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#but like. 1. his whole setup had to have taken Months of planning
lilliebellfanfics · 11 months
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A Date For December - Chapter 3a
Masterpost
Wherein we see Usagi's POV and what she thinks of their arrangement for the first time.
Many thanks to the discord crew for keeping me motivated, inspired, and helping me word good after a long day at work.
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Summary: Usagi can’t go another December without a boyfriend. Shingo and Mika have been dating for years and Usagi has become a fifth wheel for the Tsukinos' holiday traditions. From their annual ski trip to gingerbread house competitions to decorating the tree, Usagi must find a +1 or be left out. She has no interest in a relationship so a fake boyfriend is the perfect solution! When Motoki mentions Mamoru is available and single, she jumps at the chance to convince him to be her fake boyfriend for December. What she doesn't know is Mamoru's been in love with her for years and wants the kisses, hand-holding, and secret smiles to be so very, very real.
AO3-style tags: No powers AU, Holiday/Xmas fic, Fake dating, Later in life, Second chances if you squint, Fluff and Smut
Rating: Starts T, will hit E 😏🍋
I'm still living this fantasy that my half-chapters are not full chapters. Enjoy!
Chapter 3: Nagano
Usagi
Part 1
Totally lost in my music, I kicked open my door and executed a 2-spin-3-down combo. My feet stomped and my body dropped as if the uneven tiles of my genkan were a DDR platform. My mail fluttered through the air–confetti raining at my EXCELLENT COMBO–when Minako's dance remix of Last Christmas cut abruptly to the lilting tones of Mamma Mia.
Pulled from my impromptu dance session, I shouldered the door closed. The steel shrieked as it slid over the threshold before I set the lock and answered my phone. 
"Hi, Mama!" I said, tossing my coat on a hook and stepping into my living room. It was more recording studio than living space, with a wall of zigzagging backlit panels and draping moon-shaped fairy lights. A smattering of Sailor V stickers covered the remaining floor-to-ceiling cracks in the walls.
My streaming setup, a desk with monitors, ring light, and a camera, had taken two months of ruthless savings. Seriously, I didn't go to a single conbini or vending machine for four pay periods. My teenage self would have broken down the first day, but not Usagi the Adult!
A thrift store futon leaned against the desk and faced the small TV from my old room at home. The kitchenette was on my right. 
The studio was a far cry from Rei and Minako's penthouse in Ginza or Mako's cozy apartment in Juuban. During commuting hours, trains went by every fifteen minutes and it was decades past a fresh coat of paint. The renovations had been delayed three times and no one believed the notices anymore. There was a circle of rust around the drain in the bathroom that a weekly scrub barely changed... And it was mine.
Luna dropped out of my desk chair and met me in the kitchen, mewing for her dinner. I reached down, whispered "I'm home", and scratched her ears as Mama's cheerful voice came through.
"Usa-chan, I'm checking that you have the times for this weekend written down."
I rolled my eyes. Mama, I am way more responsible since leaving the house six months ago, I wanted to say. Instead, I assured her I had all the times and confirmation numbers on my calendar.
"It looks like there'll be fresh snow on Friday night, so we'll do the double black diamond race in the morning before the mountain gets too busy. You don't have to decide now, but team MaPa would love to have you. We may not have MiShin's youth, but we have experience!"
Excitement bubbled in my chest. This was the moment. The moment I went from a weird third wheel to my own 2-person team. 
"Actually, Mama, I'm glad you called. I've had a change in plans."
Mama's intake of breath sounded in the receiver. Followed by her exhale and her best do-not-scream voice. "Usagi, you know how long we have been planning this vacation. Papa only gets so much time off and it's the kickoff to our whole month. What about our family traditions? Don't you remember–"
"Mama… Mama. Calm down. I'm coming, okay? I just… wanted to bring my…" C'mon, Usa, say it. My lips formed the first syllable, and I coughed out the word before I could choke on it. "... boyfriend."
There was a long pause as Mama switched gears from irate to… who knows what? My relationships didn't last long enough to get to the meet-the-parents stage.  
"That's–"
The 5:14pm commuter train shot by, lights slicing yellow lines across the room, as the window and TV rattled. Luna crouched between my feet as I covered my ear to hear what Mama was saying. 
"What was that, Mama? The train came through."
"I said that's wonderful news. I didn't know you were seeing anyone."
I pushed a smile onto my face and added a bit of my patented enthusiasm to my voice. Usagi, the actress, at your service. 
"It happened about two weeks ago. I wasn't looking for anything but, you know, sometimes love finds you when you least expect it." Or you find someone willing to fake it for the month. To-may-to, to-mah-to. 
"That's great. I'm so happy for you two. I'll let Shingo know; he's been worried about you."
Right. Shingo. 
My wonderful younger brother, who built my streaming setup, was a junior developer at Games Unlimited, and hadn't had a romantic interest in anyone but Mika. He was my partner-in-crime who had been welcome to chill, drink beers, and watch baseball in my apartment whenever he needed to unwind away from our wonderful, but still parents, parents. 
Shingo was a piece of home and I was supposed to be standing on my own feet. Independent, strong, capable. I couldn't be any of those things with him in the apartment, a constant presence that both comforted me and held me back. So, I barred him from visiting, claiming a nasty breakup, and needing space to figure myself out. And now I had a boyfriend a short time later.
Of all my family, Shingo was the one I had to convince or the entire plan would go to shit.
Mama broke through my thoughts. "Don't worry about the ryokan, I'm sure we can work in one more. Shingo and Mika are riding with us. Did you want to squeeze in or take the train?"
"As great as that sounds…" Which it didn't. There was no way that four full-grown adults–two of which were ridiculously tall–would fit in the backseat of Papa's hatchback for four hours.
"Don't worry about us. Mamo-chan has his own car, so we'll drive together."
"Do you want to follow us there? You could come to our house and then we head out together."
Luna meowed, wondering why her dinner was late. She followed me into the kitchen while I rooted around for her cans. The cabinet shook as another train rolled through. I waited for it to pass before speaking.
"Sure, that sounds good. 4pm at the house?"
"Let's make it 3:30. We want to spend some time before we head out."
Spend some time had to be code for get to know my daughter's boyfriend. Maybe I should warn him? Nah, Dr. Perfect would be fine. Mamoru could be effortlessly suave in any situation, after all. 
"Sounds good, Mama."
"Great." A pen clicked against her cheek. "Since I'm looking at the scorecard… MaPa, MiShin… Maybe UsaMamo? You said Mamo-chan, right?"
Something warm and tingly formed at the back of my neck. UsaMamo. Not MaPaUsa or MiShinUsa, or just Usa. Team UsaMamo. Finally, I had my own team. And with I've never failed at anything in my life Mamoru, it guaranteed me the win.
Luna turned as I pumped my fist into the air before returning to her meal. 
"Usa." Mama's voice turned soft. "Are you doing okay all by yourself? Do you want to come home for dinner?"
I didn't need to open the fridge to know it was empty or look into the living room to see the empty bags of chips and snacks I had yet to throw away. Thursday was my clean sweep day and the studio apartment was looking pretty rough, with a week's worth of junk food stuffed in the corners. A home cooked meal sounded wonderful and so did Mama's voice. In a way that caught in my throat and I had to swallow down so she didn't hear it.
"I'd love to, Mama, but I have plans with Mamo-chan tonight." Yes, it was a lie, but I would not become a self-reliant woman overnight. All I needed was a few more weeks on my own to cure my homesickness. Right? There were tons of single women my age living away from home and killing it. I just needed to stay the course and not be lured in by my family's doting.
"What about tomorrow?" She pressed. I loved her for it, and my resolve was stronger.
"I'm streaming tomorrow, so I can't. You'll just have to wait till Friday afternoon!"
She laughed. I wished I was there to hear it and not the tinny, muffled version over the phone.
"See you on Friday then, with Mamo-chan."
We said our goodbyes and, despite knowing exactly what I'd find, I opened the refrigerator. A yogurt that was a day passed expiration and strawberries that had likely missed last week's sweep. I pulled out the yogurt and left the strawberries for tomorrow.
***
"Someone's in a good mood," Mako-chan said as the door closed behind a customer. A gentle, elderly man bringing a half-dozen mini macarons and a pot of winter peonies to his partner in the hospital. 
I caught myself humming as I slipped the last two arrangements into the display cooler, then set about cleaning the handful of iron tables after the afternoon rush. Thinking about it, I suppose it had been a good day. I'd finished all of the arrangements for this weekend's deliveries, written out all the routes for Mako, and sold five bouquets. Plus, my weekend was about to be amazing. 
A timer dinged behind the counter, and she turned to open the countertop oven. The shop was empty enough for her voice to carry over the display cases and register. 
"I suppose your good mood is because of your family's ski trip?"
I tossed leftovers and paper into the trashcan and grabbed the stack of china plates. A hodgepodge of patterns and sizes, their individual character always made me smile. 
"Of course I'm excited about this weekend. Team UsaMamo all the way!" 
Above the cases, Mako's eyebrow rose. "Oh? Team UsaMamo? That has a nice ring to it."
"A nice winning ring, you mean!" I stacked the china into a dish bin, a cheshire-sized grin on my face. Eat it, Shingo. This was my year. 
"You know, this whole thing seems pretty convenient."
"What do you mean?"
"You need a date–a fake date," she amended as I opened my mouth to correct her, "and the first person you think to ask is your old teenage crush. Now you're going to spend the entire month dating him. Or was that your plan all along?"
I snorted as I cleaned the next table. "Mako, I'm hardly a relationship mastermind."
The only thing I was scheming was how to get Minako to show up for my annual livestream of the Sailor V video game. But with more dates added to the European tour, it wasn't likely that she or Rei would be home until February. Maybe it was better that way—if anyone would read too much into our situation, it would be Minako. She'd swear there was more to it—that we were secretly compatible and just hadn't tried it yet.
Sorry, sister. That ship had capsized in a closet long, long ago. 
For her part, Mako didn't look convinced. 
"I also had a crush on our homeroom teacher and you don't see me asking her to be my date." 
"She is married now."
"Exactly. When I needed to pick someone to be my fake date on short notice, I needed someone who was available now. And, you know, if there's one thing Mamoru and I have in common, it's our consistent cycle of dating. If I could count on anyone being single in my hour of need, it was him."
I sat down at a clean table, admiring the swirls in the black metal. I hadn't completely lied to Shingo. I had jumped off the relationship roulette months ago to focus on myself. That's what made Mamoru the safest person to ask–I didn't want a relationship and he had no interest in me. It was a perfect plan and now I would see Team UsaMamo ride to the top.  
Mako's shadow towered over me as she set pastries and tea on the table. "What if he is interested?"
I waved her off, eyes widening and mouth watering at the steamed buns in front of me. 
"You're reading too much into it and I'm perfectly happy to be single and not ready to mingle."
I lifted the dessert fork, hovering over the trio of sake manju ready to dive in. Mako was a magician in the kitchen. Culinary school had honed her expertise in baking and pairing, but she had another kind of magic. Occasionally, she'd make a dessert so absolutely mind-blowing your brain shut off and your mouth started talking. Until you told her everything. Makoto's own brand of truth serum masquerading as comfort food.
"Usagi, it's okay to be single and it's okay to be in a relationship. Just because you find someone to share your life with doesn't mean you're any less of an adult."
A relationship demanded time and effort and commitment. I hardly could commit to cleaning my apartment on a regular basis. Between my job at her shop and my streaming patrons, I could barely support myself. I certainly hadn't figured it out like my friends had. Adding a partner to the mix was a terrible idea.
"Luna is the only one for me," I said. Makoto smiled in response but there was a sad twinge to it.
The sweet aroma of sake was too much to ignore, and, being friends for so long, I knew the best way to change Mako's train of thought was to ask her about food, so I did. 
She pointed to the half cuts of desserts on our plates. "I'm testing out new recipes for our winter line up. Classic sweet red bean, one with spiced yam puree, and chestnut."
O. M. G. Have I mentioned I love working with Mako? Where else would I get paid to eat delicious food?
I grabbed the sweet bean first. My eyes rolled to the back of my head as the sugary-soft dough melted onto my tongue. My fork pointed and my head shook, miming that's so goooooood when I could not form words.
The yam was next. A pleasant pop of sweet puree with a hint of spice. Good for the pumpkin spice crowd who weren't quite ready for fall to be over. Finally, the chestnut was nutty and hearty, carried on chocolate to smooth out the texture and damn Mako was going to make some money on these recipes. I told her so. 
She laughed in her bashful way, always surprised when others enjoyed her cooking with such abandon (or was that just me?).
"Can I get an early set for the weekend? I can get Mama's opinion."
"That's a great idea!" Mako never missed a chance to get Mama's thoughts on a new dish and Mama never missed a chance to tell the neighbors about Mako's shop. "I'll do another batch tomorrow that you can take with you before you leave."
"YAS! Mako desserts!" I cheered like I'd won the top score. She laughed at my enthusiasm.
We drank our tea, enjoying the end of a long day. After a time, I pointed to the case behind me. "I'll finish up what I can tomorrow and there will be a few deliveries over the weekend. I have the addresses in the book and I've written the names and order numbers on the arrangements in the fridge."
"Thanks, Usagi, I can manage a weekend without you so don't worry." The antique cuckoo clock chimed the hour. "Let's clean up and get out of here." 
I nodded and set about washing the rest of the dishes while Mako mopped the floors.
***
Mamoru graciously loaded my suitcase into the back of his red sports car while I slid into the front. I melted into the pre-heated seat, enjoying the toasty sensation seeping through my knitted tights.
"Do you ever wear pants, Odango?" Mamoru asked as he settled behind the wheel.
I deigned to open one eye. "Skirts are way cuter."
"And colder."
He pulled into traffic, his phone navigating us to my parents' house. I pulled it off of the holder.
"I need that."
I waved him away. The computer voice told him to turn right. "I won't stop the navigation." 
When I minimized his open apps, I found a website titled Setting a good impression with her parents. I rolled my eyes because, of course, Mamoru researched meeting my parents. What a nerd.
I swiped away his apps to get to the main screen and stared, blinking, at his phone's background.
After a few minutes of silent scrutiny, he let out a disgruntled, "What?"
"How old is your phone?"
"Two years, maybe." He made a turn according to the tinny voice.
"You still have the default wallpaper and lock screen."
He shrugged, eyes on the road.
"Don't you have something you want to look at when you use your phone? A favorite plant or a special restaurant or pictures from a trip you took?"
"I don't have any of those."
There wasn't a word for how I felt. Flabbergasted? Astounded? Shocked?
"Chiba Mamoru, do you consider being a hermit a competitive sport?"
He ignored me through two intersections. 
"What's on your phone?" he said.
When we stopped at a light, I showed him one of the cute pictures we'd taken the other day. My apps were moved into folders at the corners of the screen to make sure anyone could see the kiss I was pressing into his temple. It was one of my favorites from our time in the park, mostly because I was standing on the fountain and I was taller than him.
He looked pained. "Are you going to put the same one on mine?"
I was connecting the phones to make transferring pictures easier. Each device was balanced on one leg, and I hoped that my tights were enough to hold them or that Mamoru wouldn't hit the brakes.
"Which was your favorite?"
He drove through a few more intersections before he answered. "The bridge."
I scrolled through the photos until I found the one by the bridge. There were fewer lights and you could see most of our bodies. An elderly gentleman on the way to play chess had asked if we needed him to take the picture. Mamoru leaned in his casual way against the bridge, his jacket opened to show the stylish layers underneath. I had curled into his side, his scarf looped around my neck, as his arm draped over my shoulder. I forget what joke had made him laugh—something silly I said because I couldn't have all the pictures be his tight-lipped smile or way-too-sexy smirk—but the genuine happiness was clear in the picture.
I transferred the picture and set it up as his lock and wallpaper. He didn't have many apps, but I moved them to line the sides so that we could stand in the center of his screen.
"All done," I said, nestling the phone back into its holder on the dash. I tapped the navigation app to the forefront.
At the next stoplight, he minimized it and looked at my handiwork. His lips quirked at the edges, the bottom row of teeth showing before he closed up again. Mamoru of the never-show-my-emotions-for-too-long. He met my gaze across the console. "Thanks," he said, before turning back to the road.
***
We pulled up to the street outside my parents' house, and Mamoru cut the engine. I took a deep breath and smoothed out my skirt.
"Any questions before we meet my parents?"
"Do they bite?" he joked.
"I guess we'll find out."
"You've dated before, haven't you?"
Thanks to Minako and Motoki's string of bets, Mamoru was privy to the revolving door of boyfriends I'd had over the years. It didn't feel great to win against him in things like most leering partner or least amount of dates before a proposal.
I licked my lips. "I haven't brought anyone home."
That seemed to throw him for a moment before his gaze met mine, intense and churning blue. "I am honored to be the first."
I rolled my eyes and opened my door. Only Mamoru would make something so unimportant important.
As we started down the sidewalk together, I checked him with my hip and said, "Don't thank me before you've met Papa."
He had the grace to look concerned.
***
"We're home," I called from the threshold of the genkan, kicking my fleece boots to the corner of the wall. Mamoru loomed behind me, taking in the wood-lined hallway and stairs. The line of white walls was littered with pictures from every stage of the Tsukino family life. A potted plant sat at the top of the stairs.
Mama stepped out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. Her eyes fell on tall-dark-and-handsome behind me.
"Oh, my."
I moved up the steps and linked one arm with hers. Her gaze never wavered from the man standing in her foyer. "Mama, this is Chiba Mamoru."
Mamoru stepped forward, producing a wrapped present from who knows where. Mama blushed as she took it. Even I felt a flutter in my stomach, not completely immune to the charming smile on his lips.
"Pleasure to meet you, Tsukino-san." He was a portrait of politeness as he slipped off his shoes.
"Ikuko-mama is fine." Mamoru blinked at her informal speech and looked at me as if he was putting the pieces together. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, baka, I conveyed with a smirk.
I sniffed at the air, recognizing the smell of warmed vanilla and sugar. Mama held me to her side, preventing my escape. "Would you like some cookies, Mamoru? They should be cooled by now."
I smirked, watching the conflicting emotions flit over Mamoru. Nothing could prepare him for the dynamic duo of my Mama and I. I swiveled and entwined my other arm with his, beaming my own 100-watt smile at him.
"C'mon," I said, tugging him along, "those cookies will not eat themselves."
Shingo and Mika were in the kitchen, murmuring, each with a cookie in hand. Shingo glanced at us, then did a double-take, seeing Mamoru looped around my arm.
"Who's this?"
Mama set about opening the present. "Mamoru, Usagi's date." The paper tore loudly in the room's silence, as Shingo sized up the man next to me. For his part, Mamoru's smile didn't falter despite the tension beneath my hand.
"Oh, gourmet Belgian chocolates," Mama gushed, a hand on her cheek and completely oblivious to the atmosphere building between the two men. "Mamoru, you shouldn't have. We must eat these tonight in our room."
Shingo's eyes were searching, calculating. Mika pressed a hand to his shoulder just as the pieces clicked together. "I know you! From Crown. You're friends with the onii-san."
"Furuhata Motoki," Mamoru ventured, his bicep flexing. His jaw was a bit too pronounced behind the polite smile.
Shingo nodded, his face pinched around the edges. Sour. He used to make that face when we'd see who could put the most lemon slices in our mouths. My record was thirteen.
I wasn't sure why he made that face, but I didn't want to know. I grabbed a cookie from the counter and shoved it into his mouth before he could continue his interrogation. "Mamo-chan and I reconnected a few weeks ago and really hit it off."
I gnashed my teeth, smiling so hard my cheeks pulled. "We're thinking of moving in together in the new year. Isn't that right, Mamo-chan?"
And with everything in me, I willed him to agree to the bluff. To pick up on my wavelength of desperation and agree. To do it for Team UsaMamo.
Mamoru's eyes were only a touch bigger than normal—evidence of his surprise. It wasn't noticeable to others, but I'd seen that look of muted, polite I will not comment on the fifth parfait or fifteen strawberries you've crammed into your mouth, Odango more times than I could count.
"Is that so?" Papa stepped into the room from the hallway.
Mamoru cleared his throat as every eye in the room turned to him. His hand scratched at the back of his head and the child-like embarrassment was almost endearing.
"Well," he dragged out the word, "we've had so much lost time. We don't want to rush things, but we don't want to lose any more time, either."
Mama's hand curled around her heart. "Oh, Kenji, it's just like your cousin. Married later in life and look how happy they are. Sometimes I think the older kids know what they want."
Papa was sizing up Mamoru, but his eyes were soft after Mama's words. His watch beeped, letting us know it was time to leave. His gaze didn't waver as he silenced it.
"Thank you for inviting me," Mamoru said, bowing low and holding it.
Papa patted his shoulder. "No need to be so formal, Mamoru. We are pleased to have you join us." The tension in the room deflated as he smiled. "Do you have the directions? Usagi's not the most organized."
Mamoru returned his smile, a teasing glint in his eyes I knew too well, and pulled out his phone. "She texted me this address. Is it the right one?"
While Mamoru and Papa worked out driving directions, Papa sharing all of his secret shortcuts and warnings for the drive, Mama whispered in my ear. "I think he'll be fine."
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hyunsuks-beanie · 2 years
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Desperate (Feelings Pt. 3)
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FWB/Boyfriend (labels blurry)! Jay x fem. bodied reader; smut; car sex
Word Count: 2.17k words
Mellow speaks: Tada!! Part 3 of Feelings is finally here, for everyone who waited and requested! I hope you guys enjoy reading this, and since I have been requested to turn this into a series instead, I'll see what can be done with it xoxo.
Previous Parts: Feelings Part 1 Mine (Feelings Part 2)
Tagging: @enhabb
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Internally rolling your eyes, you try to keep up your cheerful demeanor, forcing a smile onto your face as you listen to people yap about heaven knows what. Out of the corner of your eye, you sneak a glance at the person whose attention you have been trying to catch, only to find that he isn't batting so much as an eyelash at you, completely immersed in stupid game of pool with his friends. Sighing, you take yet another sip of your drink, feeling the bitter liquid slowly fill up your senses.
Had an outsider been looking at you, they would have wondered why you won't simply walk up to and strike up a conversation the man who has your attention. What they don't know, however, is that this is exactly how things have always been between the two of you. Having started out as friends, Jay and you had soon found yourselves becoming more, the late nights spent with each other resulting in physical desires. You had intended to stay that way, but things had obviously taken a turn, feelings making their way into your equation, completely uninvited.
And so, even months after admitting that there was something more than just physical attraction between you, the labels were still blurry. But the rules definitely weren't. You weren't like the average couple that insisted on being lovey-dovey (or rather, "gag-worthy" as you liked to refer to them), and instead, chose to make your feelings known by causing the other to be jealous. Sure, to anyone else's eyes, the whole setup would have looked demented, toxic even, but to the two of you, it was all a game. A game to see who ended up bowing first. And today, you seemed to be on the losing side.
Shaking your head, you take in a deep breath, as a way of reminding yourself that you can't give up so easily. Sneaking another glance at Jay, you decide to put the plan that's brewing in your mind, to action. Getting up from your seat, you saunter over to him, standing right behind his form as you try to suppress the smirk gracing your lips. Slowly, you wrap your arms around his torso from behind, catching him by surprise and causing him to miss his target. Turning his head slightly, he can't help but quirk his eyebrow at you, not taking long to sense the change in your demeanor.
