#i should have just given her an outrageous number to see if she would bite

[beansnpeets]

It truly is god awful to have a new friend message you and ask how much you charge to shoot an event, like a baby shower, and then have to gently tell her you're not that kind of photographer.

#personal #i hate hate hate when people see that i have never shot an event before ever #aside from sports #and then ask me to shoot a baby shower #do you see a single photo on my page/profile that resembles that type of work?? #just because im a photographer people assume id shoot anything #no! #i have a comfy little niche and i want to stay there thank you #you couldnt pay me enough money to shoot a wedding #i should have just given her an outrageous number to see if she would bite #but i know her and her husband dont make bank so unlikely #tbf i have shot ONE baby shower before but it was my idea and for a close friend at the time #but also none of those photos exist on my photography page or anywhere attached to my name #because it was like 8 or 9 years ago

[tsarisfanfiction]

Libel (Part 2)

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Teen Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Family Characters: John, Scott, Grandma, Tracy Family

Day 6 “touch and go” for @whumptober-archive and for the prompt bruises my muses decided to add on to my day 3 chapter, so have a rather displeased John.  I’m not expecting this one to go any further, but then again I wasn’t expecting to add onto it at all, so who knows what’ll happen the rest of this month.

<<< Part 1

Grandma was waiting for them when they got home, the smell of something heavenly and clearly take-out wafting through the front door as it opened, and John felt a flash of guilt for forgetting to warn her about Scott’s physical condition when her mouth parted slightly in clear shock.

Scott’s weight had increased against him slowly but steadily as they’d finished the trek home, until his head was resting against John’s and his arm hung awkwardly around his shoulder. His eyes were rimmed with an angry red, and salted tear tracks cut down across the blossoming bruises.  One eye, in addition to the tell-tale sign of crying, was swelling shut with a purple-black mark blooming around it, but while that was the worst mark on his face, there was barely any untouched skin. The exposed arms were also littered with colour, including vibrant handprints that told a story all of their own.

John was certain that Scott’s t-shirt was concealing more.

“What happened?” Grandma demanded after a moment, swooping in and gingerly cupping Scott’s face in her hands.  His brother’s messenger bag dropped to the floor, and John let his own do the same without ever relinquishing his grip around Scott’s waist.  Scott was clearly feeling the emotional damage more than the physical, but that didn’t mean that the physical didn’t promise pain in his brother’s future.

The weight against him increased again as Scott sagged at the question.  John couldn’t see his face very well from his angle, but considering how wrecked his big brother was about the whole thing – and understandably so, in John’s furious opinion – he couldn’t envisage him repeating the tale again.

“Bullies,” he said shortly, enough to give an answer without tormenting Scott further by retelling the whole thing in his earshot.  At some point the rest of the family needed to know that Scott and Christie were no longer together – preferably before one of them made an innocent comment – but he wasn’t going to dredge that up in Scott’s vicinity.

In his pocket, Scott’s phone hadn’t stopped vibrating with incoming messages.  If they were all along the same vein as the ones John had seen initially, he was very glad he’d decided to, for all intents and purposes, confiscate his big brother’s phone.  He’d probably need to change his number before it was safe to give it back.

“Terrible children,” Grandma muttered beneath her breath, before slowly stepping back and letting her hands reluctantly part with Scott’s face.  “Your dinner’s in the kitchen and your brothers are upstairs in bed.”  Had they stayed out that late?  “Alan’s sharing with Virgil and Gordon tonight so you two don’t need to worry about him.”  That was a relief – John loved Alan, and neither he nor Scott minded sharing a bedroom with the youngest, but tonight the last thing Scott needed was Alan’s innocent blue eyes forcing him to struggle to hold himself together.

Dinner sounded – and smelled – inviting.  Grandma had taken his warning text seriously and gone straight for Scott’s favourites, from the smell of it.  It was definitely a pleasant surprise in John’s book, and he hoped that Scott was up for trying to stomach at least some of the comfort food.  If nothing else, the apple pie, whose cinnamon-tinted scent was wafting through invitingly, should entice his brother in.

Scott hadn’t said a word since choking out what had to be an extremely brief summary of events, and his silence continued as he kicked off his sneakers – still not separating from John for a single moment.

It was familiar behaviour;going to a brother for comfort when the world went mad was a common tactic, but the brother they all went to was Scott.  He was never the one seeking comfort – that is, until now, and John couldn’t blame him in the slightest, so he stayed close and kept one arm around his brother without saying anything, hoping that it would help Scott as much as Scott’s presence always helped him.

“Get some food in your stomachs,” Grandma instructed.  “Scott, have you taken any painkillers?”

Hair rustled in John’s ear as Scott shook his head.  He still didn’t say a word and John rubbed his back gently.

“I’ll get you some,” she said, ushering them through the kitchen door.  “Once you’ve eaten, Scott, I want you to take a hot bath.”  She didn’t wait for a response before disappearing, leaving John to guide his brother over to the table, where Scott’s favourite burger waited.

To his relief, Scott didn’t need any convincing to eat, although the way he mechanically took each bite told John that he wasn’t really tasting it.  The apple pie went down a little better – while Scott still didn’t speak, or smile, his mouthfuls seemed to be a little more organic, and irregularly frequent.  John ate his own in equal silence, aware of the still-vibrating phone in his pocket but refusing to check the messages while Scott was next to him.

Grandma reappeared with Tylenol and a cold compress as Scott sipped at the soda, both of which were gratefully received, even if Scott’s reaction remained unusually muted.  Still, he finished his meal, accepted the painkillers without a fuss, and let Grandma press the compress gently over his swollen-shut eye, which was as much as John could ask, given the situation.

All the while, Scott stayed in physical contact with him, leaning in and seemingly trusting John to hold him up so he didn’t fall to the floor.  It felt rather like a metaphor, so when Grandma eased the compress back again several minutes later and nudged Scott towards the bathroom where she promised a nice, warm bath was waiting for him he didn’t hesitate to escort him.

The door clicked shut behind them and Scott sank onto the tiled floor, wrapping his arms around his knees. John settled down beside him and put his arm around him again, letting his brother lean in to the touch.  Silence continued to reign.

Outside the room, he could hear the running feet of several brothers – probably all of them – and the subsequent scolding for running in the house, followed by a reminder that they should be in bed and that they’d see their eldest brothers in the morning. John would be very surprised if no black or blond heads poked into his and Scott’s room during the night.  Dad was moving around, apparently finally appearing from his office for food, and John heard the outraged outburst as Grandma no doubt told him about Scott.

At least John could be confident that Scott wouldn’t be allowed into school tomorrow – with both Grandma and Dad on the warpath, his brother would be kept safely at home, likely not doing any work at all, although he might poke at some of his preferred subjects.

Speaking of his brother, Scott was showing no signs of getting in the water.  John nudged him gently.  “It’s going to get cold,” he prompted.  “Do you want me to leave?”

His brother groaned lightly, but straightened enough to yank at his top.  John shifted out of the way as the fabric came off over messy brown hair, and did his best not to let his reaction show on his face.

As suspected, Scott’s torso was awful.  Bruises littered the skin, the fabric doing almost nothing to protect it from the blows it had taken, leaving it a rainbow of red hues.  One in particular caught John’s attention – a large, darker area that sprawled across one side as though it’d been hit multiple times in quick succession. It took him a moment to yank his eyes away, shifting his entire body until Scott was out of view, and not turning back until water splashed and then stilled again.

Only his brother’s head and shoulders were visible over the edge of the bath, complete with one arm hanging over the side, fingertips just brushing the cool tiles of the floor. The heat of the water was rapidly adding even more pink to Scott’s skin, as though it needed it when there were enough broken blood vessels below his brother’s skin to change the hue all by themselves.  Even with the painkillers Grandma had bestowed, John knew Scott was in for a sleepless night.

Then again, the heartbreak probably hurt more than everything else put together.

“Do you want me to leave?” he asked again, already gathering his legs underneath himself in preparation.

“No,” Scott rasped, the first word he’d spoken since returning home.  His voice sounded scraped raw and weak, and John obediently settled back down again.  “Please.”

John was going to destroy everyone who had a hand in reducing his big brother to this.  There would be no mercy, and a large number of them were obligingly making his life much easier by blowing up Scott’s phone with messages his brother would never see hide nor hair of.

“Okay,” he agreed, settling his back against the toilet and shifting around until it was halfway comfortable. From that angle, Scott couldn’t see anything that might be on a phone screen, so while his big brother soaked in an attempt to ease the bruising, John got to work.

First was a message to Grandma from his own phone, giving her the basic rundown of events.  She didn’t reply, but she did leave him on read, so he knew she had seen it.

There was no doubt in John’s mind that she would do everything in her considerable influence and power to make sure Scott didn’t have to go in to school again, or at least until it all blew over.  His big brother was in good hands.

Still, John was not about to let things lie himself, either.  Scott’s phone was a veritable goldmine of information, and while there was little John could do without his laptop, he could at least take note of the names sending threats and begin to scheme how he was going to get revenge.

No one hurt his brother and got away with it.

Quiet sobs that started up after a while, muffled in a way that sounded like Scott had a hand or arm over his mouth.  John reached out for the dangling arm and tangled his fingers lightly with Scott’s even as he scoured his way through the social media of Christie’s two brothers, looking for the most damaging place to hit them back.  If he played it right, he could ruin their football aspirations with a neat black mark on their record.

Oh, he understood why they’d reacted the way they had – if he’d gone to Scott and said someone had hurt him, there was no way Scott wouldn’t have launched himself straight into the situation entirely on his side.  That didn’t mean John was going to spare them from retribution; he wasn’t that benevolent.

Christie herself he left for the moment.  If he was going to hurt everyone who had hurt Scott, he was going to destroy the girl behind it all in the first place, and that would require his full attention. It would be most efficient to eliminate everyone else involved first.

From the state of Scott’s phone, it was a long list of targets, but John was nothing if not thorough as he sifted through the hateful messages.

Some of them were truly vile, and there were threats in there that made John feel sick just thinking about them.  He set those aside to show Grandma; some things needed an adult’s intervention to handle effectively, and he was certain that some of the threats were jail-worthy if acted upon.

Scott had barely moved since getting into the bath, and John wondered if he was falling asleep in the pleasant warmth.  Part of him hoped so; it was much better than wallowing in negative thoughts, especially ones he didn’t deserve.  He squeezed his brother’s fingers lightly and was rewarded with a twitch in return.

His brother still didn’t talk.  Not when he stopped crying again, wiping away tears with a wet arm.  Not when Grandma lightly knocked on the door to suggest that they get ready for bed.  Not when he got out of the bath, either, skin pruned and wrinkly, and John averted his gaze so he didn’t see anything he didn’t want to as Scott slowly dried off.

Dad was waiting when they left the bathroom, Scott wrapped up snugly in his favourite pyjamas, and wordlessly folded Scott into a big, warm hug which his big brother sank into bonelessly.  John took the chance to slip away, finding Grandma downstairs and slipping her Scott’s phone.

She took one look at the first message on the screen and her face turned to granite.

“Neither of you are going to school tomorrow,” she told him.  John hadn’t expected to be included in that, but it was clear there was no arguing.  It worked in his favour anyway; vengeance would be easier to enact using his laptop without the prying eyes of hovering classmates.  “And whatever you’re planning, John, don’t get caught.”

She followed him back up the stairs.  Dad and Scott had migrated into their bedroom and John took the chance to get into his own pyjamas – although sleep wasn’t on his agenda just yet – before going to join them.

A door creeping open as he passed caught his attention and he paused to see three pairs of worried eyes peering out.

“Is Scott okay?”  Alan was the one that spoke, not yet aware of the nuances of the indoor voice, but making a good go at whispering regardless.  John could see the question reflected in two pairs of brown eyes as well and sighed, shoulders slumping.

“He broke up with Christie,” he explained, keeping his own voice low enough that there was no way the brother in question would be able to hear from down the hall.  It was Virgil’s eyes he met, knowing that he was the only one old enough to comprehend what his next words would mean.  “It was a bad breakup.”  Sure enough, chestnut brown eyes widened.

“But is he okay?” Gordon asked, frowning, and John swallowed, not wanting to lie, but not wanting them to worry, either.

He settled on shrugging.  “He will be.”  I hope.

They surged forwards, apparently taking that as an invitation to go see him, and John had to plant himself firmly in the doorway to stop them. There was no way Scott would want them to see him in his current state.

“Tomorrow,” he said, somewhat sharply.  “He needs space right now.”

They grumbled malcontentedly, but he stood firm, pulling upon his rarely used big brother clout to get them to obey until the door closed again.

In all likelihood, they’d be sneaking in later, but hopefully Scott would be less visibly distraught by then.

John padded into his bedroom and headed straight for his bed.  Dad was sitting with Scott on his brother’s bed, arms firmly around him and one hand running through his hair as he sobbed. From the way he was slumped, and the weakness of the sobs, Scott was on the cusp of sleep.  John wasn’t naïve enough to think that he’d sleep all through the night, not with all those bruises, but he’d gladly support any sleep Scott could get.

For his part, he pulled up his phone and continued scrolling through the names of Scott’s year mates.  Most of them had left a message on his phone.

“Don’t stay up too late,” Dad cautioned suddenly and he jumped, checking the time to see it was much later than he’d realised.  Scott was neatly tucked into bed, the vision of a perfect slumber ruined by the tear tracks down his face.

“I won’t,” he shrugged, an acknowledgement but not a promise.  “Night, Dad.”

“Goodnight, John.”  He was pulled into a brief hug, kiss pressed against his brow, before Dad slipped out of the room, leaving him with his sleeping brother.

Armed with his laptop, phone, and the simmering fury kept at a boil by the sight of his battered brother, John got to work.

#whumptober2021 #no.6 #bruises #thunderbirds are go #fic #thunderbirds are go fanfiction #tsari writes fanfiction #john tracy #scott tracy #grandma tracy #jeff tracy #virgil tracy #gordon tracy #alan tracy #thunderwhump #thunderfluff

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers LUNATIC PARADE ;; Ayato Route ー Chapter 2

ー The scene starts in the hotel room

*Rustle*

Yui: Nn...Hm...?

*Rustle*

Yui: ( ...I wonder how long I slept...? )

Ayato: Zzー... Zzー...

Yui: ( Ayato-kun’s still asleep. I better be careful not to wake him up... )

*Creaaaak*

Easy...There.

ー The scene shifts to the balcony

Yui: Hm...?

( ...What’s this smell...? )

( Somehow there’s this really nice scent coming from downstairs. ...A food vendor of some sorts, perhaps? )

*Groooowl*

Yui: ( ...Guess I’ll go take a quick look... )

ー The scene shifts to the wagon area

Pretzel vendor: Aah, miss! What do you say? Are you hungry for a freshly-baked pretzel?

Yui: ( Wah...There’s more different kinds of pretzels than I thought... )

Pretzel vendor: I studied the art of the pretzel for an extended time over in the human world, so I can guarantee the taste.

They’re quite popular amongst my customers down here as well. So, which one would you like?

Yui: ( Hm...What should I do? I can’t decide... )

*Rustle*

Yui: Um...Which one would you recommend?

Pretzel vendor: A recommendation, huh? ...I’d love to say I would recommend them all but...Let’s see...

Male punk A: Oi, old geezer. Give us one of those pretzel things as well.

Pretzel vendor: ...Aah In that case, please get in line over there.

Male punk B: Aah!? We’re askin’ for some right now. Come on, hand them over!

*THUD*

Yui: ...!

ー The crowd grows restless

Yui: ( What’s their problem...? )

Pretzel vendor: Don’t be ridiculous! I’ve got other customers waiting in line. ...!?

*THUD*

Male punk A: ...Oi, old geezer. Who do you think you’re talkin’ to, huh? You want us to get in queue? 

Male punk B: If you keep tryin’ to get all cute with us, we’ll ensure you’ll never do business here again, understood? Take that!

*THUD*

Yui: ( This is outrageous...! )

E-Excuse me...!

Male punk B: Aah? What’s this chick’s problem...?

Yui: Why would you try and pick a fight with this man when he has done nothing wrong at all...?

Pretzel vendor: ...Miss...!

Male punk A: Hah...Hilarious. This chick’s tryin’ to get in our way, see?

Male punk B: ...Seems like it. We can’t let her get away with that though.

*Rustle*

Yui: Kyaah!

( H-He’s so strong...! Oh no, at this rate...! )

???: Don’t touch her!

*THUD*

Male punk A: Uwaah!!

*Thud*

Yui: ...!?

Ayato: Oi, the fuck are you...? Don’t be tryin’ to mess with my woman!

Yui: A-Ayato-kun...!

( Don’t tell me...He jumped down from the hotel’s veranda...!? )

Male punk B: O-Oi...! You alright, mate!? ...Now you’ve done it!

Ayato: What? ...Wanna throw some fists? Fine by me? I’ll be your opponent if you’re that insistent on gettin’ your ass kicked!

Male punk B: ...F-Fuck...! Oi, let’s go!

Male punk A: Y-Yeah...Oi, we’ll remember this!!

ー The two punks run off

Ayato: Phew...Geez...Oi, Chichinashi!

Why did you sneak out while I was asleep? I was worried, you know!?

You got lucky I just so happened to look outside at the right time, but do you realize what could have gone down if I didn’t...?

I know you’re not bein’ targeted now that you don’t have your heart and all.

But that doesn’t mean you should go wanderin’ off on your own.

Yui: I-I’m sorry...

Pretzel vendor: Calm down, you. Please don’t be too harsh on her, okay?

Ayato: Aah? And who are you...?

Pretzel vendor: As you can tell, I’m the owner of this stall. Thanks to her, my precious shop wasn’t destroyed.

*Rustle*

Pretzel vendor: ...This is the only thing I can offer, but consider this my way of thanking you. Enjoy it together, okay?

Yui: Eh...?

*Rustle rustle*

Yui: ( We got so many pretzels...! )

Ayato: You sure?

Pretzel vendor: Yes, of course. Please enjoy the Parade while you can.

Yui: Thank you very much!

Ayato: ...Hmph. Well, guess I’ll have one since we got them for free anyway...

Yui: Yeah. Shall we go sit down on one of the benches over there then...?

ー They sit down

Ayato: Nn...This stuff’s not half bad, considering it’s pitch black. 

Mmh...What flavor is this though? Oi, Chichinashi. You have a bite too.

ー He leans in

Ayato: Here, open your mouth.

Yui: Eh? ...Nn...

( ...He just forced it inside...! )

*Rustle rustle*

Ayato: Hehe. How is it? Pretty good, right?

Yui: Nn...Yeah...I wonder what it could be...? It tastes a little like...black sesame?

( The vendor from earlier did say he got his training in the human world... )

Ayato: Haah? Black sesame here in the Demon World? Well, I guess it’s fine. It’s not bad and that’s what matters.

So? What are we gonna do now? We have to clear the assignment given to us by Walter, right?

Yui: Yeah...

( ...Our ‘wrongdoings’... )

( ...It has to be... )

Say, Ayato-kun? I’ve been thinking ever since...

Ayato: ...? What...?

Yui: While we were running away from the Gatekeeper after coming to the Demon World.

We caused trouble for many people, didn’t we...?

Ayato: Trouble? ...Did we?

Yui: We broke into the basement of someone else’s home, knocking over their cupboards...

Ayato: ...Oh. Now that you mention it, that did happen, didn’t it...?

Yui: So I thought maybe that’s what the Count meant with our ‘wrongdoings’...

Ayato: Hmm. Let’s assume that’s what he meant...What should we do then?

Yui: ...I’m not quite sure myself, but for now, I guess the best we can do is go and apologize...

Ayato: Haah? Apologize? That’s...

Yui: But...The Count said we should redeem ourselves so...I don’t think there’s much else we can do but say sorry...

Ayato: Hmph, I don’t like the sound of that.

Yui: ...

Ayato: But, well, I don’t exactly have a better idea either. Guess I have no other choice but to roll with your plan for now.

Yui: ...Ayato-kun...!

Ayato: ‘Kay, let’s get goin’ right away then.

Yui: ...Yeah!

( Thank you, Ayato-kun. )

ー The scene shifts to the underground passage

Yui: ( It was around here, right...? )

*Rustle*

Yui: Kyah!

Ayato: Shh, quiet!

Yui: ( ...? )

Ayato: Oi, take a look. The atmosphere’s not quite the same as yesterday.

*Knock knock*

Suspicious man A: ...It’s me. Open up.

Suspicious man B: Everyone’s present, right? ...Don’t worry, nobody should have followed us down here.

*Clunk*

Yui: It’s that room...Right?

Ayato: Yeah. I’m sure of it. It’s the basement we broke into yesterday.

I don’t know why, but they were bein’ all secretive. What’s going on?

Yui: ( Ayato-kun’s right, something seems a little off... )

*Rustle*

Yui: Anyway, it’d be bad if we were to get yelled at again for interrupting, so perhaps we should wait here for a bit?

Ayato: Che. We have to wait down here in this gloomy place?

Oi, Chichinashi. Help me kill some time. Nn...

Yui: Eh!? Hold on! Not here...!

*Rustle*

???: ...Well then, we will put our plan into action tomorrow night.

Yui: ( ...Hm? I can hear a voice from the other side of the door... )

Ayato: Come on, scoot closer.

Yui: ...! Ayato-kun, be quiet for a second...! 

ー She pushes him away

*Thud*

Ayato: ...!?

???: ...Exactly. While everyone else is too preoccupied with the Parade.

???: ...I will act as the decoy. ...As for the location, is Zartan’s Mouth okay?

???: Yes, I do not mind. However, there’s a few issues...

Yui: ( ...Is this some sort of strategy meeting...? )

Ayato: ...Oi, Chichinashi...You little...

You sure have some guts to push me away like that!

I’m gonna have to suck you right here, right now then! Come here!

Yui: A-Ayato-kun! Hold up...!

???: ...Who’s there!?

*THUD*

Owner: ...You two...You’re the people from yesterday!!

Ayato: ...!

Yui: ( T-They saw us!! )

Suspicious man A: ...Did you hear us just now!? Which means...You two must be spies, right!?

Ayato: Aah? Spies? The fuck you talkin’ ‘bout?

Yui: Spies? ...You’re wrong! We simply came here to apologize for what happened yesterday...!

Suspicious man B: Shut up! We can’t let you run free now that you’ve heard our plan!

Yui: We’re speaking the truth! We really did come here to say sorry for yesterday!

( Please believe us...! )

Owner: To apologize, huh...? Oi, brat. How about you?

Ayato: Aah!? Who do you think you’re calling a brat!? Don’t fuck with me...

But it’s exactly as she said. We did kind of invite ourselves in yesterday...

Owner: ...I see. Well, but...

You heard our plan. Furthermore...

You did quite the number on me yesterday. You can say sorry all you want, I’m not forgiving you.

Yui: ( No way...! )

Ayato: A number...?

Owner: Hmph...You knocked over one of the cupboards when you ran away, didn’t you?

My precious key broke in the process. See?

*Rustle*

Yui: ( ...It’s snapped right in half... )

I-I’m so sorry...!

Ayato: ...Hah. That’s all?

Oi, old fart. Gimme that key for a sec. I’ll fix it.

Then you’ll forgive us, right?

Owner: ...Well, I would. If you can fix it, that is.

Ayato: Aah? That’s a piece of cake, isn’t it? You just take it to a locksmith and have them fix it for you.

Yui: ( It really is that easy...right...? )

( However...Something seems a little... )

Owner: Hmph. You seem rather confident. I’ll leave this key in your care then.

*Rustle*

Owner: However, you only have until tomorrow. If you fail to repair the key by then...

Ayato: Hah, don’t worry, one day is plenty. See you later, old fart.

Let’s go, Chichinashi.

*Rustle*

Yui: Y-Yeah...

( I have a bad feeling about this...I hope it’s just my imagination... )

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to the wagon area

Ayato: Let’s see, a locksmith, locksmith...Aren’t there any ‘round? ...Guess we just gotta ask someone.

???: Welcome!

Ayato: Ah, oi. Mister! Is there a locksmith somewhere ‘round here?

???: ...! You’re that brat from yesterday...!

Ayato: Ah...?

Yui: Ah! 

( This guy, if I recall correctly...! )

ー A flashback ensues

Ayato: Oi, Chichinashi! We’re takin’ a shortcut! This way!

Crepe vendor: Crepes! Who’s hungry for some fresh crepes?

Ayato: Get out of the way!

*THUD*

*CRASH*

Crepe vendor: Uwaah! My stall!

ー The flashback ends

Yui: ( From back then...! )

Crepe vendor: Oi! How dare you destroy my stall back then!?

Ayato: Haah? The fuck you talkin’ ‘bout? Anyway, hurry up and tell us where we can find a locksmith!

Crepe vendor: And why exactly should I do that?

Ayato: Aah? Excuse me...!?

Yui: ( ...! )

Selection

→ Stop him by tugging onto him (☾)

*Thud*

Yui: Ayato-kun! You can’t!

*Rustle rustle*

Ayato: ...Let go! What’s your problem!?

Yui: Calm down...!

*Rustle rustle*

→ Stop him by shouting

Yui: Ayato-kun! You can’t!

Ayato: Shut up! You keep quiet!

Yui: ( He totally forgot! )

You don’t remember how you flipped this man’s stall upside down while we were on the run yesterday!?

Ayato: Hm? R-Right...Now that you mention it, I vaguely remember somethin’ like that...

Yui: Mister! Let us apologize for what happened back then. We truly feel sorry...!

Crepe vendor: Hah! It’s a little late to apologize now.

Yui: But...We really need you to forgive us...!

( If not, we can’t complete the Count’s assignment... )

Crepe vendor: Hmph. You sure say some strange things, young lady. I’m sorry, but I don’t plan on forgiving you any time soon.

As a result, I lost half a day of business yesterday. My sales figures are doomed!

???: Calm down, sir. Don’t be so hasty.

Yui: ( ...That’s... )

Crepe vendor: ...You’re the guy who sells pretzels...

Pretzel vendor: I happen to know those two.

They helped me out when I was being pestered by a duo of punks this morning.

Crepe vendor: ...These two did?

Pretzel vendor: Yes, exactly. So, what do you say? Why don’t you do me a favor and forgive them?

Yui: ...!

Crepe vendor: ...But still...I can’t just forgive them for free...

Hm...I suppose it can’t be helped. What do you think of this offer? You have to run the shop for half a day in return.

Ayato: Run the shop? You mean the crepe stall?

Crepe vendor: Yes. I was actually just thinking of going to watch the Parade with my wife. 

If you two can take over the shop in the meantime, I’ll forgive you for what happened yesterday.

Yui: Really...!? 

Ayato: Hm, a crepe stall, huh...? Well, I don’t mind. Sounds kinda fun.

Yui: I’ll help out too! Thank you very much!

Pretzel vendor: Glad to hear! Good luck, you two.

Yui: Thank you too, sir!

Crepe vendor: I’ll teach you how to make the crepes, so come here.

Yui: Yes!

( Seems like he’ll forgive us somehow. Thank god...! )

*TIMESKIP*

Ayato: ‘Kay, let’s get straight to business. Of course, I’ll be in charge of making the crepes.

Yui: Yeah, sure.

( Fufu. Despite his complaints from earlier, he’s very motivated right now! )

ー Ayato starts baking the crepes

Ayato: Here I go! Voila!

*Plop*

Yui: Ah, Ayato-kun! If you pour on that much batter at once...

Ayato: Ah? I’m sure it’ll turn out fine somehow! Now I just gotta make it round...Huh...?

*Pshhh*

Ayato: Fuck, it’s not workin’ at all...The fuck’s goin’ on...?

Yui: A-Ayato-kun, at this rate...

( ...Actually, this smell... )

*Pshhhh*

Yui: ( ...I knew it, it’s burning!! )

Ayato: Che, fuck...This isn’t workin’ out at all. Fuck this! I’m done! It’s up to you now, Chichinashi!

Yui: Eh!? H-Hold up...!

( ...Geez, in that case...! )

*TIMESKIP*

Yui: ( ...Seems like I got the hang of it somehow...Thank god. )

Female Vampire E: Those look delicious. May I have one crepe?

Female Vampire D: Me too~!

Yui: Y-Yes! I’ll make one right awaーー

( ...What do I do? The shop suddenly got crowded. )

???: Ah-ahー Guess I can’t trust you alone with the store like this. I’ll help you out a lil’.

Yui: ...! Ayato-kun!

( Thank god, he came back...! )

Ayato: ...Oi. You over there, which flavors do you want? Make it quick!

Female Vampire E: A-Are you talking to me...? Then, caramel and...

Ayato: Hah, think again!

Yui: Eeh!?

( How could he treat a customer like that...!? )

Ayato: ...Hmー Let’s see. While I’m at it...There.

*Splatter*

Ayato: Yeah, lookin’ good! Behold, Ayato-sama’s special edition blood-drenched crepe!

Yui: Blood-drenched...!?

( There’s lots of strawberry sauce oozing out from the sides...! )

( I’m sure this will upset the customer... )

Female Vampire F: W-Wow! I’ve never seen such an innovative crepe before!!

Male Vampire D: For real...! This crepe encompasses everything a Vampire loves perfectly...!

Male Vampire E: I’d like one of those as well, sonny!

ー More customers crowd around the stall

Yui: ( A long line formed in front of the shop in no time...! )

Ayato: Hah, if you want one, you better wait there patiently!

...Oi, Chichinashi! Keep on baking those bad boys!

Yui: R-Roger...!

( I can’t quite explain why, but Ayato-kun is something else... )

*TIMESKIP*

Crepe vendor: Geez, you really did me a huge favor. Seems like the store did great business thanks to you two!

Ayato: Hah, Yours Truly made those crepes, so what else did you expect?

Crepe vendor: Haha. Anyway, let’s forget about what happened yesterday. I’ll tell you where you can find a locksmith as well.

Yui: Really?

( Thank god...! )

Thank you very much!

ー The scene shifts to Diamante Fountain

Yui: ...Hmー I’m pretty sure it should be somewhere around here...

( According to the map the crepe vendor drew for us, the locksmith should be on the plaza with the fountain... )

Ayato: Oi, hold up one sec.

Yui: Eh? ...Kyah!

*Rustle*

Yui: ( W-What...? )

Ayato: Hehe, Chichinashi. You’ve got some cream stuck on your face, you know? Just how frantic were you back there?

Yui: Eh!? 

*Rustle rustle*

Ayato: Che...Don’t move. I’ll get it for you...

Nn...Nn...

Yui: ( ...He licked it off...! )

Ayato: ...Heeh, not bad. What you’d expect from a famous place. However...

*Rustle*

...I prefer this. Nn...

*Smooch*

Yui: Nn...!

( Ayato-kun, we’re in public right now...! )

*Rustle rustle*

Yui: A-Ayato-kun...! Now’s not the time to mess around...!

Ayato: Oh? Oi, check that out! That shop has a signboard in the shape of a key. Couldn’t that be the place?

Yui: Eh!? Ah...You’re right. It might be.

Ayato: Let’s go take a look!

ー He walks towards the store

Yui: ( ...! I feel like he just skillfully talked his way out! )

*Knock knock*

Yui: Excuse me!

Ayato: Oi! Anyone ‘round!?

*Thud thud*

Yui: ( Could they be closed...? )

Flower shop owner: Yes, if you’re looking for the locksmith, he has been on vacation for quite some time.

Yui: Eh...!?

Flower shop owner: He always closes his shop during the Parade because he has very few customers at this time of year.

Yui: ( N-No way... )

Ayato: Fuck! We finally made it here and the bastard’s on holiday!? Fuck that!

Ahーah. There goes all of my motivation...I’m already exhausted after all the shit that went down today...

Yui: ( ...Now that he mentions it, I’m a little tired too... )

Ayato: Say, Chichinashi. We have until tomorrow to get the key repaired, right?

Yui: Yeah...

Ayato: Let’s go on a full-on search for the locksmith tomorrow then.

For one, I doubt we’ll have an easy time finding a stranger amidst this large of a crowd.

Yui: ( He does have a point... )

( Besides, Ayato-kun really tried his hardest today, from helping fend off those punks to selling crepes as well... )

( I want to give him some time to rest... )

Yui: ...Right. Let’s head back to the hotel early todaーー

Ayato: Idiot. Who’s so stupid to return to their hotel room at this hour?

Yui: Eh?

Ayato: Why don’t we have a look ‘round the Parade now that we’re here as well?

I’m sure things will work out if we give it our all tomorrow. That being said, let’s get goin’!

*Rustle*

Yui: Ah, wait, Ayato-kun...!

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to Saint Nore Park

Ayato: Ahー The Magic Carpet ride really is the best! So, where should we go next?

Yui: ( Ayato-kun looks like he’s having fun. ...I’m glad. )

( We still have a whole lot of issues to tackle, but the Parade only happens once a year, so I want him to be able to enjoy it a little... )

Ayato: Oh, they’ve got something interesting goin’ on over there. Oi, let’s go!

Yui: Yeah!

ー The scene shifts to the venue

Ayato: It’s on! Let’s see who can make their way out of the House of Mirrors first!

Yui: Sure!

Ayato: Hehe. I won’t lose! I’m goin’ in this way. See you at the exit!

