#anyway I take canon liberties with everyone | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

Visit Blog

Explore Tumblr blogs with no restrictions, modern design and the best experience.

Fun Fact

Tumblr Inc. is funded by 13 investors.

#anyway I take canon liberties with everyone

minnow-doodle-doo · 1 year

Text

I’m thinking a lot about in my Sons of Anarchy AU about how Bruce’s death affects his children on such an induvial level.

Dick had never wanted to be like Bruce, but in the end, his death forced him to have his life; to become the parent to his son, to try hold the Justice League together and keep the auto shop afloat.

Jason had no one to point his need for revenge, formed from his love for his dad, at and subsequently had to deal with the consequence of all that undirected rage.

Cass ran. Cut off all contact. She had been given the stability (loose term) of a home, a support network, and of a somewhat normal life, but Bruce died and in her grief she decided she couldn’t be apart of something like that anymore so once again she was alone.

Tim obsessively thought the impossible, Bruce was alive, to the point of it almost killing him. Jason hadn't actually died so Bruce also must be alive too. He had only lost his parents a couple of years earlier, he couldn't loose another person. But when he is proven without a doubt that he is wrong, all that obsession turns to grief.

Damian had only known his father for barely three years. And when he met his father he cried tears of joy for Jason and not for him. Dick cried tears of joy for him though, many times, and Damian knows that Dick loves him in every stupid little thing he does. He just doesn’t think his father ever had. (its hard understand that people love different from the memories of a child.)

#dc #SoA AU #batfam #batman #too many others to tag #but I havent really talked out Cass in this AU I'm still a little on the fence about details but she comes in when Jason is 'Dead' and she's #adopted and starts using her assassin skills #for good #but her past plauges her like canon #anyway I take canon liberties with everyone #and then make them work for a smaller scale cuz this au is ultimately about normal(ish) people dealing with shitty hands over and over again

395 notes · View notes

radiohead-spiderman · 4 months

Text

Current day Wolfstar(let me preface this by saying, you should take liberties when it comes to these character, JKR sucks, these are just my gripes with how the fandom currently perceives these two)

Aka I’m annoyed so I’m making it everyone else’s problem. The “stupid feminine Sirius who’s 5’4 and who’s oh so much uglier than Remus, and he’s basically just a charity case!” STOP IT, stop it stop it, stop it. I have zero problem with feminine Sirius, go wild, my problem is with relating femininity to weakness and stupidity.

Also, I am so, SO sick of “big alpha 6’5 hot Gryffindor Casanova Remus Lupin”, not only does it not make sense, it’s annoying, and it reinforces gender roles. Remus Lupin spent his whole life being told he was basically a big scary monster, who can’t be around other children, HOW do you think he would react to being perceived as this big angry asshole with no regard for the people around him?

ALSO, Remus Lupin was NOT drop dead gorgeous, I’m sorry to say, he was not the hottest guy around(that is still my darling man and I will not tolerate anything against my darling man), he was a scrawny werewolf with scars, and premature lines and shabby clothing, if anything, he looked like an anemic average British man in the seventies, if not below average.

Sirius was literally “Hogwarts’ pretty boy”. I’m not saying this to make Remus seem like a charity case, because, wolfstar is pointless when you make one the “man” or “woman”, or “hot” and “ugly”, i’m saying this because Casanova Remus Lupin annoys me, if ANYONE was “Casanova of Gryffindor Tower” it was Sirius Black. (I also think people forget the negative connotation with the term “Casanova”, which is sometimes annoying to see when talking about Remus, or Sirius)

Also, I could talk about how canonically, Sirius was the tallest marauder, or how a huge part of his character was HOW hot he was, I could talk about how he was hotter than Regulus, i COULD talk about how Remus wasn’t the smartest marauder, I could talk about how Sirius is canonically an overly clever wizard, I could talk about how if anyone is aggressive between the two, it was Sirius, but, I don’t think I will, because that will seem like I’m trying to push Sirius being the “aggressive man” of the two, and Remus being the “ugly woman” of the two, and I don’t believe that,

Wolfstar has now become just a way to reinforce gender roles on two characters, and that’s gross, making Remus the smart aggressive “man” of the relationship, and Sirius the stupid small “woman” of the relationship, is just gross dude.

Wolfstar doesn’t HAVE to fall into gender norms, that’s not necessary, neither of them HAVE to be the “man” or “woman”, that’s NOT necessary.

Remus being a funky looking guy, while Sirius is a hot nepo baby, is so beautiful, and it makes their relationship so much more interesting than “man aggressive and hot” and “woman ugly but pretty and pathetic”.

Anyways, let Remus be a skrunkly little man, and let Sirius be hot, also STOP ASSIGNING GENDER ROLES TO THEM OH MY GOOOOOD DHFBFJDJCJ

215 notes · View notes

dellalyra · 8 months

Text

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 - ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ ꜰᴏʀᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ

pixie says: i am healing and yes - i have written family formations. this is my fix it fic - canon be damned. family formations is happiness only. this fic is what i would like to see as the ending of the final battle of jjk. cw: angsty at the start, but also sweet, bittersweet stuff, canon typical gore, creative liberties and lots of spoilers if you’re not okay w that go away and mdni bc I said so.

“I won’t ask you not to go.”

“Good. I wouldn’t listen to you anyway.”

“Yaknow, when we were 16 I thought your stubbornness would ease off with age.”

“You’re the one who married me.”

“Best choice I ever made.”

You can’t help but smile at the man laying on the bed beside where you stood. Black and blue bruises fading to green on his usually unmarred skin evidence of the toll the fight took on his body - which he barely escaped with his life. The deep laceration on his stomach only stemmed by the work of your best friend who had cried into your arms several days prior saying she had been terrified she couldn’t save him for you, for the kids.

Yet, she did.

She saved him, and your son.

Your son who spent most of his time asleep, body recovering from weeks of torture and mind melding itself back together with love and care.

Your husband’s cursed energy was burnt out. The usual bottomless pit was drained to bring him back to you and extract your son from his own body. He was injured, his eyes were okay, all six of them and he’s alive and he’s safe and he’s okay.

Then the announcement came.

You all knew it would come.

The final challenge.

Kenjaku’s challenge.

There was no dissuading Yuuji, not ever but especially now he knows the truth of his parentage. Choso too, pain and suffering bottled for 150 years is a powerful motivator. Yuuta - he was going to protect everyone, no matter who he had to face. Inumaki? Was not leaving Yuuta to face this without him. Maki’s rage fuelled a fire within her, the loss of so many people making her ready to ‘bitch slap’ him, as she so delicately put.

To top it all off.

You.

Like hell were you letting these kids go alone. Were you scared? Infinitely. Only a fool would say they weren’t. You knew the risks, a widower, a baby without a mother, weddings you’d never see.

They were risks you had to take.

For Megumi. For Yuuji. Two boys who deserve a love filled future.

For Tsumiki. Your daughter snatched from your hands.

For Nanami. A brother in arms, a best friend, a mentor and a godfather.

For Akio - to grow up safe.

For your ‘Toru. He deserved to not fight anymore. He deserved peace - you both did. He deserved the life you spoke about at night in bed curled in his arms.

For Geto. For the man who was your brother in all but blood. For one half of a whole. For a future ripped apart by trauma and a body desecrated.

Satoru knew you’d go. He held you tight as his wounds would allow and protested his attendance but you and Shoko pointed out to him that his current condition would make him someone to be protected - not vice versa.

He grit his teeth and cursed.

He believed in you. Your strength and courage and immense abilities.

But that didn’t make him any less scared.

He wondered if this was how you felt.

Megumi has been sleeping for going on 24 hours now. You don’t wake him. Neither does Yuuji.

Satoru looks at you.

You sit on the bed beside him.

“Satoru. We both know this might now work in our favour. We both know I might not -” you start, breath shaky but determined.

“Absolutely not. Don’t you dare say it, Princess.” He says, grasping your cheek.

“Satoru. Listen to me. If I don’t come back, I want to go with the knowledge you’ve heard all of this. If I die, take Megumi - go find Akio, bring Shoko and the students. Leave Japan. No more fighting, I want you to live. I want you to see our sons first day of school, Megumi’s graduation, all of it. I want your world filled with love and happiness even if I lose I don’t want to be avenged. Fuck vengeance, just live. Live for our boys, make a shrine for ‘Miki, and Suguru, and Nanamin.” You say, tears flowing.

“Y/N, please - please don’t talk -” Satoru says, head buried in your neck.

“I have to. It’s important to me. You deserve to live, ‘toru. You deserve love, and happiness.”

“How can I have those if you’re not there?” He says.

“Because we have two beautiful boys who adore their daddy very much, and I’d never be gone completely. You - Gojo Satoru - have been the light of my life, the blood in my veins and the air in my lungs since we were 16. I am so, so grateful to have had you in this life, and I know you love me the same.” You say, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“I’ve loved you since the moment you got mad at me for picking a daisy a ladybug sat on. I can’t imagine an existence without you, and it runs so deep that I think my soul has merged with yours. You have always, always, been everything to me - and every day I’ve loved you more. My, sweet, brave girl.�� He chokes.

All you can do is let out a watery laugh as you kiss him, soft and gentle.

“You made me promise to come home. I need you to do the same, princess.” He says, and you stick out a pinky finger which he takes in his own.

“Pinky promise.” You say, because you’re going to do everything to come home to your boys.

You stand, and yelp as a large hand smacks the globe of your asscheek.

“Go kick some cursed booty, Princess.” He says, smiling.

“Aye, aye, captain.” You blow him as kiss and he catches it, pretending to eat it.

The door softly closes behind you.

Seeing Kenjaku again was jarring. Satoru was right, your eyes saw Geto - but your soul knew otherwise. An oppressive power circled him as he teased and taunted before Choso lunged and the battle begun.

Curses swarmed like locusts all around, and you all moved in perfect formation - you fought back a comment that the mornings they grumbled at training were worthwhile after all.

Inumaki brought up the rear, a layer of protection casting an eye over the battlefield.

Maki - wasn’t the Maki you saw the last time you witness her in action. She’s lethal, a hurricane of destruction and terrifying rage as she brutally slaughters all in her path, and you swell with pride.

Yuuji and Yuuta - seamless in tandem with each other as strong fists flung them toward Yuuta’s swinging blade as they cleared a path to the centre.

Choso was engaged directly with Kenjaku - screams of rage and fury built of years of trauma swirled through the air along with shards of pure crimson as father and son clashed.

You were everyone’s back up, flashes of green pulsing around as soon as anyone became too close for your comfort to any of the others, protection second nature in your subconscious as you ripped through enemies with dagger and claws, ripping limb from limb to exorcise the curses and the raw grief in your body.

Out of the corner of your eye, a lethal looking serpentine curse lunged toward Yuuji - currently wrestling another monstrosity and you knew he hadn’t noticed it - you wouldn’t get there in time. Just as you shouted his name as it was inches from his head a whizzing rushed past your ear and toward the curse, which you saw crumble in a heap beside a gaping Itadori.

You move to run to him, but you don’t get far before a voice sounds from behind you.

“Looks like I still need to do everything around here, eh, Itadori?”

That voice.

You both spin on your heels, and behind you, hammer in hand - stood Nobara Kugisaki.

You blinked.

Presumed dead, as Shoko had refused to speak of it - she had done it.

Shoko had healed her too, and black leather eyepatch covered one side of her face but she was smirking, a hand on her hip.

“No fucking way! ‘Bara!” Yuuji says, barrelling toward her - his honorary twin sister.

He scoops her up and she thrashes.

“Put me down you oaf! I nearly died, don’t kill me again!” She shouted.

“You’re really here, Nobara?” You say, tears flooding your eyes.

“As fabulous as ever, Y/N-sensei.” She winked and threw herself into your arms.

“Eh - as much as I love this vibe guys could I have some help please, Itadori?” Comes the voice of Yuuta, snapping you all out of it as Yuuji drops his best friend and runs away to him calling ‘sorry, senpai!’.

Nobara runs to your left - to provide back up for Maki as the frenzy resumes.

Hours pass, but before you can comprehend how many - all that’s left is a smirking Kenjaku surrounded by 7 warriors.

You stride forward, dropping your blades and stopping right in front of him.

“What are you doing?!” Shouts Maki.

The clatter of the daggers is sharp against the silence. Kenjaku’s blank face looks down at you.

“I know you’re in there Nii-chan. I know you can hear me. I’m sorry we couldn’t save you, but we love you. All of us. ‘Toru and I had a baby, you’d love him. I’m also sorry for what I’m about to do.” You say.

In the blink of an eye, you whirl back your fist and drive it straight into his nose. The curse reels as he stumbles - unexpected force from your smaller body fueled by rage.

The momentary distraction works as you begin to pull out your trump card - hoping to weaken him before he can use his.

You hear Inumaki shout ‘shield your eyes’ to all the kids as your body begins to emit a strong, golden light - searing everything in its path as a screech echoes from Kenjaku - the tarmac beneath you bubbling from the energy emitted as you shout: “Cursed Technique - forbidden technique - sunbeam.”

As the screeching ends, and the light fades it’s visible effect is clear as patches of skin have melted from the body leaving bone exposed and the top of the head protecting the brain of Kenjaku is exposed - with you panting on your knees as Kenjaku attempts to regain himself. The fury on his face alerts Yuuji who grabs Choso who immediately understands, running toward you to scoop you up and away. Yuuji barrels toward and everyone begins to scream as you see Kenjaku’s hand making the sign required.

Uzumaki.

You all brace for impact but the shockwave and death of Yuuji never came. When your eyes all open, a black dome is covering the area both men were. It’s solid surface impenetrable - no matter who you were. Just as you think to summon your domain to override you look - that’s not a domain with traces of Kenjaku.

Those traces…

Yuuji Itadori.

“Stop! Stop! No domains!” You shout to the kids.

“What?!” Maki responds.

“It’s not Kenjaku’s. This domain - its Yuuji’s. This is Yuuji’s domain! He did it!” You say, beaming - pride and astonishment mixed with exhaustion.

“She’s right. This is my brothers energy.” Choso agrees.

“Holy shit, it is.” Nobara chimes in.

“We can only wait.” Yuuta says, anxiously leaning on his sword.

This battle was between the two in the domain now, having no idea what Yuuji’s domain would be left you all blind.

You were gently sat on the ground, a characteristic you learned was intrinsic to Choso by now - someone who you have grown to count as a very special friend over the last few months.

You wait.

And wait.

Nobara curled up beside you, as Maki filled her in on all she’d missed. You didn’t miss the whimper when she was told of Megumi’s imprisonment.

And after 20 minutes, Inumaki’s soft voice jolts you all.

“Look.”

The domain was fading, melting from above.

It lowered like melting ice and the dust within cleared until a backlit figure stood beside a crumpled lump on the ground. The figure was heaving air into their lungs.

The body walked forward.

“YUUJI!” Came 7 voices.

The lump. Kenjaku. Corpse mangled and bloody and a grizzly mass of brain matter was coating the ground as slowly disintegrating into dust.

He did it.

He killed Kenjaku.

“Little brother, you did it! Are you hurt?” Choso grasped his exhausted younger brother and Yuuji shook his head and you saw a weak smile on his bloodied face.

“Y/N?” Itadori rasps.

“Yes, sweet boy?” You smile, hand on his cheek and tears on your face.

“Can we go home now?” He says.

You huff out laughing.

“Let’s go home, sweetheart.”

Yuuta on one side and Choso on the other, helping the exhausted boy - they all began to walk away.

“Are you coming?” Nobara asks, as you crouch down beside the corpse.

You whip out your phone, clicking a contact and pressing the share location button.

“You guys go ahead. I’ll be there soon. Yuuta, help patch up Yuuji.”

They all exchange looks but go ahead anyway.

You sit down. Looking at the body, and fix the top part of the head so it sits where it should.

Before long, you hear footsteps behind you and someone sits beside you.

“He’d go crazy if he saw his hair that messy.” Shoko huffed.

“He’d probably blame Satoru.” You respond and she smirks, lighting a cigarette.

“You hurt?” She asks.

“No. Just… tired.” You say, leaning your head on the shoulder of your best friend.

“Me too.” She leans to close his eyes.

“He would have been so proud of all of us, Koko. He always said you’d look hot in a lab coat.”

“He would have had Akio hanging from him 24/7 too, kids always loved him for some reason.” She mentions and you both laugh. Her head rests on yours.

There’s silence for a few minutes.

“He looks peaceful, doesn’t he? Like how he used to look when he’d sleep on my lap under the tree.” Shoko says, voice thick.

“We can pretend for a moment that he is just asleep.” You say.

“I’m glad Satoru isn’t here.” You confess and she nods.

“Koko?” You whisper.

“Yeah?” She says, squishing her cigarette out.

“We can take him home now. Do it right.” You say, tears forming again.

“Somewhere close, so I can sit and have a smoke with him sometimes.” She agrees.

You stand, holding your hand out - the remnants of your cursed energy forming a floating box of vines around the body, neither of you could carry him so you’d create a way to transport him home.

You turn your hand to her, the vines levitating behind you.

She grabs your hand.

“Let’s go see your husband.” She says, wiping her face as you walk hand in hand back to base.

Walking toward healing, and a safe future.

#jjk #jjk x reader #gojo satoru #gojo satoru x reader #gojo x reader #gojo fluff #family formations extras #jjk spoilers #family formations #gojo angst

181 notes · View notes

oharamwah · 10 months

Text

♡ — accidentally more than friends : you and lyla end up spending your entire day gossiping about your new work boyfriend. → 2.0k

boyfriend!miguel o’hara x fem!reader

contents : bff lyla, softie miguel, suggestive jokes, cursing, situationship (the good kind) — also i imply that miguel built lyla which i know canonically he didn’t but just let it slide :p

this idea came to me while i was trying to sleep oopsies

posted july 23rd - edited

you’ve recently gotten into a relationship with your boss, miguel o’hara. well, situationship. it’s confusing, it’s sort of a will they, won’t they scenario. anyway — while the general public deem a staff member fraternizing with the boss as unprofessional, being romantically involved with miguel while working in the spider society was actually way simpler than it sounded.

it’s safe to say that you owe that liberty to the carelessness of it all. you see, this wasn’t the typical workplace. the spider-society is built up of over a hundred spider-people, why should they all focus on just you two?

it started when you created a habit of greeting miguel every morning, sometimes with two cups of coffee in your hands. it’s what you call a butterfly effect; what started off as a friendly gesture, slowly developed into “so what are you up to today?”’s and “tell me more about _,”’s. you may as well be crowned anomaly of the year, because no one has been able to get as close to miguel as you did. someone he actually felt he could chat comfortably and have a coffee with. this friendship escalated quickly though.

it was just innocently sending each other kind smiles behind closed doors, until it was impulsively making out in secret, only to then swear you’ll never do it again… you do. a lot.

and eventually, miguel starts inviting you over to watch a movie, and then to spend the night, cuddling each other to sleep “as friends.”

you both became accustomed to your little daily routine.

today, you wake up in miguel’s bed, but miguel isn’t there. you groggily reach over to his side of the mattress and feel around for his warmth, but you’re greeted with empty linen sheets. this was normal for miguel, he’d often leave for work without you as he had to be there everyday, you only a few times a week.

it takes you a minute to get up, your eyes are blurry from the shift in lighting and your legs are a bit weak (not like that). you shuffle your feet as you make your way to his kitchen to have a glass of water. and that’s when you notice — miguel left his watch on the dining table.

you recognize it — everyone at spider-society wears the same watch, but miguel’s is slightly different. on miguel’s watch is a small hologram display doohickey (you have no clue) which you know to be how miguel talks to lyla, his ai assistant.

you quickly grow curious of this. miguel never lets you mess around with his tools, let alone his own special crafted assistant. he was certain that if you and lyla ever crossed paths, it’d only end in you having a laughing fit and lyla glitching in excitement. not that he didn’t like when you laughed, he loves your laugh. just not when it’s about him.

you reflect for a moment. ‘it would be wrong to snoop and disobey your boss, y/n,’ you think to yourself. but the devil on your shoulder begs to differ.

‘but you’re special, right? he said you’re his favourite.’

‘but he specifically told you not to,’

it was a seemingly endless back and forth of you either checking out the watch or calling him to tell him he forgot it. but you know what they say, curiosity killed the cat.

in the midst of you fiddling around with the watch, a holographic screen pops up, making you jump.

“OMIGOSH, girl in miguel’s HOME!” a small voice says, squealing in excitement. “i have been dying to meet you,” it adds. you know that voice, it’s lyla.

“lyla? god miguel did an amazing job with you.” you praise, inspecting every inch of her outfit and hair.

she twirls around, her big fluffy coat forming a frilly umbrella and her pink heart shades twinkling as she did. “didn’t he? who knew he could create something so fabulous.” she joked. you chuckle.

“it’s so cool to finally talk to you,” you say with a sigh. your eyes are glued to lyla as you find a seat on miguel’s living room couch. “miguel never let me see you.”

“ugh, babes, he never let me see you! i’ve been waiting to find out who’s been raising his heart rate every morning.”

this information sends you into shock. his heart rate rises every morning? is it when he sees you? you feel your ears go warm at the tips and the redness begins spreading to your cheeks.

“his heart rate rises?” you ask, your interest in lyla skyrocketing. “what do you mean?”

“well, every morning around the same time, someone comes into miguel’s workspace and it gets him all excited if y’know what i mean.” lyla winks at you. you’re a little less convinced.

“oh please, he doesn’t get excited when he sees me.”

“sweetie, he so does. trust me, i have all his health stats.” she brags, a knowing smile on her face. your face warms up again. ‘he’s happy to see me,’ you think. you’re used to miguel being sweet to you, you have made out several times and he has accepted all your morning coffees. but to know that you yourself, you in your being, your presence was all it took for his heart to beat a little faster?

“what else do you know?” you inquire, too intrigued to leave it there. although you and miguel almost silently decided that you two were “just good friends” (who get awfully intimate) you just couldn’t help yourself. it’s a known fact that miguel can be a dick, but it’s also a known fact that he does not lack in the looks department.

miguel is an exceptionally tall man with an incredibly muscular build, and even though he isn’t trying, his hair falls perfectly on his head with only a few strands tickling his forehead. he has intense scarlet eyes that pierce through the eyes of any other, and it’s rare, but when he smiles, the warmth could bring you to melt.

moreover, he’s kind to you. he’s attentive, rarely ever letting you out of his sight. he’s humble, but he’s intelligent. he never fails to impress you with his quick thinking.

at least to you, he’s the most wonderful man you’ve ever known — though you are the only person who’s seen the softest of his soft side. you were lucky, you knew a good man under his thick skin.

the day you realized you were falling for miguel was just like any other day. you were at work, completing one of the training tasks miguel had set up for you. you found yourself at a particularly difficult step; you had to swing from pillar to pillar. sure, shouldn’t be a problem for spiderwoman, but webs were always your weak point, no matter how much you practiced. you had been at it for hours, so close to giving up and calling it a day, but someone approaches the doorway of the training room and clears their throat.

“need a hand there, spider?”

his grip was set on your waist and his face was just a little too close to yours that day. his hair smelled good, his hands were big and rough, but his touch was gentle. he’s clean shaven, his breaths were calm, he was patient with you.

so that brings you to where you are now: sitting on miguel’s couch while he’s at work, wearing nothing but your tiny shorts and one of his cotton tees, and you’re having the time of your life chit chatting with his ai assistant.

“so yeah,” lyla laughed, gasping for air. “he was just super gassy that day for no reason-“ she tried to continue, but you were interrupted by the faint sound of keypad beeps and the sound of the front door.

“hey, y/n i think i left my watch,” you hear miguel say. you and lyla give each other an “oh shit” look as miguel walks into the living room and sees you two, both sitting reaaaal comfortably.