"Something the matter, babe?," he asks, the way the nickname rolls off his tongue still sounding foreign to you because it lacks the lewd connotation you've come to associate it with. Smirking, you say, "Nope. Was just missing you," turning him around to look at your face, which clearly betrays your hidden intentions. "Aww, can't go a ten minutes without me, can you?," he coos, placing a soft kiss on your cheek, before leaning close to your ear. "Such a desperate slut," he whispers, before pulling away, smirking.
Rolling your eyes, you turn around on your heels, swaying your hips as you make your way back to the counter. Unlocking your phone, you shoot a quick message to Jay, looking back over your shoulder, only to find him clutching his phone tightly as he reads the notification from you. "We'll soon see who the desperate one really is," it says, and while he does find your confidence annoying, he can't wait to see what evilness you have up your sleeve this time. He doesn't have to wait for long though, as the moment you return back to your original spot, you don't waste a single second in joining the conversation you were initially a part of, this time much more engrossed than you were before.
Five minutes later finds you looking Jay's way once again, grinning internally when you notice him staring at you blankly, not seeming too happy about the way you are talking animatedly to the people around you. Wanting to elicit a stronger reaction from him, you decide to lean closer to one particular guy, throwing an arm over his shoulder and laughing a little too excitedly at the jokes he cracks. It doesn't take said guy long to take the hint, the mischievous glint in your eyes telling him you want more. And that's exactly when things start to get more heated, his face inching closer to yours as he whispers random nothings in your ear while his hand strokes your cheek ever so softly.
Smiling, you lean into his touch, feeling bad inside for leading him on when all you want is to have Jay's face between your legs. Your unassuming prey continues to flirt shamelessly with you, blissfully unaware of the way your gaze shifts to Jay through the corner of your eye every so often. You can see him looked pissed, his calm composure steadily inching towards its destruction as he continues to glare at the pair of you. The man in front of you, meanwhile, seems to have taken the hint a bit too well, considering the fact that you now find him leaning in, ready to place his lips onto yours, his hand inching up your thigh and almost slipping under the hem of your skirt. It's like that night at the club all those months ago, but this time, you know how to respond. And so, closing your eyes, you will all thoughts away from your head as his lips finally connect with yours, in a kiss that's a little too sweet and a little too sloppy for your liking. But you still kiss him back, trying to spice things up and give a show to your supposed "boyfriend."
Throwing your hands around the guy's shoulders, you pull him closer, practically sitting on his lap as you continue to make out with him in public. After a couple minutes, you pull away, sneaking a glance at Jay, who seems positively livid by now, his eyes dark as he continues to watch you. Smirking, you lean into your partner's ear, voice dropping to a whisper as you suggest going back to your place. He's more than happy to oblige, taking your hand as he starts leading you out of the arcade.
No sooner have you stepped outside the entrance though, that you feel your hand being jerked back. Turning around, you can't help the smirk on your face as you watch Jay take hold of your partner's collar. "What the hell-," he begins, only to be cut off. "Where do you think you're going with what's mine, huh?," Jay asks, seething as he frees your hand from the other's grasp, only to grip your wrist a little too tight. "Jay stop, you're hurting me," you say, but his reply sends shivers down your spine as he says, "Just you wait, love. I'll show you what hurts." And with that, he begins dragging you away once again, akin to that night from several months ago. Looking back over his shoulder, and calls out to the other guy, saying, "Don't you dare being seen near Y/N again." Letting him pull you away, you gently giggle to yourself before asking, "So. Does that mean I win?" The grip on your tightens as you hear him reply, saying, "We'll soon find out who the winner is, love."
Barely five minutes later, you find yourself being rudely slammed against the door of Jay's car, finally feeling his lips slam against yours as his hands roam all over your body, pulling you closer to him as his tongue glides against your bottom lip, making your skin tingle with the familiar feeling of excitement that comes from being near him. Getting your fingers entangled in his hair, you let out a soft whine as he begins grinding against you, making him smirk as he pushes his tongue past your parted lips and into your mouth. You continue kissing for a few minutes that feel no less than hours, wetness already pooling between your thighs at the slightest touch from him. Pulling away, you whimper a weak "Want you," a yelp escaping your lips as he yanks you away from the door. "Oh baby, I'll have you begging for me in no time," is all he says, pulling the door open and folding the front seats forward.
The very next moment, you're being roughly thrown onto the backseat, Jay climbing in and shutting the door closed behind him. "Jay I-," you begin, only to be cut off by the feeling of his lips against yours once more. Getting lost in the kiss, you fail to notice the way his hands snake down your body, rolling up your skirt, his mind silently thanking the fact his car is big enough to allow you to do the dirty without being seen, owing to the tinted windows. Pulling away, he is quick to pull your panties down, take them off your feet and signaling for you to sit up in order to give him space. You oblige, positioning yourself in a way that allows him to push your thighs apart, dipping his face down and right in front of your already soaking cunt. "So wet for me," he mutters, licking up your folds in one swift move. Biting down on your lip, you merely roll your eyes at the comment, not finding it in yourself to deny the accusation. After all, you know he isn't wrong. He has that effect on you, bringing you down on your knees with a simple glance.
Taking your silence for agreement, Jay lets a smirk grace his lips as his tongue continues to assault your core, picking up the pace with each stroke. "This cunt is mine," he sys, alternating between entering your hole and teasing your folds, his forefinger and thumb soon joining in, rubbing circles on your clit. His efforts finally succeed in eliciting a moan from you, and once you start, it's like a flood unleashes, moans and whimpers slipping past your lips as you arch your back in pleasure. Your hands move to tug on his hair, pushing him even closer his target. To your surprise, the move causes a moan to escape his lips this time, the vibrations sending you reeling as his mouth continues to work wonders on you. He has you cumming in record time, expertly lapping up every last drop of your release.
Body shuddering from your orgasm, you gently push Jay's shoulders, signaling for him to lie down on his back. He complies, hand holding yours as you get on your knees, palming him through his jeans before popping the button open and sliding the fabric down his legs. His boxers soon follow suit, his hardened member finally out in the open. Lowering your lips down on him, you gently suck on his dick, swirling your tongue around his girth a couple times before pulling away. His eyes follow your form as you shift your body so that you're sitting on the folded front seat, rummaging around in the glove compartment. You soon emerge victorious, smirking softly before tearing the condom wrapper and rolling it down his length. Once you're done, Jay doesn't waste a single moment pulling you close to himself once more, helping you as you throw your legs on either side of his torso, lowering yourself down on him slowly. Feeling him fill you up, you start rolling your hips around, hissing at the sensation of him inside you. His hands quickly make their way to your thighs, guiding you as you begin bouncing up and down, his length moving in and out of you. Smirking at the sight, Jay lets his hands wander once more, slipping under your skimpy top and fiddling with the cups of your bra, before pushing them up, playing with your boobs. The car soon fogs up, sounds of your moans filling up every nook and corner as the both of you arch your backs in pleasure.
Soon enough, you feel the knot in your stomach growing once more, pushing you closer to your edge as you continue to move around on Jay. Deciding to speed things up, he starts slowly thrusting into you as well, rolling his dick around in the hopes of making you cum. He doesn't have to wait longer either, as a couple thrusts are all it takes to make you come undone, your release seeping out your cunt and onto his sheathed length. Knowing he still needs a minute or two to reach his own orgasm, you continue to bounce on his length, waves of pleasure seeping through your body. Your moves have him cumming in no time, the condom soaking with his seed as he holds you close, pulling you down to place a kiss on your lips.
You stay like that for a few minutes, simply basking in each other's presence after an intense battle of nerves. That is, until he pokes your sides, smirking as he says, "Come on. I got a game of pool to win."
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annalisesfx · 2 years
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SUCK IT UP
l lawliet x reader
↳ 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭
TW: mentions of death, gun, mentions of abuse, panic attacks, L is an asshole in this one <3
contains: kira! reader (you lost memories tho), Light was the 2nd Kira, reader is very physically strong (somehow), misa is a spy working with L, little violence
Your mind finally came back to reality, realizing it's all over..after being held captive and sort of tortured for more than 1 month. All that just because "you were Kira"? You've been shoved into a car, someone finally taking your blindfold off. You opened your eyes hesitantly after you heard someone sit down in front of you. Was that...Light's father? No way it was your friend's father, who was behind it all... No, it couldn't be that easy. He couldn't have been the one who held you there, the stalker himself wouldn't reveal himself to you like this. You were silent the whole time, still millions of questions ran through your head: Who did this? Why did they do this?
"Um..excuse me? Are you the stalker?" I asked. "No, I am not a stalker, I am a detective who's working under L. He's the one who has done this." he answered. L? The world's greatest detective?..tying up someone just to get information out of them? You couldn't believe it..
The car stopped in a tunnel, there was parked another car, with some people standing near it. You got a bit nervous..was he planning to sell you to someone? You stepped out of the car and sighed in relief when you found out the people next to the second car were Light and some man. "Y/n!" Light ran over to you, it looked a bit funny since both of you were still handcuffed. "Light! I missed you!" you cried out. "What is happening?" your voice was a whisper. "I don't know.." he whispered back. "C'mon kids, let's go." Mr. Yagami's voice echoed through the tunnel. You were both seated in the back of the car Light was brought in and Mr. Yagami was driving. Why did the two men exchange cars?
"I was afraid I'd never get out of there, I'm so glad we're finally heading home.." Light said. "No..I'm afraid you two are being taken to your execution.." Mr. Yagami sighed. What?... You were in pure shock..This had to be a joke right? What are they gonna do to us? "Execution?! Are you crazy?" Light yelled. "You..no!! We didn't do anything!" you tried to protect the both of you. At least you didn't remember doing anything..killing anyone. This had to be a joke..a setup. "L is convinced that you, Y/n L/n are Kira and that Light is the second Kira. And he believes the only way we can get rid of that fact, is by executing the both of you."
"I don't understand! The killings never stopped!" Light shouted. "No. They never stopped." Mr. Yagami was growing more annoyed. "Please don't do this dad! Neither of us is Kira!" Light cried. "I'm sorry..." Mr. Yagami muttered. "You trust L more than your son?!" you screamed, tears welling up in your eyes. "I don't know! The L I know would never do this! This doesn't seem right!" Light sobbed. "Alright, we'll be there soon." Mr. Yagami hesitated.
You didn't remember what happened after that..but suddenly the car almost crashed and was parked under a bridge. "Why did you bring us out to the middle of nowhere? Are you gonna let us go?!" Light looked around. "I brought us here instead of the execution..Listen, I'm going to kill you here L/n, and then myself." You felt like your heart just stopped..What? I'm actually going to die? "The police will find Light shortly after, and bring him to the execution." Mr. Yagami continued. "W-What..." your voice was shaking. "You can't do this dad, you have no evidence! Don't kill her! She did nothing wrong!" Light yelled. But you, you were quiet, in shock. Tears streamed down your cheeks, it was getting hard to breathe. Mr. Yagami reached in his pocket, taking out a gun. Light's screams were getting muffled, everything was hazy. "It's too late now! I will be the one to execute you! I'll kill you!"...he pointed the gun to your head. And then you saw her.
She laughed hysterically, blood on her face. The same words..I'll kill you! "M-Mom.." you whimpered. "N-No..No.." your voice was getting quieter. Her voice was right inside your head "I'll kill you!". She pressed the trigger, you shut your eyes, flinching hard and trying to break out of the handcuffs. "No!" you heard your own voice echoing...Everything was spinning, but you weren't dead..
"Y/n!"
"Y/n!!"
You opened your eyes slowly, seeing Mr. Yagami again. It was a flashback...He sighed in relief. "A blank?" Light whispered. "Please forgive me you two. This was the only way I could prove that you were innocent L/n. Were you watching Ryuzaki?" Mr. Yagami sighed. Suddenly, L popped up on a screen, looking directly at you. "Yes, it was an interesting performance." his voice was quiet, like a mumble. You started yanking yourself, trying to break free from the cuffs, and you did it. You glared at the screen, tears streaming down your cheeks again. "A-A...performance?! You monster!" you screamed, sobbing. Light knew there was something wrong, normal people didn't react this badly to just a bluff like this. You pulled your knees up to your chest and covered your ears. You sobbed. "Y-You think this i-is something to mess...around with?" you yelled, falling apart. "You don't know what I've been through! I saw her again!! She-..she..it was her again!" you sobbed. The man on the screen was shocked..this was clearly a reaction to trauma from the past. "Ryuzaki! Can't you see there's something wrong with her?! Get over here immediately!" Light hissed.
The detective did as he was told to. Currently, you were still in the car. Mr. Yagami was trying to figure out what caused such a terrifying reaction out of you. Light held you, whispering comforting words into your ears. You heard the sound of a helicopter getting closer. And suddenly, you were sitting inside of it, the tight seatbelt tying you up. You refused to look at him, to look at L. Light, who was sitting next to you, rubbed his hand on your shoulder. Your heartbeat was still insanely fast, your whole body was shaking.
Then, you found yourself on a couch, in a room with several people. They talked about some building that L has built for the case and that everyone will be moving in. He even mentioned that you're gonna be with him 24/7 somehow. "What..happened?" The gentle tone of Light's voice was comforting you. "I-It was her...I saw her again.." you whispered. "Who? Your..mother?" Light hesitantly asked. You nodded and gulped. It seemed everyone was confused, but L tried to get it. "She..was abused...she had a flashback of her mother pointing a gun at her." Light assured. Everyone gasped. "C-Can you leave u alone? I need..to talk with Miss L/n.." Ryuzaki made sure everyone was out of the room. Then he sat next to you. You finally decided to raise your head, looking at him. "I'm..sorry" he mumbled. "H-How could you do this?!" you immediately threw a punch leading right towards his face. He fell on his back and you quickly took the opportunity to straddle him. You pinned his arms above his head, a strong grip on his wrists.
"Just...don't do this again please." you mumbled. "I-I won't. I truly apologize...I didn't know it could affect you so badly.." he stuttered.
But you still needed to take your anger and anxiety out on something. L was shocked about what you did next.
Part 2?
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I have a question when fans or random people took photos of harry and Olivia walking around in London were they tipped of . It’s seems very fishy that those were submitted and then posted by deuxmoi . Like who told those people to send it to deuxmoi . Or could it be that someone of their team took the pictures ?
Hi anon,
Essentially, we don’t know for sure. 
I think that the pictures sent to Deuxmoi are highly suspect and could have been easily planned. The fact they went to a crowded park and Harry was wearing the same clothes he’s been in all month also put the chances of them being spottedTM sky high. 
Also, once they were spotted one time, fans specifically started going to his neighborhood/park to try and see him, and that’s how we got more pictures of them at the park - again in the same clothes. Except those pictures went to twitter, you know like normal people do it, and not Deuxmoi.
It is also suspect that, while Deuxmoi was doing their regular weekend “spotted” reel, they still reserved a whole entire post just for Holivia walking arm in arm.
Also, important to note the timeline here:
Holivia haven’t been seen together since January. Then out of nowhere we get several reports of Holivia, and Harry is weirdly wearing the same clothes for all of them:
April 1: creepy Italian stalkers film Harry walking alone
April 8: Fans get pictures with Harry. They later (Apr 12th) say Olivia was with him, but no pics of her
April 11: Daily Mail publishes article saying ‘are Holivia still together?’ and there’s breakup speculation in the media 
(** Deuxmoi also posted a completely unprompted header to a questions game on IG in which she said “and no idk if Holivia are still together!”. I just don’t have it so I’m not sure of the date, but it was between the 1st and 10th of April I think).
April 12: TMZ reports at night that Olivia has a stalker and the legal documents state she lives with Jason and their kids
More pictures with same fans and Harry at the park come out, as well as a YouTube video (now private) where they claim Olivia was there too but no pics/video of her
April 13: TMZ issues a correction article saying Olivia does not live with Jason
April 15: The Mirror publishes an article saying Holivia had a cozy pub date (no pictures)
Blind Gossip item stating Olivia wants to get Harry involved in the stunt again
Pictures of Harry dressed as the little mermaid drop via HLD
April 17: Deuxmoi publishes picture of Holivia walking in the park
April 18: Fans spot Holivia at the park again 
Deuxmoi publishes picture of Holivia walking arm in arm allegedly from the night of April 17
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This whole thing reeks of a PR setup, just like the rest of the stunt. Here’s a post about things that are quite stunty about this. Pics sent to Deuxmoi should be taken at the same level as Daily Mail pics.
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felassan · 3 years
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DA4 Lead Producer Scylla Costa’s BIG Festival talk, “Challenges of Dragon Age production during the pandemic”, can currently be rewatched on YouTube here starting roughly at timestamp 8:57:02 after a lil presenter blurb/intro. It’s 1 hour long. When it was streamed live, there was an English translation ‘voiceover’. There isn’t in this vid, however I want to post the link for Portuguese speakers, and also it’s neat for everyone to be able to see all the slides he presented with for themselves in context.
I don’t know if an English-language version will get put up so I’m sharing the notes I took during the talk below, in case anyone’s interested and because I might as well since I wrote them. The rest of this post is under a cut due to length.
Edit: Found a place to re-watch the English version of the talk
(Quick note: I didn’t note down everything, mostly things that caught my interest, so this isn’t exhaustive, and when I was watching I was real tired, so pls bear that in mind and don’t take these notes as bullet-proof 100% accurate gospel or direct quotes. If you watched it and think I’ve written down something wrong/misunderstood, let me know and I’ll fix. Also if you’re a Portuguese speaker and I’ve gotten something incorrect or missed something important etc, again just let me know.) **
** Edit: I’ve now gone through my notes while watching the talk again. I’ve filled in some of the gaps (although they still don’t cover everything said) and so forth, and now I’m no longer worried about there being possible errors in this post.
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For some context, this slide contained the breakdown of the talk’s structure. Bear in mind there are other slides present in the talk than the ones I’ve posted here, I didn’t include caps of all of them, just ones which were of note to me.
In the talk, chief Producer Scylla goes over challenges of DA4 production during the pandemic. He discusses the adaptations - necessary skills and learning from remote work - and he ponders on the future of teamwork.
After the launch of ME3 he became a producer, all his MMO and other experience helped a lot. He was on DAI for 3 years and MEA for 9 months, then Anthem. Today, on DA4, Scylla and another Lead Producer were the heads of the whole project, and there is his boss is the Executive Producer Christian Dailey. 
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^ the usual AAA game development cycle (brief introduction)
AAA games are games that are launched for several platforms simultaneously. 
In BioWare’s case, the pre-production phase of the game development cycle can have from 5 - 30 people, and up to almost 60 people when they’re just about to go through the gate to production. 
In the pre-production phase, they go through the game’s concepts and prototypes and start developing systems. They seek the game’s concept and focus, and its key features. They do lots of market research. In the case of BioWare, all their games are strong in narrative, so they have lots of tools related to game narratives and supporting the development of a narrative (cinematic design, dialogue system etc) that get focused on in this phase. Other parts of the team such as writers and cinematic design need these systems to do their own roles. 
In BioWare’s case, the pre-production phase through to launch can take 4 - 6 years, but it does depend on the size of the team during development.
With regards to Dragon Age 4, they were coming close to the time when they would shift from pre-production to the production stage when the pandemic hit.
During the production phase is when the development of content and features takes place, with the systems mostly already existing from the pre-production phase. A few new systems may be developed in this phase. In the production phase is when things start escalating, and the team really starts growing, to like 2- or 3-fold the prior pre-production phase size. 
(DA4 is currently in the production phase.)
In the alpha phase, features have to be fully implemented and systems all have to be running / working. All the game features should already be in the game by now. They test from pre-production onwards, but this phase is when they run heavy technical tests with lots of players trying to play at the same time. In the beta phase, the idea is that you should now have full content and that now you’re balancing it and running more and lots of different tests with players before launch. There are final tweaks and then the final launch, when in the weeks prior to launch, all the different business units and areas e.g. marketing team, technology team, publishing team, get together once a day and all of the game’s issues are reported and brought to the table to be prioritized. Then they decide the next steps re: these issues (this is known as ‘the war room’).
After the launch there are usually patches like day zero patches and other patches, this being standard industry practise. The last stage is the new content stage where there are DLCs and a game with more content.
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On March 12th 2020, the team gathered to review the DA4 story in the new office. Everyone was very excited. (They had spent over 10 years in their last building and had noticed that with the team growing they needed more space. In August 2019 they found the new studio in the city center.)
Anyway that evening, they got an email from the CEO which contained instructions and said that due to the pandemic, they should from now all start working remotely. They had known that this happening was a possibility so they had been planning on how to have all the devs working from home, but initially less than 50% of the devs were able to work from home successfully/efficiently due to various issues e.g. you need a VPN to be able to log in remotely to do your job normally, varying home office setups. The day after this, the office was basically deserted, except for Scylla, the IT infrastructure people and one or two odd devs.
Scylla was part of the team that was working on allowing the devs to work from home. They first started looking at the short-term changes they needed to make to allow this.
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“First, take care of our developers”. 
When the pandemic first hit, their and Scylla’s [as Lead Producer] first priority was to look after the devs. Many of them are parents (schools and day-cares were shut, children were studying from home), others have relatives living with them, others have other personal circumstances which of course need to be taken into account when it comes to assessing what needs to be taken into consideration for this new scenario. So, they looked at each dev on a case-by-case basis in order to evaluate, speaking to each one and asking them what they could do to support them.
One of the first changes/adaptations they could implement was flexible working hours and flexibility around deadlines. Generally speaking the devs got a lot of support, EA was really good and really supported the devs especially in the first months of the pandemic (and they are still supporting them). Initially not all devs had suitable office spaces at home, some were working from the living room from laptops or at the kitchen table. The whole covid situation basically just happened over night and nobody was really ready to deal with that change. So their first step was to enable their devs to work remotely. As a producer, Scylla’s main task is to communicate with the team such as via a number of daily meetings. He doesn’t depend so much on powerful hardware.
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“Enable developers to work remotely”.
This slide shows some of a BioWare audio team. Different teams have varying and specific needs in order to do their jobs and therefore in order to do them remotely. For example, the audio team need good-quality speakers and amplifiers, while the lighting and art teams need other specific equipment such as tablets and large screens. So there was a lot of work they had to do to go through each dev to understand their individual needs and what needed to be done for them. ‘Could they download the builds? Did they have the right performance [tech-wise]? Could they submit their changelists, their codes to the server?’
Some devs needed a more powerful internet connection as it would take 6-8 hours to download a build (some devs live rurally). Some needed a lot of cable, as they were working far away from their routers (sometimes up to 50m). As time went by things got better and better. 
The chair devs work from is also important; a kitchen able chair etc is not suitable to sit in for long-term desk work, possibly leading to health issues like back ache and blood circulation problems in the legs.
Every 3 months they had money given to help devs buy new mice, keyboards, monitors - anything they needed really in order for their office setting at home to be improved. For a while, because lots of people [generally, in society] were needing and buying them, it was quite hard to buy things like webcams and microphones.
On mid- and long-term changes:
In terms of DA, we have to look at this from 2 perspectives, the change in the personal and the professional environments. 
As a consequence of working from home, people tend to be less active during the day (even in an office, you go between meeting rooms, up and down stairs etc). Physical activity supports life quality and therefore work quality. Scylla noticed that he began to feel listless and such, and found that he needed to change his routine that he had initially developed when he started working from home, for example; having a normal start time (as in, have a semblance of structure in your day as if you were still working in the office site), get dressed at the normal time, not having meetings over lunch etc. This wasn’t just him, lots of other devs encountered this and had this experience too. Devs which adapted faster had better productivity and became more productive faster.
