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#and now there's a video on the internet linked to her mother's name and face
whydon-twego · 10 months
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Morgana probably hates him. Or she hates his own plants, he doesn't know which statement is more correct.
"Morgana, do you remember what happened to the cactus you gave me for my birthday?"
Morgana simply shrugs her shoulders.
"I trust that being my plants and with a promise to kill you if they are not all nice and alive when I get back, they will be in good hands."
"You really have no one else to ask?"
Morgana snorts at that point.
"The only person I can trust is Gwen and as you well know Gwen will be leaving with me. It's only two weeks, I trust you'll be able to keep my orchids from dying in such a short time."
Arthur is not at all convinced and, barely five days into Gwen and his sister's honeymoon, he hates himself for always being so damn right.
His sister is going to kill him. *** Gwen, sweet little Gwen who, despite being on her honeymoon, answers him immediately, passes him a YouTube channel about plants and nature in general.
Arthur, looking at the half-wilted orchid in the window, doesn't know if it will be enough, but he has to at least try. *** Merlin (that's the name the guy uses on his channel MerlinLikeTheWizard) has quite a following on YouTube and has a lot of videos, even a few minutes long, explaining how to solve tricky situations.
The orchid with some difficulty recovers, Morgana's roses no longer seem to be on the brink of extinction and Arthur owes his life to a stranger on the internet.
A stranger with sparkling blue eyes, a disarming smile and huge ears.
Arthur may have a small and insignificant crush on him. ***
The plants have returned to Morgana and Gwen's house safe and sound (Arthur hugged Gwen a little harder than necessary, thanking her for saving his life) and Arthur is thinking if perhaps, now that he has a little more practice with plants, he can fulfil his dream of having a little corner of paradise on his over-empty balcony. He has always liked flowers, his mother had always liked flowers, but Arthur has always had the ability to kill every poor plant that has crossed his doorstep.
Maybe now is the right time. ***
"Merlin!"
Arthur didn't want to shout it in the middle of the street, he didn't want to shout it in the face of the stranger who is now looking at him with an alarmed face because -God!- they don't know each other and Arthur looks like a bloody stalker. But when was he ever going to meet his celebrity crush by pure chance in the middle of the streets of London?
Merlin looks at him a little confused but raises a hand in greeting and Arthur takes courage and gets a little closer to him. What do you say to someone you obsessively follow for advice and because their laughter brightens your day?
"You have the biggest ears in the world"
Morgana is terribly right, he must have some kind of mental affliction, there is no other explanation.
Merlin wrinkles his eyebrows and opens his mouth to reply but Arthur stops him by talking over him.
"That wasn't what I meant at all. I- sorry, no, I just wanted to- Thank you for saving my life."
At that, Merlin raises his eyebrows and Arthur finds himself thinking about how expressive the human face can be without having to say anything.
"Yeah, I mean, that's..." Arthur covers his face with his hands for a moment and thinks about what a mess he's making "I swear I don't usually suck this bad at first impressions" Arthur sighs "I kept my sister's plants and you should know that I have the ability to make a cactus die within 48 hours, so I was desperate because my sister threatened me with death about her precious orchid and his wife sent me the link to your channel and, I mean, I'm still alive so thanks"
Merlin spends a few seconds staring at him and Arthur feels incredibly stupid, then Merlin bursts out laughing and Arthur thinks he has an even better laugh heard live.
And what else could Arthur say now? He's at a loss for words and his throat is suddenly dry and would it be too weird to ask for an autograph or a photo together? Is this something people do with YouTubers? He honestly doesn't even have the courage to ask.
Merlin is smiling now, looking at him, and Arthur is stumbling over what to say. God, this is humiliating. We'd better end this quickly.
"Well, yeah, that's it… so thank you."
He turns to put as much distance as possible between himself and that embarrassing figure he will never tell anyone about, but a voice stops him.
"I think you owe me a coffee."
Arthur turns towards that voice he has come to know behind a microphone but which has a much stronger accent in person. He turns and watches Merlin look at him.
"What?"
"I saved your life you said. The least you could do to repay me would be to buy me a coffee."
Arthur looks at him for a few seconds and can't believe his ears.
"Sure!" he says quickly, extending a hand "I'm Arthur by the way"
"Nice to meet you Arthur, I suppose you already know my name"
Arthur looks at him sceptically.
"You mean to tell me that your name is really Merlin? Really?"
Merlin smiles and turns to point at the first Costa they find on the road.
"Like the Wizard" *** Merlin watches Arthur talk about how he has succeeded in creating a small corner of the garden on his balcony, how his eyes light up genuinely happy that he has succeeded in something he thought impossible, observes how he gesticulates animatedly and how he responds in a decidedly snobbish manner when something doesn't suit him.
Merlin watches Arthur and there is something about him that makes him say without a second thought "I'll come and have a look at your garden and we could work on it together"
Merlin observes how Arthur looks at him gratefully and how the coffee they were to have together becomes lunch and how Arthur manages to respond to his sarcasm with more sarcasm.
Merlin will have to buy Gaius dinner for convincing him to open that YouTube channel, months and months ago.
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imnotevenusin · 8 months
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Astrology of : XXXTENTACION
Being the most interesting and impactful artist to come out of the ‘Soundcloud-era’, Jahseh D. Onfroy—XXXTENTACION—came with a lot of baggage. He gained a strong following through cathartic music and online shenanigans, but also faced heavy scrutiny due to his violent and disturbing past.
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Now since we don’t have an official birth time for him, I’ll just focus this more on the aspects that he had within his chart.
☄️Mars tightly conjunct Jupiter—Mars is the planet of action, defense, and anger, and when it comes into close contact with Jupiter - a planet that likes to expand everything it touches - it can make the characteristics of Mars prevalent throughout someone’s life, and we can see this in X—theres many videos of him fighting people all over the internet.
🌙 Moon conjunct Pluto—the moon will tell us about our emotional state and the relationship we have with our Mother and Pluto shows us what has power over us/what gives us power. X’s emotional state went through *intense* ups and downs, along with his relationship with his Mother—from witnessing her being attacked by grown men when he was a child, not being on good terms with her, and getting her name tatted on his chest. I’d say you can hear this placement in his music too—mostly the dramatic lyrics.
🪐Mercury square Saturn—Mercury can represent our mental state and our ability to solve problems, while Saturn represents what we “lack”, standards we try to live up to, and what we have to wait for. When Mercury squares our Saturn, we see a person that struggles with communication and negative thoughts. X was pretty depressive and pessimistic; he had “Alone” tatted above his eyebrow, he had a broken heart tatted on his face, and he also had “Numb” tatted below his eyes.
☀️Sun sextile Pluto—the Sun represents our ego, our interests, and what we like to revolve our personalities around. When it comes into contact with Pluto, we see a person with strong resilience and staying power. In the long run, they have a strong enough ego to “keep going” after whatever they’ve been through. Pluto also oversees change and transformations—we know that X tried to change for the better before his death (watch the music video for “SAD!”).
🖤Venus Rx—Remember the tattoos? (specifically the broken heart and “alone”), I think him having a Venus retrograde in Capricorn makes a ton of sense. Throughout his life, he never felt “worthy” of love.
🎨Venus conjunct Neptune—Both Venus and Neptune can be linked to artistry; Venus is how we style ourselves and Neptune is our dreams, perceptions, and delusions. X was signed up for choir class after finding a love for music, and this where he learned how to sing, play piano, etc. He was also known for his different hairstyles/hair colors.
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getjoys · 1 year
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Ashley Burgos Age — Her Bold Rise to Fame at a Young Age
Ashley Burgos is a name that has been making waves on the internet lately. She is known for her stunning looks and curvaceous body, which has attracted a lot of attention from men all over the world. At just 26 years old, Ashley has already made a name for herself as a model, entrepreneur, and Instagram personality. Let’s take a closer look at Ashley Burgos age, life, career, and achievements.
Ashley Burgos Early Life
Ashley Marie Burgos was born on May 9th, 1996, in New York City, New York, United States, and that makes Ashley Burgos age to be 26 as of 2023. She is the daughter of Bernice Burgos, who is now a prominent figure in the fashion industry. Her father’s identity is not known, but rumors have it that he was only 19 years old when Ashley was born.
Bernice was only 15 at the time, and she had to raise her daughter on her own while working as a waitress at a bar. Despite the challenges she faced, Bernice’s outgoing personality and beautiful body caught the attention of people in the music industry, and she started appearing in music videos. Ashley got to watch her mother rise to stardom, which inspired her to pursue a career in modeling.
Ashley Burgos Education
Ashley Burgos completed her elementary education at a local private school in New York City before enrolling at Hempstead High School. She values education and understands its importance. Ashley began posting sensual images on her official Instagram page and now has 234k followers. as soon as she finished school, at a very young age.
She began her modeling career before she turned 18 years old. Ashley Burgos’ educational qualifications are not known. She attended Hempstead High School but did not disclose whether she went to college or university after finishing high school.
Blog Link: https://getjoys.net/celebrity/ashley-burgos-age/
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ithisatanytime · 1 year
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[ BOOM BOOM ] 1987 SPINNING DEE-DEE
 ive talked endlessly on here about the importance of the internet, how it is impossible to fully control they way they control television and the film industry and press, by its nature it cant be controlled. that being said they still try and i think thats more apparent today than ever before, basically post covid the character of the internet changed pretty dramatically, youtube itself is the best example of this, susan wosjciki (sp? i dont know shes a jew) has been doing her damndest to sink the platform so the userbase will flee the platform to other more easily controlled platforms namely twitch. i know im not the only one who noticed youtubes focus changing from your subscriptions, you know the content you chose to be exposed to, into a situation where the homepage is no longer your subscriptions but youtube recommendations which are astroturfed to hell and back. for instance today i got a video where some jew lawyer talks about alex jones legal woes, ive never been an alex jones guy but this jews face just triggered primordial anger in me, he read as “enemy” on a deep genetic level, so i clicked the video to call the guy a rat jew (which i did) but i noticed that literally all the comment chains were started by youtube accounts that were a generic womans name first and last, and the profile pics were ALL very attractive women dressed in lingerie, thats not so unusual bots are all over the place, what was unusual about it is all of these lingerie clad ladies using their full first and last legal name were all making cogent political points not just spamming links to some bulgarian scam website. the internet astroturfing botting shilling whatever you want to call it is fucking insane now, if you use 4chan you are well aware of what im talking about, anyway the main point of this post was meant to be some advice, i see people on anonymous message boards and comment sections attempting to call out shills in two ways, a surprising amount of these shills are ethnically jewish, its only surprising because there are so few jews and the shilling is so rampant, youd expect the majority of shills to be goys but in reality its literal paid jews in israel or its diaspora jews from around the world. a way that people have been attempting to combat this is to demand the person they are debating respond with “say christ is lord” this is effective, versus “denounce the talmud” or “spell out “god” these are NOT effective, and its very telling why one works and the other doesnt. the issue is most of the jews causing people problems are NOT religious, the religious ones are just as fucked up, but they dont have the same pull as these atheist jews have, almost none are actually atheist they believe in the occult and when you peel back the layers they are satanists but thats beside the point, they dont give a fuck about spelling gods name or denouncing the talmud, but tellingly they STILL wont say Jesus is king or Christ is lord or anything like that, because one thing all jews share is that they HATE jesus christ, atheist, orthodox, they fucking hate christ, they are ANTI christ, muslims are not antichrist they revere christ as a prophet, atheists are indifferent (in theory not in practice) but of the three major abrahamic world religions jews are the only one who are ANTI CHRIST, the talmud states jesus mother was a whore that jesus himself was a sorcerer and that he is boiling in either cum or shit in hell depending on how you interpret the hebrew. both religious and nonreligious jews hate christ, and thats simply not acceptable they can fuck right off, you dont have to be christian to be here but you cant hate the message of jesus christ because its foundational to having a functional society where people can actually have shit. even if you arent religious you need to appreciate that christianity was revolutionary in its message and it revolutionized the way people organize themselves socially. to put your neighbors needs above your own, to not just forgive but to love your enemy, these ideas were and are radical and while in practice christian nations never live up to the precedent set by jesus christ, the attempt alone makes for high trust societies. why would you allow someone to live amongst you who does not value forgiveness, who doesnt understand grace as a concept, im having a difficult time trying to explain myself, its not religoius zealotry thats prompting this, there are gentiles i know who went to church all of there lives but because it was a catholic church and not a christian church the values of christ were not imparted in them properly, they viewed forgiveness as a sign of weakness, and as a result they are universally dog shit, completely socially dysfunctional etc. the basic tenants of Christianity run counter to human instinct, but when they are employed even imperfectly you end up with countries and societies with unparalleled prosperity and satisfaction, frankly i dont trust people who lack this foundation, i dont even need to explain why its self evident, someone who thinks they are good because they dont understand what sin is or their need for grace is going to be a piece of human shit guaranteed, and nearly all jews fall into this category, the acceptions being messianic jews who recognize that christ was the messiah which is painfully clear if you read Isaiah which jews literally dont do.  
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Hashini Silva - The Woman Behind The Leaked Video
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Hashini Silva, a world-renowned radio personality, has recently leaked her private video on social media sites. This video has since been circulating on the internet and continues to generate a lot of buzzes. Though the video contains explicit content, its appearance hints at a young woman in her early twenties. Although her nationality is unknown and her personal life is not known, the entire video can still be viewed by clicking the link below.
Hashini Silva is a radio character
Hashini Silva leaked video went viral on the web and she has a troubled personal life, and it is likely that her children will suffer from her publicized problems. As a yoga instructor and a mother, her family should not be made public, and she probably is between 25 and 30 years old. However, it is unlikely that she is that old, or even that she has a family. She is likely to have no online entertainment accounts, and she may have completely wiped out her online profiles.
Hashini Silva is a radio personality on the YFM radio station. Her personality is gaining more attention due to a leaked video. The video, which aired earlier this year, has been circulated all over the internet. Fans of the show have even started searching for it on social media such as Twitter. Although Hashini Silva is not the youngest radio personality in India, her fans are extremely loyal.
However, the controversy surrounding Hashini Silva leaked video. The radio personality is facing some heat from netizens on social media. While the controversy isn't affecting her show's ratings, she is now a household name.
She graduated with honors from Yashodara Balika Vidyalaya
Hashini Silva, the famous radio personality, is gaining a large following on social media. Her leaked video has already been viewed by millions of people. Despite her young age, she already has a huge fan following and respect from her followers. But is it really her true nature? Here's a look at the character behind the viral video.
The Internet is flooded with the latest Hashini Silva leaked video in which performing a sex act with a radio presenter. The leaked video has become one of the hottest topics on Twitter and the Internet. But is Hashini upset about the leaked footage? It seems so, but she has maintained a perfect personal life. No parent would put their children in such situations.
She has a toddler
Hashini Silva has a toddler and is facing a social media backlash after a private video she posted about her child's nappy-changing session went viral. The radio star has been receiving criticism from netizens for the video, which was leaked online and became a trending topic. It is unclear whether she has deleted her account or merely removed her personal information from her social media profiles.
Hashini Silva is a popular radio personality in India. But her private life is not as well protected online as her public image. After the video, she has decided to keep her private life out of the public eye. However, since her radio show has become a trending topic on social media, she has taken measures to ensure her privacy.
Her social media accounts are not public, which means that she may have been using a different name on the internet to avoid backlash. Regardless of who leaked the video, it has spread over the Internet and has even reached various platforms. While this may seem unrelated to the original topic of the video, it certainly has caused a stir in the online community.
She isn't accessible via social media
Hashini Silva has passable stardom on the radio and is a very good performer in front of the camera. She also enjoys singing and dancing. However, the internet has not allowed her to make these activities public. Fans are now concerned about this video's impact on her baby. They have posted numerous comments online criticizing her, and she has paused her social media accounts.
This young lady has been receiving massive attention online, but she's not getting the appreciation she deserves. There is a lot of criticism and slander directed at the actor on the Internet. Apparently, Hashini Silva has disabled her social media accounts to protect herself from negative media attention. Regardless of the negative reactions from fans and followers, Silva's popularity isn't going anywhere.
Although the resulting video has received massive social media attention, Hashini Silva hasn't opened up about her private life. Obviously, no guardian would want to put their kids in such a situation. The Silva family has not responded to requests for comment on the video, but Silva's parents have not ruled it out. The video has been deleted from multiple websites and Fb pages. A Twitter account with a similar title has also surfaced.
Her private life is at risk as a result of the leaked video
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The leaked video of Hashini Silva, a radio personality from YFM, has caused quite a stir. She has a wide fan base around the world and has received much attention because of her work. The video has even gone viral on social media, with some users uploading it to their profiles.
The leaked video has made the star's public persona even more coveted, threatening her personal life. However, some experts believe that Hashini may face some trouble because of this leak. The leaked video may not threaten her career, but it could affect her public image.
The viral video has spawned numerous threats and vulgar messages about Hashini Silva's privacy. In addition to the threat of harassment, the woman has temporarily disabled her social media accounts. The situation has also affected Hashini Silva's ability to interact with the public. This could jeopardize her children's privacy. If this is the case, Hashini Silva needs to act quickly to protect her children.
She is receiving criticism on social media
The internet has become the new hotbed for social media personalities, and Hashini Silva is no different. A video of Silva's singing has gone viral, attracting criticism from users of all walks of life. While Silva is still relatively unknown outside of the internet, she can use this video to gain more exposure. But what does she really look like? And how did she get her newfound fame? Read on to find out.
Fans are trying to learn more about Silva, but have found only trolling comments online.  Despite her apparent disconnect from social media, it is still unclear how the criticism will affect her. Here are some things to know about controversial personalities.
The star is a mother of a toddler. While Hashini Silva has received a great deal of attention for her career, she is also a loving mother, and it would be a shame if these videos affected her children. After all, no parent would put their child in a similar situation.
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ladyorlandodream · 3 years
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Lady Dimitrescu-tag FanFiction List PART 1
Since it has become a case among gamers and non-gamers, I decided to create this post containing the FF dedicated to Alcina Dimitrescu (Lady Dimitrescu / Tall Vampire Lady) that I can find on the Internet This post will be updated as soon I find something new, therefore, feel free to send me links to add to the list and come back anytime, because from the reposts you will lose the updates!!
part 2   part 3   part 4   part 5  part 6   part 7
1) In Vino Sacrificium (Series)
2) Feast Your Eyes (short story)
3) The Woman in the White Dress (Chapters in progress)
4) Lost (short story)
5) Resident Evil Village but Awesome (short story)
6) We Are Marionettes By Strings Animated, Yet Like Lovers Of Strings Liberated (short story)
7) Village (Chapters in progress)
8) The Lady of the House (Series)
9) Intruder (short story)
10) Resident Evil: Lewd Village (short story)
11) The Surprise (short story)
12) Nothing Fucks With My Baby (Except Me) (Chapters in progress)
13) Hers, forever (short story)
14) Lady Dimitrescu and her Good Girl (Stories completed)
15) Be a good pet (short story)
16) The Lapis Inferno (Chapters completed)
17) Our secret love (short story)
18) Bad day (short story)
19) Its a superiority thing (Chapters in progress) 
20) The Lady’s Kitten! (Chapters in progress)
21) her new toy (Chapters in progress)
22) Why Are Humans Like This (short story)
23) The Cold is in Her Bones (Chapters in progress) 
24) Lady of Legend (short story)
25) Sweet Pet (short story)
26) Beloved bound (short story)
27) Fuck You're So Gorgeous, (And I Wanna Touch You). (short story)
28) Dessert (Chapters in progress)
29) Taken from the village (short story)
30) Resident Evil Drabbles (short stories in progress)
31) I'm Here, I'm Safe (short story)
32) For Old Times' Sake (short story)
33) Virgin Dog (short story)
34) Akaibara (Chapters in progress)
35) So This Is Love (short story)
36) Who's The Master Of Tall Now, Huh? (Chapters in progress)
37) The Mistresses New Daughter! (Chapters in progress)
38) A Willing Maiden? (short story)
39) Beloved [SCRIPT OFFER] [F4TF VARIATION] (short story to fill)
40) I trust you (short story)
41) Little Fly (short story)
42) Never Mind That Moaning In The Halls, There's No Such Thing As Ghosts (short story)
43) I know what you’re after (short story)
44) neither pink nor pale (short story)
45) what of the body isn't an unbecoming (Chapters in progress)
46) Blood and Byrrh (Chapters in progress)
47) Beginnings (Chapters in progress)
48) To Live Forever (short story)
49) Skelly Meets His Match (short story)
50) Just a toy (Chapters completed)
51) Stormy Illusions (short story)
52) I'm Falling (Don't Catch Me) (Chapters in progress)
53) Desperate Escape (short story)
54) Ignis (short story)
55) finders keepers (short story)
56) Roses Before Dawn (2 chapters story)
57) Aftertaste (short story)
58) Liar (Chapters in progress)
59) Alcina's Ultimate Form! (short story)
60) Love makes monsters of us all (Chapters in progress)
61) Cursed (Chapters completed)
62) Where It's Warm (Chapters in progress)
63) The Witch, The Werewolf And The Vampire (short story)
64) Death Trap Clad (short story)
65) Plaything (short story)
66) To become something more! (Chapters in progress)
67) Lost, but not forgotten. (Chapters in progress)
68) I Love Human Stupidity (short story)
69) Lady Dimitrescu A-Z NSFW (short list)
70) Danse Macabre (Chapters in progress)
71) Game Over! (short story)
72) A Pet That's Not You (short story)
73) The patterns of your heartbeat (Chapters in progress)
74) Survival (short story)
75) It Was A Wicked Thought (Chapters in progress)
76) Blackbird (Chapters completed)
77) How vampires are born (short story)
78) I Like My Coffee Like I Like My Women: Hot and Venti. (Chapters in progress)
79) Kiss of Blood (Chapters in progress)
80) You're Not What I Asked For (short story)
81) I walk My Days On a Wire (short story)
82) Team Dimitrescu (short story)
83) Daughter's Plaything! (short story)
84) It Starts With a Spilled Cup of Tea (Chapters completed)
85) There You Are (short story)
86) Fanfic of: "I Like My Coffee Like I Like My Women: Hot and Venti" (short story)
87) Lady Dimitrescu's new slave (short story)
88) How The Mighty Have Shrunk? (short story)
89) Lady dimitrescu x oc (Chapters in progress)
90) Novitiate (Chapters in progress)
91) No More Tears Left (short story)
92) Taming One Of the Beasts! (short story)
93) In the Shadows of the Enemy (short story)
94) Rebirth series (short stories)
95) Comfort's Embrace (short story)
96) A Maids Tale! (short story)
97) To Have Tea and Crackers (short story)
98) Me of all People!? (Chapters in progress)
99) The Tall Mistress (short story)
100) A Dance Of Death! (short story)
101) Retourne-toi! (Chapters in progress)
102) Roses, Hearts and Wine (short story)
103) Care to Dance? (Chapters in progress by me!)