“heeeyyy miguel!” lyla says, acting as if you two chatting was a normal everyday occurrence.

“y/n… did you.. are you..” miguel is too stunned to speak. it wasn’t a big deal really, for you and lyla to meet, but miguel knew lyla. he made her. he knew what type of cards she’d pull.

“miguel,” you say with a sheepish smile. “lyla and i were just.. catching up!” you excuse. miguel gives you a look. not one of anger or disappointment, just a “really.” look. he sighs and sits beside you.

“lyla, shut off.” he says, and lyla has no choice but to follow.

“she didn’t say anything weird, did she?” he asks. you can see his cheeks are slightly red and his eyebrows express slight worry. you shake your head. “noo..”

miguel knows you’re lying, and he sighs again, shaking his head and pinching his nose bridge. “what did she tell you?” he said, expecting the worst.

“well… she told me about that one day you couldn’t stop burping.” you confess. miguel groans which makes you laugh. you straighten your posture and place a hand on his broad shoulder.

“please, miguel it’s not bad! it happens to the best of us!” you laugh, trying to console the big tough guy who’s now sitting in his living room, embarrassed in front of the girl he likes.

he looks at you painfully, his cheeks even more red tinted than 30 seconds ago.

“if it makes you feel better..” you start, “she also told me something good about you.”

miguel furrows his brows and rests his chin on his palm, confused as to what kind of good news lyla could have. you smile shyly.

“she told me you get happier when you see me,” you say, your tone no longer teasing.

miguel exhales a small laugh, tilting his head at you. “she told you that?” he said with a small smile that almost says “yeah, right.”

you nod. “she said your heart beat rises when i come in,” you add. you’re beginning to think maybe you should be embarrassed. what if lyla was wrong?

miguel thinks for a second, staring into your eyes, his smile not fading.

“i guess the heart sensor doesn’t lie, huh,” he says, breaking his silence. “she’s not wrong.”

she isn’t? so it’s true?

“i do feel better when you’re with me.” he says, still not breaking the eye contact.

‘is it hot in here or is it just me…’

the atmosphere in the room is no longer awkward, but as if you and miguel are just chatting.

“you do?” you ask, still in doubt. ‘it can’t be..’

miguel nods. “why do you think i invite you over all the time? i like your company.”

now he’s just messing with you. no way all of this is true, right? you two are just good friends, right?

“miguel,” you sigh. fuck it.

“i like you miguel.”

miguel stays still. he’s still looking at you with those gorgeous scarlet eyes that you love, and the small smile on his face has grown into a bigger one.

“like, like like.” you add.

“oh, like like.” he says wittingly.

“i know you do, y/n.” he adds. scratch ‘humble’ off that list of traits you love…

“you didn’t think you could fool me with the amount of times you’ve mumbled my name in your sleep? or the amount of times you’ve come to my office just to ‘say good morning’?”

he does those stupid air quotes you hate.

“well…… yeah..” you say, your head hanging lower than before. you feel a little dumb.

miguel chuckles, “don’t worry, it’s cute,” he sighs. “you’re real cute, spider.” the nickname has a different feeling today. before, it wasn’t so special. you worked in the spider-society for gods sake. but for some reason, in this moment, you felt like the only spiderwoman in his entire world.

“i like like you too, y/n. incase i had you fooled.”

the day went on, miguel decided to stay home a little longer. a several hour exchange of lovely stories of realizing your shifts in feelings for each other and numerous sweet kisses followed your confessions.

will they, won’t they.

#atsv fanfiction #miguel o'hara #spiderman atsv #miguel o’hara i love you #miguel ohara x fem!reader #miguel ohara fluff #miguel ohara angst #miguel ohara fanfiction #miguel ohara scenario #miguel ohara x reader

282 notes · View notes

saulocept · 1 year

Text

you know i’m such a fool for you

pairing: ominis gaunt/reader

rating: g

summary: Sometimes, four simple words can mean the world. You didn’t know it then, don’t know it even now. But maybe it’s still not too late to change your mind.

background notes: took a lot of liberties w this so everything’s all vague and messy - some canon things are alluded to, but no explicit spoilers? full tags include: implied love triangles, implied sebastian sallow/reader. for a more detailed explanation, read the ending notes.

ending notes: originally this was going to be a poly fic - it kinda still is depending on how you interpret the ending, but it could also be read as a resolution to an alluded love triangle. i still however want that poly so i might write a companion part for this, rather than a direct sequel. or you know. just a new thing but w poly still (more established, less establishing). if you agree w me and have some ideas for prompts, head onto my inbox!

The night is quiet, the skies bright with countless stars. It’s almost a strange sight, certainly different from what you’re used to, and it’s odd – you feel odd. You’ve never been this at peace before, or calm. It’s a strange sensation to feel, especially when you’re used to always being on high alert, waiting for the next bad thing to happen, for the next tragedy to drop, afraid that every smidge of happiness will be quickly taken away.

You’re not used to it, not really, but as you glance around your surroundings: the moon on the horizon, close enough that you could almost reach out and touch it, you think you might be wrong for once. It’s really over now, you think. A moment of peace, even if it might not always last. Still, the thought of it is a huge weight off your shoulders and you feel as if you can finally breathe, relax.

You don’t know why you’re here, not really. All you know was that you couldn’t sleep and you felt the need to wander, take your mind off things. The next thing you know, you’re already outside the academy grounds, visiting a place you’ve frequented before, though not anymore.

As far as everyone’s concerned, it’s an abandoned building, off-limits to everyone, especially students. There were even rumors of a ghost lurking around at one point, though in all the times you’ve been here, you’ve never encountered one. Most likely a scare tactic, you suppose, to keep the students from being too curious, nosy. It worked well enough, anyway, and in your favor too; in a matter of months, this has become your most favorite place, the only thing you could call yours.

Home, you think, if home could be anywhere in the world right now. Still, it hasn’t been home for a while now, not after everything that’s happened. There’s too much memory in here, too much feeling, lingering around the corners like a miasma. The things you’ve never said out loud, things you wish you could change. If you could take it all back and redo it all over it again, would you do it?

But you’re not here to dwell on past regrets. Absently, you wander around the place, trying to see what’s changed, if anything even has. It looks just like it always did, if not a little older, more… abandoned. There’s rust everywhere now, spots of them scattered here and there, looking too much like dried blood that it makes you nervous. You shove your hands in your pockets, trying to find what little warmth you could in this place, and it works but not nearly enough.

Still, you press on, reconnecting what you know of the past to what you’re seeing now in the present. Ever since you’ve stopped visiting, there seems not to be any fresh activity. You snort, then shake your head at the thought. What would you expect? You’re only one of the few people who know about this place, and if there’s one thing you’re absolutely certain of, it’s that none of them would be inclined to share. You’d each considered this place sacred once, sacrosanct, and maybe there’s something of that sacredness still lingering somewhere.

A piece of a memory you’re still reluctant to let go of just yet. Something that binds you still, even if you’re no longer inseparable. You wander around the place, glancing here and there, trying not to get lost too much in memories, nostalgia. Once upon a time, it wouldn’t have just been you doing the wandering, but it’s all in the past now, and you’re all alone. Not that it matters. You’d made your choice then, and it’s time to live with it now.

As it turns out, you’re not exactly all alone. There’s a figure in the corner, standing against the railing, watching the stars or maybe just lost in thoughts, reminiscing. You can’t really tell from a distance, and from where you stand, it’s not easy to see who it is. Their face is cloaked in shadows, almost hidden from view.

All you can make out is that they’re taller, not quite familiar. He’s wearing a robe unlike you, so at the very least, it means that he’s a student. Unfortunately, there are as many students in the academy as there are stars in the sky. You square your shoulders as you slowly walk over to where they are, wishing that you’d somehow had the foresight to bring your wand.

“Hey,” the figure says as soon as you’re close enough. Familiar, you think, unmistakable, though it takes you a moment to match the name.

“Ominis,” you say, coming to stand beside him. You lean against the railing, careful to keep some distance between you, because as close as you were with him once, you’re not those people anymore. Or maybe he isn’t. Maybe you’re the only one who’s changed. “How’d you know it’s me?”

“Your footsteps.” The corners of his lips twitch in amusement. “You haven’t changed at all, you know.”

“Haven’t I?” you ask, tearing your eyes away from him to stare at the sky above you: bright, twinkling with stars, infinite with every possibility. You don’t feel the same at all. You never have. Some days, you look at a mirror and you don’t even recognize yourself. Maybe there’s never an old you somewhere. Maybe all you’ve got are his memories of you and nothing else.

“Maybe you have,” he replies, conceding. From the corners of your eyes, you catch him drumming his fingers against the railing, humming under his breath as he thinks. “But there’s still the old you in there somewhere.”

“And you can tell how?” you can’t help the bite in your voice, the sharpness. It comes out automatically, some kind of reflex, and you mentally curse yourself because you’re not here to fight, to ruin things between you once again. Still, you’re not sure if you’re here to patch things up.

He seems unfazed by your sudden shift in tone. “Because I know you,” he replies, says the words like they’re the most obvious thing in the world. The only thing. Then, very quietly, he adds: “Like the back of my hand.”

Do you, is what you want to ask him, because it’s true. Does he still know you after everything you’ve done? Would he still want to? But instead, you hum under your breath, let it go, nodding in agreement because it’s easier and you don’t have to pretend. Or deal with the consequences, the weight of all the things unsaid. Are you even ready to hear his answer?

Instead, you change the subject: “What are you doing here?”

“To think,” he replies with a hum. He’s quiet for a second, thoughtful. “I’ve got a lot on my mind lately.”

“You can tell me all about it,” you say, the words spilling out of you instinctive and automatic. A learned reflex, dug up from a past you’ve already long left behind, buried in an attempt to forget. Once upon a time, it’s the first thing you’ll say. This line of conversation is familiar – a scene acted out so many times it’s embedded in you, impossible to forget. You almost expect him to play along with it, complaining like he used to when you were both still younger, stupid. More naïve.

“Like old times, huh?” he jokes, laughing just a little. There’s a tiny smile playing about the corners of his lips, but then he shakes his head, looks away, the smile fading, disappearing. He huffs out a quiet breath, almost like a sigh, then tilts his head skyward, quiet for the longest time. Briefly, you wonder if he could see the beauty of the sky, could sense how things seem to have changed. If he could sense that same changes in you. “It’s nothing.”

If you were still the old you, it would’ve been easy to coax the answers out of him, get him to spill the truth. You’d always had a way with him, after all, as he’d told you once. But you’re not that person anymore. You haven’t been for a long time. You shrug, turn away from him. You don’t miss the disappointed look he gives you, sharp as a dagger to the heart. “If you say so.”

It's getting late now, and neither of you have said anything else. Or made an excuse to leave. It feels odd, standing here beside him, basking in the silence, that gentle atmosphere you’ve almost forgot until now. You’ve been expecting conversations, accusations, an argument or two – perhaps even a fight, or something close to it. What you’re not expecting, however, is the complete silence between you: natural, comfortable, as though this were in the past, where everything’s perfect, where nothing bad has happened just yet.

There’s a part of you that wishes he’d demand you for answers. Or get angry. It’s more believable, anyway, and you’d know how to deal with him then. You’ve spent nights tossing and turning in your sleep, dreaming about this moment, wondering what he’d say to you when you see each other again.

There’s a thousand different ways this meeting could go. You’ve played out the scenarios, conjured the possibilities, each one slightly different. This isn’t on any of them. With a frown, you watch him from the corners of your eyes, keeping yourself alert for any changes. He looks like he always has, that same face you see in your dreams, only older, slightly different. And he’s smiling, too: the kind of smile that used to make your heart flutter because it’s pretty, it’s serene – it’s all for you.

You’re not expecting that. He looks content, genuinely so, and for a second, it feels like you’re back in the past again, spending time with him because you’re friends, because you want to, because it’s what friends do, and it hurts. He shouldn’t be happy, or content, especially not with you. Not with everything you’ve done. And yet he is, and it only serves to make you more guilty.

You turn your head, stare at him. He’s not stupid, you know, and yet it’s odd that he hasn’t breathed a word about your past. What you did. What you said. Why you fought. You figure that it’d come up between you sooner or later, but he hasn’t yet. Has he truly forgot? Or is he trying to get you to lower your guard, be the first to give in? You can’t tell, and it’s at this moment that you wish there’s a spell to allow you to read his mind.

“What is it?” he asks, turns his head in your direction. “You look like you want to say something.”

“I don’t.”

“You’ve been staring at me since earlier,” he shoots back. When you still don’t say anything, he frowns, continues. “And I can tell when you’re lying, you know. We wouldn’t be friends if I don’t know you like the back of my hand.”

His voice has grown softer, fonder, and there’s that phrase again, the one you’re beginning to hate with a passion because it isn’t true, and it hasn’t been for a long time.

You purse your lips together, stare at him blankly. Your voice is quiet now, barely audible even in the silence. “Do you?”

He gives you a smile, though it’s more bittersweet than anything. “Don’t I?”

You shake your head, breathe out a sigh, looking away from him. It’s no use starting an argument. You don’t even know why you’re being like this: prickly and combative, but you suppose you’ve got so used to it that you find it hard to be anything else. It’s always easier like this, after all. “I’m sorry,” you say, and the words feel strange on your tongue, almost foreign. “I don’t want to argue.”

“Is that what we’re doing?” he hums. He sounds almost amused. “Arguing?”

“No,” you say, and then frown. It’s true enough, isn’t it? You’re not arguing and yet you’re not conversing either, because having a conversation means addressing the elephant in the room – you. How you still haven’t apologized to him before: for betraying him, breaking his heart. Choosing someone else, and finally, the worst sin of all: siding against him. How you haven’t reached out to him after all that, and how you probably never will if things had gone your way.

Since when did you change into someone who doesn’t know how to apologize? Someone who couldn’t acknowledge their own mistakes, or the fact that they hurt the only few people who loved them?

It’d be better if he’d just called you out on it, demanded it from you. Apologies, answers. Something that would’ve made him understand you better. Or perhaps even revenge, just to get back at you for all you’d put him through. It’d be easier, you’re sure of it. It’ll be what you deserve.

But he’s quiet, still not saying anything, and that alone already feels like a trap. You give him a sideways glance, catching the smile on his lips: soft, warm. Familiar. This close, he looks almost like an angel – a saint, someone who could give you the absolution you want, the forgiveness you needed. (There’s a voice in the back of your head, asking you the right question: do you even deserve it?)

You close your eyes, suck in a deep breath. “Ominis, I—”

He stops you quickly, cuts you off before the words could even leave your lips. “I know.”

You stare at him, blinking a few times. You can’t keep the surprise out of your voice, or that hint of confusion, growing by the second. “Do you?”

“Of course,” he says, and here, his voice has grown softer again, warmer. There’s a familiar ache in your chest, a recognizable flutter in the pit of your stomach. Like in the past, you think. But you’re not in there now; you’re here in the present, watching as he slowly reaches for you, fumbling for your hand in the dark, takes it in his. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

You don’t say anything to that, because you aren’t sure how true it is anymore. Sure, you’d been friends once, perhaps even more at one point, but it’s all in the past now, isn’t it? Now you’re not even sure where you stand with him, or where he’s going with this.

But he’s relentless, refusing to give up. You don’t stop him, don’t push him away even as he moves a little, inching ever closer to you – not close enough to overwhelm, but still enough that you could feel him beside you: a steady presence, real and solid and warm. “And I told you before, didn’t I?”

It’s a weird feeling, letting him hold your hand, allowing him to be this close. Not exactly in a bad way, you think – just odd, mostly because you’re just not used to it anymore. Still, you can’t deny the comfort this little gesture brings you. Even now, this part of you still hasn’t changed. Maybe he’d been wrong all along. Maybe he’s the one who has a way with you, after all. You eye him curiously, licking your lips before you speak. “Told me what?”

When he realizes you’re not pulling away, he turns to give you a smile, squeezes your hand once: careful, gentle, like he’s afraid you’re going to walk away if he does anything too much, too fast. But still, the warmth is there, buried beneath everything he wishes to say but can’t. When he speaks again, his voice is quieter, breathless like he’s revealing a secret, some form of weakness – a thing reserved only for you. “That I know you like the back of my hand.”

You’re not sure what to say to that, but maybe you don’t need to. You swallow the lump that forms in your throat, then look up, staring at him for a few more moments, trying to read through his face, his expression, see if he’s lying.

He doesn’t seem like he is. He’s still smiling, though it doesn’t seem fake or forced. He looks content. Satisfied. As though he’s just glad to be here with you again: talking, standing together. Holding your hand. It’s nice, even if you don’t have the courage to admit it just yet.

Hesitantly, you squeeze back, and you’re rewarded by the sight of his smile widening just a little, his eyes crinkling in a way that awakens every single emotion you’ve long since buried. You smile back at him even if he can’t see it, feeling like you can finally breathe again.

#renwrites #ominis gaunt x reader

398 notes · View notes

chaoticbardlady99 · 6 months

Text

Lethal Woman- Chapter 6 (GN! AFAB! Reader x Astarion) 18+ MDNI

Author note- work has kicked my ass left right and center. I also deleted my draft of this chapter like three separate times until I finally wrote something I loved.

CW- mentions of still birth, mentions of miscarriage, smut, fluff (I think? Any emotional intimacy is fluff to me 💀), mentions of torture, mentions of rape/sexual assault, mentions of physical and emotional abuse, violence. (I think that may be all? Also this all looks not awesome, but I promise it’s a lot more awesome than you think and not Uber grotesque.)

It’s been mostly edited and I definitely have chapter 7 basically done so I’m anticipating being happy with my draft by Sunday. Happy reading! Thank you for everyone who likes my little self indulgent angst fic!!!!

Also- please remember I take creative liberties. A good chunk of the Nightmasks are dead canonically (RIP my guys) but for the purpose of this story, they are alive. Oh and the names are hard so forgive me for the lack of consistent spelling lmao

Chapter 7

“Ugly, wretched little thing.”

Dahlia’s term of endearment sticks to your brain like- well- an illithid parasite. You are sitting with Karlach and Shadowheart, each of you on your fourth glass of whatever alcohol you could find as the Tieflings jovially celebrate around you. You want to feel the same warmth and happiness everyone else does, but you are too busy trying to ignore the fact that Alfira and Astarion have been talking since the beginning of the party- Alfira immediately walking up to him with her stupid, beautiful face. And her stupid kind heart and pretty voice.

You liked her enough to be her friend, but now? You are struggling not to haul her off by her horns and kick her into the river in the stinking Owlbear den.

Get yourself together Rowan, it was never going to happen anyway.

“Soldier, you might want to stop burning a hole through the Bard with your eyes- Astarion can’t tolerate fire remember?,” Karlach jests and you give her a sour look.

You hadn’t really talked to Astarion since earlier in the day when he had come to your aid when Priestess Gut had a firm grip on your mind, then he fought by your side while you freed Halsin. You had split up after that, him going to help Shadowheart and Karlach and you off to support Wyll and Gale’s group. The fight against Dror Ragozlin and his crew of misfits was easy and Lae’zel evidently enjoyed getting to fight next to you for once. You wanted to enjoy the moment with your companions, your victory just in your grasp, but you had been somewhat distracted during the battle because Minthara’s thoughts had been so Gods damn loud.

You appeared to be the only one experiencing this problem- you assumed that she is specifically targeting you for a reason, but you couldn’t figure out why until she showed you a different image than the fight in front of her.

It was you, standing over a drow female in Menzoberranzan. The alley way is dark with her blood dripping into the cobblestone. You could feel Minthara’s rage- you had killed her lover.

You remember that contract now- It was one of the few you had received where it was required that the target be mutilated and you hated every second of it. Minthara was one of the few people who had ever managed to almost catch you, but you had evaded her successfully. The picture changed, she showed you a flash from Shadowheart’s perspective- it’s you and Astarion, talking in hushed voices and close to each other by the fire. The scene is far more intimate than you realized and certainly incriminating. Her voice boomed in your head.

You killed my lover. Now I’m going to kill yours.

A scream pierced the air as Karlach cried out for Shadowheart. You watched in horror as Shadowheart hit the stone wall hard and dropped flat on her face- unmoving. Karlach was at her side within seconds, trying to get her to wake up. Then Karlach pitched forward after a spell hit her. Karlach was screaming in terror at the top of her lungs and rolling around in pain. You stared at the scene for what felt like hours- rigid and mortified- until Minthara caught your attention again.

Minthara showed Astarion- fighting for his life against her as her blade nicked him and cut him superficially. Thankfully he is a lot faster than her, but your feet were moving before your brain had time to process your actions. Your rage is all consuming- every part of your body feels like it’s on fire.

Between the use of Ghost Step and Spider Crawl, you made quick work of sneaking into the battlefield. You waited for an opening- Minthara and Astarion were neck and neck, blow for blow before Minthara managed to break one of his daggers and slam the hilt of her longsword atop of his head.

Astarion stumbled backwards and fell over on his side. You tried to suppress your own nausea as you watched him struggle to get up as Minthara began menacingly moving towards him. The bloodlust in her thoughts- you could taste it on your tongue. Vengeance is in her reach, but you are not the same you when Tessa died. You will be damned if this bitch of a woman was going to torture two of your closest friends and kill the one person who has made your barely beating, locked away heart a little less heavy to carry.

You cast Evard’s Black Tentacles and manipulated them so that one vine grabbed Minthara’s right hand and ripped it away from the left- her long sword fell to the ground. You picked it up as she screamed profanities at you.

You manipulated another to wrap around her throat and it pulled her down on her knees- she faced the bridge with horror on her face as you stalked towards her with your vampiric stare. You watched as she confronted her own mortality with angry tears- her tadpole hurled profanities at you in Elvish, Drow elvish, and Common. You just smiled at her, sweetly, slowly, like you had perfected for years now.

Minthara’s tears were running down her face and she fought against the tentacles as they squeezed tighter around her throat and wrists.

The next words you had spoken in Elvish- “Say hi to your lover for me”- before you cut her head clean off her shoulders with her own weapon.

You hadn’t looked at Astarion after you had killed Minthara- you were actually too afraid to see the way he may look at you. Would he be repulsed by you? Afraid? You didn’t want to know.

So now, instead, you are stuck watching him flirt with the feminine, beautiful tiefling that you want to go and feed to the resurrected harpies (they aren’t resurrected- yet). You know it isn’t her fault- you just never stood a chance.

“Roo, really, he is barely focusing on her,” Shadowheart says with a roll of her eyes, “he keeps looking over here at you anyway.”

“Oh I’m sure he is after I brutally murdered someone in front of him,” you cross your arms, your tone laced in venom, “yeah that’s a real attractive quality to have- I am capable of brutal MURDER.”

Shadowheart goes to protest, but Karlach beats her to it.

“I don’t know Soldier, he looked pretty dazzled to me.”

You bust up laughing, choking on some of your wine.

“Dazzled, you say?”

“Razzle DAZZLED!” Karlach offers big explosive hands with her statement, “and I mean- he’s into blood so it’s not like you beheading something is all that damning. Maybe he’s really into it.”.

You choke on your wine again, this time it comes out of your nose. You are both dying laughing now, evidently the alcohol had gotten to your heads. It wasn’t because you were making fun of him- it was just the whole idea itself was so ridiculous and the fact that you can nonchalantly talk about beheading a person as an endearing prospect with these two individuals is so bizarre. Shadowheart was laughing despite herself.

Eventually the three of you make your way to the firepit and join Halsin and Gale while they smoke something out of Halsin’s pipe. You ask to try it and it burns your throat as you cough harshly. Halsin laughs hardily and says you’ve passed initiation. Shit, you don’t even remember walking over to the campfire anymore.

