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fanfin-glutton · 10 months

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Experimental Fashion

Plot: Eleazar and Miriam Fig have come to stay at the Inkwood’s residence in Massachusetts in America every so often, either for research purposes or just to visit. They have grown a special bond with the family, particularly with a little curious 8-year-old girl named Florence. One day she decided to dress up in some of her uncle and aunt’s clothes they had in their drawers in the guest room thinking they wouldn’t be home for a while. Boy was she wrong.

CW: Flash back, Angst, fluff, young toddler experiencing a slight panic attack, wholesome I promise lol

Authors note: This is a flashback into Eleazar Fig and Florence Inkwood’s past, it’s my first ever attempt at writing a short story like this so I apologize if there's any weird wording ;-; I’m working out the main storyline of their first interaction but it will take me a while as I am a full-time college student and have a full-time job as well. So for now, here's a little memory from the past.

Proof read by the lovely @lilac-crown, thank you so much darling <3

You can read the full story here on AO3

A young girl in a white homeware gown with long dark red fuzzy hair named Florence, about 8 years old, rummages through her uncle Eleazar and Aunt Miriam's drawers in the guest bedroom, trying on every article of clothing she finds. A variety of clothing lay skewed around the bedroom. She was exploring to see what exactly she would find but was most interested in her uncle’s clothing. She always wondered how it must feel to get the luxury of being able to run around freely without extra layers of fabric limiting the range of motion that men were so inherently given.

So when everyone would be out of the house, except her mother who was taking an afternoon nap in her bedroom upstairs after finishing up her daily chores, she took the opportunity to try some on. Usually, it would be a few hours before anyone came home so she would have enough time to put everything away, making it look like nothing had happened.

It's not because disliked her dresses; she thought they were all pretty but they could be a nuance when she was running around playing outside with the local children doing a handful of activities that required her to get dirty. Her mother would disapprove of her adventurous needs as they would result in some form of damage to her gowns. Thankfully when Miriam or her older sister, Victoria Inkwood, are around they can use their magic to clean/repair her garments far easier.

Her aunt and sister made wearing ankle-length dresses look easy as they went about their daily life, compared to Florence’s struggle with her knee-length dresses. It made her a tad bit envious of not being able to manage it the same as them.

She would try to see if her two older brothers, Lawrence and Edward, had any spares from when they were younger but to no success. Plus their room would almost always be locked when they were gone, probably to prevent a certain child from doing the same to them as it’s happening to the Figs. She would’ve tried on her father’s but she didn’t want him to mock her for it as he already made her inferior for not having any magical abilities like her older siblings. She is a year overdue for them to appear, she read up on other children in similar situations but only a handful never got their magical gifts.

She was also too afraid to tell her mother, she fears that she might get angry by such an odd desire in a girl her age, another added to the long list of undesirable quirks of Florence Inkwood, the family’s only squib.

She shook off these thoughts as she zipped up the long, black pants, the majority of which gathered at her ankles. Her puffy sleeve-covered arms protruded out from the cuffs that were shoved up her arm, and her hands can barely be seen, in the oversized ash-purple frock coat that covered her dress and that was partially buttoned up.

Miriam just so happened to have left her hat that was made of straw and was a light sand color with a faded blue ribbon tied around it on her nightstand.

After carefully placing the hat on top of her long and fuzzy dark red hair, she finally looked into the mirror to see a mess of clothing on her person. She stared at herself for a good moment before bursting out into laughter at the odd silhouette the amalgamation of clothing made, the shaking of her whole being causing the hat to fall covering her eyes, she tried to stifle her giggles before tilting the hat back to regain her sight.

Her dress was bunched up underneath the Frock coat making her shoulders and torso look broad, the pants covering her feet completely in the excess fabric. She paused to study the frock coat, grazing her nimble fingers across all the repairs and subtle changes that gave it its character. It was one of her favorites that Eleazar owned. When he wears it, it fits him perfectly, and makes him look quite wise and strong, to her it makes him look powerful. From the many stories he told, she’d like to believe him wearing this exact coat during said tales.

Her attention shifts to the straw hat, grazing the rim of it. It was a rather lovely hat with a few stains on the ribbon and parts of the hat were weathered down from her travels as well, but Florence liked it nonetheless. She could imagine it sitting on her long, luscious, wavy black hair riddled with silver strains, which she sometimes wore down or half up in a messy braided bun.

As much as she liked that hat, there was another accessory that Miriam had owned that she liked but wasn’t able to find. These round sun protection eyeglasses with a golden frame. The part of the frame holding the glass lens is extended back touching the face, almost cupping the eyes. An item she has never seen before. Yes, local people wore different types of eyeglasses but none were as unique as hers. They framed Miriam’s semi-round face nicely, the gold working beautifully with her light caramel skin and giving her an air of mystery.

She oh so desired to explore and discover new things, to travel around the world just like her aunt and uncle had seen. Or even more.

As she wore this outfit, the stronger her desire grew. Making her feel closer to it.

Suddenly, she straightens her posture before putting one hand behind her back and the other in a fist on her chest and making a serious face,

“Ah hello!” She does a rather stiff bow towards the mirror, pretending it to be a living being.

“Good weather we’re having?” She attempted in a fake deep voice, trying to impersonate her uncle. “Have you seen my beautiful wife? I must report back to her!” The hand she had on her chest shot up into the air with her index finger up to the sky.

“For I must tell her… er…” her serious face softened while scrunching her brows to find the words. Quite a difficult task for an 8-year-old.

“That um… I have discovered… uh something! Yes!” Her body perked up and her golden hazel eyes twinkle, as if she had indeed discovered something.

Which she just did.

She discovered she was being watched as she heard a soft giggle behind her, immediately she froze and all color left her face. The air in her lungs felt like they were pulled out of her. She glanced around in the mirror to see a set of two eyes peeking in from the doorframe.

Eleazar and Miriam were barely visible from Florence’s view, but she could make out Miriam’s fingertips covering her smirk and her eyes squinting in amusement while Eleazar did nothing to hide his agape mouth and wide eyes.

Fear immediately hit Florence, causing shockwaves of anxiety through her body. She slowly turned towards them, her face failing to hide any of her internal thoughts.

“I-I… please, please don’t be mad-” the words stumbling out of her quivering mouth and she found her lungs malfunctioning, unable to take in air. Her little hands clenched onto the coat.

Miriam and Eleazar’s expressions immediately drop, Miriam rushes to her side, lowering herself to meet the child’s eye level. Eleazar closes the door behind him and tries to tiptoe to the two as Mrs. Inkwood was still napping upstairs, kneeling on one knee.

“My little love, breathe” Miriam's warm and husky voice whispers to Florence as she cautiously takes both of her trembling hands and holds them close to her face, Miriam’s deep hazel eyes looking into the little ones own eyes. “Please breathe with me,” she breathes in deeply, Florence shakily follows suit. Eleazar is doing the same as well.

“Good girl, now slowly out…” she breathed out, all three breathe out in unison, they do this a few more times until Florence’s shaking nearly stops. Eleazar softly places a hand on her upper back, rubbing slow and lazy eights across it.

As soon as her nervous system was soothed, her vision slowly blurred as her eyes filled with tears and little beads fell down her face as she started to choke back a sob. Eleazar felt as if someone was squeezing his heart at the sight of his dear little one in such a state, “Sweetheart, do you want a hug?” His voice is low, trying to keep a calm demeanor. She nodded and immediately both of the adults pulled her into a warm embrace, Miriam quietly shushing her while patting her back gently.

“Love you are not in any trouble, okay?” She spoke into Florence’s hair as she nuzzled it. “I’m not…? You’re *sniffs* not upset…?” She murmured into Miriam’s chest.

Miriam kisses the top of her head before slowly pulling back, looking at her tear-stained face with a soft smile. “Oh, you could never upset us.”

Eleazar quietly spoke, “I mean, how could anyone else get mad at such a dashing child such as yourself?” He leaned back to glance at her outfit,

“Very stylish indeed, young one.” He beamed at her.

She glanced between him and her outfit before wiping her face with the coat sleeve. “You like it? Really like it?”

Miriam and Eleazar quickly glance at each other before nodding in unison, “Yes darling, I think the colors suit you well” Miriam smirks in amusement, “I will say I think it’ll look better if the clothes fit you… perhaps a bit of shopping is in order, what do you say hm?” She tilted her head to the side with her question. Florence's eyes widened and began to sparkle,

“Really?! Are there clothes like this for girls, Aunt Miriam?”

She nodded, even if it wasn’t the entire truth. There aren't clothes tailored for girls in this style but she can surely find something similar in boy clothes. She glanced at her uncle, “Will you be joining us too Uncle El?” Eleazar felt one corner of his mouth tug into a smile at the old nickname.

“Why of course, darling, just know that it’ll be her to style you… I wouldn’t have a clue about fashion. But between you and me, I think the coat looks better on you.” he whispered as he leaned closer with a hand up to hide his mouth from his beloved wife, earning a small smile from Florence.

Miriam chuckles before the couple stands back up, Miriam dusting herself off before scooping up Florence in her arms. “Now, we must ask your mother of course.” Florence’s face grimaced slightly, prompting Miriam to bring her face closer to hers.

“Let's say that we’re just going for a walk, hm?” She raised an eyebrow, making Florence immediately perk up with excitement. Eleazar smiled as he wrapped an arm behind Miriam’s back bringing them into his chest.

“Well firstly, let’s clean up this room before we go. Wouldn’t want to make your mother think some hooligan ransacked our room.” He nuzzles the top of Florence’s head while Miriam leans and pulls in Florence to kiss her on the cheek.

Florence giggles happily, her cheeks blushing from her excitement.

Oh how loved she felt when she was with them, she never felt more at home.

Tag list: @endeavour12345 (If you’d like to be added to any future updates on this story line, please let me know and I’ll add you to the notification list!)

#professor fig #hogwarts legacy #hogwarts legacy oc #eleazar fig #Miriam fig #original character #hogwarts legacy fanfiction #hogwarts oc

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rosietrace · 1 year

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Melodic Misconceptions 🎹

Track 04: Corporate Slaves

Synopsis: Victoria Shard was a former member of the popular idol group [ Poisoner ] from NRC corporations. After discourse with her group leader, Victoria decided it was best for her to leave and pursue her solo career in a record label run by her parents.

It had been half a year since her separation from her old group, and Victoria had never been more successful. But now she has a new problem. She must return to NRC corporations in order to mentor the seven idol groups.

Ellis Clawthorne is a member of [ (Co)-connect ] the most recent group under NRC'S belt. With no experience as an idol, Ellis must persevere in order to succeed and pursue her dreams.

Will both girls be able to adapt to their current situations?

✐ ✎_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_✐ ✎

Author's note: I wrote this at like- 1 am and I'm currently finishing up track 05 and Zen's idol profile, maybe you'll see all the profiles finished in one day? XD

──ㅇ─────↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺───ㅇ────

Victoria and Zen continue walking around NRC Corp. After Divus gave them a rehash and helped them familiarize themselves with the layout, they decided to walk around a bit and discuss things.

"I think you should change the first couple of lyrics of that pre-chorus."

"You sure?"

"Positive. Besides, we both know you aren't exactly known for your grammar."

Zen gasped dramatically."How dare you." He said below his breath, feigning offense and appearing hurt.

Victoria couldn't help but snort."It's okay. When we get settled in once our rooms have been prepared, I'll make sure to help you with your lyrics." She promised, even letting out her pinky finger so they could do a pinky promise.

Zen giggled, intertwining his pinky finger with hers."Can't break this promise now, Tori~" he teased, a bright grin on his face.

"Pffft- I know…" she trailed off her sentence. Though Zen was aware that she had nothing else to say on the matter.

"I heard you're going to have a podcast with another idol soon. Is that true?" Victoria pursed her lips, looking at Zen in curiosity.

Almost immediately, he nodded rapidly."Mhm! We're going to discuss the idol industry alongside some other topics!" He exclaimed excitedly.

Victoria chuckled."I see you're excited about the podcast." She noted. Zen laughed and agreed, and the two of them continued to discuss the podcast and what it was going to be about.

Until they heard a whistle from someone in front of them.

"My oh my~ It seems the two mentors have officially arrived." Victoria narrowed her eyes at him. Who the hell is this guy? She thought.

After eyeing his choice of clothing, she concluded that he at least knew how to dress well.

Zen gasped."Oh! You're Yuuta, right? A member of (Co)-connect!" He sent him an optimistic closed-eyed smile.

Yuuta smirked and stepped closer to the two of them."That's me. I just finished my hair and makeup." He said casually before his eyes caught sight of Victoria.

The latter hummed softly and crossed her arms assertively, making her appear a bit more intimidating to Yuuta. It didn't exactly help that she was taller than him and Zen.

Except in Yuuta's case, she was taller by four inches-

Nevertheless, he sent her a whistle of amusement." My~ It seems the recent Grammy awardee is going to be my group's mentor~ How lucky…" for whatever reason, his words irked Victoria.

She hummed."Greetings. Though I'm assuming that you know of me already, I am Victoria Shard. Otherwise known as Shōri/Victori." Victoria greeted, extending her hand for Yuuta to shake.

His smirk transitioned into a playful yet friendly smile as he shook her hand."Yuuta Sumeragi, otherwise known as Aijin(愛人)." He greeted back, making Victoria smile a bit.

Zen whined."Uwah~ Don't forget about me, know!" He called out, making Yuuta and Victoria chuckle beneath their breaths.

"Apologies. But really, how am I supposed to greet such a phenomenal music producer such as yourself?" Zen laughed a bit at the sudden flattery.

Checking his watch, Yuuta sighed disappointedly."It seems our conversation must end now… I cannot be late for another discussion with my group. I won't hear the end of it from Mayuu…" he muttered the last parts of his sentence quietly, preventing Zen and Victoria from hearing it.

After that, he walked past them and waved them goodbye, making them oblivious to the fact that they were supposed to meet him much later.

Unfortunately, they ended up running into someone after Yuuta. Someone Victoria had a lot bit of bad blood with.

Vil. Head representative of the Pomefiore division and the leader of [ Poisoner ].

Victoria resisted the urge to ignore him entirely. But Vil ended up preventing her from doing that by approaching her and Zen. The latter noticed how quickly the atmosphere changed when Vil walked towards them.

"Victoria…" And already she felt annoyed by hearing him say her name.

"Vil." She replied discreetly, making it clear that she was not all that pleased to see him. And unbeknownst to her… Zen noticed how much it hurt Vil. Just by looking at his eyes.

"I see you're going to be a mentor for the idol groups."

