got Granger!" Chloe said, happily showing off her card.

"Don't you already have one?" asked Alisa.

"I do," she said. "but I like her. She created the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, and she's also our Headmistress. I think she's one of the best we've had."

During the time that Hermione Granger worked in the Ministry, she had helped make it illegal for house-elves to be enslaved by wizards, but the Dailey Prophet has reported of some wizards that were caught committing elf-trafficking. They were now able to have their own clothes and have well-paid jobs. Because of the new reforms, house-elves were no longer working in the kitchens in Hogwarts. Instead there were wizarding chiefs.

Alisa opened her chocolate frog to see Ron Weasley on the card, with his description of his work as an Auror. Jasper opened his and moaned in disgust. On his card was a man with a shiny smile on his face, wavy hair, and a golden jacket.

"I got Lockhart. Trade you for Granger?"

"Not a chance," replied Chloe, holding onto her card tightly.

Jasper stood up, opened the carriage window, and flung the card out. It blew in the wind over the fields, landing in the lake below.

"What did you do that for?" asked Elijah.

"No one likes him anyway." replied Jasper. "At least I don’t."

"Well, there are still some fans." Chloe shrugged. "You could have gotten a better card if you found someone who wanted Lockhart."

"I don't think he really did any of that stuff," Jasper said, sitting back down in his seat. "probably just made it up, or someone else did those things and he took credit."

All anyone really knew about Lockhart was that he was no longer at St. Mungo's, now in a Wizarding retirement home, and that a memory charm backfired while he was with Harry Potter and Ron Weasly in the Chamber of Secrets. Some fans think that he probably did something extraordinary while with Harry in the Chamber, and that it was unfortunate that he had lost his memory about his grand adventures. He didn't have as many fans as he used to. Nowadays if you mention the name Gilderoy Lockhart, many would roll their eyes or ask, "Who? Never heard of him."

There was even a portrait of him that once hung in one of the corridors with the other portraits, which portrayed him having a foot on his chair, his golden vest hung over his shoulder and a white-toothed grin. This was donated to the castle by Lockhart, along with his copies of Who Am I? The portrait hung in the castle for a few decades, but no one really paid heed to the portrait and ignored his boasting of having already learned something, as well as his talents, or what little he knew he had. Sometimes he would even brag about impressive feats almost as grand as the ones discussed in his previous written works.

Because of his boastful attitude, in Chloe's second year, she came across Lockhart's portrait, which now had genitals drawn in between his legs, his foot still on the chair, and an arrow pointed at the new addition with the words, "Kick me." No one knew who used their paintbrush to add their own artistic touch, but the professors were glad to have an excuse to get rid of the painting, also tired of his constant gloating.

Elijah opened his chocolate frog and his eyes grew wide.

"I got Harry Pot-" but quickly stopped himself, not wanting the whole carriage to hear.

He turned the card, showing it to them. There indeed he was. Harry Potter, on the card, smiling. The others looked in amazement. Anyone would go to immense lengths to have his card. If you asked someone to go into the Black Lake with only Gillyweed and no wand for an hour to get that card, they would do it. Chloe quickly took out her extra card.

"I’ll trade you Hermione Granger, for it."

"Not a chance, sis," he replied, grinning, and placed the card in his inner coat pocket.

The Hogwarts Express continued to steam past the fields and they were making their way through the woods. As they ate their sweets, Alisa watched as she saw some centaurs galloping by the train. As they continued deeper in the forest, in the distance she could see a giant, and later a unicorn and her foal.

A small sigh escaped Alisa as she looked outside. Another year, another worry. Now she would be surrounded by many pairs of eyes. It's not as easy to shape-shift at Hogwarts as one might think, especially when you have to be careful to not let anyone see you. Ironically, it was easy for her to shape-shift in the Muggle world. She could turn into anyone or anything and not arouse suspicion. Muggles rarely paid attention to everything around them, absorbed in their phones, watching the news, listening to music, Muggle things. Even if she was seen by security cameras, they would think it was a glitch. Some would say supernatural. Some would bring up conspiracy theories, thinking it has to do with some secret Muggle government organization.