Scylla bought a stand-up desk which he can raise up and down, and at meetings he would be delivering a talk while standing or even while walking on a treadmill. Other devs also got stand-up desks. He tracked his body’s data on a Fitbit. These sorts of things helped improve physical and mental wellbeing. Other devs did similar things, like starting going out for jogs or began practising yoga. Essentially, everyone needed to make changes to their daily routine in comparison to what they had been doing prior to the pandemic. 
The pandemic has been a thing for over a year now. In their location, every couple of weeks a new restriction is put into place or a rule is changed, and every two weeks there’s a new thing that you can and can’t do. Scylla also started moving around his property. He worked on his desk, fixed it up and painted - taking up a new hobby. Other devs picked up new hobbies too. These are good ways to be active and also to be somewhere else, i.e. to break up the working day and not be spending it all in one home office-type location. Scylla found that when he made these sorts of changes to his routine to improve his lifestyle, the data output by his Fitbit as indicators of his health/wellbeing etc improved, e.g. number of steps taken in a day, heartbeats per minute while at rest. As stated many of the other devs went through a similar process.
On the professional side of things:
They had to improve remote delivery of builds. Accessing things from home as a dev requires a VPN. They need to download a build every day and then upload it to the server after making their changes to the game. They had to work with infrastructure and research other tech, such as streaming tech to allow remote console access, in order to better facilitate this process. For remote access, they also had to work on adapting communications channels.
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“Adapting channels of communication.”
In this slide, the team are working on the storyboards. Before you can implement motion capture & performance capture, you have to ‘run the storyboards’ like this. These are small illustrating drawings which reflect the drafts and are meant to quickly reflect the intention of the scenes that are to be built. Before the pandemic, the team would go to meeting rooms like this, sit down, talk and interact in person. After the pandemic, the question became ‘How do you do this over Zoom?’ You can, but it’s not quite the same; it’s harder to see peoples’ expressions, some people are embarrassed speaking over Zoom etc. Therefore they had to adapt their communications systems, and unlearn the ways in which they developed before in order to relearn and learn new ways of communicating.
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Slack was a tool that they adopted on this front. Communications channels can be confusing on Slack, so there was a need to develop structure. For example, how quickly should someone reply (as a recommended convention for the purposes of work)? They had to define the process/procedures for the channels so it was clear for the team as a whole how it would all flow (this is important especially if you have a team with say 30 people or as a whole hundreds of people). Before the pandemic, they had stand-up meetings where they’d go around in a circle every morning and talk about their activities - what they’re going to be working on, any roadblocks they had encountered etc. The question arose ‘How do you replace these?’ They ended up doing Slack messages at a certain time of day and updating their statuses with some details on what they’re working on and color-coding (green - fine, yellow - need help, red - busy/blocked out).
Another issue that they faced was unforeseen - the number of meetings that devs were having really shot through the roof. When there wasn’t a good structure of communications channels, any conversation would become a meeting. Everybody began scheduling meetings left and right, and at the end of the day they would have little time left in which to actually work on their to-do lists. Hence, they had to work with the team to really analyze and be very pragmatic. ‘Which meetings needed to happen? Which didn’t? Is a specific meeting really necessary? Which meetings should be recurring? What can be done over Slack?’ This guideline had to be given to the team to help, and it improved things a lot. The number of meetings decreased a lot and they got more effective. For example, by making sure to set an agenda for meetings beforehand, and by having meeting notes (then a dev who didn’t really need to be at a meeting could skip attending and just quickly review the notes output after instead). They also decreased the standard length of meeting times from the default Outlook blocks of 1 hour and 30 mins to 55 mins and 25 mins respectively. This 5 minute change gave devs time for things like bio breaks (also 4 hours in a row at a computer in a home office with one meeting after another just isn’t good for a person).
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“Adapting p-cap and mocap”.
On content:
From a content point of view, the most difficult thing in terms of the pandemic was adapting p-cap and mocap (performance capture and motion capture). They hire actors and it’s a large studio. The pandemic meant big limits to what they could and couldn’t do. The actors had to be masked and 5 meters apart in distance (although it doesn’t look like it in some of these shots due to angles). Also there could be no other person around in the studio - only the actors. The directors instead would ‘patch’ in remotely on big screens (you can see this in the second photo in the top right). 
Before the pandemic, they felt that they wouldn’t be able to do p-cap or mocap properly remotely, as the directors would usually stand right next to actors giving guidance on their performance. The techs would also usually be near. But they adapted! The keyword is adapting, changing process. It’s harder and it’s different, but it is possible, and people start rethinking what is possible. What was said to be impossible before now is possible.
P-cap differs to mocap in that it also captures voice and facial expressions.
On the future of work after covid:
There will probably be more working from home and more flexibility for workers e.g. being able to work say 3 out of 5 days from home. It does depend on what a dev’s specific job is however. For example, the audio engineers require lots of specialist equipment and said equipment is of higher quality and quantity in the office. So, depending on role, devs might be working more often or less often from home.
Another development is that lots of devs are moving house. In lockdown etc people started reassessing what’s most important in life. Some are moving further away from the studio to get a cheaper rent or for example couples who both needed an office space to work from home from but their current place only had one area. Others are moving closer to nature for a better quality of life, and still others have other different reasons for doing so. Over 10 devs that he knows in fact have recently moved, including Scylla himself.
The pandemic changed certain skills being used by people on a daily basis. Scylla used as an example of this one of his soft skills, being able to tell from looking/interacting in-person with someone if they are stressed out. Obviously it’s less easy to tell if someone is stressed out when you’re remote, so you adapt different ways of checking in with people in the new situation. To continue carrying out his role as Lead Producer, he began checking in with his team pro-actively on the new comms channels and asking how they were doing.
Also, now that companies are more open to working remotely, there is going to be increased competition for hiring devs. They saw both sides of this coin at BioWare. They were able to hire devs from many places that they couldn’t hire from before e.g. Montreal, Vancouver, the US, as there’s less need for devs to relocate to Edmonton or Austin. This opens up opportunities to hire really intelligent and skilled people that they would not have had access to before.
Question and answer segment:
The pre-production phase has been concluded. They’re in the production phase.
They are not giving out a lot of details yet but Scylla is really excited as a big fan of the whole series. He thinks that with DA4, they will have the opportunity/possibility to launch the best story out of all DA games. He feels that the characters they’re making are amazing. He’s dying to say more but can’t. 
When you work from home you need to keep your team as productive as possible. During the pandemic, when people started working from home, they noticed that some people became more productive and some people became less productive. They were analyzing it on a case-by-case basis so as not to make assumptions. They were interested in seeing what they could do to help. At the beginning of the pandemic, they were looking at the devs as people and seeing what they needed.
Production of DA4 still needed to continue during the pandemic because they want to be able to launch the game.
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This slide shows a writer. Writing is an example of a role which is more able to work from home easily.
Their productivity did go down in the first month of the pandemic. After adaptations, some people then became more productive than they were before (this was role and personal situation-dependent, examples of this being artists and coders who were able to art and code at home without being interrupted, thereby being able to produce more). Covid has affected productivity in general, but this is part of our new reality. They have adapted and adjusted some deadlines. They have enough data (Scylla LOVES data) now to understand how long it will take them/how long they’ll need to launch the game. They have always had historical data for this purpose, but they’re doing more of this sort of thing now to ensure that they are doing things at the right time.
Remote hiring opens up the door to more talent joining, so if someone has talent geography will hold them back less. Some companies though may choose not to hire people from other countries due to labor issues, cumbersome legal aspects, time zones. But even in such cases there are activities for example that can be carried out while the rest of the team is asleep such as testing or working on the build, or there are cases where those companies still will want to hire a specifically/highly talented person even in spite of the potential legal aspects and so on.
On mental health: People were affected. There is the mental, physical and social impacts of the pandemic situation on people. EA supported them during the pandemic in terms of their mental wellbeing, there are specific companies (services offered, speaking to a therapist) that they can contact if they need something or help. EA had always been good at supporting them with this sort of thing but this has improved further during the pandemic. Another change was that they could/can take a couple of days off if they needed/need to because of the pandemic e.g. to take care of children, who were obviously not at school at the time. As a producer he had to be very mindful of all of this. How much they were monitoring peoples’ wellbeing really went up during the pandemic.
A question that was asked - in terms of DA4′s storybeats, is there anything in there that they decided to change due to the pandemic as it wouldn’t be sensitive or appropriate to include anymore, for example a plague plotline or something? Scylla’s answer is that DA and ME are games in which they try to have narratives that are relatable, which include things which people will identify with, so that players understand what characters are going through etc. Nothing in DA4′s plotline/storybeats has been changed (in the frame of this question, relating to the pandemic), as it didn’t have anything in it that could be specifically or a directly connected to a pandemic-type situation or anything. Of course the DA story has Blights and the Taint, but these are different & fantastical things and existed long before the pandemic situation. So this wasn’t the case with DA4 and there was no need to change anything, but this has happened to other games where they decided to change a storyline due to a strong correlation with something in the real world.
There were then concluding/closing remarks. The message he wants to send is that a crisis will always spark opportunities. Look at a crisis and try to see how you can grow.
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[☕ found this post interesting or useful? my ko-fi is here if you feel inclined. thank you 🙏]
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sparklelight3 · 3 years
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Hypothesis idea thingy for how Ash and Gou could get together (quickly dissolves into a poorly written fanfic because I’m a disaster)
So, I had a mental image of like a 2-3 ep. mini arc thing that ends with the two getting together. I apologize in advance for the fact that this gets progressively more and more detailed and eventually just becomes a semi fanfic. This is unedited btw, so enjoy that as well. 
Episode 1: Starts off with the two out on a mission like usual. Then we have another scene like in ep 3 where Ash just does something that completely astonishes Gou. They resolve the issue like they always do, but Gou is overall very flustered, even more so then usual. Ash could have like a dense Ash moment where he asks if Gou feels sick or something, Gou quickly denying it. Since it’s post ep 36, Ash takes note and dawns a concerned expression. Skip ahead a day or two, and Ash needs to go on a solo trip to Pallet Town for his mom’s birthday. This leaves Gou alone with his feelings for the first time in months. He has time to think about what happened on the last trip, and a couple other moments from past episodes might come up in his head as well. In this time, he fully realize that he’s in love. Koharu, who I image figured this out after her comment in ep 40 about Gou “becoming more and more like Ash”, notices that Gou’s been off. Prof. Sakuragi suddenly receives a big mission and informs Gou on it. Gou at first declines it since Ash isn’t here, but Koharu pipes in and volunteers to take Ash’s place. Gou’s thrown off by this, but accepts her request anyway. When asked, Koharu states that this mission interests her. The two have some small talk on the way there, leading up to Koharu asking Gou if he wants to talk about something, in which he denies. Koharu drops it for now, but picks it up later once they arrive. She eventually drives it out of him, and encourages Gou to tell Ash how he feels. After a bit more back and forth she comes up with a plan: once they get home, she’d have her dad find a local mission for him and Ash to go on alone. When Ash gets back, they go on said mission and Gou confesses to him. Flustered and annoyed, Gou agrees. They take care of the mission and head back. Ash hasn’t returned yet, giving them plenty of time to prepare. 
Ep 2 (technically optional, but not rlly fdgfdh): We get Ash’s side of the story. He heads out to Pallet Town solo to visit his mom for a few days for her birthday. Prof. Oak picks him up, and they drive through the country side. Ash looks longingly back as the city skyline vanishes behind the hilltops. Pikachu comes in for a nuzzle, which cheers him up. Oak drops him off at his house, in which Ash is greeted warmly by Delia. He hands her the gift he bought her. A flashback/ mental image could play of Gou leading him through a shopping mall said gift, making sure he doesn’t get lost or distracted. Pans back to Ash letting out a small giggle, dawning the same longing expression as before. Delia asks him what’s wrong, in which Ash breaks out of his gay daze and goes back to his chipper self. He enters the house exclaiming something along the lines of his mom’s cooking, or being excited about sleeping in his own bed again. Delia is still in the doorway, shooting a concerned/curious glance at her son. The entire episode contains moments like this where Ash recalls a moment with Gou, or expresses how his wishes Gou was there, and just thinking about him in general a lot.
Side note: I believe this is the same mindset that he had when he and Gou split up in the Darkest Day Arc. The difference here being that he’s in no immediate danger, distracting him from these thoughts. Anyway, I will now continue with my rambling esdtgdf.
Ash then goes around the town, heading up to Prof. Oak’s lab. He passes by some neighbors, waving hello here and there, possibly running into Gary as well. Gary might pick up on the gayness Ash is unknowingly producing, but says nothing on the matter; maybe a chuckle before heading off. Ash reunites with all his Pokemon. Once again, he starts to think about Gou and how much he’d enjoy meeting his Pokemon. At dinner that night, Delia asks him about his recent adventures. As Ash describes them, Delia picks up on how much he’s talking about Gou. She asks how Gou’s doing, in which Ash starts going off about how many Pokemon he’s caught and how much he has improved in battling. He possibly mentions the events in ep 40, once again dawning a face of longing. Delia notices and points out how much Ash cares about him, leading into a mom-tangent about how she hopes Gou’s keeping up his promise to look after him and that Ash better be taking care of himself and not getting into too much trouble, etc. The next couple days Ash spends more time with his Pokemon; battling with them, introducing his new ones to them, and telling them stories. Prof. Oak comes out to tell him that he’s getting a call from Prof. Kukui. The Alola gang give their greetings as they chat for a bit. Kiawe brings up Gou, asking if he’s stayed true to the claims he made during their battle. Ash once again goes off about Gou, expressing stuff like how Gou technically caught Eternatus, along with the whole Zacian and Zamazenta thing. The ep ends with Ash saying goodbye to his mom and heading back to the city. On the car ride, he makes claims of excitement over going back to the lab. They arrive at the bottom of the lab near the steps. Prof. Oak drops Ash off and says goodbye before heading back to Pallet. Ash enthusiastically runs up the stairs and slams open the door to the main lab area. He’s greeted by Prof. Sakuragi along with the lab staff.
Ep 3: Ep 3 picks up right off from the last ep. After saying hello to the Prof. and the staff, Ash quickly asks where Gou is. The Prof. informs him that Gou’s with the Pokemon, then proceeds to stop Ash as he instantly tries to run off. The Prof. explains to Ash the mission that Koharu had him find, stating that it’s heavily preferred if they could address it as soon as possible. THEN Ash runs off. We cut to Gou and Koharu in the Pokemon garden area (idk what that place is technically called). Koharu is reassuring Gou while they feed the Pokemon their morning meal. Ash soon comes running in, spots them, and waves them down. He mentions the mission and the two just about leave before Koharu stops them and goes inside to get something. She comes back out with a picnic basket, stating that they’ll be gone most of the day and they need to eat. She gives Gou a smug look. He blushes in both an embarrassed and flustered manner. We then get a couple scenes of them traveling out of the city and into the hillside. These would be similar scenes as in ep 46 where they’re traveling on the island, creating silly and gay moments in the process. Gou would naturally be very nervous and easily flustered. This catches Ash’s attention, harboring some concern on his end. Ash therefore becomes visibly more protective. The two eventually reach a clearing, an area they instantly recognize. They find themselves standing in a field of vibrant flowers, the same area that Lugia had dropped them off when they first met. Ash takes the picnic basket from Gou, stating that this was good a place as any for lunch. They setup the picnic that Koharu had put together, or at least, the best that these two idiots could manage on their own. Ash starts going in on the sandwiches that were packed. A flashback plays of Koharu suggesting that Gou should confess when they stopped for lunch. They release their Pokemon to wonder about as they eat; Lucario and Cinderace join them at the picnic. Cinderace (who’s in on this) notices how nervous Gou is and goes in for a hug to reassure him. He returns the hug and whispers a very quiet “thank you”. After letting go, Cinderace would motion for Lucario to follow. The two Pokemon walk out into the forest, leaving Ash and Gou alone. Gou asks him about his trip to try and ease into a conversation. Ash would briefly tell him about it, and ends stating that he’ll take Gou along with him next time. At that, he stares caringly into Gou’s eyes, dawning a smile. Gou then starts the beginning of a sentence, starting to heavily blush similarly to how he did at the end of ep 3. His words begin to stutter and his hands start to stim nervously. He finally gets it out, confessing his feelings. Ash is clearly taken aback, but not in a bad way. Then a wave of realization washes over him. He laughs softly under his breath, having a similar reaction as THAT scene in ep.40 where the clouds clear away from behind Gou, you know what I mean. Still paralleling that scene, Ash makes a similar statement along the lines of, “I really am an idiot, aren’t I? I mean, it took you telling me that for me to even realize that I have feelings for you,”. Something like that. Gou, who has been a mess this whole time, freezes at this and looks up at Ash. After a few moments of eye contact, they both burst into laughter over how big of a dumbass they each are. They calm down, Gou gently grabs onto Ash’s hand, and goes in for a quick and nervous pec on the lips. Ash doesn’t expect this, but accepts it happily; he gives Gou a big, caring smile of reassurance. Cinderace comes bolting in, tackling Gou to the ground in a big, prideful hug. Lucario walks in from behind them, giving Ash a sly little grin. A montage plays of them finishing up the mission, displaying their new habit of frequently holding hands and overall being very adorable. We then cut to the lab. It’s going on to twilight, and Koharu’s just getting home from school. She walks in and puts her stuff down before exclaiming how Ash and Gou aren’t back yet. Not having the chance to do so until now, Prof. Sakuragi asks her what this whole arranged mission thing was about anyways. Shortly after a quick explanation, Wanpachi/Yamper is heard barking outside the front door. Koharu jolts up, telling everyone to stay calm and to be supportive. The two boys walk through the door with a noisy Wanpachi barking and running around their legs. The first thing Koharu notices is the fact that their hands are intertwined. Glancing up, she’s met with a grinning Ash and a very exhausted but very happy Gou; he looks as if he could burst out crying at any moment. She lets out a sigh of relief, stating that she had told him he had nothing to worry about. The staff and Prof. start clapping and cheering in congratulations. The narrator starts talking, stating something along the lines of “they became boyfriends” as the show freezeframes on Ash giving Gou a kiss on the cheek.  AND THERE THAT IS. I apologize once again for the poorly written fanfic this became.  
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popculturebuffet · 3 years
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Ducktales: Jaw$! or How Lena Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Webby (Lena Retrospective Commissioned by WeirdKev27)
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Trigger Warning: Part of this review contains discussions of abuse which can’t be avoided but I still want to be senstive to my audience and any trauma they’ve gone through.  Welcome back weblena world to Shadow Into Light: My Lena Sabrewing Retrospective. And Jaw$ is here, long live Jaw$. Tiffany was a shark who bites the law she was in an episode i’m reviewing called Jaw$. 
And it’s the money shark before the storm as next month i’ll be going from two Ducktales reviews a week with the Lena retrospective and the last few episodes.. to three, as i’ll ALSO be covering the Della arc from season 1 in the build up to shadow war. And if your wondering if I expertly planned this to coincide with the finale, to the point the shadow war review and those leading up to it will be on the same week as the finale.... nope. I just got REALLLLY lucky as I already had all of that planned out, and the schedule for the  new episodes happened to synch up perfectly, ending just in time for me to revisit the series start and having Magica’s big in person appearance reviewed a week after we get her backstory in Life and Crimes. Though I am VERY happy it worked out this way as I get to properly celebrate the series end with more ducks than ever, and get to cover the pilot the same month as the finale, all things i’d of loved to do anyway and probably would’ve rejiggered my schedule to do. Point is lot of Ducktales content coming for this blog if you like that so stay tuned, but for now join me won’t you under the cut as we dive into a money bin of gay ducks, shadowy machinations, and Bad PR. 
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We open as Lena and Donald awkwardly sit on the couch, waiting for Scrooge and the Kids to get home. Understandably it’s just.. dead silence.Given their a cynical teenager secretly working for and forced to obey a horrifying shadow monster and a 35 year old man who dosen’t like living in this house due to painful memories of his presumed dead sister.. and painful memories of pain in general, you have a huge awkward bowl of chips and “I really don’t want to be here right now”. 
Our heroes return though, and Louie tries to take some of their haul for himself but Scrooge stops that “It goes in the bin not to next of kin. “... Man in a Hurry if you would please. 
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Thank you. Man in a Hurry everybody. He has to go now, he’s in a hurry. 
 As you can probably guess I do not like this, as it reminds me WAY too much of Scrooge’s worst “quirk” in the comics: how he’d barely pay his nephews, who are often hard up for cash mind you and one of whom is supporting three children ALONE, take them around the world and reap all the benefit for their hard work. It’s not like he did nothing, he did, but it’s way to exploitive for my tastes and can often sink a story if taken too far. It’s not AS bad... but they all went on the mission they all deserve at least something. I DO get keeping the rarest and most dangerous stuff for himself, as he is bankrolling things and does have two bins and a massive garage to safetly store them. But this just comes off as douchey for this version, who while liable to make mistakes with them, is far more nurturing towards his boys and girls. 
Thankfully this was course corrected next season. While Scrooge’s greed was properly restored.. this sort of treatment wasn’t. “Treasure of the Found Lamp” had him undergo character development and realize simply hoarding his treasures isn’t right or fair, and set up a musuem wing so both duckburg and his descendants can see them and get the stories behind them. And on not getting to take things clearly he’s eithe relaxed or stopped the policy as our heroes do have souveneers from time to time. Not a LOT mind, but little things like Dewey having a giant sword or Scrooge outright giving Louie one of his things show he did soften up. Though Della’s return and likely lack of tolerance for this stupid policy in the first place probably helped a lot, I also like to think he did change a bit and realize it was deeply unfair they didn’t get more than a few treasures of their own. So the writers did realize they kind of went overboard here.  I suspect this was more to setup for the episode’s subplot and to make Scrooge’s karma at the end feel justified. Speaking of which we get the start of said Subplot as Beakley comes in with a money cart and the news the board called. Why they called his house instead of his phone I don’t know, some things slip through the cracks when you running both a billion dollar company an da trillion dollar fiendish organization  for world larceny. I mean they clearly worked themselves so hard the other two apparently died between seasons. That or it was the diet of whiskey, orphan tears and grease in a wine glass both had. Bradford always told them it’d kill them though to his credit he only said I told you so twice at their funeral. 
For once no their not mad Scrooge is spending all the money they use to buy fowl jetskis, but because the Company’s having a bit of a PR nightmare now that Scrooge is back in the adventuring game. And we cut to the beanstalk they just adventured on having tore up a good chunk of the town and destroyed large swaths of it just to sell the point this isn’t their normal old man yells at other old man for spending all me money schitck, but a serious problem. As such they’ve booked him an interview with Roxanne Fetherly to improve his image and the companies. 
Scrooge scoffs at this, baffled why he has bad pr as his adventuring is GOOD for the city in the long run: He pays for any damages it causes, and likely at a cost no less which is a LOT coming from scrooge, and puts most of the money he makes on these adventures back into the city and his company, creating more jobs and better living conditions. He does get a wakeup call via  truly hilarous gag as Launchpad pops his head up to say “Good news mr. mcdee, it missed the orphange!” before getting ready to chainsaw the stalk for him. He quickly realizes MAYBE he needs some PR and agress to the interview. 