"Yes. I'll be sure to give them the fine-tuning they need."

"They're already working hard. You're just going to enforce overexertion onto them."

Zen seethed, knowing that the conversation's gonna turn for the worst once Vil completed that sentence.

Victoria's jaw clenched and she walked past Vil, stomping on his foot in the process.

"You know I'm not one to do such a thing. I'm not the one who's trapped as a corporate slave, after all."

She walked away without saying much else, while Zen quickly followed her after politely excusing himself from Vil, who continued to try and soothe the pain he felt after Victoria stomped on his foot.

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Yuuta chuckled after texting Ellis, before entering the room and immediately regretted that he met Victoria and Zen before the rest of the group.

"Yuuta…." Mayuu's eyes narrowed, and the entire room was filled with tension. Most of which was fueled by Mayuu's irritation.

He turned to Miren to come to his defense just in case. But all he got was a look that said 'Yeah you're fucked and you're on your own'. He internally sent Miren the middle finger for that-

"Have a seat." Mayuu (demanded) requested of Yuuta. He nodded reluctantly and quickly sat between Miren and Carol.

Seeing that Carol was amused that he was technically in trouble, Yuuta sent her a scowl before Mayuu spoke.

"You met Zenith and Victoria before the assigned time… Didn't you?"

….. He is so fucked.

──ㅇ─────↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺───ㅇ────

Tagging: @starry-night-rose @windbornearchon @fumikomiyasaki @nem0-nee @sakuramidnight15 @crazyyanderefangirlfan @geminiiviolets @authoruio @knights-escort

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thecarnivorousmuffinmeta · 3 years

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not the same anon but I was wondering: what if bella was in a time loop from almost getting hit by the truck to the end of the baseball game?

For reference, the time loop post.

Well, as usual, the answer is not good places. Because instead of a one shot way through life, Bella is now playing a game of probability. As we know from Alice telling Edward even about the meadow alone, the odds were not in Bella’s favor.

Loop One

So, Bella goes through the loop for the first time. She’s in love with Edward, just now gets to meet his amazing family, and gets a hint that something’s going very wrong at the baseball game. However, before the hunt is on with James and Victoria, Bella’s magicked back to nearly being hit by the truck.

She’s probably really dazed for a few days but probably tells Edward up front “you’re a vampire, I know, we’ve done this before” and Edward flips out. The family has their vote, Bella now knowing exactly what they are probably causes the paranoid members to have stronger opinions but I imagine mercy wins out and Bella’s spared. Bella comes and tells them that she’s in a time loop and this is when Bella realizes things aren’t quite right.

Her relationships with the Cullens don’t pick up where they left off. Alice is a little more hesitant in being her friend, as Bella now threatens to usurp her position of seer. She’s still perky and enthused by the idea, but a little less gung ho, noticeably so to Bella. Things are worse with Edward.

Bella’s ready to love Edward and be loved by him in turn right this second. Edward only realized he was in love after Alice tells him so when the family puts Bella’s life to a vote. In that instant he was incredibly resistant to the idea and appalled by it. This time, it’s not just Alice telling him, it’s Bella herself. I imagine Edward’s very uncomfortable with that.

He still has this ongoing fantasy that he can and will nobly leave Bella for her own good with Bella none the wiser. He slowly finds himself realizing that he can’t ignore her and can’t not be involved in her life, and tells himself this is still fine and he can maintain this balancing act. In other words, approaching Bella initially was very much something on Edward’s terms.

Now it’s not. Bella knows everything without him saying a word, Bella sees himself as his girlfriend, without him deciding to give in to his feelings, Bella has fond memories of time spent with an Edward Cullen who doesn’t even exist anymore, everything is completely outside of his control.

I imagine Edward would actively resist any romantic overtures with this Bella. He’ll prove her wrong, save her humanity, and do everything on his terms. He cautions the entire family, but especially Alice, from approaching Bella much as he did in canon.

Bella is utterly heartbroken, everything’s changed and she doesn’t understand. The day of the baseball game comes, Bella’s not invited, and she finds herself looping.

The Second Loop

Bella’s learned her lesson. This time, she’s keeping her mouth fucking shut, it doesn’t matter that she can’t lie because no one will ever ask. She goes even further than she did the first time and doesn’t insist to Edward she knows he’s not human. She pretends she hit her head hard enough that she doesn’t remember. This will spare him and the family that nasty fight over what to do about Bella.

Unfortunately, without this, there’s no catalyst to push Edward into realizing his romantic feelings. Alice’s visions only seemed to solidify with the potential fight between Edward and Jasper. Edward remains hot and cold during Biology, still sneaks into her bedroom (though likely without Bella ever being aware), but never pursues or even thinks about the label of “boyfriend” the way he did in canon.

Bella tries to get close to Edward but he wigs out every time she tries and actively pushes her away. He spends the weeks very much in conflict over his own feelings and not quite sure why he feels the way he does.

The day of the baseball game comes, Bella is not invited, and she loops again.

The Third Loop

Bella decides that, clearly, the answer is to do everything exactly the way she did it the first time.

Bella hints to Edward that she knows he’s not human after the van incident, she goes to Port Angeles and wanders around the streets waiting for potential rapists to follow her, she has her back and forth with Edward where he cryptically warns her away from him but also begs her to stay.

This goes great until the meadow.

Alice tells us in Midnight Sun that, if she’s being generous, Bella’s odds of survival are 40/60. She then estimates lower with a grimace that it might actually be more like 35/65.

Point being, it’s not good, and more than likely that Edward’s going to eat Bella. If Bella plays Russian Roulette long enough, one day, the bullet will exit the chamber.

Bella loses the meadow and loops.

The Next N Loops

Bella, more often than not, can make it to the meadow but then is eaten. She keeps trying, with increasing desperation, but gets more and more strained. Now as the date of the meadow approaches, rather than be something she looks forward to, she flinches and has to steel herself.

Edward, of course, notices, which only makes it more likely that he lose control as rather than this innocent trusting creature who believes in him Bella is the girl who knows he’s going to eat her.

If Bella makes it past the meadow she often also gets eaten, either by Edward or a family member who loses control. If she makes it all the way to the baseball game it’s just that, she makes it to the baseball game and no further.

Eventually, I think this wears her down. Bella can’t find the energy to do this anymore, she doesn’t want to do this anymore, and she has her first loop where she doesn’t pursue Edward.

Except he... doesn’t leave her alone.

She finds that, when she wants to get rid of him, he’s impossible to get rid of. Which of course aggravates her to no end. In fact, it probably drives her a little mad.

The Insanity Loops

Eventually, Bella realizes these loops aren’t stopping and makes life ultimately meaningless. Why should she go to high school? The only reason is to see Edward, and he’s starting to become a bit much for her. Why should she work so hard to be a part of Edward’s life when she’ll be back in the same position in a few weeks?

I imagine Bella starts skipping school, stops doing homework, and does increasingly erratic things. She goes cliff diving, runs away from home and goes travelling without telling anyone, much to everyone freaking out.

Eventually, Bella decides that the only way she might get out of the loops is if she becomes a vampire.

The Bella Tries To Convince Somebody To Turn Her Loops

Bella first approaches Edward, she tells him everything, and that the only way she might escape that she hasn’t tried so far is becoming a vampire. No worries if he kills her, they might have better luck next time and he’s eaten her plenty of times already.

Edward is horrified and does not want to play ball at all. He flips out, demands the family pack up and leave Bella with no options, and Bella loops again.

Bella tries Alice, Alice has a similar reaction that she did in New Moon. She doesn’t personally have the control, more, it would completely alienate her from Edward. No need to rush things, Bella will be a vampire eventually (or dead).

Rosalie is disgusted, Jasper is very confused and also horrified, Emmett is confused and doesn’t want to piss off Rosalie, Esme eats Bella before she can get a word out, which leaves Carlisle.

Carlisle and Bella have one seriously weird conversation about her loops in which Bella provides knowledge she can’t possibly know about. Carlisle’s concern is that it’s probably not Bella’s humanity that’s the problem. Likely, she has an out of control and very powerful gift. As a vampire, there’s a chance it could get worse somehow.

Still, after much persuading, he agrees to try. Edward loses his mind. Again, all of this has not only spiralled out of his control but he never had control to begin with. In this timeline, Bella spoke to Carlisle about this in the hospital after the van incident.

Bella learns that doing this completely destroys her relationship with Edward more than anything ever has. Nonetheless they do it and...

Well, either Bella stops looping, is now a Cullen, has disappeared off the face of the Earth for her family, and ruined her relationship with Edward before it even started. That, or she’s still looping, and has reached peak despair.

#twilight #twilight meta #twilight headcanon #twilight renaissance #time loop #bella swan #edward cullen #anti edward cullen #edward/bella #anti edward/bella #alice cullen #anti alice cullen #carlisle cullen #meta #headcanon #opinion

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edie-baby · 3 years

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Baby Boy Chapter 10 (S) | Lando Norris

Summary: Milana Navratilova is the best friend of Victoria Verstappen, and is for lack of a better word, a minx. She can pull anyone into bed with her at any time. So when she attends the Austrian Grand Prix with Victoria, the drivers make for good bedfellows. Until she finds a man who makes her finally feel like herself. Her baby boy.

Warnings: smut, swearing, non-con kiss (THIS CHAPTER TOO), OC is a w h o r e and i love her.

Mila and Lando arrived back at the hotel where both of their teams were staying. Mila offered her room for their movie night as it had the privacy of the master bedroom where they could have some privacy in case Victoria was staying in tonight. However, as they approached the pair’s room, they saw Max sitting outside on his phone, a determined look on his face when he looked up and saw his target.

With a purposeful march, Max made it to Milana in a few seconds, and without warning, pulled her in by the waist and kissed her. Not wanting to interfere as the two weren’t together, Lando stood behind the pair, waiting for a reaction from Mila so that he could either pull Max away from her or go back to his own room alone. The former happened, as Mila’s arms were desperately swatting at Max’s chest to get him off her. Lando yelled out for Alex as he knew his best friend was staying on the same floor as Mila. Alex popped his head out and saw Lando pulling Max away from Milana.

“Hey mate, let’s get you to your room. I think you’ve had a bit too much to drink.” Alex tried to calmly move the large driver back to his room without causing a scene with the already annoyed Mila and furious Lando. He got him far enough down the hall that Mila felt that she could pull Lando and herself into her room without risk of the raging bull of a RedBull driver coming barging into the room.

Lando was even angrier than when the two had left the restaurant. Mila wanted to calm him down, but truly had no idea how to as she and Lando didn’t know all that much about each other. Mila stood halfway across the room from Lando, close to the front door of the room, feeling comforted by the slightly enclosed space. He could feel her looking at him, not knowing what to do or say or think, but Lando needed to do something. His footsteps were quick as he crossed the room, merely two seconds from when he first made a move until when he was right in front of her.

Lando roughly grabbed the sides of Mila’s face and kissed her with all of the frustration, the passion, the anger, the desire, the need he had for her. Her lips tangled with his in a perfect duet, her hands holding tightly to his wrists. The two separated to breathe, and Lando took a step back, breathing heavily as he attempted to process what he had done. She had just been forcefully kissed by Max, and now here he was doing the exact same thing.

His spiralling thoughts were cut off by the collar of his sweater being roughly tugged closer to the floor, where he realised the shorter woman was begging for him to kiss her again. He did so, just as hard as the first kiss, their noses bumped, their teeth clashed at some point, but neither noticed nor cared. All that mattered was them, together, and him, and her. The kiss seemed to heat up even further, Mila’s hands tugging on the brown curls she adored so much while Lando’s hands travelled to the back of the girl’s thighs to pick her up, her legs wrapping around his waist before he drove them both into the wall, his hand cradled the back of her neck, his thumb putting pressure on the side of her jaw. He used his finger to turn her head, his kisses moving to her neck, immediately targeting her pulse point on the side of her neck. He began sucking hard on the skin, and Mila couldn’t help but cry out from the overwhelming pleasure. His hips ground into hers, using the wall as leverage so he could get even more friction between their bodies. He continued to suck blood to the surface of the skin on her neck and the small portion of exposed skin of her chest that he could access with her dress still on. His feverish kisses moved back to her lips while he carried her toward the closed bedroom door. He used one arm to support Mila’s weight, using the other to turn the handle of the door, he kicked the door shut behind them before turning to push Mila up against this door as well. His hands began travelling more, his hands squeezing her ass, hoisting her thighs up higher for a better angle to grind into her cunt. And all Mila wanted was to get his damn shirt and sweater off. He chuckled, pulling her away from the door to move to the bed. Lando dropped the short girl onto the bed, who immediately sat up on her knees to help Lando get his tops off. He pulled the sweater over his head in one movement, and Mila had to admit it was such a sexy thing, for absolutely no reason other than it was Lando doing it. Her fingers were shaking with anticipation as she popped each shirt button undone until Lando was standing there in an unbuttoned shirt, his tanned skin and muscular torso all for her to see. His hair was in disarray and his lips were swollen and she had never felt luckier.

Without wasting any more time, Mila pushed Lando’s shirt off his shoulders, watching as it fell to the floor. His biceps had grown even more since she had first met him, and without the hindrance of a shirt, she could finally appreciate them for all that they were. Lando, however, wasn’t much in the standing around mood. His lips reattached to Mila’s, and his hands made quick work of the zipper on the back of her dress. His calloused hands ran over her shoulders, down her arms, and then followed the curve of her waist to her hips where the material finally fell to a heap on the bed, pooling around her knees. Lando’s eyes took in her heaving chest, covered by a sheer and orange bra, complete with the matching panties.

“You’ll be the death of me, Princess.” Lando’s voice was deeper and raspier than Mila had ever heard it before. And the pet name had her soaking through her panties. Lando laid her back on the bed, his kisses becoming softer and sweeter. His hand slid beneath her back, his teeth latching onto her nipple through the material of the bra, making her back arch. He undid her clasp with one hand, his other already occupied with hitching her leg higher up on his waist to allow a better angle to grind down into her. The coarse material of his jeans provided the most blissful friction right against her clit, and a hungry moan left her throat. She tossed her bra across the room after finally getting her arms out of it. Lando sat up on his knees between her legs, admiring the woman beneath him.

Mila’s eyes were closed, her head back against the pillow as she attempted to catch her breath in the brief pause. Her arms reached out for Lando, desperate to run her hands through his hair, to feel the muscles in his back working to keep him above her. Lando had grabbed her hands and tied them above her to the headboard, much like she had done to Max and Daniel. Except she had never been restrained before, she had always been the one in control.

