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chrollohearttags · 1 year

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𝕽𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖇 • 𝕰. 𝕵𝖆𝖊𝖌𝖊𝖗: chapter two

synopsis: for as long as he could remember, eren jaeger’s only concern and love was his music..despising fame and all that came with it. That was until he was forced into a club appearance by their mutual manager and met (y/n) (l/n), a renowned pole dancer and social media’s newest rising star. After a picture of the pair together begins circulating, they find themselves at the center of a rumor mill. But with the two forming a fast friendship, will they feed into the speculation or will the rapper’s less than welcoming nature push her away?

cw: inappropriate and heavy language, drug use (mainly weed), mentions of sexual content and nudity, FaceTime (implied phone sex and masturbation), eren being a flirt, pole dancing (not stripping though), small mentions of sex toys

wc: 5.8K

📝: y’all, I’ve been enjoying this story so much, obviously. I’m going to try for weekly updates (either Saturday or Sunday) also, if you’d like to be added to the tag list for future chapters, please comment or reblog to let me know!

“Babygirl, I don’t dabble in what ifs and rumors..little too grown for all that shit. I let people believe what they want because I don’t care. As for as you and I, if you really wanna give ‘em something to talk about and make ‘em mad, then keep fucking with me..I’ll make it fun.”

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“Alright, let’s take a break right here and then we’ll run it back one more time. You’re doing great, bro. I’m loving it so far.”

the rapper could be seen nodding behind the plexiglass partition to Eren, who was talking over a microphone as he removed his head seat to pause for an intermission. For some reason or another, the famed producer seemed to be in a much better mood than he was during the previous session.

either way, he’d take this version of him over the temperamental one any day and while he was letting him rest, he’d go grab him some water. just then, the red light and buzzer, signaling that someone else was trying to enter his little lair, sounded off above the ceiling.

he’d flip the switch to unlock the door, because people loved to walk in unannounced and interrupt him so he had to remedy it. He knew it wouldn’t be long before someone came to disturb his peace and progress..

“Mr. Jaeger, Mr. Jaeger…are you in here?”

spinning around in his chair, Eren would be greeted by his wiry, red haired, hard working assistant. Who, as always, was a basket case and didn’t want to disturb his boss while he was busy. But what really annoyed him was the way he greeted him. “Floch, dude. Chill with all that ‘mister’ shit. We’re like a year apart, you can call me Eren. It’s cool, I promise.”

what he didn’t realize was that it just reminded him too much of his asshole doctor of a dad. And being remotely referred to in any capacity the same as that man, made him want to claw his own eyes out..regardless, Floch would apologize and he’d ask him to state his business so he could get back to work.

“Right, sorry sir. Well in any case, I just wanted to bring you this. Came through your email this morning..offers from like six different clubs to do an appearance, GQ and Elle both want to do interviews with you. For Ten Favorite Things and Song Association.” But if he knew anything about his employer, every last one of those were about to be declined with a quickness.

releasing a heavy sigh, the producer reclined in his seat and just shook his head.

“Dude, you already know the answer to this shit. The answer is no. And not just no, hell no.”

“I know and I apologize, but—“

but before that question could he given a proper answer, another voice intervened and interrupted their talk.

“I told him to accept them. Looks like you have a busy week ahead, buddy.”

it was none other than the maverick herself, and she seemed to be all smiles..which frightened both of them! “M-miss Ackerman!How’d you get in here?!” Floch muttered nervously, knowing better than to question her but still curious all the same.

but the musician surely wasn’t afraid to ask.

“Yes, Mikasa. That’s a good question, why the hell are you walking in my studio like you pay bills here? Better yet, why are you volunteering me for more bullshit?”

she was as much of a powerhouse as ever; intimidating and afraid of nothing, including the brown haired brat sitting in that chair. Dressed in a more casual outfit than her normal thousand dollar Givenchy and Giuseppe’s, she’d just smirk and help herself to one of the empty seats.

“Didn’t we just go over this like three days ago or are you just pretending to be stupid?”

one thing about her was that she would always meet him where he was at. If he took it low, she’d go to hell and wouldn’t stop until she won. As with everyone. You’d be a damn fool to ever challenge Mikasa to anything. She was a third generation talent in the music industry and next heiress in line to take over AMG, Ackerman Management Group.

they were the premier record label and talent agency that everyone wanted to work with. They were notorious for getting some of the biggest names their start but working hard all the same.

founded by her great uncle, Kenny, who was a popular rock singer back in the day and taken over by his son and her uncle, Levi. Who was even far more ruthless than she could ever be! he wasn't a fan of the rapper’s lackadaisical attitude in the slightest so he told her to make him get his act together or get his ass out the door. Needless to say, she didn’t want it to result in the latter. Hence why she was here.

“I’ve got a dress fitting at twelve and a meeting with my wedding planner after that so let’s make this quick. And I’d prefer if we could do it privately.” Talking bluntly as she scrolled through her Apple Watch, pecking at the screen. It didn’t take long for Floch to get a clue and kick rocks.

he’d take being on his boss’ shit list over hers any day.

regardless, he could care less and both of them to beat it so he could continue recording..once the two of them were alone, Eren stuffed his hands in his hoodie pocket and gave her a deadpan expression.

“I’m just gonna take a wild guess and say you aren’t here for a friendly chat.” “Correct again. There is more than wind between those little ears of yours.”

he really wasn’t in the mood for her nonsense so she better had made this quick! Whatever it was…

“I’m here because one, Ms. Hange asked me to send her personal regards and this…said that her club has been packed full every night since you performed and she’d love to have you back.”

handing him an envelope with a check in the amount of ninety five thousand dollars. When you were a huge name of his caliber, it came with a hefty price tag! She wasn’t mad though, because she made a couple million easily that night..the second thing on the docket though, was a tad bit more personal and something she needed to know.

it had been a week since that show and since he met (y/n), who was all over Twitter and Instagram, going viral for the simple fact she was spotted with him. And Mikasa would be damned if he screwed up this poor girl’s career this early on.

“Speaking of..you mind explaining why you and my new client are playing footsies in VIP for the entire internet to see?”

scratching her forehead as she pulled her phone up to show him the picture that had been circulating social media heavily. Which he probably knew nothing about since he never checked those damn things anyways. Poor (y/n) was probably being bombarded with more questions and threats than she knew what to do with.

“I know that shit was your idea, Eren. You get a rise out of sending people into a panic so you probably told her to kiss you. Am I right or am I right?”

without so much as another word, she just let out a frustrated huff. “So goddamned predictable..”

she was incredibly annoyed and hadn’t even been there for five minutes.

“Please don’t tell me you fu—“

“No!..what type of man do you take me for?”

“A slut, because that’s what’s you are!”

taken aback in complete offense as he playfully grabbed his chest!

she knew him well enough that he wasn’t the type to do a million random hookups but he was also a huge flirt and could charm the pants off of a snake. Which telling by that photo and the videos, it was obvious that he had this girl wrapped around his finger and vice versa so she wouldn’t be surprised if something came of it..

and he’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t feeling (y/n)…you were stunning, funny, sweet and had all types of sex appeal. Honestly, had you been the one initiating it, he definitely would’ve hit on the first night.

“Look, I’m not telling you what to do with your life but I am telling you not to get this girl caught up in some weird nonsense. She’s got a bright future ahead of her and the last thing she needs is to be messed up by the industry’s favorite misfit.”

rolling his eyes, Eren leaned back in his chair before grabbing his water bottle.

truth be told, the only thing on his mind was making music and getting this album finished. He didn’t have time to lay up with you or anybody else.

“Mika, if I wanted a lecture, I’d go call my mom and let her bitch at me. Thank you for the check but I promise, you don’t have to worry about anything. I barely know the girl, we did as you asked and that was it. Now if you’d be so kind as to get the hell out so I can finish working, I'd be very grateful.”

at this point, it was the best thing. He was hard headed as hell and knew he’d go against her out of spite. Still, a small part of her was happy to see him smiling for once and if you had managed to bring that side out for just a moment, then she was fine.

“Fine, I’ll leave you and your rat’s nest to it. Just remember what I said.”

demanding as she rose from her seat and began to leave. But of course, he couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease her. They were best friends before they were manager and client.

“Yeah whatever..hey, speaking of rats, where’s your ugly fiancé?”

clicking her tongue into her cheek, Mikasa just rolled her eyes and dismissed the comment. She knew that they didn’t and probably would never get along but she also knew Eren was an asshole.

“You’re such a jackass, I swear.” declaring before turning on her heel and heading towards the door.

“You know he got a face that can’t be seen in the daylight. You’re gonna scare my neighbors.” cracking up as he joked on the rival artist.

all he received in return is a middle finger from his manager! “I love you, Mika!” she was so used to his annoying behavior that she just tuned out half the time. Now that she had left though, it was time to get back to what really mattered and that was working his magic on another project.

just then, his friend and fellow rapper, Connie Springer reentered the studio, ready to finish out the second half of this session.

“Aye bro, you ready?” He’d ask from behind the partition as he placed his headphones back on. However, there was one thing Eren needed to take care of beforehand. Grabbing his phone, he’d scroll and search for a particular contact..one that hadn’t left his head since Saturday.

he couldn’t believe that someone actually had his attention..and he hated it! But still, it’d be nice to hear from you again.

staring at the screen for just a minute, he’d contemplate sending the message he had typed before setting it down and getting back to the grind.

“Yeah, I’m ready, bro. Let’s run that last shit back.”

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meanwhile, somewhere a couple states away, (y/n) was working diligently on your craft as well. Preparing to perform alongside the headliner for a music festival and you had to ensure that not only yourself but the entire collective was on their A-Game.

“Alright, we all go up on three count, heel click at five and come down on eight. Got it?”

a group of five other ladies looked back at you and nodded with reassurance as you stood before them in front of the pole classroom at the Allure Dance Studio. The premier studio where you and your team had practiced for many years now.

The Pole Assassins consisted of yourself, Janae James, Syrai Hughes, Kellie Grant, Niesha Daniels and Brianne Scott. Some of the most talented performers; some of them well versed in a multitude of dance styles and having served as backup for so many artists..ranging from SZA, Megan The Stallion to Rihanna and many other household names.

although there was a huge misconception that all of you were just strippers turned social media stars, that wasn’t the case. Granted, there wasn’t a single thing wrong with that because Syrai and Brianne did happen to get their start at the infamous Blue Flame in Atlanta.

regardless of where all of you came from, you were here now and getting backup performers their much deserved recognition.

in another year’s tops, you wanted to organize your own tour..traveling across the country to show off the illustrious skills and art of pole. Help break the stigma and bias towards the trade..

but at the moment, duty called and there was so much to do before the show in a couple days. At the moment though, what you all could use was a much needed break! “Alright y’all, let’s rest for thirty and then get back to it.”

all the ladies exhaled a sigh of relief and dispersed for the time being. That was all except one..your best and closest friend, Niesha. Everyone on the team had a close bond and considered yourselves sisters but you and Niesha had known each other since childhood.

she lingered around, taking a sip from her water bottle before collapsing near her designated pole.

“Damn bitch, I knew you worked hard but you straight slave driving us today.”

joking as you walked towards her, playfully swinging a towel at her. You couldn’t help but laugh because your reputation as a perfectionist preceded you. Everything you put your name on was done to the precise tee or not at all!

and although the rest of them were gracious for your hard work and leadership, they were no stranger to that obsessive behavior and rigorous training.

“Was I that bad?” muttering and giggling as you took a seat next to her.

“Nah baby, you good..but the last time I saw you go this hard, you were fighting with your ex nigga and your family. What’s on your mind?”

Niesha was the jokester of the troupe but she was also a sweetheart. She never let any of you have a bad day or stay there for long..releasing a sigh, you’d take a swig of the chilled water, positioning yourself on the backs of your seven inch clear Pleasers.

“I’m good, I’m just trying to make sure we do this right, ‘s all. I want us on that next level so I’m pushing hard this year.”

Niesha would nod, seconding the sentiment. She knew you well enough to know that was the case but also, couldn’t help but feel as though something else was at play here..clicking her tongue in her cheek, she’d smirk and glare over at you.

“Yeah..or the fact that you all over the internet right now and you’re trying to forget it.” And there it was. She had called your bluff yet again..as a true best friend would! Doubling over in laughter, she’d watch your expression change and couldn’t help but to cackle about it.

if it’s one thing she knew about you, it was that this fame thing would never quite register. Unlike her and the rest of the girls, you did not attend these industry parties or accept hotel room invitations.

once whatever job you were hired for was finished, you were the first to dip..you didn’t get starstruck or fawn over the million different famous faces. You simply wanted to dance and that was that. But if there was one person that stance was broken for..it was the man who was featured in the circulating photo with you.

but it was bittersweet, considering the fact that every other comment was basically alluding to the fact that y’all were fucking or that you needed his name for some half assed attempt at getting clout. Which was a complete lie because in the entire week you had known him, you only spoke for a little while before your work pulled you both away. There was no agenda or networking..just a nice vibe and you wanted it to stay that way.

“Girl, ion know why you even tripping. That man is so fine, I wouldn’t give a fuck about what these people got to say. Especially the way he was all up on you? Chile, you a better woman than me..I know I would’ve folded.” that’s exactly why you loved her! She was your exact opposite and afraid of nothing. Shame and judgment didn’t exist and she lived everyday to the fullest, doing whatever made Niesha happy.

smacking your lips, you’d dismiss her argument. As right as she was, you couldn’t allow yourself to get carried away.

it wasn’t as if something would come of the little exchange. It was a job and nothing more. By now, you were certain he had forgotten all about you and was on to the next model or singer on his roster. meanwhile, you were being called a ho and clout addict by the illiterate rap pages and bloggers..not to mention his hormonal fangirls who probably had a shrine of him in their bedrooms.

you heard the rumors about how he operated but you couldn’t help but feel that they were just that: rumors.

because he didn’t do a million interviews or put his business on front street, these shady reporters did the next best thing and constructed lies to get their clout and coins up.

“Be for real, Niesha. You know that man probably doesn't even remember me. Besides, he only did that because they were taking pictures and annoying him.”

“Right. And if I was you, I would’ve gave they asses something to snap. You had Eren fucking Jaeger touching all over you in the middle of the club and didn’t give that man no pussy? You crazy. Listen, they would’ve just had to hate me.” all you could do was laugh at this point because she was serious and you had to respect it..at least she was honest!

“Do you hear yourself right now? I don’t care who it is, I’m not fucking on no random man after only three hours of knowing him. He was real sweet, we had a good time…even smoked a lil’ bit after the club but that’s as far as it went and will go. I’m not ‘bout to be on the front page of TheShadeRoom every week, fighting hoes in the comments. Not over him or nobody else.”

she knew there was no changing your mind but she considered the fact that you had been going hard non stop since you all had made it big. No breaks, no relaxations and damn sure no man in your life..tapped into multiple lines of work but never taking time for (y/n).

so what if he did one night you? That the two of you would’ve gone back to your hotel and let him put those lyrics to the test? No one would have cared or blamed you for doing so. You were a young woman, a very beautiful one at that it so made no sense to sit here and let that allude you. Nothing was wrong with dating and

“Girl, I think you just need to stop letting stuff get to you. I know you don’t want to hear this but it comes with the game. These bitches gone’ talk shit regardless and if you wanna be out there and have Pole Assassins all over the world, then I think you need to get a bit of thicker skin and let it roll off your back. They don’t pay your bills so don’t pay they asses no mind. Period.”

she was right! No need in dwelling over something that couldn’t be undone. You two enjoyed yourselves so there was nothing to regret, even if it was short lived. Meeting him was a top five experience in your life and career, even if that was the first and last time…rising from her spot, heels clicking against the previously polished sandalwood floors, marked by your scuffing.

“As for mister EJ, if he does by some miracle remember you, don’t fumble that bag, bitch. It’s time to put (y/n) first and stop worrying about an image. He obviously don’t care so why should you?”

letting out a loud huff, you’d stand up as well and stretch your limbs. It was no point in denying the truth..someone was going to have an opinion, good or bad. Something that Eren had probably learned early on and it was your turn now to do the same. Especially if you wanted to achieve all these wild dreams and see (y/n) (l/n) up in lights…

“Yeah, yeah. Damn I hate that you always right..”

you just hoped that it wouldn’t be for all the wrong reasons..

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later that evening..

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darkness had all but settled over the bustling city of Miami but it was most certainly a place that never slept. Parties, clubs, bars and adult playgrounds alike..you’d definitely find your poison there. Something to suit a vice of every kind. It was also a place, notorious for the amount of celebrities that resided there, including Eren himself. However, he didn’t partake in the late night culture much or being around people at all for that matter. Granted, it was a far cry from his hometown of northern Jersey but at the fresh age of sixteen, he made the move all by his lonesome to South Florida and hadn’t looked back since. It was something that kept his family at odds for years and baffled his friends all the same.

they thought he was insane for choosing to leave a life of comfortability and luxury, just to chase this dream of making music. To voluntarily couch surf and sleep in cars all because they didn’t support him…it seemed crazy but it was a necessary sacrifice. He could’ve easily followed in his father and older brother’s footsteps; dealing with sick people or sitting in a chair with a note pad, listening to people bitch about their problems. But he’d much rather go mop the entire sea floor of Miami Beach before being in their shoes. So he stayed diligent, drowning out any noise that refuted his goals and went hard. He worked at Foot Locker during the day and done a few..illegal things at night to fund his engineering education. Fast forward almost ten years later and it had paid off major. Three Grammys; two for album of the year, one for songwriting, four VMA’s, and even an Emmy for a song he once produced in a movie. His resume was quite stacked and impressive for being so young. And the bank account matched!

with a net worth of over thirty million, it was no wonder that he was the topic of discussion every other week. Wondering how he did it..what his secret was and what he was going to do next. At the moment though..he was enjoying the fruits of his tireless labor.. but without squaring away the remained of his business first!.. “Listen, I heard the song and that shit go crazy…bro, I’m telling you, this the next single!..imma be flying out there next week for a shoot and you already know what I’m on. Let’s link and make this shit happen. I just got my second studio out there and I’m ready to go to work. I’ll send my verse in the morning..”

the rapper spoke into his AirPods as he conversed with excitement on his face. When it came to creating, that’s what truly made him smile. All that other stuff, they could keep. On the other end, was a fellow artist that had been dying to work with the famous producer. Not just to mix and master the music but have him on the song as well and getting an EJ The Don feature was like getting the rarest Pokémon you could find. He was a hot commodity, even after all these years and still hadn’t reached his prime! It was a great feeling because his best work was yet to come. For now though, what he needed was rest! “Aight, man. I’ll talk to you later..bye.”

ending the call shortly after before settling into his massive king bed with the pillow top mattress. Covered in neatly tucked silk sheets and fluffy comforters..all courtesy of his wonderful housekeeping staff. Which consisted of seven people that kept his ten thousand square foot, three story mansion spotless. Six bedrooms and baths, a mini theater, game room, home gym and an infinity pool with a jacuzzi in the spacious backyard. Not to mention, the all black Wraith, cobalt blue Maserati and two muscle cars sitting in the five car garage. To say he lived lavish was an understatement and the best part was..he did it all on his lonesome. Not a red cent of his doctor daddy’s money like everyone loved to claim.

but one thing about him, is that he didn’t give the first, second or third fuck about anyone’s opinions. He had the life that they could only dream of and no amount of comments or commentary videos would stop him. Having freshly showered, the musician ties his shoulder length shag into a bun..completely topless; covered only by his tattoos and donning grey sweats as he climbed into bed. On the nightstand sat his phone and a pre rolled blunt, awaiting his ignition. After the stressful day he’d had, he most certainly needed it.

despite his rampant success and having anything he wanted at his disposal..there was something missing that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Unlike most of his cohorts, he didn’t do well with company. Having a house full of strangers to fill a void or laying up with a bitch he didn’t know the first thing about was not his ministry. He’d rather be alone in the solitude of his fortress before going out sad like that..still, like anyone, he did long to have someone around, at least to talk to.

his two best friends: one, a philandering playboy with more bodies than the morgue and the other, a soon to be married woman with a husband that hated his guts had no time to kick it with him, as their schedules just didn’t permit it. Reluctantly, Eren grabbed the phone from the nightstand and scrolled for a minute. It was very rate that he even picked that thing up because he was just jaded by social media and folks in general. But it was the closest he’d get to human interaction right now.

placing his blunt between his lips, he’d grasp the lighter sitting next to it and spark a flame, allowing the air to permeate his lungs. There wasn’t a better feeling in the world!..but it was about to get that much better when he flicked his thumb across the screen to scroll up his very bare feed, completely ignoring the thousands of notifications and spotted something in the recommended tab..

@(socialmedianame) Worked on a little something today with the girls..can’t wait to be on the stage at Rolling Loud. ♥️”

a video with a familiar song, a very familiar face..and a pretty infamous body too was seen twirling around a pole to one of his tracks, doing a variety of stunts until she went spread leg in the air and then landed on the floor in a split! To say he was impressed would be an understatement. Stretching those big green eyes, the rapper replayed the reel at least a couple times before becoming completely entranced..he couldn’t stop staring at the woman or her movements. Out of complete curiosity, he’d click the user and there she would appear..

(Y/N): the one who had been on his mind constantly. And that much was proven by the fact that he was even lurking on your page because he never even bothered to check in anyone. But after only seeing a couple pictures, that infatuation grew tenfold. From the aesthetically pleasing photos of you in some sexy outfit, to the videos of you twerking to a new song as you sported a string bikini. Now, he had had his fair share of women and seen all types of girls throughout the tenure of his career but not one of them would EVER come close to being as bad as you..that pretty brown skin tone, perfect hair, nails and makeup..an absolute beauty. Of course, he was a man before anything so his attention averted to that ass, which was sitting..

he’d never admit it but he had watched it far more times than he should’ve been proud of. One perk of being alone in this big house was that he was free to do as he pleased..which included cupping a hand around his bulge and release a huff while watching that thickness move like water. “Damn (y/n)…”

it made no sense how fine you were and how mesmerized he was..the fantasies running through his head right now were not thoughts unbecoming of a renowned recording artist. But something would soon snap the singer out of his trance and that was a call from (y/n) yourself! Not was he expecting but he’d quickly pull himself together to accept. “Fuck.” Mumbling underneath his breath, Eren swiped over and in a matter of seconds, your pretty face was on the other end in real time.

“What’s good?”

his deep set voice speaking out and immediately catching you off guard..not because it scared you but that tone done something to you. He played it so cool that you wouldn’t have even known that you had him sweating bullets a few minutes ago!

“I’m just now getting in, sorry about calling you this late..I didn’t see your text until now so I figured I’d say hey.”

now, if anyone else had been hitting his line that late, they would’ve been getting cussed out from A to Z but for you? He was happy as hell to hear your voice and even happier to see that smile. Something he didn’t believe he had ever experienced. Yet here he was imploding with joy..blowing a cloud of smoke, he’d eye you up and down before speaking again.