 This whole subplot really plays into one of the series main themes, one Frank brought up a few months back: Risk vs Reward. Adventuring is entirely about this, that adventure is dangerous, can cost you a lot as we see with Della and the aftermath of her terrible decision making, and can hurt people.. but it can also help people, bring money to those who need it, free those who are being oppressed and open new worlds to everyone. This subplot distills it down great: Scrooge is right that his adventures do bring in money, and as seen with the first episode brought in clean water and power with no drawbacks and only asked to be paid for it, which is fair given he still has to run machines and likely help relocate any workers whose jobs are now redundant to other parts of the company and retrain them. But it costs people their homes and jobs, not forever but still as long as it takes to construct, tears up roads and puts people in danger. It’s plots like this that make Bradford the perfect final boss for the series: He’s someone who blinds himself to the reward of all this and only sees the risk, and raises valid points even if he himself is deeply wrong. He’s right Scrooge causes a lot of danger and threat to the world.. but wrong in that he dosen’t see it’s all worth it for the good of everyone. 
But enough about future story arcs let’s get back to this one, as Webby excitedly greets Lena and hugs her, realizes she’s not hugging her back then gives her another squeeze anyway after claming to hate hugs when just a LOOK at Webby would tell you that’s false. The two are having a sleepover, Webby’s first ever.. and given Lena’s essentially an Emo Hobo and the closest thing she has to home is that starlight ancient amptheater that’s never properly explained. Seriously ancient ruins near Duckburg dosen’t suprise me, but at least tell me what they are and why Magica chose them. And why Louie hasn’t tried to sell tickets to Dewey boxing a gorilla in them. Or probably a possum I mean their on a budget and gorillas snap necks, but still i’d pay to see that as would we all. 
Point is it’s their first sleepover and naturally Webby’s first bit of smalltalk.. is how tucking in can be used for interogation techniques. I’d be more suprised if earlier this season it hadn’t already been shown Beakly regularly enrolls her daughter in the no murder, unless you really want to, hunger games every year. The fact Webby hasn’t become the bat is only because she hasn’t found a costume that’s the right combintion of pinks and purples to instill pantswetting terror yet. That shit takes time. 
Lena goes to the bathroom.. to talk to Magica who we properly get to meet. She did speak last time, but this ep is the one that properly establishes her personality for the reboot: she has clever plans, tons of power, if sealed currently, and is a genuine threat.. but she’s also a bit of a ham, in love with the old ultra violence and really short sighted in her plans, something we got hints of last time as her best solution to the Beakly Problem was  to just leave her to die and hope scrooge and webby, two people who love solving mysteries and unlocking puzzles, don’t investigate the horrifying death, accident or not, of their only friend and grandmother, and that neither, especially the 12 year old spiraling with grief, would suspect a former spy died. Thoguh in fairness on the spy thing it’s plausable Magica didn’t know that, but still it’s a bad plan. Magica has good ideas but is just so obessed with the brute force way of doing things she forgets the subtle approach works better.. and so far it has well for Lena.  Problem is it’s VERY clear by this point that Lena likes Webby, maybe not romantic styles JUST YET but it’s getting there. Webby on the otherhand has been in love with Lena from the freaking concept art which showed her blushing around her.. and that was in her 87 design.. which they thankfully changed. It’s not terrible but it just dosen’t fit well with this universe. Point is Lena is catching feelings and Magica realizes this and tries to gaslight her telling her she’d never acccept the truth abotu her and so on. As we all know and as we’ll see that’s bullshit but it’s an effective manipulation. We also find out Magica’s plan: she had Lena sneak a jewel into the treasure going into the bin, and it’s going to turn into a monster that will seek out the Number One Dime for them. She also vaugely hints that there’s something Lena needs from Magica. 
Once Lena returns, and Webby let’s her rabbit know the interogation isn’t over, she gives her possible future girlfirend a gift: friendship bracelets! They both put them on and it’s really fucking cute.. and will be both a tangible symbol of hteir friendship and a plot point several times, something I honestly hadn’t thoguht about till now. Lena, put off by the gesture not because she dosen’t aprpciate it because of the crushing guilt of lying to the one person who cares about her under the insucrtions of a sociopath, goes to Webby’s big old corkboard which is always fun to look at.. especially since it’s clearly the ONLY glimpse at Hortense we’re going to get all series. 
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We’re not getting Grandma Duck either. Though at least Frank actually regrets that one. But the important part is one of the posts mentoniing Scrooge hates magic, something Webby elaborates on: He hates spells, hexs curses and what not and feels them a shortcut.  From the man who has a garage full of them. 
I do kid as I did realize there’s a valid expliantion for this: Scrooge will use magical items, protection spells that sort of thing.. but he uses them like anything else as needed. He’s too pragmatic to not say, use the jewel of atlantis to give a city clean energy and water he can montizie, or the split sword against FOWL.. but more often than not he just dosen’t need them. He collects them because it’s fun, oftne profitable.. and their simply SAFER in his museum wing, garage and second bin will get to in two weeks. He’s seen time and time again how people misuse magic, forget it has a price, or just rely on it instead of actual skill. He’s also clearly been on the bad end of a LOT of evil sorcerers and soreceresses, especially magica. Magic isn’t inherently bad, which in itself is a BIG message of Lena’s arc, it’s just somethign that’s the OPPPSOITE OF everythign scrooge is: sacrifcing others for power, relying on something besides yourself, distance attacks versus up close and personal phsycial attacks.. it was never going to be for him and tons of bad experinces with it only cemented it. He’s just not so stubborn outside of the santa thing to avoid something if it’s going to net him a profit or come in a pinch. 
So naturally Scrooge has banned any magic books from his house, as he has no use for spellcasting and any he’d need to keep for saftey or history’s sake are likely at the archives, but just as naturally, Webby smuggled one in and wants to try it with Lena ducking it and asking to play some games. I”m sure Huey has a few yugioh decks in his room go bug him. But before they can decide on one, the boys attack for a PILLOW FIGHT.... which is a sweet gesture and them just wanting to hang out, but ends with them all eating the ground and questioning why they thought attacking the duck equilvent of cassandra cain was a good idea. Louie decides to salvage it with a swim.. but since their pool has a boat in it he has a diffrent location in mind: the bin.
So while they head off to get head injuries, Beakly tries to prepare Scrooge as the Media are vultures and looking for the next scandal with public figures and it’s accurate. But given Scrooge’s natural mood is grumpus, this dosen’t go well at all and even a spray bottle dosen’t exactly help.. I mean it is the best method to deal with grumpy old men but it can only do so much. 
At the bin we get a lovely bit as Dewey prepares to dive and his brothers treat it like an olympic one, with both doing commentary, Dewey’s apparently response to if he was worried about brain damage was Nerp, and we get the wonderous national anthem of dewdonia. Just nice as well as lovely to see the brothers just having a crack and enjoying each others company with their own weird injokes but without the injokes feeling as forced as they were in “Beagle Birthday Massacre”. Things take a turn though as we see just what magica created with the stone... a giant shark made of scrooges money who eats that fucker in a single bite.. in this case Dewey. Louie and Huey naturally run off panicked.
So while Huey and Louie gain another scarring memory to tell their therapist when their older, Scrooge begins his interview with Roxanne Fetherly who.. honestly just weirds me out. Not for any personality stuff but because she has green feathers. And it just.. really feels WEIRD. I mean green ducks are a thing in real life.. but it just looks off to have such a pastel color on a duck when the other colors are white or tones meant to invoke real world races, allowing ducks to be black, latino, asian and so on and so on coded. That’s fine and blends in fine.. but with that metaphor the green just really dosen’t fit well at all. It feels like an early decision they made, but decided not to retcon or go with for anyone else which makes it all the more weird. We’re 3 seasons in , almost at the end, and the only other green duck we’ve seen was like that because of magic and the offputting nature of it WORKS for magica. Here I just don’t get it and I never well. But naturally Roxanne starts in on invasive, gotcha questions with no real good answers or time to respond, so fox news level questions, and then asks what part of ireland he’s from. 
Naturally that sets him off so while that rant goes on, literally next time we see him he’s still going on about it, we cut to the girls playing truth or dare.. and given Webby’s first question is about deepest darkest secrets the boys once again save her by running in... to report on the monster she created that just ate their brother. Lena brushes it off but does get them not to go to scrooge claming he’ll throw them to the shark himself. I mean he’s not comics scrooge so he probably woudln’t but their also two scared 11-12 year olds so it works well enough. They just need a way to go after the money shark. Enter launchapd who in the second best bit of the episode, says he sensed his best friend dewey was in danger. Beck’s delivery is what sells it.. and I’m not going to question it. He’s somehow alive despite presumibly living off a diet of spaghett-o’s, barely avoiding a car accident on his best days, and as we’ll find out later believing children in costumes are monsters he summoned when he was 8. The fact he suddenly has spider sense specifically related to people he cares about is honestly less of a surprise than the fact he’s not in heaven crashing God’s Speedboat into God’s Golden Castle with God’s Golden Lion riding shotgun. 
So they do the natural thing and.. steal Donald’s houseboat while he sleeps. He has no more involvement in this episode other than noticing it’s back and not in great condition at the end. I bring this up because this is one of Donalds ONLY apperances this season, and it’s part of the larger more irritating problem that he’s hardly ever used.. despite promoting him as a major part of the series. 
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I will talk about this more during the Della arc as i’ts more relevant there, but needless to say it bothers me a lot and not knowing how to ballance it’s massive main cast was a constant struggle for the series even up to the final episodes going on right now. 
So our heroes head out on the bin late at night, where could the Jaw$ be she’s nowhere in sight. So they decide to use other treasure as a lure they either fished out of a bin or out of scrooge’s bathwater. How bathing in coins gets him clean I don’t know and frankly I dont’ think we want the answers to that and the idea of scrooge fully naked is so horrifying I forgot what I was talking about.
Ah yes our heroes are playing bait the money monster and find out it’s a shark, and Lena.. is not okay with that and goes to talk to Magica inside the boat. Magica tells us she has a name, Tiffany. Awww what a lovely name for a money shark. I would of gone with Rags to Bitches, but I may have brain damage.  Lena understandabily does not like the idea of getting eaten by a shark, asked to be informed and while Magica is mad at her for going after the thing, Lena reasonably points out that it was this or Scrooge got involved.  Up top Huey tries catching it with a bit of treasure on a rope.. after not shutting up about shark facts because “Facts comfort me when i’m nervous!” Precious angel. But Huey’s leg gets caught and he and Louie, somehow on the latter get thrown up in the air and chomped. Back bellow Webby has a suggestion: using magic. Lena naturally not wanting to blow her cover or really liking magic period is against it for now. 
Back at the interview, Roxanne brings on a special guest to prove people don’t like scrooge: GLOMGOLD!
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Glomgold may create some issues for the subplot and we’ll get to those in due time, but damn if it isn’t always a pleasure to see him. He’s also on good terms with Roxanne... are.. are we sure this is local news and not fox news? Taking the word of a conservative greedy billionare over a progressive one seems like a fox move. Though I might actually watch fox news if glomgold was a commentator.  “I propose a red new deal instead of this blasted green new deal, I throw Scrooge to a tank of sharks connected to a generator, the tank turns red with his blood and that somehow creates power! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT MCDUCK” 
So we get the best bit of the episode as Glomgold tries to complain about his building being destroyed which would be fair... if he hadn’t tried to blow up Scrooge’s bin twice this week, with Glomgold going for THREE.. for threee.. for three... it dosen’t go off but it does get scrooge to say he’s glad the building was destroyed. Which is fair but NOT super great PR.  
Back at the shark things don’t get better as Webby and Lena argue over the use of magic, I mean as much as they can argue Webby just wants to know why she’s so cagey about this while they go with plan “Launchpad crash into it”. Launchpad also gives a hell of a monologue. Good on you bud. As you can see launchpad’s gotten 100% better since his low point in our last episode. That’s because it’s clear the writers had some struggle ballancing his amped up stupidity with actual competence, making him primarily jokey comic relief in the first few episodes and I wouldn’t be shocked if Terror of The Terra Firmians was written before a lot of the later episodes despite airing around the same time. But by mid-season he’s got his much more lovable charactersation of a dangerous moron..l but one who CAN be competent and is genuinely charming due to how much he cares about his friends and his job. They also dialed down the stupid down to an acceptable homer simpson level: still a danger to himself and others but hilariously so. Point is they fixed it and while i’ll complain about mistakes the show made I will give this crew all the credit for course correcting time and time again and actually listening to fan feedback.
So Webby figures they tried the Jaws option and lost the boat and launchpad, time for plan Magic. They hold hands, EEEEEEEEE, and try a spell.. and it clearly starts working but almost works TOO well, as Lena starts glowing first purple.. then blue. Hmmmm... intresteing. Lena breaks it off and Tiffany breaks out of the bin.. just as scrooge says on the news his adventures aren’t dangerous. 
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Scrooge naturally goes to face it while Webby wonders why Lena didn’t go for it. To make it a triple Scrooge shows up in time to distract tiffany.. with the number one dime, which as lena found out earlier is on his person rather than at the bin like the public thinks. So while Scrooge puts up a good show.. seriously it’s really awesome and really neat looking, though he also gets VERY upset that people are naturally holding out buckets for the cash shark, which he’s not happy about because well.. he did EARN that money. Most bin money is stuff directly earned by him so fair enough. But while he’s you know, Scrooge Fucking McDuck, and thus puts up a good fight the monster eats him.. and gets the dime stuck in it’s tooth with Magica wanting Lena to grab for it, forgetting that minons, while mildly disposable, aren’t really replaceable when your SOUL’S ATTACHED TO THEM. That’s where Magica’s weakness is. her plans aren’t half bad but as I said, she’s far too bloodthirsty and short sighted. She has better ones than glomgold but ironcially they share the same problem of not thinkign them through. And Magica cares so little for lena she’s blinded to the fact her own personal saftey is tied up in her. 
Lena naturally dives for her future girlfrriend and heads into the belly of the beast. And it’s here her REAL moment of truth is. While the one last episode was noble.. it was also easy enough to brush off internal as pragmatisim. Letting Beakly die would’ve brought too much heat and been too easy to quickly go terrible, while saving her got her off Lena’s trail and gave her free reign of the manner. But here? Webby is about to slip into Tiffany’s stomach and whle she hasn’t digested anyone yet given who made Tiffany with it’s likely just because she hasn’t had enough mass to create chainsaws to carve them all up. It’s the Dime or Webby. Lena’s own freedom or the girl she loves. Nothing good comes from saving Webby.. other than Webby. Other than the one person whose truly loved her. I mean think about it: She was created by magica, abused for a good decade and a half. No one but Magica has had a chance to care about her and as we’ve seen Magica only sees her as a weapon to get back at scrooge and not as a person. Webby was the first person she’s ever made a genuine connection with, that’s been there for her, that loves her unconditionally and woiuld be there for her no matter what. And it’s in that moment Lena realizes she can’t sacrifice her for her own good... that after years of having to be selfish to surivive being chained to that monster... she can’t be this time. No mastter what it costs her.. Webby is priceless. So Lena recites the spell, growing bright blue and blowing up tiffany. Lena gladly hugs webby who reciorpates, awww gaybies, and Launchpad hugs dewey. Awww... what it’s still precious he’s a good surrogate uncle. The wacky kind who sleeps in a van on your lawn. 
So Scrooge is glad.. though it’s here his subplot falls flat. Him getting attacked by the media and getting a compupance by loosing tons of money from tiffany is fine. Evne if he earned it, his lack of care did bring this on him.. hte problem is they take it too far by having all his nemies show up, him unable to say anything and glomgold blatantly doing so just to steal from him. Otherwise the subplot is fine, a bit heavy on scrooge being a dick but it has to to work and puts him in an awkward situation. But this ending just feels to over the top to realy enjoy. And the series does do over the top humor well so I don’t know what happened here. But having a bunch of outright thieves steel his money instad of a bunch of citizens who didn’t know better and deserved it for the damage, feels wrong and it tastes wrong. 
Speaking of feels wrong and tastes wrong we get an INTEINTONAL dose of that as back at the amptheater, Lena and Magica argue about the situation and Magica trying to kill her. Lena tries to walk away but can’t.. phsyically. Magica won’t let her. And this is honestly a very crushing and very well crafted metaphor for how abuse victims sometimes CAN’T escape their abusers. Magica is verbally abusive, treats lena like she’s disposable and constnatly downtalks her self esteem. To Lena magica is nothing but a tool.. but like MANY children caught in horrifcally abusive situations Lena can’t get away. It’s a literal metaphor, an da good one, for how you can’t ALWAYS escape abuse easily, and this especially true for kids who have nowhere to go and hte law on their abusers side more often than not. It’s hard to escape an abusive parent and even harder when they dont’ consider you a person. I thankfully have no personal experince with this but it dosen’t make it any less of a problem nor any less noble of this show to tackle the subject in a frank, if fantastical, way, and a good chunk of Lena’s arc is overcoming this abuse and not letting her abusive past drown her. But for now.. all she can do is agree to do what Magica says till she can hopefully be rid of her. But the light at the end of the tunnel’s coming.. there’s just a whole lotta darkness first. 
Next Time: We take a break from the episodes to cover some Lena related comics for a double feature; The first Spies Like Us has everyones faviorite lesbian ducks go on a spy adventure that was never printed in the us for silly reasons we’lll get to and then the 87 ducktales comic dime after dime which features Lena’s predecessor Minima. 
Later Today: Close Enough Season 2 is here! I”m going to talk about it! Exclimation Points! 
If you liked this review feel free to follow for more. And if you have an episode of Ducktales or another animated show you’d like me to cover just hit me up via my asks or direct messages on here and comission it. And if you’d rather just support me on a monthly basis, head over to my patreon. THE LINK IS RIGHT HERE.  Even a buck a month would help and the more of you that donate the closer we get to my Duckcentric stretch goals. The current closest ones are 15, which would lead to reviews of The Goofy Movies and Treasure of the Lost Lamp, and 20 which would lead both to a review of the Super Ducktales mini series, and monthly darkwing duck reviews! So if you like me talking about ducks and want to bolt some duck reviews to the schedule, even a dollar a month would inch me closer to that goal. Eveyr bit helps. But money or not, it’s been a pleasure and i’ll see you at the next rainbow. 
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silverwhiteraven · 3 years
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Wings of Broken White - Ch. 3
Tag List: @marichatmay
[ Posted on Ao3 ] [ Chapter 1 ] [ Chapter 2 ] [ Chapter 4 ]
[ Summary: Literal and Metaphorical dirt. ]
Hawkmoth had learned the lesson Monarch did not. Do not mix the positive power of a Blessing with negative emotions. Instead, enhance those negative emotions with the power of something else. Let his Champions be fueled by the opposite of a Blessing, something that haunts and feasts on darkness.
Give them Demons; give them an Akuma.
But still. He knew that he had to pick carefully what emotions he harnessed and the people behind them. Hawkmoth couldn’t afford to lose control of another Champion. And Gabriel refused to risk his son.
So he bided his time, researching and studying whatever he could. And while he waited, he built his public empire, funding his underground renovations and the care needed to keep his wife healthy.
Still alive, Emilie was kept that way in a chemically induced coma to prevent further deterioration. To the public, she was missing. In private, she was under the care of doctors from the world’s best medical center, Mayo Clinic.
Adrien would have been aware of her whereabouts were it not for the mistake and loss of control over Monarch’s Blessing. Gabriel had delayed telling his son the truth, and now there was no way to tell what would happen if he knew; what powers White Rose had truly gained beyond what was originally planned.
The thing is, Hawkmoth would have never surfaced if Gabriel could have prevented it. He was ready to let his wife go. But he still needed to find a way to remove the Blessing from Adrien, so he continued to use the Butterfly Miraculous, continued learning about it and the others.
But Adrien just had to go missing one early morning, barely before the sun had risen. Gabriel couldn't find him, neither could Adrien’s ever-present bodyguard. So in an act of desperation, Hawkmoth was brought to be. He then Akumatized the worried and protective bodyguard, granting him an ability to track down their shared ward.
This only furthered things along and also put them to a grinding stop.
The wielders of the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous arose to combat Hawkmoth’s Champion. Rather than admit why he was using the Butterfly in a dark way, he decided to reveal his last-ditch plan that he thought he would never bring himself to use, anyways.
He demanded their Miraculous. He was glad they refused, because he would not trust anyone so willing to give up such dangerous powers so easily instead of using them to protect.
So while plans to experiment with the use of Akumas were furthered, it was the mix of one Blessing and one Hero that halted everything.
Paris had very few albino citizens. It would be almost too easy to track down the potential civilian identities of Chat Blanc. But those white wings tipped in blue, so similar yet so contrasting to the black Starling wings of a younger Adrien? There was no way to deny such a similarity. And the Black Cat Miraculous itself would not change it’s own color scheme on a whim, either. Monarch himself had experimented with designs and color palettes, learning that only significant enchantments and magical interference could cause anything even a noticeable difference, not to mention such an extreme as turning Black to White.
The last nail in that theory's coffin was how Hawkmoth could feel the whispers of the Blessing influencing Chat Blanc. Certainly, it could have been a much older Blessing from a previous Butterfly Holder, but Gabriel highly doubted such coincidences could stack like this.
So, Gabriel accepted the facts. He felt heartbroken for his son that had to fight him, even if Chat Blanc didn’t know who he was fighting behind Hawkmoth’s mask. But he was so proud of him, too. Monarch’s Champion White Rose was doing what he was meant to; protect others from the harm of the Miraculous. And Gabriel’s son Adrien was free to be happy, as happy as he never was when inside the Agreste mansion, even when Emilie was still walking its halls. So Gabriel and Hawkmoth did nothing more than play his part as the fatherly villain.
He really didn’t mind how long it would take for it all to come to a close.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Despite her semi-disastrous first time as Ladybug, Marinette rather enjoyed the side-job.
Akuma’s were few and far between, and oftentimes could be talked down instead of fought head to head. Their abilities oftentimes got dangerous, yes, but Ladybug and Chat Blanc, not to mention the rest of Paris, were more than thankful that their Supervillain seemed to have at least some sort of moral code. He would prevent Akumatized villains from causing mass amounts of damage. Once, he had even taken back the powers and the Akuma that granted them, all because the Champion he had made was being unreasonably dangerous to innocent civilians.
Sometimes, she swore Hawkmoth would Akumatize students just so the whole district would have to let school out early due to the emergency. Maybe he had a soft spot for kids, maybe a child of his own? Either way, she appreciated the breaks.
Soon enough, a whole six months had passed since Hawkmoth first appeared.
The most recent attack had been earlier that evening. Marinette had to distract her Akumatized friend Nathaniel. He was akumatized because of Chloé. She had made fun of his art, at first. Then, to make things worse, she told him that he was right to have his and his boyfriend Marc’s hero-sonas to both be wingless, because the ones Nathaniel had were ‘wasted on his talentless existence’ and ‘if Marc wasn’t already wingless, then they would be utterly useless on him, too’. In general, it was a rather nasty scene.
Marinette had been quick to tell her to back off and leave Nathaniel and Marc alone. Adrien has sprung up right after her, telling Chloé not to talk to his friends like that, and even if she is his oldest friend he wasn't okay with her actions.
Marinette was proud of Adrien for standing up for others in the face of someone important to him. It was brave.
Unfortunately, their combined efforts didn’t prevent the Akumatization. Luckily, Evillustrator wasn’t a bad villain, he just really wanted to mess with Chloé with revenge-pranks.