ー Ayato runs inside

Yui: ( Okay! I have to try my best so I don’t lose either! )

ー The scene shifts to the House of Mirrors

Yui: ( Hm... )

( Everything looks the same, so I feel as if I’ve just been going in circles this whole time... )

*Riiiiing*

Yui: ...!?

ー It flashes white before her eyes

Yui: ( W-What’s going on...!? I feel dizzy all of a sudden... )

( Did the House of Mirrors make me feel sick perhaps...? )

*Riiiiing*

Yui: ...! 

( ...No...I’m not just dizzy... )

( There’s something wrong...With my heart...With the Kleinod... )

*Riiiiing*

ー Yui collapses

*Thud*

Yui: ( Everything’s going black...before my eyes... )

( ...Ayato...ku...n... )

*TIMESKIP*

???: ...Lady...Young lady...

Yui: ( ... )

???: ...Young lady...Hang in there, young lady...!

Yui: ( ...Somebody’s calling me...? )

ー Yui wakes up

Yui: ...Uu...Hm...?

Vampire gentleman: Aah, thank god! You regained consciousness!

Yui: ( Ah...Right. I fainted in the House of Mirrors... )

Vampire gentleman: I was shocked to find you passed out here! Did you come with someon...ーー

ー Ayato runs up to them

Ayato: ...Oi! What are you doin’ to her!? Back off at once!!

*THUD*

Vampire gentleman: Uguh!?

Yui: ...! Ayato-kun!?

*Rustle*

Ayato: Yui! Are you okay!?

Oi, you bastard! She’s mine! Try to harm her and you’ll regret it!

Vampire gentleman: Kuh...Harm her...? I simply...

Ayato: I don’t need to hear your excuses! I’ll beat you to pulp right now! 

Yui: ( ...! He’s definitely got the wrong idea! )

*Rustle*

Yui: Ayato-kun! You’ve got it all wrong!! It’s a misunderstanding!

He only helped me out when I was feeling unwell...!

Ayato: Aah...? What didya just say...?

Vampire gentleman: ...Hmph! So this is what I get for trying to be kind...!? I’ll excuse myself now!

ー He walks away

Yui: Ah...

( He left... )

Yui: You can’t deny that you went too far just now, kicking him out of nowhere...

Ayato: Che, I had no other choice, did I...?

From my angle, it looked as if that bastard was tryin’ to suck your blood or somethin’...

...Geez, I was waitin’ by the exit but you just wouldn’t show up, so I came lookin’ for you...

Yui: ( ...Ayato-kun... )

I’m sorry for making you worry...

Ayato: Oi, more importantly. I heard you were feelin’ unwell...? Are you alright now?

Yui: ...Yeah, I’m fine now...

*Riiiiing*

Yui: ...ーー!?

( ...Again... )

Ayato: ...!? Oi!

Yui: ( I can’t...My consciousness is... )

ー She faints again

Ayato: Yui!

*TIMESKIP*

Yui: ( ...What’s happening...? My body feels light... )

???: ...Yui...!

ー She wakes up in the hotel room

Yui: Uu...Hm...?

( I’m at...the hotel...? )

Ayato: Ah! You finally woke up...?

Yui: Ayato-kun...I...

Ayato: You passed out. It gave me a scare. I carried you back here for now.

...Are you alright?

Yui: Yeah, I’m fine now.

Ayato: Mmh. Glad to hear that. Don’t push yourself, ‘kay?

*Rustle*

Yui: ( ...He’s stroking my head... )

Ayato: ...Haah, anyway. It’s already late, so just stay in bed, ‘kay?

Yui: Yeah, I will. I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble.

Ayato: ...It’s fine. Besides, I never thought of it like that.

I don’t care as long as you’re safe and sound...

Yui: ( Ayato-kun...I’m so happy... )

( ...Now that I’m feeling more relaxed, I can suddenly feel the fatigue kicking in... )

*Rustle rustle*

ー She falls asleep as the scene shifts to her dream

Yui: ( ...Where am I...? )

( Could it be, again...? )

Mysterious man: ...Hello there, it’s been a while.

Yui: ( This voice... )

Are you...Count Walter, perhaps...?

Mysterious man: ...Fufu. I wonder?

Yui: ...

Mysterious man: That Ayato...He seems rather attached to you.

He jumped the gun and kicked a man he had never seen or met before, what am I going to do with him?

Yui: ...You were watching, it seems...?

Mysterious man: Yes, I saw everything...I wonder why exactly he seems so devoted to you?

Yui: Why...?

Mysterious man: Yes. Have you never asked yourself that question?

Yui: Well...

Mysterious man: Do you perhaps think...He is doing it out of love for you?

Yui: ...

Mysterious man: Fufu, seems like I am correct. However, if you do, I think it is time you think again.

Yui: ...What do you mean?

Mysterious man: That man, you see, only ever thinks about being the best there is.

Therefore, he does not want to lose you, the person who has a heart like nobody else does. ...Am I wrong?

Yui: ...That’s not...!

( Is he implying that Ayato-kun only protects me because of my heart...? )

( That just can’t be...I mean, Ayato-kun is...! )

He isn’t that kind of person. He really does... (1)

( It’s not because of my heart...But because he cares about me as a person... )

Mysterious man: ...Kuku...Hahaha...!

Yui: ...What’s so funny?

Mysterious man: Oh no, my bad. I was just thinking what a foolish, pitiful girl you are...

Do you truly believe a Vampire such as himself is capable of grasping the meaning of true love?

...If you do, you are gravely mistaken.

ー Yui wakes up

*Rustle*

Yui: ...Haah...! Haah...Haah...

( ...Was that a dream just now...? )

*Rustle*

Yui: ...Ayato-kun...? 

( ...He doesn’t seem to be around...Did he head out, perhaps...? )

ー She recalls her dream

Mysterious man: Do you truly believe a Vampire such as himself is capable of grasping the meaning of true love?

...If you do, you are gravely mistaken.

ー The dream sequence ends

Yui: ( ...That’s not true. Ayato-kun isn’t like that. )

( I have faith in him... )

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー 

← RETURN TO CHAPTER 1

→ PROCEED WITH MAIN STORY [CHAPTER 3]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #1 [W/ REIJI]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #2 [W/ LAITO]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #3 [W/ AZUSA]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #4 [W/ CARLA]

#diabolik lovers #dialovers #ayato sakamaki #dark fate #diabolik lovers translation #dfayatochapter2

[chudleycanonficfest]

Four Little Sips

Day 28, Post #2

Title: Four Little Sips

Author: JohnMcHacker

Pairings: Harry/Bill/Charlie (platonic), Harry/Ginny (romantic), Gryffindor Quidditch Team (platonic), Fred/George/Ron (platonic), Ron/Hermione (romantic)

Prompt: In Vino Veritas

Rating: PG

Trigger Warnings: Alcoholism, Referenced death, Language

Note to admin: Thanks for organising, this is my first time submitting, sorry if I'm late or if it doesn't meet requirements. I have also posted to the AO3 collection.

* * *

You see, Harry had never really had anyone just a few years older to look up to. Alright, there was Hermione, but they were classmates and best friends and at roughly the same place in life, it wasn’t the same.

That summer of 1998, in the wake of all that pain and death and sorrow, the Weasleys pulled together and pulled him in with them. On a few occasions, this meant having a few drinks with Bill and Charlie, in various nondescript Muggle pubs in the vicinity of Ottery St Catchpole.

“Just because Kingsley cut you some slack doesn’t mean you have to take the offer,” said Charlie. “You’ve spent your whole life fighting Voldemort, one way or anoher. You deserve to take a break. Live a little. Or else, what have you been fighting for?”

Harry thought of several memorable sunlit days, and found he couldn’t really disagree.

“Or at the very least, know why you’re putting your life on the line, once again,” said Bill. “Well, alright, you were the Chosen One, you had your job to do then. But now that that’s over, you ought to think twice why you’re risking your neck on your own account.”

“Well, I think I’d be good at it,” said Harry. “And someone has to do it. The Aurors are short-handed and too many of Voldemort’s thugs are still out there.”

Bill shook his head, munching a handful of chips. “That’s not good enough. Merlin knows I’d love a crack at the bastards myself. But your neck’s not just your own now, Harry. Ginny has a say too. That’s part of what being together means.”

“Muggle birds ain’t bad,” said Charlie, nodding at a trio of pretty college-age girls gathered round a table across the pub. They caught him watching, giggled, and winked in reply. “Don’t limit yourself to witches. But if you do, don’t mess ‘em around, play fair, and come clean as soon as you can.”

“The most important part of my relationship with Fleur is trust,” said Bill. “We don’t have secrets, and she trusts that I won’t suddenly run off hunting Death Eaters or dragons or Hor... whatever. And I trust her not to do the same.”

“Family’s what it comes down to,” said Charlie, draining his glass.

“Family,” nodded Bill. “Your first responsibility.”

“My shout,” said Harry, because that was something else they had taught him was right, to stand his round, and he went to the bar to get the drinks. When he returned, they had moved on to other important matters.

“Free advice, Potter, take it or leave it,” said Charlie, tapping the side of his nose, “women; you’ll never go wrong if you please ‘em first, know what I mean?”

“Oi! That’s our sister you’re talking about!” snapped Bill, trying not to laugh.

“So what? She’s got fi... four of you looking out for her. Maybe I just want to see fair play.” Charlie winked at Harry. “Let me tell you about what I call ‘wandless magic’, and trust me, it is magic.”

“That’s it, you’re done, Perce is my new number two, it’s you that Mum and Dad should disown...”

“There’s more where that came from, Harry. You want to know how to beat Ron at chess? He can’t play gambits worth a damn. Stick with me, I’ll show you something called a Smith-Morra, aye?”

Advice, experience, honour, laughter. Maybe this was what it was like to have older brothers, thought Harry. It filled a hole in him he never even knew he had.

* * *

Oliver would never have allowed it, but Angelina Johnson was a more fun-loving kind of Quidditch Captain. She passed the word around quietly, and so the five Gryffindor players above the age of sixteen met in the changing rooms fifteen minutes before Potter and the younger Weasley were due to arrive. Of course it was the Twins who’d acquired the goods, however they managed it. Fred produced the bottle of Ogden’s from somewhere under his robes with a flourish, and George grinned toothily as he conjured shot glasses from thin air.

“Alright, I know it was my idea, but just the one, got it?” warned Angelina, pouring the drinks herself.

“Aye aye, Captain,” said Fred. George sketched a sloppy salute her way.

Katie Bell was practically trembling with excitement and nerves. “Oooh, this’ll be my first drink ever,” she said, holding up the glass of amber liquid to catch the light. “Are you sure we won’t get caught?” she asked, looking around as if expecting McGonagall to burst out of a locker at any time.

“Course we can’t be sure,” said Alicia Spinnet. “That’s part of the fun!”

Angelina looked round at each of them, and shouted “For the Cup!”

“FOR THE CUP!” they chorused, and knocked back the Firewhiskey.

Two years later, the three Chasers were standing at the bar of the Hog’s Head, but they had Oliver back now, and Angelina knew somehow that that was important, they were going to go to Hogwarts and find Fred and George and Harry and reunite the whole Team, and it meant she had to do this. She leaned over the counter, rummaged through the grimy bottles and found what she was looking for.

“You’re mad!” said Oliver incredulously.

“Probably,” said Alicia cheerfully, “but we did this every match and still won the Cup, didn’t we? Sixth-years and above only, of course, we had standards,” she said, catching Oliver’s outraged look.

“Don’t tell me you’re going into a real battle and don’t want a drink, Oliver,” said Angelina calmly as she poured, and that was that.

Alicia and Katie and Oliver looked at her expectantly. Angelina searched for the words, and found there was really only one thing suited to the occasion. “Fuck Voldemort.”

“FUCK VOLDEMORT!”

And they did.

But oh God, the price they paid.

  * * *

The Leaky was too well-known so they usually frequented a tiny hole-in-the-wall further down the street. The clientele was younger and the enchanted jukebox played muggle hits as well as the Weird Sisters, Mega Maggots, and the Bent Banshees, and that was perfect for the Twins. Perhaps half the entire current range of Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes had first been dreamed up in this pub.

“Alright, alright, what about this, George? Prank greeting cards.”

“You’re crazy, Fred.”

“Cards that won’t stop singing. Howler cards. Exploding confetti cards. Exploding firework cards!”

George finished his beer and signalled to the barman for another. The barman hesitated, then poured as George slapped a handful of Sickles on the counter. “Confetti yes, fireworks, I dunno,” said George. “Cheers, Fred.”

“It’s brilliant I tell you. Mud in your eye,” said his twin brother, and they drank. Then, quietly, Fred asked: “How’s the family?”

“Same old. They’re doing well. You should see the sprogs, it’s a hoot,” snickered George. “Ron and Gin and Harry and good ol’ Hermione, sneaking around trying not to get caught shagging like rabbits. God, the sights I’ve walked in on...”

Fred chortled along with George, and he finished the pint. The bell over the door jingled and new customers came in, but the twins barely glanced that way.

“Speaking of which. About her... you should do something about it, George,” said Fred kindly. “I see all the signs and I know you do too. She’s waiting on you. Go be a gentleman, Georgey-boy, go on.”

George sighed. “Not you too. Look, I get enough of this crap from Bill and Charlie, alright?”

“You two need each other. Besides, it’s too quiet around the flat.”

All at once, George’s face crumpled. “You don’t get to say that. Not you. Not you! YOU don’t say that!”

Fred said nothing, he only smiled, and walked away. George turned his head quickly to follow him, but as always, Fred slid out the corner of his eye and was g...

And then it was another Weasley brother standing in front of him.

This time, it was Ron they’d sent. Good old Ron, lanky and solid and biting his lip in sympathy as he came to find his older brother sitting alone at the bar hunched over a half-empty glass. On the counter beside him was one untouched full pint, the frothy head long since evaporated.

“Come on, George,” said Ron gently. “There, I’ve got you. Let’s get you home.”

* * *

She was a girl made of facts and reason.

That was just the way she was wired.

“Dutch courage,” she said to herself, eyeing the glass of probably cheap plonk as if it was poison. Which technically it was.

“What’s that?” asked Ginny.

“Dutch courage,” she repeated. “It’s a muggle term, meaning the confidence gained from drinking alcohol, according to the Cambridge English Dictionary. Although,” she amended, “it’s derogatory to Dutch people and we probably shouldn’t say things like that.”

“I’ll keep that in mind in case I meet anyone from Orange Tulip Land,” said Ginny, rolling her eyes. “You certainly don’t need that sort of thing, Hermione, you’re one of the bravest people I know!”

Probably just hyperbole, thought Hermione, as that would be quite something, given that Ginny hung around with Aurors and Quidditch players and her boyfriend Harry Potter, or ‘His Excellency Most Spiffing Chosen Boy Who Lived To Kick Voldemort’s Arse’ as George called him. She picked up the glass, sipped it carefully, decided she quite liked the taste of Chateau Diagon Alley or whatever this was, and had a bigger swig.

Here’s a fun fact: it takes 6 minutes for the brain to react to alcohol.

Six minutes later, she didn’t think she felt any different. Warmer perhaps, but the New Year party was in full swing and Hermione thought maybe it was just the ambient temperature rising from all the people circulating, moving, dancing, talking, laughing.

Fun fact: drinking is ‘fun’ because alcohol lessens tension, eases social interaction, and reduces inhibitions.

Hermione sat in her corner and nursed her glass and knew she wasn’t really a social drinker, or any kind of drinker, or even at all ‘sociable’ to begin with. She envied how effortlessly Ginny and Bill and Parvati and everyone else were visibly enjoying themselves; Hermione would honestly prefer a nice book, a pot of peppermint tea, and perhaps with the company of...

Breathless from joking with Aurors and Obliviators and Patrolwizards and friends, Ron flung himself down beside her and threw an arm around her, and Hermione’s stomach fluttered pleasantly. “Alright there, Hermione?” He followed her gaze towards the wineglass. “Not poisoned, is it? Cause that’s no fun, believe me.”

Fact: I want to say I...

“That’s not funny, Ron, you could’ve died,” chided Hermione, although she couldn’t help giggling. “No, I just... it’s Dutch courage.”

“What’s that?” Hermione told him about English soldiers and gin and bravery, and the way he looked at her as he listened made her feel warm all over. “Nice. You know everything, Hermione,” Ron said admiringly.

“Not everything,” said Hermione wistfully. “I don’t know how to have fun at parties. Well, maybe that’s one more thing I do know now,” she joked lamely.

Fact: I...

Ron laughed at her probably atrocious attempt at humour, and said “Rubbish party anyway. Too many plonkers just wanting to be seen with heroes like Harry and Neville” (characteristically, Ron excluded himself from that category, Hermione observed) “and they’re only here because Kingsley said they absolutely had to be. I’d much rather have a quiet night in at home with you, Crookshanks, a nice fire, maybe a...”

No, I don’t know everything, thought Hermione. But I know this fact. “I love you, Ron Weasley.” And she grabbed him and snogged the hell out of him, ignoring the catcalls and cheers that rose all around.

Was it really the Dutch stuff, or was it all her own self, after all?

To be continued...

#chudleycanonficfest2021 #HP fest #hp canon pairings #canon fest platonic #canon fest romantic #submission #tw: alcoholism #tw: referenced death #tw: language

[jaybear1701]

Pam can only stare wide-eyed at Ellen, wondering if she’s in a dream.

There’s no moon dust or space suits or a vast expanse of stars. And yet, somehow, Ellen standing in her classroom--nervous and expectant and achingly beautiful in gray slacks and a simple white blouse--feels even more surreal. She can’t bring herself to speak, afraid that if she makes an attempt, Ellen will vanish and Pam will once again wake up alone in the darkness of her bedroom.

“I’m sorry for showing up out of the blue like this,” Ellen breaks the silence. “But I was hoping we could talk?”

Pam’s lips part, but for someone who prides herself on her ability to capture the right words and construct them into the perfect turn of phrase, she’s still speechless. Each resounding thud against her ribs pumps out conflicting emotions into her buzzing bloodstream, surprise and confusion, elation and dread.

“Pam?”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Somehow, Pam strings together a coherent sentence, her voice scratchy and low.

Ellen’s shoulders droop. “You know that’s not true.” She takes a tentative step closer, treating Pam like some skittish animal ready to bolt, which honestly isn’t too far from the truth. “Please, just five minutes.”

“I don’t really have time--”

“Five minutes,” Ellen repeats, firmer. “Hear me out, and then you’ll never have to see me again if you don’t want to.”

Self-preservation demands that Pam refuses. In the long run, it’d be better for them both to sever ties, clean and fast, without dragging things out. But she can’t, not with the way Ellen’s imploring her with those disarming brown eyes. Her heart won’t let her.

“Fine,” Pam acquiesces. “Five minutes. But not here.”

“Okay,” Ellen exhales in relief.

Unsteadily, Pam pushes up from her desk to stand, grabbing her messenger bag and slinging its strap over her shoulder. She exits the classroom with Ellen in tow, and heads toward her office.

A million questions swirl in Pam’s head. Why are you here? How did you even know where to find me? But she bites her tongue. The hallways of the community college aren’t the place to air things out. Ellen follows her wordlessly, maintaining a respectful distance as she glances furtively at Pam out of the corner of her eye. They’re halfway to her office when someone calls out for Pam.

“Ms. H!”

One of her first-year students, Valerie, rushes to catch up to them with a fistful of papers in hand. “I forgot to give you a draft of my manuscript before the final.” She comes to an abrupt stop when she notices Pam has company, eyes widening. “Holy shit, you’re Ellen Wilson!”

Ellen’s brows shoot up, still surprised when someone recognizes her despite more than a decade in the public eye. “Oh, yes, that’s me.” She offers a hand that Valerie shakes with great enthusiasm “Hi, um....”

“Valerie. But everyone calls me Val.”

“Nice to meet you, Val.”

“Wow.” Val runs a hand through the unshaved side of her red hair. “You know an astronaut?” She asks Pam incredulously. “How on earth do you know an astronaut?!”

“Long story,” Pam replies with a taut smile.

“I’ll bet.” Val says, starstruck. “I saw you on TV when I was a kid, catching that tank. You’re amazing!”

Smiling sheepishly, Ellen ducks her head. “Thank you. Feels like it was a lifetime ago now.”

“I’ll bet. And, hey, sorry to hear you left NASA.”

Pam’s stomach bottoms out as her head snaps toward Ellen. “You what?” She shakes her head, unsure she heard correctly.

Ellen’s eyes slide to Pam briefly before focusing back on Valerie. “It was the right time.”

Val shrugs. “Gotta know when to fold ‘em. Do you know what you’ll do now?”

“Oh, you know, just take it easy while I weigh some options.” Ellen shifts her weight from one foot to another, nonchalant, like it’s no big deal. Like she didn’t just walk away from a hard-earned career and upward mobility.

Pam’s head swims at the revelation, knees wobbly, but manages to change the subject. “You said you have your manuscript, Valerie?”

“Oh, yeah.” Val hands over her papers. “Thanks again for taking a look.”

“No problem.” Pam slides the manuscript into her bag, hoping the tremor in her hands isn’t too obvious.

“What’s it about?” Ellen asks politely.

“Oh,” Val grins, flattered, tucking her hands in the pockets of her black leather jacket. “Just my humble contribution to the cyberpunk genre. You ever watch Blade Runner?”

“I did! It was, uh, interesting.”

“Yeah! Well, it’s similar to that. Though I’m guessing you’re more into Ms. H’s sci-fi.”

“You write science fiction?” Ellen asks Pam, curious.

“Ms. H, you should tell her about your story about the astronauts exploring Mars.”

Ellen’s eyebrows rise slowly, and Pam coughs to hide the blush she already knows is heating her cheeks. “Some other time, maybe,” Pam says. “I’ll touch base with you after the holidays?”

“That’d be great.” Valerie grins. “Thanks again, Ms. H. And nice meeting you, Mrs. Wilson. Er, Commander.”

“Just Ellen will do,” Ellen chuckles, waving goodbye to the retreating student. “So,” Ellen says as they resume walking. “You’re writing about Martian explorers?”

“You’ve got five minutes. Do you really want to spend it talking about my work?” Pam retorts, face still flushed, when they finally reach her office.

Ellen doesn’t respond as Pam unlocks the door, turns on the light, and leads them inside. “Have a seat.” She maneuvers behind her desk and sits, already feeling more at ease in her own space, like she can recapture a modicum of control over her warring emotions. In red, glowing numbers, the answering machine by her phone shows she has about half a dozen messages waiting.

If Ellen’s nervous or uncomfortable on Pam’s turf, she doesn’t show it while she drinks in the small office, taking in the framed diplomas on the walls, crammed bookshelves, and stacks of paper on her desk. She lowers herself into the chair across from Pam.

“I’m not really sure where to start.” Ellen folds her hands in her lap, gaze determined and unwavering. “So I’ll start by saying this: I’m not here to upset you, though I can tell by the look on your face I already have. But, please believe me when I say that’s the last thing I ever want. Okay?”

“Okay.” Pam can already feel her pulse starting to accelerate.

Ellen takes a deep breath. “I wanted… I needed to see you. To understand why you left.”

Pam’s chest instantly clenches in response. There was a reason she hadn’t wanted to see Ellen, who could read her so well she’d know instantly that Pam was lying. “I explained it in my letter.” Schooling her expression, she sticks with the same narrative.

“You said your heart still belongs to Elise.”

Pam inclines her head forward. That is what she wrote, after all.

“Then why aren’t you with her.” It’s not a question.

It feels like all the air has rushed out of the room, and Pam thinks this is the closest she’ll ever come to experiencing life in a vacuum. It’s so quiet that she can hear the scuff of sneakers on the floor outside her office door.

Ellen scoots forward in her seat, words coming faster now. “I called your house, trying to reach you.”

“You what?”

“Elise picked up instead.”

Pam’s stomach twists.

“She said you weren’t together,” Ellen continues. "That you moved out weeks ago.”

Anger lances through Pam, white and hot. “Ellen, you had no right.” Her voice is strained from keeping her temper under control.

“Maybe so,” Ellen concedes, but she doesn’t look repentant at all. “But you also said we owe each other the truth. So what is it?”

“Your five minutes are up.” Pam knows she’s being irrational, but she doesn’t care. Clinging to her outrage is preferable to succumbing to her spiraling panic at being called out on her lie.

Ellen lets out an incredulous laugh. “Just like that?”

“Just like that,” Pam confirms, crossing her arms as if that would shield her from the growing tumult between them. “Please leave.”

Ellen just stares at her, unblinking, before she shakes her head. “No.”

“Excuse me?”

“I told you once before that I’m willing to do whatever it takes to keep you. And I’m not leaving until I get the truth.”

Ellen’s eyes are dark, earnest. Pam hates that she’s not immune to them and, if she’s honest with herself, never will be. Her traitorous heart’s already melting, but Pam’s nothing if not stubborn and she sets her mouth in a thin, hard line. “Then I’ll go.”

She gets up to leave, not even bothering to grab her bag, but Ellen rushes to her feet and blocks her path--not unlike the time at The Outpost years ago, after Pam had given her ultimatum about Ellen’s marriage to Larry.

They’re close, too close that it makes Pam dizzy, and she has to take a step back. Ellen reaches out to Pam, but stops before she can make contact. Her right hand hovers in the air for several long seconds before it drops back to her side.

“Please don’t be angry,” Ellen pleads.

“A little too late for that.”

“I know.” Ellen’s brow furrows, but still she doesn’t move.

“Then please go,” Pam says in a pained whisper. “Or let me go.”

“I can’t.” The crack in Ellen’s voice splits straight down Pam’s heart. “I love you, Pam. Always have. Always will.”

Pam squeezes her eyes shut. The room feels like it’s tilting on its axis.

“If you don’t feel the same, then…”Ellen’s throat constricts as she swallows. . “Then that’s fine. I’ll learn to live with that. But I just need to know. Please.”

When she opens them, Pam’s eyes are full, stinging. “You know I do.”

“Then why…”

“Because sometimes it’s not enough!”

Confusion etches across Ellen’s features, wrinkling her forehead and tugging the corners of her lips down. “Enough for what?”

“For us to work, Ellen.” Pam wipes away a tear that’s trickled down her cheek. “We live in completely different worlds.”

Ellen’s next response is drowned out by the telephone, its shrill ring cutting through the air. For a moment, Pam’s paralyzed, unable to move beneath Ellen’s piercing gaze, both of them breathing heavily. By the fourth ring, Pam snaps out of it. She walks back behind the desk, inhales, exhales, and picks up the receiver.

“Pam Horton.”

It’s the dean’s secretary, asking her to drop by the office before she leaves for the day. Pam normally dreads having to meet with the dean, never quite enjoying the administrative aspects of her job, but right now she’s relieved to have an excuse to end this conversation with Ellen before she does or says anything more that she’ll regret.

“Yes, ma’am, of course,” Pam says as Ellen’s eyes track her movements. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

After she hangs up the phone, she clears her throat. “I’m sorry, but I have to get back to work.”

Ellen looks like she wants to object, but ultimately she retreats back a step. She doesn’t sit back down. Pam’s not sure if she feels relieved or disappointed.

“I understand.” She self-consciously tucks her hair behind her ears. “Can we at least talk later?”

Pam’s mind shouts no. Her heart screams yes. Her mouth lands somewhere in between. “I don’t know,” she says lamely. “We’re wrapping up finals… you know how it goes.”

Ellen’s looking at her like this might be the last opportunity she’ll have to do so. “Well, if you find yourself with some free time, I’m staying at the Driskill ‘til the end of the week.”

The Driskill is the oldest hotel in Austin, right in the heart of downtown. Iconic. Historic. Perfectly suited for someone of Ellen’s background and stature. And much too rich for Pam’s blood. It’s so fitting that Pam doesn’t know whether she wants to laugh or cry.

“We’ll see,” she says.

Ellen nods slowly before turning toward the door. But her hand stills on the knob, and Pam finds herself holding her breath.

“Maybe we do live in different worlds.” Ellen smiles sadly over her shoulder. “But we could create a new one. Together.”

With that, she’s gone. The door softly clicks shut. And it takes all of Pam’s willpower not to follow.

#ellen x pam #for all mankind #spacepoet #ellen waverly #pam horton

[agentlemuse]

Written for @doctornineandthreequarters for the @911giftexchange! I hope you like it. 💕

Of Mistletoe & Champagne: A Buddie Fic (General Audience)

You can read on Ao3 or below!

At first he thought it was a fluke.

It’s not as if Eddie was avoiding him last year when Buck was carrying around a sprig of mistletoe. No, Eddie was simply pulled into a hundred different directions with all the excitement of the surprise Christmas party. Perfectly understandable. It also helped that no one else caught Eddie under the mistletoe, no one that he saw anyway.

Besides, it’s not as if Buck had grabbed it for the sole purpose of stealing a kiss. Maybe he had been slightly hoping to finally feel the scratch of stubble against his lips as he pecked Eddie’s cheek, but that was it.

Alas, no such luck.

Which, again, was perfectly fine. No expectations. Woefully pathetic hope, but no expectations. Besides, there was always next year, right?

Cue 2020.

He’s not saying a global pandemic is the universe’s way of messing with him, but he’s not saying it’s entirely out of the realm of possibility. Not that he has thought about excuses to hang up mistletoe for a year, that would be ludicrous. He does have a life and some level of self respect. But the holidays have rolled around, decorations have gone on sale and an occasional thought crosses his mind now and then.

He’s a grown man hoping to land a cheek kiss with the help of a plant. He used to have game, he’s sure of it.

For now he’s just glad he has a mask to hide his irritation when Eddie pulls a raven haired beauty wearing a halo of mistletoe on her head from a stuck elevator. She’s instantly infatuated and of course she is. No mask on earth could hide Eddie’s beauty, the mask only working to draw attention to warm brown eyes framed by unfairly thick lashes.

So when she motions to the mistletoe, leaning in to steal a kiss Buck explains the sudden burst of annoyance in his gut away at the fact she’s not even wearing a mask. In public! In 2020!

He doesn’t bother to hide his sigh of relief when Eddie puts a stop to her with a blunt, “No.”

“Hey, don’t look so glum, Buckaroo,” Chim says, seemingly coming out of nowhere. “They can’t all be in love with you. I’m sure you’ll catch the eye of the next damsel in distress.”

Buck can’t help the bark of laughter that escapes him. Eddie shoots a questioning look over to him which he promptly ignores. At least his crush isn’t painfully obvious. That’s something, right?

So Eddie didn’t want to kiss a random unmasked stranger. Hardly surprising given how seriously he takes everyone’s health. Except, it wasn’t just that. Turns out that Eddie Diaz simply despises mistletoe.

“How can you hate mistletoe?”

“Easy.”

“That’s not an answer,” Buck exclaims, stealing a piece of lettuce from Eddie’s plate and stuffing it into his mouth. “It’s tradition!”

“It’s a stupid tradition.”

“I think it’s sweet,” Buck insists, because maybe despite it all he’s a romantic at heart. Or he’d like to be. He thinks he would be if he just had the right person. “Besides, no one hates mistletoe.”

“I imagine cats do, what with it being poisonous to them and all,” Eddie states dryly, his smirk giving away his amusement.

“So is holly, but I’ve seen you decorate with that,” Buck counters smartly, stealing more of Eddie’s food just to feel Eddie’s knee knock against his whenever he does. “Do you have a tragic mistletoe related backstory? It’s okay, you can tell me. This is a safe space.”

“You’re such an idiot,” Eddie sighs with such impossible fondness Buck swears he can feel his heart swell.

“You like me anyway.” Eddie rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t correct him. Buck will take that as a win. “I will get to the bottom of this!”

“You can try.”

So in the spirit of Christmas he plays dirty and calls Christopher.

“Why doesn’t your dad like mistletoe?”

“Because no one should take romantic advice from a plant,” Christopher says matter-of-factly, just like a kid who has heard this many times before. “Dad says it creates a sense of obligation and pressure and that’s not fair. He’s really big on consent.”

It’s so perfectly Eddie he wants to — he wants to — Well, he wants to kiss Eddie smack dab on the lips. With his consent, of course.

“So a little birdy told me you don’t like taking advice from plants. Does this extend to tea leaves? Because, I’ve read plenty of research that support…”

“Blog posts aren’t research, Buck,” Eddie smiles, bumping his shoulder against his own. “It’s just not for me. If I am going to kiss someone it’s because I want to kiss them. No traditions, no gimmicks. If I kiss someone it’s because I mean it.”

It’s hard to tease him about that. He still does, because Eddie is beautiful all flustered, but it lacks any bite.

So he tucks any lingering daydreams about stealing a kiss away and focuses on what he does have. Being in Eddie’s life, even if only as a friend, is in no way a consolation.

The thing is in his heart he knows he’s not just a friend. Not even the most vicious of doubts that scratch away at his heart and mind can make him truly believe that Eddie is just humoring him, that he’s going to leave him like everyone else. Not when he’s sitting on a couch with his two favorite people, in a house that feels more like home than any place he has actually lived in. Not when Eddie is smiling and carefree in a way few people will ever get to see.

No, he’s more than a friend. He might not have a name for it, but he’d happily die for whatever it is.

This is more than enough. More than he had any right to have ever hoped for.

“I can’t believe you’re still up, little man!”

“I’m not even tired,” Christopher states proudly, polishing off his glass of sparkling cider.

“I am,” Eddie says beside him, not even bothering to stifle a yawn.