“Nah, you fine. Glad you did…” from there, the two of you proceeded to talk about your days, exchanging laughs and stealing glances of one another through the camera lenses. You were in your hotel room, just now making it back from a photo shoot and fine wasn’t even the word to describe the look. Face beat to perfection, long thirty inch jet black hair laid and a skimpy two piece on your curvy body. “You look pretty. Like that outfit on you..” the compliment making your stomach flutter in return. For some reason, conversation flowed so casually with him. This was the first time that you had actually seen his face since the club and you didn’t even feel nervous. The fact that you even had his number was still a shock but it was nice.

however, there was a huge elephant in the room that would inevitably take over your chat. “So Miss Ackerman called me today..” the words making him visibly irritated because his mind immediately reverted back to their talk earlier in the day. He despised being told what to do but as he was certain she gave him that advice, he was sure she had given you the same lecture. “Oh yeah? You got a visit from the wicked witch too? What she say?” Playing oblivious as he absentmindedly turned on the TV to distract himself. Meanwhile, you’d giggle and prepare to put your hair up. Unbeknownst, she had already gotten on his ass but you’d be completely honest.

“She said she was really happy with the club performance and that she’d be happy for us to come back and host any time. Which again, I have to say thank you for helping me. I don’t know if I would’ve been able to do it without you.” nodding gently as he looked at you. It was his pleasure because your paths probably would’ve never crossed regardless. Which may have been for the best, considering that you were being dogpiled simply for being associated with his namesake. But Eren wasn’t much for small talk and he could tell by the look on your face that something was bothering you..

“And what else did she say?”

the question caught you off guard but there was no use in lying. Might as well be upfront because knowing him, he was completely oblivious to the whole situation. “..I’m assuming you don’t know about the picture then, huh?” letting out a soft cackle, he’d simply shrug his shoulders before pursing his lips together for another hit. “I’ve been made aware..why? What’s up?” It was as if nothing ever got underneath his skin. Which was more than what could be said about you because for the past few days, they had managed to piss you off something serious! As you stood before your bathroom mirror, you’d section off those locks into sections; placing them in rollers for the night.

“Well, they out here saying we fucking. Talking shit and making up stuff..so annoying.”

without so much as the raise of an eyebrow or change in expression, EJ blew his third consecutive puff and dismissed it, which you figured it was because of his long term tenure in the industry and he was accustom to having his name used for clickbait. It was another day for him but you weren’t exactly privy to it so he’d try to ease your mind…at least in the best way he knew how!

“I mean…I’ll prove ‘em right if that’s what they want.” muttering so casually that you’d blurt out a laugh and smack your lips. “You know what?” eventually, he’d start laughing as well and sit up, now staring you straight in the face. “But for real, that don’t bother you? They just making shit up, playing on yo’ name like that?”

the question was all but rhetorical, still her answer truthfully and let you know exactly what the deal was! “Yeah, cause imma be mad that they’re saying I had sex with a beautiful girl. Oh, the horror..” that sarcasm was something you’d hav to get used to quickly if you wanted to be his friend and not many people had the patience to put up with it. You found it refreshing though.

that’s when he’d say something yet again to take all of those thoughts and say to hell with them.

the absolute and sure fire conviction in his words was so attractive! That nonchalantness was so sexy and you couldn’t help but wish that they were correct in their statements. Gliding your tongue across your lips, you’d just smirk and try to feint your true feelings. He was problems..that much was certain but were you truly prepared to deal with them? Was Niesha right about what she said?..what should you do?..

“Mmmm, can’t tell if you threatening me with a good time or what?”

“Shit..come find out.”

he really did play too much!

while you were busy contemplating, he’d set the phone down and you’d catch a glimpse of his chiseled physique and you wanted to jump through the screen. You should not have had this much tension and attraction to a man you barely knew but honestly, how many girls would kill to be in your spot? FaceTiming with everyone’s celeb crush. Hell, you wanted to put it in the camera for him!

“..well I gotta go. I’m happy you called me, beautiful. Get you some rest, alright? And don’t let these dumbass people get to you..”

you didn’t even try to attest and would tell him goodnight because you definitely needed to get out of these clothes and into a hot shower. “I’ll try. Goodnight..”

and with that, the line would disconnect, leaving you both to reflect on the conversation and all of the intrusive thoughts that plagued your minds during and had to suppress out of respect for one another but when you hung up, you couldn’t help but to think about what he said:

“If you really wanna make ‘em mad, keep fucking with me..”

it was a dangerous game messing with him but maybe it was time to live a little. You could only imagine what it would actually be like..unfortunately though, that was all you could do. Imagine! Throughout the duration of that call, you were trying to hold it together but that was a problem and a half.

letting out a loud sigh, (y/n) proceeded to continue that nighttime routine and get ready to settle down for the night and you knew just the way to relax..

“I’m so glad I brought that damn rose toy with me..imma need it.”

you doubted that this rumor would come to fruition anytime soon but it didn’t hurt to improvise.

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if you made it this far, thank you so much for reading! please check out some of my other stuff in the masterlist. Likes are appreciated but reblogs would mean the world and help me out a TON! Also, considering leaving a little something in the tip jar if you’re feeling extra generous! 🫶🏾

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cerise-on-top · 2 months

Note

Hi, it's me again.

Valeria, Laswell, Price and Farah.

Thank you very much! I'll wait anxiously, and I'm sorry for getting so excited. <3

Hey! It's alright, but please remember my rules for the future! Also, I've never watched Arcane, I don't know Jinx in the slightest, I only really had your explanation to go off of, so sorry if it's not very good ^^;

Price, Valeria, Farah and Laswell with a Reader like Jinx (Arcane)

Price: He can read people fairly well, so you trying to hide something from him, regardless of what it could be, doesn’t evade him. He won’t force you to tell him whatever it is you’re hiding from him, but he likes to think of himself as a trustworthy person, telling you that you can just say whatever it is you wanna say. Even so, if you end up not telling him anything, then that’s alright as well, he won’t pry. As long as it doesn’t include anything that could change the course of a mission, of an important one, he’ll leave you be, for the most part. However, you liking to blow things up would concern him. Although you may not be the first person he’s met like this, with Soap being another person with an affinity for explosives, he would have his concerns. However, as long as you only hurt the enemy, he’s quite alright with you blowing things up, sometimes. There’s a fine line between an enemy KIA, and unnecessarily destroying your surroundings. Will give you an earful if you burn too many buildings, blow too many of them up. While he may be able to appreciate your abilities with technology, knowing fully well that some ingenuity is needed in that field, he hopes you won’t use your intelligence against him and his men. You’re more than welcome to use your contraptions against enemies, as long as they don’t harm your allies. You may be a very pretty person with your long, blue hair, but that doesn’t mean Price won’t be concerned with it. After all, it could get stuck somewhere and would need to be cut off. Don’t get me wrong, you’re gorgeous, but there’s a reason why people in the military tend to have shorter hair.

Valeria: She takes a liking to you immediately. You’re a threat, that much is obvious, with your interesting personality. It doesn’t particularly matter to her what you did in the past, as long as you take back your future and make the present count. Won’t bother you too much with questions regarding where you’ve been and what happened to you, she has other things to worry about. Your contraptions are of interest to her: Small things that can either walk to where they’re needed or stick to something. As long as you get out of their range of effectiveness soon enough, she’s willing to give you more materials to work with, as long as you work for her. Funds your shenanigans in general, as long as it benefits her and her cartel you’ll never run out of anything to work with. She’s not exactly a morally correct person, so you could commit literal war crimes under her watch and she wouldn’t mind. You wanna use dangerous gas to kill the enemy? Sure, go right ahead, it doesn’t matter to her since she doesn’t plan on being caught. You’ll likely get some special privileges over time as well. More quickly than other people, at the very least. While you may not look like how one would imagine someone working for the cartel would look, she certainly doesn’t mind, thinking you to be fairly pretty as well. If you need some nail polish, she can give you the best ones out there, no hesitation. Again, she’s taken a real liking to you and wants this work relationship to go well. However, you’re just about the only exception with that, Valeria doesn’t care too much about everyone else. But you stand out, so there’s that.

Farah: Although she may know that everything is fair in war, she will actively discourage you from using some of your contraptions. If it’s illegal, if it will make you and her look like war criminals, then she will not let you use it. Her country may be at war, but she’s got principles and still needs to show the world that Urzikstan is not a dangerous place. So yeah, you might not wanna use the worst of the worst when it comes to fighting around her. Other than that, she can appreciate your work, though, and what you have been doing for her. A well placed bomb can make all the difference, after all, especially when someone, who knows what they’re doing, is using it. As long as it isn’t too bad, you have her support. Don’t make yourself known, though, the wrong people might find out who you are and might have a field day with that. However, she might scold you for using unethical means of killing someone. Farah is very connected with her people, and thus knows a lot about each and every single one of them. She won’t pry either when it comes to your past, but she will gently ask about it occasionally when something seems to be bothering you. Again, she won’t force anything out of you, but will show that she does care a great deal about you. In her eyes, too, you are absolutely gorgeous. She’s not as strict with long hair as Price, for example. There are no regulations for that sort of thing in her liberation force. If you let her, and if you’re especially close, she might braid your hair as well. As mentioned previously, she does care about her people, and it’s with those small things that she shows she’s there for them.

Laswell: Oh, she would not like you very much at first. Her work is usually comprised of not being found out, you do the opposite with your trademark bombs. You’ll butt heads a lot at first, especially since Laswell tries to keep it quiet whenever she can. It would take a while for you to get along, largely since you both know what you want. However, you’re good with technology, she gives you that much. You can be used for all sorts of things regarding that. Make a small contraption that allows you to get inside a room without the need for a keycard, she can appreciate that and will congratulate you on making something useful that is quiet. It would take something like that for the both of you to slowly be getting along. Laswell doesn’t mind you having a sad past too much. If you really feel like it, and once you’ve grown close, you can talk about it. Get it off your chest if you really need it. Might either listen to you or give you some advice, it entirely depends on what you ask of her, or what it seems like you might need at the moment. Though, another reason why you might clash at first would be your appearance. You’re pretty, don’t get me wrong, but long blue hair isn’t exactly subtle, you’ll be found out fairly quickly, you’ll be recognised wherever you go. She won’t force you to dye your hair, but you likely won’t be going out in the field too much when a disguise is needed, something like that will be left to Laswell. You, however, can plant whatever it is that is needed nearby, make a distraction by blowing something up, for example.

#cod #cod x reader #john price #john price x reader #price x reader #valeria garza #valeria garza x reader #farah karim #farah karim x reader #kate laswell #kate laswell x reader #you people send in fascinating requests at times #Again I've never watched Arcane before and what little I did see couldn't help me in the slightest #I'm genuinely sorry if this is bad but I really couldn't think of anything even with that description of yours in the other ask #I tried but I've never been interested in Arcane or League of Legends #my friend once showed me an image of a character and asked me my opinion on her. naturally she was super hot #I don't remember her name though? Maybe Renata Glasc? yeah maybe #she's super hot and I would let her step on me anytime #that's about the only thing I know about lol though and it didn't help me in the slightest even

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kilistina · 1 year

Note

hiii just wanted to say i love ur posts so much. ur so good at writing pls never stop😫 i just finished reading punk 57 and the whole “tell me something true” line has me in a CHOKEHOLD. pls pls pls write about assholery being cold and distant with y/n out of nowhere even though they’re friends. can the reader be fem and have bunny as a nickname too? it’s been on my miiind and i just know you’ll write it to perfection <33

i fucking ADORE this suggestion sm. whoever you are, message me pls bc i wanna rack your brain for more lmao

lmk if you wanna be tagged in part 2 when—if—it comes out <3 i hope y’all enjoy this part though bc it’s truly one of my favourites so far.

i recommend listening to these two songs while reading: wet dream - wetleg, desire - meg myers

•••

dirty dancing. pt1

word count: 4.4k-ish

disc. nsfw content ahead. mdni. brief coke mention—in passing, includes fem! reader n harry styles, bold ass language, kinda slow burn but not really, some sexy dancing ig n aaaangst. enjoy my whores <3

•••

Things have been weird with Harry for a while now. You’re not exactly sure how or why the rift even started, but it did. And it’s only been getting worse.

You’ve been friends for what—two years now? Never too close, but close enough to be able to communicate about any issues you’ve had with each other. You and Harry don’t really argue, he’s not the confrontational type. Not with you, anyway. And not when he’s sober.

You aren’t the biggest fan of confrontation either. When things get too heated or overwhelming, you cry. It embarrasses you—being unable to handle your emotions. You know that you’re only human, and you’d never judge someone else for crying in the middle of an argument, but because it’s you, because you know yourself so well, you judge yourself over it. Weird pattern, but hey, it’s real.

Right now, you’re out at a bar with your friends—the same group you’ve been hanging around since high school. Mitch and Sarah have been highschool sweethearts for as long as you can remember, they’re like the parents of the group. The cool parents. The parents everyone secretly wishes they could have. Niall and Lewis are attached at the hip, too—platonically. Been best friends since the day they met.

You’re the closest with Niall since you’ve been living with him through college, and you wouldn’t have it any other way. You have other girlfriends but they’re not as close to you as Niall and Sarah are. Sarah’s like a diamond you’ve always loved. They all are. They’ve always been by your side when you needed them—Harry included. You got lucky, sure. Not everybody has the luxury of picking the good ones before college and life gets in the way.

The bar is slowly coming to life. People who came for a meal are leaving, and people in the mood for a night of drinking and dancing are all piling in. You’re excited. It’s been way too long since you’ve let loose. You’ve been too stumped with work and college lately, you’ve barely had any time to breathe without someone breathing right there with you. And of course, you enjoy the company of others. But when you have to be sober for it all? Eh.

Harry’s similar to you in that sense. He loves socialising. Absolutely adores it. He’s an extrovert. But after weeks of constant company, he gets burnt out. The only thing that helps toughen the blow is alcohol. Or coke, but he’s stopped that for a while now.

You prop your elbows up on the edge of the bar and lean against it, looking around for the bartender. He has his back to you, mixing someone else’s drink. You clear your throat and he turns his head to the side, catching sight of you and nodding his head to let you know he’ll be a moment. You nod back and wait, turning to face your friends.

“Anyone wanna shot with me?” You arch a brow at your five friends, and they all smirk and nod their heads. Harry included. “We all good for a vodka?”

Everyone nods a second time in response, and you turn back to face the bartender.

“What can I do for you, gorgeous?” He shoots you a warm smile.

“Five shots of vodka, please.” You smile back at him and he nods.

“Straight?”

“No, gay,” You murmur a witty reply and he laughs, beginning to fill five shot glasses for you. You swear you can hear Harry coughing back a laugh from behind you too, but you don’t pay him any attention.

You double tap your phone’s off switch, activating the apple pay, and you hold it up to pay for your drinks.

“No need, beautiful,” The bartender holds his hand up, “This round’s on me.”

You shrug, exhaling dramatically, “I won’t try and convince you to let me pay.”

“I wouldn’t let you try.” The attractive bartender plays along, smirking at you.

You mouth a quick thank you to him and he gives you one final wink before turning his attention to the small group of girls next to you, catering to them now. You grab the shot glasses off the counter and hand them out to everyone, and you all hold them up and clink them together before downing them in seconds.

“Fuck,” Sarah sticks her tongue out as if that’s going to help the taste in her mouth, “Never gets easier does it?”

“Doesn’t need to,” Niall grins proudly, setting his shot glass down on the counter, “You’re just weak.”

“Yeah we fuckin’ get it, you’re an Irish heavyweight. We should all bow down at your feet, you’re a king and we’re peasants who can’t handle a measly shot.” Lewis rolls his eyes and pretends to worship him.

Niall frowns in confusion, “Who you calling a heavyweight?”

Harry snorts at the two men bickering. They’re like two peas in a pod, and typically, people who are so close tend to argue every now and then.

The group has that dynamic. Sarah and Mitch, Niall and Lewis, you and Harry? You’re not sure if you and Harry count. You’re not as close as the others. You wouldn’t call him a best friend. A friend, yes. A good friend? That’s pushing it, but still, yes. A best friend? No.

It’s not that you wouldn’t like to be closer. You’ve just never really been given the chance. Harry’s always kept a safe distance from you. You’ve hardly ever spent time alone, always speaking and engaging with each other the most when others are around to witness it. Sure, a part of you wishes that Harry would pay you more attention, but the other part of you doesn’t think he deserves it. If he wanted to, he would, right?

“And aren’t you Irish too?” Niall questions Lewis, continuing on with their unserious bickering.

“Yeah like a third,” Lewis shrugs, “From my dad’s side, but you already knew th—stop deflecting. Y/N, tell him to stop deflecting from how much of a cock he is.” He points towards you and tries to get you involved.

You giggle and shrug your shoulders, “You are a bit of a cock sometimes, Ni.”

“Both of you can suck me, honestly. I’m fuckin’ great.” Niall flicks his hair dramatically and you and Lewis snicker.

“I’m with Niall,” Harry lightly nudges Niall’s chest with his elbow, joining in on the joke, “Both of you can suck him.”

“You fucking weirdos,” Mitch shakes his head at the lot of you, not surprised in the slightest by your antics, “Miss Jones and I are gonna go dance, you lot can either keep bickering or come join us. Choice is yours.”

With that, they both head for the dance floor together, holding their hands in the air and laughing.

“I’m joining those twats,” Lewis gestures to them, looking at the rest of you, “You three game?”

Niall nods, “Course. Harry, Y/N?”

“I’ll be there in a bit,” You nod towards the bar, “I feel like some more drinks.”

Everyone’s attention shifts to Harry. He clears his throat as he thinks for a moment, “Yeah, me too. Be there in a bit.”

Lewis and Niall both nod at Harry and beeline for the dance floor, already beginning to bicker again on the way. You giggle at the sight of them and shake your head, turning to face the bar again. Harry joins you, standing by your side. Neither of you look at each other, you keep your eyes in front of you at the neat array of liquor set along the counter.

“Nice night, don’t you think?” You break the awkward silence threatening to form between the two of you.

You catch sight of Harry nodding his head, “Always a nice night with this lot.”

Dry as fuck. You might not be close with Harry, but you aren’t stupid. You know the way he speaks to people, you’ve seen it. Harry could have an hour long conversation with a tree. But with you, it seems like a fucking chore.

You want to scoff. You want to scoff at how fucking childish Harry’s acting with you. Why can’t he look at you or have a normal conversation with you?

You sigh, not wanting to overreact over such a minor reply and ruin the night for yourself. Although Harry seems to be doing a decent job of that himself.

“Can’t argue with that.” You murmur.

“Mhm.” Harry murmurs and you wait a beat for him to say something else, anything else.

He doesn’t.

That’s it.

“I feel like I don’t know you.” Your words spill out before you can stop them.

Harry’s taken by surprise. He turns to face you. Now he’s looking, at least. “Sorry?”

“I feel like I don’t know you.” You sigh, repeating yourself.

“What is there to know?” He furrows his eyebrows at you, gesturing to the bartender that he wants a glass of something.

“You tell me, Harry Styles.”

He sighs, running a hand through his curly hair, “Y/N, what are you trying to get at here?”

You shrug, “I dunno, I feel like I click with everyone else. I’ve got a connection with everyone, H. Everyone but you.” Your words come out harsher than you intended. You’d feel a little guilty if they weren’t true. But they are.

“That was unnecessary.” Harry murmurs so quietly that you almost don’t hear him.

“You asked me a question and I answered it.” You stand your ground, sick of Harry’s half-assed efforts to conversing with you. You’re a catch, your friendship is amazing, and you’re great to talk to. What the hell is Harry’s problem?

He laughs, scoffing at you in disbelief, “Fuck, you’re such a bitch sometimes.”

You almost choke on your own saliva, “Excuse me?”

“You fuckin’ heard me, Y/N. I called you a bitch. Because that’s what you are half the time when shit doesn’t go your way.” Harry doesn’t know where this is all coming from, but it’s coming.

He doesn’t mean it, obviously. He’d never mean that. He doesn’t think you’re a bitch. Again, never. But he’s angry. He’s angry and you’re angry and you’re both speaking without thinking it through properly and you’re both making an absolute mess of the situation and each other—

“What the fuck?” You stare at Harry in shock, your eyes wide with disgust.

He’s confused by your offended reaction, “What, are you surprised or something? Come on, Bunny. You know better than that.”

“You don’t have to be such an ass,” You scold him, “We used to get along. We used to be closer. We’ve never been as close as the others but at least we used to speak. At least I was able to walk into a room knowing you were there and look forward to it.”

His face relaxes at your words. He knows you mean well. You’ve both been hotheaded for a moment but now you seem to be calming down. You’re bringing your point across well and he can’t fault you for it.

“But what now? What fuckin’ now, H? You never speak to me when we’re alone, and then when you finally do, it’s this. It’s an attack on my character. Does this shit get you off or something?”

Never mind.

Harry scoffs at your sudden change in tone, feeling agitated again, “Fuck you.”

You slam your hand on the counter, “Fuck you, Harry!”

He glares at you as you continue scolding him, “What the hell are we even doing here? Go spend time with your actual friends.”

“Hey, wait a second. What?” He leans his head to the side in confusion, not knowing what you mean, “We’ve known each other for years, Bunny.”

“I don’t know a single thing about you.” You point out, making him roll his eyes. “Don’t roll your—“

“Where’s my favourite place to eat?” Harry cuts you off with a question. A question that you know the answer to.

 “That’s not—”

“Where do I go when I’m upset?” Again, another question you can answer.

“Harry—”

“How did I get the scar on my chin?” That’s a special question. You gave it to him the day you met.

You sigh, knowing where he’s going with this. He’s not understanding what you’re trying to tell him and it infuriates you.

You tap the tips of your fingers on the countertop, feeling anxious, “That’s not what I—”

“You do know me, Y/N. we don’t need to speak every two seconds or braid each other’s hair to know each other well.”

Your eyes begin to prick with tears. That isn’t what you meant and he knows that.

“That’s not what I meant.” You lower your voice as it threatens to crack.

“Then what did you mean, Bunny?” He crosses his arms and stares at you, waiting on an explanation.

You groan, throwing your head in your hands.

The truth is, you can explain. You can explain everything you’re feeling well. But is that going to get you anywhere right now? Maybe. Maybe not. You have a better idea.

“Do you consider me a friend?”

Harry’s face drops. You can tell that he’s upset and borderline offended that you’re even asking that question.

Of course you’re friends. You’ve been friends for years. He adores you. Why can’t you see that he adores you?

“Bunny..” He takes a step towards you, and you take one back.

“Do you?” You insist on getting a solid answer.

“Of course I consider you a fr—”

“Don’t lie.” You cross your arms over your chest.

“I’m not—”

“Tell me something real, Harry. Please. God, please just tell me something that isn’t base level for once,” You beg, “Tell me something true.”

