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celestiall0tus · 7 months

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Miraculous Paradise - Chapter 4 - Miracles

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Adrien lay in the hospital bed in the early dawn hours. He stared out his window at the quiet, winter city. He hadn’t been awake long, but everything hurt. His body felt lethargic and fatigued. His heart palpitated constantly that was accompanied by wrenching pain. His head felt light even as he lay back on the pillow. That didn’t compare to the gut-wrenching truth.

Adrien would die soon, he knew it. The doctors hadn’t told him anything yet, but he could feel it. Seventeen years and this was the end. His heart twisted at the thought of leaving Emilie and Gabriel alone. For all the years they had all spent hoping for it to go up in flames. What was the point of it all? Why was he even alive to begin with? Why did he exist? Was he even meant to?

“Awfully dark thoughts, Adrien,” a man’s voice said with a slight hiss.

Adrien blinked. He turned and saw a doctor he’d never seen before. The man was tall, wearing the usual doctor clothes, but his hair was green, and his eyes were snake-like.

“Who are you?” Adrien whispered.

“The answer to a lot of your questions, and your salvation.”

“I don’t understand.”

The doctor pulled up a seat. “Allow me to be brief. I’m not human. I’m what’s known as a kwami and we are responsible for the miracles you mortals pray for. I was responsible for your mother being able to conceive you.”

“You… you are? How?”

“She prayed unendingly, and I blessed her with fertility, however it came at a price. A price that you are now paying. The moment you turned seventeen, the poison that had been in your blood amplified. It is this poison that will kill you in three days from now.”

Adrien’s stomach dropped. “T-three days?”

“Correct, but I have an offer for you. There is no removing the poison from you. There is no stopping your death, but it can be pushed back. I can offer a magical charm that will give you another year to live, but only a year. During this time, your health won’t be perfect, but you will be able to live for the first time in your entire life.”

Adrien perked up. “Wait, really? Would I be able to do things like go outside on my own? To do more than just lay in bed all day?”

“You would. You’d have the chance to experience all things you wouldn’t otherwise, just as your dear mother always dreamed for you.”

Adrien’s breath caught. He had no idea what Emilie wanted for him, but the opportunity to fulfill her dreams was too enticing. Perhaps it would make his passing easier if she knew he got to live. That he really did get to experience the joys of life.

“There is one more thing. A miracle is gathering that would require me. Under no circumstances are you to take part in this. If you take part in this miracle, you will die immediately upon its completion.”

“O-oh. Okay. I accept, please.”

The doctor nodded. He touched Adrien’s medical bracelet and it transformed into a snake bracelet before it changed to high tech medical bracelet.

Adrien took a sharp breath. His head cleared of all fog, and he was able to focus with astounding clarity. The exhaustion that weighed down his body evaporated, and he felt light. His heart slowed to a normal pace as the pain vanished. Tears sprung from his eyes at the pure joy of it all.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

The doctor smiled, then frowned. “If you find yourself in need of me, call upon my name, and I will come to you.”

“Of course. But wait. What is your name?”

“It’s Sass.”

Tikki and Bridgette sat at a table in a back room of a homely diner. Tikki looked over the menu while Bridgette fidgeted. She glanced between Tikki and outside at the bright morning. She scoffed, stood, and paced back and forth.

“Relax, bug. Everything will be fine,” Tikki reassured.

“She’s worried. I know she is. I shouldn’t be out during the day. She’ll do nothing but worry as long as I’m out. I should be home right now. She should have peace of mind knowing that I’m safe,” Bridgette spat.

Tikki groaned. “Will you come out, so she’ll stop worrying?”

Bridgette glared at Tikki when movement caught her eye. She turned as a blurry shape moved across the floor. It shed its cloak to reveal a tiny red fox. She sighed as shame flooded her. She scooped up the fox and held it close.

“I’m sorry. I know you’re worried. I promise to be home as soon as this is all done. You won’t have to worry anymore.”

The fox nuzzled Bridgette and purred. Bridgette clung to it as she took her seat. She petted the fox while Tikki held the menu up for the fox.

“Would you like us to bring you something?” Tikki asked.

The fox looked at the menu, then at Bridgette.

“Uh, she has difficulty reading still.”

“Oh. Well, how about this?”

Tikki snapped her fingers and created samples of menu items. The fox’s ears perked up and it leapt up, dancing in the air. It yipped and Tikki snapped her fingers again to create new items. Its eyes sparkled each time Tikki created.

Bridgette smiled when pain hit her heart. She touched the earrings as regret and guilt stabbed her repeatedly. Trixx was amazing and a good fit for Marinette’s needs, but even so, there was one itch that Trixx could never scratch.

“Think you can conjure something with cheese now?” Plagg asked.

Tikki and Bridgette turned as Plagg and Felix joined them in the room. Tikki huffed and crossed her arms.

“And why should I when you can’t even be bothered to be on time?”

“I did bring something along the lines of what you asked for,” Plagg pointed out.

Tikki relented and created a platter of camembert for Plagg. He gleefully sat and inhaled the cheese.

Felix furrowed his brow and stared at Tikki. “What are you? How did you create that from nothing? And what’s with the little fox floating in the air?”

Tikki gestured to the open seat beside Plagg. “Sit and we’ll explain everything.”

Felix eyed Tikki suspiciously but took a seat.

“Excellent. Now, we had felt a prayer, a desperate cry for a miracle, to save a boy on death’s doorstep. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do to save him. At least not without a terrible price to pay. However, that hasn’t stopped other kwamis from offering their services to the woman,” Tikki explained.

Felix frowned. “I’m sorry, but this is ridiculous. What sort of drugs are you on? Is this even real? It can’t be. I’m still dreaming, right? That has to be it.”

Plagg and Tikki exchanged glances before Plagg grinned. Tikki called out Plagg’s name when he scratched Felix’s cheek, gouging it. Felix took a sharp breath at the immense pain. He reached a hand up and gawked at the blood on his fingers. The fox kit yelped at the sight of the injury and blood and hid in Bridgette’s arms.

“Real enough for you, Felix?” Plagg asked.

“Go to hell,” Felix hissed.

Tikki moved around and created a first aid kit. She stopped the bleeding and treated Felix’s wound. She tossed the kit over to Plagg who destroyed it. She moved back and touched the fox’s head.

“No more blood. It’s all good.”

The fox raised its head but remained in Bridgette’s arms.

“Now then, the kwamis that approached the woman hold part of a power known as Paradise. It is a miracle that can only be summoned with a set of five kwamis. Two have already emerged with the others sure to follow,” Tikki continued.

“Except for Sass,” Plagg remarked.

“True, Sass will attempt to keep Paradise from happening, but that has not always worked in the past. And Sass is the only one of the set that doesn’t like Paradise. Longg will jump at the chance to create it, as will Wayzz if the cause is noble enough.”

“And what does this have to do with me?” Felix demanded.

“I need a holder and Tikki asked me to find a rich boy,” Plagg answered.

“Holder? What is a holder?”

“A person that wields our jewels. These people can invoke us to gain superpowers based on what our concepts are. If you agree to help, you will gain the power of destruction. A power you will use with a partner, that of creation.”

Felix glanced at Bridgette, then back at Tikki. “That’s all wonderful, but why should I bother? This isn’t my battle.”

“And what of your family? Would you rather see them lost to the creation of Paradise? Would you enjoy seeing their bodies evaporated and souls consumed as they’re wiped out of existence like they were never alive? To see the world as we know it return to its purest state as a Garden of Eden? Pure, beautiful, but never to be touched by man,” Bridgette spoke.

Felix tsked. “That’s absurd. How would all that happen?”

“Eh, there’s a few details off, but she’s in the ballpark,” Plagg remarked.

“What? There’s no way. How would you even know anyway?” Felix demanded of Bridgette.

“I can take a guess knowing full well that all miracles come at a price. If there’s a group out there wanting to create something called Paradise, it can only come with the steepest of prices. I don’t know about you, but I won’t allow it to be made. I made a deal for my cousin, for her future, and I won’t renege on that bargain. I will see her happy,” Bridgette remarked.

Felix opened his mouth when the fox jumped onto the table. It glowered at Bridgette and barked at her. Felix’s eye twitched as he watched Bridgette’s half-hearted attempts to quell the fox. He sneered and reached for it but was stopped by Bridgette. She glowered at him and dug her nails into the bits of exposed skin.

“You will not touch my cousin. Not unless you are looking for a fight, bitch boy,” Bridgette growled.

“Let’s go then. I can take a toothpick like you,” Felix hissed.

Bridgette sneered and reared back her arm but was held back by Tikki.

“Easy, easy. It’s been a rough day for you. Just, let me do that talking,” Tikki pleaded.

Bridgette snorted but released Felix.

“Now, before an actual fight breaks out, I need you to understand something, Felix. Someone is going to need to stop the holders of Paradise. To keep them occupied long enough for another miracle to expire. Bridgette had long accepted this burden, but you are under no real obligation. However, we ask you for your family, your legacy, but most of all, yourself,” Tikki explained.

“And my money,” Felix added.

Tikki grimaced. “Well, let’s just forget about that right now. Paris will need heroes. The world will need heroes.”

Felix laughed. He opened his mouth but was interrupted by Bridgette.

“Forget this. Just find someone else, Plagg. This privileged twink doesn’t have what it takes to be a hero. He’s made it painfully clear already that he’s no interest in helping people. Why continue with this farce?”

“What’s the matter? Upset that I see no reason to help some alien creatures and their pet?” Felix asked.

“And there it is, Tikki. Waste your time further if you want, but I’m leaving before I give him something to match his scratch.”

Tikki watched Bridgette leave with the fox. She turned back to the boys, shook her head, and ran after Bridgette. Felix waited a moment longer before he stood to leave. He paused when Plagg joined him.

“What are you doing?” Felix demanded.

“Whatever I want. And I don’t have anything better to do, so let’s go.”

Felix opened his mouth, then shut it. He shook his head and kept walking.

Amelie sat in an armchair near Emilie. She had promised to watch over Emilie while Gabriel went to pick up Adrien. The hospital called and said they had news, good and bad. She had attempted to press further, but Gabriel didn’t ask any more questions when they said Adrien was well enough to be brought home.

Amelie had believed that perhaps Emilie received a miracle last night. That was until she found a pair of brooches clutched in Emilie’s hand when she was checking on Emilie after Gabriel left. She removed the brooches from her pocket and admired them. One was a simple purple circle brooch while the other was a magnificent peacock tail fan brooch. She placed the purple one down and examined the peacock fan.

The peacock brooch was breathtaking. The metal was perfectly cut, the jewels brilliant, and the color vibrant. It was a piece of art that could draw anyone’s eye. Amelie unfastened the pin and put it on her suit jacket. She stepped up to a window and marveled at the brooch on her. It stood out beautifully against her black clothes that immediately drew the eye.

“I see you’ve made the right choice,” Duusu cooed.

Amelie froze as Duusu materialized beside her. She stared at him with wide eyes. He held his head high and fanned his tail.

“Oh, how I love to see you mortals admire me. Must have been difficult as you were freezing last night. Thankfully you pulled through.”

Amelie blinked a few times as things clicked in her head. “Right. It was difficult seeing how radiant you truly are as the cold threatened to take me.”

Duusu beamed. “Oh, I love you. Now, little peahen, are you ready?”

“In a moment. Now that I’m not freezing, may I ask some questions.”

“Certainly. What is it you wish to know?”

Amelie considered carefully. “What can you do exactly? Like, what do you offer?”

“The power of beauty, my darling dearie. When you put me on, you’ll be able to shape the world to your standards of beauty and it shall be exalted by all. But you do need to be careful. While there’s no limit explicitly, after a while you stop pulling power from me and pull from your own life. When you start doing that, it’ll shorten your life.”

“Oh. Oh, I see. Well, let’s see. What about, no… how about, ah… you are a miracle, yes? What exactly is the miracle you entail?”

“One of the greatest of miracles, peahen. Paradise. With the set of Paradise, the five can create a literal Heaven on Earth, a Garden of Eden, as your kind would say. It would be a utopia for you all to live in and with those you deem worthy of witnessing Paradise.”

“And… and this would save Adrien?”

“Of course. You would all live for eternity within your Paradise with those you love. Your lives would be free of strife and everyday full of unending bliss.”

Amelie’s jaw dropped. With this power, they could save Adrien. They could create a corner of Heaven for them to live in forever. Emilie and Gabriel could spend eternity with Adrien. She could liberate Felix from Colt’s oppressive thumb. They’d all get to live their lives in unending bliss.

“Though, I should warn you, it does come at price. My powers, that is,” Duusu interrupted.

“What kind of price?”

“See, you won’t like seeing ugly things in the world. Inner, outer, or even both. You’ll want to get rid of it.”

“Oh. Well, if we’re making Paradise, won’t be getting rid of the bad and ugly anyway? Make way for a beautiful, good haven?”

“Pretty much.”

Amelie considered when movement caught her eye. She looked past Duusu at Emilie who tore apart the blankets looking for the brooches. She turned and tackled Emilie in a hug.

“Emilie! You’re alright!” Amelie cried.

“Amelie, please, not now. I need to find-!”

Emilie paused when she saw the peacock brooch on Amelie.

“Where’s the other one?” Emilie demanded.

Amelie grabbed the other brooch and handed it to Emilie. “I hope you don’t mind if I picked for you?”

Emilie sighed and took it. “You always had an eye for beautiful things, didn’t you?”

“For better or worse. Colt,” Amelie added with a hint of venom in her voice.

Emilie giggled and put the brooch on. Nooroo materialized as Duusu joined them.

“So, you weren’t the one we talked to in the garden?” Duusu asked Amelie.

“Sorry to deceive you,” Amelie admitted.

“You know everything?” Emilie butted in.

“I know enough without betraying myself.”

Emilie grimaced. “I love you, but don’t stop me. I will save my Adrien. I-.”

“I’m with you. Together, we can create Paradise. We’ll be happy for eternity. Free of heartache and pain. Free of worry and despair. Free of the past and future. It’ll be perfect.”

Emilie smiled and hugged Amelie. “Thank you. I’m glad I have you at my side.”

The door to the sitting room opened and Duusu and Nooroo vanished. Emilie and Amelie looked over at Gabriel and Adrien. Emilie tore herself out of the embrace and ran up to Adrien.

“Look at you. There’s so much color in your face. And… and what’s this?”

Emilie raised Adrien’s left hand where a high-tech silver bracelet sat.

“Some sort of new technology. It’s suppressed the substance killing him, but only for the next year,” Gabriel said.

Dread consumed Emilie. She took several deep breaths as she fought the coming tears. She forced a smile and hugged Adrien.

“We’ll make the most of it. Every moment will be like a dream,” Emilie promised.

“Why don’t we start with breakfast? Oh, what if we go out?” Amelie suggested.

“Can we?” Adrien asked.

“I think that’d be wonderful. Gabriel, won’t you help Adrien pick out an outfit?” Emilie asked.

Gabriel nodded. He escorted Adrien out, leaving Emilie and Amelie alone.

“We have no time to waste. We need to start tonight,” Emilie whispered.

“What do we do though?”

“I’m not sure. We have the day to think, but we must bring out the others needed for Paradise before time is up.”

“Right. But for now, we may want to change if we’re heading out,” Amelie pointed out.

“Oh, right. Let’s go.”

Emilie and Amelie headed for the stairs when Felix returned. Amelie turned to greet him when she saw his bandaged injury, a fresh, untreated wound, and a black cat on his shoulders. She screamed and ran up to him.

“Oh, Felix, my precious boy! What happened?”

Felix pointed to the cat.

Amelie puffed out her cheeks and reached for the cat when Felix stopped her.

“I wouldn’t. That’s how I got these. Let’s just say I’ve… I’ve been chosen,” Felix remarked.

Amelie eyed Felix suspiciously, then squealed. “Oh, I love cats. But no more scratching my darling Felix, understand?”

The cat meowed.

“Good. Now, get ready. We’re going out with Adrien.”

“I don’t think… wait, did you say with Adrien? Isn’t he still in the hospital?”

“Nope. He was all good to come home. He was given some fancy device that makes him well but didn’t cure him. So, we’re going out as a sort of celebration.”

Felix sighed with a smile. “Alright. Let me get changed.”

Amelie squealed. She pulled Felix in a tight embrace. He returned it before he stepped back. He paused when he saw the peacock brooch on her. He had never seen her wear such jewelry before, especially one like that. It was unbelievably beautiful, almost in an otherworldly feel. A bad feeling rose in the pit of his gut.

“Felix? Is everything ok?” Amelie asked.

Felix shook himself and quickly bowed his head. He moved past Amelie and Emilie. He glanced at Emilie and saw she had on a simple purple brooch. He hummed and kept going until he was back in his room. He headed into the bathroom, shut the door, and looked at the cat.

“Alright, Plagg, I have a question for you.”

“I may have an answer.”

“What were those brooches? The ones my aunt and mother were wearing?”

“Huh? Oh, right. Y’know the jewels that Tikki mentioned? Yeah, that’s what those were.”

“Are you telling me that aunt and mother are wearing kwami jewels? Which ones?”

Plagg turned away. “Why do you care?”

Felix’s eye twitched. “Are they the ones for Paradise.

Plagg flicked his tail and looked at his claws. “Again, why do you care? This isn’t your battle.”

Felix’s eye twitched. “Your glibness does you no credit.”

Plagg shrugged. “You’re smart enough, rich boy. Figure it out on your own.”

Felix furrowed his brow. He didn’t want to get involved. He wanted to finish up his business here and head back to London. He wanted to return to life under Colt’s heel as they bickered day in and out. He didn’t need this. He didn’t want it. But want wasn’t a luxury he was allowed.

Felix couldn’t deny the facts. Amelie was committed to whatever Paradise was. He was certain that Emilie was the ringleader and Amelie would follow wherever Emilie went. He imagined Gabriel would too but probably hadn’t yet. That left him to wonder about Adrien. Tikki said a miracle was asked to save a boy on death’s door. He was certain it was Adrien, but what should he do about it? Did he help Amelie and Emilie, or did he fight against it?

Felix cleaned up while his mind wandered. He could help his family and save Adrien. He could play a role in Paradise and see Adrien well. That would be the most sensible path if he considered his family. Adrien slipped into his mind again as he reconsidered. It was clear what Amelie and Emilie wanted, but what of Adrien? What did Adrien want?

Felix’s eyes widened as he remembered earlier with Bridgette. She had remarked that she made a deal for her cousin. He was doubtful of her word, but could he make a deal with these creatures? Could he ensure Adrien’s survival if he helped them? It was worth a shot if anything.

“Plagg, after this outing, would you be able to show me to your, er, Sugarcube?”

“What brought this change of heart?”

“Do you really care?”

Plagg considered. “Touche.”

“Excellent. Let’s be on our way then.”

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thedeathdeelers · 1 year

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everything all at once

it’s strange.

he’s not cold, he’s not hot.

he’s somewhere in the middle, but at the same time, nowhere to be found.

he stares up at the sky, squinting slightly as he takes in the brilliant sun shining brightly against a clear blue backdrop — and doesn’t feel a thing. his eyes don’t burn, his skin won’t redden.

truth be told, he hasn’t felt the sun’s warm rays against his skin since 1995.

luke lets out a long sigh as he swings his legs, perches as he was on the low wall bordering the garage doors, and ducks his head down. he fidgets with his rings, his bracelets, and then switches to picking at his fingers.

it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t sting; nothing’s warm and nothing’s soft — no matter what he does, he doesn’t feel a thing.

he lets out another sigh, this time out of frustration, kicking hard against the wall beneath him.

he used to feel so much — every second of every day was always full of so much. and though luke is grateful that music is still his one and only source of emotion, of sense, sometimes…it’s just not enough.

he feels like a shadow, a spectre of a being. wherever he goes, his presence goes unnoticed; not even the sun, the moon the stars — the universe — acknowledge his existence anymore.

he wants to feel the breeze brush up against his skin, closely followed by goosebumps popping up all up and down his arms, and a shiver coursing through his body.

he wants to feel the scrape of his fingers against his guitar strings; see the scarring and healing of calluses peppering his palms and fingertips.

he wants to feel the crinkling paper under his hands, feel the pen slip between his sweaty fingers after gripping it for hours of end.

he wants to feel the cramping in his hand, wants to feel his body’s dedication to music above all else.

and yet…and yet.

all he has is sound and music.

luke shakes his head at the heavy train of thought, stretching his arms out and leaning forward as he grips the stonewall on either side of his knees, then lifts his gaze up to look at anything that might derail his mind and-

he smiles.

julie.

all thoughts retreat as he watches her walk down the steps of her porch and skips her way over to him.

she doesn’t look up immediately, but when she does, her brilliant eyes light up and it transforms her entire face.

and then she smiles.

she smiles his way and suddenly he can feel the sun on him like a spotlight.

it’s warm and blinding, and yet he can’t look away.

all at once, within the span of a second, he can feel the breeze picking up all around him; feel goosebumps pop up all over his body. he can feel his palms getting sweaty, can feel his body fighting back a shiver.

his fingertips are suddenly coarse, his accessories cold and heavy and smooth and warm. his shirt is soft against his skin, and his jeans are too warm in the summer sun.

he doesn’t know what to focus on, what to feel; it’s an overload, but he loves it.

julie continues to skip closer and closer the more luke loses himself to all his newly reawakened senses, the feelings only getting stronger the closer she got.

he thinks he might be losing it actually, drowning in his own body.

he thinks he might be in love with her, too.

so fucking in love.

yet that didn’t scare him, it only made him feel…real.

and as she skips to a halt and then jumps up to join him on the low wall, fingers brushing against his leg, luke can truly feel the sun, the moon, the stars — the universe’s — full effect on him, as if they had all been lying in wait, contained within julie molina’s smile.