104) Happy Valentine's Day (short story)
105) Share The Love? (short story)
106) Vampire (short story)
107) Between monsters (Chapters in progress)
108) Giant Woman (song/rewriting)
109) Steeplechase (short story)
110) In The Shadows (Chapters in progress)
111) What is it Worth? (Chapters in progress)
112) The positives of being a maiden (short story)
113) Young And Beautiful (short story)
114) Queenslayer (Chapters in progress)
115) Life in Castle Dimitrescu (Chapters in progress)
116) A Soak (short story)
117) Child’s Play! (Chapters in progress)
118) Forbidden (Chapters in progress)
119) The Vampire's Groom (short story)
120) Vampires Can Wear Sweaters Too (Chapters in progress)
121) Don't Cry Mercy.... (short story)
122) Hear Me Out (short story)
123) Sanguinis et Mortis (short story)
124) A Warm Bed (short story) 
125) The Bite That Binds The Gift That Gives (Chapters in progress)
126) Two Hearts Beat As One! (Chapters in progress)
127) Cat Got Your Tongue? (Chapters in progress)
128) The Truth Can Make a Rose Dead (short story)
129) The Mistress's Artist (short story)
130) The Art of Submission (short story)
131) Her Name Upon My Soul (short story)
132) Mine only (short story)
133) Don’t leave me (short story)
134) The Morning Sun (short story)
135) What About What I Want? (Chapters in progress)
136) Facing the Leviathan (short story)
137) No Title (from Deviantart) (short story)
138) MILKERS: The big Smoke | Libro 1: Dimitrescu (Chapters in progress in Spanish)
139) Rolling Stone! (short story)
140) Moonlight Reflections (Chapter in progress)
141) In Sanguis Virginis Veritas (Chapters in progress)
142) Video Games? (short story)
143) Fragility (short story)
144) Pet Lessons (short story)
145) Symphony of Destruction (short story)
146) The Protectors (Chapters in progress)
147) Such A Messy Affair (short story)
148) nourishment (short story)
149) Ma Belle Evangeline (short story)
150) Big Tall Vampire Lady (Chapters in progress)
151) Plaything (Alcina Dimitrescu x Male Reader) (short story)
152) Unexpected (short story)
153) All Hallows’ Eve (Chapters in progress...by me!)
154) Affliction (Chapters in progress)
155) Adapt and Overcome (Chapters in progress)
156) So We Meet Again (short story)
157) Stole (Chapters in progress)
158) Unexpected expectancy (short story)
159) Blood Moon! (short story)
160) Under Your Spell (Chapters in progress)
161) Kitten Likes To Play! (short story)
162) A Good Servant (short story)
163) My Huntress, My Wife (short story)
164) Mother Is God In The Eyes Of A Child! (short story)
165) Memento Mori (Chapters in progress)
166) Hunter Becomes The Hunted! (Chapters in progress)
167) The One She Spared (Chapters in progress)
168) From Eden (Chapters in progress)
169) it takes a village (Chapters in progress)
170) This one time in Romania... (Chapters in progress)
171) One witch dead. One more to go. (short story)
172) Surprise Visit! (short story)
173) Falling into Darkness (Chapters in progress)
174) Finding What's Lost! (Chapters in progress)
175) Call Me Mistress (short story)
176) Burn Witch Burn (Chapters in progress)
177) Scare Tactics (Chapters in progress)
178) a one shot from tumblr (short story)
179) Recon (Chapters in progress)
180) Tea and Ice Lattes (Chapters in progress)
181) Yes, Dear (short story)
182) Use Somebody (Chapters in progress)
183) The Party (short story)
184) Dimitrescu Winter Ball (short story)
185) Learning The Hard Way (short story)
186) The Vamp & The Wolf (Chapters in progress)
187) Trust Is Worth A Thousand Words (Chapters in progress)
188) Family Portrait (short story)
189) The Long Journey Home (Chapters in progress)
190) ~Iubire nemuritoare~ (Chapters in progress)
191) A New Breed (Chapters in progress)
192) Part of the Job (short story)
193) Lingering (short story)
194) Dani’s Mom (shorto story)
195) What Do We Do With A Drunken Vampire? (short story)
196) You're Such A Royal Pain In The Fang! (short story)
197) Woman in White (short story)
198) One shot from tumblr
199) Night Light (short story)
200) The Goddess And The Vampire! (short story)
HOUSE OF DIMITRESCU FF
1) Between Thirst and Affection (short story about Daniela)
2) Series about new character Rosemary Dimitrescu: Part 1 When A Rose Blooms In Winter (Completed); Part 2 Every Rose Has It's Thorns (Completed); Part 3 A Bed of Roses (In progress)
3) Potential Bad Idea (short story about Daniela)
4) Supermarket Flowers (short story about Daniela)
5) Good Girl! (short story about Daniela)
6) Taming one of the beasts! (short story)
7) Into the Unknown (Chapters in progress, multifandom)
8) One Of the Girls (short story)
9) Can't Sleep! Won't Sleep (without you)! (short story)
10) A Mix of the Species! (short story)
749 notes · View notes
doublekrecs · 4 years
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Going Live
Spencer Reid x Reader
Synopsis: You're an intern for the FBI but double as a camgirl in your spare time. You thought you kept things pretty well under wraps but who knew one of your mentors watched you all along. 
Warnings: smut, unprotected p in v action (remember to wrap it), face fucking, use of sex toys, tiny bit of degrading
a/n: writing this in the setting of season 10/11 because spencer looks so damn good and i wanted to include my girl tara
also part 2 of more than physics should be up later today! hope you enjoy -🧞‍♀️
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You had been a paid intern for the FBI for about a year, paid being said lightly. But the job was definitely worth it. While being under the wing of the BAU you had not only learned so much about your hopefully future profession, but you had made a family with the team. Especially under the wing of Tara Lewis, she had been there for a little while but you looked up to her work and she was more than happy to offer advice and a good wine night.
The team knew you had a second job on the side but weren’t exactly sure what it was, just that you worked from home. They respected your personal life enough to stay out of it, however that didn’t stop Rossi from offering you a little extra because “that's what uncles are supposed to do”. You would always wave him off and say you could handle yourself, because you could. 
You thoroughly enjoyed working. The money and gifts were obviously a big reward but there was always something so exciting about being on camera. Maybe it was how risque it was, being exposed for thousands to see. Or the fact that many were pleasuring themselves to the sight of you.
It was Friday night and you were getting your setup ready. You already had your outfit and glam on. Someone had sent you a set from your wishlist, lilac lace hugged your body in all the right places, accentuating all your assets and boosting your confidence. In your hair were the same color streaks you did with a tinting spray. You set the camera and laptop up in front of your bed. Silk sheets and plush pillows behind you where you could rest comfortably before your show started. 
Little did you know across town Spencer Reid was getting ready to tune in to said show. He was never one for tech, having Garcia still hand him paper files and would refuse to upgrade his phone. He had gotten a computer just so he could video chat with doctors quickly about new medicine for his mother. However he quickly found out there was so much more the internet had to offer.
_
He had stumbled across your show one lonely night. Spencer couldn’t see himself going out to find a one night stand so the pleasure of his hand it was. He was looking through videos when he saw the thumbnail with a girl wearing glasses similar to the ones you wear when you forget contacts. His curiosity got the best of him and if he was a cat he’d be one life down. He couldn’t believe the sight on the screen in his lap. 
There you were the bubbly intern, body trembling as waves of pleasure washed over you from the pink wand you held over your clit. He was delightfully flustered and the moans spilling from the computer’s speakers weren’t doing much to help.
He was entranced by you writhing in pleasure but was knocked back into reality after hearing you giggle. God he loved when you made that noise in the office, usually after fake flirting with Hotch or hearing about JJ’s boys. But this situation was totally different and if he was honest with himself he was very into it. 
You reached over to grab a large pink dildo. Taking it in your mouth before swiping it through your folds. It easily slipped in and you started rapidly pumping it into you chasing your orgasm. 
Spencer was too enthralled to even think about touching himself. He was using the gift which was his eidetic memory to the best of his ability to make this something he’d never forget. 
You came with a loud moan, hips lifting and grinding against the toy to chase the friction. Quickly you turned off the wand and took the toy out. You sat up and looked into the camera before sucking it off. Spencer's eyes widened as he let out a groan shifting on his bed. 
“Alright guys that was fun for tonight,” you said as you sat criss cross on the bed. “I didn’t think I’d be able to get to five.”
FIVE?? He thought in his head. He felt like he was gonna explode just watching those last few minutes. How was he supposed to last watching you make yourself cum five times. 
“Thank you so much for all the tips and support! My links are all in the description and I’ll see you angels next Friday! Muahh” you signed off blowing the camera a kiss. 
Spencer knew it was wrong of him to view a coworker in such an exposed light but he couldn’t help himself. So he spent the night viewing some of your old videos which brought him to what he swears to be the best orgasm of his life. Of course he sent gracious tips and made sure to buy little items off the wishlist, mentally noting to return every Friday night. Even if it meant hiding in the bathroom from Morgan in their shared hotel room on cases. That was two months ago. 
_
Just as you finished your session the phone rang signaling a case. Quickly you got in the shower and put on comfy business clothes since you usually stayed with Garcia doing extra research and taking notes. You quickly grabbed your bag and keys, making your way straight to the office. 
In the elevator you heard someone calling to keep it open. Spencer made his way in, buttoning his cardigan and adjusting his bag, quickly saying thank you. You pressed the button to the floor as you felt a pair of eyes on you. Looking over Spencer was eyeing you with a confused look on his face. You were about to question him when he spoke up first. 
“I thought you had streaks in your hair”
“I did… Earlier tonight but they washed out.” He looked even more confused, then his brain put two and two together. He just realized what he had said. For a genius this wasn’t one of his brightest moments. 
You looked at him amused as a deep blush spread from his neck to the tips of his ears. There was only one way someone would know about your quick hair change: by watching your show. The door to the elevator opened and you walked out giggling as he started sputtering apologies behind you. You quickly cut him off. 
“Spence, it's alright. If you want we can talk about this later because right now you have a bad guy to catch. But may I suggest making your name something less obvious, not that I don’t love ‘magiclover187’.” He stood there mouth gaping as you patted his shoulder and walked up to the conference room to meet the rest of the team. 
_
The case was one of the easier ones. Very minimal killing and the team was back by Tuesday morning, ready for a week of paperwork. Spencer had been dancing around you the whole time, he could barely keep eye contact with you and would rush to leave the room if you walked in. If he was this flushed around you with clothes on you could just imagine how much of a mess he would be when he watched you perform. Which brought an idea to your head. 
Friday rolled around and you walked over to his desk where he was nose deep in one of his Russian books. You put your hand in it to bring it down. Once he noticed it was you he was about to start with another ramble of apologies when you stopped him.
“Alright I’m tired of the awkwardness and I want my friend back,” you said with a soft smile. “Why don’t you come over tonight and we can have that talk. I’ll even order a pizza and we can watch Doctor Who.”
“Y/n are you sure? I-I mean it is um uh Friday.. And ya know you usually film,” he said as he played with his tie. 
You giggled at how nervous he was. Poor little genius didn’t know he was the only one with tricks up their sleeve. 
“It’s fine I promise. Just a night with my favorite customer,” you said winking at him. He choked and looked around to see if anyone was looking at his outburst.
“I’m kidding.. Sort of,” you trailed off. “But I mean it about you coming over. I’m going home now but I expect you there in an hour with drinks.”
With that you turned around and walked off, adding a little extra sway to your hips. Obviously that did the trick as you heard a small groan behind you. Spencer dropped his head back as he started wracking his brain to figure out how to live through the night without making a bigger fool of himself or cuming in his pants. 
_
You know maybe you were evil, you thought to yourself as you put on the finishing touches to your outfit for the night. Once you got home you sped into the shower to freshen up for him to come over and get your setup ready. You were wearing a cream colored strappy bodysuit. Over it was a large cardigan, almost resembling the maroon one he owned, strange. To top it off you were wearing your glasses and your legs were adorned with your favorite thigh high socks. 
The three knocks on the door instantly made a smirk appear on your face. This might just be one of your best schemes yet. Looking through the peephole you saw Spencer gnawing on his bottom lip holding a few bottles of soda. Taking a deep breath you opened the door greeting him with all the casualty in the world. 
“Hey! I’m glad you came, come in.”
He followed you in and tried to keep his eyes above your neck, trying to act like he wasn’t getting completely hard by just your outfit.  You sat down on your couch and patted it for him to sit next to you. He took the seat and gulped not really sure what you had planned. 
“Um how long for the pizza to get here?” 
“The pizza’s not coming Spence,” you said shaking your head. “But you are.”
You leaned forward to place your hand on his on the couch. “I want you to fuck me on camera Spencer,” you said with sweet confidence, fluttering your lashes. His eyes kept flashing between your cleavage showing through the cardigan and your lips before finally landing on your eyes. He didn’t see a single hint of humor in them, nothing transparent but lust. 
He pulled his hand from under yours to place in your hair, pulling you into a heated kiss. You pushed back on his chest a bit to try and get some air. 
“Save that magic for the show,” you said as you pulled him up to lead to your bedroom. 
The camera was set at a little bit of a lower angle. The audience would just be able to see you and at most Spencer’s chest. You had made sure it was fine and even turned it on as a test so he could see what he looked like. After you got everything out of the way you hit the button to go live and instantly people started flooding in. If the bulge in his pants told you anything, it was that he was excited to be on the other side of the screen this time. 
“Hello my angels!” you said into the camera, Spencer was taken back at what was going on. After months of lusting over the young intern he was finally seeing the show in person. 
“Today I have a special guest with me. My very good friend, the Doctor,” you took his hand to pull him into frame. “He’s very excited to be here,” you said, hand moving down to palm him through his pants. 
His hand reached out and wrapped around your throat, making you look up at him. Huh. This was a new Spencer you wouldn’t mind seeing more often.
“Let's not play games princess. Or else the only thing making you cum tonight are your pathetic little fingers. Am I clear?”
You shivered at the intensity of his voice instantly trying to nod the best you could within his grip. He let go and you went back to task at hand, undoing his pants and pulling them down along with his boxers. He was long and pink. Precum already spilling out of the pretty tip, you couldn’t wait to have him in your mouth, among other places. You wasted no time in licking a broad stripe along a vein under it. His hand went to grab a handful of your hair giving it a testing tug as a warning to stop teasing. 
Your hand went to grip what couldn’t fit in your mouth but you tried your best to take him all in. You could hear the pings of tips and comments being said. Spencer could too and leaned over slightly to read them. 
“Face fuck her,” he murmured. He pulled you off of his cock and looked down into your eyes, “Is that what you want princess? Hm.” His thumb went to clean up the spit dripping down your chin before rubbing your lips. “You want me to fuck your face?”, he said in a condescendingly sweet voice. 
“Yes Doctor please! Fuck my throat.” 
“Good girl.”
Both his hands made their place nested in your hair, guiding you to his cock. He wasted no time in being brutal. Tears were leaking down your cheeks as he kept on hitting the back of your throat. Spencer was enjoying himself to the fullest letting out curses and praises at how good your mouth felt. He knew he wasn’t going to last much longer and you could feel it too as he started to throb in your mouth. He then pulled you off, a trail of spit connected from your lips and his cock. 
“Such a dirty whore for me. Show everyone how messy I make you,” he took your head and made you turn to look in the camera. Comments pinged talking about how pretty you looked with mascara running and smudged lipstick. 
“Thank them and ask if you deserve to cum on my cock,” Who knew Spencer had this in him. But you were loving every second of it and put on your best pair of puppy dog eyes to beg the camera for Spencer to split you in half. And you had no shame in doing so. 
“Please let the Doctor fuck me. I’ve been such a good girl for you guys,” you pleaded into the camera. The audience was pleased with your begging as they said you deserved it for being so good. 
Spencer took his time in unbuttoning the cardigan you had on, teasingly rubbing your arms as he slipped it off. His hands then went to the bodice of it, groping your breasts and teasing your nipples through the fabric. 
“Ah shit doctor, please fuck me already.”
Who was he to deny you of such a thing when you asked so nicely. He pushed you back down on the silk sheets. Pulling you by your thighs to the end of the bed where he moved the thong of the bodysuit to the side and slid his cock up your folds. Lubricating it in your juices before slipping right in. You both gasped at the intrusion, his hands grabbing your hips with a force sure to leave bruises. He used the leverage to set a brutal pace, ramming his cock into you. 
Your ears were ringing from the pleasure but you could hear the constant pings of your tip box and comment section flooding. 
“Shit baby you’re so tight. Perfect little pussy squeezing me so good.” You babled off thank yous and whimpers from being so close to your climax.
 You felt Spencer stop for a second and reach over to grab something. Then you felt it. Your wand set to the highest setting placed on your clit as he started to thrust into you again. Sounds of your moans and skin slapping together filled the room along with the buzzing of the vibrator. You were sure there was going to be a noise complaint notice on your door in the morning. 
You were so close to having the bubble in your stomach burst and so was he. 
“I'm gonna cum Doctor,” you practically yelled. “Please cum inside me!”
“Cmon princess. Let me feel you let go.”
With that the knot broke and you swore you died and went to heaven. Your walls squeezing Spencer led him to his end a little after you. Thrusts faltering and groaning at the feeling of pleasure washing over him. He turned off the wand and put it to the side before slipping out of you. 
Looking into the camera you gasped at your appearance. Hair disheveled and face messy from crying in pleasure multiple times that night. Your mixed release leaking down your thigh and onto the sheets. 
There were non stop pings of people calling Spencer a lucky bastard and asking for him to come back next Friday. Spencer nodded his head over to your bathroom to get you guys something to clean up with and let you do your closing. 
“Thanks for the love tonight angels,” you said with a smile on your face, entirely blissed out. “As always the links are in the description and I’ll see you guys next Friday. Maybe I’ll talk to the Doctor about future appearances. Bye!” 
With that you fell back on your bed and closed your eyes. Your body jolted at a sudden coldness between your thighs. 
“Right sorry,” Spencer whispered.
“So where did that come from?” you looked at him with an eyebrow raised. 
“A magician never reveals his secrets,” he stated seriously. 
You giggled and took his hand, “Thanks for doing this with me.”
“Of course. Now why don’t you shower while I get us a pizza. For real this time.”
“Or we can shower together then call the pizza.”
He contemplated it before smiling at you, “You always have the best ideas.” 
“Don’t I know it.. Doctor.”
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It all kind of happens in slow motion.
One second, Emma hears the crack of the bat and the requisite roar of the crowd, and the next her eyes have widened to a size most scientists would likely advise against. Because, standing at home plate, that same home plate multiple baseball players are sprinting toward, is her kid. More or less waiting to be run over. That is, of course, until Killian Jones.
———
Word Count: 4.1K Rating: Flufffy fluff fluff of the fluffiest variety AN: Writing has been something of a legitimate challenge for me in the last few weeks, but earlier this week @ohmightydevviepuu sent a link to this tweet, tagged me, and said what I basically took as an unspoken prompt. Like, you’re going to send me video of a bat boy getting scooped up at home by a player in the middle of the game and then think I won’t write about it? Not possible. Even with the aforementioned writing challenges. Nothing stands a chance against my love of baseball. Here’s hoping the Yankees turn it around in the second half. Neither Aaron Judge or I deserve the season we’ve had so far.
———
Biologically speaking, Emma Swan is perfectly aware that the current positioning of her heart is more or less impossible. 
Stuck somewhere between the back of her throat and the pit of her stomach, it makes her all too aware of the now-empty chasm in her chest, stretching out toward her arms and threatening the structural integrity of her lungs, neither of which appear all that intent on working properly. Oxygen is a luxury not currently afforded to her capillaries. Instead, nerves mix with anxiety and the telltale flush of adrenaline that probably also makes her look relatively crazy because her pupils are definitely dilated and she does not know nearly enough about science to be making any of these claims. 
Whatever, really. 
It feels like that ooze from that movie. FernGully, Emma thinks. With the fairies. She thinks they were fairies. She’s not entirely certain they were fairies. 
And the ooze was definitely oil, obviously. There was a message involved in that movie. Not one that she appreciated when she was seven and Tim Curry’s animated-oil voice sort of freaked her out. But, like, she gets it now. The environment, and everything. With or without fairies. With Robin Williams, though. 
She’s positive about that, at least. 
Robin Williams was definitely in that movie. 
Less positive about the ability of her heart to actually split itself in half, as it seems wont to do at the moment. So, as to make it easier when it inevitably soars out of her mouth and falls onto the scuffed-up clubhouse floor beneath her feet. Naturally, this will happen simultaneously. For maximum effect. 
Much like the fireworks currently exploding over the left-field bleachers. 
She’s not sure if fireworks do explode, actually. That seems dangerous. Likely to lead to injuries and sounds that don’t resemble the  oohs and ahhs a ballpark generally inspires. Explode probably isn’t the right word. Maybe something more like…detonate. 
No, that’s worse. Way worse. She’s got to learn more words. Find a thesaurus or a dictionary or—a fireworks expert would be ideal, honestly.
Someone who could give her a detailed description of the inner-workings of a Yankee Stadium pyrotechnics display on a Tuesday in July, enough words that Emma’s mind would still for a few moments, allowing her to catch her breath and reestablish a consistent heart rate, and both of those problems could also likely be solved by sitting down, but the chair to her left looks a little wobbly, and her legs appear to have minds of their own because science is rather quickly becoming a lie and—
“Is he alright?” She spins. Nearly falls over. Her knees are also awfully wobbly, that’s why. 
Despite all of that, and the overall circumference of her pupils, the voice doesn’t retreat. Doesn’t even flinch. Shows absolutely no signs of imminent stumbling. And that’s probably because the voice is a man, one who is in possession of world-class instinctual reactions, and his hair is still damp from his post-game shower and it absolutely makes her something of an atrocious mother to acknowledge that last thing as quickly as she does. 
His shirt sleeves are noticeably sticking to his biceps, so that helps too. 
Opening her mouth, Emma is going to say words that are both vaguely intelligent and passably accurate, absolving this Major League Baseball player of any of the guilt he so obviously feels. Which is just patently stupid, really. None of this was his fault. None of it was anyone’s fault, really. 
Except maybe the idiot who left his bat at that particular angle across home plate, but Emma’s an adrenaline expert these days and walk-offs are understandably exciting. First walk-offs more so. 
She’s happy for Scarlet, really. 
They won the game. 
Everything is fine. Great, even. She nearly jumps twenty-six feet in the air at the next boom of fireworks. 
The pinch between the Major League Baseball player’s eyebrows gets—
Pinchier. 