He raises his eyebrows slightly. He’s taken back. He wasn’t expecting that from you at all.

He stays silent.

“You can’t, can you?” You scoff at him, not knowing why you expected anything to come from this conversation. You should’ve known better than to be hopeful about how things were going to go with Harry..because it’s Harry, “I don’t know why I thought you’d—“

“I still smoke cigarettes.” Harry cuts you off, blurting out an admission. He tenses his jaw in realisation—he’s just as shocked as you are.

Oh.

Your eyes widen at his confesion. Harry’s been gloating to everyone about how he so easily quit smoking three months ago. You’re all so proud of him, considering how difficult it is to quit something cold turkey the way he did. The rest of you haven’t been able to shake the bad habit. Apparently, neither has he.

“You do?” You question.

He nods, “Less. But I do.”

“Why?”

He almost smiles at your question, “Why do I smoke?”

“Why did you lie about it?”

He sighs, looking down as he answers you, “Everyone’s got something, right? Sarah and Mitch have their relationship, Niall has his singing, Lewis has his stand-up every Friday, you have your double degree. I just wanted something that everyone could be proud of. Felt like something small like that would’ve been manageable to keep hidden from everyone.”

You frown, “Harry..”

“No,” He shakes his head, refusing to let you feel sorry for him, “No. Seriously, no. We’re not about to do pity. That’s not what we do with each other.”

“Okay,” You clear your throat and agree to let it go, grabbing a now filled shot glass and handing it over to him, “Drink?”

He smirks at you, silently thanking you as he reaches forward and takes the shot glass from you.

“Sorry for calling you a bitch.” He murmurs, offering you a small, sincere smile.

You give him one back, “Sorry for being one.”

His small smile turns into a grin.

“To the truth.” You hold your glass up to cheers his with.

“To the fuckin’ truth.”

You both down your shots and tap them down on the counter to gesture for the bartender to refill them. He complies and neither of you waste a second to down the next ones. Over and over, shot after shot, you continue to drink until you’re buzzed.

You’re both good at handling your liquor, and you know how much you can take. By the time you’re done with your shots, you’re over the moon. Buzzed and aware. Aware of what you feel, aware of where you are, aware of who you’re with. Aware.

Harry leans down, his face dangerously close to yours. He’s never been this close, you don’t think. You’ve never seen his face so clearly, you’ve never seen his chest tattoos so well, his necklace dangling, his—

“Should we go dance with the others now, you think?” He speaks into your ear and you feel your stomach beginning to erupt with nerves.

“Yeah,” You inhale sharply, nodding, “Sure.”

Harry grabs your hand and leads you through the crowd, keeping a hold of you even when you reach where your friends are. The contact is strange but you welcome it, liking the new barrier that’s being broken between the two of you.

Over the years, you’ve noticed how touchy he can get when he’s under the influence, so you have an idea of what you’re getting into. You like being on the receiving end for once. You could get used to this side of Harry. You like being his friend. His real friend.

Once you get to where the others are, you quickly gauge what they’re all doing. Mitch and Sarah are in their own little world as usual, dancing together as if it’s their wedding night. Niall’s dancing with a random girl he’s probably going home with later tonight and Lewis is making a fool of himself in the middle of them. Ah, friendship. You love to see it.

“Nice song, yeah?” Harry leans over to your ear, speaking over the music. The song playing is one of your all time favourites—Wet Dream by WetLeg.

Anyone who knows you, knows the way you feel about this song. It’s become tradition to play it everytime you carpool. A fine tradition, you think.

“Oh, the best.” You start bopping your head to the beat of the song, singing along with the lyrics you know and love.

“I was in your wet dream driving in my caaar, saw you at the side of the road, there’s no one else around you’re touching yourself, touching yourself—“ You start yelling out the words along with everyone else on the dance floor, shaking your head side to side and dramatising every word. Harry watches you and smirks, letting you have your moment.

“You said—“

You’re about to keep singing the next part when he beats you to it, “Baby do you want to come home with me? I got Buffalo ‘66 on dvd!”

You let out a surprised laugh at the fact that Harry even knows the words to the song, loving that you’re seeing this side to him. You’d never expect to have something as simple as loving a song like this in common, but here you are.

Beam me up—beam me up!

Count me in—count me in!

Three, two, one—three, two, one!

Let's begin!

The song continues and you realise that you’ve both been staring at each other for a good ten seconds in silence, just taking in the sight of each other. Harry really is beautiful. The way his hair hangs perfectly below his shoulders. The way his dimples show at the smallest hint of a smile. The way his eyes burn into yours. You never want to see anything else. Just him. Just Harry.

“I was in your wet dream, driving in my caaaar!” Harry’s voice breaks you out of your daydream, and you laugh as he grabs your hands, dancing with you to the beat of the song.

“What makes you think you're good enough to think about me when you're touching yourself?” You continue the song and he pretends to be shocked, acting out the song with you.

“You climb onto the bonnet and you’re licking the windscreen! I’ve never seen anything so obscene!” You both sing the next part together, leaning in close to each other’s faces and practically screaming with the biggest smiles on your faces, “It’s enough! To make a girl blush! It’s enough! It’s enough to make a girl blush!”

The rest of the song plays and you both continue to scream out every word, making the most of the moment you’re having and hoping it never ends. Neither of you are sure what’s going on but neither of you are complaining. You’re both witnessing a new side to each other and you’re enjoying it. Perhaps you were made to be best friends like the others. Maybe it was meant to happen like this.

The song eventually comes to an end and you both let out a deep sigh, catching your breath for a moment as another random song plays.

Harry looks down at you with parted lips, “Nice singing, Bunny.”

“Could say the same to you, H.” You smile and wrap your arms around his neck, pulling him closer to you. The move is natural and you don’t put too much thought into it. Neither does Harry.

His hands find their way to your waist and you both sway in time with the music, singing the lyrics into each other’s faces and having the time of your lives.

“I haven’t had sex in 5 months!” His voice is just loud enough for you to hear over the music.

Your eyebrows furrow, “What?”

He leans closer to your face, “I said—I said I haven’t had—”

“No I—I heard you H,” You chuckle, “I’m just a little—”

“Surprised? Yeah me too.” He grins at you, suddenly seeming to be completely comfortable with you in a way you never expected, “I stole that chocolate bar from you last week by the way, it wasn’t Niall.”

You laugh for a moment at his strange confessions until you process what he just told you, “Wait that was you?”

 “Loud ‘n proud, bunny.” He grins proudly.

“You—you fucker!” You gasp, playfully hitting his chest with one of your hands, keeping the other where it was around his neck.

 He chuckles, playing along, “Did you forget what I just—”

“Shut up!”

You both laugh, continuing to move your bodies together.

“What about you? Tell me something true.”

You purse your lips together, trying to come up with something to tell Harry. There’s a million things you could tell him, but you want to catch him off guard. You want to see an honest, raw reaction from him.

“I think you’re really pretty.” You finally say, shrugging your shoulders.

Harry raises his eyebrows at you, unsure if you’re being serious. “Pretty?”

You nod.

He tilts his head for a moment, “Weird choice of words.”

“I don’t think so,” You smile at him, “You’re a pretty boy.”

He smiles back, “You’re a pretty bunny.”

“We’re pretty.”

“We are.”

You both smile at each other and share a brief moment. A moment of what—you’re not sure. Two friends being supportive of each other? Two friends suddenly becoming closer and making the most of it? Two friends two friends two friends—

The next song begins playing and your heart begins to pace more. Desire, Meg Myers.

The two of you exchange a look, knowing that you won’t move together to this song the same way you have been for the others.

You know that you won’t be singing along with this one. You’d rather feel it. Feel Harry.

You move your hands away from around Harry’s neck, and he keeps his on your waist, holding you close. You move your hands down and place them over his, feeling electric all of a sudden.

Baby, I wanna fuck you

I wanna feel you in my bones

The song is loud and the coloured lights are flashing red. The atmosphere has changed—not only in the bar and on the dance floor, but between you and Harry. The way he’s looking at you is different. The way you’re looking at him is different. The way he’s touching you is different. The way you’re touching him is different.

I’m gonna tear into your soul

You begin to sway your hips to the beat of the song, holding your eyes over Harry’s. Neither of you dare to look away. You wouldn’t dream of it.

How do you want me?

You begin to turn your body in time with the music, turning your back to Harry. He leans his head down, resting his head on your shoulder and keeping his hands by your waist as you continue to move against each other. You feel a surge of confidence—you’re not sure if it’s the song, if it’s the alcohol, if it’s Harry’s random confessions, if it’s the feelings you’ve been suppressing from him for years—but it’s here. It’s here and you’re about to make the most of it.

Yeah I gotta hurt you, I gotta hear it from your mouth

Boy, I wanna taste you, I wanna skin you with my tongue

I’m gonna kill you

You lean your ass back, moving it against Harry’s crotch. He sucks in a breath, and the only way you know it is because you feel his teeth graze the skin of your bare shoulder. Your eyes close at the feeling and you grow bolder, moving the same way a second time.

He tightens his grip on your waist. You can feel the bulge of his cock against your ass and you can only imagine how much it’s straining against the band of his jenas. You almost pity him. Almost.

I wanna feel you

I want it all

I wanna feel you

I want it all

You continue moving against Harry, enjoying his little reactions to your touch. To the way you feel. He begins trailing kisses down your neck, applying pressure and sucking on your skin. You still. You can’t focus on anything but the way his lips feel against you.

What’s going on between you both? What the fuck is happening? Why the fuck has it taken so long? Why couldn’t it happen sooner?

So many questions.

“Bunny,” Harry groans against your shoulder, placing one last kiss to your neck before moving his mouth to your ear, “Tell me something true.”

You know exactly what you want to say. Again, there’s so much you want to tell him. You want to tell him how good he feels against you, how much you love the way he moves his body against yours. You want to tell him that you feel the connection now. You want to tell him that you know he can feel it too. There’s so much to say, but you settle for the most simple thing. The most important one.

“I want you.”

•••

aaahhhh!!! i’m sososo proud of this one. idk why but this shot has a special place in my heart. the smut will be included in the second part. and believe me, it’s gonna be SMUT. i’m such a whore for angst n this friendship trope is just chef’s kiss.

anyway enough chat. i hope y'all enjoyed reading this as much as i enjoyed writing it <3 if you liked what you read then please reblog n comment. feel free to suggest ideas for new posts too.

have a good day or night wherever you are n stay safe, always <3

- k

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pluto44 · 5 months

Text

ALTERNATE ENDING / WHAT IF?

Pairing: Coriolanus Snow x Lucy Gray

Warnings: none? just Snow being Delusional

Summary: Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Gray leave district 12. What kind of trouble might they run into?

Authors Note: Hii!! this is my first time writing anything like this. I wrote this after watching the movie and wanted more from Lucy and Coriolanus!! so i wrote this for fun. I’ve only watched the hunger game movies so some of this might seem out of character to the book readers out there? this is more of a what if? kind of fic. I changed a few of the details so that Coriolanus and Lucy would end up together. But don’t worry Coriolanus will still be jumping to conclusions, just for different reasons. anyways please enjoy, and i’m open to constructive criticism. i’d also like to know if you guys would like for me to continue writing more for this fic between Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Gray?

Word count: 1670

“You know what I won't miss? people” he muttered.

“People aren’t so bad,” she looks at him. “It's what the world does to them, like all of us in the arena. i think there’s natural goodness born into us all”Coriolanus let out a sardonic laugh.

“No really,” Lucy says. “you either cross that line, into evil, or not. and it’s our last work to stay on the right side of that line.”

Coriolanus shook his head. “it’s not always that simple.”

“I know. I'm a victor” she smirkes.

Coriolanus stops behind her, picking up and examining a pile of wood. Lucy walks ahead of him.

“Sure would be nice to not have to kill anyone else up north though, huh?” she grinned.

“Threes enough for me.”

Lucy stops in her tracks. “you killed three…? Who's the third?”

“what?”

“ The person you killed Coriolanus. you said you killed three people i only know about two."

He steps towards her. “Can you help me get this off?” attempting to change the subject.

“Do not lie to me.” They both stand there for a moment. Both waiting for the other to respond.

“there was bobbin in the arena and mayfair. So who's the third?”

He takes her chin into his hand, tilting it upward. “my old self. I killed him so I could come here with you.”

The rain was pouring. Coriolanus suggested that he and Lucy should stop at the cabin to wait out the storm.

“We’re gonna need food and we can catch some fish while we’re here”

“There's some rods under the floorboards if you wanna.”

“these ones?”

“mhm” she nods.

opening them up Coriolanus freezes. Staring straight at him were the guns the mayor had everyone looking all over for.

Lucy takes notice of his change in demeanour.

“what is it?”

“it’s the gun” he lets out a small sigh in relief, picking one of them up.

“the one you fired at mayfair. spruce must’ve known about this place. if you destroy that gun you're free. you can go back home. will you?” she says nervously, afraid of his answer.

Coriolanus takes a moment, admiring the gun in his hands. “no more loose ends” he smirks.

“besides me.”

His head shoots up. “Besides you? you wouldn’t tell anyone.” he chuckles.

“of course not” she nervously smiles. silence fills the room before Lucy breaks it.

“ i’m just gonna go dig up some katnis” she says, quickly opening the door again.

“Lucy Gray” he calls out.

“But it’s still raining?”

“Well I'm not made out of sugar”

Grabbing her coat and a knife she hurriedly runs out the door.

Coriolanus stands there for a moment, thinking to himself.

“Why was she acting so different?”

Lucy Grays POV.

I ran. I ran until my lungs felt like they’d burst and my legs felt numb. My vision was blurred, i didn’t know why until i realised i was crying.

My legs started to slow, making me push them harder. I didn't want to stop, but my body was forcing me to, until I came to a complete Halt.

Coriolanus was lying to me, and I don’t know why. I crouched down trying to catch my breath through my broken sobs.

“I can’t trust him. I don’t wanna leave Coriolanus, but why was he lying to me? Why? Why?” I thought to myself.

I sat against a tree so I could rest. I let the rain hit my face as I stared off into the woods, feeling completely numb.

End of POV.

When the rain started to subside Coriolanus began to wonder what was taking Lucy so long.

“She looked like she was in a hurry,” he thought to himself.

“Was she angry with me? Maybe she needed my help?… or what if she somehow fell into the lake?… or Maybe the mayor traced us here, and they found Lucy.”

Coriolanus was on edge. The thought of Lucy running into trouble without him being there made his heart ache.

Images of Lucy struggling and calling out for him flashed through his mind. Trying to find a more rational reason for why Lucy Gray was taking so long, was now out of the question. He finally had enough and swung open the door, with determination and his gun in hand.

“Lucy Gray?” He called out

“Lucy Gray where are you”

He looked towards the Lake looking for any ripples. Any signs of lucy. But none.

“Hello!” He yelled out walking deeper into the woods.

“Hey has something happened? because if something happened we can talk about it!”

“Are you hiding from me?”

*Silence*

“Luc-“

He cut himself off, taking sight of the bright orange scarf he gave to her. Fear washed over him.

“What if something happened to her?” He thought to himself.

He bent down picking the scarf up, when a snake appeared from under it. Biting him.

“Uughh!” He winced in pain.

“Lucy Gray!” he called out again. but he was met with silence.

Coriolanus was beginning to spiral.

“how could i let this happen.” he thought to himself.

All he could do was laugh in disbelief. While grasping at his head attempting to ground himself.

tears trickling down his face as he slowly pickes the scarf up off from the ground, and he puts it up to his nose, deeply inhaling the rose scent left by his mother.

“Someone must’ve hurt Lucy Gray. My Lucy Gray.” he thought to himself.

Coriolanus was angry with himself, Lucy Gray was all he had at the moment. After all of the lengths he went through to insure her safety, he failed.

*crack* The sound of a branch snaping caught his attention.

He quickly stood up, grabbed his gun and pointed it in the direction of the sound. slowly he stepped forward holding his breath. Anticipation weighing on him.

*crack* that sound again, but coming from a different direction.

He caught glance of someone running. He couldn’t make out who it was but all he could think about was Lucy Gray. So he pulled the trigger.

A scream followed by a loud thump from the direction his gun was pointed.

Coriolanus ran towards the sound. Not knowing who it could be. But he stopped.

“Lucy Gray?” his face went pale.

“Get away from me!” she yelled at him holding the wound on her left thigh.

He quickly gets on his knees to help, but she refuses.

“No! please” she pushes his hands away, forcing distance between them.

“Let me help you Lucy Gray please”

He reaches out his hands putting them on top of hers to apply more pressure and she winces.

“Ok, just keep a tight hold on your thigh like this, alright?” He looks up at her for her assurance, and she complies and hesitantly nods.

Coriolanus carefully picks Lucy up and begins to move

quickly.

“I'm so sorry Lucy Gray, I didn't know what I was thinking”

Lucy tightly shuts her eyes, groaning in pain.

“we’re almost there Lucy Gray just hold on.”

Approaching the cabin, Coriolanus kicks the door open, not wasting any time and carefully sets Lucy onto their shared bed.

He runs to his bag bringing it over to the side of the bed as he crotches down, levelled with her wound.

“Let me see” he says, reaching towards her hand before she flinched away.

emense guilt began to wash over Coriolanus as he looks down.

“I can't help you if you won’t let me touch you, Lucy Gray.”

She looks away from him facing the wall.

He sighs. “I'm so sorry. I don't want you to be afraid of me... Will you please look at me?”

She turns her head towards him in frustration.

“Who was the third?”

“what?”

“who. was. the third. Coriolanus.” her voice shook with anger.

“Tell me who else you killed, and I'll let you help me.” tears began to well up, as she tried to hold back her sobs.

Coriolanus’s head drops down to the floor. Silence filled the room as Lucy waited for his answer. Then he finally spoke.

“Sejanus,” he mumbled.

Lucy looks at him confused. “but he was hung at the hanging tree-“

“because of me.” he blurts out.

“I-.” he cuts himself off trying to find the words.

“I couldn't save him.… he was calling out for me. He needed my help and i stood there and did nothing. ” He says as he buries his head into the mattress while he grips Lucy’s dress, his knuckles turning white.

Her eyes soften. “His death wasn’t your fault Coriolanus. there is nothing you could’ve done differently that could’ve saved him.” she says caressing the top of his head with her free hand.

“I'm so sorry for doing this to you Lucy Gray.” he looks up at her.

She takes in a deep breath switching her tone of voice . “Let’s not talk about that right now. you’ve still gotta patch me up” she anxiously smiles.

“No Lucy.” Coriolanus stands up from the side of the bed and sits down next to her. taking her chin into his hand, and tilting it upwards he says, “What I did to you is unforgivable, and I'll spend the rest of my life making up for it.”

Lucy softens under his touch. Gently closing her eyes as he pulls her face closer to his. anticipating a kiss she holds her breath, but quickly pulls away.

“Lucy Gray.” he says softly, taking her face into his hands again.

“Open your eyes for me” he says, caressing her cheek with his thumb.

She takes a deep breath before slowly opening her eyes again, and is met with his.

“ I would never do anything to hurt you. you know that right." She nods her head slowly in agreement.

“good.” he pulls her in and their faces collide, melting into one another. Their lips moving with each other in sync. Lucy deepens the kiss eager for more. but he pulls away, leaving them both breathless.

“Now let me stitch you up.”

#the hunger games #coriolanus x lucy gray #coriolanus x reader #fanfic #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #lucy gray baird #coriolanus snow #lucy gray x coriolanus #snowbaird #snow #the hunger games the ballad of songbirds & snakes #tom blyth #coriolanus snow x reader #snow x reader

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annymation · 2 months

Note

WAIIIITTTTT what do you mean Asha and Magnifico already knew each other before she was 18???? Explain this, explain yourself 🔫🔫🔫🔫

*raises my hands up* 🙌

Alright alright I’ll explain!

As I’ve mentioned here on this blog Asha interacted with Magnifico before the events of the story, it’s nothing major, just something that came to my mind, so here’s what happened

13 years prior to the events of Kow, when Asha was a little kid, she got to talk to the king during an event where he and the queen were pretty close to the people, a festival or something. Then again, they’re always pretty approachable to their people either way.

Anyway, this takes place before the talk she and Sabino had during Chapter 1 where she promised him she wouldn’t wish to become a great artist.

So the interaction would go like this:

Magnifico and Amaya were sitting on wooden thrones prepared just for them to get a view of the current festival of the month, the chairs are covered with curtains so people can only see them from the front view. It was just like any other festival and the king was frankly rather bored, even though his face wouldn't let it show.

But suddenly he hears a little voice “Psst excuse me, mr. King Magnifico!"

The voice came from beside him, he looks down and sees a smiling little girl looking up with her big eyes. No one else seemed to notice her there besides him since the chairs they're sitting on are covered and everyone else is watching the performances of the festival.

He gives her a friendly smile like he gives to any other subject "Well hello there, how did you get here?"

"I sneaked in from behind the curtain, none of the guards saw me heh heh" Little Asha giggles, proud of herself

"Oh my, a little scallywag got past my guards? Should I be worried for my safety?" He jokes sarcastically

"Heheh nooo I just wanted to make a question!" She says excited jumping up and down.

Magnifico smiles at her quite amused "You've certainly got my attention, so go ahead, ask away"

"When I'm a grown up, can you give me magic like my mama's?" The little girl's big eyes sparkle at the question

The king smile goes flat "... Your mother knows magic?" He asks back, his face serious this time, as it is strictly forbidden for anyone besides the king to use magic in Rosas.

"My grandpa says she could make drawings move, that's what I wanna do too" She explains innocently

The king feels relieved, it's just some made up story, nothing to worry about. His friendly smiles returns as he explains to her "I see. Unfortunately that sort of wish is forbidden, little one"

Asha looks downward disappointed "Aw... Okay"

Magnifico thinks for a moment and he has an idea "Buuuut who knows, perhaps I could make you my apprentice in the future, would you like that?"

The little girl eyes widen "*gasp*! Really?! Yes! I would love to!" She said jumping up and down

The king couldn't help but chuckle imagining how he could exploit this, maybe teach her magic only to steal her power later, or just have an loyal assistant would be fine too "Glad to hear it, if you prove yourself to be good I'll be more than happy to grant that wish" He boops her nose playfully.

"I will be good, I promise!" The girl says with her eyes shinning like stars and a big innocent smile.

Cut to 13 years later and the same girl is looking at him straight in the eyes with a burning rage

"I won't let you decide what I deserve! Nor what anyone else in Rosas deserves!"

The girl was good, alright? Too good.