Alisa often felt a sense of unwelcomeness at Hogwarts, sometimes wishing that the school year would go by more quickly so she could have the freedom of summer, but still enjoyed having her friends to talk to, though she could not tell them everything. Soon the train reached Hogsmeade Station and they put their robes on. The four began to jostle off the carriage, bumping into the others, and got off, seeing Hogwarts in the distance. Jasper took out the jar and let the snail go on some grass. Meanwhile, Alisa could sense someone else familiar standing close. She could sense Selene Serpens, Helen Graves, Oliver Wright, and Grayson Faulkner. Since first year, Selene and her friends have always picked on Chloe, Elijah, Jasper, and soon Alisa after hanging out with them more. They didn't know about Alisa’s secret. No one did. Selene shot a glare at her, and Alisa looked back at her in the eye. She wasn’t exactly scared of her, but cautious. Selene then turned away, snickering back to her pals.

Evening was arriving. As everyone else was getting off the train, first years were getting on the boats, accompanied by Professor Longbottom, who was telling them about the amazing properties of Gillyweed on the journey across. The other students went down a small path through the woods to see the carriages that arrived to take them, but to Alisa’s surprise, there was nothing pulling them. A professor sitting in the first carriage leading the trail smiled and looked at Alisa and her friends. She had silver eyes, her hair was dirty-blonde. She wore a dark turquoise jacket and a long, dark cranberry skirt with black leggings and red checkered shoes. Her shoes were something that most professors wouldn't wear, usually wearing black shoes. Dangling from her neck were some blue stones and a cork.

"Don’t worry." she said, speaking in a soft, dreamy voice. "you’re not going insane if you can’t see it. You’re sane like me."

Chloe, Elijah, and Jasper squint their eyes as if trying to see a Billywig pulling on the carriage.

"You can’t see a Thestral unless you've seen death," answered Alisa.

"You can see them, too?" asked the woman.

"No," Alisa said. "but I know about them."

Even though she couldn’t see it, she knew a little about them. They got on the carriage and they started to ride off, the other carriages following. As they rode, the woman smiled, humming lightly. She seemed to have forgotten they were with her. Chloe was deep in thought, trying to remember something, and then realized who the woman was.

"You’re Luna Lovegood, aren’t you?" she asked, astonished.

"Oh," she replied, questioningly. "I thought I mentioned that. Well, yes. I’m Professor Luna Lovegood. You’re third years, right?"

"Um, no. We're fourth years."

"Well," she smiled. "this will be an exciting year then. I will be your new teacher for Care of Magical Creatures, or Magizoology as I sometimes call it."

They knew last year that they were going to be having a new professor for this year's Care of Magical Creatures class, since their previous teacher, Professor Erwin Thornaby, retired.

"Are any of you thinking of being a Magizoologist?" she asked hopefully.

Alisa smiled shyly.

"Well, yeah," she answered. "I’m thinking about working with magical creatures."

Professor Lovegood smiled proudly.

"Well, you must really enjoy it. There are a number of different creatures living in the forest, some in other regions, but are kept here. It would be difficult to send some of these creatures back to their proper habitat, without the risk of Muggles seeing them. But you will be seeing creatures like Firedrakes, Hippogriffs, Graphorns..."

She trailed off. Chloe and the others were interested for a little while, but soon began looking off to the sides. Alisa listened, intrigued and excited by what she would learn this year. Last year, they learned about small creatures like Nifflers and fairies, and this year, they were going to learn more exciting things. Over the years, the forest in Hogwarts have become a type of sanctuary for magical creatures who could not return back to their place of origin, most of them having been rescued from wizards who were selling illegal and dangerous creatures in the black market. So Hogwarts would often take and raise them, using them for classes. The only creatures that Hogwarts could not take were dragons, as it is still illegal for them to be traded and bred by inexperienced wizards. The closest thing they had to dragons were Fire Drakes, as they did not grow to be the size of a house. As the carriage stopped in front of Hogwarts, Professor Lovegood turned to Alisa, having her same dreamy smile.

"See you in class."

Alisa grinned. She, Chloe, Elijah, and Jasper got off the carriage, stepping into Hogwarts. They ran up the steps of Hogwarts, excited to be back after another summer, and entered the Great Hall, where Alisa, Chloe, and Elijah took their seats with the other Gryffindors, and Jasper went to the Ravenclaw table to catch up with his friends. Selene and her cronies were also sitting down at the Slytherin table, continuing to stare and whisper. For a moment, Alisa grew worried. Did she find out? No, if she did, she would have told the whole school by now, and the Great Hall is the perfect place for public humiliation. Then the Sorting Hat began to sing. All everyone wanted to do was eat dinner after a long train ride, but they had no choice.