“That’s because your dad is old,” Buck whispers conspiratorially, loud enough so Eddie is sure to hear him. Christopher is giggling his agreement, much to Eddie’s mock dismay.

“Says the man with a gray hair.”

“It wasn’t gray! It was the lighting!” Buck wants to be outraged, but it’s hard when Eddie is laughing so hard he snorts. It’s a stupid ridiculous sound that he needs to hear again as soon as possible. They’re only a glass into the bottle of champagne, but Eddie’s cheeks are delightfully flushed, making his sharp smile seem even whiter than normal.

The fluttering in his stomach has nothing to do with the champagne.

He loves this man.

It should be a scary thought, but it’s one that has been lurking for awhile, burying itself into the very marrow of his bones. Evan Buckley is in love with Eddie Diaz. Stupidly, recklessly, hopelessly in love with him.

“Do I have something on my face?”

“What,” Buck asks, scrambling to refocus after being caught lost in thought.

“You were staring at me,” Eddie points out, entirely correct.

“I was not,” Buck bluffs, which Eddie clearly realizes but fortunately time is on his side as he’s spared by the countdown beginning on the screen.

Christopher is practically shaking with excitement as the numbers go down. Soon they’re all shouting in unison: “3...2...1...Happy New Year!”

Eddie grabs Christopher up in a tight hug, before grabbing Buck by the arm to drag him into the hug. Christopher wiggles out of their grasp, declaring he needs to tell Henry the hamster Happy New Year with a burst of energy that has Buck feeling old for a half a second.

“Happy New Year, Buck,” Eddie says softly, reaching out to cup his cheek and—

Oh.

He’s kissing him.

He tastes of champagne and something he can’t quite place, soft lips warm and plush against his mouth. He’s kissing him. He’s kissing him. And it’s...it’s...it’s what people do on New Year. It’s good luck or something. That’s all.

“I thought you didn’t like kisses based on tradition,” Buck says as he reluctantly pulls back, his voice so breathless he barely recognizes it as his own.

“I don’t.”

“But you—“

“Buck,” Eddie interrupts gently, his name sounding as sweet as honey coming from those lips. “If I kiss someone it’s because I want to kiss them.”

Oh.

Well.

This was promising to be a very good year.

#9-1-1 #buddie #Eddie Diaz #evan buckley #my stuff #911giftexchange

[oldguardhc]

Old Guard hc #56

Prompt number: 17 - “Give me a minute or an hour”

Fandom: The Old Guard

Rating: PG-13

Warnings/Tags: joe x nicky, fluff

AN: @flamingbluepanda encouraged me to write a Psych AU for this prompt

Joe cranes his neck to get a better look at the body. The puncture wounds are interesting, each one spaced at least four inches apart, all at differing angles, both in entrance and position meaning whatever killed this man wasn’t just a random attack. If they were closer, Joe would have thought they were bite marks and maybe they are, but the last time he checked, there were no animals in the ocean or on land with a bite-radius that large and teeth spaced that far apart. At least, there’s nothing alive today that has a 34-inch bite-radius.

“You getting something, Mr. Kaysani?” Chief Freeman asks.

Can it be? The bite marks are looking to be more of a match the longer he stares at them. “I’m…getting something,” Joe says, snatching the yellow pad and a pen from Andy and ignoring the small huff of irritation she lets out.

He starts with a brief outline, it’s been a while since he’s drawn one of these and he has to use small strokes to get the head right.

“Wait, I think this is a boating accident,” Andy says, and Joe briefly looks up to see her point at the body. “Head trauma from…from falling off the boat. Hit a motor maybe?”

The eyes are tricky. Should they be looking straight or at the viewer? Joe decides the viewer for a more startling effect.

“The wounds on his back, they were caused by a…by an industrial crab trap. Yes, a crab trap. Or a whale. A lonely whale that got lost from its pod and traveled East, West. Saw our floating guy from below, thought it was a seal and…you know, had a little chomp.”

The teeth are definitely not his best work. The teeth to mouth ratio are way off and they’re definitely not as uniform in real life like he drew them. It’ll have to do for now. He adds a little shading to the drawing, giving it a more realistic appearance.  

“A whale?” Booker slowly asks, when it seems like Andy is finally done with her explanation.

“What’s your guy got?” Nicky immediately shoots back, coming to his partner’s defense.

Joe can practically hear Booker’s smug look, “Watch and learn, Genova. Watch and learn.”

“Alright Kaysani, show me what you got,” Chief Freeman says.

Joe blows on paper and holds the pad to his chest, hiding his drawing from a peaking Andy. “First of all, I would like to say that this is not my best work. It’s a very rough sketch, the shading isn’t finished, the torso is a little plump and the teeth are…they’re not completely accurate. If I had more time, I would’ve definitely given them more shape, more individual characteristics. If I had my druthers, I'd have done this in charcoal.” Booker gives him an understanding nod and Joe would high-five him if he was standing right next to him, “You know what I’m talking about! Almost nothing beats a good charcoal drawing-“

“Mr. Kaysani!” Chief Freeman interrupts, crossing her arms and tapping her feet. “The verdict?”

Joe dips his head in apology, “Yes! Look, the key was in the puncture wounds,” Joe says, using his pen to point at said wounds. “They’re very unique puncture wounds. So unique in fact, that I was able to draw a semi-accurate profile of our attacker.” Chief Freeman gives him the look that says ‘Well? Get on with it’ and Joe turns the pad around and smirks at Andy.

Both Andy and Chief Freeman do a double-take and lean forward to get a better look. He resists the urge to flinch. It’s really not his best work and it shows. After a second of intense scrutiny, Chief Freeman shakes her head with a slight scoff and stalks off.

“Chief? Where are you going?” Joe calls out, still holding his drawing up. The culprit is right here! Well, not here here but here on paper. She’s halfway up the beach already and doesn’t even turn around to acknowledge he spoke. Great.

“Nice work, Kaysani,” Andy says, snatching her pen and pad back, a pleased look on her face, and runs to catch up to the Chief.

“A dinosaur?” Booker asks, mouth downturned, fingers working the buttons in his sleeves to roll them back down to a more professional length. No, we were supposed to get fish tacos after this. “Jesus, Joe. You couldn’t have shot for something in the last million years?”

Joe places his hands on his friend’s chest and steps in his way, “Give me a minute, or an hour to prove it was a Tyrannosaurus rex.” Booker shakes his head, the disappointed look doing funny things to Joe’s stomach, pats Joe on the shoulder, and steps around him to leave.

Great, just great. Even his best friend didn’t believe him. Joe rubs his temples, he can feel a faint throb and he hopes that it’s just a regular throb and not a foreshadow for a migraine.  

“I thought the drawing was pretty good.”

Joe drops his hand and turns around. Nicky has that faint smile on his lips that Joe’s still trying to figure out if it means he likes Joe or likes likes Joe. He’s already made it obvious on multiple occasions how he feels about Nicky.

With Nicky’s looking at him like that, it’s so easy to smile. “Thanks!” And because no one else is here to witness his humiliation, he makes his smile a little more flirty. “You know, I can always use a live model.”

Nicky cocks an eyebrow at him, the faint smile still there, maybe even a little wider if Joe’s not delusional. “I’m going to go calm Andy.”

“Don’t die, I’d hate to miss your pretty face.” A light blush creeps up Nicky’s neck as he nods and jogs back up the beach.

Joe doesn’t stare at Nicky’s ass. He doesn’t, because that would be rude and Nicky is more than a beautiful body.

It’s a good thing the only witness is a dead body.

Joe turns back to the dead body. “Definitely not a boating accident.”

—

Joe slumps against the growing mound of dirt. He’s exhausted. He feels like he completed an Iron Man and climbed Mount Everest twenty times. Who knew being shot at could be so draining? To make matters worse, the throb from this morning was a foreshadow. His eyeballs are going to explode any second now with how strong his head is pounding. He digs his knuckle into the valley between his eyes until it hurts, it’s a different hurt than the one going on behind his eyes though, that it feels strangely good.

Joe sighs, at least one good thing happened today; he was right about the body. It’s a real shame he doesn’t have ‘Use a 20-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex model built by a 9-year-old Booker to solve a murder case’ on his bingo card. He would’ve been the only one to mark it down.

A bottle of water is placed on his lap and Joe opens his eyes, a ‘thanks, Booker’ on his tongue. Except, it’s not Booker standing above him, it’s Nicky.

Joe musters up the best smile he can despite feeling like death has crawled its way inside him through his eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“Your head’s been hurting all day,” Nicky says, crouching down, a small frown on his face. He pulls two packets out of his pocket and holds them out to Joe. One’s red and the other’s green. “I didn’t know if it was a regular headache or a migraine, so, I got both.”

Joe stares at the two packets. Nicky bought him medicine. Nicky saw that he was hurting and brought him something to feel better. Joe swallows the lump in his throat, reaches out for the red packet. “Thank you,” Joe says, brushing his fingers with Nicky’s.

The corners of Nicky’s lips tick upwards, “No problem.”

Joe tears the packet open and dumps both pills in his hands before tossing them into his mouth. Nicky has the bottle of water open and held out for him and Joe takes it with a grateful nod. Even though he swallows the pills on the first gulp, he finishes the whole bottle. Only when he’s done, does he remember that Booker might want some too.

“I gave him a bottle too,” Nicky says and that’s a sign, right? That has to be a sign of how amazing they would be together. “The pharmacist said those pills should work in 15 minutes.” Joe nods, he’s intimately familiar with the wonders of Excedrin. He would’ve taken one around lunch if they hadn’t been following another lead at the time.

“Thank you,” Joe repeats, closing his eyes again even though he wants nothing more than to stare into Nicky’s gorgeous blue eyes. He hears and then feels Nicky settle beside him, no doubt getting his suit all dirty, and he’s doing that for Joe.

“Is there anything else I can do?”

Joe shakes his head, “You’ve helped a lot already. We just have to wait now.” Joe resumes his earlier ministrations, digging into that spot that hurt but was a better hurt than the one inside.

Cold fingers slide over his own, “Don’t press too hard, you’ll hurt yourself,” Nicky chides.  

Joe grabs Nicky’s wrist and guides those cold fingers until they’re covering his eyes. Relief instantly hits and Joe presses those cold fingers harder against his eyes.

“Should’ve gotten an ice pack,” Nicky mutters to himself.

“S’fine, your hands are working.”

They sit in silence as they wait for the pills to kick in. Every few minutes, Nicky switches hands and Joe doesn’t even have to hold his wrist anymore. He knows how hard to press and it’s nice. It’s really nice. He can almost ignore Booker digging in the background and the occasional splash of dirt that rains down on both of them.

“Never thought my poor circulation would come in handy,” Nicky jokes when the migraine finally subsides.

Joe grins and reaches out to press a kiss to both palms. “They were lovely.”

“Please tell me I’m not going to have to listen to you two flirt the entire night,” Booker calls out from the hole. “I don’t want you two ruining my discovery.”

Excuse me?  

“Your discovery?” Joe asks, crawling over the mound to look down at Booker. He’s made an impressive amount of progress. Probably only six more feet before they hit the skull.

Booker stabs the shovel into the dirt, both of his hands coming up to rest on his waist. “I’m digging, so yes, my discovery.”

Joe makes an outraged sound, “I found the right hole!”

“It wasn’t a hole! I’m making it a hole!” To prove his point, Booker picks up the shovel and tosses the next scoop at Joe.

Joe should’ve seen that one coming.

“Alright, I’m going to go home. Have fun digging, boys,” Nicky says and when Joe turns around, he’s brushing dirt off himself. “I’ll see you later?”

Joe nods his head probably a little too enthusiastically, “Definitely. Thank you again for the pills. I’d still be dying if you hadn’t have come back.”

Nicky smiles, the small one, and one day Joe’s going to see if he can get him to grin ear-to-ear, lips stretched so wide his cheeks will hurt. But not today. Today, he’s going to make history by being the first Psychic Paleontologist.

Nicky dips his head again and yeah, Joe hates to see him go but he sure as hell loves to watch him leave.

That ass is definitely better than a charcoal drawing.

A new spray of dirt rains down on him and that’s it.

It’s a shame no one is there to hear Booker’s loud yelp as Joe tackles him to the floor. Oh well, it’ll live rent-free in Joe’s mind forever.

#joe x nicky #the old guard #booker #nile freeman #fictober20 #andromache the scythian #hc

[bizlawgal]

I got a prompt I would like to share 😊. Emma flirts with norman everyday. From the smallest ways to the most cheesy pick up lines. Then, why he doesn't understand? Most of the time he just blushes looks to other side and then changes the subject. She feels really stupid and embarrassed and now she has to explain it to norman. EXPLAIN SOMETHING TO NORMAN omg.

I’m bad at pick-up lines, so I hope I somehow had given justice to this prompt HAHA.

I.

It’s been a week since she last visited. 

But instead of the friendly blonde she’s come to know, her eyes immediately fall on someone’s silver hair from the counter.

He looks up from his desk, and she can already see in his eyes the wonder in the form of azure and carnation.

"Good morning, miss," he casually greets with that ever-endearing soft smile he serves his guests. "What can I do for you today?"

She comfortably presses her elbows on top of the counter, instantaneously taken by him. 

Just calling him handsome is an understatement.

"Oh, nothing. Just glad to see a friendly face in the morning."

He looks surprised with the comment, but hedges forward with what he's trained and paid to do. "This library certainly has a lot of friendly faces."

"Oh, I wasn't talking about the others," she implies without a second thought, "I was talking about you. You must be new here."

"Y-yes," he stutters, something he's not proud of, especially when he's talking to a rather lovely guest that he's seen for the first time.

"Whenever I check out a book, it's always that pretty blonde who always assists me. Have you seen Anna?"

There's a joyous vibrato to how she says it like she's telling a story to a friend, heightening the glistening of her eyes.

He blushes at the sight of her, so he offers an explanation to her question to keep his expression neutral. "I'm sorry. Anna resigned a week ago, so I’ll be solely in charge of everyone’s accounts. Is there anything I can help you with now?"

"Oh, I see.” She nods her head in understanding. “Anyway, I'm Emma, and the only thing you can help me with now is telling me your name."

She's interesting, he thinks. "I'm Norman. Do you have any questions I can help you with?"

Satisfaction crosses her face and he instantly ponders as to why her smile feels like the sun radiating on him.

"Okay, Norman. I have one question," she says with her playful eyes that implies to be too endearing at the same time. "Do you believe in love at first sight or should I come again?"

II.

"You're early today, Emma," Norman says as soon as he catches wind of her from the corner of his eye.

She merely whistles a tune, faint sounds of footsteps making their way towards him. "I'm always right on time, you know."

"It has only been seven minutes since we opened up the library." He raises an eyebrow, skepticism covering his face. "Don't tell me you're here to lounge around? Did you always do this when Anna was around?"

"And if I did? I'm bored, Norman," she remarks in the tone of a whine. "Is there anything I could do while I wait for you to finish?"

He draws an exhaustive sigh at the dilemma in front of him. She's been visiting for straight days over the last two weeks, and all she's ever checked out was a single book. Norman can't decipher what has gotten this young lady visiting the library so often.

But he won’t deny the exhilarating feeling of knowing that his company is something that she’s keen on having.

She may just be a lost soul looking for ways to entertain herself in the vastness of this city's library.

"If you have no plans to check out a book, at least take a seat in one of the available couches. I'll attend to you shortly."

Emma seems satisfied with the idea. She merrily makes her way to the nearest couch and comfortably settles herself with its backrest.

Not even a minute longer, Norman feels the piercing stare emanating from his back. His keen senses are to thank for, and clearly, it was sharp as a dagger since he instantly comes in contact with her eyes.

"You're staring," he simply reckons.

"No, I'm not." She doesn’t even deny it.

It's taking everything in him not to blush and be conscious of her gaze that is enough to question a man of his current stature.

"Yes, you are."

"Hmm, really?” She rubs out both of her eyes and blinks excessively at the ceiling. “I think there's just something wrong with my eyes."

Norman places the book he has on hand in its proper place and goes ahead to check on her condition. He moves closer to get a good view of her face when he asks, "What's wrong with your eyes?"

And when he's close enough that she moves her lips to his ear and whispers, "I just can’t take them off of you."

III.

It's been a month since Emma started invading his professional space of employment. He has no qualms about it, yet her presence has been, in more ways, confusing than comforting.

Aside from her lack of tact and overwhelming recklessness, he has nothing to complain about.

Except for her outrageous pick-up lines.

Some are cheesy. Others are funny, and most of the time, it ridiculously just takes his breath away.

"How much does a penalty cost when I fail to return a book after its deadline?" she asks him from the counter on a Saturday.

He shakes his head in amusement. "Are we talking about that engineering book that you've failed to return even after my countless reminders?"

"Maaaaaybeeee," she chimes back.

"It'll be a dollar if we're counting for nearly a month of its overdue fine."

"I see you’re good with Math," she ponders for a moment, the side of her lips twitching for a smile.

"I’m fairly good with numbers," he informs back while encoding the newly-released textbook on his laptop.

"I’m no mathematician, but I’m pretty good with numbers, too! " she points a finger at him, "Tell you what, give me yours and watch what I can do with it."

Norman nearly chokes on his own saliva.

IV.

He likes her.

He likes her enough to the point that his head immediately sways to the door the moment it opens; to the point that her laughter brings him an immeasurable amount of joy by just hearing it; and, to the point that he wishes time would stop so that he'd get to hear more of her little pick-up lines.

So when she steps foot inside the library for today, all his attention is remotely diverted to her.

"Good morning, Norman," she greets enthusiastically from the door, a bright mop of orange hair blossoming from her back and a grin to match the glee in her eyes.

Norman instantly sprints to meet her halfway, but loses his balance and falls flat on the wooden floors.

Emma quickens her pace to assist his sorry state. "Norman! Norman! Are you okay?"

"I-It's nothing," he groans the words out, "The floor must've been slippery."

Emma gives out a peal of low laughter before placing his right arm over her shoulders and supporting him to stand up. "You know, you should be careful where you fall."

Norman senses that it's going to be another one of her pick-up lines so he listens attentively, despite the searing pain on his chin. "And where do you suppose I should fall?"

"You may fall from the sky, you may fall from a tree, but the best way to fall… is in love with me," she ardently chants as they walk side by side to a vacant seat.

He bites the insides of his cheeks because this is the best one he's heard from her yet.

V.

It's closing time and Emma has taken it upon herself to help him return every borrowed book to its proper placement on the shelf. She’s been awfully quiet, Norman internally infers, with the way she shoves the books back with less delicacy than the previous ones. Her eyebrows are knitted into a frown and her lips are sullen into a pout. 

If she doesn’t appear to be vindictive about something, he thinks it’s an adorable expression out of her.

"Norman." Her voice is stern and less cheerful than the usual, and it makes him pause for a moment. "You look smart enough to me."

"So I've been told."

"But, why are you dumb?"

This statement makes him stop altogether. "I am... what?"

"I think you're dumb," she emphasizes without averting her gaze.

He doesn't even take offense since this is the first time she used such a tone against him. "How am I dumb?"

"Because!" she crosses her hands to her chest in an offensive stance, "I've been flirting with you for over a month, and you always seem to brush me off. My brother said that saying pick-up lines are a good way to go! Is it not working or are you just dumb not to notice?"

Emma is too free and direct — unbound to any chain from halting herself from freely speaking her mind. Her intentions are too pure for his sake and it's taken him more than a month to come up with a response.

"I'm not dumb, Emma," his voice is low and raspy against the stammering of his heart.

She appears taken aback. "So, do you know I'm flirting with you?"

So blunt, yet so efficient. "Yes, I know."

"Do you... not like me?" The will to look at him is gone, only replaced by uneasiness and dejection. “I can stop if you don’t —”

His grin won't falter back, so he allows it to creep into his lips. She's been making too many obvious attempts for him not to notice for over a month and it's high time he returns the favor.

"I like you. It’s just that... I’ve never liked a girl before. I’m sorry if it looked like I wasn’t interested. But — " he takes a step closer to reach for her braid, “I really like you, Emma. You and your silly pick-up lines.”

Her eyes blow wide open with hope. Her hands are balled into a fist with evident shaking from elation. "You do?! You really do?!"

“Do you want proof of it?” he asks coolly as he possibly can.

She nods like a little child that is about to be handed a candy.

He closes a bit of the gap between them, with one hand snaking for support at her back, and the other raising her chin to meet his lips.

If she’s good with swooning him with words, then he may as well do the same. "Can I borrow a kiss? I promise I'll give it back."

#noremma #the promised neverland #tpn emma #tpn norman #ray is the brother ok #emma is so smooth #norman the librarian!!! #noremma prompt

[sanderssidesfanfiction]

If There’s a Place I Could Be - Chapter Thirty Three

If There’s a Place I Could Be Tag

December 12th, 1987

Remy’s mother shrieked as she came over and pulled Remy away from the boy he had been playing with not five minutes earlier. “Mom?!” Remy asked.

“You can’t do that, Remy!” his mother said, clearly outraged. “You can not kiss any boy, ever!”

“But I like him, Mom! And the TV shows say you kiss people you like!” Remy protested.

“Remington, if you kiss boys you’re going to go to Hell!” his mother hissed at him.

“What?!” Remy asked in clear alarm. “Why?!”

“Because being gay is a sin! And no son of mine is going to grow up and be gay!” his mother snapped at him.

  May 26th, 2001

Remy didn’t feel at all bad leaving Emile’s bedroom...for all of twenty seconds. By the time he got down the stairs to the first floor, he realized that Emile might be getting yelled at in a matter of moments, and that thought didn’t sit well with him. But it was too late to go back up, as Emile’s mom had already come over to him and insisted he come with her and take a seat in the living room. “I’m not going to convince you whatever my son did wasn’t wrong,” she told Remy. “But I will tell you that he means well. That doesn’t excuse his behavior, but it’s why he did it.”

Swallowing, Remy nodded. “I don’t like...he said that my parents are bad. That they’re scum. I don’t like it. They...they kept a roof over my head, and gave me food and water and made sure I had friends. They just want to look out for me.”

Emile’s mom nodded. “I don’t know the full story, dear, and I doubt Emile does either. He’s letting snap judgements dictate his decisions.”

“M-maybe...maybe I should call them,” Remy said. “Maybe...if-if I could get an apology for what happened in April, then maybe Emile would...would feel better about the whole thing. My mom didn’t mean to come across the way she did, she was just stressed.”

Emile’s mom wasn’t betraying a single emotion or thought she might be having. “Do you want to use our phone?” she asked.

“It would be a long distance call...I don’t want to add to your phone bill,” Remy said, pulling out his cell phone. “I can call from my own phone.”

“Remy, you wouldn’t be adding to our phone bill. And besides, if Emile has a point, wouldn’t it be safer to call from our phone?” Emile’s mom pointed out.

“I mean...if you’re sure it wouldn’t add too much to your phone bill...” Remy mumbled, trailing off.

“I regularly call people out of state, sweetheart, one more call is nothing,” Emile’s mom said.

“I...okay,” Remy agreed.

Emile’s mom showed him to the phone and he picked it up, dialling the familiar number that had given him so much anxiety in the past, and, despite still giving him massive anxiety, may have been his only hope now. It rang, and rang, and rang, and then his mother picked up with a fake-sweet-sounding, “Hello?”

“Uh...hey, Mom...” Remy said, voice a second away from giving out.

“Remy?” his mother sounded genuinely surprised.

“Uh, yeah...hi. Um...I just wanted to talk about what happened in April...I’m sorry,” Remy scratched the back of his neck. He had overreacted a bit, probably, with the whole “bite me” thing, so an apology was in order.

“Oh, sweetheart, it’s okay, I know you didn’t mean it,” his mother said.

Heat traveled down Remy’s spine, whether from relief or shame he wasn’t sure. “Thanks...um. My...my friend and I kind of had a fight today, and I had a point to prove, so I wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings between us?”

Emile’s mom gave him a look, a cross between confusion and concern. Remy just focused on the other end of the line, waiting with bated breath during a pregnant pause. “Of course there’s no hard feelings, sweetie, but you know your father and I know what’s best for you, right? You can’t be a barista for the rest of your life.”

“Yeah...yeah, I know. I’m working towards getting a different job,” Remy lied. He didn’t know of any openings in the area, and he could still pay his half of the rent well enough.

“Your father and I were talking, sweetheart, and we both agreed that you might need a little more structure in your life than we were able to provide.” A pause. Remy’s heart felt like it stopped beating. “If you want to do what’s best for you, we think joining the military would help so much.”

“And...and if I did that...would we...would we be good? You’d be...proud of me?” Remy’s voice was impossibly small.

“Honey, we’d be proud to the bursting,” his mother told him. Remy wanted to sob. He so desperately wanted to believe that was true. “Where are you? I didn’t expect to hear you call, and if you had a fight with your friend...?”

“I’m...um...I’m travelling with him during Memorial Day weekend. We both had work off and I thought there was no harm in it, but clearly, he had some opinions I didn’t know about...”

“Do you want to come home, sweetie?” his mother asked.

Remy’s heart was pounding in his chest. Honestly, he didn’t exactly want to go back to them, but he couldn’t stand the thought of going back to his and Emile’s apartment and living in silence for however long they stayed together, at least until the end of the semester, possibly longer. “...Yeah, a little,” Remy mumbled.

“Where can I pick you up, darling? Where are you?” his mother asked.

“Uh...I don’t know where we are specifically. If I gave you a city we could meet up there?” Remy asked.

There was a pregnant pause again on the other line. “Remington, you’re not lying to me, are you?”

“No, Mom, no. I’m not lying to you,” Remy said. He could feel himself getting choked up. “I made...I made a mistake. I just...I want to go home. I wanna see Toby again. And Vanessa. And I want you and Dad to be proud of me.”

Emile’s mom was looking him over in worry. Remy tried to ignore her stare. “...How about we meet up at that little pancake place you liked on our way to the beach?” his mother offered.

Remy did some mental math. That was about an hour away. He cringed inwardly. Emile wouldn’t drive him, but maybe Emile’s mom would? He would give her gas money. “I could probably be there in about an hour with good traffic,” Remy said.

“Then I’ll see you there, sweetheart. I’m so glad you’re seeing sense. I love you so much,” his mother said.

Remy tried to not sob at that. “I love you too, Mom.”

When the line went dead, Remy put the phone back. “I have gas money, if you’re willing to drive me—”

“—Remy, if this is what you want, I’ll take you there for free. Where are you meeting up?” Emile’s mom asked.

“Uh, this little pancake place that my family would go to on the way to the beach. It’s about an hour away, and I really don’t mind paying gas money—”

“—You will not be paying me gas money, Remy,” Emile’s mom said sternly. “If you need this, you shouldn’t have to pay.”

Remy nodded. “Okay. Uh, my stuff is still in Emile’s room...”

“I’ll grab it,” Emile’s mom assured him. She smiled sadly. “I’m really sorry that you couldn’t stay with us longer.”

“Me too,” Remy breathed.

The next hour or so passed in a blur. Emile’s mom got his stuff, they got in her car, and Remy gave her directions to the pancake place. He was crying, just a little, but Emile’s mom didn’t mention it. He appreciated that.

They got to the pancake place in a little under an hour and he told Emile’s mom, “It took about an hour from our house to get here, too. She should be here any time.”

Emile’s mom gave his arm a pat. “It’s all right, dear, you don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

A car pulled into the parking lot behind them and Remy’s heart leapt into his throat when Emile jumped out of the driver’s side, stalking over. Oh, no. “Remy! What the hell?!”

“Emile, language!” Emile’s mom chastised.

Emile ignored her and stared at Remy. “What, I’m too despicable for you so you go running back to the parents who treated you like crap?! Is that what’s going on here?!”

Remy crossed his arms. “At least I know what’s coming to me when it comes from my parents!” he snapped.

Emile’s dad walked over and put a hand on Emile’s arm. “Emile, you need to let Remy make his own choice. You can argue your case until you turn blue, but at the end of the day, it’s Remy’s decision.”

“Yeah? Well, there may be a million decisions he could make in this situation, but this is the wrong one!” Emile exclaimed, removing his dad’s hand.

“Emile, don’t mess up your relationship with your parents just because of me,” Remy said. “I’m doing this, and you can’t change my mind.��

“Remy...Remy...they’re gonna kill you!” Emile exclaimed. “I can’t let you do that to yourself!”

“You’re not in control of my life, Emile!” Remy snapped. “You’re just as bad as you claim they are!”

Emile turned ash white and stood there, staring at Remy. “Is that...really...how you see me?”

Before Remy could respond in any way other than shying away from Emile, a familiar sedan pulled up and his mother got out, walking over with an aura of smugness around her. “Sweetheart, thank goodness you’re okay,” she said, coming over and hugging Remy.

Remy involuntarily stiffened and color returned to Emile’s face as he growled. His mother pulled away and looked around them. “Remington, are you going to introduce me to these people?”

“My ride,” Remy said, nodding to Emile’s mom. “My friend,” he pointed to Emile.

His mother’s face darkened. “I remember you from the police station,” she spat at Emile. “What did you do to my son?!”

“What did I do?!” Emile scoffed. “I helped save his heart before it shrivelled up and died from your treatment of him over the years.”

“Emile,” Emile’s dad warned as Remy’s mother gasped in offence.

“How dare you?!” Remy’s mother shrieked. “You’re the one who stole him from me, and put those silly ideas about quitting college in his head!”

“That was actually my idea,” Remy said quietly. “Emile gave me the means to do it.”

His mother held up a hand, and Remy fell silent. He really didn’t want this confrontation to happen, he had hoped that maybe Emile wouldn’t catch on to what was happening until Remy was already gone. She stalked over to Emile, who stood his ground and stared down at her with distaste. “You’re the one who convinced my son that I don’t care about him anymore,” she snarled.

“No, you did that yourself, with your blatant disregard for his feelings,” Emile said brightly. “I’m the one who was trying to help him figure out who he was beyond your idiotic plans for him.”

“Emile!” Emile’s dad hissed.

“If I’m going down as the enemy in Remy’s books, I’m going down in flames!” Emile snapped. “Because maybe, one day, he’ll understand why I care for him the way I do!”

Remy’s mother sneered, and Remy gulped. Oh, no. That was where this was going. “Are you gay?!” she asked with a sneer.

“Bisexual,” Emile corrected. “And currently in love with your son, yeah, before you ask. Not that it’s like he ever reciprocated or anything, but he was still kind enough to be my friend!”

“Well, not anymore,” Remy’s mother said. “I don’t want any child of mine associating with queers.”

Remy flinched as both of Emile’s parents spoke up in outrage. The voices were overlapping and distorting, and he recognized the beginnings of a panic attack. He was focusing on his breathing, as best as he could, but it didn’t seem to be working very well. He was shaking and crying and even as Emile’s dad and Remy’s mom fought, Emile’s mom was guiding him to sit down, and asking him if he was all right. Remy buried his head in his hands before his hands came up to tug on his hair and he bit back a sob. No one wants to be friends with a crybaby, his mind helpfully taunted.

“See what you did?! You gave your own son a panic attack!” Emile bellowed.

“Well it’s a small price to pay in comparison to what he would be getting if he continued to be around people like you and wound up in Hell!” Remy’s mother snapped.

Remy felt a hand on his back and he jumped, looking up to see his mother. “Come on, sweetheart, I’m taking you home.”

#if there's a place i could be #sanders sides fanfiction #remile #emile picani #ts sleep

[coeurdastronaute]

Either/Or: Single 9

Previously on Single

Things were going well. Things were going outrageously well, and Lena didn’t know what to do about it. Sometimes, she didn’t even think about it, just kind of did it. As much as she wanted to overthink her way out of everything, it just didn’t happen, because Kara was easy, and Lena felt good, for the first time in such a long time. It was like waking up and realizing she hadn’t been aware of so many things. 

Most importantly, Lena was finding that she just fit well with Kara Danvers. She fit well enough to be comfortable, and she wasn’t sure that she’d ever been comfortable with another person, and as foreign as it was, Lena wasn’t running away, as she thought she might. Weirdly enough, she stuck around. 

“I’m sorry I’m late. I am so sorry. I got stuck on the phone. I’m so so sorry,” Lena chattered as she hurried to sit down at the table her girlfriend held. 

“Hey, take a breath,” Kara chuckled and waited until Lena actually took a breath. She smiled and waited. “I got your text. Don’t worry. It’s okay.” 

“I know, but I didn’t mean to be late.” 

“I’d hope not. I’m a great lunch companion.” 

“That’s true. My favorite.” 

Kara beamed, and Lena loved that smile. She loved the feeling of making Kara smile the most because she never imagined she was someone who was funny enough to make anyone, let alone Kara smile. 

“You look very pretty today,” Kara offered. “Even when you’re all frazzled.” 

“I’m never frazzled. I am a Luthor. We do not get frazzled.” 

“Tell that to the girl who just ran into Gio’s like her butt was on fire.” 

“You look beautiful, by the way.”

“There’s my girl.” 

Lunch dates were a fairly new invention to Lena who was used to dates late in the evening after work, usually with drinks, usually with sex after. That was the extent of the interactions she had in the dating world. But lunch dates were honestly the best. It meant Lena got out of the office, and it meant an hour of solid flirting and talking with Kara, uninterrupted by anything else. Sometimes, lunch dates were in one of their respective office, and sometimes it was in a new restaurant or an old favorite. Lena made sure to ask Kara at least once per week. She was doing her best to quantify being a girlfriend, and a great one. 