Another hour or so passes, Astarion is out of sight and the high has worn off. You feel pleased to see Alfira standing and talking to her friend dejectedly. Maybe he rejected her? You might be a terrible person, but you feel like you already knew that.

You feel overwhelmed all of a sudden by the proximity and warmth of everyone around the fire. You wait for the right moment to remove yourself from the situation- desperately needing a moment of peace and quiet.

If anyone notices you get up, they don’t say anything. You quickly steal another bottle of wine from beside Gale and Halsin and sneak off into the woods.

You crack open the bottle and slowly sip on it as you meander through the woods, finding the secret path to the beach that you have come to adore so much. You had been eyeballing one specific cliff edge ever since you and Astarion had found this place. It wasn’t a massive cliff, but the pool at the bottom of it is deep enough for you to jump into the water without injury. It was something your father used to do with you when you were a child. There was a river that ran outside of your little town and as you moved further into the woods, you could find a waterfall with a deep pool at the bottom. He would teach you flips and different jumps. He had deemed you the world’s finest diver right before he died- cheering you on from the ground below.

You feel warm and melancholy from the memory. Gods you miss your parents.

You drop the bottle of wine and strip down to your underwear and make your way towards the top of the waterfall.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Astarion had finally managed to get Alfira to leave him alone. She is an adorable little creature, but she is not the one on his radar right now. Adorable does not compare to the vision you are- nor the protection you provide.

Astarion had spent the last painstaking hour and a half watching you laugh with quite literally every person in camp who has a crush on you- Shadowheart, Lae’zel, Gale, and even Halsin is fucking smitten now. Gods could you just stop being yourself for five minutes? Astarion needs (and silently wants) your attention to only be on him. It is absolutely crucial to his survival. Speaking of which, where the hells were you?

You were no longer by the fire where he had last seen you before he snuck into Gale’s tent to steal one of the nicer bottles of wine he hoards away from everyone. Astarion had planned on using your shared connection to ask you to meet him at your spot, but now you are nowhere to be found.

Astarion fights the urge to scream out of frustration as he treks through the woods towards the spot on the beach hoping by some miracle that you may already be there.

Astarion stops as your scent hits his nose. He walks around the corner of the rock that you both use as a landmark and freezes when he notices your clothes are sprawled across the ground and a bottle of wine is a third of the way empty. He tries to ignore the ache that is starting to consume his chest. Did you bring someone else here? Shadowheart maybe? You were sitting rather close to her earlier…

Did his three days of stubbornness really just allow you to fall into someone else’s arms?

Astarion’s sinking feeling gets worse when something flashes out of the corner of his eye.

He sneaks around the corner- reminding himself that he is merely just making sure Shadowheart isn’t being… Shadowheart?

Imagine his shock when Astarion doesn’t see Shadowheart at all. Instead, he witnesses you complete a perfect aerial twist before graciously diving into the waves below. He feels completely frozen until you break the water and laugh wildly. Astarion thinks his own heart might start beating from his chest being filled with the sound.

You jump out of the water and race back up to the top of the rock using Spider Crawl- something you had promised to teach him when you found out Cazador had never actually made him privy to the entirety of his capabilities as a spawn.

Astarion grins as he watches you once again go flying into the air, doing a backflip before straightening out, disappearing once again into the water below.

You break the surface and get back onto the shore. You pretend to bow and wave saying “thank you” and “I’ll be here all week.” It’s silly and he’s enjoying every minute of watching you just be yourself.

Astarion knows you aren’t a serious person, not really, but you pretending to bow for an imaginary crowd of adoring fans in a (not) private moment? It feels authentic to your silliness- not just when you and Karlach are joking together.

You are funny, kind, and entirely too cunning- despite what he said three days ago. Your prowess in combat is second to none and you speak a couple different languages- infernal being one of them when he noticed you and Karlach speaking it back and forth like it was also your native tongue.

Elvish is the other one and he only knew that from overhearing what you said to Minthara while he was too busy experiencing shell shock from how quickly you had gotten over to him. Oh and the hit to the head didn’t help either.

Astarion’s thoughts are interrupted when you make eye contact with him and freeze.

You look down at your semi-exposed figure and then up at him.

Astarion flashes you a flirtatious grin and sweeps his eyes up and down your body as you look at him. You are a work of art and the blush that creeps up your neck is an added bonus.

The scars on your body are numerous and varying in degrees of severity. It doesn’t make you any less attractive to him or revolts him by any means; It makes you more real if anything.

“Well hello there, beautiful,” Astarion says melodically as you walk over, “I was hoping I might run into you here.”

“Oh is that so?” you say and put your hands on your hips, teasing him “and to what do I owe the pleasure?”

Astarion smiles widely at you. He holds up the bottle of wine.

“I was hoping I may be able to drink with my most favorite companion at camp,” he looks at you with a sly grin, “but I didn’t think I’d be getting a show. You are delightfully talented in multiple faucets, Darling.”

You smile shyly at him while adorably scrunching your nose.

As you bend down to grab your shirt, you look at your bottle and scratch the back of your head awkwardly.

“I might need to apologize considering I already started without you.”

Not telling me to piss off so that’s an optimistic start.

“Hm,” Astarion hums, cracking open his bottle and taking a drink, “I’ll allow it this once. I suppose I do owe you for my… words the other day.”

“I’ll forgive you,” you say with a mischievous grin, “but for a price.”

“Oh?” Astarion purrs, “and what is your price, my dear.”

“I demand at least half of your spoils in loot.” you say with flourish and over exaggeration- you aren’t even remotely serious.

“No, no, no, “he emphasizes, his finger waving around in the air, “Never. Going. To. Happen.”

“Ugh fine, I guess I’ll just have to accept that you saved my life earlier.”

“I still think you are ahead on that front, but who’s counting really?”

“Definitely not me,” you say and cough a number under your breath.

Astarion playfully glares at you and you giggle in response.

You close the gap between the two of you and gently grab his hand, pulling him to sit down next to you at the edge of the water. Astarion pushes down the giddy feeling that arises- hoping you didn’t notice he flinched when you first went to grab his hand.

You look at Astarion and then your clasped hands- you definitely noticed.

You begin to pull away and he feels his body protest, grabbing your hand back and interlocking them again. Astarion drinks out of his wine, refusing to look at you- this is entirely too intimate. Entirely too much like the lovers he used to hate and envy in Baldur’s Gate, but he can’t bring himself to let go or stop the slight smile that creeps on his lips.

You drink out of your bottle of wine and put your feet in the water. Astarion glances at you and notes the growing grin. He feels a twinge of guilt when he thinks about his plan and how fragile your heart probably is. Astarion pushes it away. Astarion needs his plan to work and so far, it’s working.

The space between the two of you is silent- nothing but the ocean waves roaring in his ears. It’s not uncomfortable, but Astarion doesn’t necessarily know where to start. He wants to begin the process of seducing you, but he’s also unsure of how well that would play out- considering what he’s seen thus far in your memories.

“My dad taught me how to cliff dive,” you say in a melancholic voice, interrupting his thoughts “we would go all the time over the Summer when we lived outside of Daggerford.”

“I was wondering how you had managed to pull off such an impressive feat.”

You guffaw at him and then pout with a glint of humor in your eye. He rolls his eyes at you.

“Fine Darling,” he muses, “I suppose you are rather impressive in all facets.”

Your face is practically burning with his compliment. Astarion has decided he will leave out the bait and let you take it. If you give him any signal or specifically say “I want to have sex” then Astarion will pleasure you and you will see how useful he can be in return for all of your gifts- your blood, your protection.

Your company.

Whatever feelings Astarion felt over the last three days- he never wants to feel again. You have been the one and only person to be kind to him, protect him in 200 years. You treat him with respect and like a friend- not the monster he absolutely is and that you should hate him for being. It had been a very lonely three days without your company-besides, no one else is nearly as fun to converse with. Astarion hears the whisper of a previous conversation in the back of his mind.

“So what does boar taste like?”

“I don’t really have much of a reference, but better than rats and flies,” he scowled.

“Gods, how filthy was that palace?” you murmured under your breath.

Your comment had caught him off guard and he couldn’t help but bark out laughing. You had felt horrible for it- you thought he wouldn’t be able to hear you. In your defense, you had spoken very quietly. Astarion assured you that he found your observation quite peculiar and hilarious.

Astarion likes that you point out the small things and allow him to decide how much of the larger things he wants to tell you. You never push him and Astarion isn’t used to it, but he knows he never wants it to go away- to be treated any other way ever again.

“What else did your father teach you?” Astarion asks softly.

You smile, “My father followed Ilmater. He was a ranger. He dedicated his life to helping others.”

A daughter of Ilmater worshippers turned into a half-dead creature who is forced to kill by an evil vampire, Astarion thinks, I guess even the Gods have a sense of humor.

“What happened to him?”

The pause is pregnant and loud. Astarion notices the single tear that manages to escape your eyes. You clear your throat.

“He’s dead,” you whisper, “a group of Ravagers destroyed our village. They didn’t like that it was a mix of humans and Drows escaping from Lolth- and they especially hated us ‘filthy half breeds’. Made the women and the children watch as they beheaded their fathers and husbands.”

Astarion doesn’t know what to say to something that horrific. He just merely looks at you- waiting for you to continue speaking.

“He just kept telling my mom and I how much he loved us. How he’d always be protecting us,” you manage to choke out, “I can’t even tell you how many times I have prayed to Ilmater for help- only to be reminded how alone I am and that, despite being the God of Compassion, Ilmater doesn’t care.”

Astarion knows that feeling all too intimately, but he wants to hear more.

“How old were you? What happened to you and your mother?”

You are looking at him wearily now, so he gives your hand a squeeze.

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to Darling.”

“I want to, I’ve just never talked about it before.”

“Well then,” he states in a flattered tone, “I’m honored to potentially be the first and only keeper of your deep, dark secrets.”

You laugh breathily while you roll your eyes at him. The smile on your face is replaced by an unreadable expression. You take a deep breath before you turn your gaze back to the ocean.

“I was 5. They sold us to a mine outside of Westgate. It was run by a group of fanatics that I can’t even remember the name of anymore,” you shake your head in disgust, “all I knew was that they were terrible people. They threatened us children to get our mothers to do anything they wanted. One of them raped my mother and ‘blessed’ her with a child.”

Astarion squeezes your hand as he feels you tense. You look at him with your teary, angry eyes and the intensity of your emotions- your grief- are written into every crack and crevice of your face. Astarion notes that you look uncomfortable, but he gives you a soft smile, encouraging you to continue. You take a big swig of your wine- he shortly follows.

“I don’t know what happened, but the baby… didn’t make it and mom developed a blood illness. It was the week before she had planned on breaking us out. I didn’t know she was dying- she told me she was going to be okay. I should have known- She gave me everything for the escape and had explained the plan to me so many times in that week she was dying that I can still recite it to this day.”

You chuckle to yourself before pulling your knees up to your chest.

“I asked them if I could have a funeral for her. They took me outside and made me watch while the pigs ate her. They told me that’s the only funeral a Drow deserves.”

“What a bunch of racist assholes,” he states.

“Oh, they were only the biggest.”

“You escaped a prison by yourself then or?”

“I did. I was 9 years old and probably one of the only people who has ever escaped that mine. I haven’t seen anyone from my village since. I went back to Daggerford one time and it was still decimated- no one ever came back to rebuild it.”

You both sit in the heavy silence. Your thumb begins to absentmindedly rub circles along his thumb- the gesture is simple, but it’s probably the softest touch he’s felt in the last 200 years that was not filled with the anticipation of sex.

“I’ve only ever had one failed escape,” you sigh harshly, “I was going to run away with Tessa because I didn’t want to go through the ceremony to be a Deathbringer, but Dahlia didn’t care what I wanted. She was too busy trying to win Obarhk’s favor.”

“How did you end up with Dahlia then? If you didn’t want to be a Deathbringer?”

You scoff and he sees the resentment behind your eyes.

“I was 13 and had been living on the streets for a while by then. I had my little tent and I had managed to convince one of the local inns to let me clean the rooms,” you scrunched up your nose, “it was gross, but decent work and they fed me once a day; let me use the baths. Sometimes they even gave me extra food and if it was cold out, they’d let me stay in a room if there was one available. I didn’t have to steal food anymore which was nice. I was actually very happy. I was saving my money so I could travel to the Underdark and hire a sword to go with me- to my grandparents- like my mom had told me to do.

“Then one day, a few of the other local boys, also urchins, had watched as I was given a decent amount of gold and a burlap sack of food. They followed me to my tent. I had offered to share and to give them some gold to help, but they didn’t want just some of it- they wanted all of it and all of me too. I thought I was going to die- the fight was brutal and they were so much bigger than I was, but I wasn’t as easy to take down as they had thought.

“Right as they had slammed my head into the pavement, right when I thought it was over- an Ilmater Priestess had appeared out of no where. She had killed them all. She came up to me, was kind to me, promised she would protect me, give me a home, teach me how to be stronger than anything else in the dark while she helps me travel to the Underdark. I was thrilled. I thought Ilmater had finally heard all my prayers. Then she took me outside of the city- I thought we were maybe going to a temple. I was so naive and stupid.”

Your voice breaks and you struggle to compose yourself- taking a shaking breath.

“She changed- the kind Ilmater priestess I had just been following to safety ended up being the Queen of Venom and a Sharran priestess nonetheless,” you spit out with disgust, “Dahlia stripped me of my clothes- she beat me, cut into my skin, threw me around. Dahlia kept telling me how ugly, wretched, small, and weak I was for hours- how she would be the only person to ever love me from now on. Then she chained me down to the floor, unmoving for I don’t even know how long in the dark. I just know when she finally came back, I was on the brink of death. She starved me and refused to give me water until I stopped asking her to leave. I stopped, but then I learnt how much worse it could be. I also began to accept that I would probably never be free again.”

“Are you free now?”

“Barely. A bit over a year ago I was assigned to the Faceless himself.”

“What changed?”

“I won the Deathbringer Tournament and Lady Thistle Thalaver, the fucking consort of all people, said that she wanted me to be assigned as her personal Deathbringer. Thistle made the point that we are close in age and it would make her happy to have someone she can talk to and protect her. News flash- I was more horrified by that than Dahlia. How the fuck does someone who is a literal husk of a person become the prize comfort pet of the Consort that is the reason you were even kidnapped to begin with,” you say, throwing your hands up in frustration, “Dahlia hated her. She was envious of her already and boy, when Thistle asked for me? I thought Dahlia might kill me and Thistle right there if Obarhk hadn’t stepped in.”

“She sounds like a sore loser.”

“ Oh she is, this grudge has lasted a little over a century or three supposedly. I can’t ever seem to get the exact date right, but Dahlia had allowed Obarhk to change her and became one of his Nightmasters because she had hoped to be his Queen and consort,” you shake your head, “it was childish- supposedly. Obarhk was going to go through with it initially, but then Thistle’s father had extensive debts to the guild and offered his only daughter as payment.”

“What a shitty father.”

“Oh the shittiest,” you agree pointedly.

“If she wanted you to help her gain his favor, why did she hide you away?”

“There are rules within the Guild for how recruits are to be treated. Obarhk plays with his cards very close to his chest and he has an absurd amount of political pull. He doesn’t want word getting out that the Nightmasks beat their assassin’s and thieves, but not their Deathbringers- it’s bad for recruitment. Guess they used to do that and damn near went extinct, not everyone is into becoming half-vampire” you shrug, “Dahlia had ‘presented’ me to gain Obarhk’s favor- not his consort’s. She lied and said I sought her out days ago, begging to get a chance to become a Deathbringer. When I was asked if it was true, I said yes, the alternative was whatever hell awaited me later. At least if I didn’t survive the ceremony, I would be laid to rest.

“Except Thistle won. Obarhk may not be particularly loving towards Thistle, but he won’t deny her what she wants if it’s reasonable. I was still under Dahlia, but now if I disappeared for days on end or came back beaten, it was noticed. A year ago, Lucia and Ghost found me bleeding out in a street with Dahlia over me- it was the first time she had done serious harm to me since the ceremony and the first time she was caught,” he watches you smile despite yourself, “Thistle wanted her to be tortured for what she had done- for creating the infamous ‘Hollow Deathbringer’ as I was called when I first started, but Obarhk doesn’t interfere with religious affairs and Dahlia claimed it was for her Sharran worship. So the solution was that I would report directly to him, Phultan, Lucia, and Lady Thalaver only. If Dahlia attempts to hurt me again, I am allowed to end her life and if I attempt to attack Dahlia, she is allowed to end my life. She isn’t allowed to send her assassin’s after me either or there will be consequences. That’s the same day I found out Dahlia had been lying to me- she is Obarhk’s spawn, not a Master Vampire. She never would have been able to get away with half of her threats if I had known, but I’m sure that’s partly why she isolated me from the Guild until I was old enough and skilled enough to compete.

“We’ve been in a very strange stalemate over the last year. Unable to find each other, but I don’t even know if I could kill her anyway. At least, not by myself.”

It was a lot to take in at one time. Your entire world is so heavily influenced by vampiric beings- no wonder you were so nonchalant about him being a spawn and him feeding from you.

Astarion will admit though, he isn’t necessarily thrilled to find out another sociopathic vampire might be hunting them- specifically you.

“Darling, if Dahlia ever darkens your door step ever again,” he leans toward you and speaks his next words with conviction, “I’ll rip her throat out myself.”

You smile at him and squeeze his hand.

“ Thank you Star, but you don’t need to do that. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t listen to hypocrites- Miss ‘I’m going to put Cazador’s head on a pike and we can parade it around the city’”

You gasp, “how dare you! I felt like that would be a fun leisure activity.”

“Oh believe me, it will be very fun,” he says with a malicious grin,” but someone needs to keep you humble, my dear.”

“Oh okay,” you roll your eyes, “because I’m the one who needs humbling here. Thank you for your service kind sir, I will never be able to repay you.”

He can tell that you are done with the previous conversation- he’ll have to thank you for sharing later and ask follow up questions. Astarion has a plan to execute.

“Well of course,” he lifts your clasped hands and kisses the back of yours, “ I live to be a hero for the common folk.”

“You’re lucky you’re a beautiful bastard.”

“Why thank you, my Dear. I am rather beautiful, aren’t I?”

You turn, facing him now and you move closer- giving him a light shove. One of your eyebrows is lifted in amusement- a lopsided grin on your face. This is most definitely the moment he has been waiting for.

He leans in, your faces near inches apart and he savors how your heart begins to race.

“I must admit, I was lying to you before,” he muses, “I maybe would like to do a little more than just drink wine with you tonight.”

“Y-you do?”

Astarion smiles at the way your breath hitches.

“Well of course, I believe you may be one of the most bewitching individuals I have ever had the pleasure of meeting,” he says while gently brushing your hair behind your ears, “but only if that would be okay with you.”

You look at him- there is lust in your eyes and you worry your bottom lip with your teeth. One of your canines graze your lip and a bit of your blood begins to paint your lips- Astarion fights the urge to smash his lips to yours. You search his face for deception.

“I want to. Very badly,” you pause, “but I need to be open with you. I’ve only ever been with one man before and it wasn’t my choice. That was over 10 years ago. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to go completely through with it or give you some wildly fun time… it would probably be vanilla at best even if I can get through it…”

You trail off and look at the ground, gently pushing his hand away from your face. Astarion frowns.

“If you want someone who you can actually have fun with, it might be better to go find Alfira again,” you whisper woefully, “I would absolutely understand. No harm, no foul.”

Astarion’s heart breaks for you. He gently guides your eyes back to his. You look sad and dejected -like you are ready for him to get up and walk away. You are expecting him to confirm what Dahlia has always told you- that you are an ugly, wretched, little thing. Unloveable at best and absolutely unforgivably intolerable at your worst. Astarion has slept with plenty of virgins before- he knows how to say all the right honeyed words to get them to bed, but this is entirely different. This is you and your first, consensual time with a man if you choose. If you don’t, then he won’t press the matter, but leave his door wide open. Astarion is not Cazador or Dahlia- he is not going to force you.

“I don’t care about any of that Darling,” Astarion assures you quietly, “I want you, not Alfira. We only have to go as far as you are comfortable with- if you want to.”

Your eyes are wide and searching for any hint of insincerity.

“We could even try multiple times if needed,” he says jokingly, but he knows that you can tell he’s serious.

You beam at him and your posture straightens up- a new found confidence in your eyes.

“Okay,” you finally say, “I trust you. I want to try.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You would be lying if you weren’t feeling slightly anxious. The last person you had been with was Tessa and she’d been in the ground a little over 8 years now. The two of you had made a lot of groundwork in your last year together before she died. You had attempted to be with others before, but it never felt right so you could never go through with it.

This feels right. You just aren’t sure what your reaction will be, but you want him and Astarion wants you. You trust that he won’t hurt you.

Astarion pulls you up off of the sandy floor and gives you a smile, “I promise you, you do not want to try this in sand. I happen to know a very nice spot, but we are going to have to make a brief stop first.”

You smile enthusiastically and allow him to take your hand in his as he leads you back to camp.

The walk is a blur, you barely notice that Astarion had grabbed a blanket, taken you quite far from camp, and without warning, Astarion pulls you in for a breathtaking kiss.

You have to fight the urge to collapse completely into him, your arms snaking around his neck as you kiss him back. The kiss is slow, melodic and soft. Astarion’s strong arms hold you close to his chest as he picks you up before laying you down on the blanket.

You help him discard your clothes and your wet under garments. Astarion quickly discards his shirt and pants before he returns to kissing you sweetly, softly. You let your hands glide up his torso to his shoulders and let your hands fan out as you try to memorize every inch of his body. He groans with approval at the touch and when you go to touch his back- you find if you go a little too far over where there is raised skin, he tenses up.

You stop and look up at him- he doesn’t seem like he is all there.

“Star, are you okay? Are you sure you want this?”

Whatever trance he is in, he seems to snap out of and he kisses you sweetly before placing his forehead against yours.

“I assure you that I want this, that area is just… it has some sensitive spots.”

“Okay,” you whisper, “I’ll be mindful of that and try to avoid them. Is it mostly in the middle of your back?”

Astarion stares down at you and for a moment, you think he might start crying. Astarion’s face looks so raw and appreciative in that moment- as if you are the first and only person to ever take the time to listen. Maybe you are. Maybe this is just as much of a fear of his as it is for you.

“It is,” he says huskily,” I- thank you.”

You beam up at him and gently cup the left side of his face with your hand. He leans into the touch and you stroke his cheek bone with his thumb.

“Of course Astarion, I want you to feel safe too.”

Astarion kisses you with a neediness that wasn’t there before. The kisses are still soft and innocent, but a bit more urgent as his hands begin to slowly roam your body. Everywhere he touches leaves you feeling like you are on fire and you find that you never want it to stop. You are intoxicated and so wrapped up in his cologne, his lips- everything. Him.

Astarion’s lips leave yours and you breathlessly look at him. He smiles down at you and slowly moves his hands up to your breasts.

“May I?”

You shyly nod in approval. Astarion slowly begins to pinch and tease your sensitive buds with his fingers- you arch your back and cover your mouth as you whimper needily at the touch. It’s embarrassing how touch starved you are. Astarion pulls your hand away from your mouth and he stares at you through hooded eyes.

“None of that, my Dear,” he commands, “I want to hear every little sound you make.”

You blush and then are quickly squirming underneath him again as he gently takes one of your nipples between his mouth, sucking, licking, and teasing it while he rolls the other between his thumb and forefinger.

You are a complete mosning mess underneath him by the time Astarion’s fingers move from your breast to your throbbing clit- earning a loud, despairing whimper from you. You need so much more- you can feel your own slick coating the inside of your thighs, weeping in anticipation.