Marinette got herself caught up in it by distracting him with other ideas. For example, using his power to create objects to set up a date with Marc. Chat Blanc had shown up part way into the setup of said date, and as a way to prevent Evillustrator from starting a fight, she had roped him into helping with the decoration ideas and music selection. He turned out to be a natural with romantic set-ups, and an even smoother talker, convincing Evillustrator to hand over his Akumatized item in exchange for them escorting Marc to the date’s location.
Marinette had managed to step away long enough while Blanc went to find Marc to transform into Ladybug, and called for her Lucky Charm just in case. It was nothing more than a red rose and she laughed happily to have a simple item with obvious intentions.
When Blanc returned, she showed herself and offered the rose to her partner, trying not to be flustered by her own romantic gesture. “Hold this for me, Kitty? I need to make sure their date goes well, and that means Nathaniel has to be here for it. Don’t want yours and Marinette's efforts to go to waste, now do we?”
Then, she took the Akumatized item from Blanc and broke it, purifying the butterfly within.
“What about the Lucky Charm?” Chat Blanc looked a tad confused. “As soon as you call for Miraculous Ladybug, everything Evillustrator made will disappear. Their date will go poof!”
Ladybug smiled knowingly. “Already thought that through. You hold on to that rose, okay? Or maybe let Nathaniel hold it? As long as I can find it again later, just make sure it’s safe. I’ll use Miraculous Ladybug long after their date is over, so nothing will get spoiled. Gotta go, Bug out!”
She returned to the scene as Marinette once more, finding a de-Akumatized Nathaniel on a successful date with Marc, and Chat Blanc still watching over them, happy for the couple. Satisfied, she made her way home, away from the setting sun.
Now, it was completely dark out and Marinette was drinking a thermos of hot chocolate on her balcony, wrapped in a warm blanket. The quiet night got interrupted by a shadow moving over the rooftops, followed by white boots lightly thumping onto her balcony. She sat up, surprised to see Chat Blanc still lurking about the city. He bowed theatrically with a gentle smile.
“Princess, what a lovely evening to see you! I presume I have found you safe and happy in your tower tonight?”
Marinette couldn't help but laugh. “You saw me maybe two hours ago, pretty-gryphlet, you know I’m perfectly fine.”
“True, but as your loyal, trustworthy, and handsome White Knight, I am obliged to check on you anyways.” He had bowed again and taken her hand, kissing the air above her knuckles ceremoniously. She had to fight back both her blush and her wing’s desire to flutter bashfully where they were hidden under the blanket.
“Silly gryphlet,” she smiled, before noticing his gloves were stained and had left some of it on her fingers. Then she noticed the dark spots on his boots and knees as well. She frowned in confusion, inspecting what was on her hand. “Why are you covered in dirt?”
“That dirty little secret,” he deflected the question easily with his pun and a cheeky smile, “I will explain soon. But first, I gotta ask, why do you call me ‘pretty Griflet’? I already know I look amazing, but is Griflet a reference to one of the knights of the Round Table? If so, I am honored to have such recognition.”
Marinette laughed and shook her head. “No, not a knight, a gryphon. You know, a mythological creature with the body of a lion and the wings of an eagle? You’re a cat, and you have wings, hence, gryphlet!” She explained proudly, before realizing how embarrassing it was to nickname one of the local Superheroes and retreated into her blanket.
Chat Blanc blinked owlishly at her explanation, but soon a smile bloomed on his face, and she could swear he was blushing under his mask.
“I like it,” he said softly, looking gentle and earnest.
“S-So anyways! Blanc Chat, I mean, Chat Blanc, I uh, You say were? Were saying? About the, uhm, dirt?” She turned away, grabbing her thermos to keep her hands busy.
“Oh! Right!” He brightened even more, his eyes starting to look like that of an excited kitten. “Come with me somewhere, Princess? I know it’s cold out so I won’t keep you long, but I wanted to show you something.”
She nodded, standing up and setting the thermos aside. Then she hesitated, once more remembering her wings. “I...Blanc, can you keep a secret for me?”
“Of course, what is it?” He looked curious and just so innocent. She couldn’t do it.
“Uh, never mind, next time, okay? I don’t think I’m ready. To say anything, I mean, not that I don’t want to see what you want to show me, but also I’m not ready to go yet for that either, wait, i meant-!” She closed her mouth with a snap, sucking in a breath and letting it out slowly. “What I mean is, let me just get something from my room real quick? I should really put on shoes and something warmer than pajamas. Then we can go!”
“Of course! I’ll be here when you’re done.” Oh Kwami, he was so patient with her, and understanding, too. Could he get any nicer, she wondered?
She fumbled her way back into her room, swiftly putting on a wing-binder, thick white leggings, and a warm long-sleeved baby blue dress. She remembered to grab some shoes, too. As she climbed back up to the balcony, she tried to ignore the fact that she had chosen to wear colors close to Chat Blanc’s. From the look on his face, he was probably trying not to think about it too much, either. “Ready, Marinette?”
“Ready. So uhm, how are we going to get there?” she shuffled on her feet, hands fidgeting.
He grabbed the thermos she had set down and put it into her hands, warming them, and subsequently her cheeks, too.
Politely he asked, “Permission to carry you?”
“Granted? Wait, carry? Like, on your back carry or- Woah!” He answered by sweeping her into a classic princess carry. “Uh, works, I guess, this does? I mean- Okay,” she finally squeaked out.
He chuckled and held her securely, but gentle. “Let’s not waste time. Hold on tight!”
She didn't scream dramatically when he jumped from her balcony, but she also won't admit she might have squeaked again from the unfamiliar feeling of jumping over rooftops while untransformed, let alone while being carried.
But the trip to their destination really was rather short, as only a couple minutes later he was setting her back down on her own two feet.
The rooftop was surrounded by decorative iron fencing. Candles, protected from the wind in glass jars, lined the top of the railing and between the bars. What really caught her eyes, however, where the Lily-of-the-Valley flowers spread around decoratively. She couldn't help but gape at them. The scene was gorgeous, and she wondered why Chat Blanc had brought her here. Did he do this? Was this why he was covered in dirt? She turned to him where he stood looking almost nervous for her reaction.
“Chat...It’s beautiful. Did you set this up? Did you get these flowers yourself?”
He perked up, glad to see she wasn’t reacting badly. “I did. I also learned I’m a really bad gardener,” he chuckled, and she smiled, amused. “And don’t worry, I didn’t steal any of this stuff, it was all mine already. Well, sort of. The candles were my Mother’s, and I use them sometimes. The flowers came from our yard- They would have died soon anyways, the brief warm spell this week made them bloom too early, so I thought I might as well put them to use. So, you like it, Marinette?”
She giggled and nodded, looking away shyly. “Why set all this up, anyways? Special night?”
He nodded, his own gaze shy as well. “Sort of? Ladybug trusted me with something. And earlier today, this amazing girl I know helped me take down an Akuma. So I wanted to prove I can be trusted with Ladybug’s thing, while also getting to show that amazing girl how much I appreciated her, even if it is only for a little bit. Here,” he stepped to the side, bringing Marinette’s curious gaze to a small table she hadn't noticed before.
It had a few more candles and flowers on it, but there was a delicate vase in the center. She quietly gasped as she noticed the red rose, Ladybug’s Lucky Charm, sitting in the vase. Chat Blanc plucked it from its place and held it out to her.
“For the most creative and wonderful Princess in all of Paris,” he smiled, bowing as he presented the rose. He chuckled sheepishly, then, “Well, you can’t keep it forever, because it is Ladybug’s, but I figured that if anyone was worthy of keeping it safe until she needed it, that person would be you.”
Dumbfounded and flustered into silence, Marinette accepted the rose with her free hand.
“Well, I guess I should take you back home now, huh?” He asked awkwardly.
“O-Oh, uh, sure,” she agreed, still distracted as she held the red rose close to her chest.
This time, she was prepared for him to lift her, and she stayed quiet on their way back to her balcony. This time, she noticed how warm he was and just how easy it was to trust him even as a civilian. She wouldn't admit to being sad when he set her down again, though.
“Until next time, Princess; I hope to see you again,” once more he took her hand and gave the air over her knuckles a kiss, but before he could let go, she clutched his fingers tight, pulling his attention up to her eyes.
“Uhm- It’s cold out, and I barely touched my hot chocolate anyways.” She turned his hand over and set her thermos into his palm. “Take it with you. You can return it, next time we meet.”
He beamed at her and nodded. “It’s a date,” he winked teasingly, and she giggled. “See you later, then. Have a goodnight, Princess.”
And just like that, he was gone, and Marinette was left a blushing mess on her balcony until Tikki finally came out and told her to go to bed.
In the morning, the red rose was still where she left it on her desk, proving the night before was no dream. Tikki then informed her that it had slushed a bit while she slept, so she should be careful when she goes outside.
Ladybug went off in the early morning to check on Evillustrator’s reactions, only to find that they had been washed away by the sleet. It seemed that just like all other forms of art, even the magical creations of an Akuma were susceptible to the natural elements when exposed long enough.
So that morning, Ladybug returned an intact Lucky Charm to Marinette’s room, and Marinette got to keep the gift of an everlasting red rose.
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bestintheparsec · 4 years
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One-Time Deal (The Mandalorian)
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Din Djarin x Reader
Summary: part of my tropes oneshots -- “fake dating-to-lovers” was the #1 most requested, so here it is! I kind of combined it with some other trope requests, too -- cue mutual pining, huddling for warmth, etc
A/N: Whew! Writing this was hard -- this trope, in the context of The Mandalorian, was a challenge, lemme tell you. I don't think I've ever taken this long to write a fic😂 It’s a very loose rendition of the trope because it’s a oneshot and I kept it pretty light & fluffy, but I hope you like it! As always, I appreciate any/all feedback!❤️
Words: 3.2k
Warnings: none except some harassment; angst, fluff
~
This wasn’t how the mission was supposed to go. Really, you weren’t even supposed to be on the mission in the first place. But here you were, back in this crowded cantina, surrounded by a bunch of hunters you weren’t quite comfortable around. 
You weren’t a bounty hunter. You never went along on his jobs, not in the many months since you’d become a crew member -- your job was to guard the ship and the kid. But he needed backup on this mission, and that was how you ended up here. You’d left the child with Cara after retrieving the bounty puck from Greef on Nevarro. You weren’t here to do any hunting, per se, but between the two of you, you were able to help ease the tension in a room better than the Mandalorian could. This hunt also required working with a group, so he’d asked you to come along in case you were able to catch anything that seemed off before he could. 
That was all something you'd agreed to with some hesitation. But you hadn't expected it to go quite like this, and not so early on.
You carefully put your arm around his waist, looking up at him to get him to do the same. Din stiffened just the slightest bit at your touch, not enough for anyone but you to notice.
“Just relax,” you whispered to him.
After a moment's delay, he reached down and wrapped his arm around you. You tucked yourself in under his shoulder, and Din swore you could hear his muffled exhale. But you said nothing, and the two of you walked over to a booth to sit down, just like any other normal couple would.
-----------------
Earlier...
The idiot put his hand on your arm, and you immediately pulled away with fire in your eyes. “I’m going to ask you to stop that, before you regret it,” you spit out at him. Where was Din? You thought to yourself, annoyed at his temporary team mates. These were the people he used to work with? 
“What, you don’t want any of this?” he said, grinning at you as he gestured at himself dramatically. He started to reach for your arm again.
“No, and Mando’s going to --” you stepped back.
“I see. You’re with Mando, are you?” he said, mocking you with obvious disbelief.
“I -- Yes,” you said resolutely before realizing what you were saying. Before you could process this, Din appeared behind you, not hearing what you said but coming over after he saw your discomfort from across the room. He grabbed the guy by the shoulders, slamming him into the wall. 
“Didn’t take you for the type to have a girlfriend, Mando,” he teased, although you could tell he was backing down. “I always thought you liked working alone.”
“What --” Din started, before you interrupted, taking him by the arm.
“Yes. So just leave us alone,” you repeated to the guy, noting Din’s very slight head tilt towards you. He was confused, but released his hold and followed your cue as you pulled him with you towards the door.
“What are you doing?” he huffed as soon as you were outside.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know why I said that -- I didn’t mean to,” you mumbled, embarrassed at your reaction. “But... it’s going to be difficult for me to stay around without there being a good reason for me to be.”
“I don’t care what they --”
“I’m not a bounty hunter. They know that. I…. can’t go back and tell them I was kidding,” you said, looking up at him apologetically.
Din only looked at you quietly, not sure of how to respond. For a split second, the expression in your eyes made him soften. For what reason, he didn’t know. But it was a fleeting feeling, and he was confused once again.
“Maybe -- maybe it’ll be easier if we pretend. That way they’ll leave us alone for the rest of the job,” you suggested. It was a stupid idea, and you knew it. But you didn’t want to deal with anymore trouble than you had to. "I need to keep my eyes on them," you said. "I can do a better job at that if their eyes aren't on me."
----------------
Din had reluctantly agreed to the idea after a bit of your insistence, solely so that you wouldn’t have to go back on your lie. It really was a terrible idea, he thought. But you were here to help him, and he’d do the same for you -- like he always did, and always would.
The hunters from earlier joined you, along with some others, at the round booth. Plans were discussed, and as much as you despised most of them, you didn’t sense any hidden motives underneath their ignorant personalities.
You looked up at Din next to you and nodded reassuringly. A few seconds passed and he was still looking down at you, head still slightly tilted, as if he were thinking about something else. 
“Hey, you two,” one of them sneered, making you both break your gaze. “Do you need to get a room, or can we get moving?” Everyone at the table snickered, making you blush -- though you knew this wasn’t real, so you didn’t have any reason to feel this way.
You said nothing as you stood up along with everyone else, walking towards the exit behind Din. Out of nowhere, the jerk from earlier came up beside you and jokingly put his arm around your waist.
“Did you want to walk with me for a while?” he said, mockingly and laughing with the others.
You wanted to snarl at him. Din was a step ahead of you, taking your hand as you pushed the guy’s arm off you.
“Keep your hands off her,” Din said in a quiet tone that would’ve frightened you, if you didn’t know him -- How soft he actually was underneath all of the Beskar.
The two of you kept walking at a hurried pace until you were outside, back towards the ship. You noticed, not for the first time, that your hand was still in his. In all the time that you knew him, you obviously rarely touched each other, so you were surprised at how gentle his grip was.
Din let go as soon as you reached the Crest. He knew you were both just playing along, but it was strange for him nonetheless. He wasn’t used to any kind of physical contact, not in a long time. But some small part of his mind thought, just for a moment, of how soft your hand must have felt on the other side of his glove.
You gave him a small smile before boarding the ship, and he found himself silently asking what exactly he’d gotten himself into.
-----------------
You always wondered why every bounty hunt led you to the most extreme climates. This time, it seemed they needed to hide out on a planet that was currently being pounded by an ice storm. Otherwise, this city itself seemed to be harmless enough, given that someone had connections and was able to get the whole group a decent place to stay for the night before tracking down the culprit tomorrow. There were a few private sheds setup, each with one small bed and a few simple furnishings inside.
"You can have the bed. I'll take the floor," Din said, dropping his things off to the side after you went into your assigned shed. Naturally, the Mandalorian’s partner will have to stay with him, the group had prodded earlier.
"Don't be ridiculous, Din. There's...plenty of room." 
He was silent as he stared at you.
"No, really," you said, although you heard the quivering in your voice. 
"It's fine, we don't have to," he said softly, already laying out a mat on the ground beside you in the small space.
You hopped onto the bed, glad to rest your legs. He switched the lamp off and you both laid down in the darkness. 
You closed your eyes as soon as your head hit the pillow and the last thing you heard was the loud banter of the others around you outside.
----------------------
"You're moving around a lot," Din observed quietly, his voice coming from the ground. Your eyelids fluttered open reluctantly, though you weren’t sleeping anyways.
At some point in the night you had woken up, wishing you had a blanket. Your lids felt heavy but it was hard to sleep when you could practically feel the air getting colder every minute with the faint sound of snow hitting the roof. The darkness that surrounded you seemed to add to the chill in the air.
"Because it's kriffing cold in here," you whispered loudly. "Aren't you freezing?"
Despite himself, Din caught himself smiling at your mild and uncharacteristic aggression. "No," he said simply. 
The snowfall continued to howl with the wind outside. After a while of stirring around some more, trying to find a warmer position, you let out a sigh. 
“Can you...come up here? With me?” you finally said, your voice barely louder than a murmur.
“I told you, I’m fine --” he replied, though he knew that wasn’t what you meant.
“For me, then. I’m...not fine,” you said, realizing your cheeks were probably turning red from the sudden heat. Somehow your voice was even quieter. You and Din had grown closer during the time you’d worked together. You knew each other’s habits and tendencies, thought processes and all. Surely it wouldn’t be too strange for him to sleep next to you. It was just for the warmth, you told yourself.
A long beat passed before you heard him sit up -- You might’ve heard a sigh, as well. You moved over to make space beside you. A few sounds of shuffling filled the darkness, and then you felt the bed dip down as Din awkwardly laid down next to you. The warmth of his body next to yours instantly relieved the tension in your muscles. You silently took a deep breath before moving closer to him, hoping this was okay. In that moment, you felt something click within yourself. No, you thought to yourself. You wouldn’t let this -- whatever this was -- get out of hand. 
Still, you relaxed when you felt the warm, rough fabric of his shirt against your very cold skin. He had long removed the armor, except for the helmet.
Din seemed to relax with you, too, letting go of the tension he didn't know he was holding onto. You weren't kidding about being cold -- he could feel your frozen hands even through his thick shirt. 
He was lying a little higher on the pillow so that his helmet wouldn't clash with your head. Without thinking, you nuzzled into his chest, tucked in under his chin. He didn't seem to know how to react or position himself properly, and eventually settled on resting his ungloved hand lightly on your waist. 
"Is this...alright?" You asked, hating how you could hear the slight tremor in your voice.
"...Yes," he answered in an equally soft but modulated voice.
Both of you were still, and you could hear the low sounds of Din’s breathing. You were grateful to be against his warmth, already feeling much more comfortable now. You closed your eyes, feeling the rises and falls of his chest. It was quiet for a while, only the sounds of snowfall filling the silence.
"Thank you," you whispered. "...We're keeping up appearances really well. I bet no one suspects anything at all," you added, a slight smile on your lips.
It could’ve been all in your head, but you thought you felt Din put a little more pressure on your waist after you said that, pulling you closer by just an inch. You fell back into a much needed slumber before you could think anything more of it.
-------------------
It wasn’t quite morning yet when you opened your eyes, but it would be soon. You were woken by the sudden silence of the snow ceasing to fall outside. You remained still, barely aware of your surroundings. Your cheek was on something rough. Din’s shirt and his chest, you realized. He was still fast asleep, much to your surprise. You also realized that you were completely warm, for the first time since you got here. You were still tucked into him, but now his entire arm was draped over you, relaxed but holding you snug. The weight of him on you was unexpectedly soothing.
At that, you felt a constriction in your chest and a slight flutter. Oh, no, you thought. This was not part of the plan.
Still, there was nowhere to go and no one else would be awake for a while, so you decided to let it be. Just this one time, and then you would go back to the plan. You closed your eyes, not going back to sleep but savoring the comfort you hadn’t felt in a long time.
You were still silently lying in his arms a while later when you felt him stir as he woke up. Like you, Din was slightly disoriented. He tensed up a bit, probably becoming aware of his sleeping position just like you had earlier. You didn’t move, not wanting to make things more awkward. 
Din lifted his arm off you slightly with a bit of hesitation. He’d wanted to get out of bed before you woke up. But you were so still and peaceful, he regretted having to move away. But it might have been more than that -- more than physically having to remove himself from you. 
Last night, you had fallen asleep before he had, just like you always did with the child on the Crest. But he’d never been this close to you before, when you were both physically vulnerable. Sleep never came easily to him, so he’d found himself lying quietly, lost in his thoughts while you were huddled into his chest. He didn’t know what to make of any of this. You were his partner, and you worked well together. But you were here, in his arms, and he felt his chest soften at the thought of this ever being a possibility. Somehow you felt like home, if he’d ever had one.
Still, it wasn’t something he could allow himself to deal with right now. He lowered his arm around you again, gently pulling you close for a brief moment before letting go and sitting up to put on his armor. You couldn’t know, he thought as he looked at you in the dark.
You opened your eyes after you heard him shuffle out the door. Your brows wrinkled in...uncertainty? If you'd been asleep you would've missed it, but you weren't. You'd felt him squeeze you in the smallest, shortest embrace before he removed himself from you. And as soon as he did, you missed it, that feeling. You realized that you wouldn’t have minded any of this last night, even if you hadn’t been chilled to the bone.
--------------------
It was another hour before everyone else had woken up and gathered around outside to go over the plans.
“You two were surprisingly quiet last night,” someone teased you, the others chuckling beside him. You felt your face heat up, and Din seemed to stiffen a bit next to you.
You met his eyes, keeping your composure. You didn’t want to have any confrontations today. You started to walk away, taking Din’s hand in yours as you moved around them.
There was a playful malice in his eyes as the guy reached out for you once more, but Din firmly grabbed his wrist, blocking the move before you even had time to turn and see what happened.
Din planned on letting go of him and following you out, but the guy decided to whip out his blade and held it up, causing Din to instinctively pull out his blaster. A couple of them looked like they were about to take a swing and Din was about to retaliate, when you stepped in.
“Hey!” you quipped, putting your arm up against Din’s chest. “Everybody needs to calm down,” you said, a bit angrily.
A few of the quieter team members stepped in with you, trying to get everyone to settle down. But the two of them continued to stare each other down, Din seeming a bit more on edge than usual. You grabbed his arm, pulling it more firmly than he’d expected.
“Let’s go,” you said with some force.
You walked back into your temporary lodging and towards the middle of the small dark space, letting the door shut before turning to face Din.
“Remember how you brought me on this job so that I could help you read the room?” you said, slightly raising your voice. “That was conflict back there, which is what we’re trying to avoid if we want to get this job done.”
Din knew you were right. He was used to there being issues with the people he worked with, but that didn’t mean he ever stopped trying to avoid it. Hell, he usually let them ridicule him freely, rarely responding to their aggression. He didn’t know why he felt more hostility towards them during this job.
But he did know, Din realized. This time, you were here. As often as others tended to mock him, it had brought out a different sense of anger in him when they tried to do the same to you. You were the only teammate that mattered to him, and he refused to let them belittle you in any way.
“This isn’t supposed to be real,” you said to him, though it sounded as if you were talking more to yourself. Why were you suddenly getting so riled up over this? You questioned yourself. Just last night you were happy to let yourself be in this act with him. You glanced at the ground for a second before looking back up at him, feeling mildly guilty at the tone you were using.
“We can’t...this isn’t part of the plan,” you said, whispering barely loud enough for him to hear you. 
Din let out a quiet breath when he saw the tension leave your eyes, your expression softening and almost pleading. The air was still and silent as he turned to meet your gaze, the realization coming over him as well. Between the sleepless nights you often shared aboard the Crest, the occasional glances he would give you when he knew you weren’t looking, and the tingle of electricity that went through him last night with you in his arms...maybe something was different. Or maybe it had always been there, hidden under the guise of a lone man needing a crew member.
He swore could hear his own pulse racing as you stood there facing him. You held his gaze, neither of you daring to speak your thoughts out loud. 
~
Tags (separate from Healer): @immundusspiritu​ @aeryntheofficial​ @i-like-those-odds​ @heyy-honeyy​ @hiscyarika​ @taman-a​ @electricprincess888​ @jensfolly​ @spacegayofficial​ @myrin1234​ @aloneontheoutside​ @pascalisthepunkest​
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twoblueheartslocked · 3 years
Text
Seblaine- Present Day (End Of July/YEAR 1)
Para: Now I Wake Up By Your Side My One and Only, My Lifeline
Rating: NC-17.