#wish rewrite #wish reimagined #kingdom of wishes #ask

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celebrityfootlicker · 8 months

Text

Ben Jordan - Foot story

Ben had been my roommate for 3 months now ever since he moved in he’s been different from the friend I used to have he’s turned into a jerk maybe it was his true colors or he was just putting up a face as my roommate now either way he always demanded things from doing the dishes for him to cleaning his clothes. I had finished up washing my dishes when Ben came into the kitchen “Hey man I got something to talk to you about” nodding you both walk into the living room and sit down “your past roommate talked to me a while ago and told me about some things you used to do like smelling his socks” my face flushed red I hoped this wouldn’t happen having a foot fetish was bad enough but now he’s going to think I’m a creep I try to get a word out but Ben pauses me “I want to make you an offer” I nod confused “from now on your going to do all the chores in the house along with cooking for me and other things I tell you to do”. Thats how it’s been anyway but this seems interesting I agree “Cool along with that im taking ownership of you, seeing how you sneaked every time you sniffed his clothes you probably felt embarrassed well now you don’t have to worry as my pet your going to have my scent on you everyday whenever you walk outside people will know just from a whiff of you that you’re a Bitch”. My cock was throbbing the thought of being a slave to Ben gave me so much pleasure my conscious was screaming at me to say no but every other part of me said yes not able to control myself I nodded again.

“Good then as your first task Faggot go get me a fucking beer” I rush to the fridge and grab a beer bringing it to Ben he chuckles “Good boy, your gonna be a good boy forever for me right?” I nod and Ben looks away smiling he must feel so powerful and all i can do is stand here and observe waiting for my next order. Ben puts his feet on the coffee table wiggling his toes he catches me staring “You wanna lick my feet?” I nod “then beg me” I blink and get on my knees putting my head to the ground I plead for a chance to worship his feet the soft and sweaty feet are the only things I need and want as I pick my head off the ground Ben just looks at me “Fine go ahead make sure I feel amazing while you worship them and thank me for this opportunity” I scoot to the end of the table right in front of Ben’s feet the smell was intoxicating I reached out and touched them the soft yet wet skin was perfect I grasped his foot and began massaging.

“Fuck yeah faggot, lets make this a daily routine for you everyday you spend hm 2 hours at my feet” I quickly agree and continue massaging. After a bit longer I stick my tongue out and lick from the bottom of his heel to the top of his toes, after a few of these licks Ben sticks his big toe into my mouth swirling it around “so warm, suck on it” he demands and I oblige licking all over he moans more and pops his toe from in my mouth “that’s enough for today, sit there and think of a good meal to cook for me tonight” I ask what im supposed to eat “the dirt from my feet wasn’t enough?” I shake my head telling him it was and thank him for the food “whatever faggot that’s all you get anyway now go make me my food”

This new life as Ben’s slave was brutal and constantly tiring but still I wouldn’t change it.

#malefeet #dominated slave #foot domination #ben jordan

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starynightcreator · 4 months

Text

It's Not All Bad

Chapters: 5-8

Characters included: Eddie Munson, Nancy Wheeler, and Steve Harington

Word Count: 9,006

No use of Y/N

18+! May be triggering to some!

Contains: Fluff, Angst, Kissing, Shy/ Anxious Reader, Sweet/Protective Eddie, Jealousy, Cursing, Alcohol use, Yelling, Heartbreak, Betrayal, & Friends To Lovers.

Summary: After a betrayal from your best friend and boyfriend, you find comfort in the arms of eddie.

Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments. This is my first story and I'm a little nervous.

!Must give credit when re-sharing/ sharing. Don't take credit please and thank you!

PART FIVE:

Just as Eddie turned his head to go and defend himself, he caught you smiling like some dummy. It was all because of him, so he decided to say something else instead. “We still got quite a drive.” “Yeah” “Do you want to do something?”“Like what?”“I ask you something and you gotta be 100% honest with me and then after you can ask me something the same rules apply. Are you down?” You took a minute to think “Yeah what the hell why not. Go ahead.”“Why are you dating a jerk like Steve?”“Oh, well at first he wasn’t like this. He was much kinder, sweeter, and just better. Then Nancy came back and he changed. I know they had history but they said it wouldn’t affect anything and well you see how that's going. He even came over uninvited this morning and when I had some attitude he said he had no idea why. Then asked what did he do wrong to deserve me being so sharp and snippy with him. Anyways I guess i’m just hoping he’ll go back to being that nice guy.””You’re kidding?!”“I wish.”“Star I’m sorry you deserve better than that and you’ve done nothing wrong.”“Maybe not but it feels like I have.” Hearing that broke Eddie's heart into a million pieces. You’ve done nothing wrong and don’t deserve to feel this way or to be treated this way. ”I know. I hope that'll change soon tho.”“Me too. Can I ask my question now? I kinda wanna drop this if that’s ok.”“Yeah it’s ok and yeah fire away.”“Why do you call me Star?”“Ummm.” Eddie had to think he had to be honest and he had to answer but this isn’t exactly how he planned on telling you why he called you that.”You don’t have to tell me. I get it” Eddie pulled into a empty parking lot as he wanted to be able to either look at you or move around anything but drive.“Edds?”“You wanna know and I'm gonna tell you what it honestly means.” “Ok.”“I call you Star because you are the brightest and most beautiful thing in my life. You are my happiness and you guide me through the darkness. You make literally everything better just by being involved. You shine so bright, so bright that most people just can’t handle it. Which is just unfortunate for them. I din’t wanna tell you and then scare you off or weird you out.”“Edds I-”“I get if yo-” Eddies words were then cut off as you quickly wrapped your arms around him and it didn’t take long for him to then do the same. You guys sat there hugging for a good minute or two. “We should probably get going, Edds.”“Yeahhhh but this is better.” As much as you wanted to agree you knew any longer you may have told him you loved him and you did. Steve hurt you and made you miserable. Eddie made you feel loved and special. Steve didn’t even make you feel that way in the beginning. At this point you asked yourself if you truly ever loved Steve. You did for a short time but you were never in love with him and there is a difference. Somehow you were able to escape Eddie's bar grip. “Yeah but um we should still go for a little.”“Fine. If we must.” “We must.” “Star?” “Yes?” “Can…” You can tell he’s getting nervous so you don’t tease. But you also notice his hand was out not like asking for yours just there, so you take it anyways and ask. “Were you gonna ask to do this?” “No!”“Oh okay then i’ll just take my hand back then.” “No Star wait…Yes it was what I was gonna ask for.” You still let go tho “Well then ask petty boy.” “Pretty?” “Yes among other things but yes pretty is one.” “Oh?” “Well you are!” Eddie turns red and although he’d love to tease he doesn't wanna miss the opportunity to hold your hand so he’ll put a pin on teasing you for now. “Thank you. Hey Star, can I hold your hand?” “Yes.” You take his hand again and you guys head off again.

Meanwhile Steve and Nancy were already at the party but you nor Eddie had any idea they would be there as they didn’t say anything about going. Steve kept going around the party saying how y’all broke up and that Nancy and him got back together. Nancy wasn’t a fan of being so open about this yet but she didn’t stop Steve either. She liked knowing Steve loved her more even if it was at the cost of your friendship. She did feel guilty but she also thought it was unfair she didn’t get a true chance with Steve. The whole time they were there they danced together, made out several times, got drunk, and just did lots of couple type crap. Steve was now so drunk he didn’t think his actions out before doing them or how it would affect his surroundings. So he dragged Nancy to the restroom for another makeout session but didn’t remember to lock the door behind them. You and Eddie finally arrived and as always Eddie ran to get the door for you. “Thank you Edds.”“You’re welcome Star.” You both enter the party and again you already wanna ditch the idea of going. But it’s too late now. So you both walk in and find a place to kinda sit and just talk. As time passes people must have finally connected the dots on who you were as you had a mix of people coming up to you saying you were an awful person or i’m sorry that happened to you. You were confused but Eddie was pissed which confused you more. You had no idea what the fuck was going on but Eddie had his suspsion. You just tried to shake it off and say whatever, besides you had to use the restroom Anyways. As you go to walk in you hear something and then… you walk in on your boyfriend and best friend making out. All anyone hears next is. “WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW!” Followed by a door slamming everyone including Eddie thought it was someone else (as again this isn’t something you’d normally do but) until you turned the corner and your face said it all and then it showed some fear as you couldn’t see Eddie but as soon as you saw Eddie you B-lind it to him. “Eddie please take me home.”“Star ar-” You cut him off and you felt awful for doing so but you couldn’t handle being there right now and explaining to Eddie here meant staying here “Not right now Eddie please just can we leave.” He could hear the crack in your voice and how broken you were. He hated seeing you like this but he’d be damned to ignore your cry for help. Steve suddenly runs to try and explain “BABE WAIT!” But you’ve had enough of his and Nancy’s shit. You whipped around so fast Eddie had to put his arms up so he wouldn’t slap you (his hands were at face level behind you). You spoke so angrily that your face turned so red from anger and burned hot to the touch, you were crying uncontrollably, you hated crying, your fists were so tight your nails left marks on your palms, and when you spoke you yelled. But your yell was so broken as you had a hard time keeping it together. Steve just broke your heart into a million pieces so did Nancy. Oh and they think it’s what no biggy? This was months of pent up shit and this was the last straw. “DON’T YOU FUCKING BABE ME YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” Of course Steve tried to play the civil card now that there was an audience watching the truth unfold. ”Wow there is no need for yelling let’s just go talk privately. Yah?”“GO FUCK YOURSELF! I’M DONE WAITING FOR YOU TO BE SOMEONE YOU'RE NOT ANYMORE AND I’M DONE WITH YOUR SHIT.”“What do you mean your done?”“GO GET A NEW DAMN BRAIN I’M DONE, LIKE OH I’M BREAKING UP WITH YOU, OH IT’S OVER, OR OH I DON’T EVER WANNA SEE YOU AGAIN! LIKE HOW ELSE DO I GOTTA SAY IT?!” “OH AND NANCY DON’T EVEN TRY AND SPEAK I WANT YOU OUTTA MY LIFE STARTING 5 MIN AGO. FUCKING NO GOOD BACK STABBING LYING PEICES OF SHIT, GET FUCKED I’M OUTTA HERE.” As you hear them rambling in the background you just keep looking forward and walk out.

#eddie munson #steve harrington #stranger things #nancy wheeler #eddie munson angst #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson x reader #eddie x reader #eddie x fluff #angst #fluff #friends to lovers

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brighterdaysarebeforeus · 9 months

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Just FYI for anyone uncomfortable with it — there is a moment of Hobie getting pinned by Miguel for a moment, if you won’t be comfortable please skip from “I know, I know” to “I can’t just — Miguel!”

@hobiesgender @royallydivinelesbian

Masterlist

Everything went to shit so quickly, Hobie barely had time to process what was going on.

The visiting Royals had left the kingdom, and nobody knew why they decided to leave so suddenly; it wasn’t any different from before, when they’d randomly showed up and nobody had any information as to why they were there to begin with. It didn’t really matter to Hobie either way; he had better things to focus on.

Two days after they’d gone, the Royal people, Hobie and his crew went to the marketplace. It was a quiet day, for the most part; Peni and Ham were playing tag in the very front of the group, occasionally weaving around Gwen and Margo, who were walking arm and arm together and chatting, just ahead of where Hobie was walking with Michael. A kid darted out from behind one of the stalls without warning, crossing the sidewalk right in front of the pair of them. Hobie, who’d been trying (and failing) to convince Michael to let him teach him some sleight of hand tricks (“it’s a valid skill to learn — think of the tricks you could do!”) and therefore not particularly paying attention to his feet, tripped over him and nearly fell.

“Sorry!” The kid squeaked, his big eyes wide and terrified. Hobie blinked down at him, confused, and watched as the kid began trembling slightly. “I’m sorry! Sorry!”

“Hey, hey, don’t be sorry, little man.” Hobie said brightly, holding his fist out so the kid could bump it with his own. The little boy sniffled, rubbing his nose instead and staring up at Hobie still; his eyes couldn’t really get any bigger, but they were slowly filling up with tears. Hobie frowned, wondering if he was supposed to have known the kid from somewhere — it was becoming increasingly obvious the kid knew him, at least. “Hey, mate, whatsa matter, huh?”

“They told my mama that if I helped, they’d give her food.” Hobie paused at that, staring down at the kid with narrowed eyes. He laughed a bit, still not understanding, until a heavy hand landed on his shoulder to pin him in place. The kid scampered off a bit, running behind the stall he’d come from and hiding out; Hobie lifted his gaze straight ahead, seeing Gwen and Margo staring at him with horror in their eyes.

“On your feet, Brown.” Miguel’s voice hissed in his ear, and Hobie stood up slowly. Their eyes were still locked, Gwen looking conflicted about what was happening. Most of the group had walked ahead, which meant that Hobie was the only one in danger of being caught right at this moment; that could, and likely would, change the second they noticed the rest of his crew there.

Hobie threw his arm back, elbow digging right into Miguel’s stomach with a sharp force, and Miguel released his shoulder to stumble back.

“Run!” Hobie yelled, booking it past Miguel down the street in the opposite direction. He heard, faintly, Gwen giving the corresponding order (“go, go, gogogogo — ”) and knew that he’d meet with his group back on the boat, as usual. He ducked around another guard, heard Miguel’s yell of frustration and knew instinctively the man would be coming after him. The marketplace was fairly crowded for a late afternoon, and Hobie was sort of hoping to use that to his advantage in some way —

Something slammed into his side and Hobie stumbled into the side of a building. He narrowly missed the corner of it, and made to go on until a hand caught on his own. He twisted down to see Michael staring up at him with wide, terrified eyes.

“You didn’t go with Gwen and the others?” Hobie hissed, interlacing their fingers together and taking off with Michael. They dodged and weaved through the crowd, a bit harder to do since they wouldn’t let each other go as they ran.

“Didn’t wanna just leave you.” Michael told him breathlessly, and Hobie let out a chuckle that was barely heard.

“Shoulda just gone with Gwendy, I woulda met you back at the rendezvous point.”

“I know, I know.” They didn’t speak after that, too focused on running, but it wasn’t able to go on for very long. Miguel seemed to have found a short cut, because Hobie was slowing to turn into an alleyway one second, and then he was getting slammed into from behind the next. His hand was yanked from Michael’s, and he went down hard with the weight of the captain on his back.

“Finally caught you, punk.” Miguel hissed in his ear, and Hobie threw his elbow back; Miguel grabbed it before it made contact with his stomach again, pinning it down to the ground. His weight tipped precariously at one point, and then Michael grunted as he fell to the floor by Hobie.

“Get offa him!” Hobie snarled, fighting to get up so he could grab Michael. “Run, kid, get out of here. Get off!”

“Stop struggling!” Miguel snarled back; Michael got up again, trying to push Miguel off, but he was stronger. He shoved Michael back several steps; he stumbled, but didn’t fall this time. There was the sound of running doorsteps, and suddenly there were more guards in the alleyway.

“Let him go, what are you doing?” Michael yelled. “Stop it, let him go!”

“Get that kid out of here!” Miguel roared, holding Hobie down on his stomach even as Hobie struggled underneath him.

“Leave ‘im alone,” Hobie growled, “Michael, run — ”

“I can’t just — Miguel!” Michael stopped looking panicked, or at least as panicked, and the tone of his voice went from scared to authoritative. Hobie stopped struggling out of pure surprise; he’d never heard Michael use that tone of voice before. Even Miguel stopped, standing up and taking Hobie with him so he could blink down at this teen that was barely half his size. Michael was trembling slightly, but he stood straight and sure as if that would make it less noticeable. “I order you to unhand him. At once.”

Miguel burst out laughing, looking at the rest of his guards as if to say ‘you see this kid?’ before turning back to look at Michael with a bemused look.

“You order me?” He repeated. “You order me? Under whose authority do you order me?” Hobie threw his shoulders back in a test, and Miguel held him firmly. Just run, dumbass, Hobie thought frantically, trying to throw Miguel off again, just get out of here —

“Under my own authority.” Michael pulled the hood back, revealing himself fully to Miguel for the first time. Miguel froze, which made Hobie pause, because why would — “Prince Miles Morales, of Nueva Araña, demands that you release Hobie Brown at this very moment.”

“Your Highness!” Hobie grunted as Miguel dropped into a bow, forcing him down again as well. The other guards did the same, Hobie could see them out of the corner of his eyes, but he couldn’t focus on that right at that second. His mind was reeling, trying to make sense of what was happening right now. “It’s been a week, we’ve feared the worst.”

“Let him go, Miguel.” Michael — Miles — the prince said firmly, completely disregarding what the man said.

“That isn’t possible, Your Highness.” Miguel said as he stood up straight again. “This delinquent has been sentenced to be brought before the king and queen as soon as possible to face the consequences of the crimes he’s committed.”

“What crimes?” Prince Miles asked firmly. Miguel hesitated, only for a second, before bringing Hobie to stand as well. Prince Miles didn’t even look at him, and Hobie felt his face pull back into a dark glower; the prince, it seemed, had had his fun with them.

Miguel glanced around at his men, then met Prince Miles’s gaze head on.

“Kidnapping the prince, of course.”

#punkflower #miles morales #hobie brown #gwen stacy #miguel o'hara #a whole new world au #part 12

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kuzann · 3 months

Text

The Wayward Heart

Written as my gift for @vixianna for the @valentines-core-exchange!

Summary

A ghost has stolen Vlad's heart, and now there's only one thing he can do to get it back: pretend to date Jack Fenton. Will he be able to work past his feelings, or will the entire matter end in disaster?

You can also read it on Ao3!

I think I got a bit too ambitious with trying to fit this entire story into only 20k words. ^^; But I still had an absolute blast writing it and I hope everyone(especially Vix) enjoys reading it! 💜 I'll be posting outlines and notes for it later today. Also, here's a link to the development of this fic for anyone who's interested in having a look!

Acquiring Help

Vlad paused before the front steps of FentonWorks and tried to get himself in order; he’d flown over so fast that he’d collided with a few trees on the way, and the disheveled result carried over to his regular attire. He plucked a particularly clingy twig from his hair and smoothed down a few silver locks that had come loose from his ponytail. The pronounced shadows under his eyes were something he could do nothing for at the moment—they were a consequence of the power drain he’d been hit with earlier, and a visible reminder that his ghost form held very little strength now.

The day had gone downhill so fast and it wasn’t even noon yet. If only he’d never heard of that wretched artifact to begin with. Then he wouldn’t have to beg Jack Fenton of all people for help and hope that Maddie was willing to play along.

Vlad took a deep breath, let it out, and steeled himself. Best to get this whole humiliating affair over with as soon as possible.

There was a distinct... Lack in his chest despite the nervous pulse thrumming in his fingertips. Another reminder of what was on the line here.

The door opened mere moments after he rang the doorbell and he was greeted by Jack Fenton’s wide smile and typical lack of volume control.

“Vladdie! Good to see ya!” Jack said as he stepped aside and gestured for Vlad to enter. “How’ve you been? Wanna play chess?”

“Perhaps another time, Jack,” Vlad said as he strolled past Jack and into the living room. The rest of the Fenton family was there, each watching him with either annoyance or suspicion or a mix of both. So circumstance had decided to hand him an audience. Just great. As if having to ask Jack for help to begin with wasn’t humiliating enough already. “I’m actually here because I need your help with something,” Vlad continued as he turned to Jack. “I’ve run afoul of a particular ghost—”

“And you need me to hunt it down? Say no more, pal!” Jack already had a gun in hand and was about to rush out the door when Vlad hung onto his harm to stop him.

“Not necessarily!” Vlad said quickly; if he couldn’t get ahead of Jack’s triggerhappy tendencies then they’d be in real trouble. “I require help of a more... Delicate variety. We have to play along with the ghost’s game this time.”

“And why would that be?” Maddie asked as she joined them. “Why should we cater to any ghost’s unreasonable whims?”

Vlad sighed. “Because that ghost has collateral right now. Very important collateral.” He was going to have to say it eventually, a statement as simultaneously ridiculous and as it was horrifying. He’d been trying to avoid it.

“And what ‘collateral’ might that be?” Maddie asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

“My heart,” Vlad said, flushing a bit with embarrassment. “Not in the metaphorical sense!” he added quickly, upon seeing their disbelief.

“Hold on—” Maddie grabbed his wrist and held her fingers against the underside for a few moments. “But you still have a pulse,” she said, one fist braced against her hip as she dropped his arm. “How do you know the ghost wasn’t trying to trick you?”

“Well, that would be far better than the alternative,” Vlad admitted, feeling a tiny bit of hope and no small amount of embarrassment. In truth he’d been so freaked out by the reveal that he hadn’t thought to ask someone else to check. Still, best to be sure. “But shouldn’t you also listen for it, all the same?”

Jack swung Vlad to face him and put an ear to his chest, even as Vlad fought down the rush of annoyance at having his personal space invaded so suddenly. He was a little paler than usual when he straightened. “Uh, you usually need a stethoscope to hear it, right?”

“You’d need one to hear it better but you should be able to hear it as long as you’re close enough.” Maddie was beginning to look a little worried as well, not a good sign. She also brought an ear to Vlad’s chest—something that would’ve made his heart race in better circumstances—and came away with an even deeper frown. “I’ll go get the stethoscope.” She took the steps two at a time as she sprinted upstairs, but Vlad’s smidge of hope was already dashed.

“Don’t worry, V-man. We’ll figure this out!” Jack pulled Vlad into a tight side-hug that he must’ve thought would be reassuring. Instead it added a distinct thread of anger to Vlad’s present anxiety.

Vlad glanced at Danny and Jazz and found the two watching him with keen interest in the latter’s case and smug amusement in the former’s. He was about to give Danny a glare when Maddie returned with the stethoscope in hand.

Maddie put the stethoscope in her ears and brought it to Vlad’s chest. She went a few shades paler after a few moments. “How can he still be alive like this?”

“Isn’t it possible that Vlad just never had a heart to begin with?” Danny asked, his smirk still firmly in place.

Vlad gave him a look. That was a low blow given the circumstances, even with the relationship between them as bad as it was.

“Danny!” Jack said, looking at his son in shock. “How could you say something like that?!”

“Now’s not the time for distasteful jokes, Danny,” Maddie added. “I know what you’re getting at, but there was a time when Vlad was a kinder person than he is now.”

Vlad looked at her in shock—that comment felt like she’d actually slapped him. “Maddie—”

“Don’t interrupt,” Maddie said, holding a hand up for silence. “I’m thinking.” She brought a hand to her chin as she considered the current predicament more. “We should run some tests—”

“There’s no time for that!” Vlad said, holding his hands up in a silent request that they give him a little distance. The last thing he needed was them running tests that could reveal his secrets, especially without the cover of chronic ecto-acne to explain his more ghostly qualities. “I can’t keep the ghost waiting forever!”

“Then what game is my dad supposed to play with this ghost, Uncle Vlad?” Danny asked, with as much disdain placed on the name as he could muster.

Vlad ran a hand down his face and sighed. They’d arrived at the worst part of the whole affair. “We have to pretend to be a couple,” he said after some hesitation, feeling absolutely wretched as the words left his mouth.

Momentary silence followed the statement, and then Danny began laughing so hard that he fell off the couch.

Maddie tried to hold back her laugh, and failed.