“My, you are a very needy lover,” he chastises you as he slides a finger in,” Gods you are so wet for me already. If I had known you wanted me this badly, I would have said something a long time ago.”

“Astarion-“ you gasp as he enters another digit inside you, causing you to arch your back keening as he teases your G-spot. His other finger continues to play with your now very swollen clit and with every moan you make, he praises you. The praise alone is enough to send you over the edge.

“You are being such a good girl for me,” as he enters another finger inside.

His mouth hovers over your clit, “I’m absolutely certain the Gods sent you to ruin me.”

“You taste like the heavens,” after his tongue has been flicking inside of you in tandem with his fingers.

You come undone underneath him- your hands have made purchase in his hair, and struggle to be as gentle as possible. He groans as you gently tug him up to your mouth, kissing him, tasting yourself on his swollen lips.

“Do you want to continue Darling?” Astarion whispers as he kisses up your neck, along your jaw, and slowly nips at your earlobe.

You need him inside you and you want him to be as close to you as possible. It’s like a Dam had broken open inside you and you never want it to stop flooding.

“Fuck- Astarion,” you pant, “please continue.”

Astarion kicks of his undergarments and dips his fingers between your folds and coats his cock with your orgasm. You are speechless as you watch him slowly stroke himself, looking at you.

Astarion puts himself in between your legs and you feel him tease your entrance.

“Before I start,” he says, “you need to tell me if it’s too much and if we need to stop. You will not offend me nor hurt my feelings. We can try again another time if you want.”

“The same goes to you.”

There was that look again. Astarion grabs your bottom lip between his teeth, the neediness has certainly grown since the last statement.

You feel him begin to guide himself inside you, slowly moving until he’s bottoming out- curse words and your name leaving his lips like a prayer. You feel the tears prick your eyes at the pinching and pressure as you adjust to his size. He slowly rocks himself in and out, barely making any movement, but enough to stimulate you more.

“Are you okay?” He says with alarm, wiping your tears.

“Yes- I promise,” you say between panting whimpers, you press your ankles into his lower back to keep him there. It’s beginning to feel better and you open up through the tadpole to show him you mean it. The thoughts were probably far hornier than you meant to show him and he smirks at you.

“Cheeky pup.”

Astarion begins to make his thrusts longer as your moans became louder and more euphoric sounding. You kiss him with fervor as he pumps in and out of you, keeping a slow pace.

“You can speed up now,” you whisper between kisses, “you feel really fucking good inside of me Star.”

Astarion moans against your mouth, the kiss becoming sloppy as he teases your bottom lip between his, pulling slightly. You feel his hips begin to snap slightly harder against yours and you cry out as he begins to hit that perfect spot faster and slightly harder.

“You are so beautiful,” he says while grazing the sensitive skin on your neck, “and you feel so fucking good around my cock.

“I’m not sure I’ll be able to stand any of our other companions looking at you sideways ever again.”

“Then give them a reason not to.”

That seemed to be enough for Astarion as he immediately goes to work leaving hickeys along your neck, your shoulders. You will have to ask him how he’s able to do it so gently.

Astarion’s thrusts inside you are getting sloppier and you have your hands dug in the earth as he slightly lifts you off the ground to get more leverage. You moan his name in between curse words and whimpers as another powerful orgasm rips through your body. You feel him stutter as you tighten around him and finish inside of you. Astarion’s pace moves to a slow rhythm before coming to a halt.

Vampire and half-vampire perks- the whole kid thing? Basically not even remotely possible.

Astarion lays gently on top of you, kissing your neck lazily.

“How was that, Darling?” Astarion asks as he looks into your eyes with concern and worry.

You gently grab his face with your hands and leave a chaste kiss on his lips.

“It was absolutely perfect,” you say, your brain foggy and swimming in the throes of bliss and your deep fondness of the man above you, “you are absolutely perfect.”

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

You had fallen asleep quite some time ago in Astarion’s arms. The concept of what happens after sex (normally) was quite foreign to him. Usually he was dragging people to their death after sex, but now he gets to sit and enjoy you- have you all to himself. After it had all been said and done, you had curled into one another, practically nose to nose and just talked. You caught up with each other about what the other missed over the last three days, picked the next ideal type of book to read, and how disasterous the Crèche is likely going to be considering Shadowheart is insisting on going. Lae’zel is positively miffed about it. You laugh and he asks about Minthara. You tell him about the vision she showed you, but he could tell you were holding something back. You don’t push him- he won’t push you.

You tell him about your mother- a former Lolth sorceress who didn’t align with the Spider Queen’s ideals. She was shunned by her parents when she denounced Lolth and she moved to the surface- meeting your dad. Your mother was practical and pragmatic- calculating and protective. Your father, on the other hand, was like a warm breeze on a perfect sunny day.

Astarion tells you about what little he remembers of his life as a Magistrate and his parents. You both ponder what they could possibly be doing in the world right then- pretending there is a possibility that you could find them together when this was all over- even just so he can know.

Astarion’s head is swimming with confusion. It was all very different than when Astarion had gone out hunting for Cazador.

You and him had spent at least a two and a half weeks getting to know each other extensively, spent quality time together over mutual hobbies, and you’ve even seemed to meld together as a fighting duo. You are friends- Astarion expected it to be maybe slightly different, more enjoyable than usual.

Astarion was quickly proven wrong.

This was eons different. Despite the feelings of it being tainted to some degree due to his past, it had been jaw dropping, sweet, simple, and, dare he even say it, intimate. Astarion finds that he actually craves more of you this way, but he also still wants you the way you had each other before. The shame and self-loathing are choking him. There is no way you’ll see him as something other than sex now.

Right?

Astarion honestly isn’t sure and that terrifies him. You were so kind to him tonight while you were in his arms. You respected his boundaries; you avoided that part of his body even though he didn’t tell you not to; you wanted him to feel safe with you too. You took the time to talk to him and play with his hair while he spoke about his parents, becoming a bit emotional.

Vanilla is hardly the word to describe what just happened between the two of you- it was wonderful and frightening. Astarion questions if it’s selfish to want more, to abandon his plan all together.

Astarion stares down at your sleeping face as your limbs are tangled with his. He wants to stay, but he wants to run away from you too. Except Astarion needs your protection- that’s what this was all for, wasn’t it?

That’s what compels him to leave soft kisses on your forehead and to hold you a little tighter- it’s why tears fall from Astarion’s cheeks onto the blanket beneath you when he thinks about the day you’ll end up letting him go.

#astarion acunin #baldurs gate 3 #astarion #astarion x reader #baldurs gate astarion #astarion x you #bg3 spoilers #astarion romance #astarion x tav #bg3 #karlach #astarion x gender neutral reader #astarion x gn!tav #astarion x gn! reader

57 notes · View notes

weeb-polls-with-pip · 7 months

Text

Autistic Anime Girls Group 3 Round 2 Match 8

SUBMISSION PROPAGANDA:

Franziska -

"Prodigy in her field, forced to be an adult whilst she was very much still a child. Franziska canonically became a prosecutor at the age 13 so that she was able to start prosecuting the same year as her "little" brother (Just what she calls him - he's seven years older than her), and consequently has to act like she is a mature adult desire being a young teenager. She has really bad emotional regulation (her in-game running gag is whipping people, because her whip is a comfort item to her, and she's been using that motion whenever she gets annoyed since she was really young.), but acts quite haughty, cool and unapproachable so that it doesn't show.

She gets to break down and start crying in the post-credits scene to her debut game because her brother's chased her down to return her whip and show her genuine affection (in his own weird way) and it is SO satisfying.

She calls everyone by their full name nearly exclusively, even her brother. She gets flustered when people do this back to her.

She is obsessed with running investigations in her own "perfect" way in accordance with her family creed, and likes to take charge to make sure this occurs. (Gets visibly distressed when she gets credited for a surprise search on a building that she did not order) At one point, she is SHOT by an ASSASSIN outside the courthouse and STILL tries to go in to prosecute anyway because this is her case and she has it all planned out, and is very upset when her brother forces her to go to hospital instead.

She also repeats a lot of motions that she's picked up from people around her, notably clutching the fabric of her sleeve on her right shoulder like her father does, and smugly wiggling her finger at people like her father and brother do.

I think she's often overlooked for being autistic because her brother is quite clearly too, and he is a more important character, and at various points, a POV character, but I think she absolutely deserves a spot here!"

Tsubame -

"Tsubame is a bit of a complex case when compared to her friends. She is deeply moved by the art of animation, has a compelling attention to detail in movement, and is able to replicate it through her calling, no matter how long it might take her to accomplish specifically tricky feats. It’s how she chooses to express herself to the world, rather than what her parents imposed on her from a very young age, when she was literally taught how to act, and was pushed to pursue a developing career as a successful actress and model.

She could be a poster child of masking, as she grew up learning how to imitate others, and building a persona through whom she was able to present to the cameras, her parents and admirers. This doesn’t deter her, and she comfortably admits to the other girls in the Motion Picture Club about the seemingly complete neglect she feels from her parents, but nevertheless is happy to finally indulge in her actual passion, fighting tooth and nail to make the high quality animation she aspires to see on a screen: realistic and intrinsically complicated at times, and not compromising a single frame to cutting costs if she can help it (of course, Kanamori does reason with her whenever their projects start struggling to meet a deadline and everyone starts pulling all-nighters).

Definitely doesn’t show it at first, but as soon as she finds a safe space in the company of Midori and Sayaka, she drops the act entirely and progressively lets her true self come out. She is energetic, loves playing around, gets too easily distracted, loves climbing up high places, has an unlimited source of curiosity, and when she’s not strongly focused on her art, she’s always moving around. As someone who crafted a perfect mask from very early on, and who, thankfully, had at least the liberty at home to experiment and have fun unrestrained, she naturally is an example of a girl that likely wouldn’t get diagnosed due to a multitude of factors."

#autistic anime girls poll #tumblr polls #franziska von karma #ace attorney #mei karuma #karuma mei #keep your hands off eizouken!#eizouken ni wa te wo dasu na!#mizusaki tsubame #tsubame mizusaki

67 notes · View notes

wulvercazz · 8 months

Text

Lil canon Ichigo rant? pfff

… yk what? I think one of the reasons why I like to give Ichigo the feral, half-hollow fantasy ending he deserves is because I wish more people had appreciated me at my weird (neurotypical mostly lmao) and creepy growing up.

Today I can say I have friends and family that see that part of me and share my joy with me,,, but the anxiety of fitting in and the constant fear of looking normal that I’m sure a lot of u can relate to me on is something I still carry with me even now. So yeah it makes me angry that the character with creepy monster-powers gets his “happily ever after” by suddenly becoming dull and normal.

This is not even about ships and canon couples (bc oh that is it’s own fckn can of worms that I could rant forever about), it’s about giving a character (actually, a few characters in the series) a dull ending when this whole time we got to know him as a guy who was definitely not normal (although he moody-teen-like attempted so) and who eventually found himself throughout the story in his “weirdness”.

I’m tiireeeeddd of characters being given the “scary powers making them go feral” trope, only to make them end up dull and boring and “now I’m good so now I’m not monster-like” and give them the just-another-unhappy-male-MC-forced-into-a-straight-marriage-with-zero-chemistry ending.

Give me characters that work in their weirdness, accept it and grow with it, not away from it; that learn to not be scared or disgusted of themselves. Bc I caN relaTE; so many of us have quirks we’re taught are “not normal” and weird or creepy, and we teach ourselves to very uncomfortably hide; so yeah I want a character that doesn’t haVe to learn and “be better” and reel their weirdness in. I’d love to see a character that instead learns how their weirdness works in their favor differently to how others’ normalcy works for them. And Ichigo doES that some times, but it’s so often stripped away righT afTeR so what’s the poinT.

Also give me supporting characters that don’t do the “that’s not my MC 😭” bullshit ass trope. Give me MCs that aren’t forced to be ‘perfect’ for everyone else in the end. I want the ugly and imperfect in the good. Give me Ichigo fckn Kurosaki with weird Hollow attributes and cravings and instincts, that is allowed to actually show how much he loves bloody fights in other situations that are not life-or-death, I’m-putting-my-life-on-the-line-for-everyone shit. The shinigami are a corrupt little bunch but theY get to strut around calling themselves good? And my boy Ichigo gets shit when he doesn’t immediately control powers a lot of the characters hid information about to his facE? give me a breaK

But anyway, my Grimmjow loving ass ofc says Ichigo would be happier spending more time w/ the obviously feral I-take-what-I-want arrancar that made him smile so pretty even when he was so stressed🥰 and ofc they can smooch too, as a treat💕

I know I ofc take a loT of creative liberty on my feral Ichigo 😂 and go all the way w it and my ship bc it’s what I like ofc but.. yeah… LetIchigoBeFeral2023 lmaoo

#ichigo kurosaki #bleach rant

67 notes · View notes

herebecritters · 6 months

Note

I’m not very well-versed in Happy Tree Friends BUT if your trio of kooky sumerian gods were actually canon to the show, I’d push everyone away just for them, words can’t describe how even though I don’t know shit about the source, I love these three so badly! And the amount of detail and depth you go into them is so astounding and AUGHHHHH!! And quick question! What would they look like as humans? I gotta know!!

Holy cow! This was such a nice message to receive thank you!!! Don’t worry I got plenty of Idol Trio stuff planned and in the works! 💪😤

Basically htf is just…Cute critters being violently killed by random silly bouts of bad luck only to come back for the next episode. Think Looney Tunes but gorey ehehehehe

And lemme clarify, the three are not Sumerian, they are Mesozoic cave people (well technically burrow people but yknow what I mean) However, considering people didn’t exist back during the Cretaceous….and considering that ancient Mesopotamian/Sumerian/Assyrian civilization has the oldest historical records to go off of, it does provide a lot of inspiration for them. Specifically for First Civilization.

But I also pull a lot from the little bit we know about Neanderthal life as well as many various Paleolithic hunter/gatherer societies such as the Ohallo II site and the ancient Natufian settlements. These sources help especially for the Dino-Sore days era of their lives. But of course, there’s no WRITTEN records from these times so it makes it a bit difficult when it comes to research and understanding how these people really lived. You can only tell so much from stone tools and bones sadly.

Because of this, the trio has been inspired by a hodgepodge of a bunch of different ancient cultures, not just one. Not to mention the occasional fictional liberties I take with them. I mean it’s a cartoon after all. ;D

Shoot I rambled a lot ANYWAYS

the HILARIOUS thing about this message is that literally the day before I had gotten this in my inbox I actually DID do some human trio doodles while at dnd so I went ahead and finished one of ‘em up for you! :D

It’s been a little while since I’ve drawn humans so forgive me hehehe Again thank you for asking this humanifying them has been so much fun!!!!

#happy tree friends #htf #htf ocs #htf be brave #htf nergal #htf geshtu #htf dumuzi #htf idol trio #htf god trio #I’m actually currently a little obsessed with drawin em like this now oops #I forgot Nergals hat shhhh shhh

35 notes · View notes

another-lost-mc · 21 days

Note

Hi, just want you to know I have Michael Brainrot bc of your works with him…. I’m not asking for more or anything, i love everything you do anyway….. but damn your Michael hits different….

Oh, thank you so much! I love Michael. Even in NB he still seems a bit underdeveloped and we don't even know what he looks like yet. (I've talked a lot about my personal headcanons about his appearance and at this point I stubbornly accept the likelihood that he's going to be a tall, long-haired and blue-eyed blonde instead. lol)

When I first started playing OG, he was one of my favourite characters even though we knew next to nothing about him. Some of my first fic ideas were about Michael, if you'd believe it. Maybe that's why I liked him so much? I treated him like an OC before Nightbringer came out because I took quite a few creative liberties exploring different versions of him.

I've mentioned before that I treat angels and demons in this game (and Father and the Demon King) as fantasy races rather than religious beings. To me, Michael is a leader - a flawed leader, sure - but he has so much personality and friendship and affection to give. He loves sweets and he's fashionable and even though his bond with Lucifer is undeniable, I think he genuinely cares about all his celestial brethren too.

Unfortunately for Michael, he seems like the type of angel that wants to be everyone's friend, but the problems arise when he has to stop being a friend and start being leader of the angels. We've seen him make difficult choices and we've seen evidence that he's struggled with the consequences of those choices. I think he has a lot of regret and unresolved trauma/guilt from things he's done, especially when it comes to Lucifer and his brothers.

I have no idea what the original plan for OG was after Season 4. My rough guess (or at least how I hoped it would play out) is that:

Season 5 would involve MC at least talking to Michael directly again (re: Simeon) and visiting the Celestial Realm on his behalf.

Season 6 would be the point when new angels visit the Devildom, including Michael (think of it as a diplomatic visit with higher-ranking angels making the CR's peace with the Devildom "official").

A lot of my Michael x MC/Reader stories assume that he and MC would've met in-person for the first time in Season 5. MC deserves a proper visit to the Celestial Realm (overnight, at least one week but preferably two or three) and a chance to meet Michael and the other important angels that help him run things. So many of my Michael blurbs are just him and MC interacting during that first meeting together because the first meeting trope is one of my favourites.

And as much as I love Michael, visiting the Celestial Realm wouldn't be complete with some more angels to liven things up. We have other established canon angels - Simeon, Luke and Raphael - but Uriel's been mentioned twice I believe, and I doubt he's the only other angel worth meeting. (OC Angels like Metatron and Gabriel help fill in the gaps so that my CR-based writing doesn't feel so empty.) We just need more angels in general - how else will a MC goes to the CR for the exchange program AU play out if there's only like, two angels there? >_>

Anyway. I try not to think about the implications of Michael's involvement in NIghtbringer since it took an odd turn with HM Lesson 20. I did outline some possible story ideas based on that particular plot point but I still prefer to write Michael in the OG setting for obvious reasons.

As a side note - I know I keep talking about it, but the OC story I've been working on features Michael as a major character in Part 1 that takes place in the Celestial Realm. We get to see him interacting with Lucifer (who is still an angel then) and other angels of various ranks, and the two main characters of course. We see Michael who tries to be a friend, who tries to be supportive and balance out Lucifer's different approach to handling things...and we also see Michael who abides by the rules angels are meant to live by and expects everyone else to do the same. I could've made him the "bad guy" in this, but I didn't. He has his good moments and his "omg you're such an asshole" moments, but no more or less than the other characters. It's very exciting.

......................yikes, that was a lot of words to say, "Thank you, fellow Michael fan! I also enjoy his character a lot."

#why didn't someone stop meeee wtf this is so long #jes.replies

14 notes · View notes

badass-queer-couples-battle · 10 months

Text

Propaganda for Sergey Razumovsky and Oleg Volkov (Major Grom comics)

I picked "implied" but I'm gonna be straight (haha) with you, if they were officially canon everyone involved in the making of this book would be at least fined out of business. It's from a russian publisher, they're doing their best but they also don't want to go to prison over fictional characters. They're as canon as they can be though, and have been since the 2010s. Anyway Sergey and Oleg are always together, they're basically a single unit and when they're separated it's almost always because something bad is happening to them. For the entirety of Plague Doctor they act like a married couple. They literally live together in an apartment that only has one bed and fuss over each other and flirt with each other. In Major Grom (their first appearances) Sergey was the villain to Grom's hero, and Oleg was his childhood friend / current head henchman, but after some (a lot) of plot happening they agreed that they're actually equal partners (in a conversation that sounded more romantic than some actual kisses). One of their most important plot points is that Oleg is as important to Sergey as Grom's girlfriend is to Grom. Literally that was on the page. They had a one-shot issue that was about them taking a trip to Mexico, which in comic book imagery pretty much always means a honeymoon. Idk, you tell me if that's implied or canon. Technically they're murderers / terrorists but the Plague Doctor comic book (their own spin-off! woohoo!) is pretty much all about them raising a younger woman to take up the mantle of the titular vigilante plague doctor because they're retired from that. Which doesn't prevent them from getting into bloody fights, mostly for each other. Sergey loves his knives and Oleg is very proficient with every weapon, and even when they're not physically in the fight they stay together to make sure nothing goes too wrong. After a spousal abduction and spousal rescue arc they now have matching scars. The artists / writers regularity spend a page or two or three just focusing on them fighting in synch. They literally fight back to back many times, because it's more safe and efficient and they trust each other like that. A couple in work in life and in battle. Also the artist who pretty much defined their entire characters drew a lot of fanart of them, which I'm aware doesn't really count as canon, but. Well.

They sleep in the same bed. When Sergey is working on his computer and worrying too much Oleg makes him a meal. The things Oleg does for Sergey include breaking him out of prison, kidnapping and/or killing people, training someone to be the next Plague Doctor, even dying for him. It looks like a very unbalanced relationship to some other characters but those characters don't really know them. There was an entire arc that was mostly about Sergey being willing and ready to risk everything (his recent comfortable anonymity, his long-term project, even his sanity) to go save Oleg. At a time when he thought Oleg was dead Sergey agreed to let a god take control of him and effectively erase his own existence. It didn't work ultimately but it still happened. Their post-injuries "oh god I thought you were dead I'm so glad you're mostly alright" hug was the most emotional scene in the entire series. They're not doing physical fighting so often in this comic book because while they're main characters the actual protagonist is the girl they're training to be the new Plague Doctor, but they're always working together behind the scenes, and when they do fight it's a feast for the eyes (very violent and bloody). They have different weapons because Sergey just loves knives and Oleg is much more pragmatic so he mostly uses guns when he's at liberty of choosing his weapons, but they work extremely seamlessly together. If the publisher wasn't in Russia they'd be wearing matching wedding bands for years.

3. i think the reason they're not currently wanted by multiple countries is because they're still presumed dead. they're officially criminals, maybe terrorists? sergey began his criminal career by killing the corrupt rich, so then of course the publisher had to make some late changes to the story and his motivations to make him less likable. i don't think they really managed it. he's most people's favorite character from that comic book, i'm pretty sure that's why they gave him a spin-off years later. oleg is an even later addition (actually just an arc or two later), because they needed sergey (the villain) to have someone who would be a parallel to the hero's girlfriend. so they introduced his childhood bff / kinda estranged best friend / worried right hand man to fill that role. they made him a scary mercenary with experience from the special forces and he's ready to kill anyone who needs to die for sergey's plan. sergey can also stop him anywhen too. they weren't really equal in their first arc together, because sergey was going through a lot and his alter didn't like oleg and was always bossing him around, but since then they both went through A Lot More and talked a lot and made things between themselves clearer. they're equal partners, for better and for worse. sergey once killed over a dozen of mercenaries just with a knife and a wire, because someone had kidnapped oleg as a trap for sergey and he knew it and still went there to save oleg. they're fighting for the same things, together, and sometimes it's literal and they go kill people with guns and knives, sometimes separately but more often together. their canonicity is… it's complicated. i think you'd consider sergey and oleg canon if you consider the guys from good omens to be canon. * like there's no i love yous, no kisses, or maybe just not yet, who knows, but it's still evident that they care so much about each other and only have eyes for each other. except in this case i'd even say they're more canon because there's no yearning or will-they-won't-they anymore, they're just together since their childhood or teenage years, they have no problem talking or touching or holding each other or living together.

*Mod note - This was submitted before season 2 of Good Omens came out.

#coupleganda masterposts #major grom #bubble comics #oleg volkov #sergey razumovsky #serovolk #i HOPE i'm tagging this correctly i do Not know anything abt this franchise #these guys seem great though #congrats on the murders and basically-marriage

42 notes · View notes

chevvy-yates · 7 months

Text

WIP WEDNESDAY

Decided it is time for another update so here's a longer post to what I've been up to and stuff that circles around in my head lately.

tagging:

@medtech-mara, @imaginarycyberpunk2023, @itzsassha, @humberg, @kittenchrissy, @rosapexa, @cinnamon-mey, @heywoodvirgin, @dreamskug, @drunkchasind, and everyone who sees and wants to do as well.