Most of the time they were successful in being uninterrupted. It was easy to do when even Jess was fond of letting Lena have those lunches. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, but I have to…” Kara trailed off as she looked at the number that appeared on her phone. 

“I’ll allow it, as the better girlfriend.” 

She rolled her eyes before picking up the call and excusing herself from the table to take it outside. Lena smiled into her glass and grabbed another slice of pizza from the shared tray between them. Even though she now had the moment to do it, Lena didn’t bother picking up her phone. 

“Can you take care of the check with this?” she smiled politely at the waitress and handed over her card. “And if you could, two orders of tiramisu, one for the table, and one to go.” 

“Of course, Ms. Luthor. How was everything?” 

“Gio is going to be responsible for my wardrobe not fitting.” 

“It’s worse working here. I have to work out twice as much.” 

“I can’t imagine. My girlfriend has the metabolism of a greyhound. I’ve never been more jealous.” 

“That’s a superpower I would want most of all. Eat all of the carbs and they didn’t count,” she chuckled and picked up a few plates and glasses. “I’ll be right back with that. And I’ll box up this up for you.” 

“Thanks.” 

It took a few more minutes, but Kara came back to the table, noticeably more sullen than when she walked outside. 

“That face doesn’t look like someone who has tiramisu on the way and another to take home for their afternoon snack.” 

“God, you’re the best,” the reporter sighed, though her mood didn’t improve. “That was a lead on my pollution story. I wasn’t sure I’d get the chance to interview a controller and purchaser for the state, but there was an opening through a friend of a friend. What?” 

“Nothing, you’re just… I like when you talk about work. Usually it’s me that does that. It’s refreshing. Tell me more.” 

The tiramisu was placed in front of them, and Kara picked up a fork immediately as she kept talking. 

“I’ve been waiting for a break, or at least a chance to ask some real questions. I mean, I’ve practically memorized the budget for waste management and funding for companies and their waste. But I haven’t been able to get anyone to go on record.”

“But you’ve found someone,” Lena reminded her, taking a bite of the shared dessert. She watched Kara watch her lips and gulp before going for more. 

“I, uh, yeah, I do. But I don’t have anyone to watch Katie. Alex is away on her anniversary trip, my mom is at a conference. And I can’t string together everyone else. It wouldn’t work.” 

“Ow long do you have to go for?” 

“Should just be like two days. I have to go the capitol. But I can fly back. You know. Like… fly, fly.” 

Things had been easy since Mon-El left. There was a peace that existed there, and Lena really didn’t mind spending time with Katie. It was easier to do when she knew everything, and even when she heard Kara’s stories of home and her mother. But somehow Kara’s ex made the couple feel closer together. Weirdly enough, it made Lena feel more comfortable to know that Kara was all in. 

“I’ll take her.” 

“Um, what?” Kara furrowed and debated before giving Lena the last bite. She was gunning for the best girlfriend slot again and that was the most selfless thing she could think of. 

“You didn’t ask me, but I can watch Katie.” 

“Well, yeah, but we’re going slow. And I didn’t-- I mean I wouldn’t--”

“It’ll be a good way to get to know her and I’m a responsible adult individual who can do that.” 

Across the table, Kara looked at her girlfriend and debated. Her daughter was a lot, and was even more for someone who didn’t have much experience. But Lena knew everything already and she was a capable adult individual. 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes. I mean it. I am going to have to get good at kids… or at least one kid, and it’s this kid. So I should try. I mean, she’s indestructible, so who better to practice on.”

“That’s almost a good point,” Kara nodded and chuckled at Lena’s pragmatic explanation. “But are you sure you want to?” 

To her credit, Lena thought about it again, debating over her idea. And when she looked at Kara, she felt her heart grow and swell and her chest grew warm. It was a feeling she adored having, but she was afraid of getting used to it. If she fell in love with Kara, and if she couldn’t do the kid thing, then it would hurt. Better to find out sooner, rather than later. 

Plus, she was trying to be the best girlfriend, and Kara had given her the last bit of tiramisu. 

“I want to. I want you to be able to go do  your work stuff and not worry. You should be able to count on me.” 

“I do.” 

“Okay. Then it’s decided. I will be an expert babysitter and you will conquer the world.” 

“You’re amazing, did you know that?” 

“I did actually.” 

Kara smiled and let her girlfriend have it. Lena might not have known it, though Kara suspected she did, since her brain was always thinking things over-- but it was a big deal, and they knew what it meant. 

“So long as you knew,” Kara smiled. 

XXXXXXXXXX

Lena didn’t do anything without careful planning and extreme research. Babysitting was no different. For a few hours, she shirked work and looked up topical subjects to discuss with a five year old. She looked up all kinds of things, reading parenting blogs about how to handle things like tantrums and what foods were healthiest. Lena even learned basic life-saving techniques like the Heimlich and refreshed her CPR skills as best she could from a webpage. She had a wonderful pep talk and extensive list of instructions from her girlfriend. 

She was ready. Or as ready as anyone could hope to be. 

Somehow, in the grand scheme of things, Lena found herself standing outside of an elementary school, waiting for a child to appear.  

“Lena! I’m so ‘cited to see you!” Katie hopped down the steps and skipped toward her through the crowd of people. 

“Hey! I’m excited to see you too.” 

“Do you want to help me with my homework but can we play first?”

There was a lot of energy happening, but Lena smiled because Katie held her hand and persisted to tell her about her day at school. She truly was like her mother in so many ways. 

“We can definitely play first. I really want to go on the swings,” Lena decided. “And I was thinking maybe cheeseburgers for dinner?” 

“Oh, I love cheeseburgers!” 

“Me too!” 

The park was fairly busy with the bustle of the afternoon crowd, but still, they tossed the backpack in the car and took to the park joyfully. Lena came prepared, exchanging her heels for sneakers and work out clothes. The thing she kept reading was that the best practice with children was to get on their level and take part in their activities. That meant running around, and as much as she kind of dreaded pretending to have fun, Lena allowed herself the time to enjoy it. 

They stopped at the best burger place in the city and ordered their food when Kara called to check on them and say goodnight. Lena found it comical how big her phone was in comparison to Katie’s tiny hand. 

“How’s the investigating going, darling?” Lena smiled into her phone while Katie asked for help with her ketchup packet. 

“So far so good,” Kara breathed, somewhat relieved on the other side of the line. “You two seem to be having a good time.” 

“I don’t want to jinx it, but we are. We’re going to head back home and do homework, bath, and bed. Easy night.” 

“And I am across the country while you’re in my bed. It’s a travesty.” 

“I agree.” 

There was a tiny blush as Lena hurried to eat a fry and shut up before she said something stupid in front of a kid.

“Thank you for doing this. I mean it. It means so much to me, and--”

“Just admit I’m the best girlfriend.” 

“I admit it. I’ll sing it from the rooftops.” 

“Don’t worry about us here. Just go do what you gotta do, and we’ll see you on Sunday evening.” 

“It’s a date. Have a good night. I’ll try to call in the morning.” 

“Bye Mommy!” Katie sang towards the phone. 

“Bye, Kara,” Lena offered with just as much joy. 

“Bye ladies. Have fun!” 

With the phone hung up, and the two left at their small table, Lena looked at Katie who just looked back at her before taking a big bite of her burger. 

“Is this what it’s always like?” Lena asked. 

“Yeah except we don’t always eat burgers sometimes Mom makes me eat other foods.”

The CEO just smiled and ate another fry. 

XXXXXXXXXX

Maybe she was just overprepared or overconfident, but Lena found that following her schedule was a perfect way to pass the time with a kid. As she promised Kara, they worked on some homework and got a bath and shower respectively. Lena was only nervous half of the time of doing something wrong, and that was a win and a half for her. 

“And they lived happily ever after,” Lena finished reading the story and closed the book, satisfied by the book well enough. 

Part of what made her nervous about kids was that she honestly had no interest in how unintelligent they were. They just weren’t fully formed yet and found burps amusing and watched such droll and dull shows and read such easy books, and she couldn’t fake interest well at all. She’d been pleasantly surprised by how unannoyed she found herself with all of Katie’s childish things. 

“We can read another,” Katie offered, trying to get out of bed to find another book. 

“I think three was more than enough,” Lena shook her head, amused by the treachery that was attempted. “You should sleep now so I can work on my homework.” 

“Do you need some help? I’m good at homework, you saw mine. It was so good.” 

“Mine’s very boring. You wouldn’t like it,” she promised, pulling the blankets up. “But thank you for offering.”

“Is Mommy going to be home soon?” 

Her eyes were like Kara’s and her chin tilted in the same way. It was amazing to see in person, and genetics, though a simple enough concept, was magnificent. 

“She will be home in a couple of days. But for now, I’m going to stay here. I’ll sleep in your mom’s room.” 

“Like when you stay over sometimes.” 

“Yes, right, exactly,” Lena blushed slightly. 

“Where do you live?” 

“Oh, Well, I live downtown. My house is high up in a tall building

“Can I see it?” 

“There aren’t any toys or fun things for kids to do, you wouldn’t like it.” 

“But you live there and you’ve seen where I live.” 

That was fair Lena realized before being caught by the notion that a five year old was outsmarting her somewhat in the logic department. 

“Maybe we’ll go see it. But I can’t promise.” 

“Sounds good.”

“Good night, Katie. Sleep well. Sweet dreams.” 

“Night, Lena.”

Door finally closed behind her, Lena wasn’t aware of how exhausting Katie had been until she was left in the quiet. And she still had the kitchen to clean up and her work to get done. She wanted to tell Kara that she was amazing for getting it all done and still working on her career. Instead of calling her though, Lena decided she was going to be someone Kara could count on more often. 

XXXXXXXXXX

“Oh Christ!” Lena jolted awake when she saw two eyes staring back at her and felt a hand on her cheek. Her heart leaped and thumped until she realized where she was and who was touching her. 

Katie just giggled and climbed into the bed completely. 

“Good morning. I woke up and went potty and now I’m very hungry. Like I could eat a stack of pancakes.” 

“Let me catch my breath… for a minute…”

“You’re scared when you waked up.” 

“I don’t have kids at my house waking me up usually. I was just a little frightened.” 

Lena turned her head and looked at the little girl who made herself comfortable in the big bed, very close to her. Before she could say something, she felt her phone vibrating and reached for it quickly. 

Katie bounced a little and urged Lena to help with breakfast while the CEO tried to hear what was happening on the other end of the line. 

“Why don’t you go set the table for breakfast,” Lena tried, covering her phone while her assistant kept telling her about what happened with some deal. 

An instant later, little feet made their way down the hall and Lena was able to focus on the task at hand. In a matter of five minutes, she realized that she would have to go into the office to handle it, and now she was unsure of if babysitting was a good idea. 

But it was too late to second guess it. 

“George, hey, I’m so sorry to call-- yes,” Lena smiled as she made her way down the hall. “Could you pick me up at Kara’s…” Katie was already watching cartoons. “And stop and pick up a booster seat.”  

XXXXXXXXXX

“Wow… your office is very cool and awesome,” Katie observed as she sat behind the big desk, eyes wide and enjoying the seat. “I like the windows.” 

“Thanks. It’s alright, I guess,” Lena smiled to herself as she looked around her office. 

“That’s my mom.” 

Katie pointed at the picture frame that had the pair at a gala month ago. Kara had her arm around Lena’s waist and was smiling happily. Lena remembered when they got a little tipsy and stumbled back to her place and the dresses didn’t survive the needy hands and eagerness both exhibited. It was a good memory, and it took that for Lena to realize what useful things photographs were. 

“It is. We went to a party together.” 

“Why do you have it on your desk?” 

“Because I like to look at it and feel happy. Your mom makes me feel happy when I’m kind of bored or stressed. She makes me smile.” 

Katie thought about it and nodded, furrowing at the picture. 

“Yeah, she’s good at making people smile.” 

Her legs kicked and couldn’t reach the floor. Lena took a picture and sent it to Kara so she could see her daughter as CEO-in-training. And then Lena got to the task of running her company while entertaining a child. It was an extra level of difficulty she hadn’t anticipated, but Katie was well behaved, coloring a little and then watching a movie on the couch in the corner while Jess plied her with popcorn and juice. Every step of the way, she asked Lena what she was doing, and even though she didn’t understand anything at first, she listened intently and decided that Lena’s job really was boring. 

Lena had to agree. 

“So the other people didn’t like your… stipala-- stiplat-- what was it?” 

“Stipulations,” Lena explained again with a smile. “Right. So now I have to give them more money to accept those and my board doesn’t want to.” 

“You have lots of money?” 

“Yes. But do you want to know a secret?” Katie nodded eagerly as she leaned against the desk. “When you have a lot of money, you don’t tell people that you do.” 

“Why?” 

“It’s kind of boring to talk about.” 

“What does this company do?” 

“They kind of make new inventions.” 

“That’s pretty cool.” 

Lena type away for a second and waited for another call from her board. She knew the telltale signs of someone who was sick of being stuck in the office, as she’d once been that little girl dragged along when promised something else. She was really mucking up the whole babysitting thing, and she did, desperately, wanted Katie to like her. 

“I don’t think there’s much more I can do right now, they just need my signature,” Lena sat back. “Want to do a little experiment? I can show you what this new company does with magnets and electricity.” 

“An experiment?” Katie asked, perking up slightly. 

“Press that button,” Lena pointed toward her phone. “And you can ask Jess for our supplies.” 

Lena wasn’t sure she’d ever seen such excitement, and she was certain she’d never connected with a kid like she did right there with Katie, her entire life coming full circle. Katie slid into her lap and Lena thought she might have understood a little better.

[kewltie]

"Where's no. 3?!" Katsuki demands, storming into the front office of Yavin Elementary.

"G-Ground Zero?" the receptionist squeaks, hand clutching her chest as though she's in a heartattack.

"Midoriya Hikaru," Katsuki snaps, stomping his way toward her. "Where the fuck is he?"

"I—we," she leans back in a little and breathes, "r-requested to talk Midoriya-san about Hikaru, sir," she says, attempting to regather her bearings once more.

"He's busy right now," Katsuki asserts, frowning, "so I'm here in his stead. Tell me what the problem is then."

"We would prefer to talk to a parental unit instead," she insists, steeling herself in the face of Katsuki's thinning impatient.

Katsuki glowers. "I'm his fucking guardian," he bites out. "The brat lives under my roof, shit in my toilet, chow down on my food, and hog my TV, so as far as I'm fucking concern he's as much mine as Deku’s!,” he finishes with a snarl.

"Um," she says, blinking hard.

Katsuki drags his face down his hand and sighs. "Look, you can just over your paperwork and see that I'm listed as one of the emergency contacts for him. Or,” he gives her a pointed glare, “you can talk to my fucking lawyers."

"I—I'll double check right away, sir," she says hurriedly, turning to her computer. Several minutes pass by as Katsuki waits with a growing agitation for her to confirm what he already knows. Thank fucking shit, he'd actually listened to Deku about getting listed on the kids’ emergency cards.

They're a fucking menace, so he should have known something would happen, but he'd given them at least a month, not a week into the new school year, that he would get that call. And for it to be Hikaru of all people and not his twin or eldest sister. That's the fucking shocking part.

"Zero-san?" the receptionist calls out to him. "I apologize for earlier. You're indeed correct, your name is listed as emergency contact for Hikaru," she says, picking up the office phone nearby. "I'll go ahead and call Okaye-sensei to let her know to bring Hikaru up right away."

And that take even longer several minutes, causing him to start pacing a hole in the floor with his rapidly depleting patience. Fucking hell.

He hears the click of heels and the slow familiar gait of Hikaru approaching from a distant before he even saw them. It makes him breathe a sigh of relief.

"Zero-san?" Okaye says, walking into the office with Hikaru's small hunched figure in tow. From the tilt in her voice she's as much as surprise of his appearance here as the receptionist was earlier. "I was honestly expecting Midoriya-san instead."

"He's not here right now, so you're stuck with me," Katsuki says dismissively, his only focus is the brat next to her. "No. 3?" He drops down on to the floor on one knee and opens his arms to Hikaru. "What the fuck happen to you, huh?"

Okaye frowns at his choice of language, but Hikaru quickly lights up at the sound of his voice and breaks away from her side to fall into his arms. "Kacchan," he wails, sniffing into Katsuki's shoulder.

"Hikaru got into a fight with another student from his class," she explains slowly.

Katsuki pauses, pushing him back to look at him over. He eyes Hikaru from head to toe, noticing the bruises running up both arms and the split lip on his kid. "Okay, tell me this at least: did you win and kick that other kid's ass?" he asks gravely, completely serious.

"Zero-san!" Okaye gasps in outrage.

Hikaru nods, gripping the sleeve of Katsuki's shirt in his bruised fist. Katsuki grins and reaches over to wipe away the tear tracks on Hikaru's wet cheeks. "Good, I knew you had it in you, No. 3," he says, pride thickening his voice as ruffles Hikaru's tangled mess of green hair.

"That's extremely improper," she argues. "We don't endorse that kind of behavior here."

"Yea?" he says, shooting a glare over Hikaru's shoulders toward Okaye. "Well, I didn't spent hours teaching my brat to fight back so he can let some snot nose little twat beat up him while you all watched and do absolute shit."

Okaye frowns. "Our academy does not condone bullying. We do our best to stop it before it happen."

"Then what do you call this?" Katsuki demands, carefully gripping Hikaru's shoulder and spins him around to show her the blotches of purple and blue on him. "I know No. 3. He's a good kid, he wouldn't start a fight but he'll finish them." He squeezes Hikaru's shoulder in reassurance. "You're lucky we even let him enrolled at this subpar academy, because you certainly don't know how to fucking take care of my kid properly."

Okaye goes red in the face. "That-that's such a baseless accusation! We take the utmost care of the all children at our academy, Hikaru included." She huffs, crossing her arms across her chest. "And besides Hikaru was the one who threw the first punch."

With a brow raised, Katsuki asks Hikaru, "Did you really?" Hikaru tilts his head back to look at him and nods again as he bites down on his lip. Understanding, right away, Katsuki continues to push, "What did that little shit do to you to make you wanna punch him?"

Hikaru looks down at his feet. He doesn't speak, so Katsuki waits, letting Hikaru decide when he's ready to talk or if he want to talk at all. Finally, Hikaru steps away from him, breaking contact only to turn around to face him properly with a dour expression on his face.

"H-he said I was the son of the devil," Hikaru mumbles, hands clenching by his side. "And that Papa was a bad person. A bad omega who mated with a villain and we, kids, were just as bad." Katsuki narrow his eyes as each devastating words pass Hikaru’s lips. “It made mad. I didn’t like the way he’d talked about Papa, Aki and Yuko-niichan like that,” he quietly admits.

"I hope you got more than a punch in on that kid," Katsuki says with every bit of sincerity that he can carry. "Because I would have pummeled him into the fucking ground and beat some more senses into him."

Okaye makes a noise of protest. "Zero-san, we don't—"

Katsuki's eyes flash to her with a hostile glare. "Shut your mouth, I don't want to hear any more of your bullshit excuses," he snarls. "Right now, I'm talking to my kid, so don't fucking interrupt us."

She reels back, face drawn tight in defense, but she wisely chooses to hold her tongue lest she test the infamous temper of Japan’s number one Pro-Hero Ground Zero that had landed more than one villain in the intensive care.

Katsuki turns his attention back to the more important matter at hand. Hikaru's shoulders are hunched over and his eyes are wary with hesitance. Ever since some rat ass bastard managed to leak the kids' face and names to the media, publicly linking them to the trashcan who donated the other half of their DNA, Izuku had been afraid of this moment. He didn’t want the brats to be exposed to the hostile reality of being the spawn of a villain and what the world thought about that.

Katsuki wasn't worry. Not really, he knows Yuko and Akira. They'll be fine.

It's Hikaru he is more careful about. He's too soft, too sweet, and too hurt easily for that kind of stigma he’ll have to live with when people eventually found out that his piece of trash other parent is a mastermind criminal, who'd menaced society for the last decade; the deathtoll number in hundreds, but those affected by his crimes are thousands.

Adults naturally shitty human being, but children can be way worst with their ignorance and youth. Katsuki would know, he was one himself before UA beat it out of him and made him better for it. "You want me to have a little talk with the twerp?" Katsuki muses, fingers flexing.

Teaching troublesome brats is way beneath his paygrade, but he’ll make an exception for Hikaru and only Hikaru; he can count on Hikaru’s sisters having no problem resolving their own issues. Yuko is a goddamn terror, and Akira can easily wipe the floor with kids who are even older than her.

Hikaru shakes his head. "I don't like fighting," he says quietly. "I just wanted him to stop saying mean things about Papa and my sisters." He looks earnestly at Katsuki as something akin to fear flash across his face. "Do you think Papa will be mad at me?" He wrings his hands anxiously in front of him.

Katsuki thinks of Izuku on that specific day: standing tall, shoulders straight, and with his kids huddled closely around him as he watched his alpha, husband, the father of his children, getting drag away in quirk suppression collar and cuffs. He didn't look away. Not one bit.

It took more than fucking guts to turn his back to his mate of over a decade and reported him to the authority for being a sack of villainous shit. Especially, when there were three children still under his care to think about, but he did it without a single drop of hesitation. He didn’t regret it at all.

It was stone fucking cold.

Even with all the heroes around them, even with Katsuki there, it didn't take much for Katsuki to clearly see how Izuku was easily the strongest and bravest soul there. Omega and quirkless, they were all just a footnote to Izuku's character. They did not define him. Not then, not now, and never will.

Katsuki smirks, leaning down to pinch Hikaru's cheek who puffs up his cheek indignantly. It’s cute as hell. "Disappointed sure, but mad? Nah," he says. "That would make him a fucking hypocrite otherwise. Didn't you know when he was younger Deku used to get into all sort of trouble and fight."

Hikaru's eyes widen. "He did?!"

"Yea," Katsuki's lip twitch in amusement, "you're a shit stirrer like you're good old Papa. And," he reaches for Hikaru's hand, "even if that wasn't the case, I got your back. The world could be against you and I'll still stand by your side."

Hikaru's face crunches up as though he's in pain. "K-Kaaaaaachan," he wails, but this time it's a river of happy tears as he slams his small body right up against Katsuki's legs and wraps his arm around him. "Y-You," hiccups, "mean it?"

"Yea, I wouldn't bullshit you, brat." Rolling his eyes as Hikaru happily sobs into his pant legs, Katsuki comments, "God, you're a crier just like Deku, alright.” But there's no bite to it as he pats Hikaru's back consolingly. He’s not Deku who can easily comfort the brats from nightmares and scary things that bump in the night, but if they need someone to protect them from the brutality of the world? They have Katsuki’s fists to protect them.

He casts an askance glance at Okaye. "I'll be taking him home early for the day," he tells her point blank.

Okaye actually has the audacity to look relief as though his brat was the problem in the first place. "I think that is a wise decision to make, Zero-san."

Katsuki pulls Hikaru back enough to lean down and hitches his hands underneath the boy's armpits. He lifts Hikaru up and hikes him over his hip. "Let's go get you some ice cream, but don't tell your Papa about it," he says.

Hikaru tucks a small smile in Katsuki's chest.

Just as they about to depart and Okaye is finally free of them at last, probably wishing she took a leave of absent today, they hear loud footsteps hitting the floor beyond the walls of the office. It's so loud that even Hikaru raises his head from Katsuki's chest in interest.

"Akira, you can't go in there!" someone loudly protest from outside. "Wait until Okaye-sensei is done talking and she'll call you in."

"You’ve been saying that for the last ten minutes. I'm not waiting around anymore!" a familiar voice argues back. "Let me see my brother!"

The back door to the front office is flung open to reveal a young girl who looks like an exact copy of Hikaru, except for the green insolent eyes and razor sharp tongue, and a taller tired adult trailing behind her.

Katsuki lets out a long exhale as Akira strolls in unprompted. Here is the real troublemaker. His small tyrant.

"Hikaru!" she says as soon her eyes zeroing in her brother right away, not even acknowledging Katsuki who has him in his arms. "I was so worried about you!"

"Aki," Hikaru returns excitedly back.

"Are you alright?" she coos, walking up to them. "Let me have a good look at you."

Katsuki gently lets Hikaru down and places him right in front of Akira. She immediately jumps on him as soon as his feet hit the floor, carefully looking over every cut and bruise she found on her brother, while happily ignoring Katsuki like he's just a rock on the road. He’s not even surprise at her insolent. Yuko is cooly polite, while Akira is so foul mouth and crass that sometimes he has a hard time thinking how Izuku managed to produce her, but her green eyes and hair are all Izuku’s.

Then, he remembers why she’s exactly like this.

"I'm sorry, Okaye-sensei," the woman who came with Akira says. "I tried to stop her but she was, very," she makes a pained face, "insistent."

Okaye heaves a sigh in acknowledgement. "Akira," she says warily the latest troublemaker. "Please refrain from breaking the school's property and causing a disturbance on the school grounds."

"Y'all rich as hell, so you'll be fine," she answers dismissively, not even looking back at her. Or at Katsuki either.

Here’s the thing: Midoriya Akira is self-proclaimed Ground Zero’s number one fan. She’d watched all his videos, tune into all his battles, and had all his merch. She absolutely adores him and tries her best to imitate her idol Ground Zero, but it’s a different story when Zero’s mask is removed and Katsuki is the one standing in front of her.

Okaye cuts to Katsuki with a drained expression on her face. "This child," she mumbles under her breath in pure annoyance and exhaustion, giving over to Katsuki to handle her now.

Katsuki grabs a hold of Hikaru's arm and pulls him back from Akira's attentive care. It's enough to finally catch her attention as her green eyes narrow and flashes toward him with open derision. He drags Hikaru close him as a hostage and prepares for the bloody battle ahead.

"What are you doing here, No. 2?" Katsuki demands with suspicion. "You should be in class."

"What the hell are you doing here, Kacchan? You should be out patrolling," Akira retorts back, and when he just glares at her, she scoffs before raising her bruised knuckles proudly.

"She kick started a brawl in the middle of the classroom and got the entire class involve,” the woman behind Akira answers for her, entirely too weary and vexed—which is the norm when dealing with Midoriya Akira. She’s abrasive and prickly as porcupine, but only those that are close to her does she soften up. “Several students had to be sent to the infirmary afterward.”

"I had to prove my dominance at the top of the pack," Akira announces proudly, who has none of Izuku's sweet temperament but all of his reckless diehard attitude that had sent more than one alpha packing with their tail behind their back. "Now, they won't bother Hikaru anymore."

Feeling a headache coming on, Katsuki glares at Akira. "What the hell, No. 2?" he demands. "Deku is going to flip his shit when not just one of his fucking brats got into a fight but two? And you even pick a fight with your entire class for that matter?!"

Akira pouts. “But you told me that if I want to protect my family I have to be strong, stronger than everyone else so that nobody can hurt them anymore,” she says sulkily. “I had to assert my power somehow!”

“I didn’t mean that you should start a one man war against everyone!” Katsuki snaps, exasperated. Akira got all that bravado, but none of that keen intellect of her older sister, Yuko.

Akira, whose bulldogged nature is more akin to Katsuki because blood be damned, that occasionally he forget whose daughter she actually is, but it's time like this when her eyes start to water and her lips wobble precariously, hands trembling at her side as the dam break, that he’s reminded how like Izuku she truly is.

"I-I didn't do anything wrong," she insists doggedly with eyes leaking a goddamn waterfall because she inherit Izuku's fucking cursed tears.

"Ah, fuck," Katsuki says warily. "Don't cry, No. 2."

"I'm not crying!" she yells back as another tear track rolls down her cheek.

Unlike Hikaru who openly cried like he's vomiting his emotions all over the place until he's emptied out, Akira is much more tightly wound up as though she's a densely packed ordnance that can go off at any moment and when she explode, everything give away to anger and hurt.

Katsuki sighs, dragging his hand down his face. He's trained professional who not only kick criminals' ass on regular basis but deal with plenty of crises. Hell, he'd even saved the country a few times in the past years or so but this—? Hardest fucking thing ever. Nothing can prepare him for the trial and tribulations of parenthood.

He doesn't know how Izuku does this on a regular basis especially when he's wrangling all these kids alone without any help from his dirtbag ex-husband and still managed to pull it all off like a true champion. A damn boss. Izuku can put Katsuki and his colleagues to fucking shame. Because this feel like disaster management 101 and he's failing spectacularly at it with the way the brats' teachers are looking at him like he's a giant disappointment because he's the asshole who made his kid cry in public.

"Akira," Hikaru says worriedly, stepping forward.

The line of his shoulders dips as his head bends low and Katsuki knows the sign well enough. They're twin. Creepily in sync and deeply emphatic of each other's pain. One crying kid is enough, but two? At the same time too? That’s fucking insane. He’ll leave that to Izuku.

Katsuki moves quickly to grab Hikaru by the shoulder and sets him in place. “Stay,” he orders, and without looking back, walks up to a sulking teary eyes Akira who looks like she would bite his head off if he get any closer.

"What you want," she snaps, sniffling hard.

Wordlessly, he drops down to her level. It's an even playing field here. Katsuki may know shit about kids overall but he knows his brats and Akira hates being patronize. He would know because she's like him in a lot of ways.

He extends a hand toward her; a peace offering.

She glares at the gesture like she can burn a whole in it. She doesn't move. Doesn't even respond to it, but he waits anyway. Katsuki doesn't have a lot of patience for anyone else but for Izuku and the brats, he'd learned it the hard way. In a series of trail and errors.

A minute pass by. Then two. Three. Four. Five, and then Akira's wall of defiance and anger softens just slightly enough for her to gingerly take his hand and he pulls her right into his chest, arms wrapping around her in forceful hug that leaves her no room to change her mind.

“Sorry,” he murmurs against her ear. “I shouldn’t have raised my voice at you. That was mean of me.”

She snorts. “I don’t care,” she tells him, dropping her head on to his shoulder as her hand tightens around the front of his shirt that says otherwise. “It was your ugly face that made me cried anyway.”

He doesn’t laugh, because he doesn’t want her to punch him, but it’s a near thing. Kids, they’re going to be the death of him. Thrice over.

#bakudeku #fic snippet #stepdad au #series: numbers #this is a beta version of stepdad au aka the first draft #but i discarded for the newer adaption

[rwbyremnants]

WARNINGS: teacher/student roleplay, nipple play, paddling, safeword usage, footjob, stocking fetish, vibrator, hot wax, trampling, foot worship (a LOT).

=Chapter 8

Only once they were alone again did Ruby poke her head out from under the desk, leaning her chin on Winter's leg. She didn't want to make any snide comments or jokes yet; just looked up at her, grinning rather mysteriously while she quite obviously had a few speckles of her fluid on her face.

Winter's look down at Ruby was full of conflicted feelings. However, all she said by way of response was, "Did… you know the headmaster was my father, Miss Rose?"

Giggling, Ruby wiped the small amount of fluid off her chin. She couldn't help herself! That was by far the most risky thing she had ever done. "Nah, not until you called him ‘Daddy’." She had to play along again, but that didn't stop the grin. "But I hope he didn't notice."

She pressed her hand to her mouth, staring off at the door. A few seconds went by as she allowed herself a few breaths. Then she whispered, "I can't believe I just came in front of my father. I… I came hard, too. It was so good; as good as I've ever had. How… what should I… is this okay? Am I a terrible person?"

That was a pertinent question. But at the end of the day, if Winter was bad for enjoying such a sensation in plain sight of another, Ruby was just as bad - if not worse for giving it. Simply tilting her head against Winter's thighs, she smiled up at her, dancing around the subject. "How is enjoying yourself making you bad? It's a good thing. Like, you had fun."

"It was. But I… he was right there! Two feet away, talking to me! It's not as if I wanted him to find out; I don't know if I could go on living if he did. But… having him in here…" Her face was now far redder than Ruby had ever seen it before, and she looked as if she might start crying. "At first, I hated feeling that way in front of him, but when it kept happening… it was too much of a thrill. All those scenes I've done, all those humiliating positions, the severe kink play, and I've never been hotter or wetter than…"

"It was… really that good?" Ruby raised her eyebrow. It was flattering enough for her to be told that her Dom had came that hard, but for her to admit it was one of the best times she had ever had? It was more than enough to bring the redness back to her cheeks again.

Though upon finally noticing that Winter was truly distressed about this, that it might not be merely part of the scene, she tilted her head again, asking out of character, "Umm, are you okay?"

"And he liked your drawing of me. I think a little too much." It seemed Winter had scarcely heard Ruby, staring into nothing as she tried to process what had just happened. "Looking at it while your mouth was on my cunt… I would never have imagined any of this. Did… you like hearing me try to hold it together?"

Shrugging her shoulders again nervously, she finally made an effort to crawl out from beneath the desk. Dusting off her knees, she looked back up at her with a slightly more nervous smile. "I gotta admit… It was really hot. Just hearing how cool you were, despite what was going on. Was really, like, exciting?"

"Despite that you were fucking me in front of my father," Winter accused. Though her tone wasn't quite accusatory; it was somewhere between there and sheer disbelief. "Well, I guess this is my life now. Miss Rose, eating me out and fucking me while Dad tries to open the Facebook app."