#???#this all started with ‘she smiles and he can feel the sun’ but ok #my fics #juke #jatp #julie and the phantoms #the title may be misleading it def doesn’t set the right mood #but its still fluffy!

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fandomsupremacist · 5 months

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irl experiences with the weirdest people known to man; true story. TW for SH, mentioning of zoophilia, threats, and non con, proshipping.

tumblr I'm done with sensitive little creeps who assume everything is about them and who don't just shut the fuck up. There's some dude in my school year who is trans masc, whatever nothing wrong with that. But he always assumes people are oppressing him, and it just makes my blood boil. I'm trans as well, genuinely i am gender fluid and am mostly masculine within that aspect of my identity but I'm not open about it, not every trans person has to disclose their personal identity HOWEVER..

this dude doesn't shut up. Like EVER about it. I talked to him about being trans and my experiences with it to try and relate to him a little. But he turned out to be a massive fucking creep in the end. Short story short, he loves Lego Monkey Kid and indulges in looking at nsfw of the monkeys who are considered brothers in the series (by dna and canonically), which is.. honestly weird as fuck. And he reads transformers smut, makes it as well, sent it on to me with the tag 'Forced Prostitution' on ao3. I just.. don't have any words to say to that .

The thing is, this dude always thinks everything is about him. They used to just go into school, talk to me about traumatic experiences, which I absolutely did not ask for, and expected me to be casual about it.

One day this motherfucker had the audacity to show off his self harm scars, just so casually as well in my old Higher Level math class. He showed them off like they were bracelets on his fucking wrist. He pressurised me into sitting beside him as well, which didn't help the current situation considering my reputation at the time which was poor due to me showing classic indicators of being adhd and zoning out in class.

That's kind of why a lot of people viewed me as weird, and socialising around him didn't help. I'm quiet most of the time in class, I keep to myself and fidget a lot. Sometimes I make conversation by talking to the teachers, or im really loud when talking to my friends, not deliberately anyway, others I literally just take out a book and read after finishing the work. People find that weird, and they find it weirder when i put on my headphones in class as well. But it hardly affects them, so there isn't really any issue realistically.

When it comes to him though, when I hung around this dude more the more I started to realize, okay something is weird. He self diagnoses too much, threatens people who get irritated at him, doesn't research but just cherrypicks symptoms in which he thinks he relates to diagnose himself with the next mental illness.

He genuinely thinks he has a lot. A lot. Schizophrenia, PTSD, two eating disorders, insomnia (diagnosed with adhd and autism) dyscalculia or however you say it, NPD and probably more.

The reason why I think it's necessary to tell you this is because he didn't do research, well much research at all. He straight up just says he has these things and doesn't pass any heat on it. One time he said he had dyspraxia and said it was relevant to numbers and I said no, it isn't. It's a coordination disorder, he responded with, no, it's mathematics. I struggle with seeing mathematical figures coherently. I said dyspraxia is a coordination disorder. I would know, I have it. He just ignored me.

It would be fine if this didn't happen again. But it did, I can assure you.

He thinks it's possible to have two sets of ADHD at once. For example, ADHD and ADD. Which I corrected him again, considering I have researched extensively into these things to get a diagnosis for them, is not fucking possible. Next time he goes in with a crutch, and says he's ambulatory.

Ambulatory.

I cannot make this shit up.

It just shows how little research he does into these things. He brings up his disorders as if people asked him to in conversation and doesn't shut up about them. He's open about being trans as well, which is NOT an issue at all but he makes it seems like its one. Like he wants people to pick on him and fend himself off.

He even used my preferred pronouns at some point in public which was something I clarified in which he shouldn't have done, continued on as well at times.

My friend had some pretty weird experiences with him as well. Friends, in all honesty.

One friend had an experience with him in business where he asked which side would be sharper to cut himself with, the left or the right which was most definetely true considering everyone had experiences about him being open about self harming.

Another experience that another friend had with him was how gross he was. He ate his skin in public and picked at it in class a lot and barely showered, which made it difficult for anyone to hang out with him. And he didn't smell great either .

Another experience I had with him, was a similar pattern of him just liking animals. Fictional animals, but still it was fucking weird.

First it was lego monkey kid fics, he linked them to me, all smut, because I was attempting to know about his interests and he discussed lego monkey kid to me and how it's so interesting, things like that. We had times where we would just go outside and talk about it because why not? He was making an attempt at being my friend at the time so I decided why not do the same.

He knew a lot about it. Really, just a shit ton of information about it. Which was surprising how much, but then he gradually started to go in tangents about how he viewed monkey King as hot or something, and I wasn't even listening at that point. I remember just ignoring him and rolling my eyes in disgust.

Gradually I talked about how I viewed it. I called it out. Said it was weird, and he thought probably that I was joking or something. Which i wasn't.

Then he sent me a wattpad pic on TMNT (teenage mutan ninja turtles) which had a trans reader x Mike or some shit like that. And it was all smut. He reminded me that it was.

It was so weird. I remember saying to him that it was weird, and he responded angrily

,'Look at all the other fics I've sent you and tell me that again', I could have easily just done that because they were all animals. And he was acting like me getting weirded out by the fact that they were animals and was weird on its own.

It got annoying. I started blocking him on all platforms, tiktok and then pinterest and he would bring it up in real life as if it deserved clarification.

There was also a time when he mocked one of someone whom I knew and their learning disability. He made fun of them and called them stupid when they had difficulty processing something and emphasised on it as well as though he hadn't just received clarification on it.

He threatened people as well. He'd bring up stories when we had P.E class on how he treated kids with learning disabilities and how he threatened kids in school with a knife. I just chuckled nervously because honestly how the fuck was I supposed to respond?

I blocked him again. His parents check his socials but clearly haven't checked his ao3. If they had, I would genuinely feel bad for them. They're meant to be pretty strict according to him but if I had a kid like that, honest to fucking God I would be too. He ended up threatening my brother at some point as well.

I remember just going into the school cafeteria and him just fighting with my brother over Lennie from Of Mice And Men and my brother was on about killing Lennie with a cocaine bear which I honestly found pretty funny. Lennie obviously demonstrated key features of being autistic which of course the creep ended up getting pissed about.

Honestly I viewed lennie from of mice and men to be fine, whatever. I'm autistic myself (not self diagnosed) so I didn't really care much about my brothers comment regarding him. We were studying of mice and men in our English class before which is how the conversation evolved. In case you don't know, the weird dude and my brother are both in my English class.

He ended up threatening to hit my brother with a crutch as he accused him of being ableist. Some shit like that. In all honesty, my brother was not ableist. He just says shit like that when it comes to characters who do things wrong by accident. In which case, lennie evidently did.

The dude at this point was not having it. He said he went to jail like 3 times and that he was going to hit my brother if he didn't shut up, and added that he was the only disabled person in our English class which nearly made me combust.

He is not the only disabled person in the English class.

Anyway I blocked him again. Currently it's the Christmas holidays so much isn't going on, but if he ever does talk to me next time irl, I will genuinely tell him to fuck off.

And I reported him to the principal for threatening my brother like that because he is not allowed to do that. Especially when it comes to my family members.

I will probably update this in the future as he will be asking me why I blocked him lmaoooo

Thank u if u read this I genuinely had to get this shit off my chest bc the amount of stress I get from this dude is insane.

#true story #weird kid #tw zoophile mention #anti zoophile #self diagnosis #tumblr fyp #creep #anti proship #anti proshitter #anti non con

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renee-writer · 5 months

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Teachers Chapter 42

AO3

Kelli-Anne struggles to fit at the table. Her teachers know she is being whispered about, but, to her credit, she ignores all and focuses on her studies. Derrick is either looked at with disgust from the girls and some boys or with almost worshipful adoration from the other boys.

It isn’t fair.

“Mrs. Fraser, I know what Derrick and I did was wrong. I am doing my best to make it right.” She talks with her after class one day. Near term, she is nervous about all that is to come.

“I know. You are brave and strong.”

“Trying to be. My mom took me to the classes about childbirth. Do you know how big I have to grow, down there, to get this child out?”

Her teacher touches her hand. She would take away what she is going to go through, if she could. “It is a lot.”

“Yeah, err, yes but that isn’t even what worries me most.”

“What is?”

She fidgets, twisting her bracelet around. “After. I am torn, Mrs. Fraser. I know, in my head, that giving the baby to a grown mom and dad would be best but my heart longs to keep it. Feeling it move, talking to it, my child. Look, I know Derrick won’t do anything he isn’t forced to do. He hasn’t been to one doctor ‘s appointment with me. My mom and dad brought my maternity clothes.”

“I can’t say I understand, not yet. Never been pregnant, but I empathize. It is a tough decision. Out of love, you want to keep it. Out of love, you know it is best to give it up.”

“Yeah, that is it. He won’t be no daddy. He or she deserves one.”

“You are right.”

“Thanks for listening, Mrs. Fraser. You are going to be a good mom someday.”

“Thank you Kelli-Anne. You already are. Struggling to make the best decisions for your child shows that.”

She smiles and stands. Something deep inside her, gives way. They both stare at the spreading puddle.

“I think my water just broke.” It is said calmly. Claire tries to be just as calm.

“I believe you are right.” She hits a button that summons Mr. Williams and the nurse.

“Derrick,” Jamie stops him as he goes to leave. Receiving a text from his wife, he knows what has happened, “Kelli-Anne is in labor. Her waters broke.”

Other students overhear. A murmuring starts. Jamie keeps his eyes on Derrick. The poor lad turns ashen.

“Mr. Fraser, what do I do?”

“You go to the hospital, you jerk. Hold her hand. It is the least you can do.” One of the girls says.

“She don’t want him there,” another counters, “best wait until the kid comes.”

Jamie leads him away. The others head off to spread the news.

“If she will accept you, you should be at the hospital. Even if you are just sitting in the waiting room.”

He nods, his eyes a million miles away. “Yeah that’s what I should do. I am scared, Mr. Fraser. Not ready to be a dad. To be the one that takes care of everything and everyone. I can barely see to myself.”

“The best thing might be to give the baby to a couple who can do all that. Have you discussed it with Kelli-Anne?”

“She don’t want to talk to me. I messed up bad, didn’t I?”

He pats the young man ‘s shoulder. “It isn’t how you start but how you finish. You do what is right by her and your child, that is what a man does.”

“Thank you Mr. Fraser.” He still seems lost.

“Ring, ah, call your parents. Head to the hospital.”

“Thanks again.”

He heads out to the hall to do it. Jamie sighs. They have a long road ahead.

#my writing #outlander fanfic #teachers #chapter 42 #jamie and claire #outlander fandom #cannon divergence #modern au

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aliendreams · 2 years

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A list of things you can do when you regress to 7-12, because I don’t see as much stuff for that age range!:

- Watch cartoons like Avatar: the Last Airbender, The Owl House, Transformers, Pokemon, etc!

- Draw stuff! Write stuff! Paint stuff! Art stuff!

- Listen to self indulgent music, like Imagine Dragons, or twenty one pilots!

- Read some books, like the Warriors series, Percy Jackson, Wings of Fire, Goosebumps, etc.!

- Build a lego set!

- Research an animal you think is cool! Like dinosaurs, owls, dragons, etc.!

- Play browser games! I like Everskies and Slither.io

- Play with fidget toys if you have them, or look at stim boards!

- Make slime/crafts you like! Friendship bracelets and those rubber band looms are fun :]

+ NSFW/kink/inappropriate for a child blogs DNI, please! +

#agere #sfw agere #agedre #age dreaming #age regression #system little

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monsoonblooms12 · 3 years

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The Butterfly Effect (Ethan Ramsey x f!MC)

Summary: The Journey from where it all began to where they are now. From a 2-minute power nap to a Miami kiss, Pooja and Ethan have come a long way. From Pooja's POV (Set in OH Bk 1 Ch 10 and contains flashbacks from OH Bk 1 Ch 1, Ch 4 and Ch 5)❤

The Butterfly Effect: Discovered by Edward Lorenz, this theory suggests that something small and insignificant, can alter situations in such a way that leads to utterly drastic changes. For example, a butterfly flaps its wings at an Amazonian Jungle and subsequently a storm ravages half of Europe. (This has to be one of my favorite theories ever🦋)

A/N: I got inspired from a dark Academia quote and here we are with 2.4K of mess. But I enjoyed providing all the fbs from Poo's POV and filling in the gaps of the unknown. And all the DbC peeps, I am trying to finish ch 8 believe me😭

Thank you so much to @jamespotterthefirst for Pre-reading! Love you🧡

If you enjoyed the story, please like it, leave a comment or reblog. Your feedback keeps me going🦋

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey X f!MC (Pooja Sharma)

Word Count: around 2.4K

Rating: General

Category: A messy mix of Fluff and Angst

Warnings: None that I found

A grain of sand, almost imperceptible to the human eye, 2 millimetres in diameter. Just a tiny little grain of sand, a single one. One would wonder how great of an effect that could produce?

A single grain of sand, eliminated from the base of a sand sculpture, can set on fire a cascade of events that result in something as drastic as the demolition of the entire sculpture. Just a trifling 2 mm sized grain of sand.

Tufts of hair gently swayed with the swooshing ocean breeze, the very grains of sand of which her mind was thinking about slip through gaps of her toes. It's a calming atmosphere, having a Zen-like effect on her racing heart and confused reasoning.

The echoing crash of ocean tides, the hushed ruffle of her shimmering purple dress, and the pattern of her footsteps of the white sand, now silver under the enchanting moonbeams.

She could not think about bad ideas and good ideas anymore. Nor could she obliterate the delicate touch of peach lips ingrained in her mind. Everything was a lock of tangled hair, a chaotic mess in her mind.

And when you can't disentangle a mess, you just tear it off.

That was what she was doing, tearing herself away before her mind got engulfed by a cocoon of ambiguity and concealed probabilities, restricting her to get out without getting transformed into someone else.

Legs exhausted after strolling for who knows how long, Pooja sits down, not bothering about the sheet of sand fragments that adhered begrudgingly to the purple satin.

A simple motion ensues, the florid hair tie holding her brown hair strands in a ponytail, now lay in her hand, giving them the liberty to enjoy the tranquillity of the idyllic scene they found themselves in.

Relaxation. That was what she anticipated. The soothing of her racing heart, the clearing of her muddled head, the easing of her bothering thoughts.

But it never came, the relaxation she desired.

Instead, her fingers, for a reason mysterious even to her, fidgeted the diamond imitation bracelet that embellished her left wrist. A twitch unveiled a vague scar, a remembrance of an old episode entirely cleared off from her mind.

Flashback

Pooja was a Potterhead. An extreme one indeed. Sometimes the thought made her chuckle. How she despised the books once, presuming they were overrated. And then, as if a magic trick had been performed on her, she became the Maven of the Harry Potter club.

But being a Potterhead and having to live in a niche under the stairs did not go hand in hand. The room under a staircase was still a room under a staircase. And every day, her mind replayed the poem of curses to her, as if to warn her to never search for an apartment on a Facebook Group ever again.

And now she stood, waiting for the century-old toaster's ping, as sleep struck like pin-pricks on her eyelids, threatening to close them off. It was a bad day today, the phone battery drained, and she, coffee drained. And the cherry on the top? Today was the first day of her residence at the most prestigious hospital in the entire States.

Uff!

She yawned the hundredth time, sleep playing a tiring game of chess with her mind, and giving it a Check! every now and then.

I don't even know a goddamn coffee shop around in here!

Displeased grunts accompanied the thought as she took the knife and began slicing the apple she had been floundering around for quite some time.

One Slice, and Another, and Ano-

Snorr!

What an ability it was to fall asleep anywhere, in any position! What harm would a "Power Nap" of a minute or two do? Right?

AAHHH!

The scream came out in bits, first when her eyes fluttered open with the sudden pain. A pause followed when she actually looked at the source of it and after her eyes and mind registered what was happening, came the second scream.

She was getting the taste of just how profitable the power nap was.

Hurrying away, she rummaged around for a first aid box, failed to find it, trotted to her Harry Potter adobe and took out the medical goodies she had brought with her. After ransacking through it, she found the antiseptic and the swabs she was looking for. Then a faint sound came from the blinking cellular and she picked it up, not waiting for breakfast. Just as she clicked the unlock button...

HOLY SHIT!

What? How? Her mind could not register. The only thing she understood was that she was notoriously late for her first day, and now she would have to do all the running that she had avoided for all the preceding years.

Letting out another pained groan, she kicked two flowerpots on her way to the kitchen, took the toasted slices of bread, switched off the stupid piece of machinery and ran.

She was sure she would have come first in any marathon if she had run in them with the speed she was racing right now.————————————————————————

Did she know about Dolores Hudson? No, she didn't. Had she planned on telling about her to Dr Ramsey? No, she hadn't.

The two words had inadvertently slipped off her tongue, not envisioning it as an indication. But as soon as they reached his ears, it felt as if a domino had been pushed. One pushed on to the other, leading to a chain of events that had given no hints, no warnings at all.

And now she was in the NICU, chatting with the man whom she considered an idol, a role model as if they were old companions. It was an enchanting experience to see the intern-terrorizing gentleman, so ... normal.

She questioned her mind's choice of word, but she did not completely disagree. To see Dr Ramsey, sitting here with an intern, talking with her, for no particular purpose other than the fact that she decided to stay back here in contrast to any other person, who would have valued their sleep than watching over a premature baby with whom she had no connection.

When sleep muddled her thoughts, she didn't realize what she was doing. Head lowered into his shoulder in a motion that felt like a reflex embedded in the nerve cords of her spine. She missed the gentle smile, decorating the handsome face of his, as he watched her from the corner of his eye, his eyes holding an emotion unrecognizable.

Was it affection? Pride? Adoration? Or something completely different? Who knew.

But if there was something she did know after that day, it was that she felt lucky, damn lucky, for that slip of the tongue.————————————————————————

How idiotic of her the decision was, she didn't want to talk about it.

Pooja had only found herself running the way she was running now on the first day of her residence, and she had only herself, and no one else to blame.

Why did she think that giving up on the most wanted position for every medicine intern in Edenbrook for friends when every one of them participated in it was a good idea?

If only her brain comprehended her priorities appropriately, she wouldn't have to rush through roads like a person who was missing their train.

Panting, grunting, and completely tensed, she arrives at Edenbrook. Steps don't slow down until she arrives before the light beige door, huffs and puffs, not pausing for a split second. She doubted if her legs still had the power to walk or if she would have to crawl into the office.

Nah, no more embarrassment, she would not be able to bear it. With the power that remained in overworked limbs, she knocked, entered and gave her reasons for the delay. And then, by a margin of a minute, she signed the sheet, absolutely normal but still holding the power to twist her entire life in an unforeseen way.

But did she regret it? She couldn't, and she wouldn't.————————————————————————

Miami. The city of gorgeous beaches, giving the aesthetic of peach and teal life. The expensive marble-floored hotel rooms in which she found herself was unreal. Definitely not made for some random intern.

Gorgeous decorated interior, delicately manicured lawns, elegantly made fountains, all standing majestically, giving a fight to each other. She glided through the vast space, joy overcoming job as she breathed the calming salty air coming from the oceanfront, which appeared like a picture frame in front of her. She had never seen anything so perfect in her life.

It was like Ataraxia.

She preferred Mountains over Beaches. She always had, and without a doubt, she always will. But when something looks so heavenly, it would be absolute stupidity to forego the chance of visiting it, even if it contrasted her preferences.

Forgetting the not-so-pleasant interaction with Declan Nash, which appeared like a stone in her perfect day, she let her sensations delve into the delicious culinary masterpieces that melted in her mouth like wax.

All the merrymaking and socializing drained her. But the gentle talks, soft giggles that she shared with him, an extraordinary, priceless moment, seemed to charge her, rejuvenate her. A corner of her heart did hope for something to happen. But she hushed it, not wanting to spoil the casualness, the beauty of the simplicity that blew in the air between them.

It felt like existing in the setting of one of those Michael Faudet quotes, one of them particularly being emphasized by her mind.

"As our eyes meet, all-time seizes to exist. The dying second frozen like petals of red roses kissed by autumn frost."

Pooja's mind still reeled, falling freely into the void as passion and some unnamed emotion overtook them. His heart steady under the touch of her palm and hers racing under the touch of his. She would not be able to remove the unreal image from her idiot of a heart, even if she wanted to.

Sleep refused to come to her, even after calling it repeatedly. She sat up, relieving the memory, playing in front of her like a sepia movie on the silver screen. Eyes travelling around, only to fall on a bouquet kept neatly at one of the antique corner tables.

It was white lilies and purple orchids.

Pooja Sharma didn't know the language of flowers when she received them, with a tag casually signed as E. A vague tag like that did not help to know the actual sender. The man whom she kissed had a name beginning with E, the hotel she was staying in had a name beginning with E.

Hell, even the hospital she worked in had a name with the letter E.

But if she had known the language of flowers, she would have pinpointed the symbolism hidden in it.

The White Lily carrying the meaning of Purity, Sweetness while Purple Orchids a clear cut indicator of admiration and elegance.

She would have been able to tell which E had sent the delicately wrapped piece that now lay uncared for in the corner of her room.

Feelings overcrowded reason, and she found herself suffocated in the very room that seemed heavenly to her in the morning.

Slowly and silently, she walked away to find the solace which he or she could not give her, in nature.

Flashback ends

As the amaranthine ocean glistens, waves crash and the foamy water rushes to engulf her feet as she stood, hands wrapped around herself, she felt she had truly found solace. There was a spiral, an unending coil of memories, a string which, when pulled, tugged in emotions hidden in darkest corners, forgotten but related, all tied together.