“Well that shouldn’t be hard!” Jack declared, grinning as he pulled Vlad into another side-hug. “Vladdie and I were basically a couple back in college!”

“Don’t talk about that!” Vlad snapped as he pulled away from Jack.

Danny’s laughter came to an abrupt end. “Oh, gross!” he said, wrinkling his nose as if he’d just smelled something foul.

“Now Danny, just because those moronic churchgoers are so loud—” Maddie began.

“It’s not about two dudes being together,” Danny said. “It’s about one of the dudes in question being Vlad.”

“Anyway,” Maddie said, sweeping the conversation past its temporary tangent as she turned to Vlad again. “You still haven’t told us much about this ghost. What sort of powers are we talking about?”

“This ghost is called Mitzi the Matchmaker. As indicated by her title she’s all about matchmaking and helping ghosts form stable couples.”

“Ghost couples... So why’s she after you, then?” Jack asked with sincere confusion.

“Well, she had a particular artifact that I feared she might misuse, so I attempted to retrieve it,” Vlad began, the lie running smoothly enough; he’d gone over it on the way over, after all. The embarrassment necessary for selling that lie, however, was genuine. He wouldn’t hear the end of this one for a while. “And unfortunately it ended up activating on me instead.”

Danny let out a single snort of amusement at that. Jazz, meanwhile, was watching him the way a microbiologist watched a particularly interesting microbe on their slide. She even had a notebook open on her lap.

“So if we can convince her that you two make a good couple she’ll give your heart back and leave?” Maddie asked, giving him an incredulous look.

“That’s what she told me,” Vlad replied. “First I have to bring Jack back to her so she can do some sort of test. She’s at my mansion now.”

“And may I come along?” Maddie asked.

“Of course, I was hoping you would want to,” Vlad said quickly. In truth he’d been a tad hopeful that Mitzi could perform her compatibility test on him and Maddie as well; hopefully the result would be an even better match than whatever match he and Jack made.

“And if you try to use this to threaten my marriage, Vlad...” Maddie began, fixing Vlad with a glare.

Jack gasped. “Maddie! Vladdie would never do something like that!”

“I won’t!” Vlad said, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. “I just want my heart back, and to avoid that ghost she was trying to pair me off with instead!”

“Wait, other ghost?” Danny cut in. “What other ghost?”

Vlad let out a grumbling sigh. “She said that if I couldn’t find a good match myself then she’d force me to marry a ghost instead. He calls himself the Future Ghost King or some nonsense.”

Danny looked surprised. “Since when was there a Future Ghost King?”

“He picked the title himself, he’s some sort of wannabe tyrant from what I’ve heard,” Vlad replied with a wave of his hand. “And naturally he gets a large portion of my assets if I’m forced to marry him.”

Any lingering humor at Vlad's expense evaporated.

“Oh, that’s not good,” Danny said.

“The last thing we need is a maniacal ghost with Vlad’s resources,” Maddie added.

“No scummy ghost is laying a finger on my buddy!” Jack declared. “Let’s get over there and prove what a great couple we are, Vlad!” He grabbed Vlad by the hand and dashed out the front door, dragging Vlad along behind him like a hapless kite.

~~~

Vlad led the way to his library once they arrived, and there they found Mitzi the Matchmaker waiting for them.

She looked like your busybody aunt. Well, your busybody aunt who happened to be dead and had a taste for Edwardian fashion. Bright teal eyes blazed beneath the brim of her merry widow hat, the perfect contrast to her dusty rose attire and gray skin. She sat in the air as if perched on a bar stool, her floor-length gown trailing into a ghostly tail where it would’ve otherwise shown her boots, and looking perfectly at ease in Vlad’s library. The fur shawl draped over Mitzi’s shoulders shifted and raised its head, revealing itself to in fact be some manner of ermine ghost.

“Well you took your sweet time,” Mitzi said. Her voice was deep and somewhat husky, the sort that was uniquely suited to certain varieties of jazz accompaniment. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d decided to run off.”

“I was simply explaining the situation to everyone,” Vlad replied. He spotted the wretched artifact at her hip, a glass globe surrounded by a framework of interlocking metal rings similar to an armillary sphere. The beating heart inside the central globe was clearly visible even at this distance. “I’d like to introduce Jack Fenton and family,” he added, gesturing toward Jack with one hand.

“Hmm.” Mitzi drifted a tad closer as she sized him up, and Jack’s brows came down in a glare when he saw what was inside the artifact—Vlad had to put a hand on his shoulder to remind him to behave. “He will suffice, if the test proves your compatibility.” She drifted over to the nearest table and gestured for them to follow, her pet slipping from her shoulders and pulling chairs over for them to use.

They sat down across from Mitzi with Jack in the middle. Vlad noticed his pulse starting to pick up, and his eyes were drawn to the artifact at Mitzi’s belt; his heart was beating faster in time, making him a little sick as he watched.

The ghost nodded with satisfaction and shook her gown free of the ghostly tail, then summoned a wide shallow bowl of pale ceramic with a wave of her hand. Her pet passed a small bag to her, and she drew two black oblong stones from within. The stones had a silver sheen to them in the light, and she passed one each to Vlad and Jack. “Hold it in your hand for a few moments, and it will be attuned enough for the test.”

Vlad closed his fingers around the stone; it was heavy for its size and slightly warm, and its appearance reminded him of those magnetic hematite toys now that he’d gotten a chance to see it up close.

Mitzi gestured for the two to give the stones back, and she positioned each over an opposite side of the bowl once she had them in hand once again. “Now we will see.” She released them into the bowl. They skittered down the sides toward the center, repelling and dancing around each other twice before snapping together with a sharp click. “A good result,” Mitzi said with a smile.

Jack grinned. “Check me and Maddie next,” he said, probably seeing the little display as something akin to a game. Vlad couldn’t help but feel his hatred flare at the sight.

Mitzi passed the stones to Jack and Maddie and performed the test again as soon as she took them back. This time the two stones clicked together as soon as they drew near each other.

Maddie smirked. “I suppose Vlad is wanting to test with me, just out of curiosity,” she said without even a glance in his direction.

Again Mitzi performed the test. This time the two stones repelled each other so strongly that one of them shot out of the bowl and skittered off the table into a far corner of the room.

Vlad let his head drop to the table with a loud thump. He should’ve known, yet he’d still held out some hope. Seeing the stone leave the bowl felt like he’d been kicked in the chest. But at least the first test might allow him to get Mitzi to give his heart back and shove off if he could convince her that he and Jack were a thing. His skin crawled just thinking about the fact that he might have to get... Intimate, with Jack.

“Are you done moping yet?” Mitzi asked, cutting Vlad’s silent pity party short.

He lifted his head as Mitzi’s pet brought the errant stone back to her.

“You should be happy, really. You’re more compatible with Jack here than with Reginald,” Mitzi said. “Be that as it may, however, I still expect you to prove your relationship to me.”

“Of course,” Vlad said with a wave of his hand. “How should we do it? A tender embrace? Something of that sort?” he asked, his stomach churning even as he made the suggestion.

“You will perform a series of trials that I have devised for you, perhaps more beyond them if things prove difficult,” Mitzi said, without even considering his suggestion. “And when I am satisfied you will have your heart back. We start tomorrow.”

Vlad was expecting Danny to pull him aside once Mitzi dismissed them for the day. He’d even been expecting the boy to use force. The landing still ended up being painful, however.

~~~

“Must you do that every time you’re annoyed with me?” Vlad asked as he shoved the remains of a bookshelf off of himself. Danny had waited around half an hour before jumping him, catching him by surprise in his library as he tried to find any way out of this mess that didn’t involve playing Mitzi’s game.

“You’re the one who set the precedent the first time we met, I’m just following through,” Danny replied, arms folded over his chest as he watched Vlad. “Now spill it, Plasmius. What are you really up to?”

Vlad let out a grumbling sigh and got to his feet, shedding a few books as he did so. “Basically what I told your parents, with a few details omitted, obviously,” he replied.

“Those details being?”

There was a brief pause as Vlad considered whether or not he could trust Danny with the information, then realized it didn’t matter; the boy would find out either way, and he might even win a bit of trust from him if he was open about it now. “My heart wasn’t the only thing the artifact stole. It carved out a considerable portion of my ghost powers as well, it took most of my strength just to fly over to FentonWorks.”

“So that’s why you look worse than usual,” Danny quipped. He paused, one hand to his chin as he thought about something. “Sooo the chances that I could get rid of this ghost and get you away from my parents early—”

“Don’t fight her,” Vlad said, cutting Danny off. He didn’t want to think about what could await him if she succeeded in destroying his heart—full ghost at best, total annihilation at worst. “It’s too risky, just as I said to your parents.”

“And you decided to tick off this ghost, why?” Danny asked. “I know it wasn’t some noble goal of keeping the artifact out of her hands. It was probably hers to begin with, wasn’t it?”

“A curiosity, to see if it could help me achieve a long-term goal,” Vlad replied stiffly.

“Right. So you were gonna try to use it to pair up with my mom,” Danny said, hitting the nail on the head. He smirked and huffed a short laugh through his nose. “And now you have to pretend to pair up with my dad instead, how’s that for irony?”

“Are you quite finished with your little interrogation?” Vlad rolled his shoulder, holding back a wince when it twinged; his healing factor was down too with his power levels being so low. His entire body was a mass of aches thanks to Danny’s attack. “I have special time with your father to prepare for.”

“Well, I do have to warn you that if you’re planning to use this to ruin my parents’ marriage—”

“Which I am not because that could jeopardize my own survival,” Vlad snapped. “Not to mention that your mother already implied ugly things if I did anything of the sort. I just want to put this whole mess behind me so I can forget it ever happened.”

“You’re lucky my dad is willing to go the distance for you like this,” Danny said, his smile fading. “You really do take him for granted.”

That got Vlad angry. He took a deep breath through his nose and clenched his fists; had he been at full power he would’ve blasted the brat right out of the air before he’d even finished the sentence. Go the distance? For twenty years Jack had proved what distance he was willing to go for Vlad, and it was woefully short. He only cared because Vlad was worth something now, and there was no way Vlad was falling for such an obvious trick. “I will give him as much esteem as a fairweather friend deserves, and nothing more,” Vlad said, forcing his tone to remain level. “I don’t know what your father told you about our past, but he gave me no reason to keep seeing him as a true friend after what he did to me.”

“Oh come on! Would you just move on already?” Danny said, his own frustration starting to show itself. “Everyone would be happier if you could just get over yourself and—”

“Do not speak of things you clearly know nothing about,” Vlad snapped, his tone declaring that while he could do nothing about Danny now he would certainly remember everything that happened and act on it later. “He ruins my life and pretends I don’t exist for two decades, then acts like nothing happened the next time we meet. Why don’t you tell me how you would treat a friend like that?”

“Ruined your life? What, by giving you superpowers?”

“You’re lucky that your own transition was so brief,” Vlad said, the breath behind his words hot with fury. He tried to calm himself by smoothing the wrinkles out of his sleeve and adjusting his suit cuff, his hands shaking as he did so; it didn’t work. “You would’ve broken long before I did had you endured mine.”

Danny didn’t reply, but by the incredulous look on his face the message hadn’t made it through. At last he sighed and leaned back. “Whatever. As long as you’re not after my parents I guess I won’t do anything.” He flew away, flashing into invisibility just before he phased through the far wall.

The clean noon light faded back into proper prominence, having been temporarily chased away by Danny’s ghostly influence. It was the sort of thing Vlad typically didn’t notice, given that he was usually the source. The room’s return to normal temperature also brought his attention to the heat pouring off his face.

Vlad looked down at his hand. The trembling was barely noticeable now, but it was still there. How had Danny managed to get a rise out of him with such ease? And when he wasn’t even trying to do so, no less.

He let his arms drop and took a deep breath to steady himself. It had to be the exhaustion that hung over him. Being low on ghostly power always made his human body tired. This was no different. Now he had to mentally prepare for the hell to come and try to get as much sleep as possible tonight.

~~~

The blast doors on the Fenton Portal were closed, to keep any additional ghostly interlopers from causing problems in the days to come. Jack missed the low hum it filled the lab with whenever it was open. He found it strangely comforting.

Noise from the various devices spread around their lab filled the gap in the background noise instead. Jack and Maddie had gotten back to business as usual after leaving Vlad’s house, though Vlad’s situation never strayed far from Jack’s mind.

“Man, I can’t believe Vladdie’s heart got stolen like that! Talk about creepy…” Jack said during a brief break from working on the circuitry of their latest prototype.

“Well, I suppose that’s what he gets for not leaving such things to the professionals,” Maddie said, not bothering to look up from her work on the prototype’s outer shell. By the way she paused in her work Jack knew she had more to say, but she chose not to share whatever it was.

“You’re… Okay with this, right?” Jack asked hesitantly. While she hadn’t objected to it while they were caught up in what was going on, he was still wary that she might have changed her mind. He couldn’t stand the thought of leaving Vlad to some ghost, but if Maddie wanted otherwise that would complicate things.

“It’s fine. In fact, this might be exactly what Vlad’s been needing lately,” Maddie replied. “It’ll make him appreciate you more.”

Jack released the tension that had been building in his shoulders as he waited for her reply. That was a relief. The confidence in Maddie’s voice reassured him that she didn’t see Vlad as some sort of romantic threat, too. He’d been a tad worried about that from time to time but never had the courage to bring it up. “I’m just happy to spend time with him. Wonder what kind of stuff we’ll be doing tomorrow...”

The First Trials

It was a beautiful day. The light was clear and the air crisp and gilded with golden threads of birdsong. A light breeze caressed the trees around the trail, its chilly touch just strong enough to keep any heat of exertion at bay, even through the long sleeve shirt, jeans, and hiking boots Vlad had chosen to wear.

The natural beauty of the place was lost on Vlad as he focused on two things: getting away from Jack, and trying to figure out a way to avoid having to spend more time with Jack. He’d hit his limit before they even reached the trail Mitzi had chosen for the trial and now he set a relentless pace that kept Jack on the move and out of breath, keeping the excruciating smalltalk at bay and putting a good bit of distance between them.

Vlad arrived at the first overlook and spared a few moments to stare out over the forest below, spotting the shining blue sliver of Lake Erie in the distance. He moved on just as Jack made it to the overlook.

It was just past noon when Vlad arrived at the trailhead again. He had as many answers as he’d started the hike with, which was none. Frustrating, but at least they would be heading home soon.

Maddie raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips. “Where’s Jack?”

Mitzi floated beside her, looking completely unamused. “Yes, where is your partner? I had hoped you would be enjoying the trail together.”

“He was right behind me just a moment ago.” Vlad turned back to the mouth of the trail and started toward it.

Jack joined them before Vlad could set foot on the trail again, out of breath and very sweaty in the long sleeve shirt and overalls he’d worn for the hike. “That was—” he paused to catch his breath, “—a real workout. Thanks for pushing me there, Vladdie.” Jack gave Vlad a thumbs up, and for a moment Vlad wondered if he was actually trying to trick Mitzi into thinking this was intentional.

Mitzi spoke before Vlad had the chance to roll with it: “This is how you treat someone so close? How disappointing.” She shook her head, arms crossed over her chest. “You have failed this trial.”

“Failed?!” Vlad broke out into a cold sweat as he scrambled silently for some way to talk her out of giving them a failing grade. “But we completed the hike, didn’t we?” A weak attempt, one that he regretted even as it left his mouth.

“The point of this trial was to enjoy nature together. You barely enjoyed the nature and you were not together. It’s as if you can barely stand to be around this man you claimed to be your partner.”

“But—”

Mitzi held up a hand, silencing him before he could get another word out. “You have failed this assignment. Do not embarrass yourself further by trying to talk around this.”

Jack straightened and huffed as big a laugh as he could while still out of breath. “Don’t worry, Vladdie! We’ll ace the next one!” he declared as he pulled Vlad in for a tight, sweaty side-hug—and made Vlad regret every moment he’d forced Jack into a fast pace on the hike.

“You’d better. This is your first strike. Two more and I’ll be shipping you off to Reginald.”

Vlad went pale. They were doomed. He couldn’t even remember saying Jack’s name when Mitzi asked if he had anyone he’d want to be with, he’d been scrambling through the beginnings of a plan to get Maddie to help him and was thinking so intensely on it that he must’ve said it by accident. There was no way he’d be able to tamp down his anger long enough to make it through the rest of these trials; they were only delaying the inevitable at this point.

“I will let you rest for a few hours, then the next trial will begin,” Mitzi said, cutting Vlad’s ruminations short. “Take care not to disappoint me next time.”

~~~

Mitzi wanted them to waltz. Jack had never waltzed before, but he could dance and that had to be good enough. They’d ace this trial no problem and put things back on track.

They were in the small ballroom on the west side of Vlad’s mansion, making space while Mitzi selected the music they would dance to. Jack did his best to ignore the ache in his legs as they moved the furniture to the walls. He’d had a few hours to clean himself up and recover after the hike trial, but he was definitely going to feel it for a few days with the pace Vlad set for them.

At last Mitzi found the music she wanted and played it for them. It was a classical piece, definitely not something Jack was used to dancing to, but they only had to waltz until the end of the song and that would be this trial in the bag.

Jack met Vlad in the middle of the cleared space. The floor under their feet was hard polished wood that made even Jack’s boots sound fancy as he walked across it and held the afternoon light like the surface of a still pond.

Vlad’s usual suit was as crisp as ever, but he looked tired. The shadows under his eyes were more pronounced than usual, and Jack hadn’t seen him smile even once today. “Do you know how to waltz?” he asked as he looked up at Jack. The light playing across his hair made it shine almost like moonlight, and Jack’s pulse quickened a bit as he looked at it.

“Nope, but we’ll figure it out,” Jack said with absolute confidence. There was nothing they couldn’t face when they worked together, after all. The hiking trial was just a fluke.

“Right.” Vlad closed his eyes for a moment, then drew himself up to full height. “I’ll take the lead, then. Just follow my movements and we’ll be fine.”

Their first silent attempts were clumsy, but as long as Jack kept his attention on their feet he managed to keep time. His grin faded somewhat when he looked up and noticed that Vlad still wasn’t smiling. Nerves, probably. Jack couldn’t blame him with his actual heart on the line.

“Passable,” Mitzi said. “Let’s see how well you do with music.”

They started their waltz with Vlad leading them in time with the music. It was getting easier and easier as they moved. Jack lifted his attention from their feet and grinned at Vlad.

“We’ve got this one in the bag,” Jack said, his voice just loud enough for Vlad to hear over the music.

“Yes, just keep following my lead and we’ll make it through this,” Vlad replied, looking a little more relaxed now. Jack couldn’t help but admire his grace, he was dancing so well even when he was this tired.

“We could even spice things up a bit and pass this thing with flying colors!”

“Wait, Jack—” Anything else Vlad had to say was cut off as Jack yanked him into a spin. “Jack, we just have to do a waltz!”

“We got that down, let’s try to impress her.”

Vlad pulled Jack back into the waltz and winced. “You can’t just change the plan without asking me first!”

“But I did ask,” Jack said as he let himself get swept up in the music again.

Another wince from Vlad as they completed another round. “You did not ask.” Vlad winced again and his frown deepened. “You told me your idea and just went ahead with it before I could say otherwise.”

“Come on, it’ll be fine! We’re already halfway through!” Jack swung Vlad around again and tried to push back into the waltz at the end.

Vlad winced and grit his teeth. “Jack, stop.”

“But we’re past the halfway mark, we just have to keep going a little longer!” Jack caught Vlad as he fell back and kept up with the dance. Probably soreness from the hike making him stumble, poor guy.

“Jack—”

“Don’t worry, Vladdie. We’re almost there!” It had to be because Vlad was tired from the hike. With that being the case Jack would just have to lead.

“Jack!” Vlad stumbled again and almost lost his footing.

“It’s fine, we’re doing a-oka—”

“You’re hurting me!”

Jack stopped and stared at Vlad for a few moments, then he looked down. He was standing on both of Vlad’s feet. “Oh.” Jack stepped back.

Vlad pulled himself free of Jack’s grasp, then limped to the nearest chair and sat down.

The CD moved to the next track.

Jack remained where he was, unsure of what to do with himself. They’d almost done it. They were even having a good time...

Vlad had his head down, his expression hidden from Jack. He had to be tired from the hike, and had to be stressed over what was going on. Taking risks was probably even scarier than usual.

Which meant Jack had gotten carried away again...

Jack approached slowly, and Vlad didn’t stir when he reached him. “Uh, could we try again?” he asked hesitantly. “I’ll let you lead.”

For a moment he worried Vlad might not reply. “Fine,” Vlad said finally. “Just don’t step on my feet this time.” He allowed Jack to pull him up from the seat and followed him to the center of the dance floor.

Mitzi started the music again.

Jack watched Vlad’s movements and followed, taking special care to avoid his feet. Their waltz was still clumsy, but it caused a minimum of pain for Vlad this time. The music dulled to background noise as Jack focused on his dance partner.

Vlad still wasn’t smiling. In fact the set of his jaw suggested he was angry and trying to hold it back. It brought to mind something Mitzi said earlier: it’s as if you can barely stand to be around this man... But that couldn’t be right. They were friends. Vlad invited him back into his life with the reunion invitation, and then he’d even moved to Amity Park to be closer to them... The situation was just a bit awkward because Jack was a married man.

There was the way Vlad was holding himself at a distance too... But that could be explained by the fact that Jack was married again. Didn’t want to give Maddie the wrong idea. But it still hurt after how close they’d been back in college...

The end of the waltz was drawing near. Vlad’s knees buckled as they came to a standstill and Jack swept him into a dip to hide it. Not that they needed to, but it felt natural.

Vlad blushed deep red when he realized what was happening, but he said nothing.

Jack felt the sudden desire to complete the dip with a kiss the way he did with Maddie. He resisted and brought them back up to a standing position again. That would definitely be too far, despite their current couples act. It would only be acceptable if Vlad invited it. Jack held Vlad a little closer all the same and met no resistance; he was still worried that Vlad’s legs might give out again.

Mitzi applauded them, her pet joining in with a toothy grin. “Excellent. You have passed the trial.”

Vlad let out a long sigh and went limp in Jack’s arms. “Thank goodness.”

“That’s it?” Jack asked, looking at Mitzi with surprise.

“I don’t expect you to waltz professionally, just successfully,” Mitzi replied. “And you did, I’m pleased to say.”

“Good, good,” Vlad said distantly. He started to step back. “Alright, Jack. You can let me go now.”

“Oh, right.” Jack let him go.

Vlad made it back to the chair and collapsed into it. “Are we doing any more today?” he asked after taking a few moments to recover, his tone fearful.

“That’s all for today,” Mitzi replied. “I can’t expect you to show me your best if I run you into the ground, after all.” She paused to consider something. “Though one’s true mettle does reveal itself under stressful situations, now that I think about it.”

Jack and Vlad shared a worried look.