Lightly biting her lip, the description enough was getting her warm down below. She could feel herself being more ready than ever for whatever Winter had in store. So much to the point she wanted to beg her for it. But she had a more sneaky way of doing that.

"Was that bad, Miss Schnee? Do I… deserve another detention?"

"Yes. Yes, you do, at the very least." Taking a deep breath, she set aside her more complex feelings as she looked over at Ruby, her face set. "I expected better from you, Little Rose. And now… I'm going to punish you. So much that you never forget it."

Though her character swallowed, and appeared more nervous than ever, Ruby herself was hopelessly excited. She had to clench her fists and bite her lip again to stop her yelling out something needy – especially when Winter's hands jerked the necktie up just enough so that it slid over the shirt collar, then pulled her jacket down so that it covered Ruby's forearms and hands. Leaving it there, she then began to unbutton her shirt efficiently, needily.

"You're so well-behaved now," she commented as she jerked the two sides of the garment open, revealing Ruby's simple little white bra and her stomach. "No one would ever believe that you had just done what you did to your favourite teacher."

Inwardly, Ruby was screaming with glee. She had been looking forward to this all day, from the instant she put on the uniform! And now that it was coming off, she forced herself to be, as Winter said, on her best behaviour. That started with her backing up against the wall when Winter pushed her there, letting the shirt and jacket drop from her arms and exposing her fully.

"But didn't you enjoy it, Miss Schnee?" She remembered just how much her Dom liked to be teased while they were in play. So she fought back with words. "I think you did. You loved feeling me take you, right there in front of 'Daddy Dearest'!"

Winter hesitated, eyes flicking toward the door and back to Ruby again. Her cheeks had never quite gone back to their normal hue, and they certainly didn't look like they were going to now. Slightly side-stepping Ruby's accusation, she said, "Y-you… really did a number on me, it's true." She reached around behind her to unhook her bra, hoping it would distract the girl from noticing she hadn't truly answered.

Suddenly gasping in shock, Ruby by instinct covered up her chest. It seemed like something her character would do, given the situation. But that didn't stop her taunting yet. "You really loved it. You've wanted me to do something to you all this time, haven't you?! That's… why you gave me this detention, isn't it?!"

"You think I gave you detention so you could pleasure me in front of my father?!" Her expression was outraged, but still aroused and full of the shame that had become such a permanent fixture since Ruby first began teasing her under the desk. "I thought you liked me, and yet you think me capable of… of wanting something like that to happen?!"

"I meant to pleasure you in general!" she reaffirmed, still trying to cover herself as best she could; not that she wanted to at all. She was still thinking of all the things Winter could get up to. "You… you wanted me and you to have a thing! You've had the same feelings as me all this time, right?!"

"I…" Her hands drifted behind Ruby, sliding under the hem of her now-untucked shirt to lightly tease the skin on her back. That’s right; they were still in a scene. She tried to master herself as best she could. "Wanting something doesn't mean you can just… take it. That's called 'stealing', isn't it?"

"But you knew I wanted it, didn't you? You suspected I did! So you found a way to give me detention, so you could get me alone." Forced forward by Winter's hands, Ruby's hands were raised. She wanted to return the favour and tear Winter's shirt from her, join in a passionate embrace rather than their simple session. But for now she kept them apart, reinforcing her role as the slightly scared student.

Winter's lips drifted down, grazed so close to Ruby's that they were in such danger of touching… and then retreated. "N-no." Her voice took on such vulnerability that it was almost heartbreaking. "Miss Rose, I would see you looking, but I… just thought you were paying attention in class. I didn't dare think you could return my feelings. Not me, an old woman, and your teacher!"

"Then…" Finally, she held onto her shoulders, using it to keep her body close to her, just like she needed. Placing one hand on her cheeks she stared up at the orbs of blue, swallowing again to calm herself down. "You clearly underrate yourself, Miss Schnee."

Their lips met then, Winter no longer able to restrain herself. She let out a pained whine in the back of her throat, to show Ruby that she was still playing the role of a distressed teacher who was losing a battle with willpower. Right away Ruby kissed back deeply. She opened her mouth against Winter's, allowing her tongue to enter her mouth, sliding against hers as they intimately embraced. At long last, she allowed herself the privilege of moving her hands to her shirt, eagerly tugging at it to undo the buttons and rid her of it entirely. The sooner she could get more Winter, the better, for both the student and Ruby herself.

"Miss Rose…" Another kiss before she could continue speaking, feeling small patches of air caress her skin as her linen blouse was opened. "You're s-so bold… I would almost wonder how many of the other teachers here have… had the pleasure."

"Zero. J-just you." She ran her hands down her arms, pushing the shirt downward and off her. Straight after, she embraced her, stroking her hands up and down her back as she tried to reach for her bra strap. Even if she was fumbling, it was enough to mask that as a desperate attempt to get close. "There's only been you, Miss Schnee. No one else can compare."

"Why? I still don't understand…" Gulping, she took a few breaths with closed eyes, relaxing into Ruby's caresses, even just her arms around her. "I know what I see in you; petite and perfect, clever, studious. And talented." A fresh flash of shame passed over her face. "In too many ways."

"And you…" She pressed a kiss against her lips again, finally finding the strap as she pulled it in to release the clasps, releasing it to let it drop with the shirt. "You always see the best in everyone, even when they get on your nerves. You're fantastic, always fantastic."

Far too late, Winter raised her arms to cover her chest. "Y-you shouldn't look… I know it's stupid, you've already t-tasted me…"

"It is stupid," she agreed, grasping her teacher’s hands. She didn't pull just yet, merely looked up at her questioningly. "It's okay, I know you’ll be beautiful. A work of art."

"Well…" Lowering her arms, she thrust her chest upward, almost daring Ruby to admire her body. Or to hate it.

But her student only giggled. She had seen it before, but that didn't make it any less amazing when she saw it again. Smiling in delight, she allowed her hands to drift forward again, delicately caressing one of them. Winter had always had a rather impressive bust, much more compared to her idol; plenty for Ruby to get her hands on.

"There; like I said, beautiful."

Winter absolutely melted into the touch, throwing her head back and letting Ruby explore her. They might not have actually done that before; most times, Winter was decked out in an outfit that prevented pure sensation, or else hidden under blankets. For a moment, she was willing to let the younger girl have her way with her body.

"Absolutely beautiful… Seriously." That last word seemed more Ruby than the role she was playing. Growing ever curious, she ran her thumbs over the delicate peaks of her chest, rotating around slowly to watch for her reaction. Her skin was always so soft, and this was no different, as she expected. How many people were allowed this privilege? she wondered; especially when she favoured outfits so much.

"Thank you," Winter whispered. The thumbs on her peaks made her shiver… and she shook her head slightly. How had she let Ruby cloud her mind this easily? That would have to change. They had a scene to play out, after all. "Now then, Miss Rose," she breathed shakily, knowing that too sudden of a change would be as bad as letting her continue. "I asked why you started thinking about me this way… but I didn't ask what you wanted me to do to you."

Swallowing, Ruby's hands remained perfectly still. Looked like she was no longer playing the more dominant role over her teacher anymore; back to their more typical play. Looking up to her eyes, she could already feel herself heating up at the thoughts of what she wanted.

"I…" she began, having to swallow again. "I want whatever you throw at me, Ma’am."

"Come on," she muttered, an indulgent, secret little smile playing across her lips as she gently stroked Ruby's back. "I already told you that whatever happens in this room tonight is a secret. You had to have fantasized once or twice. Tell me."

Looking her up and down a moment, she bit her lip again, imagining the possibilities. There were quite a few fantasies Ruby had about the teacher in question back in the day, mainly involving that very accident with the candle. Now Winter knew that, it seemed no waste to repeat it.

"When you knocked the candle onto me, um… I really liked that. And I mean really liked it."

"Oh?" At first, Winter didn't look phased, but then she drew back with her eyebrows knitted. "Ohhh. So you meant… oh. I didn't think about that, not at the time." With a little shrug, she adjusted the necktie still hanging loosely around Ruby's neck before reaching down to remove her skirt instead, doing it painstakingly slow. "What else? Suggestion box is open."

"U-um…" Taking the small steps out of the skirt once it was pushed out of the way, Ruby looked down again toward the remains of what she was wearing. The tights. That was all; she had made sure to leave undies off due to her and Winter having their session. It made things easier that way. And a tad more scandalous with her next request: "Well… I don't mind if when you finally go in for the kill, uh, you make it as rough as possible." She parted her legs a little, mainly to show off the tights. "Even if there's a little… destruction."

Taking her meaning, Winter winked. "I think we can manage that. I was right; you do want to be punished." Then she tapped at her chin. "You know, we used to have… corporal punishment here at this school, Miss Rose. But they decided it was too clandestine." Pulling at her necktie, she drew Ruby close enough so that their eyelashes touched before whispering, "Would you like to bring it back? Just for tonight?"

Taking a few deep breaths, she looked back toward Winter with an ever growing eager smile. That was the more dominating role she was used to from her Dom. Confident, eager to please. She could only feel her smile turning into a grin at that proposition. And then… another idea came to her. One that involved something in particular left in her case. Something Winter had planted from the beginning but seemed to have forgotten about.

"Perhaps that… and something involving my 'neck massager,' Miss Schnee?"

"Ohhh, yes. You naughty girl." And then, with no forewarning, she reached down to cup Ruby's warm sex - feeling it already drenched. "Tell me… have you ever used that in my class before? Maybe during one of the movies we watched?"

It was a mixture of a sigh and a moan that sounded from her student as her sex was touched directly. She had never been that bold in school; in fact, she never owned a sex toy even to this date! But it was there for her character, so she had to make up a story. "Sometimes, if I know it's a really long lesson or if we’re watching a movie. Like, it gets me going and keeps me awake…"

The finger picked up speed as Winter growled into her ear, "Right there, in front of me? In front of all your fellow students? What if they had heard you? Smelled your heat?"

The next sound was clearly a moan. She was growing far more needy, it wouldn't be long at all until she would practically beg Winter to begin. "Didn't you wonder why I sat at the back?" she teased.

"Dirty little girl, Miss Rose. You've done terrible things in my classroom. I really will need to punish you." Then she let out a quiet gasp that was followed by a smile. "And I have just thought of something."

Tugging her by the necktie, Winter began to lead her over to one of the filing cabinets. Following without another word, Ruby followed. Ironically, as though she were a dog being tugged on her lead, even without that type of play currently. She grinned eagerly as she stood in front of the cabinet as commanded, waiting for what her teacher had planned next.

"Assume the position," Winter told her as she drew something not from inside of it, but behind the metal mass. A long wooden board, four or five inches wide, with a crosshatch pattern burned into its centre. One end had been whittled down and sanded to form a comfortable handle. It had even been stained and lacquered so that it was a beautiful chestnut brown. For an instrument of pain, it was fairly elegant.

"Oh…" This was going to be both terrifying and exciting. Ruby had never really imagined she might enjoy being paddled; but with her teacher dressed like that, how exactly could she resist? Trying her best to guess what position Winter wanted, she leant forward, making sure her petite rear was in clear view for her, and rested her hands on one of the cabinet’s handles.

A low hum of approval sounded from Winter as she paced behind Ruby. "You know, I expected you to lean over the desk. Interesting. Not bad, but interesting." Then she began to caress the round, fleshy backside with the cool wood. "Are you prepared for this?"

"Hmmhhh…" How could one truly be prepared for oncoming pain? Especially when the worst she had before was just a little candle wax. Bracing herself as best she could, she gave a nod. "As ready as ever, Ma’am."

"Very well." Then, drawing the paddle back and taking deliberate aim, she let it swing down with a loud SMACK!

Right away Ruby was forced forward by the impact, letting out a shrill yelp from the sudden pain Winter inflicted. But it was more than enough to send tingles through her body, to set her nerves on edge; she was so ready for more.

"One," Winter told her in a cold tone of voice. Then she reared back for another one, admiring the very slight redness on her target before she brought it down again. Another yelp, another flinch forward again. This time however when she braced, she made sure to bite her lip, so she didn't yell too loudly for the third round. The last thing they needed was for someone to come in and hear her.

"Two. You're really loving this, aren't you? Must have known you needed it." Another swat, just the tiniest hair harder. "Deserved it after what you've been doing in my classes."

"MFF!" she groaned again with her lips sealed. The more she struck in the same spot, the more tingles it sent through her body. And though it was a remarkable sensation, it was beginning to test her tolerance. Especially when the paddle was so large! To hold herself together, she didn't speak; only nodded gently in agreement.

Winter took a moment to reach forward and grasp one of the cheeks, twisting it slightly. "Yeah, that's right. Little whore, getting herself off in front of the entire class. Just hoping someone would turn around and see her, hear her. Hoping I would see how dirty she is."

Growling under her breath, Ruby couldn't help but push her backside out further toward her, trying to give more to Winter, to prove she needed her more; whether that came by a paddle or not. She needed her to stop teasing. Of course, Ms. Schnee took that the other way. That she wanted more punishment. So she released her and drew back once more, delivering a sharp blow to her behind.

"How many times did you come for me, huh?"

"NNNN!" She groaned once more, grasping the handle of the cabinet even tighter. With the same spot being hit repeatedly, she was beginning to feel more pain than ever, bordering on the edge of what she could handle. She still wasn't giving an answer yet, not until she knew she couldn’t take another blow.

"You don't care who's watching, do you?" Winter's voice was becoming sharper, colder. "Classmates. Headmasters. The President himself - you don't… care!" The last word was punctuated by the hardest swing yet, right into Ruby's sensitive backside.

This time the pain was white hot, and she knew she couldn't handle anymore. Shuddering in pain, she shakily announced, "Strawberries!"

This time, however, Winter didn't do as she normally did. There was no question if Ruby was alright, no gentle hands. Just the sound of the paddle being laid down upon the desk. Panting heavily, Ruby's grip was finally beginning to loosen from the handle, her body beginning to relax now that it was no longer being tortured by the wooden paddle. Slowly she turned around to try and get Winter's reaction, unclear as it was.

The elder woman was crouched over the back of her chair, hands clutching at the top of it. Breathing heavily. After a moment, she glanced over to notice Ruby watching her and asked in a very mild voice, "Are you ready to continue?"

Taking a moment longer to regain her breath, Ruby eventually nodded. She released the handle to stand back upright, wincing when she placed her hand upon her backside to test how bad the tingling was. "Nnn… J-just don't make me sit down for a while."

"How about laying down? That was my next… step." Winter definitely seemed to be a little distracted, and still didn't turn to look at Ruby fully.

Which she seemed to notice. She didn't know why, or how to bring it up, but she noticed a huge difference in her behaviour all of a sudden. Was she mad that she had used the safeword again? Too scared to ask, she simply nodded, moving on quickly. "Where?"

"I'll direct you." Clearing her throat, she picked up the paddle again. "Say the words."

"Wh-" Looking at the paddle again, Ruby couldn't help but suddenly flinch; trying once more to cover her backside to protect it. "You… what, more? I don’t think I can!"

"What?" Finally looking over at her properly, Winter rolled her eyes, favouring her with a smile. It wasn't quite as energetic or warm as would be usual when cast in Ruby's direction, but there all the same. "No, I meant to resume play. I was holding this when we stopped, that's all."

"OH! Oh I… Right, sorry." Straight away she relaxed again, letting her hands drop to her side rather than at her rear. Taking a couple of breaths again to prepare herself, she finally nodded again. "Resume play."

Immediately, the paddle came up to push under Ruby's chin, as if she were inspecting her face. "Hmm… I think I took some of that boldness out of you with that. Good." Then she pinched her cheeks with her free hand as she laid the paddle up against the wall, pulling her closer. "But I believe there were a few other things you wanted to try, weren't there?"

With her cheek in her teacher's grip, she could quite obviously feel Ruby begin to smile eagerly. She knew that Winter would soon do things that would make her forget all about the pain to her backside. She gave a small nod.

"Yes… alright." Although, despite Ruby's worry about the abuse her rear had taken, Winter reached down and swatted her upper thigh lightly - just enough to jiggle her ass cheeks without hitting them directly. "Up on my desk, flat on your back."

"Eep!" Although she lightly yelped, she did as told. Right away she hopped onto the desk, instantly wincing when she had to sit on it for a moment until she laid down, taking the weight off the abused flesh. By instinct, she was beginning to cover her chest again, looking over to Winter.

A hand drifted up and caressed Ruby's soft face, a benevolent smile cast down at her from Winter's flawless face. She whispered, "I believe you ordered something." Then she reached past her to pick up…

The candelabra. That was exactly what Ruby had been wanting all this time, to test this strange new desire of hers to the full in a safe situation. Already she could feel herself grinning again, she couldn't help herself! But of course, Winter was nothing if not professional. Instead of tipping the entire thing right away, she reached down with her other index finger, caressing it down along the plane of her stomach.

"What is it about hot wax?" she mused as she watched the muscles clench involuntarily. "Everyone seems to agree it's fairly safe… stimulating. Alluring, even."

Already, there was gentle twitching. And already, she was getting wetter by the minute at the possibility. It was just as her Dom said: alluring. There was just something about the sensation that wasn't painful, but was rather comforting, even. Familiar, gentle agony.

Taking one of the tapers from the candelabra, Winter slowly carried it until it was suspended above Ruby's body, not having dripped just yet from her careful movements. "I hope you're ready for this to happen. For this delicious pain." Taking aim, she tipped until a single drip of wax fell, landing an inch above her navel.

"Oooohh!" At first, there was intense warmth on her stomach, but within an instant it disappeared as the wax hardened, clinging to her skin. All that tiny amount did was make her crave more of it, shown by a needy moan.

Reaching up, Winter brushed the necktie so that it fell back over one of her shoulders. "Does Miss Rose like that?" she breathed in a sultry voice. Seemed she was slipping back a bit more into her teacher role. Whatever she had become during the paddling had been… something else. "Does she want more?"

Slowly nodding, Ruby knew she could wait it out, see how things went with Winter before she asked about the attitude change properly. If it truly was a case that she didn't want to keep hurting her, she wouldn't be there with the candles anymore.

"Then she has to do something for me." Winter's eyes raked up and down the length of her student, as if trying to think of something to ask of Ruby. "Hmm… what could Miss Rose do for Miss Schnee?"

"Something for you… Hmm." But then she remembered: Winter had an affinity for a part of her body, one that she had just discussed with Penny a few hours ago. So she flicked her heels against each other, managing to hook off her shoes one by one. Once they were free, she allowed her feet to hang over the desk, and wriggled them in glee.

Winter's eyes were drawn immediately to the shoeless feet. A suspicion was brewing behind her eyes as she glanced back at Ruby's passively pleased expression, then at the stockings again. After considering for a moment, she decided to turn back to her with a wry smile.

"So… why would Miss Rose think her teacher would be pleased by that? It's a very… unusual thing to try."

"Well, Miss Rose… knows her teacher very well." And in a more bold move, she crossed her legs, looking up toward her confidently as it meant that one of her feet was facing in her general direction. Enough, she hoped, to keep her attention on them. Smugly smirking, she added, "Or I'm good at guessing…"

Eyeing them for a moment longer, she whispered, "You… do seem to know how best to drive me crazy." Licking her lips, she shut her eyes for a moment before turning back to Ruby. "Very good. My good little Rose has earned a reward."

So she tilted the candle again. This time, two or three hot droplets landed on various parts of Ruby's stomach - one on her hip, actually.

"A-Aaah! Oh… yeah!" She couldn't help but moan out in pure delight, which forced a reaction Winter would no doubt enjoy when she curled her toes in sheer delight when yet more hot wax had clung to her skin. The pain was temporary, but the lasting warm sensation remained. And that kept her going.

Indeed, Winter's eyes kept flicking between the canvas on which she was painting her wax, and the ends of Ruby's legs where an interpretive dance was playing out purely for her benefit. Blinking a few times, she focused on Ruby's face for a moment.

"You're really getting off on this, aren't you? Fascinating…"

"I can't help it," she admitted, looking down at the speckles of wax that had dried on her. If only she could keep that evidence there forever. "When it's you, Miss Schnee, how can I?"

Spotting the way Ruby was staring at the speckles affectionately, Winter formed an idea in the back of her mind. But she decided to hold off. Instead, she merely smiled cunningly and said, "Then I hope to provide you with more. First, however, you must show your gratitude." Almost as if worried, she added, "In whatever way you choose, of course. Whatever you wish."

Looking to between Winter's legs a moment, she debated on just what to do. How did this affect her, exactly? Deciding to test it out, she edged herself forward slightly so she could aim to bring her foot upward, and toward the middle of Winter's thighs. That action earned her a few blinks from the Dom, and then a mildly flustered chuckle.

"Alright, alright - now you have me quite curious. What are you going to do down there?"

"I know you like them." That was a little out of character again as she tried to speak directly to Winter rather than 'her teacher'. Once more she attempted to move herself forward, and touched at her thighs with her feet again. "I wanna see how much…"

"W-who says I like them?" But Winter was definitely preoccupied by what was going on by her thighs, the light sensation caused by the thin material stretched over Ruby's feet. Her cheeks, which had just gone back to normal, were starting to redden again. Even while trying to deny it, it seemed Winter was proving Ruby right.

"I figured it out," she taunted again. Seeing as Winter didn't actively shove her away or show her distaste for it in other ways, Ruby continued, delicately stroking up and down between her thighs. With each pass, she went further until she was pushing up her skirt. It was quite clear she was aiming for Winter's centre.

And Winter was allowing it. Seemed she had run out of reasons to protest. After a few more seconds, she set the candelabra down, afraid she would drop it and start a fire.

Bingo. She does like this. It couldn't be confirmed any more than that! And so Ruby made the most of it. As best she could from the awkward position, flinching from the lingering heat in her seat, she moved her foot straight to Winter's crotch. She could already feel slick wetness through the thin layer of the tights as she teased her, wriggling her toes as much as she could. With a mischievous smirk, she listened for a reaction.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, Ruby…" That was what she got for listening. Winter was bracing against the edge of the desk as she swayed, lost in dark pleasure. A moment later, she cleared her throat and said in a shaky voice, "I m-mean, Miss Rose… where did you learn such… unusual tactics to please a woman?"

It was purely guesswork. She never knew a person could please someone with such a method before, but Winter had proved otherwise. Continuing to apply pressure there as she aimed a little further into the folds, she continued to smirk darkly from how great a reaction it was making, even through her tights.

"This is really good then, Miss Schnee?"

"I…" Gulping, she swooned slightly, hips squirming from side to side as if unconsciously trying to get away from the taunting little toes, even though she wasn't doing much about it otherwise. "Y-you seem to be finding all s-sorts of kinks of mine tonight." Licking her lips, she then added in an undertone, "And… yes, it's good."

The smirk turned into a grin instead. "Looks like I'm learning well! You’re such a good teacher!" However, as she felt the moisture continuing to build up on her tights, she managed to adjust herself to look properly, with only minimal pain to her rear end. If she was getting this much pleasure with those on, what would it be like without them?

"Would you prefer me to remove my tights, Ma’am?"

Winter was shivering, her mouth hanging open as her cheeks remained full of rouge. Blinking up at her through her eyelashes, she whispered, "Aren't… I supposed to be treating you, Miss Rose? Why are you so eager to… to pleasure me, and not let me pleasure you?"

Her sub did want to be pleasured. She did want Winter to continue to drop wax over her body, continue the sweet sensation of light pain that came with it. But she enjoyed this far more. It was becoming more apparent in her that she enjoyed the giving part more than the receiving. She always had, even with Penny. And the more she thought about it, the more she knew it was related to her personal feelings about Winter. They really were getting stronger after all. Finally with that in mind, her foot backed away as she nervously swallowed.

"Sorry… I'm forgetting that, aren't I?"

"Can… we come back to that?" Winter's index finger alighted on Ruby's big toe for just an instant, then she smiled slightly as she pulled it away. "Wet…" Clearing her throat, she smiled down at Ruby. "So you figured out one of my secrets yet again. I'll take you up on that, if you really don't mind – but after I see that Miss Rose has enjoyed a little more… fruit of the candle."

Biting her lip to try and keep her grin at bay, the ‘student’ nodded. That was definitely something they could come back to, given how much Winter was enjoying even the brief taster! But she was right in one regard: this was now her time. She had already enjoyed one orgasm of her own, it was time for Winter to get even. Picking up the candelabra again, Winter hovered it over Ruby. The entire thing.

"Hmm… I'm starting to think we should raise the stakes…" With a slow smile, she then asked, "Where did we leave your 'eraser'?"

Then Ruby's attempts at holding back her grin were gone. She released her lips to do just that, already eager for what was to come. Looking over to the pencil case again, she pointed to it. "Just in there, I tucked it behind my pens."

"Good. I'll be right back." Before she walked to the desk, she shook the candelabra just enough so that a single drip of wax fell to the top of Ruby's breast; then she was off, retrieving the pencil case.

It was enough to coax a moan from her. Right above her breast peak, she felt the sudden heat hit for a moment, until it cooled down more or less right away. Yet more dried wax to add to her small collection. Even if it was strange, it made Ruby feel important to Winter, as though she was owned. Winter was leaving her marks all over her.

"Now… my hands are going to be far too busy to keep this on you. Which means you're going to have to do it yourself, Miss Rose." Her smile was dark as she paced around the desk, holding the tiny vibrator. "You've proven yourself a very studious young lady. Now, you're going to keep proving it to me when you don't stop driving your little pussy wild for me. Not even for a second. Can you do that?"

"Oh gosh…" she whispered to herself. That sounded so exciting already! Simply the idea that she couldn't stop until Winter asked- no, demanded her to; that could take minutes, or even hours depending on Winter's mood. Either way, she knew Winter wouldn't let her be anything other than driven completely insane. Taking it from her, she turned the top to activate the buzzing sound once more. Looking up at Winter, she continued to grin as she nodded.

With a satisfied smirk, Winter held the candles higher for emphasis as she said, "Then what are you waiting for? Let me hear you moan."

And straight away, she got to work. Just as Winter asked, she pressed the small device up against her tights firmly. The result was almost instant; her toes curled and knees bent when she moaned loudly. The fact she no longer had to worry about her volume came as a welcome relief; she could call out into the air without any stress – a luxury Winter wasn't allowed when it was her turn.

"There…" Pacing all the way around the desk, Winter took the time to simply watch Ruby at work, listen to her proof of arousal. Then, once she was in position again, she reached forward and tipped the candles nearly sideways; three drops fell onto Ruby's skin this time, in various spots.

Suddenly the moaning increased in volume. She didn't expect so much of the wax in one go! Most of it landed on her stomach, the rest dripped around her lower breast; all sent tingling sensations all through her body again. And the small bullet wasn't helping at all – not when she rubbed it up and down the length of her folds through her increasingly-useless tights. Already she was starting to squirm back and forth to try and keep herself under control, to no avail.

Meanwhile, Winter was hungrily watching this unfold, the girl’s entire body writhing in response to the wax. Of course, that wasn't the Dom's first experience with it, but it was their first shared experience. Her other hand reached out and ran over some of the cooler flecks of wax, nothing the difference in sensation where she touched.

It all seemed to help while Ruby continued to treat herself. The more she rubbed and circled her clit, the more she could already feel her heat building and hear her own heart pounding. A phenomenal sensation that was only going to get better as she felt her release getting close. But she knew how much Winter would want to see her go above and beyond. Her only hope was that she could last that long.

However, it also seemed like Winter was determined to spur her on to orgasm much faster than usual. This was evidenced when she drew her hand away and raised the candelabra, shaking it so that all five candles dripped onto Ruby - some of them more than one drip. All over her chest and stomach, and a couple on the arm she was using to hold the vibrating device in place.

She succeeded. Ruby's moans got even louder as she stared at the ceiling. The sensation of both the amount of hot wax splashing and drying against her skin fused with the speedy vibrations below sent her flying into orgasm. Her legs drew in as she quivered, feeling her wetness splash against the material as she came hard. Far harder than she could ever remember doing in her life!

A satisfied groan of triumph issued from deep in Winter's throat as she watched Ruby writhe, as she particularly paid attention to certain parts of her flexing and twisting. But once she had finished, she leaned in and whispered in her ear, "My little Rose really liked that. How long has it been since you got off in my classroom?"

However, she wasn't finished yet. She knew that Winter needed to give the command before she could, and had to continue pressing the small device against her now sopping sex. Both that and the whispering caused a higher-pitched whimper, a sign she was getting overstimulated. But she obediently continued.

Switching hands, Winter trailed her now-free fingers down to Ruby's sex, laying it beside the hand already pressing the toy into herself. "Goodness… soaking wet. You're a squirter, aren't you? Tights are a good way to stop you from squirting." Then she whispered in an even darker voice, "Not that I would want to. I love it."

Yet again, she felt more of the liquid force itself out and against the material with a small squeal. There was no way she would return these to Penny now, not after this much of herself was on them. She had to keep going though. Even when she could feel her poor clit beginning to ache, her body crying for a break, she had to keep it up, breathing heavily to stay on task for her teacher. But there was no energy left to respond in a way other than faint squeals.

The sounds were beginning to let Winter know Ruby was more than finished. Tempted as she was to push her until she broke, or called out the safeword, she slid her hand over Ruby's directly. "That's enough, Miss Rose. You sounded like an A-plus."

Finally she felt Winter pull her hand away. Instantly, her body began to relax, and she rested her feet flat against the surface of the desk as she dropped the vibrator to the side. Taking continuous deep breaths, she stared up blankly at the ceiling as her heartbeat gently dwindled to its normal pace, seeing nothing but stars.

Winter watched her for a moment, observing how weak and distant she seemed. Then she whispered, "Strawberries. Do you need to stop? You can just nod or shake your head."

Right away, she shook her head. In the midst of her panting, she managed to smile after a few breaths, even if she couldn't quite look at her. "No," she spoke breathlessly. "I'm fine to keep going… I-I just need to chill for a second."

"God, you squirted a lot," she whispered while they were still between scenes. Her hand came up to set down the candelabra, then helped Ruby arrange her hair. "I could tell. The wax does it for you that much?"

"Well… I guess it helps it was you doing it…" Straight away, however, she shut her mouth tight. That didn't mean to come out in that way, especially not in the middle of a scene! The last thing she wanted to be doing was pushing her feelings on Winter, especially when she promised herself she wouldn't. Quickly trying to recover, she stuttered, "I-I mean… y-you're experienced! You know how to do it!"

But Winter didn't seem to fully believe her. "Oh? I'm that good? Or… you just prefer my technique?" Kissing her forehead, she whispered, "We should probably start the scene again, I mean… if you still wanted to…" She cast a shy glance down toward Ruby's legs, but didn't elaborate further. "Or we could stop it here. You seemed pretty exhausted by that orgasm."

After a few more breaths, she seemed relieved. It seemed like Winter hadn't noticed, or at least was making out she didn't for her benefit. Either option was good. Once she was calm enough, she looked back to Winter again. She didn't even explain. "Resume play."

"You're so soaking, Miss Rose," she said almost immediately, having been ready for either option. "How does it feel, being laid out and messy right in front of your favourite teacher?"

Rather than act all too submissive, Ruby’s spare hand reached down toward her sex, taking in some of the moisture that had trapped itself on her tights. And while she maintained eye contact, she brought her fingers up toward her mouth. A moment later, she let her tongue out her mouth, lapping up what she had collected for herself, exaggerating a moan while she did so.

Winter watched with lustful eyes, still in command but indulging in the little show Ruby was putting on for her. Then she leaned in and gripped a hand in her hair before she whispered, "So very naughty." Without pausing for Ruby to answer, she took her mouth roughly, tasting the essence that was held on her tongue.

"HMM?!" So forceful! She could already feel Winter teasing at her tongue, eager to get to more – either the taste of her sex, or just a general taste of Ruby, or all mixed together as one. She didn't care, she simply wrapped her arms around Winter in response to such harsh grasping and pulled her closer, stroking up and down her back from her position on the desk.

Only when they broke apart for breath did Winter pant, "Delicious." Then she smirked down at her. "Now then… I get the feeling that you really seem to enjoy a little foot-play. Is that what you want next?"

Her sub wasn't prepared to just lie back and take everything anymore. Now she was going to give as much as she got, starting by smirking back at Winter as she brought one of her feet upward again. Purely for Winter's display. "I think it's you that likes the foot play, Ma’am."

Before she could be too distracted, Winter pushed her knee so that the foot went back downward. "Maybe so, but… you acted like you wanted to continue that for me. Do you?"

Raising one of her eyebrows, Ruby held back instead for a moment. "What do you have in mind?"

A grin spread over Winter's flushed face. "Lie flat and you'll find out, my little Rose." And she stayed perfectly still, waiting to see if Ruby would do it. To see how curious she truly was.

Without a single word of argument, Ruby laid flat on her back, shuffling herself fully onto the desk so no part of her was hanging off of it, and waited.

"Excellent. Hold still."

There came a thump-thump from the floor, and then Winter was climbing up onto the desk, using the chair to propel herself upward. All the while, her pale blue eyes remained trained on her sub, piercing through her. Standing above her, and on the desk even, was her Dom. As much she wanted to overpower Winter, or at least put up a fight again… seeing her that high above her did intimidate her.

Glancing upward, Winter reached to catch onto the fluorescent lighting fixture with one hand, the other one held out to one side. Then, with a menacing grin, she placed her shoeless foot between Ruby's breasts… and began to lift her other so that her weight pressed down onto her chest.