"I may be old and tattered in sight

With little to do but sort you all

But I can offer you some advice

And here is my song

Gryffindor as brave and true

With courage and loyalty

Ravenclaw where intelligence is a cue

They are wise and a creative novelty

Hufflepuff, though have kindness

Are hard workers and seek justice

Slytherin, cunning and ambitious

Can be resourceful and have influence

Though each house is different

To achieve together they merge

To be Muggle-born is not insignificant

Nor a werewolf should you scourge

We are all magical beings

With experience and knowledge

And continue to bring our teachings

Into greater heights and callings."

The professors and students applauded and watched as the first years were sorted to their houses. Then the Headmistress, Hermione Granger, smiled as she walked to the podium. She welcomed them, saying a few words about studying and reminding the fifth and seventh years about their upcoming O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s.

"So remember," she said, "continue with your studies, and you will be the best you can be. Thank you."

At the Ravenclaw table, Jasper leaned over to Ralph Easton, motioning to the newcomers.

"Remember when we were their age?" he laughed.

"Yeah," he replied. "you wanted to be in Gryffindor so badly."

Jasper shrugged. "Well, at least I’m not in Slytherin."

"A lot of people wish to be in Gryffindor," said Ralph. "but for me personally, I’m glad to be a Ravenclaw. Not many Slytherins are out to get you when you’re not in Gryffindor."

True, but besides having the reputation of bravery and courage, Jasper had lately desired something, or rather, someone else. If he had been sorted into Gryffindor in his first year, he would be able to spend more time with Alisa. A while after they became friends, in their third year, Jasper began to have feelings for her. Ralph elbowed him.

"What did you do? Take a love potion, lover boy?"

"What?" he asked, confused.

"You were staring at her again. It’s fine if one member of a house has a crush on another member of a different house. But hey, if you want to tell her, tell her!"

Jasper quickly put a hand over Ralph’s mouth.

"Shush!"

He glanced over to see that no one had noticed. The other Ravenclaws were too busy talking to the newcomers.

"I know, but I can’t. See? This is why I’m not in Gryffindor."

He placed his forehead onto the edge of his plate on the table.

"I’m too shy for my own good."

"You’re getting food in your hair."

Jasper couldn't hear his friend, his mind filled with his desires and worries.

"I mean, she’s pretty, smart, brave. I’m smart as well, but I don’t have the guts to tell her how I feel about her."

"Jasper, you should pick your head up-"

"When I see her, I can have a conversation with her just fine, but when I think about telling her how I feel about her, my anxiety builds up."

"The plate is tipping, you should really pick your head up."

"What if she rejects me?"

Before he could continue, Ralph pulled his collar back, lifting his head off his plate. Bits of chicken, corn, and pasty dripped onto his forehead. He handed him some napkins.

"What’s this for?"

"You have dinner in your hair."

As Ralph helped Jasper get food out of his hair, Alisa watched, chuckling a little, but then frowned. She had known since the end of last year that Jasper liked her more than as friends after overhearing him at the lake where she was flying to the lake. He was at the shore, talking to himself, trying to bring up the courage to tell Alisa how he felt. She didn’t feel that way about him, though. She preferred to just be good friends, but could never imagine them together. Alisa wasn’t sure how to break it to him, worried that their friendship could fall apart. Her thoughts were interrupted when the ghosts began to appear at the table to greet the new students. Nearly Headless Nick appeared, poking his head out of the turkey.

"Welcome back, Gryffindors!"

"Hi, Nick," replied Chloe. "How have things been?"

"Oh, the usual. Drifting and chatting with the other ghosts all summer, but it does become rather boring with nothing new happening," His smile widened. "but I'm glad the summer's over. Anything could happen. It's more exciting with students around."

"Like when Fredrick Columns was on a runaway broom and flew through the corridors." chuckled Elijah.

"Well, he could have destroyed the Hogwarts paintings," Nick frowned. "but at least no one was hurt. I hope this doesn't mean that you will be up to mischief, but I highly doubt it."

He drifted off to the other students. Besides the teachers and students, none of the ghosts even knew that Alisa was a shape-shifter. Except for Moaning Myrtle. In her first year, she caught her shape-shifting in the girl's bathroom when she thought no one else was around, getting ready to fly out the window to get to class more quickly.

"What are you doing?" Myrtle moaned. "Are you trying to play a trick on me again? You bewitched balls to fly through me to score points, and now birds?"