Pairing: Seblaine.
Sebastian: @colorsicantsee
Blaine: @twoblueheartslocked
Time: Year One: Present Day- End of July, about a month  after You’re Every Song I’ve Ever Loved. 
Location: Sebastian’s Apartment- Manhattan, New York
Info:  Blaine gets brave and spends the weekend at Sebastian’s apartment. Blaine lets himself explore Sebastian even more. They have a heart to heart.
Warnings: This particular Para is smutty and sweet. Also has major mentions of past abuse. This rp as a whole mentions past abuse(Physical, mental and sexual), post unwanted sexual situations, anxiety, depression, negative body image, drug use, alcohol use, cussing, death(parents).
Extra Warnings: (This RP is not Kurt Hummel friendly. You’ve all been warned.)
Title Taken From: Dress by Taylor Swift
Under Cut for content.  As usual, the para is mostly unedited.
 Blaine’s POV:
 The scorching July sun beat down on Blaine as he swiftly and hurriedly shuffled down the last two blocks to get to Sebastian’s apartment, head down so people would leave him be. It was the kind of melted butter day where the world  felt too bright and sticky and everything had a muted orange sheen to it, like an old film from the 1970’s. Still there was beauty to it, the way the early evening glow slowly dripped and sizzled over the city in a lazy haze. He was still a bit frazzled from his short subway ride over to Manhattan, his arms still tightly locked around  Soot’s little cat carrier to clutch her close. She seemed to be just as anxious as he was, her orange eyes wide and worried.
 He hated taking the Subway, it was cramped and people liked to talk to you and get into your face and sometimes they even tried  and succeeded in touching you. People screamed at each other and sometimes there were fights and it was all so triggering that he almost regretted doing it, however, it was the fastest way to Sebastian’s apartment and he didn’t want his boyfriend to think he was completely incompetent. He’d declined Seb’s offer to send an uber or taxi and declined his offer to send his driver. He’d also declined Seb’s offer to drive over himself… He’d told him he’d be fine and to just let him do this. Because Blaine wanted and needed to do this on his own. 
 If he were going to be making an effort to visit his boyfriend at his home more often he needed to get there on his own. Seb managed to get to him just fine. They’d spent the last seven months sort of pretending that Blaine’s little slice of Brooklyn was the only part of New York that existed and it was entirely selfish of Blaine to ask that it remain that way. He used to love Manhattan, but now he only came here rarely for certain school things he couldn’t do in Brooklyn. However, maybe with Sebastian he could learn to love it again. He was an adult and he was getting better and more comfortable with himself and his skin every day that he spent with Sebastian in his life. 
 He tried not to think too hard about that though because here he was, acting as if he’d taken a huge step and yet he’d had to bring his cat with him like a security blanket. He’d told Seb it was because she was scared to be alone for the two days Blaine planned to be gone, but he knew that it was entirely for him. Soot would have been fine on her own. She liked to sleep in his window almost all day and played with her toys loudly at night more often than not. With enough food and water she’d have been fine for forty eight hours. Blaine just couldn't bring himself to close the door in her adorable little face and walk away for that long though. Seb had promised him it was okay for her to come and that he’d already taken care of what she’d need there even before Blaine had asked. Of course he did.
Blaine finally managed to find Sebastian’s building, the brick on the front of it a light shade of grey, which was surprising because it appeared so clean, light colors wouldn't be so clean on Blaine’s block. The alternating greys were so different from the grimy brick on his
Building and Blaine instantly felt self conscious. He took a deep breath and pulled Soot’s mini crate closer, shushing her little mews gently as he tightened his grip on his backpack. 
 “You can tell he’s here, can’t you?” Maybe she couldn’t, but the little ball of energy suddenly was all meows and feistiness as they neared the entrance of the building.  Seb had been around at least two times a week since they’d gotten her and Blaine had secretly taken to calling Seb her papa in his head. Not that he’d ever say that to his boyfriend or anything. But she loved him and he seemed to enjoy her just as much, spoiling her each time he visited. It seemed Sebastian had a thing for spoiling those he cared about- Blaine was still reeling from the compact little record player that had been sent to his apartment not even three days after their record store date. The thought made Blaine smile and he felt himself relax as he pushed Seb’s buzzer and before he knew it he was standing just inside Sebastian’s apartment, his shabby slip ons mucking up the perfect hardwood. 
 The one bedroom apartment was huge by New York City standards and built for a bachelor.  Blaine wanted to curl into himself. Creeping thoughts about how if he touched the walls or the floors with his fingers his fingertips would leave grime behind from his own home. He knew it was silly, Blaine kept his tiny, shabby place clean and cozy and made the most out of his fleeting space. But, standing here in Sebastian’s gorgeous, minimalist space he felt like a speck of rust that ruined an otherwise perfect surface. The only indication that Sebastian even lived here at all was the blue Columbia University blanket crumbled on the sofa, showing Blaine that maybe Seb fell asleep there sometimes, and a few folders stacked up on the small, two seater breakfast bar. Probably some items for summer classes or things for his next semester. 
 Blaine bit his bottom lip to steady his breathing before setting down her crate so that he could reach out for his boyfriend. He pulled him close, feeling his body instantly melt into his touch. He gave Seb a hello kiss and in return Seb gave Blaine a smile that only he got to see and it told him he was being ridiculous, that he shouldn’t be afraid of an apartment, especially one that Sebastian spent his free time in.  He pulled back after his kiss, but did not pull away. 
 “Your apartment is pretty much exactly like I imagined it. Very… you.” He smiled, trying to keep himself in line. Blaine was finished with classes for the summer and had taken to working extra hours at Bookish and the bar so that he could pick up the slack and so that he wouldn’t get behind on bills and rent and things for Soot, so even thought they’d seen each other the same, it felt a bit like he’d not seen Seb much even if it weren’t the truth.
“Is it completely silly to say I’ve missed you this week?” 
Sebastian’s POV:
Sebastian spent his morning cleaning. Sure, he could have called somebody in to do it, but he liked to do it himself. Plus, it kept his hands busy and the surprise swell of nerves in his stomach at bay. The apartment was always spotless but he wanted to impress Blaine. He even ran to the store and grabbed a few groceries, as his kitchen was usually pretty bare except for a few essentials (bread, peanut butter, coffee….) Seb grabbed some oat milk, pancake mix, cinnamon, and bacon. He liked it when B made them breakfast for dinner and recognized the ingredients from his own kitchen. Blaine would probably enjoy working in a pretty much unused kitchenette. 
He’d bought a small litter box and litter (which was confusing as fuck, Clumping? Scented? Dust free?) and set up the disgusting thing in his small laundry room. The setup this time was just as bad as when he helped his boyfriend with his, and little flecks of gray got all over the clean tile. Sebastian immediately regretted not buying something to set it on. The messes would be worth it, though, to make Blaine comfortable in the apartment. 
 Sebastian was laying on the couch when he heard a small knock on the door. He looked through the peephole to see the other man clutching his pet carrier which was such an endearing sight that a small grin spread across his face. He opened the door and the two of them were immediately in an embrace.  “Is that a good thing?” Seb looked over his shoulder around the living area. “I know it’s sort of plain but, it’s less to worry about.”
 Sebastian stepped aside after another kiss so that B and Soot could come inside. “Not silly at all.. I’ve missed you, too. Like...a lot.” He bit his lip and raised his eyebrows and hoped his boyfriend would catch on to the implication he was trying to make. “And we have two whole days to make up for that.” Sebastian reached out and pulled Blaine in again for a few playful kisses that ended up sort of intense, with hands under shirts and sighs on lips. He would have let Blaine press him into the door right then and there if it weren’t for the small shrieks escaping from Soot who was still in her crate. 
 “Should probably let her out and get acquainted with the place.”
 Blaine’s POV:
 “It’s a good thing, Seb and it’s not plain. It’s organized and simple. A little afraid perhaps? Like maybe you’re afraid to show too much of yourself to anyone that might come over. Lucky for me I know you, and maybe one day you’ll have a classy Wonder Woman poster over your sofa instead of a blank space.” He winked, grinning in his teasing and hoping Sebastian didn’t take an offence to his assessment.
 A little tremor of desire slid down his body and rested in his core as Sebastian told him he missed him a lot. Blaine could hear the thinly veiled lust edging out Sebastian’s sure voice and he wanted nothing more than to show him right now that he’d missed him just as much. He licked his lips, his breath hitching and body buzzing with anticipation of just what might happen over the next two days. 
 Slowly, the thought of being in a strange place didn’t feel so strange when Seb was looking at him like that and when he was touching him with care and affection.  Even now Sebastian was looking out for him. His boyfriend clearly had things on his  mind, very much seemed to want to do more than just kissing, but he made sure to start everything softly, something Blaine still needed. He made sure to pull him close and kiss him gently first and then made his move. Sebastian’s long fingers gripped at Blaine’s hips under his shirt and just above the band of his jeans, and Blaine kissed back with just as much intensity, his fingers slipping up Seb’s shirt to toy with the faint trail of hair that dusted his tummy and lead to parts of his boyfriend body that he very much wanted to touch and tease.
He could feel the tightening of desire in the pit of his stomach with each slide of their tongues. It was a feeling that he was relearning wasn’t a bad thing as he and Sebastian got closer and became more confident. Blaine wanted him more and more as the weeks and months marched on. The want and act of asking or better yet, showing how badly he needed and wanted to be touched was something he thought he’d never feel positive about again. But, with Sebastian he found himself imagining more experimental things. Since they started getting intimate over the last few months they’d explored, of course. They’d touched and tasted each other, and had moved together in Tagore sheets. Blaine had had panics and Seb had even had some moments where he sort of tensed up for a second only to brush it off in the heat of the moment. They always fell into rhythm and seemed to reach each other’s body perfectly, but sometimes Blaine found he wanted to whisper filthy things to Sebastian or he wanted to nip at his flushed skin while his boyfriend moaned underneath him.
 Sometimes they’d be having sex and Blaine’s fingers would rest against Seb’s slender neck and his boyfriend would tilt his head back as if giving him permission to do what he wanted to him and Blaine would wonder what it would feel like to squeeze just a little bit. Wondered if he’d feel the frantic flutter of Seb’s heartbeat under his fingertips, or the rumble of his intensified moans. He wanted to pin Seb’s arms above his head and press them firmly into the pillows to keep him from touching either one of them, make him beg for every little roll of his hips and then kiss the breath from him until he couldn’t take it anymore. The thoughts always edged him even closer. Only then he’d remember what Kurt had done, all the bruises on his own neck and the name calling and slut shaming. The ridicule and power trips that turned into Blaine lying there afraid to move.  None of that was consensual or fun and the thoughts made him second guess what was right and he’d end up just sliding his fingers into Seb’s hair or pressing them against Seb’s chest to where at least he still got to feel his heartbeat in some way
 How could Blaine ask for anything like that after everything he’d been through? Surely Seb would think he was projecting, right? It didn’t feel that way to Blaine though, to him it felt like trust. Like he was able to be himself and maybe these were things he was into before his life went to shit with his parents in that crash, before their deaths crushed him to almost nothing. Before he himself, and then  Kurt shattered what was left…Maybe one day he’d work up the courage to just ask what Seb might be into, and maybe he could give it to him.   Still, he was getting better, and knowing that was enough for him for now. He was more comfortable with being desperate and breathless for his person.
 Blaine didn’t want to let go, he’d worked up the courage to slip his hand down the front of Seb’s pants and just as he was about to wrap his fingers around his boyfriend Seb stopped kissing him. He reluctantly withdrew his hand and could still feel the heavy weight of his boyfriend’s arousal on his fingertips. They had time. Apparently Soot didn’t like seeing her parents get intimate. He sighed, the little annoyed meows beckoning them to part and Blaine had the urge to just open the little door and let the little baby terror find her own way round the flat. He straightened his shirt and adjusted himself, uncomfortable from how hard he was now and having to abruptly stop. He bent down and opened the door. Soot’s petite head instantly poked out and she gave them both the most annoyed look as if to say; hey, I’m the most important, how could you forget me in there? Blaine gave her a smile and coaxed her out more by pitching his voice a bit.  
 “Come on, sweet little beastie. Come tell Sebastian thank you for letting you crash his super clean home.” He laughed as she seemed to do just that as she pranced over to Sebastian and head butted his ankle as a hello. “Couldn't just fall asleep in there for like an hour, could ya?” He was teasing of course. Soot pretty much always came first. He looked up at Seb, his boyfriends face was still flushed, and his pupils were still wide with want and Blaine wondered if they’d make it to nightfall at all. 
 “I don’t suppose you’d like to give the two of us a little tour? That way she knows where to eat and go to the bathroom and I get to see the place where I may let you get some sleep tonight.” He knew he was blushing as he said the last part, his lips curled into a bashful smile, his voice suddenly very shy. He had surprised himself with his little innuendo.
 “I mean, well, you know what I mean…”
 Sebastian’s POV:
Seb sighed and tugged his clothes back into place. He smiled when the small black cat bumped his ankle affectionately and looked up to find Blaine who seemed just as disheveled as he was. “Scoop her up and I’ll show you where I set everything up.” Cats were usually pretty disagreeable when it came to carrying them around but it seemed like Soot didn’t mind anytime B held her. They both probably needed the comfort after such short, hard lives. Seb led  them to the small laundry room where the litter box and food were set up. “I forgot to get a water bowl so, hopefully this will work. I,uh, stole it from a restaurant a while ago.” He pointed to the porcelain tea cup gilded with gold paint. “I was drunk at this stuffy place and...well, yeah. It’s a cat dish now.” 
 They let Soot sniff around her new digs as they walked around the rest of the apartment. She seemed a little afraid but okay, already comfortable on the arm of the couch. He motioned towards the bathroom and his bedroom. Sebastian stood outside of the open door and felt a thrill spark low in his body. “I expect you to keep me up late.” 
 He reached forward slowly so as to not surprise Blaine and toyed with the collar on his shirt. “I know exactly what you mean. It’s super hot when you talk like that.”  Seb bit his bottom lip and let his free hand reach for the door handle behind him. “Why wait for night?” He opened the door and walked backwards with his hand gently pulling Blaine inside.  The room was just as simple as the rest of his place- a small black dresser with a matching nightstand and bed decked out in all navy blue. Maybe letting B decorate with little splashes of color might be a good thing but they had other business to attend to at the moment. 
 “The bed is awfully comfortable…” He sat on the edge, B stood in front of him. Sebastian’s hand slid down his boyfriend’s clothed chest to cup him through his jeans. “I think the sheets need a little messing up, though. Don’t you?” 
 Blaine’s POV:
“You stole a teacup? Adult drunk you must’ve been a character.” It was destructive, sure, but it was a harmless prank and no one got hurt. Of course there was a good reason Sebastian didn’t drink anymore, things like this had become hurtful in different ways. Seb was sober now and Blaine was proud of him. But he couldn’t help himself and fought a smile as he took in the sight of the little cat box and dishes Sebastian had set out for the little ball energy. Soot sniffed around, stole a few pieces of food and darted off in the direction of the living room, satisfied. She was nervous but he could tell she felt safe here, how could she not, she had both of her favorite people to watch over her. Before Blaine could say much  more she had turned herself into a vibrating  loaf of black fur on the arm of the couch.
 Blaine let himself look around the bedroom, it was pristine and hardly looked lived in. However,  the navy blue was a comfort, it reminded him of Dalton days and nights spent driving around the Westerville back roads with Sebastian by his side, hand in hand and belting out terrible pop songs. But it was much bigger than his room now. It was more open and the bed was bigger, it didn’t look like it would squeak if you put pressure on it. He had a small moment of panic, he’d gotten used to the way his bedroom walls encased them, keeping them safe as they moved together, but that was silly and Blaine knew it. He looked up at Seb, his words sending a little thrill through him. He knew that Seb’s arms could keep him safer than the flimsy walls of his apartment and that what he was missing was the familiarity of it all. He licked his lips, the lust and desire returned times ten to the pit of his stomach.
 “I think I can do that…”
 He trailed off as Sebastian reached out for him gently, his skin prickling pleasantly where his fingertips very lightly touched his neck as he toyed with his shirt. He moved forwards with Seb as his boyfriend sat down on the edge of the bed and touched him through his jeans. Sebs’s lips were quirked in a sly smile and yet he was still aware of what Blaine needed to be comfortable, still showed his hands and even though he was guiding him, he still let Blaine call the shots. Blaine bit his bottom lip, his breath hitching as Seb’s fingers caressed him through the thick cloth of his jeans. He closed his eyes for a moment, collecting himself, steadying himself. He felt overwhelmed again, as was always the case with Sebastian, that he wanted too much all at once. He wanted to touch him, taste him, fuck him, wanted to make him squirm underneath him, wanted Seb to kiss bruises into his sensitive, forbidden neck, wanted to watch as Seb swallowed around him- eyes always bright, heavy and wanting as he did so. The thoughts made his cheeks heat up as he reached out and cupped his boyfriend's face in his hands, and pressed his hips into his fingers.
 “My plan is to keep the bed messy all weekend long…” 
 The words were murmured against Seb’s lips before he licked into his mouth. He pressed on Sebastian’s shoulders  down and over so that he was lying back against the bed, his head haloed by blue pillows. Without thinking too much about the late afternoon light still surrounding them and leaving nothing hidden, he pulled his shirt over his head and let it drop to the ground before moving to undo his own jeans, watching Seb’s face as he stripped down. He was still self conscious in his skin, years worth of abuse leaving him that way,  but he loved the way his boyfriends eyes devoured each bit of skin he exposed, like he wanted to taste it all. He was getting better. He made sure Seb saw all of him before moving to tug Seb’s sweats down and he wasn’t disappointed that that’s all he had on, his boyfriends cock sprang free and hard and it was so satisfying to Blaine that he was already so hard just from kissing and looking. 
 He watched Seb for a moment, his boyfriend stretched out over the bed, his legs already spread fo him and waiting and god he was fucking perfect and Blaine felt that creeping want to pin him down and just have his way with him wash over him. He blushed, a little ashamed of himself at the thought, but not enough to get rid of the thought entirely. He motioned towards the nightstand, a usual palace to keep condoms and lube and wasn’t surprised that they were there, but a little surprised that Seb had gone out and gotten Blaine’s specific type. It made him feel good, even though it was basically a given. He took one out of the box and took the lube before moving to the bed and crawling up so that he was between Seb’s spread legs, his head rested against his thigh as he slowly stroked him up and down before taking him into his mouth. He tasted like soap and a tangy flavor that was just so Sebastian that Blaine moaned around him, wanting nothing more than to taste the rest of him. He slicked his fingers up, his tongue swirling around the head of Seb’s cock, his eyes locking with his boyfriends, silently asking if he was doing okay. He wasn’t even sure he was good at this anymore, and had been made to feel like he was terrible at all of it. But, being with Seb had shown him that wasn’t true. He felt bold today, maybe not as bold as he wanted to be, but bold enough to take control for a moment.
 He let his slick fingers move from Seb’s cock and down fondling and tugging in all the right places before gently pressing two of them  inside of his boyfriends body, slowly pumping them in and out as he sunk his mouth all the way down on his, relishing in the feeling of him in the back of his throat and heavy on his tongue. Seb’s legs fell open even more in response. 
Sebastian’s POV:
 Sebastian loved the confidence that Blaine had as he pressed him into the bed and undressed in the glimmer of the Manhattan golden hour. He caught a glimpse of the old B, before Kurt had taken him and torn him in half like a piece of junk mail, when he crawled between his legs. Their eye contact didn’t break once and his lips were quirked into a little smirk. If he wasn’t so fucking turned on and hard, he’d mention that he was proud but, that could be a topic for later. 
 He let his body be open and ready. Seb wanted Blaine to know that he had him and had his trust and could do whatever he wanted. They could go as slow or as fast as he wanted, Sebastian wanted to experience it all with him. They had so much to catch up on, after all. 
 Seb sighed as he felt Blaine’s head rest against the sensitive skin of his inner thigh. Goosebumps spread over his arms and it felt like the burn of desire raced from his cock all the way to his toes and up to his fingertips. Seb’s hands came up to grip the pillows by his head, his back was arched and his knees bent. Everything B was doing felt wet and hot and perfect.  As Blaine kept it up he knew he was going to come, but that didn’t mean he wanted it to stop. 
Sebastian’s hips rose and his body shook as he came, Blaine’s name on his lips. He felt the other man hum around him and Sebastian could fucking swear that his eyes rolled into the back of his head. 
 As Blaine nuzzled and kissed his belly, Sebastian tried to catch his breath. 
 “B…” Sebastian reached for his boyfriend’s flushed face so that he could look at him. “If you wanna keep going....I want you to do whatever you want to me.” His voice sounded gruff and shaky but he wanted the message to be clear and consensual.
 Blaine’s POV:
Blaine could feel Sebastian contract around his fingers and couldn't help but moan as Sebastian came sudden and hard into his mouth. He did his best to swallow every last drop he could get, enjoying the salty sweetness. He was slowly letting himself learn that he didn’t need to feel bad about how much he liked the taste.  It was intoxicating, like a drug or drink he couldn’t seem to get enough of. Maybe he’d be embarrassed about it later, but right now, in this moment he let himself really feel the moment. He was so fucking turned on as his boyfriend reached for his face and his raspy, post orgasm voice telling him he could keep going almost sent him over the edge right there.  
Seb’s eyes were heavy, and his legs were shaking still as he came down and there was something about the thought of knowing he still got to fuck into him even though Seb was already satisfied. The thought of getting to touch and use Seb’s overly sensitive body made him bite his bottom lip to keep from moaning again. He kissed Seb’s tummy again, nuzzling his nose into the soft trail of hair there before gently climbing up his body and settling between his legs. He held the other man's face between his hands and pressed sweet yet dirty open mouthed kisses against his lips trying to show him how much he loved him and how bad he wanted him at the same time. 
 “You sure? We can stop whenever you want...” He mumbled the words between kisses, pulling back just enough to really see Seb’s face. He nodded, his eyes going wide and serious for a moment only to go heavy and full of lust the next. Blaine reached between them and found the condom he’d gotten out and fumbled only for a second getting it open before sliding it on with slightly shaking hands, he made sure he was slick before pressing his fingers into Sebastian’s body one more time. Of course Seb was still ready and he knew that, but Blaine couldn’t help himself, he wanted to feel the wet heat one more time before lining his cock up and slowly pressing himself deeper and deeper. Seb moaned and so did he and that was all he needed to get himself moving. He fucked into his boyfriend slow and hard, each roll of his hips feeling better than the last. He wasn’t sure if it was the way Seb moaned for him or the way his fingers pressed into his hips, but Blaine was losing himself in the moment. A primal want took over his body in a way it had not in a long time. Maybe he could have a little bit of what he’d been thinking about. Just a little bit. He trusted Seb, knew he’d tell him if it was too much, and Seb trusted him. Blaine knew that. He knew that he could have whatever he wanted if only he were brave enough to ask for it. Why had he not asked before? The answer lay with the shame and ridicule Kurt had put him through, but he pushed that to the back of his mind.