"Oh… O-oh…." The more weight was taken, the more difficult it was becoming for Ruby to breathe. She bore the weight of her Dom easily so far, but other than that, she had no option but to lay there and take it. Still laying perfectly still, she was attempting to contemplate her next move, particularly focusing on her exposed, and once again wet, centre.

"Isn't this what you wanted?" Winter asked in a harder voice, though she was still grinning. Once Ruby had taken all of the weight that wasn't being supported by her grip on the light, her other leg slowly drifted forward until the blade of the foot rested against Ruby's throat. The pressure on that was quite a bit lighter, but still just enough to be felt.

"Nnnn… I- it's very… different." And she had to admit, it was. Being stepped on by someone wasn't ever something she had imagined as erotic, but somehow, Winter seemed to make it so. Or at least, maybe that was just how Ruby felt. Everything about Winter was special. So she would have to make sure to do something special for her. Yet again she raised her leg as best she could, and aimed for in between her Dom’s. Even still in tights, it was worth a second try, given how much she was enjoying it.

Winter felt the toes just barely able to poke at the bottom of her thigh, but she only smiled. "Aww, the little Rose wants to show me her thorns."

Leaning slightly forward, she applied more pressure to her windpipe, slowly cutting off her circulation. The effect was almost immediate. Ruby's leg began to lower slightly as she gasped, quickly grasping the foot with both hands simply to keep it that same distance. That she could handle; anything more would cause her severe discomfort.

But Winter only applied more pressure. Still, it was a very controlled increase; the Dom was practiced, and obviously continued to balance mostly on Ruby's chest, using the fixture above her to withhold her full weight from resting on the girl. But now, it would be getting truly difficult for the smaller woman to draw breath.

Sure enough, her next attempt to breathe was a failure. That was it; she had that time while Winter was distracted – and she was still conscious – to continue to shuffle her feet, finally feeling the material begin to move down her legs when her toes snagged just right. And then finally, after a few minutes of toil, she miraculously kicked the tights free. She was now laying below, completely naked, with Winter none the wiser.

To surprise her before she found out, her leg quickly drew up before she could stop it, and a bare foot went straight to caress her centre again.

"O-oh!" Winter gasped, trying to glance behind her. When her balance wavered, she forced herself to become very still, not wanting to accidentally crush Ruby's windpipe. "Y-you… what do you think you're doing back there?" When she noticed Ruby's eyes were half-closing, she took the foot away slightly, using it to cup Ruby's cheek instead. "Well?"

Gasping, she opened her eyes again once breath returned to her lungs, managing to just look down at what she was doing. Now that she could see for sure, she could better adjust herself, shifting to move her foot a little further down so when she wriggled her toes, it would be directly against her clit.

"Pleasing you, Miss Schnee." She licked her lips. "Is it working?"

"It… it is, Miss Rose. You're… apparently very adept in… that area." Her cheeks were reddening again, but she was still maintaining her persona, her control. "But… there's something else I want."

Pressing her toes in further rather teasingly, she smirked from down below, half closing her eyes. "And what’s that, Ma’am?"

This Winter looked a little more guilty. Still Domming her "pupil", and still with that vaguely sadistic personality that went along with that, but it was evident that this request was a little more personal, and she therefore felt regretful even before she spoke again.

But even so, in spite of her guilt, she slid the foot on Ruby's cheek over until her toes were perched on her mouth. Then she whispered, "If… you could…"

When they were once half shut, Ruby's eyes began to open wider again. She wanted Ruby to treat her feet, as well, with her mouth. Was she serious? Never had she entertained such an idea before, but Winter expected her to do it without question. What about germs?

Hey, you had Winter's pussy up against your mouth. You didn't complain about that. Weighing the pros and cons, she decided there were more pros – because her Dom would enjoy it. But the convincing thought was when she reminded herself that she always had the safe word.

That's when she opened her mouth, and took both the big toe and the next inside.

Instantly, whereas she had been putting up such a good fight moments before… Winter was moaning, swaying on top of Ruby's chest as she was both being teased and teasing with toes. Moments like that made her wonder if she was losing her grip on reality. After another few seconds, she panted, "Wait! W-wait, okay, I…" Gulping, she drew the foot away and used the heel to brace next to Ruby's shoulder as she stepped down with the other, standing right next to Ruby's hip now.

Now that her breathing was far easier again, the student smiled again when she took the foot back into her hands. Now that there was less danger of being crushed, she fell back to work. Drawing her close to her mouth again, she at first lavished the sole with a few kisses, even giving the toes a couple, before she returned them back into her mouth, where she lavished them with her tongue. A long, satisfied groan issued through Winter as Ruby worshipped her toes, eyes drifting closed as she continued to brace against the ceiling with one hand. Even if Ruby had never done this before, she seemed to be fast on the uptake. The light pressure and wetness was pleasant and somewhat familiar from her previous sessions, but Ruby's tongue was definitely one of the better she had experienced.

As best she could, she attempted to continue the two stimulating punishments for Winter. It took all her concentration to keep wriggling her toes against Winter's sensitive clit, move against her folds all over to keep her going. If she could get Winter off twice in one night, she would consider it a victory.

And it was working. The twin forms of worship were very obviously driving Winter insane, the as the toes twitched and writhed in Ruby's mouth in reaction from both the tongue and what was happening up against her dripping sex. Her fingers were white-knuckling against the lighting fixture, straining to keep herself upright despite how weak her knees felt from the constant stimulation.

Smirking as best she could with a foot in her mouth, Ruby's lips locked around Winter's biggest toe. Just as if it was a cock, even though she had no experience with those, she began to suck and lap gently, pushing herself up and down the tiny length of it; all while that foot continued to taunt. As best she could in a final move, she tried to move her toes around the clit in particular, focusing on it to try and finish the job. Not much longer from the feel of things!

"Ru- Miss Rose!" Winter scarcely caught herself. Her mouth was hanging open as she panted for air, hips beginning to buck against the infuriating foot within her skirt, as her sub's tongue caressed her toe so tenderly. "Yes! YES, it's s-so good! You… I can't believe you're… MMHHH!!"

Perhaps this would take longer than she thought. Struggling to keep that up, she had to speed things along in another way. To do that, she moved on to the next toe, wrapping her lips around it in the same way. And then another, then another… And while that was continuing, she increased the speed of her teasing with her own toes, increased the pressure.

That was enough. The minute she felt Ruby's tongue threading between and caressing all five of her toes, combined with how diligent she was stimulating her overly-sensitive clit and folds, she couldn't hang on any longer, and came nearly as hard as she did earlier while seated at her desk. Except this time, she was standing. A few droplets of wetness rolled down Ruby's sole as she convulsed and cried out, her own toes curling and freezing up inside Ruby's stuffed mouth.

The curling of her toes caused Ruby's mouth to open slightly, making her giggle slightly more when she eased her foot away slowly from her mouth. There was even more of a grin to herself when she felt Winter's fluid rolling down her foot and then her leg, and she eased it down and back onto the surface of the desk. She looked back up toward her innocently, tilting her head. She had done it; she had brought Winter to climax with flying colours.

"Was that good, Miss Schnee?"

After a few more pants and gasps, she looked down at Ruby. One of her hands was still bracing herself up, but the other one raised and traced fingertips through her bangs, patted down along her own neck. She cleared her throat before trying to answer.

"That was… definitely… extra credit, Miss Rose."

Smiling gratefully, Ruby began to shuffle backward on the desk. The instant she tried to sit upright however, she winced. Her backside still wasn't ready to take too much weight just yet it seemed. "O-ow… I think I needed it, Ma’am. That's going to hurt next lesson…"

"Oh, you'll be fine. All in the name of… learning." Then she slowly crouched down over the nice form of her "student," smiling weakly. "Now, let's just see if I can climb down… you stay put for a moment." Nodding, Ruby laid herself back down again to ease the pressure, maintaining eye contact with her all the while. Winter stepped straight into her heels and shivered.

"Ohhh, that feels so strange with your saliva in there…" But she recovered quickly, turning back to Ruby. "Is your rear end really smarting that much?"

The girl didn't even bother trying to sit up anymore. Instead, to make her way off the desk she rolled to her front, pushing herself backward that way. "Yeah, I think I should have stopped it sooner. Live and learn, I guess."

"Wait." Her hand fell to the back of Ruby's calf to stop her. "May I…? For a moment. Just a moment, if you don't mind."

"Huh?" Only just managing to look around to Winter, she paused for a moment. What more could she possibly play out for their scene?! Curiously however, she nodded. "D-do you want me to roll back over?"

"No, no, you're fine where you are." Her hands began to slide up and down the backs of her thighs, delicately gliding around her hips instead of over her backside. Then she leaned down and pressed her lips to one of the reddened cheeks.

"I'm sorry you're in pain. But I hope you'll use it to remember me fondly."

The soft lips of her Dom were enough to bring a smile to her own lips again. A soothing gesture such as that was more than enough to put her at ease, and she relaxed against the hard surface of the desk. Winter always took such good care of her. "Oh I will, Miss Schnee," she agreed, smiling in her direction. "This has been a lesson I'm never gonna forget."

"Excellent. Now… your teacher wants one last little fringe benefit." Her hands began to slide down Ruby's legs, then wrapped around her ankles, gently raising them upward. "If that's alright with Miss Rose."

Too curious of what Winter would do, she nodded without hesitation. Seconds later, Ruby could feel lips pressing into the ball of her foot, then again in her arch. Tender and affectionate, all too happy to be where they were. Right away Ruby's toes curled. In comparison to the harsh spanking this was a godsend, the perfect way for her to unwind. Quietly humming with joy, she laid still against the desk obediently, letting her Dom do as she wished.

Seemed their scene included aftercare this time.

As her lips made their way to the toes, her fingers began to knead gently into the tender arches. As strong as her desire to enjoy this particular kink seemed to be, Winter was also determined to give back. Worshipping and massaging at the same time wasn't too difficult of a task. Back and forth, Ruby flexed her toes with the tender kisses. And now with the massaging against her sole. She was skilled at this as well it seemed, given from how instantly relaxed she was even after a few seconds. Only just managing to look back, she spoke softly.

"Wi- Ma’am… Why are you so good to me?"

Switching her mouth from one set of toes to the other, Winter whispered in a passionate voice, "Ruby, who wouldn't be good to someone as perfect as you?"

Ruby. Not "Miss Rose".

The once-relaxed expression suddenly seemed to be deep in thought. Unlike her in every way, Winter had slipped out of character. It was usually only something drastic that would cause her to do that, why did it happen now?

Because she likes you, too. The way Winter went above and beyond with every scene's setup, checking every detail. She even took the time to save her from a potentially damaging Dom, something that another might not have done. The more she thought about it, there was only one reasonable explanation.

Holy shiz, she actually does. She actually does like you back!

But for now, she was too scared to say anything. She needed to weigh the pros and cons of whatever her next move would be. Whether she should continue with her plan to keep things strictly a Dom-and-sub arrangement, or do what Penny suggested; tell the truth and hope for the best.

Meanwhile, it really seemed as if Winter hasn't noticed her own slip; she was far too preoccupied with the rare treat her sub was offering. After another few minutes, she hummed and said, "My essence on your toes… it's a really unique flavour…"

Flexing them back and forth one more time, Ruby finally took the steps to get off the desk. While she was undecided, she still wanted to spend time with Winter. And they had time; as far as she knew, Winter's roommate was away all night and tomorrow until the afternoon. As long as she left before then, they could extend their aftercare until the next day.

Once she had returned to her feet again, she smiled, curling her toes against the ground. "Was certainly interesting trying to get you off like that, Ma’am."

"Was it now?" Smiling over at her, the temporary teacher wiped her mouth as she told her, "You took to it like a duck to water. I'm impressed."

Grinning back, she nodded lightly in agreement. It was good to be complimented when she stepped outside her comfort zone, it helped her feel motivated to do more. However, sensing there wouldn't be much left of the scene from now, she asked a question. One that could potentially give the best clue as to how Winter felt.

"So… do you like-like me, Miss Schnee? Or are your feelings… is this still just a fling-thing?"

But Winter was still in a professional state of mind. "Oh, Miss Rose… even if I did find you… perfectly suited to me, nothing can come of it. You're my student; we've already gone too far as it is. Trying to be with you on a more permanent, romantic basis…" Her shrug was resigned.

"…Why?" Ruby didn't accept that answer. Not without hearing the proper reason. She wanted some sort of info she could use, and not just that of her character in this scene. Approaching her to wrap her arms around her, she gently looked into her eyes again. "We're both adults, no one would ever know. Why wouldn't you want to do more?"

"Because… oh, Miss Rose, of course I would." Petting along her naked back, she whispered, "But I can't ask you to throw away your future on an old woman like me. It wouldn't be fair to you. Find another girl your age and…"

"What if I don't want a girl my age?" She couldn’t help but squeeze her closer, looking up as she rested her chin close to her collarbone. Smiling happily at the warmth of her body, she went on, "I don't want boring girls from my class, they're all the same. But you… I don’t care if you’re a teacher; you're a lot of things I could want. I'd love to have the chance to show you."

Gulping, Winter began to run her fingers through Ruby's hair as she leaned closer, eyes half-closed. After a few seconds, she whispered, "You really… want to try a relationship with me? It would be difficult. We would have to hide who we were together, every day at school. Being fired from my job would be the least of my worries if they ever found out."

"I'm pretty good at keeping secrets. But, if the risk is that great… I don’t wanna ruin your life." Her student seemed to think on that for a moment. The very thought of having to leave even had her tightening her arms around her, like she never wanted to let her go; but she didn't want to risk getting her teacher in trouble.

But it got her thinking; what were the risks outside play? Now that she knew Mr Schnee would barely bat an eyelid, there didn't seem to be any. Penny had given her blessing. There was possibly Yang, considering what Winter had done to her before; but that was so long ago and she had forgiven her. When she thought about it, there really was nothing in reality that could stop them.

But she hasn't given Winter a real answer yet. "Then perhaps… one night? Then we can return to normal."

"I thought that's what this was. Unless…" Winter's expression was mildly puzzled when she pulled back, peering down at the shorter woman with something like disbelief. "Do you mean to come home with me, little Rose?"

Right away, Ruby nodded. She finally released her grip again to look at her properly, and instead placed her hands on her hips. "If you'll have me there? It's up to you, Miss Schnee."

Indecision reigned supreme on the Dom's face. "Hmm… it's unwise. And what will your parents say when you never come home tonight, hmm? Do you make a habit of this?"

Ruby could only laugh to herself. "You think I do this with other teachers? No, I'd just tell them I'm at a sleepover with… one of my fellow students."

"And that would be… accepted by them? You're sure?" Petting along Ruby's back absentmindedly, she contemplated the idea. "Well… not sleeping alone might be nice… but why would you want to? We've already enjoyed each other to the fullest here in the classroom. You're not still horny, are you?!"

"Miss Schnee, there's way more I like about you besides just being hot." But on that subject, she finally began to move away from Winter and to the pile of clothes. There was no point in even wearing the tights when they were drenched, so she skipped them.

"Really?" Her eyes followed the "student's" every movement as she began to dress in… most of what she had worn that evening. "Such as…?"

"I thought I told you this earlier?" But she just continued to slide on her skirt, then move onto the shirt and jacket. As she buttoned it up, she went on, "You're caring of your students, even when you don't have to be. You go above and beyond when it comes to teaching… and I know there's a lot for me to learn about you, but I want to. I want to learn about a more romantic Winter Schnee."

But the instant that slipped out, she immediately froze up, inwardly cursing herself. Not like that! Quickly she stammered, "M-miss Schnee."

Winter did blink a few times, and it took her longer than usual to respond. But when she did, what she said was, "V-very well. Just this once, but we can't make a habit of it; the risk to both our futures is simply too great." Her hands raised as she walked over, and she began to adjust the buttons and the necktie, making Ruby a lot closer to how she had looked before arriving that night. Without the tights, of course.

"Y-yes… Yeah, of course." The tightly shut eyes were enough of a clue that Ruby was still beating herself up over that slip of character. How long would it take for the inevitable to happen? For her to slip so much she might confess to Winter before she was ready? That was the recurring question in her head.

But her Dom’s soft touches were enough to calm her down. At the least, she was fairly confident that even if she did realise her crush was real, her Dom would respect those feelings enough to acknowledge them and simply admit she didn't feel the same way without holding it against her. At the very least, no matter what she did, there was still a lasting friendship. That's what mattered more than the "and more" part.

"I can't wait." Winter picked up a briefcase that was on the floor next to the desk, then turned to help Ruby collect her supplies and stow them in her backpack. "Would you fetch me your… eraser?"

That was a point. Where was it? She had let it go when Winter allowed her to, it must have rolled off somewhere. In fact… when Ruby remained quiet a moment, she could still hear its muffled buzzing. Turning around to crouch by the desk, she soon managed to find it beneath. Immediately she turned it off, then handed it to Winter. "Must have rolled under there! Oops."

"Of course," she chuckled as she gave it a little kiss, then tucked it into the pencil case. Once everything was stashed, she handed the bag to Ruby. "Are you ready to go?"

Hauling the bag onto her shoulders she smiled, and nodded once more. "Yeah, Ready."

"Good. Let's go, little Rose."

And with that, Winter led Ruby from the room. The minute they were out in the hallway, she sighed and said, "Aaand, end play. Whew! That was… quite a ride!"

For a moment, she blinked. Her student has assumed their play was going to continue into the night, like the first time they did their Harry Potter scene. But now Winter had other thoughts, she forced a smile. "Y-yeah! That was… Pretty exciting!"

"Thank you for indulging my… well, what you figured out about…" She moved the tip of her high heel from side to side for emphasis. "Wasn't expecting that, but it was a lot of fun."

It was enough to prompt a very real chuckle from her sub. Looking down to her feet, she moved one of her own forward into Winter's vision. "You really liked that, huh? Didn’t expect you to be that into it."

"Sorry." Her cheeks were warming again as she led Ruby toward the living room. "It's… not something I go around advertising. Hopefully you understand why, since it's looked down upon by most people. I'm not even sure when it started; probably after I entered the BDSM scene, since I don't remember caring one bit about feet before then."

"I… guess different kinks appear at different times." Although as soon as they were headed in the direction opposite to her bedroom, she looked in that direction, then toward Winter again, then back. "Wait… I thought I was staying the night?"

"What? Oh, I… assumed that was just part of play. That Miss Rose would be staying the night with Ms. Schnee. You know my roommate will be here tomorrow afternoon." Looking uncomfortable now, she added, "Though I guess I could set an alarm…"

"O-oh… Yeah, right, I forgot." In actuality, she didn't at all. But it seemed a better excuse than divulging exactly why she wanted to stay the night. That she would rather leave for another day. For now, she shrugged her shoulders, quickly trying to change the subject. "No, don't worry! I can get Penny to come get me. It's not too late, s-so…"

"Penny dropped you off? Ah. Well… I could drive you home." Glancing down at her "teacher" uniform, she laughed and added, "Do up a few buttons, and I'll be presentable enough. Is… unless you'd rather I don't."

Sparing a quick peek again at the lovely amount of cleavage Winter displayed, Ruby quite obviously bit her lip, looking back up again.

"Maybe not… just yet."

#Lady Stardust #ruby x winter #rwby smut #rwby fanfiction #rwbyremnants #nsfw-Text

[quickspinner]

MLValentines2k20 14. Valentine’s Day

Yeah I’m super late but I really wanted to finish one more...so this is a sequel to Day 1 Candy. 

The bakery box had long ago been emptied even of crumbs as the credits rolled on the Couffaine’s small TV.

“And another one bites the dust,” Luka chuckled as a quiet snore emerged from Juleka, who was flopped on the couch with her head on his thigh. Captain Anarka had given up and gone to bed two movies ago. “Guess it’s just you and me left. One more, or are you done?”

“I wouldn’t mind one more, but…” Marinette looked around him at Juleka. “I’d hate to wake her.”

“Go pick something out,” Luka told her, “I don’t think it’ll be a problem, honestly, you kind of have to be a heavy sleeper to survive in this house, but I can take her to bed and then we won’t have to worry about it.” 

Marinette extracted herself from where she had gotten wedged between Luka and the arm of the sofa when Juleka stretched out, and went to look through the pile of videos on the floor by the TV. Luka carefully shifted himself out from under Juleka, and then slid his arms under her and lifted her carefully. “Can you get her hair for me?” Luka asked in a whisper. Marinette came over and swept Juleka’s long hair up from where it was hanging down, and piled it on top of the sleeping girl, tucking it under one limp arm. “Thanks,” Luka whispered. “Trust me, having her hair get caught on something and waking her up that way? Not pretty.” 

Marinette put a hand over her mouth to muffle her giggle as Luka carried Juleka to their room. 

When he came back Marinette had one of his mother’s pirate-themed period dramas ready to go, and Luka smiled knowingly. 

“I had to sit through Juleka’s horror movie,” Marinette defended. “I should at least get to look at pretty costumes!”

“I didn’t say anything,” Luka chuckled, sinking back down on the couch. Not quite so close to her this time, now that Juleka wasn’t taking up most of the sofa, which Marinette kind of regretted, because true to her earlier intentions she was wearing her comfy pajamas, but it turned out it was a bit chillier on the boat than it was above the bakery ovens. 

“Do you have a blanket?” Marinette asked, rubbing her arms absently.

“Uh, sure, I’m sure there’s one here somewhere,” Luka frowned, looking at the mess around them and trying to calculate the most likely blanket location. “Or I could give you my hoodie,” he added, running his fingers through his hair as he admitted to himself that he had no idea where there would be a blanket in all this stuff. Marinette had laughed at him when he came out wearing his hoodie over his flannel pajama pants and t-shirt but now she looked at it longingly. 

“I don’t want you to be cold,” Marinette fretted. “I was fine when we were all squished together...maybe you could just come back over here?” 

Luka slid back over toward her without hesitation, lifting his arm around her as she pressed to his side. “Better?” he asked, as casually as he could manage. He could feel the goosebumps on her arm under his hand. “You really were cold, why didn’t you say something sooner?” He unzipped his hoodie and let her come between it and his body, wrapping it around her as best he could. 

“I was fine until you left, and then I was going through the movies so I really didn’t notice,” Marinette defended, cuddling against his side and tucking her arms close to her body. “I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, well, tell me if this isn’t enough. I can always go get the blankets off of my bed.” 

Marinette just wiggled a little closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder, so Luka shrugged the shoulder she wasn’t leaning on, and relaxed back into the couch. He certainly wasn’t about to complain if she wanted to snuggle. Honestly this was the closest he’d ever come to having a successful Valentine’s date. Part of him wished he’d been brave enough to ask her for a real date. 

The rest of him thought this was already pretty great. 

It had been a fun evening. They’d had their traditional ice cream and destroyed the treats from the bakery. Marinette fit in seamlessly, only a little thrown now and then by his mother’s outrageousness, and coaxing more conversation out of Juleka than usual. He didn’t even mind when they ganged up to tease him. Really, he was used to being outnumbered, and he’d suffer through a lot more to see that smirk on Marinette’s face. He was weak for her sassy side. 

And her eyes. And her soft smile, and her kindness, and her blush, and the crazy way her mind worked. Luka was just weak for Marinette, period. 

They chatted quietly for a bit, Marinette commenting on the costumes and Luka on the music and the nautical inaccuracies, and both of them on what an absolute jerk the heroine's father was, but eventually they fell comfortably silent. Marinette lifted her head suddenly from his shoulder. She didn’t say anything, though, and Luka looked at her. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just...I don’t think I said thank you for the chocolates,” Marinette ventured, a little shyly. He obviously hadn’t wanted to make a big deal about it, so she was a little hesitant to bring it up, but she wanted him to know how much she had appreciated the gesture. 

Luka shrugged slightly, dropping his eyes. “I was thinking about you, and...I just wanted to do something nice for you on Valentine’s Day. I figured I couldn’t infect you with my terrible Valentine’s luck just with that, so…”

“Well,” Marinette smiled. “Thanks for thinking of me.” She leaned up and kissed his cheek softly. She bit her lip to keep from snickering at the pleased little smile that tugged the corner of his lips. 

“I think about you a lot, actually,” Luka admitted, the hand that had long ago stilled on her arm beginning to skim up and down again. “You’re a pleasant thought.” 

Marinette giggled. “That’s a sweet thing to say.” 

“Is it?” Luka blinked. “Oh. I guess so. I didn’t mean—well. It was just the truth. I wasn’t trying to be smooth or anything.”

Maybe it was the late hour or maybe she was just happy, but Marinette buried her face in his shoulder, giggling madly. 

Luka squeezed her shoulder. “You okay there?” 

Marinette lifted her head, her eyes sparkling even in the dim light from the TV. “You’re always smooth, Luka.”

Luka snorted softly. “Not even close. If I were that smooth I would’ve had better plans for Valentine’s Day than sitting in the dark watching movies I don’t even like while Juleka drools on my leg.”

Marinette pouted. “If you wanted to watch something else, you could have said so.”

Luka winced. “See? Not smooth. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I just—I’m not a big fan of horror movies either, I only watch them because Juleka likes them. Really, tonight has been so much better than it could’ve been, and if you’re here I don’t care what we watch.” 

That made Marinette smile. “See?” she teased. “Smooth.”

Luka smiled back because he couldn’t help it, but he shook his head. “Just the truth.”

And it was, because he was stupid in love with her and he’d suffer through a lot more than a pirate movie he’d seen fifty times if it meant being with her like this. Or not even like this; she could be on the other side of the couch not paying any attention to him whatsoever and he would still be happy. 

Because he was a sap, as Juleka liked to remind him. A stupid, lovesick sap who longed for her to put her head back on his shoulder and go back to the comfortable silence where he couldn’t put his foot in his mouth.

Instead she leaned her forehead against his temple, nudging his cheek with her nose. “Luka,” she sighed, with an air of fond, affectionate exasperation that did a number on his heartbeat. She stayed there for a moment, and then added, “Thanks for having me over tonight.”

Luka swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. He turned his face just slightly, pressing back into her gently. 

“It was Jules, actually,” he admitted into the small space between them. “You seemed like you were happy with your plans and I didn’t want to bother you but she said I was being an idiot. I guess she was right.”

“I would have been fine,” Marinette said, moving slightly. Her nose brushed against his, “But this is better.” 

“I’m glad I got to spend Valentine’s with you,” Luka said, distracted by her closeness. His heartbeat picked up as he watched her lips curve slowly. 

“Me too,” she said, voice dropping to near a whisper. “I think...there’s no one I’d rather spend Valentine’s with.”

Luka’s breath hitched slightly. “No one?”

“Mm-hmm.” 

Marinette shifted slightly. Luka felt her breath across his lips and her fingers at his collar at the same time, and sucked in a sharp breath of his own. Marinette moved just a little and an electric shock went through him as he felt her mouth brush his softly in a kind of experimental, barely-there, almost-kiss. He was still trying to figure out what to do about that when she laid her hand along his cheek and pressed her lips to his, still softly but with more certainty. 

Marinette’s heart was beating frantically and she had no idea what she was doing, but she didn’t want to stop because then she would have to look Luka in the face and see his soft eyes asking her questions she wasn’t sure she could answer. She also didn’t want to stop because kissing him felt really good, especially when he tilted his face to meet hers more fully and the arm around her shoulders pulled her closer as his free hand cupped her jaw. She felt no fear because this was Luka, always so gentle and understanding and careful of her; Luka, who cared for her, who would never hurt her, who went out of his way to spare her embarrassment, who made her feel like it was okay to just be clumsy, spastic, flustered Marinette. Luka, who thought she was extraordinary and sincere and brave. 

She felt brave as they continued to trade soft, thrilling kisses, though her insides quaked and more emotions than she could process swirled through her as his thumb caressed her lightly and his lips gently guided hers. The look in his eyes when he paused to check on her before coming back for more made her even bolder. Her hand slid from his cheek to the back of his neck, toying with the soft strands of hair at his nape. Luka shuddered under her touch and she smiled into the kiss. 

There wasn’t really a decision to stop, they just seemed to wind down naturally, until they were just touching foreheads with matching silly smiles. Marinette curled up against him and Luka wrapped himself around her, resting his chin on her head. 

“You okay?” Luka asked softly. 

Marinette made a small noise and nodded against him, though she still couldn’t manage to look at him. “That was nice,” she whispered. 

“You liked it?” 

She nodded again, still keeping her face hidden in his neck.

“I did too.” He sighed, rubbing his cheek lightly against her hair. “Is it too soon to ask if you want to go out with me later this week? Maybe see a movie that’s not almost twenty years old?” 

Marinette giggled. “I’d love that.” She felt the rise and fall of his chest as he took a slow breath, felt him slowly relax. 

 “Okay,” he said, almost sounding as though he were talking to himself. “Cool.” 

Marinette smiled. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Luka.”

His voice was warm when he answered, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Marinette.”

#quickspins #mlvalentines2k20 #what the heart wants #lukanette #i am lukanette trash i admit it #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #miraculousladybug #miraculous ladybug #ml fics

[emospritelet]

Manifesto prompt : dat handshake in front of press.

I’m really enjoying writing these two. Happy to take more prompts!

[AO3]

x

Belle was nervous, and irritated with herself because of it.

She told herself there was no need; whatever came of the evening she had already made her point. News programmes were covering the story; the BBC and Sky had already started running pieces on the state of local authority funding and municipal libraries, and the clip of her confronting the Prime Minister was all over social media. It was likely that the next day’s headlines would provide more coverage, and she was pleased that the news outlets were talking about the issues that affected real people in real towns, rather than the usual infighting at Westminster. She was aware that it was probably too late to save Avonleigh’s library, but while there was a glimmer of hope, she was determined to keep fighting.

To that end, she used the little time she had before book club to dig out the research she had been doing when trying to plead for the library’s continued funding. Everything was still in the colour-coded binder she had put together for one of her many meetings with the Council. She even had the presentation she had designed, prompts on a handful of cards to accompany the Powerpoint slides saved on a memory stick, although she very much doubted the Prime Minister would want to see it.

Belle thought she would have difficulty concentrating in the book club, but given that the members were more interested in talking about her impromptu television appearance than about Little Women, it didn’t really matter. Merida even showed her a YouTube video of her rant, edited to include captions of what Sutherland was allegedly feeling at the time. Which seemed to alternate between being outraged and turned on. The other club members thought it was hilarious.

“You’re my hero,” said Leroy, grinning at her above his bristling black beard. “Look at Sutherland’s face! I’m willing to bet no one ever talks to him like that.”

Leroy was short and stocky, a gruff hospital porter with a heart of gold and a secret, burning love for Astrid, the pretty nurse who worked shifts and could only attend book club every other week. He always looked around for her eagerly whenever he arrived, and the look of disappointment on his face when she wasn’t there made Belle’s heart melt. 

“Gave it to him with both bloody barrels!” chuckled Merida, tossing fiery red curls over her shoulder. “Serve the bastard right! Like he has the slightest clue what goes on in towns like this! Bloody London elite! They’re all the same!”

“He’s Scottish,” Belle pointed out, and she sniffed.

“Yeah, but he’s posh Scottish. They’re a breed apart, Belle, you mark my words. Plus he’s an MP. They go down to the House of Commons and check their morals at the door.”

“They can’t all be like that,” said Belle, wondering why the hell she was defending politicians when she had spent years cursing them out.

“Maybe not all of ‘em,” acknowledged Merida. “But our MP definitely is. Bloody Leopold White. When was the last time you saw the bastard in this town?”

“Last election,” said Leroy. “Came to the hospital and got in the damn way. Bet he does the same thing this year.”

Merida snorted, shifting in her seat.

“Someone should unseat the bastard,” she said, and her eyes widened. “Hey, Belle! You should run!”

Belle sighed.

“I have zero interest in running for Parliament,” she said. “I just want to save the library, and I probably won’t even be able to do that! In two months’ time I’ll be out of a job!”

“Just keep the pressure up,” said Merida. “They’ll have to do something, it’s all over the news!”

“Yeah, and in a few days’ time, they’ll have moved onto the next story, and no one will care,” sighed Belle. “I’ll just have to make the most of it while I can. I’ve done some interviews, I’m speaking to the Prime Minister tonight, and I’m going to contact the Council tomorrow, see if public opinion has changed their minds. I doubt it.”

“Maybe we should protest,” suggested Merida. “Keep the momentum going. I can make placards.”

“I can wave the placards and yell stuff,” offered Leroy, and Belle pursed her lips.

“Alright,” she said. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. I’ll let you know what Mr Sutherland has to say for himself.”

“Just don’t let him sweet-talk you,” warned Merida. “These politicians are masters at wriggling out of their responsibilities. They’re all great at talking without saying anything, you know? If he makes any promises, get them in writing. Or on camera. Or both.”

Belle grinned.

“I’ll try.”

x

She was surprised not to encounter any cameras on her short walk from the library to the Swan Hotel, but there again she supposed none of the reporters wanted to miss the meeting. Anna met her in the hotel reception, smiling briefly and gesturing towards the corridor behind her.

“We’re in the Marchland Suite,” she said. “The press are crammed into the room next door, waiting to capture the two of you meeting. They’ll probably fire questions at you, but don’t feel you have to answer.”