No pressure as always!

—

1. CHARACTERS & LORE

Let's begin with sth. first I have on my mind for a while: As this fandom (sadly) seems to fall more and more apart, I would like to know if there are still people interested in reading actual lore content or not. As some of you know my dear friend @nervouswizardcycle and I are continously building up some sort of our own expansion after the main game events with rp/fic, character builds, backstory lore and support by vp and it eats a lot of time. The lack of interactions on tblr during the last few months and in several discord servers has led to me not posting a lot anymore either (beside my mental exhaustion phases that come and go). It seems more active again though, as majority already played Phantom Liberty by now or are right into it, so they slowly come back bc they presumably avoided spoilers. —————— So, here is me wondering how many following my blog are 'really' interested to see me sharing all lore of the boys (including story parts) or does the majority prefer just to see pretty pics and that's it? —————— (I've wanted to add a poll here but it doesn't let me save my post so I might do it in a seperate one a bit later) I know: it's my blog, I post what I like in the first place, and I'll likely continue that way but somehow I would like to know if it's worth the effort of formating and thinking about how the posts could look or if I can take that time to do something else with it instead if there's less interest. So, I would just keep it in my tiny discord server I share with my rp partner(s)/in private chats with those interested bc it's gotten to be a lot and we are still at the very start it feels.

2. SKILLS, CYBERWARE & HUMANITY LOSS

As I'm the type that can't have ocs with no background/lore, I sat down the other day and did a build for each with their skills, wrote down what chrome everyone got (incl. additional c-ware from the lore books plus I'm reading e.g. into what programs my runner twins are likely to make use of). It went this far that my friend used the amount of the game's 'cyberware capacity' as 'humanity loss'. It is used in the lore books/ttrpg anyways. So I've counted all my boys possible capacity* and use it as humanity loss (HL) now which led me to thinking about which one of my ocs goes to get treatment and how often they go to see a MedTech on regular base. I thought I could give them a certain minus amount to reduce the HL for each depending on how much or less c-ware they got — e.g. Thyjs as soldier has most (but all is good Militech chrome) and used to go and still goes regularly so his HL gets a huge reduce — whereas Ryder's gets always nulled no matter how often he gets threatment, because BEAST (rogue AI) eats it away each time (to understand that in full you probably have to know the story). Ry must have most HL loss as he often walks along the edge towards cyberpsychosis, so I'm forced to reduce Thyjs' with most c-ware installed a huge amount. And that's how I made it now. It's probably far away from canon ttrpg as my 'canon cp world' consists of 75% game, 20% lorebooks and 5% own added ideas I haven't seen on the lore yet. And I like it that way I gotta say. On a little side note: It also had me thinking about creating a new support character for the team that could be in fact a MedTech. But I won't do that anytime soon.

* some things might still change as I slowly started playing their playthroughs and skill them for real now. I love each build so far because it's a whole different experience! And playing someone with noe netrunning ability is hell as I was only usedto paly netrunner before.

3. FIC SNIPPET TIME

I decided to give you an insight of what I've roughly written yesterday about Ryder and Thyjs having a talk about how they feel for each other:

“Ik ben eerlijk. I liked that accidental kiss we shared a-and i-ik find je leuk, Ry. Probably more as— a friend is supposed to do.” De Wit instantly starts feeling nauseous and something tightens around his stomach but he needs to get it off of his heavy feeling soul. “I-I guess I have stronger feelings for you than I had expected and it’s confusing me.” He frowns, “It’s not usual for me. Never felt any kind of such an attraction towards other men. I-It’s just you— I think I might be into you, Ryder.” The last sentences came in a mere murmur than spoken and Ryder’s name was only a light whisper. Thyjs didn’t dare to look to his left. He feared he would lose his new gained friend now because he said his stupid thoughts aloud. Instead he continues staring at the distant horizon feeling the lump in his throat only getting heavier. The sun was already half arisen and the sky was painted in a bright orange and yellow fading out into never ending blue. After de Wit seems to have finally finished his long talk, Ryder realizes the pack has fallen out of his hands. He needed to repeat in his mind what Thyjs just told him. Did the man really pour out his heart to him at this very moment? He couldn’t believe it at first. The pale soldier he obviously secretly fell for just told him he was having feelings for him that reach further than friendship? It took him what seemed like an eternity to get out of his frozen state. Ry moves up into a straighter position, still supporting his body with his right forearm, turning more towards Thyjs, who is still watching the rising sun with a rather sad look on his face blinking every once in a while. Eventually Scharfenberg brings up his left hand to reach for the older man’s face and de Wit suddenly feels two fingers under his chin making him look at the younger man again. He sees a tiny smile on those dark lips he caught himself looking at so many times in utter secrecy. That tiny smile that’s usually the base for a brighter even more heartwarming smile baring dangerous fangs who make the man look frightening, but smiling like that? Thyjs often caught himself thinking Ry looked cute with these fangs as well. Ry sees Thyjs’ confusion as his eyes look questioning right back at him. So Ry better says something now. “I-Ich äh—” he clears his throat, “—I don’t know where to start. How to talk feelings in the first place.” Letting Thyjs talk himself off seemed to be right for Ryder and it was worth it, because he thinks it’s the most earnest confession someone has ever made to him, yet he doesn’t know how to answer to all this best. So he decides to place himself into a sitting position, to look the soldier boy straight into the eyes. His gaze gets distracted by Thy’s slightly opened lips for a split second. It is the same situation as earlier downstairs, only that Ry has his fingers still under de Wit’s chin and starts to lead his face towards the other man. Just a few inches are left between them and Thyjs can feel the younger man’s warm breath on his skin. He also has this incredible sight at those beautiful male black eyelashes again the very moment they cast down and then he feels those same lips from before on his own with such a soft pressure that again he closes his eyes in an instant and starts to revel in that same electricity running through him but also the revenant paralyze surrounding him again.

It is just a brief kiss, similar to the one in the apartment downstairs but shyer in its move. As soon as it happened it ended. Ryder opens his eyes afterwards immediately because he fears somehow the man in front of him would get up, step back and turn away but instead he still feels his chin pressed softly against his fingers. It casts another tiny smile onto Ryder’s face as his now racing heart skips a beat or two, seeing that Thyjs didn’t make a move nor a sound. His eyes open now as well and Ry swears he’s never seen heterochromia looking so soft but also surprised at the same time at him like Thyjs does right now. He waits for a reaction but Thyjs just keeps looking at him, lips parting shortly just to close again. “What? — Did that make you that speechless now?” Ry asks with nearly the same surprisement. Thyjs lets out a heavy breath and nods, eyes totally lost looking at him which lets Scharfenberg put on a warm smile. “Want to— try again?” Thyjs swallows his unspoken words that gathered in his throat he couldn’t speak aloud and nods again. Heavier, his lips turning into a smile as well and his eyes are suddenly filled with happiness and relief, like he’s telling Ryder that he cannot wait to have their lips meeting once more and to feel that intense buzz from before as it spreads through his entire body like when he’s powering up electricity. This feeling right now? It’s strong and sends an entirely new sensation through him. Is dat het gevoel van vlinders in je buik? He wonders but doesn’t get much more time to think about it because Ryder choses to lean in for a second time.

It can and probably will be rewritten or changed but I definitely want to have it this way! Thjys starts talking and talking almost doing a monologue instead of a dialogue until he comes to the final point and Ryder wants to respond with words but doesn't know how to (he may find them a bit later) and just does what's best: kiss this soldier. I'll max out this kissing scene for a lot more pages just because I can.

I love the idea of Thyjs as war machine being totally romantic and getting super takative when alone with Ryder. And Ryder definitely is a soft romatic boy, alsways was bu Beast made his life harder to show this side more but Thyjs gets to see it also in private.

4. VP

Since I do more 'actual play the game' now even though I have installed most of all mods back, I rarely do pics atm. If I do, they are just rather nice pics where I try to use the ingame light rather than to spawn spot lights. here's a preview of what comes next:

I have so many ideas I want to put into reality. Especially pics that underline the rp/fic chapters mentioned above. But I'm not going to force myself. I'll see what I can realize for the rest of the year and what gets to be stamped as a New Year's resolution. I'll probably focus on a few blorbo pics this weekend because Ryder's birthday is around the corner (31st October) and Jay's boyfriend Enzolino has just a day prior. So if I can manage, I'll do that in the first place.

Thanks for reading! <3

#wip wednesday #wip #fic snippet #vp preview #thoughts #long post #not behind a cut sry friendos #cyberpunk 2077

27 notes · View notes

startrekgaysex · 2 months

Note

HOW DO YOU GET THAT VINTAGE LOOK I'VE BEEN TRYING FOR AGES I don't want to buy a polaroid

Doesn't show but I'm actually excited as fuck about it. I've been a photographer for like, what, six years? maybe seven? I have a trusty DSLR that might be old by today's standards but still takes beautiful, professional quality pictures. I've tried all kinds of flashes and filters to get this sort of look but you know what did it? My mom's early 2000s camera. Yeah, one of these

that picture was taken with the camera on the left, a Samsung ST66, I would consider it a midrange 2010s digital camera in regards to the quality and liberty of adjustments. the camera on the right is my backup for the day, a Kodak Easyshare C142, your average economic family camera (everyone knows someone who owns one of these I believe)

Highest chances are, you probably have someone in your family with a digicam abandoned on some drawer because people don't use these anymore, they've abandoned them in favor of their phones. If this isn't the case, you can probably get one on a secondhand store or eBay, for pretty cheap!

(I don't have many recommendations, other than probably get one that's over 12mp, with at least 3x zoom, preferably from 2010 or newer. As to brands, it's a lottery. People recommend the Nikon Coolpix a lot (I love Nikon sensors so I can vouch for that much) or Olympus and Canon cameras. Despite what you may believe, Kodak hasn't made a good digital sensor since, well, never, so I wouldn't personally recommend it a lot)

Why a digicam?

why not!! here's two features of your digicam that your phone doesn't have:

- analog zoom: you know when you're zooming in on one of these and the lens starts making noises and moving around? that's the multiple individual lenses in your camera moving around so that you can zoom in three, five, or even ten times the size of your picture without losing any quality. what your phone does when you zoom in, in opposition, is basically cropping the picture you're taking. digital zoom is inherently lossy — not to mention the angular graduation of phone lenses causes the image to have some distortion in comparison to the way we see (yeah, this is why you look ugly on your pictures but pretty in the mirror)

- big, harsh, blinding flash: this is THE MAIN THING, the main element of that "polaroid look". These types of cameras have a limited or nonexistent aperture range, so they overcompensate by turning on auto flash. This overcompensation results in a very characteristic look that makes us feel nostalgic. when taking night pictures, turn that flash on!!!

and, here are two features of your digicam that a professional camera doesn't have:

- small, harsh, crappy flash: see: above. DSLR's built in flashes... They do the job. Everyone knows if you need the real deal you gotta get one of those big fancy fixtures, but also, Nikon doesn't want you taking crappy pictures with their camera so they put some work into defusing the flash and shit so it's not as crappy and harsh. Joke's on them, we kinda like that!!

- smaller, cheaper, limited, overall CRAPPIER: and you know what? That's good. A point and shoot cam is good actually!! we get lost in features and lenses and sometimes it's a bit much. A small portable camera with its so many limitations can help us focus on composition and storytelling, and mainly just... Having fun!!! photography used to be about having fun, remember? whether you're out on your own or with friends, you and other people will take your crappy digicam wayyy less seriously than they would your professional cam. And that takes a lot of pressure away.

Anyways this is your sign to dust off your crappy digicam and go shoot some pictures.

#digicam

13 notes · View notes

goldenlaurelleaveswrites · 10 months

Text

Juleka vs. the Forces of the Universe ch 15

Juleka vs. the Forces of Chat Noir

Juleka vs. the Forces of the Universe (AO3)

Hi everyone!!!

I wanted to start out by thanking you all so much for your patience and ongoing support. 💖💖💖💖 I honestly thought I would get this chapter posted ages ago because it was 90% written before I started my spring semester. But then, (to absolutely no one's surprise) I ended up being very ambitious with the central project of my entire semester. That ate up pretty much all of my time and mental energy, which was why this ended up getting so delayed. But, I am now finished the semester on Friday and I spent yesterday finishing writing, and today revising. And now, here it is!!!

This chapter has been a long time coming (parts of it have been written for over a year 😂) and I'm so excited to finally share it with all of you. It ended up being way longer than expected, so make sure to settle in because it is a very long one.

A last bit of housekeeping. My eternal love and thanks to the my LBSC friends for cheering me on. Also a bug thanks to Min and Rierse for helping me remember what happened with some of the canon akumas and saving me from having to rewatch episodes. Finally, a huge thank you to Ver for talking me through all of my spirals and self-doubt I had with this chapter. Y'all are the best and I love you 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

With all that being said, again, thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy the chapter!!! 💖💖💖💖💖

_______________________________________________________________________

The air was warm, but there was a soft, cool breeze slipping through the city, ruffling her hair and carrying with it the sounds of the city at night. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, and the warm light of the golden hour had been replaced by the dusky blues and violets of twilight. In the approaching darkness, the skyline twinkled with the lights of the city, now come to life. It was a gorgeous evening. A perfect June evening. Except…

Where was he?

When Ladybug had shown up on the Liberty, it hadn’t come as a complete shock—though she hadn’t been expecting her quite so soon— what with her and Marinette’s little talk in the shoe store. Honestly, she had been flattered when she had realized Ladybug had been thinking about entrusting her with more responsibilities. And she was only too happy to fill in for Ladybug for patrol for the next couple of weeks. She was just glad Marinette was taking the time to work on something for herself. And patrolling with Chat Noir would be… fine.

Probably.

Maybe.

Hopefully…

And where was he anyway?

He was fifteen minutes late now and she couldn’t exactly start patrol without him. Well, she probably shouldn’t start without him, given this was her first patrol. But if he wasn’t there in another five minutes, she was going to start without him anyway. She wasn’t about to let Ladybug down. Not when she had come to her for help.

And not when she had looked so relieved when she had agreed to the favour.

She leaned back on her hands and looked up at the sky, painted with the promise of the oncoming night. The breeze ruffled her hair again, and she sighed.

She could definitely get used to evenings like this.

It was such gorgeous evening, she could just sit forever. But she had a job to do. And if relaxing on a rooftop on an evening like this was this wonderful, racing across the rooftops had to be even better…

She was just pushing herself to her feet when the soft thud of boots hitting the roof flicked at her ears. As she rose fully to her feet she turned to find Chat standing behind her, staring at her.

“Oh. It’s you,” he said flatly.

“Excuse me?”

Instead of answering, her tapped on his baton and a section of it slid open to reveal his communicator. He started tapping on the screen; she watched as his eyes scanned back and forth as if he were reading something. “I thought she was trying to make a joke,” he mumbled, a frown creasing his face.

“About…?”

He didn’t look up from his communicator. “About her calling in someone else to patrol.”

“And why would she joke about that?” she asked, crossing her arms as she watched him type out what she assumed was a message to Ladybug.

Finally, he looked up from his screen to meet her eyes. “Because it’s our thing.” He had left the word ‘just’ unsaid, but it was plenty clear in his voice.

“Well, I’m standing in for her,” she said tartly. He hadn’t even been here five minutes and already, her patience was waning thin. Maybe she should have just started patrol without him…

“You can go home,” he said brusquely, “I can easily handle patrol myself,” he grumbled. “I don’t need your help.”

“I’m here, like she asked me to be” she snapped. “Now come on, we’re already starting late enough as it is.”

Petty? Yes.

Did she care? No.

Chat shot her a sour look, and then without waiting, he launched himself into the air and toward the next roof over with his baton.

But it didn’t matter.

She would have no problem keeping up.

***

The night air whipped at her face as she raced across the rooftops and sailed through the air. Her feet barely touched the shingles as she tore across the rooftops. And she swore she flew just a little bit higher with every leap into the air. The speed with which they were racing was… exhilarating.

Even if it was so plainly obvious that he was trying to show her up. Or leave her behind.

Knowing him… it was probably both.

He glanced over his shoulder at her, his mouth settling into a tight line at the sight of her keeping pace with him. As soon as he landed, he used his baton to launch himself into the air in an attempt to pull ahead.

Like it was some sort of race.

But she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction.

And if he wanted to play stupid games?

She pulled her bolas from her waist and spun them, not missing a single step as she whipped them out to latch onto some scaffolding ahead of Chat. The air whistled past her as she swung through the air, pulling ahead of Chat.

He would have to live with winning stupid prizes.

***

Ladybug was already waiting for her in amongst the pile of stuff in the shadows of the stage’s scaffolding by the time she made it home from patrol. She dropped down onto the deck and ducked into the cover of the chaos of the the junk her ma refused to part with.

“How did it go?” Ladybug asked in a low voice.

“Good,” she murmured as she dropped her transformation. It had been good. Other than all the business with Chat…

Ladybug must has seen her thoughts reflected in her face, because her brows furrowed and her eyes were suddenly glimmering with concern. “If you don’t have the time, or if it’s stressing you out you don’t have to-“

“It really was fine,” she promised, grasping Ladybug’s hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze as she haded her the panjas bracelet. “Chat just… he wasn’t thrilled I was the one he was patrolling with.”

Something akin to the beginning of a grimace crossed Ladybug’s face. “I’m sorry about him. I told him… but I guess I should have given him more warning or something.”

“You told him. That should have been enough.”

“Yeah, well…” Ladybug said noncommittally. “Other than that, things were ok?”

“More than ok. It was actually pretty nice. Good way to blow off some steam.”

Ladybug laughed quietly, nodding her head. “Yeah, it is.” The laughter faded from her face, replaced by hesitancy. “I know I asked you to cover my patrols with Chat for me, but I was wondering… would you- would you be comfortable covering my solo patrols as well? It’s just, I- I’m working on a really tight deadline with this project and it’s really important to me,” she explained, her words tumbling out in an ever increasing tempo as she wrung her hands. “The first one isn’t until the end of the week so you would have some time to adjust. And if you needed anything I would just be a message away! My kwami can received messages even when I’m not transformed so if there were any issues or you felt overwhelmed I could-“

“It’s no problem.”

Ladybug’s whole body heaved with her sigh of relief. “Thank you, Juleka. You have no idea what this means to me.” Oh, she had a pretty good idea… “And I’m sorry to ask you in the first place. I would just get Chat to do solo patrols until I’m done but-“ Ladybug hesitated, obviously debating with herself. But then she sighed again. “I would feel better if I had someone I trust patrolling with him…”

“I won’t let you down.”

Ladybug’s eyes darted down to the panjas bracelet before returning to meet her own, a smile curling across her face. “I know.”

***

Chat was already waiting on the rooftop by the time she got there. He was perched on the edge of the roof, one leg dangling over the edge of the roof, with the other propped up so his hand could rest easily on his knee. He was leaning back on his other hand, and his face was tilted towards the sky so that his features perfectly caught the last of the golden rays.

He was the picture of casual elegance and charm.

Easy.

Effortless.

And totally practiced.

She recognized the pose from one of the ads that had been plastered across the city a while back.

After the her first few outings as Purple Tigress, she had gotten the hang of landing silently, no matter the force with which she had jumped or fallen. But she let herself land with a soft, but still audible thud.

“M’lady-“ he began so say as he turned, his face already breaking into a suave smile before his gaze landed on her. His smile immediately fell. “Oh. It’s you again.”

“It’s me again,” she agreed as she made her way towards him. But he ignored her in favour of turning back to look over the city as he pulled up the communicator in his baton. He began typing furiously, and a second later, she heard the familiar sound of an outgoing message. Followed by another. And another.

“So…” she said slowly, drawing the word out, “are we going to patrol or…”

“I’m waiting for Ladybug.”

“She isn’t coming,” she sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “That’s why I’m here, remember?”

“That was last time,” he said, still typing on his communicator. And still pointedly not looking at her.

“And this time. And all her patrols for the next couple of weeks.”

Another chime of an outgoing message rang from his phone, and his fingers stilled over the communicator. Then he snapped it shut and stowed it on his belt before standing. Finally, he turned to look at her with pursed lips and an exaggerated sigh. “Look, you’re a temp,” she raised her brow, and crossed her arms for good measure, but he continued on, completely undeterred. “And you’re still pretty new at all of this. But there’s something you need to understand.”

“And that is?”

“Ladybug and I… we’re in this together.”

“And now I’m in it too.”

“No,” he said, a hint of laughter in his voice. Like he was correcting a silly thing a child had said. “She and I are in this together. It’s been us from the start. And no offence, but you’re no replacement for her.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not trying to replace her. I’m just filling in for a bit.” He looked like he had more he wanted to say. Before he could begin to say anything else, she turned, glancing back over her shoulder as she loosened her bolas from her waist. “Now are we going to patrol, or what?’ Without waiting for a response, she snapped her bolas and swung herself into the air.

�� ***

The wind whipped through her hair as she flew across the rooftops. They were going so fast, her feet barely touched the ground. It seemed Chat still had a point to prove.

Though what he was hoping to accomplish—what he was thinking he would accomplish if he proved his point—was frankly, beyond her. Did he actually think she would stop showing up for patrol?

Her bolas cracked like a whip, the sound cutting through to city noise as she latched onto a chimney and swung herself to land on the next roof.

“You know,” Chat grunted as he landed on the roof a step behind her, “I can handle this on my own.”

It was a funny thing for him to say, given he had been petulant about Ladybug not being there in the first place. “Like I said,” she said as she vaulted over a retaining wall, “Ladybug asked me to fill in.”

“You could go home early.”

“I’m not going to go back on a promise.” It took her a few seconds to realize Chat wasn’t running beside—behind—her anymore. She slid to a stop and turned to look back at him. He was standing a few feet back, frowning at her with his arms crossed. “Why did she need you to cover for her anyway?”

“Didn’t she tell you?”

“She said she had something she needed to work on, but she wouldn’t tell me what.”

“There’s your answer then,” she sighed.

That, apparently, was the wrong thing to say.

“And why did she ask you to fill in for her?” he demanded, crossing his arms even tighter across his chest as he stalked a few steps toward her.

She couldn’t exactly tell him Ladybug had asked her to cover for her because she—as a civilian—had encouraged Ladybug—also as a civilian—to take time to do something for herself. Like make herself a nice dress for the dance she was going to with the guy she liked…

“I guess the same reason she’s asked me to help out in battles,” she said, feigning blithe ignorance and biting down hard on her sharper words. She was already getting a headache from his petulance, and she wasn’t in the mood to pick a fight.

Finishing one on the other hand…

“We don’t need you for patrols,” he said acidly. The ‘for patrols’ sentiment sounded like an afterthought. “Ladybug and I are perfectly capable-“

“She’s busy.”

“Well, I’m fully capable of handling it on my own. We never asked the other part-timers to help out with them.”

She shrugged. “Well, Ladybug asked me to. Now are we going to continue?”

Chat said nothing, but he sniffed as he brushed past her to continue along the roof. She bit back a sigh, but indulged in rolling her eyes as she turned to follow him.

***

The bright, late-morning sun filtered through the porthole into her room, filling the room with warm light from the way it reflected off of her dressing table mirror. Which was directing the light right into her eyes.

Squinting with disgust, she burrowed back into the somewhat dark depths of her sheets to shelter herself from the sun that had no right being so bright this early. Well, early was a relative statement. Couaffaines were not morning people.

And she especially, was not a morning person on the best of days.

The late night patrol from the night before—which had resulted in a Chat-induced headache—hadn’t exactly helped. That and…

In the relative safety of the shadows of her bedding, she frowned at her phone screen

Alya 🦊?! unsent a message

It wasn’t like Alya to unsend messages. There was the odd occasion where Alya sent a message to the girl’s chat instead of the class—minus Chloe and Sabrina—chat. But that only happened once in a blue moon. And she never bothered to unsend the messages.