It was surprising, enigmatic, how much the little brain of hers, the soft heart of hers, holds in them. A constant battle of reason and emotions ravage the tired battlefields of her body. How casually, reminiscences of a bygone day appears, flicker like the reflection in the mirror of the calm pond water, but remain clear through the ripples that spread on the surface from time to time. That's how memories work, still clear, still dear, even after passing through chaotic ripples of time.

As she reaches the end of the spiral, the helix of her thoughts, she finds herself even more astonished than she was when she reverted to the first pages of the memoirs of her stay in Boston.

It was just a minute, or a word or two. Always so insignificant.

Every ignored act added one upon another and resulted in the catastrophic mess of heartbreak and affection she found herself today.

The 2-minute Power Nap of her first day? It led to the 2-degree shift of the knife and the scar that her finger was tracing now.

That 2-degree shift led to the delay in her reaching the hospital?

It resulted in her meeting her mentor, which gave her the chance to do the thoracotomy with him, to experience how it felt when his hand enveloped hers.

Those two words that slipped as a nonchalant thought off her tongue? It was why she could know how Ethan Ramsey was, behind the tough exteriors, the short-tempered demeanour, how it felt to place her head gently on his shoulder, to wake up to his glowing face.

And that one minute past midnight, when she signed up for the challenge that would change her life? That is why she is here, hair ruffling and eyes glistening, the Leucos Moon reflecting on the glistening water, the crepuscule spread mystically around her. That is why she knew how it felt to be touched by him, kissed by him, to get lost in him.

When Edward Lorenz discovered the butterfly event, he had correlated mathematics and meteorology. Had he thought that the same butterfly effect had turned an unassuming intern's life upside down, pushed her so back in the void of circumstances that it was impossible to come back?

Just a 2-degree shift of a knife, and now she was here in Miami. Just like the unassuming butterfly's flap of wing, which now ravaged a storm through her life.

Glassy droplets make a slow trail down the curve of her cheeks and drop on the scar as if trying to meet the origin which has brought her to the coordinates of the present.

And even though she did not know what would happen in the days to come, she was happy, truly happy, for that shift of her knife and for the 2 minutes of the power nap.

For the butterfly effect of love.

PS: Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a great day ahead! Love, Manamee🧡.

Tags (Please let me know if you want to be added or removed or if I forgot you):

Perma: @gkittylove99 @neotericthemis @udishaman @aestheticartsx @twinkleallnight @schnitzelbutterfingers @sophxwithers @sweatyrysconnoisseur @nikki-2406 @choicesfanaf @trrfanaddict @starrystarrytrouble @gardeningourmet @parkbarks @mvalentine @lovablegranny @mercury84choices @helloayz

Open Heart (All fics and edit): @lucy-268 @maurine07 @bellcat2010

Ethan x Pooja (fics): @aleynareads @stygianflood @choicesaddict5 @mysticaurathings @jamespotterthefirst @ilikemenbutonlyethanramsey

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics @choicesbookclub

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ghostie-gengar · 3 years

Text

hello hi i present something That I Have Written

for some background, basically i played Pokemon White, but then I played Pokemon Black 2, so N had a different dragon than in the first games. normal people would ignore this but I decided to write Lore for how N ended up with Zekrom

(and it's basically self insert cuz im a rat)

anyways without further ado

Yuki travelled to Dragonspiral Tower, reflecting on his journeys the entire way up. Eventually, he stood at the top, surrounded by whipping winds and debris from past battles. He couldn’t help but notice the burn marks from when N had awakened Reshiram.

Zekrom came out. “So, what are you going to do, Hero?”

“We’re going to see the world.”

“And for the Hero of Truth?”

“I have a couple words for him.”

That answer seemed to satisfy Zekrom, as he crouched down so Yuki could climb onto his back.

“Wait.” Yuki sent out his Zoroark. In another time, it belonged to N. (i traded my n’s zorua from white 2 over) “Can you wait here in Unova, in case N returns?”

Zoroark looked a little disappointed, but nodded with a soft growl.

Yuki scratched it behind its ears. “I’ll miss you a lot, buddy. Thanks for everything.” (that zoroark carried my entire team)

Zoroark licked his hand, then transformed into a backpacker and ran off.

And so, Yuki took off.

In the faraway region of Johto, Yuki found him.

N was crouched down by a pond of Goldeen and Seaking, lightly tossing breadcrumbs for the Pokemon to eat. He caught a glimpse of Yuki in the water’s reflection and gasped.

“Hey.”

N stood, letting the small bag of breadcrumbs fall to the ground and spill into the pond. He blinked at Yuki, his expression layered with guilt, relief and confusion.

“It’s been a year, how’ve you been?” Yuki’s fingers twitched with the urge to grab N’s hands.

“I-” He looked down, fidgeting with his bracelets. “I- You-”

Yuki couldn’t stand it anymore and hugged him. “I missed you.”

N went stiff, then slowly and awkwardly hugged back. “...You did?”

“Of course! You’re my friend.”

Zekrom bumped heads with Reshiram, who was sitting nearby, drinking out of the pond.

“It looks like they missed each other, too,” N said, pulling away. He gave Reshiram a little scratch under the chin, earning a purr.

Reshiram smiled at Yuki. “How have you been, Hero of Ideals?”

“I’ve been well.”

N slowly picked up his bag of breadcrumbs and offered some to Yuki so the two of them could both toss them to the Seaking.

They talked for hours, of what they saw during their journeys and what they hoped to see next. Yuki told him about finding all the Sages and almost becoming Champion, squishing a tiny piece of bread between his fingers before throwing it to a Goldeen.

Then they climbed onto the backs of their legendary dragons and soared around the vast skies together, laughing and smiling and reveling in their reunion.

However, all things must come to an end, and both N and Yuki had more to see.

Yuki ran his hands through Reshiram’s fur, as she’d seemed to take a liking to him within the past few hours.

Zekrom, too, sat close to N, shooting him a grin every now and then.

“Well, I guess this is it.” Yuki rocked back and forth on his heels.

“I’d love to take you with me, but I believe we have our own paths we must follow.” N stepped aside so Zekrom could pass, but the dragon did not move.

“Zekrom and I feel the same. We have our own paths to follow,” Reshiram said. “If it is alright with you, Hero, I wish to travel with Yuki.”

Yuki jolted in surprise. “M-me? But, I’m not the Hero of Truth.”

N looked like he was trying very hard to keep his expression passive. “If that is what you desire, Reshiram, I have no qualms.”

Reshiram smiled. “You don’t have to lie, Hero.” She lightly bumped him with her nose. “It is not because of anything you did.”

Yuki slowly raised his hand. “And...why exactly do you want to travel with me?”

“Reshiram taught the Hero of Truth many things,” Zekrom replied. “Now, it seems there are things she wishes to teach you.”

Yuki slowly nodded, not knowing what else to say.

“On that note, I wish to travel with N.”

It was now N’s turn to be surprised. “Um- Pardon?”

“I want to show you what all the world can do for you. Besides, Yuki doesn’t have enough room on his team for both Reshiram and me.” Zekrom planted his feet, as if to show he wouldn’t be changing his mind.

Yuki sighed out a laugh. “Well, I guess we just traded dragons.”

N covered his smile with his hand. “I’m not sure the legends allow that, but oh well.”

“Now it’s like we have a piece of each other!” Yuki grinned, then attacked him with another hug. “Plus, now we have another reason to see each other again when the dragons want to switch.”

N shook his head with a small smile. Of course there were more reasons to meet than just that.

And so, the Heroes parted ways, with the opposite dragons. It turned out each dragon had a lot of wisdom and power to share with the other Hero.

---

N had watched in horror as his father fused his partner Zekrom with Kyurem. Ice had melted into obsidian scales, and their combined roars shook the cavern and made N shiver from the pain he felt from them.

But what felt worse, was that Zekrom was not only his friend. He was Yuki’s friend as well. How could he let this happen?

In the end, all he could do was watch as a young trainer he’d never met before defeated both the beast Black Kyurem, and his father.

Zekrom and Kyurem split, and his father was taken away.

“Thank you,” N said to the trainer. “Zekrom is a very close friend of mine, and is also close with a trainer called Yuki. I was looking for him, actually, but I sensed a change in Unova and had to come. I wonder if he sensed it as well…”

The trainer only stared at him with wonder and admiration.

“You!” N stepped closer, forgetting personal space was a thing. “I think you should challenge your ideals by taking on the Pokemon League.”

Yuki once did it, so N had full faith that this trainer could as well.

N stepped back. “I’ll… I’ll get going now. It’s nice to be back in Unova after all this time.” As he left, the trainer called out to him.

“N! Thank you for saving me.”

N didn’t think about how the trainer knew his name. He only smiled, waved, and turned away once again.

He wondered where Yuki and Reshiram were, and when he’d see them again. He knew it would be someday.

#pokemon #pokemon bw #pokemon black and white #n harmonia #n pokemon #pokemon bw2 #unova #my writing i guess #ghost says stuff

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merakisphere · 5 months

Text

Every small business wants you to know this hack! Starting a small shop is all about finding good materials and infusing it with every ounce of creativity and passion in your soul to create something truly wonderful.

Take for example this simple use of wire and beads, to create my own version of these Folding Galaxy fidget toys; devices that can be worn as a bracelet, used as a hair accessory, displayed as an ornament and enjoyed as a fidget toy.

Thank you for taking the time for browsing my handmade pieces. I hope it brings a smile to your face, everyday.

Find my Fidget Galaxies on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/876245515

my Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MerakiSphere

Song: Gameboy Color by Drax Project

#actually handmade #small business hack #artists on tumblr #90s nostalgia #something i made #dopamine decor #visual stim #handmade showcase #what is going to disappear in ten years?

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nerdypanda3126 · 4 years

Note

Congrats on 100! If I’m not too late to request, I’d love #2 with Lukanette, please.

2. “I think I’m in love with you and it scares the hell out of me.”

Thank you so much for the prompt, angie! I hope you like it :3

Accidents Happen

Read on Ao3

It was an accident.

Ladybug was taking back Luka’s Miraculous, and her earrings were beeping frantically. He hurried to get his bracelet off and back in the box, but he fumbled it and they both landed at his feet. As he crouched to pick them back up, her transformation dropped and he saw her flats—Marinette’s flats—before he was able to slam his eyes shut.

She swore under her breath and he felt her crouch beside him to slip something out from under his fingers.

“Did you see anything?” she asked, her tone all business. He heard her pack his Miraculous away and the box snapped shut. All he could do was nod. How had he never noticed that Ladybug’s voice matched Marinette’s? There was more authority, more confidence, sure, but it was unmistakably her. He felt her fingers brush his hair away from his eyes, but he kept them dutifully closed.

“We’ll talk later, Luka.” Her tone had softened, and before he could say anything, he felt the soft brush of her lips against his cheek. His eyes flew open, but she was already gone.

He saw Marinette several times over the next two weeks, but she was always with her group of friends, or with Kitty Section, or she’d catch his eye and go pale before changing direction and marching away from him.

He didn’t mind waiting. She said she’d talk to him, and he knew she would when she was ready. But it still stung to think that she was purposefully creating reasons not to talk to him. To avoid him, even. In an effort to distract himself, he worked out his frustration as he biked around town delivering pizzas.

He stood to get more leverage on his bike and pedaled hard, not particularly caring where he was going, just so long as he was moving. No one else knew. She hadn’t had to talk to anyone else about this, yet. Who knew what she was feeling or working through right now. Although he wished she would work it out with him instead of alone. Why did she always take everything on herself? Didn’t she know he was there for her and he only wanted to help and—

He braked hard to avoid biking directly into traffic, but he’d been going too fast and his balance was off. He was flung over the handlebars onto the sidewalk. His palms and forearms scraped against the pavement as he caught himself. His helmet hit with a crack and bounced before he skidded to a stop.

He hissed as he rolled over and sat up. Good thing he’d been wearing pads and a helmet, but it still didn’t prevent him from feeling like a bug splattered across a windshield. He looked back at his bike. Pizza was scattered everywhere. His bike was upside down. The front wheel was still spinning at an odd angle and his basket was crumpled. Thankfully he’d left his guitar in his locker at work today. That was another good thing, at least. He groaned and lay back against the sidewalk. This day could not get worse.

“Luka?”

Correction. This day could get worse. Because Marinette was standing in the door of her parents' bakery and had just seen him eat pavement.

“Oh my God, Luka!” She rushed over to him, and her hands were a flurry around him, a thousand little touches that went like electric shocks straight to his heart. Her fingers on his forehead, his arms, his cheeks, and the whole time a worried frown plastered on her face.

“I’m okay.” He smiled and tried to stand to prove it, but he hissed as soon as he put weight on his right foot.

“No, you’re not.” She slipped her arm under his to support him and steered him towards the bakery.

“Marinette, I have to finish my shift and—” She silenced him with a look.

“Your boss will have to understand.” There was that tone again. Ladybug. He was too stunned to argue anymore. Instead, he let her lead him inside and set him down in a chair inside the bakery. She unhooked his helmet and laid it aside, pushed a phone into his hands, and ordered him to call his work before she flitted upstairs.

By the time he’d called, explained, and hung up, she was back with a first aid kit. She started tending to him quietly, quieter than he’d ever known Marinette to be, and she was just starting to scare him when she paused in wrapping his ankle and looked up at him.

“I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you.”

His breath caught in his throat. He started to say something, but she held up a finger to ask him to wait. He nodded and closed his mouth again.

“I was trying to find the right time and the right words, but I guess the right time found me, didn’t it?” She smiled and placed his newly bandaged foot back on the floor. “I know…” she bit her lip and looked away. “I know that you know.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “But there’s something else. Something I need to talk to you about, especially now that you know, and it’s important.”

He nodded to show her he was listening. She glanced around the empty bakery before she sighed.

“I’ve been avoiding you because…” she was twisting her fingers around each other and a blush was creeping up her cheeks and he wanted nothing more than to reach out and hold her hand.

“Because I think I’m in love with you?” Her words left her in a rush. He wasn’t even sure he’d heard right. “And it scares the hell out of me, Luka, because, well, because I have responsibilities and now you know what those are and I wanted to tell you for so long, but what if—I mean, it’s dangerous for me to be attached to anyone. Especially someone who also holds a Miraculous, and especially especially someone who knows who I am but…”

Her eyes traveled back to his. “But I can’t help it,” she admitted softly, “I can’t stop thinking about you. Even when I was trying not to talk to you, I was wishing I could talk to you. And every time I see you, my heart just pounds out of my chest and I didn’t know how to tell you, so I avoided you. And I’m sorry. And now you’re hurt and I’m telling you and I didn’t want it to be like this, but I couldn’t wait anymore. So there it is.”

He let her words settle into the silence between them. He’d heard her, of course, but the actual words were taking their sweet time to sink in.

She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and she was starting to frown. “Luka? Will you please say something? You’re kinda staring at me.”

Was he staring? Was he even awake? No possible way this was real life. Although when he tried to move his right ankle, it certainly stung like real pain. He winced as he shifted forwards to take her hands in his.

“Marinette?”

She gulped and nodded.

“I think I might have hit my head when I fell.” He chuckled and squeezed her hands. “Can we back up just a little bit? Back to the ‘you think you’re in love with me’ part?”

She fidgeted and he let her pull away from him so she could pack away her kit and keep her eyes down. She’d talk when she was ready. He was patient; he could wait. He focused on his breathing while he gave her space to think. Finally, she stopped moving and looked back up at him.

“I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, Luka.”

He smiled and scooted out of his chair to lower himself to the floor next to her. He pushed the kit aside and tipped her chin towards him so he could look in her eyes.

“It would be worth it.” He stroked her cheek gently and her blush sprang up under his touch. “I would crash my bike every day if it meant you would tell me you loved me again.”

“You did hit your head,” she muttered, but she was smiling and her cheeks were getting redder by the second. “And besides, that’s not exactly what I’m worried about.”

“I know.” He pushed her hair aside and tucked it behind her ear again, exposing her plain black earrings. Even though he knew, even though he’d seen, he still couldn’t quite wrap his mind around it. Marinette was already amazing and brave and kind and now she was also the heroine of Paris. He let out a soft laugh. “You are the most extraordinary girl, Marinette. And to be honest, you scare the hell outta me, too.”

“I do?”

He nodded. “Absolutely.”

“You don’t seem scared.”

He held out his hand and gestured for her to give him hers. She laid her hand in his with wide eyes and he watched her expression as he brought her hand up to his chest to lay over his racing heart. He swore it picked up a beat or two when she splayed her fingers across his shirt.

“I’m terrified,” he admitted softly. He had to pause to take a deep breath because he was starting to get light-headed. This day had started as one of his worst, and her admission had turned everything on its head. Including him, apparently. He chuckled softly. She never failed to surprise him, that was for sure. “I have what’s probably a sprained ankle,” he continued, “maybe some road rash, I’ll be covered in bruises tomorrow, and my bike is wrecked.”

She started to frown and pull away, but he pressed his hand against hers to hold her there.

“And I’m still the luckiest person alive right now.”

Her eyes snapped back to his. He paused again to let her process before he wrapped his hand around hers to hold it. “I’m in love with this amazing girl—” he smiled when her breath hitched— “and she just told me she might feel the same way. If you asked me, I could get up and tap dance right now.” She giggled and his smile grew. He loved that sound. He loved her. “Marinette…”

He tucked his finger under her chin again to angle her lips up. Slowly, tentatively, he leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “I can take the bike wrecks,” he whispered, “and anything else if it means I can be with you.”

He waited, eyes closed and heart open, for her to consider. After a few moments of excruciating silence, her breath fanned across his lips and then she was pressing into him hungrily. Her hands tangled in his hair and he wrapped his arms around her to pull her closer, ignoring the small sting as his raw forearm scraped against her jacket.

A not-so-subtle throat clear at the door broke them apart. Luka opened his eyes and found Marinette’s mom crossing her arms and surveying the two of them sprawled across the bakery floor. Luka’s face flamed, and he waved sheepishly. Marinette untangled herself and helped him up, and they both blushed when she slipped her arm under his again. He might’ve leaned into her a little more than he needed to, and he couldn’t seem to stop smiling.

“Luka was hurt,” Marinette rushed to explain. “His bike and his foot and I—”

“I saw his bike outside.” Her mom was starting to smile and she gestured to Luka to sit back down. Marinette helped him into his chair. “Your dad will be home soon and if you don’t want a full 12-course sweetheart banquet, I suggest we keep the rest between us.” She winked and went behind the counter, leaving Luka and Marinette relatively alone again. She caught his eye and they both let out an embarrassed chuckle.

“We can always say it was an accident,” he said, smirking.

She shoved his shoulder playfully before she sat next to him, definitely closer than necessary. His arm fell easily around her shoulders.

They were quiet for a moment while they both let their conversation and the resulting kiss sink in. He started humming absent-mindedly while he rubbed small circles on her shoulder with his thumb. If she wanted to talk about it, she would. He was patient. He could wait. Heart racing, barely breathing, fearfully hoping—he could wait for her.

"Luka?" she asked hesitantly.

He smiled as he looked back at her, snuggled into his side like she belonged there. "Hmm?"

She reached out to worry at the zipper of his hoodie. "Is it really that simple?"

He sighed and gave her shoulders a small squeeze before he moved her hand over his chest and laid it over his galloping heart again. He tapped out his rhythm on the back of her hand until it finally slowed. She dug her fingers into the fabric of his shirt and leaned into him.

He laid his head back against the wall and smiled as he sighed again, this time in deep relief.

"It can be."

#miraculous ladybug #mlb fic #ml fic #lukanette #luka couffaine #marinette dupain cheng #luck of the draw

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little-miss-dumpsterfire · 3 years

Text

I think I made you up inside my head ~ a td au

Hi everyone (or anyone out there)! This is my first ever tumblr post, so apologies if I’m a bit rusty. I’m originally a Wattpad writer, but I think for this story in particular, I’m better suited over here (I like ‘em spooky).

So without boring anyone, I present to you, my total drama horror anthology - “I think I made you up inside my head ~ a td au”

Chapter One - I can still hear their screams

It was her eyes that initially gave him a profound feeling of unease. The vacancy of her stare was reminiscent of the eyes of the dead; a thick fog drowned the vibrancy of her irises, dulling the shine that they had once held. His heart pounded against his chest as he set up his equipment, trembling fingers fumbling with the intricate wires and cables. The atmosphere in the room, nay, the house he found himself in was suffocating.

One interview. That's all you came here for. The media attention you'll get for this will be astronomical. Just focus on that.

His preconceived notion of his guest had been immediately shattered upon meeting her earlier that day. The tabloids and news painted her as a 'psycho hose-beast', the living epitome of an LSD trip. Yet, it was her fragility that shone through most as she sat before him. Her signature frizzy orange hair had darkened, resembling more of a rich copper, combed neatly into a bun. Her fingers were slender and pale, like those of a porcelain doll, and gaudy rings embellished them all, minus her left ring finger. Her pressed teal pantsuit was a stark contrast to his jeans and a graphic tee, yet she was undoubtedly feeling more comfortable than he was.

He cleared his throat, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead before reading out his preprepared spiel.

"Hello all and welcome back to the Pop-Culture Paradox podcast. I'm Axel Riley, your resident tour guide through the scary side of Hollywood. In today's episode, we will be delving into one of the most infamous conspiracies in reality TV to date."

His voice caught slightly in his throat, catching him off guard before continuing.

"My guest today was an ex-contestant on the hit reality show series Total Drama Island, as well as its follow-ups Total Drama Action and Total Drama World Tour." Upon hearing those words, she visibly cringed and balled up her right fist on the couch next to her. "Welcome to Isabelle "Izzy" Danaher-Morgans!"

"Thank you for having me here, Axel," Izzy added politely.

Axel stared at Izzy quizzically. "I gotta say, you're a lot different to what I thought you'd be like."