 He nipped at the pulse point in Seb’s neck lightly, delighting in the little gasps that got him. He took a chance and slid his hands to where Seb was gripping his hips and took hold of both of Seb’s wrists before pinning them down on either side of his head. He pushed them into the pillow, using them for leverage as he fucked into him, never taking his eyes off of his boyfriend's face, wanting to make sure it was okay, but also wanting Seb to open himself up even more. 
 “Spread your legs a little more for me…” His voice was low, almost not even there. 
 He squeezed just a little tighter, rocking his hips down and into him just a little harder.
 “You like it like this, don't you? You like the way it feels...” They were statements and questions all wrapped into one, he felt nervous yet confident that he was doing something Seb and him both enjoyed. He was almost shocked that he’d said anything at all, that he was able to pin his boyfriend down, something that an hour ago was only a thought in his head… He moved his lips close to Seb’s ear, snaking his tongue along the shell before breathing his question lowly into it. His fingers still closed around his wrists pinning him down tightly.
 “Can you come for me again?”
Sebastian’s POV:
 Sebastian’s body felt shaky and amplified, it was the feeling of lighting firecrackers and trying to run fast enough to get away, adrenaline and excitement racing hard through veins. He nodded up at Blaine whose intense eyes never left his. Seb loved the way it felt, the twirl of pleasure and pain felt dangerous and delicious. He considered himself well read but he’d never be able to put into words how good he felt and how it was all made better by the confidence that was peeking through in B’s hands and hips. 
 He did as he was told, his thighs ached a little but he didn’t mind it. His boyfriend had a firm grip on both of his wrists, the contact made him moan. He was so impressed by the primal little things the other man was doing to him. Blaine’s skin was hot and a little bit slick with sweat. Sebastian’s body already felt like it could go again. His cock was hard again and fuck, this was Blaine fucking Anderson, looking at him while rolling his hips into him. Could he come again?
 “Fuck yeah.”
 His voice was barely there but the message was heard. Sebastian knew that the other man had him. Maybe he had always known that, even when they hadn’t spoken for years, even when the phone rang at 2 AM and drunken feelings took over, even when they had avoided each other out of pain or nerves. Blaine would always be patiently waiting, Sebastian would always be ready to jump to catch the other. 
 “Love you.”
 Blaine’s POV:
Blaine was so in the moment that he barely registered the ache in his legs and hips as he pressed into his boyfriend. He hardly noticed the time as it passed. All that mattered was Sebastian around him and the open mouthed look of pure want on his face. Sebastian was looking up at him like he was everything and it made Blaine feel more alive than he’d ever felt before. It was one of those many times where he wanted to bottle the whole last hour up and save it for when he felt insecure or  meek. He didn’t know he had this in him and Sebastian had brought it out of him with patience and encouragement.
 His body acted on it’s own accord when Sebastian reassured him in such a small voice that he could come again. The thought of Seb falling apart underneath him all over again sent little shivers down his spine in anticipation of getting to watch it happen before letting himself feel that release. Blaine leaned down and nipped at  Seb’s neck before soothing the spot with his tongue and lips, losing himself in the moment, his hips rolling slow and deep. Sebastian was just so open for him… He was so lost in the movements and wanting to make Seb feel good that he almost missed the whispered words. 
 “Fuck… Seb…-”
 He lifted his head and looked down at his boyfriend- Seb’s eyes focused on him and it was so raw and so sweet that Blaine’s hips stuttered and he lost the control he’d had. His orgasm hit hard and fast and maybe he should have been embarrassed that an I love you could send him over the edge, but this I love you came from Sebastian and it meant everything and Blaine could have cried with how much it all meant to him. He tried to steady himself, his face pressed into Seb’s neck as he rode the waves out. He pulled back to look down at his boyfriend, one hand sliding from Seb’s wrists to gently cup his face, the other slipping between them so he could touch Sebastian, wrap around him and help him reach the top so he could catch him as he fell back down . 
 “God, I love you back so fucking much.”
 His words were soft and stilted, hard to get out but still clear as day. His breathing was still heavy from his movements. He did his best to stay pressed inside, wanting Sebastian to feel him inside of him as he stroked him through. He leaned forward and licked into his mouth, the kisses still a bit dirty but with a sweetness to them that only came from loving and trusting someone. His words were quiet and trapped between their teeth, tongues, and lips as he spoke, meant to reassure him for more than just tonight.
 “I’ve got you…”
 Sebastian’s POV:
The connection between them felt raw and powerful. They didn’t even need to speak to understand each other. Blaine could read the thrum of Sebastian's heartbeat, the arch of his back. It had always been like that, it had always been meant to be like this. He kept his eyes on B, he wanted to watch him tumble apart, wanted to hear him moan his name- his favorite sight and sound. Seb could feel his boyfriend’s hips stutter, his grip tighten around his wrists.
“C’mon, B…” Seb whispered and coaxed B through his orgasm. 
Blaine’s warm hand on his face, the feeling of him still inside, it all made him humm with pleasure. He could live off of the whispers the other man left on his lips, the feeling of a smile against teeth, a gasp against the side of the other’s mouth. 
Sebastian knew that Blaine had him. If there was something he never had to doubt, it was that. That was why everything hit so hard when they fell apart before, if B wasn’t there, who really had his back? Who else did he have to laugh into the phone at midnight with? Who was there to reach through his stormy mind with nothing but a smile? He nodded, he knew Blaine understood.
 Blaine’s firm grip and kisses helped him fall over the edge once more and Seb was wrapped up in the other man’s strong arms immediately. They lay wrapped around each other, heavily breathing and kissing each other’s cheeks, lips, noses, foreheads. 
 They lay like that for a while before either one of them spoke. Sebastian nipped at Blaine’s bottom lip and nuzzled his jawbone, his five o clock shadow already peeking through. 
 “I take it that you like it here.”
 Blaine’s POV:
Blaine tucked his face into Sebastian’s neck, lying next to him and wrapped around him now. His breathing finally seemed to be steadying and he finally felt like he was on the ground again. His body was sore in all the right places and even though it was still early evening he could have snuggled into Sebastian and whispered sweetness until they both fell asleep for the night. Surly Soot would find her way to them and she too would curl up at their feet as they slept. It was as perfect as a thought could be and Blaine almost asked for it. But, he was a bit hungry and a little nudge on his jaw from Seb took him away from it. He turned to look at his boyfriend, his nips and kisses causing him to break out in a grin and he laughed as he answered, his body snuggled close so that their chest were touching. He reached out and traced his fingertips down Seb’s arm, tracing the little stardust of freckles.
 “I do like it here. But, I mean, with you here with me it’s just perfect. I feel like I’m safe wherever you are…” His voice was soft as he thought, his brain catching up to reality as he really took in the question.  “It’s out there- alone... that’s hard.” He bit his lip and then shook his head, letting out a little breathy laugh so it wouldn’t get too deep even though his heart was pounding now for a different reason. “I suppose I’m just going to have to take you with me wherever I go.” He shrugged and let his traveling fingertips rest at Seb’s wrist. Usually they were pale and delicate, but now they were slightly pink and just a touch heated and the memory of squeezing and pressing them down jolted Blaine into a bad memory. Triggering him into a moment of panic.
 “Oh god, did I hurt you?”
Suddenly he was terrified that he’d done something wrong. That by acting on primal urges he was just as bad as Kurt, even if Blaine knew in the passionate moment that Sebastian was into it and that if Seb had said to stop that Blaine would have let go and backed away- a shock still went through him that he’d managed to leave a little bit of a mark and his heart pounded even harder as he sat up cross legged next to Seb and reached for his wrist and pressed kisses to them before reaching for other parts of Seb’s body that his fingertips had pressed into just to check him over. He blinked, his eyes a little stingy. Why had he wanted to do this? Why did he want to hold him down and take control? Was there something wrong with him? In the moment it had seemed fun and sexy and something he’d been into before his life went to shit, but how could he like it after all that happened? And again for the second time that night he wondered how he could ask for something like this or even want it… 
 A little voice in his head told him to calm down, and told him it was okay. It sounded a lot like a mix of his and Sebastian’s; You had fun, Blaine. This is different from the nightmare Kurt put you through. You trust Seb and he trusts you. Don’t compare it. Just breathe… Trust him, trust yourself.
 “I-I didn’t think… I don’t even know why I did that. I’m so sorry, baby…”
 The name slipped out organically in a mumble against Sebastian’s chest, never used on anyone else before, as the beat of his boyfriend's heart thudded  against his lips reassuring him he was still here and okay. He pulled back to look at him, his thumbs gently rubbing over the already faded marks on Seb’s wrists.
 “I mean, yeah, it was super fun and hot, but I shouldn’t have done it.” Right? 
 Sebastian’s POV:
 Blaine’s fingertips ghosted over Sebastian’s wrists. He could see the switch in his boyfriend’s eyes, the panic tugging his bottom lip down into a frown. Seb wasn’t hurt, he felt satisfied and tired and in need of a cigarette or two. “I’m good.” He looked at his wrists and saw that they were a little red but that was okay with him. It would just be a reminder of their time together. “I like it when you leave marks.” 
Seb liked the weight of  Blaine’s head on his chest but hated that he felt upset with himself. “You have nothing to worry about. I wanted you to do it, I promise.” A small twinge of pleasure slid up his spine when the other man called him baby, he liked how that sounded. If B wasn’t so worried, he’d drown the other man in kisses. 
 “Hey, look at me.” Sebastian sat up and made sure the two of them made direct eye contact. “You know that I trust you, right? I would stop you if something were wrong. “ He reached out to hold Blaine’s hand, “I know that you’ve been through hell. But, you’re not Kurt, okay? He’s a fucking prick. You’re a good person, you listen to me and my body.” Speaking so openly like this made himself feel a little better about the bullshit he went through in the past himself. “I’ve had my share of...uncomfortable experiences. I know I don’t talk about it much but, we aren’t the people that have hurt us. Even though we fell apart for a bit, please believe me when I say that you have always treated me with respect and have never made me feel ashamed of being sexual.”
Blaine’s POV:
Blaine’s body gave an involuntary shudder when Sebastian mentioned that he liked the faint marks he’d left on his body. Once upon a time it wouldn’t have been such a  big deal, sure, Blaine might have still panicked a tiny bit and fret over Seb, but that was in his nature. But,  now, after everything he felt like he’d done something wrong. He knew that he hadn't, he really did, but this part of him, the part that Kurt had shamed and shoved down, had turned some of his pleasures and little kinks and perversions and pain so of course Blaine would feel off about it. Seb was looking at him wide eyed and honest and Blaine knew he meant what he said. 
He let Sebastian take hold of his hand and made himself look up so that he could really listen to his boyfriend.  It hurt his chest and his pounding heart to be reminded that Sebastian had been abused by past lovers before, one’s that took his sexual nature and took it just a bit too far, and Blaine wanted to scoop him up and promise him that he’d always been taken care of. Wanted to whisper words of comfort and a little part of him wanted to go find each person that had gotten too rough or too persistent and smack the shit out of them. It wouldn’t help, of course, he knew that. All he could do was pull Seb closer to him and nod as he spoke and accept his boyfriend's words as fact. 
Maybe Blaine would have another moment of panic, and maybe Blaine would need to slow down sometimes. But there was no denying how they worked together or how they just knew each other’s body. What he’d done was okay. He wasn’t bad for wanting to press his boyfriend down, he wasn’t horrible for wanting to talk dirty or for leaving gentle marks with his fingertips or his lips- they had been made out of love and trust. Sitting here looking at Sebastian he wanted to smack himself for almost ruining the moment with his anxiety again. Of course this was all okay. Look how much fun they’d had… Their movements together and the way Seb’s body just responded to Blaine was the most natural thing, and Blaine had known how to do it without second thought and Seb had risen to him and fell apart in his arms and it had been perfect and Blaine didn’t need to worry. He’d taken control and neither one of them was hurt. Maybe he’d need to be reminded again later, but right now Seb’s face and gentle words told him all he needed to know. 
 “I trust you too, Seb. With everything.” He bit his lip, feeling a bit sheepish all over again. “I promise to never shame you or make you feel like something you want is wrong. And I promise to always listen to what you tell me and what your body tells me. I just got anxious, the marks Kurt left were always angry and harsh and just seeing the red here sort of made me wonder if I was any better. I know that’s not true and I know you’d tell me if I did hurt you, I guess I just had a moment.” He sort of shrugged and laughed. 
 “We got so close again so fast, sometimes I feel like I should still be that shell of a boy you met again on New Year’s. The one that could hardly look at you and could barely stand to be touched. I still don't like it much, but when it comes to you … Well, I’m yours. We’ve just done so much for each other, it’s still a bit baffling to see the progress. I love it, and I wouldn't change it, but I guess I need to take a step back and see it for what it is and how much you’ve helped me. We’ve helped each other.”
He cleared his throat and let his thumb run over the now faded marks on Seb’s wrist. 
“You know… one day you’ll have to tell me if there’s anything you want to try. Any hidden kinks that maybe I can work my way up to.” He teased and leaned in and stole a kiss. “But for now maybe we should go check on Soot and perhaps I can make you some dinner. Assuming you have something for me to cook.” He grinned, feeling better and closer still to his person.
 Sebastian’s POV:
 Only the two of them could have had passionate sex followed by important conversation. It felt special and real and Blaine was right, it was so easy to fall back into each other that at times it was almost jarring at how little time had actually passed. “We have helped each other. I mean, look at how mushy you have me acting.” He smiled, “We got each other.”
 Sebastian watched as Blaine touched his wrists. Of course he knew that they would both have low moments and bouts of anxiety, times where they didn’t really want to be touched. But, he also knew that they were in love and that they were working so hard to better themselves. Neither of them would be fixed overnight. There would always be small little cracks. They just needed to fill their breaks and cracks with gold to come out stronger, like one of those beautiful Japanese vases. 
 “Oh, I’ll tell you anything you want to hear.” Seb’s face broke out into a grin that hurt the corners of his mouth. He loved when Blaine stole kisses from his smiles, made him laugh against his lips, pulled him in for a few more. “You know damn well she’s still asleep. But, I do need a cigarette. You wore me out.” Sebastian poked Blaine gently in the side. “You’re going to be quite impressed, Anderson. I bought some groceries.” 
 Blaine put on one of Sebastian’s grey Columbia hoodies. He loved the way he looked in it and told him that he could keep it. They padded out into the kitchen where Seb laid out the items he had bought and B set to work on their evening breakfast. Soot, who was fast asleep still, woke to the sizzle of bacon in the pan and rubbed all over both of them. Sebastian silently promised her the fat off of a piece of bacon as he scratched behind her pointy ears. He could get used to this, he thought. The scent of bacon grease, the little sounds of Soot’s paws on the hardwood, Blaine humming in the kitchen. For the first time since he had moved to the city, his apartment didn’t feel empty or lonely. It felt like a home.
 /fin.
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jolivia-things · 3 years
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I have a question when fans or random people took photos of harry and Olivia walking around in London were they tipped of . It’s seems very fishy that those were submitted and then posted by deuxmoi . Like who told those people to send it to deuxmoi . Or could it be that someone of their team took the pictures ?
I think that the pictures sent to Deuxmoi are highly suspect and could have been easily planned. The fact they went to a crowded park and Harry was wearing the same clothes he’s been in all month also put the chances of them being spottedTM sky high. 
Also, once they were spotted one time, fans specifically started going to his neighborhood/park to try and see him, and that’s how we got more pictures of them at the park - again in the same clothes. Except those pictures went to twitter, you know like normal people do it, and not Deuxmoi.
It is also suspect that, while Deuxmoi was doing their regular weekend “spotted” reel, they still reserved a whole entire post just for Holivia walking arm in arm.
Also, important to note the timeline here:
Holivia haven’t been seen together since January. Then out of nowhere we get several reports of Holivia, and Harry is weirdly wearing the same clothes for all of them:
* April 1: creepy Italian stalkers film Harry walking alone
* April 8: Fans get pictures with Harry. They later (Apr 12th) say Olivia was with him, but no pics of her
* April 11: Daily Mail publishes article saying ‘are Holivia still together?’ and there’s breakup speculation in the media
(** Deuxmoi also posted a completely unprompted header to a questions game on IG in which she said “and no idk if Holivia are still together!”. I just don’t have it so I’m not sure of the date, but it was between the 1st and 10th of April I think).
* April 12: TMZ reports at night that Olivia has a stalker and the legal documents state she lives with Jason and their kids
* More pictures with same fans and Harry at the park come out, as well as a YouTube video (now private) where they claim Olivia was there too but no pics/video of her
* April 13: TMZ issues a correction article saying Olivia does not live with Jason
* April 15: The Mirror publishes an article saying Holivia had a cozy pub date (no pictures)
Blind Gossip item stating Olivia wants to get Harry involved in the stunt again
Pictures of Harry dressed as the little mermaid drop via HLD
April 17: Deuxmoi publishes picture of Holivia walking in the park
April 18: Fans spot Holivia at the park again 
Deuxmoi publishes picture of Holivia walking arm in arm allegedly from the night of April 17
This whole thing reeks of a PR setup, just like the rest of the stunt. Here’s a post about things that are quite stunty about this. Pics sent to Deuxmoi should be taken at the same level as Daily Mail pics.
Your last sentence sums it up perfectly. There's absolutely nothing organic any more about Deux Moi sightings.
And as to your first point, I think someone from their team just takes the pictures and they all go home.
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Text
Lemme tell you a bit about a guy named Tarrare
Okay it gets kinda weird after this so Imma just----
Okay! Let me tell you about a Frenchman born in 1772. He had an unsatisfied hunger that made him the talk of the town and ultimately drove him to cannibalism and a life of seclusion. 
 Nothing extraordinary about his childhood, nothing unusual.. Until he entered his teenage years that is. At 17, he could eat his own body weight in food in one day, he could eat a quarter of a whole cow all by himself within a 24 hour period. Eventually this appetite of his drove his family to bankruptcy, causing them to banish him to the streets.
If this isn’t hard enough, Tarrare was forced into a life of crime to sustain his hunger. He made friends with sex workers and thieves, and as he distracted confused onlookers by swallowing rocks,corks, and bags of apples on the road, his friends would steal and pickpocket for themselves. After a while, Tarrare moved to Paris where he would perform solo-acts by eating bags of coins. 
Tarrare looked normal at first glance. He had soft brown hair and was fairly thin before eating. However, the longer you stare the more you notice. He had thin, almost non-existent, lips, stained teeth, and loose skin around his abdomen. He had so much skin, as a matter of fact, that he could tie it around his own waist like a belt.
Along with his seemingly contradictory appearance, he reportedly smelled horrible to the point where he “had visible stink lines” which only got worse as he ate. To top it all off, he also was incredibly sensitive to heat and was always sweating. 
One day, Tarrare was doing his thing on the streets of Paris when onlookers noticed he wasn’t feeling too great. They rushed him to the closest hospital where it was clear he had a bowel obstruction. After a treatment of laxatives, Tarrare was proving to get better. To show he was improving, he offered to eat the physician’s watch and chain, which the doctor only would agree to if he could cut Tarrare open to retrieve it. Tarrare got the hint and declined the offer.
In 1792 Tarrare, like most of the men his age, joined the army. Tarrare, as you know by now, had a very peculiar appetite which made it difficult to survive on military rations. After a while of attempted survival eating the “normal” amount of food each day, Tarrare became weak and was taken to a hospital... again.
Doctors were stunned to see such an extraordinary condition present in a human being. To test his ability, they laid out a meal that would feed 15 people... Tarrare did not disappoint. He ate the whole meal without showing any sign of needing to stop. 
The doctors pushed the limits a bit more.. and just for the sake of keeping everyone comfortable Imma just warn that this part isn’t the prettiest picture.. it only gets worse from here.. but the doctors gave Tarrare a live kitten. Tarrare drank the blood of the cat and devoured it, only to vomit up the fur and skin.. like an owl..
Mice, lizards, puppies, you name it, Tarrare ate it. He was even given a live eel to eat and in response Tarrare shoved it down his throat and swallowed it whole. If you were to ask what his favorite food was, he’d say snake.
Tarrare was then recruited on an espionage mission to Prussia. He was ordered to swallow a box containing valuable information, sneak over the borders, and “deliver” it to the proper receiver. Things did not go as planned, however. Tarrare was sent undercover as a german, but Tarrare was not brushed up on german you see.. so he was caught and put in prison in Prussia. 
After 24 hours of being detained and tortured, Tarrare broke and spilled all his secrets to the Prussians. They were a bit startled to hear the plan he was to carry out, but they believed him. They tied him to a toilet and waited for the box to appear. 
One source says the box contained an empty paper, and when the Prussians found out they were furious. Whereas another source claims Tarrare took it upon himself to keep the secret safe, so he went ahead and re-ate the box... nasty.. 
Either way, the Prussians were not pleased. They tortured Tarrare and mocked him as he was sent to the gallows to be hanged. Now, once again, two stories take place. One claims the General supervising Tarrare’s capture, torture, and execution took pity on him. Another story states it was all an elaborate setup meant to traumatize Tarrare and the french army. No matter what story you believe, it still ends in Tarrare being traumatized and being sent back to France.
Tarrare went back to the physicians and begged to be cured of this curse he seemed to be carrying. He was subjected to trails and diets, one being of only soft boiled eggs, but nothing seemed to work. 
As the days went on, Tarrares appetite only grew. He began to rummage through trash and would devour discarded meat. Tarrare’s condition took a dark turn when he began to feast on the blood of humans after getting their blood drawn. He would drink straight from the vein like a vampire!! 
Oh hoho it only gets worse, pals! Tarrare went from eating corks, to cats, to eels, to blood, straight to cadavars in the hospital’s morgue... but he wasn’t harming anyone, so that’s good... right?
Well, after his physician passed up an opportunity to get Tarrare mental help, the hospital Tarrare was staying at reported a 14 month old missing.. I’m sure you can guess what happened to the poor child...
Tarrare was chased out of town by an angry mob, leading to his seclusion for the next 4 years.
He came back to Versailles one day with an illness he claimed was caused by a golden fork he had ingested years prior..but that was not the cause of the ailment that plagued his body. Tarrare had tuberculosis, and after 1 month of being untreated by doctors, he died. (1798)
 His old physician decided to perform an autopsy on this poor, broken man. What he found was horrifying. Tarrare’s esophagus was enlarged to the point they could see inside his stomach from his mouth. His stomach, liver, and gallbladder were all larger than the average human’s. His intestines were rotted and his body was filled with pus. The smell was the most shocking, I have to say, it ultimately drove the physician to abandon the autopsy. 
Nobody knows exactly what plagued poor Tarrare, and it is still up for debate in the medical community. Hyperthyroidism could explain the soft hair and sensitivity to heat, an enlarged amygdala would explain the constant and never ending hunger, and iron deficiency could explain his craving for things like blood or raw meat. There are many other possible conditions, but I’ll leave it up for you to research yourself.
I don’t believe Tarrare was a freak or a monster. He was just a very sick man who didn’t have access to the care he needed. If you still believe he is an unforgivable beast, look at it from this point of view. Imagine being so hungry all the time that not even food can satisfy, something is missing and all you can do is search for the cure. You know people stare, you know people whisper, but all you want is peace. This starvation ultimately leads to your demise. 
Okay that’s all I have to say, thanks for listening! Heres the link to the main website I used to learn about the bruh and heres a link to the other website. It’s pretty much the same thing I said here but they worded it different I guess lol
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scraps-n-starters · 4 years
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Notes On Fics I'll (probably) Never Write
The College/PenPal au
Non-Hunter au
Picture this with me for a second. College Prof Qrow getting gently bullied into an inter city penpal setup (slightly buoyed by the fact that he can chose to only recieve a pal around his age and finally make a friend acquaintance that isn't through work or family) matching with Clover who, incidentally enough had similar reasons but less people pushing him to join in
The thought of a story told through the things they chose to tell each other, the words they put to ink and paper, they way they put them down, later the postcards or trinkets that made them think of the other enough to send along.