The only reason Alya would unsend a message would be if she didn’t want someone to see it.

But she had sent it to the Adrienette chat… not the girl squad one…

None of the other girls had acknowledged the unsent message, and she hadn’t had a chance to see it before Alya had retracted it. She had been a little busy trying to will the sun to shine somewhere else so she could go back to sleep.

The little dots indicating Alya was typing again appeared on the screen. She watched as they appeared and disappeared before, after what felt like an eternity, she sent her message.

Alya 🦊?!: so r we still on for meeting at 11?

She frowned.

There was no acknowledgement of the unsent message. No indication of why she had retracted it.

Nothing.

It was… weird.

Rose 🌹💗: Yes!! I just have to let my nails dry

Alix 🛼 : gonna be late

Alix 🛼 : still at the park with Kim and Max

Alix 🛼 : Kim actually thinks he can win this race 🙄🙄🙄

Mylène 🌼 : I’m just finishing up some gardening

Mylène 🌼 : I’ll need a quick shower but I’ll be there

Rose 🌹💗: @Queen of Darkness are you alive yet, bijou??

Queen of Darkness 🦇: barely

Queen of Darkness 🦇: but I’ll be there

Like she would miss this meeting.

Rose 🌹💗: 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

Alya 🦊?!: cool

She frowned again as she stared at Alya’s response, which felt entirely too short for a confirmation they would all be attending a scheming session. Alya was being… weird was the only word she could really use to describe it. And it wasn’t just the message that was weird.

Alya was always a bit weird, especially with all the Adrien stuff looking back on it now. But ever since the shopping trip, she had been especially weird. When she had, as offhandedly and casually as she could, mentioned it to Rose, Rose had simply brushed it off as Alya just being focused on getting Adrien and Marinette together before the school year ended.

But she couldn’t shake the way Alya had looked to her for agreement in the shoe store, or the look she had given her when Luka had shown up and derailed Alya’s scheme. And then there had been the text… the short, curt, and abrupt text that still had her on edge.

Alya hadn’t said anything since. And Alya was not afraid of confrontation. It was the little things. The little looks Alya shot her when she thought she wasn’t looking. And now…

That unsent message was giving her vibes.

She couldn’t put her finger on it, but it was… it was weird.

She shook her head. Maybe it was something. But maybe it was nothing. She had been counter-scheming for so long, maybe she was seeing things where there weren’t any? Either way, it was obvious she needed a bit of a break.

Tapping on her screen, she pulled up her text chat with just Rose.

Queen of Darkness 🦇: do you want to go our for lunch after the meeting?

Queen of Darkness 🦇: maybe grab some frozen yogurt after and go for a walk in the park?

They were long overdue for a real date. And it would be nice to get off the boat and spend some time with just Rose. And hopefully, it would help her unwind and relax a bit.

Rose 🌹💗: I already have plans!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Rose 🌹💗: I’m sorry bijou 😭😭😭😭😭😭

She sighed. She had been hoping for a nice day out, but it would have to wait. She started to type out a reply when Rose, in typical fashion, continued her barrage of messages.

Rose 🌹💗: I would reschedule them if I could but they’re important

Rose 🌹💗: and time sensitive

Rose’s messages made her pause. It wasn’t unusual for Rose to have important plans she couldn’t reschedule. After all, when she was video chatting with Prince Ali, they were at the whims of his often erratic schedule. But Rose always told her if she was chatting with Ali, or what her plans were for that matter.

Rose wasn’t obligated to tell her what her plans were. And she never expected her to. But Rose always told her. Unprompted too. And Rose knew she didn’t have to, and that she wouldn’t ask if she didn’t offer the reason herself because she wanted to respect Rose’s privacy.

So it wasn’t a problem that Rose hadn’t said what her plans were. But it was… well, she couldn’t help but feel it was weird.

Rose 🌹💗: can I take you out tomorrow? 💖💖💖💖💖💖

Queen of Darkness 🦇: of course 💜 and don’t worry about it 💜

She let her phone drop from her hand to bounce against the mattress as she stared up at the ceiling, partially obscured by the sheets she still had shielding her from the light. Maybe she was reading too much into things. After all, people unsent messages. And Rose knew she didn’t have to share every detail of her life. But she just couldn’t ignore that niggling feeling in the back of her head.

And she doubted she would be able to get rid of it any time soon.

Before she could dwell on it further, or drag herself from her bed to start getting ready like she probably should have fifteen minutes ago given the time, the sound of footsteps against stairs caught her attention.

“Morning little miss sunshine,” Luka chuckled as their door squeaked out.

Groaning, she sat up, her bedding still bundled around her, and gave him the evilest glare she could muster. He was in an entirely too good of a mood considering it was still technically morning.

He was even humming as he made his way over to his side of the room. And smiling stupidly down at the bags he was carrying…

Her eyes zeroed in on the shopping bags he was carrying. They were all from thrift stores Marinette had, at this point, dragged everyone to. He had mentioned that he would be looking for something to wear to the dance this weekend. After she had pestered him repeatedly that he couldn’t show up looking like a dork. Well, as much of a dork as he usually looked.

“So, what did you get?” she asked as she emerged from her bed to take a couple steps across the room.

“Nothing that will interest you,” he started to say, trailing off as an even dopier grin spread across his face as he glanced down at the contents of his bags.

Interesting…

She moved to peer into the closest bag, but with lightning quick reflexes—that would have caught her off guard if she didn’t know he moonlighted as Viperion—he snatched the bag away. “You know I’m going to see what you’re wearing eventually, right?” she grumbled. “It’s my school’s dance, remember?”

“Yeah, well…” Luka mumbled as his face and ears turned a particularly interesting shade of pink. “Don’t forget, we’re moving up dye night because of the dance.”

“Like I would forget,” she said, scoffing at his blatant change in topic.

“And what happened to you last night?”

“Hmm?”

“That miniseries you love, you know, the one that adapts all those creepy short stories-”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“It was on last night, and I was going to tell you but I couldn’t find you.”

She shrugged. “I was around.” Technically, it was true. Her patrol had ended about the same time the show usually started. But Ladybug had been late picking up the miraculous, which was unsurprising given Marinette’s tendency to get lost in the process when she had a project to work on. And rather than going out for an extra run and making Ladybug wait for her, it had made more sense to just hang around the Liberty. Sure, she had been hiding, but she had been around.

“Doing what?”

“It was the witching hour, do you really want to know?” With that, she threw on her robe, and hastily made her way to the kitchen—and some much needed coffee—before Luka could ask any more questions.

***

“Everything go ok tonight?”

“Yeah. It was nice to stretch my legs.”

“Great!” Ladybug beamed, her eyes vivid and sparkling. “And you’re all set for tomorrow?”

She nodded. Tomorrow would be her first solo patrol, and honestly, she was excited for the chance to patrol the city without having to drag along an irritable cat.

“Ok, then I can meet you at your place at nine-” Ladybug’s words cut off at her cringe.

“Sorry, I forgot, I might be a little late tomorrow.”

“Oh?”

“I’ve got plans that probably won’t wrap up until half past eight at the earliest.” Knowing Alya, the meeting would definitely go overtime, meaning she would be cutting it pretty close. “I can find a way to bail…” But given the way Alya had been acting lately… it would probably be best not to leave early… Alya had been a little too pushy about her involvement and support of the Adrien schemes. To say nothing of all the… the vibes she had been getting from Alya…

“Hang onto it until the end of patrol tomorrow then,” Ladybug said, pressing the miraculous back into her hands.

“What? But…” Ladybug always took back the miraculous after battles and patrols. As far as she knew, none of the temp heroes had ever gotten to hold onto their miraculous outside of active use.

Ladybug closed her fingers around the miraculous. “I trust you with it.”

***

She had been looking forward to her first solo patrol. She had been looking forward to taking in the city at night in peace. Or at least, as much peace as could be found in Paris at night.

The point being, she had been looking forward to it.

And then Shadowmoth had just had to go and ruin her evening.

What was worse, he was interrupting Marinette.

And given how tight Marinette’s deadline was… she had no interest in letting this fight drag out.

“Taste my wrath!” Jets of molten cheese burst from the prongs of Fondoom’s oversized fondue fork and streaked through the air toward Ladybug. Ladybug dove to the side, ducking behind the cover of an abandoned car. The stench of sour milk, compost, something akin to Kim’s gym socks, and a general funk hit her like a wall with such force it almost knocked her over. From behind the car Ladybug had rolled behind she could hear gagging.

“That is revolting,” she gasped as she stumbled back a few steps, narrowing missing a puddle of gooey cheese. The last thing she wanted to do was get stuck in the stuff.

“Artisanal cheeses are wasted on the likes of you,” Fondoom snarled before lunging at her with his fork. She danced out of the way, nimbly—but narrowly—avoiding being speared by the fork. Just like the odour he and his attacks were emitting, Fondoom was relentless. His fork was a silver blur as he swung and stabbed at her, all while trying to douse her in molten cheese. She was too fast for him, but she was getting nauseous.

She unfurled her bolas from her waist and snapped them at Fondoom, throwing him off balance. He had to catch himself against the ground using his fork. But what he had failed to notice was how close he had gotten to some of the pungent puddles he had left all over the place.

“No. One. Appreciates,” he growled as he struggled to pull his fork from the cheese, “Fine. Cheeses. Anymore.” He wrenched his fork free with a roar.

“Not when they smell like that,” she quipped, snapping her bolas as he raised his fork, sending him skittering back to plant his feet directly in the cheese he had just freed himself from.

“Lucky charm!” She looked in the direction of Ladybug’s nasally shout, being careful to keep an eye on the akuma as he struggled against his own cheese. Ladybug’s yoyo shot up into the air as she pinched her nose shut with her other hand.

A pair of red and black spotted nose plugs appeared in a rain of sparkling light before dropping into Ladybug’s outstretched hand. She slipped one over her nose, and then turned to her. “Tigress!”

She easily caught the nose plug, and slipped it into place.

“Sweet relief,” she sighed, and Ladybug immediately burst into giggles. “What?”

“You- you sound funny,” Ladybug laughed, “And you’ve got cheese in your hair.”

“Yeah, well,” she said, having to hold back her own laughter at how oddly nasal and high her voice sounded, “so do you.”

Ladybug blinked at her, and then her giggles descended into howls of laughter as she picked her way through the cheese covered street. By the time Ladybug had made her way over, she was almost doubled over; they had to lean on each other as they tried to control their laughter.

“If- if my hair stinks of cheese after your miraculous cure-” she gasped between peals of laughter, “you owe me a bottle of shampoo. Make that three,” she added, playfully shoving Ladybug’s shoulder.”

At some point in their hysterics, Fondoom had managed to fall flat onto his back into the cheese and was well and truly stuck. And it seemed the civilians who had been cowering in the shops and cars lining the street had caught on that the danger had passed, as they were beginning to emerge. Vaguely, she was aware of some pointing their phones at her and Ladybug as they both fought to keep it together.

But it was hard.

Between how ridiculous they sounded and must have looked with cheese in their hair, and with how outright ridiculous this akuma had been—seriously, what had Shadowmoth been thinking?—and how tired they both were, how could they not laugh?

“We should- we should…” Ladybug wheezed as she wiped a stray tear and gestured uselessly at Fondoom, who had seemingly given up struggling against the cheese and was just staring forlornly at the sky, muttering about how ‘no one appreciated traditional cheese anymore.’

“I’m- ready when you are,” she gasped as she tried to push herself up from leaning on her friend.

“M’lady! I’m-” Chat’s breathless gasp snapped her out of the worst of her laughter. She turned just in time to see Chat staring at her and Ladybug, still leaning against each other and stifling the odd giggle. “here…” he finished, his voice trailing off as his eyes darted between the two of them. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” Ladybug said, forcing back her laughter as she straightened up. “It was stupid.” There was still a ring of laughter in her voice as she tried to put on her professional smile. “We should deal with the akuma.”

“Right-” her grip tightened on her bolas, ready to strike them against the fork and release the akuma when Chat cried out.

“Cataclysm!” A streak of black whizzed in front of her, and the next thing she knew, the fork had crumbled and a dark butterfly had fluttered out of it’s remains.

Chat smiled smugly at her, before letting his gaze land on Ladybug as she purified the akuma. Once the silvery white butterfly had been released from her yoyo, Ladybug turned to her ruefully and slipped off her nose plug. With a grimace, she slipped her own off handed it to Ladybug, who promptly cast them into the air with a hurried cry of “Miraculous Ladybug!”

The swarm of Ladybugs rushed over and past her—hopefully removing the cheese and stench from her hair as they went—before swarming out over the street. By the time they had disappeared, the worst of the smell was gone. But a fainter—though still strong—aroma remained, emanating from the rather ruffled looking man lying in the street, clutching a fondue fork—now normal sized—and a box of Epoisse de Bourgogne.

“I just wanted to introduce her to the world of fine cheeses” the man mumbled dolefully as he sat up.

“Hey,” she said quietly, making her way over to crouch beside him. Gently, she rested her hand on his shoulder, ignoring the beep coming from her miraculous. She still had two minutes. “Maybe… maybe next time start with something a little less-” she stopped herself before she could say rank. “Odiferous. Work your…”

“Girlfriend.”

“Work your girlfriend’s way up to it.” The man offered her a shaky smile. Satisfied, she stood and offered him her hand. Once she had pulled the man to his feet, she turned.

“It’s been fur-ever, M’lady,” Chat said as leaned against his staff. “What say you and I have a moonlight picnic? All that cheese made me hungry.”

How? How could anyone be hungry after smelling that?

“I can’t, I keep telling you, I’m busy.”

Chat pouted as he pushed himself off his staff to stand up straight. “Too busy for me?”

“Chat…” Ladybug sighed, reaching up to massage her temples. But before she could say anything else, her earring beeped. And her bracelet was quick to follow.

“That’s one minute for me.”

Even if it hadn’t been, she would have said it was. She knew he kept sending Ladybug messages about patrols, and the last couple of battles, he had complained about it. Multiple times.

And he seemed completely unaware that Ladybug’s patience was waning.

Ladybug nodded at her, then turned back to Chat. “Can you help him home?” she asked, nodding to the man.

“But-”

“Chat.”

“Fine,” Chat grumbled.

Ladybug nodded at him, the turned to her. “C’mon. I think we can call it a night for your patrol.“Nodding, she followed after Ladybug. “Be honest,” Ladybug said quietly as they turned, “does my hair still stink of cheese?”

A bark of laughter escaped her as she shook her head. “No, you’re good.”

Ladybug giggled. “You too.” And then she cast her yoyo, and let it pull her up to the rooftops.

She was about to follow when she froze, feeling the invisible weight of eyes on her.. Quickly, she glanced over her shoulder; Chat was still standing there, watching her.

Shaking her head, she turned, swung herself toward the roofline.

***

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Bustier said with another of her syrupy smiles as she hovered by the open door to the classroom, “M. Damocles only needs to see me for a few minutes, so take this time to review the stages of the Hero’s Journey, and then we’ll discuss when I return.” With that, their teacher left the room and headed towards the principals office, seemingly blithely ignorant of the fact that no one in the class was even remotely engaging in the lesson.

“And…” Alix said, dragging out the word as she craned her neck to look out the windows into the hallway, “she’s gone.”

“Did you guys see the pictures from the battle last night?” Rose squealed as soon as the coast had been declared clear.

“I missed it,” Alya moaned before flopping dramatically onto her desk. “I didn’t get any pictures,” Alya continued, her voice muffled by the desk.

“But babe, you told me you were heading there-”

“I got stuck in cheese!” Alya cried, sitting back up. “I was only a block away! And all those people- they were right there. The pictures were amazing! And it smelled disgusting!”

Marinette patted Alya’s shoulder comfortingly. But the motion seemed a little more awkward than usual. A little more reserved.

“They are pretty amazing,” Alix said as she glanced at her phone. She craned her neck to get a better look at Alix’s screen.

One of the many pictures taken the previous night was pulled up on the phone. It was one of the ones that had been taken when she and Ladybug were in the midst of their fit of laughter.

“I wish I had been there…” Kim sighed longingly. “What?” he asked, when met with incredulous looks. “Have you seen the way Tigress throws those weight thingies of hers?”

“Bolas,” Max corrected.

“Boas,” Kim repeated—sort of—“I would love to challenge her to a discus throw.”

“My money’s on Tigress,” Alix snorted.

“Mine too! She’s so cool!” Rose chirped.

“Yeah, Marc and I are writing her into the next issue of the comic.”

She bit the inside of her keep to keep her grin in check. It would look weird if she just started randomly grinning—of course, it was hardly random given she was the one they were heaping praise upon—but try as she might, the heat in her cheeks wasn’t subsiding. Under the ruse of doodling, she dropped her gaze to try and hide her flaming cheeks. But through her curtain of hair, she caught sight of Adrien.

Like everyone else seated in the front rows—excluding Chloe and Sabrina who seemed to be skipping class entirely—he was turned towards the back to be more part of the conversation. But unlike everyone else, he looked less than thrilled by the topic of conversation. Sure, he had his usual, bland, model smile pasted on his face. But his smile was tight, and his eyes were hard.

There was that green-eyed monster again…

“Yeah?” Mylène asked.

“Yeah, she’s been around so much lately, and she and Ladybug are obviously friends, so it seemed like a good choice to bring her in. Plus she adds a really cool dynamic.”

Adrien’s smile slipped at that.

Marinette’s on the other hand… “I think that’s a great idea, Nathanial! I think it’s high time Ladybug had a friend.”

“What about Chat Noir?”

Everyone turned to blink at Adrien. It hadn’t been an… outburst per se, but it had been… unexpected. Based on the pink tinge that was quickly rising in his face, it seemed he hadn’t meant to say that quite so loud. If at all…

Ivan cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“Well, Chat Noir and Ladybug have been together since the beginning.”

The others nodded in agreement. But she saw Marinette’s smile slip from her face.

“But it’s different with him,” Alya said. She wasn’t sure who was more surprised. Her, Marinette, or Adrien.

“What do you mean?” Adrien somehow meekly demanded.

Alya shrugged. “Sure, they’re best friends. But they’re also meant to be, so that makes their dynamic a little different. Tigress is a girl, so it’s only natural they’re going to talk about stuff Ladybug wouldn’t normally talk to Chat Noir about.” She didn’t miss the jealous edge in Alya’s voice. If Alya had been who she thought she had been, she was betting Alya had been hoping she would be filling the role of Ladybug’s friend.

It was more than a little ironic…

“That makes sense,” Kim mused before brightening. “It’s like how you girls talk about who you have crushes o- ow!” Kim turned in his seat to glare at Rose. “What was that for?”

Rose smiled sweetly at him, still kicking her legs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said innocently with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

“Right…” Kim said, shrinking back a little and warily eying Rose’s swinging legs. He had obviously received the message loud and clear.

“They seem like the kind of friends who would tell each other everything,” Rose sighed happily. “It’s so cute seeing that side of Ladybug.”

Maybe not everything…

But pretty close…

“Ladybug would never tell someone her identity,” Adrien mumbled.

She snapped her head to look at Adrien, but before her gaze settled on blond hair and green eyes, brown eyes behind glasses caught her attention. Nino’s eyes widened as his previously thought-furrowed brows rose to disappear under the brim of his cap as her eyes met his. He ducked his head to look down at his desk before—very obviously—turning his attention to Adrien.

That was… weird-

“I concur, Ladybug has always been very protective regarding her identity. However,” Max said, the light glinting off his glasses as he looked up from his phone, “they do appear to be very close friends.”

“Yes!” Markov added, “we have recently been analyzing resources on body language to update my database, and Tigress and Ladybug regularly display body language that communicates a deep sense of trust and friendship!”

“And even if they don’t share their identities, they totally seem like share everything else!”

“Maybe…” Adrien said, though it sounded more like he was talking to himself. Disgruntlement was no longer showing through the cracks in his model facade. His brows furrowed as if he were deep in thought. There was a spark in his eye that reminded her of-

“I wonder what they talk about,” Ivan mused.

Her own brows furrowed as she watched Adrien. Why was he suddenly so-

“Bustier’s coming!”

***

For the second time since she had started patrolling for Ladybug, Chat Noir was waiting for her at the meeting place. In fact, he was early. It was… weird.

The first time, he had obviously been expecting Ladybug despite being told multiple times Ladybug wouldn’t be patrolling for the last two weeks of June. Every other night, he had shown up after her, all but dragging his feet.

She held back a groan. She was still a few rooftops away, but with her enhanced vision and her night vision—one of the many perks of the tiger miraculous—she had a clear view of him. He was sitting in another clearly practiced pose that was meant to look casual. Ladybug had told him—again—she wouldn’t be patrolling… but based on the way he was waiting… apparently that didn’t mean anything.

She was not in the mood for an argument tonight; all she wanted was to blow off some steam, make sure there were no signs of any akumas or sentimonsters, and then go home and curl up in bed with a book.

While she had successfully held back her groan before, she couldn’t stop a sigh from escaping her now.

There was no point in putting off the inevitable any further.

With the effortless grace her miraculous granted her, she crossed the rest of the rooftops and landed behind Chat. His cat ears twitched at the sound of her landing—it had seemed like a good idea to clue him in to her arrival before he saw her—and he pushed himself off the chimney he had been leaning against as if posing for a campaign.

He turned to her with a suave smile.

That didn’t drop the moment he saw it was her…

What-

“Tigress,” he greeted her, seemingly channeling every drop of charisma he had in his body into his voice. “How are you?”

Ok…

She had thought it was weird he was early, but she didn’t even know how to begin to describe… this…

“Fine…” she said carefully, watching him warily as he grinned and sauntered toward her.

“Good… good,” he murmured, almost to himself.

What was going on?

Had she missed something?

Had he been zapped by an akuma?

He tilted his head back to take in the lights of the city, and let out a wistful sigh. “Isn’t the city beautiful at night?”

“Sure…”

Where was he going with this?

As if finally noticing she wasn’t charmed, he turned to grin at her. “Look,” he said as he leaned on his staff and offered her what she was sure would be a charming grin, if not for the fact that she was utterly un-charmed by it. And wasn’t that a sudden change in tune… “I think you and I maybe got off on the wrong foot.”

And whose fault was that?

“I mean, we are practically cousins, after all.” That line? Again? “And shouldn’t family stick together?”

She would stick by Luka and her ma through anything.

Chat, on the other hand, was not family, no matter what miraculous she had.

But she would be lying if she wasn’t curious to see where he was trying to steer this conversation. And agreeing with him seemed like the most direct path to his intended destination. “Sure.” It was technically a sentiment she agreed with, just not in the context he had given. “Should we get going?” As much as she wanted to figure out the sudden attitude change, it was starting to feel awkward just standing around with him being so… yeah.

And she could just as easily get to the bottom of this while blowing off some of this awkward energy.

“After you,” he said with a bow that wasn’t the least bit mocking. But was plenty thick with obvious attempts at flattery.

Ok…

Casting another wary glance at him, she loosened her bolas and swung them to latch onto some scaffolding on the next building over.

Chat insisted on making small talk as they scoured the city for any signs of Shadowmoth. It was… she wanted to say it was a nice break from the open hostility and the pointed, green-eyed glances he usually shot her way. But in some ways, his sudden friendliness was worse. At least she hand known what to expect the last few patrols.

But this?

He obviously had some kind of angle.

He obviously wanted something.

“Tigress?”

She shook her head to try and clear her thoughts, and turned to Chat. “Sorry, what?”

“I’m ready for a break, want to take a rest up there?” he asked, pointing with his staff toward the Palais Garnier in the distance.

“Uh, yeah. Sure.”