"I get that a lot, I really do. And honestly, a lot of aspects of my portrayal were exacerbated by the producers. I have ADHD and had been on medication up to that point. Not that that takes everything away, I was just better at focusing and less impulsive. But for drama, they weaned me off of my meds. That fact, alongside the drugs they had to have been putting in the water, just pushed me off the deep end."

"And what has life been like for you since the show? Last time viewers properly saw you, you had transformed into your alter 'Brainzilla'," Axel asked, probing Izzy to reveal any dramatic details.

Izzy laughed awkwardly. "That was a time in my life I cannot explain, truthfully. I did get back to some normality with counselling and medication, and I now work as a therapist for former child stars escaping from the industry."

Axel sighed defeatedly, tapping his lead pencil against the corner of the coffee table.

This is too boring. I need something for listeners to really bite their teeth into.

Carrying on with the extended mundane conversation, Axel was carefully planning the perfect moment to poke the bear and reveal his main prerogative.

Interjecting Izzy mid-sentence, Axel raised his eyebrow and asked the question that had been eating him up inside since he arrived.

"So Izzy, tell me, is there really a Total Drama curse, or is this all just bullshit?"

The colour drained from Izzy's face as she locked eyes with the podcaster. She fidgeted with her rings, twisting them around her fingers repeatedly. Her mouth gaped open and closed like a fish, unable to form any coherent words. In response - the only way she physically could at that moment - she shook her head viciously.

"No? Hmm, that's really interesting. It must just be an extreme coincidence that a majority of your cast-mates have either perished or disappeared. Did you know that they were dead, Izzy?" Axel probed, salivating at the thought of the publicity this will bring in.

"I don't want to talk about this," Izzy replied curtly, looking down at her legs and picking at some invisible lint on her pants.

"Like when this all started with the death of-"

"I said I don't want to talk about this, Axel. I'm done here," Izzy proclaimed, removing the headset and standing up from her couch.

"Ju- wait a damn second," Axel jumped from his seat, yanking his headset cord from the soundboard before grabbing Izzy's wrist.

Izzy pulled herself from his grip, rubbing the sore spot on her wrist. "I said no. We don't need any more amateur journalists trying to disturb the dirt of the past."

"You listen to me for a second," he said, putting his finger close to her face, "I drove all the way from California to be here. You fucking owe me the details."

Scoffing, Izzy walked to her kitchen, grabbing an icepack from her freezer for her wrist.

"Kid, I went toe-to-toe with Chris McLean and Chef Hatchet for three seasons. No young tech boy from California is going to intimidate me." She paused and thought for a second, passing a cursory glance at a timber door down the hallway. "You know what? Fine. You want to talk? We can talk, but not on record."

Axel rolled his eyes and huffed out his chest. "Then what's the fucking point?"

"The point is... well... the point is that you'll be able to talk to the only known survivor of that fucking show."

***************************************************

Izzy lead Axel to the dead-bolted timber door situated at the back-end of her house, removing a key from an adjacent picture frame that sat on a table. The latch clicked and squeaked sharply as the door was pulled open, the pair slowly making their way down the dimly lit staircase. As the door slammed shut behind them, the force knocked over the precariously positioned photo frame; in its silver walls sat an image of twenty-two kids smiling on a rickety dock, blissfully unaware of what the future had in store for them.

Axel felt across the crumbling brick wall until he came to a light switch, coated in a thin layer of cobwebs. He flicked the switch, being greeted by a low humming noise before the filament brightened and burst, sending glass shards flying through the air, crashing noisily on the cement floor. A sudden scratch rang out as Izzy stuck a match against the matchbox, lighting the gas lamps that lined the walls.

"What... what is this place?" Axel asked, goosebumps emerging over his arms.

"Some may call it a museum. I prefer to call it a mausoleum," Izzy replied, glancing over at the confused boy.

Stacked in the centre of the room were rows and rows of wooden shelves, lined up next to each other. Assorted items and relics were neatly arranged, an antithesis of the lackadaisical nature of how the rest of her house was decorated. Axel looked at all the objects before stopping on something he thought looked familiar.

"Wait," he pointed at them, a confused look plastered on his face. "These beads... they're Beth's friendship bracelets... the ones she gave out in Action."

Izzy nodded slightly, her face illuminated by the flickering flame of the gas lamp. She stopped in front of a large white shirt, holding it up to her face, inhaling the scent.

"Mmm," she said quietly to herself, "still smells like chicken cologne."

"These things, these... relics. These were all from the cast. And look, you even have some from Revenge of the Island. Why do you have these, Izzy?" Axel asked, increasingly creeped out by the environment he found himself in.

"I keep a part of them because if I don't, I can't trust myself to remember if they were real or not."

She replaced the shirt back to where it was neatly folded and turned to face Axel.

"I lie awake at night, tossing and turning. I think to myself, 'I am the cursed one here'. And it's true," she said softly, her eyes prickling with tear droplets.

"How?"

Izzy chuckled sadly, tears gathering on her light eyelashes. She walked over to one of the many glass cabinets and stared at her reflection.

"Because even though they're dead, I can still hear their screams. And now it's someone else's turn."

#total drama #horror #this might be shit but I'm having fun #yay anthologies!#I promise it gets better

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themarveledwriter · 4 years

Text

By the Light of the Moon~Part 2

Story Summery: Y/n is a vampire hasn’t told anyone about herself, her family, her history. She hasn’t even told her boyfriend. What happens when her secret is revealed in a violent manner.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Vampire!Reader

Words: 3.5k

Warnings: Angst, Sadness, Sorta asshole Steve (but his hearts in the right place), Cursing.

A/N: Here is the second part! Next part should be up soon! Not beta read.

She was gone.

Just gone.

The window completely shattered, she didn’t even slow down.

Everyone was stunned, Bucky wasn’t sure what to do. He knew he couldn’t go after her, she ran across the walkway and out the door before Bucky could even blink.

Steve came out of it the fastest, “FRIDAY lock down the building.” This made me swing around to look at him, furious with what he was doing.

“Are you still trying to stop her!? She doesn’t want to be here Steve! You pushed her to the edge and now she is gone!” Bucky says while walking towards Steve, shoving him with his last word.

“Captain Rogers, Y/n is no longer in the building.” The AI says.

Steve turned away from Bucky, “How did she get out?”

“She exited from the roof.” Bucky was the one to talk this time, “What? How did she exit from the roof?” “She jumped.” Klaus said before the AI. Both Bucky and Steve turn around to Klaus, “What do you mean she jumped? This building is 93 stories!” Bucky said, panicked.

Klaus smirked, “She’s an original vampire. She could jump off a cliff and be fine, in fact she has.”

This confused Bucky, “Original vampire?”

Klaus tilted his head, and the smirk fell from his lips. “She really didn’t tell you anything did she?” Resulting in Bucky shaking his head.

“Well, is there somewhere we can sit? It is a long story.”

Steve takes the lead on this, feeling more comfortable with having a purpose. “We can go to the common room. FRIDAY call the team down there.” Steve turns to Bucky, “I think this is something everyone should know.”

The entire team is already in the common room by the time Bucky, Steve and Klaus get down there.

When the elevator doors open everyone stands up, Sam being the first to talk.

“Who is this? Where is Y/n?”

Steve goes to answer but Klaus talks first, “I’m Klaus Mikaelson, Y/n is my sister. She’s gone.”

This time it’s Natasha’s turn to talk, “What do you mean she’s gone?” She says, worried for her friend.

Klaus steps forward, taking an empty chair, but no one else sits down.

“Well? Go on, sit. It’s a rather long story and I doubt you’ll want to stand the whole time.” Everyone slowly takes their seats, Bucky sitting next to Sam who lays a comforting hand on his shoulder. Him and Bucky may have their differences but Sam can tell when his friend is hurting.

“Alright, lets begin.” Klaus says with a smirk.

“So, as you all learned earlier, my sister is a vampire. What you didn’t know is that she is one of the first vampires in existence, along with me and our siblings. See, my mother was a witch, a powerful witch though not as powerful as her sister. My mother was barren, and made a deal with my Aunt Dahlia to be able to have children, she just had to give her first born to Dahlia. So she gave up my sister Freya and told her husband she had died from the plague. My mother had another child named Finn before they came to the New World in the 10th century when my mother was pregnant with my brother Elijah. They settled in a village where everyone was healthy and happy, we didn’t know that they were all werewolves till later, though we lived with them peacefully for years.”

Klaus stops at this, taking a breath before continuing. “I was born next, but I was born out of an affair between my mother and another villager. I wouldn’t know that until after I became a vampire. Kol came next, and then Rebecka. Lastly my mother fell pregnant with twins, Henrik and Y/n.”

Sam talks before Klaus can continue, “Y/n has a twin?”

Klaus looks down with a sad expression on his face.

“Not anymore… I was incredibly close to Henrik and Y/n, closer than to anyone else in my family. They were the youngest out of all of us and I was always more protective of them.” Klaus looks up at the group. “Henrik and Y/n were only 13 at this time… After we had discovered the people who lived around us became beasts on the night of a full moon, I became curious. I had planned to sneak out and watch them transform, which was forbidden, and when Henrik found out he wanted to come as well. Of course, Y/n being his twin came too. One of the wolves lost control, mauling Henrik. Y/n almost died as well, but was able to run from the wolf that was attacking her. Henrik died that night, from my ignorance and stupidity. It was also the night our mother decided to turn us into vampires.”

Now it was Bucky’s turn to speak up, “But Y/n doesn’t look like she is 13, how old was she when she turned?”

Klaus looked at him, “Our mother performed a ritual on all of us, including Y/n, to make us stronger. She wanted to protect us. My mother's witch friend Ayana refused to do the spell, but she did make it so that Y/n would continue to age until her 18th birthday.”

“The spell made us powerful. It made us fast, strong, it gave us fangs to rival the wolves, but it also turned nature against us. The sun burned us, the neighbors that had once welcomed us into their homes could now keep us out, the flowers at the base of the tree that was used in the spell burned us and prevented compulsion,” Klaus turns to Bucky. “That’s the ‘protection’ that Y/n mentioned earlier. Do you have a bracelet or necklace that she gave you?”

Bucky was already fidgeting with the necklace Y/n had given him for their one year anniversary. It was a habit he formed after she gave it to him. A pendant with his star on it, on the back engraved in her handwriting is “You are my hero”. She said it was to remind him that his arm didn’t make him a monster.

“Yeah, this one.” Bucky says, not letting go of the necklace.

Klaus holds out his hand, “Can I see it?”

Bucky is hesitant, but ultimately agrees. Standing up and handing the pendant to Klaus, who’s skin starts smoking the second it touches his skin.

“Woah, what the hell?” Bucky says, taking back the necklace.

Klaus smirks, “Like I said, vervain burns… The only thing that can kill us is a stake made from the tree that gave us life. The white oak… Like I said, werewolf venom won’t kill original vampires. I just had no desire for my sister to be in pain until it burned out of her system. I also haven’t seen her in years, I missed her.”

“When we became vampires, Y/n was the last to turn. She was so so young and killed the person that our parents used to complete the transition. She hated herself for so long after, and has always struggled with her bloodlust… When I killed my first human not long after my transition we learned that I was part werewolf. A hybrid, but my mother suppressed my wolf side. It was only recently that I was able to unlock it, which is why I can heal a werewolf bite. A normal vampire would die from a bite without my blood.”

Steve took this time to ask Klaus, “Y/n was drinking Bucky’s blood. Is he going to turn into a vampire?” This made Klaus chuckle, “No. You would have to die with vampire blood in your system and then drink human blood to complete the transition. But vampire blood also has healing qualities, if given to a human with a fatal injury they will heal within minutes.”

Klaus stood up, “I’m going to find my sisters storage unit, is there a room I can stay in tonight?”

Tony tells him where he can stay for the night, but when he turns to leave, Bucky runs after him.

“Wait! Are we not going to look for Y/n?”

Klaus turns around, a small smile on his face. “It’s nice to know my sister has someone who cares so strongly for her, but looking for her right now is useless. If she doesn’t want to be found, she won’t be. I just hope what happened earlier doesn’t push her over the edge. She has gotten better at controlling her bloodlust but when she’s incredibly emotional she tends to struggle. We will know by morning.” This concerned Bucky. “What happens if she loses control?”

Klaus frowns at this, “Well, she will probably kill some people. That’ll cause her to have really bad guilt. If that happens I will need your help to make sure she doesn’t flip her switch.”

“What do you mean flip her switch?

“Oh I forgot about that. Vampires have this… ability. Our emotions are heightened, if the guilt or sadness gets too bad, we can turn off our humanity. It’s like this switch that we can flip. It’s incredibly hard to get someone who’s flipped their switch to turn it back on. We can’t let Y/n do that.”

That scares Bucky, “Has she done that before?”

Klaus nods, “She was the first one to do so… I feel like I should let her tell you the whole story but basically what happened was she accidentally killed someone she cared very much about. I believe that was why she was so scared when she fed from you. That person was her main form of sustenance but they were attacked by a hunter, she was severely weakened with vervain and he was seriously injured. She couldn’t control her bloodlust and he ended up dying.” This broke Bucky’s heart. He never wanted to see Y/n in pain.

“She couldn’t take the pain and the guilt. It was killing her. She wanted to die but couldn’t find a way. She somehow found out she could turn it all off. It took me decades to get her to turn it back on. She left a string of bodies from New Orleans to Los Angeles. When she turned it back on she had all that guilt as well. Everytime she has turned it off it has always been worse when she turns it back on.

Bucky felt more comfortable now. It helped him to have orders, a mission. While Klaus isn’t technically in charge of him, he knew Y/n better than Bucky. Bucky could do what Klaus asked, or at least try. He wouldn’t lose Y/n.

“I am going to find Y/n’s storage unit. You wouldn’t happen to know where it is by any chance?”

Bucky knew she had a storage unit near the tower, but he had never been to it.

“I think it’s at Manhattan Mini Storage, it’s near Hell’s Kitchen.”

Klaus nods, “Alright, I’ll be back tonight.”

He walks onto the elevator, leaving Bucky standing in the hallway.

~ ~ ~

Bucky was sitting in your room, it was almost bare because you have been slowly sneaking your stuff into Bucky’s room.

But it still smells like you.

He couldn’t believe he never noticed anything. Now that he knows he realizes there were many strange things that he always ignored.

That ring you claimed you hated but would never take off. The time you lost it and refused to leave the tower, not even going into the common room. The fact you wouldn’t go into someone’s house before being invited in. You wouldn’t even go into Bucky’s room before he told you you could.

He always thought it was because you didn’t want to spend that much time with him, that it was too personal. You had already been spending time with each other for a few weeks prior and he thought he had crossed a line.

Apparently not.

~Flashback~

Bucky had just arrived at the compound after his time in Wakanda. He was a lot more confident knowing the Soldier could no longer be triggered, but he still wouldn’t be the first to approach someone.

Y/n watched him around the compound, fascinated by the other man out of time. Her and Steve had been friends for years, and she had helped him and Sam in Romania.

When he arrived at the compound, she was one of the only people to truly try and make him feel welcome. No one was out right rude to him, but they weren’t exactly welcoming. Only Steve, Y/n and Nat would ask him to join them for supper or training.

But Y/n went above and beyond for him.

She would leave food by his door when he didn’t eat with the team. She defended him when Tony would say something.

The thing he appreciated most was the time she helped him through a panic attack.

It was when he was on trial, there was no way he would be convicted with all the Avengers behind him, but it still took a toll on his mental state.

People were able to find his files, and after the public found out how many people he killed a lot rallied against him. Calling for the death penalty.

Tony had a party after the trial was over. Inviting all the New York socialites and having Bucky as the “guest of honor” to prove that he was one of the good guys now. But all he could hear the entire night was people saying how they couldn’t believe Tony let the man who killed his parents on the team. A monster.

He was pushed close to the edge when a drunk man started asking him all these questions and accusing him of things he never did.

He was pushed over the edge when he started talking about his family. Claiming his ma and sisters would hate him for the monster he became. He was hyperventilating and about to lash out. Looking around for Steve or someone who could help him.

That’s when Y/n swooped in like a guardian angel.

The media loved Y/n, she was always helping people. Visiting children's hospitals and helping the homeless.

Which is why they didn’t care when she threw the man across the room.

She walked right between Bucky and the drunk man, telling him to back off. Bucky couldn’t understand much of what she was saying, he was too busy trying to not shut down, but the last thing he heard was the man call him a monster before Y/n had shoved him so hard he flew across the room.

She had always claimed she was a mutant. That was why she was so strong and fast, why she healed faster than him or Steve.

Next thing he knew she was leading him out of the party, arms linked.

He was gasping for breath at this point, not really noticing she was moving him until his back hit the couch. They were in a smaller common room at the tower, used as a sort of library. Bucky knew this was Y/n’s favorite room in the tower because there were days he wouldn't see her until she emerged from the library at midnight, walking into the kitchen wrapped in a fluffy blanket looking incredibly relaxed.

Not that he was looking for you.

“-ucky. You are okay. Match my breathing okay? You are just fine.” You were pressing his hand to her chest, her hand on top of his.

It's the first time they touched.

Well not the first time, they’ve trained together. Brushed shoulders in passing.

But she was purposely touching him, comforting him.

His breathing slowed down, and he was shocked when your arms were suddenly around his shoulders.

“I’m so so sorry he said those things to you.”

Your voice sounded watery, which made him push on your shoulders to see your face. Which made you panic.

“I-I’m so sorry Bucky. I know you don’t like to be touched. I should have asked before I hugged you. I was just so mad that he said those things to you!” You were aggressively wiping the tears from your face. “He had no right! He doesn’t know what you went through and the fact that he was accusing you of things you never even did! I’m so-” Bucky was smiling at this point.

“Doll, you’re rambling.”

That shut you up really quick.

A small smile slowly appeared on your face, confusing Bucky.

“Doll? You called me doll?”

“Uh… Yeah, I guess I did.” Your smile grew larger. “And don’t feel bad for hugging me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah I… I liked it.”

“Then why did you push me away?” Y/n says, tilting her head to one side. Making Bucky think of a confused puppy.

“I heard you crying doll. You should never cry over me.” At this she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him, snuggling her face into his neck. “Everyone needs someone to cry over them sometimes.”

~End Flashback~

When Bucky came out of his mind, the sun was already rising. He quickly wiped away the tears that had fallen down his cheeks.

He didn’t realize so much time had passed, and couldn’t help but wonder where Y/n was.

Was she even in New York still?

Bucky laid back, grabbing one of Y/n’s pillows and hugging it to his body, breathing deeply.

He was dozing off, comforted by the smell of you, when FRIDAY jolted him awake.

“Sergeant Barnes, Mr. Mikaelson is back and requesting your presence in the kitchen. The rest of the Avengers are already on their way.”

Bucky jumped up quickly, needing to know if Klaus found anything, when he your favorite of his hoodies in your closet. He quickly grabs it and throws it on, comforted by the fact it smelled like you.

He made his way down to the kitchen as fast as he could, practically running once the elevator stopped.

When he made his way into the kitchen he noticed the rest of the Avengers were already there. Klaus was standing at the island with a canvas bag sitting in front of him.

Steve was the first to speak, “Why’d you call us all down here? Have you heard anything?”

Klaus looks at him, and then at Bucky. “I went to my sister’s storage unit. While I was there I got a call from my sister Freya-”

Natasha cuts him off. “I thought you said your mom gave her to your aunt in the 10th century?”

Klaus smirks, “You pay attention, nice. Incredibly long story short, my aunt discovered how to practically make herself and Freya immortal by sleeping for 100 years and then living and aging for only a year.”

“Anyway, Freya called me. She said that there were some ‘animal attacks’ on the outskirts of the town. I’m going there tonight, James is coming with me.”

Klaus started gathering the bag, but Steve puts his hand over it, stopping him.

“Bucky isn’t going anywhere with you, how do we know we can trust you.” Bucky was about to object, but Klaus started first. His face blank.

This is my sister!” Klaus says, getting angry as he said it.

“I would not do anything to risk her. I agree, you don’t know me and have no clue if you can trust me, but I will help my sister no matter what. I need James to help me with that.”

“Why does Bucky need t-”

Steve is suddenly pushed against the wall, Klaus baring his fangs at him.

“He may be the only one who can keep her from losing her humanity. He is coming with me.

Steve goes to object, but Bucky stops him. “Steve, that’s my girl. I am going with him.”

“Buck-”

“Stop. You are the one that pushed her over the edge. I will not lose her”

He turns back to Klaus, who looks overly smug.

“Is there anything you need before we go?”

Klaus nods at this, “I need a cooler, and you should pack for at least a week… Maybe longer. We will also need a car.” He says, looking at Tony.

Tony speaks for the first time, telling FRIDAY to ready a car and make sure it has a cooler in it.

“Why do you need a cooler?”

Klaus walks back over to the canvas bag on the counter, unzipping it.

“Well, I went and collected some things from Y/n’s storage unit. Let’s just say, it’s a tad perishable.”

With that he turns the bag over, ten blood bags spilling out.

“What the hell is that!?” Clint says, “Well, I know what they are… I’m in the medbay enough to know that, but why do you have them?”

Klaus looks at him, “Take a wild guess.”

He looks at Bucky, “She’s feeding on people, we need to get her back on blood bags as soon as possible. She may not be a ripper but she is in such an emotional state that we don’t need to risk her seriously hurting someone.” He finishes with a pointed look at Steve.

“Sir, the car is prepped.”

Klaus looks at Bucky.

“Go pack, we have a long drive ahead of us.”

Taglist (Open):

@tranquility-or-chaos @21st-century-daydreamer @winterboobear11 @theycallmemrsbarnes @notawritergettingtherethough

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is0gild · 4 years

Text

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 23

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 11,552

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

"Sorry, did I miss a point back there where my car transformed into a submarine to cross the Atlantic Ocean?"