And suddenly, the conversation about why Lando had such a passion for driving flashed in her mind.

But it's exhilarating, having all of the power, being the one in charge. It fuels me.

Lando sat back on his knees again, enjoying the view of Mila all tied up and ready for him. The hungry look on her face told him she was enjoying it a lot more than she might have expected, and Lando was about to make damn sure she enjoyed herself.

Mila felt caged, like prey. With her arms tied tight above her head, and Lando’s arms now on either side of her head to support his weight, she suddenly knew exactly why people loved to be dominated. Lando was watching her face, studying her when he saw the change in her eyes. Her eyes changed from dark brown to almost black due to the size of her pupils. A cocky smirk formed on his lips as he let his lips brush over hers and quickly moved away before she could make contact with him. The meekest whimper left her lips, and all of the blood left in Lando’s head travelled straight to his cock.

Lando’s attention moved from Mila’s face to her neck, the roadmap of hickeys would need to be continued now that he had her dress off. His lips began at her collarbone, and from there travelled to the valley between her boobs, reaching over once or twice to leave a mark on her tits. He couldn’t resist flicking his tongue over her pierced nipples just to hear the whines she would let out, and god did they please him. He continued further down, across her stomach, the sensitive spot on her hip bone that deserved a nice, purple love bite.

The orange panties were just too cute. They perfectly matched the papaya of the McLaren, he’d have to ask her to wear this on Sunday while he races, you know, for good luck.

Lando’s index fingers hooked into the waistband of the panties, his cold metal ring brushing along her waist accidentally. A shaky gasp pulled his attention away from the task at hand, and he looked up only to immediately meet Mila’s eyes. She was watching him, enraptured. He sent her a wink and licked his bottom lip in a quick swipe. Mila let out another one of those pathetic little whimpers that sent a shiver down his spine and right to his throbbing cock.

He pulled the panties off in a swift motion, he wanted to taste her, needed to taste her. His large hands took their place on the inside of her thighs, parting them just enough to fit his head between. He sucked a quick love bite onto the inside of her left thigh, making eye contact with the Czech as he swiped his tongue up her folds for the first time.

“You taste so good, Princess. So fucking sweet.” Lando growled, diving back into her folds with his tongue, licking a wide stripe up until he felt a little metal ball. He looked up at Mila with a raised eyebrow, using his fingers to part her folds and take a peek at the piercing in her clit. Mila looked at him sheepishly, but Lando only looked even more excited. With the heavy eye contact again, he sucked her clit into his mouth, using the barbell of the piercing to twist and turn and get every angle he could get his tongue onto her clit. Mila was biting her lip so hard, he was sure it was about to bleed. He moved his head from her cunt to look at her with a disappointed look.

“I want everyone in this fucking hotel to know that you’re finally getting treated right. And by who.” Lando’s mouth was right next to her ear, telling her directly what he wanted from her. He caressed her cheek with his hand, his thumb resting on her bottom lip. She quickly took the finger into her mouth, swirling her tongue around it and bobbing her head as much as she could. Lando swiped two fingers through her folds before bringing them up to her mouth and whispering to her.

“Taste yourself Princess.”

Mila gladly took his fingers again, working them with everything that she had, and he watched her in admiration as she looked up at him with those eyes. Mila released his fingers with a pop, a string of saliva connecting his middle finger to her bottom lip. He swiped his finger across her left nipple and blew cold air onto it, and Mila moaned freely.

Lando left wet kisses from her tits to her cunt, picking up exactly where he left off, his tongue working her clit while his fingers teased her entrance, hearing the whimpers from Mila only spurred him on further. He slid his middle finger in, curling it, stretching and preparing her for the second while still stimulating her clit and that lovely little piercing. Mila’s moans now where growing in volume. Lando added a second finger, scissoring them, then curling toward himself to brush over her G-spot, his fingers working in perfect time with his tongue to create a symphony of whimpers, moans and Czech curses falling off of her maroon lips. Her moans were as loud as yelling now, and he was sure the surrounding rooms would be hearing her already, and Lando was only just getting warmed up.

He added a third finger, continuing his coordinated movements, brushing up against the bundle of nerves ever so often to elicit a particularly loud moan. His eyes were locked on hers, his tongue still devouring her clit and folds. Lando decided to step it up a notch, and snaked his free hand around the outside of Mila’s leg to allow his fingers to rub her clit with a pace his tongue simply didn’t have. Mila’s moans quickly turned to a higher pitch, growing louder with each one as Lando’s fingers continued to scissor within her, his other hand rubbing her clit and putting pressure on it, while his tongue added stimulation to her clit.

“Fuck, Lando. I’m gonna cum. You’re so fucking good. Oh fuck!” Mila spoke each phrase between moans and pants. Lando increased his pace even more and had Mila screaming in pleasure in a few moments. Her vision had gone white, and a blinding hot feeling had covered her body. It seemed to light up every neuron in her body with a newfound purpose, and she wondered if sex was always supposed to feel like this.

Lando helped her ride out her orgasm, slowing his fingers to a slow pace, and stopping his assault on her clit. As Mila caught her breath and came back to reality, Lando licked his fingers clean, Mila caught the last few seconds, and figured it was safe as she would have cum again had she watched him from beginning to end.

“You were so good, Princess. You let the whole floor know just how good I can make you feel, but I want the entire hotel to know. You think you can help me with that baby?” Lando asked, Mila was still mentally recovering from her world shattering first orgasm, she didn’t know if she could take another. But she needed him. God, she wanted him too.

It was torture for Mila to watch Lando undo his jeans, and slide them and his Calvin’s down without being able to touch him. She wanted to taste him, wanted to touch him, wanted to feel him. He granted her wishes quite quickly, as after he rolled a condom on, he ran his tip up and down her folds, sighing in pleasure at the sensation. He pushed into her slowly, pulling her legs further up his waist. He bottomed out and leaned down to kiss her slowly, pouring his true feelings into the kiss. She returned it, the same emotion flowing between them.

Mila wiggled her hips, urging Lando to move. He slowly pulled almost all the way out, and then snapped his hips to meet hers, burying himself to the hilt again. A cry tore from Mila’s throat as Lando set his pace, snapping his hips to meet hers at a bruising speed. Mila’s moans were high pitched, loud, and frequent, she wasn’t even trying to make the hotel hear her, but if Lando kept up with this, they were sure as hell going to know.

Lando hoisted Mila’s legs onto his shoulders so her could drive deep down into her, and for the first time all night, he let his hand close around her throat. As soon as he did, Mila’s eyes rolled back into her head, her moans even louder than before. Lando could feel himself slipping to the edge with the pace and angle he was at, and he knew Mila would get there, but he needed her to have the world’s best orgasm, because he was in control now. With one hand, he began undoing the belt that held her wrists to the headboard. His hips still snapping at the same pace, Mila barely knew what was going on due to the pleasure pouring into her body at a high rate of knots.

Lando pulled out and turned Mila onto her front. She quickly got up onto her knees and leaned her shoulders and face into the mattress, her back arched at an angle that would give Lando a hard-on any time of day. He lined up with her entrance, his hands grabbing onto her hips with a bruising grip. He slid into her easily due to how wet she was, and this new angle allowed for a much faster pace. Mila was screaming in pleasure now, her moans no longer expressive enough of the wondrous job Lando was doing. He felt himself nearing the edge, after waiting to touch himself for so long, he knew he wouldn’t last a long time, especially if Mila kept clenching around him like she was. Lando reached forward and grabbed Mila’s hair, pulling it into a makeshift ponytail so he could hold her to his chest while fucking up into her.

The added hair pulling was the last push over the edge, and Mila fell back against Lando, who was basically being milked by Mila’s cunt, and came as well. If Mila thought her first orgasm was Earth-shattering, there were absolutely no words to describe what had just happened to her. It took multiple minutes for the both of them to come back down to Earth and rejoin reality. Lando was laid beside Mila, still slightly out of breath. He stood up to throw the condom in the bin, then reached his arms out for Mila to grab onto.

“C’mon baby, let’s have a shower. You’re not going to wake up early to have one before your breakfast with Vic. Plus, we’re a bit sweaty.” Lando giggled as Mila looked up at him with an incredulous look. He pulled her up from the bed, planting a sweet kiss to her lips before leading her into the bathroom. Lando stepped aside to turn the shower on and get it up to temperature, leaving Mila in front of the large bathroom mirror. She gasped and looked on, horrified, at her neck and chest. Every inch of her neck and collarbones were covered in hickeys, along with a trail of them leading to and from each boob. She looked accusatory at Lando, waving her pointer finger in the air at him like a mother.

“It’s not that bad, at least Max will get the hint now.” Lando growled, pulling Mila closer to his chest. Her arms snaked around his neck, pulling him closer to her for another kiss. The water was finally at what Lando deemed the ‘perfect temperature’ and as they got in, Mila understood exactly why. She felt the sex scum wash off of her immediately, and felt more relaxed than she had since she arrived in Austria. Lando and Mila helped cover each other in bubbles before washing off and getting into a bit of a water fight in the process. They climbed out, drying off with the overly fluffy hotel towels, and climbed into bed naked, wanting to enjoy each other as much as possible before Lando had to focus on the race weekend.

#lando norris #lando norris x reader #team lando #lando norris x oc #lando norris fanfiction #lando norris smut #mclaren f1 #formula 1 #f1 #f1 fanfic #call me eden

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sunsetcurvecuddles · 3 years

Note

“Let me bandage you up,” Tía or Ray and Reggie, just to be different. 😁

hi i loved this so much omg. huge thanks to Ángela @angela-feelstoomuch for the spanish help as well, any remaining mistakes are totally my own fault haha. warning for some swearing and mentions of bl00d/minor injury.

ao3 link in reblogs!

Honestly, being an honorary Molina is pretty great most of the time. Reggie loves having a little brother, would have done anything to convince his parents to have another kid when he was younger (and alive), though he knew they never would, since one kid was already such a pain in the ass. So Carlos is amazing.

And obviously Julie is his favourite girl ever, and his favourite still-alive person in the world, and she sings like an angel and thinks his country songs are cool and he would do anything for her and et cetera. It’s nice to see Luke and Alex settle in, get more relaxed - Luke doesn’t shy away from Julie every time Ray enters a room, and Alex doesn’t make excuses to miss dinner so that he doesn’t have to say grace, because he’s realised Ray doesn’t make him say grace.

“Niños!” Ray is calling from the kitchen, oven mitts on his hands, grin on his face, “Help setting the table?”

Even from here, dinner smells amazing. “Coming!” Reggie calls, manages not to say ‘dad’ at the end but it’s close, as he and Carlos bounce up off the couch and run to the kitchen.

Ray is the best. Reggie’s own dad was - look, it’s not that he was awful, it’s not that Reggie hates him, it’s just - he saw these dads, in movies, and on TV, and in other peoples homes, and he wanted one even more than he wanted a puppy, or a little brother, and Ray is that dad. He’s understanding, and encouraging, and funny, and a great cook, and he never raises his voice even when he should be mad about something. Reggie feels so lucky that Julie and Carlos let Reggie share their dad, even unofficially.

“Carlos!” Tía snaps, as he runs past her and ducks under her elbow, narrowly avoiding the tray in her hands, “Cuidado! La bandeja está caliente!”

It’s Tía Victoria who kinda scares Reggie.

It’s not that she’s not nice. Tía is nice. She brings over food and drives Carlos to ball games and pesters Ray about dentists’ appointments he almost forgets to go to. It’s just that she’s a little more like the other adults Reggie knew. She barks her words, sometimes, and she doesn’t get Julie’s music thing quite like Ray does, even if she’s supportive for the most part. And she doesn’t always believe Carlos about things, which Reggie understands more now that he’s been conned by Carlos about several random things (for example, Eggos are not in the house-sized waffle business in 2020 as Carlos told him, and they did not manage to breed dragons into existence with new DNA cloning technology) but still. It makes him nervous.

“Sorry, Tía!” Carlos chirps as he slides on his socks into a crouched position in front of the cupboard where they keep all the plates and bowls. Since Carlos has them handled, Reggie goes for glasses instead, reaching overhead for the cupboard on the opposite side of the room.

“Carlos!” sighs Tía again, more irritated than before, and Reggie feels his shoulders tense even though he wills them not to. “Let me help carry some of those, you’ll drop them, sobrino.”

“Fine,” Carlos huffs, and there’s the clink of plates as he passes half his pile off to her and they head for the dining table.

Reggie counts in his head as he stacks the glasses in the crook of his arm. There’s him and the boys, so four - wait, no, three - plus Julie, so four - then Ray and Carlos and Tía so five six seven -

He’s too caught up counting, is the problem, and doesn’t focus enough on how he has the glasses balanced. It probably would have been fine, except there’s a loud thud! Which Reggie registers a moment too late as being Luke, jumping from the top of the stairs to the bottom, enjoying his alive body. The sound scares Reggie about a foot in the air, and he fumbles the stack of glasses, and almost manages to save it.

The glass from the very top of the pile smashes on the floor, a harsh shatter that makes every head in the room turn in his direction. Reggie feels the panic surge up in him like a forgotten pot on the stove suddenly bubbling over. With trembling hands, he puts the rest of the glasses on the counter and scrambles down to the floor, tries to gather the glass shards together into a pile from where they’ve scattered, desperate to tidy the mess, to give some sense of responsibility, instead of just standing there like a stupid kid. “I’m sorry,” he starts, and his voice shakes more than he’d like, almost more than his hands had, “I’m sorry, I can clean it-”

“Reggie!” interrupts Tía, and her voice seems sharper than the glass.

“Victoria-” Ray begins, but Tía doesn’t let him finish, either. She’s already practically at Reggie’s side, crouching down next to him on the floor.

Her closeness makes Reggie’s hairs stand on end, and he’s not sure what he expects, but it’s not for her to gently lay her fingertips on his wrist and say, in a much softer tone, “Mijo, you’re bleeding.”

“Oh.” Reggie blinks. Looks at his arm, next to where her perfectly manicured nails have landed. She’s right, he sees. There’s a few little gashes, nothing huge, trickling blood in tiny streams down his forearm. In a few more moments, the blood would have reached his hand, and he would have noticed, probably. Except when he turns his palms up to look at them, he realises they’re cut up, too. Probably from grabbing glass shards with no protection.

His lip wobbles before he can stop it. He can still feel everyone looking at him. Knows what they must be thinking.

Stupid fucking kid.