They trade emails just in time to transition to part 2. Qrow, a touch tired of the same place constantly, temporarily transferring to do a stint at Atlas University. Initially he plans to surprise the other but uh. Chickens out as the case may be and so we see a secondary plot line dividing the things he sees of Clover on campus and the words they still exchange via mail. (I'm torn between Qrow having mentioned that he wouldn't be lecturing in his home turf for a whole so they don't do physical mail for a bit OR he sets it up so anything addressed to him&his home address gets auto rerouted to a po box in atlas. It's fiction I can do what I want)
Fun tidbit ideas
Clover with fancy stationary and a four leaf clover wax seal
The dorkiest fuvking postcards w/ either really philosophical quotes across the back or fucking. Misspelling mockery that was in the other's previous letter
The penpal system working with jokey aliases as the names given would be hilarious
Clover is Sorrel because at a glance they're very similar and also plant jokes
Qrow is either Crow spelled correctly or some other corvid. Magpie? Or just Blackbird
Bonus content in letters they never sent, poetry they haven't shared (yet)
Does Clover send Qrow a black feather quill as a joke?
Absolutely
Climactic moment where Qrow definitely wrote a love letter that he never sent but did get through putting Clove's name and address on it enough that when one of the girls finds it stealing one of his jackets they just shrug, slap a stamp on it and send it along
It happens to arrive just before Clover leaves for a coffee date he's gently coaxed the skittish visiting professor into
Another 2 options point.
1- He pockets the letter and then goes to sit and read it at the coffee shop bc he's 15 minutes early to everything anyway so Qrow spots him with a letter before coming over to see why he looks so shell shocked before promptly going white with mild panic
2- Or Clover reads it in his apartment before going to the coffee date anyway, dazed and thrilled and shaking and a little sorry as he spills his guts to Qrow about this guy he's been talking to for ages but he never thought the other was into him and gods this is embarrassing but !!!!!!!!!!!!!
And Qrow's just kind of sitting there like ah. The fuck?
There are so many branches of this that could be taken because Qrow not immediately knowing that Clover is talking about him would be a gut wrenching bit of misunderstanding
Or Clover mentioned him but Qrow failing to bring up that the penpal was him
Also worldbuilding
Ruby is a dual enrollment student, prove me wrong
Clover is either a guidance counselor, an arts prof, or librarian
Qrow profs for either mythology, lit, or physics but like. The mind breaking theoretical physics shit.
Ace ops-TAs? RAs? Various tutors that Clover generally refers students to? Idk I'm v tired
The idea of Ruby being on one of those guided tour things schools do sometimes but she spots her uncle for the first time in months and immediately launches herself at him
Yang being on one of Beacons sports teams so Qrow showing up at the Atlas v. Beacon game in Atlas is hilarious to me
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irwingiggling · 4 years
Text
westbrook | pt. 7
gang!ashton; gang!5sos
[pt. 1] [pt. 2] [pt. 3] [pt. 4] [pt. 5] [pt. 6]
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[Image credit: @not-grey-enough]
A/N: Heyy guys so I’m back. My last year of university was so crazy and stressful until suddenly it wasn’t because all my classes were moved online and a bunch of assignments/finals became optional or cancelled completely. Just found out today my graduation is officially cancelled. It feels like there was so much build up and anticipation for the final year but now it’s become literally the most anticlimactic experience of my life lmao.. Anyways, now I’m at home, with a bunch of free time on my hands, which means I can continue this story! I hope you guys enjoy, and please feel free to leave me any comments or if you literally wanna talk about anything, just send me a message! :)
Summary: In which Ashton is one of the leaders of the Westbrook Dragons, a gang who often feuds with the Vipers for control of the streets. After hearing of her estranged father’s death, Marina comes to Westbrook to fix up his house and sell it. Coming from a privileged neighborhood, the last thing Marina expects is to move in next door to a gang’s hideout.
Word Count: 2,400+
Rating: PG-13
Marina locked the front door of the house behind her and made her way down the steps towards Ashton, who was leaning against the front of an old red chevy truck.
After the whole break-in fiasco, they had taken a couple weeks to heal both mentally and physically. The boys had helped Marina repaint the exterior of the house, which had been graffitied pretty badly by Parson's goon before he broke in that night. She felt closer to the whole gang, not just Ashton. Now the house was finished again - for good this time - and Marina and Ashton had re-listed the house with another realtor - one without any gang associations.
Ashton spent most nights at the house since he'd essentially moved in after the break-in, but sometimes business would cause him to stay back at his apartment, where he'd work late into the night, and Marina wouldn’t see him until the next day. It was on one of those days that Ashton had called Marina and asked her out on a date, after he was done with work. They'd been boyfriend and girlfriend for a while now, but while they spent a fair bit of time together, they didn't get the chance to go on actual dates very often.
"Wow, I didn't know you owned anything other than a motorcycle," Marina observed dryly, eyebrows raising as she walked up to Ashton.
Ashton laughed, patting the hood. "Nah, I work on this one in my spare time. She gives me trouble sometimes, but we work through it."
Marina chuckled at his response as she walked over to the passenger door. She was about to grab the handle but Ashton beat her to it, opening the door and gesturing for her to step inside with a little bow.
"Why thank you, sir," she replied, teasingly blowing him a kiss.
As she settled into the passenger seat, her gaze floated over the interior. Sure, the leather was cracked and the wooden dashboard had a variety of chips and gouges, but it had character. Marina found herself appreciating it, a lot more now than if she had seen it a couple months ago.
Ashton noticed her watchful eye, and quickly spoke up. "I know it's not your Range Rover, but-
"It's perfect," she smiled, leaning forwards to run her fingers over the dashboard.
He gave her a small nod and smiled, turning the keys and causing the engine to roar to life.
She looked over at the door, thinking that the air running through her hair would be perfect right about now, but instead she stared perplexedly at the wood panelling. Absent were the normal switches for the windows.
"It's this one," Ashton said, reaching across her lap to touch the spinning handle. In this close proximity, she noticed that his usual smell of leather and cigarettes had gained a new underlying hint of sandalwood and another undeterminable scent. The fact that he'd put on a little bit of cologne for their date made the outer corners of her lips tweak up into a smile.
"What?" Ashton asked, once he'd resumed his normal position, watching her out of the corner of his eye.
"Nothing," she smiled, shaking her head. "I just think you're adorable."
He giggled - full-out giggled - and readjusted his grip on the steering wheel. "Now that's not something I get often."
They both laughed, and then sat in comfortable silence for a little while.
"Can I turn on the music?" Marina asked, as they turned down a quiet country road.
"Sure. But I have to warn you, the radio only picks up one station and it's all country, all the time."
Marina laughed and turned the volume dial up. The sound of a twangy guitar and southern accent immediately filled the cabin. She looked over to Ashton again and smiled, putting her arm out the window and moving it along to the beat, wind whipping through her fingertips.
---
They drove until Marina had no idea where they were. Eventually Ashton pulled off the gravel road, the truck chugging along merrily until he cut the engine and it sputtered to a stop in a field of tall grass. Marina looked around at the tall stalks growing wild, swinging freely in the wind. They had to be the only ones around for miles.
"Ashton where are we?" she asked in slight confusion. He hadn't told her what the plan was for their date, but she assumed it would be at a restaurant in town somewhere.
"Our date," he replied with a smile, pocketing the keys and jumping out of the truck.
Marina chuckled lightly, and opened the door, stepping out of the passenger side. She followed Ashton to the back of the truck, and watched as he pulled the tailgate down to reveal an array of blankets and pillows, with a picnic basket in the middle.
"Voila," he gestured to the setup, leaning casually against the side of the truck.
Marina couldn't help the smile on her face. "Aww this is cute," she cooed, "You've really outdone yourself, Ash."
He looked over at her and smiled, taking her hand to help her up into the back of the truck.
"It's beautiful out here," Marina said as she looked around. The sun was just beginning to set, casting a faint orangey-purple hue over everything it touched.
"I know right. I come here to think sometimes, and I think it's so peaceful. I wanted to show it to you."
"Well thank you for sharing it, I really appreciate it."
"I know there's some stuff you don't know about me yet, I know I can be guarded, but I want you to know that I'm really trying to let you in."
The conversation flowed easily between the two of them, even the pauses were comfortable. After one particularly longer silence, Ashton spoke up in a slightly different tone.
"Sometimes I can't.... sleep," he confessed quietly, staring off into the distance, eyes closing slightly in reflex as the setting sun poured out towards them.
Marina looked up at him, raising her head off his chest. "Why not?" she asked gently, lacing their fingers together.
He leaned down to rest his cheek on the top of her head, and was silent for a little while. She rubbed gentle circles into the scarred skin on the palm of his hand.
"I've just been thinking a lot… especially recently."
"What about?" she asked.
He let out a small sigh, a puff of air that reverberated off her ear.
"You don't have to tell me, if you don't want."
His other arm snaked around from its casual position resting against the side of the truck, to pull her closer to him. He was silent for a little while longer. "About you," he said softly. "About… us." She was still, kept silent, waiting to see if he would elaborate. She could hear the smile in his voice but it was tinged with something else.
She felt him shake his head. "I'm not a good person, Mar."
"Yes, you-"
"I sell people coke. I get people addicted to it and ruin their lives. I'm like, shittiest person of the year. I profit off other people's misery, just to give them an escape from reality for a couple hours -  do you know how much that eats me up inside all the time? But this is the only thing I have, the only thing I'm any good at. And I can't just stop, the boys rely on me running all of this. What would they do? They need the money for their families just like I need it for mine. And the thought that…" he trailed off, looking away into the fields.
After a few moments of silence, he spoke up again. "It's different now.  I always knew I'd be able to take care of myself, but I forgot about the fact that maybe one day I'd want to share my life with someone else. Someone who deserved better. And now I'm thinking maybe I made the wrong choice, but at the same time I can't abandon the Dragons, they're my brothers."
"Have you talked to them about this?"
"No," he shook his head. "There's never really time, when we're all together. And I don't wanna… they look to me for advice, how can I just bail on them? And what would I even do?" he sighed. "This is all I know."
"You're good at a lot of things, Ash. You're an incredible businessman, and leader. That can transfer into a lot of different areas, if you ever need it to."
"You think?" he asked. She reach a hand up to brush softly against his cheek. She'd never seen this side of him, so vulnerable, almost insecure.
"Fuck, I'm sorry," he said after a moment, clearing his throat and shifting position, covering himself back up again.
"No, hey don't be sorry," she said, turning over to look him in the eyes, trying to convey the sincerity of her words. "It's important to talk about this kind of stuff. I really appreciate you opening up to me."
He gave her a soft smile and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'm so glad I have you," he said, snuggling further against her.
"Me too," she whispered softly.
"I love you," she said, looking out into the field of glowing, golden grass. She looked up at him. He was watching her, blinking through weary, tear-filled eyes, a glimmer of hope shimmering beneath the surface.
"I love you too," he said softly, breathing deeply into her hair and closing his eyes. "So fucking much."
"And you're not a bad person, Ash. You're a good person who fell into bad circumstances. You have such a good heart, deep down in there," she said, poking his chest gently. "I know hiding it is the only way to survive in this town. But I've seen it, I know it exists."
---
Ashton slept over that night, and in the morning Marina awoke to the other side of the bed empty. Confused, she sat up, and saw a note on the bedside table.
I woke up early and you looked so adorable I didn't wanna wake you. I'm just next door with the guys, come over when you're awake :) - Ash
Marina looked out the window, watching the guys chatting away and working on their motorcycles in the driveway. She didn't want to be too quick to rush down there, they looked like they were having a great time just chatting, listening to some classic rock music, and tinkering away on their cars and motorcycles. Marina smiled. The Dragons truly were like a brotherhood. A couple minutes later, a black suv pulled up, parking across the driveway. Marina supposed someone was coming to pick up a delivery. The boys must have assumed that too, as the three of them continued on, with Calum putting down his wrench and casually making his way towards the vehicle. Suddenly, four people in police uniforms and bulletproof vests jumped out. Calum took a couple steps backwards, surprised. He yelled something to the guys, who immediately dropped what they're doing.
Marina couldn't hear exactly what was going on, but two of the officers advanced quickly down the driveway, the other two standing guard near the vehicle in case reinforcements were needed. Marina's heart thudded in her throat. What was going on?!
The police officer yelled something again, and Ashton moved to place both hands behind his head, demonstrating that he wasn't armed and wouldn't put up a fight. Marina saw the reflection of stainless steel from one of the officer's pockets and each of the two officers grabbed one of Ashton's hands, pulling them down behind his back and clamping the cuffs on.
Marina flew outside to the porch, hands grasping the newly stained wood banister, the same one that Ashton had placed his bouquet of flowers near what now felt like a lifetime ago. It took everything in her not to run down the stairs and demand to know what was going on, try to pull Ashton away from the officers, but she knew she couldn't. As far as everyone else in town knew, she had nothing to do with the Westbrook Dragons.
From her new vantage point she could see and hear the unfolding events even better. One voice stuck out on the driveway, the loud and booming one of the police officer who was leading Ashton away.
"Ashton Irwin, you are under arrest for assault causing bodily harm. You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to contact a lawyer. Anything you say may be used against you in the court of law."
No no no no. All that was running through Marina's mind in that moment was sheer panic and shock. She tried to call out to him but her voice got stuck in her throat and instead she made a funny, wheezing sound, as if she'd just been punched in the stomach.
One of the officers opened the door to the police car, and the other two led Ashton over. At this moment Ashton scanned his surroundings, turning back towards the house. His eyes locked with hers, dark with defeat but also an underlying defiance. He communicated wordlessly with her, trying to give her a reassuring look that everything would be alright. But he only had seconds before the officer pushed his head down into the car, and slammed the door shut. Then she could only see his silhouette and the black bars across the window. The remaining officers climbed into the suv, gravel crunching underneath the vehicle's tires as it left the driveway, turning onto the main road.
Marina waited until it was safe and the car was just a speck in the distance, then she ran down the stairs to the three boys remaining in the driveway, her rapid footfalls quickly closing the space between them.
"Is he gonna be ok? What's going on?" she asked, tears already streaming down her face.
Both Luke and Michael put their arms around her instantly. She buried her face in the sleeve of Luke's leather jacket.
"Looks like Parsons snitched," Calum said, crossing his arms, face stony.
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roofcell83 · 3 years
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ladylillianrose · 4 years
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You’ve Got SPRQS a Max Richman/Zoey Clarke Fanfiction
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A/N: Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to tell me how much they are enjoying this story! You have no idea how much I appreciate it, and how much it helps me to keep writing!
I know it seems like things are progressing quickly however since SPRQS is meant to be a dating app (making this different from the You’ve Got Mail setup) it makes sense that they would want to actually go on a date with one another sooner rather than later. And these two adorable idiots are trying to find "move on" from their feelings for the other, so they are eager for a distraction!
As always thanks to aubreyrichman for reading over my stuff!
I’m just going to continue to hold onto these guys for safekeeping, Austin Winsberg can have them back in time for Season 2 I promise!
Summary: In which plans for Red and Billy to meet are made.
Chapter 6
Chapter 5
Chapter 4
Chapter 3
Chapter 2
Chapter 1
Chapter 6
Max had just got into his car after leaving Zoey’s apartment when he got the message from Red.
"How do you feel about meeting in person?" 
He swallowed nervously as he stared at the message. How did he feel about meeting Red in person? His thoughts drifted to the woman upstairs, the woman he had been in love with for the better part of the past six months. She hadn’t given any indication that she felt anything for him more than friendship. 
He liked Red, or at least what he’d gotten to know about her in the few days they had been speaking. She at least seemed to be interested in more than friendship with him. He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel thinking. 
“You pick a place and time and I’ll be there.”
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“You pick a place and time and I’ll be there.”
Zoey’s heart skipped a beat as she read his response, he wanted to meet! She smiled and jumped up and down in excitement, barely keeping her shriek of joy contained.
“Oh God…. he accepted!” she gasped. “Mo!” Zoey ran across the hall and into Mo’s apartment.
Mo looked out from the kitchen at Zoey’s panicked face and put the kettle on. “What happened with Max-a-licious? Please, tell me you kissed him!
“What? No... he’s my best friend...why would I….no, this has nothing to do with Max!” Zoey sputtered.
“Well, if it isn’t about him, then what has you over here in such a state?”
“I asked if Billy wanted to meet in person, and he said yes!” 
“You mean your piano man? Ooo, that must have been some song he sent you!” Mo grinned, as he poured them tea. “Well, if you asked him then why do you look so terrified?”
“I’m nervous! What if he hates me?!” Zoey wailed, dropping her head onto the table.
Mo shook his head, “Isn’t that what this whole messaging one another is about? You’ve been talking for a few days and there’s enough of a connection between you that made you ask to meet him. And since he agreed, I can only assume he feels that same connection. So, you have nothing to worry about!” 
Zoey lifted her head slightly, “You think so?” 
“Well, apart from where you are going to meet and when.” 
Zoey worried her lip, “The Golden Grind could work, nothing too serious, just coffee.
Mo nodded, “Comfortable and neutral territory is good. You could arrange it for Friday after work, that way if things go well you can continue on to dinner, and if they don’t then it doesn’t ruin your evening.”
 Zoey nodded, following Mo's logic. "I'd have to get ready at work."
"I'll pop by and help you. Besides you promised I could go with you when you met him," Mo's tone brooked no argument.  
"Oh God, I'm going to have to tell Joan," Zoey groaned, putting her head back on the table.
Mo laughed, "This is going to be so much fun!"
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"How does this Friday at 5 PM sound? There's a cafe I know called The Golden Grind that we could meet at."
Zoey took a deep breath as she sent the message. She was nervous, talking with Mo had helped but she still was anxious about what he might think of wanting to meet this quickly. 
"I love that cafe! So, it's a date?"
Her stomach fluttered as she read the word date, it was a date, a real honest to goodness date. 
"It's a date! I'm looking forward to it!"
"I'll be the one waiting with the Code Red Mountain Dew, just for you ;)"
Zoey groaned in embarrassment; she had really hoped that he would forget about that ridiculous lie she had told.
"Already trying to score points before the date?"
"Only if it's working." 
Despite how ridiculous it was Zoey couldn't help but be charmed by him.
"Oh, it is ;)"
She was nervous, but she found herself looking forward to their meeting. Now, she just had to tell one other person. Squaring her shoulders, she headed into Joan's office and shut the door.
Joan looked up at her expectantly.
"So, I may have already arranged to meet someone from SPRQS...and you said you would go with me to make sure I didn't get murdered…." 
Joan lowered her glasses and stared at her. "You certainly moved faster than I expected."
Zoey flushed, "I just decided that now is the time to take chances and get out there."
Joan grinned, closing her laptop. "So, tell me all about this mystery man."
Zoey smiled and sat down, filling Joan in on what she and Billy had talked about.
"You have nicknames for each other?" Joan raised her eyebrows.
"Well, I had to do something with that terrible username you came up with," Zoey defended herself.
Joan chuckled, "Only you could come up with a cover story so ridiculous."
"So, will you come? My friend Mo is coming by to help me get ready, and he made me promise I'd bring him along." Zoey asked.
"Of course, I'm coming! I want to see who this mystery man that has pulled you out of your shell is!" Joan exclaimed.
"Okay, so it's Friday at 5 PM."
"Gotcha."
Zoey reached the door when Joan's voice stopped her.
"I'm proud of you for taking a chance, Zoey."
 Zoey smiled at her and nodded, "Me too."
The morning crept along at an almost glacial pace. Zoey found herself contemplating yet another trip to the cheese bar, just so she had something to do. Thankfully, her train of thought was interrupted by a message from Billy. 
"Soooo…. apparently, you aren't the only one getting weird pick-up-lines from strangers." 
Zoey covered her mouth to keep a giggle from escaping.
"I showed you mine, you show me yours…"
She heard Max inhale sharply and shot him a concerned glance. He waved it off as nothing, focusing on his computer screen.
"Well, no points for originality, but that was definitely one of the ones they used."
Zoey turned bright red, what was it about this man that made her brain take complete leave of its senses.
".... I’m just going to go die of embarrassment, k thanks bye!"
Zoey groaned and dropped her head onto her desk.
"Everything okay, Zo?" Max called out, concerned.
She gave him a thumbs up and continued to sit there in embarrassment. 
"Ooookay…" Max said skeptically.
"I think it's adorable, and I don’t mind it when you use that line on me ;)"
Zoey found herself blushing for a different reason now. 
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Max couldn't help his train of thought as he saw Red's response.
"I showed you mine, you show me yours…"
His breath caught as he read her words, his train of thought suddenly derailed by her innuendo. What was this woman doing to him?!
He waved off Zoey’s concern, mildly embarrassed at her having heard him.
"Well, no points for originality, but that was definitely one of the ones they used."
Max turned as he heard a groan and thump from Zoey’s desk. She had her head on her desk, with her arms hanging defeatedly at her sides.
 "Everything okay, Zo?” he asked, mildly concerned at her behavior. She sent a thumbs up in his direction and he shook his head.
"Ooookay…" he shook his head at her.  Zoey had been acting weirder than usual lately. He needed to check with her later and make sure everything was actually as okay as she said it was.
".... I’m just going to go die of embarrassment, k thanks bye!"
He chuckled at how easily flustered she was.
"I think it's adorable, and I don’t mind it when you use that line on me ;)"
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Zoey had hoped things would pick up after lunch, but it seemed that work was doomed to be mind-numbingly slow today. 
Tobin had suggested that they create a problem within the SPRQ Watch code just so they would have something to do. Thankfully before he could act on that suggestion, he fell asleep at his desk.
Zoey and Max were currently engaging in a game to see how many post-it notes they could stick on Tobin before he wakes up.
Zoey was currently in the lead with twenty-five neon green ones decorating the left side of his body. 
Max walked by and quickly placed a hot pink post-it directly on top of Tobin's head. He backed away slowly as Tobin started to shift in his sleep, before he stilled once again.  Max pumped his fist in celebration, doing a quiet victory dance.
"All tied up," he whispered to Zoey as he returned to her desk.
Zoey grinned, slowly creeping over to place her next one on Tobin's right hand.
Tobin's eyes fluttered open just as she began to back away.
"Wazzat?" he mumbled.
Max quickly slipped back to his own desk, just as Zoey returned to hers. Both of them attempting to hide their laughter as Tobin finally woke up.
"Oh, come on, guys!" Tobin said, looking down at his post-it note covered body. He shook his head at them, "I can't believe you guys would do this without me! Don't you know that Leif is the better choice? You can fit way more on him cause he's taller, and he sleeps like a rock!" 
Zoey laughed, "Leif didn't fall asleep at his desk." 
"That would be impressive though since it's a standing desk," Max grinned.
"So who won?"
"Well since you woke up as I put my last one on you, we tied at twenty-five apiece.” 
Max grinned as he rolled his chair next to Zoey’s and they high-fived one another.
Tobin shook his head at them, “Not bad all things considered.”
Joan poked her head out of the office to check on them and glanced at Tobin. "I don't even want to know," she mumbled before retreating and closing her door.
Zoey and Max caught one another's eyes and burst into laughter.
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