The little roll of skin draws Emma’s attention, effectively robbing her of the ability to respond like an almost-sane person, but she’s also still trying to rationalize why she can remember the words to several FernGully songs while also being unable to recall what flavor PopTart she had for breakfast earlier this week and she figures watching her kid nearly get run over by professional athletes approximately forty-two minutes before gives her a fairly reasonable excuse. 
For opening and closing her mouth no less than eight consecutive times. 
Like a goddamn fish. There were no fish in FernGully. Least not so far as she remembers. 
It’s entirely possible she squeaks on attempt number five. 
The Major League Baseball player’s eyebrows do not move. It’s equal parts frustrating and incredible to behold. 
“I should probably thank you, right?” Emma asks, not quite regretting the words immediately, but it’s awfully close. That gets her some movement. Of the eyebrow variety. One eyebrow, specifically. Arching up, it somehow still manages to pull her attention directly toward eyes that should be the star of their own marketing campaign. Not quite Yankee blue, but distractingly blue, and it takes everything in her not to huff as dramatically as she wants to. Once the athletic trainer is done with Henry, Emma is going to make him examine her lungs. Rationality rules the day. 
Major League Baseball player shakes his head. It’s dumb to call him that. She knows his name. Knows at least some of his history. Is still staring obnoxiously at his freakishly attractive face. 
Freakishly is kind of mean, too. As far as descriptions go. 
“Unnecessary,” he says, an undercurrent of worry still clear in the letters. Ducking his head, he takes a cautious step forward, almost as if he’s wary of what Emma will do, and she supposes that’s fair. What with the impressive vertical she’s in possession of these days. “Anyone would do that.” “I’m not sure they could, actually.”
At some point in this otherwise shitty experience of a night, Emma is vaguely confident something will go the way she wants it to. Aside from winning. She’s glad they won. Seriously. 
“No?” “No,” she echoes, and it’s not like she can feel him. A few feet of space separates them, so whatever heat appears to be wafting off the Major League Baseball player in front of her, with his damp hair, and stupid, stupid, stupid eyes is as impossible as any of the various impossibilities currently taking place within her person. 
And yet. 
He sticks his hand out. 
It’s disarmingly earnest. 
“Killian Jones,” he says, confidence replacing the nerves, and Emma begins to see why there are so many stories. And Twitter threads. Regarding his face and the potential for that face to date a variety of other attractive faces across at least four of the five boroughs. Somehow Emma doesn’t think Killian Jones, New York Yankees third baseman, is schlepping out to Staten Island for a date. 
Nor does she believe that Killian Jones, New York Yankees third baseman, has ever once let the word schlep pass through his conscious mind. 
She takes his hand. 
It is—
Surprisingly warm. And...not quite soft, that’d be impossible with the job he performs almost nightly. But the calluses on the pads of his fingers aren’t as rough as Emma expects, which also suggests she’s managed to ponder the overall texture of Killian Jones’s fingers in the last twelve point six seconds, and that’s not entirely true. What is true is that Ruby thinks Killian Jones is real good-looking and has determined that the phrase quite a catch is the pinnacle of humor, so, sure, Emma has possibly considered the possibility of paths crossing and intersecting, and her hand looks minuscule wrapped up in his. So, that’s something to think about later. 
Their arms move. Bob up and down as society dictates they should, and he’s smiling at her, and she’s trying not to look like a serial killer, straining to hear the voices behind the door, and it does not work. 
“Why do you think people are so consistently fascinated by fireworks?” If he’s surprised by her absolutely inane question, he doesn’t show it. That’s points. For what, Emma hasn’t totally decided yet, but it’s something, and it’s probably good, and they’re going to play that clip on loop for weeks. Longer, probably. 
Every goddamn day if the Yankees make the postseason. 
When the Yankees make the postseason. 
Her dad wouldn’t appreciate the buffer. Leaves room for loss, and that is not the Nolan way. Not when there are championships to win, and this was supposed to be the best possible time. Smack dab in the middle of the season, with the All-Star break looming, Henry would get to suit up as batboy for one game that didn’t mean much and wouldn’t draw too strong of a spotlight, no murmurs about nepotism by internet trolls who couldn’t possibly define the word with any sort of accuracy, but also like to shout about canceling and culture with an almost alarming sense of self-righteousness, so, of course, the whole thing was now blowing up in their face. 
Much like the goddamn fireworks. 
It wasn’t Will Scarlet’s fault. 
Wasn’t Henry’s fault, either. 
His job was to get the bats out of the field of play. Doing it while the field of play was still active was a mistake any kid could have made. Just so happens that it’s Emma’s kid, and the grandkid of the Yankees’ hitting coach, and that means something to the New York media and the New York fans, and if Killian Jones, New York Yankees third baseman with an arm that can make cross-field throws with ease, wasn’t also so quick-thinking and sure-footed, scooping Henry up as he crossed home plate and avoiding the ensuing swarm of players at home plate, all intent on celebrating Will Scarlet’s first-ever career walk-off, Emma can only imagine what would have happened. 
Trampled. Stepped on. Broken bones. Concussions. 
They’re checking Henry for a concussion now. He absolutely does not have a concussion. He was laughing while he was carried off the field. Like he hit the walk-off. 
Front office is absolutely petrified she’s going to sue them. 
The thought hadn’t even once crossed Emma’s mind. Plus, she’s sort of busy. Holding Killian Jones’s hand. His stupid, warm hand. 
“Bright colors,” he says, responding to a question Emma’s nearly forgotten about. Jumping is more challenging when his fingers tighten ever so slightly. “Flash, boom. Taps into baser instincts, I think.” “You think people’s base instinct is to enjoy explosions.” “Phrasing that as a statement makes me think you don’t agree with me.” “You didn’t want me to thank you,” Emma points out.
“Well, no,” he says, and the precise way his eyes drop does something specific to all of her instincts. Leaves her flush with a heat that reminds her of Fourth of July sparklers rather than any sort of massive explosion, and that’s not bad, per se, although it’s admittedly a little surprising. As is the slight uptick of precisely one side of his mouth. It takes her a moment to realize he’s smirking at her. And another for her subconscious to admit that it’s working as intended. Her shoulders drop half an inch. While Emma pulls her hand back to her side. “Thanking me suggests I did anything to warrant the thanks.” “Big words.” “For a dumb athlete, you mean.” “That wasn’t a question, either.” “No,” Killian repeats, “it wasn’t.” “I’d really like to thank you. I—Dad told him when to come out of the dugout, so he definitely knew the rules, but I think he was super worried about you tripping over the bat.”
The smirk becomes a full-blown smile. Which is no less than forty-seven thousand times more powerful. Equivalent to staring directly into a solar eclipse or gazing upon the dark side of the moon, and Emma should at least do some research before coming up with these internal examples. Basic Google searches would provide her with the necessary information. 
“That’s more or less what he told me, yeah.” Emma’s nose creases. “Talked your ear off after your daring rescue, huh?” “Keep complimenting me like this, and my ego won’t know what to do with it.”
She hopes she’s not blushing as much as it feels like she is. The state of Killian’s eyebrows and the precise curl of his lips make that seem unlikely. “Your reflexes are unparalleled.” “Something about big bucks and why I get paid them.” “Oh,” Emma laughs, unable to stop herself, and she doesn’t remember deciding to stop pacing, only that her knees appreciate it once she has, “you think you’re real funny, don’t you?” “I think I’m moderately funny, not the hero you’re suggesting I am—” “Oh, I never used the word hero.” “—And you never actually told me your name.”
“Because you don’t know who I am.” It’s not a question, either. Neither one of them mention that. 
“I do,” Killian concedes, “Henry was also fairly quick to mention exactly who he was and where his mother was sitting.” Emma’s nose is going to freeze in this position. “But I gave you my name, which makes it only fair that we’re all square and whatnot.” “Whatnot, huh?” “Yup.” He pops his lips on the letter. Which is also unfair. In, like, the grand scheme of the world. The black ooze that is not actually oil when used in this particular metaphor recedes. Leaves Emma with a chest cavity that is partially full of butterfly wings and the growing sense of anticipation that isn’t quite as nerve-wracking as it should be. Like she’s about to step into the batter’s box with two outs and runners in scoring position. She’s totally going to hit against the shift. Fluttering her fingers at her side, Emma doesn’t lift her hand. It doesn’t matter. 
Killian’s eyes drop. To the movement. And her. And part of her shies away from that because part of her has spent a lifetime tucked into a shadow that didn’t belong to her and doesn’t belong to Henry, but now there’s some joke about Peter Pan to be made because they live in an internet-age and Killian Jones has a very good face. So. Viral video, enter stage right. Starring Henry Swan, Killian Jones, and the inevitably uneven pitter-patter of Emma’s traitorous heart. 
“Emma Swan.” “I think you should sit down.”
“Why is that, exactly?” “I’m worried about your legs.”
Whatever noise she makes can’t quite be classified as a scoff. It hurts her throat too much. And it’s not a laugh, either. Even as the butterflies threaten to rise up in mutiny of Emma’s more rational feelings, and she gets the distinct impression that Killian is reading her mind. Trying very hard, at least. 
“Sounds like a line.” “Might be a line,” he admits, which draws another wholly inhuman sound out of Emma’s barely-functioning lungs. 
“Did he kick you on the lift?” Killian hums. “You’d kick too if you were just hauled off your feet, so I understand the reaction. What I’m more worried about is the inevitable bruise on my foot from the bat landing there.” “Ah shit, really?” “I’ve had worse.” “But not in 4K video that people will play on loop for the rest of the news cycle. If not longer.” Narrowing his eyes, Killian doesn’t immediately respond. Mind reading requires a modicum of focus, Emma assumes. Instead, he rests a hand on her shoulder, directing her toward the chair and ignoring the soft crack her left knee as it bends. “That’s what you’re worried about.” “Stop sounding so confident.” “I can only sound how I am, Swan.” “Oh, I’m not sure we’ve reached nickname status yet,” she mumbles, pushing down the soft rush of metaphorical insects doing their beset to soar out of her barely-parted lips. “But, yeah, I—I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was totally terrified in the moment.”
“Understandable. Grown men barrelling down the third-base line at your kid are a lot to take in.” She snorts. It’s not cute. Not dignified. Killian smirks. “Should you be concerned that the Scarlet was making such solid headway behind you? Are you exceedingly slow?” “I am league average.” “How fast can you get out of the box to first?” “I’ve never timed it.” “Liar, liar.” “Please don’t make a crack about my pants,” Killian says, “I won’t be able to cope.”
“Oh God, you think you’re charming, too.” “I’ve had no complaints.” “To your face, at least.”
Throwing his head back, the laugh that erupts out of him is not of volcano proportions. Of which there was also one in FernGully if Emma’s memory is to be trusted.  An arm circles his middle, stretching muscle and ensuring that Emma notices just how corded that same muscle is, the slight bend of his wrist leaving her off-kilter. When he meets her gaze, she swears his eyes are brighter. “Yeah, yeah, that’s true,” Killian concedes, “no one has flat out told me I was lacking charm to my face.” “This thanking you thing is going great.” “And I continue to not need thanks. Why are you worried about the video getting out there? Filmed in 4K like you suggest, at least we’ll all look great. Sharp pixels and whatnot.” “What do you know about pixels?” “You basically heard the extent just now.”
She’s getting better at laughing. The ooze has almost all but disappeared, Emma twirling a strand of hair around fingers that are intent on moving, and it’s an old habit. One Killian’s gaze catches on. Immediately. Quickly. Seriously, Emma needs a thesaurus. “Baseball’s always been my dad,” she says. “And that’s—well, we’ve lived this game, me and my mom, weekend series and West Coast swings, waiting up for him to get home because the flight got delayed, but Henry’s just a kid, getting thrown into this world because of his last name and who his family is? That sucks. Nothing was supposed to happen tonight.” “Nothing did happen.” “Because of you.” “I’d like to believe Scarlet, ridiculously fast as he might be, would not run over a small child,” Killian says. “And, uh, for the record and all that, I got a bad jump off first because I didn’t know if they were going to catch it in left. No one wants to get caught on the base paths.” “Yeah, that’d be embarrassing.”
He must hear the hitch in her voice because the next thing Emma realizes, her fingers are twisted back up in Killian’s, and she’s warm and falling and flying, and it’s good and weird, and the door swings open. 
They both jump.
So, that’s something. 
Rushing out quickly enough that he nearly trips over his own feet, Henry’s head leads the way and finds Emma’s stomach, a tangle of limbs, and overly-excited words, all of which rival the now-finished fireworks display in volume. 
It takes Henry about five and a half run-on sentences to notice Killian standing there. 
His eyes widen. His mouth drops. Killian grins. Emma tries very hard not to die. It only sort of works. 
She blames the faulty body parts she’s in possession of. 
“Killian,” Henry exclaims, clamoring back to his feet and nearly falling again in the process. Hands that belong to both Emma and Killian dart out, steadying Henry while their eyes meet over the top of his head. Killian winks. He tries. It’s more like a blink than anything. “Hi, hi! You did so good tonight! And we won, and I got to go on the field and—and, it was so,” Henry heaves a deep breath, “we were so good.”
Collective pronouns do something to Emma’s entire state of being. 
Flips it on an axis she hadn’t been aware previously existed until it almost feels as if this was the path they’d been directing themselves toward from the start. Her eyes flit toward Killian. Who is already watching her. 
“We did,” he nods, “maybe next time, though, you wait one extra second to grab Scarlet’s bat, ok?” Seeing her own nose scrunch reflected back on her kid is not the worst thing that’s ever happened to Emma. The vibrating phone in her back pocket, might be. 
It’s one-hundred percent, Ruby. 
“That’s what grandpa said too,” Henry grumbles, digging a toe of the cleats Emma’s mother bought him last week into the ground, “but I wanted to make sure you didn’t fall.”
Definitely dying, then. A systematic shut down of all necessary internal organs. It’s not as bad as Emma would have expected. 
Neither one of Killian’s knees crack when he bends. That seems heavy-handed. 
“And I don’t want you to fall either,” he says, “so we agree, right here, right now, not to let the other one fall, huh?” Emma holds her breath. Ignores the pinch in her lungs and the clearly unstable nature of both her mind and her heart, digging her nails into her palms. To ensure she isn’t tempted to haul Henry back toward her. Or push that one strand of hair away from Killian’s forehead. 
Henry nods. “Deal.”
They hook their pinkies together. 
It’s adorable and as endearingly charming as everything else Killian Jones, New York Yankees third baseman, has done since he walked into that hallway. Less so when her dad emerges from the office, the athletic trainer on his heels to not-so-quietly inform Killian that he can’t just blow off post-game like that, and the second wink is as bad as the first. 
She does her very best to memorize the movement. 
And the joy on Henry’s face the next morning when a box arrives on their doorstep, a genuine, game-worn Killian Jones jersey inside. She doesn’t notice the note at first, tucked between the cardboard and the tissue paper someone must have bought for him. He can’t have bought that tissue paper himself. He just—it’s unfathomable. 
Emma knows he bought the tissue paper himself. 
As clearly as she knows that those numbers in that particular order will lead to Killian Jones answering his phone and that her voice likely won’t shake when she replies to the question written in surprisingly loopy script. Which is why, Emma will argue, she does reply. In the affirmative. To several questions over the course of the remaining season, and they don’t star in any more viral videos, but there are a few pictures once they clinch the division. 
Drops of champagne cling to the tips of Emma’s eyelashes and the ends of Killian’s hair, hands on her waist that blaze a quick path up her back and around her middle, and she has to tilt her head up to get the right angles. Of lips. While they kiss in the middle of the clubhouse, the hat someone forced onto Emma’s head falling and it’s impossible to hear over the sound of celebratory fireworks, but she can somehow still hear Henry’s laugh ringing out from the general area near Scarlet’s locker, and his jersey collection is growing at an impressive rate. 
No one can withstand the overall cuteness of him. 
Emma included. Emma, especially. 
Sometimes she worries she’s so happy she’ll burst, unable to contain the sort of emotion her body is still acclimating itself to. But then she realizes just how dumb that is and happiness cannot possibly be quantified, and her head is buzzing enough from champagne that she nearly misses Killian when he says, “people love the bright spots, Swan.” It’s not the most romantic thing he’s told her. Doesn’t crack the top five, quite frankly. She swoons all the same. With her kid laughing and her team winning and that’s about all the sentiment she’s willing to acknowledge before her tongue is in Killian’s mouth. He groans. She grins. 
And he’d been right about the video. It wasn’t the embarrassment Emma worried it could be. Was mostly relegated to the corners of the internet set aside for formerly popular content as soon as the season ended, spoken about only in fond recollection as the other seasons went on and the wins kept coming and all three of them stand on a parade float with the World Series trophy a few dozen feet away, several Novembers after that first game. 
It’s a Thursday afternoon, then. 
And yet Emma never entirely forgets. What the video meant and what it did and she’s not remotely surprised when it finds its way back to the forefront of the sports zeitgeist on a Wednesday in July. Most mentions come with similar taglines and messages. Something about feeling our age and wanna feel old because that bot boy, David Nolan’s grandson, Killian Jones’s stepson, he’s getting drafted now. 
Got drafted, technically. 
Third round, video of the soon-to-be third baseman for the San Diego Padres makes the internet circuits and garners plenty of interest. It’s not the most exciting video, though. Henry just hugs his family. Who hug tightly back. 
What is more exciting is the box that arrives on Emma and Killian’s doorstep. With a note that eventually earns a frame next to the last one and a wholly official, game-worn jersey that has a noticeable streak of dirt across the left sleeve. From sliding head-first into home plate.  
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saturnsummer · 3 years
Text
i don't mind forever.
AU: When Sol is handed a case, she doesn't realise how big the case gets. Luckily for her, her best friend is here. (AU of lawyers at Hankuk Law Firm.)
notes: all credits go to @thenerdywriter !! she gave me this prompt just days after i joined tumblr, and i’ve been working on and off on it ever since. my first au series, so please go easy on me! i know i’m practically killing myself for doing two series at once, but i’ll deal with it later. as always, big love to everyone! any grammar mistakes and all will be taken fully responsible by me!
ao3 link
words: 4035 words
one.
Sol scrunches her hair in frustration. She twists her long, wavy light brown hair in a bun, fixing it with a jab of her white, long chopstick hairpin. She adjusts her bangs for good measure and resumes with her report. She reaches over to her coffee mug, only to find it empty. Great, it’s the third coffee she had today, and it wasn’t even lunch. Hearing her colleagues nagging on drinking too much coffee in her head, she stands from her desk and pushes the glass door of her office to the staff pantry. Her heels click against the marble floors as she strides across, filling her cup with iced water before retreating back.
It would have been a normal day at the Hankuk Law firm, but it wasn’t when she had such a pressing case.
It's been weeks. A client of hers has pressed charges against Lee Man Ho, claiming that he scammed her life savings. Lee Manho was a convict that was charged for raping multiple women and on several occasions, sexual harassment. He had been on good behaviour after his release for a couple of years, with no complaints and no news. Only now did his name resurface. He was snarky in his speech, manipulative and quick with his tongue, but most of all had a sinister smile that sent shivers.
Sol, being Sol, couldn’t say no to the poor woman. How could she? She experienced her fair share of poverty from growing up in a single-parent family that made enough to get by. She sympathised with her feelings, knowing just how stressed this poor mother must be when she can no longer afford to pay rent for her home, even less so the necessities for her toddler kids. Because, too many times, Sol was found broke and skipping meals so she could have her younger sister, Byeol, be fed instead.
With the help of the local police, she found more victims to be scammed, all similar in their scenario. Manho would call under the alias of a financial aid consultant, sometimes an insurance agent or bank teller. Then, he would extract their bank numbers from them, effectively draining their money away. By the time they victims tried to call back, the number would be out of order, or picked up by another voice, evident that he used another number to cover up his.
None of his victims had anything in common. Some were rich, some were poor. Some were female, some were male. And Manho had long disappeared in the wind the moment he got out of jail. He was said to be sighted once and when the police placed eyes on him, they lost him that same day.
His digital footprint was an utter headache as well. The police had other things to matter, and figuring out his digital footprint was the least of their concerns when they had important murders and urgent matters to solve.
But two could play this game.
Seungjae was a good friend of Sol’s. They were close acquaintances in school and kept in close contact. He, unlike Sol, was a whiz with computer codes and had his fair share of hacking experience. She remembers how he would hack into the system during school events and broadcast short music videos on the school televisions during breaks. Despite their age gap, he was always courteous, nice and kind hearted in helping others.
Seungjae eventually found a job with the police force, using his skills to legally hack criminal networks and dark nets. He was essentially part of a task force that identified suspicious activities like mass radicalisation, fake news and essentially tracking down internet hackers. It was a no-brainer that Sol would approach him, even though she knew that he could only legally hack under his work orders, not for personal favours.
Well it’s best she at least try.
She called Seungjae, who was fortunately free, and agreed to meet at a cafe. The sun was out, warming them from the autumn breeze that chilled them. Sol grabbed her coat and placed a post-it on her door, informing her colleagues of her business. Sol, while dressed in a warm coat, was undoubtedly freezing from the breeze. If only she could go back to law school, where she wore jeans and sweatshirts all day. Instead, she had a light blue long sleeved blouse, a knee length pencil skirt and a midnight blue blazer, and her only coat she had weakly shielding her from the cold.
“Sol A, what gives me the feeling that you aren’t calling for the purpose of catching up, but for a favour?” Seungjae asks as soon as his ice coffee arrives. Sol is amused at his habit, that he still calls her Sol A to differentiate her from Sol B, her colleague just working next door to her. But in response, she gives a small frown.
“Oppa, please? You have to help me with this. This case is driving me nuts!” She says in frustration as she stirs her ice tea. “Look, he’s off the grid, like properly off. I can’t even track his number or his email accounts. When the police placed plainclothes on him, he was like a ninja and they lost him within the first hour.”
Seungjae’s frown deepens. He knows of people who are good on the internet, but for an ex-convict to be running this alone? Furthermore, a convict who had no criminal record of scamming, conning and IT based crimes? There was definitely more to this.
“Sol A, do you think that he’s working alone?” Seungjae asks, stopping Sol in her speech. She tilts her head, the way she does normally when she puts the puzzle pieces in order. From her bag, she takes out a notebook and scribbles down the facts, then pushes it to the centre of the table.
“Okay, so we know that Lee Manho was convicted of rape and sexual harassment long time ago. Now, he’s running scams, and has no known background of coding or conning people, yet somehow the money appears in his bank account and it disappears the next moment.” Sol states as she circles her notes with a pencil and Seungjae nods.
“I think… I think you’re right, oppa. He’s definitely not working alone. And he could just be the middleman bringing the cash from one place to another.” Sol breaths out, realising how big the case has gotten. She’s not just going after Lee Manho, but she’s going after an entire team.
“You said that you can’t track his whereabouts, people he communicates with and where the money is going to?” SeungJae asks. Sol nods.