“What are you staring at?” Tía says, back to business as usual. He flinches at her voice, before he realises she’s not talking to him. She’s talking to the others. “Come on! Ray, grab the dustpan and some shoes, clean up this glass before anyone else gets hurt. Carlos, finish setting the table, and Luke, go fetch the others para la comida.” In his peripheral vision, Reggie sees everyone bounce back into action, like her words broke a spell on them, and it’s a relief to know they’re not all looking at him any more. Tía continues, as she tucks an arm around Reggie’s shoulders, “Reggie and I will be back.”

“We will?” Reggie asks automatically, as she helps him balance on his wobbly, baby-giraffe legs.

“En un minuto,” she tells him confidently. “But first, let me bandage you up.”

He’s not exactly going to argue with her. Honestly, any excuse to get out of the public space is appreciated when his eyes still feel so close to swimming with tears. Firm yet warm, she leads him to the bathroom and has him sit on the closed toilet lid while she pulls Ray’s first aid kid from the cabinet, pulling from it some disinfectant, bandages and a pair of tweezers.

“Just in case any glass is left,” she explains briskly, settling on the edge of the bathtub and turning his arm over, palm up, so she can see the scratches. She tuts softly. “Your poor hands!”

Reggie ducks his head, whispers, “I really am sorry.”

“¿Por qué?” she asks. “It was an accident, right?”

“Huh?”

She sits back again and looks him in the eyes for a moment. If it was Ray, or one of the boys, Reggie would shy away from the look, but she has the same skill Julie has, to pin you in place with her gaze, so Reggie assumes it’s from Rose’s side of the family. “I know you didn’t throw that glass on the ground on purpose. It was just an accident. These things happen.”

“You’re not angry?” The question slips out before Reggie can think about how silly it sounds, but instead of rolling her eyes, or her jaw clenching in annoyance, Tía’s expression softens somehow.

“No, mijo. Not at all. Estaba un poco preocupada, maybe, but that’s only because I care about you.”

Reggie doesn’t know what to say to that. Bites his lip as she gently applies disinfectant along the wounds, once she’s declared them sufficiently glass-free, and wills himself not to cry as she wraps the bandages around his arm and a little around the palm of his hand. At least if he cries she’ll just think it’s because of the sting, and not because he braced himself so hard to be yelled at and called names and then it never came.

Not because he keeps remembering that he feels like glass himself. Always a moment away from falling onto the ground and shattering, so teeter-y that the kindness of adults he barely knows can almost knock him over the edge.

“Terminado!” she declares, tying off the last of the bandage, and gives him a big smile. It looks genuine enough. Not like she’s bottling anything up to let out at him later. Not like she’s fronting, or lying, not that Reggie’s ever been particularly good at telling the difference with anyone. She must see the puzzlement in his face, because she adds, “Just an accident.”

It really seems that simple. Like everything’s just fixed and okay. Like she doesn’t think Reggie is stupid. The feeling is sort of overwhelming; Reggie’s stomach feels all warm, and - empty, actually. It grumbles loudly in that moment, and Tía laughs, and Reggie laughs with her.

“Vamos a como?” he tries, because he’s been listening, and trying to pick things up.

“Vamos a comer,” she corrects him, but he can’t mistake her tone this time for anything other than delighted, her expression for anything other than fond and relieved as she helps him up. They go back down the stairs, her loosely holding his hand the whole way, not enough to hurt his wounds, but enough to remind him she’s there.

She presents him to the table with a goofy little ta-da! gesture, much to the joy of those already at the table. “Our Reggie, back in one piece!” she says. Laughter and relief radiates from all the others, and Tía grins, pleased, puts her hands on her waist. In that moment, despite all his preconceptions, she reminds him more of Julie than anyone else.

Maybe she isn’t so scary after all.

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #reggie peters #reggie molina #tia victoria #ask #queenofthequillandink

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melanielocke · 3 years

Text

Lost in the Shadows - Epilogue

AO3

Taglist: @alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer @foxglove-airmid @alastair-esfandiyar-carstairs1 @justanormaldemon @styxdrawings @ipromiseiwillwrite @a-dream-dirty-and-bruised

Previous Chapter: Chapter 35

This is the epilogue and final chapter. While there are some loose ends and I might write a sequel one day, I have currently have no plans for one so it would take some time. As it is I'm working on a Frozen TLH story (chapter 1-3 are currently published), and one post CoI story titled "We bury the sunlight" so look out for those.

Alastair decided to move in with Jem at the end of the summer. He had managed to finish decorating his bedroom just in time for the first week of university, which he was excited about starting. He wasn’t sure why, but he’d expected Jem to be overbearing and constantly worrying about his mental health. He’d always thought that was what a psychiatrist did, he guessed, just like his father had always feared Jem would know about his alcoholism from just looking at him.

He’d learnt that wasn’t the case. Jem was a doctor, he couldn’t read minds, and although he was there for Alastair when he needed him, he was family and not his doctor, which was an important distinction. Jem gave him lots of space, and the ground rules were mainly about keeping everything clean, which was no problem. Jem also preferred it to know if someone he didn’t know was visiting, but that rarely happened since Alastair only had a few friends and the only one who hadn’t known Jem before was Kamala.

It was nice, having so much space to himself. Jem had changed a lot about the house, it didn’t look like an exact copy of the house he’d lived in when he was very young. Cordelia and his mother still lived with Risa, with him gone it fit a bit better, but they were in the process of getting the house back.

He saw Thomas regularly, and they had sleep overs once a week. Alastair had bought a new double bed for his room mainly so they could share the bed. Thomas was currently adapting to student life, but had vowed to Alastair that he would not drink any alcohol. Alastair worried that would severely limit Thomas’ social life, but secretly he was very happy Thomas would do that for him. Lucie had also decided they would all start playing DnD with her, and although Alastair still didn’t understand much of the game, they had fun. Thomas, who had been in Lucie’s previous campaign as well, had helped him with his character. Right now, the group consisted of Lucie as the story teller, or dungeon master as the game called it, and Thomas, Cordelia, Kamala, Eugenia and him as the players. Alastair played a warlock, which he felt suited him. Warlocks also got nightmares they never asked for all the time and were constantly exhausted, not to mention they made deals with otherworldly beings. Perhaps it fit a little too well.

He’d also decided to take lessons in ballroom dancing, with Kamala as his dance partner at the student dance association. He almost had something that resembled a social life, which was both very new and very weird. As it was, they both were quite good at dancing. Kamala had taken two years of dance classes too, although it had been years, and together they could figure out what they remembered and how to do it. Both had been forced by their father at the time and it was much more enjoyable now that they’d chosen to pick it up again, not to mention it was nice having a dance partner he matched well with.

Thomas was still considering starting dancing, but finding a partner who was tall enough for him would be a struggle. Alastair could follow decently and dance with Thomas, although he still noticed the height difference, but with the lack of men in dancing most teachers would rather pair Thomas with the tallest girl available.

He felt like for the first time in years, he was sort of happy? Happier than he used to be at least. He still had nightmares, flashbacks, all that, and didn’t think it was going away anytime soon. If anything, EMDR made it harder, but that was to be expected. He’d known that during EMDR he’d have to talk about everything, and although in time that would make it better, at first it just brought everything to the surface. He’d learnt not to plan anything else on days he had EMDR, except maybe cuddling with Thomas.

Although relationships were still new to him, any relationships really, he was getting more accustomed to having people around who cared about him. Not just Thomas, but Lucie and Cordelia, who had just started their last year of school and came to him for help with their math homework, Kamala and Eugenia, who he’d been spending time with at the dance studio. He often visited the Lightwoods too, and he felt welcome there. Gideon and Sophie had made a habit out of inviting him along with any family outings. He’d never felt so welcome before, it had taken some time to work through that.

‘You’re going to love my gift, I promise.’

Tomorrow was Alastair’s nineteenth birthday, and Thomas was sleeping over the night before.

‘What is it?’ Alastair asked.

‘A surprise.’

‘It was worth a try,’ Alastair said. ‘How was your visit at Matthew today?’

Alastair had spoken to Matthew once. He didn’t think the two of them would ever be good friends, but they could move past school and tolerate each other’s presence. Thomas had spent the day with him today, shopping. Matthew apparently loved clothes even more than Alastair did, and had an unusual and extravagant taste.

‘Awkward,’ Thomas said.

Alastair frowned. ‘Why was it awkward?’

‘Well, he’s the only other man I know who is interested in men and has previous, uh, experience. So I figured I’d ask what to expect and what to do. It was a very uncomfortable conversation.’

Alastair started laughing. ‘You could have just asked me.’

‘I know, but I thought it would be nicer for you if I had some idea of what I’m supposed to be doing,’ Thomas said.

Alastair put his hand in Thomas’ hair. ‘That’s sweet.’

‘From now on I’ll be asking you my questions,’ Thomas said. ‘Of course, the internet has also been helpful.’

‘As long as you know where to get your information,’ Alastair said. ‘Porn isn’t real and not a good source. But I don’t mind if there’s things you don’t know yet, because I know enough.’

They had sex for the first time that night. Alastair felt it was the right time. Of course, having sex the night before his birthday wasn’t new to him. The previous years he’d spend with Charles ever since he’d turned sixteen. It was far better with Thomas. Not because of experience or anything like that, but because Alastair felt comfortable, because he was absolutely sure he wanted it and felt like he could ask Thomas to stop if he wasn’t comfortable anymore. Thomas was a little clumsy, but Alastair didn’t mind. He would get better at it with some practice.

The next morning, they went to the Victoria and Albert museum. It was early on a week day and neither of them had classes today. Thomas had been surprised at first by how empty his schedule was but had ultimately discovered much of his free time was spent on assignments and preparing for lectures and classes. Fortunately, it did mean they could easily plan such trips on times it wouldn’t be crowded. Alastair still didn’t like crowds and didn’t think he ever would. Thomas had grown over his fear of them, but he also preferred the quiet. It was much nicer this way, taking his time to let a piece of art wash over him, undisturbed by other visitors. Thomas made the occasional comment. He’d taken art history in school and could name the different styles and put works in the context of the time period. Alastair didn’t say much in response, just nodded. He felt he didn’t have to.

Thomas had promised him his gift after coming back from the museum, and Alastair was starting to get curious. Thomas had hidden the gift somewhere in Jem’s house, so Alastair wouldn’t even be able to guess from the shape. He hadn’t bothered to look for it, but had been tempted. As much as he liked the small smile on Thomas’ lips as he said ‘not yet, mi Cielo,’ Alastair was not fond of surprises. He liked to know what to expect with a three to five workdays advance notice for anything out of the usual.

‘You’d think no one has ever given you a birthday gift before,’ Thomas said. He paused. ‘Wait, is that it? Did you not usually receive gifts?’

‘No, I did, from my mother and sometimes Cordelia.’

Charles too, Charles had had a habit of giving him expensive gifts. Or gifts he’d found among his mother’s things, he guessed. Alastair had not seen him again now that he was back in London, for which he was grateful. Gideon had spoken with Charles and told him he knew what he’d done and wasn’t welcome at his house anymore. Apparently Charles had been very angry about that, but Gideon had told Alastair he was welcome anytime and it was his responsibility to guarantee his safety. Alastair appreciated that.

‘Have you been asking them about it all this time too?’ Thomas asked.

‘No just you. But you made a big deal out of it by hiding it someplace here,’ Alastair said.

‘Alright, I guess you can open it,’ Thomas said, who left and came back to the living room carrying a very big box.

Alastair carefully opened the wrapping paper, making sure nothing tore. He wasn’t sure why exactly, but he’d always opened gifts this way, as if he intended to reuse the paper, something he’d never done.

‘I thought, with how impatient you were, you’d rip it all apart,’ Thomas said.

‘No,’ Alastair said.

‘You can rip it, it’s no problem,’ Thomas said as Alastair was struggling to get a piece of sticky tape off without damaging anything.

‘No,’ Alastair said, even more determined to get everything off properly.

Once he’d gotten it open and folded away the colorful wrapping paper, Alastair revealed something that resembled a hamster cage, but bigger. There were two floors, the top open and the bottom offering a little more darkness with a little home in there an animal could hide in. There was a wheel, several balls, and a little hedgehog plushie.

‘I know you were planning to get a pet hedgehog, so I researched what it needs. This has most things it needs to live in, you just might need to add a heat lamp because hedgehogs need a warm environment.’

‘I’d been looking into what I’d need too,’ Alastair said. ‘Jem is alright with me getting a hedgehog as long as I make sure to keep Church away from him. That shouldn’t be a problem, as I would put the hedgehog in my bedroom and Church doesn’t go there.’

‘How is Church?’ Thomas asked.

‘Usually, he is wherever I’m not. He doesn’t come into my bedroom. In the living room it can be a bit more of a struggle, as he likes to claim his space, and no matter where I sit, he gets upset because that’s the spot he wanted for himself. The only moment he tolerates me is when I’m accompanying Jem on the piano.’

Alastair had picked up playing music again after years and he tried to practice for half an hour daily. Sometimes with Thomas, singing his songs and playing more modern music. But he also played classical music with Jem, who was exceptional at the violin. Jem could probably have been a concert violinist if he hadn’t chosen to become a doctor instead.

‘Sounds like Church,’ Thomas said. ‘He won’t be a danger to your hedgehog, will he?’

‘I will keep my hedgehog in my bedroom,’ Alastair said. ‘If I make sure to keep the door closed when I’m not there, I think it’s unlikely Church will even go there. Even then there’s a cover for this hedgehog home and a little house for him to hide, and of course a hedgehog can roll into a little ball of quills. I think it’ll be fine. And my therapist thought it might be good for me to get a pet, as long as I am confident I can care for it of course. Now, can you help me think of a name? I’m not great with names.’

‘You and Cordelia have been arguing about baby names for weeks now,’ Thomas pointed out.

‘Yes, the baby should have a beautiful Persian name,’ Alastair said. ‘For pets it’s different.’

‘Or dnd characters,’ Thomas added.

‘So what if my character has my middle name?’

‘No, I like it,’ Thomas said. ‘Esfandiyar. It’s a beautiful name. For a pet I think a shorter name is better. I think your plushie hedgehog is called Mr. Prickly?’

‘I named him when I was a child,’ Alastair said. ‘I’m not naming my pet something stupid.’

‘No little pipsqueak?’ Thomas said with a grin.

Alastair rolled his eyes. ‘Absolutely not.’

***

‘You mean to say you forgot to buy Alastair a gift for his birthday?’ Lucie asked.

‘I didn’t forget,’ Cordelia said. ‘I planned to do it today, after school. How was I supposed to know I was going to get detention?’

They entered the bookstore, certain she could find something Alastair would like here.