He nodded, and shot her what many would consider a winning grin. Then he took a running start and used his staff to launch himself into the air in the direction of the Palais Garnier. She watched him through narrowed eyes as he bounded across the rooftops, her frown returning.

So far, he had not been very forthcoming on what it was he wanted. It seemed he was more interested in laying on the flattery.

Thickly.

She had a feeling she wouldn’t like it—whatever it was he wanted—when she did find out…

Before she could psych herself out, she ran toward the edge of the roof and leapt into the air.

By the time she made it to the roof, he was waiting in yet another perfectly practiced pose. She recognized it as another pose from one of his previous campaigns. Sure, in the magazine he had been leaning against a bookshelf in the library whereas now, he was leaning against the base of one of the Lequesne Pagasi. But the offhand grace and winsome smile that were obviously meant to make him look approachable were the same.

She had barely taken two steps onto the roof when he turned the full force of his smile on her. Not that it had any effect. “You hungry?” Before she could so much as reply, he was already busying himself with opening a compartment in his baton. Carefully, he extracted a box and opened its lid before holding it out to her.

They were chocolates.

Expensive chocolates.

Expensive, chocolatey bribes if his sudden change in tune was anything to go by.

But sure. She would bite.

Carefully, she selected a chocolate from the box.

Just because she took the chocolate didn’t mean she had to take the bribe.

She popped the chocolate into her mouth. It was rich and decadent and tasted as expensive as she imagined it had been. Though she didn’t dwell too long on how expensive; some things were better left unknown. It was amazing. But-

“They’re good, right?”

She nodded. “They are, thanks.”

He smiled like the cat that had just caught the canary. He was obviously pleased with himself. “Have another,” he coaxed, holding the box out to her.

She complied. It wasn’t like she was about to turn down free chocolate.

And they were amazing. But as amazing as they were, she swore she could taste the strings attached to them.

She watched as he popped a chocolate into his own mouth and hummed in bliss. They finished the rest of the chocolates in relative silence. With every bite she took, the less she tasted chocolate and the more she tasted the bitterness of the bribe.

“So Tigress…” he turned to her, raking a hand through his golden hair and offering her a charming yet abashed smile that reeked of being rehearsed. “Can I ask you something.”

Struggling to chew the last of her chocolate, she nodded.

“You and Ladybug are friends, right?”

So that was what this was all about? What they had been talking about in class earlier?

Typical.

Thickly, she swallowed the last bite of her chocolate. “Yeah, she and I are friends,” she said carefully.

“And you two are close, right?

Technically, she and Marinette were close. “I guess you could say that-”

“So you tell each other stuff then.” It wasn’t so much a question as a statement. His eyes were fixed on her firmly now, and if she weren’t a tigress, she imaged she would have felt like prey.

But as she was a tigress… “A little bit, but not much.” She and Marinette on the other hand…

“What are her favourite flowers?”

“What-“

“I’ve always gone with red roses because they’re classic.” His attention was suddenly off her as he gazed thoughtfully out at the skyline. But just as suddenly, his eyes snapped back to her. “But maybe that’s the problem; so what other kinds of flowers does she like?”

Cherry blossoms. Peonies. Lilacs.

To name a few.

Luka could probably recite all of Marinette’s favourites in reverse order in his sleep.

“You don’t know?”

“Obviously,” he chuckled, though there was a tinge of bitter annoyance, “that’s why I asked.”

“And you’re asking me because…” she let her voice trail off as she turned to raise a brow at him.

“The two of you are friends.” He said it like it was supposed to explain all the intricacies of the Universe.

“Yeah. But why not ask her? And why wait this long to ask?”

“I thought roses were the right direction. They symbolize love, you know. True love, to be exact.” He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair again, and shot her a a charming yet hopeless smile that she was sure was meant to elicit pity. “But I guess they weren’t the right choice after all…”

Because it was the flowers that were the issue…

“And girls like picnics, right?”

“What-”

“I thought they did. And they always do romantic, moonlight picnics in the movies. But every time I try one, it never seems to work. But maybe a picnic isn’t the right direction? Maybe I need to do something bolder?”

She bit back a groan. “Some girls like picnics, sure. But not all girls.” Of course, Marinette did like picnics. But it was always more about the company… “And I don’t think-”

“Ok, so no picnics,” Chat said as he stood abruptly. He turned, and began to pace, completely ignoring what she had been about to say. “But then what? Maybe a boat ride along the Seine? No… Too many tourists. The cinema might be fun… I could take her to see the new Ladybug and Chat Noir movie!” He paused in his pacing, then frowned before muttering, “But all our fans would probably be watching us if we did something so public, and that wouldn’t be very romantic. Maybe I could- no, that would be no good. A rooftop picnic is the best option for privacy but those haven’t worked before-” he whirled to face her, and she swore she saw the lightbulb go off over his head. “I’ve got it!”

Oh no.

“It’s perfect!”

Here we go…

“If you put in a good word for me to Ladybug, apparently girl friends talk to each other about stuff they don’t talk about with their guy friends,” he added for her benefit, as if it was something she didn’t already know, “then she’ll have to agree! And I can bring takeout from her favourite restaurant- do you know what it is, by the way?” he was pacing with renewed vigour and energy. But it wasn’t the aimless pacing of before. It seemed he was set on his plan. “And her favourite flowers? You never told me what they were. If I have her favourites of everything ready for her at the picnic then it will be perfect and she’ll realize-”

“It isn’t going to work.”

He froze misstep and turned to look at her. The mask of cheery camaraderie slipped. Just for a second. The it was back. But much more forced than before.

“Of course it will,” he said, trying to laugh lightheartedly. But it sounded just as forced as his smile. “It’s easy! You put in a good word for me, since she listens to you,” despite his obvious attempts, he wasn’t able to mask the bitterness in his voice. “And you tell me what she would want for a first date-”

“You can’t use my friendship with her to try and date her.”

“But nothing I’ve done has worked!”

She shrugged. “That’s life.”

He glowered at her. “So you’re just going to stand in the way of true love? Of destiny?”

Fate… destiny… the Universe…

Whatever he wanted to call it, it wasn’t like she hadn’t been standing in its way for the past few months.

She refused to shrink under his glower. He seemed to realize pretty quick that she wasn’t going to balk under his glare. “You just don’t get it,” he snapped, his face shifting into a petulant pout. “She and I are meant to be. She’s the only one who doesn’t see it. But she never even gives me a chance!” He stalked back toward the statue and leaned against it sullenly, kicking the stone of the roof for good measure. ”I’m just so tired of her turning me down. I wish she would just stop rejecting me and realize what’s been obvious to everyone else since the start.”

His words hung heavy in the air. With his tantrum over and done with—she hoped—he seemed set on moping. And frankly, she was long past tired of it. Of his jealousy-fuelled hostility. Of his whining and complaining. Of his sulking. What she was going to say would probably make him mad. But she was over it.

She just hoped it would be worth it.

“You know,” she said slowly, watching him out of the corner of her eye, “there is a way for you to get her to stop rejecting you.”

He perked up immediately, turning to look at her with the delight of someone what had just been told they were going to be told the secrets of the Universe. “Really? How?”

“It’ll be hard-“

“I’ll do anything to get her to stop rejecting me-“

“Stop asking her out.”

His face went blank. He stared at her silently, looking as if he was trying to puzzle out one of Mendeleiev’s homework assignments. “How will that-“

“You’re tired of her saying no?” He nodded. “Then stop asking. She’s already given you her answer-“

“But-“

“And she’s been way nicer about it than she needs to. And she’s given way more reasons than she needs to. No is reason enough.”

“You just don’t get it- you’re a temp. She and I have been in it since the beginning. Me and her against the world,” he sighed wistfully, “we were chosen to be partners. It was destiny-“

“And what if I had been chosen instead?” She wasn’t sure which of them was more surprised she had asked that.

“What-“

But it was still a relevant question.

“What if I had been the one chosen to be Ladybug? Would you and I be destined for each other?” That felt wrong to say on so many levels. She sent a silent apology to Rose.

She could practically see the gears turning in his head as he spluttered out nonsense. “What- but- you- she- no. No. It’s different-“

“I don’t see how.”

He laughed, but it was strained. “Look, I’m flattered and all but you know I love-“

“Don’t be.” The beginnings of the casually charming smile that had been making its way onto his face fell back to blank confusion. “I’m seeing someone. And you’re not my type. Not even close. All I’m saying is, magical jewelry seems like a pretty flimsy foundation for true love. Much less destiny.” She stood and made a show of stretching. “Now I’m going to go finish patrol-“

“You’re wrong!” Before she could say anything else, he pushed himself off of the statue and vaulted himself off into the darkness, disappearing into the shadows.

She groaned. It was like arguing with a brick wall.

***

To say patrolling solo was a relief after the previous night was an understatement. She needed the peace and quiet of solitude to clear her head after all of that. And sure, maybe intervening in an armed robbery wasn’t exactly what she would call quiet or peaceful…

But at least it wasn’t headache inducing the way arguing with a certain cat was…

One of the masked robbers ran at her, viciously swinging the knife he was holding.

Really, he should have known better.

Easily and with grace, she stepped aside, using her arm to block the knife as she caught his wrist. Using his own momentum against him, she disarmed and flipped him to the ground in one fluid motion. His blade clattered against the ground, far out of his reach as she pinned him with a knee to his back.

The man grunted, trying to hit her and throw her off of him, but it was futile. He couldn’t reach her with his free hand and with her miraculous, she was too strong for him.

“Hey!”

Her attention snapped to two of the other robbers. They were—rather stupidly—running towards her, brandishing their crowbars. Without relinquishing her grip on the man she had subdued, she loosened her bolas from her waist.

Before the robbers rushing to attack her could even begin to rethink their idiotic plan, she had her bolas free and swinging. Their brash confidence turned to panic as she smirked at them, right before she loosed the bolas.

They streaked through the air in a blur; their whizzing melding with the squeaks of sneakers against tiles as the robbers tried to skid to a stop. The sound of distant sirens joined the mix. The two cried out as the bolas tangled around them both, knocking the crowbars from their hands and binding them together in a mishmash of limbs. They immediately tripped over each other and toppled to the ground where they continued to struggle uselessly against her weapon.

A sharp inhale that sounded an awful lot like a whimper came from the back of the shop.

She snapped her gaze to the fourth and last robber. His eyes were wide and wild with panic as he looked at her. What she could see off his face was stark pale next to the black of his ski mask. His gaze darted around the shop and landed on the window the robbers had originally broken through.

“You really want to do that?” she asked.

His gaze snapped back to her. He looked like he would rather do anything but try and go up against her, but he also looked like he didn’t want to stick around. Especially with the sirens drawing so close. The hand he was brandishing his knife with was shaking, but his feet were—albeit hesitantly—shifting.

Keeping a careful and tight grip on the man she was pinning, she feigned lunging toward the last robber. With a yelp, he skittered backward, tripping and stumbling over his feet to land on his behind. His knife clattered to the ground, and was promptly kicked out of his reach by his own flailing feet as he scrambled back and away from her. Directly into the back corner of the jewelry display he had been in the middle of emptying into his forgotten sack.

“That’s what I thought.”

Barely minutes later, police officers burst into the room with Officer Roger—he and her ma had had enough run ins that he and her family were on a first name basis now—leading the charge, only to find the robbers subdued. Or, in the case of the last one, cowering. After that, the arrest was quick with the only real delay being untangling the robbers from her bolas.

As the last of the robbers was led out in handcuffs, she turned to Officer Roger, who had coughed quietly in a clear attempt to get her attention. With an air of formality and admiration, he stuck his hand out toward her.

“Thank you for your service, Purple Tigress.”

As she shook his hand, she couldn’t help but wonder how he would react if he knew he was shaking the hand of Anarka Couffaine’s daughter.

Spontaneous combustion didn’t seem entirely unrealistic…

“It was no problem, I’m just doing my job.”

***

“So, how did it go tonight?” Ladybug asked as soon as she ducked under the tarps her ma had hung over the stage to cover it from the rain they had gotten earlier in the day. “Any trouble?”

“Everything was fine. Well- there was a bit of a robbery, but it wasn’t any trouble-”

“A robbery? What happened? Are you ok? I didn’t get any messages I’m so sorry I should have been there to-”

“Hey, hey,” she said, quickly placing a gentle hand on Ladybug’s shoulder to interrupt her spiralling. “I was fine. I’m sorry, I should have let you know sooner. There just wasn’t time to alert you and stop them so I just… went for it. And then I got caught up in giving my statement to the police and well… yeah, it isn’t really an excuse. I’m sorry-”

“Don’t be.”

She blinked in surprise at the force in Ladybug’s voice. She hadn’t realized it, but her gaze had drifted down to her feet; the last thing she had wanted was to disappoint Marinette or cause her any stress. She forced herself to look back up at Ladybug; she was staring at her intently, her blue eyes burning.

“You’re ok?” Wordlessly, she nodded. “You aren’t hurt?” She shook her head.

Ladybug nodded. And then she smiled…

And it suddenly dawned on her what it was that was fueling the flames in Ladybug’s eyes.

It was pride…

“You have nothing to apologize for. I’m just glad you’re ok.”

“It was really no big deal…” she mumbled, her cheeks suddenly flaming.

“Hey, none of that,” Ladybug said gently. “Remember what Roarr said?”

She nodded, though she still couldn’t fight the flush in her face. Speaking of Roarr…

Quickly, she dropped her transformation. And once she had given Roarr a quick cuddle and one of the candies she had taken to keeping in her pockets incase of emergencies, she slipped the miraculous off and handed it back to Ladybug.

Ladybug popped it into the box she had waiting. But instead of closing the lid and slipping it into her yoyo, she stared thoughtfully down at the miraculous.

Awkwardly, she shifted her weight between her feet.” Ladybug…?”

“Hmm?” Ladybug glanced up at her.

“Is everything… ok?” she asked hesitantly.

“Oh! Yeah! I’m just…” Ladybug’s gaze flickered back down to the tiger miraculous. Her spotted hand closed around the box, snapping the lid shut before slipping it into her yoyo. When she met her gaze again, Ladybug was smiling. It was a small smile, still tinged with thoughtfulness, but it was genuine. “I’m just thinking about something a friend told me a while ago.”

“Oh.”

Ladybug’s eyes, still burning, were also full of warmth. “Thank you again. For everything.”

“It’s nothing…”

Ladybug let out a quiet chuckle. “Trust me, it’s everything.”

***

“And… boom! He’s down!” Alix crowed, pumping her fist in the air, nearly punching Ivan in the face as she whooped at the video playing on Max’s laptop.

“I want to learn how to do that-”

“No,” Nathaniel said, emphatically shaking his head, “you do not need to know how to do that, Kim.”

“Dudes, how is her aim that good?”

She watched silently as she—well, Tigress—threw her bolas, ensnaring the two robbers. The security camera footage from the jewelry shop had been pulled, and had ended up on the late night news last night. And the early morning news…

“She didn’t even have to do anything to take out that last guy,” Mylène murmured in awe, her eyes glued to the screen.

“She’s pretty tough,” Ivan agreed.

“She’s a total badass is what she is!” Alix corrected.

She tipped her head forward, letting her curtain of hair conceal the grin she couldn’t wipe from her face and her cheeks, which given how warm they were had to been tinged pink. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Adrien roll his eyes. He looked like he had just swallowed a lemon.

“Yeah,” Marinette said as she watched the footage play for the umpteenth time, a wide grin on her face. “She’s incredible!”

Before she could completely combust from compliment overload, Rose hummed thoughtfully. She turned to look at her girlfriend just in time to see Rose tilt her head to the side, her brows furrowed, as she watched to footage.

“I wonder if Ladybug will make her a permanent hero?”

“There’s no way!”

Everyone turned to stare at Adrien. His hands were splayed on the table—he hadn’t quite slammed the table but he looked like he had come pretty close—and his mouth was a tight, twisted line. But as he seemed to realize everyone was suddenly looking at him, his face shifted, his cheeks turning pink. But the sourness in his eyes hadn’t fully vanished, even as embarrassment seemed to overtake him.

“Why not, dude?”

“Well, because…” Adrien began to flounder.

“She has been at almost all of the most recent battles,” Nathaniel said absently.

“And her presence during those battles has improved the efficiency with which akumas and sentimonsters are dealt with,” Max added.

“It is true! We did the calculations ourselves!”

Max nodded. “Additionally, it seems she has been added to the patrol roster.”

“Yeah, well…”

“But none of the other heroes were ever made permanent,” Alya noted, a tinge of jealousy creeping into her voice.

It seemed Adrien had found the life line he needed, and he latched on. “Exactly. It’s always been Ladybug and Chat Noir! The black cat and ladybug from the start. Creation and destruction. Yin and yang. ”

“So?”

She wasn’t sure who out the class was most shocked by Marinette’s question, but for his part, Adrien looked at her like she had grown a second head.

“Adding another full time hero would throw off the balance,” he replied with the utmost confidence and assuredness.

And yet…

“It’s always been the two of them. Why mess with destiny?”

It seemed Adrien wasn’t so much clinging to a life line as he was grasping at straws.

***

Chat glared at her as soon as he landed on the roof.

It seemed they were back to that…

“You’re here again,” he muttered.

She stood, and took a breath. “I am.” Already, she could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on.

“Look,” he said, crossing his arms as he stalked across the roof towards her, “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but it isn’t going to work.”

Game?

He thought this was a game?

Why did that not surprise her?

“There is no game-”

“Then whatever this is,” he hissed, gesturing to her, “this ‘trying to replace Ladybug’ thing-”

“I’m not trying to replace Ladybug!” she all but shouted.

“I never see her anymore! Except for during akuma attacks.” It was almost impressive how he was able to hiss and whine at the same time. “It’s always you.”

“I told you, she’s busy.”

“She’s always too busy for me these days-“

Something she deeply admired about her brother was his ability to stay cool. Especially with a ma like theirs. He was slow to anger, and even slower to act on that anger. And his patience at times seemed near infinite. Sometimes to his detriment.

But is was still something she admired about Luka. And something she tried to emulate.

And she had tried.

She really had.

The last thing she wanted to do was make things awkward or more difficult for Ladybug in any way.

But there was only so much she could take.

And she was at her limits.

Past them, actually.

“It isn’t about you!” she snapped. “She’s busy. She has things she needs to do.”

“So she goes to you instead of me?”

“She asked. And if she hadn’t, I would have offered.” Chat snorted. “It’s not fair that she has to do so much on her own.”

“She isn’t on her own! She has me! That should be enough.” Chat threw his arms in the air, turned, stalked a few steps away, and then whirled back to face her as he gestured to himself. “If she wanted more help, she should have asked me!”

“You’re her partner?”

“Her only partner,” he said coldly.

“Then she shouldn’t have to ask you to step up.”

“She and I have kissed! Multiple times!”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“She and I are partners. Soul mates. How is that not destiny?”

“Let me count the ways.” She held up a single finger. “If you have to have all your memories erased in order for someone to kiss you, your ‘destiny’ is looking pretty grim.”

“The Oblivio thing happened one time! We didn’t have amnesia the other-“

“Yeah,” she held up a second finger, “Nothing says romance like having to kiss someone because they’re brainwashed and trying to bash your brains out.”

“You’re just jealous,” Chat spat.

“Of who? Of what?”

“I-“

“I’m seeing someone. She and I are-”

“She?”

“Yes, she. And no, I’m not dating Ladybug, nor do I want to. She and I are friends. Good friends. But that’s it. Or do you think I’m jealous that you’re her ‘partner?’” He opened his mouth to retort, but she was done listening to his ludicrous accusations. “I’m here to do a job. A job she asked me to do. And I’m going to do my job to the best of my abilities, and have her back because that’s what she needs of me. And I am not going to let her down.”

He planted his staff against the roof hard enough for the sound to cut her off. Momentarily. Before he could open his mouth again, she she drew herself up to her full height and stepped forward with the force of the words flowing out of her mouth.

“You don’t own her. And she doesn’t owe you her love. So stop acting like it and step up and do your job.”

Her chest was heaving; she hadn’t expected to get so into it with him.

She hadn’t necessarily meant to.

But she couldn’t bring herself to regret it.

Not even a little bit.

She had meant every word she had said.

He glowered at her.

And then he turned tail and disappeared into the darkness.

***

She grit her teeth as she flexed her claws.

Why?

Why tonight?

Why couldn’t Shadowmoth just chill?

Marinette didn’t have much time left to work on her dress. The dance was the day after tomorrow. She had said she would be done her dress on time, but that had been earlier in the day. When the girls had been pestering her for a sneak peek—because Marinette had been very tightlipped about her dress—when she had thought she would have the entire evening.

Except now, they were dealing with a category five akuma.

And it was not going well.

With a furious cry, she slashed at the net the akuma had trapped her in, shredding it to pieces and freeing herself and the civilians she had been trying to evacuate. The tattered remains of the net floated down to the ground around her as she scowled at her surroundings.

Chat was supposed to be covering her.

And she would hardly call his half-hearted shout of warning as the net was already twisting itself around her and the civilians sufficient.

At least Exterminator’s attention was wholly focused on Chat now. Snapping her attention back to the civilians, she ushered them into the closest alleyway. “Get as far away as possible, and stay out of sight. I don’t know how long this is going to take,” she said before turning tail and sprinting back into the street.

Already, this akuma fight was taking longer than it should have, with the multitude of traps the akuma kept setting. And she was not feeling optimistic about it wrapping up anytime soon.

“Don’t you know cats were the original pest control?” Chat laughed from where he was perched on his staff in the middle of the street, laughing as he watched Exterminator struggle back to his feet. “You really think you can catch me?” Chat smirked in her direction as she ran past the shredded net, his eyes flashing.

Rude.

She skidded to a halt just in time to see Exterminator’s smirk, and the quick flick of his wrist that sent a roll of oversized white paper unfurling along the street under Chat’s perch.

Her eyes widened.

“Chat! Look out!”

Whether he was too busy gloating or just didn’t bother to heed her warning was unclear. She was already in motion, rushing toward him, but she was too late. She watched as Exterminator pulled out what would have been a comically enormous fly swatter if the circumstances weren’t so dire, and hit Chat’s staff out from under him.

Chat’s laugh cut off in a yelp as he fell toward the street.

Somehow, he managed to land on his feet.

Directly on the trap Exterminator had laid.

Chat laughed as he straightened to his full height. “That’s the best you can do?” he asked before trying to move to retrieve his baton. He yelped as his upper body moved while his feet stayed stuck, firmly in place. He had to frantically windmill his arms to keep himself from overbalancing and getting even more stuck on the giant roll of fly paper he had landed on.

“This city’s had a problem with alley cats for a while now,” Exterminator spat, “but this’ll show everyone that I’m the best Paris has to offer for pest control! Now it’s time to skin two cats with one stone…” Exterminator started to turn, and she dropped to the ground and slid behind the cover of an overturned bus. “…and then I can move onto the bug- where is she?”

She took a deep breath as the akuma’s roars echoed through the street.

This was good.

If he was busy looking for her, that would keep him busy while she freed Chat and waited for Ladybug to return.

“Camouflage.”

On silent feet, she skirted around Exterminator, giving him a wide berth as he scoured the street. By the time she made it over the Chat, he was still grunting and griping to himself as he tried to tug his feet free.

“Give me your hand,” she whispered so as not to alert Exterminator to her whereabouts.

Chat snapped his attention up to her—well, a bit to the left of her— and blinked. “What?”

“Quiet,” she shushed him, casting a glance over her shoulder. Exterminator thankfully hadn’t heard Chat over the sounds of his search. “Give me your hand.”

“I don’t need your help.”

“You’re a sitting duck right now.”

“I can handle myself just fine.”