“Perhaps another day,” Mitzi said, finishing the thought. “For now, go take your rest and prepare for tomorrow.”

~~~

Vlad stared up at his bedroom ceiling, too tired to do anything other than lay around with his feet up and mope. He’d alternated between ice and compression as soon as Jack was out the door, and they still ached terribly regardless. The fact that his body was more durable than that of a typical human had saved him from worse than the multitudinous bruises he dealt with now. Any normal human would’ve walked away with a few broken toes at best after dancing with Jack.

Just what was he thinking earlier? They were doing fine with Vlad leading the waltz but all of a sudden Jack had to ‘improve’ on it. As if what Vlad was doing just wasn’t good enough. Stepping all over his feet like that had probably been intentional too.

Vlad shifted his legs to keep them from falling asleep.

Jack probably would’ve kept on doing it had Vlad not told him. And not even a whiff of an apology afterward too. Some things never changed, but at least he wasn’t making excuses for himself this time. No, he’d just pretended it didn’t happen and moved on. It wasn’t in Jack’s nature to admit to doing wrong. Danny’s ability to say ‘sorry’ at all had to have come entirely from Maddie.

The way he’d told Jack bothered him. You’re hurting me. It was the truth, but it sounded weak and pathetic. Like he was beneath Jack when he should’ve been above being able to be hurt by thim.

Vlad turned onto his side to give himself something new to stare at, his legs slipping off the pillows as he did so.

He’d been letting Jack hurt him for years, by carrying that grudge. But doing otherwise felt like letting Jack off easy after the damage he’d done. After all the years of pain he’d caused without so much as an ‘I’m sorry’ to say for himself when they finally met again. Jack Fenton was an arrogant fool who forced everyone around him to pay the price of his good fortune.

A set of paws kneading biscuits into his ribs cut off any further musing. Vlad turned his head and found his slender white cat Marty standing over him, purring and biscuiting away without a care in the world.

“Hello there my little man,” Vlad said as he turned over to give Marty a better perch. “Are you making your bread again?”

Marty gave a little chirp of a meow and settled on Vlad’s chest, eyes closed and fangs hanging out of his mouth in a way that Vlad found absolutely adorable.

“Oh what would I do without you,” Vlad said, smiling. He scratched at Marty’s neck and was rewarded with an even louder purr. Yes, no point in wasting any more energy on Jack than necessary. Vlad would just have to rest up and try to get through the next day with as much grace as he could muster.

~~~

Jack set his needlepoint project on the bedside table; he was making clumsy stitches, and it was clear that he would just keep doing it if he tried any more tonight. “Maddie?” he asked, looking over at her.

“Hmm?” Maddie kept her attention on her book for a few moments longer, then looked up at him. “Yes, Jack?”

“Do you think Vlad still likes me?”

Maddie’s eyebrows snapped up with surprise. “What brought this on?”

“Well what that ghost said after the hike, and Vlad wasn’t having fun at all even though I was…” Jack fiddled with the sleeve of his night suit as he thought it over again. “So it made me wonder.”

“Better late than never,” Maddie said to herself as she placed her bookmark and set her book aside. “Though to be fair, Jack, you were stepping all over his feet during that first waltz.”

“I didn’t know I was doing that!” Jack said defensively. “I would’ve stopped sooner if he told me,” he added.

Maddie gave a quiet sigh. “I know, you do get caught up in your head so easily. It’s just something people have to get used to.”

“But Vlad knows me. He knew how to roll with it back in college.”

“That was twenty years ago, Jack,” Maddie said. “And you didn’t part on the best terms back then. You really don’t think he’s changed?”

“Well I...” Jack stopped. He had no real answer. Didn’t want to find the answer, more like. He’d caught glimpses of his old friend here and there, behind the mask of wealth and success. The Vlad he knew had to be in there somewhere. He’d assumed that Vlad just needed time to unwind around him, that they would eventually reclaim what they’d left behind in college. He’d assumed that Vlad was trying in his own way, and just hadn’t found his stride yet. That he wanted to be Jack’s friend too.

He’d assumed, and he’d assumed. Earlier he’d assumed that Vlad needed him to take over the dance, but really he just needed Jack to keep following along with what they already had planned. They hadn’t needed to do the fancier things that Jack wanted, just what was necessary. In the end he’d been trying to show off for Vlad instead of doing what Vlad needed.

“I don’t know,” Jack said.

“Well, maybe it’s about time you found out,” Maddie said.

~~~

The stove was on fire. Not the parts of the stove that should have fire coming out of them, but the pans and pots and all the parts in between.

Vlad put a fire blanket over the lot and tucked in the edges to trap out the air. His physical movements were carefully controlled, but inside he was screaming. He never should’ve left Jack unattended in his kitchen. This was an absolute disaster.

“Whoops, haha,” Jack said, at least having the grace to sound embarrassed over what he’d done. “Guess things got away from me there.”

“Yes, you managed to put us back to square one in a single stroke,” Vlad grumbled. He should’ve known better than to let Jack handle something like this by himself—he’d always been an absentminded cook at best from what Vlad remembered. Vlad sighed and ran a hand down his face. “I don’t have enough ingredients on hand to make the same thing again. We’ll have to figure something else out.”

“I’ll uh, go check on everyone,” Jack said, and he slipped out of the kitchen before Vlad had a chance to tell him otherwise.

That was just as well for now. Let Jack try to explain the delay to his family without admitting he was at fault. Vlad didn’t need Jack distracting him while he tried to think anyway, that was already hard enough at the moment; his feet still hurt from yesterday, he was tired from most of his ghost powers being absent, and the stress of falling behind and dealing with Jack’s antics had him near breaking point.

What he needed most right now, at this moment, was to get off his feet.

Vlad took a seat at the kitchen table and rested his head on his arms, trying to will ideas into his tired and overwhelmed brain. He had sandwich makings, but the meal had to be more elaborate than that. Something he and Jack would be putting together as a team that didn’t just take five minutes to make.

“Hey, Vladdie.”

“What is it?” Vlad growled.

“I know how to buy us some time.”

“Oh what, are you going to distract them by setting my dining room table on fire too?”

“Nah that would make things worse,” Jack said with complete seriousness. “I was thinking we should do a cheese board. Y’know, as a warm up for the main course.”

Vlad lifted his head and looked up at Jack. “You got the idea from Maddie, didn’t you?” he asked.

“Actually it was all mine!” Jack declared proudly.

Vlad wondered if he was lying to save face, then decided it didn’t matter at the moment. “Well I’ve got a good selection on hand at least,” he said as he hauled himself to his feet and started toward the fridge.

“I can put it together,” Jack said, moving to head Vlad off before he could get there. “You plan a new meal while I do that.”

“Fine, fine,” Vlad said with a wave of his hand. “Just don’t set the board on fire too.”

“No worries, V-man. This’ll be easy!”

Vlad retrieved his best cheese board from its slot in a cupboard and passed it off to Jack, then took stock of the ingredients they had on hand. Sandwich makings... He could turn them into monte cristo sandwiches, which were at least more entertaining than regular sandwiches. Vlad took a few cookbooks down from the shelf and flipped through at random in search of ideas. Now what to serve with it, something light and crisp to counteract the savory sweetness of the monte cristo… Fresh fruit parfaits? Those would be a good dessert. A green salad with light vinaigrette dressing would do for a side, and tomato bisque was always a winner when it came to soups.

“Hey, Vlad.”

“Hmm?” Vlad looked up from his planning and found Jack standing across the island from him.

“Ta-da!” Jack swept a hand over his creation.

Vlad had been expecting Jack to simply throw cheese and crackers on the board and call it a day, but what he found instead was much more than that: a variety of cheeses and crackers of course, but there were also grapes, apples, pears, artichoke hearts, olives, and a green dip that he guessed was pesto. In all it was a board that offered a nice variety of flavors to accompany the cheese, and all it needed now were some suitable refreshments to accompany it.

“Well, I’m impressed, Jack,” Vlad said. It was a sincerely pleasant surprise to see something turn out right. “How did you make your selections? You did a good job.”

“Uuh...” Jack stared at him blankly. “I dunno, I just thought it would taste good together,” he said with a shrug.

“Right... You’ve always been a man of instinct, haven’t you?” Vlad said, partially speaking to himself. It was a trait that, paired with Jack’s amazing luck, allowed him to get away with his spontaneity a lot of the time. “I have some ciders that will go well with this, they’re in the fridge.”

Jack took the cheese board out while Vlad wrote down their new menu and found the required recipes for it. They had more time to prepare the new meal, so Jack had at least somewhat redeemed himself for what he’d done earlier. Vlad was not letting him use the stove under any circumstances, but that didn’t mean Jack couldn’t help elsewhere...

Vlad was ready when Jack returned. “I have a plan,” he said. “Are you ready to help?”

“Lay it on me, Vladdie!” Jack said with utmost gusto.

“I want you to be my assistant while I prepare the dishes. So you’ll be doing things like prepping ingredients and getting plates and such ready. Can you do that?”

“I don’t see why not,” Jack replied. “Let’s get cracking!”

~~~

The lunch was a success. What Jack lacked as an individual cook he made up for as an assistant to one. He’d been at Vlad’s elbow throughout, ready to help and even able to preempt what Vlad needed at times, and it had even become somewhat enjoyable to work with him toward the end. Not that those feelings would last long. It was just a matter of time before Jack hurt him again.

“You have passed the trial,” Mitzi said, giving them a genuine smile.

“We did it!” Jack gave Vlad a wide grin.

“That we did,” Vlad said, his voice flat with exhaustion. He swirled his peach spritzer and took a sip. The trial had taken its toll regardless of success. Hopefully there would be nothing more today.

Real Talk

The picnic was pleasant enough. They’d again worked together to prepare it, as they’d done the previous day, a light affair like an afternoon tea since lunch had already passed. It was a sunny spring day, and the hill they’d picked out in Amity’s largest park offered a nice view of the city.

“Hey Vlad, have you been okay lately?” Jack asked as he looked over at him.

Vlad stared at him blankly. He was really asking that, given the circumstances?

“I mean outside of the stuff that’s going on right now,” Jack said hastily.

“Am I okay?” Vlad had to stop and think about it, swirling his iced tea as he did so. If he was being honest with himself, his life didn’t feel particularly… Happy. It was one long string of goals with a temporary high whenever one was achieved, but the moments in between weren’t particularly happy on their own. They gave him too much time to brood on the past, so he moved through them as quickly as possible. “No, I suppose not,” he admitted aloud, to his own surprise.

A panicked look settled on Jack’s face upon hearing that. “Oh, uh…” Jack looked away, plainly unable to think of an adequate reply. The fool, he shouldn’t have asked such a question if he wasn’t prepared for the truth. “Chin up…?” he tried as he turned to Vlad again, giving him a weak smile and a thumbs up.

Vlad said nothing in reply, settling for a cold stare before turning away himself. He hadn’t had any hope that Jack might be supportive to begin with, but that reply was so pathetic that he couldn’t even glean any joy from watching Jack squirm. The resulting silence that stretched between them quickly became too much, and Vlad got to his feet. “I’m going for a walk,” he said, and he left it up to Jack on whether he had the nerve to follow or not.

Jack did follow him, after letting him walk ahead a few paces, and tailed him all the way down to the shore of the nearest duck pond.

A pair of swans swam past, along with several ducks that kept a respectful distance from their larger relatives. The breeze that meandered over the pond and stirred its surface was sharp enough to bite through Vlad’s suit. Part of him acknowledged that such would be a catalyst for getting a real couple to draw closer together for warmth, and so he ignored it.

“So you’re not supposed to feed them bread, huh?” Jack said.

Vlad looked over at him and noticed the sign he’d been reading, a handy infographic that pointed visitors away from bread and toward foods that were better suited for aquatic fowl, such as lettuce, frozen peas, and birdseed. “Well if you can’t convince people not to feed them to begin with, it’s best to tell them what you should feed them instead,” he acknowledged. Such an empty conversation. It left him as cold as the sharp spring breeze.

“I’ve been having fun spending time with you,” Jack said, perhaps to make up for his lackluster performance earlier. “Even though it’s not happening for the best reason, I mean,” he added.

“Yes, I’ve noticed,” Vlad said. This charade of friendship was so tiresome without some other goal to occupy him. Part of him wished Jack would wise up already, even as another part wished it was easier to be around him. He did miss those college days, when he let himself be honest, but Jack was just so… Unreliable. Vlad couldn’t trust him not to cause the equivalent of a proto-portal accident all over again and then just make excuses and disappear like last time, if he even remotely acknowledged that he had some hand in it, anyway.

Jack seemed to get some sort of hint from Vlad’s lack of reciprocity and dropped the matter without comment. “I guess we’ve been out here long enough,” he said after more silence filled with the sigh of the breeze and the chatter of the ducks. “Should we head out?”

“Sounds good,” Vlad said. He turned, putting all his weight on the leg nearest to the pond.

The bank gave way under his foot and dumped him into the pond with a loud splash, scattering the nearby ducks and drawing the swan pair’s ire. They hissed and swatted at him with their wings a few times—Vlad covered his face to avoid a broken nose—before swimming off in a huff.

“Man, you have the worst luck sometimes,” Jack said, a sympathetic tilt to his brows as he helped Vlad out of the pond. “Your house blowing up, that ghost attack at the reunion, the proto-portal accident... You didn’t break any mirrors, did you?” Jack added, adding a small nervous chuckle to the question.

The final item on the list didn’t escape Vlad’s notice. He grit his teeth and glared at the grass between their feet as his anger flared to a roaring blaze. Just bad luck? Was that what he’d convinced himself it was? “Do you know how long I was stuck in the hospital after the accident, Jack?” Vlad asked, his gaze still on the grass.

“You said it was a few years,” Jack replied. Any humor in his voice was gone, replaced with a hesitant wariness.

“Five years,” Vlad said. “And do you know what it’s like to be infected with ecto-acne?”

“I mean, it’s pretty bad stuff. You and the kids were dying there for a bit, before we found the cure.”

“Ah yes, the diet cola component. However could that have gotten mixed into the proto-portal’s power signature, I wonder?” Vlad made a show of pondering on the question, one hand held to his chin as he did so. “It’s as if someone poured the wrong substance into the filtrator because they weren’t paying enough attention,” he said, noting Jack’s flinch as he spoke. “‘Pretty bad’, hmm? Those paltry little words fail to encapsulate what it was like to live with ecto-acne. It returned for monthly flare-ups after I got out of the hospital and every time I had to wonder... What function would I lose and for how long, and would it be the end of me this time?” Vlad paused for a humorless chuckle. “Ecto-acne. What an embarrassing, innocuous name for such a wretched illness.”

“Vlad?”

“What’s wrong? Haven’t you been wanting to talk to me?” At last Vlad looked up and met Jack’s eye. “Does this subject matter make you uncomfortable? I can’t imagine why.”

“Well it’s just, you shouldn’t dwell on the past, right?” Jack offered with an attempt at a smile. The worry was apparent on Jack’s face now, but Vlad took no pleasure in it. After all this time and all this pain, Jack still wanted to run away; to say that Vlad was disappointed by this was a gross understatement. “And besides, look at where you ended up! A genius billionaire, and you used your time in the hospital to plan it out.” Jack’s smile widened a little, despite the worry that still hung across his brow.

“And how lucky I was that those plans succeeded,” Vlad said smoothly. He was not letting Jack run away from this. Not this time. “After all, it wasn’t as if I could count on anyone else to help me out of the mountains of medical debt I was saddled with. Not family, not friends,” Vlad said the word with a special amount of venom, making Jack flinch again. He closed his eyes and lifted his head toward the sky. “Sometimes I wonder what would’ve happened to me had my plans fallen through, and I always come to the same answer.” Vlad lowered his head and met Jack’s eye again. “I would’ve died, drowning in medical debt as I succumbed to a disease that had no cure.”

“I—” Jack reached out to Vlad, but stopped short of touching him. “Vlad, I would’ve helped you before that happened.”

“Oh please,” Vlad said, his voice cold. “We both know that’s a lie, Jack. You didn’t work for a cure until Danny’s friends were involved, and even then you couldn’t find it. I’m lucky that Danny was willing to go the distance for his friends. It’s such a shame that I can’t say the same of his father.”

“That’s not true,” Jack said, getting a little strength back in his voice. “I’m right here helping you now, aren’t I? I’ve been ready to help you get through this since the moment I heard about it.”

“Yes, I do admit that you’re eager enough when it comes to fixing problems you didn’t cause. I suppose I can commend you for that.” Vlad watched Jack for a few moments. “But there’s still something that’s bothering me about what you said earlier.”

“Which part...?” Jack asked, the worry returning in full force.

“So the proto-portal accident and all that came of it was just bad luck? Is that really what you think?” Vlad said, his words slow and deliberate.

“Well yeah, none of us expected it to blow up,” Jack replied with a shrug. “What else would it be?”

“Hmm, I don’t know,” Vlad said coldly, tapping one sodden shoe against the grass. The cold was a distant memory now, with the fire of anger burning hot in his chest. “I always saw it as an easily preventable accident.”

Jack held his hands palm-up in a placating gesture. “But we had no idea it would happen!”

“Maddie spotted the mistake in your calculations within seconds of seeing them.” Vlad kept his voice level, but the seething heat was making its way through, in the tension that made his neck and jaw ache. He couldn’t believe Jack was trying to pull this. As if the accident and the moments prior hadn’t played themselves back in Vlad’s head over and over as he lay in that hospital bed. “If you had taken even a moment to listen to her or to check your calculations it wouldn’t have happened.”

“But it was just an accident—”

“An accident does not preclude one from fault, Jack!” Vlad snapped. “If you hit someone with your car while speeding, you are at fault. If you drop something from a tall building and it hits someone on the sidewalk, you are at fault.” An angry heat poured off his face, and his breaths came quick and hot; the only thing missing was his heart pounding against his ribcage, though he was sure it was doing the same against the interior of the artifact even now. “And if you turn on an experimental portal device without so much as checking that the area is clear and giving no time for someone to get out of the way, you. Are. At. Fault!”

Vlad paused to catch his breath, surprised by his own vitriol. But he’d been waiting to say this to Jack for years, hadn’t he? He’d just hoped that Jack’s reaction would’ve been different...

“I mean, you shouldn’t have been standing so close to it to begin with...”

Vlad’s breath caught in his chest, as if he’d been kicked. He remembered that one, or rather, one of its kin, from the frantic minutes following the accident. The first words out of Jack’s mouth were excuses, attempts to pass blame, and what Jack just said had been among them. Never once had he admitted fault or apologized for what he’d done.

“You really haven’t changed at all, have you?” Vlad’s anger cooled somewhat, tempered by sorrowful disappointment. They would never see eye to eye on this, and Vlad would never get his resolution. It was time to give up on that. “No matter what happens, it’s never your fault.”

“I didn’t mean it, Vlad. You know that.” Jack’s tone had a gentle desperation to it. Vlad didn’t care to puzzle out what that desperation might be for. It certainly couldn’t be his friendship. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

“But you did.” Vlad took a step back, and the cold of the breeze playing across his soaked suit crept back in. “You hurt me, and then you left me for dead and never looked back.” He turned, and started back up the hill. “I’m going home. We have nothing more to talk about.”

Vlad noticed Mitzi lurking under the shadow of a nearby tree. “Strike two,” he said as he passed her by. There was no point in trying to talk his way out of how this one ended. One more failure and it was off to Reginald, though part of him wondered if that might actually be preferable to the possibility of being stuck with Jack Fenton. He’d certainly found ghosts easier to exterminate than humans, and this Reginald had to have cracks in his armor...

~~~

Jack knew it wouldn’t help to follow Vlad. So instead he packed up the picnic and, after a brief check to make sure Vlad wasn’t still around and in need of a ride, drove himself home.

He had his answer now, the one he’d been dreading. Vlad didn’t see him as a friend anymore. The accident made sure of that. What he didn’t understand was why Vlad had to keep holding on to something that was so painful. Jack would be drowning in misery if he did that.

Jazz was in the living room when Jack walked through the front door. “Hey dad, how did the picnic go?” she asked.

“Badly,” Jack replied. He left the picnic basket by the door and dropped onto the couch.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Well I guess it couldn’t hurt,” Jack said with a shrug.

“So what happened?”

Jack sighed. “Vlad started talking about the accident, I can’t really remember why.” The start of the conversation’s descent was blurry, but Jack did remember mentioning bad luck… “He still hasn’t forgiven me for what happened. I just don’t know what to do.”

“Did you ever apologize...?”

“Of course I did!” Jack said defensively, then he stopped himself. “No, wait...” He tried to recall, then heaved a long sigh. “I don’t remember doing that right after the accident...”

“Then maybe you could start with an apology?” Jazz said with a hopeful smile.

“What’s that gonna fix? He already hates me,” Jack said, hanging his head.

“You’d be surprised,” Jazz replied. “That kind of acknowledgement can accelerate someone’s recovery after trauma. And it can put a relationship on better terms.”

“You really think so?”

Jazz sighed. “Dad, you do need to get better about apologizing anyway. Just in general. It’s kinda sad that it was such an outlier for you to apologize to mom about forgetting your anniversary last year, and it’s still an outlier now.”

Jack drooped against the couch. “I guess it’s worth a try... But how am I supposed to make it stick? I can’t just say the word with nothing else to back it up.”

“Well, you need to make it clear that you understand what you did wrong and try not to do that again. Part of the apology is you proving you can be better.”

“But what if I mess up again?” Jack asked hopelessly. He knew his track record, though he tried to ignore it; any attempt he’d made at changing his ways just hadn’t stuck.

“Then you make sure you stick around to fix things afterward.”

Jack reddened slightly with embarrassment. That was another way he’d failed Vlad, now that he thought of it. Twenty years of absence was magnitudes worse than forgetting his anniversary a bunch of years in a row. Who knew if it was even possible to fix their relationship at this point.

But at least he had some idea of where to go from here.

“Thanks, Jasmine,” Jack said, smiling as he put an arm around her shoulder. “You’re the best daughter a dad could ask for!”

“Guilty as charged!” Jazz declared, lifting her head high with a grin. “I hope things work out with you and Vlad. I think it could be really good for both of you to have an actual friend.”

“What? I have—” Jack struggled to name a friend he had other than Vlad, and came up with nothing. “I mean, Vlad probably has friends, right?”

Jazz laughed. “He does not act like he has friends,” she said, her tone dead serious.

“Well if I can salvage this maybe he’ll have one.” Jack’s spirits were lifting already, though the thought of his coming talk with Vlad made him nervous. He’d have to prepare... Or trust on instinct now that he had a better idea of what to do.

Jack stood and started off, then stopped short and swung back around to give Jazz a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks again, Jasmine.”

“No problem.” Jazz gave him a kiss on the cheek in turn. “What’re you gonna do now?”

“I’m gonna go try out my new kitchen skills with your mom!” Jack declared.

~~~

Jazz waited for her dad to leave the room before calling out the spy who’d been listening in on the conversation: “I know you’re there, little brother.” She opened one of her notebooks as Danny popped back into visibility and leaned on the back of the couch.