‘Sorry I couldn’t get you out,’ Lucie said. ‘Even my dad can’t do that, but he knows it was completely unfair.’

Cordelia shrugged. ‘I finished my homework. But I’m still pissed.’

She knew teachers tended to be harsher on her, Alastair had always had the same problem, and she usually made a point to behave but she also wasn’t going to let people just walk over her girlfriend. So what if she’d gotten into a fight with a bully? He’d started it, but that’s not how the teacher who’d broken them apart saw it.

‘Alastair will understand,’ Cordelia added. ‘He was often sent to detention unfairly too. Now, which of these books do you think he’ll like?’

‘Both seem pretty good,’ Lucie said. ‘What are they about?’

‘This one’s called Malice, and is a Sleeping Beauty retelling focused on Alyce, the dark grace with powers similar to the original evil witch who cursed the princesses, and she might be the villain but she might also fall in love with Aurora. I haven’t read it, but it sounds awesome. The other is Girl, Serpent, Thorn.’

‘Oh, didn’t I lend you that one last year?’

‘Yes,’ Cordelia said. ‘It was awesome and the cover is so beautiful I wanted my own copy. I think Alastair will like it too, the world is inspired by Persian culture and the Shahnameh, which he loves, and the story is very good too.’

Girl, Serpent, Thorn was probably one of her favorite books, and Cordelia ultimately decided to buy it for herself while buying Malice for Alastair. He could always borrow the other book from her, she just wanted to reread it several times and have the gorgeous cover on display.

‘I doubt Alastair minds we’re late,’ Cordelia said. ‘He’s been spending the day with Thomas.’

Cordelia sometimes envied the amount of free time Alastair had compared to her. She hoped it would be the same once she went to university. Of course, Alastair had his memory, he only had to read everything once and he would remember forever. He could save so much time that way.

It still struck her as odd how they didn’t understand Alastair’s memory. Lucie was the way she was because her grandfather was the thief of souls. Same for Tessa, who’d gotten some of her power back after his death. Thomas had the sight because his mother did, and Kamala had healing powers because a fairy had given them to her. But no one knew why Alastair was the way he was. Cordelia knew it still frustrated him, not understanding.

‘I can’t wait until I can go to university,’ Lucie said. ‘I am so done with physics.’

‘Why did you take physics?’ Cordelia asked.

‘No clue,’ Lucie said. ‘I’ll survive another year. Then it’s English literature and creative writing.’

Cordelia wished she knew what she was going to study. Half her biology class was already working on their med school applications, but Cordelia had no clue yet. At least she couldn’t really picture herself as a doctor. Part of her still wanted to be a hero, but what if like Jem she decided to retire early? Being a hero didn’t exactly pay, and it was good to have some education. She just didn’t know what. She knew, of course, it was fine to choose wrong at first. Alastair had realized being a politician wasn’t for him, and was again starting in his first year.

‘At least Alastair promised to help me with my math homework,’ Cordelia said.

Cordelia and Lucie took the metro and arrived at Jem’s house. She’d been here frequently since the summer, and it already felt like Alastair’s house. She’d considered moving in herself too, but felt like she was still too young to move away from her mother and would rather stay for now.

Alastair and Thomas were in the living room, where an animal home was standing on the table next to a bit of neatly folded wrapping paper, not a tear in sight. Alastair had always been a little obsessive in the way he opened gifts. The wrapping paper would be thrown away, yet he always opened it with such a care and he never ripped anything.

‘Happy birthday,’ she said, hugging her brother.

He’d grown more comfortable with physical affection lately, and for Cordelia it felt like it had become easier to reach him. She’d had to get used to not living in the same house as him at first, but Alastair seemed happier here.

‘Thank you,’ Alastair said. ‘I’m officially on the waiting list for a pet hedgehog. It might take some time, but I have some of the supplies I need now. I am open to name suggestions as I have not thought of anything yet.’

‘Pipsqueak!’ Lucie called out.

‘Oddly, you’re not the first person to suggest that,’ Alastair said. ‘No, I am not naming my pet Pipsqueak.’

‘That’s because I already call Alastair that,’ Thomas said.

Alastair rolled his eyes. ‘My hedgehog will have a serious name, not something a toddler would have chosen.’

They didn’t settle on a name yet that evening. Lucie kept suggesting the kind of names Alastair meant to avoid as a joke, and Eugenia did the same when she and Kamala arrived. Kamala had a few good suggestions, and Alastair decided to look into Persian pet names.

Cordelia started feeling like things would be alright again, like things would be normal. Of course, she could never be sure. Tatiana had not turned up again, Gideon had reported her missing and so far the police had no leads. Cordelia didn’t think they’d find her, and she wondered if Tatiana would come back. There was no chance she could bring back her son, not anymore, but Cordelia feared she might want revenge. Right now, she tried not to worry. She would be prepared, yes, but she would also continue to live her life, go to school, worry about things normal girls her age should be worried about. Alastair seemed to be doing a little better as well, although she knew his EMDR days were hard. He was playing music again, and Cordelia loved to listen to him play the piano while she was here.

‘Do you want to play something?’ Cordelia asked at some point, gesturing to the piano.

‘Of course,’ Alastair said. ‘Thomas, I need your help.’

‘I didn’t bring my guitar,’ Thomas said nervously.

‘I don’t need you to play, I need you to turn the page of the sheet music. One of these days I’m going to make a copy and tape this piece together, but it’s 5 pages long.’

Cordelia would always be impressed at how fast Alastair could move his fingers over the keys. He’d tried to teach her when she was younger and she could play some simple melodies with her right hand only, but she’d never gotten the hang of playing with two hands.

‘I recognize this,’ Lucie said when Alastair was finished. ‘I think it’s in Pride and Prejudice. The one with Colin Firth.’

‘That’s possible, it’s well known. The Turkish March by Mozart,’ Alastair said. ‘I’ve been practicing this for the past week.’

‘It’s lovely,’ Cordelia said. ‘I missed hearing you play.’

‘And now you only get to listen when you’re here,’ Alastair said apologetically.

‘I’m here several days a week anyway,’ Cordelia said. ‘I’m glad you’re playing again.’

‘I forgot how much I loved it,’ Alastair said. ‘But I’m happy too. Even Church likes it when I play.’

Cordelia noticed the cat was sitting up from his spot on the couch, listening intently as Alastair started playing something else. Church might hate everyone and everything, but he loved Jem and he loved music.

Thomas continued to do his job as page turner and Cordelia could see the adoration in his eyes as he watched Alastair play. She was glad they’d been able to work it out and were still together, Alastair deserved that.

When Alastair was finished, Lucie decided to present her gift, which was a story she’d written herself in an insanely short time. Cordelia had read it and helped her edit, but the premise was that it was Frozen but with Alastair and Cordelia as the main characters.

‘I’m going to read it as soon as I have the time,’ Alastair promised. ‘This sounds brilliant.’

#Alastair Carstairs #Thomas Lightwood #Cordelia Carstairs #Lucie Herondale #Thomastair #Lucelia #the last hours #tlh #fanfiction #epilogue

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samadiw · 3 years

Text

Hogwarts Library - Part 03 😘🔥❤

True to his word, Draco left Hermione well and truly alone, except a book she had wanted for ages was waiting for her on the table in their shared dorm and on another occasion her favourite flowers greeted her when she entered after a long day of classes.

H : "I know what you're doing, Malfoy."

D : "Haven't the foggiest, Granger."

He closed the book he was reading, walked into his room and closed the door behind him.

Hermione couldn't help but smile, she plucked a long stem rose out of the bunch, inhaled deeply, took it with her and placed it on her bedside cupboard.

The man was getting under her skin, she was shocked that he knew so much about her.

But strangely after that sweet gesture, everything stopped.

Malfoy barely looked at her, he was always deep in conversation with Blaise or Theo but would light up like a bulb when the owls brought their morning post.

Hermione couldn't help but feel resentful.

Despite her overall, fuck him approach, there was a softness in his eyes that melted or rather clawed it's way into her heart.

She thought about him more often than she should.

Cheating sodding bitch, she silently berated herself.

A beautiful owl enters and lands gracefully in front of Draco.

Hermione huffs.

H : "Who the heck keeps sending him letters?"

Ron looks her way and raises a brow in question.

R : "Did you say something, darling?"

Someone was talking to her, oh, it was her boyfriend.

Hermione swallows hard and vigorously shakes her head.

H : "No, nothing, just practising a spell."

She can't help but stare at the Slytherin table, Malfoy pockets the letter after a meaningful glance at it.

2 days to 2 weeks

Professor Slughorn (PS) impatiently yells over the noise.

PS : "Yes, yes, hurry up and take your seats."

PS : "Good, is everyone settled?"

Slughorn frowns at Seamus and shakes his head disapprovingly.

PS : "Thanks to Mr Finnigan's latest dung bomb explosion, we are forced to abandon the classrooms and conduct classes in the library."

Seamus looks around him sheepishly.

Madam Pince : "Hmph.."

PS : "Granger, Malfoy, bring your cauldrons to the front."

Hermione looks up in shock and Ron's ears turn bright red.

She weakly protests.

H : "But sir, I already have a partner."

Slughorn tuts his disapproval.

PS : "Mr Weasley will survive without your assistance for the duration of the class:"

Hermione tries one last time.

Draco is already at the table in front and staring at her smugly.

H : "But..."

PS : "No buts, Miss Granger, I have a rather complex potion for you to brew with Mr Malfoy."

Hermione sighs in defeat, gathers her things and make her way to the front.

She clumsily arranges her things, avoids the ice blondes gaze and mumbles to herself.

H : "Stupid Slughorn."

Draco rolls his eyes and hisses.

D : "Stop your muttering, Granger, I have no wish to paired up with you either."

His smell was fucking with her again, what in the name of heaven was in his bloody cologne?

Hermione reels back from the insult.

H : "Oh really? Who's singing a different tune now?"

Draco raises a brow.

D : "What are on about?"

Hermione hesitates but gathers her Gryffindor bravado.

She keeps her voice low.

H : "I thought you liked me."

Draco narrows his eyes.

D : "And you made it clear that you didnt return my affections, am I supposed to wait for you to realize how incredibly thick you are?"

Hermione feels a tightness in her chest and struggles to find the words.

H : "I, umm..."

Draco loses his patience.

D : "Stop stuttering like a fool, show me the list of ingredients."

Hermione bites back a nasty retort.

H : "You are unbelievable."

Draco let's out a sarcastic laugh.

D : "Says the woman who told me to leave her the fuck alone."

Hermione pushes the list of ingredients towards him roughly.

H : "Here, take the bloody paper, I hope you choke on it."

Draco points to the jars and viles that already litter the table and muses.

D : "Make yourself useful while I fetch the ingredients."

Hermione presses her lips together and a wave of emotions wash over her and she fights the urge to not cry.

Oh, fuck no, she would not shed a tear for the incorrigible wanker.

Hermione lights a fire under the cauldron and starts to add the few ingredients they already had.

She cuts the beans with more force than necessary and sneers.

H : "Stupid fucking Slytherin, who the hell does he think he is?

Draco is highly amused by her reaction to his indifference.

D : "Granger, you need to stir anti clockwise, it's right here in the bloody book."

Hermione jumps at the voice and almost cuts herself.

H : "Can you not sneak up on me."

Draco eyes her fingers to make sure shes still in one piece and then scolds.

D : "Can you please concentrate, the faster we finish this, the faster I can send my owl to Victoria."

Hermione's mouth drops open.

Who the fuck was Victoria? Definitely not a girl in their year.

She crosses her arms over her chest.

H : "Victoria?"

Draco looks away dreamy eyed and smitten.

D : "Yeah, a woman I'm seeing, she's an old family friend."

Hermione retorts sarcastically.

H : "How bloody marvellous for you, this is exactly why I wanted nothing to do with you."

D : "And you were right, Victoria is the most intelligent woman I've ever met, she's the one, Granger."

Hermione fumes at the stupid words coming out of Draco's ridiculously luscious mouth.

Fuck no, intelligence was her thing and no bloody bint was going to take that away.

She conveniently forgot that she had never met this Victoria person.

His words hurt, they hurt bad and Hermione couldn't remember when she had come to care about Malfoy.

Hermione turns away and returns to cutting the ingredients.

H : "Well, good for you."

Draco eyes the woman next to him intently.

D : "Thanks, Granger, shit, I forgot one more vile."

Hermione quickly wipes the angry tears before he returns.

Tears? Really? You pathetic fool.

Draco watches from the small crack in the enchanted supplies room and grins, she was definitely coming around.

Playing hard to get had definitely paid off.

He walks back to their shared table confidently and adds the vile to the other complicated ingredients.

Draco starts to skin the crocodile tail.

D : "You okay, Granger?"

Hermione mumbles.

H : "Yes, I'm fine."

Draco softens his tone and decides he's messed with her enough.

D : "Hermione?"

The way her name rolls off his tongue sends shivers down her spine.

She asks in frustration.

H : "What?"

Draco moves closer and leans over her small frame.

His hand slips under the table and grabs hold of her thigh, his fingers dig into the flesh and a gasp escapes her lips.

He whispers almost reverently.

D : "You. Are. All. I. Want."

Hermione looks up at him, her breathing elevates and she bites her lip.

H : "Draco..."

Draco removes his hand off her person and stares ahead, his expression has changed from loving to murderous.

D : "Not here, not now, your boyfriend is glaring a hole in my rather handsome head."

Draco calls out over the noise of other students chatting.

D : "What the fuck are you staring at, Weasley?"

Ron looks as if he's about to explode, his ears are the shade of rip tomatoes.

R : "I'm watching you, Malfoy."

Draco smirks triumphantly.

D : "Then watch closely."

Draco tenderly caresses Hermione's cheek.

Ron flexes and makes his way over.

Hermione steps away, glares at Draco and stands inbetween the tall men.

She places a hand on Ron's chest and the other on Draco's arm and pleads for them to calm down.

Gryffindor and Slytherin stare daggers at each other and everyone has stopped what they were doing to watch the scandalous scene that was unravelling before them.

Professor Slughorn's alarmed voice cuts through the tension.

PS : "What in Merlin's name is going on? Back to your seats."

Ron balls his hands into fists and threatens.

"R : This isn't over, Malfoy."

Draco sneers and stares the redhead dead in the eye.

D : "I look forward to it, Weasley."

Hermione looks at them and dreads the walk back to the Gryffindor common room.

Fuck, her life was going to become very complicated.