“That’s not the point right now. Now take my hand so we can keep him busy-”

“Ladybug and I were fine before you showed up, I don’t need your help,” Chat spat. “Cataclysm!” The flypaper turned to dust under his touch as he smiled smugly in her general direction. “See?”

“Found you.”

She glanced up just in time to see Exterminator glaring at Chat- or rather, what would look like the empty air Chat was apparently talking to. She could see the akuma’s finger already squeezing around the trigger of his net-gun. Wordlessly, she shoved Chat to the side and then threw herself to the ground.

The net whizzed harmlessly over her head.

But it had been close.

Too close.

And now they were both on a timer…

“Get out of here,” she hissed to Chat, “we need to regroup.”

“You’re not the one in charge here,” Chat snapped as he sprang to his feet to dodge another net.

“Sorry, that took longer than I thought.” Ladybug’s voice crackled to life over their com pieces. “I’ll be there in a minute-”

“We’re both on timers now,” she replied as she threw her bolas. Exterminator ducked out of the way as they whizzed past, visible the moment they left her hand. But that was fine, all she needed was to buy time for-

“Get out of there and recharge. Meet me on the roof of the Musée Yves Saint Laurent. I think I have a plan.”

***

“At the very least, it will give me a chance to get up close and figure out where the akuma is hiding before- ”

“I break it with my Cataclysm, and we save the day, bugaboo.”

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that? And no, it’s not going to be that simple. This akuma is tricky.”

That was an understatement. It was honestly surprising Shadowmoth hadn’t ever tried to akumatize an exterminator before. An akuma based around dealing with pests like bugs? That had Shadowmoth written all over it.

“We need to get him out in the open, were he can’t lay any more traps for us.” Exterminator had proven himself to be a much better strategist that most akumas, and his proficiency with setting magically enhanced traps was a testament to the danger he posed. “We can’t let him catch us off guard again, we’ve had too many close calls,” Ladybug continued before turning to her. “Tigress, you’re going to be taking point on this. You have the best chance of leading him out into the open without getting caught. If we can get him to the Trocadero…”

As Ladybug continued with the plan, the back of her neck prickled with the feeling of eyes on her. She glanced up from the holographic map Ladybug had pulled up on her yoyo to find bitter and venomous green eyes trained on her.

***

Her lungs were still burning as she tried to catch her breath while Roarr scarfed down the last of her emergency candy. They has a couple minutes at most before they had to get back out there and rejoin the fight.

She had managed to lead Exterminator to the Trocadéro, but she had had to burn through her invisibility. Ladybug and Chat were keeping the akuma busy and trying to identify the akumatized object while she recharged, but she didn’t want to be away from the fighting any longer than she had to.. Especially given it wasn’t just the fight with the akuma… the way Chat had kept interrupting and calling her nicknames she had told him not to while she tried to strategize… the tension had been so thick, she could have sliced it with her claws.

The less time she left the two alone, the better.

“Just about ready?”

“Almost,” Roarr said through a mouthful of gummies that were sticky and partially melted from the heat. Hopefully kwamis didn’t get cavities…

As Roarr finished the last few bites of her snack, she rolled her shoulders to try and loosen up the joints and release some of the tension that had made its way into her muscles during the strategy meeting. Somehow, being chased through the streets by the akuma as she acted as live bait had been less uncomfortable that bearing witness to the brink of another spat between the two-

“Ready!”

“Roarr, stripes on.”

The magic of her transformation had barely washed over her before she was leaping up into the air, digging her claws into the brick of the back of the buildings lining the alley she had hidden in. Chips of masonry scattered and fell as she effortlessly clawed her way up to the roof.

In a matter of minutes, she was back at the Trocadéro.

Ladybug was a blur of red around the akuma as she swung and dove and rolled, never getting particularly close to the akuma. But she was certainly keeping him busy. A blur of black whizzed by the akuma, spouting more puns and flirtatious remarks in the same breath. Ladybug didn’t respond, but it was impossible to tell if that was because she was trying to concentrate or was just trying to ignore him. Or both.

Either way, it didn’t matter. It was time for her to join the fray.

She landed lightly, and then sped toward the akuma. She slide to a stop a few steps from Ladybug, swinging her bolas to deflect a net that had been heading towards her. Ladybug shot her a quick, grateful smile before springing back and out of the way and swinging up toward the top of the Palais de Challiot. A moment later, a shimmer of red and pink light burst out from the roof of the building.

“I need you two to try and buy me some time while I figure out this Lucky Charm,” Ladybug’s voice crackled to life over the com links, “Chat, you’re going to keep him busy. Tigress, he can’t catch what he can’t see. You’re going to get the akuma, it’s in his dust-sprayer.”

Of course it was.

He had used it to try and douse them all in a foul smelling powder that had made her feel woozy when they first confronted him. Thankfully, Ladybug had been able to jam it with one of her previous Lucky Charms. But it was still intact.

As she ducked under a net swung in her direction, she caught Chat glaring at her, bitter venom in his eyes.

It was the same venomous look he had given her when Ladybug had given her the job of luring Exterminator to the Trocadéro.

She shook her head. There wasn’t time to think about that now. Now when there was an akuma standing right in front of her, aiming that stupid net gun at her again.

She took off running towards the akuma, and at the last second, dropped to slide as he launched a net directly at her. The net flew harmlessly overhead as she slid past him, murmuring to activate her powers as she went past him. The second she was hidden right in front of him, she dug her claws into the stone to stop herself from sliding further and launched herself to her feet.

Exterminator howled in pain, and she turned just in time to see him clutching his nose as Chat’s staff retracted.

At least he was keeping the akuma busy. She wished he hadn’t gone straight to making the akuma angrier… but at least he was distracted.

Now all she had to do was get in close and swipe the dust-sprayer.

Moving as light as a feather, and as quietly as a tiger stalking through the forest, she crept towards the akuma. The akuma howled in frustration and then pulled his snare trap from his back before swinging it wildly. She hissed as she dropped to the ground, just managing to avoid getting beaned in the head by the erratically swinging weapon.

“Don’t you know that cat always wins the game of cat and mouse?”” Chat called as he scraped his claws along the stone, loosening dust from the ground. With a smirk, he flung it at the akuma.

And her.

She froze, a glare directed at Chat fixed on her face even though he couldn’t see it. What was he doing? Was he trying to derail the plan? But maybe the dust hadn’t settled on her. And even if it had, maybe the akuma wouldn’t see it-“

“There you are.”

The akuma’s voice made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Without looking back to see how close the akuma was, she leapt straight up in the air with all her might. Something rushed through the space she had been occupying mere seconds ago before.

She managed to twist in midair and kick off of the akuma, who had rushed forward and unwittingly placed himself right under her. With a little less grace than usual, she landed a few feet behind the akuma. Immediately, she sprang back up and darted away from where she had landed. The akuma was looking around wildly, even with his snare trap locked with Chat’s staff. As she darted to the side to look for an opening, she caught sight of Ladybug perched on top of the roof, a small red object in her hands and a look of horror on her face.

Ladybug’s voice crackled to life in the coms. “Chat! What are you doing?”

She glanced at Chat in time to see him grit his teeth and shove against his staff, breaking the lock he had been in with Exterminator and forcing the akuma back.

Exterminator stumbled back, his free arm out to the side as he planted his snare trap to try and stop himself from overbalancing.

She had a clear path to his belt, and the dust-sprayer on it.

This was it.

On near silent feet, she sprinted forward.

She reached out for the akuma.

She was so close.

“See, M’lady, it’s you and me against the world!”

What?

“Cataclysm!”

Her eyes widened in horror as Chat’s hand erupted in a dark miasma as he lunged towards the dust-sprayer.

Towards her.

She dug her feet into the ground to try and stop herself. But she had been going so fast, it wasn’t enough to stop the momentum.

Seeing Chat hurtle towards him, Exterminator dove to the side. Out of her reach.

Out of Chat’s path.

Leaving him hurtling directly toward-

She managed to throw herself into a clumsy roll at the very last second. It wasn’t enough to avoid the collision entirely though.

Time felt like it was moving through syrup.

Heavy boots knocked against her shoulders. Claws grazed across her back.

Her heart stopped.

And then beat again as she inched through the air, no searing pain running along her back.

At least it hadn’t been his Cataclysm hand as far as she could tell.

But as she and Chat tumbled over and against each other, she felt her bolas swing up with her momentum. And then suddenly they were changing direction. Like they had hit something.

Or been pushed by-

And just as suddenly, their weight was gone.

And time doubled to catch up with itself.

The impact of Chat hitting her threw her off kilter enough so that she landed heavily on her shoulder with a thud and a very uncontrolled roll before she skidded to a stop against the pavement. The impact was enough to knock the air from her lungs.

But it could have been worse.

Gingerly, she picked herself back up and turned. Just in time to see Chat dragging himself up from the ground.

And Exterminator rushing right towards him, holding what looked like an oversized can of pesticide foam at the ready.

Despite her protesting muscles, she rushed forward and shoved Chat—maybe a little harder than was necessary—out of the way of the foul smelling stream of toxic green foam.

Exterminator barrelled past them. He started to skid to a stop, but then a familiar zip of a yoyo cut the air and the akuma was suddenly windmilling his arms. And then he fell flat on his face, just short of the pile of foam.

Ladybug was a red blur as she dove off of the roof; she was beside the Exterminator in an instant, ripping the dust-sprayer from his belt brusquely. Even with her back to her, she could see the tension in every inch of Ladybug’s body. And- her hands were shaking as she clutched the dust-sprayer in one and the unused Lucky Charm in the other.

Wordlessly, in one swift and sharp movement, Ladybug slammed the dust-sprayer down as she drover her knee up, snapping it with a loud and decisive crack that split the suddenly too-quiet air.

The next thing she knew, Ladybug’s yoyo was capturing the akuma.

But she was silent as she purified it.

She dropped her invisibility as the white butterfly fluttered away.

She watched as Ladybug pulled the akuma victim to his feet and offered him some quiet words. He nodded, and then, with an apologetic look cast in her and Chat’s direct, he hastily walked off. When she turned back to look at Ladybug, she had her Lucky Charm in her hands again. And she was staring at it.

It was hard to tell from where she was standing, but it looked like an egg-timer.

Ladybug stared at it silently. Until finally, she sighed. The moment Ladybug sighed, the timer began to ring, its sound shrill against the quiet.

She watched as Ladybug took a breath, and then hurled it into the air as she cast her purification spell.

The second the ladybugs disappeared, Ladybug turned sharply to face her and Chat. Her blue eyes were burning like ice as she approached. The burning ice flickered out of Ladybug’s eyes as they darted to her. “You ok?” she asked quietly.

She nodded.

With a short nod of her own, the icy flames returned to Ladybug’s eyes as she drew level with her and Chat.

“What,” Ladybug asked, her voice so quiet it would have been impossible to hear if not for the fact that the streets were still eerily empty in the aftermath of the akuma battle, “was that?”

Ladybug wasn’t looking at her. Not even remotely. Her eyes were fixed directly on Chat. But she still took a half a step back form the weight of her voice.

Chat audibly swallowed.

“Well, I… I was only-”

“What were you thinking? Throwing that dust?”

“I was trying to blind him!”

“And risk Tigress getting caught?”

“How was I supposed to know she would be there? She was invisible!”

Awkwardly, she shifted her weight between her feet. Should she jump in? Should she say something?

She had seen plenty of their spats firsthand, from the ones that were little more than bickering, to the ones that were full on arguments, which had become more and more frequent ever since she first received the tiger miraculous. But none of them had been…

“It was the entire plan! I told you she would be in close range. You knew she would be trying to get the akuma! You knew she could have been caught in the crossfire!”

“I’m not her babysitter,” Chat spat. “Besides, she’s a big girl, she can take care of herself. You certainly seem to think so.”

It was one thing to tell Chat how she really felt. But getting involved in a fight between the two of them…

It was like watching a tennis match, the way they volleyed back and forth. Her gaze followed the trajectory of the fight with every spoken strike.

“That isn’t the point. We’re a team.”

“We’re partners!”

“And the way you just ignored the plan and jumped in the first chance you got? That’s what partners do?”

“I was taking initiative. I was doing my job.”

“You were supposed to distract him!”

“What? So she could do my job?” He flung his arm to gesture at her, almost hitting her given the proximity.

Maybe she wouldn’t have a choice on getting involved… as appealing as standing and watching them argue was-

Before she could even so much as open her mouth, Chat continued. “I’m your partner. It’s been us from the start! And then suddenly you’re bringing in other people-”

“We need the help!”

“And you changed when you became the Guardian-”

“I never asked to be-”

“You gave out another miraculous without asking me and you’re letting her keep one!” He gestured at her again.

“We- I needed help!”

“No you didn’t! You have me!”

“No, I didn’t!”

Chat stumbled back at Ladybugs words. Both of their chests were heaving, and their faces were the same scarlet as Ladybug’s suit. Tears glimmered at the corners of Ladybug’s eyes. She stepped forward, but before she could place herself between the two, before she could reach out to comfort Ladybug, Ladybug broke the silence.

“I didn’t have you.”

Ladybug’s quiet, broken voice took her back to her room on the Liberty. Back to her friend, sitting beside her on her bed, spilling tears over too many responsibilities for one person to handle.

“Oh, Bugaboo,” Chat crooned, his furious face instantly softening, “of course you did. I’ll always be by your side, M’lady.”

Ladybug’s eyes darted back up from the ground to Chat.

“Frozer.”

Chat’s brows furrowed. “What-”

“Glaciator.”

With each name, Ladybug took a step forward.

“Oblivio. Dark Cupid-”

“M’lady, what are you talking about?”

“All the akumas where you’ve been more interested in goofing off or flirting. That, or having a snit because you were mad I don’t feel the same way.”

“I don’t-”

“I needed help.”

“We beat all of those akumas!”

“Barely! And always by the seat of our pants, because you never listen to me.”

“I listen!”

Ladybug let out an incredulous half-laugh before she drew herself up to her full height. She was still more that half a head shorter than Chat, but somehow, she didn’t seem to be.

“Like you listened tonight?” Ladybug’s voice was quiet steel.

“I- I- I…” she could see Chat floundering for something to say. Some way out of the grave he had dug for himself. “I did follow the plan!” She had to hold back a snort. Ladybug’s face morphed to pure incredulity. “I let her get the akuma to the Trocadéro! I was distracting it!”

“And then you jumped in anyways when Tigress had an opening!”

“I was being a hero!”

“You could have hurt her.” Technically, he had. The suit protected her, but the fall had still hurt. “You could have Cataclysmed her!”

“If she hadn’t been there to begin with this wouldn’t have happened!” Wildly, he turned to glare at her. “This was your fault! You told me to step up! If you hadn’t-”

“Chat! Stop. It.”

“But Bugaboo, she told me to- if she hadn’t interfered-”

“Don’t ever talk to her that way.” Ladybug’s voice was quiet and even. And deadly. “Don’t ever talk about her like that.”

“Bugaboo-”

“Don’t. Call. Me. That.”

“But-”

“You knew the plan.” Ladybug took a step toward Chat, the sheer weight of her voice was enough to silence him. “You chose to do your own thing.” Chat shrank back as Ladybug took another step. His face was stark white against the black of his mask, and it looked like the carpet had just been ripped out from under him. “You chose not to be part of the team.” She hissed, jabbing a finger into his chest.

Ladybug looked like she wanted to say more, but she was interrupted by another beep from her earrings.

“I’ll find you later Tigress,” she said, turning away from Chat curtly. Her voice was still still sharp, but it obviously wasn’t directed at her. And then with a flick of her wrist and the familiar zip of her yoyo, she was gone in a red and black blur.

Heavy silence hung in the air. Everything was still; there was no breeze, no rush of traffics or people going about their evening. There wasn’t even the sound of any pigeons.

It was like the world was holding its breath.

Chat cast her an icy glare. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, she turned on her heel and darted into the shadows of the Palais de Challiot.

#endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #juleka vs the forces of the universe #juleka couffaine #marinette dupain cheng #luka couffaine #adrien agreste #ladybug #purple tigress #chat noir #chat noir salt #adrien salt #high sodium #miracuclass #alya cesaire #alya salt

50 notes · View notes

bettathanyou · 9 months

Note

Cedric x mermaid or siren s/o head cannons?

Yes yes yes?!! I think about the mermaid episodes of StF religiously, and with the new live action little mermaid movie that came out, it was rotting my brain for a while.

I'll try to stick to the canon of StF, but there wasn't much mermaid lore in the show so I may take a smidge of artistic liberty with these.

Anyways enjoy!

____________________________________

Cedric X Mermaid/Siren SO Head canons!

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

The night you two met, a terrible storm suddenly appeared in Merroway Cove while the royal family was visiting, with Cedric once again being forced to tag along

The royal family was obviously the first to be escorted into the floating palace to ensure their safety

However, Cedric was unaccounted for- and Roland refused to let anyone look for him (another common King Roland L 😐)

Cue you, a siren who lived on your own, away from the mermaid kingdom, was out hunting for a meal

Well you certainly found a meal of sorts

Cedric was passed out, floating aimlessly in the sea when you found him

You brought him back to your cave, using your siren magic to draw the water from his lungs

Cedric stirs awake, his body responding to your siren spell

Seeing him awaken, you panic, swimming off to hide yourself- after all, humans weren't kind to mermaids. Let alone sirens

But still, something in you was captivated by the man, so you stayed nearby- just until he's found, you told yourself

Cedric was eventually rescued, with him using his remaining strength to tell everyone on the floating palace that he was rescued by this "enchanting, haunting, beautiful voice that saved him from drowning"

The following weeks, neither of you could leave each other's thoughts

Cedric was in denial that he could possibly be in love- constantly saying "I just wish to thank them" you poor fool you're spellbound by a sirens song

You, on the other hand, was constantly swimming in mermaid waters- risking getting caught by mermaid guards just to see if the royal family was ever visiting

One day, you saw that same ship from that stormy night

Swimming closer, you're too distracted by the notion of seeing Cedric again to notice the mermaid guards closing in on you

Which, causes a scene for both the mermaids visiting the royal family, and for the royal family themselves being fearful of your kind

Until Cedric steps in, saying that you were the one who rescued him, convincing both the mermaid queen and king Roland to... At least let you go

Later that same night, you're resting in your cave when you see a mysterious merman approach the mouth of your cave

You hesitantly approach, just to find out it's cedric

One lengthy explanation later about how he transformed himself into a merman, he properly introduced himself and told you why he came all this way- to thank you for saving his life when no one else would've bothered to

You couldn't really remember the last time someone ever thanked you- and a stranger, no less

The rest of that night, the two of you talked about your individual lives, and the things that you would only feel comfortable disclosing in the cover of night, beneath the limitless depths of the ocean

This definitely was the night the two of you fell in love

After that night, you two tried just seeing each other when the royal family would visit on their yearly summer vacations, or communicate through magical letters in bottles- but quickly, you both realized that just yearly visits were not enough whatsoever

So, you decided to leave the cove for good- after all, it's not like you would've been missed by the mermaids, and sirens lead solitary lives; it made the most sense for you to move closer to cedric

You made your journey to the bay that surrounded the castle of enchancia, and found another cave you could renovate to become your home

Anyways

Now to relationship hcs!

Imagine seeing Cedric from his tower working late into the night, like always, and while you try to let him work, sometimes you can't resist luring him outside with your siren voice

Which Cedric hates interruptions in his work flow, but you're one of the very few exceptions

Sitting along the coast that surrounded the castle, talking for hours about your day are definitely a staple in your relationship

Cedric would also use his transformation spell to join you underneath the water at night, so you two won't be interrupted by his duties during the day

You'd show him all the best foraging locations you've found on your exploration of the kingdoms Bay, along with your favorite hunting spots

You'd also be on the lookout for things littered on the ocean floor to decorate your new home, and you discovered Cedric has a keen eye for detail so y'all always have a good haul

Cue the cave decorating montage!! That's super sweet and cute!!

Giving each other little trinkets from each other's world!!!

Shells, pearls, fossils, cute sea plants, sea glass, all things and more you would offer cedric

In turn, Cedric would give you metal scraps (to help you create tools easier) tiny statuettes of siren motifs he would buy for you, little bottles and jars of different colors, and give you flowers he enchanted to be able to live underwater

Whenever Cedric needed a specific item that came from the sea, you would always volunteer to fetch it for him

He of course would decline, because he didn't want you to be in a dangerous situation, but did you do it anyways?

Yes.

The two of you laying next to each other on the shoreline, looking up at the stars

You teach him the constellations you use to navigate the sea, and (he ruins the fun /j) by explaining how stars worked

On the rare occasion Cedric wasn't working at night, sleeplessness would bring him back to the shoreline

And you'd be there, like you always are, to cradle his head and run your fingers through his hair while you sang him a siren's lullaby

Speaking of your siren song- Cedric isn't bothered by your siren nature in the slightest. After all, it's not your fault that your magic indirectly affects humans

Nor is it your fault that "humans are fools" (Cedric's direct words, it makes you chuckle every time you think about it)

You then responded "does this include you as well, Cedric?" And he got serious for a second and asked "do you think I'm a fool for loving you?"

You just replied "all people are fools when they're in love- me included. But I think I like it." Then you proceeded to kiss him

Yes this was your first kiss canon event

Cedric adores your tail, constant compliments on its sheen, display of color, the way your fins look are always expected at this point

You compliment his eyes, his hair, how handsome he is

While Cedric joins you in your world, the more you two spend time together, the more you wish you could join him on the surface, just for a day

It takes a lot of courage, but you finally ask if there's a spell he can cast to make you a human for a day

About two weeks later, he presents the potion you asked for

You then meet the Sofia he tells you about constantly, and instantly you see why he boasts about her

You were never sure how you felt about children, but boy did Sofia leave an excellent first impression

You learn very quickly that Sofia can transform into a mermaid- and sometimes she would visit you for a quick chat, or to plan surprises with you for Cedric

Seeing the way you interact with Sofia somehow makes cedric even more smitten

The rest of that day, Cedric shows you his workshop, the castle library, his favorite spots in the castle garden, and y'all go back to the shore to chill until the spell wears off

You were overwhelmed by everything, but in a good way

After that, being in your siren form started to feel... More lonely

Cedric began noticing your songs sounding more melancholy, and asked about it eventually

You told him how you felt, and he offered to make a surplus of spells for you so you could visit whenever you wanted

Ofc you say yes, properly thanking him with a kiss

Then Cedric spent the night with you in your cave so you wouldn't feel alone

Cuddling together in your giant bed of kelp, sea moss and seal skin<<<<<

When the potions are done, Cedric lets you know immediately and you ask if you could spend the night in his workshop 🤭

Cue the ONE TIME Cedric would willingly clean his workshop (only for you)

Which you called him out for anyways cuz you found it cute

I'll leave what happened in Cedric's workshop up to your imagination ;)

While spending one day as a human isn't totally obvious to the rest of the castle occupants, they do start to question your presence and the king and queen learn of your existence

Cedric really didn't want that to happen- not because he was ashamed of you, but because he didn't want others to ruin the perfect relationship he had found with you

Unfortunately, the king and queen left him no choice but to tell the truth

Shockingly, they didn't sound that surprised???

But still wanted to properly meet you, so they asked Cedric to show you to them so they could formally invite you to dinner to meet the whole royal family

You were nervous about meeting them, but you were even more nervous to refuse a Royal's request

So you went

And while the royal family asked some... Insensitive questions out of ignorance, they were very welcoming, and happy that you and Cedric were happy

Alright that's about all I got, loll

I really liked imagining these hcs

They really just wrote themselves atp

Thank u sm anon!!

#cedric the sensational #cedricthesorceror #cedric x reader #sophia the first #siren #sirenpartner #cedric loves a siren guys its canon

26 notes · View notes

Last Seen Blogs