I turned my head towards Lea, knitting my eyebrows together. "Pardon?"

"Well I just don't see how else we would have ended up at freaking Buckingham Palace," he muttered, keeping one hand on the steering wheel while the other tipped his aviators forward for a better look at the mansion at the end of the long, extravagant driveway he was currently cruising his car down. He gave a low whistle, "Shit, all it's missing are those dudes in the highschool band uniforms and big fuzzy hats."

Rolling my eyes, I snorted softly. "Oh come now, it's not that big."

He scoffed, "'Not that big' is something girlfriends say about their exes to protect their insecure boyfriends' fragile male egos. It's not what you say about the Taj Ma-fucking-hal here."

The dreaded weekend was upon us at last.

You know. The Weekend. Capital T, capital W.

Aka, the visit with my parents.

Operation Boyfriend But Shh Not Really was about to be tested to the extreme limits.

The chateau in question (maybe villa would be a better word? Or manor, perhaps? Really, it wasn't big at all, Lea was just exaggerating) belonged to my parents. This was the home I'd grown up in. It was weird coming back here now after all that had happened. Was still in the process happening, I suppose. My fingers fidgeted with my braid as the mansion loomed ever higher the closer we got.

Actually… now that we were more up close and I was really seeing it again… oh gosh, it was rather enormous, wasn't it?

...had it somehow grown in size since last I-?

Shush, now, don't be ridiculous. That was just the anxiety talking.

Of which I was in no short supply of. I still had no clue what was in store for this weekend. Anna seemed almost just as much in the dark as I was, which was strange seeing as how she still lived here. Then again, I was pretty sure she'd been spending a lot less time around home lately in favor of staying over at her new boyfriend's place. A man I still surprisingly knew absolute zilch about, but I was hoping Anna had invited him to join us for this weekend as well. That way, I'd get to meet him and maybe even have a little of the attention taken off me. Long shot, I know, considering he was only Anna's still relatively new beau whereas I'd skipped out on my own wedding and shamed my whole family (apparently), so this guy was kind of small potatoes by comparison. But hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

It was actually Friday evening right now, so we were going to be in for more of a long weekend - in every sense of the word. Lea and I had both worked early shifts today before going to our respective homes, getting changed, packing bags for staying over for two nights and then finally heading up. Not knowing what this weekend was going to entail was wreaking no small amount of havoc on my nerves. That said, it could have been worse. Pretty sure I'd actually been more nervous for the audition a couple days ago than I was for this. Maybe that was because the audition had just been so last minute, whereas I'd been preparing for this little get-together for a couple weeks now. Even I had to admit that Lea and I made a pretty convincing couple at this point. Sure, I still got a bit awkward with PDAs, but I was no longer anywhere near as bad as I had been the day I'd seen father at my old condo.

...then again, doing the whole relationship act around the mall for the past couple weeks was one thing. Trying to pull off the same charade in front of my parents now, not to mention the Duke as well? Probably was going to be a lot more complicated.

I really had no idea what was going to happen the moment we passed through those ornate double doors leading into my parent's home.

But I was about to find out.

Whether I liked it or not.

"Alright, we made it," Lea announced as he parked the car next to the big fountain in the middle of the circle driveway, shutting off his engine. He shot me a grin, "You ready for this, my lil sötnos?"

I blinked over at him, then narrowed my eyes. "Do I even want to know?"

"It's a Swedish term of endearment. Its literal translation is sweet nose. And if yours ain't the sweetest, I dunno what is," his grin twitched wider as he reached over to tweak said nose.

"Sweet n-" I groaned, swatting his hand away. "Veto."

"Aw c'mon, I thought that one was cute!" he gave a little whine. I just drooped my eyelids at him and he sighed, stretching over to open his glove compartment and pull a black marker from it. "Guess America's just not ready for the sweet nose," he grumbled, pulling the cap off with his teeth and marking something off on his palm.

I frowned. "...what are you doing?"

"Regrettably giving up on what is arguably the greatest pet name of all time, that's what."

"No, I meant with your hand." I snatched his in both mine, yanking it over in front of my face to discover a small list written on the inside of his palm, located at the top of which was sötnos with a line struck through it. "...are these... more terms of endearment for me?"

He smirked as he leaned in closer to stare down at his palm alongside me. "Yup! Since the big weekend's here, figured I'd best come prepared. This is important stuff we gotta nail down!"

I squinted at the words before me, reading, "Kruzynko…?"

"It means breadcrumb."

Scrunching up my nose, I stole the marker from him and crossed that one off. "No. Bogárkám?"

"My little bug," Lea supplied, sounding more confident in this one.

A snerk. "Nope," I popped the P. And another one bites the dust. My tongue tripped uncertainly over the next one, "Blodyn tatws?"

"Heh… potato flowers?" he asked hopefully.

"Oh wow, I love that one."

He perked up, "Really?"

"Absolutely... not," I said flatly, looking him dead in the eye as I drew a line across it as well.

"Aw man, not cool!" He pouted, then pursed his lips to one side. "Hey, is now really the best time to be doing this? We, uh…" he chuckled sheepishly, holding up his second hand to reveal a whole other list scrawled on that one too, "...might end up being here all day."

I stared blankly at him. "Just how many more of those do you have?"

"I'd show ya, but that'd require me going a lil more half monty than you'd probably prefer I'd get in your parent's driveway."

My brow furrowed and I leaned away slightly, eyeing him up and down. "...where…?"

He waggled his eyebrows at me, "That's for me to know and you to find out."

I let his hand drop from my grasp, "I'm good, thanks." As he snickered, I looked away, rubbing my fingertips over one of my (now brought to a low simmer) cheeks. "Can't you just stick to El? It's simple. Nice… I like El."

"You do?" I heard him ask and I directed a furtive sideways glance in his direction. A slow smile was curling his lips, "Alright… El it is." But then he was peeking down at his palm again. "...and also krúttið mitt."

Biting back a grin, I swat his shoulder. "How would you like it if I kept calling you some weird pet name in a foreign language all the time?"

Lea beamed, "I'd like it very much actually."

"Really? Fine," I took up his hand again, scrutinizing his palm, "...mo chuisle it is then."

His eyes lit up, "Ooo, that one's spicy!"

Oh dear, why had I thought this was a good idea again?

"...what's it mean?"

He bent towards me, eyes hooded as he purred, "You just called me your pulse."

I've made a grave error this day.

"Ah-ah!" he chirped, pressing a finger to my lips as they began to part. "Too late! No take-backsies!"

I huffed, unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car, slamming the door shut behind me.

Lea looked far too smug as he climbed out himself, retrieving both our bags from the backseat of the car on his way out and slinging them over his shoulder. He removed his aviators, hooking them into the collar of his black, fitted v-neck shirt as his eyes took in the mansion before us once again. He'd reclaimed his leather jacket to wear for this, accompanied by snug jeans tastefully ripped at just one knee and a pair a black, heavy, steel-toed boots. He'd blinged out a bit as well, sporting a small sun medallion that hung from a chain down to his mid-chest, along a few strappy leather bracelets and a couple of rings decorating his fingers. His winged guyliner was somehow even darker and bolder than usual and his hair had been pulled back into a half-tail.

Not going to lie, my traitorous fingers practically itched to pet that little red tuft at the back of his head.

Instead, I settled for fussing with the necklace that rested against my skin just above my collarbone. The pendant was formed of three blue, almond-shaped gemstones gathered together at one point. A present from Rayne to wish me luck on this trip. I was a much bigger fan of her good luck charm than I had been of the one Lea had "gifted" me with for the musical tryouts. I wore the small charm with a classic little wrap dress in a soft lilac. Off the shoulder of course - it was me we were talking about here, so you can probably guess it before I even say it at this point - and with the hem of the skirt flaring out around the knees.

Needless to say, looking at him and me side-by-side right now, it was clear one of us was either severely over or underdressed. Considering it was my parents' door we were about to knock on, one guess as to who was what.

"Try not to scratch the paint, chief!" Lea chipperly called out as he was suddenly tossing his keys at one of the staff under my parents' employ who just so happened to be walking past us in that second.

Eyes widening, the man fumbled to catch them. As Lea turned to head towards the front door, I followed, quirking my eyebrow at him. "What was that?"

"I'm blending in," he flashed a cheeky smile, shoving a hand into one pocket of his jacket. "Whatcha think, do I sound like a rich asshole or what?"

I tipped my head to one side. "...actually, you kind of sounded like my ex."

A snort escaped through his nose. "I'll take that as a yes then."

We walked a couple steps in silence. Then, "That wasn't a valet, by the way."

He froze midstep, looking at me sharply. "What?"

"That was a gardener. My parents don't even have a valet."

"Oh." Lea glanced back over his shoulder, frowning. "...maybe I should go get my keys back then."

I hid a small grin behind my fingers. "Maybe you should."

Waiting politely, I watched him jog back towards the worker to do just that, along with offering what looked to be quite the humble apology. "Got 'em!" he declared once he'd rejoined me, flinging them up into the air before catching them again to slip into his pocket. "So even a proper gent like your old man feels the need to prove what a hot, young stud he still is, eh? Wouldn't of thought him the type."

"What?" I blinked a couple times. Where'd that come from?

He tossed his chin back towards his vehicle. More specifically, at the few other cars he'd parked next to. "I recognize Anna's Porsche over there, but that blue Ferrari reeks of midlife crisis."

"...that's my car." Then I grimaced and amended, "Rather, was my car."

"Huh?" he looked taken aback. "You drive? Since when?"

I gave a small shrug, "Since always."

"Then why're you always having me n' your roomies chauffeur you around? Not that I mind..."

"I don't have a car or the funds to purchase one." He wordlessly jerked his thumb back towards the Ferrari, face blank. I sighed, "My parents bought me that. It didn't feel right keeping it after… everything. Not with me trying to separate myself from them and make it on my own. No, I plan to buy my own once I've saved up enough."

"Shit, still shoulda kept it," Lea said and I gave him a dull look. He hastily waved a hand in front of him, "Even if ya didn't want it, you coulda sold it and made bank before giving all that munny away to charity. Ya know, just so you could really stick it to your folks."

Shaking my head with a soft chuckle, I started walking towards the entrance again. "Let's just get on with this."

"Aye aye, Capitaine," he gave me a two-fingered salute, catching up to me with his long strides.

Feeling my chest start to constrict as we drew nearer to those doors, I blew out a soft, slow breath. "I hope we're not late. I shouldn't have let you talk me into that salon visit after we got off work."

"What, you needed something to help ya relax and a quick spa day was just the ticket! 'Sides, I wanted to make myself all pretty for this! Whaddya think?" He stretched his arm out before us both, fingers wiggling to show off his fresh coat of black nail polish. "If this doesn't impress your folks and tell 'em what a man of sophisticated tastes I am, I dunno what will!"

I snorted. "I think my father is more of a mauve man himself."

"Really? Crap, you shoulda said something! I'd have asked for a matching color so he and I could be twinsies! Shucks," he snapped his fingers, "missed opportunity."

Coming to a stop on the doorstep, I reached for the bell, but my fingers hesitated.

This was so strange. I'd lived here. Spent my childhood here. I'd never had to use the doorbell before.

...why did the idea of doing so now seem so hard?

A sudden warmth enveloped my other hand. I looked down to discover Lea was holding it. He gave it a small squeeze as he said softly, "Hey. Whatever happens in there, just know I'm here for you."

I felt a small stutter in my chest as a tiny smile tugged at my lips. "...thank you," I murmured, squeezing back before looking to the doorbell once more. Taking a deep, calming breath, I pushed the button at last and a heavy chime could be heard within.

While we waited, a glimmer of something at Lea's waist caught my eye and I turned to see what it was. A crease formed between my eyebrows. "...is that… a wallet chain?"

How had I missed that thing until now?

"Hm?" he followed my gaze. "Oh! Yup! Heh, thought it might really pull the whole look together! Do I look like a punkass bad boy now or what?"

"Or what," I fixed him with a deadpan stare. "You look ridiculous."

He splayed a hand against his chest in mock offense. "Rude. Can't believe you'd talk to your pulse like that."

Face warming, I hung my head. "...I'm never going to hear the end of that, am I?"

"Nope!" he grinned wickedly.

"Would you just take that silly thing off?"

"No can do, sweetcheeks! Boys like to accessorize too, ya know," he sniggered, giving the chain a little twirl. "Just be grateful I left the spiked choker in the glove compartment."

"Spi-?!" I spluttered over the word before managing a scoff and crossing my arms. "Oh, trust me, I am. The point is to get my parents to back off, not to send them into cardiac arrest!"

...huh… Lea in a spiked choker…

"You're trynta imagine what I'd look like wearing it now, aren't ya?" he'd hunched down beside me to whisper into my ear with a smirk.

My cheeks burned so hot, you could have roasted marshmallows on the damn things.

"...am not."

I was almost grateful when the door swung open just then. And also a little surprised, because the face that greeted me wasn't that of my parents' house maid Gerda.

No, instead it was that of a pale, wide-eyed, huffing and puffing Anna.

(With Gerda right behind her, looking quite harried and put out by the fact that my sister had stolen her job.)

"Elsa!" she cried out in relief. "Finally! What took you so long?!"

Furrowing my brow, I began, "Anna? What-?"

"No time! Get." She lunged towards me. "In here." Her hands seized my shoulders. "Now!" I was forcibly yanked inside.

I heard the door booming shut behind me and could only hope that Lea had managed to slip in himself in time as well. Gripping my sister's arms, I tried again, "What's going on? We couldn't be more than a few minutes la-"

Her hand suddenly shot out to squeeze my cheeks together between her thumb and fingers, squishing my face and effectively silencing me. "Shush! No talkie! Only listen! Oh, it's bad, Sis. Really, really bad! It's him! He's here! Like, here here! Right friggin' now!"

"Who's here?" I asked, tugging my face free of her vice-like grip and working my jaw. I knit my eyebrows together at Gerda, who was frantically circling us as she kept trying and failing to get a word in edgewise. "The Duke? I already knew-"

"No! Not the Duke! Of course not, he won't be here until tomorrow! Gah! You know, Sis, sometimes you can be really-" Anna cut herself off in a tiny snarl, fingers curling in front of her to strangle empty air. "Ugh! Anyway, it's- I didn't- It was just- Out of nowhere- Mom and Dad, they- He- His-"

"I think she's trying to tell us something. What is it, Lassie? Timmy trapped in the well again?" Lea snerked as he let our luggage fall to the foyer floor beside his boots.

Ignoring him, I gently rubbed my hands up and down Anna's arms. "Breathe. Calm down. Take a minute to gather your thoughts."

"People!" she suddenly blurted out, startling me a bit. "Lots of them! Loads of them! So many people!"

I frowned. "People? Where? You mean here, now?"

She shook her head rapidly, "No, no, no, no! Not now people! Future people! Tomorrow people! And… and caterers! And musicians! And decorators and, and, and him! He's- Right now, he's- just down the hall, he's- he's-"

"Who, Anna? Who?" I insisted.

Her hands violently shook me, "Him!"

Right. Thanks, Sis. Big help you are.

Why was she like this?

The maid finally managed to pipe in, "What Miss is trying to tell you is that your-"

"Got it, Gerda, thanks!" Anna huffed out with a tiny scowl. Then she took in a deep breath, preparing to say something.

"Crap, I think that dude just robbed us," Lea chimed in first.

Holding a finger up to Anna, I whipped my head around to see what he was talking about: an older gentleman in a black suit walking briskly away with our bags. "Oh, that's just Kai."

Lea cocked an eyebrow at me, "The robber's name is Kai?"

"No, the butler's name is Kai."

"Why would the butler rob us?"

"He's not robbing us, he's just taking our things up to our room." I blanched. "Rooms." Plural. As in more than one. My parents would never, not in a million years, have put Lea and me in the same room under their roof… right? Oh gosh, why was the possibility only just now occurring to me? "He's, uh… he's p-putting them where we'll be staying. Separately. As in, not together. Completely and one hundred percent apart," I (overly) clarified, fighting that blush I felt creeping up my neck now.

Anna suddenly grabbed my head with both hands and forced me to look at her again, grounding out through her teeth, "You're. Not. Listening to me!" Then with a grumbling sigh, she snagged my hand in hers and started dragging me down one of the many corridors that branched off from the foyer. "Come on, we better hurry, they're probably wondering what's taking so long."

Gerda squeaked and scurried after us. "Right this way, please, and I'll see you to the Marigold Room where your hosts await your presence!" she awkwardly trilled, trying to maintain some semblance of performing her duties despite Anna's continued interference.

A whistle from Lea confirmed he was following as well. "Lemme guess. The Duke in the conservatory with the candlestick."

"Wha-?" my voice faltered as my feet tripped trying keep up with Anna, only barely managing to keep myself upright.

He grinned down at me as he strode along, shrugging. "This whole place is a legit, life-sized Clue board. Just trynta play the game here."

I stumbled again. "Ow, Anna! Not so hard. What is the rush?"

Not slowing down, she glanced back at me over her shoulder. "Come on, Elsa, think! What day is it?"

"Uh…" Was this a trick question? "...Friday?"

A low, agitated noise emitted from her throat. "No, what day?"

I squinted up at the ceiling in thought. "...the seventh?"

"Yes!" she spun around to tap her nose excitedly, her feet still moving backwards. "Which would make tomorrow…?"

"The eighth." Lost by this line of questioning? I know I was.

"Of?" she pressed. "What month, Elsa?"

"The eighth of… oh!" It finally clicked and I staggered again, my eyes growing round. "...oh no. It's his birthday. Oh gosh, he's here?! Right now?!"

"Yes! Finally! Thank you!" Anna cried out in exasperation.

"Who?" Lea asked, both eyebrows shooting up his forehead at my sudden change of attitude.

"It's-" I began, but that one word was all I got out before Anna took a sudden sharp turn, yanking me into the Marigold Room with her and bringing us face to face with-

"Grandfather!" I breathed, feet faltering as Anna brought us both to a sudden and jerky stop before him.

He cut an imposing figure, my grandfather. Tall, like father, and with the same red hair too that had been passed down to Anna. His however bore prominent streaks of grey at his temples - really the only sign of him getting on in years as he otherwise looked remarkably good for a man of his age. Still fit as a fiddle, barrel-chested, with a strong, square jaw and a sharp, piercing gaze.

A gaze that was so cold right now that I didn't know how I wasn't frozen into solid ice on the spot.

Anna had been wrong.

This wasn't bad.

This was catastrophic.

Because my grandfather? Not exactly the nicest person. Remember what my father had been like? Well, just think - he'd had to learn it from somewhere. And next to Grandfather, my father seemed warm and cuddly. Like sunshine and rainbows. Heck, Father was as friggin' teletubby by comparison to the man who'd raised him. Grandfather was cut from the same cloth as his brother, the Duke. The epitome of old fashioned and proper etiquette. The thing was, where the Duke was all bluster and tantrums, Grandfather just got quiet when he was angry. Like... really, really quiet. An ominous kind of quiet. A bone-chilling kind of quiet. Whenever Grandfather stopped talking, that's when I really got scared of the man.

No, scratch that. That was when I got petrified of the man.

So the fact that he was just staring down his nose at me right now, eyes narrowed, lips set into a grim, disapproving line, and not uttering a single word? Would have been enough to turn my hair stark white if it weren't pretty damn close already.

And to make matters worse? Mother and Father stood not five feet behind him looking rather unamused with me themselves.

Oh gosh, this wasn't going to be some pleasant, little family gathering.

This was going to be an execution. Mine, to be exact.

Gerda suddenly appeared off to one side, panting to catch her breath and making a hasty curtsy towards my parents and grandfather before announcing, "Elsa and her guest have arrived."

...thanks, Gerda. I think they figured that out already.

I watched as she turned and hurried to make her exit before reluctantly returning my gaze to Grandfather. Still, he said nothing. Just arched one bushy eyebrow at me and waited.

Oh fudge, he wanted me to be the first one to speak? Where do I even begin? What do I even say? Could I even talk right now? I don't think I could, not with how heavy my tongue suddenly felt, like it had turned into solid lead. What was I supposed to do here? How-

Suddenly, I felt it. A hand. Lea's hand, slipping across the small of my back and coming to rest on my hip, pulling me gently into his side. "Aren'tcha gonna introduce me, babe?" he asked, voice low and sugary-sweet as he grinned and pressed a kiss to my temple.

Grandfather's thick mustache gave a little twitch.

That's all it took for me to know. Not thirty seconds into this and there was absolutely zero doubt in my mind.

Before this weekend was out, Grandfather was going to murder Lea.

Inhaling and exhaling, I wrung my hands together and somehow figured out how to do this thing called 'talking' once again. "F-Father, you've already had the, uh… the pleasure, but Grandfather, Mother… this… this is…" I screwed my eyes shut, trying to steel myself.

Come on, Elsa, you can do this. Just one word. Just one measly, little word.

"This is my boooooo-" What was this? What was I doing here? "-oooooooooooooooo-" Why was I stretching the syllable out so friggin' long? What, had I gotten stuck? "-oooooooooooooo-" Dear god, how was there this much oxygen in my lungs? "-oooooooooo-" I didn't think there was even this much oxygen on the whole planet, much less inside my lungs. "-oooyyyyyyy-" Oh good. Progress. At this rate, I'd complete the word sometime this century. "-yyyyyyyyy-"

Anna, my divine saviour and blessed angel of mercy, jabbed her elbow into my gut.

"-friend!" I finished at last with a cough. "Boyfriend. This is my...my boyfriend. Yes. This is he. He is this." A beat. Then, "Lea! By the way. His name, that is. Yup. Lea the Boyfriend. My boyfriend. That's right, Lea is my boyfriend. My boyfriend is-"

"I think they get it, Sis," Anna hissed quietly out of the corner of her plastered-on smile.