#dramione #draco and hermione #draco x hermione #hermione granger #draco lucius malfoy #dramionefandom #dramionefanart #dramione smut #dramione fanfic

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chicknparm · 3 years

Note

1. "Stay here tonight." + 31. "Calm down." Chaseprice

Uhhhhhh went a bit overboard with this one...it’s quite long and there’s some big big CWs for sex, alcohol, and mentions of abuse and suicide. Only felt right for the first Chaseprice scene I write to be extremely dark and angsty. Also gotta give credit to @chaseprice as the preeminent scholar in this field for letting me bounce ideas off of her and graciously editing.

“There...now get your hands off me.” Chloe says as she pushes Victoria’s arm away from her.

“Well that’s a new one,” Victoria scoffs back, catching her breath. “Not in the mood to whine about being held this time?”

“Shut the fuck up.” Chloe says coldly.

Victoria watches her walk over to the mini fridge she keeps under the desk. Chloe reaches inside the freezer compartment and pulls out the bottle of Vodka that permanently occupies it. She unscrews the cap and takes a large swig, furrowing her face as she does so.

“What the fuck is your problem, Price? Do you have any idea how expensive Grey Goose is in this dump? Put that shit back right now.” She scolds. Chloe turns back at her.

“What are you going to do about it.” Chloe says, monotone and disinterested.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now? You of all people can’t pull this tough guy shit. What do you think I’m going to want to put you in your place and pounce on you or something? That’s not how this works, you’re not worth my energy. You come over, I cum, you cry, you leave. That’s how this works.”

“You think I want you to touch me right now?” Chloe says, raising her eyebrows.

Clearly Chloe isn’t expecting, or doesn’t care to listen to, an answer, as she takes another large swig of Victoria’s Vodka and sets it down, still uncapped, on her desk. She grabs her tank top that was tossed over a chair and nonchalantly puts it on. Usually during this stage Victoria can’t help herself but to sneak a couple more glances at Chloe’s chest, but it’s becoming clear this isn’t some ploy to keep her turned on.

Chloe is always moody after sex, but not like this. Normally, she just has a breakdown and embarrasses herself with a flood of tears, and the words never cross either of their lips, but it’s understood who and what she’s crying over. Victoria likes it when Chloe is aggressive, a little angry, that’s kind of the whole deal, but this is different.

“I think you want someone to touch you.” Victoria says with a cruel smirk, having found her angle.

“Who?”

“Wow, you really are a masochist huh?” Victoria smugly looks at Chloe, if Chloe wants to play with fire let her get burned. “ Rachel. Rachel Amber. Your fucking angel dream girl whatever the fuck. You know, the one who left? The one who disappeared without a word?”

“Yeah. I do. You do too though.” Chloe grabs the vodka again and takes another swig.

“You’re going to be so fucking trashed, Price, you already stank of cheap beer when you got here. If you throw up in my dorm I’ll make sure you never step foot on this campus again. But, anyway, what the fuck are you getting at?”

“You wish she was here too. You miss her touching you too.” Chloe says, starting to raise her voice. Several shots worth of vodka seem to be catching up to her now. “Whole fucking school knows you two hooked up. Whole school knows what you are, Vic.”

“You’re such a cunt.” Victoria bites back. She shouldn’t lose her cool though, she can’t give up control like that. “Well if you know that, then I guess you should also know that she fucks better than you do.”

“I know exactly how she fucks. You think I care about your stupid fuckin, fuckin dick measuring contest?” Chloe sloppily screws the cap back on the Vodka and slams it back into the freezer. She starts fumbling with her pockets. “Where’d I put my keys.”

“No,” Victoria says, much more softly than she intended, “go walk home, you’re not driving anywhere like this except headfirst into traffic.”

“Put some clothes on, you’re embarrassing yourself.” Chloe says, continuing her search.

Victoria hadn’t even thought about the fact that she was still naked. Duly embarrassed, she grabs some shorts and a tank top of her own as nonchalantly as she can so as not to give Chloe any satisfaction. Vic looks over and sees her still searching around the dorm room, illuminated only by the moonlight through her window.

Victoria doesn’t care about her. She’s just a sex toy, a dirty one at that, but this still doesn’t feel right.

“Knock it off, Price, seriously, go catch a bus with the rest of the drunks.”

“What the fuck do you care?! Stop acting like you give a shit!” Chloe finally snaps.

This is also new. The way Chloe is looking over at her, looking down at her, is different from all the times she’s hate-fucked her. Usually all it takes is some comments about her being poor, being pathetic, being lonely, that get her to hold Victoria down and be rough with her, just as she likes it. But there’s not an ounce of lust in her eyes tonight. Not an ounce of desire, just hate. Can’t be far from breaking her now.

“I don’t. Go get turned to paste like your dad for all I care.”

That does the trick. Chloe stomps her way over to Victoria’s bed and screams in her face. “Don’t you ever fucking say a word about him!” She grabs Victoria by the chin, with more force than she’s ever touched her before. “Not one fucking word!”

Victoria doesn’t flinch. She barely blinks. She doesn’t know how to react. Chloe lets go of her face and steps away, her own mouth agape in shock.

“I-I…” Chloe starts, but falls to her knees and starts to sob.

“Calm down…” Victoria tries to maintain her detached tone but it’s not working. Chloe has never snapped like this. Never even come close to getting physical (in a way Victoria didn’t explicitly want). But she’s never hit Chloe below the belt the way she did just now either. Victoria obviously wanted a reaction, but she didn’t want this. Or, maybe she did want it, and what does that say about her? After what happened last semester she’d been trying to save that extra level of cruelty only for herself. But Chloe’s always been the exception. And now she’s seeing the result.

“Price, you’ve gotta...come on just…” Victoria stumbles over her words as Chloe continues to sob on the floor, “Chloe. Don’t do this.”

“I’m a fucking monster!” Chloe cries into her hands.

“You’re not, no, you’re not a monster. You’re a lot of things, but you’re not a monster.” Victoria’s voice is softening, almost against her will. Used to be Victoria could make girls cry without a second thought. Or if she did feel a pang of guilt, she could always drown those feelings later, but this situation is on the verge of danger.

“I am! Get drunk, come over here and hit you, I’m like him...I’m like him and, him and your dad.” Chloe says wiping her face on her arm.

“No. You’re not my dad, and you’re not your step-dad either. They’re the monsters. Neither of them feel anything when they hurt people.”

“I gotta fuckin...gotta…” Chloe slurs, trailing off at the end as she looks across the room and gets up from the floor. She walks over to Victoria’s closet and grabs her jacket from the handle. She fumbles with the pockets but Victoria can hear the jangling of a keychain inside.

“Chloe, no, don’t do this.” Victoria panics, grabbing Chloe by the arm. “Please. Don’t do this, I don’t want you to go out there and kill yourself.” She says through tears of her own.

“Well why didn’t you say that to fuckin Kate Marsh! She didn’t do, fucking anything to you! I deserve this, she didn’t.” Chloe says, looking away from Victoria.

Victoria’s grip tightens on Chloe’s arm. She’s right. Kate didn’t do anything to her. And she kept pushing that girl, and pushing her and pushing her, and now she’s dead.

“No. Chloe, neither of you deserve to fucking die and I can’t let another person do this. Please, stay here tonight.”

Chloe finally looks at her. A mix of fear, anger, and self-loathing shine through her watery eyes in the moonlight. Victoria never saw Kate this close, but she wonders how many times she had that same look in her eyes. Chloe looks at the ground again and pulls to move away from Victoria, but Victoria doesn’t let go. Chloe tries taking a step forward, maybe thinking she could drag Victoria with her, but she loses her balance and falls to the floor. Victoria still holds onto her arm and kneels down next to Chloe, once again sobbing into the floor. Victoria lets out a sigh and finally lets herself feel just how much she’s been shaking. She will have to push Chloe out of the door as soon as she wakes up.

Just because Victoria doesn’t have any love for Chloe doesn’t mean she wants to see her dead. Every other night from here on out she’ll be her own problem, but at least she’s safe. For now. Victoria reaches over and pulls a pillow and quilt off of her couch, properly setting Chloe up for the night. She’ll have to get up to get her a bucket soon, just in case. It’s a while before she lets go of her arm.

#chaseprice #explosionshark #mmmmbestie #thanks again for helping me with this morv #will have to write these two again sometime...maybe as part of cusp...eyes emoji #prompts

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stitchandani · 3 years

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Story:

Lilo's College Days That Defining Moment The story of the moment Lilo and Mertle stopped being enemies and started, super slowly, being friends as teenagers. Written by Doverstar. Read below

16-year-old Mertle Edmonds didn’t go barefoot anywhere unless she was in her room. Especially not when every single pair of her sandals was a designer brand. Unfortunately, tonight she had to make an exception. It was a performance celebrating the 50th anniversary of her hula school. Being only two years from graduation, Moses, their Kumu, had decided to allow his oldest students to star in a special dance they’d all worked together to create. It was always easy working with Yuki, Teresa, and Elena. It was even easy working with Victoria. Mostly. But Lilo…Lilo Pelekai always had the worst ideas—the weirdest ideas. She was always trying to stink up the show, steal the spotlight. Luckily Moses didn’t approve half of her plans during the brainstorming, and the dance had come out okay. In fact, Mertle had shone out more than she usually did tonight. She did her part perfectly—the swing of her hips, the smoothness in her steps, the waft of both arms. Not a single slip-up, and not a curly hair came out of her ponytail. And of course, doing hula required she go barefoot. That made total sense. What was really not like her was running through the muddy trail down to the beach without shoes on. She didn’t intend to. She just had to get out of that building. Her mother had been there to congratulate her after the performance, as always. Moms gushed a lot, but at least Mertle could always say—with confidence—that her mom wasn’t doing it just because she was her mom. It was because, obviously, Mertle deserved every bit of the praise she received. When Mertle had gone to change into her green tank top and blue cutoff jeans, after the audience had all but left, she took her sweet time. It was even better that she got to the only bathroom right before Lilo had, so she got to see the sweet flash of irritation in those too-close-together brown eyes. Even that blue thing, Stitch, looked vexed. (Mertle had been telling herself for years that she didn’t know exactly what Stitch was, even if certain events during her childhood proved otherwise. Events and a talking dog who was probably asleep in her bedroom right now.) If Victoria hadn’t gone home so quickly after the show, she probably would’ve been annoyed for her creep friend too. Some nights just went too perfectly. Upon emerging from the bathroom, the redhead found that everyone was staring at her. As well they should—she looked great. But it was a different kind of staring. There was something really concerning in the way Teresa was practically biting her lip off and the way Moses seemed to be struggling to say something. “What?” Mertle tossed her ponytail, hands on her hips. “What did I miss?” Her mother, eyes strangely puffy, pushed past Moses to put her hands on her daughter’s shoulders. Mrs. Edmonds’ glasses looked foggy. “Mertle…sweetheart…” Was she getting all choked up? Why? Mertle’s eyes cut to Elena and Yuki and back to her mom. How embarrassing. Whatever it was, couldn’t it wait till they got out of the hālau first? Nobody liked a blubberer. Totally unprofessional. Her mom had always been just a little overemotional with, well, basically everything, and it got old fast. “Mom, everybody’s looking! What—” “It’s—Carl. It’s your daddy, Mertle.” Words blurred after that. Something about a phone call, something about missing the show tonight, something about “driving under the influence”. Mertle heard it. She just didn’t register what exactly had happened in the last twenty minutes. Her daddy couldn’t be gone. There was no way. He was rich; he owned a store, a resort, three convertibles. He was too important to be dead. As Mertle looked around, past her hysterical mother and at the remaining faces in the room, all she could hear was her own heartbeat. Everyone was still watching her, why were they watching her? She didn’t want to be watched. She didn’t want all the attention now. Not now. Couldn’t they take a hint? Wasn’t this one of those times where everybody was supposed to go away? Or just not be here? She hated the way they were gawking at her. Her daddy was

gone. What did that mean? Mertle felt it slowly sinking in further and further. Carl was dead. He died just moments ago. He was here then and now he wasn’t. Her face tingled. She knew she was about to cry, and she totally hated people seeing her cry. Didn’t cry often. She wanted her mom to give her one of those too-tight, really unnecessary, unwanted hugs, but everyone seemed frozen. Even Mrs. Edmonds. In that split second, Mertle looked at Teresa. Teresa looked away. Then Elena. She fiddled with her hair and glanced at the wall. Yuki met her gaze, just for a moment, and then she started fidgeting in her hula skirt, eyes downcast. The only person who stared right back at her was Lilo. Lilo was unashamedly waiting for Mertle to look at her, and the sympathy there, sympathy that was so clearly genuine, was almost enough to make teenage Edmonds gag. Without another word, she pushed past her mom, Moses, her classmates, and bolted out the open door into the warm night air. So there she was, barefoot, running through the slightly-damp path through the tropical woods to…she didn’t know where. Maybe the beach? Not home, no thank you. Mertle wanted to be alone, where those morons in the halau couldn’t find her and stand around being useless again. She didn’t know what she’d wanted them to do. Something, hello! Funny; she always knew what she wanted. Well, she knew what she did not want. What she didn’t want was...basically everything they’d just done. A whole lot of nothing. Nothing. That was what they were, after all, right? All of them. They were nothing. Not as important as she was. Not as talented, not as pretty. What had she expected? A posse wasn’t supposed to be a hug or a kind word. They’d never mattered that much in her world before. Except when she needed someone to yell at or to agree with her. So why did their actions back there matter now? She was out of breath already. Really needed more exercise. Wasn’t a dazzling hula career enough? Okay, maybe not a dazzling career, not yet. But someday. And practicing for it was clearly wearing her poor, hard-working body thin. She paused, hands on her knees, gasping for breath. She must be tired from the incredible show she’d just put on. That was it. Not out of shape at all. No way, not her. Someday she would have a dazzling hula career; she’d be a sensation, and then… Dad won’t make it to any more of my shows. The thought crashed down on her like the waves she heard beating the surf off to her right, somewhere past the trees and the palmettos. The weight of what she had learned just moments ago was finally starting to make her ache, and Mertle slumped against the trunk of a palm tree. Tears ran down her nose, and she felt herself sliding down the trunk, hugging her knees as she crouched in the sand. Moonlight trickled through the branches and stars twinkled in the clear sky. Mertle didn’t spend a bunch of time outside, unless it was a weekend. She might have enjoyed the night wind playing with her ponytail. If her daddy wasn’t dead. He used to visit. When she was little. When she was 5, 8, even once when she was 10. He’d bring her expensive gifts from his store in Honolulu. She wore a bangle he’d given her now, right above the old charm bracelet on her wrist. It said Daddy’s Little Princess in letters that used to be hot pink. She had been young enough then that being a Princess seemed an achievable goal. Here in the present, it was for luck. Or maybe to remind herself he existed. Because until today, she hadn’t heard from him in three long, disappointing years. Hadn’t seen him in five. Why was he gone? She needed him! Without Carl in the world, she felt…it was like she wasn’t special anymore. Like she wasn’t important, like she wasn’t a star. Her daddy, when he had bothered to show up or call or write or send her presents, had managed every time to make her feel like she was somebody. She believed it, too, to this very night, because he told her so often when they were together. He told her how amazing she was, and how lucky, because she had him for a father,