“Looks like someone is covering up the transfers and his tracks.” Seungjae concludes. Seungjae furrows his eyebrows. Sol recognises his thinking face and tries to plea once more.
“Please, oppa? You helped me check out and verify Yeseul’s boyfriend, which saved her life! Please, oppa…” Sol pleads with him. Seungjae knew how much Sol was going to dedicate to this, and besides, he was legally going to hack. He was fighting for those who couldn’t fight. What difference would it make? It felt wrong to ignore such a desperate plea.
“Fine. But you have to let me use a laptop that isn’t mine. I can’t have my superiors know I’m hacking into a case that wasn’t submitted to me again. God, Yeseul’s ex-boyfriend case got me a bloody earful from the captain.” He finally agrees, getting up from his seat and grabbing his coat. Sol lets out a relieved sigh and picks her coat too.
“Thank you, thank you!”
“Save it for later, when I’m done hacking. Let’s head back to your office for now.” He says and walks to the door. At that moment, Sol’s phone rings, and she picks up, knowing who will call at this time of the day. If it’s lunch, it has to either be Yeseul or Joon Hwi.
“Are you joining us for lunch, sunbae?” Sol takes a moment to close her eyes in frustration. This man is going to drive her insane.
“Yeah. Are you all ordering?”
“That’s right. Extra pickles?”
“Always. Add one more jjampong and kkampungi, too.” The receiving end goes silent.
“Who’s joining?” Sol gives a knowing smile as she unlocks her car.
“An old friend of ours.”
-----
“Wah, it’s been a long time since Seungjae-hyung could eat with us!” BokGi says, as he passes out the chopsticks and Yebeom unpacks the meals. Seungjae only gives a small smile while helping out with the food.
Despite the cold weather, the odd group of friends found pleasure in eating outdoors as opposed to their office pantry. It was too noisy some days, too quiet on some, and knowing how chaotic the group can get during lunch, it only made sense to have their meals downstairs at some benches. Besides, they could use a break from being stuck in their offices all day and look at trees changing their colours to shades of red, oranges and brown.
“Thank your noona here, for convincing me to come.” He says as he nods his head over to Sol, who is busy unpacking her pickles and noodles. Joon Hwi gives a smile as he stares at the delight on her face when she sees those yellow pickles on a plastic saucer.
“Hyung, what are you here for?” Joon Hwi asks, as he unpacks his noodles.
“This lady here has enlisted my help once again for a case she is working on. But it has to be off the books. Thus, my presence here instead of my cubicle back at my headquarters.” Sol chokes and she quickly takes a sip of her tea.
“Oppa, why do you make me sound so law breaking…” Sol grumbles. Yeseul, sitting next to her only gives a small smile and squeezes her hand.
“Seungjae-oppa did help me bring Yeongchang to jail. So I would consider his work, whether under his boss orders or not, to be lawful.” Yeseul quips quietly. The table grows silent for a moment, knowing how this topic took a mental toll out of them, but Yeseul was hit the hardest.
When Yeseul first started dating Yeongchang, everyone didn’t mind it. Only when Sol witnessed how Yeseul would be frightened to pick up his call and spotting bruises on her arms did she get Seungjae to dig into his personal life. Lo and behold, not only was he abusive, he was seeing two other women and they were treated badly, if not, worse.
Yeseul’s heart broke, this being her first love and the man she envisioned marrying. But with her friends' support, she took it upon herself to press charges on him, for the women he tortured and for herself. Representing herself and the women that he had failed to protect and taken advantage of, it wasn’t easy for her, having been so blind in love and still harbouring feelings.
The group stood by and silently supported. They accompanied her trials, no matter how busy they were. Sol remembers Jiho running from one courtroom to another on one occasion when he had to immediately attend a court hearing for a client he was defending. Sol had Yeseul stay over at her apartment during the entire situation, while Yeseul searched for an apartment nearby after moving out of his house. Even Sol B, who was usually cold, bought her meals and stayed to eat when the girls spent late nights in silence and drinking.
Finally, the judge ruled that Yeongchang was to be charged in jail. For the sexual, mental and physical abuse of these women, including Yeseul. It has been months since then and time can only tell how much she has healed. The rest can only give their silent support and be there for her.
“I didn’t mean to make the mood bad. Come, let’s eat. Also, what is the case about, unnie?” Yeseul quickly breaks into a smile, an attempt to let everyone know she’s okay. Sol gives a brief description of her case to everyone while she slurps her noodles and pickles.
“This is going to be difficult. If you guys are right, you might be dealing with something bigger than just Lee Manho.” Sol B states and Sol gives a nodded reply.
“Please don’t tell Superior Kim or Superior Yang about this. I really need to break this case and Seungjae-oppa is my only way to.” Sol informs her group. They give half hearted murmurs, not wanting to be meddled into Sol’s affairs. Well, all but one.
“Yah, why didn’t you come find me? I have my own contacts in the police as well.” Joon Hwi asks, a slight frown on his face. From anyone else looking, it would have been easy to miss. But for Sol, she knew that he was upset, interpreting his complaints as “Why didn’t you come and tell me about this first?”
“Because, Mr. Second Round Judicial Exam Pass, you have been too busy! Do I really need to remind you to eat every damm moment? You drive me crazy some days!” Sol argues. They launch into a light hearted argument, as the rest of the lunch group watches with equal fervour as they eat their meals.
“Guys, stop arguing, my ears hurt.” Jiho said, his tone in slight annoyance as he dove straight into the kkampungi and tangsuyuk. Sol finally gave up fighting, earning a teasing smirk from Joon Hwi. They continued their noisy meal, chatting and catching up with Seungjae. Seungjae gives them some updates of his pregnant wife and some interesting cases.
After their meal, they separated their trash neatly. The sun now hides away in the clouds, leaving little warmth against the chilly breeze of autumn. Sol brushes her coat and rubs her hands and arms. If only she could afford a better one than this old coat she’s been using since her first year in university.
Joon Hwi notices her trying to warm up against the cold and takes his coat from the chair, layering it on her. He honestly didn’t feel cold, but he knows he has always been the stronger one to resist against the cold. For Sol, it must be freezing.
“Take mine.” He simply says, taking the packs of plastic from Sol. If Sol had a hint of blush, he pretended to not notice.
“Oh, thanks.” She said as she took wipes from her bag and wiped down the mess on the benches and tables. “But I don’t need it. We’re heading back to the office anyway.” She shrugs his coat off and drapes it over her arm, returning it to him. He pushes it to her, and leans in closer to her.
“Help me carry it, so I don’t have to, sunbae.” He teases with a smirk, sending Sol in a fit of frustrated squeaks, chasing him as best as she can in her heels. Sol knows Joon Hwi gets a thing out of his teasing, and sends him annoyed glares as she continues to clear the tables. Jiho manages to sigh and Sol B rolls her eyes as she dumps the trash in the bins.
The group grabs their bags as they head back into the office, where Sol checks Seungjae in as a visitor at the reception. The receptionist hands him a blue lanyard with a visitor pass as Sol leads him to the elevators. Jiho and Bokgi are off to meet clients, and Sol B is headed to court for a hearing. Yeseul stops at another floor to her office with Yebeom, who needs to pick up some reports from a colleague.
Joon Hwi follows Sol to her office with Seungjae, despite his office being upstairs. Sol grabs her personal laptop from her bag, which is separate from her desktop computer and passes it to Seungjae, who takes a seat opposite her and starts programming the computer to begin hacking.
“What, did you just let him use your personal laptop?” Joon Hwi asks in concern as he takes a seat on a spare chair.
“Let him do it. Don’t you have your reports to do?” Sol asks as she turns to her own reports before typing in her findings for the new Lee Manho case. Joon Hwi doesn’t reply, and Sol sends an annoyed glance. He’s not going to leave unless he knows all the information of this case.
“Okay, I got it.” Seungjae says after a series of clicks and turns the screen to show Sol what he has found. Sol leans into a chart of bank transfers.
"From what I can tell, it seems like the money enters his bank account and is transferred to an offshore account. I can't trace where the money goes from there anymore." Seungjae explains as he uses the cursor to show them. "I can't tell who owns the account either. If I could take a guess, it's probably the mastermind of this."
"Wait, look. Lee Manho is getting paid a constant amount every single time before a large sum comes in and leaves." Joon Hwi points. Sol grabs her printed papers as she matches the amounts that her clients have given here. They match exactly to the large sums, but have no relation to the constant amount that he gets every scam.
"He's getting paid to scam? Tch, God, I hate this crook." Sol says through gritted teeth. Joon Hwi sighs and observes the anger rising in Sol. He places a hand on top of her clenched fist for comfort and her fist stops clenching as she sighs in response.
"Sol A, I can't track his location with your laptop. It's not exactly ideal, since it can be tracked back." Seungjae says, eyes darting while continuously typing. Joon Hwi could sense the disappointment in Sol's face, but it can't be helped. It was too dangerous from her location and IP address.
"Oppa, thank you for helping. I owe you one." Sol says as Seungjae scrubs her laptop clean from hacking traces. Seungjae returns her laptop and stands up. "You should go back, oppa. You've been gone too long."
"I'll keep you updated." He says as Sol guides him out of the office. Once she shuts the door, she pulls the hairpin from her hair and crunches her hair in frustration. She has the information on where the money is going, but it's no use when she can't find out where he is. Joon Hwi takes a seat opposite her.
"Don't stress." He says softly, and Sol bites her lip in frustration.
"Don't stress? How can I not? The police aren't giving me any information on him, delaying his location tracking! I can't even find him! How am I supposed to get evidence to charge him, if he can't even appear to show up to court?" Sol angrily spills, her hands flailing. Joon Hwi sighs but grabs a hold of her wrist.
"Don't get swayed by your emotions." Joon Hwi firmly says, sparingly into Sol's anger-filled eyes. She pulls her wrist back, taking a deep breath before gathering her hair up again.
"Fine." She grumbles. "Get out of my office, Prosecutor Han. Don't you have work?" This earns a soft smile from Joon Hwi. As he heads to the door, he turns back before he leaves.
"Don't... Don't do anything stupid or impulsive, you hear me?"
Sol clicks her tongue and gives a half-hearted nod. She turns back to her report and updates her findings and tries to diffuse the thought of asking Seungjae to hack with her laptop to find Man Ho's location.
For Kang Sol A, such thoughts don't leave easily.
-----
"You sure?" Seungjae asks, seated in Sol's car. Sol takes a deep breath in and nods.
It was a few days after Seungjae visited the office. Sol called the police as much as she could, but they always left her on the line or just said "we're working on it." Thus, Sol told Seungjae to meet her at a park, before driving to a random alley and passing him her laptop.
"Yeah, I'll take my chances." She replied. Seungjae sighs and begins typing away.
"You know you're putting yourself at risk?" He asks, eyes never leaving the screen.
"I'll put myself at risk for the justice of my clients." She says firmly. A few minutes pass as Sol stares out of the car and watches the bright moon and the clouds floating by in misty swirls.
"Got it." Sol turns her attention to Seungjae. On the screen is a map and a blinking red dot of Manho’s location. Sol reads the map and puts her car back in drive before turning out of the alley.
"Woah, do you know where you are going?" Seungjae asks, grabbing onto the overhead handle for support and his hand securing the laptop.
"Seungjae-oppa, don't tell anyone about this, okay? Especially not Joon Hwi." Sol ignores his question as she speeds up the car, turning into a drop-off point of a train station.
"Sol A, you're-"
"Sorry, oppa. But I need to find him. I can't sit and wait for the police anymore. I promise you, I'll be safe." Sol says. Seungjae couldn't say no. He knows how stubborn Sol is, how when she decides on something, she will commit to it wholeheartedly.
"If he's armed, you could get yourself in danger." Seungjae exasperatedly sighs. It was too big a risk to see the junior he treats as a little sister put herself at risk.
"I'll be fine. Look, you're on my speed dial. You know that I can handle myself. There's a reason why I took years of self-defence classes." Sol tells him. Seungjae nods his head unwillingly.
"You better call me after you're done." He says as he opens the door and gets out of the car. "Please, please stay safe." Sol nods and gives a small smile.
"Thank you, oppa." Sol drives away immediately, leaving Seungjae to pinch his nose bridge in frustration and concern. Silently, as he boards the train, he prays for Sol's safety.
-----
Sol knows the area well. As she parks her car at a carpark, she checks to make sure Manho is still at the bar. The blinking dot stays stagnant at the bar, not moving ever since she dropped Seungjae off. Getting out, she tightens her coat around her and thanks herself for the long trousers she's wearing. At least she isn't wearing a skirt, if she needs to beat someone up.
Entering the bar, she naturally takes a slow walk around. But hidden by the corner of the bar tables sit a lone man, with a cap, dressed in black button up and holding a glass of golden whiskey. She knew that was her target.
Taking a seat next to him, she orders a glass of soda water from the bartender. Man Ho chuckles next to her as he sets his glass down. Turning his head, he faces Sol with sly eyes, lips curled at the corner.
"Prosecutor Kang, you're quick." She hears him say and a chill goes down her spine. She lets her eyes meet the cold stare of Manho.
"Oh, you think I don't know you? You're the one after me more than the police are for the past weeks." Man Ho sinisterly says, a sick grin on his face. Sol grits her teeth and takes a deep breath to soothe her anger.
"Why are you doing this? You think it's fun?Watching my clients suffer?" Sol says through her gritted teeth. He only scoffs.
"My, my. Don't want you getting agitated now, don't we? We just started." He says, sipping from his glass again.
"Answer my question." She says with force. Man Ho sips on his glass, swirling the golden brown liquid against the large square cubes of ice as he exhales.
As the words fall from his mouth, Sol grows as cold as the glass in her hand. Her hands slightly shake as she hitches her breath. When her shaky eyes turn to Manho’s, his eyes are sly with a mocking grin. No, he can’t know.
"You’re just as feisty as your sister, aren’t you?”
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marrys-dream-world · 3 years
Text
if we’re bound to be something, why not together? (chapter 11)
Read on AO3
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Notes:  Double update to cheer up a bit! This chapter turned out much longer than I thought it would be, almost double the size of other chapters. No content warning, just fluff! The song "Blueming" by IU, I think this fits this chapter a lot so if you want a song to listen while you read, it's that! Day 11: Voice Mail/Phone calls. @ladynoirjuly
After their last patrol, Ladybug sent Chat Noir a link through their communicators.
[Download this!!] She sent along with it, eagerly waiting for him. 
[As my lady commands : D] He sent back almost immediately. 
That talk had been a bit of an eye-opener to Marinette. She was getting to know Chat Noir more and more each day and she treasured every bit of information she got, jealousy holding it close to chest, hesitating to write it even in her diary. He was a quiet student during class, he had a friend whose name was definitely not Sallie (ugh), his father was distant, his mother and mother-figure were out of reach. He was lonely. All this information was worrying, just not as much as what she learned that night. At that moment, with him shaking in her arms, she made a decision.
Being there for him just as Ladybug wasn't going to cut it anymore. 
This idea wasn't anything new, she had been playing with it in her mind for a while now. So when she sent him a chat room code through her communicator with other instructions and detransformed, she was fairly confident it would work. Picking up her phone, she smiles as she saw that there was already a message.
CN
My lady!! <3 <3 <3
LB
down, Chaton. :)
CN
I'm just mdlaomqnahsbsk
Is it okay, though? Talking like this?
LB
yeah, i've been testing this app with RR and it's fine, there's no way we'll leak our numbers or anything like that to each other. don't worry ;)
CN
This app is to warn each other about attacks and schedule meetings? Are you going to add RR to the chat?
LB
nah, i'll just make one for the 3 of us. this is one for us to talk and stuff, doesn't need to be about job things.  
The "CN is typing…" kept it's place on the screen for enough time for her to start getting worried. 
CN
You don't need to force yourself for my sake, bug. I don't want to bother you. 
Marinette thought about making a joke. The situation, however, didn't seem right for it. 
LB
you never bother me.
His response came almost immediately.
CN
You never texted me before.
LB
guess i'll have to learn what's the maximum amount of cat memes a person can humanely send per day
CN
Is that a challenge, my lady?
LB
;) ;) ;)
just remember to not blow up my phone, we have class
CN
I'll use my powers for good, don't worry : D
Marinette smiled and put down her phone, fixing up her bag for the next day on the chance (certainty) that she would wake up late the next day. When she picked the phone up again, there was a single text:
LB
Thank you, bug. Good night. 
He was absolutely unstoppable after that. Next morning, as she was brushing her teeth, her cell phone pinged with the telling sound from the app and she smiled as she opened the app on her phone. 
CN
Look, look, we can change each other's names.
LB
good to know
You changed "CN" 's name to "Chat-terbox"
Chat-terbox
You know me so well. Soulmates.
Chat-terbox changed your name to "lady of my heart"
lady of my heart
yeah, i should have seen that coming, that's on me. 
oh yeah, gm
Chat-terbox
Good morning <3 <3 <3
Are you in class already?
Marinette froze in place, eyes snapping to the clock. There was only ten minutes before the class started. She bolted, barely noticing if she had on the right shoes or if her jacket matched her pants. So much for being an aspiring designer. Marinette blurred past the kitchen, taking a croissant and a banana and cramming them into her mouth as she ran. She made it to the classroom in the middle of the roll call, not even stopping by the lockers.
“Thanks for joining us, Marinette.” Ms. Bustier said dryly. “Please take a seat.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” She answered, out of breath. Sitting down, she took out her tablet and noticed another message making her phone screen glow. 
Chat-terbox
Is everything okay?
lady of my heart
i made it late in class but the teacher let me in hehehe
i think she's used to it *forehead sweatdrop emoji*
Chat-terbox
Hahaha a friend of mine just did the same thing, you two are twins 
lady of my heart
let me guess… Sallie *eyeroll emoji*
Chat-terbox
I mean, yeah, but why the eyeroll???
lady of my heart
you just talk too much about her, don't you think
Chat-terbox
You sound just like Plagg.
lady of my heart
maybe bc we're right
Chat-terbox
Why does that bother you? Jealous? *eyes emoji*
lady of my heart
as if *kicks u*
Chat-terbox
You kick your partner? You kick his body like the football? Oh! Oh! Jail for my lady! Jail for my lady for One Thousand Years!
lady of my heart
since my fate is already decided *kicks u again*
Chat-terbox
Nooooooooo
A giggle escaped her mouth.
"Marinette?" Ms. Bustier raised an eyebrow. "Something you want to share with the class?"
"N-no, ma'am." She answered, face heating up. Marinette quietly put her phone away, ignoring Alya's prying eyes. 
She only opened the app again during the break between classes, moving away from a curious Alya to hang by Kim and Alíx. 
Chat-terbox
I'll assume you're actually paying attention to class, which is great. You probably need it to make up all those crazy plans ;)
SM beaten by ninth grade physics 
Hey, boo, did you see this one SM identity theory video making rounds on the internet?
Marinette frowned.
lady of my heart
there's nothing new on the ladyblog
Chat-terbox
Oh, it's not on the Ladyblog, here 
She opened the video as quickly as she could before Ms. Bustier came back, only from the sound to make Kim and Alíx burst out into laughter.
lady of my heart
i opened it in my class I hate u so muuuuuch ughhhhhh
Chat-terbox 
C'mon, boo, it was funny
lady of my heart
>: (
Chat-terbox
: 3
This time, she willingly put her phone away. 
On the next break, she tried to ignore the pinging from her phone. However, curiosity killed the cat(‘s lady).
Chat-terbox
Please don't be mad, my lady, I have written you a lengthy apology to make up for sins
File attachment: apology letter for my beloved.doc
lady of my heart
if it's another rickroll i swear to god i'll END you
Chat-terbox
You can see it's not a video, it's safe to open
Scout's honor
lady of my heart
u were never a scout
Chat-terbox
I could be!!
Please read <3
Sighing deeply, she clicked on the document. He would never shut up if she didn't. It read as:
l would like to offer my sincerest According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible…
She clicked back
Chat-terbox
Did you like it? :3
lady of my heart
blocked
Chat-terbox
Boo, noooooooo
After that, Marinette didn’t open the app again no matter how much her phone pinged. She wasn’t mad, not really, just a bit annoyed. Before lunch ended, she would read and answer. But now, she was stuck watching Alya and Nino play Super Penguino and make moon eyes at each other. Adrien wasn’t allowed to join them, as much as he begged his father, and she was feeling pretty bummed about that. She poked around her chicken pasta when she heard her phone playing a familiar song.
kore nani kore nani korenanikorenanikorenanikorenani-
Chat Noir!
"Is everything okay?" Marinette asked as soon as she picked up the phone. Alya and Nino, noticing her worried tone, paused their game to look at her. 
"You picked up!" Chat Noir said, cheery. "I thought you blocked me."
She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Is there actually something wrong? I'll hang up "
"No, wait!" He yelped. "There's nothing wrong, I just wanted to talk. Are you busy?"
Marinette looked over at Nino and Alya, who were still watching her expectantly. She smiles reassuringly and waved them away, furtively signaling to Alya that it was Chat Noir on the phone. Her friend nodded and bumped her shoulder on Nino's. 
"C'mon, babe, let Marinette talk to her 'friend' by herself." Alya said, leering. 
"Why did you say it like that?" Nino asked, confused. Then, his eyes lit up. "Is it Adrien? Tell him I said hi!"
"No!" Marinette shouted, gaining weird stares from the other patrons.
"No, you aren't busy?" Chat Noir asked on the phone.
"No, it's not Adrien, or no, you won't tell him I said hi?" Nino asked. 
"It's another friend." She said hurriedly before focusing on the phone. "I can talk now, not that busy."
"If you're with your friends, it's okay." He said, rather meekly for her chaton.
"I'm just third-wheeling." Marinette said as Alya and Nino began another round of Super Penguins. "Why did you call? Aren't you having lunch now?"
Chat Noir chuckled humorlessly. "Yeah, I'm having lunch at home and I'm all alone, so I thought I could give you a call. Is that too much?"
"No, it's fine." She reassured. "Why are you alone? What about your siblings?"
"What siblings?" He asked, genuinely confused. 
"Uh… the siblings I assumed you had for some reason." She said awkwardly, noticing how out there she sounded the more she spoke. 
"Really? You thought I had siblings? Why?"
"Because you're just like an annoying little brother." She said teasingly, a complete lie.
Chat Noir struck her as a mischievous, but supportive older brother. The kind that sneaked you treats after midnight and comforted you after failing a math test. Not like she could tell him that, though. If he was a little brother, it would be to a stressed older sister that he admired a lot and that found him reliable in return. She dreamed about meeting them sometimes and now it seemed that they would truly stay dreams forever. 
"I would like an older brother or sister." He sighed longingly. "The closest I have is my cousin, but he lives in another country."
"Oh, sorry."
"No, it's better this way, we would kill each other if we lived together. Everyday I would have to check for poison in my breakfast."
"A true sibling dynamic."