Gee, I was getting so good at this whole lying thing, wasn't I?

"Pleased to meet ya, Gramps," Lea stretched out a hand towards him.

Grandfather didn't take it. Instead, he just stared long and hard at it. At the black nail polish and rings adorning it. Finally, he lifted his chin with a sniff and straightened his already ramrod posture even further. "That'll be Sir to you, young man."

"Oo, how formal. Whatever you say," he retracted his hand with a smirk, "Sir Gramps."

This had been a mistake, using Lea as my rent-a-boyfriend.

Actually… no, mistake would be an understatement. This was a powder keg and Lea was a goddamn burning match.

Pushing past my now rigidly stiff grandfather, Lea approached my parents next. "Pops, always a pleasure. Ma'am," he took my mother's hand in his to politely press his lips to the back of it, "lovely to make your acquaintance."

She looked slightly taken aback, blue eyes widening. However, Mother recovered quickly, delicately plucking her fingers from his grip to smooth at the tight bun her brown hair was currently up in before primly folding her hands together just below her waist. When she smiled, it was gracious but tight. "As it is yours," there was a briefest of pauses before she tacked on a hesitant, "Lea. Please, take a seat. Dinner should be ready shortly, but would anyone like a drink prepared while we wait?"

I was relieved to hear Lea answer with, "I'm good, thanks." Because a return of Wine Tipsy Lea was by far the very last thing this situation needed right now. As I declined as well, a quick look around brought to my attention the fact that we were the only two not partaking as it seemed the others had already started before we'd gotten here. Mother and Father were sipping at what looked to be some sort of dark red cabernet, while Anna retrieved her own glass and moved towards the mini bar to refill it - most likely with something sweet, fruity and potent enough to bring down an elephant, knowing her. On the low table around which all the seats gathered was a sturdy glass full of ice and an amber liquid. Probably Grandfather's. Probably bourbon.

I shifted over towards the sofa opposite the table from my parents and all three of us took a seat at the same time. Lea joined me soon after, slipping his arm around my shoulders as he flumped down into the cushions beside me. Grandfather, however, hadn't budged from where he stood since we'd entered the room. Not one inch. "Father," was all my father said to him - partially warning, partially pleading.

Grandfather's mustache twitched again and his left eye ticked. But then he moved to sit down in the armchair in front of the bourbon, snatching up the glass and sullenly nursing it.

Dear lord, this was a nightmare. No, this was Hell. That had to be it - I'd died and was now in my own little corner of the Underworld specifically designed and crafted to torture me in the cruelest way possible. I could already feel the stress burning an ulcer into my stomach and no amount of Lea's fingers lightly trailing up and down my arm would calm me down.

There was no point in putting it off, right? I should just do it now. Bring up the thing that was on all of our minds but no one was talking about. You know, the thing. The wedding thing… or rather, the whole lack of the wedding thing. I should just get this over with. Rip the bandaid off. Getting it all out in the open now had to be better than this. Anything had to be better than this… right?

Hands fidgeting furiously in my lap and this close to dislocating a finger, I licked my dry lips and managed to find my voice. "Perhaps now… we should discuss what exactly h-happened on… on my-"

"That is a topic that would be best saved for later," Father talked over me, his stern voice cutting me off. "Let us speak of other things right now."

My head rocked back at that, my forehead wrinkling. I flicked my gaze over to Grandfather briefly - who was still stewing quietly over his drink - then back to my parents. "But I thought-"

"Now's not the time, Elsa," Mother insisted firmly. "This is not a discussion that will be brief, nor will it be suitable to have over dinner. Besides, your father and I will have our hands full preparing for the party tomorrow evening, so this is a conversation that will just have to wait until the day after."

A frown tugged at my lips. "You're hosting a party?"

"For Grandfather's birthday," Anna plopped down onto the sofa beside me, freshened drink in hand. "Since, ya know, it's such a huge one. The big seven-oh. The whole family is going to be there to celebrate. And I mean, the whole family," she shot me a pointed look over the rim of her glass as she took a swig.

Oh. So that's what she'd meant earlier by "tomorrow people."

Why couldn't she have been this articulate when she'd greeted me at the door?

Mother added, "You are, of course, invited to attend the celebration as well, Lea. I know Father would be thrilled for you to join us."

Uh-huh. Sure. Grandfather looked positively pleased as punch over there at the very prospect.

"Sounds like a blast, count me in," Lea grinned.

Alright so… the birthday soirée would be tomorrow, then The Talk™ would be the day after. Roughly two days… forty-eight hours of waiting and worrying and dreading and- oh dear, I had to wonder what the world record for longest sustained panic attack might be. Start the timer, I was about to shatter that sucker.

A hush fell over the room, with the only sound coming from the clinking of the ice in Grandfather's drink accompanied by the ticking of the ancient but well-kept longcase clock in the corner. The ticking seemed to get louder with each passing second.

After one painfully long minute, Mother was finally the one to break the silence. "So Lea," she began, her eyes intent on him, "please… tell us a little about yourself."

"Where to even begin? Lessee here." Uh oh. I didn't like that little gleam he had in his eye as he rubbed a curled finger over his chin. "Well, I guess ya could say I had the kinda childhood every lil tyke dreams about: full of joy and love and the foster system." It was probably a good thing I hadn't gotten a drink because I'd probably be choking on it right now just like my parents were with theirs. "But I mean, with a druggie dad who bought the farm and a druggie mom who split outta my life first chance she got, where else was I s'posed to go?

"As for the rest after that, let's just give ya the highlights." Now he started ticking off his fingers, "College dropout. Ride a motorcycle. In a hardcore death metal band. Smoke ten packs a day." For the love of… he did remember the part about not giving my parents a heart attack, right? "Just got my thirty-day chip from AA - hey, fifth times a charm, right? Oh, I'm also a wanted felon in three different states. Wait…" he squinted one eye, pursing his lips to the left, "...make that four. Always forget about Connecticut. Which reminds me, I need to check in with my parole officer."

"He's joking!" I said quickly with a tiny, nervous laugh.

"Or am I?" he leaned forward in his seat to whisper conspiratorially, eyebrows bouncing. I pinched his arm, forcing a soft tch from him. "But let's not forget the most important thing ya need to know about me: how completely," he kissed my pinky, "and totally," another one for my ring finger, "head over heels," three more, one for each word and each remaining finger, "I am for your daughter."

Alright, you need to cool your jets, cheeks. This was all just part of the show, after all.

A show that was possibly being performed a bit too well. Grandfather's knuckles had gone so white around his glass, I was surprised the poor thing hadn't shattered into a million pieces yet.

Lea tapped his index to his lips now, "Hmmm, what else? Oh! Got a pretty cool story about this gnarly scar my half-brother gave me with a-"

"Anna!" I suddenly burst out, turning towards her at the same time I snagged Lea's hand, keeping him from lifting the hem of his shirt. She froze mid-sip, glancing at me out of the corner of her eyes. "What about you? What's new with you? You have that new boyfriend of yours, right? What about him, will he be joining us this weekend?"

Who me? Trying to change the subject? Psh, I would never!

She winced, averting her gaze and lowering her drink as she traced a finger around the rim. "Oh jeez, my…? Well... he, er… he was going to make it for dinner tonight but… something… unfortunately came up! But he should definitely be here in time for the party tomorrow, so… don't worry! Heh… I- oo, little cheeses!" she cried out excitedly as Gerda abruptly appeared once more to place a small platter of hors d'oeuvres on the coffee table. Anna immediately proceeded to stuff her face with them before pointing at her bulging cheeks and shaking her head, signaling she could no longer talk.

A crease formed between my eyebrows.

Huh… was it just me or was Anna acting kind of weird?

Maybe the tension around the room just had us all on edge, even her. Yeah, that was probably all it was.

"And you, Elsa?" Father's cool tone snapped my attention back to him. Each word that followed was slow and measured, as if he were picking them very carefully, "Tell us how you have been keeping yourself occupied during these past several weeks."

"Oh!" I gnawed on my lower lip, my fingers already tugging at my braid before I'd even realized it. "Well, I've… reconnected with an old friend - you remember Rayne from when I went to summer camp? Well she's married now with a baby on the way, can you imagine? And… and I've gotten myself a place to live and have found a job and-"

-and auditioned for a musical.

That was what I'd been about to tell them. However when I tried, the words got caught in my throat.

I knew they'd disapprove. That they'd probably scoff and wonder why I was still wasting my time on such childish, useless things. But it wasn't childish or useless, at least not to me. To me, the audition had been so important, had brought me so much happiness. I didn't want to give my parents the chance to belittle and ridicule it. I didn't want them to take this thing that was so special away from me.

So instead I released my braid and folded my hands in my lap, sitting up a little straighter as I simply said, "...and that's it really."

I could sense Lea's eyes on me. I think he knew what I'd purposely omitted. Thankfully, he kept his mouth shut about it.

"So… Lea…" Grandfather spoke up suddenly, his voice dangerously low and making me flinch. "I hear you're in the…" his lip curled in a slight sneer, "...pizza business? Is that right?"

Smirking back, he slouched a bit more comfortably into his seat. "That's right. I sling dough at a lil pizza joint in the local mall food court. Great place by the name of Pizza Planet… you ever been?"

His jaw clenched ever so slightly. "No, can't say that I have. But this... Pizza Planet," he said it like those were the two most offensive words in the english language, "...is that where you see yourself working for the rest of your life?"

Lea chuckled, his hand batting the air, "Nah, that'd just be silly! No, I won't be selling pizza forever." His mouth curved into a cheshire grin, "Instead I'll be selling ice cream."

"He plans to own his own business, Grandfather," I hastily clarified.

"His own business… selling ice cream," he growled, pointer finger incessantly tapping against his glass now. "And this is how you would plan to provide for and take care of my granddaughter."

"Pardon me, Sir Gramps," there was a hint of an edge to Lea's voice now, despite his unwavering smile, "but I was under the impression that your granddaughter was her own person fully capable of taking care of herself."

You know that chilling, goosebump-inducing, hackles-raising energy you can feel crackling in the air right before a devastating storm strikes and ravages the land?

That was exactly how it felt right now in the space between Grandfather and Lea.

Luckily, Gerda appeared in the nick of time to divert the tempest by announcing, "Dinner is ready!"

"Thank you, Gerda," Mother had stood in the blink of an eye and was already making her way over to Grandfather. "If you would be so kind as to escort me, Father?"

His hard, unblinking gaze was still on Lea and for a second it seemed like he hadn't even heard her. But at last he tore his eyes away with a harrumph and put his drink back down on the table with a sharp, audible clink. "Of course, my dear," he said evenly as he rose from his own chair, offering her his arm and leading her out of the room.

I turned to Anna, but before I could say anything she'd already bolted up and around the table to grab both of Father's hands in hers. "C'mon, Dad! Walk me to dinner too!" she yanked him up, startling a soft grunt out of him as he staggered to his feet. Then she was hooking her arm through his elbow and all but dragging him out of the room with her.

What the…?

...maybe Anna was just super hungry?

"I think that went really well!" Lea chirped, giving me a thumbs up.

I merely drooped my eyelids at him and said nothing.

Later that night found me in my old bedroom. I'd deduced this was where I was expected to sleep, seeing as how this was where Kai had deposited my luggage. As suspected, Lea had been set up in one of the guest rooms further down the hall, so it was just me alone in here now.

It felt odd being back in this room. Just like it'd felt odd returning to my parent's home or going back to my old condo. I don't know, I guess I just didn't feel like I... belonged here anymore. Like I was some piece that everyone else was trying to force into the wrong puzzle, even though my edges didn't fit and the picture didn't match at all.

Sighing, I shifted in my chair to face the mirror on my vanity once more - this one a lot nicer than the one we'd scrounged up for my room back at the apartment I shared with Rayne and Riku, as you might imagine. Having just finished combing out my hair, I set my brush aside and my fingers idly went to work on rebraiding as my thoughts began to wander.

Dinner had ended up just being the sequel to drinks in the Marigold Room. My parents had continued to try and maintain some semblance of being hospitable hosts while keeping up strained conversation. Grandfather had continued to be a seething ball of barely-held-in-check fury and I don't think he'd said more than two words for the rest of the evening. Lea had continued to… well, be Lea. And as for my sister…

I quite honestly had no idea what was going on with her. Maybe it was just my imagination but it seemed every time I'd tried to talk to her, something else had always gotten in the way. Like I'd open my mouth to speak but before I could so much as make a peep, she'd already engaged Mother or Father in some new topic. Or I'd ask her a question only to have her look at me, lips pursed shut against a mouth full of food and shoulders shrugging. There was even one time where all I'd said was her name before she'd accidentally knocked over her drink. At least, I thought it'd been accidental… unless...

Could it be that she was... purposely avoiding talking to me? Had I done something to upset her? I couldn't even begin to think what. Last I'd seen her a week ago, she'd been fine. Everything had been normal between us. What could have possibly changed since?

...maybe I was just reading too much into it. It was probably just a lot of coincidence and poor timing. In fact-

There was a knock at my door just then.

Ha! Bet you that was her now. See? Nothing to worry about, I'd just been overthinking it all. Tying off my completed braid, I rose to answer the door.

And indeed, it was a redhead that I found waiting in the corridor on the other side.

Just not the redhead I'd been expecting.

"Lea?" I frowned, both my eyebrows rising.

He snerked, "Yeesh, don't act too excited to see me."

"What? No, I'm- You're just not who I-" I pressed my lips shut, heaving a small sigh through my nose. "...nevermind. What brings you here?"

"Brought ya something," he grinned and for the first time, I realized he was hiding his hands behind his back. "May I come in?"

My head tipped to the right. "Uh...sure," I opened the door wider, my bare feet stepping off to one side as I absently smoothed at my dress - the same one from dinner. Lea had arrived just before I'd been about to change for bed.

He was still in his earlier clothes as well, though he'd left behind his boots and jacket. I couldn't help but notice he hadn't taken that cute little half-tail out of his hair yet. I also couldn't help but notice the way he carefully managed to keep whatever he had behind him out of sight, even as he walked past me into the room. I closed the door and when I faced him, he hunched down to my eye level, "Ya ready?"

I crossed one hand over my abdomen and gestured with the other for him to continue.

"Ta-da!" he brought one hand forward now, revealing a little black strip lined with sharp, metal points dangling from the clasp pinched between his fingertips.

That's right. It was the spiked collar.

...whatever I'd been expecting, it hadn't been this.

My eyes blinked once. Then twice. "...you were serious? You actually have one of those?"

"Course! What, didja think I was lying? I'm offended, madame," he hmphed, putting his free hand to his breast.

I snorted with a roll of my eyes, "Well no, not lying, but more so just joking."

"I never joke about studded leather," he waggled his eyebrows at me.

Nose crinkling, I delicately poked a finger into one of the spikes. "Alright, so why exactly are you showing me this?"

Lea smirked and shrugged. "Your curiosity just seemed so piqued when I mentioned it earlier."

I gave him a flat look. "It was not piqued."

"Keep telling yourself that," he chuckled then paused, eyes crinkling. "...so you wanted to know what it looked like on me, right?"

Cheeks lightly toasted now, I scowled, "I never said-"

He wrapped the thing around his neck, holding it in place with a hand instead of fastening the tiny buckle in back.

Oh.

Oh, I see.

...it was, um… hrm, it was… interesting.

Damn it, face, be cool. That goes double for you, heart! Don't go thinking I can't hear that racket you're making down there!

"Well, I guess that's one mystery solved," was all I said as I glanced away, hand coming up to cover one cheek in a vain attempt to hide the growing blush.

"Glad I could be of service," he murmured as he (mercifully) removed the collar from his throat once more.

"...why do you even own one?" I asked, hesitantly reaching for the accessory now.

He let me take it from him. "Just a relic from my pissed-off, rebellious juvenile delinquent days that I managed to dig up again recently. What a punkass lil poser I was back then, huh?" he hummed a tiny laugh as he looked down at his feet, lightly scuffing one against the carpet.

Intrigued by it now, I turned it over in my hands as he spoke before taking it over to the mirror on my vanity. "I suppose we all try to find different ways to express ourselves when we're young. Just a part of growing up and figuring out who we are," I said distractedly as I watched my reflection bring the choker up to encircle her neck, tilting her head slightly to the left with a thoughtful frown.

"Well I guess that'd make me a-" whatever quip he'd had locked and loaded was forever lost as he made a sudden strangled, choking noise.

I looked over at him sharply, brow furrowing as I lowered the spiked collar once more. "You okay? What happened?"

His fist thumped his chest as he fought for breath, which was making his face red. "N-nothing," he wheezed, rapidly shaking his head. "Just oxygen, man. That shit'll kill ya, am I right? Heh."

I squinted at him dubiously.

Lea was such a weirdo sometimes.

He averted his gaze now, rubbing at the back of his neck. "You, uh… that choker looked good on ya. Like really, really good."

"You think so?" I frowned down at where it rested in my palm before holding it out to him, "I'll just have to take your word for it."

"Keep it," he grinned, pushing my hand back towards me. "Ya never know when you'll need one for an impromptu angry goth phase."

I smiled at that, "I think I'm in the clear. Isn't that more of a teenager thing?"

"Please. Angry goth isn't an age, it's a state of mind."

"If you say so," I snorted, but put the choker down on my vanity. I had to wonder what my parents might say if they ever discovered it in here with the rest of my things.

"So," he piped up once more, pulling my attention back to him, "this is the bedroom that sweet lil El grew up in, huh?"

As I watched Lea take a few steps further in now, it suddenly occurred to me... this was the first time a boy had ever been in my bedroom. And not just any boy - this was my crush.

Wow… it felt so highschool when I put it that way.

To be fair though, this wasn't an experience I'd ever got to have while I was actually in highschool.

Better late than never, I suppose?

I only wish it didn't make me want to squirm so much as his eyes roved over everything in here, from the big, purple, gauzy canopy bed to the embellished, oversized wardrobe and matching dresser set. From the cushy, inset bench beneath a grand window in the unique shape of a triangle to the tall, antique shelves of neatly arranged novels and DVD cases of old musicals and plays. From the small sitting area in one corner furnished with plush red chairs to the vintage Broadway posters hanging from the walls in expensive frames.

The room was not small by any means, but him being in it somehow seemed to make it shrink. Like here was this big guy that had somehow found his way into a cutesy little dollhouse room. The comparison did not make me want to fidget any less.

Trying to take my mind off it, I began, "So… earlier at drinks and dinner, did you really have to be so…" I bit down on my bottom lip, trying to find the right word. "...just so, ah…"

"So much of a grade-A jackass?" he suggested brightly. Not exactly the word I would have used, but still, I gave a slow nod and he laughed. "Remember, the whole point was for me to be a total hooligan so they didn't just think me some pushover they could boss around or scare off. Think they got that message loud and clear. 'Sides, pushing every last button of the girlfriend's folks is kinda a hallmark of being a classic bad boy."

My fingers found their way to my braid, running up and down it. "But there's a big difference between pushing a few buttons and having a deathwish."

"Aw, how sweet, you worried about lil ol' me, El?" He paused briefly in his casual perusal of my room to glance my way, flashing me that cursed dimple of his, "I'm so flattered."

I shook my head, "I just think you didn't have to go to such extremes or be quite so-"

"Gotta question for ya," he interjected, coming over to stand in front of me. "Say I had showed up on my very best behavior. The perfect gentleman, minded all my P's and Q's and was just the saintliest boyfriend to ever saint. Do you think your family would be singing my praises right about now?"

My eyes shifted about and I tried weakly, "...well… maybe if-"

"Do you truly, honestly believe that your family would ever accept a white trash lil nobody like me dating their precious princess of a daughter?" he pressed quietly yet firmly.

I tucked in my lower lip, hesitating for a long moment before a tiny grimace twisted my face and I mumbled, "Probably not, no."

Lea gave a little smile that almost seemed a touch sad before he turned away once more, returning his attention to exploring the bedroom. "Thought so. I was screwed the second I so much as dared to breathe the same air as your gramps. So if they're all gonna hate my guts whether I play the part of boy scout or hoodlum, might as well go with door numeros dos and at least have some fun while I'm at it," he chuckled.

"Fine, I see your point," I crossed my arms with a frown. "But still, you might want to tone it back just a smidge. Grandfather has munny and connections. He can seriously make you disappear."

A snerk. "I'd like to see him try. I'm one tough son of a bitch to get rid of," he muttered as he neared my bed now, reaching out a hand to poke some of the draping aside as he peeked in, "Trust me, no one axes me that easily, got it memorized? He's in for one rude awakening if he thinks he can just- gah!" he stumbled back in surprise, blinking a couple times before shifting the canopy again for a second look. "The fuck is that ugly lil bastard?!"

I rushed over, snatching up the stuffed plushie sitting atop my neatly made bed and hugging it close as I glared at Lea. "It's a snowman and shush, he's cute! Cuter than you anyway!"

His horrified gaze darted from me to the doll and back. "Dear god, I hope not!"

Sitting down on my mattress, I spun the little guy around in my lap for a better look at him - it'd probably been at least four-some-odd years since I'd last seen the plush, after all. And okay, sure, I could admit he probably wouldn't be winning any beauty contests any time soon, but give the poor, stuffed snowman a break! I had had him since I was a baby and he had had to endure more than one stitch repair job, especially with what a destructive little toddler Anna had been. Despite all that, I still thought him rather handsome with a unique, quirky charm to him.

Giving Lea a flat look and hitching my chin, I said dryly, "My statement stands."