She explained to her that she was a shape-shifter and that she wasn’t playing tricks.

"Oh," she said. "so you’re not going to fly through me?"

"What? I would never do something like that."

Alisa explained to her that she didn’t want anyone else to see her shape-shift, and made her promise not to tell anyone else, even the other ghosts. Ever since then, Moaning Myrtle had kept her secret, but Alisa was still worried that she could tell someone. Her attention turned back to Nearly Headless Nick, who began to sing his ballad to some first years. He would sing this when a student asked what happened to him, but quickly regretted ever asking, not wanting to hear his singing, which was out of tune. The Fat Friar was going around, introducing himself. Even the Grey Lady, the Ravenclaw ghost appeared, drifting along the sidelines, smiling a little and greeting them. Meanwhile, Peeves was juggling pasties, letting them fall onto the tables and floor.

"Stop that!" roared the Bloody Baron.

Peeves dropped the pasties, terrified, and quickly flew out of the Great Hall. A scream could be heard followed by a cackle. As the feast continued, Alisa and her friends could overhear a first year talking to one of the older students.

"My mum and dad were happy to find that I had magical abilities," he said, excitedly.

"After I fell out of a boat and didn’t sink, they realized I was a wizard!"

He leaned over to them.

"When did you find out?" he asked.

"Well," Chloe said. "my brother Elijah and I got into a fight about what movie we wanted to watch. Somehow, I gave him purple hair, and he gave me the snout of a pig."

"Oink oink!" Elijah snorted, pulling up his nose.

Chloe yanked on his nose, making him stop. The boy turned to Alisa.

"When did your parents find out?"

"Oh, um…" She wasn’t sure what to say. She didn’t remember what magic she did that made her parents not want her and sent to the orphanage. She felt slightly sick just thinking about it. "Well, I don’t remember. But my parents...found out when I raised an object without using anything." she lied.

The boy then moved on to talk to the other students. Alisa no longer felt like eating. After the meal, the students were then reminded of the rules. No going near the whomping willow. Students were to stay away from the forbidden forest, but could go to the safer areas of the forest where Care of Magical Creatures class was being held, as well as the lake. The caretaker, Crane, would make sure all students are in their common rooms by curfew, as well as no magic being used between classes. Similarly to the previous caretaker, Argus Filch, Crane was usually grumpy and unpleasant, but was not as creepy as him. He did not have a desire to use cruel punishments on students like sending them to the forbidden forest, a punishment no longer used. Instead, he was more like a commander, yelling at students who stepped out of line in the corridors, making them stand straight, and telling them to repeat after him the rules they broke. They were then led out towards their dorms by their prefects. They soon arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password?"

"Niffle Truckle." one of the prefects said.

The portrait swung open, and they entered. The prefect led the girls up to their dormitory and the other prefect led the boys to theirs. The girls entered their dorms. Chloe had Elijah take Dastro to his dorm room, and wished him luck. Alisa laid on her bed, but did not feel tired.

"Well, goodnight." Chloe yawned, having already changed into her pajamas.

"Night," replied Alisa.

She stared at the ceiling as the others fell asleep. She couldn't sleep after being reminded of what she'd rather forget, her mind filled with thoughts and questions. What did she do as a toddler that made her parents not want her? Her parents were Muggles, but from what she vaguely remembered, some of her family members were also witches and wizards. But she did not know where she got her shape-shifting abilities from. Although there have been wizards and witches who have also shape-shifted in the past, there have been very few. She figured someone in her line was a shape-shifter at some point a very long time ago, but no one really knew what exactly created a shapeshifter.

She was told little about her life before being sent to the orphanage by one of the staff who would dare talk to her. She mentioned that Alisa would often turn into different animals when sleeping, and while being taught to walk, books suddenly flew off the shelves, flying like birds. That was when her parents realized who she was. It was harmless. She could not recall anything that would have made her parents send her to the orphanage other than their despise with magical beings. She sighed. It was getting late, and she needed to sleep. Alisa decided to think about something else, distracting her mind with memorizing the order of classes they had for the semester, and soon managed to fall asleep. The next thing she knew, she opened her eyes to see Chloe staring at her, inches from her face. Alisa yelped.

"Well, that got you up quick." Chloe said, proudly. "We decided to let you sleep in for a bit since you were still out of it."

"Wh-what? Time-class-breakfast-" Alisa leaped out of bed, quickly changing.