"Yep."
"Hey, why aren't you having lunch with your friends then?" With Sallie, she wanted to tease, but held back for fear of sounding, as Tikki said, bitter. 
"My father would rather I have lunch at home." He said vaguely. "My friends did invite me to go with them to a café, but my father didn't like the idea. He only likes one of them, the rest he says are bad influences."
"Let me guess, the one he likes is Sallie?"
"I can hear you rolling your eyes, but yes."
"Well, if you ever get lonely at lunch, you can call me." Marinette said honestly. "I don't mind it."
"Thank you." Chat Noir said softly.
They spent the rest of lunch talking on the phone, even sending pictures of their food to each other (Chat's limp salad made her take a bunch of mental notes to take him some pastries next patrol). On the way to school, as she walked to the classroom, they kept talking. She could hear Chat getting on a vehicle (a bus?) and when he got to school, she was disappointed he had to hang up. After Marinette clicked the end call button, the first thing she noticed when she looked up was Alya's smug face and Nino's confused one. 
"Wow, does my bro have some competition, dude?" Nino said. "You spent the entire break talking."
"What? No, that was just a friend!"
"Yeah, a friend." Alya sing-songed, making her face heat up.
"Yeah." Marinette said firmly. "There's no competition for anything."
"Who's competing?" A sweet voice asked from behind her and she jumped.
"Adrien!" She shouted, scrambling. "N-nothing hehe."
"Dude!" Nino smiled. "How was your lunch?"
Adrien smiled, brightly. "The best I've ever had."
Marinette felt inclined to agree. 
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hobbitsnapes · 3 years
Text
the elf in the café chapter 9
The ending to A corpse husband story
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(Photo credits goes to vallact)
Summary: Never in his life, did he think going to a cafe and meeting a Harry Potter nerd could change his life. (I’m shit at summaries
A/N: here it is everyone, the end. I’m so very thankful to each and everyone of you who red this story. It truly means a lot and I'm proud to call this work mine. Many more stories to come for our little faceless man.
H/N means his name, being that we don’t know what his actual name is currently
Time seemed to drag on his entire life, going by each day slowly, waiting, for either something great to happen, or the end. That was, until he met her, and subsequently fell in love with her. Never had he felt such happiness, love, and joy. Even with his fans, he hadn’t felt as amazing as when he was with her, the woman who changed his life. Time seemed to be a blur, a thing that he wished he had more of, to spend with her.
That’s what led him to now, a content and warm smile on his face, heart thumping wildly in his chest, as he pressed share.
If you had told 22 year old H/N that he’d do this, he would’ve looked at you like you were mad. Absolutely fucking bonkers.
But now a 27 year old H/N, was doing the very thing he was mortified of doing.
Not only was it a photo, but the photo. The one that he knew would no doubt cause a total meltdown on the internet.
There he was, a smile on his face as he held his new baby girl. Having just had her placed in his arms a few seconds prior to the photo. His pale tattooed arms wrapping around the small baby, a hand placed on her tiny head.
You could clearly see his face, only half of it showed to the camera. His head leaning down, a large, proud smile on his face as tears streamed from his eyes as he looks at his daughter.
Under the photo, layed a caption, one that he truly came up with on the spot. Pouring as much as his heart into it as he could.
‘I always was apprehensive about posting my face, always pushing it off and never felt it was the right time. I always said I would do it when I was not only happy with myself, but my life. Well, today is one of the best days of my life. I became a father to my beautiful daughter Evee. Her mother, is one of the strongest, most selfless, amazing women I’ve ever met. Seeing her bring our daughter into this world, with a smile on her face through it all, shows just how fucking truly amazing she is. I’ve never felt so proud in my life, than first being a husband and now a father. I love you all, and my girls.’
He had turned his phone off for a week, after posting, and sharing the link to Twitter with the caption ‘sorry for my inconsistent posting these last few months. Something incredibly small, but big came up, and changed my life. Oh and face reveal.’ He wanted to completely blank out everything from the outside world, and only focus on his girls. The two women who both changed his entire life, who made him the happiest man alive. Once a broken man, now full of love, and happiness because of them. He wanted nothing but to spend as much time as he could, basking in the joys of fatherhood, and loving the woman he so proudly calls his wife.
It’s as if his daughter knew to come exactly a week before the day, the day he cherished for the second year in a row. The day he married the love of his life.
To commemorate it, he turned his phone back on, letting all the notifications come pouring in, and again went to post.
While his last post was dedicated to not only revealing who he was, but his daughter, his wife was absent from the photo. As per her request, claiming to ‘looking horrible’ that day. He argued that she hadn’t looked as beautiful, since the day they said I do. But he kept to her wishes, keeping the photos and videos of the day between them.
But this post, was purely dedicated to the first love of his life. The woman, who had changed his entire life, who he had never shared to the world. Wanting to keep her existence to himself and the ones he kept close to him. The woman he swears is proof heaven exists and sent her to him, with wings on her back and a glow that shines greater than any light, or star.
The first photo, was what had been his background on everything, and framed and kept between them and his closest friends, and one of his favorite photos to have ever been taken.
It was their first kiss as husband and wife, a promise to love one another to eternity, to seal the pure love between them. The moment she became his wife, and her husband and lover.
The second, was one of the best videos he’s ever had. Nobody but them had seen it, not even his friends. Wanting to keep it between them, until now.
She had hid the phone out of sight, perfectly filming their couch where she sat him.
It was his birthday, a day he grew to love in the 4 years he’s spent with her. A day he once hated, now loved because of her. It reminded him that another year was spent by her side, a reminder that he was here for a reason, to meet and love her.
She handed him a box, just a plain wrapped box. It was rather small, not that he cared, having loved anything and everything she gave him, knowing it came from her heart.
He opened it, and with a gasp, a hand flew to his mouth as tears instantly came to his eyes. In a state of pure shock, and pure happiness and joy, he looked at the positive pregnancy test.
A laugh bubbles out of her as tears fell from her eyes at the look of pure joy written on her husbands face, before being pulled into his arms, tears streaming down both of their faces as they clutch one another, pure love and joy between them as they embrace one another.
The next photo, was one he had not only framed but a small copy in his wallet, but in his car, and filming room.
She hardly showed the entirety of the pregnancy, that was until she hit 8 months. Only a month to two until their little girl came into the world.
Both of her hands held the side of her now large belly, her shirt pulled up revealing her bump. Her head leaning down with a smile on her face, looking lovingly at his hand that was placed in the middle of her stomach. He remembers the feeling of their daughter kicking his hand softly, laughter bubbling out of him at his daughter's excitement at feeling her fathers touch. Even without being in the world yet, they had a connection from the moment she was created.
The next was again a video, one that made both laugh when they would watch.
She was filming it, laying on her back. She was heavily pregnant now, due in only a week from the day.
He laid on her legs, leaning down with both hands on the sides of her stomach. He moved his face down to her stomach, mumbling a ready to her which she said go to. He blew a raspberry into her stomach, a gasp that followed with laughter as their daughter jumped visibly inside her. You could clearly see the moment through her skin, making both laugh.
He did it a few more times,finally stopping due to feeling bad, kissing her stomach while whispering “I’m sorry baby, daddy won’t scare you anymore.”
The next photo, was exactly a year from the day. And one of his favorites.
It was their first wedding anniversary, a day they celebrated by going to the same park they first went to, under the very same cherry blossom tree.
They both dressed up, looking rather odd under the tree, with a small picnic and blanket. But neither cared, as they sat under the tree, embracing one another in the love they created, all those years ago.
It was a simple photo really. Just them kissing under the tree, smiles tugging at the corners of their mouths. Her left hand on his cheek, showing the stunning wedding and engagement ring he got for her. His left arm wrapping around her shoulders, revealing the black wedding band she got for him.
The next photo, was taken the present day, not a minute before he started piling these moments into a post. One that he loved dearly, a smile on his face as he looked at it.
It was truly a candid photo, one that wasn’t staged or planned, posed or anything. But truly magical to look at.
There she sat on the couch, hair a tangled mess and glasses perched on her nose. One hand writing notes down, with the other holding their daughter to her breast, a smile on her face as she fed her baby girl.
He had always been facilitated with watching her feed Evee, joking that it was just to stare at her enlarged breasts. But it was more than that, it was the sheer magic and aw that would take over him watching her body be able to do such a thing, how he truly thought she was magic, being able to feed their daughter with her body.
He put another one, one that they both smile at with warm hearts at the memory.
It was their very first photo, from only 4 years ago. It was from the fourth of July, layed on the blanket they brought to watch the fireworks. They both lay with smiles on their faces, looking at one another with an unspoken, but bubbling love that they look fondly back to.
He ended the series of pictures with one last video, one that he would cherish forever.
It was the night they came home from the hospital, a night that they will remember forever.
Both her and Evee lay on his naked chest, sound asleep on each side of his wide chest.
Her head rested on his right shoulder, a hand laying on her daughter's back.
Their daughter laid on his other side, her small face squished as it laid against his chest, the sound of his heartbeat lulling the baby to sleep.
He looked up to the phone, a tired smile on his face as he snapped it. Truly in the best place in the world. A place he thinks as his personal heaven.
He captioned the post as well, again choosing to come up with it on the spot, coming from his heart as a declaration of love to his little family.
‘It’s almost like my daughter knew to come into the world exactly a week before our 2 year anniversary. Like she knew that it would make perfect timing, to make my world whole. To fill my heart with even more love, that I didn’t know was possible, until I met my beautiful wife.
Y/N is more than just that though, she’s the strongest, most amazing, loving, beautiful, and truly badass woman I’ve ever met. She’s the most selfless, loving, and truly mind bending woman in the world, truly changing my life no more than 4 years ago today.
I met her at a cafe that’s a few blocks away from my old apartment, never imagining to meet someone there that day, who would turn my world upside down in the best way possible.
It didn’t take long to fall deeply in love with her, with how amazing she is, and the purest, most loving heart in the world.
She has a care like nobody else, a love to help others that stretches past the world, a love that she gave me, that chose me, to love her forever.
The first, was the moment I kissed my now wife, a kiss I’ll never forget
This video I’ve kept to myself and her this entire time, not wanting to show anyone, the moment she captured my reaction to finding out that, I was becoming a father. A moment that’s engraved into my mind and heart forever.
The next, is one of my favorites I’ve ever taken. She has always looked beautiful, every second of everyday. But she truly glowed, and was the most breathtaking when she was pregnant, a time I’ll miss, but love like it was yesterday.
The next video was just something she had watched on YouTube, an idea she told me we should try at 3 in the morning, after I came back in from a long night of streaming with my friends and you guys. It was truly not only the funniest fucking thing to watch, but do eye opening, the feeling of my daughter jumping inside her, is a feeling I swear I’m still able to feel.
The next, was exactly a year ago today. Our first anniversary as husband and wife. An entire year spent with being her husband. And her my wife. It was taken under the same tree she brought me to the day after we met, feeling a connection to her that I didn’t think was possible to feel.
The next, was taken just a few minutes ago. A true 180 from last year, but truly a beautiful moment, between a loving mother, who’s studying to become the greatest therapist there ever is, and her daughter. A moment I’m proud to be a part of and to help create.
The next, was the first photo we ever took together. It’s funny to look back on, to see the early signs of love in our eyes as we look at one another. Not knowing what’s to come.
And the last, was from the night we came home from the hospital. Evee was only 2 days old then, feeling like it was so long ago, but at the same time only yesterday. I hadn’t ever been so content, and happy, as holding my 2 girls in my arms.
Today’s less about me, and the shock of not only showing who I am, and being a father and married man. But rather a day to celebrate the wonderful woman I call my wife, and my beautiful daughter. Thank you everyone, for being by my side, and being here to watch my wolf change
-Corpse.
He smile as he logged into the stream, watching as views and the chat blows up as he hears all his friends voices.
All of them congratulate him, on not only the reveal of his face, but his newborn baby.
The entirety of the game is spent with everyone asking questions, showing great love and joy to him.
“So corpse, how’s it feel to have corpse daddy trending for a week now?” Asks Rae. Laughter bubbles out of him at this, his hand coming to his mouth. “It’s, honestly really funny. I never thought I’d see the day.”
Many asked how his daughter and wife were, and asking when they could meet them. He promised that one day they both would make an appearance in either a video or stream.
He played for only 2 hours, having to cut it short when the monitor goes off with the cries of his daughter. “Uh hey guys, I gotta get going, Evee needs her daddy. Alright, bye guys, thank you.”
He lays in the rocking chair he had built, rocking her back and forth as he fed her a bottle. He watched with tears in his eyes, a smile on his face at his little girl, wrapped in a pink fuzzy blanket. Her little hand held onto his pinky, squeezing the digit tightly as he held the small bottle.
He hummed quietly to her, a song she always fell fast asleep to.
“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, when skies are grey. You’ll never know dear, how much I love you, please don’t take, my sunshine away.”
He ended the song with a soft kiss to her forehead, a smile on his face as he watched her sleep in his arms.
He looked up when he heard her, a smile on his face growing as his heart flutters in his chest.
She stood at the door, leaning against it. She only wore one of his shirts, the wine stain on it making him laugh. A tired, but happy smile graced her beautiful face as she looked at her little family.
She walked over to him, bending down and kissing his waiting lips. “I love you.” She whispers, hun repeating the words back before kissing her again.
They all lay in bed, having decided to bring their daughter to their room as they slept.
Both girls lay on his chest, as he looks down at both of them sound asleep. Never, has he felt so happy. And never, would he think that going to a small coffee shop, would lead to this. He knew the little Harry Potter fan he met all those years ago was different, truly loving the elf at the cafè he met all those years ago.
102 notes · View notes
arigatouiris · 4 years
Text
an inconvenient crush // kenma kozume x reader (1/2)
Author’s Note: A new story?? SO SOON?? Thank you for all the love for my previous Kuroo story, it meant the world to me. I write for myself primarily, yes, but it brings me SO MUCH JOY to know that my words reach you. It helps with the motivation to put them out more often. Thank you. This story is very close to my heart because I’m a gamer, although I don’t stream. I’m more like Kenma though, personality wise. Haha.
Word count: 5k+
Pairing: YouTuber! Kenma Kozume x Streamer! Reader
Summary: YouTuber Kozume Kenma has had the biggest crush on Twitch Streamer, (s/n) (y/n), who in actuality simps heavily after Kenma's secret YouTube persona, puddinghead0.
What happens when their paths cross?
Kuroo is honestly tired of Kenma's second-guessing, and (y/n) is a bit of a crackhead.
Warnings: unrequited love, one-sided crush, slight angst, pining, crackhead reader, internet bullying, slang, gaming references, haikyuu manga spoilers, fluff
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C h a p t e r O n e : puddinghead0
Kozume Kenma suddenly turned existential when his eyes shifted to his phone screen for the 12th time in ten minutes.
Was he always doing this? Was he always obsessed with his phone to a point where he'd constantly check for notifications? Did this mean he was deeply lonely on the inside and wanted approval from people on a virtual platform, which meant that the approval was also virtual and none of it was real? Did it mean that he craved to nullify the growing void in his chest by distracting himself with a black mirror that showcased light that could permanently impair his sight?
He let out a breath and forced himself not to look at his phone. He didn't care. It didn't matter. That's what he always said.
    "Hey!" His classmate/room-mate screamed from the entrance to his flat, "Are you watching her stream? Posted two minutes ago!"
His phone was definitely slow. He had been checking his phone but there was no notification. Letting out a breath, and giving himself a mental reason to actually check his phone, Kenma opened the notifications tab to see the one notification he had kept his eye out for had been buried under ridiculous facebook notifs.
An inconvenient crush, that's what he told himself whenever he looked at you. You were a streamer, a bit different from what he did on YouTube because you were primarily on Twitch. There were reaction videos of you on YouTube, which was where he found you, but damn—how could one be pretty while rage-quitting a game? It was abnormal. Nothing about you was normal; college student/Twitch streamer, an apparent baker in your mother's bakery, game reviewer for Sony, and you were insanely cute.
    "She's getting to that part," his roommate commented from behind Kenma's back, while Kenma really just wanted to watch the video in peace, "Shit, she's gonna cry."
You did cry, quite a few times, and too easily if he could add. You cried at the ending of God of War, you cried to The Last of Us (which made sense, but you were perhaps just bawling throughout the entire game), you cried in a game called Detroit: Become Human, you cried far too easily, but you never really quit. He loved how passionate you were about games, and it was the sort of passion he could completely understand.
    "Oh shit," You said in the video, your eyes scanning all over the game screen, "What's happening? What's happening?"
Kenma chuckled at how cute you were, god, you were killing him. You looked worried, and he could visibly see a sweat drop on your forehead, but you were so focused that it didn't matter. Suddenly, there was a screaming sound from the game you were playing, and your eyes popped open as wide as they possibly could and you just sat there, unmoving. He loved how you never squealed or made any loud reactions, except when you were in a fight with a difficult boss, but whenever something traumatic happened, you just froze and sunk it all in. You were currently playing the second part of The Last of Us, and a traumatic scene was definitely happening. Kenma had just finished playing it the night before, so every scene you were playing was familiar.
    "I officially hate this game," You said, your voice breaking and he desperately wanted to hold you, "Fucking hell."
    "God, she's amazing." Kenma's roommate said, eyes turning into literal hearts.
    "Hm." Yeah, she is, Kenma thought, but could never really say.
As a YouTuber himself who streams games, he was aware that you were not as popular, and it was a fact that he really didn't like. Sure, you were on a less popular platform, but Twitch was incredibly popular by itself as well. He also understood the bias that came with being a female gamer, and while it sounded ridiculous to him, Kenma was one of those people who believed gaming required no gender.
He adored your content, and he secretly adored the hell out of you, so seeing you soar would only make him happy.
    "I... I can practically feel what pain she's feeling right now," You spoke about the game, a lone tear threatening to leak out of your eye, "But! We shall persevere. I've been waiting 7 years for this game, so I won't let... won't let something like this halt my interest. Let's see if this has a point to it all."
God, he adored you. But, Kenma considered it an inconvenient crush because of course, the world was small. The first big crush he has on someone and he hoped it would remain over the internet, but it just had to become something more tangible, something that could make him weak in the knees.
You, a college student/Twitch streamer, an apparent baker in your mother's bakery, a game reviewer for Sony, insanely cute, and also happened to be one of his YouTube channel's biggest fans.
He had only recently discovered your personal twitter handle, and dear lord, you were simping after him with no remorse. It wasn't as if he was all you talked about, but he had also noticed the trajectory of the games you were playing were on par with his own timeline. Kenma had finished his final stream for The Last of Us II just the night before and you had now started playing it. Right before that, it was Bloodborne, and before that, it was Final Fantasy VII Remake. However, your public handle was a lot more professional and despite knowing that it was there, he hadn't sent you a follow request because well, Kenma called himself an introvert in every matter but Kuroo just said he was shy.
While he knew that he could easily approach you and have you know he knew of your existence, Kenma preferred not to get into such detail. It was comfortable admiring you from afar, and it was comfortable being where he was—he had his company to work hard over, he was also a computer student and a YouTuber. Sure, he had his hands full especially after calling you abnormal for something that he himself was doing, but he never really fit into a bracket anyway. Kenma's latent obsession with you was something he wasn't particularly proud of and this wasn't because it had anything to do with you, but simply because he didn't want to make a big deal out of it. Change, in many ways, scared him. And by changing the structure or dynamics of him admiring you in secret, while you admired him not so secretly, Kenma was certain that it might not lead where he may have wanted it to go.
Surely, Kuroo was against this sort of caution, calling it cowardly and saying it lacked passion; but Kenma knew it was just a crush. There was no way he could deduce the kind of person you were based on how you gamed or reacted to games, based on the little tid-bits of information you gave out while playing those games, or even how you openly spoke about how much you admired 'puddinghead0's videos. Kenma hated Kuroo for giving him that name, but he was too lazy to come up with a new one.
    "Also," You sprung up in the final two minutes of your latest video, "I'm on Patreon, now! I honestly have no idea how it works, but if you really like the content I make and want to support me, you can become a patron and wish me luck!"
Kenma waited for his stupid roommate to go out of his room before he could open Patreon and find your link, which was thankfully in the description. Without a second thought, he donated to your profile but cussed instantly when he realized what he had done.
He had sent you a donation as himself, as 'puddinghead0's Patreon.
Without a second thought, Kenma called Kuroo and explained what had happened.
    "That is why, Kenma, you need to check a thousand times and not let blind love navigate your actions—"
    "If I knew you were going to spout such nonsense I wouldn't have called you."
He could hear Kuroo snicker while he ran a hand through his hair. Kenma groaned before Kuroo said, "How bad is this, Kenma? She'll be happy. Of course, this means she'll know you watch her content, but how bad can this be?"
    "I didn't want her to know."
    "And leave her devoid of the happiness of having her idol appreciate her content? You're cold, Kenma."
    "You don't understand. What if... What if she tries to contact me?"
    "You, my friend, have not even shared your personal account anywhere. The only way she can contact you is by commenting on your videos, which I am sure you check constantly to see if she did comment, or Tweeting, which she does every three days."
Kenma blushed at the accusation because it was true.
    "She won't know who you are. Besides, there's no harm if she even does contact you! Just tell her casually that yeah, you like her contact. I don't see what the big deal is."
    "Of course you don't—"
    "Oh, she's tweeted something."
Kenma's entire body froze. Leaving Kuroo on the call, Kenma opened Twitter on his laptop and there it was, your latest tweet.
I am trying NOT to freak out over puddinghead sending me a donation on Patreon, pls save my soul, I am dead.
Kenma groaned before hearing Kuroo laugh once more, "She's adorable!"
I know that, Kenma thought before feeling his entire face flash up. Ending Kuroo's call, Kenma looked at your public profile before then moving to your personal one. He wasn't following that one either, but he wanted to see your tweets, he wanted to know more about you—he wouldn't deny any of these facts, but Kenma believed it was far too idiotic to dream of getting to know you through a virtual media. He wasn't even the sort of person to become close to people he met in real life, how could he allow himself a virtual friendship?
The thought staggered him, and the idea behind it was what kept him at bay. Kenma wanted to know about you, talk to you, learn about who you were and what you were doing, but he felt the media that connected you was what separated you.
It wasn't cowardice at all if he was just sticking to the facts and being real.
*
The next day, Kenma walked to his class by himself, listening to the latest podcast by Joe Rogan. While the external sound wasn't entirely muted, Kenma could discern sounds of people talking, cars moving around, and other noises even though he was playing the podcast on full sound. However, there was one sound in particular that stood out. Kenma paused before turning to his right, noticing a crowd of people had gathered there, with some sort of event going on. He didn't pay attention to half the events that his college conducted, his mind was obviously quite busy elsewhere, but when the announcer moved around in a weird Joker cosplaying outfit, Kenma was a tad bit intrigued.