"Wow, guess it's true what they say, beauty really is in the eye of the beholder," he grumbled, narrowing his gaze on the plushie as I snuggled it close to me once more. But then one corner of his lips quirked up and he bowed down to look me in the eye, tipping his head to one side as he murmured, "Hope I at least rate a close second."

Resident cheeks be advised: flash fire warnings are now in effect.

I held my tongue and just glanced away.

The corners of his eyes crinkled as he straightened back up and shoved his hands into his pockets. "So… about that big party tomorrow…"

Thank goodness, a new topic! "What about it?"

Shrugging, Lea said, "Just wanna know what to expect."

My fingers idly stroked at the snowman's head - the fabric still felt soft after all these years, even if it had taken on more of a dull gray color by now as opposed to its original pristine, snowy white. "Well… it'll probably be held in our ballroom-"

"This small palace has a freaking ballroom too?" He shook his head with a snort, "I was kidding before, but this place really is just one big damn Clue board."

Rolling my eyes, I continued, "And it'll probably be packed with all our relatives. Believe me, there are a lot of us on both sides of the family. Acquaintances too. Honestly, it'll most likely all be rather boring. Just a whole lot of mingling, maybe a speech or two, and an over abundance of food accompanied by music."

"Music…" he repeated, frowning up at the ceiling now as one hand went to the nape of his neck, tugging at the little hairs there. "So that mean there'll be dancing? Like… the fancy kind?"

I cocked my head at him. "Are you worried about having to waltz?" Resting my stuffed doll against my pillows, I stood up, "I can teach you if you'd like."

He blinked at me, expression unreadable. Then, "Alright."

I stepped over to stand before him. Now that I got close, I was reminded of just how freakishly tall the man was. My stomach did a little somersault at that and I was already regretting this decision. But it was too late to turn back now. Beating the blush back, locking it up and throwing away the key, I schooled my face into seriousness.

I was going to handle this like a professional, damnit!

"It's fairly simple really, and you've probably seen more than your fair share of it in those sappy movies you like so much. Our hands come together, like this," I joined my right with his left, holding them up to one side. "While your other hand goes…" gingerly taking his wrist in my grasp, I tentatively guided his palm to rest on my hip, hoping the action didn't seem as awkward as it had felt, "...right there." Finally, I settled my left hand on his shoulder and looked up the few inches that separated us.

Big mistake.

Jeez, having eyes as green and beautiful and heart spasm-inducing as his should've been illegal!

And being surrounded by his warm, cinnamony boy scent was not helping matters one bit.

I hastily broke eye contact, opting to look down at our toes instead. Toes are nice. Toes are safe. "It's, uh... it's very easy. You just take steps in the shape of a square. Watch my feet and follow along, I'll go slow. Forward with your left foot first," I took a step back and he moved with me, "then to the side with your right… now bring them together… Good. Then back with your right… out with your left… and together again." I took him through it a few more times without issue. "See? Simple. You're already getting the hang of it."

"I just must have a really good teacher," he said in a low hum.

"At this rate I'll soon be the one following your lead instead of… wait," my forehead wrinkled, "...you are already leading." I looked up at him suspiciously. "Did you already know how to ballroom dance?"

He smiled sheepishly, "Heh… guilty?"

"You brat, why did you tell me you didn't?" I laughed, trying to step away from him.

"I said no such thing," his hand shifted from my hip to the small of my back, not letting me escape. To be fair, I didn't try that hard. "You just assumed I didn't know how. And you know what they say when you assume," he teased as he continued to lead me in our little dance.

I scoffed in spite of the upward tug I felt at one side of my mouth. "Where did you even learn to waltz?"

"My lil secret," Lea winked. "But you know the deal. I'd be willing to give it up for one o' yours."

"You want me to give you a secret?" My eyes darted to the left. "I'm not sure I even have anymore…"

He snerked, pulling me ever so slightly closer to him. "Now I know I don't believe that. You must be able to think of at least one."

...actually yes. There was… at least one more I could think of…

That of certain feelings I was having for a certain redhead.

Sensing a small, familiar heat creeping up into my face, I cleared my throat and shook my head, still not meeting his gaze. "No… no I don't think so. Pretty sure I'm all tapped out."

He dipped his head down next to mine and I could feel him smirking against my ear as he whispered, "You wouldn't be lying to me now, would you?"

His warm breath tickled and I had to suppress a shiver. Conceal, don't feel. Don't let him know. I finally looked at him with a small, playful smile that I hoped didn't betray my hammering heart. "Come now… does this look like the face of someone who'd lie to you?"

Lea bit back a tiny, crooked grin as his eyes hooded, his thumb tracing small circles against the fabric of my dress. Then his lips parted, about to speak.

That was when, for the second time that night, a knock came at my door.

That must be Anna. Smile widening as I continued to stare up at Lea, I called out, "Come in."

I heard it open followed by a soft, "Oh!" that caused me to pale and my feet to stumble.

That wasn't the sound of my sister's voice.

My head whipped towards it as I stammered, "M-Mother!" This time when I attempted to break free of Lea's hold, he let me.

She stood there, posture perfect and hands clasped together in front of her. "Sorry, I didn't think you already had company."

"S'okay, I was just leaving," Lea said before pressing a tender kiss to my forehead. "Night," he told me, voice low as his fingers tucked some of my hair behind my ears. Apparently, he couldn't just depart without giving me one final whammy of the warm fuzzies. Jerkface. "Ma'am," he nodded to my mother as he walked past her towards my door, closing it behind him on his way out.

My gaze followed his exit before drifting over to my vanity right beside the door.

More specifically, to the spiked collar still resting on top of it.

Fudge. Had I wondered what my parents' reaction would be if they ever discovered it in here? Yes. Did I particularly need to find out the answer to that little question this very night? Hell no!

Luckily Mother hadn't seemed to notice it on her way in and her back was currently to it as she said, "That young man is… quite the character."

Funny. That's what Father had said. Almost verbatim. I wondered if my parents rehearsed these things.

"He, uh…" I sidled past her, putting myself between her and the choker, blocking her line of sight to it. Then I forced an innocent smile and a weak chuckle, "...he makes me happy."

If she thought my movements strange, she was good at hiding it. "And he seems very fond of you."

"Ah… yes, I suppose so." I casually leaned back against the piece of furniture and slipped a hand behind me, discreetly moving the offending item into one of the vanity's small drawers.

Whew! Mission Hide The Goth Contraband was a success!

The small feeling of victory swiftly waned however and I frowned. "Mother, I…" I began, only to find I had no idea what to say to her.

I hadn't had any idea for years now.

It had not always not always been like this. In fact when I'd been very little, I'd felt like I could share anything and everything with her. She'd been my biggest supporter in all things, especially in my love of the performing arts. As I'd always been such a shy child, she'd gone so far as to even encourage the activity, perhaps in the hopes that it would build my confidence and make me more outgoing.

But as I'd grown older, our relationship had changed. She became more aloof and distant. I suspect she and Father had hoped my interest in theater was just a phase, one I'd grow out of eventually. But when it seemed I wasn't going to - not on my own anyway - she'd started taking a sterner approach with me. That's when she stopped being my friend. That's when it became harder to talk to her. And it'd only gotten harder and harder with time. Things were never quite the same between us after that.

She watched me now, patient for me to continue. Worrying my bottom lip between my teeth, I finally settled on, "Why are you here?"

"I would think the answer should be obvious." Her small, gentle smile caught me off guard, but not nearly as much as her now stepping forward to take both my hands in hers. "I wanted a little time alone with my daughter. Away from your father and grandfather... just the two of us."

My breath hitched, my chest constricted, and before I knew it I was blurting out, "I auditioned for a musical."

Her head reeled back slightly and I winced.

Welp. So much for not letting that cat out of the bag.

I swear, mouth, I can't take you anywhere.

Waiting with bated breath, I searched her wide-eyed gaze for any clue as to what she might be thinking. Was she angry? Annoyed? Disappointed? I couldn't tell as her face gave away nothing for several long seconds. Finally though, she tipped her head to one side, "...did it go well?"

I blinked, a crease emerging between my eyebrows. "I, uh… yes, I think it did. But they won't announce casting until next week."

"I see. Well," and here she was smiling again as she leaned in closer to whisper, "we can just keep that our little secret, hm?"

...who was this woman and what had she done with Mother?

I stared at her before slowly nodding. It was all I could do. Words abandoned me at the moment. I hadn't been prepared at all for this.

And I was even less prepared for what came next.

Mother's gaze softened as she brought her hand up, cupping her cool fingers to my cheek. "That must have taken a lot of courage. I'm very proud of you."

My throat tightened and I swallowed past the lump I felt forming in it. I blinked away some tears, my voice hoarse as I somehow managed to get out, "Th-thank you… Mother."

Had I entered some sort of Twilight Zone? If so, I never wanted to leave.

She regarded me kindly for a second more before her expression turned to that of concern. "You look tired. Have you been sleeping well?"

Honestly, I hadn't. The last good night's rest I'd had was the unplanned sleepover in Lea's room. Every night since then was one night closer and closer to this weekend and whatever unspeakable horrors awaited me. Every night had been less and less dreams, replaced by more and more tossing and turning. I'd actually spent all of last night wide awake, just staring up at my ceiling until the sun had at last arisen.

So, naturally, my answer to Mother was, "Yes."

Her quiet tsk said she didn't believe me. "Come here," she turned away, walking towards my bed and lowering herself down onto it. I hugged myself, feet rooted to the spot as I stared after her, bewildered. Sitting back against my pillows and tucking in her legs, her hand patted the spot on the mattress beside her, "Cuddle close, scooch in."

Instantly I was transported back to when I was a little girl. Back to the last time I'd heard her say those words to me. My response was automatic and before I'd realized it, I'd already curled into her side and was resting my head against her shoulder.

She started humming a familiar lullaby. One she had used to sing for me all the time when I was small. It was from my favorite musical, the same one that the song I'd sang in the tryouts had been from.

This was nice. It wouldn't put me to sleep, but still, it was... nice. Comforting. Nostalgic. Her hand was lightly stroking my arm, my hair, my cheek. Then she was trailing the tip of her pinky down the bridge of my nose slowly before bringing it back up to do it again. An old trick she'd used to use to get me to pass out. Cute. That may have worked when I was a child, but I was an adult now. There's no way it could still possibly have the same effect on me now, not in a million-

Within minutes I was out like a light.

Author's Note: Ah, it's finally here! The dreaded weekend with (dun dun dun)… The Parents (TM)! Elsa's spent most of the story in Lea's KH universe, now it's his turn to spend a few chapters in her Frozen world xP Let me tell you, when I was writing outline notes for this whole story, I had very little planned for this arc at first. I had a smattering of a few vague ideas, but hardly enough to fill even so much as one chapter with! But thankfully, Frozen 2 was released, coming to my rescue and giving me a whole new host of Frozen characters to include xD Then the ideas started flowing, thank goodness! Soooooo, more F2 characters to be introduced in the chapters to come! Fun Fact: Elsa's dress this chapter (complete with lil necklace) is loosely based on the dress she wears at the beginning of F2 for the Some Things Never Change song, just picture it shorter (cuz apparently I just want to do that to all her dresses) and with a maybe slightly poofier skirt.

Next chapter, what new trial and tribulations does The Weekend (capital T, capital W) hold in store for our couple? Is there something up with Anna or she just being her normal oddball self? Was there a reason behind Mother's unexpected show of affection? Will there be trouble brewing at Gramps' bday shindig? Just who REALLY is the cuter cutie to ever cute: Lea or Elsa's wonky snowman plushie? Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

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guardiankarenterrier · 4 years

Note

for the ask meme: S. Ready to Call This Love by MIKA, Chat Noir and Nonbinary!Ladybug

(for this ask game)

(my ao3)

She- They come out to Chat Noir first.

He listens to them intently, not interrupting even when they start to wish he would, and when they’ve run out of breath and explanation both he asks tentatively whether they mind if he cuts his patrol short.

The tight, wound feeling in the pit of their stomach gets worse, but they agree anyway even as their spirits plummet.

Chat Noir is their safety net. He’s the one they thought it would be safest to talk to first. For him to listen so attentively only to leave feels like glass shards in their lungs. It feels so much worse than they’d expected that they consider taking it back, laughing it off when they meet up again the next night for patrol.

Chat calls them back that same night, before the sun’s more than a hazy idea on the horizon, and asks to meet up again.

He shows up with a clumsily-made pronoun bracelet.

“I don’t think our suits will let us do pins,” he says sheepishly, eyes darting to them and away before they can get a good look at the emotion in them.

They kind of want to do the same, because they can feel themself beginning to tear up.

Chat Noir notices. His eyes catch and hold this time, going wide with alarm. “My-” He hesitates, then offers almost shyly, “M'theydy?"

That does it. Marinette can’t keep the tears back, but at the alarmed flicker of Chat Noir’s ears they dart towards him and throw their arms around him in a hug.

It takes him a minute to unfreeze and hug them back. It always does- it’s always concerned them that it does, but by their own rules they can’t ask. They can hug him until he seems more used to it, though. "Thank you, kitty."

"Is it too early to tell you I’m enbious of you?” he wonders aloud, and Marinette snorts and hits his chest lightly.

“You dumb cat,” they laugh through their tears, hugging him harder so that he doesn’t think they mean it. “I can’t believe you. I can’t believe I was worried, how did I not know you were going to take this another reason to pun?”

“I looked them up,” Chat Noir admits. “There’s so many." He tilts his head down, his eyes catching theirs as he grins and repeats, "M'theydy.”

They have to let go of him before they find themself squeezing the breath out of him. “I can’t believe you." You’re too good to be true, they finish in the privacy of their own head. They’re not quite ready to say that to him. They might be trying to let go of Adrien now, in bits and pieces and broken hopes, but it’s a slow process.

They suspect they already know how they feel about Chat Noir, but they’re not ready to call it that just yet.

Chat Noir straightens proudly. His tail gives a happy little flick as he grins at them, tentatively. "You don’t mind?"

"From you, Chat?” Marinette says, too relieved that he doesn’t mind to watch what they’re saying too closely. “Never."

They’d thought he’d already looked pleased with himself, but he’s near preening now.

"You did good, kitty,” Marinette assures him, just to be rewarded with the bright flash of his eyes and the quirk to his grin that he only displays when they’re alone. “I’ve just been so nervous about this." They look down at the bracelet he’s given them, turning it over thoughtfully. It’s the kind of beaded bracelet they associate with summer camps but the beads are a kind they’ve never seen before. They look fancier, somehow, than they really ought to.

"You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to."

They look up swiftly. Chat Noir didn’t- didn’t sound right.

He’s not looking back at them. He’s looking down at the roof, one hand rubbing the back of his head. His ears are swivelled towards them, but his tail’s fallen still.

"Why wouldn’t I?" Marinette asks softly, watching as his head jerks up at their tone. "I’d love to show it off."

There’s definitely a blush under his mask.

"I didn’t know if you wanted to be out as Ladybug." His voice has gone very quiet. "I didn’t want to assume anything. I just wanted you to know that it doesn't change anything for me."

Marinette turns the bracelet over again, running their fingers across the letters, before slipping it on and smiling at Chat Noir. It fits perfectly. "I wanted to tell you before anyone else, but I do want to come out as Ladybug." They look away, across the rooftops. They’re well hidden in this part of the city but this is still something they’d prefer to keep private a little longer. "I want to say it’s because I want people to have a nonbinary hero, but it’s not really that. Or not just that, anyway."

"What else is it?” Chat asks, taking a seat on the edge of the roof and looking up at them attentively.

It throws them for a moment. He’s looked at them like this before, but it’s never hit them quite like this.

“LB?” he says, when they don’t respond. “You okay?"

They sigh, slipping down to sit next to him. "I think so." The smile they give him feels weak, but it strengthens in response to the bright look he returns it with. "First step’s the hardest part, right?"

"It’s okay if it’s not." Chat Noir’s voice is soft, more serious than they’re used to hearing him. "Take your time if you need it."

Marinette flounders for a second and then hopes he doesn’t notice. "I don’t want to, really. I’m just-” They sigh, hand returning to their bracelet and fidgeting with it. The beads click together satisfyingly. Knowing Chat, there’s a decent chance that was unintentional, but it’s soothing anyway. “Scared. I��m scared. Coming out as Ladybug feels safer." Their hands drop away again. "Like sleeping with a light on. At least this way I’ll have my mask. You know?"

Chat Noir’s quiet again, but he has his tail in his lap and is running his thumb over the buckle, so Marinette waits for him to speak up.

"Sort of,” he says slowly, and they’re glad they waited. “Transforming is taking the mask off, for me."

Marinette’s always suspected that, but it still saddens them to hear it.

They take a deep breath. "Not for me."

"I know." Chat’s hand finds theirs, twining their fingers together. "Whenever you’re ready." He leans his head against their shoulder, and another smile lights his words. "M'theydy."

#asks and answers #miraculous ladybug #my fanfiction #anonymous #ladynoir #nonbinary ladybug #coming out #do you know how much fun chat noir would have with these puns #hopefully this did the song justice too #i am now very fond of this song

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perditaalottachocolate-blog · 4 years

Text

Oops, I Did It Again!

I can finally share this fic with you here! Or rather share the fact that this was actually my work. How many of you suspected that?

I want to thank all the people who made this event possible and took their time for it to happen! Anyway, this was fun so I hope you liked it, or you will once you read it ;) Check out other fics from the Who’s Who pt. 2 challenge as well, if you haven’t. And now without further ado:

Summary: Oops! Leaving an akuma unattended is not a good idea, especially when you’re Hawkmoth. Gabriel learns it the hard way, inadvertently saving the day in the process. He hadn’t planned to make a habit out of it, but of course when he starts playing with akumas, trying to save his assistant, his son or Adrien’s admirer (who Gabriel’s been trying to akumatize, no to avail), somehow he becomes an accidental hero of Paris. He even manages to knock some sense into his own kin and put an evil Italian girl to shame at the same time. All in a day’s work for Paris’ bravest civilian.

AO3 / fanfiction.net

***

“Adrien, duck!” Gabriel yelled at the top of his lungs.

THUD!

Oops. A boulder the size of a bus smashed to the left of where his son had been just seconds earlier . Gabriel paled at the thought of what could have been had Adrien had slower reflexes. The agility from the fencing and karate workouts apparently paid off.

THUD!

Another rumble reminded him that it was time to run, not ponder upon the various extracurriculars Adrien attended.

“Father!” he heard his son’s panicky voice. “Look o-”

Smash! He ran face first into a leathery wall.

Squish! Gigantean fingers closed over him and lifted him off the ground.

Akuma: 1; Gabriel:0.

He cursed inwardly as the giant lumbered through the streets. Each step thundered between the old walls and raised clouds of dust, making Gabriel’s eyes water.

“Father?” he heard Adrien’s muffled voice nearby. He squinted to the side.

His son was trapped similarly to him in an enormous fist of the monster. Only the mop of blond hair stuck out from behind the green fingers.

“I’m here!” Gabriel called and the blond mop sighed in relief.

“Any ideas how we escape?” Adrien asked.

Gabriel bit his lip as he considered their situation. He felt a bit responsible. It wasn’t entirely his fault, but seeing as he was the one who released the akuma in the first place he couldn’t claim he was not to blame. It would be much easier to say that it was Mademoiselle Rossi’s fault - and it was, to a degree...

After all she ’ d been the one to drop by the mansion uninvited and to force his bodyguard to let her in. Then she bullied Nathalie into letting her meet the boss immediately . His assistant knew perfectly well he’d been busy with his other project, but apparently Lila had been extremely persuasive.

The way Nathalie passed on her request made Hawkmoth sigh in exasperation, drop his transformation and rush to his study, the freshly released akuma left to its own devices. And why had Lila come under the pretence of “discussing her appearance” at the new collection’s premiere? To badmouth Marinette and her “uninspired creations”. Again .

Gabriel would rub the bridge of his nose in irritation, had his hands not been pressed to his sides inside the trap. He’d known for a while that Lila had been holding a significant grudge against Adrien’s pigtailed friend. Which, if you’d asked Gabriel could mean only one thing - she must have been terribly and utterly jealous. Gabriel had yet to meet a more talented, modest, polite, kind and considerate teenager, and if it wasn’t for the fact that he desperately needed a successful champion, he’d be happy to nudge Adrien in Marinette’s direction. Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng would make an excellent girlfriend, and dare Gabriel say an even finer daughter-in-law.

Maybe he was going out on a limb here, since Adrien stubbornly claimed Marinette was his friend, and a good friend only, but just one look at the gooey eyes his son was making at the mere mention of the girl told a quite different story.

But he digressed once again, pondering on how exactly had he and Adrien ended up in two of the four hands of Hawkmoth’s newest creation.

The truth was he had no idea who accepted the akuma, what were their reasons, motivation or even powers. This was Startrain all over again. Gabriel hated being helpless, a victim at the heroes’ mercy. Yet here he was, trapped, waiting for the rescue.

Although… maybe this wasn’t Startrain? After all, even if he couldn’t control the akuma, he was still here. He could act. Who needs the heroes anyway? (He did, but only because he wanted to play with their toys for a bit).

Gabriel concentrated, analyzing the villain’s size, posture and looks. He listened closely to the constant muttering of the beast he hitherto had been ignoring. He took notice of the direction they were headed. He assessed his resources, considering if Adrien would be of assistance. Finally, he crafted a plan.

Step one, bite.

“YOOOOOWL!” the villain bellowed.

He smirked. Akuma:1; Gabriel:1.

***

“How does it feel to save the day? We’re about to find out,” the reporter chirped to the microphone. “Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news.” She winked to the camera. “We’re at the Grand Palais, waiting for the newest collection from Gabriel to hit the runway, but all everyone talks about this week is the bravery and aptitude of none other than the fashion mogul, the owner and creator of the Gabriel brand, Monsieur Agreste himself.”