"We have twenty minutes until we should go to class," answered Chloe. "We are starting with Charms-"

Before she could continue, Alisa raced past her, darting out of the common room, and down the grand staircase, jumping to a few staircases as they began to move to get down faster. She looked down to realize that her legs had changed into those of a cheetah.

"Crap!" she muttered, and quickly forced her legs back to human legs.

No one seemed to have noticed with her pants and robes covering most of it. She soon arrived in the Great Hall and ate breakfast. She didn’t realize how hungry she was, having not eaten much last night. Chloe eventually caught up to her. Jasper, sitting with them, looked confused.

"What took you so long?"

"Slept in," Alisa said, drinking some juice. She noticed that Elijah had a bandaid on his cheek.

"Dastro?" she asked.

"Yeah, that perverse little devil woke up really early in the morning and made a racket in his cage. I tried to reach his food bowl to give him some food so he could be quiet for a bit, but he scratched me."

"Honestly, I don’t know why you still have him," Jasper replied. Chloe sat down next to her brother, looking at the cut.

"Well, I can clear that up with Episky.”

She took out her wand and did a little motion. Elijah’s cut cleared as if it was never there.

#fanfic #hp fandom #hp fanfic #fandom #harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #writting #reading

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wolfpawn · 4 years

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I Hate You, I Love You, Chapter 160

Chapter Summary - Life continues for Danielle and Tom as the world processes their news, some good, some bad and some plain ugly.

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long. This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously.

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog @jessibelle-nerdy-mum @nonsensicalobsessions @damalseer @hiddlesbitch1 @winterisakiller @fairlightswiftly @salempoe @wolfsmom1 @black-ninja-blade

Those who were interested in the life of celebrities and those that called themselves critics and/or fans of Tom erupted in joy, revulsion, despair, anguish, excitement and several other emotions at the news of the engagement. Twitter was awash with comments, both from well-wishers and begrudgers. Celebrities who worked with both Tom and Danielle wishing congratulations, as well as the behind the scene crews from both of their different projects. Rumours became rife, theories began immediately. As like several times before, Danielle was accused of being pregnant, that they had to rush down the aisle before the baby came, others that she had his testicles in a vice on something and she was forcing him to do it, then there was those who believed it genuine, posting pictures of them at the Infinity War premiere, him looking at her lovingly as she gave him a nervous glance, the film footage of them with the Cumberbatch's at the South Bank Sky Awards, smiling and looking at each other happily, picture of them from different times, all showing the same expressions, content and love of one another.

A lot of people discussed the situation with Taylor, how she would react, many saying she couldn't care less, others that she would be seething, people tried to analyse her latest movements as that could give an indication as to her thoughts on it. Everyone had an opinion it seemed, from the celebrity news to social media, all swooping on the story to see if they could get something more from it.

Luke kept Tom posted on the general consensus but for the most part, he simply responded to the friends and family that contacted him regarding the announcement and many wanting to know the date for the ceremony. He explained that it would be the following year and promised to keep them informed, noting that to include even just close friends and family would make it a notable sized affair.

For her part, Danielle was harassed/deafened by Nacelle screeching excitedly down the phone at her at the announcement of her news via Viber beforehand as well as being given more than a few congrats from her extended family, including a very excited Siobhan who informed her that Laura was delighted for her, but their mother had seen Danielle's announcement as a form of “one-upmanship” on her cousin and that she was going to try and embarrass Laura. Laura knew this was not true and that her cousin was actually in a longer relationship and had known her fiance longer, not to mention, Danielle would never embarrass Mattie and Bridget in such a manner. Instead of being upset, Laura was actually asking Danielle to check the cost of dresses she had seen online that were apparently cheaper in Britain, she confirmed that they were and two dresses for a one-year-old were bought and sent to Ireland for Caoilfhionn with a note from Danielle that they were “her treat”.

When Danielle went to her office to get her paperwork sorted, she was startled to see a large bouquet of flowers from her workmates and a bottle of champagne on her desk, as well a smiling face on Helena, Amelia's replacement as she had indeed been sent to the US office on her request with a glowing letter of recommendation from Danielle.

She dealt with her paperwork with considerable ease before dealing with the countless phone calls she had to make.

“Danielle, I see congratulations are in order.” Waters declared down the phone. “It’s somewhat peculiar to see my wife open a magazine and see you and your fiance at a premiere but to see it make the front cover of the damn thing, I don't think I'll ever get used to that. I mean, a partner in our firm, front page news.”