Was it gaming related?
He slowly moved toward the crowd before finally being able to hear what the anchor was saying.
    "We've got prizes for the top three best performers, and one of the participants is the one and only (s/n) (y/n), streamer from Twitch!"
Kenma froze, half-minded to run the hell away from there. But, it seemed as if his feet were stuck to the ground. How had he not known this? Didn't you always announce the events you go to? Why were you suddenly here? A second later, he spotted you, hair put up in an updo, a plain black tee, and regular jeans. You were smiling, but some part of that smile seemed a bit hesitant.
    "We will be playing a bit differently today! Instead of the usual Fortnite battles or Apex Legends, we'll be going went and battling out on Red Dead Online! And of course, if you beat (y/n) here you earn bragging rights!"
He noticed you shift in your position a little bit, clearly uncomfortable with the attention you were getting; it didn't even look like you wanted to be there. Kenma could feel his chest hurt, and his palms were sweating now. That's all it is, he told himself. An inconvenient crush, an inconvenient crush, that's all.
Kenma sighed before noticing how he barely knew anyone there and was almost thankful for that fact; but before he could thank his stars, a hand threw itself around his neck and sprung him forward, earning the attention of not just everyone there, but especially you.
    "We have our first participant," It was his goddamn roommate, "Kenma's a brilliant gamer!"
Kenma's eyes immediately found yours, and you were looking at him with wide, confused eyes. Although this was set in the open and the atmosphere was quite cold, Kenma felt nothing but warmth radiating all over his body at the mere sight of you; you were just a few feet away, and you were giving him a rather sympathetic expression, and god, you looked so fucking pretty—
    "That's great! Sign up, ya'll! Winner will be winning a brand new DualShock 4!"
Oh fuck, Kenma thought before he felt his heart beginning to pound. He was now seated beside you, and he could practically shrink into non-existence. You were unmoving, and you weren't looking at him, but would you have looked at him if you knew he was puddinghead? Insecurity swarmed his being and he could practically feel steam escaping his ears but a moment later, he thought he'd die.
    "This was so last minute," you said, rubbing the back of your neck, "The anchor's my cousin and she's so demanding."
    "Oh," Kenma said, feeling his heartbeat skyrocket, "I see."
    "Yeah! I mean," You giggled now, "I'm not even good at Red Dead Online!"
Kenma smirked, knowing the fact already. You struggled with Red Dead Redemption not because you were bad, but because you couldn't progress with a plot so divisive. You wanted to explore more, and since the game was so vast, you barely bothered with the Online version. You turned to him now and tilted your head.
    "You're a gamer, I heard? Kozume-kun, right?"
Fuck, she knows my name, "Y-Yeah. I game when I'm free."
    "Do you have a Twitch or YouTube?"
There's no fucking way I'll answer that, "No—"
    "Ah, you must really be having a great time then."
Kenma blinked before turning to you with confusion. What did you mean?
    "Don't you enjoy streaming?"
    "Ah, no, no," You flailed your hands shyly, and Kenma believed he could combust, "It's not like that. I just think, after a point, streaming becomes more for the fans than for yourself. I used to do it for me, but now... I'm needed in places like this for promotion, and I need to have a Patreon if I'm popular or it'll look weird, I don't know... Too many restrictions. I just love gaming, you know?"
Kenma found himself smiling, "Yeah, I know. I've seen your videos."
    "Oh?"
Kenma's eyes widened. He wanted to slap himself on his forehead.
    "I—I mean, y-you're popular."
    "Thanks! You're really sweet, Kozume-kun!"
Fucking hell, Kenma placed a hand on his forehead, She's too cute.
    "Say," you said, a sly tone to your voice, "Do you want to get out of here?"
    "I'd do anything." Kenma honestly agreed.
But, you couldn't just up and leave. You were called here as Twitch streamer (s/n) (y/n), and that meant your behavior was restricted. As much as you seemed to hate said restriction, Kenma was certain that you wouldn't go against it. It could take a big blow against your viewership, and you wouldn't take that chance.
A second later, your hand gripped his wrist before you shot him a wink. Kenma's heart jumped to the skies before you pulled him away from the crowd, with participants lining the entrance to enter their names. Sure, you were doing something bad—your cousin wanted you there, but not once had she even asked if you wanted to be a part of this event. Just as Kenma was pulled in without his consent. You weren't a competitive gamer, and you were not going to be, even if it was for someone else. After running away a fair distance, Kenma felt the part of his wrist burn right where you were touching him.
    "I think I need to run more in real life and not just as Ellie." You said, and Kenma chuckled.
    "Running's good."
    "I used to run track," You said, turning to him. "Now I run in games and that's it."
You have no right being that cute, he thought before clearing his throat. He slowly pulled away from you, which made your eyes widen before shooting him an apologetic smile. He was a bit confused as to what you had done, did this mean you didn't care about losing followers?
    "You might think that I've committed career suicide," You scoffed, "Honestly, this is the bravest I've been in so long."
    "What do you mean?"
You shrugged, "Ever since I became a bit popular by streaming, I've just... I could feel myself change with the way my viewers wanted me to be? I don't blame them or anything, I just think that the love I get from them makes me yearn for more. And that yearning leaves me... inept to be myself. It's the downside of wanting to remain popular, I guess."
    "It's not like you can't be yourself and still be popular." Kenma added.
    "Yeah I know," You said, "I mean, just look at puddinghead0, we don't even know what he looks like, and wow. I adore his content."
Kenma froze once more. Was this being recorded? Did Kuroo finally tip you off and was this being filmed for his reaction? Whatever it was, he wasn't going to reveal to you now.
    "Y-Yeah, I think he just doesn't care."
    "I wish I was more like that because I end up caring. I like the comments and the views and the love. Agh, it's such a weird complex moral question. Don't even get me started."
Kenma laughed at your reaction before you turned to him and stuck a tongue out. Kenma rolled his eyes before waving a hand at you.
    "If anything," Kenma said, looking at the ground, "You didn't lose this follower today."
Your eyes widened at his statement. You smiled before nodding, and let out a chuckle.
    "Thank you, Kozume-kun."
*
Locking the door to his room, Kenma began to edit for his latest video. He was making a review for The Last of Us 2, but his mind was elsewhere. He still hadn't told Kuroo that he had met you, which would only cause the black-haired man to tease him relentlessly. Letting out a sigh, he felt sleep douse his eyelids as he continued the edit, right before a notification popped up on his phone.
It was you.
He narrowed his eyes before checking the date and time; it was unusual for you to stream live on random days. He'd learned your pattern by now. You'd been doing this for a couple of months, and it was quite easy for him to know just when and what time you'd begin. However, the screen for The Last of Us 2 was open and you looked like you had just stopped crying. His heart broke at the sight, and he instantly closed the tabs to his own edit, before opening your video on his monitor. You were taking deep breaths before chuckling.
    "Hello to everyone that's still with me," You sounded so broken, Kenma felt helpless as he continued staring at you, "You might be wondering why I'm... yeah. So, I did something and I guess I got punished for it? I was forced into a game contest and I think walking out of it made some of my followers mad. I even spoke to this other person about walking out and honestly, it didn't hit me then that what puddinghead's doing takes a lot of courage."
    "Ah, fuck, (y/n)," Kenma groaned.
    "I guess even when I expected to lose followers, I didn't expect the hate? Some of the comments were just... nasty. I..." You sniffed, "...I didn't expect that you would hate on someone for making a personal choice? And I didn't do it to offend anyone, I seriously don't know how the internet works. Oh, oh wow—" You looked troubled and Kenma could see why. "—losing out on viewers now, great. 'Don't be a whiny bitch', 'This is why girls shouldn't game'..."
You took a deep breath before calming down and saying the few words Kenma feared you might eventually come around to say.
    "This is (y/n), signing off to a world where gaming is appreciated and is not filled with a community of hate. Hope to see you there."
And the stream ended.
Kenma sighed before leaning back, no thought in his head. He knew for a fact that his room-mate must have seen the stream as well, and Kuroo would be calling him about the entire ordeal just to ensure he had something to say about it. Kenma, on the other hand, felt like he had practically pushed you to make this decision and partly felt like taking the blame, despite the common sense telling him that he had nothing to do with it. You weren't the sort of person who would jump at something without a second thought, and even if he didn't know you personally, he had been following you and your streams for months now. It felt like he knew that part of you quite well.
Kuroo was the first to call. Kenma stared at the phone for a bit before letting out a breath and getting back to editing his video. He only had to add commentary, and his mind was already circling on what to say.
Uploading the video took him exactly two more hours, after having missed three calls from Kuroo and twelve messages. At one point, Kuroo had even stopped contacting Kenma, thinking he was busy with something, and he was spot on. Kuroo's eyes wandered on the new notification about his friend's YouTube channel, which was weird considering it was not yet time for him to post something. He knew quite well that Kenma might have definitely seen (y/n)'s stream, and wanted to desperately talk to him about it, but without a clue of what the boy was thinking, Kuroo simply clicked on the notification and let the video play out.
It was the review for the game, The Last of Us 2, and Kuroo knew while giving the review, which was around 8-9 minutes, Kenma would speak his thoughts that were a tad bit uncensored toward the end. He'd talk about the drama surrounding the game, he would even bring up the entire hate that this game was receiving, but instead—Kenma had a rather strange dialogue instead.
    "One thing I don't understand is how toxic the gaming community can be, at times," Kuroo paused, narrowing his eyes at his friend's words, "While we welcome new gamers to the entire journey of learning and discovering the joy of gaming, we also tend to put them down if they didn't adhere to a certain trend. I came across one such incident happening to (s/n) (y/n)'s Twitch channel."
    "Holy shit!" Kuroo sat up straight, eyes wide as saucers at the bold move his friend made.
    "I'm part of this community and I think I have the right to call out how toxic we are in general," 
Kenma's voice didn't even waver, but after knowing him his entire life, Kuroo could deduce that the boy was a bit angry, 
"(y/n) didn't particularly do anything wrong, and she's received some nasty comments about being a female gamer, and I think that's...just disgusting. She has all the right to either attend or ditch a gaming event, and no one has to be forced to do something they don't want to do. We all have games we don't like despite being gamers, we don't have to do it all. I support (y/n), and I'll admit, I'm saddened by how her fans have treated her. Her content is great and I have immense respect for her. I hope she decides to come back and stream more. That being said, I think The Last of Us 2 is..."
As he got around to talk more about the game, Kuroo knew that this was a huge step for Kenma, and he had no idea what suddenly made the boy rethink his entire decision on never bringing her up. Now that he had, he's indirectly initiated a conversation with her, she'd definitely try and reach out now—in any way she possibly could, just to thank him at least.
Kuroo noticed his phone ringing a second later and a grin made its way to his lips.
    "What just happened?"
    "I met her, Kuroo," Kuroo almost had the wind knocked out of him, "She was at my college campus. I was walking back to my room since classes were canceled. There was some sort of gaming event. She didn't want to be a part of it, and neither did I, and we ditched. It was—"
    "You like her more now, don't you?"
When Kuroo received nothing more than silence from Kenma's end, he was certain. His precious, introverted, best boy had fallen for someone. It was a proud moment, almost.
    "You have to tell her—"
    "Kuroo, this... this is all I want to do."
    "That's bullshit, and even you know that."
    "What? You want me to open up to her and tell her I'm the YouTuber she's been gushing about for so long and I was the one who kind of pushed her into doing what she did, and so that she can hate me afterward for hiding the truth because I wouldn't be losing out on anything and she—"
    "Whoa there, Kenma. I'm just saying go talk to her as her favorite YouTuber. You're overthinking this."
    "No, you're underthinking this. I did what I had to do. It was... hard to see her like that."
Kuroo let out a sigh but before he could say anything, Kenma had already ended the call. That boy needs to grow a pair, he thought, a bit annoyed at Kenma's nature of avoiding his feelings. While Kenma believed it was for the best, he knew he was simply running away from it. Kuroo knew his friend adored (y/n), but the boy couldn't categorize that as real feelings because he's met her just once. Finding something real virtually scared him more than finding something real in real life, and while Kuroo wanted to understand that, it only annoyed him because Kenma wasn't even trying.
When you watched puddinghead0's recent video, you were jaw-dropped in awe and absolute admiration. Tears filled your eyes, but what was more was how his voice now seemed a tad bit familiar, though you didn't pay any heed to it since you've been following this channel for an entire year now. It moved you to know someone you've been admiring has been watching your content, but at the same time, he was speaking up for you? You wanted to thank him, you wanted to send him a message and say you were incredibly grateful for what he's done and the only way you knew you could say something was on Twitter.
So you mentioned him on a tweet and poured your heart out within character limit. You wondered if he would notice your tweet since you've mentioned him countless times before, but even if he didn't, even if he paid you no heed after all of this, you were still grateful. However, a second later, you received a new follower. You blinked upon noticing that it was Kozume-kun from the other day. A soft smile fell on your lips at the soft recollection of running away from a gaming event, after which everything spiraled, but you didn't in any way blame him. Your mind again drifted back to puddinghead0 and you sighed.
I'd kill to see him, man, you thought, eyeing your tweet of him dreamily.
A second later, there was a notification. You almost spat out your heart at the mere words: puddinghead0 likes your tweet.
puddinghead0 likes your tweet.
puddinghead0 likes your tweet.
    "Oh my god—" You choked on air. However, a second later, you found it difficult to remain sitting on your bed.
Don't thank me, I hope you're feeling better. You didn't deserve any of that.
Is that a—
...deserve any of that. <3
Fuck me.
Kenma almost dozed off in class right before it ended. It wasn't like it was school where the teacher would wake him up after noticing him asleep, no one really bothered. Kenma was pushed awake by the momentum of the class once it was over and he leaned back before gathering his things. Tightening his hair tie, he casually walked out of class and got to the campus. He spotted the event area, where the gaming event had occurred and instantly spotted his room-mate and a bunch of people gathered there. Rolling his eyes, he walked away from there, not wanting to gather any attention.
    "Kenma!"
He had failed. Kenma froze to his spot before turning to spot his room-mate dashing over to him, a wide grin plastered on his features. Wrapping a hand over Kenma's shoulders, his roommate brought him to the others he was talking to, before releasing him.
    "You're that guy (y/n) ran away with during that event, right?" One of them asked, and Kenma didn't bother to respond.
    "Why did she run though? I mean, it doesn't make sense for her to just up and leave."
    "I've been telling you," The same guy said, "She's not the one playing those games. She's just the face."
Kenma frowned. What is this dick talking about?
    "Man, I think that's harsh," His roommate said, "I just think she's too chicken to play in front of people—"
    "She's literally a streamer." Kenma said, rolling his eyes.
    "Yeah, but why did she—"
    "If you can't understand that she doesn't owe you shit, then there's no helping it. She didn't want to play at that event, and she didn't. I don't see why you aren't calling me a fake gamer for running too." Kenma snapped.
The others shrugged, "That's because we've seen you play—"
    "It's bullshit." Kenma said before walking away. You all are bullshit, he thought before the frown on his face settled into an uncharacteristic glare, directed at what who knows what.
A moment later, he felt his phone buzz with a notification. Kenma opened his phone and saw that he had a message from you, but what confused him was—
The message was directed to Kenma and not puddinghead. His heart jumped as his fingers roamed over the notification, wanting to open it only when he was in the comfortable confines of his room. Swallowing the bubbling anxiety, Kenma fought the urge to smile as he continued walking back, unaware of what the Twitter message could be. It would normally take him around 12 minutes to get to his apartment from campus, but that day, Kenma merely took 7.
On reaching his room, he finally allowed himself to open your message.
(y/n): Hey! I've taken a break from streaming for now, just wanted to let you know. I don't know why I'm sending you this message, but talking to you that day made me realize that I don't really need to seek approval constantly. Also, puddinghead liked my tweet and I'm a bit too happy so I needed to gush, don't @ me
Kenma chuckled, feeling his heart jump at every word you'd said. He knew you didn't realize that you were gushing about him to him, but that didn't matter. He wanted to gush about you too. He felt a stone stuck at his throat at how real all of this felt, despite having only seen you once.
Kenma Kozume: I think he's the sort of guy who isn't too loud about the things he likes. And I think a break is a good idea, (s/n).
(y/n): Call me (y/n), came the immediate response. Kenma's eyes widened at the fact that you were online, and that the two of you were currently exchanging messages live.
(y/n): Yeah, I got the feeling from his videos that he's perhaps a private person. I'm still really glad that he supported me, I can't thank him enough. I'm feeling much better already!
Kenma smiled, I'm glad that you are.
(y/n): Also
He blinked.
(y/n): Do you want to co-op at Bloodborne? I'm trying to get a platinum, haha.
    "Fuck," He let out a breath before chuckling uncharacteristically. "You can't be serious."
(y/n): I'll send you my PSN, and you can add me as a party member. Only if you're up to it, I mean.
Kenma Kozume: Sure, sounds like fun. Also
Kenma gulped. He felt like this was showing off, but he didn't care. He was going to say it.
Kenma Kozume: I already have platinum in Bloodborne. :)
(y/n): Ah, screw you.
Kenma chuckled. He wouldn't admit it, but his heart was hammering against his chest and his palms were sweating. Soon, he'd be connected to you via the DualShock and the two of you would be co-oping in a game that was designed to make players fail. He wasn't too sure how much more his heart was going to take, and while he knew he had to tell someone, for some reason, Kenma wanted to keep this a secret. It wasn't because he was ashamed or he didn't want anyone to find out.
It was simply because it was too good to be true, and he didn't want to lose out on a chance to get to know you more. Because, if this kept up...
If this kept up, Kenma was surely going to fall in love with you.
388 notes · View notes
tommodirection · 3 years
Text
Miss You More
Louis Tomlinson x Singer! Reader
Masterlist
Word Coung: 2.5k
Warnings: swearing, death, cancer, mentions of death
Disclaimer: Miss You More is an actual song that I wrote, and it isn’t published or anything, but it’s one I wrote about the loss of my grandfather, and so I may link it here if I feel like it so you know what the song is and what it’s about, there are just a few words you’d have to change, but anyways!
A/N: Heylo! I’m going to be honest with you, this is not my favorite thing I’ve ever written, and it’s a little corny, and poorly worded, but eh. It’s one am, I’m going to sleep after this! Anyways, I hope y’all enjoy! Thank you, and have a nice day!
——————
Ever since you were a child, you knew you wanted to sing.
It all started with your mum. When you were little, she’d always sing to you, every night before you went to bed.
Soon enough, you began singing back to her, and she loved every second of it.
You sang together every chance you got, singing in the car, in the house, at parties, even when you walked the dog together through your neighborhood.
She had encouraged you to make a YouTube channel for your music, knowing you’d make it big. At first, you were hesitant, not confident enough to post your voice on the internet, but you finally agreed weeks later.
You mostly did covers at first. Of course, your 14-year-old self didn’t know what she was doing. All she knew was that she was doing something she loved.
About a year after making the channel, you began making custom content. You learned to play the guitar and you’d use it almost every second. You took it everywhere. Well, everywhere you knew you’d be able to show off.
The songs were mostly about crushes and school and friends, the main things circling around your life at the time.
But it all changed when you were sixteen.
It was no secret your mother had cancer. She had since you were little, yet she had kept fighting it, succeeding for a few years.
The doctors had said she was getting better, on her way to becoming cured, well, as cured as she could be.
But out of nowhere, it plunged. She was coughing up blood, and could barely stand, needing assistance to go the bathroom. It just kept getting worse.
One of the worst parts of losing your mum was the fact that it was the holiday season, ruining the time of year for your family for years to come.
You remembered her final day alive. She was laying in the hospital bed, lips chapped and all colored drained from her face. Her lips were bloodied as well, reminisce of the blood she had hacked up minutes ago.
Your father and siblings were there beside her. Your father held your little brother, he was four at the time, and your younger sister was standing next to you, she was twelve. Alex didn’t fully understand what was happening, he just knew his mum wasn’t well, and he mostly hid his face in your father’s shoulder.
Morgan, however, understood exactly what was happening, and she was crying beside you. She was trying her best to hold back, maintaining a straight stance and trying to hide her shaking hands. You watched as tears flooded down her face, making small wet patches on the sheets.
You looked at your mum, studying her. She had done so much for all of you, but there was nothing you could do for her as she layed in the bed, motionless, save for her eyes, darting between all of you.
You knew how much singing meant to your mother, and so you did the only thing you knew you could do. You sang.
Her favorite holiday song was Silver Bells, so you started the song, your family soon joining in. Your mother smiled gratefully at all of you.
She joined in towards the chorus, her voice still weak, but just as beautiful as when you first heard it.
Those were your last moments with your mother.
She passed away hours later, the anticipated news crushing your family.
You had all slept together that night, knowing you couldn’t be apart. Alex didn’t know what had happened, and you knew your father couldn’t handle it, so you had stepped in, trying to explain to the boy that his mum was gone, and she wasn’t coming back.
After she passed, you had stopped uploading to your channel, getting emotional every time you even tried singing.
But months later, you had decided not to give up. Instead, you chose to move forward. You started writing again.
The song you were writing was about your mother, it seemed fitting. You knew no amount of words could ever sum up your relationship with her, nor your grief, but you tried your best in the song.
You had spent a few months writing the song, not it a rush. You were pouring your heart into this song, and if it was rushed, you knew it’d have no meaning, just some words with a few riffs thrown in.
A few days after your seventeenth birthday, you uploaded the video onto your account, the first video uploaded since your mother had died.
After uploading it, you decided to turn your computer off for the night. You knew how obsessive you got with checking your feedback, you normally refreshed the page until your fingers were sore.
Instead, you walked into the kitchen, guitar forgotten. You hadn’t shared the song with your family yet, and you knew you needed to do acapella, it was much more fitting.
You were scared of how they were going to react, especially your dad and Morgan.
Immediately after finishing the song, Morgan tackled you in a hug, burying her head in your shoulder, “Thank you,” she mumbled and you pelt tears pricking your eyes.
Your dad stood, his hand over his mouth. Alex was sitting at the table, eating his cereal. You waited in silence for a few moments, waiting for your dad to say something, but nothing.
Alex interrupted the silence, “That’s the first time I’ve heard you sing in a while, sissy,” he said, a wide grin. You don’t know where your family would be without Alex. He knew exactly how to light up a whole room, he knew how to make people feel better.
“I know, bud,” you smiled and he gave you a toothy grin, turning back to his cereal.
You dad finally let out a small, choked sob, “I miss her so much,” he said, opening his arms. You quickly collapsed in them. He was the one you wanted approval from the most.
“I do too, Dad,” you whispered.
Years later, you found yourself at Triple Strings Record Label.
A man sat in front of you, shuffling through some papers at his desk. He sighed loudly, and shoved the papers aside, giving you his full attention, “So, miss L/N, we’ve heard some of your work, and were quiet big fans,” he said, folding his hands in front of him.