and he could give her anything. Not to mention a mother whose job gave them whatever they didn’t already have. Now there was nobody to remind her how incredible she was. How incredible she just had to be. She would start to think it was all a lie, and she was just as ordinary and witless as any of those girls in that stupid school. Because the one person in the world who believed it as much as Mertle had was on the side of a road somewhere, never to open his eyes again. “It’s not fair,” Mertle sobbed. “It’s not fair, it’s not fair, it’s not fair.” She jumped when she heard someone behind her. “Mertle?” Mertle thumbed the moisture out from underneath her glasses. “Go away.” “I know how—” “I said go away, Weirdlo!” Lilo was quiet as she slipped her yellow duffel bag off her shoulder, letting it drop in the sand, kneeling beside the redhead. She was in khaki shorts and a red top. Must’ve changed while Mertle had been running. It looked hideous on her. “I know how you feel,” Lilo said almost neutrally, going on as if Mertle hadn’t snapped at her. Mertle refused to turn and look at her. She so did not need this, not right now, not from…it. “You? Puh-leeze. Don’t make me laugh.” “I do,” Lilo insisted. “You’re probaby really confused.” She crossed her legs to get more comfortable. “And scared.” Her voice got lower and she looked at the hands in her lap. “And lost.” Mertle rolled her eyes, but that made hot tears spill faster down her cheeks and she rubbed them off angrily, worried her makeup would smear. “What do you know?” “I know you’re really gonna miss him. You talk about him a lot.” “Yeah, right.” Mertle scoffed, almost laughing for real then. “He wasn’t even a good dad! He was never here. Why should I care?” “But he was still your Ohana, right? I mean...he was still your dad.” Mertle was quiet for a second, contemplating that. Yeah, he was still her dad. But even so, what kind of dad up and leaves for the big city when you’re 2? Or stays away for years at a time, just so he can expand some dumb store? But he’d still come by every once in a while. He’d take her out to get some of Luki’s shave ice. He’d watch her surf. He’d even taken her to get her ears pierced. And when she picked out her first pair of earrings and held them up to him, two little diamonds, he told her they were dull compared to… Mertle felt her chest heave again and she turned her body further away from Lilo, to shield the mess she was obviously becoming. Worthless. She was worthless now, because she did have him to tell her otherwise. Stupid man. Why had he done this to her? What was he thinking? Had he been thinking of her as he died? Had he been scared? He’d been all alone. Lilo put her hand on Mertle’s shoulder, and the bespectacled puddle finally craned her head around to glance at her. “Why are you doing this?” Mertle demanded, sniffling, voice harder than she thought it would be. Lilo didn’t retract her hand. “I lost my dad, too,” she reminded the girl. “I know what it’s like right after….” She didn’t finish that part. Closing her eyes as if going back in time for a moment, Lilo sighed very softly, and Mertle thought she’d never heard someone sound so tired. Then Lilo opened her eyes and caught Mertle’s gaze again. “Anyway. I didn’t want you to be by yourself.” She managed a smile. “Nobody gets left behind.” Mertle gawked at her. She’d gawked at Lilo Pelekai plenty of times, dozens, hundreds. All the time they’d known each other, Mertle looked down her nose at Lilo. She’d sneered and called her names for over ten years. When they were children, the Edmonds child’s sole purpose in life had been to make her rival miserable, because if someone else could be miserable, Mertle wouldn’t have to be. This too-creative, too-nice, too-weird native teen was a freak. An oddball, a dork, a loser, a total irritant. The fly at Mertle’s lifelong picnic. Lilo was gross, loud, pathetic, had terrible taste in fashion… And she was the only one who’d stayed. Yuki, Teresa, Elena, they’d all looked away. But Lilo...Lilo had stared back, because

something of merit was happening to Mertle, something that mattered. She’d run after the girl who had tried to drag her down with every breath she’d taken since they were five years old. She acted like Mertle was important. Like Mertle wasn't worthless. Like she cared. Like they were friends. And slowly, through her tears, Mertle smiled back.

#doverstar posts #fanfic #story #lilo's college days #mertle edmonds #lilo pelekai #that defining moment #lilo and stitch #teen lilo #teenage lilo

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duhragonball · 3 years

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Hellsing Liveblog Ch. 45-50

This is the “Soldier of Fortune” arc. I thought there was a song by this title and there is! Give it a listen.

youtube

This opens with a flashback to Pip Bernadotte’s childhood, where he finds out his whole family is a bunch of mercenaries. His grandfather confirms it, and I should point out that Grandpa Bernadotte is the most mercenary-looking dude I’ve ever seen. He’s wearing a friggin’ beret while he tells Pip about how his dad died in some war to raise money while Ma Bernadotte was pregnant with Pip. Was Pip’s mother a merc too?

I guess my point is that this whole scene feels really stupid to me. Kid Pip grew up among mercenaries, but he’s literally the last person in town to find out about it. How do the kids at school know? Are the Bernadottes that well-known? I always assumed mercenaries tried to keep a low profile. Then again, they are entrepreneurs, so maybe the kids in school found ads about the Bernadottes in the phone book.

Even so, was Pip’s family trying to keep this a secret from him? Because Grandpa sure wasn’t. Not with that beret he’s got on. It’s like he’s been waiting Pip’s whole life to tell him, so why didn’t he mention it before? You’d think he’d want to raise the boy to follow in his footsteps, the same as Pip’s dad. Did Pip’s mom not want him to grow up to be a mercenary? It just seems like she should have known that wouldn’t work out.

Anyway, Grandpa Bernadotte waxes philosophical about killing people for money, which doesn’t seem like much of a justification. Pip was very upset about the whole thing, and I don’t think Grandpa said anything to make him less upset, and then we flash forward to the present day, where Pip’s a mercenary.

I mean, what was the point of that flashback? Pip was horrified to find out his family kills for profit, and then at some point he got over it and joined the family business. Why didn’t the flashback show us that moment instead? It seems more relevant.

At any rate, I feel like the flashback is overlooking the true point of Pip’s character arc. He starts out a soldier of fortune like his father and grandfather, but by joining up with Hellsing he’s now fighting for a much nobler cause, ridding the world of unspeakably evil monsters. He still seems to look at it like just another job, but it’s still important. His defense of the Hellsing mansion is a lot more heroic because he’s fighting against daunting odds with very little hope of surviving to see another sunrise, let alone his next paycheck.

Back to the main story, when Millennium’s forces invaded London, they sent a company to the Hellsing HQ on the outskirts of the city. Zorin Blitz was tasked with leading this group, but she was ordered to hold off on attacking until the Major gave the word. The Major then fired rockets at the mansion, only for Seras Victoria to shoot the rockets down... and Zorin’s zeppelin. Now, Zorin is trying to lead a ground attack on the mansion, except Pip has turned the entire yard into a minefield.

Seras disapproves, but Pip doesn’t care. In this sort of conflict, he and his men, the Wild Geese, are at a complete disadvantage. Vampires, even the weaker, artificial vampires of Millennium, are faster, stronger, and harder to kill. He hints at some sort of vampiric ability to read an opponent’s movements, too, which might have something to do with that whole “third eye” trick Seras and Alucard use. Against all of that, landmines are a sensible precaution, since they’re powerful enough to kill a vampire in one shot and don’t rely on a human operator with killing intent. Seras can gripe, but if Hellsing had used mines back in volume 2, the Valentine Brothers never would have made it inside. Pip clearly read up on that debacle, since it must have taken weeks for his men to bury all these mines.

The landmines do kill a lot of Zorin’s troops, and the Wild Geese lay down heavy fire from the mansion to keep up the pressure, but Zorin won’t give up so easily. She uses he powers to create some sort of zany illusion, where everyone sees a giant Zorin Blitz attacking the mansion.

So what the hell is Zorin Blitz, exactly? I thought she was a vampire, but reading this manga has revealed that Rip Van WInkle is a werewolf, which led me to suspect Zorin is a werewolf too. But the manga is silent on Zorin being one or the other. I check the Hellsing Wiki, but it contends that both women are vampires, and the term “Werewolf” just refers to the group of officers in Millennium. This group includes literal werewolves like the Captain and Schrodinger, but not Blitz and Rip.

Maybe it doesn’t matter that much, but I find it a little silly to call all four of those characters “Werewolves” and then only two of them are really werewolves. Clearly, all four of them are a cut above the Major’s other troops, and none of them show any interest in drinking blood, or any other vampire-exclusive traits. On the other hand, this whole battle takes place under a full moon, and none of them seem to be affected by it. Unless the Major chose this particular night to launch his offensive because he wanted them all to be at full power. Maybe Zorin couldn’t do this illusion thing otherwise.

Anyway, the Wild Geese see this giant woman slashing at them with a scythe, and they all panic. Seras sees it too, but she somehow intuits that it can’t be real. Then she sees Alucard, who reminds her of her third eye. I’m not sure if this is a flashback or Alucard is using telepathy to coach her from the deck of the H.M.S. Eagle.

Either way, Seras uses her third eye and not only sees through the illusion but lines up a shot on the illusion-caster. But it only grazes Zorin. It disrupts the illusion, but it doesn’t end the threat.

And even though the illusion is shattered, it still distracted the Wild Geese long enough for Millennium troops to enter the mansion. Seras manages to shoot them down, but there’s more where that came from.

Because the Nazi bastards figured out a way past the mines. They just threw a bunch of knives on the ground and played hopscotch to get across. I guess this means they can only get in one at a time, but it’s still bad news for the good guys.

So Pip adjusts his tactics accordingly. He and his men will regroup and hold up in a defensible location, while Seras roams the building to take the fight to the enemy. I guess the idea is to divide Millennium’s focus. They can attack the Geese or watch out for Seras, but not both. For some reason, Seras calls Pip “sir”, like he’s in charge, and maybe that is appropriate in this situation, but I thought Seras was in charge of their training.

Then one of the Geese pats her on the butt and Pip steals a kiss. I’m not sure what the hell this is about. I guess they were trying to lighten the mood before they go to face certain death, but if my life depended on some vampire girl killing all the bad guys before they can rip me to shreds, I probably wouldn’t sexually harass her, or do anything else to tick her off. But that’s just me.

Pip seems resigned about their chances. He’s confident in Seras’ ability, but there’s only one of her and like... 30? Let’s say 30, thirty Nazi Vampires heading their way. If even one of them gets past Seras, the Geese will all die horribly. But they took this job and the risks that come with it, and besides, there’s nowhere for them to run anyway. He seems to accept the situation with a mercenary sense of honor. Like, a mercenary should expect to die in some unwinnable battle, and they shouldn’t complain about it, since it’s the nature of the business.

Anyway, it doesn’t go well. The nature of the comic doesn’t really make it clear how the Wild Geese are operating, but I get the impression that they’re doing sort of a fighting withdrawal concentrating their forces as they give ground. But they suffer a lot of casualties in the process.

This leads to the Geese holing up in the big conference room where Integra met with the Royal Order of Protestant Knights before the Valentine Bros. attack. One guy panics and wants to bug out, but Pip reminds him of what I said a minute ago. They’ve got nowhere else to go, and they all got into this for the action, so they should stick to their principles, even in the face of death.

There’s this one guy from “B-block”, who I guess was covering a certain hallway, but B-Block got cut off before they could join the others in the Round Table room. Zorin Blitz decides to have some fun with him, so she uses her weird powers to make him see himself back home, with his dead daughter.

This seems especially cruel, because it’s not like Zorin needed this diversion to kill one dude. She’s just really sadistic.

Meanwhile, some other Millennium guys are eating the Wild Geese they already killed, and one of them shows off his ability to tell blood types just by taste. It’s this really sick moment, but at the same time it humanizes the characters, which is a weird thing to say when discussing Nazi vampires, but you know what I mean.

Then Seras blows the dude’s head off, which is extremely satisfying.

So Seras is holding up her end, and growing more resolute with each kill. She’s really improved a lot since the last time she was in action. Yeah, these Millennium vampires probably aren’t that much tougher than the vampires she killed back in the summer, but there are a lot more of them, and they’re trained soldiers on top of that, and she doesn’t have Alucard backing her up like she did before.

By now, all that’s left of the Wild Geese are in this barricaded room, and they’ve run low on silver bullets, which means even the few shots that don’t miss will have almost no effect. Pip is determined to hold out, confident that Seras will save them, but...

She runs out of bullets before she runs out of enemies to kill. When she arrives to save the day, she’s still has to go through Zorin Blitz.

But Zorin doesn’t see this as a problem, and she uses her freaky mind powers on Seras, forcing her to relive memories of her days at the orphanage. Yeah, Seras was an orphan, remember? Alucard asked Walter about her parents a while back, and Walter said they were both dead. How did they die?

Well, Zorin Blitz is about to find out...

#2021hellsingliveblog #hellsing #seras victoria #pip bernadotte #zorin blitz #alucard #a bunch of no-name wild geese dudes #i sometimes feel bad that i can't keep track of them all #but then i remember that kouta hirano never gave them names in the first place #so there's young commissioner gordon with the dead daughter #and the chubby faced guy who wants to run away #and the guy who cops a feel on seras #and the other guy who gets blown in half by a rocket launcher #and that's basically it

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ronninoir · 3 years

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Can I Steal You For A Second Chapter 35

Summary: Adrien is forced to participate in a new dating show, but becomes more excited when Ladybug says she’ll participate as her civilian self.

AKA: AU where Adrien doesn’t know Marinette, the superheroes are 22 and Gabriel is mean and ruthless but not Hawkmoth.

Read on AO3

Start from the beginning Chp 1 on AO3

“Oh, good you’re back,” was Victoria’s friendly response as Marinette walked through the door of the mansion. Lucie was quickly summoned and Victoria tapped her handy-dandy clipboard officially. “I just wanted to sit down with you two to let you know what the next 3 days will look like.”

“Three days?” Marinette blanched. She had thought that tomorrow was the day Adrien would propose.

“I thought all we had left was the proposal!” Lucie added, clearly as shocked as Marinette.