The cameraman turned to him and Gabriel suppressed a groan. This was so typical. You pull just one miraculous rescue before Ladybug can save your butt, and suddenly you’re a national hero. Still, you don’t look a gift horse, that is publicity, in the mouth. You just roll with it or whatever kids say nowadays.

“All in a day’s work,” he drawled, minding to keep his voice modest yet confident. This wasn’t the first interview that followed his reckless stunt and despite the fact that he’d just been reiterating the same speech, journalists didn’t seem to get nearly enough of “Paris’ bravest civilian hero”.

Nathalie, who’d been shadowing him for the time of final preparations for the show, gave him a short nod and disappeared in the crowd. It was time to launch their concurrent plan, the sole reason this new collection even got a show in the first place.

Gabriel kept the reporters properly busy so that no one would notice the little blue feather floating harmlessly towards the intended goal: the pink purse of one very stressed Marinette Dupain-Cheng, who fidgeted nervously at the edge of her seat, waiting for another of her original creations to feature in a Gabriel show. Nathalie had made sure Adrien’s friend got her fill of the Bourgeois’ finest brand of malice, which would put her in that fragile, disturbed state perfect for accepting an amok. Just a little trick to lure Ladybug and Chat Noir and hopefully to put an end to the ludicrous series of failures they’d been experiencing ever since Hawkmoth made his presence and demands known.

And then things went haywire. An unexpected wisp of air from the high window intercepted the amok and it sailed in a completely different direction, sinking into, oh great , Lila Rossi’s bracelets.

So much for carefully woven, detailed plans and handpicked victims.

“Sentimonsters!” Gabriel cried. “Everybody out!”

If he’d learned one thing working with Mademoiselle Rossi, it was that things got unpredictable and much more calamitous when she was involved. That’s why he had wanted to leave her out of his plans this time. That’s why she had been offered to actually model a piece, just to keep her occupied, even though she didn’t have even one model bone in her entire body.

Now Lila’s grin turned positively evil, as she sent the senti-snakes after… of course… Marinette. That Italian girl had some serious issues if anyone asked Gabriel. Why haven’t Nathalie called off the amok anyway?

Gabriel set out to find his assistant. Lack of control over their evil little friends was usually the source of big inconvenience. He’d learned it the hard way last time. Searching would go much faster if it wasn’t for the brainless crowds panicky sloshing inside the Grand Palais hall. Oh, for the love of-

“You must evacuate!” Gabriel yelled. “Find the nearest exit!” He squinted at the walls. Was it really that hard to actually read the signs that were there? “Here, and here, and here,” he said as he waved at the doors and people finally listened. The crowd started to file out of the building.

“Please stay calm,” Gabriel continued to shout over the heads of the evacuating viewers. “There’s no need to trample each other. The sentimonsters are busy.”

He risked a glance at the snakes. Indeed they were kept busy. Marinette was doing exceptionally well at keeping one at bay. Sadly the other two weren’t engaged with her, but went off to attack someone else. A cold sweat covered Gabriel when he saw whom.

Adrien batted at the two remaining senti-snakes with a clothes rack, while shielding an unconscious Nathalie, curled in a corner. She must have been knocked out cold.

The older Agreste cursed under his breath. Where the hell was Ladybug and Chat Noir when one needed them? This was supposed to be a perfect trap.

At that moment the rack Adrien had been fending the snakes off with snapped in two and the first monster launched itself at the boy.

Red flooded Gabriel’s vision. He pushed, leaped, ran, slid. He acquired a wrench somehow. He hit, thwacked, walloped and smacked until the sentimonsters scuttled away and huddled in the opposite end of the hall.

Ladybug arrived just as he and Adrien helped Nathalie to her feet. His assistant sported a nasty bruise on her forehead. Adrien’s clothes, the showcase items, hung in tatters from his shoulders. His trousers looked as if they were made of sieves.

“It’s the bracelets,�� Gabriel muttered, motioning towards backstage, where Lila’s maniacal laughter could be heard. He gritted his teeth.

“Got it,” Ladybug nodded.

One throw of a yoyo later, the heroine had the crazy Italian girl tightly gift wrapped as she went for the amok.

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

Gabriel actually sighed in relief as the swarms of butterflies cleared the hall. Thank goodness it was over.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” a familiar voice cut into his ease, “you’ve all seen this here, live, in TVi! Paris’ bravest civilian hero in action! Wasn’t he amazing?”

Oh, that was the one thing he’d forgotten about. Why had he thought the reporter would have enough brains to run away? Of course she’d been broadcasting the whole thing live - what would get her a bigger audience than a fashion show turned heroic rescue mission?

“Oh no,’ he groaned, “not again .”

“Monsieur Agreste,” Madame Chamack shoved her microphone right under his nose and asked hopefully, “a few words of comment?”

Gabriel looked around helplessly. Adrien was searching for Marinette, Ladybug was trying to free herself from Lila’s hug of fake gratitude, and Nathalie took a sudden interest in the ceiling. A shadow of a smirk danced on her lips and he knew she’d never let him live this down. He might have to give her a raise just to keep her quiet.

“Sure,” he took a deep breath and turned to the reporter. “Why not?”

***

Gabriel swore this would be the last time. Either the plan works and he gets the most cunning, powerful and brilliant akuma ever, or he declares Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng off limits. Some gut feeling told him she was really special. If anyone could get him those miraculouses, it would be her.

This was attempt number too-many even by his standards, but he was grasping at straws here. So when Lila offered to prove Marinette was a false friend, a liar and a bad influence, if not a threat to Adrien, Gabriel got tempted. One last time. If the Italian Job, as he started to think of it, didn’t work, he’d stop trying to akumatize Marinette whatsoever. As for Mademoiselle Rossi herself, he was still on the fence. On one hand, she had displayed incredible talent at riling people up. Chloe Bourgeois had nothing on her. On the other hand, Lila’s presence near Adrien, her more or less veiled suggestions that she wanted to be his girlfriend, her nosiness and conceit, the way she seemed to believe she got Gabriel himself wrapped around her finger, that he was actually buying her bull, well, suffice to say it was starting to get on his nerves.

And he was quite fond of his nerves, thank you very much.

Gabriel wasn’t even sure how exactly Lila wanted to provide proof of her claims, but it surely wasn’t anything legal. Even better. If it worked and he’d get the akuma it wouldn’t matter. If it didn’t work, he’d have a substantial leverage in case she’d decide to go after him one day.

His tablet chimed and a notification from Lila’s instagram account popped up on the screen. She started a live stream. A public live stream.

“A dangerous game you play, Mademoiselle Rossi,” Gabriel muttered under his breath. He clicked on the notification and transformed into Hawkmoth not taking his eyes off the feed.

Somehow Lila had managed to corner Marinette in an empty dressing room. Despite the buzz of a photoshoot in progress and tens of people milling around the two of them were alone.

“What do you want, Lila?” Marinette’s tone was confident, even a bit exasperated. “Out of the two of us I am actually interested in learning a few things by taking part in a photo shoot.”

“I told you to leave Adrien alone!” Lila ignored her classmate’s jab, getting to her own agenda.

“What’s it to you? You don’t own him.”

“I don’t,” Lila admitted, the unspoken “yet” implied in her smirk. “But I am his close friend and I know bad acting when I see it.”

“Bad acting? What are you getting at?”

“You know, Marinette,” Lila murmured, adjusting the phone so that the other girl’s face would be seen. “You know very well. We’ve talked about it before. Might as well admit it now.”

Marinette, bless her heart, stammered something incoherently. Poor girl , Gabriel thought. If even he was aware of her gigantic crush on his son, then probably everyone and their dog knew (bar one oblivious teen in denial). But it was one thing to know people knew, and quite another to be forced to voice such a personal, intimate detail. And yet it turned out Lila had more tricks up her sleeve.

“We all saw the posters in your room,’ the Italian girl tsked. “ And Alya told me about the Athanase gift….” She raised a brow.

Marinette’s eyes got bigger. All her bravado seemed to evaporate under Lila’s insinuations.

“Nino mentioned an all boys party…” Lila drawled, pausing for effect.

Marinette gulped. “There’s nothing wrong-”

“In being a fan? I agree.” Lila smiled sweetly. “But considering the, ahem , scale and detail, wouldn’t you say it’s more than that?”

“More?”

“You’re not just a fan of fashion, Marinette. You’re obsessed. My question is - is it just fashion? Or maybe you’re Adrien’s crazed fangirl?” Lila circled her classmate, minding to keep the camera fixed on her. “Or maybe…” she suspended her voice, before going in for the kill, “maybe you’re trying to make a break in the industry on the backs of Adrien and his father? Connections are everything after all.”

A wave of pure, white hot hatred rammed into Hawkmoth. On the screen he saw Marinette seething, her lips pressed tightly together, her fists clenched and eyes narrowed to slits. He dropped the tablet and summoned the akuma.

“Go, go, go!” He rushed the butterfly.

When he returned to the device, the stream had already ended. He had no idea what had happened, but at that moment Lila posted a new picture - of herself with Adrien with the make-up artist in the background. An innocent smile and a V gesture had been paired with a few cringeworthy emojis and hashtags: #truefriends #friends4ever #friendshipgoals and so on.

There was no sign of Marinette, but Hawkmoth already felt the strong emotions ebbing away. No hatred meant no target for his akuma. He remembered himself before he broke the tablet in half. He sighed, calming himself down. At this rate he’d become the next champion.

And then the sirens started to wail. Fire alarms blared from every corner of the facility.

“What on Earth-,” Hawkmoth scowled at the flashing red lights. It couldn’t have been an akuma. It was still somewhere out there, searching for its target. So the alarm must have been caused by something else.

Footsteps outside told him something must have happened. He sniffed. The unmistakable stink of smoke filled his nostrils. For a second he considered his options, but ultimately he dropped his transformation and left his hideout.

Around him people headed for emergency exits, but Gabriel felt a sudden urge to look for Adrien. He broke into a run. The boy had an awful knack of getting himself engaged in dangerous situations, and if Lila was nearby, it was probably a good idea to keep an eye on his son.

Sure enough he found Adrien tucked in a corner, checking his phone instead of running to safety. Gabriel set his course to intercept. Without slowing down he grabbed the boy by his shirt and dragged him outside. On his son’s phone the last seconds of Lila’s Instagram story unraveled. Adrien’s brow furrowed in indignation.

“Where’s Lila,” he growled, before remembering himself. He swallowed the bile that was probably up in his throat. “Have you seen Lila, Father?” he asked.

Gabriel was actually impressed. As an empath he could appreciate both - the extremely strong emotions and keeping them in check.

Adrien climbed to his toes and inspected the crowd that fled the building. “Where’s Marinette?” This time his voice wavered.

He spotted his Italian classmate nearby, talking to a reporter, a studied concern marring her face.

“...of course I had to do something,” she said with emphasis. “All my friends are very dear to me. One of the things Dalai Lama has taught me-”

“Lila!” Adrien cut in, ignoring her ramblings and the audience. “Where’s Marinette?”

BOOM! Something blew inside the building. Glass shattered on one of the roof windows and plumes of smoke poured outside.

Lila paled and stammered something. For the first time her face seemed to be honest. She was genuinely scared as her eyes set upon the building’s entrance.

“What did you do?!” Adrien cried.

Gabriel’s stomach clenched as it dawned on him.

“She can’t get out?” he hissed, grabbing Lila’s elbow.

The girl gulped, shaking her head slightly. Then the terror disappeared from her face, replaced with well-practiced innocence. “The door locked behind me. I was going to get help but the alarm-”

Adrien beelined for the building. Gabriel cursed under his breath and dove after him. He briefly considered a quick transformation once he got inside. But it would rouse too many difficult questions if not only Gabriel Agreste but also Hawkmoth suddenly started rescuing people, so he dismissed this idea. He had enough brains to grab an extinguisher on his way.

“Adrien! Wait!” he yelled. He was about to jump into smoke when a string wrapped around him and he was yanked back.

“Monsieur Agreste, what’s going on?” Ladybug released her hold on him. “Is Adrien there?”

Gabriel tried to keep the scowl off his face. He wasn’t used to being treated like a toy.

“His friend is trapped in that building,” he explained. “We need to-”

Ladybug’s yoyo beeped.

Chat’s face appeared on the screen. “Could you lend me a helping paw, my Lady?” Thick clouds surrounded him. “I have an akuma and a fire source here,” he said.

Ladybug shot an anxious look at Gabriel. “Any civilians?”

“Still looking,” Chat grunted. The screen blurred and a creak sounded when he forced a door open. “Ouch,” he hissed as the sprinklers started to work. “This cat doesn’t like to get wet,” he complained.

“Coming, Chat!” Ladybug shut her phone. “Please, stay here, Monsieur. This is not a job for civilian heroes,” she added with a faint smile and ran into the building.

Gabriel waited a whole minute, which said a lot about his self-restraint. When the swarms of ladybugs buzzed out of the roof window, fixing the damage and taking the rest of the smoke with them, he broke into run.

Adrien was wrestling with a door to the only closed dressing room.

“It’s stuck,” he shot out as a way of explanation. The corridor was too narrow for him to get a good running start, but he was doing his best to force his way in.

“No Ladybug or Chat Noir to help?” Gabriel scowled. Maybe this was below their paygrade.

“They put out the fire, but they had to leave,” Adrien mumbled. “They were each down to their last marker.”

Gabriel pushed the boy aside and grabbed the knob. It wouldn’t budge. “Marinette’s in there?”

“Yes, sir,” came a faint reply from behind the wood.

“Please get away from the door,” he instructed. He swung the extinguisher and smashed it into the lock. It did the trick much better than Adrien’s shoulder.

His son burst inside as soon as the door swung on the hinges. Gabriel tactfully turned away when the boy pulled Marinette into tight embrace. He was wondering if the accident finally knocked some sense into Adrien, or if his son was still on the adrenaline high. Either way Gabriel made a mental note to finally address the “good friend” issue. For now he settled for averting his eyes and leisurely swinging the extinguisher he’d still been holding only to get a flash in his face.

Click. Click. Click.

At least three reporters decided to capture this moment for posterity.

“Ah, and once again our local star, Gabriel Agreste, saves the day, or rather a member of his crew-” a journalist for TVi entered the scene, the microphone at the ready. “Can we get a comment on the latest video one of your young models posted shortly before this dangerous incident? I believe it featured the girl you just rescued,” he pointed towards the teens behind Gabriel’s back.

Thankfully Marinette managed to free herself from Adrien’s bear hug, but her face was a battlefield between blissful blush and whitewash mortification.

Gabriel cleared his throat. “No comment,” he stated.

“But the conflict might affect the performance of your staff-”

“I value Mademoiselle Dupain Cheng’s talent and skill in design. I appreciate Mademoiselle Rossi’s hard work on the set,” he admitted. “But I refuse to be dragged into any personal conflicts. Now please, leave the set. We’ve already wasted enough time and money. No further comments,” he gestured towards the exit.

“-oh I’m sure she was just trying to make a victim out of herself. You know, to gain pity or instant fame-”

That was Lila whispering in hush tone somewhere nearby, already spreading rumors. Gabriel’s fists clenched. He’d had enough.

“-Jagged Stone, who wrote a song about me, you know, he once said that fame-”

Gabriel flinched. He watched Adrien’s back as the boy led Marinette to the bathroom, steering clear off any prying journalists, keeping close to her, as if he would never leave her side again.

Fame, Gabriel thought. That’s a dangerous game. I’ll show you instant fame, Mademoiselle Rossi.

***

“We’re at Le Grand Paris, with Paris’ bravest civilian hero, Gabriel Agreste, although I imagine he needs no introduction!” Nadja Chamack exclaimed, starting her interview. “Monsieur Agreste has proved that you don’t need a miraculous to beat akuma after akuma. Ladybug and Chat Noir must be big fans of yours,” she grinned.

“As I am theirs,” Gabriel bowed, suppressing a flinch, and he went into monologue mode, providing the meat every reporter was after these days. From the time he slid across the table to thwack the akuma that threatened his fashion show, to the time he unloaded a bucket of hot coffee on another villain’s head to save Adrien, to numerous occasions he had managed to outwit his akumas (which wasn’t really as difficult as people seemed to think) before Ladybug and Chat Noir managed to get to the scene, he slowly but surely established his image as the civilian hero.

“Can you tell us more about today’s event?” Nadja asked. “You’ve been very secretive about it so far.”

That was the plan. His newest collection, the spotlight of the event, was only an excuse, as he had a particular fox to fry.

“All I can say is a night of quality fashion awaits us,” he said with a smile. “Our dear guests are going to be models as well!”

Nadja took the bait, and Gabriel was proud to say she hadn’t been the only one.

“Ah, guests as models!” The woman leaned in. “Does this mean we won’t see your regular models?”

“On the contrary, the show is going to feature many familiar faces,” Gabriel replied cryptically.

“I already see one - is that Lila Rossi?” Nadja zeroed in on the girl who just arrived at the red carpet.

“Indeed.”

“And her companion for the event?” the reporter asked, eyeing the crowds curiously.

Lila waved at the photographers and came to a halt next to Nadja, undoubtedly expecting a few questions. She was looking around, very much interested in her partner herself. Gabriel nodded to Nathalie, who led the boy fresh out of the dressing room.

“Your son, Adrien-” Nadja regarded him.

Lila’s lips stretched into a sly smile. The boy shot her with a toothy grin so unlike Adrien, that she recoiled in surprise.

Gabriel suppressed a smirk as he shook his head. “May I present Felix Graham de Vanily, my nephew and Adrien’s cousin.”

Felix bent in a deep, respectable bow. If he wanted, his manners were impeccable.

“Remarkable,” Nadja marveled. “They easily could have been taken for-”

“Twins?” Gabriel interjected. “Yes, they even managed to fool us a few times,” he let out an amiable chuckle, he’d been practicing in front of his mirror. “Felix is going to be Lila’s partner for tonight. I think I can let you in on a little secret: Adrien is going to accompany his girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?!” Nadja and Lila shrieked in unison.

Gabriel allowed himself just a little smile. He put a hand to his chest. “A development that warms my heart,” he declared. “A very talented designer, who’s behind a few accessories for this collection. But I’m sure you already know her-, “ he gestured to the red carpet, where a new pair of guests appeared.

“ Marinette ,” Lila growled under her breath.

“I must leave now,” Gabriel nodded to the reporter. “I need to see to a few last minute details. Let me show you around, Felix. And Lila,” he added looking at her above the rim of his glasses.

Felix offered the Italian girl an elbow. She shot one last look at Adrien and Marinette, but she had no choice but to make room for them as she was led to the building.

“Mademoiselle Lila Rossi!” Felix chirped in delight. He was giving the girl a smile worthy of a shark straight from a dentist appointment. “We meet at last! Adrien has told me so much about you!” His grin widened, a feat Gabriel never thought possible. “So many celebrities are going to be here tonight. I can’t wait for you to introduce me to them, since you know so many famous people.”

Up to this point Lila was giving him a sour smile, but now fear flashed in her eyes. “Ce-celebrities?” she stammered. “S-sure, I know a few,” she added, anxiously looking around. “What the-?!”

That last exclamation was at the burst of flash in her eyes.

Felix just shot the two of them in a selfie. “Great! This goes straight to my Insta! I’m tagging you of course,” he added in theatrical whisper. “I hope many more pics with all those celebs are going to follow!”

Gabriel trailed after them at a distance. He was very pleased with himself, humming in content at placing the right boy at the right place. Nathalie appeared at his side.

“Excellent job with Felix,” he praised. “I see you even managed to brief him, despite the short notice.”

His assistant’s smile was positively sinister. “I haven’t,” she said. “Apparently he’s been keeping in touch with Adrien and he kind of took the initiative himself.”

“Even better,” Gabriel nodded in approval. There were few things he appreciated more than champions with drive.

He kept close to Felix and Lila, as his nephew led the girl from one cluster of guests to another, snapping pictures, and crying in disappointment whenever someone wouldn’t recognize Lila. He spent a significant amount of time in each group introducing her, and explaining how she knew so many people, alas no one in particular. At one point Gabriel thought he saw the boy pocketing Lila’s phone, but he might have been wrong.

He checked the social media. Felix’s Instagram feed was full of pictures with their guests and Lila, who’s frown deepened with every photo. Jagged Stone and Penny Rolling, Prince Ali, Clara Nightingale and Audrey Bourgeois. Name after name, face after face, and not even a sparkle of recognition, which of course hadn’t escaped Felix’s attention. Two hashtags #sheknowsthemALL #thoughNOTthisONE accompanied every post. Not so subtle, but infinitely less brutal than what he initially had in mind. It might not destroy her reputation, excuse his pun - instantly, but a gradual decline was fine by Gabriel. Everything done in white gloves. Why didn’t he think about it earlier?

Felix and Lila stood by André the ice cream maker, who’d been appointed as a sort of celebrity catering novelty. He was shaking his head at the girl and Gabriel knew that meant he had no idea who she was. Felix feigned a moan of disappointment. The boy’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

“That looks like some just desserts,” came a comment from behind Gabriel’s back. It was Adrien hand in hand with Marinette.

Gabriel hadn’t been lying to Madame Chamack. Marinette’s petite hand was tightly and tenderly wrapped in his son’s palm. The gooey eyes look was really good on him. The older Agreste made a mental note to use that for their next shoot.

“Astonishing. It’s a miracle she hasn’t been akumatized yet,” Adrien reflected, observing the scene with André.

Marinette elbowed him, but she was smiling.

Not really a miracle, Gabriel pondered, just your everyday Agreste hero miraculously restraining himself. Oops, he thought, did I do it again and save the day?

#gabriel agreste #miraculous ladybug #adrinette #lila rossi #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #Who's Who pt 2 #ml fic rec #crack #definitely

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