“Thank you,” you smiled nervously, and he glanced at the clock.
“Well, my name is Bryan, Bryan Detreon. I’m an agent here for all the upcoming stars in the music industry, although I can’t take credit for finding you, that goes to the creator of the label himself,” he chuckled and you froze.
“Wait, the owner as in, like, Louis Tomlinson?” You asked, suddenly sitting up in your chair.
Of course you knew who Louis Tomlinson was. You were a year younger than him, grew up with him on the screen and on the radio.
He let out a small laugh, “Yeah, as in Louis Tomlinson, he found you personally and requested you be brought in. He’s offering you a contract, I’ve emailed it to you, but I’d like to go over it now, just to point out some things! Now, he said to take as much time as you needed to decide. You can have a lawyer look over this if you’d like, and just back to us when you have an answer! Although, he’d probably prefer to have it before the beginning of his tour! Oh yeah! He wants you as his one opening act!” He finished, pushing a copy of the document towards you.
You took a second to process what he had said, and when you finally had. You nearly fell out of your chair. “He wants me to open for him?!”
“Yup,” he continued as if it were nothing. “Now, in the first section…” you tuned him out, you’d read it at home.
Louis fucking Tomlinson wanted you to open for him. How were you supposed to say no? Your dream come true, after years of posting on YouTube and going to school to study music, hoping someone would find you, and it had all led to this.
Twenty-six years of your life, all leading up to this moment.
“Any questions?” Bryan asked, locking eyes with your
You quickly shook your head, gathering your stuff and standing up. “Nope, thank you so much for this opportunity, I will definitely look it over and email you as soon as I know! Thank you!” You rambled, and ran out the door, trying to rush home.
“I got fucking signed!” You screamed into the empty household. You had your own place, but you felt the need to run to your family’s home to share the news.
Your dad walked in from the kitchen, Alex trailing behind him. Alex was fourteen now, which now meant he was starting to call horn father out on his bullshit, not that there was much.
“Welcome home to you too,” your Dad teased, and Alex looked up, his face instantly lighting up. He ran and wrapped his arms around you, he was beginning to tower over you.
“I missed you,” he grumbled, trying to hide his face.
You laughed and patted his back, “I missed you too bud.”
“What’s this about being signed?” Morgan strolled into the room, she was still living at home, finishing her last semester of university. She had grown into a beautiful woman, looking almost identical to your mother.
“Right! So, I got a call and email about an interview, and it said to meet at the Sony label here, and to go to the Triple String label office! I get there, and the guy tells me that they’re huge fans and want me to sign a contract with them! Turns out, LOUIS FUCKING TOMLINSON WANTS ME TO OPEN FOR HIM!” You screamed, not caring about the neighbors.
Morgan swooped you into a hug, you hated being the shortest. “Aw, my big sis is going to be a pop star!”
Months later, you stood backstage, picking at your sleeve. You glanced behind the curtain and saw hundreds of people standing and an endless chatter.
It was your first show of the tour, you had rehearsed hundreds of times, but that did nothing to settle your nerves.
Louis only had one opening act. You. You were all the crowd got before him, so you had to impress them.
You felt someone grab your waist from behind, as you nearly jumped out of your skin. You heard a small giggle in response, recognizing the voice.
You turned to playfully glare at Louis, your boyfriend of four months. You had bonded during rehearsals, and bonded over your similar life experiences, and soon enough, you had begun dating.
Only a handful of people knew, his family, and the crew on tour with you. You weren’t prepared to tell your family yet.
“What are you lookin at?” He asked, wrapping an arm around you. You rested your head on his chest.
“Just looking at the crowd, it’s huge,” you mumbled and he pressed a kiss to the top of your head.
“It’ll be alright, they’ll love you,” he assured, and you smiled at him, grateful for his company.
“Thank you Lou,” you went to give him a proper kiss, but you were interrupted by the stage manager, telling you it was time for you to get in your position.
You quickly waved Louis goodbye, and ran to your platform under the stage, the one that you’d be rising up on in seconds.
They gave you a countdown, and a crew member handed you a mic.
On one, they hauled you up, your hand already in their places.
You were met with a roar of cheers and applause as you surfaced, singing one of your most popular songs, ‘Don’t Start With Me Now,’ written about an old, toxic, best friend.
It was thrilling, hearing the people singing your lyrics back to you, you were shocked they knew them. Being on stage gave you adrenaline you’d never experienced before, and soon, all your nerves flooded away.
As you finished your song, you heard the crowd erupted into cheers, whistles being scattered throughout the crowd. Monologue time.
“Hey guys!” You greeted. “My name is Y/N L/N, and I have been chosen by the honorable host, Louis Tomlinson, to open the show up for you guys! I won’t be up here for long, just enough time to play a few more songs, but don’t worry, I’ll be back soon enough!” You hinted, the crowd screaming in response.
You played through all of the songs you’d written, well, except for one. You hadn’t played Miss You More yet, there was a surprise to come later on.
You gave a farewell to the audience, and stepped off stage, the hair and make-up people touching you up before you could even regain your footing.
Louis didn’t particularly like breaks, so the second you were off the platform, he was getting on.
You stood by, waiting for your cue.
The stage manager nodded, and you stepped onto the platform, your dress changed into a skirt and a nice blouse, courtesy of the costume department.
“Now, I have a special guest here to be with me on stage tonight. We both lost our mothers, when they were both remarkably young, and both to cancer. We’ve both written songs about it, and we thought we’d make a mash-up for you guys tonight!” He exclaimed, and the crowd's cheers nearly popped your ear.
Your platform began moving up, revealing you to the crowd. The cheers echoed through the stadium, and you smiled, waving at them, taking your place beside Louis.
You were counted in, and your mashup of Two of Us and Miss You More began. It was one of your favorite things you’d ever taken part in creating, having input from both you and Louis, not just some producers telling you what to do. This was all you.
The last chords of the song bellowed throughout the stadium. The audience’s cries and shouts of praise filled the room once again.
You looked over at Louis, who was busy admiring the crowd, his blue eyes lit up, a genuine smile on his face. It was at this moment that you realized something; you were in love with this man.
His eyes finally caught yours, and he gestured to the crowd, who was still burning as bright as before.
You smiled and whispered, “I love you.”
You knew Louis had gotten great and lip readings he had basically mastered it.
He quickly out his mic back on the stand and pulled you into a hug, leaning down to say something into your ear, just loud enough so you could hear, “I love you too.”
The next day, Louis was pulled into an interview before you headed to the next location. The questions were pretty simple ones, mostly openers for him to promote the movie, but there was one question at the end that made you both smile.
“What song did you fall in love to?”
You knew the answer.
A/N: Let me know if you wanna be added to my permanent taglist! Just send an ask or a message!
Permanent Taglist: @everything-is-alrightt
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pl-panda · 3 years
Text
To Marry a Vigilante: Part 18
MASTERLIST || First || Previous || Next
To Marry a Vigilante: Part 18
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The akuma of the day turned out to be the editor-in-chief of the tabloid that tried to spin a story about Damian and Allegra. It might’ve had something to do with the fact that the Mayor’s office, Kane Industries, and Wayne Enterprises were going after his newspaper for libel and slander. The Printer was defeated by Pink Tigress, who was working with extreme prejudice that day. Ladybug arrived just in time to purify the akuma. 
After it was all sorted out, the group retreated to Wayne Manor, where they met Chloé waiting for them. 
“Good. You’re here. Now it’s time to plan a counter-attack.” 
“What?” Marinette asked, surprised.
“Counter-attack on Erica and Lila. They practically declared war with that stunt!” Chloé raved on.
“Huh?” Damian was equally confused.
“Apparently, ‘The Printer’ was paid a rather large sum to have this article published without checking credibility. He did these things before.” She explained.
“So they actually started to play dirty?” The bluenette asked
“They didn’t!” Tim ran inside the cave, panting. “How in a hundred treadmills can you run so fast?!” He stared at the blonde.
“Puh-lease! I just used a short-cut.” She huffed. “One could think you accuse me of… physical training.” She made a disgusted face, but she was smirking. 
“Tt. So did they attack us or not?” Damian scowled and started to sharpen his sword. Where he got the sword from was not important at that moment. Everyone long since gave up on trying to track all his hidden weapon stashes. 
“They couldn’t. Neither has that amount of money. I traced it to a foreign account registered on Emma Rose Blake.”
Marinette’s eyes widened and she stumbled back as if the name slapped her. “ Adrien… ” she whispered.
“What!?” Damian was on his feet in an instant.
Sabine grasped her dagger before her expression turned soft and she walked to hug her daughter. “It’s okay, sweetie. You’re not alone.”
“I… Adrien snuck out once. He wanted to watch that movie that starred his mother.  Solitude. ”
“I remember! That one threw a wrench in my search for a while.” Tim beamed.
“We stumbled upon each other and he took me with him…” She remembered and blushed lightly. “I only saw the intro, but from what I found out on the internet, his mother was the lead. Her character’s name was Emma. Rose. Blake.” She told each word separately, making sure they got the message.
“So that bastard thought he could get the two of you to break up?” Chloé asked. “Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! The two of you are the sweetest, most loyal couple in the whole of Gotham. And besides, the blasted spell wouldn’t let anything like that happen. We’ve seen the effects.”
“Tt. It does work both ways.” Damian’s face was twisted in a scowl. “And I reserve my right to skin the cat and feed him to sharks. I’m sure Penguin will let me borrow some.” 
“I’m… not sure if you’re joking…” Tim stared at his brother, worried about his sanity.
“I’m not.” The youngest Wayne cut him off. “That flea-ridden alley-cat is intruding on my bond. My marriage. The league… It’s the single most sacred relation for the members of the league. For me.” He grabbed Marinette’s hand. “And he will suffer for trying to separate us.”
For a moment, Marinette stared at him, taken by surprise by his revelation. Then, she cuddled into his side.
“I’m not leaving.”
“I know.”
“Also,” Chloé decided to interrupt the cute moment, “you’re trending.” She showed them a video.
Marinette and Damian were standing on the table in the cafeteria, holding hands.
“...I trust Damian with my life. I’m his and he’s mine!” She declared. There was steel determination in her eyes, but also flame that burned bright.
“I’m hers and she’s mine.” Damian echoed. He had an identical expression on his face. They raised their joint hands before turning to one another and sharing a quick kiss. In the background, many people cooed at the romanticism of the scene. Then, a black butterfly sneaked through the window. Marinette looked at it and grasped it from the air. When she opened her hand, it was a mess. 
“Not today, Hawkass Junior.” She seethed. Then, like a queen she was, she and two blondes by her side left the place among applause. 
“Someone recorded it?!” She started blushing profoundly. Damian’s cheeks were also red. 
“Tt. Who did that?” 
“Claude.” Chloé smiled. “But that’s not the important part.”
“Then what is?” Sabine asked. “Also, I want a copy of that video.” In response, her phone vibrated.
“Maman?!” Marinette moaned.
“The ‘Not today, Hawkass Junior’ is breaking the records on Twitter and Tumblr.” She smiled. “You’ve become a sort of a hero today. MDC is now  the  designer. Jagged Stone went live and he spent five minutes doing nothing but praise you!”
“Only five minutes?” Damian asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Penny found him and dragged him by the ear from the screen. After that, it was only Fang posing before the camera.”
“That’s… That’s Jagged alright…” Mari giggled. 
Damian only huffed. 
Chloé’s phone vibrated and she opened the link. She laughed for a good two minutes before she was able to speak. “Mayor Kane... just declared... ‘Not today, Hawkass Jr.’ to be the official motto... of the campaign against his terror.” 
“Can I make an MDC shirt with this?” The designer beamed. “I know! I’ll make a pillow! No! A…”
“You can make an entire collection, sweetie.” Sabine was grinning. “You’re the hero both in and out of the suit.” She cooed. “And you’re so cute! I’m totally sending this video to Sandra! And uncle Cheng! He’ll love it!”
“Maman!” Marinette moaned again, but she was smiling. She had people that wouldn’t abandon her. 
--------
Two days later it was finally Saturday, which meant a bit of freedom from the kids at school. In hindsight, Marinette preferred it when she was not that popular. Of course, Chloé did what Chloé did best and worked her crowd control magic. She wasn’t constantly accosted at school. At least not by most. Maps made her into a personal hero of sorts.
Now though, it was Saturday, which served as an excuse to stay late in bed, spend the whole day with Damian before spending the evening watching cheesy movies with Chloé and her mom. It would be a perfect Saturday. 
She got dressed in her favorite red dress, making sure to wrap the rope dart under the sash. It wouldn’t do to leave home without any means of self-defense. Not in Gotham at any rate. Her hair fell down her back and curled slightly. On her left wrist, she put a small gold bracelet with a single pearl. It was light and didn’t attract too much attention, but made her whole outfit stand out slightly. She paired it with high stockings and black ballet shoes with silver ribbons. After a thought, she picked a black glossy leather wristlet. Damian promised they would be going somewhere special. 
When she got downstairs, he was already waiting, dressed in a semi-formal outfit. His suit was of course MDC original. He had dark trousers, a white shirt with the topmost two buttons open and a jacket with sleeves rolled to his elbows. All in all, it gave a bit of a roguish vibe, different from what he wore on most occasions. Marinette made sure he wore nothing but her creations. He tried to protest that it was too much work, or at least pay her something for it. She threatened she would forbid him from paying for anything for her. Damian made a mistake, arguing that she was living under his roof. Her response was to start calculating rent. He relented and allowed her to dress him up to her heart’s desire.
“Hello, Habibti.” He smiled at her. 
“Damian! Will you tell me where  we are going?” She hugged him. 
“Not yet.” He said mysteriously. “We’re going somewhere special and I want to surprise you.”
“Daaaamiiii!” She tried again but to no avail.
“Tt. You hang out with Maps too much.” 
“She’s cool.” 
“She’s irritating.”
“That’s just because you’re not willing to give her a chance.”
“She thinks I’m Batman.” He huffed.
“Curious why.” Marinette retorted, smirking. “I’m sure the fact Robin led her for a gift hunt had nothing to do with it, am I right?”
“Tt. I admit nothing.” He tried, but a small smile made its way on his face. Curses! Why did she make him so mushy? 
“I knew there was a heart somewhere deep inside.” She continued, smirking triumphantly.
“Don’t be ridiculous. All people have hearts.”
“Even Erica?”
“She’s not a person. She is just walking irritation.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Marinette said. They were walking down the road, bantering to and fro.
They arrived at the gate, where a sports car was waiting for them. Damian took the driver’s seat and pointed her to the shotgun. The car radio was playing the song they danced to during their dance-off. It was full of life and brought back some fond memories. 
“Can I know where we are going now?” She begged. 
“Not. Yet.” He said with a confident smirk. “You’ll love it though.”
“Fine.” She relented and remained in her seat. Marinette decided to focus on the sights outside the window. 
They were driving through the city. She saw that the mayor wasted no time and ‘Not today, Hawkass jr.’ indeed became a city-wide slogan for the campaign about positive thinking. Marinette had a not-so-small suspicion that Chloé and Allegra had something to do with it. She wouldn’t put it past them to artificially boost the popularity until it exploded. Not that she complained that much. If it helped stop more akumas, she was all for it in fact.
Finally, the car pulled in front of the Gotham City History Museum. Or at least Marinette thought it was the museum, from the angle she couldn’t be sure. Before they got out, Damian handed her a blindfold. 
“You’re joking?” She stared at him. “It’s a museum.”
“How did… Nevermind. I have a surprise for you.”
“Why would… No way!” She connected the dots. “But… But we didn’t do that much!”
Damian looked at her with a mixture of amazement and mirth. “I’m surprised Bourgeois didn’t share the news with you.”
“She was too busy hanging out with Cass yesterday.” She then got a pensive expression. “The two of them hit off better than I thought.” 
“True. I’m disappointed with Cassandra, but alas.”
“No, you are not. You’re happy that she’s making friends.” Marinette countered with a smile. 
“You have no proof.” He dropped the blindfold and got out. “Come on or we’ll miss it.”
In response, Marinette put on her sunglasses and also got out. On both walls of the museum, there were giant posters of Ladybug and Black Cat in their heroic poses. He was standing straight on the dark background, with both hands on the baton that served him as a cane. He was looking left, toward the Ladybug poster. He looked serious and a bit intimidating. Ladybug on the other hand was smiling and overlooking all the passers-by. They’ve used her new suit, for which she was eternally grateful. Marinette would probably burn in shame if they decided to stick with the original. 
Inside, Damian led her through the entrance, showing the tickets. They went straight to the Superhero hall, which previously was called just Bat-hall. Marinette was feeling a whirlwind of emotions. She remembered the statue unveiling back in Paris, but it was after months of activity. Here, Gotham accepted two more heroes after a few weeks. Granted, Hawkmoth jr. was much more persistent and his akumas more destructive (plus they had even worse fashion sense), but Marinette still didn’t consider herself special enough.
Reporters from various newspapers crowded around the podium on which stood Mayor Kane. Allegra was by her side. When the young blonde spotted them, she winked at them and smirked. Marinette waved to her in response while Damian guided her toward the front row. He was a Wayne. He didn’t settle for anything else.
The ceremony was lovely and Mayor Kane spoke kindly about the new heroes. Not once she broached the subject of their age. The statue itself was tall, with all three Miraculous users standing side by side, Ladybug in the center, and slightly forward. After that was done and the mayor answered some questions, Damian prodded her slightly and the two snuck out unnoticed. He led her toward the back and onto the stairs that led to the rooftop and the couple was away from the prying eyes. They walked up and opened another set of doors that led them outside. 
The day was a bit chilly, but several heaters placed on the rooftop made it feel perfect for how they were dressed. In the center, there was a blanket with a picnic basket and a small heat-isolated container next to it. 
“Damian!” Marinette giggled when he hugged her from behind and nuzzled into her neck. 
“A surprise.” He whispered. 
“But… How… Why… And on the rooftop?” She gave him a questioning look.
“Heaters needed a power source.” He answered before leading her to the blanket. “And it was closest to the previous attraction.” 
When they sat, cuddled together, the boy pulled a small box of strawberries. Marinette immediately snatched it from him and tasted it first. She practically melted at the taste. Seeing the look of betrayal on his face, she smirked and picked another. 
“No.” He protested when she put it before his mouth.
“Come on Dami. A plane needs to land.” She kept smirking. Damian tried to keep his dignity, but ultimately he gave up and allowed her to feed him. “See? It wasn’t that hard.” 
“Not a word of this to anyone.” He grumbled. “I have a reputation to uphold.”
“Okay… Only Chloé and Allegra.” She giggled at the horrified look on her husband’s face. 
Deciding to change the subject as fast as possible, Damian asked “Did you like the statue?”
His wife beamed. “It was amazing. I showed you the one in Paris. I mean that one is okay too, but this was actually much better! It acknowledges not only me but all three of us. We are a team and I want us to be represented as such. And did you notice that they actually replicated the tail behind you fluttering?”
“It was indeed adequate work.” He replied, reserved as usual. 
They sat in peace for a bit more, with Marinette occasionally feeding Damian a strawberry. They didn’t really need to speak, instead just enjoying the monotonous sound of cars before the museum and relaxing with each other’s embrace. 
Feeling a bit mischievous, Marinette tapped Damian’s shoulder and made him turn to look at her. As soon as their eyes met, she leaned and fed him another strawberry. Except this time instead of holding it with her hand, she was holding half of it in her mouth. This, of course, led to two of them kissing. Both of their lips tasted like strawberries. 
It wasn’t a long or passionate kiss, but it was still full of love. 
When they broke, Damian had a funny expression on his face and Marinette giggled. He shrugged and pulled a thermos from the container, pouring both of them a cup of hot chocolate each (together with marshmallows). 
Damian regaled her of some of the tales about his great detective skills and how often he saved the day. She kept giggling and pointing out obvious mistakes, to which he huffed good-naturedly. He tried to stay away from subjects related to the League of Assassins and his childhood, but Marinette coaxed some stories out of him, careful not to prod too much. She respected his decision to leave it behind, but at the same time, she wanted to understand him. In the end, they just laid on the blanket cuddled together, with all the sweets consumed. 
“Damian… I love you.” She nuzzled into the crook of his neck. 
“Yes. You told me that at the airport. And several times after.” His logical brain responded before emotions took reins and he continued. “I love you too.”
“But I feel like it was always in response to something you said. I wanted to tell you that from myself. I love you.” She cuddled closer to him and he hugged her. 
“ Habibti, ” he whispered.
“ Mon chéri, ” she answered. 
After some more cuddling and looking at how the evening sun slowly set behind the monumental towers of central Gotham, Damian finally untangled himself from Marinette and got up. He helped her on her feet and turned the heaters off. 
“It’s time to go. We have two more places to visit.” He informed her and led her down to the museum proper. They snuck out of the staircase and joined one of the trips unnoticed, before leaving the building and avoiding anyone seeing them. It was fun to do teenage things sometimes. 
-----------
Their next stop was a small Italian restaurant that was out of the way and mostly empty. Damian had a table reserved there and made sure to pick one that was out of the way, in the corner that overlooked the whole place. What Marinette didn’t know was that he paid to have the tables next to them kept empty. 
They settled on a vegetarian lasagne with grilled swiss cheddar, spinach, and ricotta. Marinette wasn’t a vegetarian herself but after their little picnic, they wouldn’t fit two separate dishes. She enjoyed the tastes Damian introduced her to since they met each other. Especially (to Plagg’s delight and Tikki’s mirth), she loved the various cheeses that he exposed her to. While she sometimes still ate meat, it happened more and more seldom. Alfred’s cooking was on par with her uncle’s. 
Their discussion was much lighter now that they weren’t entirely alone. She smiled when he accidentally referenced Game of Thrones. He tried to deny it but in the end, he had to confess or people would think he knew what a ‘meme’ was. That was humiliation beyond what he could survive.
“...I’m just saying that if it’s a bit strange that Allegra and Claude always disappear together.” She finished her speech. 
“Tt. As if my cousin would lower herself to dating the clown.” He huffed. 
“I didn’t say they’re dating. It’s just that for at least two weeks now they kept slipping away.” 
“You’re imagining things, Habibti.” He dismissed her concern. 
“Okay, but what about Felix and Jon? They also run aw… ay…” She suddenly froze when a large group of people pushed their way into the restaurant. On the front, Lila and Alya were guiding them right to where the couple was sitting. 
Marinette heard Damian curse under his breath before suddenly everything was enveloped by thick, black smoke. She felt someone grab her wrist and pull her into a nearby door. They found themselves in the kitchen, Damian leading her between working cooks. Marinette saw how he pulled a phone from his pocket and texted the restaurant owner. He also paid double for the trouble with the smoke bomb. Luckily, the owner apparently understood the need for a quick getaway. The class on the other hand would be in for a rude awakening.
“That was close…” Marinette sighed in relief. 