“No,” was Victoria’s answer, not even bothering to glance up from her clipboard. “You each have one more date with Adrien before he makes his final decision. Tomorrow, Marinette will go on her date, then Lucie will go on hers. Finally, Adrien will propose once he knows who he is going to pick. That could last as long as Adrien needs, but you will be alerted the day that it is happening.” Lucie and Marinette just looked at each other and both girls looked slightly fearful that the last leg of their journey could take so long.

“Just so you two are aware,” Victoria continued, still completely unaware of anything except her clipboard. “professionals will be brought in to do your hair and make-up for the proposal, to make sure you are both looking your best for the final episode. From there, whoever Adrien chooses will reconnect with me for your next steps.” Victoria finally looked up and gave both girls a small smile. “That’s all for now. If there are any questions, ask one of the producers. Good luck, and I’ll see one of you in a couple of days.”

Victoria stood up and left the two sitting on the couch alone. Both girls watched her walk away and then awkwardly made eye contact.

“It’s okay, Marinette.” Lucie smiled, reaching over and giving Marinette’s hand a slight squeeze. “You have a date to prepare for tomorrow. I want to hear all about it tomorrow night!” Lucie smiled so genuinely at Marinette that she couldn’t help but reach over and give her a hug.

“Thank you for being such a great friend,” Marinette said into Lucie’s shoulder.

“The same to you.” After a beat, the girls broke apart, shared one more smile, before Marinette dashed up the stairs to pick out what she was going to wear for her last date with Adrien.

----------------------------------------------------

Marinette woke up the next morning and was ready in record timing. Dressed in dark jeans, a maroon long sleeve sweater, and black booties, she dashed downstairs and waited in the Date Card room for a knock on the door. She was jittery and nervous and excited and ready for this whole thing to be over. Once again, she was incredibly grateful that she was on this inside of this charade and wasn’t stressing about whether she was going to be picked or not. She couldn’t even imagine what Lucie was going through right now. And how she could possibly stay this calm.

Lucie’s calming presence was welcomed as Marinette waited for the car to come and take her to her date location. They chatted about the most random things, but Lucie never once looked nervous or worried or upset by the fact that Marinette was going on this date. She hoped beyond hope that once all of this was over, the two of them could remain on good terms.

Finally, there was a knock at the door and Marinette jumped up to get it, saying a quick, “Tell you all about it later!” to Lucie as she dashed towards the noise. As she was walking towards the black SUV, she noticed that the clouds were gathering and looked like rain was coming. She hoped that whatever Adrien had planned for her wouldn’t be messed up if it did rain. She wanted to have the best, last TV date possible.

The ride was short and Marinette was aware that they were headed towards the heart of Paris. They stopped in front of the Louvre, and there, leaning on a long, black umbrella and looking like a character from a movie, was Adrien. He was dressed in khakis and a white T-shirt, with a light jean jacket resting open over the shirt.

She was so excited to see him that she ran and he grabbed her up in a hug. “Fancy meeting you here,” Adrien teased with a sly smile. Marinette threw her head back in a laugh, too excited to be there with him to be annoyed by the bad joke. “Glad to see you’re in a good mood today,” Adrien announced as he led her to a nearby bench.

“What makes you say that?” Marinette scoffed, shooting him a wink.

“Truthfully? You laughed at my joke.”

Marinette laughed again, “I’m always in a good mood when I’m with you.” They were sitting now, and it didn’t take much for Adrien to lean forward for a chaste kiss.

“Anyway,” Adrien said with a little bit of a voice break that made Marinette giggle, “I’m excited to do something slightly normal with you today.”

“And what is that?”

Adrien gave her a broad smile before responding, “Shopping.”

And shop they did. Marinette and Adrien wandered to about 6 different stores, dodging in and out of the rain as it had started steadily coming down while they were in the first store. They spent their time picking out clothes for the other to try on, looking through fun decorations and antiques for their “future home,” and even stopped at a grocer’s.

“May I ask why we are going grocery shopping?” Marinette asked as Adrien pulled her into their next stop.

“Because,” was Adrien’s response.

Marinette rolled her eyes and followed him through the front door. He pulled out a shopping list from his jacket pocket and Marinette quickly scanned what they were looking for. The list was short, and Marinette’s focus and determination to make quick work of their shopping kicked in and she started directing Adrien, who grabbed a basket and followed her lead.

“Bacon, onions, garlic, mushrooms, tomato paste, bay leaves, thyme, and chicken livers.” Marinette read off the list, checking to make sure each of those was in the basket as she said them. “Odd combination, but I trust you.” to which Adrien beamed.

After Adrien paid for their groceries, and an awkward moment where the cashier recognized Adrien from a magazine and got very excited, the two passed the groceries off to the awaiting producer.

“But I thought we were going to do something with those?” Marinette asked as she once again got pulled along the street by Adrien.

“In due time, my dear. We have one more stop to make before we get there.” The best part about the rain was that it gave her the perfect excuse to cuddle close to Adrien as they walked so she could remain underneath his umbrella.

After a couple of minutes, they stopped at a park that Marinette knew all too well. Many memories flooded her as she looked out at the carousel. Marinette smiled, remembering one of the very first fights they had with Stormy Weather that led to Manon and Alya being trapped in that same carousel. Adrien walked up and nodded to the attendant, who let the two of them on. “Pick your loyal steed, milady,” Adrien said as he put his umbrella on the bench right behind them.

“Where is everyone else?” Marinette asked as she climbed on a white and pink horse that she was fairly certain had used to be a unicorn.

“We have the whole place to ourselves,” Adrien replied, climbing onto the jet-black horse beside hers.

She felt like a little kid again, riding around. After the first rotation, a producer followed the carousel around and told them that they needed shots of them kissing around the horses and on the bench and kind of just everywhere. Adrien, always the gentlemen, helped Marinette down from her horse. She turned towards him to ask him where they wanted to start, but Adrien grabbed her waist with his left arm and lifted their joined right hands together and started waltzing her around the carousel. They danced in a circle, weaving their way through the horses and benches, Marinette laughing the whole way.

“How do you know how to do this?” Marinette asked as he spun her around the bench that was holding his umbrella. They had made it around the entire circle without Marinette falling. He must have been some sort of wizard dancer.

“My Father made sure I knew exactly how to properly dance at certain functions. Can’t have the heir to the Agreste company making a fool of himself on the dance floor.” Adrien answered, his tone only slightly bitter.

They had stopped dancing, and Marinette took that time to lean in and kiss Adrien, knowing that the producers must have been dying for that to happen. Adrien tilted his head to deepen the kiss and Marinette melted into him. When they finally broke for air, Marinette whispered, “Remind me to thank your father for those dance lessons.”

Adrien let out a genuine laugh, and then guided the two of them onto the umbrella-bench. There, they kissed some more as the carousel made another rotation.

Or two.

Eventually, the carousel came to a stop and the two of them broke apart once more. Adrien helped Marinette off the platform and they began walking hand in hand towards the park exit.

“Are you ready for the last part of our date today?” Adrien asked, a twinkle in his eye once more. Marinette’s heart sank when she realized it was getting kind of late, meaning their time together was almost over.

“What did you have in mind?” She answered, trying to keep any of the disappointment she felt for the end of their day taint her voice.

Instead of answering her, they just kept walking. Marinette enjoyed the silence and took in the beautiful sunset as they walked to their secret destination. If she blocked out the noise of the producers walking with all of their equipment behind her, she could see her future. Just Adrien and her, living their lives in the beautiful city of Paris.

They stopped at an upscale apartment building, and Marinette looked over at Adrien, even more confused. Adrien smiled at her and winked. He said hello to the doorman, who welcomed them in as if this was completely normal. They sneakily got an elevator all to themselves, and before Adrien hit a button, he turned to her with a smile.

“I’ve been keeping a secret from you.”

Marinette just rolled her eyes, “Clearly.”

“I acquired this apartment about six months before the show started. I wanted to have a place of my own where I could escape my Father and just try to figure out how to be an adult that lives on their own. If you’re willing, I’d love for you to move in with me after we’re engaged. Just until the wedding, and then we can find a house of our own that we can pick out together.”

Marinette felt her jaw drop, and had no idea what to say. Adrien smiled sweetly and pressed the button for the 12th floor.

Before Marinette could find any words, Adrien continued talking. “I’m going to give you the grand tour before the cameras make it upstairs, but just let me know what you honestly think about the space, you know, once the cameras leave. I want to make sure you’re comfortable with it before we go forward with anything.”

The elevator dinged and Marinette couldn’t help but smile, as Adrien led her down the hallway. He really was the most perfect person.

Adrien slipped out some keys from his ever-handy pockets and unlocked number 1214. “Welcome to my home.” Adrien whispered as he pushed the door open.

Marinette once again felt her jaw drop. It was an open-concept living room, with the kitchen directly to her right and the dining room to her left. The living room had a comfortable looking couch and very large TV mounted onto the wall over the fireplace. To her left were three doors, which Adrien labeled as the bedroom, a bathroom, and a storage closet. “There’s another bathroom attached to the master, and a spare bedroom to the right.” Adrien announced as he put his keys in a bowl on the counter and walked towards the oven. “I was thinking we could share the spare bedroom as a sort of joint office space, where you could design and sew and I can work on all of the paperwork.”

Before anything else could be said, a producer walked right into the apartment, with no hesitation and turned towards Adrien. “You should have waited for us.”

Adrien shot him a smile, “I promise you didn’t miss much.”

The producer sighed, “Groceries are either in the fridge or in the first cabinet. Please don’t start cooking until all of the cameras and sound equipment is set up.”

Marinette moved into the kitchen with Adrien as he found the groceries and started laying them out onto the counter. “So that’s your big date idea?” She asked, reaching for the bag of mushrooms and bumping Adrien’s arm along the way. “Cooking dinner together? Or did you just want to show off your fancy apartment?”

Adrien spun towards her, “You don’t like it?” The look of pure worry on his face was adorable.

Marinette let out a light laugh, “Adrien, it’s perfect.”

She watched him visibly relax and then pull her into a hug.

“Hey!” Someone yelled, and the two of them turned, without letting go, to look at who had shouted. One of the producers was staring daggers at the two of them, “Save all of the lovey-dovey stuff for the cameras! We need the footage!” Marinette and Adrien just laughed.

----------------------------------------------------

After they were finished eating and cleaning, the two had curled up on the couch, with the electric fire blazing. They had made coq au vin, and while it was finishing up in the oven, Marinette raided Adrien’s pantry (which needed a lot of help) and found just enough ingredients for the two to have some chocolate chip cookies as dessert.

“Those were the best cookies I’ve ever tasted,” Adrien said, after finishing off his fourth.

“My parents swear by the fact that homemade is always better.”

“Well no wonder they are so successful. If all of their baked goods taste like either the bread we made or these cookies, they have to be the best bakery in Paris, if not all of France!”

Marinette laughed, “I think you may be a little biased.”

“So what if I am?” Adrien shrugged. He was lazily drawing shapes on the back of Marinette’s hand, and she was so comfortable that she felt like she could have fallen asleep right then and there.

“Can you imagine, life after the show?” Marinette asked.

“I have a feeling it would be just like this.” Adrien whispered before planting a kiss in her hair.

“I’m serious though. By the end of this week, we could be engaged.”

“That sounds weird doesn’t it?”

Marinette just nodded, a smile spreading across her face.

“Why are you smiling?”

Marinette busted out laughing as she turned to look at him, “What do you mean ‘why am I smiling?’”

Adrien cheeks turned a little pink as he clarified, “What are you thinking about?”

Marinette sighed, “How I can finally see the end.” She paused, but Adrien waited for her to continue. “I feel like this whole time it’s been, ‘I just have to make it to next week,’ or ‘I’ll get more time with Adrien if I can make it to hometowns, or fantasy suite,’ or whatever the next milestone on the show was. For the first time since we started, I can finally see the end. I can see the two of us cooking dinner like we did tonight, or shopping, or working, basically just living our everyday lives, together.”

Adrien leaned in, but still didn’t say anything, so Marinette filled the silence. “You have shown me a new love, something I’ve never felt before. I feel like I’ve lived my 22 years just for us to find each other in this moment. And I know, somewhere in my brain, that there’s another girl still here and that you could totally not pick me,” Marinette sat up out of Adrien’s arms, the words she was saying building unnecessary worry and fear in her. But they needed to be said for the charade. “But, Adrien, please know that I love you. And if you pick me, I will continue to love you until death do us part. But even if you don’t pick me, know that I’ll support your decision.”

She started to feel a little choked up, and hoped the camera could tell. Adrien heard it too as she watched his eyes widen and he straightened up on the couch as well. “I trust your judgement, and if for some crazy reason, I’m not the one, I’ll respect you even more for having to do the hard thing here.”

Instead of answering, Adrien leaned in and kissed her, hard. When they broke apart, she was out of breath. Adrien took both of her hands in his and looked her dead in the eye. “I need you to know that when I’m with you, I’m with nobody else. With you, our relationship is so easy. I sometimes forget that we are even being recorded, because everything is just so natural and perfect. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, and I need you to know that my feelings for you are very strong.”

With that the two of them relaxed back into their earlier position, and Marinette couldn’t help but smile.

“That’s all we need for today.” A producer cut in, making both Adrien and Marinette jump. “We’ll give you two a couple of minutes before we take Marinette back to the mansion.” The two stayed silent as the people around them packed up their stuff and left.

When the last one was out the door, Adrien turned towards Marinette, “Do you really like the apartment?”

“Adrien,” she cupped his cheek with her hand, “It’s perfect. I’m honestly so touched that you’ve thought so far ahead to our future, and I adore everything about it.” She paused, soaking in his smile and reciprocating with one of her own. “Although, you could use a woman's touch in your decorating style, it’s very bland,” to which Adrien just laughed.

“Once all of your stuff is moved in, the place is yours to do with as you please.” They shared one more chaste kiss before there was a knock at the door.

“I think that’s my cue,” Marinette whispered as she began to get up from the couch.

“Do you have to go?” Adrien asked in a whiney voice that made Marinette smile.

“I’ll see you soon, I promise. But if I don’t leave now, some people are going to get suspicious.”

“Who cares what they think?” Adrien asked as he stood up from the couch.

“Hate to point this out, but you kind of do, Mr. Star-of-the-Show.”

He sighed in defeat, “You’re right.” He leaned in close and whispered in her ear, “But, the next time I see you, I’ll be getting down on one knee, and you’ll be walking away with a new piece of jewelry.”

Marinette melted at the idea and felt a light blush dust her cheeks as her heartbeat accelerated. “I can’t wait.”