“You must be thrilled with the publicity.” She scoffed.

“Well, it's not exactly bad for Safeguard to have you and our business name always put together. But in all seriousness, I'm delighted for you and Tom, he seems to actually have his head screwed on, for an actor. And he's very much mad about you.”

“I find myself concerned as to what the two of you discussed while I was on the phone that day at lunch.”

“He simply made it clear we don't treat you right and that come hell or high water, he's choosing you over everything. Having worked with actors for the entirety of my career, I can honestly say, Danielle, you two are different to most.”

“Thank you, Lucas. Now about the situation on set you were talking about.”

After work, Danielle went to an appointment she made without telling Tom, knowing he would fret. She spoke to the physiotherapist regarding her shoulder and was instructed how to tend to it. Her shoulder was also put in kinesiology tape to aid it to recover. She knew Tom would see that so she sighed and thanked her physiotherapist before heading home.

When she arrived, there was a smell of cooking wafting through the house. The mud on Mac's paws as he came towards her to greet her caused her to pause and cock her head slightly before she walked forward. “Tom?”

“Out the back.” The playful laugh in his voice caught her attention. When she walked out, she found her eyebrow raise.

There, in the garden was a children's paddling pool and in it, splashing around like a lunatic was Bobby, yapping and jumping at a floating tennis ball excitedly.

“Hello.” Tom smiled, looking proudly at her. “Do you like my purchase for the boys?”

“Not as much as Bobby does.” She leant up and kissed him. “What made you get this?”

“They looked so miserable in the heat and I googled what people are doing to help their dogs in this crazy weather and it's quite common apparently. Mac sat in it for a minute but Bobby will not leave it.”

“Good, that's great. It's the first time he has went fifteen seconds without panting since this all started.”

“How was work?”

“Boring, paperwork and phone calls mostly, but a lovely bouquet of flowers and a bottle of champagne were waiting on my desk.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and Lucas was congratulating us too on our phone call. Apparently, you're a sensible man….if such a thing exists.”

Tom growled playfully at her for her jestful comment. “How dare you. Here was I, making the beautiful lady a dinner and not only do you attack me but my entire gender.”

Danielle gave a slight noise and kissed him again. “I'm sorry, my sexy fiance. I am mean.”

Tom could not help smiling and looking at her hand to the antique ring he had placed there as a symbol of his love of her. “Well, when you call me that….”

Danielle laughed for a moment before leaning towards him and kissing him again. “I better get changed and put this paperwork away and after that, I can be all your again.”

“That sounds like a good deal to me.” He beamed and went back to the back door to ensure Bobby did not accidentally drown himself in his attempts to play with the ball.

Danielle returned to the kitchen shortly after and checked on the food to make sure the water was not running low. When she heard Tom walk up behind her and snake his arms around her waist, she smiled. “So, dare I ask the occasion?”

“Occasion?”

“You don't cook this unless you are in the best of moods, so what has you chirpy?”

A light chuckle passed Tom's lips. “You are so observant.”

“I know, it's sort of my job to be.”

“I am have completed my interviews with different women regarding the MeToo movement.”

“That's good, I mean, you know what I mean. How are you after it all?”

“It was exhausting just listening to them, so I find myself wondering how exhausted they are for talking about it and holding it.”

Danielle put her arms around his. “You are a strong man, Tom and you are so good to do this for these people.”

Tom pressed his lips to her shoulder for a moment before sliding his hands up and rubbing them. A moment later, Danielle hissed in pain and moved away. “What…?”

“My shoulder is a sore.”

“Oh, I'm sorry Darling. What happened?”

“Just a swollen muscle, it will be fine,” she dismissed.

Tom swallowed, worried about Danielle's health but knew better than to force his opinion, which was for her to step back from her training, on her. He watched as she moved the arm again and walked over to her backpack and removed the meals she had brought to work with her to keep to her diet and placed them by the sink. “You should consider going to a physio.”

“If it gets worse, I will,” she promised. “So what is your plan now, after everything with the movement?”

“I am not entirely sure, I will play it by ear. All I know is that it's opened my eyes to a lot, hearing how some women are treated, I was so blind to it all as a person. God knows what I never realised about those around me.”

Danielle nodded and mmhmm'd in agreement but unconsciously chewed the inside of her cheek as she washed out the empty containers.

#i hate you i love you #chapter 160 #tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston fic #wolfpawn

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