“You really think things’ll get better if they’re friends?” Danny asked, his eyes on the kitchen doorway.

“It’ll mean Vlad has less motivation to mess with us if he actually cares about dad,” Jazz replied. “Plus maybe he’ll stop doing the villain stuff as much once he feels better in general.”

Danny didn’t answer right away, his attention temporarily turned inward to his own thoughts. “Yeah, maybe.”

Jazz knew there was something on his mind and patiently thumbed through her notebook as she waited for him to share it.

“I guess dad really did mess things up back then, huh?” Danny said finally.

“Did Vlad tell you something new when you went to talk to him the other day?”

“Well, he implied that it was long and painful when he turned into a half-ghost.”

Jazz grimaced. “And that would be on top of dealing with ecto-acne.”

Danny ran his hands down his face with a groan. “Why am I the one having to deal with dad’s crazy ex-friend all the time? It’s so dumb.”

“If this goes well then maybe you won’t have to anymore,” Jazz said, smiling.

~~~

Vlad turned the conversation over in his head again and again. He’d been unusually direct with Jack, almost suicidally so given the stakes. He should’ve been able to handle himself better, should’ve been able to pretend everything was fine and make it through the trials without issue, but his emotions were getting in the way.

And he had an idea as to why.

He’d come to the realization after mulling things over in the shower and putting on his pajamas, and now he strode toward the sun room at the back of his mansion where he was sure he would find the ghost he had in mind.

“You did something to me,” Vlad said as he came to a halt next to the round glass table she was seated at.

“Of course I did,” Mitzi said with a smirk. “I took your heart, do you need me to refresh your memory on how to get it back?”

“Not that,” Vlad said. “It’s my emotions. You’ve done something to them, haven’t you?”

“Oh, that.” Mitzi lifted the artifact, giving Vlad a good view of his own heart. It still made him slightly queasy when he saw it. “It’s the artifact you were trying to steal from me, dear. It opens a person’s heart, metaphorically speaking.”

Vlad’s eyes widened. “You’re going to force me—”

“Into loving someone? That’s not what it does, darling,” Mitzi said. “By open I mean that you’re simply more honest about what you already feel.”

“So you were intending to sabotage me from the start.” That made sense, perhaps she’d brokered some sort of deal with this Reginald and then lured Vlad into messing with the artifact. It sounded like a typical ghostly scheme.

Mitzi gave a melodramatic sigh. “Now you’re just being silly again. You’d be surprised at what a little emotional honesty can do for a relationship. Perhaps you should try it more often.”

“That ‘emotional honesty’ made me fail today’s trial.”

“I never said you failed. You did that yourself.”

“I was only stating the obvious.”

“The obvious?” Mitzi leaned one arm on the glass tabletop before her and looked up at him. “My my, I never thought the illustrious Vlad Plasmius would turn out to be such a quitter.”

“A quitter?!” Vlad snapped, indignant. How dare she say such a thing. His track record was not that of a quitter! “I am not a quitter, madame!”

“Oh really?” Mitzi stood, bringing her face level with his own. “So what’s the matter, then? Is this Jack Fenton just too much for you to handle? Has he already won?”

“He has not—” Vlad’s face began to heat up. Just how much did Mitzi know? She couldn’t know that Jack had defeated him in a head to head fight once, he’d worked so hard to make sure no one found out about that! No, she had to be talking about the trials. “Jack Fenton has not defeated me!”

“So you say,” Mitzi said. “But given your attitude I can’t say I’m terribly convinced.”

Vlad’s eyes flashed red for a moment. “Then I’ll prove it. I won’t let him stop me this time.”

“Well, I’m happy to hear it. In that case, I’ve picked out your next trial.” Mitzi leaned back with a smirk. “And as for when it will happen...” She looked up as her pet drifted down through the ceiling and coiled itself around her shoulders, whispering something in her ear as it did so. “Ah, excellent!” She returned her attention to Vlad. “Tonight you will be sharing a bed with your to-be partner. What you do in it is up to you, but I expect the two of you to share it for the majority of the night.”

Vlad could feel the color draining from his face when he heard that. “Tonight? I don’t get more time to prepare?”

“You’re the great Vlad Plasmius, aren’t you? I’m sure you’ll figure it out!” Mitzi declared with a grin.

~~~

The hour of the next trial arrived far too soon. Vlad let Jack in at around eight in the evening but was unable to manage more than a frigid smile. So despite his earlier enthusiasm he wasn’t able to push back the artifact’s effects. He would have to play this carefully if he intended to win.

Mitzi escorted them to the bed they would be using. Not Vlad’s own massive bed, but a queen size bed in one of the many guest rooms scattered around his mansion. So she intended for them to get cozy. Just lovely. Vlad could only hope that Jack was as uninterested in anything but sleep as he was.

Jack gave Vlad a nervous smile as Mitzi closed the door behind herself and left them alone. “Well this shouldn’t be too hard. We got plenty of practice back in college.”

The memories of those warm nights rose in Vlad’s mind, and he viciously kicked them back down into the abyss where they belonged. “I expect you to not shove me out of the bed by morning, then.”

“Sooo what do you normally do before bedtime, Vladdie?”

“I’m going to sleep early.”

“Oh, okay,” Jack said weakly.

Vlad climbed into bed and pulled up the covers.

Jack took the other side of the bed. It was too small to keep the two from touching each other—if they were going to both stay on the bed at the same time, anyway.

An expectant silence hung over them after Jack turned off the light on his side of the bed. He probably wanted to talk.

Vlad braced himself, his anger already rising. What more was there to talk about after what happened today? Jack would have nothing but more excuses. They were the last thing Vlad wanted to hear right now.

Jack inhaled as if to say something, but nothing came of it. He resumed his normal breathing for a while as Vlad listened and waited.

“Sorry, Vlad,” Jack said finally. “About today, and the accident. I’m gonna do better from now on.”

For a moment Vlad couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Jack Fenton, apologizing for something? Had Vlad fallen into a parallel universe without noticing?

Vlad couldn’t deny that he’d wanted an apology from Jack ever since the accident, but he let it hang in the silence between them regardless. There was always the chance that he didn’t mean it.

And there was something else Vlad wanted, too. The answer to a question that had cut at his heart ever since he’d first asked it.

“Why did you leave me behind?” Vlad asked, his tone more tired than anything else. “I needed your help.”

“You told me to get lost, so I did,” Jack said matter-of-factly.

“Oh, you mean while I was in severe pain and reeling from the shock of getting my face blasted by spectral radiation? And while my so-called best friend was giving endless excuses for why it wasn’t his fault?” Vlad glared at the far wall. Yes, he did remember telling Jack to kick rocks, but he’d only done that as a response to the stream of excuses Jack had flung at him following the accident. What he’d wanted was for Jack to go and think about what he’d done and come back later. He hadn’t meant forever.

“I tried to visit you at the hospital, but they wouldn’t let me in,” Jack added.

“They deemed it non-contagious a month after I was first admitted,” Vlad said. “You could’ve visited then.”

Jack had no immediate reply. “I was too scared to face you by then,” he said. “I didn’t want to make things worse.”

“Funny. That’s exactly what you did by never showing up.”

“I know, I screwed up. I hurt my best friend cause I was careless. I made everything worse cause I was scared.” Jack heaved a long sigh. “I’d go back and change everything if I could.”

Vlad gave a humorless chuckle as Clockwork immediately came to mind. Best not to risk mentioning him though; with Vlad’s luck they’d both end up dead or with some other worse outcome. Jack meddling with the timeline was a thought too horrifying to entertain for long.

“And after I got out of the hospital?” Vlad asked.

“I did notice when you were making strides…” Jack admitted. “But I figured you had it handled, and how would that look if I only showed up then, right? So I decided to stay away until you decided you wanted me back.”

“I see.” Vlad couldn’t say whether he was satisfied with Jack’s answers or not. They sounded sincere enough, and they certainly weren’t meant to save face given that Jack had admitted to being a coward. A sort of numbness hung over Vlad now, coupled with a lighter feeling. As if something was no longer weighing him down.

“I still want to be your friend. I’ve really missed having you in my life, all these years... But I understand if you don’t want that, after everything.”

Vlad had no answer for him now. Twenty years of hate and resentment wasn’t something to be undone with one conversation... But said conversation could open up new avenues for them. It felt good to finally feel like he was being heard, that Jack was actually listening to him instead of bumbling endlessly on and assuming that everything was fine. Now he needed time to let everything sink in.

Perhaps the fact that he was even taking the time to consider the thought was a ray of hope.

So that issue needed time. Now to take care of the other thing that needed dealing with at the moment. Vlad pushed himself toward the center of the bed until his back made contact with Jack’s ribs.

“Vlad?” Jack asked, startled by the sudden move.

“The gap where the sheets hung between us was cold,” Vlad replied.

Jack gave a hesitant chuckle. “Yeah, I understand.”

~~~

Jack’s arm was draped over Vlad’s waist when he woke up the next morning. Vlad checked the time and found that it was a few minutes past seven. He slid out from under Jack’s arm and sat up, lingering on the edge of the bed. That was one of the best nights of sleep he’d had in years, though he hated to admit it. The human desire for contact wasn’t such an easy instinct to shake.

A strange unmoored feeling hung over him now, but he had to admit that it wasn’t a particularly unhappy feeling at least. Perhaps bewilderment might be a better descriptor. Had someone told him that Jack was capable of apologizing he wouldn’t have believed them, but he’d heard it with his own two ears last night. Jack was finally starting to acknowledge the gravity of what he’d done. There might be hope for them yet…

Movement on the other side of the bed derailed Vlad’s train of thought. Jack grunted as he did a full-body stretch, then flopped back against the bed again. “Wow, I slept great last night!” he declared as he sat up.

“I did as well,” Vlad said.

“So what now?”

“Call your family over. I think breakfast is in order.”

Jack grinned. “You got it, Vladdie!”

Where things could go next, Vlad wasn’t sure. He was content to watch and leave himself open for now.

~~~

Vlad and Jack walked abreast as they climbed the grand stone steps of Amity Park’s main museum. Jack had been eager for the new trial, though a tad hesitant for some reason. He finally spoke up as they walked into the main hall after buying their tickets.

“Hey, Vlad?”

“Something wrong?” Vlad asked as he turned to Jack.

“I’m not much of an art guy,” Jack replied, fidgeting by scratching at the back of his head. “I don’t think I really get it? So I probably won’t have anything interesting to say.”

“You don’t have to be an expert to enjoy art, Jack,” Vlad said. “Just look at it with an open mind, see where that takes you. There are plenty of other halls we can explore if you get bored.”

“Sounds good,” Jack said, giving Vlad a relieved smile. “Let’s do that first.”

The current seasonal art exhibit displayed a collection of paintings by Van Gogh and his contemporaries. Every last one was a replica due to the security concerns associated with Amity Park—too many ghost attacks to risk displaying the real thing. They wandered for a while until Vlad stopped before one particular painting, a snapshot of country life by Constant Troyon that depicted a group of farm workers next to a tree-ringed pond. Vlad stared into the painting for a while, taking in its details, and slowly the chatter of the museum patrons behind him fell away, replaced by birdsong and the contented clucking of chickens and distant conversation carried on the breeze…

“Find a good one?” Jack asked, snapping Vlad out of his imaginings.

“I can hear this one,” Vlad said, gesturing toward the painting with one hand.

“Uh—”

“Not literally,” Vlad said quickly. “Just look for a bit and try to imagine what this scene would sound like.”

“Hmm.” Jack stared at the painting for a while, his chin resting on one fist. “Oooh, I think I get what you’re saying,” he said finally. “It’s like it draws you in?” Jack squinted at it, a hint of suspicion in his eyes. “Are we sure this thing isn’t haunted?”

“I think it’s just doing the typical art routine. Plus, this is only a replica of the real one,” Vlad replied, a touch of genuine amusement to his smile. “Though I don’t doubt there are haunted paintings out there.”

“Yeah, maybe even ones like— What was that author again? His stuff was pretty creepy.”

“That’s a very broad category of authors, Jack.”

“Back in college, remember? That story about the painting that changed every time the guy looked at it?”

Vlad took a moment to plumb the depths of his memory, going back to those college nights when they had enough time between their studies to read to each other. “I think I remember the story you’re talking about. There was that undead creature that stole a baby, right?”

“Yeah! That’s the one,” Jack said, his enthusiasm building. “Maybe we could read that guy’s stories again.”

“But what was his name?” Vlad closed his eyes as he tried to remember. He knew the name he was searching for was a common one, but which…? “His stories had a bit of a Lovecraft feel to them, didn’t they?”

“Yeeaaah.” Jack paused, trying to recall the name as well. “Wasn’t he from before Lovecraft though?”

“Was it James?” Vlad guessed.

“Yeah!” Jack said with a grin. “I think you got it. M… M. R. James?”

“That does sound right,” Vlad said, then he grimaced as he recalled something else. “And I do recall getting some weird nightmares after reading some of those stories.”

Jack laughed. “Guess we should postpone picking those up again?”

“Mmm, I don’t know. Maybe it’s about the state of mind you’re in when you read them.”

“I’m kinda glad that ghosts aren’t like those stories after all. Not the ones I deal with, anyway.”

They both looked at the painting again. It was the same as when they’d looked before, and Vlad breathed an inward sigh of relief. He had enough on his plate without having a haunted painting to worry about.

They returned to wandering among the paintings until Vlad called Jack’s attention to Van Gogh’s Starry Night. “What do you think of this one?”

Jack looked self-conscious again as he turned to the painting.

“You don’t have to say anything profound,” Vlad told him. “Just think about how it makes you feel.”

Jack calmed under the assurance and let his eyes wander the painting for a while. “I mean, obviously it’s really pretty. I like that the brush strokes are really big.”

“Yes, it’s a style that Van Gogh is well known for.”

“It looks kind of like something from a dream, y’know?”

Vlad regarded the painting again. “You’re right, it does remind me of something I’ve seen in my dreams before.”

~~~

They enjoyed lunch in the museum’s food court, after which Vlad led the way to a hall that he was sure they would both enjoy.

Jack’s face lit up when he spotted the first dinosaur display, a bold triceratops posed with its head up and mouth open. “Now we’re talkin’!” he declared as he looked down the rest of the hall.

They strolled among the dinosaurs, admiring what the ancient beasts left behind and trying to imagine what their lives may have been like. As with the paintings no one wanted to risk letting the real thing get destroyed in a ghost attack, but they were casts of the original fossils and thus good enough.

“Hey, Vladdie,” Jack said as they looked over an allosaurus exhibit. “Do you think dinosaur ghosts are a thing?”

“I haven’t heard of any being found,” Vlad replied after some thought. He certainly hadn’t come across any, even in his extensive exploration of the Ghost Zone. “But the Ghost Zone is a truly vast dimension. Who’s to say that they don’t exist in some far-flung corner that rarely sees contact with more modern ghosts?”

“We should go look for them sometime!”

“Hah, maybe so,” Vlad said with a small smile. He had to admit that he’d love to see a dinosaur ghost as well, if they existed. “That would be quite an adventure, wouldn’t it?”

Accidental Marriage

Mitzi summoned them all to the sun room the following day. Vlad faced her with less trepidation than before, his usual anger toward Jack having faded to background noise since the apology. “I have decided on an optional trial for you to consider,” Mitzi declared as they gathered round. She lifted the artifact and placed it on the table before her. “If you pass this test of trust I will give you your heart back without complaint.”

“So what will it be, then?” Vlad asked, eying the artifact warily.

“Jack will take care of your heart for the next forty-eight hours. Accomplish this without incident and you will pass,” Mitzi replied. “So how about it? Do you trust him enough to give him your heart?”

Vlad broke out into a cold sweat as he considered it. The condition would guarantee an end to this whole matter in two days, but allowing Jack to watch over the artifact was...

His heart beat frantically within its glass prison.

“You don’t have to,” Jack said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I can keep doing this as long as it takes!”

“But we can’t let this whole mess burden us forever,” Vlad replied. He knew that even Jack would grow weary of having this ghost constantly disrupt his life in the name of the trials, no matter how much he liked spending time with Vlad. This was a sure way out, but the thought of literally putting his life in Jack’s hands terrified him.

“Do you need a moment to think about it?” Mitzi offered.

“I’m—” Vlad pressed his hand over his mouth as he agonized over it, thumb digging into his cheek and index finger pressing the opposite cheekbone. Jack had promised. Surely he could do this for two days, and there was no condition to keep Vlad from staying nearby for the duration. He could endure the anxiety for the next two days and then he would be free to figure out their relationship going forward, without Mitzi and her trials hovering over them. Yes, he could endure that. He’d suffered through far worse before.

“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” Maddie said hesitantly. “Jack cares about you a lot, Vlad, but I don’t think he should be saddled with this.”

He distantly appreciated Maddie’s honesty. She knew Jack better than anyone, she was only being realistic.

But at the same time, he worried. There had been a spark of... Something, the previous day. A feeling he didn’t want to let go of. If the trials became a burden to Jack, and if that drove him away...

“Vlad, you don’t have to do this,” Jack said again.

At last Vlad lowered his hand and took a deep breath. “Do you want to do this, Jack?” he asked, doing his best to keep his voice steady.

“It’s your heart, Vlad. You should decide—”

“I would like to take what you want into consideration before I make my choice,” Vlad said as he turned to him.

Jack brought a hand to his head, brow creased with worry as he considered Vlad’s question.

Vlad swayed slightly where he stood as he watched Jack. Everyone in the room was watching with him.

“I want to do it,” Jack said as he lowered his hand. “I’ll do it.”

“Very well.” Vlad turned to Mitzi. “Then I accept the terms of this trial and I look forward to getting my heart back in two days’ time.”

“Very good. Then hand it over to him and we will commence the trial.” Mitzi stood and passed the artifact to Vlad.

He stared down at his heart for a few long moments, the sight of its frantic rhythm only heightening his anxiety. Vlad turned to Jack, who looked every bit as worried as he felt. “I need you to take care of this, Jack.” It was difficult to speak, anxiety had his throat in a stranglehold. He pressed the artifact into Jack’s waiting hands. “Please don’t let me down.”

“I won’t,” Jack said, holding the artifact close to his chest. “I promise.”

“Best of luck to you both,” Mitzi said, looking very pleased with herself. “You may do as you please for the next two days.”

They left Mitzi in the sun room. Maddie stopped them as they walked through the library.

“So we do have the artifact in our possession now,” she said as she eyed it. “Maybe we could see if we can undo it ourselves—”

“No!” Jack and Vlad said in unison.

“It’s too risky,” Vlad said.

“If we mess up even a little it could kill him,” Jack added.

“Alright, you have a point,” Maddie said, a tad taken aback by how quickly the two had given their answer.

“I still can’t believe you actually gave it to him,” Danny said, staring at the artifact in shock. He looked up at Vlad. “What’s with you right now? Just, why?”

“I’m tired of this ghost’s antics and I decided to put a little faith in your father,” Vlad replied, annoyance creeping past the anxiety. “It’s just two days. We’ll be fine.”

~~~

They made it through the first day and night without issue. Vlad was always nearby throughout and only disappeared for brief stints to take care of his cats, as expected. Jack didn’t even see it as an insult to his abilities; Vlad was simply worried, as he had every right to be. He was really going the distance by trusting Jack with this after what happened twenty years ago.

And Jack, in turn, felt like he was going to lose his mind from the sheer anxiety of it all. If he messed this up Vlad could die. Even if Vlad didn’t die it would hurt him, and Jack so desperately wanted to avoid hurting him again. The artifact felt like a lead weight no matter how he carried it with him, while at once being something he assumed to be so delicate that he feared what would happen if he dropped it even a few inches onto any surface. Any time he lost sight of it for more than a few minutes he panicked, even if he was in fact holding it at the moment. In all it had been a miserable twenty-eight hours so far.

They’d made plans to watch a movie together earlier that morning. It was during preparations for heading over to Vlad’s house that Jack decided to hide the heart. Nightmare scenarios played themselves back in his head over and over, of him knocking the artifact off a table and breaking it or dropping it or some other accident, and so he decided that the best way to keep it safe would be to store it under lock and key.

Key code, anyway. Jack opened up the ghost-proof safe and carefully placed the artifact inside, then muttered the code under his breath as he punched it in—they’d be in just as much trouble if he forgot how to get back into the safe, after all.

Jack was already feeling better as he walked away from the safe. It would survive even if FentonWorks were to collapse on top of it—in fact Vlad’s heart would be the least of their worries if that were to happen. They’d only have to dig it out of the rubble and open it in that scenario.

An unfamiliar ghost slid down from the wall where it had been spying on Jack, invisible and unnoticed. It approached the safe with the numbers for the code still in its mind. Its master would be very pleased with this prize.

Vlad let Jack in as soon as he knocked on the door. “Jack,” he began when he noticed something was missing. “Where is—”

“I was worried about dropping it, so I locked it up in a ghost-proof safe,” Jack said proudly.

“Ah.” Vlad relaxed a little. “Not a bad idea, actually. Better than carrying it around.”

They took their time picking out snacks for their Back to the Future movie marathon, chatting away aimlessly about other movies they might want to watch together all the while. Vlad had an indoor theater that they could use, but instead they chose a more comfy setup in the den. There they sat sharing a couch among the dark hardwood furniture and shelves of books and antiques, a snack-laden coffee table sitting between them and the widescreen set into the wall.

The movie was well underway when a ghostly presence filled the room. They both jumped to their feet, ready for the intruder, when the ghost appeared between them and the widescreen tv.

“Greetings, Vlad,” the ghost said in a bellowing, slightly metallic voice. He was clad in a full suit of armor with a helmet that displayed its owner's blocky face across its visor, and a necklace of large multi-colored gems rested across his breastplate. “Today you will have the honor of giving me, the great Reginald, your hand in marriage!”

Jack and Vlad shared a look for a moment, then burst into laughter.

“What makes you think he’ll say yes, ghost?” Jack raised an ecto-blaster that he’d stowed away in a pocket and noted that Vlad had taken one from within his coat as well.

“Yes, what indeed? I’m not intending to marry anyone at the moment,” Vlad added.

“Such insolence,” the ghost said with a scowl. “I’ll rephrase it, then.” He lifted his deep red cloak and retrieved an object from within—the artifact, with Vlad’s heart still inside. “Give me your hand in marriage or I’ll crush your heart under foot. Is that more clear?”

Jack’s whole body went cold upon seeing the artifact. How? When had that ghost—

“Come on, now,” the ghost said with a smirk. “I don’t have all day.”

Vlad lowered his weapon and let it fall to the floor. He gave Jack a look of utter betrayal, eyes wide with fear and face pale. “I can’t believe I trusted you,” Vlad said quietly. He stared at Jack for a few more moments, then slowly walked over to the ghost and stood beside him.