Belle nodded, suddenly, painfully nervous. She fingered the strap of her satchel, in which the folder containing her research was sitting. Her bag had already been searched by two large men whom she presumed were Sutherland’s security team, and the formality of it all made her very aware that she would shortly be in a room with the most powerful man in the country. It made her feel tiny, insignificant, and she took a deep breath, trying to draw courage into her lungs. Anna gave her a sidelong look as they mounted a flight of stairs.

“Chin up,” she said. “He doesn’t bite.”

Belle nodded wordlessly, and the next moment they were stepping through a doorway into an opulent room decorated in pale cream and sage green, filled with waiting reporters. Anna led her through the throng towards a set of double doors, rapping smartly three times with her knuckles. Cameras started whirring, a ripple of flashing lights exploding in the air, and Belle could feel her pulse thumping in her throat and behind her eyes as the doors opened and the Prime Minister stepped out, nodding to the waiting reporters and smiling broadly as he adjusted his cuffs. 

The flashes of two dozen cameras were creating a strobe effect that was making Belle want to squeeze her eyes shut. It was all a little overwhelming, and she felt herself freeze in place as Sutherland stepped towards her, reaching out with his right hand. He was dressed in a different suit to that he had worn earlier, but it was just as expensive, and fitted him just as well. His tie was blue, his shirt crisp and crease-free, the cuffs just poking out from beneath his jacket to display gold cufflinks. To Belle’s great surprise, she found herself imagining what he looked like first thing in the morning, unshaven and dishevelled with heavy eyes. The image that came to her mind was also shirtless, and her eyes widened as she wondered where the hell that had come from. Her cheeks flushed a little, and she told herself to get a bloody grip.

“Miss French,” said Sutherland, smiling as he grasped her hand. “Good of you to come.”

His hand was warm and smooth, his fingers closing firmly around hers, and he used his other hand to pat and squeeze her upper arm, as though sending her some sort of reassurance, or holding her in place. It made her eyes narrow, but she nodded a little stiffly, shaking his hand. He had a politician’s smile, white teeth and fake warmth that didn’t quite reach his eyes. They were nice eyes, though, and she wondered what he looked like when he was greeting someone he actually wanted to meet.

“Prime Minister,” she said cautiously, and his smile widened a little.

“I’m grateful that you took time out of your busy evening to meet with me,” he added. “Hopefully we can have a constructive discussion.”

“I hope so, too.”

The flashes were off-putting, making her feel somewhat dazed, but Sutherland didn’t seem to notice. She supposed he was used to it. He was still shaking her hand, and she realised it was so each of the cameras could catch the perfect shot. He was clearly adept at working the press to his advantage, and it made her very aware that this encounter was as much for his benefit as for hers. Probably more so. It also made her want to pull back, but she stared into his eyes, feeling her jaw tighten as she stood firm. Eventually he let go of her hand, and she resisted the urge to rub her palm against her thigh.

“Well, if you could come this way,” said Sutherland pleasantly, gesturing to the room behind him.

“Belle, what are you hoping to achieve tonight?” called a reporter, and Belle blinked, her brain suddenly blank in the face of flashing cameras and thrusting microphones.

“I - uh…” she faltered. “I…”

“We’re just opening a dialogue,” said Sutherland smoothly. “Miss French raised a number of interesting points in our last meeting, and I want to make sure that the people’s voices are heard.”

Our last meeting? Interesting way to say I yelled at you in the marketplace. Belle swallowed hard, her throat dry, and lifted her chin. Come on, you can do this!

“What’s your opinion on the Government’s record on public funding?” asked a balding man with thick glasses, and Belle rolled her eyes.

“I believe my opinion on that topic is already doing the rounds on social media,” she said dryly. “Maybe you missed it.”

There was a ripple of laughter. Sutherland had placed his hand on her shoulder, a light pressure that she knew was designed to get her walking. She dug in her heels, shoulders lifting a little.

“Do you still believe the library can be saved?” asked another reporter eagerly.

“I’ll believe that until they lock me out of the place,” she said, and there was a babble of voices as they all asked questions at once. A woman in a bright pink coat shoved forward a little.

“Belle, do you think this is a genuine overture on the Prime Minister’s part, or just a photo opportunity?” she asked.

“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” she said. “I’m not holding my breath.”

Sutherland’s expression was blank and impassive, but a tiny muscle twitched in his cheek. She felt his fingers tighten a little, and the white-toothed smile slithered back into place.

“Right, well, I promised Miss French a private meeting,” he said. “If you could excuse us, please, we have a lot to discuss.”

There were more shouted questions, but Anna stepped into the line of sight, motioning to the reporters to move back. Belle allowed herself to be steered through the double doors into a plush meeting room, a shining mahogany table and eight chairs on one side, and a squashy leather couch and two armchairs around a glass and chrome coffee table on the other. The doors behind her closed, shutting out the noise from the waiting press, and Sutherland stalked to the table, placing his palms on its gleaming surface and fixing Belle with a dark-eyed stare.

“Well, Miss French,” he said, his voice a little lower and rougher than it had been before. “I believe we have things to discuss.”

#fic: manifesto #sutherelle fic #sutherelle #my fic #rumbelle fic #anyelle #ripperblackstaff

[poor-wifi-uwu]

Veil ch.2

The Jiangs... discuss. The Triad Alliance fares no better.

Wei Wuxian tapped his fingers against his elbows, afraid any more visible movements would break the delicate atmosphere in the room. He had never thought silence could be so loud and sharp, unsettling like nails on glass.

He can practically feel his sister’s rapid heartbeat as she tries to maintain her serene smile in the tension. Jiang Cheng just looked down, afraid to meet his mother’s eyes lest he can’t give her a satisfying response. Wei Wuxian had never seen him so still and tight, not missing the delicate tremble of his fists clenched in his lap. Uncle Jiang and Madam Yu had gone from dumbfounded blustering to outright glaring at each other.

Without raising his head, Wei Wuxian cast a glance at the crumpled letter lying pitifully on the floor between them all.

It never ceased to amaze him how much damage a single sheet of paper could cause. 

The last thing anyone expected was for the Gusu emperor’s personal guard to come all the way into the enemy capital just to deliver a letter. They couldn’t imagine what contents the letter might contain to go to such extremes. Judging by the specially bred royal courier falcon they left before returning to Gusu, whatever it was required a response. 

It was addressed to Wei Wuxian.

After checking it over for any traps, the royal family stared at the letter for a few minutes, debating whether or not to open it. Finally, Wei Wuxian snatched the letter and cut it open before he could talk himself out of it.

Wei Wuxian is a genius, but no matter how many times he read the letter he couldn’t make sense of it. As Wei Wuxian’s face got more and more confused, eventually Jiang Cheng couldn’t take it anymore and grabbed the letter for himself. A moment later he made this choking sound like a dying cat, face growing red from outrage.

Jiang Yanli looked worriedly at the two, holding her hand out hesitantly, “A-Cheng, could I see it?” When he doesn’t react, she gently slips the paper out of his stiff hand.

Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu move to stand beside her as all three glanced down at the paper with interest. Through his confusion, Wei Wuxian found their changing expressions kind of funny. Jiang Fengmian had this indignant scowl as if watching some pig eat his prized cabbage. Shijie’s smile kept getting wider as her jaw clenched. Madam Yu was like a living lightshow with how many different colors she was going through. I mean, it’s shocking and all but isn’t this a bit much?

It’s just a marriage proposal.

And really, it was a godsend. Within that letter was an offer to end the war in exchange for Wei Wuxian’s entry into the imperial harem. 16 years of war, over just like that. Remembering the Yiling incident Wei Wuxian had to shake his head. This emperor sure was an interesting guy.

Wei Wuxian downed his cup of wine before setting it down firmly with an audible thunk, shattering the silence and whipping everyone’s eyes in his direction, “Well, I can definitely say I did  not  see that coming.”

Madam Yu bristled, “Speaking with such a tone!”

“Wei Wuxian, this isn’t the time to make jokes!” Jiang Cheng shot an exasperated glare at him.

Wei Wuxian lazily swirled the drop of wine left in his cup, “Why not?” Without moving he lifted his eyes up, “Aren’t jokes common in a celebration?”

Jiang Cheng choked, “Cele—!”

Jiang Yanli took a nervous step forward, “A-Xian, I understand where you’re coming from, but I wouldn’t classify this as a celebration exactly…”

Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow at her, “Why not? All we have to do is send me to Gusu for one night to lie down and look pretty and the war will be over!” Before even Uncle Jiang could process the words Jiang Cheng whipped his head around,

“Absolutely not! Forbidden! You must stay a virgin till you’re thirty!” Wei Wuxian choked and raised a bemused eyebrow at Jiang Cheng, who was flushing red at his slip. Refusing to look in Wei Wuxian’s direction, he glared at a corner of the wall and bit out, “Anyway, you’re not going. Rejected!”

“Okay, look, it’s not like I want to get married either!” Wei Wuxian huffed, “But think about it, we can’t pass this opportunity. 

Madam Yu scoffed, “Of course we can’t, so send Yanli instead!”

Wei Wuxian jerked up, “Madam Yu, the letter is addressed to me.”

Jiang Cheng follows, “And what about A-Jie’s engagement with that Crown Prince Jin that you were trying to restore?”

She glared at Wei Wuxian out of the corner of her eye, “Well clearly that’s out of the question now that the Jin are on the other side!”

Jiang Yanli looked down, “Mother…”

Seeing his sister’s distress Wei Wuxian defended, albeit reluctantly, “Now I really  really  hate to give the peacock any credit, but he did nope himself out of the war from the very beginning.”

The Jin did not throw even have of their war resources into the Triad Alliance, mainly because the other half belonged to Madam Jin’s faction. Having been lifelong friends with Yu Ziyuan growing up in the Meishan Duchies, Madam Jin would never harm the Jiang Kingdom that she had married into. No one knows exactly why the arrogant crown prince Jin Zixuan would pass up such an opportunity to best his longtime annoyances Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng, and end his engagement with a woman he proclaimed unworthy of him. Rumors say he even directly refused to participate to his father’s face.

Wei Wuxian looked at his sister’s crestfallen expression at hearing the news. At least he got that last one.

Madam Yu turned to fully glare at him, “It doesn’t matter. We can no longer rely on a marriage with the Jin, so Yanli should go to Gusu. We’ll have that Wen girl prepare fertility medicine. Whatever the Lan are planning, once she gets pregnant her place in the imperial family will be secure.”

We Wuxian stood up and faced her, “Shijie is not just some bargaining chip! Besides, the letter clearly asked for me. Chances are it’s just a concubine position, too low for Shijie!”

Yu Ziyuan grit her teeth. No one ends a war for a concubine. She seethed, “Even concubine is too high for a servant like you!” Regardless of the number of wives, the first wife always has an advantage.

The doors slammed open as Wen Qing stormed into the room with a pissed off scowl, “Who are you to speak to him like that? Wei Wuxian is the only thing keeping this country afloat!” Once she reached them Wen Qing put her hands on her hips, Wen Ning quietly closing the doors behind her, “And don’t speak about my medical skills as if they’re some kind of commodity.”

Yu Ziyuan bristled, “And who are you to speak to me like that?! Insolent, have you forgotten the debt you owe Yunmeng for saving your lives?!”

In response to her angry shout, Wen Qing just shot her a cool glare, “I know my debts, unlike you. Yunmeng did nothing, it was Wei Wuxian who saved us.” She narrowed her eyes, “If anything, I distinctly remember you protesting his decision.”

Yu Ziyuan eye twitched as she sputtered, too angry at the audacity to form words. Wei Wuxian whistled lowly in his mind. You really have to admire Wen Qing. There are few people in the world willing to speak in such a way to Madam Yu, especially with the difference in power. MianMian is pretty feisty too, having grown confident in the face of authority since defecting from the Jin Kingdom. Suibian hasn’t listened to Madam Yu a day in his life, and A-Qing is a fearless little devil. Actually, even Wen Ning has defended Wei Wuxian to her face before. Then there’s...

Wei Wuxian blinked. Huh. now that he thinks about it, aside from his siblings his entire inner circle stands up to Yu Ziyuan. Ah, those crazy bastards. Wei Wuxian can’t imagine where he would be now without their support. Probably in an even worse place.

Maybe he wouldn’t have made it this far at all.

Jiang Cheng tried to bite back at her but was quickly shut down, never quite able to handle such a strong-willed personality. Instead he trained his glare at Wen Ning, who trembled behind a pillar with the confused eyes of a bullied hamster. 

Wen Qing sent him a warning look before schooling her face into its usual professional expression, “And I don’t think the question should be who will go, but if we accept.”

Jiang Fengmian nodded with a pensive expression, “I find it odd that Gusu is requesting A-Xian, the commanding General of Yunmeng’s army, for the marriage. They must know how outrageous that is?”

Wen Qing nodded, “Could be a power play. It’s not Gusu’s style, but the Jin wouldn’t hesitate to push their luck to take advantage of a situation.”

Wei Wuxian retorted, “Maybe if it was from Lan Xichen, but this letter is from the emperor himself. Lan Wangji doesn’t participate in these kinds of mind games.”

Jiang Cheng crossed his arms with an annoyed grumble, “You sure seem to trust that Lan Wangji quite a bit.”

Wei Wuxian shrugged his shoulders, “He’s never given me a reason not to.”

“Yeah, and he’s never given a reason to believe he might want a truce either.”

Wei Wuxian put his hands on his hips, “Well he’s given one now. And we should accept while we still have the chance.”

Jiang Cheng clenched his jaw, “And why would he even offer a ceasefire when they’re at such an advantage?”

Wei Wuxian grit his teeth, “Does it matter? Look, if this were the Jin or the Nie then I would be just as skeptical, but even now the Lan are sticking to their strict war etiquette. Scheming is not their forte.”

Jiang Cheng snapped, “Well it’s not like they’ve been so strict with their allies, have they? Gusu has gone along with the Jin and Nie’s actions before. Maybe they didn’t make this scheme themselves, but what’s to say they’re not just going along with it again?!”

Wei Wuxian tried to calm him down with an easy-going grin, “Say whatever you want about the other Lans, but Lan Wangji is a super stiff, rule-abiding fuddy-duddy. If he wanted to attack me to break through Yunmeng’s defenses, that guy would just charge me from the front in a one-on-one duel.” His smile settled slightly, “He’s never been the kind of guy to want a war. Maybe he wants it all to be over as much as we do.”

Yu Ziyuan scoffed at his naivety, Jiang Cheng following with a rebuke that had Wen Qing bristling with fury. Jiang Fengmian tried to pacify the two, only for Yu Ziyuan to quip about his pacifism. Soon the entire room had gone out of control, with everyone yelling over each other.

Wei Wuxian began to feel nauseous. They don’t have time for this! Can’t they see this is a golden opportunity? Why are they acting this way?!

Wei Wuxian took a shaky breath and grinned, ignoring Wen Qing’s concerned gaze, “Guys guys, haven’t we had enough already? This kind of chance doesn’t come by often. A marriage goes both ways, it’s not like we get nothing out of this. Besides,” his smile faltered for a split second, “what will happen if we don’t accept it?”

Jiang Cheng scoffed, “That makes us sound desperate.”

Wei Wuxian’s grin fell as he clenched his fist, “We are desperate.”

Jiang Cheng looked like he got slapped. Giving the other’s a quick glance, he leaned in to whisper, “If you just use that book, we’ll win in no time!”

“If I had known a treaty was coming I wouldn’t have used it at all!” Wei Wuxian whispered back with a glare.

Jiang Cheng got fed up, “Well you did!”.

Wei Wuxian froze.

Jiang Cheng glared at him, “All those years, all that sacrifice, just to give up like that! What did everyone die for then?!”

Wei Wuxian snapped, snatching the letter off the floor and shoving it in Jiang Chengs face, “THIS!  This  is what they died for: a way out of this damn war!”

Jiang Cheng knocked Wei Wuxian’s hand away, “And we can do that while winning! Just unleash hell on that damn Triad and this war will be over soon!”

Wei Wuxian glared, Or it can be over  now !”

He looked around the room, at his family getting ready to argue back, at Wen Qing’s complicated expression, at his other friends hiding behind the pillars with worried faces, “This war can end  right now , no more bloodshed, no more sacrifice. This is our best option right now and you all know it! This isn’t the time to let pride or hatred cloud our judgement.”

Jiang Cheng bit back bitterly, “Yeah, and it’ll end with our loss!”

Wei Wuxian sighed is disbelief, “Oh my god Jiang Cheng, how is it after all this time you still can’t see the difference between them winning and us losing!” He looked back at Jiang Fengmian, “We’re not signing the country away, it’s basically a truce. The Jiang family will still rule Yunmeng. At the very worst we’ll become a vassal state and pay taxes or let them in our ports for free or something. No matter how low the Lan  might  choose to go, it’s better than where we are now, and it’s much better than where we’ll be if we continue.”

Jinag Fengmian furrowed his brow in worry, “A-Xian, you don’t know that. It is dangerous to assume another’s intentions. What if this is a trap to get you alone and surrounded once you reach the capital? Even if you don’t believe Gusu would do such a thing, how about Lanling?” His voice took on a stern tone of finality, “A-Xian is too trusting, do not be so naive.”

Wei Wuxian couldn’t take it anymore, “And you all should stop fighting!”

The room froze.

“Every day, every damn day of the Yunmeng court’s infighting has led to this situation. How many times have we heard we could’ve won had we just cooperated with each other? How many times did court members make bad decisions just because a person they didn’t like agreed with the right option? Even now, in such a desperate situation, with such an obvious decision, we still can’t agree!”

Jiang Yanli tried to pacify him, “A-Xian, this kind of important decision, how can it be simple?”

Wei Wuxian bit his lip to stop from lashing out at her. Jiang Yanli has been the most understanding so far, her only reservations were with him being asked for specifically. Taking a calming breath, Wei Wuxian looked in her eyes, “Shijie, this war can only end two ways. When we accept this truce… or when one side is wiped out.” his eyes flicked to Wen Ning and Wen Qing for a moment before returning to gaze out at the Jiang royal family, “There is no decision to make.”

Seeing Jiang Fengmian’s complicated expression, Wei Wuxian shoulders slumped with the weight of his sigh. His fingers tightened around the letter in his hand, “Besides, I’ve seen the emperor’s signature and know a forgery when I see one. He signed this. And even if this is some grand plan of the Jin’s, the Lan are infamous for their rules. This is a binding agreement. As long as I reach the Cloud Recesses, they must honor it.”

Jiang Yanli looked down with a small frown, “...But does it have to be you?” Biting her lip she turned pleading eyes on Wei Wuxian, “A-Xian is a General! A leader, an inventor, a free spirit… A-Xian has so much ahead of him, while I can’t do anything. As a princess I have been prepared for this my whole life, so why does A-Xian have to be the one to give up everything?”

Wei Wuxian gave one slow blink, “Lan Wangji is a man of few words.” He met the Jiangs’ confused faces, “He would not have bothered to specify otherwise.”

And with that he turned to leave, only to be stopped by a whip striking the spot in front of him, “Who dismissed you?”

He turned his head sideways to look Madame Yu straight in the eye, “Did I ask to be dismissed?”

Then he took the time Madame Yu stood in shocked outrage to storm out the doors, his friends running after him.

The walk back to his room was quiet, no one knowing quite what to say. The marriage proposal, the arguing, Wei Wuxian’s slip… where do they start? Should they even start... or just let it go?

Meanwhile, Wei Wuxian was berating himself for losing control. Of all the times he needed their full trust in his decisions, and he had to be so emotional. He can’t have anyone doubt him at such a critical point. Wei Wuxian grips the door handle to his room tightly.

It feels as if his life has been nothing but critical points lately.

His room suddenly feels so nostalgic, knowing he’ll never come back here. He wonders if his family will preserve it, or if Madam Yu would repurpose it for something.

He sat on his bed softly.

Feeling himself sink into the mattress, he looked down to notice the bulge of a second futon over his mattress. He stroked the bulge with trembling fingers. Shijie must have set it up for him to rest after sleeping on rough cots for so long. Knowing Jiang Yanli, she must have gone through many kinds to find just the right one.

He wished he had the chance to try it.

Savoring one last moment of comfort, Wei Wuxian hopped off to go pack. He ignored the concerned eyes that followed, maintaining his nonchalant facade. He rolled up his clothes silently for a few moments, taking solace in maximizing his bag’s available space for another journey to a far-off land he doesn’t want to go to. The routine is more numbing than comforting, but anything that calms his pounding heart is welcome.

He turns to look for his shoes, only to see Wen Ning having silently crouched next to him, holding them out to him. He huffs in thanks, only for MianMian to sit on the other side with his writing materials, pointedly not looking at him. Wei Wuxian responds with a wry grin. Soon everyone is helping him pack, the room settling into a comfortable, if melancholic, silence.

Wei Wuxian is opening his travel trunk when Wen Qing asks almost in a murmur, “Are we going with you?”

He doesn’t pause his work, eyes trained on the various knick-knacks inside as he replies equally somber, “No…”

Wen Ning turned pleading eyes on him, “But Young Master…”

Wei Wuxian just continued to pick through for things he could fit in his travel bag, “No, Wen Ning. I need you guys here to take over for me. Anything could happen in the few days until the wedding, and then I’ll be a concubine in the inner palace. I don’t know how much freedom the emperor will grant me, so I need to make sure things don’t collapse while I’m gone.”

MianMian bit her lip, “How are you so sure you’ll be a concubine?”

Wei Wuxian paused his packing and looked up at them, “Because I’m a man.”

It took only a moment for them to understand.

With Gusu’s solidarity at the foundation of their advantages over Yunmeng, Wei Wuxian’s group had collected extensive intel on the inner workings of the Cloud Recesses. One of the ways the Lan prevent infighting is by setting strict rules for the inner court.

The emperor can only marry once, and the heirs must come from the official wife. Any concubine’s children are taken away to be raised as members of the clan in a communal setting to avoid any negative influences from the ambitious women.

By marrying Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji would essentially be cutting off his own royal line.

Wei Wuxian mused as he continued packing, “At best he’ll make me an Honored Concubine so we can have the wedding. A marriage ending a decade-plus long war needs to display some credibility after all. Official Lan ceremonies have to go through certain traditions to be counted, so it’s not technically breaking any rule.” he huffed a humorless laugh and muttered, “But Lan Wangji has always been a straightforward stickler for the rules. If it says one wedding, then he’ll have only one wedding, Lan traditions or not.”

Looking through his trunk one last time, Wei Wuxian gave up on finding his medicine bag and turned to slump against the bed frame, “Besides, I’m the enemy’s commander. I’m the last person they want seeing the Lan’s inner workings, so this is the only way they can ban me from engaging any politics without breaking their rules against discrimination.”

Wen Qing furrowed her brows, “And you’re still going to go?”

Wei Wuxian looked up at the ceiling with a sardonic smile, “Do I have a choice?”

No one spoke after that.

 Lan Wangji clenched the sachet in his sleeve as the dignitaries from the Triad Alliance sputtered in disbelief at his decision. The slightly worn fabric and almost fraying embroidery bringing him comfort in the face of this foolishness.

He made the right decision.

16 years is too long for a war, especially for such a pointless one. These people have the audacity to argue there have been much longer wars before, as if that justifies anything.

He almost regretted informing them of the marriage proposal, if only he wasn’t absolutely sure it was necessary. Although Gusu is the leader, Lan Wangji recognizes the respect that is owed to the Jin and Nie due to their alliance. Even if they are getting on his nerves.

The Jin are sitting with their jaws on the floor, eyes running through the bounties they were after and how this will affect their rewards. Nie Mingjue is holding back his outrage, confused why they would quit when they’re so close to the finish line. Nie Huaisang, who is always brought to these meetings for some reason, keeps opening and closing his fan nervously with a hidden glint of excitement.

His brother is the picture of grace and serenity as always despite dropping such a bombshell. His eyes quickly flicked to Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao, before facing forward again.

The tension was mounting among the audience in the room, but Lan Wangji himself was calm. Soon everything would be over and a new era would begin. His ears burned a bit red as he stroked the sachet. An era he hoped to lead with Wei Ying by his side.

“Are you out of your damn mind?”

Lan Wangji paused his ministrations to face Nie Mingjue. He stood strong in the face of the emperor’s attention, but Lan Wangji could see the rigid posture indicative of nervousness. Nie Hauisang went pale and looked like he was about to faint as Lan Xichen turned around to ask for leniency. Lan Wangji would not hold such an outburst against someone in a situation like this, he had always detested that in other rulers. Instead he just raised his hand in pardon and motioned for the king to continue. 

Nie Mingjue uncrossed his arms and argued his case, “Why call for a truce now? We’re this close to winning. I would think Gusu more than anyone would be pleased to finally conquer Yunmeng.”

Lan Wangji blinked, “16 years is enough.”

Nie Mingjue narrowed his eyes, “And with 16 years of work, why give up when victory is just on the horizon?”

“Is it?”

The room froze. Of... course it is? Just one look at Yunmeng’s state is enough for anyone to know. Jin Guangyao took the lead to speak, “Your Highness, with all due respect, it is impossible for Yunmeng to win this war.”

Lan Wangji closed his eyes, “ ‘Do the impossible.’ ” The audience blinked at him as Lan Wangji opened his eyes, “Yunmeng’s most treasured belief.”

Nie Mingjue bit back, “What Yunmeng believes and what they can do are completely separate.”

Lan Wangji thought of a sunshine smile in black armor, “Our opponent is not Yunmeng.” He spoke purposefully to the room, “Wei Wuxian.”

Nie Mingjue but back his retort and clenched his fist. What could he say? They’ve been fighting this war for years and yet the enemy is still holding on no matter what they do, all because of one man. A near impregnable defense and a terrifying offense, Wei Wuxian is a one man army with a genius rarely seen in history.

How many times have they heard the only reason Yunmeng has not won is because their court is a train wreck? How many times have they feared the smallest rumors of Wei Wuxian overthrowing the crown and taking charge?

Uniting a divided army, executing insane strategies perfectly, managing social programs, and still somehow having the bandwidth to pop out ground-breaking inventions left and right. Fucking monster. Had Nie Mingjue known about him earlier, he would have adopted the bastard as a Nie prince.

“...Tch!” the Nie King downed his cup of alcohol.

Instead he’s an enemy, somehow the worst enemy the battle-worn Nie Mingjue had fought to date. He should have looked more deeply into the rumors of him and the Yiling Patriarch being the same person. Especially with this last battle.

He lifted his eyes sharply.

But Wei Wuxian is not a monolith, and it shows the state of Yunmeng that they have not rallied under his banner yet. No matter how powerful he is, he’s just one man. A man not even given the honor of his adopted family’s name, no less. Despite holding back three nations by himself, there is only so much Wei Wuxian can do alone. And he told the emperor as such.

Lan Wangji was silent for a moment, stroking the fabric once more as he reminisced, “... The Elephant Formation.”

The Nie delegation flinched. Their country was famous for its use of beasts, and the army was no exception. One of Nie Mingjue’s favorite tactics was to have elephants stampede through the enemy ranks. Either they get crushed or they break formation and enter a panic, unable to group together after having lost their place. That is, until Wei Wuxian noticed how the elephants seemed to only charge in a straight line. So he created a strange new formation where the soldiers step into the spaces between the elephants when they charge. No matter how narrow they made the spaces, even to the point of endangering their own elephant riders, there was always just enough room for the Wei soldiers to slip through. Eventually they had to discontinue the elephant charge method against the Wei army. It was a huge blow to Nie Mingjue.

Lan Wangji narrowed his eyes at Jin Guangshan’s mocking smirk, “The Spring Book incident.”

The entire Jin delegation turned red in shame and embarrassment as Jin Guangyao’s smile faltered. What a humiliating memory…

The Jin relied on numbers to win oftentimes, always a looming presence on Yunmeng who had fewer soldiers than even one of the Triad. And so, Wei Wuxian, with the enthusiastic spirit of a lunatic prankster, devised a scheme to lower that threat. 

As most of the soldiers were drafted, they didn’t really want to participate in the war. So Wei Wuxian had a collection of porn books spread throughout the Jin encampments with instructions on how to fake an illness to get sent home written into the dirty talk in the speech bubbles. He even made sure they contained some high quality content so people would keep them hidden. No man would be willing to give up his porn in a barrack. 

Droves of people were able to leave the army with those instructions until the Jin finally had to ban the sickness policy. Unfortunately, that kept the truly ill soldiers with the rest of the army and disease spread rampant. It was an absolute disaster…

Nie Huaisang choked back his laugh behind his fan. Wei-xiong always knows how to make things interesting. He was lucky to have saved a copy of the full collection. For  historical purposes , of course. And if Nie Mingjue noticed his slip up, well, he was too busy grinning at the Jin to say anything.

Lan Wangji huffed. Only Wei Ying could be so bold and brilliant, yet in such a way you don’t wish to praise him.

The emperor reveled in the memory of Wei Wuxian’s cheeky grin when Jin Zixun confronted him about it. Shameless.

His ears burned.

Then the emperor grew somber as he realized how long ago that had been. How long since he’s seen that youthful energy in his beloved. He looked down, “... The Mountain Pass…”

The room sobered up instantly. That maneuver was a crowning example of Wei Wuxian’s ability to do the impossible.

With a good portion of its territory consisting of mountain ranges, the Gusu armies are masters of navigating those peaks. And being so dangerous, only a fool would challenge Gusu in a mountain battle. Wei Wuxian was one such fool who got himself trapped in a dead end with only a narrow entrance that was quickly being overrun my Gusu’s forces. Lan Wangji himself had joined against the wishes of his brother and uncle.

He knew it would be dangerous, but Lan Wangji had to ensure Wei Wuxian’s safe return to Gusu, albeit as a prisoner of war. He was filled with complicated feelings as he rode through the mountain pass, glad their battles were over yet mourning the loss. So confident were they, that when the Gusu forces could only look around in confusion at the empty clearing. Lan Wangji instantly put up his guard, surveying every suspicious pebble when he heard his name being called. Whipping his head around, he caught the small silhouette of Wei Wuxian waving emphatically at him just before the small tunnel collapsed with a rumble, followed by the mountain pass they entered through. It didn’t take long for the emperor to quell everyone’s panic, but the impact of having been bested in their own territory hit the morale of the Gusu forces more than any number of casualties could.

As it turned out, Wei Wuxian had planned the entire battle. Making use of the Gusu Empire’s pride in their mountain tactics, he had led them into a trap. In a show of pure grit and will, Wei Wuxian’s loyal soldiers spent weeks secretly tunneling  through  the mountain with a new drill that had Jin Guangshan salivating at the impact it would have on the mining industry. Choosing a location hidden behind a spike jutting out of the ground, it would be impossible to notice without prior knowledge. While the others were preparing for an ambush from above, Lan Wangji realized their goal was a delay tactic to turn back around and recapture the border towns left unprotected and without command.

Animal combat, scheming, mountain ranges, in each case Wei Wuxian had bested them in their own specialties. And these were just a few of the stories of the General’s many feats. No matter how dour, how unlikely, or even how many losses he suffers in between, eventually Wei Wuxian finds a way.

And with that latest battle, why would the future be any different.

Jin Guangshan tutted, “A cornered rat has the sharpest bite.”

Lan Wangji clenched his hands.

Jin Guangyao noticed Lan Xichen’s frown and smiled up at Lan Wangji, “Your Highness is correct.”

Lan Wangji turned to face him, suspicious eyes hidden by his headdress. Jin Guangyao pretended not to notice the pressure, “General Wei Wuxian is a wildcard that cannot be underestimated. Removing him as an obstacle using a treaty would be the best decision.”

Nie Mingjue clucked his tongue at the Jin’s cowardice. Leave it to them to change stances with the readiness of a fickle woman. Jin Guangyao just continued smiling, “However, there are many ways to go about this, including a regular treaty. And Wei Wuxian is loyal to a fault towards the Yunmeng royal family. He would go along with whatever they decide, so why a marriage with the General specifically, when he’s not even a true member of the family?”

Lan Wangji narrowed his eyes, “Lianfang-zun’s meaning?”

Jin Guangyao narrowed his eyes as he smiled, “I mean no offense, Your Highness. I simply noticed how Your Majesty’s decisions regarding the General have been rather… unusual.” 

The hurt and confused look Lan Xichen sent his way had Jin Guangyao stepping back, “Forgive this one, Your Majesty. This most recent battle has me fearing the return of,” he looked up,”the Yiling Patriarch.”

The room broke out in whispers as Lan Wangji slumped imperceptibly in his seat. Nie Mingjue rested his head on his clasped hands, “...That green fire hasn’t been seen since the Sunshot Campaign.”

Lan Wangji felt nauseous. Green Fire, a powerful volatile substance that could even burn on water. When lit inside a shell, it forms a destructive bomb that leaves a devastating impact… on both sides. Rumors say it was discontinued for being too unstable to mitigate the risks for its users.

How desperate did Wei Ying have to be to resort to something so dangerous?

Lan Wangji clenched his eyes tightly, hoping to block out the arguing court. 

When did their competition of skill become a desperate bid for survival? At what point did Wei Ying begin to dread their meetings?

When did Lan Wangji lose sight of his purpose for all this?