“Tt. I should’ve challenged them to a duel for interrupting us.” Her husband scowled. 
“I told you no killing.”
“They would survive… probably.”
“Still. Now, where is that secret birthday party supposed to be?” She had a hard time keeping a straight face when he choked on his own saliva and stared at her with wide eyes. 
“It was Claude?” He asked harshly. 
“Of course not. Did you really think I would forget my birthday?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. 
“You did forget Christmas.” He pointed out. This time, it was Damian’s turn to try and not show any reaction to how she started spluttering. 
“That… I… But… It… We… It was something completely different!” She finally shouted. 
“Whatever you say, Habibti. As for the party… Let’s go. They should be ready by now.” 
------
Chloé was running around the club they rented for the evening. She was doing at least seven things at once, but that wasn’t important. She needed the party to be perfect. She already made sure that all guests were in place and she was now fixing some of the decorations that were not to her liking. She had trouble balancing all the things she was holding and placing them one by one. Then, someone took the weight from her.
“Maybe I can help?”
“Thank you Maribear…” Then, Chloé’s brain registered. “Maribear!?”
“Surprise!” The bluenette cheered.
“How?!” The blonde jumped back, startled. 
“Tt. She blackmailed me.” Damian grumbled from behind his wife.
“Um… With what exactly?” Tim walked from his hiding place. The rest of the guests followed through. 
“Now. It wouldn’t be effective blackmail if I told you, right?” Mari turned and looked at him with a smirk on her face. 
“True. Happy birthday, sweetie!” Sabine was suddenly behind her daughter, Chloé, and Damian. She managed to startle all three of them. 
“Maman! Don’t scare us like that!”
“Payback’s nice.” Her mother and Chloé responded at the same time. 
“They got you there, Angel.” Damian decided to repay her for the blackmail. 
“Hey! You’re supposed to take my side!” She giggled. “Besides, it’s my birthday.”
“I’ll try to remember next time.”
With that, the party started.
-------
Masterlist // Next
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jobrookekarev · 3 years
Text
I Remember it All Too Well
Chapter One of Six: Invisible String Tying You to Me
Words: 2200
Summary: Alex knew from the moment he signed the divorce papers that leaving Jo and Seattle was the worst mistake of his life. As Alex works his way back to Seattle, he sees Jo again four times before she allows him back into her life. 
Or
The four times Alex saw Jo after their divorce, and the one time they finally got back together with her, plus a soft epilogue.
Fandom: Grey's Anatomy
Relationship: Alex Karev/Jo Wilson.
Characters: Jo Wilson, Alex Karev, Helen Karev, Eli Stevens, Alexis Stevens.
Rating: General Audiences
Additional Tags: Regret, Longing, Pining, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Foster Kid, Adoption, the Pandemic.
Read at AO3
Read at FFN
AN: Will update weekly
……………………………………………………………………
Alex was in the kitchen getting dinner ready. It was spaghetti night which means twice the mess as usual nights as he dumped the first jar of spaghetti sauce into the huge pot on the stove. 
“Here you go, Daddy,” Eli said, handing him the other jar of spaghetti sauce.
“Thanks, bud,” Alex smiled at Eli, his little co-chef tonight.
Eli ran off to get the noodles as Alex put the other jar of sauce in the pot and turned on the burner to simmer.
Izzie always went all out with the homemade sauce and everything, but Alex made a version of spaghetti sauce that he and Jo used to make. It was basically just, roasted ground beef, two different kinds of store-bought spaghetti sauce, and a dash of fresh garlic and hot pepper flakes. Izzie hated it, but the twins absolutely loved it and she wasn’t here to tell him what to do. So Daddy’s spaghetti sauce it was.
“Alex!” He heard his mother call out to him from the office down the hall. “There's something wrong with my video call!”
“Just a second mom,” Alex said as he put the can of sauce in the sink and wiped his hands. 
“Eli hold off on the noodles and don’t do anything in the kitchen until I get back,” Alex said, taking the pack of noodles from him.
“Okay,” Eli said as he scurried off to join his sister on the carpet as she played with their tablet. It was a little pre-dinner technology time and they were completely engrossed in it and didn't even notice as Alex left the room. 
He walked down the hall to the little office Helen had in the corner of the house. Ever since the pandemic started Alex had moved back to Iowa to keep an eye on his mother during the lockdown. The library had closed and Helen struggled to maintain her schedule. Having Alex there had helped as he set her up with her therapist two times a week and she was able to help the kids with their school work in place of her work at the library. It wasn’t perfect, but they made do.
Izzie wasn't with them as the two of them were fighting. Izzie was upset he wouldn't call her his girlfriend, despite their relationship and the fact that they lived and parented together. Alex tried to love her and he wanted to make it work, but he couldn't just jump all in. Izzie wanted to pick up where they left off. She wanted them to be together, so she could say she had the perfect life; a partner, and kids, and everything. However, Alex wasn't ready to fully love her like that again. Truth be told he was still in love with Jo. He needed time to let go of Jo and grieve the loss of his marriage to her. 
The pandemic had put a strain on all of that and Izzie had opted to stay back in Kansas, although she called every day to talk to the kids. As Izzie continued to work through the pandemic, Alex was left alone to parent the twins when the schools closed. Before the shutdown, Alex hadn't been able to find a job and was just subbing for the Ped’s attendings at the hospital Izzie worked at. With the quarantine that had transitioned to the occasional Zoom call consult and now he was mostly just a stay-at-home dad to the twins. 
“I had the email on the computer and I clicked the link, but then this little box popped up and asked for a password, but I've never used a password before?” Helen explained as she pointed to the computer set up on the desk for a video call with her doctor. 
She sat back in the chair and twisted her fingers as she looked up at the clock. It was five minutes past five and he could tell she was getting upset that the call hadn't gone as planned throwing off her schedule. She was going to therapy twice a week and had an extra doctor’s video appointment every other week, on Friday evenings. 
“Okay, let me see,” Alex said as he pulled up the zoom meeting on the computer. He double checked the internet settings and went back to the original email. Alex quickly read it over. It was the standard zoom email with time and place and the passcode at the bottom. Alex clicked the link and waited for it to start up. 
The Zoom started up but prompted him for the password and Alex quickly input the code and the zoom meeting connection started up on the screen.
“Thank you, Alex, but you should go,” Helen urged as she put a hand on his chest and gently pushed him back. 
Alex stepped away to give his mother her privacy, but then the video connected and a baby appeared on the screen. The baby couldn't have been more than six months old as the camera was angled to the floor so they could see the baby sitting up on a blanket surrounded by toys. The baby smiled as soon as the video started. They locked eyes with Helen and babbled excitedly before leaning towards her. The baby excitedly babbled, as they seemed to recognize Helen and she smiled as she looked at them.
“Hello, little one,” Helen said as she leaned forward and waved at the baby. “I’m so happy to see you, but where’s your Mommy?”
Alex stepped forward and smiled as he watched them interact. He wasn't surprised that the doctor put their computer on their coffee table and did Zoom meetings with their baby. They were in the middle of a pandemic and he had done the same with the twins when he consulted for a few Ped’s cases at the hospital in Kansas City. Then he recognized the couch behind the baby. It was the white couch that Jo had bought for him with his money that she won after the ping pong match. The room around the baby was the loft in Seattle.
“Hey, do you see Grandma?” Jo's sweet voice came through the line as she sat down on the floor next to the baby and picked them up before sitting them in her lap. “I was worried when you were late. I was just about to call you, but I couldn’t find my phone... Alex?” 
Alex stood there dumbfounded as they locked eyes. Jo was just as shocked to see him as he was, but only for a moment before Jo grew angry and reached forward to end the call.
“No, Josephine, please wait, he's leaving,” Helen pleaded with her but it was too late as Jo closed the laptop and ended the call.
Helen turned around and glared at him. “I told you to go.” 
“No you can't do that, you can't just tell me to leave when you've been video chatting with my ex-wife and her baby?” Alex said, he tried not to get too upset, but he couldn't help it.
Alex just stood there shocked as he thought about Jo and the baby in her lap, video chatting with his mother. This had to have been an ongoing thing as Helen had it scheduled out every other Friday for weeks. He remembered walking past the door one time and hearing baby giggles, he brushed it off as just weird feedback, but there was a baby. 
It was Jo’s baby. He didn't even know how she’s had a baby. She couldn't have been pregnant when he left because the baby was around six months old and he'd only divorce her five months and twenty-one days ago. So unless she’d given birth right after he left Seattle the baby wasn’t theirs and he’d certainly know if Jo was nine months pregnant before he left. The tally in his head of how long it had been since he left her was a constant reminder of the life he'd left behind. 
“Just because you cut Josephine out of your life doesn't mean that I have to,” Helen said, raising her voice as she twisted her fingers. “When you left she had no one, no family, I still remember the day she called me to say that you had divorced her. Instead of hearing it from you, I heard from my daughter-in-law that my son had two kids and an ex-wife in Kansas and that he was divorcing her to be with them.”
“So what, you just took her side in everything?” Alex said, getting defensive as he crossed his arms.
“I'm not on anybody's side,” Helen insisted, getting more upset. “I let you come stay with me and, I love you, Alex I do, and I love your twins, and I love being a Grandma to them, but I love having Josephine as my daughter-in-law, too. Before your divorce, Josephine and I called each other twice a month and after you left her I continued to call her, she never stopped taking my calls, unlike how you did. It's part of my routine and I'm so gracious that she still lets me be a part of her life. Her one condition was that I couldn't tell you that we were still in contact and I respected that.”
Alex sat down in the chair across from his mom as he processed the information. He didn't know anything about Jo’s life now. Meredith wouldn't tell him anything when they talk, despite how he asked occasionally. 
“I'm sorry, you're right and you have every right to keep in contact with Jo,” Alex said as Helen nodded and relaxed back into her chair. “How is she? The baby, is it hers?”
“Sort of, he’s her foster baby and she’s trying to adopt him. Josephine picked him up from the fire station after his birth parents dropped him off there and she’s been fostering him ever since. His name is Asher, he just turned six months old last week,” Helen said as she smiled and pulled out her phone, she quickly pulled up a picture of them and handed her phone to Alex. 
Jo was holding Asher and they were pressed up against each other cheek to cheek. Jo had such a wide smile across her face, one that he had seen many times when she was joyously happy and it made him smile too. They had been trying for a baby before he left and it made his heartache, despite how happy he was for her. 
“He’s really cute,” Alex said handing the phone back to his mother, but the image remained burned into his mind. 
“Yeah he's such a sweetheart too, always babbling on about something,” Helen said as she looks down at the picture. 
“Why don't you text Jo and tell her that I'm gone. I won't interrupt your video chats again, maybe she'll call back,” Alex said as he got up and went to the door.
“Thank you, Alex,” Helen said standing up and reaching to put a hand on his cheek. 
Alex just nodded and left. He went back down the hall and went back to the pot of sauce, but he couldn't get his mind off the image of Jo and Asher. He looked over at the twins. They were completely engrossed in the game they were playing. It was this water game where they had to draw a path to give water to an alligator so they could take a shower. Alexis was directing Eli's hand and trying to draw the path over him as they argued over the right path for the water. 
“Alexis let your brother create the path for the water this time, you can do the next one,” Alex said to them as he turned the heat on the spaghetti sauce down as it had started bubbling over while he was gone. “But just five more minutes guys and then I need your help to set the table.”
“Okay,” They quickly replied in sync, but didn't look up from their game.
It was easy for Alex to step back into the role of father for his twins and focus on the life he had in front of him, but he couldn't get Jo off his mind. Alex started the water for the pasta set before he got out a stack of four plates and set them on the counter where the kids could reach them. Then he walked back down the hall. Alex pressed his ear up against the door as he heard Jo and Helen talking while Asher babbled in the background. He heard Jo laugh at something that Asher did and he took in a breath as a knot formed in his chest. 
He had regretted his decision to divorce Jo from the second he sent out the papers, but he was too much of a coward to take it back now. Alex loved Alexis and Eli with every fiber of his being and he didn't regret a second of his life with them. He just wished he could go back and tell Jo about them. He wished he would have asked her to co-parent them with him. He wished he would have done all this with her, but he didn't and he couldn't take it back now. So he just stood there and he closed his eyes as he listened to her laugh.
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zecretsanta · 3 years
Text
FIC: Four Times Hazuki Kashiwabara Almost Lost Her Kids (and One Time After They Found Her)
To: @mortellanarts​
From: @grumpsterkitty​
For mortellanarts for Zecretsanta 2020 – “Lotus and her kids on Christmas”. This story mentions a near miscarriage.
AO3 LINK
(1)
It was an accident.
An honest accident.  Not like the ones that would happen at home.
She asked to watch the surveillance tape, after, once she had seen the doctor and she had reassured her that everything was fine.  Even in black and white, she could see the horror on Wendy’s face as she tripped over the electrical cord.  She replayed the moment when Wendy stumbled into her, knocking her into the copier.  Watching as her pregnant belly seemed to compress to an impossibly small size.
If she had lost the girls, she probably wouldn’t have been able to forgive Wendy.
To be honest, she hadn’t forgiven Wendy.
Which wasn’t entirely fair; perhaps the bulk of the blame was on the repair technician, or whoever decided to put the copier against the west wall, which had fewer power outlets, or whoever built and wired the building to begin with.
The blood - her blood - looked dark grey on the video.  It looked innocuous, like spilled soda.
She left the job three months after the twins were born, when she was sure they’d all be able to transfer to her husband’s insurance.
(2)
She cursed under her breath as she dropped the first aid kit.  The alcohol wasn’t even in here, she remembered, as she saw the band-aids scattered across the ground.  A tiny drop of blood slid down her ear and onto the Ace bandage.
The doorbell rang just as she managed to find the alcohol in the clutter under the sink.  She sloppily splashed some on a cotton and glanced at herself in the mirror.  The blood hadn’t gotten on her outfit, at least.  The doorbell rang again, and again, and again, as she barreled down the stairs.
“Dammit, when did you get so impatient?  Girls, Liz is early, are you done with -?”
She was cut short when she entered the dining room and saw their dinner plates still on the table, barely touched, and her daughters nowhere to be found.
“Girls?”
The doorbell ringing continued, but she ignored it.  She went through the rest of the house, picking up the pace as each one was empty.  She was only upstairs for what, ten, fifteen minutes?  Just long enough to change and put on her damn earrings. She called out their names as their babysitter kept pressing on the doorbell.
In panic and rage, she stormed to the front door and flung it open, ready to scream.  But it wasn’t Liz, just Nona and Ennea standing there with popsicles in their hands.
“We didn’t realize the door would lock behind us,” Ennea explained.  The grating music from the ice cream truck got louder as it came down their street.
Hazuki allowed herself a sigh of relief before she chastised them.  “You left, without even asking, to get dessert, before you finished dinner?”
Nona just shrugged while Ennea at least had the decency to look embarrassed.  “Mom, come on.  You know they’re the only one who have the blueberry ones we like.  We’ll still eat our dinner.  We promise.”
“We promise,” Nona reiterated.  “Even the carrots.”
“Maybe half the carrots?” Ennea said, a grimace on her face.  “I read if you eat too many, you can turn orange.”
“You eat too many blueberry popsicles, you’re going to turn blue.  You have a perfectly reasonable portion of carrots on your plate and I expect them to be all gone when I’m done.”
Her daughter’s expression changed, from disgust to worry. “Mama, what happened to your ear?  Daddy … he didn’t come by, did he?”
“No.”  Hazuki kneeled in front of them.  “Remember that paper I told you about?  He can’t come here or he’ll get in a lot of trouble.  It’s just been a little while since I wore earrings and my holes must have closed up.  I tried to force it through and I shouldn’t have.  Now finish up your dessert and eat your dinner.”
Her twins exchanged a glance before heading to the dining room.  She took a deep breath and went back upstairs to finish getting ready.  As much as she had wanted to wear her new jewelry, she could see the earlobe swelling up.
There would be time for wearing earrings, later.  Now that she didn’t have to worry about her husband ripping them out of her ear.
(3)
It started to drizzle, but she stayed on the bench. She could see Deanna about to cross the street into the park.  She had her hand on the stack of hundreds in her purse.  Deanna waved at her and Hazuki clenched her teeth.
It was silly.  Nobody had tailed her, she was certain.
Deanna sat next to her, seemingly uncaring that the bench was wet. Hazuki handed over the envelope of cash without a word.
“It’s definitely done?” Deanna asked.
“I think he could appeal, but he probably won’t.  He didn’t actually want the girls.  He just wanted to hurt me.”
“I hate men.”  Hazuki must have made a face, because Deanna laughed.  “I can hate men and still be a hooker.”
“I thought women in your price range called yourselves ‘escorts’.”
“We’re all the same.  Just because I don’t stand on a street doesn’t make me better.”
“Well.  Thank you.”
The smile faded off Deanna's face.  "I've done this before. That wife wanted to get out of a prenup and take his money. Which I could respect. Guy was an asshole. Do you have a picture of your kids?"
The sudden shift in topic left her mental gears spinning for a moment. She supposed there was no danger in it; she had researched Deanna thoroughly before emailing her.  She dug into her bag and pulled out her keys, with the keychain the girls made for her last year.  The picture inside the heart-shaped frame was of the three of them, the girls flanking her on either side, all of them smiling.
As she handed it to Deanna, the other woman looked like she might cry.
"I see my boy a few times a year, and that's it," she said finally.  “My ex didn’t have a problem with what I did when he got to benefit from the money I made.  Then I found out he was having an affair and he needed to tell the court I was an unfit mother so I wouldn’t get custody and he wouldn’t have to pay child support.”
“System is biased against women.”  She took her keys back and tucked them back into her purse.  “I work hard, take belly dancing lessons, and already started dating again.  That was enough to make the judge question if I was a good mom.  If you hadn’t been willing to –”
“Nobody’s going to protect us.  We have to do it ourselves.”
They sat there in silence for a few moments as the rain started to taper off.
“What does your ex do, exactly?”
Deanna snorted.  “He works for a health insurance company.”
“Any idea how good their firewall is?”
(4)
“Excuse me? Hello? Does anyone work in this hospital?!”
The nurse who came over looked exhausted, with dark bags under her eyes; any other day, Hazuki would have felt bad being so harsh, but she had been there for almost ten minutes and hadn’t gotten a single answer.
“Which kid is yours?” the nurse asked in a near monotone.
“Nona and Ennea Kashiwabara. I got a call they were brought here.”
“Ah, the twins.  Yes.  I’ll find their doctor.”
“Wait, are they okay?”  The nurse seemed to ignore her as she walked down the hallway.  “Can someone just tell me if they’re okay?  What the fuck is wrong with you people?”
She felt a hand on her shoulder and almost took the man’s head off when she turned around.  He was entirely too tall, with a well-chewed pen stuck behind his ear.
“I’m Detective Lynch.  Can I help you?”
“I just want to find my damn kids!”
“Kashiwabara, right?  The staff here are a little overwhelmed, but your kids are in good hands.  And your girls are okay.  Nona has a scrape on her knee, but that’s the worst of it.”
“Did you interrogate them?  They’re minors. You can’t –”
He held up a hand.  “I met the detective who rescued them at the pier.  I rode with one of your girls here.”
“Did you say the ‘pier’?  The – but – I was told they were found in a building in Nevada.  Where – what the hell happened to them?  They were missing for days!”
Lynch opened his mouth as if to respond, but suddenly seemed distracted by something just off to her left.  She turned to see what he was staring at, but he reached out and took her hand.
“We’re looking into it,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.  “When the nurse comes back, go be with your daughters.  Take them home.  I’ll give you my card.”
He barely took his eyes off her as he pulled out a business card and scribbled something on the back.  He handed it to her and walked off without another word.  His cursive was sloppy, but she could clearly read the message – not safe, text me, I’ll call you.
“Mrs. Kashiwabara?  Your girls are in room 407.”
When she turned around, there was no one there but the tired-looking nurse.
“The … the policeman who found the kids, where is he?  Is he still here?  Can I talk to him?”
“No, ma’am.  I think he went back to the station.  407 is this way.”
She realized she was clenching her fists and had crumbled up Lynch’s card.  But the writing was still legible.
(+1)
“Are you really sure you’re both okay with this?”
Nona cracked open the oven and clucked her tongue.  “Not quite.  And yes, mom, although it’s a little late to ask again now.  And stop eating all the deviled eggs, or you won’t have room for dinner.”
Hazuki rolled her eyes; before she could grab another egg, Ennea swiped the plate out from under her hand.
“Need me to help with anything?”
“Sure mom, you can make the cranberry sauce.”  Nona handed her can and an opener.  Hazuki sighed heavily as she cut the lid off and schlorped the dark red jelly tube into the bowl.
“There, sauce is made.”
“It’ll be good to see Mamoru again.” Ennea told her.
“Oh, you’re on a first name basis now?”  Nona teased.  “What happened to Detective Watanabe?”
“He hates formality and you know it.  Did you know he shares a name with a porn director?”
“Seriously?”
“Girls.”
“It’s true, though,” Ennea insisted.  “The guy did a film called Virgin Rope Makeover.”
“Did Mamoru tell you that?”
“No, mom, the internet is a thing.”  Nona peeked in the oven again. “Ah, finally.”
Hazuki tamped down the urge to remind her daughter that the turkey pan would be hot and heavy and to be careful.  She had never been one of those mothers while her girls were growing up, but ever since … ever since, it was hard not to be overprotective.  As soon as Nona had the turkey out, Ennea put in the pie.  And then the doorbell rang.
“Okay, please no mention of porn directors,” she told her daughters.
Ennea rolled her eyes as she set a timer and followed Nona out to the living room.  When Mamoru came in, he had to duck his head to avoid hitting it on the doorjamb.  He inexplicably had a large cardboard box in his hands.
“Hey, so, uh, hi.  I brought wine, but then I realized I didn’t know if you liked red or white, to I got both, but the girls couldn’t drink it, so I got grape juice, but then I realized I didn’t know if they liked red or white, so I just got both of those, too.”
Nona took the box from him and grimaced as if she hadn’t anticipated how heavy it was.  “No worries.”
He shrugged out of his coat and Ennea giggled as she took it from him and put it on herself.  It was so big on her it was practically a dress, and when she held up her arms, it was clear her hands were where his forearms were supposed to be.
“I call it … Three and a Half,” she declared.  Hazuki smiled and Nona chuckled, but Mamoru looked puzzled.
“Oh,” he said finally.  “’Cause I was Seven.”  With that, he let loose a loud guffaw.
“Go on,” Ennea told him.  “Dinner is basically ready.  Do you feel like carving the turkey?  Mom and I usually butcher it when we try.”
“Uh, sure.”  He followed Nona as she hauled the box of beverages into the dining room.
As Hazuki put her arm around Ennea, she heard Nona ask, “Is it true you share a name with a Japanese porn director?”
(fin.)
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