“Very good. Let us be off, then.” The ghost swept his cloak around and the two, one of the gems on his necklace glowing intensely as they vanished in a swirl of scarlet energy.

The light returned to normal. The movie continued as it had been doing throughout the encounter, so thoroughly ignored that it might as well have been on mute. Jack slumped back onto the couch and let the weapon fall from his hand, his fingers numb with shock.

He’d failed. Things had been going so well, only for him to ruin their chances in the second half. Some ghost had Vlad in its clutches and who knew what horrors it had planned for him.

And the way Vlad looked at him...

Jack surged to his feet, fists clenched as he drew himself up. No, it wasn’t over until he ran away and hid like he’d done last time. He’d get Vlad back if it was the last thing he did.

Again the lighting of the room shifted as another ghost drew near. Jack swept up his gun again and prepared for a fight.

Any hope that the ghost might’ve come back for a rematch was dashed when Mitzi appeared before him. “What is going on?” she demanded. “Why has my artifact just appeared in the Ghost Zone?”

“You!” Jack snapped as he pointed his ecto-blaster at her. “You were in cahoots with that ghost, weren’t you? You were gonna hand Vlad over to him all along!”

“What ghost?” Mitzi asked as she glared down at him. “And put that thing away while I’m talking to you!”

The ermine ghost flowed from her shoulders in a flash and wrapped itself around Jack’s arms, yanking them down to keep the ecto-blaster away from Mitzi.

“Hey!” Jack struggled against the ghost, only for it to wind itself around his body and pin his arms to his sides instead.

“Now tell me what happened,” Mitzi said, a little calmer now. “What did this ghost look like?”

Jack’s ire cooled a little; Mitzi would already know what the ghost looked like if she was working with him, after all. “Big, wearing some kind of techno armor with a cloak, said his name was Reginald...”

“Oh dear.” Mitzi looked embarrassed. “Well, that wasn’t supposed to happen.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “Let’s go find your family. We’re going to need all hands on deck to deal with this and I don’t want to repeat myself.”

~~~

Vlad woke up on a dais. Reginald had done something to force him to fall asleep soon after they arrived in his lair, he had no idea how much time had passed between then and now.

The dais had been built within an elaborate ballroom with sweeping arches and tall windows that gave clear views of the swirling eddies of the Ghost Zone beyond. Red garlands and sharp white flowers like fragments of bone decorated every inch of the place, giving it an elegant but hostile feel. A crowd of ghosts milled around the room, most of them of the skeletal variety, finely dressed in black and shades of gray. They had been invited to a very special occasion.

Vlad looked down at himself and found that they’d left him in his usual suit for the occasion, either because it was already fancy enough or because he wouldn’t last long enough to merit something nicer.

He had no idea how he would make it out of this. Reginald had not let on to what he planned after marriage, but given that he held all the power in this situation it couldn’t be good. That the ghost might simply kill him immediately after the vows were said was a distinct possibility. There just wasn’t enough time to figure a way out of this...

“Welcome to the rest of your life, sleeping beauty,” Reginald said with a smirk. He stood across from Vlad on the dais and now wore a suit of gaudy gold armor with a red cloak and accents, the artifact hanging from his belt. “Enjoy it while you can.”

The rest of the proceedings passed in a blur—Vlad was oscillating between panic and being consumed by thoughts on how to escape and took no notice as the dusty lich in robes mumbled the vows they would be agreeing to.

“Well, what say you?”

Reginald’s voice snapped Vlad back to the present. He looked up, and Reginald patted the artifact at his belt once he had his attention. Would it even be worth delaying in the hopes that he’d figure something out before Reginald had the chance to dispose of him afterward? Wouldn’t it be better to die now before the wretched ghost could lay claim to everything he owned?

“Just say what’s on here, and the name of the one you would bind yourself to,” the officiator said as he passed an ancient-looking piece of paper to Vlad.

The vows were surprisingly simple. Apparently ghosts didn’t like to waste time on such things, though they had a far longer span of existence to look forward to than average humans did.

Reginald wrapped his fingers around the glass globe at the artifact’s center, his hand big enough to nearly hide the heart within. He would crush it if Vlad didn’t obey.

Naked survival instinct pushed Vlad into reading the vows aloud: “In all the vastness of the Ghost Zone there is but one I wish to bind myself to, power and soul.” Vlad shuddered a little as Reginald took his hand away from the artifact; apparently he would wait a bit before doing the deed, once the vows were said. The thought made him feel sick. “With them I will share all triumphs and failures, all joys and sorrows. Together we will face eternity. This I promise to you—”

A black-gloved hand dropped onto the artifact, attached to an arm clad in an orange hazmat suit.

“—Jack Fenton!?” Vlad stared in shock as Jack threw off the rest of his potted plant disguise and grabbed at the artifact with his other hand as well.

“That’s right, Vladdie!” Jack said with a grin, ducking under a punch from Reginald as he did so. “I’m gonna get you outta here! And I brought the whole family to help!”

An explosion went off on the far side of the room. Bits of wedding cake flew through the air, splattering onto guests and decorations, as Maddie stepped through the smoke with a Fenton Bazooka in her hands and started firing on the guards.

The guests scattered as the skeletal guards started pouring in.

Back on the dais a tug of war had broken out between Jack and Reginald. Each had both hands on the artifact and was trying to swing the other off of it.

“You might want to be a little more careful with that!” Vlad said, wincing as he watched the two swing around again. It was a wonder they hadn’t pulled it apart yet.

“Wretched oaf! Just what do you think you’re doing?” Reginald said as he tried to kick at Jack and missed. “Now I’ll have to go through a mountain of paperwork to get the next wedding set up!”

“I’m saving my best friend!” Jack declared. He blocked a kick from Reginald with his own boot and pushed him back. “We’re going home, whether you like it or not!”

“Best friend?” Reginald laughed. “That is funny. Do you have any idea who you’re trying to save?”

“Quit trying to mess with me, ghost!” Jack glared at him over the top of the artifact. “It won’t work!”

The sick feeling that had been driven away by Jack’s arrival returned. No, he wouldn’t—

“Why don’t I show you.” Reginald turned a dial near the top of the artifact with his thumb.

—a painful jolt of power surged through Vlad. The black transformation ring appeared without his bidding and split, revealing his ghost form and his secret.

Jack stared at Vlad in shock, though his grip on the artifact never wavered. “What...? Vlad?”

Vlad instinctively wanted to hide his face from Jack, for what little good that would do. The sudden wave of shame and fear mixed into a heavy feeling of nausea in the pit of his stomach. This was not how he’d wanted any reveal to go.

Reginald let out a long laugh. “Hasn’t your so-called friend attacked you before? And I recall him putting out a call for ghosts who would be willing to go after you in the past as well. Some friend he is.”

“But, why did you do it?” Jack asked, his eyes still on Vlad. Pleading, probably for some explanation that would keep his worst assumptions from being proven right.

Vlad could think of no lie that would satisfy those terms. Not in such a short amount of time, anyway. So he settled for the miserable truth. “Because I was angry, and stupid, and selfish,” Vlad replied as he looked away. “I thought getting back at you would make me feel better, but it never did.”

Reginald tried to wrench the artifact out of Jack’s hands, only to find that the man still had as firm a grip on it as ever.

“But we were having such a good time at the museum...” Jack said, the pleading look replaced by sadness. To Vlad’s surprise it made him feel even more sick to see it.

“I did have a good time with you then. Things got... A bit easier after you finally apologized,” Vlad said. He looked up at Jack again and took a deep breath. Ever since he’d started feeling better around Jack he’d known that this was likely to come up. If only it had been under lighter circumstances. “And I also need to apologize for what I’ve—”

An ecto-blast bursting over the rug at his feet interrupted any further discussion. Vlad staggered back and looked up at the source, finding Maddie on the other end with her ecto-rifle still raised and ready to fire.

“Aren’t you forgetting someone, Vlad? I always knew there was something rotten about you.” Maddie took aim, her finger closing around the trigger. “I suggest you start running.”

Anxiety turned to cold gut-wrenching fear as Vlad focused his full attention on Maddie. His ghost form might be a little stronger after the power injection, but he was still too weak to even conjure a shield, let alone try to fight her off. If she caught him he’d be done for.

Vlad darted forward, intending to duck past Jack and Reginald, only for a shot from Maddie to shatter the ornate vase ahead of him and drive him back in the opposite direction.

“What? No! You can’t kill him until he’s bound himself to me!” Reginald howled. “Guards! Protect him!” One of the gems on his necklace flared green as he gave the order.

The skeleton guards that had been pouring into the room to fight the Fentons turned and focused their attention on blocking Maddie’s shots or lunging at her once they got close.

“Maddie? Maddie, no!” Jack released the artifact and dashed over to his wife. “Maddie don’t kill him! Please!”

“Not now, Jack. I’m busy.” Maddie paused just long enough to swing Jack to the floor in a controlled throw and resumed her onslaught. “Kids, restrain your father and watch my back.”

“Wh—” He sat up, and was immediately hit and tied up by his own Jack o’ Nine Tails.

“Sorry, dad!” Jazz said, giving him an apologetic wave before activating her Fenton Peeler and shooting down a charging ghost.

Guard after guard fell as Maddie fired, her shots always scattered around Vlad’s current location.

Vlad overturned a table for cover and darted behind it. Maddie blasted holes in it behind and ahead of him, forcing him to break cover while she paused to reload.

“Maddie! At least let him explain himself!” Jack struggled against his bonds, trying to get free, and only succeeded in falling over.

“He had sooo many chances to explain himself before now,” Maddie replied as she raised her rifle again. Rather than fire she took an ecto-grenade from her belt pouch, pulled the pin, and hurled it into the cluster of guards that were trying to get between her and the target.

Vlad was moving before the grenade had a chance to bounce a second time. It exploded directly behind him, close enough that it knocked him into a roll that left him on his back.

With a yelp he scrambled back to his feet and started running again as another shot from Maddie’s rifle knocked out the guard just behind him.

“Maddie, stop!” Jack said, wincing as Vlad dodged another shot.

“Don’t worry about it, Jack,” Maddie replied as she fired another round of shots that dropped yet more guards near Vlad. “You’ll thank me later, I promise.”

“Kids!” Jack turned to Jazz and Danny instead, who were watching Maddie’s back as she’d asked.

“Dad, it’s gonna be fine,” Danny asked as he reeled in the Jack o’ Nine Tails and prepared for another shot; both he and Jazz were dressed in hazmat suits like their parents, a sight that had made Jack proud beyond words as they were setting out on the rescue. “Vlad’s not gonna die.”

Jack tried wriggling out of the cords again and found that they were starting to loosen.

At last the stream of guards slowed, and Maddie finished off the last few as Vlad’s frantic flight brought him to the dais again.

Vlad lost his footing and hit the floor hard, the last of his energy long spent. He lifted his head to find Maddie standing over him—she’d thrown Jack to the floor yet again to give herself time to dash over. The sight was enough to make his heart feel as if it was trying to escape his ribcage.

“Any last words, Vlad?” Maddie asked as the whine of a charging ecto-rifle filled the air between them.

“I wish I’d just talked to Jack to begin with.” Vlad screwed his eyes shut and waited for the end, too tired to escape.

Reginald snatched the rifle by its barrel and lifted Maddie into the air. “Enough of this! You will stop—”

Maddie kicked off his chest, dropping the rifle and drawing an ecto-blaster instead as she vaulted through the air. Three well-placed shots shattered the gems on Reginald’s necklace before she even touched the ground.

“No!” Reginald dropped the rifle and staggered back. “How did you—”

Jack scrambled over to them, having finally gotten back to his feet, and threw himself over Vlad. “Maddie, I know you’re mad—”

Maddie straightened and breathed a sigh of relief. “Don’t worry, Jack. I’m not going to shoot him.”

“You’re not?” Jack sat up, still clutching Vlad in both arms.

Vlad clung to Jack like a terrified cat, returning to human form as he sat up. “But you just—”

“Used you as the perfect distraction, yes,” Maddie replied with a sunny smile. “Thank you for doing such a good job, by the way. Your abject terror was very convincing.”

Jack and Vlad shared a glance—they were both blushing.

“The three of us are going to have a long talk after all this, though,” Maddie added, her eyes sharp as she glared at Vlad.

“Yes, Maddie.” For once he wasn’t looking forward to being able to talk to her.

“I’m just glad you’re alive!” Jack blubbered, and buried his face in Vlad’s neck as he started crying in earnest.

There was no response Vlad could think to give right now, save for sheer bewilderment. Even after discovering how hostile Vlad had been to him, he still cared enough to cry over almost losing him. The blush that settled on Vlad’s face was one of embarrassment this time. Perhaps he had been taking Jack for granted, at least a little. It really was amazing, the work that a sincere apology could do.

Vlad looked up at Maddie again. “Were you planning to attack me all along? And was that really necessary? Just look at the state Jack’s in now.” His coat was going to be quite soggy after this.

“Oh that was spur of the moment,” Maddie replied. “Our original distraction got derailed, so I had to think fast. This one worked even better than the one we originally had planned.”

“Distraction for what—”

“How dare you ignore me!” Reginald hauled himself to his feet, the artifact clutched in one hand. “You’ll pay for such insolence! If I can’t have him then no one can!” He hurled the artifact to the floor. It shattered on impact, leaving a pile of fractured metal and broken glass behind.

A shot from Maddie knocked Reginald to the ground once again, his suit twitching as its electronics glitched from the damage.

Vlad let out the gasp he’d taken as Reginald threw down the artifact. He was alive, to his immense shock. Pale and shaken, to be sure, but alive. And currently having his ribs ground to dust from how tightly Jack was hugging him again.

Reginald lifted his head, the terrible grin on his face falling when he realized that Vlad was still very much alive. “How?!” Reginald cried as he stared at the remains of the artifact. “That should’ve killed you outright!”

“I returned his heart while you were all so distracted by the chase.” Mitzi stepped out from behind one of the scarlet curtains and sauntered over with a smirk on her face. “Maddie made it quite easy with her clever little play. Excellent work, darling,” she added with a nod to Maddie.

“I do admit that it was cathartic watching Vlad run for his life,” Maddie said. She turned to Vlad, her smile dropping as she added, “I might not have been trying to hit you, but I’m still very angry over what you’ve done.”

Vlad drooped a little under the force of her glare. “And we’ll talk later, I understand.”

Jack breathed out a long sigh of relief, his face still pale from watching the artifact shatter. “I guess it’s over now.”

“Yes, it seems so.” Vlad pushed at Jack, who released him. With a sigh Vlad got to his feet and straightened his coat. The blush was back, and now he couldn’t find the words for what he wanted to say. “This probably sounds meaningless after all that’s happened, but I’m sorry for the whole, sending ghosts after you and all of that. I’m honestly not sure why you’re willing to give me another chance.”

“I’m not sure you really meant it,” Jack said with a shrug as he stood.

“Huh?” Vlad stared at him. That did not compute.

“Well I mean, if you were really trying to kill me why didn’t you just hire a human hitman? I never would’ve seen that coming,” Jack said, his tone suggesting that this should’ve been obvious.

“Yes, I was wondering the same,” Maddie added. “Honestly that’s one of the reasons I didn’t just shoot you on sight for what you’ve done. Of all the things you send after Jack, it’s ghosts? It’s like you were trying to fail.”

“Well I—” Vlad had gone completely red now. The whole thing made him feel downright stupid. “I don’t know, I just never thought to use anything other than ghosts.” Had he really been holding back this whole time without realizing it? Was that why he’d failed time and again when it came to disposing of Jack?

“And didn’t ghosts stop showing up to kill dad after he kicked your butt that one time?” Danny asked with a smirk.

“That was a fluke!” Vlad snapped, his ears burning. “I lost because I was tired!”

Jack burst out laughing. “That was a great fight! Maybe we could do it again sometime!”

“Absolutely not!” Vlad snapped. His ego couldn’t take another loss like that. Even after getting the Skeleton Key he’d still suffered momentary stabs of humiliation over having lost to Jack Fenton in a head to head fight.

“If everyone could settle down for a moment.” The officiator glided over, his feet hidden under the length of his robes—or perhaps he had no feet to speak of. “There’s still the matter of the vows.” He turned to Jack. “Do you accept this half-ghost, Jack Fenton?”

“Well yeah, of course I do! He’s my best friend!” Jack declared. He pulled Vlad into a side-hug, eying the officiator with suspicion. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Then congratulations,” the officiator said, satisfied. “You’re married.” He then tossed a handful of confetti over the two and started toward the remains of the dessert table.

Everyone watched him in stunned silence as his words sank in.

“Wait, what do you mean we’re married?!” Vlad pushed away from Jack and dashed after the officiator.

“But I’m already married!” Jack said, looking worried and bewildered as he trotted after them. “This doesn’t cancel the first one out, right?”

The officiator stopped to address them, looking annoyed. “It’s a separate affair, it doesn’t interfere with any Earth marriages you might have.” He turned to Vlad. “You said the vows that opened the contract, and your partner here sealed it with his agreement.”

“And if we want to undo it—”

“Well you’ll have to complete the paperwork and the rituals to undo the binding,” the officiator replied. He squinted at them for a few moments as he thought it over. “It’s going to be difficult given that only one of you is part ghost, though.”

Vlad groaned and covered his face with one hand.

“Don’t worry about it, Vladdie! We’ll figure it out,” Jack said as he put a hand on Vlad’s shoulder. “As long as Maddie is understanding,” he added with a nervous laugh.

“You really think I’m going to acknowledge a ghost-marriage as valid?” Maddie asked as she joined them. “And on the bright side, maybe it’ll help reign in Vlad’s more...” She gave him a look. “Annoying tendencies.”

“Maddie—!”

She cut him off. “Also if anything does happen to Jack, I know exactly who I’ll be blaming first.”

“Maddie stop, we both know he wouldn’t do that!” Jack said, pulling Vlad close again.

“Or couldn’t,” Danny added. “Vlad’s kinda incompetent, let’s be real.”

“Oh shut up!” Vlad snapped, only to receive an even bigger smirk from Danny in return.

“Guess Mitzi’s plan worked out,” Jazz said with a knowing smile. “Though I’m not really sure how well getting dad and Vlad to team up will work out for the Ghost Zone...”

“Yeah yeah, keep being smug that you figured it out before anyone else,” Danny said with a roll of his eyes.

“Plan?” Vlad turned to Jazz. “What plan?”

“She wanted to get you and dad to reconnect all along so you’d stop causing trouble in the Ghost Zone,” Jazz replied. “That’s why she set up the trials the way she did.”

“That’s right,” Mitzi added as she joined them. “Even down to making the artifact and spreading rumors about it that would get your attention, and convincing you that you’d said Jack’s name while you were panicked about losing your heart.”

Vlad blushed with embarrassment yet again. It was one thing to play him for a fool, quite another to brag about it in front of an audience.

“Come now, darling, you should be happy. You finally heard what you needed to and set foot on the right path. Isn’t that worth all the hardship?”

Vlad gave her the biggest scowl he could manage, fists clenched at his sides.

“You’ll thank me one day,” Mitzi said knowingly. “For now though, I think it’s time we said goodbye.”

“Should we do anything about Reginald before we go?” Maddie asked, casting a glance at the ghost.

Vlad glowered at the ghost and pulled himself from Jack’s arms. “I think a little extra punishment is in order for him trying to force me to marry him, don’t you agree?”

“Yes, even you wouldn’t go so low as to do that,” Maddie said. Vlad was beyond tired of getting sniped like this, but perhaps he did deserve it. “Let’s show him what happens when he messes with us.”

“That might not be necessary,” Mitzi said, gesturing to a small group of ghosts who had just entered the room. They had their eyes fixed on Reginald and violent thoughts in mind given the way they glared at him. “Those ghosts were bound in service to him by that necklace. They’re quite unhappy with him, so perhaps you should leave it to them. You have more important matters to attend to anyway.”

~~~

The ride home in the Specter Speeder was quiet. At last it glided through the Fenton Portal and coasted to a stop in the lab.

“Woo! Home sweet home!” Jack said as he swung the hatch open and stepped into the lab.

“Not bad for a day trip,” Maddie added as she hopped out after him. “And as for our talk, Vlad—”

Vlad sighed. “Can it wait for now? It’s not like I can get away from you,” he said. He was still tired, despite having his full power back; the sheer stress of everything had taken its toll, and he was in no condition to be having an intense conversation at the moment.

Maddie considered it. “Fine. We’ll put it off until tomorrow, then.”

“Glad to have you back, V-man!” Jack pulled Vlad into another hug, and Vlad let him.

“Yes, glad to be back, Jack,” Vlad said. He resisted the urge to rest his head against Jack’s shoulder. “Thank you for saving me back there. It seems I can put a bit of trust in you after all.”

Jack looked at him with surprise. “Even though—”

“Yes, even though you caused it. You actually came back and helped fix things, and for that I’m grateful,” Vlad said, giving Jack a sincere smile.

“Gross!” Danny said, completely ruining the moment—likely on purpose.

Vlad glared at him. “Get used to it, Little Badger,” he said, smirking as he draped an arm around Jack’s shoulders. “Oh, and be ready for me to make him even more embarrassing than usual. You’ve been warned.”

“Send him back,” Danny growled.

“Aw, cheer up, Danny! You have a super-powered uncle now!” Jack said with a grin. “Just think of all the fun things you could do together!”

“Let’s put a pin in that until after we’ve had our little chat,” Maddie said. “But for now let’s take it easy. Things have definitely been interesting lately.”

“Hey, we should finish watching Back to the Future!” Jack said. “That stupid ghost interrupted us earlier.”

“That he did. Sounds like a good idea to me,” Vlad replied.

“I’ll get the snacks going!” Jack declared, and he dashed up the stairs to the kitchen.

“I wouldn’t mind watching it again, so I’ll join you,” Maddie said, smiling as she followed Jack out of the lab.

“You have a lot of stuff to answer for, Vlad,” Danny said before Vlad could leave the lab. “I’m not gonna let you off easy.”

Vlad turned to him. “Yes, I will have to work on that,” he said. In truth he was dreading more than a few of those, especially the clones. Maddie just might try to kill him when she found out about that... “But for now I suppose you’ll be down an arch-nemesis. I do hope you don’t get bored.” Vlad cleared his throat. This was all so terribly embarrassing. “Sorry for... All of that. I’ll prove to you that I mean it.”

“You’d better,” Danny said, arms crossed over his chest. “Cause if mom finds out even a fraction of the stuff you’ve been doing to us, you’re dead.”

“Just think of this as extra incentive in your rehabilitation,” Jazz said with a sunny smile. “Don’t let us down.”

Vlad forced a smile. They were absolutely going to use this to blackmail him. He had no doubt. “Well then, I look forward to working with you both.”

#Danny Phantom #Valentine's Core Exchange 2024 #Vlad Masters #Jack Fenton #Maddie Fenton #Danny Fenton #Jazz Fenton #phanfiction #Jack/Vlad #Vlad Plasmius #kuzannfic

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