He remembers his first meeting with Wei Ying as Emperor and General. He looked so tired. No matter how well Wei Wuxian may have hidden it, Lan Wangji could see it in the dimness of his smile, in the absence of mischief in his words. He looked thin. Not enough to affect his prowess in battle, but too much for Lan Wangji’s liking. He wished to offer him a meal, had Wei Wuxian not been so wary of the tea. Wei ing didn’t even seem to notice it was the favorite blend of the Yunmeng royal family.

He cannot imagine the pain Wei Ying must have felt to hand over his precious family ribbon for a fault not his own. Lan Wangji berated himself for ignoring the clear distress Wei Ying showed for the split second before handing it over. Had his uncle not known of Canse Sanren, would Lan Wangji have ever learned its meaning? How many other times had he hurt Wei Ying without realizing?

Jin Guangshan’s voice snapped him out of his reverie, “That is why that research should be handled by Lanling, which has the most resources to accommodate its dangers.”

Lan Wangji narrowed his eyes, his radiating fury quieting the room, “A person’s property is not for others to claim.”

He directed his attention at Jin Guangshan, “What is made by the General, belongs to the General.”

Entrusting a group as arrogant and opportunistic as the Jin with such dangerous research was irresponsible at best. They don’t care who has access to it as long it profits them, as evidenced by their new research technician who had been busy making a nuisance of himself in the corner by harassing their youngest attendant. Lan Wangji pretended not to see her smacking his shins with her pole.

Despite being a king Jin Guangshan backs down, intimidated, “Your Highness, we were only discussing the dangers of such inventions. Given His Highness, Prince Lan Xichen’s agreement that the remainders of the Yunmeng army were best left to Lanling’s supervision, it follows that Lanling would be the most suitable for such a serious matter.”

Lan Wangji tilted his chin up, “A discussion between friends equals an imperial decree?”

The Jin King faltered, but Lan Wangji did not give him the chance to recover, “There have been no discussions concerning Lanling. Lord Jin made his neutral stance clear to retain access to Yunmeng’s ports. It is Lianfang-zun who belongs to the Triad.” Jin Guangshan flinched.

Aware of his brother’s growing irritation, Lan Xichen stepped it, “No worries, everyone. The details of the treaty will be discussed in length with the Jiang delegations once the matter of the marriage has been settled.”

Nie Mingjue turns toward him, “What makes you think that Wei Wuxian would even agree to this ridiculous offer?” A wild troublemaker like him, managing the inner court as Empress? He’s more likely to view it as a prison than the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity most would see it as.

Lan Xichen smiled at him, “The General is a smart man who has shown courtesy in even the most dire of situations. With things as they are, he must want an end to this war as much as we do.”

With a final huff from the Nie king, Lan Wangji dismissed the court session and retired to his pavilion, leaving the hosting to Lan Xichen.

When he returned to his rooms, Lan Wanji immediately took out the blueprints drafted of the Red Lotus Pavilion. Already on their seventh iteration, the emperor wanted to ensure his Empress would feel welcome and happy in his new home. 

The layout of the complex is different from the rest of the Cloud Recesses, and strange for a noble in general. Wei Ying is known for his inventive nature, always tinkering with some idea. Sometimes things explode. Although his uncle would balk at something so uncouth, Wei Ying would surely appreciate a workshop or three. Lan Wangji has no intentions of stripping his Empress of his hobbies. 

A lotus pond is without question. However, the Empress must not be seen without proper dress, many of the changes have been made with the pond’s swimmability in mind. The question now is which breeds of Lotus to insert: the lavender of Lotus Pier, or a red to complement Wei Ying’s style? Or maybe a random selection of many exotic varieties to entertain him?

A puff of laughter made Lan Wangji whirl around to meet Lan Xichen’s teasing smile, “Oh my, will there be an eighth iteration? At this point General Wei may not have a place to live by the time he arrives!” his eyes formed crescents, “Ah, or is that Wangji’s plan?”

Lan Wangji’s ears burned hot, “Brother.”

Lan Xichen leaned over to look at the scroll, “Ah, how accommodating. Uncle will surely be furious once he sees this. Best to build the foundation quick before he can protest!”

Lan Wangji hid the scroll against his chest and turned away, “Brother.”

The prince just chuckled and relented, satisfied for the moment. His smile settled after a few moments, “...That arrangement with A-Yao, I am sorry for not notifying you first. The three of us were debating the best ways to manage Yunmeng to have a plan ready to present when and if the time came. We hoped to avoid any unnecessary conflict so we could begin the recovery process quickly. I did not expect King Jin to take it as a promise.”

Lan Wangji didn’t turn around, “Brother meant no harm.”

Lan Xichen smiled sadly. But you’re upset about it regardless, aren’t you?

His little brother had never felt threatened by Lan Xichen, nor did Lan Xichen plan to threaten Lan Wangji’s power. He trusts his brother, and will always support him. So the only thing that could be upsetting him is…

He walked to stand next to the emperor, “We had that discussion not long before General Wei revived the Green Fire. Does Wangji believe it might be related?”

Lan Wangji was silent for a moment, “Wei Ying has history with the Jin.”

Lan Xichen looked down, “I see.”

The emperor turned to him and reiterated, “Brother meant no harm.”

Lan Xichen sent him a grateful smile, before turning to look out at the scenery with a thoughtful expression. The two stood in comfortable silence, listening to the sound of the rustling leaves in the gentle wind. After some time, they began to quietly discuss the decor of the Red Lotus Pavilion. 

An attendant came while they were debating whether or not to include a napping bed in one of the workshops.

The courier falcon had arrived.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wei wuxian #lan wangji #Jiang Cheng #lan xichen #wen qing #wen ning #jin guangyao #nie mingjue #royalty!au #general!WWX #emperor!lwj #arranged marriage au #pining!LWJ

[bluepenguinstories]

Happiness Overload Chapter Sixty

Finally: cotton candy. Held in my hands, stacked high, almost a mile wide. Or maybe like a foot long. Or some odd centimeters (but not the even ones). Such sweet, cottony candy.

“There’s something bittersweet about finality, isn’t there?” I asked the guy at the cafeteria who gave me the cotton candy.

“Dunno what you’re talking about,” he grunted.

I shrugged and told him, “yeah, me either. I mean, it’s bittersweet when things come to an end no matter the outcome. But when it comes to cotton candy, it’s just sweet. That’s why I love it. That, and fruit snacks. Say, which would be better: fruit snack flavored cotton candy or cotton candy flavored fruit snacks?”

“Cotton candy isn’t a fruit. It’s just sugar.”

“Oh yeah. What would you call sugar, anyway? It’s a crop, right? So, is sugar a vegetable? Or a seasoning? Could sugar be considered a spice? But then again, spices are bitter and sugar is sweet.”

“I don’t have time for philosophy. I make food and serve it.”

“That’s fair!” I snapped my fingers. “For me, I can’t even be sad even if I wanted to. My whole cotton candy journey was a long and arduous one. It must have taken the length of two characters’ arcs just to find the cafeteria. Can you believe that?”

He groaned. Jeez, tough crowd. I took a bite out of my cotton candy and the taste was so good that more cotton candy formed from out of the space where I took my bite. As long as eating cotton candy made me happy, I’d get an unlimited amount of cotton candy, which was guaranteed to be unlimited, because being full only made me happy when I felt like being full, and I never got upset stomachs, because it has the word ‘upset’ in it and being upset didn’t make for a happy Blanc.

“Say, what makes you happy?” I asked the cotton candy maker, who I was sure made other food, but everything else paled in comparison to cotton candy. Well, cotton candy paled in comparison to fruit snacks. It’s all relative.

“Making food,” [insert guttural adjective here] the cafeteria worker.

“Great!” I waved finger guns at him. “Then that’s all you’ll be doing for the rest of your life! Hope you at least get a chance to eat what you make, but I don’t make the rules!”

“Yeah,” his face crinkled into a smile. “MAKING FOOD MAKES ME HAPPY!” He bellowed.

I took a bow.

“You’ll do great. I probably won’t see you again. I gotta meet up with a couple of friends, though there’s no telling how long that will take. Then some things will happen. Probably. Happy things I’m sure, because those are the kind of things I like to happen!”

I skipped off, cotton candy in hand, in search of Velvet and Coriander. As much as I wanted to cross their names off of my happiness list (which I never really conjured up, it was more of a mental list. Sure, I could have, but I wasn’t a big fan of work, and writing things down on a piece of paper was just too much work for this human-shaped happiness), something told me that they weren’t quite out of the woods. I put my finger (not the index finger, the happy one (obviously, the pinkie)) on my chin and got to thinking.

“Now, that whole artist thing sure created an ethical dilemma. One that I don’t want to boggle my mind with, but I’m going to have to figure this out one way or another.”

I had to think of that artist. Dr. Katsushika. She didn’t go by that name, at least not often, but that’s what it was. Or that’s what it would be if she went by that name. To be honest, I would have felt bad for Velvet, and doubly bad for Coriander. Sure, there were folks like that in The Flashbulb. Many more than those two faced, but there was only so much time in the void, even if time in the void didn’t quite exist. But I didn’t feel bad for them, because feeling bad wouldn’t have made me feel good. But that would have made me feel bad, if I could feel bad.

All that said, Dr. Katsushika didn’t quite make me feel good either. Retract that. Dr. Katsushika would have made me feel bad, if I could feel bad about anything. She wasn’t what I’d call someone who made others happy. Even if she liked that word almost as much as I did. When it came down to it, she was the ethical dilemma: if dying didn’t make her happy, but it put Coriander at peace, was that OK? On one hand, it was probably better if she had died, but on the other hand...happiness comes first.

“I knew it! I fuckin’ knew it! You can’t make everyone happy!” I stamped my foot. Then my left hand formed a mouth. Y’know, like a hand puppet.

“SURE YOU CAN! BOTH PARTIES DON’T HAVE TO BE HAPPY RIGHT AWAY!” My left hand told me. On the other hand...cotton candy.

Ah, yes. My Left Hand was right. It was all clear now that the pieces would soon come together. I just had to disregard any sort of ethical dilemma, disregard logical conclusions, and let things run their course. That course being a corrected one.

Hey! Would it come off as a surprise to say that I’ve had a hand in everything this whole time? Specifically, My Left Hand. More specifically, Euphy! Maybe a better question was: would it ruin the impact of everything that’s transpired? Hmm...probably. But it wasn’t like it was anything major, really. Euphy’s hands were long and could find their way anywhere. That said, most of my friends’ actions were their own and for the most part, I was hands-off. The best explanation I could give was that I tossed around a few metaphorical breadcrumbs here and there.

So with that out of the way, let’s just say that a few more breadcrumbs were about to snow down like dandruff.

Tick-tock, knick-knack, knock-knock.

Those were the sound effects made once my little bug found the correct door (and no, they were not behind door number three, but game shows really were the pinnacle of television). Of course, neither of them answered. All the better. As far as I figured, neither of them wanted to see me. Especially not the spice rack. Which, given what I put her through, was understandable.

All the same, thanks to all my spare time locked away from all the other Flashbulb employees, I once learned the fine art of lockpicking. Not to say that I could have just broken free of my enclosure any time I wanted to, but I sure was glad I learned the craft all the same. If not, I might not have gotten into their room.

Like a thief in the night (not that there was any sense of day or night in our headquarters), I slipped into their room. To my surprise, they both must have been heavy sleepers. There they were, hand in hand, holding each other close. Like still life models. It brought forth the urge to chuckle, something I had to surprise in order not to get caught. Even asleep, they continued to be an inspiration.

Oh. There would be questions.

“How did you survive? Didn’t I slam you into the floor and kill you?” The outraged, or horrified Coriander (the art formerly known as Mavis) would ask me.

I would smirk all smug, close my eyes, with my index finger (a very smart and astute finger, the one finger who puts the most work into every craft) pointed up, and then tell her:

“Simple: I created an android of myself to pull the strings while I watched in a hidden space. You really should have paid better attention. Not that it would have done you much good, as I had packs of blood stored up in the android set to spill out upon a fall. It’s true: I really do think of everything!”

She would probably yell and/or scream, “I HATE YOU,” and I wouldn’t know what to say to that. I had no smug remark. As far as I was concerned, she had every right to hate me, to wish me dead. Hell, I’d wager that she’d try to kill me all over again.

But alas, I was alive, and I’ve had my fill of both of them. I’ve painted so many paintings, and sent one of my little flies (microscopic robots) to scout out the area and find them for me. All in the span of time that they spent lovemaking. Yes, I knew about that too. But rest assured, I had my fly leave the room as soon as it went in. Say what you will about me, but I respected others’ privacy.

Case in point, I slipped underneath the bed. I was in no rush and the cold, metal floor was really quite comfortable. Those two also had all the time in the world. The problem was that their world didn’t have much time left. That was A-Okay, though. Because I told them I would help them and damn it, I meant it!

It wasn’t like I woke up between a rock and a hard place. In fact, the bed I was on was quite soft, and Coriander’s back was also quite soft. But even still, I felt like I was between an unstoppable force and an unmovable object; the unstoppable force being the comfort of being on a bed, and the unmovable object being my cute girlfriend who was currently asleep on top of me.

Well, if my time awake was time wasted, so be it. I couldn’t be any more satisfied knowing that I held in my arms both the one I loved, and the one who loved me. There was still a world to save, somewhere out there, with however much time it had left, but let’s face it: I was too tired. So I smiled as I stroked her back, then turned my head to fall asleep once more.

Whether sleep was for the weak or I was weak without sleep, one thing was clear: I didn’t get enough of it. Then again, how could I even tell? Trick question, I couldn’t. It was all a wild-ass guess based on how tired I still was. I was so tired that when I lifted my head, I didn’t have the strength to get up all the way, so I lowered my head back down onto Velvet’s chest. Big mistake that was. As soon as I did so, I felt a wet spot on my cheek and for a hazy moment, I thought nothing of it. Until I did. And started to freak out.

“Oh no! That’s drool! I drooled on her boob! She’s always saying I do that and I always say that I don’t do that but I just did! What am I supposed to do?” My words spilled out in a panic. Spilled out like drool. Ew. No. Stop.

I stared down. She was still asleep. I poked her cheek for good measure. Nothing.

“Okay. Good. I can use this to my advantage,” I mumbled. I could get a tissue from the bathroom. Wipe her boob down. Wait. What if that woke her up? Well shit, too late to consider that, I was already up and out of bed.

Ugh. What if she wakes up and notices and points it out and I wouldn’t have anything in my defense! I’d be caught drool handed. Ew. At least I’ll wash my hands.

I got into the bathroom and washed my hands. To my surprise, there was a stack of folded clothes on the counter right next to the sink.

“Was this here before?” I muttered. Well, I was too tired to think about it too hard. Maybe if I was less tired, I could have asked questions like, “is this an automatic feature of The Flashbulb’s technology?” or “was this here this whole time and I just didn’t notice?” and of course, the most important question would have been, “did someone sneak in here?”

But no. Call it stupidity, tiredness, or a lapse in logic, because I just took the clothes and put them on. They fit quite well. Not too tight, not too baggy. Really, if there was any complaint, it was how generic they looked. Plain white shirt and pants. Nothing much else to say. I wasn’t even sure why describing them at all was worth mentioning.

Once I left the room, clothed and cloth in hand, I froze in place. Lucidity took hold and all the thoughts I should have had weighed down on me as I stood face to face with the one I thought I had killed. The same one who put me through such torture.

“You…” I forced the words out. My blood was boiling, but I just couldn’t bring myself to move. “You can’t be here…” I was about to say, “...you aren’t real. You’re not here.” But the rest of my words didn’t come. I closed my eyes.

“Surprise! Bet you thought you’ve seen the last of me!” Her words rang through. No, there was no mistake: it was her.

I opened my eyes and looked around for something to use as a weapon. Not that it would have done me much good. I should have just kicked her face in and whaled on her, but for whatever reason, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Worse yet, I started to tremble where I stood.

“Really, this wasn’t how I expected our meeting to go down. I wanted to wait until both of you were awake, but maaaan, that Velvet is one heavy sleeper! You’re welcome for the clothes, by the way. Did you know that I’m quite the seamstress? Quite the tailor? It’s true! Just one of the many art forms I’ve learned throughout the years!”

I growled. That was all I could bring myself to do. I wanted to lose all control and beat her to a bloody pulp. I should have been allowed that after all that was done to me. She shouldn’t have been alive, she should have been dead. All the pain, everything she caused, and there she stood, without so much as a scratch.

“Huh? What’s going on?” Came a voice beside me. Hoarse and droned, but unmistakably Velvet’s. I looked over and when she saw who was there, she too got on the defensive.

“You! How...how did you get in here? For that matter, how are you alive?” Her voice changed to that of more serious and harsh in tone.

“Finally!” Dr. Popsicle grinned. “I’ve been waiting for someone to ask that! It’s simple, really, I –” The mad artist never got the chance to finish. Velvet shut her down quick.

“You know what? I really don’t care. It doesn’t matter how you’re still alive, but I won’t forgive you for what you’ve done to me or my girlfriend. So I’ll make sure to kill you this time.”

“Your girlfriend? Oh, congrats! You made it official!” Popsigirl chuckled. I managed to break free of whatever mental restraints were placed on my physical being. I began to charge at her and gave her a swift kick in the shin.

She seethed, but even in pain, managed to keep a smile. “Right...I deserve that,” she winced.

“Velvet!” I yelled. “Grab something to throw at her! No mercy!”

She gave me a nod in response and felt around, then grabbed a knife. Blessed. I continued the beat down as I shoved the artist to the floor and began to kick her repeatedly.

“I’ll kill you!” I yelled. After a few kicks, sure to at least bruise up her sides, she put a hand up in the air.

“Wait! Wait!”

I didn’t want to wait. How dare she tell me that?!

“You guys can kill me if you want, but you might want to think it over!”

“What?!” I stopped for whatever reason.

“OK. So. Imagine: you kill me, I’m on the floor. My body rots. The smell gets real bad. Either someone notices my body, ups the security and finds out who killed me, or, let’s say hypothetically, you manage to defeat the whole Flashbulb, which I can’t imagine you guys doing without my help. You’ll probably have to kill many others along the way, too, of course. All of those bodies, that smell, it all tends to add up. If you’re going to be stuck here for the rest of your lives, is that really what you want to walk around smelling all the time?”

Such drivel. As if she really believed she could weasel her way out with some loose logic that anyone could poke a hole into.

“Of course,” she went on. “You could dispose of the bodies. The question is, where and how.”

“Enough,” Velvet interrupted once again. “First off, what is this wet spot on my chest?”

Really? You’re really going to focus on that when we have more important things to worry about? Even still, I guess it would be bad on my part if I told her it was drool.

“It’s probably sweat. We were going at it pretty rough,” I told her.

“Ah, that makes sense,” Velvet replied, and I was saved.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t watch!” Popsigirl chimed in, much to my disgust.

“Second off!” Velvet hushed the intruder. Although I suppose as a whole, Velvet and I were the intruders. “Bold of you to assume I have a problem with the stench of death. Sure, I’d probably vomit every time I passed by a dead body, but I’d rather make that sacrifice than know someone like you would still be around to hurt the one I love.”

“Oof. Well, you raise a find argument. Some sacrifices may be necessary, after all. Gee, I’m getting a kick out of discussing these things with you! We could have some really creative debates!”

“Screw that,” Velvet spat. “It’s bold of you to even be in our presence right now!”

“That it is!” The art fanatic proclaimed. “And you two have every right to hate me.”

“Good, because we do,” I found my voice once more. Velvet nodded along.

“But even if that’s the case, I’d like to make it up to you guys. The way I see it, neither of you have much time left before your version of Earth is kaput. And if you just flail around the headquarters randomly, you’re never going to save anything. Hard truths, y’know?”

“Here’s a hard truth: you can’t make it up to us. I can only speak for myself, but even if it takes longer, even if I fail, I don’t want to stoop so low as to accept help from someone like you. Besides, you’ve already claimed to want to help us before, and I remember all too well how that went.”

Both of us were on the same page, but I started to feel a little mixed about it all. The whole reason I wanted to get to the headquarters was to exact revenge on the ones who made me who I was. Yes, I knew that the world was ending, but that wasn’t my main reason. But I knew there were better reasons to defeat them besides revenge, which Velvet had those better reasons, and yet she was willing to sacrifice them for my sake. Not only did I not deserve that, but if we had a chance…

No. I knew better than to think about that. The one in front of us was the one who had traumatized me, used both Velvet and I for her amusement. We had no reason to trust that someone like that could help us, and even if she could, I didn’t want to be in her presence. It hurt so much just to stand there. Worse, I was wearing clothes that she had made for me. Total red flags right there.

“I...I feel sick,” I said at last. “I’m going back into the bathroom.”

“What about dealing with the other person in the room?” Velvet pleaded.

Really, what about it?

“I trust you to make a decision,” I replied.

“But I don’t want to make a decision without you!” She called for me, but I already closed the door. I sounded so bitter even though I knew I wasn’t mad at Velvet. I just didn’t know what else to do. So I locked myself in until I felt safe enough to come back out.

Gee, things were going to be harder than I thought. Well, according to the ancient art of boxing, “sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches.” So that’s just what I did: I reached into my shirt and pulled out a pile of clothes. Voila! I threw them at Velvet and got into my most Serious Person impression.

“Put these on. You’re not modeling for one of my drawings, and besides, you two don’t wanna be running around the headquarters naked,” I commanded.

“I bet you have it rigged so the clothes have some kind of mind control or body control thing, or it’s got some explosives attached, or there’s tracking devices, or –”

“All good ideas,” I stopped Velvet from listing other things. “See? Even now you give me such good ideas! But no: they’re just clothes.”

She eyed me, but gave in all the same. As she did so, I decided to sit on the floor. Not to worry, it wasn’t to better enjoy the view, I just figured the floor was a good place to be. Once she was all dressed, I got back to business.

“Now, I don’t doubt your guys’ resilience, you two displayed it quite well back there,” I chuckled. “But as I said, you can’t just run around and hope for the best. That’s even worse than how others have tried to overthrow us in the past, and their organized efforts didn’t pan out well. Do you know why?”

She said nothing, but continued to glare.

“It’s because everyone could see them coming, so just as the groups were prepared, so too was the company. Which meant they could hire all the guards, janitors, death squads, you name it. Traps and gadgets, weaponry beyond your comprehension. No offense, of course, but the only thing you two got going for you is that no one sees you as a threat. Sure, you had guards after you, and they saw you as intruders, but after you fell down and into my domain, everyone just walked on and figured I killed you guys.”

Still no response. Well, I had more to say, so good.

“But really, it’s a matter of time. The more it seems you have a chance of winning, the less of a chance you actually have. I mean, you don’t think there’s cameras in this room? And listening devices? You’re lucky I’ve disabled them, but still, there’s bound to be other cases where such things weren’t disabled, and you two were caught sneaking in a room or two. Hmm?”

“I get that evil monologues are what you guys are good at, but can you just get to your point?” At last! Velvet spoke! Hurrah!

“What you guys need to do is simple: just run up to the front of the ship, say that it’s been taken over, and do so before your guys’ world is destroyed. Easy enough, right?” I may have skipped a few steps in my head, but she did want me to get to the point, so really, that was on her.

“How did you get to that conclusion?” Velvet sounded baffled as all heck, which was baffling to me, to be baffled at all.

“Because I’ll take care of the rest! See, once you get up to the ship, either they don’t take you seriously at all, or they see you as an actual threat, and if it’s the latter, they’re going to want to throw everything at you. But if they can’t get a signal to contact any guards or anything, they won’t have anything to throw at you. Meanwhile, I’ll be organizing various Flashbulb members to revolt and we’ll open up portals and kick the guards into those. It’s really funny that we had a Morale Department seeing as worker morale here isn’t very high.”

“I see. And the guards won’t overpower the workers because…? I doubt the ones in front care all that much about killing their own in order to maintain power.”

“Ah! Yes! Power! See? That’s something I didn’t think about! Aren’t I glad I have you around?”

She growled. Sheesh, I expected that from the other one, not the velvety person.

“The Flashbulb’s hierarchy goes as follows: the workers, the scientists in the departments, and then the Grandmaster Flash. Everyone answers to Grandmaster Flash, except I’ll let you in on a little secret: there is no Grandmaster Flash. There never has been a Grandmaster Flash.”

“So what? It’s a conspiracy within an organization shrouded in conspiracy theories?”

I snapped my fingers. “Bingo! But also, it’s not the wisest of decisions! See, it was born from a rumor spread by those at the front of the headquarters. Apparently they got together and wanted to get out of work, so told the other departments something like, ‘Grandmaster Flash says I don’t have to do anything.’ At first, the others must have been confused, but as the rumor spread, the ones at the front cleared up the manner by saying, ‘Grandmaster Flash is secretive and makes all of the decisions. Maybe if one of your departments is really good, you will be recognized and one of you will become the next Grandmaster Flash.’ But yeah, it’s a con to keep everyone working hard and to allow the ones at the front to do whatever they want!”

Her eyes widened. Good. She was catching on.

“So basically, if we want to defeat them, we just gotta get them to admit that there’s no leader?”

...Swing and a miss. I rolled on the floor.

“No, silly! Instead, just say ‘we’ve taken out your leader’ or something. That will make them take you guys a little more seriously. And then, when they call for backup and nothing comes, bingo! You’ll have them pissing their pants and I’ll be laughing at them from afar!”

“That still sounds really far-fetched and way too convenient. And besides, how can we even trust you to follow through on your end and do all those things?”

“Good point! You can’t trust me! For all you know, I could rat you guys out and watch your downfall! That’s the poetic nature of all this! Such revolutions like this really are a work of art!”

Velvet shook her head. “This doesn’t sound good, no matter how hard you explain. The fact that you’re even alive…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” I sighed. “You want me rolling in my grave instead of on the floor, which, there are no graves here, so why would I be?”

“You did all those things, unrepentant –”

“What can I say? An artist should never apologize for their art.”

“Good,” Velvet crossed her arms. “Because here’s another hard truth: I will never forgive you. No one is obligated to forgive you for the things that you’ve done to them and the sooner you learn that, the easier life will be.”

“Duly noted. But don’t you worry! You don’t have to actively work with me or anything. Just run to the front and say that you’re overthrowing the whole organization, and I’ll do the rest.”

“You say that, but…”

“...Or...you two can run around naked and get killed a horrible death and fail miserably in your mission. Choice is yours, really.”

“I don’t want to do this. If I do, it will feel like I’ve gone against Coriander. If I can find another way, with her, I will.”

As she said that, the one and only spice girl (in the void. Not to discount the infinite amount of spice girls out there across an infinite amount of universes. Also not to discount the infinite amount of Spice Girls, either. I was particularly fond of the version of them where they put out an EDM Folk Death Metal album. Truly ahead of their time) stepped out of the bathroom.

“Let’s just do it, Velvet,” Coriander announced in a dull and lifeless tone. “If there’s more of a chance with this, I’d rather go with it.”

I put my hand on my chest and smiled. So it seems I was forgiven after all! Good! Even though when I looked over at Coriander, her face looked like it was filled with hate and sadness, but I’d take what I could get.

“Now!” I took one good look at the both of them. “Before you two start running off, perhaps you’d like to know how much time you have left.”

“Don’t we have plenty of time, though?” Velvet objected. “Seeing as time doesn’t flow the same here, plus all those time travel devices. I think we’re allowed to take our time, given all that.”

“You’re going to apply logic to a sci-fi setting? What’s wrong with you?” I countered. “I’m sure you can understand how things work if you think about it for more than a few seconds.”

Velvet groaned, Coriander grunted. They must have understood once I said that: time still flowed down on their version on Earth, and maybe even at a faster rate than in here.

“For all you know, your Earth could already be destroyed,” I added. “And you can turn back time, that would just make an alternate Earth, which means there would already be a Velvet occupying there, and…”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Velvet grit her teeth.

“So in order to figure out how things are going down there, I’ll send my little bug to see if there’s anyone I can talk to! That way I can confirm that there’s at least some people still alive, and that they can tell me what the situation’s like!”

I put a little earbud in my ear, then sent one of my little bugs out from my pocket and watched as it warped away, using a built in fragment of a time cube, and waited until it found someone. After a little while, I heard the bug beep. That was my cue.

“Hey! Is anyone still alive on this planet?!” I yelled, as I had no idea how loud I should have been.

“Oh, just little old me,” a voice on the other end came up. I just about jumped for joy! There was life! And with a pleasant voice like that person’s (a soothing mix of baritone, treble, and alto), it seemed like my two muses were in luck.

“Hi there! Yes! This little thing I sent down was one of my art projects! Good to see it was a success!” My heart was racing so fast I could have entered it in a horse race, except hearts weren’t horses. Not unless you did some genetic experimentation, but that was neither here nor there.

“If only I got to hear this conversation from your memories,” he crooned. It really got me thinking: did he know who I was already? Well, I didn’t even know if the voice was a ‘he’, but I just figured such a disembodied voice being a ‘he’ would have been a nice thought, and then I started thinking about how I might have gone about drawing that. Oh, but I was getting distracted once again.

“Then I could see who you are and what your motive was. I could even taste you, just a little,” ‘he’ continued. While some may have found that to be just a bit creepy, I imagined ‘he’ must have thought of me to be a mix of paints.

“Yes! That would be so artistic! Maybe it could mix together at once like a collage!” My excitement might have been showing a little too much. Restraint, too, was an art.

“Where did you send this little bug down from?” ‘He’ asked, which seemed obvious enough to me where I sent it from. Maybe obvious to ‘him’ as well, if ‘he’ called my art project a ‘little bug.’

“I think you know already!” I replied, still with as much cheer as before. Restraint never was my strong suit.

There was a pause before either of us said anything else, so maybe I should have just cut to the chase.

“Are you really the only one left?” I asked. “How’s the situation on Earth?”

The voice on the other end came in once more:

“There were many booties a clappin’,” spoken in a sing-song voice. “But yes, I may be the only one left. There might be a few others. Not sure. Probably won’t last long, though. I’d give it...what? A few more months? A year? Then everything, so happy it could all die.”

“Oh, that sounds so beautiful!” I would’ve been this person’s biggest fan had I been down on that version of Earth and in that specific period in time. “Say it again!”

“It does, doesn’t it?” My next source of inspiration agreed.

“But! And this is a big but!” I had to get myself back on track, else I’d be in awe the entire conversation.

“...You cannot lie?”

“I can’t! One of the greatest artistic achievements! Aha! I am among a true scholar! Oh! But I didn’t go on! See, I’ve got a couple of muses with me who would like to possibly save Earth. Think there’s any way they can do that?”

“Let’s say I could pull a few strings. Buy some time.”

“Great!”

“But, and this is a big booty, I can only delay it for so long. If your pals can’t do anything soon, then I’m afraid my hands are tied.”

“Sounds good! I’ll let them know! They’ll be so excited! Hold on just a sec!”

I put my hand over my ear and said to Velvet and Coriander.

“So someone on Earth says you’ve got time, and could even buy you guys some more time! Isn’t that great!?”

Whether they were excited or my imagination was telling them that they were, I was excited enough just to tell them the good news. Then I uncovered my hand and spoke once more to the jolly fellow.

“Hey! Hey! I’m still here, are you?”

“Indeed, good friend. I have a feeling you and I would get along quite well. Which means I would probably not get along with you at all. But if only I could have found out.” Gee, what a friendly person. Like a star-crossed friend that I never would have met, because if there was anywhere on Earth I’d have wanted to go, it would have been back in Japan, with my father.

“That’s okay! There’s artistic merit in mystery! Leaves some for the imagination!” I assured the good-natured spirit.

“Well, before you depart, I just want to ask a favor of you.”

“Sure!”

“If you could give me an audience, that would be great. I think I’m done being in the shadows. It’s gotten quite boring. So, I would like it if I could speak with others.”

I thought about it. I could already do quite a bit with disabling communications, so opening up a line of communication didn’t seem too hard, either.

“Not a problem!” I assured ‘him’.

‘He’ laughed hysterics. “It’s good to know I had your permission, given I already had the ability to do so.”

“Oh, you sly devil!”

Then, without so much as a good-bye (although I’ve had worse phone conversations), my little bug left and within a few moments, had returned to me.

With that out of the way, I took the earbud out and grinned.

“So basically, you’re already pretty close to the front of the headquarters! I suggest you get going, because it’s hard to tell how long you guys have even after all that! All I can tell you is that there is still hope!”

Velvet and Coriander looked at each other, put on their shoes, then were about to get going. But before Velvet left the room, she turned to me.

“Why are you doing this?” She asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I just started thinking that even though art has been my life ever since I was a child, if I have to hurt others to make art, then maybe I should find a different path.”

“That’s good, but that still doesn’t absolve anything you’ve done,” she spoke in a low tone.

“I wouldn’t count on it!” I grinned.

“Maybe the right question I should be asking is this: just who were you before you joined The Flashbulb?”

I shrugged once again. I wasn’t good at being concise, but I’d try.

“Also an artist. Someone’s daughter. Something like that. Hey, I have a favor to ask you and you don’t have to accept, but I just thought of it!”

“Yes?”

“If you ever figure out who I was on Earth, please don’t think of the other versions of me as evil. My actions are my own.”

Velvet nodded. I wasn’t sure if that was her agreeing to my favor or not, but both Velvet and Coriander left at that, without so much as another word. I looked out the door and watched the two run off, then I went back in. It was time for me to do what I did best.

#happiness overload #scifi #writing #stories #cotton candy #finality #the end of all things